Summer has arrived with a vengeance here. It has been a bit hotter for late November - early December than usual. With the heat comes the promise that Christmas is near. Time to hang the ornaments, send Christmas cards, (if you still do that sort of thing) and buy the presents for friends and family.
That got me to thinking. What makes a great gift for young readers and adults alike? Books of course!
Let’s explore a few of the amazing benefits of gifting and reading books.
Improves your memory and focus.
One of the biggest issues we face today with kids and adults alike is the ability to focus on a task for longer periods of time. Reading requires the brain to actively engage with the story, helping us to comprehend and process the information within the text. A truly engaging story will keep us concentrating longer and train the brain to focus. The more we read, the more our brain learns to track the characters, settings, and problems in the storyline as we collect information, and remember facts and details. As the brain learns to concentrate we are subsequently not as easily distracted by the business of all the shiny new electronic devices, TV, and video games, thus also helping kids to concentrate better in class.
Reading from birth is one of the most important gifts you can give a chid.
Enhances your imagination.
Often when reading a book, there are no pictures, especially as children become stronger independent readers. As we read, we imagine the story in our mind. Each reader will bring images or interpretations to a story and ‘see’ in their mind the scenes differently. The more we read, especially things that are familiar to our everyday life, the more we can begin to understand and learn other things that expand our knowledge base. As we become more familiar with words described in stories, the greater and more in-depth images we can develop in our minds. Developing our imagination increases creativity and a willingness to explore and experiment and thus leads to innovation.
Increases your vocabulary.
Research has proven time and again that the more you read, the more words you will learn and understand. The more often you see a word on the written page, or hear a word when being read to, the more it becomes stored in your memory and comprehension to eventually become a part of your everyday vocabulary.
Reading everyday increases vocabulary exponentially.
Give your child a head start in life by reading everyday.
Expand your knowledge.
From birth we begin with concept books, learning about our immediate world around us. We then move on to picture books where our knowledge of the world and environment reaches further afield. Once we become independent readers, we increase our knowledge and understanding through fiction, science, science-fiction, non-fiction, history, geography and so much more. Learning to read is the basic stepping stone to expanding our knowledge and learning anything and everything we want to understand. It is the essential element to becoming and achieving whatever we want in our life. Books open us up to so many opportunities and possibilities.
One of my favourite Dr Seuss quotes.
Deepens Empathy.
Reading fiction, becoming familiar with likeable characters, events, situations and problems, helps us to develop empathy as we experience through the story a different perspective. As we become more involved in a story, we also become invested in the outcome as we progress through a rollercoaster of emotions and begin to sympathise with the characters. Our emotional intelligence, understanding and perspectives increases our interpersonal skills for everyday life. Deepening our empathy skills improves our quality of relationships, our own emotional well-being and builds a better connected society by relating to others and thus developing an understanding and willingness to help others.
These are just 5 reasons why you should gift books at Christmas, birthdays or all throughout the year. The gift of reading books is also the gift of knowledge, learning, understanding imagination and empathy.
Here’s a list of 10 amazing benefits of reading.
Can you think of any more?
This Christmas I urge you to give the gift if reading to someone you love.
I’ll leave you here with a little video clip I made of my completed set of Adamson Adventures suitable for your young reader ages 7 -12 years. All books are available here from my website.