“You don’t need a lot of money to fill your home with books … [and] it’s very hard to have a bored child when there are always books around,” she said. They are, for lack of a more specific term, readers. At one point in our interview, Russo referred to reading as a “private pleasure-delivery system,” which seems like a key way to think about getting kids to read: There are, as so many parents are all too aware, loads of benefits to being able to read in terms of later-in-life outcomes, but the focus should be on helping kids discover the intrinsic value in it, in the moment. In 2017, about 53 percent of American adults (roughly 125 million people) read at least one book not for school or for work in the previous 12 months, according to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). How do you expect to get a job if you don't read? Like so many other human phenomenons, it all starts with the brain. Better yet, why bother wasting even that much time on food and skip it altogether? To help me better serve my readers, I decided to take a step back and ask—why do readers read? Thus, you learn and grow, and therefore you feel and see from the point of view of the author about everything in life. Parents don’t have to have grown up avid readers themselves to raise avid readers. Makes no sense to me. Read: The adults who treat reading like homework. Many bibliophiles can trace their love of reading back to a cherished memory, such as being read to by a parent or discovering the first book they ever loved (Winnie the Pooh, Dr. Seuss or Enid Blyton, anyone?). You might also have: Muscle tension Too much testing? “So many parents are stressed out by all the research out there that says that reading is tied to things like academic success, testing success, executive function, and emotional well-being,” Paul told me. Parents are constantly sending their children messages with how they choose to spend their free time. It depends on how you define reading (does reading long-winded character dialogues in Square Enix games count?) A lot rides on how parents present the activity to their kids. It is almost tautological to observe that being a reader sets a child up for academic success, since so much of school is reading. So over the past few weeks, we’ve asked our Facebook followers to answer a few questions: When did they fall in love with reading? “Kids basically perceive that right off the bat—children know, for example, if you’re trying to get them to eat something that’s good for them,” Paul said; the aim is to present reading not as “spinach,” but as “chocolate cake.”. So parents can try to arm their kids with information about the world that will help them interpret whatever they come across in print, or make sure their kids have some familiarity with whatever it is they’re reading about. It helps us slow down so we get the most from what we do go deep on. Here are seven of the most common reasons why. (function(){ I like to get out and do things, so I haven’t much time for leisure” I want to rope them and hog-tie them and feed them strawberry tarts. They’re a safe adventure, as well. url = "http://www.abebooks.com/books/7-reasons-to-love-reading/index.shtml"; So what is it? I read in the car, while I ate, during my school recesses, and sometimes in class (which got me sent to the school office for constantly not paying attention and reading in class. The responses we received were a treat to read. The rest of the time I’m like everybody else. Here are the top 10 reasons why I love reading: 1.) I think one reason people love reading mysteries is because they are a safe thrill, kind of like roller coasters when you’re a kid. Once those two things are in place, the final component is “motivation—you have to have a positive attitude toward reading and a positive self-image as a reader,” Willingham said. First, a child needs to be a “fluent decoder,” he told me—that is, able to smoothly “go from print on the page to words in the mind.” This is something that schools teach, but parents can help with it by reading to and with their kids—especially when that reading involves wordplay, which particularly helps kids with the challenge of identifying the “individual speech sounds” that make up a word. Well girls, I've read way too much into so many things, I'm an expert at spotting when you are reading too much into things, so take a look below and see if any of these signs apply to you! Of course, possessing any of these characteristics doesn’t guarantee that someone will or won’t become a reader. By reading, you are exposed to so many wonderful things. Explore celebrity trends and tips on fashion, style, beauty, diets, health, relationships and more. But there’s another, deeper reason cats make so much sense in bookstores—it’s in their DNA. But behind that simple process is a question of motivation—of why some people grow up to derive great pleasure from reading, while others don’t. Numerous book lovers have testified that reading gives them purpose, helps them persevere through difficulty and unlocks parts of themselves they didn’t even know existed. Chronic escapism is by no means a healthy habit, but neither is dwelling on stressful life circumstances one hundred percent of the time. Joining their tribe seems simple enough: Get a book, read it, and voilà! Reading will seem more like chocolate cake if it’s something that parents themselves take part in happily and regularly. The mere presence of books is not magically transformative. Start with a few minutes a day and make a commitment to continue. 6. One wryly said he liked reading “because it helps me with my temper and relaxes me.”. So how exactly does reading do all that? And specifically, why do we read fiction? Griswold refers to this group as “the reading class,” and—adding up the NEA’s “frequents” and “avids,” and considering rates of serious reading in other similarly wealthy countries—reckons that about 20 percent of adults belong to the U.S.’s reading class. The adventure of having my first library card. During your life, you will experience numerous transitions. “Almost certainly the answer is, not a lot. Reading helps you remember. My own observation, after spending a lot of time talking to teen-agers in recent years: reading anything serious has become a chore, like doing the laundry or prepping a meal for a kid brother. I get so lost in this dream-like state that I refuse to be settled back in my own true world. But a chief factor seems to be the household one is born into, and the culture of reading that parents create within it. You may have noticed that I manage to read a book or an entire series every week. Reading allows you to experience multiple realities. What is their favorite thing about books? 1. Whether it’s through the comfort of a favorite book or through an emotional connection to relatable characters, books provide a stable source of companionship during the times that you feel the only person you can count on is yourself. Other times she needs to literally escape her own thoughts. Reading is an exercise in perseverance, in which you constantly challenge yourself to achieve more than you did with your last book. She said that a larger proportion of the American population qualified as big readers between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries—an era of reading that was made possible by advances in printing technology and then, eventually, snuffed out by television. You must push yourself to interact with meaningless lines and squiggles until they transform into stories, characters and ideas. That’s probably because so much of young-adult literature overlaps with genre fiction—plot-driven books that fall into one specific genre, like fantasy, romance, or sci-fi. First, and most intuitively, the more education someone has, the more likely they are to be a reader. I don’t actually read a lot, I read like a person with a disorder—bingeing with frenetic energy and then a lull and then attempts at normalcy until I revert back to my own habits. By reading, you are painting those pictures of the story in your mind. When you experience life through the eyes of another, you encounter diverse angles on life’s most common situations. Do you know the signs to look for when you are reading too much into things? Because, let’s face it. I realized that reading was actually toxic for me. Thank you so much I really want to thank each and every one of you who supported me throughout this 14 years journey, I do remember each and every good email i recieved from you and i do remember all the support you have given me, I simply love you all. But even though plenty of people simply don’t enjoy reading (or have trouble enjoying it, possibly because of a learning or attention disorder), it’s a vital skill. Even while reading fictional novels, successful people take with them life lessons that they carry with them forever. When they pick up a book, they don’t do so just to finish it, but to take something away from it. Lewis’s The Last Battle and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford). Those who talked about personal enrichment used phrases like “being able to experience so many times, places, and events.”. It may be dispiriting that people have little, if any, say over many of the predictors of whether they or their children will be readers, but thankfully, there are also a number of other factors that are within people’s control. I suppose that's because reading isn't something I do to absorb specific templates for future output, so much as something I do for the sheer nourishment of it. It depends on illiteracy vs aliteracy. Sometimes a person needs to just leave their world and enter someone else’s. Of course I've read books for school I didn't like though. Some people with anxiety spend so much energy worrying about family, health, money, or work that they find it hard to carry out everyday tasks. L et’s cut to the chase: Most of my students are not doing much of the course reading. and "Shawty over here writin paragraphs n $***" (I don't like cursing but it is what he said). Paul and Russo both suggested a bunch of things that parents can do to make reading seem exciting and worthwhile: talk about books during meals or car rides, indicating that they’re just as compelling a subject of conversation as the day’s events; make regular stops at libraries and bookstores, and stay a while; and give books as birthday gifts. Many bibliophiles can trace their love of reading back to a cherished memory, such as being read to by a parent or discovering the first book they ever loved (Winnie the Pooh, Dr. Seuss or Enid Blyton, anyone?). Second, Willingham said, these fluent decoders benefit from having wide-ranging background knowledge about the world. Extremely uncomfortable. But it can only go so far. In silence, you seek for more; in silence, your brain is clear and focuses. Matt Frankel: It's a combination of a few things, I think. But many of us, even if satisfied with that role, often wonder what it would be like to live in a different place, work at a different job, or even be a completely different person. Depression had snuffed out any joy I found in books, but as I’m easing myself back into reading, this is really reminding me why I loved to read in the first place, and how it felt to be totally swept up into somewhere far away from my own mind. Before you can read, you must learn how. 2.) Reading isn’t only about discovering the new. Beyond that, she said, “urban people read more than rural people,” “affluence is associated with reading,” and “young girls read earlier” than boys do and “continue to read more in adulthood.” Race matters, too: The NEA’s data indicate that 60 percent of white American adults reported reading a book in the last year outside of work or school, which was a higher rate than for African Americans (47 percent), Asians (45 percent), and Hispanic people (32 percent). host = "www.abebooks.com"; Others came to appreciate the hobby later in life. 8. In short doses, allowing your mind to focus on things other than your challenges can be highly beneficial and even necessary. The frustration of being continually told by my parents to “take a break” from reading and “go outside.” The wonderful feeling of refreshment that I continue to experience each day that I spend reading a book (most recently C.S. Mental Stimulation. That why is consequential—leisure reading has been linked to a range of good academic and professional outcomes—as well as difficult to fully explain. It gives your mind a safe place to rest until you regain the strength you need to overcome your obstacles. Re-reading those favorite books, or reading about familiar places, times and people … Here’s what I came up with: 1. You watch too much TV. And of all that fiction I so love to feast upon, a good 70 percent of it is made up of mysteries. (Some of these correlations could simply reflect the strong connection between education and reading.). As I got older, I began to like reading even more. One, there's just been a big wave of IPOs in general. Here are some common reasons why you’re not reading as often as you’d like, plus some actionable workarounds. That why is consequential—leisure reading has been linked to a range of good academic and professional outcomes—as well as difficult to fully explain. Oh, and why spend precious time cooking a meal when you can buy cheap, greasy takeout and spend more time reading? Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, [1] since keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power. The World's Most Valuable Children's Books - Do You Have One? And we don’t just love to read books. That third ingredient is a central focus of How to Raise a Reader, a book released earlier this month by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, the editor and the children’s-books editor, respectively, of The New York Times Book Review. 4. You can see the dark side … Personal and Professional Growth – Reading helps me grow as a person, expanding my views in life, affecting my every personal and professional decisions. “Knowing all of that makes parents think, ‘Okay, my kid has to be a reader.’” That mentality can lead them to frame reading to their children as an obligation. Personality also seems to play a role. “When I’m sitting there on my couch, reading a book, and my kids are doing their own thing, I like to think, ‘I’m parenting right now—they can see me reading this book,’” Russo told me. That's a lot of reading, and a lot of time I could use differently. “The question is, I take a child who’s not doing very well in school, and I put 300 books in their house—now what happens?,” Willingham said. It’s also a vehicle for reflection. Any insight by any chance on why they're so popular since the middle of this year. }()); At AbeBooks we believe there is something undeniably special about reading. It doesn't take much to get into the habit of reading. Either what are people doing with those books, or is this sort of a temperature read of a much broader complex of attitudes and behaviors and priorities that you find in that home?”. 26 Reasons Why You Need To Read More "Because books tell the stories of people we don't know, places we haven't been, and worlds we can only imagine." They can be identified by their independent-bookstore tote bags, their “Book Lover” mugs, or—most reliably—by the bound, printed stacks of paper they flip through on their lap. Why You’re Not Reading As Many Books As You Should Be 1. Hence you shape a better self. For all of the reasons in this article and more, reading makes us feel optimistically, breathlessly, tenaciously alive. I could relate to many of the memories shared. Suddenly you need a bigger place. After that, other good things will come. It reminds us who we are, where we are and how we came here. “The patterns are very, very predictable,” Griswold told me. Reading, like exercise, offers a safe, healthy and productive replacement for negative thinking. I became addicted. Once you've got a good start, try reading for longer periods or with a greater frequency. So there it is. And once you master picture books, you move forward to children’s novels. isResponsive = true; Changing schools, jobs or cities may require you to replace old relationships with new ones, and sometimes successful adjustments are harder or take longer than expected. Whether we came to love reading at five or at fifty, the experience has become a significant and treasured part of many people’s lives. The size of the American reading public varies depending on one’s definition of reading. Reading isn’t just leisure (although it disguises itself as such for many people) – it’s learning. I've seen people put up "Ohh that's too long!!" I also don't get why people hate reading a paragraph on the internet. But a chief factor seems … “The main predictor of whether a child or an adult understands a text is how much they already know about the topic,” Willingham noted. Five years earlier, the NEA ran a more detailed survey, and found that 23 percent of American adults were “light” readers (finishing one to five titles per year), 10 percent were “moderate” (six to 11 titles), 13 percent were “frequent” (12 to 49 titles), and a dedicated 5 percent were “avid” (50 books and up). If you’re a book lover, chances are that you’ve experienced reading to be a rejuvenating activity that renews your energy and elevates your mood. Some, like me, have loved reading since before they even knew how. It’s also a vehicle for reflection. Just as in any other type of book, we get to visit exotic or interesting places. Inventory, Repricing and Order Management, Read Yourself Happy with Bibliotherapy: 10 Tips for Bookish Self Help, 100 (Fiction) Books to Read in a Lifetime. Kim Kardashian? We love to talk about them. Increasingly frustrated by that, I decided this year to ask them why. Books in foreign languages. I love reading because of the endless potential, there are hundreds of lands to explore, the past and future to navigate, and of course an infinite number of lives to step into. So don’t be typical! Do any of these sound familiar? var isResponsive, isStaticPage, host, url; Readers Read Fiction to Escape. Novels without pictures. Never miss a beat with MailOnline's latest news for women. Reading means you don’t have to be alone. Why? I'd always want to go to the library when I had the chance. I am a binge reader. They satisfy the curiosity of the elusive “What if?”. 10. Talented authors will naturally inspire empathy for their characters, and empathizing with viewpoints different from your own can feel uncomfortable. 2. It depends on the student. And that means-to-an-end argument in support of reading says nothing of the many joys it can bring. It makes reading easier to do, which means we are more likely to actually be consistent. Even if you don't enjoy reading books for yourself, reading a story to your child can be very rewarding. As Willingham explains in his book Raising Kids Who Read, three variables have a lot of influence over whether someone becomes a lifelong reader. It was also through reading that I developed my love for writing — expressing myself through string of words that builds universes around me. They called you "well read," asked you for book recommendations, and admired your bookshelf. ResponsiveHelper.init(isResponsive, isStaticPage, host, url, true); Studies looking at “family scholarly culture” have found that children who grew up surrounded by books tend to attain higher levels of education and to be better readers than those who didn’t, even after controlling for their parents’ education. Similarly, Paul said that if “right after dinner, the first thing you do is scroll through your phone, open up your laptop, or watch TV,” kids are likely to take note. You’re a reader—no tote bag necessary. Imagination. Reading isn’t only about discovering the new. Re-reading those favorite books, or reading about familiar places, times and people helps us recall the details of our own lives. When reading, you’re in full silence because reading connects directly to your brain. Others expressed pleasure at living a “life of the mind.”. They take us beyond our world and into someone else’s real or imaginary one. At first, people praised you for reading often. Not a diligent, disciplined one, but one with no … Willingham also talked about the importance, which many researchers have examined, of the number of books in one’s childhood home. Books can take you anywhere you want to go. For brief moments of time, books release us from the constraints of our own reality. We all have a uniquely valuable role in life. I've preferred reading over almost any other hobby ever since I was three or four. isStaticPage = true; Leadership Booster – I believe that great leaders are great readers. The Read-Aloud Handbook is a great book to have. People Underestimate How Fun It Is to Do the Same Thing Twice, Why American Students Haven’t Gotten Better at Reading in 20 Years, The Adults Who Treat Reading Like Homework. I cant put my book down.. Im iddicted Be the best nerd u can b(: “Every society has some group of people—somewhere between a minuscule amount and half the adults—that read a lot in their leisure time,” says Wendy Griswold, a sociologist at Northwestern University who studies reading. Some people are much more likely than others to become members of the reading class. Reading textbooks was never just a school assignment to be completed, but was a chance to expand their knowledge even further. This helps your imagination when it comes to creating and thinking. Classic literature. Discarded Delights: The Joy of Ex-Library Books. A home library wouldn’t do justice to your marvellous collection – it simply wouldn’t. “Introverts seem to be a little bit more likely to do a lot of leisure-time reading,” Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, told me. I’m surprised I remember so much of it too. Paul also advised that parents seed books throughout the house, not stash them “preciously in your own bedroom, away from everyone else, or in one [specific] area of the house.” It may seem expensive to assemble a large home library, but Paul points out that it’s cheap to buy used books and free to borrow lots of them. While reading doesn’t mean that you’ll agree with different perspectives, it does offer you the opportunity to understand them.