There is nothing quite like seeing a child fully engrossed in a book. In this era of smartphones, tablets and other screens, the sight of a child escaping into the words and pictures of a good, old-fashioned book is a reassuring reminder that literature still has the ability to nurture young minds.
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To see those young imaginations celebrating in costume their favourite characters from the books they read or those read to them during Book Week is delightful. To know parents are involved in helping their children dress up as their favourite characters is just as pleasing.
The effort put into Book Week – reflected in our very colourful photo pages – tells us the digital doomsaying a few years back about the demise of the book was hokum. Books are here to stay and for children and parents, that’s a great thing.
Reading to young children has a host of benefits.
Quiet, close time with a shared focus, it helps cement that parental bond. It’s part of nurturing. It provides for the building blocks for academic achievement. Children who engage with books and reading before they attend school tend to do better. Language skills are developed, the structure of written words is learnt, and communication and thinking skills are honed. Reading prepares children for the world.
Most important, reading and engaging with books is fun.
Remember some years back, when e-readers started to flood the market? This was meant to herald the demise of the book as we knew it. It didn’t happen. While they’re convenient when you’re travelling and don’t want to be weighed down with airport blockbusters, there’s something cold and clinical about them.
They don’t have that new book smell and the tactile pleasure of turning the page as you’re drawn further into the adventure. And reading them in the bath is not recommended.
Bookstores, also once slated for digital destruction, remain one of life’s enduring pleasures. They’re quiet places, refuges from the insistent, inane chatter of the modern world, where you can lose yourself in a universe of possibility and escape. Libraries are the same. A world without them would be bleak indeed.
So, back to Book Week. The effort put in by schools, students and parents ensures the magic of reading and books will be shared by future generations.