Books have been around since before the Medieval Ages. In the beginning it was just a good way to keep records and to keep informed. At that time the only people who understood writing were priests and kings. Today books are accessible to almost anyone. Books with facts that you can study and books with stories to drive your imagination. As a global society however, people do not read as much as they used to. The only people that do read those books are left to try and convince those who haven’t that the “movie was nothing compared to the book”.
Some efforts are being made to bring reading “back into style”. We see it everyday with e-books available online and even touch screen phones and tablets providing book readers for those books. It hardly suffices as a book however. It can hardly replace that smell of new or old paper, the turning of a page and that sit down, lean back and forget-about-the-world feeling. Electronic books…or e-books are distracting to begin with. If you are checking your email and Facebook while listening to music or watching a video and trying to read at the same time; then you are not reading. Secondly, it is a strain on the eyes. How long can you stare at that screen and read? A few hours at best. However you can read a book for hours and hours.
The need to read should be cultured from the beginning of education. Instead of telling kids what to read…let them choose just like any reader chooses a book at a library or store. They read the title, the back-cover summary and decide for themselves. In this way, each kid gets to read a different story or non-fiction. Once they are in, then they will be hooked because all you can do once you start is to read more!