Children’s inherent appetite for books should be encouraged through activities that build a passion for reading. This can be achieved through active participation in literature that whet’s their imagination and interests. Whilst technology, for a time, reigned in favour against the tactile “book in the hand” there is a current resurgence for the presence of a book with pages to turn. We can perhaps envisage and hope for a complete return to the earlier pursuit of children being curled up in their favourite place whilst reading for pleasure.

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Taking children beyond the classroom, to read for pleasure at home, will provide them with tools that ensure their writing and comprehension skills soar. This naturally occurs as they are confronted with a wider use of vocabulary whilst reading and they concurrently learn to read in a way that teaches them the basic conventions of writing and the structure of language. As a result their ability to be “literacy smart” becomes evident. Their writing appears more complex, they are able to write with more detail, they use descriptive tools to enhance their texts with more fluidity and are less prone to the age old problem of “writers block”.

Children who make reading a habitual part of their journey in life employ higher order thinking skills. Their tendency to become critical thinkers, learners who comprehend at an inferential level and students who can make connections from their readings with other contexts are more inclined to find purpose in reading for pleasure. They become engaged readers and learners who look for deeper meanings in what they read and are more often creative writers and problem solvers. As an outcome, they emerge more confident in their ability to tackle complex tasks that require these skills across all areas of their school work and personal learning journeys.

Reading for pleasure is  feeding their imaginations

In addition, reading for pleasure is really all about feeding their imaginations. Books take children on a journey of discovery that is often far beyond their own realisation at the time. The connection with place, people and context enriches their cognitive development by enticing a multi sensory experience as they engage their imaginations by forming images in their minds and turn words into conversations they can hear as they lose themselves in the text.

At the basic level, we all remember the aroma of a new book, the feeling of turning the page, the way words speak to us and that feeling at the end of the book that begs us for more as we look for the next book to read from the shelf.

Books are one of the key cornerstones to a child’s language development and more. Their ability to create language through their own writing and the way in which reading for leisure offers lifelong skills beyond the act of reading should not be overlooked.