I have loved to read since the day I learned how, and my mother can attest to this. When I was in elementary school, she would catch me reading by flashlight at one o'clock in the morning. When we were told to go outside and play, I went outside and read my book. Why has reading always been such a big part of my life, you ask? Well, it all started before I really knew how to read, really.
When my brother and I were young, my mother read us bedtime stories every single night. From "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" to "The Lion King," (yes we were, and still are, such nerds that we sometimes read "The Lion King" rather than watching it on the VHS we owned), mom always made sure we read a whole book before we closed our eyes for the night. Voices included for every character, it was inevitably one of my favorite times of the day. And eventually, I learned to read the books instead of my mother. This is where my love to read was born.
When I started school, I already knew how to read. While we were learning how to spell words like "blue" and "two" in kindergarten, I was years ahead of my peers. I was reading whole books by myself, whereas they could barely get through the spelling lessons day by day. By the second grade, I had novels such as "Black Beauty" and "Little Women" under my belt. My teachers used to reprimand me for reading during class. I would get grounded from books rather than TV. I was such a fervent reader, my mom started buying my brother and I books every year for Christmas. But the real question is: Why? Why was I such an avid reader? Why could I never put my book down?
In short, it's because reading transports you. Anyone who has ever read a good book knows that it will take you to a new world, with new people and new places to explore. Books have magic, and I'm not talking about pulling a rabbit out of a hat or guessing which card is yours. Books have the kind of magic you can't find anywhere else, because it comes from your own imagination, in your own head. Nothing in the world compares to books.
First of all, nothing in the world can compare to the way books make you feel. They can make you feel happy, excited, sad, or even angry. Some people will never forget the way some books made them feel. For instance, when I read "Catching Fire" for the first time, I got so angry I threw the entire book across my living room (I won't tell you why in case you haven't read it yet).
Books can be a person's best friend. You can love a fictional character with so much passion, they literally become real. I can't think of one "Harry Potter" fan who wouldn't argue to the death that he's real, if only in our minds. I can't think of a Divergent fan who didn't cry at the end of the series (again, no spoilers, READ THE BOOKS). We, as book lovers, can love literature so much that it literally comes alive. We can love it so much that we can feel what the characters feel, see what they see, and think how they think.
Books can bring people together. There are followings so huge for some books and series that there's no way to keep up. Again, "Harry Potter" comes to mind. Thousands upon thousands of people have read the series, and new things are being discovered about it every day. If you've spent even a fraction of the time I have on Pinterest or Tumblr (even though I'm kind of addicted), you would know that there are countless theories about the series that arise pretty much every second. This fandom is so strong that they somehow convinced J.K. Rowling to write more in the wizarding world. We now have "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," which is a play, as well as another movie coming out in November of this year. Next thing on the list: a book about the Marauders.
Finally, books teach us things. "Divergent" taught me that your parents don't define you, and neither does your government. "Harry Potter" taught a lot, such as your elders are not always right, that there is always someone who loves you, and that you can survive anything. "Little Women" taught me that there are many ways to be a woman; there isn't one mold that you have to fit yourself to. Every book has something to teach, whether you see it right away or not (I still haven't seen the lesson in "Lord of the Flies," sorry Mrs. Waters).
To put it simply, reading is the perfect activity. It enhances the mind, it brings people together, it teaches us things, and most importantly, it contains magic. And magic is what helps children to become respectful adults. So please, buy a child a book today. Please, do it for the children.
