Benefits of Reading Books
The benefits of reading books go far beyond just turning pages. They boost your focus, sharpen your thinking. When you read a book, you are consuming the content. You are reading for the brain, which will help you set up your morals and values. The same is the case with our kids. When they read books, their personalities are affected. If they like someone in the book, they will want to become like them. The biggest benefit of reading books is that they will shape your kid’s thinking and moral values. So, we must exercise reading for the brain just as we eat food for our body. 
The Benefit of Reading Books: A Childhood Story That Still Shapes Me
When I was a kid, I had this book called “The Seven Suras Surprise.” It was about a Muslim girl who really wanted to have a birthday party. Her parents didn’t throw her a party, though, and she was disappointed.
A few days later, she went to the store to buy something, and when she returned, she found her family and friends waiting for her at her house. They threw her a surprise party because she memorized a set of seven surahs from the Quran.
When I think about how to navigate my own daughter’s birthdays, my mind always goes back to this book I read a lifetime ago. I think about how this girl’s mother emphasized achievements as opposed to a sense of entitlement based on an arbitrary cultural idea that birthdays should be celebrated. (In the process of writing this blog, I googled left and right, trying to find a copy, but the book seems to be out of print.)
I read this book over 20 years ago, and yet I vividly remember the moral, the story’s plot, and even the illustration style.
If something I read all those years ago still has such a strong impact on me, it tells me that books read at an early age not only influence young readers, but they also directly affect children’s views of themselves, their surroundings, their culture, and their beliefs. It was the benefit of reading books that I comprehended many things.
The Challenge of Finding Meaningful Books
My daughter loves books. She looks forward to visiting our local library and flipping through as many books as she can. Truthfully, though, I’ve been having problems trying to find her good books that are age-appropriate and that aren’t downright useless.
There are plenty of cute and fun books out there for kids, and they serve their purpose well. Then there are some seriously weird books out there, too. Case in point – I came upon a “What does the Fox Say” book during a recent library visit (for those who don’t know – “What does the Fox Say” is a strange pop song). The entire book was just made up of song lyrics and very bizarre illustrations.
Research studies about the benefits of exposure to books at an early age are well-known. But what kind of books will truly enrich a child’s understanding of herself and her surroundings?
I understand that kids want to be entertained, but writing books that pander to the part of a kid’s brain that just wants entertainment without content isn’t the way to truly support your child’s learning. It’s like the cheap, mass-produced novels we guiltily read as adults – sure, we enjoy them, but we’re under no illusion that we’re reading actual literature.
Only entertainment is not going to help our children in the future. There must be meaningful reading. We must understand that there are multiple benefits of reading books other than entertainment. It improves memory and shapes our minds. Merely seeking entertainment from reading books should not be the goal, whether for us or for our children.
Reading For the Brain
Books are not just pieces of entertainment but also food for the brain. When you read, you are not just reading for the fun of it, you are actually reading for the brain. So, they must have something other than just entertainment. They must have moral lessons and characters to look up to. Another benefit of reading books is that it can improve your emotional intelligence by connecting with characters.
This is one of the reasons I started writing children’s books. I wanted my daughter to have books that weren’t always about silly anthropomorphized characters. It seems like books for her age are all about farm animals and bears and mice, and cute bunnies doing random things.
And there’s nothing wrong with any of that – but how far will the randomness of those books go in developing a child’s persona and teaching her about life? Just because my daughter is three, it doesn’t mean she can’t understand a story (about an actual human child) with a good, simple moral.
Conclusion
So, if we only feed our kids entertainment (whether in book form or not) without contemplating content, we’re leaving their moral upbringing in the hands of some author or producer. We are robbing them of the benefit of reading books.
You’ve probably heard it before—reading is good for you. But what does that really mean? Well, when it comes to reading for the brain, it's like giving your mind a full workout without ever leaving your couch. This is another benefit of reading books.
The downright scary thing is that what your kids are watching and reading now will still be a part of them in 20 years. Now the question is – who do you want them to be in 20 years?
