My childhood memories are woven around colorful stories narrated by my father and an old shelf full of books.I used to wait for every edition of AmarChitra Katha, Chandamama and once it comes i will devour the whole book.
Then there were the children versions of Ramayana and Mahabharatha by the great Malayalam story teller Mali. Then goes the story of Vikramaditya, Kathasarithsagara… an endless list of great books which I have read more than 3 or 4 times.
Thanks to my father for gifting the reading habit ! It has flared my imagination, it has entertained me, it has educated me, it has taught me to concentrate, articulate,and to think!
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body”
… thus goes a famous proverb about books.
A book can be a child’s best friend. Child psychologists have often stressed the importance of good books in the early character formation of a child. Benefits of book reading are multiple. A good book can transform a child’s reading experience into a very vivid memorable one.
When the child reads Alice in the wonderland, he/she would also trot along with Alice to meet the Queen of Hearts.They would travel to places with Sindbad and learn to respect parents from the story of Shravan. Each story in Panchatantra instinctively tells them how to deal with various situations in life. The little one’s circle of knowledge and power to imagine increases.
Book reading improves the concentration levels of the child and also expand their attention span. Improvement in language is another direct effect of book reading. The vocabulary of the child will improve with every new word he tries to understand in the book he reads on. Reading a book aloud can be a good exercise for the improvement of speech and lays the foundation stone for soft skill development.
Also the child learns the basics of listening here.
However, it is very very important that the child gets the right kind of books to read. A wrong book can forever damage the child’s future.
Hence parents play a definite role in developing the book reading as a habit. The parent also should read, to set a role model for the child.
Bedtime story telling is an excellent time to develop the bond with your child. Bed time stories also flares the imagination of the child, works in the sub-conscious mind of the child and leaves a deep impact in him.
It is important for us to have a small library with a variety of books at home. Add a book to the collection with every milestone in his/her life. As the child grows he will thank you for the greatest ever gift you have given him, his books and the Reading habit. And once they grow, they will start adding their own books to the collection. Even then the hardbound story books which they enjoyed as toddlers will hold a special place in their heart.
So coming back to the title … does e-book has a smell you can nostalgically conjure up???
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