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READING...why we read

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5 Ways Reading Matters to Kids’ Health. Reading and health go hand in hand throughout life.

5 Ways Reading Matters to Kids’ Health

The road to becoming a happy reader and healthy kid starts at birth, and the benefits last a lifetime. 1. Reading is the single strongest predictor of adult health status. Research shows that your reading level is a powerful predictor of your health as an adult. Reading for pleasure boosts children academically and emotionally. What is happening?

Reading for pleasure boosts children academically and emotionally

A key finding in the recently published literature review — The impact of reading for pleasure and empowerment — is that reading for enjoyment not only boosts educational outcomes for children, but also enhances their emotional understanding. The study, which was commissioned by The Reading Agency in the United Kingdom, found that reading for pleasure increases empathy, enriches social relationships, reduces symptoms of depression and instils an overall sense of wellbeing. How reading a little each week is a form of life support. This article was written by Josie Billington, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director at the Centre for Research into Reading, Literature and Society at University of Liverpool in the UK.

How reading a little each week is a form of life support

The article was originally published on the Conversation. One in three adults in the UK – or 16 million people – rarely or never read for pleasure. A new survey of 4,164 adults, including both those who read and those who don’t, found that adults who read for just 20 minutes a week are 20 percent more likely to feel satisfied with their lives. Our research was not focused on people who are unable to read as a result of literacy difficulties or other impairments. Reading for pleasure boosts self-esteem. People who read regularly for pleasure have greater levels of self-esteem, are less stressed, and can cope better with difficult situations than lapsed or non-readers, new research for Galaxy Quick Reads has found.

Reading for pleasure boosts self-esteem

While the research, carried out by Dr Josie Billington at the University of Liverpool, found that 58% of people read regularly, it found that 16m adults in the UK – almost a third of the UK adult population – are lapsed readers, who used to read but either rarely read now or don’t read at all. The research’s release on 5th February coincided with the released of the 2015 Galaxy Quick Reads’ titles - Dead Man Talking by Roddy Doyle, Paris for (Two) One by Jojo Moyes, Red for Revenge by Fanny Blake, Pictures or it Didn’t Happen by Sophie Hannah, Out of the Dark by Adele Geras, and Street Cat Bob by James Bowen today (5th February). Lapsed readers said that barriers to reading again included lack of time and of enjoyment. C.S. Lewis on Why We Read. “A book is a heart that only beats in the chest of another,” Rebecca Solnit wrote in her gorgeous contemplation of why we read.

C.S. Lewis on Why We Read

A century earlier, Kafka asserted in a memorable letter to his childhood friend that “a book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.” Indeed, the question of what books do for the human soul and spirit stretches from ancient meditations to contemporary theories about the four psychological functions of reading. But hardly anyone has articulated the enchantment of literature more succinctly yet beautifully than C.S.

Lewis (November 29, 1898–November 22, 1963), a man deeply invested in the authenticity of the written word. In his 1961 book An Experiment in Criticism (public library), he considers literatures’s immense power to expand our inner worlds: Ten Minutes a Day Could Change Everything. How Does Your Brain Learn To Read? Lisa Bu: How books can open your mind.