When we look back into history, the activity of reading will be there, sparkling vivaciously. The ancient human beings wanted reasons for everything happening around them. Thus they attributed divinities to everything they saw, like rain, thunder, crops and even animals. The cave paintings found in various parts of the world bear testimony to the creative curiosity of human beings. Most of them depict animals and natural phenomena.
When mankind became much more developed, in the fifteenth century, there happened one of the biggest moments in human evolution- the discovery of the printing press. The collection and preservation of manuscripts were difficult before that but became much easier now. Humans, who followed the oral tradition before the arrival of the printing press, soon began to depend on it.
So, we can see human beings like stories. The folklore traditions of different civilizations say the same. innate intellectual curiosities can sometimes only be quenched by stories. And stories can play another significant role as well- formation of a healthy self- image.
How is that? This is the million-dollar question. Have you ever noticed when children listening to stories with abounding curiosity? This is because stories satisfy their intellectual curiosities. This blog will look at how reading as an activity can help children develop into healthy individuals?
Children learn the art of socialization in seemingly peculiar ways. As most of the rules of socialization are unwritten, they learn more about it using a psychological process commonly known as ‘mirroring’. This is observing the actions and behaviours of adults. In this way, books can be of significant help to children, as from the characters and the cultural milieu children can learn a lot.
Now reading, if neatly inculcated can help in developing a healthy self- image for children. So in that aspect, what types of books they should read? This blog will suggest some of the books here-:
1. One thousand and one nights (Written in Classic Arabic, this is a timeless classic. Told by the doomed princess Scheherazade, the main speciality of these stories is the children can easily interact with many of the characters or they act as a creative stimulus. For example, they can fly on the flying carpet with Aladdin the genie, laugh at the miserliness of Qasim, and go on voyages with Sinbad the sailor)
2. Works of HG Wells (Wells was a pioneer of science fiction. He thought and wrote ahead of his time about ideas such as time travelling)
3. Works of Edgar Allan Poe ( His eerie, mysterious world will attract children)
4. Works of Mark Twain ( He depicted an America before the great depression struck)
5. Works of Charles Dickens ( He depicted a vivacious Victorian London)
6. The Panchatantra Tales ( Indian moral fables)
7. The Jataka Tales ( Indian moral fables)
8. The Birbal Tales ( Birbal was a courtier of Akbar, the legendary Mughal emperor. Most of the stories are funny and Birbal appears as intelligent and pragmatic)
9. The Tenali Raman Tales ( Tenali Raman was a courtier of Vijayadevaraya, the mighty emperor of the Vijaya Nagar Empire. Most of the stories are funny)
Children are our hopes for a better tomorrow. By inculcating the habit of reading, we are also doing our part in shaping up the upcoming generations.
