OPHS Library - Why Should you Read?

Why Should You Read?

So let’s start with the basics, reading widens your range of vocabulary. When reading a book, you will often come across certain words that you didn’t even know existed until then! When this happens, we end up remembering the word and are able to use it later on in life, this is useful for things like essays, homework, or even just sounding sophisticated.

Dr. Seuss once wrote, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”Children's books expose kids to 50 percent more words than TV does. Exposure to this new vocabulary not only leads to higher test scores, but studies have also found that it leads to a higher intelligence later on in life.

As well as making you more intelligent, regularly reading can also help to reduce memory loss later on in life. As you get older, your memory and brain function starts to deteriorate, however, regularly getting lost in a book may help to slow down this process and keep your mind sharper for a longer time.

Furthermore, it can make you more empathetic towards others. According to a recent study, reading other people’s emotions can help readers understand what others are thinking and feeling. This is a crucial skill that enables people to acknowledge what someone else is going through and therefore react in the right way in order to assist them and make them feel better.

Finally, reading helps you relax. After a long, tiring day it always sounds so appealing to snuggle up with a good book, there's a reason for that! When you read your mind travels to another world and your imagination is running wild, so you forget about all your worries and problems for the time that you’re away. Many people have found that they often can’t put down a book that they enjoy, this is because when you’re reading, your only worries are the plot!

So go on…pick up a book and get reading!