I did not read much growing up. I wish I would have. I was usually the kid who read the dust cover of a book and the last page when I needed to write a book report. I just did not have the attention span for books. As I grew older, though, I realized the power of books and the knowledge and imagination that they held. It is getting harder and harder to get kids to read as attention spans get shorter because of video games, television shows, and a million other distractions. Reading is necessary for proper growth, I believe, and we must not let our youth deprive themselves of books. For me, it took reading a great deal of bad books to find authors and stories that I liked. There are millions upon millions of books available and I am certain that there is a page turner out there for every one, regardless of age or attention span. Books help unlock your imagination. The written word is something that I find more powerful than a photograph, moving picture, or visual stimulus of any kind and that is because your minds eye must be employed when written words are put together to describe something. I also find that reading helps us learn more about ourselves because fantasy worlds created by authors ask us to suspend our own beliefs and accept another persons reality. Sometimes we have a hard time accepting what others see and by reading we are able to find out what the author is thinking and we are also able to see how they see world. My advice to all the non readers or parents of non readers out there is to try. Talk to people you like and see if they have a favorite book or even try going down the New York Times bestseller list, if millions of people liked a book there is probably a good chance you might too.
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