The best gift, anyone can give, is a book. It can be opened and read again and again. A book is considered a child’s best friend for it can be an enriching companion of a child which not only entertains but helps a child in enhancing vocabulary, and fluency, and opening new vistas of imagination and creativity.

It is very important to inculcate the habit of reading in children from a very young age. There are several places in this world where reading to a child starts from the day he is born. The idea may sound weird but it has many benefits. It becomes a part of his daily routine as a child and it also strengthens the parental bond.

Reading is actually making meaning from what is printed. It requires that we: Identify the words in print and the process is called word recognition. We deduce an understanding from them which is known as comprehension. It coordinates identifying words and making meaning so that reading is automatic and accurate – an achievement called fluency. The whole concept of reading actually is imperative in a child’s progress.

The practice of reading aloud helps in comprehension and retention. Many a time the same book is read time and again as re-reading helps in building fluency and better understanding. Reading matures you, gives you knowledge/ ideas, builds your writing style, and gives you confidence. Reading makes you wiser and a better human.

Reading gives you new ideas and beliefs. It makes you tolerant and appreciative of others’ perspectives, helps in improving focus, improves memory, is empathetic, and above all gives an edge to your communication skills.

It is very important to select an age-appropriate book for your child. The book can be for pleasure reading, didactic, or giving life lessons to the reader. Books can play a pivotal role in giving values and a peep inside our culture and traditions. Books are a source of information and knowledge. They work as an eye to see the world and its works. They teach them what is expected from them. The more a child gets glued to a book the better it is for his personality and development.

Rightly said, by Joseph Addison:
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
Buy books for they not only make the children more intelligent by being a source of information but also makes them better human being.