by Maria C Collins

Created on: June 15, 2009   Last Updated: January 05, 2011

Reading is a pleasure, a joy, and a blessing. Many ordinary people were unable to read and write until comparatively recently. The first English law requiring children, between five and twelve years of age, to attend school was only passed in 1870. In England, in 1861, the Newcastle report had stated that 33% of men and 49% of women were unable to read. The first reason to read a book, therefore, is to celebrate the fact that we have access to education, and are able to read, because there are still countries in the world, where children have little, or no access, to education.

A book can take you to places and situations you are never likely to experience any other way.You can travel to the plains of Africa or 16th century France very easily by book.

Reading can take you away from the stresses and strains of everyday life, into another world. You can be a spaceman, an explorer, a cowboy or a top detective instead of a Surrey accountant for just a little while.

Books can teach you how to do something, or about something. There are books on any subject you may wish to know about and some you probably would not. All the information in the world can be found in a book. If you want to learn about another country, or culture, there will be a book to tell you all you want to know.

Reading is great fun. Reading with a child, is a great way to rediscover that enthusiasm for the written word. A recent survey reported that few fathers now read their children bedtime stories, which is a great shame for bedtime stories are a special time for both child and parent.

Reading is non-fattening especially for those avid readers, who get so engrossed in their book that they forget to eat. However, this may not apply to recipe books, as they tend to make you hungry.

Many people in the past have educated themselves entirely from books, and one can also further one's own education; after all one reads for a degree.

Reading need cost you nothing; one can join a public library and borrow books without payment. The library has more choice of books than any one person could possibly own. In many public libraries, if that branch of the library does not have the book you require, it is possible for them to order it for you from another branch. Public libraries also have other services such as story times for children

Reading can help you to learn about the structure and use of language, which is especially important for youngsters.

A new book is like a wrapped present, you never know what you might find inside. A book is portable, you can easily slip a paperback in a pocket to read, whether you are on a train, bus, or plane, stuck in an airport, doctors' or hospital waiting room or taking your lunch break, at work. A book can be especially useful on public transport, if your fellow passengers are uncongenial, or you are just not feeling talkative, because you can quite legitimately, and politely absorb yourself in your book.

There is no need ever to be bored, when you have a book with you to read. Journeys pass in a flash, if you have a good book to pass the time. Do be careful on trains and buses; if your book is very interesting, you might just miss your stop.

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