Why We Need Stories

This isn't a book review, it's just some thoughts by me.  I heard someone say recently that we learn to read and write to do science, to learn about our world.  I agree with that wholeheartedly.  As a teacher I want my students to contribute to the world in productive ways.  However I think reading for fun is one of the most productive things we can do.  This kind of reading fuels the imagination.  Without fiction, we would never contemplate the impossible.  We would never come up with new ideas to explore if we couldn't dream them.

Fiction also has characters, people whose minds you can read.  I told a student recently that books can become your friends.  She is testing this one, and I'm cheering for her to succeed in making friends out of printed pages.  There is nothing so comforting to me as to open a book to see the same characters speaking the same words and going on the same adventures that have brought me so much joy in the past.  I find my younger self in the pages when I reread books.

There is also a study showing that kids who read are more confident.  There are many reasons for this, I'm sure.  But I think one big one is that kids who read believe in happily ever after.  If you read a lot you see it happen all the time.  That's something I want for my kids.

My experience is that children want nonfiction, which is wonderful.  Their desire to understand the world around them is one thing I love about what I do.  On the other hand, nothing brings me more understanding of myself and the people around me than looking through the eyes of a fictional character and feeling their emotions and growth.  I hope all children get a steady diet of both fiction and nonfiction.