What was your favourite story book when you were little? The Gruffalo? Famous Five? Burglar Bill? The BFG? If you cast your mind back, was it just the actual story you loved, or was it also the feeling of connection? Do you remember the feeling of being read to by someone who loves you as they weaved worlds from words for you? Do you remember taking a writer’s words and building a character in your mind thinking: “they are just like me!”
C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia said: “we read to know we are not alone”. In a busy world filled with colourful and high-speed information to drain our time and often pitch us against others, it is easy to fall out of the habit of reading. It is easy to see it as work instead of a pathway back into finding out about parts of ourselves. World Book Day reminds us of the power of stories but more importantly, how stories can make connections with ourselves, with our past, our future and with others.
Reading increases our empathy by inviting us to walk into the lives of others and exist for a little while inside a story which is not our own. Reading also invites us to slow down, to sit still, to imagine. A book can be a joyful portal into learning, understanding and a finding a sense of belonging.
So, this week, cast your mind back to remember the stories that you loved as a child, and challenge yourself to pick up a new story and read a page or ten. You may, like Alice, find yourself falling into a Wonderland that you quickly remember how to enjoy.
