Reading is cool
Look guys, I know there are a lot of distractions out there, but once you discover reading, it’s yours forever and no-one can take it away from you.
3 Reasons why reading is mega cool
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Mega Cool Reason Number 1: EMPATHY BOOSTER
You get to put yourself in other people’s shoes. Not literally, but metaphorically. How cool is that? It’s such a great way to see the world through someone else’s eyes.
As Atticus Finch said in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 'You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.’
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Mega Cool Reason Number 2: MINI MEDITATION
Reading is an excellent way to relax my friends. I’m telling you, when I’m reading, I can literally feel my central nervous system wind down. I become embodied. I feel at peace.
The University of Sussex did this cool study in 2009 where they found that reading for as little as six minutes can reduce stress levels up to 68%! What’s more, reading before going to bed can reduce stress hormones and prepare you for a good night’s sleep. According to Dr David Lewis, reading is more than a distraction. It gives you the chance to be engrossed in the author’s imagination and dive into an altered state of consciousness that relaxes the brain. Bingo!
Essentially it works like a mini meditation. And it’s all free. What’s not to love!?
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Mega Cool Reason Number 3: SAY IT BETTER
You can become a collector of words. I love putting words I don’t know or haven’t come across yet into my imaginary word basket, like a Little Red Riding Hood of Vocabulary. You never know when they’ll come in handy to describe a situation or explain myself better.
Books I loved as a child
Judy Blume
Are you there God? It's me Margaret (and all her other books)
Judy Blume was the first author I came across, who tackled subjects such as puberty, divorce and bullying with honest realism, empathy and humour. As a child, I felt, ‘Ah, finally someone who speaks my language’
Gudrun Mebs
Sonntagskind
I read this book in Germany when I was bout 10-years-old. Sonntagskind (Sunday Child) tells the story of an 8-year-old orphan who lives in a children’s home and yearns to be one of the ‘lucky’ children, who get taken out on Sundays by foster parents. Will she be one of them? This book really taught me about empathy and putting myself in someone else’s shoes. It won the German Prize for Youth Literature in 1984.
Francine Pascal
Sweet Valley High series
My brother, who is now 53, still teases me that I read these books when I was a tween! Set in a Californian High School, the series is about a set of twins, one of whom is studious, the other mischievous. It is about friendship, romance, betrayal etc. and I seem to remember that lockers featured heavily. This series inspired me to go to an American High School myself for a term when I was 16.
Books my kids love
Bobby
When my son Bobby was in primary school, he devoured books. He particularly loved Wonder by R.J. Palacio, War Horse and Shadow by Michael Morpurgo, Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman and Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah.
Bobby says: “Noughts and Crosses was a book that made my heart beat. It was a thriller, but had romance. And I loved Morpurgo’s books because they were about the emotional attachment we have to animals and as a kid, animals are everything.”
Annie
When she was younger, Annie really enjoyed reading the Little People, Big Dreams series e.g. Frida Kahlo or Vivienne Westwood etc. We also loved reading Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo together and then discussing all the girls’ amazing achievements. She devoured the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and Anna at War by Helen Peters. The Nation’s Favourite Children’s Poems published by BBC was a firm favourite. It features On The Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan. I challenge you to recite it without laughing! It’s like medicine.
Annie says: “
Minu
Minu and I read The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell together, all snuggled up in bed when she was eight or nine. We were utterly engrossed in the adventure of it all. She then inhaled Rooftoppers and The Good Thieves on her own (also by Rundell), then quickly launched into The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Reading A Poem for Every Night of the Year by Allie Esiri together was a lovely way to read together when she was old enough to read by herself.
Minu says: “Reading The Hunger Games felt like you were always on the edge of your seat. I totally fell in love with the dystopian genre.”
Shhh… you know what else is cool? Art is really cool!
Here are some of the artists who really inspired me…
FOR THE JUST GET LOST IN THE FOREST VIBES
Winter by Edvard Munch, 1899.
I love being in nature so I am always really inspired when artists paint exactly how I feel when I am in it. With Munch’s painting, I can practically hear my feet crunch in the snow. Don’t you just want to launch yourself into the painting and get lost in that forest?
FOR THE ‘I WANT TO PAINT TOO FEELING’
Staffelsee by Gabriele Muenter, 1935.
When I saw Muenter’s work for the first time, along with the other Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) artists, I fell in love with her bold colours and expressionist style - so much so I began painting myself.
FOR THE BIG SKY THINKING APPROACH
Umbrellas by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, 1991.
I was lucky enough to see Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Umbrellas installation in California in 1991, when I was 16. The artist duo installed 1760 giant yellow umbrellas in the Californian landscape. It made me think ‘Here’s someone who doesn’t let the ‘what ifs’ get in the way of their creative dreams.’ And that’s cooler than cool. That’s the stuff of superheroes.
FOR THE SPIRIT OF RISING UP AGAIN
Ascension by Tracey Emin, 2024.
Tracey Emin’s sculpture Ascension was like a raised fist of victory to me. I felt like Tracey was saying, ‘Here I am after everything, and look at me now. ‘ I wanted to whoop out loud when I saw it.