Reading is a pastime now hundreds of years old, and it has firmly cemented its place as one of the most all-round beneficial hobbies to have. Research profiled by the Reader’s Digest shows how reading can make you happy and enhance cognitive ability, but make you live longer, too—people who read for just 30 minutes a day lived up to 2 years longer than their peers. 

However, Americans are reading less, and that’s not a very surprising thing—the hubbub of modern life makes it difficult to find time to read, and sometimes it isn’t as easy as simply picking up a book. To create a person who truly loves literature, and will do so for life, work has to begin during infancy.

Setting the example

To create a person who wants to read, you need to start reading to them from a very young age. There are incredible benefits to reading to babies, of course. As the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Head Start program rightly notes, reading to children before they can speak helps them to start learning and dissecting language. It creates social connections, and associates books with learning. When it comes to fostering a love of reading, you are also helping by setting an example. Children see parents as role models, and mimic their behavior. By demonstrating reading is good, you reinforce that value.

 
Breaking down boundaries

Books have long been perceived by the authorities of the day as dangerous. The invention of printing precipitated a huge religious conflict in Europe—literacy is a powerful tool of enfranchisement for citizens. As a result, books can often be banned—and not always for good reasons. The many book bans being experienced in US schools, which The Guardian places at 1,500 new bans since July ‘21, is evidence of that. Not all books are suitable for children, and even adults, of course, but discussing the taboo that banned books have  brought, and why they might be important to discuss, can help to reinforce the importance of literature.

 
Sparking a passion

Another great way to get young people to love reading is to get them to turn their hand to it. Using inspiration from the prose and poems they’ve read in their time, putting some words down on paper—or on a Word document—can help to flex creative muscles, re-express favored writing styles and stories, and continue to reinforce the benefits of regular reading and literature. Writer’s block can, in turn, be solved by sitting down and reading some more—all in contributing to a positive feedback loop.

 
One thing that reading frequently and within a diverse set of genres accomplishes is an appreciation for art. Not every book will be to the liking of every person—even those critically acclaimed or those that have sold huge numbers. Regardless, having the experience is key.