Books, the write thing

As I entered the book-stall my eyes lit up to see the familiar titles mentioned above. It seemed that my childhood had actually really come back! There were a vast range of books all divided into categories according to age groups.

There were books for little children and tiny tots too. Most of these were picture books, alphabets with pictures, numbers and so on and also some easy to read and understand books. Some of them were so designed that the tiny ones could understand them easily if anyone read them out.

For the slightly older children there were books like fairy tales both Indian and foreign and tales from the Panchatantra, Jataka, Aesopes fables, Alladin and the Arabian Nights and so on.

Besides this the young children had a separate shelf full of all kinds of books. Most of these had the ever popular and favourite series of Enid Blyton, there were Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, another addition called the Sweet Valley Twins, and abridged versions of English classics like David Copperfield and Little Women.

It seemed that these good old books still retained their charm. But I wanted to be sure and so I decided to ask some kids who8217;d just strolled in.I approached two girls who looked like twins. They were, and their names were Binita and Babita.

8220;I love fairy tales,8221; said Binita, 8220;I enjoy reading Snow White, Alice in Wonderland and the Grimms fairy tales or those by Hans Christian Andersen.8221; Both Binita and Babita are in the seventh class.

Babita has different tastes, 8220;I like science fiction, I liked to read The Invisible Man8217;. I also like detective stories and I read a lot of Nancy Drew books,8221; she says. Both of them regularly buy books, especially on occasions like their birthday they8217;re gifted with books by all their relatives.Do they really have time to read them all?

8220;Oh yes,8221; Binita says, 8220;Our dad always tells us to keep reading what we can. That way I can keep a check on my vocabulary too.8221;

Nayan, a boy studying in the eighth is more interested in reading about astronomy and the stars but he also likes Amar Chitra Katha and all sorts of comics. I went home and pondered over the matter. I asked another older boy, Aniruddha, who stays nearby and who8217;s studying in the tenth. He said,8220;I like informative books. Right from childhood I8217;ve been reading Tell Me Why8217; and other encyclopedias- they8217;re really good and now I feel all that reading really helps me to understand my subjects at school too.8221;

But doesn8217;t he get bored of reading only informative books 8211; besides now he must be deep into his school books, classes and all 8211; does he really feel like reading?

8220;See 8211; when you read at school, its for your career or marks 8211; whatever, but otherwise you read for your interest. I don8217;t read too much but I read what I like to. And of course I get bored at times to read only informative books so I read lighter books like Hardy Boys, or I8217;ve even subscribed to Tinkle and Champak. The Jataka tales and the Panchatantra are my favourites.8221;

Psychologists say that for a child8217;s all round development books are extremely important and the kind of books they read really matter. Books have to be read according to the age groups or else they can have a different impact. Books with information, moral values, are important but so is fiction. Through books a child identifies oneself with one of the characters and learns. Its upto parents to cultivate the habit of reading in children and to encourage them.

In the long run, according to Sociologists, books do play an important part in shaping a child8217;s personality and that creates his future. If the books that he reads are right, so will the values he follows later 8211; thus leading to a better society.

All this leads to one conclusion 8211; that even as we progress and turn to newer vistas of knowledge that open up day by day, we lose ourselves in the quest for perfection in a particular pursuit of knowledge and forget the beautiful and the wonderful things around us, as also the imaginable and the fictitious. And so it is equally essential to awaken the mind with volumes of reality as well as to refresh it with a shower of tales that soothe and give it that much awaited recreation. In that way our children will not only be scholars in the sciences but also lovers of art and benefit from a healthy mind and an enlightened soul.