Why reading is good for children Reading is about falling down a rabbit hole, stepping onto the yellow brick road and going on an exciting journey into the unknown. Whether it''s a novel or a poem, a history book or a science guide, a travelogue or a comic, diaries or jokes, a biography or a picture book, reading makes our children better and happier people. Why? Reading is fun. It''s an escape from boredom, perhaps to an alternative world or to an alternative way of looking at this world. It also offers children independence: they choose what to read - or what is read to them - and how fast to read it. As a small child, I remember my mum reading a book to me at bedtime called Buzzy Bear Goes Camping by Dorothy Marino. I enjoyed it, but wanted to ''improve'' the story, so I made her add some extra lines in pencil. They were nothing very dramatic, but I still remember the power of being able to somehow become part of the adventure and mould it in the direction I wanted it to go.

Children become readers when they find a book that they enjoy. And then another one, maybe along the same lines, maybe entirely different. And then another one. And another one. Once books make children happy, they are hooked for life. Nearly 50 years after getting stuck into Buzzy Bear, I still enjoy reading for pleasure every day. And for nearly two decades I have been a parent myself, encouraging my three children to develop a similar love of books from their earliest days, introducing them to the delights of wordless picture books, reading to them at bedtime, helping them through the first steps of reading for themselves, nudging them to keep going when they discovered the delights of the screen and now watching them discover a wonderful new world of book possibilities as they hit adulthood. The chance to imagine themselves in somebody else''s shoes gives children the chance to explore who they are and who they can be.

Sometimes a book can be a muchneeded refuge. If things are not going well in a child''s life and they are unhappy, books can offer more optimistic worlds where things appear gloomy but end up fine. Reading books can encourage children to consider and talk about difficult issues, help them to deal with the problem and build their self-esteem. Reading opens their eyes to the endless possibilities in the world. It can sometimes be hard as an adult to remember the amazing sensation of reading something that truly speaks to you as a child, at a time when most of the world is still very much a blank canvas that is gradually being filled in around you. That feeling that the writer, even one writing in a different century, is speaking directly and personally to you as an eight-year-old. That feeling of meeting and getting to know a character who feels like a friend or a mirror image of the person we want to become. That feeling of discovering how a hummingbird flies or a car works.

As adults, we are familiar with mysterious islands and secret passwords and shipwrecks filled with treasure. For children reading about them for the first time, this magic is still to be unlocked. But of course it''s not always about getting away. ''I don''t believe one reads to escape reality. A person reads to confirm a reality he knows is there, but which he has not experienced,'' said Lawrence Durrell, novelist brother of the animal-loving Gerald. By reading widely, children are learning to make the most of multiple viewpoints, assess them and come to their own conclusions. Books also help us to understand who we are. The stories children read help them to learn that it is OK to be curious, a good idea to ask questions, normal to cry as well as laugh (hopefully more often) and sensible to take advantage of opportunities or take up challenges, even if they can appear a bit scary at first.

If you are wearing a magic ring of invisibility, why not make the most of it by having a chat with a dragon? Books bring children not only the unknown, but unknown unknowns. By reading, they learn how to empathise with other people of all ages and cultures. How does Alice deal with an unexpected visitor? How does Badger manage the unmanageable Toad? How is The Boy at the Back of the Class made to feel welcome? This social intelligence helps them build relationships and get to grips with the nuts and bolts of how the world works. In some ways, reading is a solitary activity, but as it also helps children to practise what the world can be like and see things from another perspective, it teaches them sociability. It helps them become wiser. Reading is also good for our children''s health. A survey by the National Literacy Trust of nearly 50,000 British children aged eight to thirteen revealed that those who regularly read are three times more likely to have high levels of mental wellbeing compared to those who spend little time with their head in a book. Meanwhile, research with adults by the University of Sussex indicates that reading can reduce stress by up to 68 per cent.

And becoming a reader as a child also has benefits for your children when they grow up. Studies suggests that people who read regularly enjoy improved memory function, are less likely to develop Alzheimer''s disease and are more likely to live longer. Whatever the reason for picking up a book, reading enlarges our vocabulary (figures indicate that children''s books expose them to 50 per cent more words than prime-time television), improves our thinking skills and increases our ability to concentrate. Reading non-fiction opens up our children''s minds to the astonishing natural world, the beauty of mathematics and the history that is shaping their existence. When the right book lands in children''s lives at the right time, it can change their path forever. Simply growing up in a home where there are books has a positive effect on your children''s chances of obtaining higher education (it doesn''t have to be piles of books). But it''s also important to remember that not all child readers come from a reading family and that encouragement to read is one of the most important things that a parent can do, whatever their own level of education. We will look at e-reading later in the book, but in the meantime it''s interesting to note that research shows that in terms of how well you remember what you read, the traditional book is better than reading on screens.

I know that as a child, I loved my Nutshell Library by Maurice Sendak, a very small four-volume boxed set that included an alphabet book, a book of rhymes about each month called Chicken Soup with Rice, a counting book and a cautionary tale. I enjoyed reading the books themselves, but I also took pleasure in simply taking the books out and replacing them in their proper places. My pleasure in reading them was very closely connected to my pleasure in holding them. Now I''m a little older, I have enjoyed sharing them with my young children and letting them hold them too. It really doesn''t matter what children read, as long as they read. There are books for all of them, including yours.