1 . Reading books is one of the best ways to broaden your horizons, develop your new interests, and grow your minds. Reading a book at any time of day gives you a brain boost and a positive feeling.     1     . Here are some benefits of reading yourself a goodnight story.

Stress builds up over the course of a day and makes you hard to relax and fall asleep.       2     . Not only is it a distraction to calm a racing mind, but it helps you obtain the maximum relaxing benefits of your bedtime book.

An interesting and eye-opening non-fiction can fill your brain with knowledge right before sleeping. Even a work of fiction or a fantasy book gives your brain a workout. Actually, a fiction book is great for broadening your perspective and boosting your creativity and imagination.

The bedtime story may have helped you fall asleep because it is part of a consistent bedtime routine. Not only can reading a book make you sleep, but it can help you sleep longer and better. According to a study, 496 participants read before bed, and 496 did not.     4     .

    5     . Audiobooks (有声读物) are a great alternative. And audiobooks can also help anyone reduce stress and get ready for bed. When it comes to reading alternatives, however, it’s probably best to get rid of the e-reader in the hour before you fall asleep. Electronic screens can interfere with (干扰) sleep patterns and make it hard to fall asleep.

2 . Although it was a rainy day, that didn’t stop book fans from heading to Beijing’s Ditan Park (the Temple of Earth) for the first day of the famous Beijing Book Fair.

This year marked the return of the fair in Ditan Park after a 10-year hiatus (中断). Despite its fame, the book fair and others of its kind have faced an uncertain future. In 2011, the Beijing Book Fair at Ditan Park, which had been running for 21 years at that time, was reported to “struggle to survive” due to the rise of e-books, online book purchasing and pirated (盗版的) book copies. 

But this year’s book fair, which was a sideline event of the 2023 Beijing Culture Forum, seemed full of vitality (活力), aiming to enhance the city’s reputation as the nation’s cultural center. Running under the name “The Temple of Earth and Me”, the book fair brought together a record 400,000 books from 208 exhibitors. It featured eight distinctive exhibition zones, including one on Beijing culture and another containing over 5,000 kinds of foreign language works.

One keen attendee was Rosanna Ho from Canada. She’s a big fan of books and book fairs. “It was very packed, and I think you needed at least an hour just to walk around and see everything,” she said. But luckily, with the free entry ticket, attendees were offered help with the routes from volunteers to know where all the different areas were. 

Book readings by famous writers, unique cultural products, children’s toys, and old books — the fair had something for everyone. That was particularly appealing. It seemed very popular with families and children, with the theme of this year related to the life attitude and personal pursuits of young people. 

“It was super cool seeing how many people showed up and how popular purchasing physical books is in this digital age,” said Ho.

6 . Science fiction is a fantasy-filled world where the impossible comes to life. In a world where science fiction fans are abundant, it is hard to escape the influence of the popular genre (类型) of entertainment— be it in the form of reading material or films. This includes the exposure of children to science fiction. Hence the effect of science fiction on children is definitely worth considering.

The main effect that can be noted is that it inspires the imagination of children. The young and inexperienced mind is exposed to the exciting world of countless possibilities. This allows the children to experience and comprehend the possible options of events that may occur, which are beyond the normal life they experience.

Besides this, the imagination of children is improved to understand the world around us with more interest. While astronomy may sound very uninteresting to a child, the possibilities of aliens living outside Earth make the topic more exciting and hence more accessible to the young thinking minds. The imagination of children would even stimulate their interest in history when it concerns science fiction related to both extinct and fantasy animals.

An enhanced imagination is vital to a sharper cognitive (认知的) ability as children are able to think out of the box and are not limited to what is normal to them in their daily lives. Their imagination would work much better as they would have curiosity raised by their science fiction experience.

Imaginative children would have an enriched life with an active mind. Aware of their surroundings, imaginative children are able to see life in a more delightful way than realistic children who may not be able to enjoy their childhood as much.

8 . It’s known that reading is good for a child’s vocabulary and literacy skills, teaching them math or science concepts and helping them learn history. Apart from those, reading has another benefit. Have you read a story and felt tears well up because of a character’s suffering? If so, that is because you have empathy (共鸣) for the character — and empathy can be learned through various fictions. “It’s a magic eye that sees into other people’s hearts,” explains author Cressida Cowell.

Research shows that human brains react differently to stories and facts. “Many more areas of your brain light up when you’re enjoying a story,” explains Miranda McKearney from EmpathyLab, an organization that builds empathy through reading. “Your brain thinks you are in the story… This means you experience the characters’ thoughts as if they are real.”

Empathy helps you to read people’s emotions and work out the best way to respond. This skill, called emotional intelligence, can make it easier to communicate and connect with people. Research has shown that building empathy can lead to greater kindness and tolerance. One study found that children who read the Harry Potter novels — which tell stories about humans fighting against the evil — were less likely to behave unfairly towards powerless groups including refugees (难民).

This theory has been put into practice by St Michael’s Primary School. After reading The Boy at the Back of the Class — a story about a boy who is a refugee escaping from the war — students in that school were inspired to do a 10-mile walk for the non-profit organization Refugee Action. Their empathy also spurred them to raise £1,000 for people who were forced to leave their homes because of war.

Reading encourages children to empathise with others, which could potentially lead to several beneficial learning outcomes, new research suggests. For society to develop, creative, communicative and empathetic individuals really matter.

9 . Four Books about Curious Creatures

In these brilliant books find out about fleas, foxes and some unexpected friendships.

This illustrated book explores the idea of symbiosis-animals that form amazing relationships to help each other. You'll learn about clownfish living peacefully with poisonous sea anemone, the frog that lives with a tarantula, and lots more.

Have you ever spotted a fox on the streets of your town at night or even in your back garden? Wildlife enthusiasts will love finding out more about the mysterious lives of foxes. As well as lots of interesting information, this book includes great ideas for ways to help foxes near you.

Did you know that wasps can build nests as much as five metres wide? Or that fleas can jump 150 times their own height? How do mosquitoes track you down? This interesting illustrated book digs out the surprising lives of some of the buzzing, biting and stinging insects that are all around.

Travel back in time to meet incredible creatures in this beautiful book. It features many of the prehistoric animals that our human ancestors would have met face-to-face in the Stone Age. Learn about the woolly mammoth, the sabre-toothed cat, and the six-metre snake that once slithered along the forest floor.

10 . A majority of the people do not read the classics. Their reasons begin with the language being too difficult and end with the storyline too distant to the present context. Love for classics is obviously not at first sight.     1     We begin as acquaintances (泛泛之交) and eventually become close friends with private jokes between us. So how does one approach a classic?

Don’t be afraid to be confused.

We get it: it’s hard to power through confusion. It doesn’t feel great when a book makes you feel confused. Every reader has to start somewhere.     2     Instead, be proud of yourself for trying, and get excited about all the new things you’ll learn.

Research, research, research.

    3     Researching the author-and the time and place they were writing about-can help you situate yourself during tricky passages. The author’s experience, viewpoint, and historical context might help you make the connections you might not have otherwise.

Just pick the book up.

This step is self-explanatory. While it’s not hard to just pick a book up, we know how difficult it can be to convince yourself to do so.     4     Take a deep breath, then leap onto the deck (甲板) of Melville’s Pequod or step cautiously through the gates of Castle Dracula.

Remember: there is no right answer.

There is no perfect way to read a classic text. There is no defining interpretation, no singular, exact answer. Your goal as a reader is to discover what aspects and insights are meaningful to you. Enjoy the process.     5     Even if your interpretation of the work isn’t quite perfect, it is still valuable!