Reading books gives your child another teacher.

Love can only grow stronger each day when we are given the opportunity to get to know the other person. And maintaining a reading habit with your child is similar in that respect…

The joy of reading at the Provincial Library for the children.

Reading books with your child

Have you ever been to a cafe and seen a young child engrossed in reading, oblivious to their surroundings, while your own child is glued to an iPad or phone? This is almost certainly followed by complaints to the child and concerns about how to encourage children to read.

But few people know that reading is an action that can only be cultivated and practiced regularly. Having worked at the Provincial Library for many years and having had the opportunity to interact with many students who come to read, Ms. Do Thi Hai shared: "If parents don't read, it's difficult to hope that children will develop a love for books. Initially, before they can read, parents should read to their children, perhaps fairy tales or pictures of animals. Treat books as toys and friends from the very first years of life, leaving a special impression on their memories. This is an opportunity for the child's journey with books to continue. As they get older and learn to read, parents can buy large-print picture books for them to read, from life skills and science to history books... and continue reading together. The interaction and answering their questions brings immense satisfaction to the children. Over time, they begin to cherish books and develop choices to read according to their interests."

As for Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Hieu (Phu Trinh ward, Phan Thiet city), she often chooses to read excerpts from books for her children to write down. This is a way to help children practice their handwriting while also sparking their curiosity about the wonderful and interesting things in the stories and subsequent chapters, thereby encouraging them to seek out books to read on their own.

Provincial library staff are rearranging books.

Gift boxes of books

It's not just now, with the widespread promotion of Book Day and reading culture, that people are aware of reading models and book-giving movements. Especially at the beginning of the new year, instead of giving each other red envelopes, people send each other gift boxes of books. It turns out this custom dates back to the feudal era. In the spring of 1944, writer Ho Bieu Chanh wrote: "How fortunate it is to be able to read books on a spring day. Perhaps thanks to that, when we start working again after the new year, our spirits are stronger, our minds are like youth, with a soul that is both noble and childlike, both patient and compassionate, and passionately patriotic." The promotion of learning and reading has been encouraged and inspired by intellectuals and writers for decades.

Encourage a reading habit in children from a young age.

Surprisingly, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications announced that over 1 million people visited the Book Street (Le Loi Street, District 1) to browse and buy books during the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday, an increase of 11.1% compared to 2023. The festival organizers also gave away more than 16,000 books as lucky money to residents and tourists. This demonstrates the growing appeal and demand for books among readers.

The new book display area at the bookstore makes it easy for readers to find what they're looking for.

Gifting books is not just a trend, but also a hopeful expression of a new cultural habit in the modern era. Therefore, every family should try to create a personal bookshelf for their children with books they love; this is a great step in forming the habit of reading, finding, and organizing books. On occasions such as birthdays, holidays, and academic achievements, we can commemorate these by giving our children books with meaningful dedications.

Giving books to children is giving them knowledge and contributing to nurturing values for future generations. In the fast-paced flow of life, books are truly friends and teachers who accompany children in this vast world .

The writer Nguyen Nhat Anh, who has a talent for writing children's stories, once said: If children are not instilled with a reading habit, then when they reach adolescence, even if you shove books in their hands accompanied by flowery words about the benefits of reading, they will hardly listen.

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