Idaho Family Reading Week aims to bring families together through books

Today is the beginning of Idaho Family Reading Week.

For those who love reading, it is a way to travel to a different place.

“I really like reading because it’s a way to escape from the struggles you’re dealing with in the real world,” Abigail Spiers, a sixth grade student, said.

Her classmate agreed.

“It’s really fun because even though you’re sitting down, you’re, like, inside the world, experiencing what the character does,” Connor Evans, also a sixth grade student, said. “And I don’t think I’m gonna go fight a monster anytime soon.”

Idaho Family Reading Week is all about bringing families together and reminding them about the importance of reading.

“I can tell when they get to school which kids are readers and have reading at home and which ones don’t’,” Jennifer Horrocks, librarian at Mountain Valley Elementary School, said. “And we try very hard to encourage the one’s who don’t have reading at home. It does make a huge difference with their grades. It increases their vocabulary. It makes them more articulate as students. It helps them in English, any writing that they have to do builds off of those skills.”

Reading as a family is a great way to bond.

“Anytime that you can spend together, shared time, shared experiences, it really benefits the kids,” Horrocks said. “It gives you more things to talk about with your kids.”

Even if you don’t like reading, this week is a time to give it another shot.

“Reading is a good thing,” Spiers said. “Even if you hate it, you should at least try because if you like movies there’s junior novelizations, there’s comic books. There’s always something out there you might like. So, never give up on reading.”

This year’s Family Reading Week theme is “Tell Me A Tale.”