If you have ever stayed up at night to finish a book, or read a book that kept you thinking for weeks or that made you feel like a better person at the end, then you know exactly what Walt Disney means by the quote above.

If you haven’t, then there are numerous reasons why you should pick up a book right now. Books are splendid places that you can visit to find the greatest and most ancient riches of the world, and the newest and most fantastical ideas that exist today. Books are the friends who will stay with you quietly and give you advice without judging you. Books are the experiences that will mould you as much as your real life does.

Reading is a habit that has more benefits than you know. Let’s have a look at some of them.

One of the most significant riches that reading provides is improved language skills. Whether you are writing an email to your friend or giving a speech in front of your class, language is the key to conveying your ideas successfully to other people. So if you want to be a better communicator, start reading now: it not only increases your vocabulary but also makes you aware of how writing is structured and how ideas are expressed articulately and effectively.

Apart from improving language skills, reading books, especially fictional ones, is the key to enhancing empathy, which is defined as the ability to understand other people’s emotional state and feel their emotions. Over the last few years, researchers have found that reading fiction results in improved empathy and Theory of Mind (the ability to attribute mental states to yourself and others and to understand that other people may have beliefs that are different from yours).

It is a fact that we are influenced by the company that we keep, but we are also influenced as much by the books that we read.

Books have power. As Helen Exley once remarked, “Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labelled ‘This could change your life’.”

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island.” —Walt Disney

While we are reading, we often tend to lose ourselves in the characters’ situations: when they are sad, we are sad for them; when they are happy, we feel satisfied; when they face danger, we worry about them because we too can feel it.

Thus, reading is the best way to increase our awareness of others’ feelings and broaden our minds. In fact, a recent study found that reading the Harry Potter books could actually help lessen negative attitudes and prejudice toward minorities in real life. So if you aren’t already reading something, pick up a book right now and learn to be more tolerant and flexible in your thinking.

In addition, by reading widely you can get to experience things and situations that you haven’t experienced in real life. Writers are experienced people and their books are filled with the wisdom they have acquired through years of experience and observations.

Jack Canfield, an American author and motivational speaker, sums it up thus, “There are essentially two things that will make you wise — the books you read and the people you meet.” By reading books, you actually acquire as much wisdom as you do by meeting new people.

Reading is also the best way to release stress. It is a quiet, but involving activity that absorbs your mind and distracts you from your worries. Psychologists have found that it reduces your heart rate and allows your muscles to relax. Although there are other means of relaxation as well, such as watching TV or playing video games, reading reduces your stress levels more than any other relaxing activity.

The next time you’re fussing about the presentation that you have to give at school, or the thought of the impending exams that haunt your mind at night, open a book and say goodbye to your worries. At night, especially, turn off your TV and read for 10 or 20 minutes before going to bed so that you can get a good night’s sleep.

There are tonnes of other benefits of reading. Reading inspires us to achieve better things, it motivates us to be more understanding, and it makes us realise the similarities that we share with the world.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century, once said, “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”

If you ever thought that your problems were unique, or that your feelings of frustration, uncertainty, etc., have never been experienced by anyone else ever, then you probably need to read more books and discover that we all have more in common with the world than we thought.

However, you don’t have to read for the sake of improving your language skills or reducing your stress levels or becoming smarter. Reading is an activity that should be done just for the fun of it. People who actually love reading do so not because they think it will benefit them but because reading gives them genuine joy.

Try to find a book that interests you and see if you actually enjoy reading it. If you do, welcome to the world of book-enthusiasts. If not, then you probably need to hear what J.K. Rowling has to say on the subject: “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”

So if you’re searching for the right book, you might find the following titles helpful. There are number of classical and modern novels that are meaningful and interesting to read. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol is one such wonderful story. If you’re into fantasy, this book will definitely suit you. In addition Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White and Animal Farm by George Orwell are also great books for children as they depict animals and humans in interesting storylines.

Other interesting books would be The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, its sequel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Treasure Island by Robert Louise Stevenson which describe the escapades of young boys and explore the themes of morality, courage, freedom and identity.

If you are not that into classics, you might want to try modern books such as Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain, told from the perspective of a dog who wishes to race a car like his human owner does, and, in the process, learns a lot about human life and friendship.

Another good book would be Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs, in which the human protagonist has to compete with her classmates who are all descendants of Greek gods. However, if you are not a fantasy fan, you could try reading Piper Reed: Navy Brat by Kimberly Willis Holt. In this book, the protagonist — an active, spirited child — stumbles upon loads of adventures with her older and younger sisters.

Apart from fictional books, you could also enjoy reading non-fiction such as biographies, self-help books, travelogues, etc. For example, Mr Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis is a picture book biography that is fun to read and informative in nature as it narrates how the Ferris wheel was invented. You could also try Googling non-fiction on internet and see if something piques your interest.

Whether you realise it or not, reading is a fun, productive hobby that will benefit you throughout life. Through reading, you get entertainment, information and relaxation without even going anywhere and without much cost. In fact, books are available in various format today: you can buy them from a bookshop, or you can get e-books (or even audio books, if you’re feeling too lazy to read). This makes reading a pleasurable, flexible hobby.

No matter where you are, you can open a book and lose yourself in a new world and meet new characters. Reading is always a rich experience: it leaves you feeling wiser, happier and richer on so many levels. So if you haven’t already explored the treasure in books, it is time that you did!

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 23rd, 2015