It is said that children who read have higher self-esteem and can take more excellent initiative in their lives. Early experiences and the environments in which children grow have a long-term impact on their future success. Keeping this in mind, children should be given opportunities to read books appropriate to their age, context, interests, and abilities. Reading helps children learn and develop their imaginations by exposing them to aspects of the world they might not otherwise encounter. It improves their cognitive skills, makes them more creative, and broadens their knowledge of the world, other people, cultures, and traditions.
Books play an essential role in building friendship, diversity, and overcoming adversity, all of which help develop character. Stories lead to conversations, empowering children to express their ideas. After reading books, children are found to be more curious, and they tend to ask many questions, which helps improve their communication skills. Books inspire children to tell their own stories; they may be inspired to create their own stories, including their illustrations, in the future.
However, not everyone has the opportunity and resources to have access to a wide range of books in addition to their curriculum. Therefore having a book corner in the schools can assist children in having access to a broader range of books. It is a very cost-effective intervention that schools can adopt to establish a reading culture among the students. Having access to fictional books or books of other genres other than academic books fosters creativity in children. It helps them improve their diction, sentence structure, thought process, reasoning, and personal development.
A book corner is highly suggested since it helps students communicate, comprehend, and express themselves better. It also promotes their social as well as personal growth.
What is a Book corner?
Book corners are spaces in the schools where children can sit and access various reading materials and authentic material such as storybooks, posters, poems, pamphlets, brochures, magazines, picture books, and newspapers. It ensures that the schools have appropriate and interesting supplementary reading materials for children.
A Book corner provides children with a variety of literacy experiences which assists them in developing the habit of reading and becoming independent readers. It also provides them freedom to pick whichever books they prefer to read from a range of nicely displayed books.