Books shape people. What’s written on a couple of pages can truly change someone’s life. Spending time reading in formative years creates invaluable memories and stories. In addition, there are many other impacts to reading as a child. According to Cross River Therapy, even an extra six minutes of reading a day as a child improves reading performance. However, reading performance is not the only positive effect of reading as a child. The Child Mind Institute wrote in 2024 that reading as a child improves empathy and helps individuals manage their own emotions.
ZACK BERCHENKO: Growing up, junior Zack Berchenko hated reading. “In middle school, I was able to find some books that I actually liked,” Berchenko said. He mentioned that as a young child, he enjoyed Dr. Seuss books, including “The Lorax” and “The Cat in the Hat,” with his parents before bed. However, the books that truly piqued his interest were the “Warrior Cats” series. “‘Warrior Cats’ was a bit different, but it had cats in it, and I liked [cats] as a kid, so that really worked for me,” Berchenko said.

SOREN GUETTLER: When sophomore Soren Guettler thinks about reading as a kid, his first memory is fights. “My family used to do stories, my mom would read to me and my sister every night,” Guettler said. However, it wasn’t always easy for him to pick the story he wanted to read. “Me and my sister would rush and try to pick a book and we’d fight a little bit,” he said. After all the fuss of sibling fights, Guettler fondly remembers sitting in his large beanbag chair and hoping to read one of his chosen books before bedtime, his favorite being “The 13-Story Treehouse.”
JOCELYN ROG: One of sophomore Jocelyn Rog’s favorite things to do with her sister growing up was to read. Rog and her sister were voracious readers at a young age. “My sister would always find these random books and bring them back to me,” she said. Rog’s standout childhood tale was “The Day the Crayons Quit” for its fun colors and silly crayon drawings. However, before Rog could even read herself, she loved having her nanny read to her. “I would always sit on the couch with a big pile of books, hand one to my nanny, and have her read it to me,” Rog said. She said that thinking about her memories reading with her sister made her feel happy.
SYDNEY KING: Ninth-grader Sydney King’s literary excursions were always accompanied by her dog. “My dog would come upstairs and then lay on my bed while my dad read,” King said. Her favorite thing to hear her dad read was “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. “I remember there was always the cheese on the school grounds and the cheese touch,” King said. Funny occurrences in books like “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” left her and her dad laughing. “One time my dad was reading, and then he just fell off the bed,” King said. She chuckled as she recalled this fond memory.
MARIN AHEARNE-KROLL: For ninth-grader Marin Ahearne-Kroll, reading is a family affair. Ahearne-Kroll recalls reading some of her favorite books, “Henry and Mudge” and “The Magic Treehouse,” with her family before bed. “I remember every night my parents would read to me, and we’d all read together,” Ahearne-Kroll said. She would read any chance she got growing up and appreciates her favorite childhood books. “I loved ‘Henry and Mudge’ because it just taught me a lot about the world,” Ahearne Kroll said. However, Ahearne-Kroll did not stop at just enjoying books with her family.