Inhabit the World you Read
(Isstories Editorial):- Los Angeles, California May 12, 2025 (Issuewire.com) – Summary: It’s not a wild fish tale; reading with your children sets in motion ripples of benefits that can impact their present and future. Author Paolo Mazzucato writes fantasy/adventures that can be a shared experience for children and their parents (or grandparents).
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Settling down with a good book may seem like an involved and prolonged endeavor these days. Compared with zipping through the extensive and instantaneous television, streaming and online selections available for narrative entertainment, reading demands more active participation. But taking the time to immerse yourself in a world created in a partnership between your imagination and the words on the page, may produce more benefits than you realize.
Research cited by the North Virginia Family Service (nvfs.org) shows that “children who activate their imaginations through being read to or reading themselves develop higher activity in the left-sided parietal-temporal occipital association cortex–the area of the brain that is responsible for cultivating mental images and deciphering and comprehending verbal cues.” They learn, more intensely, about the elements contained in the story–cause and effect relationships, action and consequence, human emotions and empathy–elements that their imagination has had an active role in creating. And through this engagement, they become better equipped to understand and participate in the real world around them.
In the fantasy/adventure, AJ and the Incredible Fish, by author Paolo Mazzucato, the young protagonist embarks on a wild and perilous adventure with his Grandpa. Through the journey, he learns to shed his fear and doubt and eventually comes to appreciate his grandfather and the joint quest they undertake. Likewise, young readers take the metaphorical journey as well and come away with a stronger sense of confidence, understanding and empathy for “characters” in their real life.
Clinical Expert, Laura Phillips, PsyD, in research cited by Hannah Sheldon-Dean for the Child Mind Institute, notes that reading together goes far beyond these immediate benefits of improving language skills and building empathy. Time spent with children while reading provides the opportunity to connect with them and talk about challenging emotions and ways of seeing the world. This connection will have a ripple effect on the child’s confidence and the way they face difficulties and conflict.
When we read narrative fiction, adventure, fantasy… we inhabit the world of the story as we create it in our mind, and our brain latches onto the journey by connecting in a very real sense with the motivation, the goal, and the emotions of the main character. And in doing so, the process of reading becomes more than simple escapism or entertainment, it becomes part of our own life’s journey. It may actually be shaping our mind to relate, empathize and engage more fully with each other, and to see the world, through a more imaginative lens, as a place of endless possibility. As stated by Jed Doherty, host of the Reading With Your Kids Podcast, “[AJ and the Incredible Fish] is a perfect book for a grandfather to read with their grandkids. You could be the one that ignites a dream in a kid.”
For more information about AJ and the Incredible Fish visit www.bepibooks.com
About Author
Paolo Mazzucato is an American fiction author and screenwriter. He began his writing career as a Chicago playwright and award-winning student filmmaker before moving to Los Angeles where he scripted various projects for film and television in addition to writing several children’s books including No One Mocks a Panda (an Amazon #1 Best Seller, Feb. 2019), and The absolutely true story of La Befana, (a 2023 holiday Top 100 available in both English and Italian language editions). He is also the author of the fantasy-adventure novels, The Gondoliers: The Secret Journals of Fanticulous Glim and AJ and the Incredible Fish, both “recommended” by the US Review of Books. For more information on the author visit www.writer.mazzucato.org
Contact Information:
BepiBooks — https://www.bepibooks.com — [email protected]
“Expanding Imaginations Through the Power of Reading” North Virginia Family Service (nvfs.org), March 9, 2018.
“Why Is It Important To Read To Your Child?” by Hannah Sheldon-Dean, Child Mind Institute, May 13, 2024
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.
