I was at a library workshop day today, focusing on readers' advisory (my favourite thing). This is library speak for the art of helping people to discover books. One of the speakers was Dr. Raymond Mar, who studies the connections between reading and social development; I've been following OnFiction, the website that he cofounded, for a long time now and it is always fascinating.
I found this interview from last year and thought I'd share a little about his work. Here he is talking about how reading and empathy are connected, as it relates to children's development.
Hey, I found that clip to be quite informative and enlightening. I've always felt that it is so important to develop an early love of reading. And I can totally understand how all the many situations that children can encounter through fiction can help them be more empathetic and WISE, really -- in their dealings with others, including other ANIMALS.
ReplyDeleteCruelty is always a result of ignorance and nothing displaces ignorance morseo than reading does. [My opinion].
Cip - glad you enjoyed it! I'm inspired by the research on reading, and you are so right about cruelty being linked to ignorance.
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