Elvin Carter
A child’s imagination benefits them throughout their life. Fantasy novel author Jessica Cluess recently explained how fantasy novels help ignite a child’s imagination and provide numerous other benefits too.
“Studies show that kids who regularly read fantasy novels are more likely to explore their imagination,” Cluess said. “Imagination is essential to childhood, but fantasy novels offer numerous other benefits.”
A Love for Learning
Reading fantasy novels is fun. Kids can travel the world and embark on incredible adventures through the pages of a book. This reading style reminds kids that reading doesn’t have to be a chore. Reading for enjoyment may also result in kids picking up a book instead of a smartphone or video game.
Teaching Critical Thinking Skills
Fantasy author Jessica Cluess explained kids use their imaginations for far more than play. The imagination helps them create unique solutions to problems. Fine-tuned problem-solving skills can help them throughout school and throughout life.
Character Building and Analysis
Fantasy books tell stories, and these stories often have protagonists and antagonists. Kids who read fantasy novels learn to analyze characters and what motivates them. These skills benefit kids throughout their schooling, college, and throughout life.
Fantasy tales also teach kids life lessons, like embracing differences, the importance of being kind, and other positive character traits like patience, bravery, self-confidence, and more.
Superior Vocabulary
Research shows that reading for pleasure as a child is powerfully linked to superior vocabulary, math skills, and more. In fact, a person’s vocabulary at age 40 is highly dependent on how much they read in their school years.
Fantasy novels encourage a love for reading, which results in a more expansive vocabulary. Ultimately, this leads to superior academic performance, especially in subjects like English or creative writing.
Improved Reading Comprehension
Fantasy novels tend to engross kids in the new worlds they visit on the pages. This level of intrigue improves reading comprehension, even more so when kids can choose the stories or books they prefer (rather than the books parents or teachers choose). Reading comprehension is one of the core school subjects that improve through practice.
Fantasy Author Jessica Cluess
Cluess is a published fantasy author with a communications degree from Northwestern University and a certificate from the Creative Writing for the Media program. She published four young adult fantasy novels with Random House Children’s Books and had a Publisher’s Weekly Flying Start profile written about her.
Cluess also ran creative writing workshops for kids through Writopia for several years. She dedicates much of her work to instill a love of reading in children that will stay with them throughout life.
