Why Children's Books Matter
By Kim Childress
Children’s books are important because they do way more than teach kids how to read—and honestly, are the reason Ink-a-Dink exists at all.
They build the brain (and the heart).
Stories grow vocabulary, imagination, attention span, and critical thinking—but they also build empathy. When kids meet characters who are different from them, who struggle, who try and fail and try again, they’re practicing how to understand other people and their own feelings.
They shape identity and confidence.
Seeing yourself in a book says, “You belong in the world.”
Seeing lives different from yours says, “So do other people.”
That’s huge for kids—especially in those early years when they’re figuring out who they are and where they fit.
They create a lifelong relationship with reading.
The books we love as kids often become the reason we keep reading as teens and adults. A joyful, cozy, exciting reading experience early on wires the brain to think: Books = comfort, adventure, answers, fun.
They help kids make sense of big things safely.
Grief, fear, friendship, change, courage, kindness—children’s books let kids explore big emotions and hard topics in a way that feels manageable and reassuring. Stories give language to feelings kids don’t always know how to name.
They connect people.
Reading aloud together builds bonds—parent and child, teacher and class, librarian and community. It’s shared time, shared laughter, shared “what do you think happens next?” moments. Those memories stick.
They plant values without preaching.
Great children’s books don’t lecture. They show. They model kindness, resilience, curiosity, fairness, creativity—through characters kids care about.
In short:
Children’s books don’t just make readers. They help make thoughtful, empathetic, curious humans. And that’s kind of everything. 📚✨
Kim Childress
Founder, Childress Ink ~ Ink-a-Dink
Author ~ Editor ~ Reviewer ~ Speaker
With over thirty years of experience in publishing, Kim Childress is an award-winning editor, author, speaker, and reviewer. She has built a distinguished career while also raising a personal focus group—her four children—through diapers, doctors, broken bones, college, and plagues. Learn more about Kim and follow her adventures at ChildressInk.com and Ink-a-Dink.com. You can purchase her workshops at penconeditors.com, including: Editing Middle-grade and YA Fiction and Nonfiction, Creating Books of Excellence for Young Readers, How a Book is Made from Start to Finish, and Trends and Opportunities in Fiction and Nonfiction Picture Books.
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