Walking down the rows of shelves, some had their heads engaged in a book, some were pretending to read, and some were looking for a book. A young boy sees all kinds of books in various colors and sizes. One type of book sticks out to him,  a dragon displayed on the front. “Wings of Fire,” it says in red and bold font.

As a child, Junior Parker Neville was obsessed with the fantasy genre, finding the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland at the school library. 

“It [“Wings of Fire”] got me into reading for fun, rather than just something I had to do for school because the series is the first time I read for my personal sake and not something I was forced to do by my teacher,” Neville said.

“Wings of Fire” reminds Neville of a time of peace and a time of positive memories and according to an article from Medium, research shows that nostalgia can instill positive emotions, boost well-being, and present a delightful reminder of easy times in life.

Junior Jayden Linder’s favorite childhood book is “To Be Brave Like Ben Braver” by Marcus Emerson. The novel details a powerful narrative about finding oneself in a superhero world.

“It [the book] taught me the difference between fitting in and shining through a crowd, [teaching me] that you don’t need to fit in to belong somewhere, but you should be confident and embrace yourself or just be happy about what you have,” Linder said.

Both Linder and Neville learned valuable lessons about how reading can be pleasurable and “Medium” states that reading in childhood is fundamental in creating the cognitive part of the brain. Books develop critical thinking skills, extend vocabulary understanding, and encourage language acquisition.

One fond memory Neville remembers is spending time online, eagerly waiting for the next books to be released. He discovered the book around 4th grade and remembers checking online about once a week until the release day was announced.

“I got a lot of happiness and joy with it [the book] and always waited for the next book to come out,” Neville said. “The year I started this book was the year I got into fiction writing, I would say it [the book] did influence my earlier writing, it was inspired by the “Wings of Fire” series.”

Someone recommended the book to Linder, and when he read it, he noticed he had read it before and had enjoyed it.

“I remember I was in a moment when I didn’t have many friends, so I had time to read and when I read that book, it was a companion to me, like something that I could go to and see what’s next in a story,” Linder said, “I could connect with the main character Ben in the book and how he started as a loser and then became one of the best characters I’ve seen.”

Sophomore Jay Suhr’s favorite childhood book is the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan. He got them from the elementary school library and heard about the series before.

Both Linder and Suhr have relatable characters to look up to when looking back on the books.

“All the books mean a lot to me and they were my first introduction to a common fandom I felt a part of and found friends with and a good part of my development,” Suhr said.

To Linder, the book ended satisfyingly. He learned not to judge the beauty of reading. Like TV and video games, books can be just as engaging and their words can immerse someone in them.

“It [the book] humbled me. It showed me books can be as entertaining as video games and TV because words have a lot of power to them,” Linder said.

Suhr enjoyed the action-packed moments and relatable characters and appreciated reading as an activity. The Percy Jackson series sparked his love for mythology.

“Learning about mythology was a big one. The writing styles in the books influenced my writing style and what I love to read. The main character had ADHD and dyslexia and I love reading representation like that,” Suhr said.

Suhr has been diagnosed with ADHD recently and appreciates the representation.

“When I was reading the Percy Jackson series, I didn’t know I was diagnosed with ADHD at that time. I found the characters relatable,” Suhr said. “I never knew that what the character did were signs that I was part of the script they were talking about,” Suhr said.

Childhood books are time capsules; we hold on and cherish them. Through time. people desire the times they can escape to an imaginary world and are naturally innocent.