Christmas is a great time to foster reading—among all age groups. With texting, twitter, and other social media platforms, too many of us are becoming accustomed to reading only short messages. Reading full-length biographies, historical accounts, historical fiction, adventure, mysteries, and other genres expands our thinking in ways short messages will never do. Why not give the gift of a carefully selected book this Christmas for many if not everyone on your list—print copies or digital if someone simply can’t give up the technology.

Thomas Jefferson loved books. He had an extensive library and once said, I cannot live without books” Jefferson was on to something. Books and reading should be highly valued. Good books feed a child’s sense of wonder, a teen boy’s sense of adventure, a dad or mom’s or a senior’s sense of historical events or persons. Consider the gift of reading this Christmas!