It seems that you can hardly go to any bookstore without encountering Charles Dickens. From Oliver Twist to A Tale of Two Cites, Dickens’ works still enjoy great popularity today and are placed on notable shelves.

As someone who teaches Dickens, the question of why we still read him is often on my min. Nearly 10 years ago, I told my students that Dickens, works started crazes in Victorian readers. Then a hand shot up in the middle of the room. “But why should we still read his stuff?” A student asked. I was speechless because I had never considered the question myself. The answer I gave was only acceptable. “Because he teaches you how to think,” I said.

The question annoyed me for years, and for years I told myself answers, but never with complete satisfaction. We read Dickens because he not only was a man of his own times, but also is a man for our times. We read Dickens because his exploration of the human mind is deep. We read Dickens because we can learn from the experiences of his characters. These are all wonderful reasons, but not exactly the reasons why I read Dickens.

My search for an answer continued in vain, until one day a text message came from a student of mine. “We still read Dickens’ novels,” she wrote, “because they tell us why we are what we are.” Simple as it was, that was the explanation I had thought for years.

Like most people, I think I knew who I was without knowing it. I was Oliver Twist, always wanting and asking for more. I was Nicholas Nickleby, convinced that my father was watching me from beyond the grave. I was Pip, in love with someone far beyond my reach. I was all of these characters, and I began to understand more about why I was who I was because Dickens had told me so much about human beings. Dickens shines a light on who we are during the best and worst of times. That’s why we still need to read him today.

Every night when I was a child, my father would sit in the old chair next to the bed to read a story created by his words and my imagination. The unique voice he used for each character extremely amused me, and I would laugh so hard that sometimes I missed the plot and would beg him to start the page over again. My dad’s storytelling developed my language and vocabulary, teaching me creativity and empathy.

My dad encouraged me to love books long before I learned to read. At the second grade, I still struggled to read full sentences. By the fifth grade, I was suddenly able to finish reading chapter books in a matter of days. Even after I was reading on my own, I’d still ask Dad to sit in the old chair and read me a chapter before bed. His words still had the power to touch me, but more than that, when Dad read to me, he was showing me how much he loved me.

I have loved telling stories since I was a child, whether it was with my friends gathered around me at rest or on stage in a play. I’ve been lucky to find ways to fit stories and books into my professional life — from my first job as a theater camp counselor (辅导员) to being a high school English teacher in Malaysia. During my time as a preschool teacher, I would sing songs, talk about colors and feelings, count together, and move our bodies like the characters did in the stories with my students.

When I got to Tandem, I knew my favorite part of the job would be the interactive Read Alouds. So I started the preparation for it. I would practice my books at home and try out different voices for each character the night before. The day before I visited my first Tandem classroom, I drove to my parents’ house and asked Dad to be my audience. He gave me his full attention, smiling through the whole book.

How do you deal with hunger of your stomach？ Eat your favorite meal and keep quiet after that？【小题1】 But it never lets you know， because you keep it busy thinking about your friends or favorite stars.So it silently serves your needs and never lets itself grow.When mind loses its freedom to grow， creativity sets a full stop.This might be the reason why we all sometimes think “What happens next？”， “Why can’t I think？”

【小题2】 Why reading but not watching TV？ It is because reading has been the most educative tool used by us right from childhood.Since it develops other aspects of our life， we have to get help from reading.

Once you read a book， you run your eyes through the lines and your mind tries to explain something to you. 【小题3】   Now this seed is unknowingly used by you to develop new ideas.If it is used many times， the same seed can give you great help to relate a lot of things， which you would have never thought of in your wildest dreams！

This is nothing but creativity. 【小题4】 Within no time you can start talking with your friends in English or any other language and never run out of the right words.

So guys， do give food to your thoughts by reading， reading and more reading. 【小题5】   Go and grab a book！