The article "Why our future depends on libraries, reading, and daydreaming" by Neil Gaiman should be required reading for everyone, especially parents of young children.

Gaiman argues that reading fiction is one of the most important things we can do. And he goes further, saying we have an obligation to read fiction for pleasure, to support libraries, to read aloud to our children, to use the language, to imagine, and to daydream.

He quotes Albert Einstein, who, when asked how we could make our children intelligent, said, "Read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

Reading fiction is how we communicate with those who are no longer with us and how we imagine what we might become.