The power of reading | April Qu | TEDxYouth@Suzhou

Why not surround yourself with books, sit down quietly and enjoy the words, the pictures, and how they fit together so beautifully? Learn from a 11 years old girl about reading.

Born in Beijing and growing up in Su Zhou, Shang Qu is an avid reader who has read hundreds of books about science, history, literature...... She is a creative thinker who always gets excited when facing challenging problems; she is a lover of classical music who can play the piano and has just started studying the violin; She is also a sports amateur who loves tennis the best and is now working to improve her tennis skills. In general, she is a dreamer who has the passion to explore and discover the world around her.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

good afternoon everybody I'm a pro eight

years ago I got the biggest and best

present ever of my life after reading

ebooks every night since I was about to

my mom opened a children's book store I

still remember the day I stepped into

the warm lovely place so trying glowing

on the bookshelves and I smelled the

scent of books and I still remember the

happy moment my mom tell me your arms

and remya book in an old house in Paris

that was covered with vines loved table

girls into straight lines time pass and

I grew from a little kid who was often

mistaken for a boy to a big girl

standing in front of you on this stage

however the love of reading has been

kept unchanged except that I don't sex

my fingers anymore while I'm reading

having the freedom to read and the

freedom to choose is one of the best

gifts my mom ever gave me also running a

bookstore is not always a good choice

for making money

mom never regret quitting her high

salary job and voting herself to the

small bookstore she is very proud of her

work that brings a passion for reading

to me and other children surrounded by

books I am enthusiastic about reading I

bring a book with me

whenever I could wherever I go I read in

restaurants while I'm waiting for a meal

I read in the Metro on my way to school

I read every night before I go to sleep

to read it to voyage through time to

visit places you will never otherwise

know to experience the world of

imagination adventure and discovery take

Alice in Wonderland as an example when I

wrote that book I saw was Alice and to

have Wonderland it's so weird

so visual there rabbit can talk

playing cards can watch and cats can

vanish at will after I read that book

but mine kept wanting to return to

Wonderland and experience all those

nonsense again so I drew this picture I

drew the Cheshire Cat the caterpillar of

the giant mushroom and the girl I don't

know if the girls Alice or myself I was

too young when I drew that picture but I

really wish that I could have lived

inside that book so you can see in the

book Alice followed aboard Alice

followed a rabbit and tumbled down in

Wonderland whereas in the real world a

book can always lead you to escape the

boredom of everyday life and enter a

magic world for example we can take the

Magic School Bus to explore the human

body or we can escape into nature by

reading fabrice book of insects we can

even travel back to ancient Greece or

Rome in the series of horrible history

with the book we can go anywhere and be

anything really it's also a good way for

us to connect with others it's amazing

how when you're reading a book on trade

a stranger next to you says hey I love

that book - this is a true story between

me and yoyo we then immediately start a

discussion about characters in that book

yo-yos mom and my mom also found that

they had a lot in common

last year our families took a trip to

Singapore together this is the sauce our

first day in Singapore we went to a big

bookstore and spent half a day there

this is not the only story

we're share fun did you know books asked

with my friends or help other readers my

age finds a book that's just right for

them we build up relationships and get

to know each other better also I believe

that when parents read to their children

it brings back good memories from their

own childhood this is a strong

relationship that can get rid of gaps in

between generations another amazing

thing about reading is

when you are reading in a way you're

engaging in a conversation with the asar

one of the authors I admire very much is

Bill Bryson he was humorous and witty

when reading his great book a short

story of nearly everything I feel like

I'm accompanying the author as he

travels through space and time from the

Big Bang to the rise of civilization his

deep curiosity of the world we live in

and the cycle Pedic knowledge of his

topics impressed and touched me another

beloved

Oscar is Roald Dahl whose hilarious

breathtaking books are so attractive

that don't even want the story to end I

have read all of his books for children

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The

Witches BFG and many others when asked

in an interview about how do you get

your story ideas the Oscar answered it

always starts with a little seed of idea

a little germ every time I get a great

idea I will pull out a notebook and

write it down or else it would disappear

like a dream these tips helped me a lot

when I first started reading I use my

idea notebook to write down my scenes of

ideas and in the story to Memphis Roald

Dahl told us watch the sclera eyes the

whole world around you because the

greatest secrets are always hidden in

the most unlikely places I was inspired

when I read this

I'd taken as advice not only from a

great asar but also from a wise man who

had a keen insight into our world just

like Roald Dahl's character The BFG Big

Friendly Giant whose job was to collect

and blow pleasantries to small children

Roald Dahl Bill Bryson Sheldon Ellis

Silberstein dr. Seuss and other writers

didn't blow big dreams to me and every

other reader I dream that one day I can

make magic of my own as a Nasser for

myself my friends my kids and other

children here I want to share a poem

I'm eight I wrote Anna Kate I made in

our class sorry above us like a bird is

a big amazing kite to win this howling

making it dance what a beautiful sight

yes what a beautiful sight but I know

making this dream come true will be a

very long and slow process I will keep

on reading and reading every day and

above all keep watching with glittering

eyes the whole world around me just like

roald dahl and there's one thing I know

for sure reading will be a lifelong love

for me I read because love me one life

is just not enough today I stand here to

share my rainy stories with you because

I believe that reading can light up the

whole world

so why not surround yourself with books

sit down quietly and enjoy the words the

pictures and how they fit together so

beautifully at the end of my speech I

would like to recite one of my favorite

poems

no one believes the whole book to ever

come from something as simple as

butterflies that don't even live that

long but on paper sayings can live

forever on paper a butterfly never dies

thank you

this is how