Larger Than Life Laura By Dandi Mackall

Larger Than Life Laura Reading has been around for many generations. The invention of reading and writing dates back to the ancient world, sometime during the fourth millennium, and now several thousand generations past and humans are still reading and writing. Because of reading, humans are able to have a wider range of vocabulary, and are able to absorb and understand information they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Reading not only develops the mind, it develops imagination. Without it, creativity would be rare to come by. It seems that as the years go by, reading is becoming more and more a thing of the past. However, day to day activities that people take for granted would become impossible. Even something as simple as reading a label

Lara, the main character in the novel, is a character that was very relatable to everyone. She was three hundred pounds at ten years old and was bullied immensely by the students in her class. However, Lara never let herself get down. She acted with kindness and compassion to everyone in her class, even as they continuously teased her. As a fourth grader, this lesson was very important for me. It completely shaped how I lived my life. The biggest, and most heart-wrenching, scene in the novel was when the class had pulled such a cruel prank on Lara that she was forced out of the school. The entire class held up hand written apology signs as Lara left the school. They had finally learned their lesson, but after it was far too late to take back what they had done. My class took this lesson to heart. It is because I read this novel, that I realized how bullying really affects people. Although this novel was written for a younger audience, it is something I think everyone should read at some point in their lives. Reading is very important because it teaches valuable life lessons. If it wasn’t for reading this great example of bullying’s effect on people’s lives, I would not have learned the importance of being kind to everyone; no matter how they look or

For this reason, reading will never be irrelevant. The lessons gained through reading a great novel alone, make reading an essential part of any person’s life. Many people, children especially, do not enjoy reading, or they view reading as a chore. This is mainly because they are so used to being assigned reading for homework where it actually affects their grade. The pleasure of reading is lost when a person is forced to read. This is why I feel so many people find reading to be unimportant for life; simply because they do not enjoy reading and think of reading as a chore. But if people were to find time in their schedules for pleasurable reading and not forced reading, I think they would see just how important reading really is. Reading develops the mind. Our brains would have a hard time retaining information, or using more advanced vocabulary if we didn’t read. In fact, even things such as coloring an original picture would be harder for someone who didn’t read frequently, because a developed mind has a stronger creativity. The importance of reading goes beyond its everyday use in life. Reading can completely shape someone’s character if they allow it