This 10-year-old Dubai student can read 100 books a year

Meet 10-year-old Alex, who finished reading 100 books before starting 2017.

On the sidelines of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, Alex told Khaleej Times that he prefers spending his free time reading over playing video games. Given that 2016 was named as the Year of Reading, it motivated him further to read 100 books from cover to cover. 
"I love reading books because they are interesting, and they push me to think outside the box," the Dubai-based boy of Slovakian origin said as he got his book signed by his favorite author Lucy Hawking. 
Alex read books for Enid Blyton, Mark Twain, JK Rowling and Roald Dahl, and his favorite genre is adventure and fiction stories.
The 6th grader at the Emirates International School noted that unlike watching films, movies expose you to more layers of a story. 
"I can watch two hours of Harry Potter, but when I read it, i would find much more events and situations that I could think about. Reading makes your brain active for a longer time and stimulates critical thinking," he noted.  
His mother, who refused to be named, said encouraging young students to read should start from the family and teachers. 
Reading further encourages children to get their information from different sources and to question what they read, which is a skill, she said, needed in today's digital era. 
"The habit was first encouraged by his school as they required them to read a certain amount of pages per day. Once you give a child an interesting story, they will pick up the habit of reading  throughout the years. Now, Alex spends most of his time reading, when he finishes his school work." 
She added, "He reads fiction and non-fiction and I believe different stories will make children grow into complicate thinkers and question the facts."
Alex noted that he plans to read 100 more books this year. 
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai