A generation of kids growing up without reading books isn’t just a generation that reads less — it’s a generation slowly losing the muscle for empathy. Because books aren’t just stories. They’re training grounds for imagination, for slipping into someone else’s life, someone else's grief, joy, fear, or mess. They teach you to sit with feelings that aren't yours. Without that, how do you learn to care about people who aren't like you? How do you build a world where you pause before judging, listen before reacting, understand before dismissing?