Merak Magazine

It is reading that saves minds, souls and lives.

When Rachel Zegler, a 17-year-old high school student from New Jersey, posted a tweet of her singing a pitch perfect cover of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow” back in December, she went viral. To date, the 30-second clip has over 83,000 retweets and 335,000 likes. Now, just a month later, the teen has been chosen to star opposite Ansel Elgort as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story. Wondering who Rachel Zegler is before you hit the theaters? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered: Here’s everything you need to know about the budding actress before she makes…

Children’s Reading | Change the Story

Why reading is important for babies and young children Sharing stories, talking and singing every day helps your child’s development in lots of ways. Reading and sharing stories can: help your child get to know sounds, words and language, and develop early literacy skills learn to value books and stories spark your child’s imagination and stimulate curiosity help your child’s brain, social skills and communication skills develop help your child learn the difference between ‘real’ and ‘make-believe’ help your child understand change and new or frightening events, and also the strong emotions that can go along with them. Sharing stories with…