Picture of Winny Ang.

The impact of reading and storytelling to children

Online Masterclass 

By Winny Ang

(Child and youth psychiatrist, writer)

30 September 2020

How does reading affect a child’s development? Why are stories so important for the mental health of people? How do children’s goals, thoughts, and emotions, as they change during their development, influence their choices, identifications, and expectations in reading stories? Participants will get a basic overview of the development of children and reflect on topics of identity, emotions, and imagination in the intersection of literature and psychology.



Winny Ang works as a child and youth psychiatrist in Antwerp, Belgium. She has a master’s degree in Transcultural Psychiatry (Mc Gill University, Canada). In addition to her clinical work with culturally diverse clients, Winny is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp, as a teaching assistant and researcher in (diversity) communication. She offers several workshops on ‘dealing with diversity’ and ‘identity and belonging’. Winny wrote three children’s books and was involved in Studio Sesam, a Flemish literature project that focuses on the creation of ‘diverse’ children’s books.  



An impression about this masterclass by Portuguese reading mediator Ana Sofia Nunes:

"There was a phrase that Winny said that stuck with me: “When we reflect on a text, there are no absolute truths”. This statement is valid in all my work: in reading mediation, in cultural mediation, in the educational act, in artistic creation. To work in these areas is to dance in subjectivity without losing the north; it is not to forget “the other”, their voice, their narratives, their experiences. That’s why it becomes a challenging and rich job; that's why I love what I do so much."

Read the entire blog post here.