I read about King Arthur and wanted to be knight. I read about Robin Hood and wanted to overthrow tyranny. I read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and wanted to be High King Peter. I read about Batman and wanted to be Batman (and no one has ever seen the 2 of us at the same time and the same place). That is what I see when I see "reading being heroic". Encouraging children of any age to fall in love with reading is a great idea, especially when too many in our society can't read at all.
And they love: Bucees, Waffle House, Chick-fil-A, The people, the people smiling and saying hi, the scenery, the freedom, food trucks, ranch dressing, the soccer venues, yellow school buses, patriotism... It turns out that what they are confused by is people telling them that they aren't having a great time and the USA is evil incarnate.
