How did you become a reader?

[Nancy Fulda]

The kid across the street taught me to read when I was three. I do not remember this. I have been able to read, and enjoyed doing so, for as long as I can remember.

My earliest reading-related memory involved asking my Mom how to pronounce one of the words in a Dick and Jane book. My Mom, who I recall was working at the sewing machine, said the word was 'laugh'. I objected rather assertively that this could not be correct because the word printed in the book did not include the letter 'f'.

Reading definitely wasn't an act of rebellion for me. Escapism, possibly. I had six brothers and sisters, and the house became rather chaotic at times.

[Sydney's Mom]

I do remember a teacher, in third or fourth grade, who had rocket ships on the left hand side above the blackboard, and the moon on the right hand side. There was a contest to see who could get to the moon and back first. I remember being on the way back when a lot of other kids hadn't made it a quarter on the way to the moon. It was embarrasing, and I didn't report anymore books until at least a couple kids got to the moon. Although I think things have gotten a little out of hand now, with giving everyone a medal just for competing, the kind of contest I described didn't encourage anyone to read. It encouraged me to do it in secret.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

the kind of contest I described didn't encourage anyone to read.

What makes you so sure? Maybe most of those other kids would not have gotten halfway to the moon if not for the contest.

[Sydney's Mom]

I guess you are right. I just felt awful, so I wanted to think that way. Myself, if someone had already won the contest, I would just quit.

[Namekuseijin]

I'm a geek so I love boring hobbies like reading, learning new languages and math

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

I'm a geek so I love boring hobbies like reading, learning new languages and math

Oh, does that make you a geek? Funny, I never thought of myself that way.

[grumbles]

My parents were avid readers and they read to me. Not just fiction but children's science books as well. I learned to read in grade one, like most others, my parents made no attempt to teach to read on my own. My earliest recollection of reading was from the summer of '51 or '52. My parents had kept every copy of the Toronto Telegram during the Second World War, from September '39 through to August '45. That summer I sat in the basement of our house and read every strip of Buck Rogers from the start of the war to the end. This resulted in me becoming interested is astronomy (and all the sciences) as well as a life-long interest in science fiction. Alas, Flash Gordon was in the competing Toronto Star which my parents did not take so I missed out on him. I'm sure I read some others but only Buck Rogers stands out.

This was also the tail end of the "golden age" of radio. I found that listening to radio drama as engrossing as reading. No special effects have ever equalled the visuals that a book or radio drama can evoke. I still love to listen to the old Suspense episodes, one of the best programs ever produced or the Ruby and Jack Flanders tales from ZBS Media.

My mother and my aunt (her sister) were enthusiastic readers of mysteries and historical fiction. They traded books back and forth all the time. Between them, they bought far more books than either would have on their own. The current crop of account-ridden publishers should take note of that. The won't.

And now I'm off to continue to read my current book -- Edge by Soji Suzuki.

[crich70]

I love to read so I guess that makes me a member of the geek group too. I also agree with Grumbles about OTR programs. There is just something magical about "the theater of the mind."

[SR Roddy]

I remember being 5yrs old and wanting to learn to read because I wanted to read all the fabulous stories in the old testament. Sounds weird, but it's true. My mom joined all these book clubs that she got cheap childrens books from and I absorbed them like a sponge. Amazingly they were not Dr. Seuss.

[Zzyzx]

I have always been reading. I think my parents read a lot to me when I was little and as soon as I learned the art myself I kept reading. All the time. I remember that when I was seven and had started school, we had one hour a week in the school library. They had a stupid restriction that said that we could not check out more than one book a week so I got my public library card at a very early age. I ate books like other kids ate candy.

I don't think it was ever about escaping reality but I have been quite introvert all my life. Books didn't demand anything, they were there for the sole purpose of entertaining me.

[Katsunami]

I never "became" a reader. I've always been one.

At 5-6, we officially start to learn to read and spell in the Netherlands, but my mom taught me the alphabet at about 3 and simple reading at 4, so I had a head start in that regard. At 6, we started with "reading levels" in school: they went from 1 to 12 in a span of 6 years. If you reached level 12 at the end of the 6th year (you'd be 12 then, jus before going to high school), you'd be an average reader. If you reached level 12 earlier, you got to do "free reading": the teacher wouldn't assign you any book. You could pick from the library whatever you wanted or bring a book yourself. Or read comics if you wanted to. (This was over 25 years ago, so I don't even know if this system is still in place. I doubt it to be honest.)

I blasted to all 12 levels in under a year and was beyond level 12 at 7 already. I still have the card with the stamp and the teacher's signature on it, somewhere. My mother collected those sort of things

There never was a time that I did *not* read. (After the age of 4, wiseguy )

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I remember vividly learning to read, when the letters C-A-T, the picture of a black cat, and the sound of the word "cat" came together with an almost audible click. My first thought was "now, nobody will every be able to keep secrets from me again!" (my parents used to spell out word they didn't want to say in front of us kids, I think is what did it)

Do your parents like country music a bit too much?

(D.I.V.O.R.C.E. - Tammy Winette)

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

I'm a geek so I love boring hobbies like reading, learning new languages and math

Yeah - I got some really strange looks when I explained to friends that I was learning to read Korean b/c I was reading a book series [by Martin Limon] set in Korea that used lots of Korean phrases & names - and I wanted to understand what I was reading. Made perfect sense to me!

[xendula]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Yeah - I got some really strange looks when I explained to friends that I was learning to read Korean b/c I was reading a book series [by Martin Limon] set in Korea that used lots of Korean phrases & names - and I wanted to understand what I was reading. Made perfect sense to me!

It's such a pretty, symmetric script that I kept asking my Korean friend in high school to teach me.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Yeah - I got some really strange looks when I explained to friends that I was learning to read Korean b/c I was reading a book series [by Martin Limon] set in Korea that used lots of Korean phrases & names - and I wanted to understand what I was reading. Made perfect sense to me!

Makes sense. They say you can really only properly enjoy Homer if you read his works in the original Greek.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by crich70

Makes sense. They say you can really only properly enjoy Homer if you read his works in the original Greek.

Going for the obvious: Δ'ο!