My mother attests to having read Little Golden books to me every day from the day that she took me home from hospital until the day that I came home from my first day of preschool / pre-k, and she decided that I was now going to read to her.

My mother actively encouraged the habit all through my childhood, and would take me to the library twice a week until we moved to a remote location without an accessible library - of course, we moved before I started secondary college (grades 7 - 12), so she was encouraging me to read as much as I could in my school's library. I recall finishing the fiction section in year 10.

So my mother was definitive the driving force behind my desire to read, as she was reading to me long before I could comprehend words as anything other than random sound. She still encourages the habit, buying me Amazon, Book Depository and Booktopia gift cards at any gifting occasion - which I'm all too happy to encourage!