How did you become a reader?

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by ApK

I'm not sure I understand this. If you didn't understand it, what were you hooked on?

I was hooked on a heavy volume titled The Gilbert Shakespeare from earliest memory. I adored it before even beginning school when my older siblings wrapped themselves in sheets and "put on plays" from it. My love for the musty smell, the crisp and yellowed pages, the pictures, and the hard-to-lift heft of the book were a primary inspiration to learn to read. I understood so little of what I read that I came to also love the Charles and Mary Lamb Shakespeare because those stories, which were better than the Grimm Brothers tales(which we also owned), explained it all to me.

Children can feel the magic even without the ability to explain it.

Edit: I laughed upon re-reading this and remembering that those children in love with a Shakespeare they barely understood were putting on their plays on a remote Montana farm with no indoor plumbing, no television or radio, and inadequately heated by an old wood stove.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Children can feel the magic even without the ability to explain it.

Cool.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by Dee Q

Those who have mothers like yours are the luckiest people in the world. It's a great thing to nurture the love for reading in children's hearts.

I agree and hopefully my wife and I can pass on a love of reading to our two daughters.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Children can feel the magic even without the ability to explain it.

Edit: I laughed upon re-reading this and remembering that those children in love with a Shakespeare they barely understood were putting on their plays on a remote Montana farm with no indoor plumbing, no television or radio, and inadequately heated by an old wood stove.

Says a lot about the kids.
Imagination unleashed is a wonderful thing. Too bad schools tend to beat it senseless more often than they encourage it.

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Says a lot about the kids.
Imagination unleashed is a wonderful thing. Too bad schools tend to beat it senseless more often than they encourage it.

My parents had no interest in reading the old and rare collection of classics that they inherited by chance. Nor did they overtly encourage their five children to read them. In fact, because of the perceived monetary value, we had to wash our hands before taking a book off the shelf and could not walk around with it. One of my earliest memories was being judged upon my ability to handle a book with care and respect.

It was a shock later to discover that anyone else had heard of William Shakespeare or Harriet Beecher Stowe or Edgar Allan Poe. In high school it was sad to see these dear old friends treated as a dry, forced study.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

In high school it was sad to see these dear old friends treated as a dry, forced study.

Exactly.
Those books were written to be enjoyed, not studied.

[LovesMacs]

I come from a family of avid readers, so learning to read, and loving to read was natural. I first started reading at the age of 3. I remember being very bored and annoyed in kindergarten when the teacher was trying to introduce the alphabet by having us trace our fingers on felted letters on posterboard. The boredom continued in subsequent years as later teachers taught material that I and a few others already knew. I learned the mechanics of reading early on; tastes in reading are still a work in progress.

[alissacallen]

I had 5 brothers - need I say anymore Life was far more peaceful in the pages of a book!

[crich70]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Exactly.
Those books were written to be enjoyed, not studied.

Ah, but the classics are also a great way to learn how to write as well. Granted that modern writers have to pick up the pace of a story whereas authors like Dickens (for example) could take a bit more time to set the scene, their lasting power shows that the writer's of the past knew their craft and reading their works does give a good grounding in how to write I think.

[Love.Forever.]

My mom told me that from the time I was two, I had to have a book with me everywhere I went; So I guess I was just always a big fan of reading.

[applesauce]

Originally Posted by LovesMacs

I come from a family of avid readers, so learning to read, and loving to read was natural. I first started reading at the age of 3. I remember being very bored and annoyed in kindergarten when the teacher was trying to introduce the alphabet by having us trace our fingers on felted letters on posterboard. The boredom continued in subsequent years as later teachers taught material that I and a few others already knew. I learned the mechanics of reading early on; tastes in reading are still a work in progress.

oh my legs still sting from the dozens of times I was slapped with the ruler by my teacher in first grade for sticking my fingers in my ears rather than listen to her sound out letters and words LOL

Her droning voice use to drive me batty. It was like what are you doing woman read it. Might be where my hate of auio books comes from.

applesauce

This discussion brings to mind a poignant memory from my early teenage years: I was sitting in a shopping plaza food court, waiting for my grandmother to return from having a necklace clasp fixed. I was reading Anne Rice's Queen Of The Damned, and was so engrossed that I didn't notice that anybody was near me until a smoothie was set down in between me and the book. When I looked up, there was a gaggle of "goth kids" at my table, and they proceeded to engage me in a discussion about vampires in literature. The most profound part of the memory is the feeling of the book in my hands, as I was cripplingly terrified of social interaction with others my age, and I found myself holding the book in a death-grip, as though refusing to relinquish it would somehow protect me from harm.

It's safe to say that one of the biggest reasons that I became a reader was to escape reality, therefore. My mother read to me every day as a child, as far back as I can remember, and I do believe that in part she did it to help me escape the domestic abuse of her then-boyfriend. When I began school, I found that I was socially crippled and naturally subservient due to this abuse, and I was thus an easy target for bullies throughout my entire schooling years. I would spend every recess and lunch break in the library, where the librarians would behave towards bullies as mother bears protecting their cubs, and I recall receiving an award for reading the entire fiction selection. My school library then contacted the community library (to whom I couldn't travel due to my mother's working hours and our rural location) to allow me to borrow from the community library, through school. The librarians, as my mother had before them, were both protecting me and nourishing a passion for reading within me.

I suppose that the passion has never left me. I've since matured and grown confident within myself enough that I'm no longer a natural target for bullying behaviour (or perhaps I've learned to ignore it and treat it as it is, nothing more than a petty power-struggle), and I no longer read to necessarily escape reality. As a result, I do find that I read less and less - I'm really quite busy enjoying reality for what it is - but I also find that my reading tastes are broadening every year. My family still only ever purchase gift vouchers for book stores when they choose to give gifts to me, and I've convinced the community library to lift the three-books-per-transaction limit for my account. While I do wish that my home and school experiences had been gentler when I was young, at the same time I realise that I probably wouldn't be as passionate a reader without those experiences shaping me the way that they did.

[sparklemotion]

My mother was a big reader and she instilled her love of books in me at a very young age. So my love of reading came at a very young age. I don't think I can recall back to a time where I didn't love reading. Every week we would walk to the public library and pick out books. I loved it. I was always so excited to pick out my own books. It felt so grown up to me and I quickly found favorites.

Then every night for about an hour we had what my mother called "quiet time" where we would read our books. This time became something I really looked forward to. Going into another world, it all seemed so magical to me and I was quickly hooked. I think my love of reading has only grown stronger over the years. My mother has since passed, but our "quiet time" reading together will always be one of my favorite memories.

[Barty]

I don't remember. I don't remember learning to read or being read to. It's like I came out of the oven with books baked in.

I do remember when I was 10 or so my dad had a friend who ran a bookstore, so my dad was able to get some books on the cheap. I read, in short order: Three Kingdoms, Water Margins, HC Andersen's Fairy Tales, and Les Miserables. (I think they sold them by the kilos, lol) Basically, these were books approved by the govt that were not complete propaganda. Now I'm in the free USA and have access to pretty much everything, so what do I read? Mystery and horror. I wilt at anything over 400 pages. Yep, I'm getting dumber.

[danskmacabre]

Most people in my family (meaning my sisters and Mother) read a lot.
When I was VERY young I saw them reading and wondered what the fascination was all about.
Not sure how old I was but probably 7 or 8.

I used to read comics and stuff like that before then.

Anyway eventually my oldest sister saw I was taking an interest and and gave me a book to read. It was called "Black beauty", it was about a horse (I think it was part of a series). Actually I hated that book and she quickly gave me "The Hobbit" to read, which I absolutely loved.

It all took off from there. The Hobbit is still one of my favourites.