How did you become a reader?

[weltonsfancy]

My mother used to read to us when we were little. Had several brothers and sisters and I think she used it to keep us quiet. mmm that was before TV. Guess I learned the love of reading from that. My father used to read also. I read many a western because that was what was around.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Pookeysgirl

My mom taught me how to read. I was about 3 years old. For as long as I can remember I've read to escape the reality around me. Still do to this day and I don't think that will ever change for me.

I have a similar story to you Pookeysgirl. My mom read to me when I was very little and when I was about 3 yrs old she took me to the library and got me a library card. I still couldn't really read at that age but I was able to pick out what I wanted her to read to me. I drove her crazy with Dr. Seuss books for a while after that.

[copyrite]

My mother once said she thought I must've been born with a book in my hands. Only reader in the family, but time outs never affected me as I always had a book hidden somewhere in my room.

[taustin]

My sister is six or seven years older than me, and is an elemental force of reading. My earliest memories are of her reading Trixie Beldon books to me.

I consider this to be the biggest favor anybody has ever done me. I cannot imagine what it's like to not read.

[shalym]

I'm another one who can't remember ever not reading. I don't think either of my parents really ever read to me, although they were big readers. My house was always full of books--on shelves, on tables, stacked in piles on the floor...they were just a part of life. I do remember that on my second day of Kindergarten the teacher was reading a book to us, and skipped some words on a page. I corrected her, and read the page back to her as it should have been read. That was my last day in Kindergarten--my parents were called, and I was moved into first grade the next day. Now schools recommend a child for special education if they can't at least recognize a few words in Kindergarten...how far we've come in 40 years!

Shari

[fjtorres]

I was 4 years old when we moved to Philly. The corner grocery had a box of cover-free used comic books. I had a choice of spending my candy money on comics or bubble gum. The comics lasted longer. Some of the stories are still with me. It helped that a lot of them were LEGION of SUPER-Heroes from the Edmund Hamilton and Otto Binder era.

Once I got hooked, I read everything I got close to. Fiction, non-fiction, references, news. World Almanacs (cover to cover), encyclopedias, and old books wherever I found them. Not always at the library. One of the neighborhood kids had old LONE RANGER books (text, not comics) at which point I caught on: TV and movies came from books. From there it was just a jump to Jules Verne and other adventure classics.

By the time I was 14 I discovered the Science Fiction Book club and got a quick education in the genre (courtesy of the Science Fiction Hall of fame Volume 1, Foundation Trilogy, and Stranger in a Strange land) followed by Princess Of Mars and the entire ERB paperback catalog from ACE and Ballantine. Some summers I racked up two books in one day.

Looking back, I was just lucky to run into the right material at the right age.

Anyway, in my case at least I know the afinity is genetic and comes from both sides of the family. When I first visited a paternal uncle I'd never met (in my 20's) I found a loaded bookshelf full of books I was familiar with. My siblings read, my mother reads non-stop, and most of my cousins. Doesn't mean everybody reads SF but the smarter ones do.

[ucfgrad93]

My father was a big reader, and I guess I got the habit from him. Loved to read as a child and it has stuck with me.

[DrNefario]

Great topic.

I don't really remember, myself. Apparently I always liked to be read to, was very keen to be able to read myself, and was most disgusted after my first day at school (kindergarten?) that I couldn't read yet.

[Synamon]

In the generation before the Internet, even before video games, when there were only two TV stations without cable, the public library offered a world of choices. I loved trips to the library and once I was old enough I spent whole days there. I'm surprised kids become readers today.

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!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by copyrite

My mother once said she thought I must've been born with a book in my hands. ...

Boy, If it was a hardback, that musta hurt.

[kennyc]

Grew up on a farm, rural area, limited tv (one station) - mother was a reader -- that's probably what started it, I also figured it was my way out of that life. I read the Childrens World Book Encyclopedias and the Dictionary. Also we had a lot of Readers Digest Condensed Books. At some point pre-teen I came across a copy (apparently a purchase by my mother) of Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs with a half-naked babe on the cover and WOW!

[jersysman]

I grew up a reader. It was my mom (single parent) that encouraged me. Heck, I remember reading the Dick & Jane books in school. My mother subscribed me to The Weekly Reader. Growing up in Philadelphia I had access to a great library system and would take 5 or 6 books out at a time and read them all within a week or two and go get some more.

[poohbear_nc]

Gosh - I can't ever remember not reading. I taught myself to read before kindergarten, and was the classic "read under the sheets with a flashlight" kid. I wanted to be anywhere but where I was (horrible childhood, lousy family, etc.) Reading probably saved my life - reading about different people, lives, situations gave me hope of finding a better personal situation than the one I was in.

Our small town had a bookmobile - and a very kind librarian - who allowed me into the adult section long before I could reach the shelves. And there was a second grade teacher (Miss Kettner) who personally encouraged me to read. My budget always provided for books before food. The only expenditure I placed above books occurred when cats moved in with me: pet needs > books > food. I carry books everywhere.

And now I can't ever imagine not reading. E-readers allow me NEVER to run out of reading material.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Grew up on a farm, rural area, limited tv (one station) - mother was a reader -- that's probably what started it, I also figured it was my way out of that life. I read the Childrens World Book Encyclopedias and the Dictionary. Also we had a lot of Readers Digest Condensed Books. At some point pre-teen I came across a copy (apparently a purchase by my mother) of Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs with a half-naked babe on the cover and WOW!

You ever see the Frazetta interior art for the Book club edition of Princess of Mars? There's *two* reasons I tracked down all the Burroughs books.