Who if anyone encouraged you to read when you were a kid?

[goinveg]

My Dad and grandparents started me on the road. My mother (stepmother, but she is my mother in my heart and mind) put me on the road to diverse subjects.

One of my clearer memories that started me thinking critically about my reading was when reading The Greening of America. I was really starting to incorporate the ideas into my thinking. I had set the book down in the living room as I did my homework in the back room. While there I heard my Dad say in a loud voice "Who the hell is reading this shit?!" Mom and I came in abour rhe same time and it was my book he was talking about.

The three of us discussed it and I was on my way to thinking about my reading rather than simply absorbing the authors' opinions or agendas.

[wayspooled]

On a report card one time, I got "needs to stop reading and listen". hehe

Of course, she was talking about the paperback I had stuck inside my textbook. Or the hardback I'd put the textbook's cover on and was reading. If it was history or literature I'd already finished the textbook anyway.

[ClairePMR]

My mother and her father were my key influences. My grandfather was born in 1904 and was the first member of our family to go to college. He had a love of books, reading, and learning throughout his life, and encouraged me to read when I was a tiny toddler. He used to put newspapers on the floor for me to crawl on, and he'd get down there with me and point out words and pictures. Because of his teaching, when I went to kindergarten in 1965, I was the only kid who could already read proficiently. He would buy me books for every occasion - birthdays, Christmas, and best of all, just because. I often spent summers at his farm, and could be found every day hanging out under the big willow tree reading another book! When he died, he left me his entire book collection - 1000s of them.

He had passed his love of reading to my mother, who still reads voraciously. She's now in her mid 70s and has an EB1150 that gets daily use. She's thinking about getting a Nook. My dad also likes to read, but has more limited taste in topics. He tends to stick to biographies and military themes (spent 27 years in the Army). Mom and Dad don't tend to share their reading materials!

[Surfergirl]

My mum used to read a bit, but it was my dad who instilled a love of reading. I used to get books as presents at Christmas, birthdays, etc (my sister used to complain that she got "The Little Mermaid" whilst I got books about dinosaurs!). My dad used to walk miles to get to his favourite used bookshop, and I think that's where I got my fascination with them - it's almost painful to walk past one without going in for a browse.

My best friend was my library card when I was young. We had a beautiful library when I lived in Glasgow - it was part of an old stately home, and was set in the middle of a park - and I think I almost lived there. I was always encouraged to read, except when I read at the dinner table whilst I was eating - then I got the "can't you take your nose out of that book for 5 minutes?" complaint.

I got out of the reading habit when I started working, but after I got myself my Sony (had to import it from the States when it was first released, because I was so desparate to have one), I've re-discovered my love of reading and now go through at least one book a week. Fantastic!!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Surfergirl

...My dad used to walk miles to get to his favourite used bookshop, and I think that's where I got my fascination with them - it's almost painful to walk past one without going in for a browse...

It is painful to walk by used bookstores without going in. A friend of mine and I were up in Prescott, AZ, for a Bluegrass (a music genre) Festival. Once we had heard all the bands once, we took our chairs back to my truck, got lunch, and checked out a few little shops we were in no danger of buying anything from before heading back to Tempe. I was trying to be a good girl by not going wild buying things (although I did get a couple of CDs at the Festival) so when we passed by a moldy looking old used book store (the best kind!; that's where the gems are to be found), I put my hands up like blinkers on a draft horse and muttered as we passed it something like, "Must not look. Must not go in. Must keep going." over and over until until we were safely past it. Once the unGodly heat we have been having cools off, I'm heading back up there (I'll drag that friend along, too, if she wants and has time; she also loves used book stores) and allow plenty of time to thoroughly explore that store.

I was working a Renaissance Festival in Palm Springs, CA, a few years ago and went up early the day before the Festival started to check in early (generally no line then) and scope out our stage. I also wanted to hit a museum there on the way in. After checking in and getting into my room, I waddled across the street to a used bookstore I happened to notice in a small strip mall there. Besides finding a few hymnals and novels, I stumbled on the first printing of a thick songbook of songs popular in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, copyrighted (get this) 1909! It was in fairly good condition (other than yellowed pages) and set me back only $10 USD! That is one book I will never cut apart prior to scanning, I don't care how long it will take me to scan one page at a time on a flat plate scanner!

[Redfox]

My mum - before I even started school, she borrowed a set of flash cards from a teacher friend and taught me the basics. I thus sailed through the "early readers" once I got to school, and after that I was hooked.

Mind you, my son taught himself to read, beginning with toyshop catalogues at the age of three-and-a-half, so evidently it runs in the family!

[SkyDream]

No one.
I just started reading everything i could grab or see....
It just happened, and never stopped.

[AlbertaCowboy]

Mom & Dad. Both were English teachers at some point in their education careers, and as such truly instilled a love of reading in all their kids. One of my earliest memories is of Dad reading "The Lord Of The Rings" aloud to us when I was about four. Twentysomething years later, I still remember the voice he used for Gandalf. I'll pretty much guarantee that no four year old today is going to remember an episode of "Dora the Explorer" thirty years from now...

[jalandar]

I was a problem teen in both junior high and high school. My problem? I learned too easy, and got bored.

Thankfully in both junior high and high school I had remarkable librarians (and an awesome high school counselor) who took me under their wings. The librarians setup reading programs for me, and spent time discussing the books with me, challenging me in my interpretations and analysis of the books. As a result, I was exposed to books I'd have never found on my own, and became a voracious reader from a wide selection of genres.

I was lucky, had it not been for those two women, and the counselor who recognized he needed to give me a lot of flexibility in my high school years to keep from losing me, I don't think school would have kept my interest at all, and I would be a much lesser person as a result.

[Rich_D]

When I was 5ish, my Aunt Rose bought me a "Disney Book of the Month" type subscription. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that a package was addressed to me. Other than that - my older brother always read and I'd always pick up what he finished.

[Kurt]

My grandmother on my mothers side

She didn't do any pushing but those wonderful looks and sighs i got from her while reading the collection of Dr. Seuss she had stashed among the toys in the attic - - - - - -

[EasyAs123]

Originally Posted by wayspooled

On a report card one time, I got "needs to stop reading and listen". hehe

Of course, she was talking about the paperback I had stuck inside my textbook. Or the hardback I'd put the textbook's cover on and was reading. If it was history or literature I'd already finished the textbook anyway.

Sounds like my 12 year old son. He's so bored in school he reads constantly and it's a struggle to keep him in books. He read HP & the Half Blood Prince in 2nd grade for his book report and has been going strong every since.

My mother took us to the library where we could check out what we wanted. She would let us by as many books as we wanted from the Scholastic Book Club (back when you could get a book for a quarter). I've always loved reading, but need to restrict it somewhat now or I will never get anything done.

[jessicalynn]

Both of my parents encouraged reading. Pretty much as far back as I can remember in my childhood, my parents took turns reading to me before bedtime. Then when I was able to read on my own, about a half hour of reading in bed was part of the routine before "lights out". My dad also encouraged by example, he was always reading something, mostly sci fi. My mom doesn't read as much. Like many of you guys, I have fond memories of going to library and checking out TONS of books at once, because for me, running out of reading material would have been a total emergency!
I was also further encouraged to read by the lack of video game systems in my house and limitations placed on tv watching by my parents.

[kindlekitten]

before my Dad got his Law Degree, he was an engineer for the Bureau of Land Management. we ended up in some REALLY remote places (he surveyed the interior of Alaska for 4 years, then worked on the southern Colorado River water rights in Arizona for four years). peers for me were RARE. TV was even more rare. I honestly don't remember learning how to read. my paternal Grandmother was a librarian and english teacher and I am sure she gave me the head start. I was way beyond any of the primary readers by the time I made it to school. I remember this reading program in school SRA (?) there were entire boxes of stories that were color coded based on ability (?). anyway, they were supposed to last the year, I would get through them in the first month. I also remember the scholastic book club and being SO excited about those orders. when I would stay with my Grandmother on the reservation she would take me into the library while she worked and I devoured everything I could get my hands on. one Christmas with my maternal grandparents I had been given a book, probably one of the "Fury" books and had it read in an afternoon. my Grandfather didn't believe I was reading for content as it was too fast. he read the book then quizzed me about it. I answered every question correctly. Mom had never been a reader so he was stunned. he gave me a bunch of HIS childhood books, many of which were printed in the late 1800s in London. hence my often British influenced spelling which I used to catch hell for in school

[brecklundin]

nobody directly encouraged me to read...my grandmother always got me a subscription to NattyG but I was pretty much a self motivated reader as long back as I can recall. Came from a family that claimed to value education but really never showed any indication of understanding what it was about or it's true cost and value. Might be why I was the only one with a degrees because it was never hard for me to learn...plus I had teachers who were always there to help and seemed to like that I wanted to learn anything I could.