What (or who) made you a reader?

[Disneefun]

You know, that's a fair statement. If they were choosing for school, the mom might've been enforcing the teacher's guidelines -- doesn't really sound like it, but when you hear it 2nd or 3rd hand, it's always possible. I just told the story about my sister-in-law's negative experience with the AR program; I could imagine her telling my niece to choose something elese -- something that'd get her AR points. And since that program pushed her to read excessively for the AR points, she wouldn't have let her get something else "just for fun" during the school year -- she'd have known that the child wouldn't be able to fit it in.

OP here. If I'd thought that was the case with these two, I wouldn't have been so upset. But they left with nothing once the kid put the single remaining book down. They didn't go back to the kids' section and choose anything else. They left right after that scene. I'd have thought that if it was b/c of school restrictions, the mom would have either taken him back to the kids' section, or told him to go pick out something else, or at least there would have been a discussion about how he was going to get his schoolwork accomplished. Instead they just got up and left.

 

[Owlpost23]

Huge readers here! My husband,myself,and our daughter (17) are HUGE readers! There aren't too many pleasures as wonderful as reading.Both my parents and my inlaws were/are huge readers.Love the written word!!!

 

[disney1990]

Every time somebody post something on Facebook about reading, my niece (who is 27) says, who reads -- nobody reads anymore. So, very, very sad. She has two children 9 and a newborn -- and nobody will be reading to them (Daddy doesn't read either).

 

[can84]

I come from a family of readers--my parents, my six siblings, and almost all my nieces and nephews. We pass books around, talk about what we're reading, and make recommendations to each other. Most of my friends are big readers too.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Chose Your Own Adventure stories really got me into reading in the 5th grade. When I really really young, I liked Dr. Seuss.

Now as an adult, I like non-fiction books in fields I am interested in. Computer science, theology, various geeky stuff, a little politics. And humor. With fiction, I'm very selective. I have to like the characters very early on and be engrossed in the story, otherwise I give up on the book. I read very slowy, and I must invest a good deal of time to read a book. If I'm 30% into a book and haven't found a redeeming quality in the characters, the book gets put back on the shelve. Oddly, I do have a degree in English Literature. But, I have a hard time appreciating many of "The Classics".

Our daughter liked reading from the get go, our son, not so much. But he REALLY likes some types of books: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, NERDS, etc.

 

[low-key]

In High School I loved the TV Mini Series Rich Man Poor Man, so I got the novel, then took Novel and read a bunch of books. I quit but started back about 10 years ago. Love a good book

 

[LuLuO]

I've always loved books. As a little kid, my mom would read to me every night and whenever I asked, but she did not enjoy it. I've never seen her read a book for herself. We didn't have a lot of money but had a library close by and went often so books were free and convenient.

My grandma read me Tom Sawyer when I was four or five and would read me whatever I wanted when she'd babysit. They did the same thing for my brother too, but he hates to read and I think he's probably read less than ten books in his life.

I did all of the reading reward programs in school and loved doing book reports. In grade school, I had teachers who would read to us in class every day. I'm sure that helped.

I don't read as much as I want to these days. DH reads all the time. We read to the kids at least 30 minutes a day, sometimes more. We are reading chapter books to DD4 and she is loving them. DS2 will sit for almost all of the Seuss books. I think we would be heartbroken if the kids didn't like books.

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

Caroline and Her Friends by Pierre Probst. I used to pour over the pictures in that book and laugh so much, even before I could read. The expressions on the animals were too funny.

I would love to get a copy, but apparently it's a big item and around $900 last time I checked on ebay. Can't afford that for a book.

 

[2girls4me]

My mom!

 

[Rence]

It was my fourth grade teacher - Mrs. Fischer. I had been a hellion in second and third grade - always in trouble. Got to fourth grade and for some reason I really connected with her. She got me reading - and reading above my grade level. I just read constantly. She pushed a lot of the more classic children's literature on me - so I read Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, Wind in the Willows, Wizard of Oz etc. The other thing she really got me turned on to were biographies. Our school library had a collection of biographies for young people and I read them all.

Like most kids - I would get in trouble if I tried to stay up late reading. I soon figured out that my parents were strict on my bedtime, but didn't really care when I got up. So I went to bed on-time like a good kid, but had my alarm set for 5am and I would get up and read for two hours before having to catch the bus for school.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I remember absolutely LOVING the Dick and Jane books. Such power when I realized that I could read those words by myself. Such power.

Then, my sister Nancy who is 13 years older than me always gave me books as gifts, the entire Frank L. Baum set. Other books too. She really encouraged my love of reading.

 

[Tinijocaro]

In High School I loved the TV Mini Series Rich Man Poor Man, so I got the novel, then took Novel and read a bunch of books. I quit but started back about 10 years ago. Love a good book

I loved that mini-series too. I had a HUGE crush on Nick Nolte at the time. Didn't he play Tom Jordache and wasn't he killed in the end? Broke my heart. I was at a very impressionable 13 years old.

 

[Lady Godiva]

I also love to read. My mom used to read to me all the time and I always used to see her with a book. As she has gotten older, she doesn't read too much anymore. I can remember being a yound child and being under my covers late into the night reading by flashlight. I honestly do not see a decline in it. I don't think I have one friend that doesn't read regularly. We are always swapping books and most of their children read as well

 

[low-key]

I loved that mini-series too. I had a HUGE crush on Nick Nolte at the time. Didn't he play Tom Jordache and wasn't he killed in the end? Broke my heart. I was at a very impressionable 13 years old.

yes her was killed by a real bad guy Falconetti (I think that was his name) and he was just getting his stuff together. They also did a tv series the following year but it didnt last to long

 

[Tinijocaro]

yes her was killed by a real bad guy Falconetti (I think that was his name) and he was just getting his stuff together. They also did a tv series the following year but it didnt last to long

There are snippets on youtube of the show.

 

[JessicaR]

My mom made me a reader. Weird that she doesn't anymore. I and my husband are both huge readers and that made both of our boys readers too. Sometimes we all share a book on the kindle and xoom.

 

[Saphire]

So I'm curious about why some people turn out to be readers and others can't stand it. If you're a reader, what do you think made you that way? Your parents? .

Side story: I was in the library the other day and this kid (he was probably seven or eight-ish) comes running up to his mother with a stack of books from the kids section. The mom starts looking through them and says, "Oh you saw this movie," Oh, you've already read this one" and, "This is too young/old for you." By the time she was finished culling his choices, she'd whittled a stack of maybe ten plus books to one. The one he had left was evidently not something he really wanted (that or he's just sick of mom's BS) because he just put it down and said, "never mind."

I thought it was so sad. Who cares if the kid has read it before? Who cares if he saw the movie? Who cares if he's reading stuff that's a little young or a little old for him? (The books were all kids books, so it's not like the ones she was judging as too old for him were things like Lolita or IT. They would have been challenging for him, but appropriate content wise.)

This woman had the beginnings of a reader on her hands, but she pretty much squashed it right there. It was just depressing. And we wonder why kids don't read?

Such a great question and observation. I was never a reader, but my DH has always been. It comes down to childhood (for us). I never remember being read a single story, but my DH has memories of childhood books and all the wonderful feelings that go with them.

Soo...when I married I vowed to change my experience, and read to my three kids every day starting at six months old. We were poor so I went to the library to get a stack of books each week, and encountered just what the OP stated. Mom's didn't want to carry home a ton of books (and have to read them ?!) so suggested just one! Better one than none, but it was sad to see their curiosity squashed.

It is an obvious secret that the world opens up for kids who read. So simple, but with profound benefits!

 

[C.Ann]

I was another one of those very young readers - reading by myself by the time I was 3.. By kindergarten I was reading regular chapter books geared towards children much older..

I don't really remember any one particular person being responsible for it.. I think I was just born to read - and I have always loved words (which is why I will sometimes sit and read the dictionary..)

All of my life I have been surrounded by stacks and stacks of books.. I gave up going to the library years and years ago - when they would limit how many books you could take out at a time - because it was just too inconvenient to keep going back every other day or so..

Aside from the people in my life that I love, books would be next in line..

I think it's sad that so many people don't read anymore.. Not only is it very entertaining, but it's a great educational opportunity as well.. I've learned more through reading than I ever learned in school - or even through life experiences..

Learning disabilities and visual problems aside, I really don't understand people who don't like to read.. I'm sure they have their reasons, but what those reasons are is a mystery to me..

The day I can no longer read, I might as well be dead.. That's how much I love it..