Show of hands. How many remember the Disney Read-Along books with the record? I 'read' Jungle Book, Robin Hood, Cinderella, Snow White....and was thrilled the day I realized I could read them myself and not have to wait for the trilling of Tinkerbell's wand:)
Whenever we'd go to any of my three grandmothers' houses, I'd beg to be read to. Grandma G had Little Golden Books and the four Disney Collection books; Great-Grandma G had a tiny cabinet full of books, plus one great big book with stories (I loved the Solomon Grundy poem!); Granny M had two whole shelves full of children's books, and didn't mind my sister or I perching on her lap, listening to her read to us.
My mother remembers me checking out 'Eddie Spaghetti' in either kindergarten or 1st grade; it was my favorite book, and think it came home with me twice a month!
When my mother was pregnant with my sister, I remember her reading 'New Brother, New Sister' to me, and me getting a red truck, just like the kid in the story:)
What's YOUR earliest reading memory?
2 comments:
As many people know, my "childhood" reading was a little more advanced than most. Primarily that was because my older sisters were a decade and more older than I. My sister M was the big reader of the family (although my sister B was the nerdy comic nut - and they both had a profound influence on my initial likes). M read to me often as a child. Mostly what she, a pre-teen/teenager, was reading. That meant a lot of Stephen King and such...as bedtime stories...at ages 3,4,5.
I didn't have any of the talking books, but I did have access to my sister's library. The first book I really remember reading, on my own, with very little help except to know how some words were pronounced or what they meant, was Carrie by Stephen King. I must have been about 7. Of course I'm sure I read things by myself before that particular book; I was always happy to read or be read to. But I distinctly remember that book. It may have been because my mother was often (very nearly) berated for "allowing" a little girl to read such "adult books". My mom's statement was simple: I won't tell her how to think or what to read; I'll give her the tools to read and guide her as she develops her own likes, dislikes, and understandings of literature and the world.
And mom did just that. She even went so far as to not ground a little girl who, when the school had "Come as your favorite literary character" day, chose to dress up like Carrie White...after the prom queen debacle. She simply picked me up from school, told me how proud she was that I was dressed like one of the 12 Dorothy's from The Wizard of Oz and took me out for ice cream.
Yeah, I may not have read the traditional children's books until I was nearly an adult, but the important thing is that I was always supported in the fact that I was reading. :)
That's supposed to read: "...told me how proud she was that I *was not* dressed like one of the 12 Dorothy's from The Wizard of Oz..."
Post a Comment