That reading meme

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?

I was four and nobody taught me. I have various family member here reading who will comment and back that up. They will also tell you that they all went hoarse reading to me as a child. I distinctly remember my grandmother reading me a bedtime story, and I looked at the page and just suddenly recognized the word “that”.

I distinctly remember being at daycare (so I was around 5, right?) and the workers there not believing that I could read. One thought I was faking it, so they made me bring my Peter Pan comic book (an adaptation of the Disney movie) over to the table by the bay window. Then I read a few frames of the dialogue out loud. One still wasn’t impressed, saying I must just have it memorized. I think then they found something else for me to read, something I hadn’t seen before. I read it, and the one worker went off in a huff. I foudn that really odd, shouldn’t she be happy? Most grown-ups were when I read to them.

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?

I cannot fathom any child not owning any books. Just can’t do it. Everywhere I was as a child, there were loads of books. Hmmm, expect for at Nanny D’s, now that I think of it… They had (and still do) just one bookshelf with the same books on it all the time. I’m sure the kids had books though.

3. What’s the first book that you bought with your own money?

Can’t remember. By high school I was swapping used paperbacks myself, so…. like I said, books were everywhere.

4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often?

As a small child, I think so. I re-read Christoper Robin’s Book of Verse many times. Yes I still have it, and yes I can recite half of it right now.

5. What’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?

Probably one of my mom’s paperbacks (murder mysteries etc…) which I know I was reading by age 12.

6. Are there children’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?

The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down were ones I had no interest in as a kid, though I tried. Highly enjoyable as an adult though.

I spent a lot of time at my grandparent’s out in the country. In Nanny’s cramped bedroom, which had a bed for me (and other guests, I suppose) there was a bookshelf right by the door. It was on the left as you came in, very deep, and was crammed with mostly children’s books. Nanny’s church papers were on the top shelf. I have that bookshelf now, and I have most of the books that were in it. I wrote about that here.