Friday, September 22, 2006

Readers: Born or Made?

I've been an avid reader all of my life. Every since I can remember, I've read anything and everything I could get my hands on. My father's an avid reader and people say I get my love of books from him. However, my father and I aren't close. He and my mother divorced when I was nine. I don't recall he and I bonding over books, which has always made me wonder. Was I born a reader? Or was I made a reader? Clearly my love of books and reading comes from someplace. I turned forty this year and my memories of my childhood seem to be getting dimmer with each passing year. But I can remember being in grade school and getting catalogs for books we could order. When the order came my teacher would put the books on our desks while we were at recess. I'd come in and see a small stack of books on my desk, usually including the latest Amelia Bedelia, and feel like a kid at Christmas time. I couldn't wait to dig into those books. I also remember being only one of a few kids in my class who ordered any books. I can remember being tutored in math as a child. I'd meet my tutor in Wittenberg University's Library. My tutor would have to bribe me with a visit to the children's book section to get me to do any work. But I don't remember the first book I ever read. I don't remember who first put a book in my hands. I don't remeber being read to. My mother isn't much of a reader, mainly because of her vision. My middle brother became a reader in his early thirties. My youngest brother only reads magazines and newspapers. I have aunts who are avid readers and all my close friends are readers. So, how does an appreciation of books and reading develop? Thoughts anyone?

Angela

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been a reader my whole life. My mother used to take my brother and me to the the library once a week where she let us choose 5 books each. Then, she'd read a book or chapter a night until the next time we went to the library.

With the exception of my brother and my father, everyone in my family is a reader. We got that love of reading from my Grandmother who grew up in the deep South. She wasn't allowed to go to school and she wasn't allowed to learn to read. When she moved up north, she married a man who could read and write. My grandfather taught my grandmother to read and she passed a love of reading and learning to all of us.

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