As I reflect on my childhood reading experiences, I remember my parents reading Little Golden books to me.
Our weekly Friday night shopping excursion always ended with a new book bought at the grocery store. My favorite books during my early childhood
consisted of a set of Childcraft Encyclopedias which made me feel as important as my older siblings. I especially liked the book containing nursery rhymes. I remember looking at the pictures and memorizing the verses, before I could read the print. Likewise, I had a set of Charlie Brown dictionaries that was very special to me because my oldest brother bought them as a Christmas gift.
Once a month, I raced to the mailbox to get my new book from a children's book club. That was always
an exciting day for me. Not only did I love my new book, but I also felt special getting my own mail. I encourage anyone with children to join a book club. Later, as I progressed to the third grade, I became obsessed with Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I enjoyed reading them on weekends or whenever I had extra time to do so. Biographies became interesting to me during the fourth and fifth grades. The sixth grade was a literacy turning point. Reading for me was filled with books by Judy Blume and any author in which the character dealt with a �coming-of-age� situation. Later, my reading during high school and as a young adult consisted of Danielle Steele novels. However, my current reading consists of elementary education information and an occasional magazine article. |
