Earlier this week, I asked readers via my Facebook page to fill in this blank… “I’m a reader today because of _________.” It quickly became clear that anyone willing to spend time and care can pass along a love of reading to another. I received such a wide variety of heartwarming answers that I thought I’d share a few here.
“My university Russian professor, Dr. Tatiana Karmanova. She saw me struggling to sound out words in Beginning Russian, pulled me into her office after class and tutored me in what we call phonics. I had learned so many coping mechanisms just to get through school including watching movies and listening to books on tape/cds. I never made my AR goal and no one figured out why until her. Now, I am just about to graduate with a masters degree from seminary and I read roughly 150 books a year. Thanks, Dr. K!” – Rebecca Martin
“In my case, my mom was the one who introduced me to the wonder of books. She loved them and her love of them was contagious. As soon as she started reading chapter books aloud to me, I was sold.” – Becky Wade
“My Mom always took us to the library and we were always signed up for Reading Clubs! I loved all the stickers I earned by reading books!” – Suzy Clem (Becky’s mom)
“I’m a reader today because of my Kindergarten teacher. My mom read to me when I was very little, and by the time I was 4, I was reading independently. Imagine my Kindergarten teacher’s surprise when she figured that out several weeks into the school year! Instead of discouraging my skills or forcing me to slow down and learn with my class, she set me up with SSR (Silent Sustained Reading) and I became my own reading group! I’ll be forever grateful for her encouragement.” – Teri DiVincenzo
“My parents. Any time we would take a road trip my mom would read to my dad. It used to drive me nuts as a teen and I rebelled against it for a while but when I got pregnant with my first child the bug hit me. My parents still both read all the time and I read as much as I can now.” – Misha Seay
“Granny! She gave me Redeeming Love when it came out. I was late teens or early 20s. Before that, she gave me Francine’s other series…Lineage of Grace and Mark of the Lion. I needed those books at that time in my life. Granny is still reading on strong at the age of 90.” – Julia Lynch
“My mother had the most unique way of getting my brother to read…she would read him about half of a Hardy Boys book, then tell him she needed to go make supper or something…and he would be so interested that he would finish it on his own!” – Lisa Parrish
“My mom. She’s been gone since 2006, but I don’t ever remember her without a book. Even in the last couple of years of her life, she had had a stroke that affected her mind and was not able to perform household tasks. All she could do was sit and I would order her boxes of Heartsong Books to read.” – Linda Orr
“My mom Dorothy Beals. She love to read and encouraged me to read and it was a thrill to exchange books with her as I became an adult.” – Shirley Blanchard
“My father took us to a children’s library in the basement of a little stone house in our favorite park, from the time I started school. I would check out the maximum number of books (picture books) and read at least two of them on the way home.” – Betty Strohecker
“My grandma. I struggled with reading. (Come to find out many years later I have dyslexia.) My grandma would have me come over to her house and we would work on reading together. When I reached a certain goal I got to pick a prize from a prize box. I love to read now.” – Tina Martin
“My mom. The first book I got after I learned to read was a Bible, and she would motivate me to read it every day. That was the only book I had as a child since books were a luxury for us, however, I could borrow some from the school library.” – Francine Maximiliano
“My Nana. My Dad died when I turned 2, we moved to PA from Hawaii and I got pneumonia, very badly. I was sick in bed for 4 weeks and my Nana read stories to me for hours. I was hooked after that and learned to read by the time I was 3.” – Michelle Leverette
Who introduced you to books?
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Becky Wade
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These are the neatest “testimonies” about the beautiful tie that reading gives us! Like Michelle, I had bronchial pneumonia and asthma as a kid, but my mom turned that time into something magical, and as long as I can remember (almost until the day she died five years ago) she read to us. And to anybody who would listen! I am a reader because of her and she was a reader because of my granddad who could quote passages from classic books. I can still hear his wonderful voice to this day. And to this day, I still LOVE to read!
Deb, my father could quote passages from classic literature, something we are missing in education today. That and songs are the things that kept him communicative through his struggle with dementia.
Betty… I’m thankful that your father, even while struggling with dementia, was still able to communicate through passages and songs.
Deb, I love that your mom turned sickness (and what must have been a scary, difficult time for you both) into something beautiful with books.
When I was around 3 or 4 my mom took me to a little public library in NYC. She taught me Phonics when the schools were teaching sight reading, so I learned to read while others were struggling with “see Jane run”. I have passed on my love of reading to my children. I always told them when you have a book, you always have a friend. I read a lot, often a paper one and one on my Kindle at the same time. What a joy it is to pick up a book and start the journey.
The comments in response to my Facebook post echo your story! So many times, parents passed a love of reading down to their child, who eventually passed it down to their own child…. 🙂
What a wonderful post, Becky! I loved reading all the stories. Reading is such a joy and a blessing to share with others. I was thrilled when my daughter became an avid reader. My sons would rather play video games, but at least they play ones with story elements. Ha!
I’m sure my mom must have read to me as a child, but my first reading memory was learning with Sesame Street then discovering a set of Dick and Jane books at a neighbor’s garage sale when I was four and being excited because I could read the words. I begged my mom for a quarter to buy those books, and I’ve been buying books ever since. 🙂
That quarter was the first of many investments in books! 🙂
I still remember the feeling of being able to read the words in those early books I was given. It was empowering!
Thank you, Becky, for your facebook group that inspired all of these testimonials. So delightful to read!
Thank you for sharing one about your father!
My Mom let my brother and I take a rolling cart and go to the library every Saturday. We came home with a cart- full which I read to my younger brother and refilled it every week.
The Facebook comments on my post show how important libraries were in cementing a love of reading in so many of us! With my own kids, the library was the once place where they could load up. At every store, I had to say “No, no, no” to their requests. At the library I could always say, “Get as many as you want!” 😉
What a wonderful post!
I enjoyed reading these testimonials – – so special.
When I was a young child, the only kindergarten in our small town (located next to the Atlanta Airport) was a private church kindergarten. Because my parents could not afford the tuition at that time, I stayed home with my sweet mother, who read to me often and instilled my early love of books. When I began the first grade in our local public school, I already had a very good foundation in reading and thankfully never struggled—thanks to my dear mother.
When I became a teacher (first grade, then kindergarten) I always stressed to the parents that reading to (and with!) their child was the best thing they could do! 🙂
It’s wonderful to hear about your introduction to reading through your mom!
When my son reached Kindergarten, I worried he wasn’t as prepared as he needed to be. (He’d shown ZERO interest in learning his letters and numbers in pre-school.) But then, he got to Kindergarten and did surprisingly well. I mentioned how pleasantly surprised I was when I met with his teacher. She said, “Did you read to him?” I said, “All the time.” She said, “That’s all he needed to prepare him to succeed.”
I was the youngest of 4 children. One of my brothers is a year older than me and was having trouble learning to read in 1st grade. My mom would sit with him on the couch while he read aloud. I learned to read while sitting with them. So I owe my start to him. My aunt drove the bookmobile and would stop by our house every 2 weeks on her route to eat lunch with us. It was a favorite event for me because it opened up new worlds for me that went far beyond the farm we lived on.