September 8, 2008
Getting Hooked
Written by Shirley Karr in Jaunty PostRecently a member of our local RWA chapter forwarded a link to a web site, urging us to go to it and vote. Usually I don’t follow up on that stuff but this one caught my attention. www2.firstbook.org is holding a contest of sorts, and the winning state will receive a donation of 50,000 books for kids in need. (Voting closes Sept. 15.) Getting kids started on reading is a subject near to my heart and yours too, I’m guessing, since you’re reading this blog.
Of course I voted for my state but I won’t be offended if you vote for yours. As you cast your vote, they ask which book first got you hooked on reading. Several celebrities have posted their fave and why. Interesting reading.
This got me pondering which book got me hooked on reading. Shall we all take a stroll down Memory Lane?
My first thought was The Pirate of Hitchfield Manor – I still have a very dog-eared copy of this tale of a modern day guy who switches places with his ancestor from ten generations ago, a sailor. But I discovered that one in 7th grade, so let’s go back farther.
In late grade school I took a brief break from mass market titles by the likes of Mario Puzo, Alistair MacLean and Stephen King (after my mom took away Jaws, I often hid my books from her) to wander in more age-appropriate Judy Blume territory, such as Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. I’d already devoured the school’s Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew collections.
From early grade school I have fond memories of the Encyclopedia Brown series and books like The Shaggy D.A. as well as a beloved hardcover collection of Brer Rabbit stories. (”Do anything you want with me, but please don’t throw me in that briar patch!” Snort.) For our class’s weekly trip to the library, I remember most classmates struggling to find even one book they wanted to read, while I juggled an armload because there were so many stories to read, so many fictional places to go. At each school invariably I would reach the stage of going alphabetically, book by book, through the entire fiction collection to make sure I hadn’t missed any.
Some of the earliest books I can remember devouring on my own featured Eddie and his friends. Eddie’s Pay Dirt by Carolyn Haywood, anyone? How about the time Eddie was determined to win a watermelon eating contest by cheating, but saved the wrong color of watermelon seeds? I still think of that now and then when we eat watermelon, and it’s been a few years ::cough, cough:: since I read it. Beverly Cleary and Carolyn Haywood’s creations kept me company for many, many happy hours. It’s very cool to now live in the town where Cleary set her stories and recognize the street names.
But apparently even that early on I was already hooked, because these tales were just part of a succession of them. Was there one book, one tale that so captured my fancy I was forevermore hooked? I told my husband I was trying to remember if there was one book in particular that got me hooked on reading, and he replied “You were born that way.”
So, were you born that way, too? Do you recall which books made you a reader?
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Kristan Higgins Says:
What a great reward! 50,000 books for kids…man!
The first book I read by myself was Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss. I was four, if my mother’s story is true…she was busy with my younger sister, so I took it upon myself to read my own bedtime story.
Other books I loved…Encyclopedia Brown, Harriet the Spy, the Black Stallion series. How to Eat Fried Worms had a profound impact on me…that one scene where he’s almost forgotten to eat his worm of the day? Bleeccch!
Margo Maguire Says:
I’m pretty sure I was a reader, but I don’t remember any particular books until high school. I really liked non-fiction then.
Shana Galen Says:
Oh, I was always a reader. The first book I read was The Black Stallion. That hooked me.
Emily McKay Says:
I think the first book that really hooked me was the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. I used to reread those books over and over and I’d bawl all through the last book because … well, because it was coming to the end. And because I hated the thought of Susan not being there. But mostly because I just wanted to live in that world a little longer.
RobynDeHart Says:
I was a Judy Blume junkie, read all of her books, but probably read Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret a million times. I also loved the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper - I think that was like 3rd grade. Earlier it would have been Dr. Suess and Shel Silverstein, later I ventured into VC Andrews. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother reading to me from Wind in the Willows - I loved all the talking animals.
Anna Says:
I think I was born a reader. Some of my very earliest memories are of pretending to write cursive like my mother or pretending to read. I also vividly remember the thrill of beginning to be able to read signs and menus and how much I loved my beginning reader workbooks. In kindergarden, my mother would bribe me with beautifully illustrated books so I wouldn’t cry when she left me there. To this day I still treat myself with a book for any occasion, good or bad.
Stacie Mc Says:
Yep, born that way. Neither I nor my parents can remember a time when I wasn’t reading. I started by reading Dr Seuss, progressed to comic books then Beverly Cleary to Nancy Drew and just kept going.
If I wasn’t reading a book, I’d find something to read - got in trouble frequently for dawdling over breakfast because I was reading the back of cereal boxes.
Mary Says:
I didn’t have a choice - my grandmother signed me up for every book club imaginable. I’d read all the Little House books by 4th grade, loved Lois Lenski (old fashioned even then), any book with a horse on the cover, and Trixie Belden. LOVE Trixie!
ladydawgfan Says:
I’ve always been a reader. My mother says that I taught myself to read at 4 by looking at the newspaper (I was an impatient little thing!). I still have one of my earliest books - Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book - that was given to me when I was 5. It is horrible shape, since I used to sleep with it, but I still love it.
I also remember a story called “Bad Mousie” from “The Tall Book Of Make Believe,” which is, sadly, out of print. I also remember “The Mouse and the Motorcycle,” “A Cricket in Times Square,” and the “Childhood of Famous Americans” series, which gave me the stories of Rachel Jackson, Helen Keller, Betsy Ross, and many, many others. Our libraries at school and in our town were fully stocked and accessible, and we were encouraged to use them (this was before computers, video games, and couch potato kids). I always had my nose in a book when I was a kid when I wasn’t out playing.
Fedora Says:
How fun, Shirley! Thanks for pointing me to that link! As for my first love, I can’t remember! I did adore Richard Scarry, and my kids love his books now too. And I also loved Beverly Cleary–who could forget Ramona?
Shirley Karr Says:
Stacie, I’m so glad I’m not the only one who read cereal boxes!