Obsessive Book Lover's Month of Books - Day Four
Day 4
What books are the first you remember reading for yourself?
I remember very clearly reading the books where I was learning to read, the little books for the program, and feeling it coming together in my head.
Soon after this I had my first encounter with sneaking books. That's right...right from my first little reading-program readers I was sneaking books to read more stories. Rereading the books my mother had read aloud to me and my brother Dan took up a lot of my reading time as a young child, so the Hobbit and some of the Chronicles of Narnia, and the Little House on the Prairie books were revisited often.
Here's the other kinds of things I read that I remember, though:
I don't remember reading many picture books--my tiny little town had a tiny little library where the kids books were kept in the basement.
I remember reading those series books from an early enough age I was puzzled by many of the words and missing great swathes of what was going on. Nancy Drew had very interesting settings that changed every book, so that was awesome. I got tired of the formulas eventually, though. I hated not being able to find THE FIRST ONE of a series, and things not moving on to a great wonderful ending that was THE END.
I more clearly remember checking out all the books they had in the A Very Young... series by Jill Krementz, many, many times. "Ballerina" and "Gymnast" were my favorites, though Rider was always checked out and had the allure of being rare.
Reading about people who were excellent in their field was awesome--though it also made me want to be a dancer and gymnast, and think that if you weren't awesome by 13, it was over for you, cupcake.
When I discovered this awesome book I got out called The Writer's Desk was created by Jill Krementz, I nearly shrieked with joy at finding work tailored just for me, as an adult, the same way her children's books had felt.
