Children's Literature Autobiography

Reading was always considered something important growing up in my family. My parents were big on the fact that reading would help my brother and me become better individuals. They knew it would strengthen our vocabulary and our communication skills; it would also be an enjoyable pastime for us.
Books were always present in my house, so even from an early age I always knew what they were. One of my earliest memories of reading probably consists of not “reading” at all, but looking at all the pictures instead. Since my brother is older than I he was already reading “big kid” books. I would take those very same books and look at the pictures while making up my own words. I would hold the book upside down, sideways or backwards! It didn’t matter, or ever occur to me that I didn’t know the actual story. When I became old enough to know that books actually do have their own words, my parents and teachers introduced the idea of phonics to me. I had the whole “Hooked On Phonics” set and there was a set time each day when I practiced these lessons with my mother. Having to do this everyday helped me tremendously with my reading skills. It built up my confidence and I became excited when I learned new words in the books I was reading. I guess the saying is true, “hooked on phonics worked for me!”
In early elementary school some of my favorite books included If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and The Bearenstein Bears. These books may not have had very high literary content, but they were so much fun for me to read. My parents didn’t care how many times I brought home the same book to read them, they just thought it was neat that I was reading and enjoying it. As my reading skills grew so did my choice of books. In sixth grade I got into chapter books. I was lucky enough to have a teacher, Mrs. Mardell, who encouraged me to choose the books that I enjoyed reading. She felt that if we enjoyed it, it would make us want to do it that much more. The Hank the Cowdog series was my favorite. My parents bought me every book in that collection, and I guarantee I read all of them! I would even take them to school and read them during our silent reading time and on any break we had. Of course at this age I had to do book reports on these books, but because I enjoyed them it was ok I had to write what they were about. I always loved reading in elementary school. My parents and teachers had such a positive outlook on it that it had rubbed off on me. I was so encouraged to do it, that it just came naturally.
When I entered middle school, this once amazing thing I enjoyed began to change drastically. I couldn’t pick the books I wanted to read; I now had to read the books the teacher felt had high literary merit. These books were not the most enjoyable to read, either. I know I didn’t read these books because I wanted to, I read them because I had to! My high school years were a lot of the same. I didn’t enjoy reading at all. I definitely didn’t get to pick the books I wanted to read, and reading for fun got put on the back burner to friends, dates and weekends. The Illiad, The Odyssey, 1984 and The Great Gatsby were just a few that we had to read in high school. These books may have had high literary content, but no high school student wants to read these, much less because they are being forced to. After finishing one of the books for an assignment we would always have to write the traditional book report and interpret what we thought the book meant. To me, this assignment is not the type of thing that keeps a student interested in reading. I never had a teacher in high school that encouraged me to find what I enjoyed reading and build on it. Thus, that made me not want to read, so I was introduced to Cliffnotes and Sparknotes and began taking the easy way out.
I was very lucky to begin my reading journey with such caring and positive influences. My parents and my elementary school teachers, Mrs. Mardell in particular, really made me see how much fun reading can be! After many years of being off the reading bandwagon I have jumped back on. Reading is an enjoyable pastime, as my parents first taught me, and something that is very crucial. Reading great stories is something that sticks with someone forever. It builds confidence, vocabulary and communication skills and you can’t beat seating down with a good book and being caught up in a great story!