I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't fully engaged in books. As a child, books were always a big part of my life. I loved the feel of turning the pages, but most of all, I loved where the books would take me -- all around the real world, or into a fantasy world.
So before I even knew there was something called writing, I fell deeply in love with reading. By the time I was in second grade, I was reading everything I could get my hands on. I remember my mom signed me up for some books by mail. Each one had 3-4 short stories in them, and I couldn't wait to receive new ones.
My sister Diane, being the oldest, had all the Dr. Seuss, which I read cover to cover dozens of times. Still to this day I love those books. She had a complete set of Nancy Drew Mysteries, and and she used to receive these cute, short, fat books in the mail that had two classics. You read one on one side and then you turn the book over and upside down there was the other book on the other side. It was these little fat books that introduced me to Jungle Book and Robinson Crusoe.
Because our mother knew the importance of reading early on, both Diane and I read above our grade. When I was in second grade, I went to fourth grade for reading. Diane was in third grade and she went to fifth.
Reading is so critical to success today. I feel like if you can read, you can go anywhere and learning anything. So I wish for your child the same love of books I had.
Please ... read to your child. Introduce them to books as a baby. Let them feel and touch and turn the pages, hold it upside down, read from the back to the front, look at the pictures.
Mobile phones, tablets and computers are not enough to engage a child to read. Go back to basics! Sit and read with your child at night. Bring them to the library. Get them a library card. Teach your child the love of reading and you will have given them an edge that will help them succeed no matter what they do or where they go in life.
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