November 21, 2006

It isn't Friday, but I feel a meme coming on...

Lifted from Karen:

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?
I was about 2 and a half when I started reading.  I have no memory of NOT knowing how to read.  My mom says that Sesame Street and the Electric Company taught me to read, and I believe her.

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?
Did I own any books, are you kidding?  I had dozens.  Among the earliest were: Go Dog Go, Hop on Pop, Wacky Wednesday, Put Me in The Zoo, Big Dog, Little Dog; and and all the Little Golden Books.  Later I had the Little House, the Anne of Green Gables books, The Narnia series, Encyclopedia Brown, the Ramonas, the Fudge books, and dozens more.  My favorite library books were the Obadiah books, by Brinton Turkle

Did I mention my mother is a children's librarian?

3. What’s the first book that you bought with your own money?
Oh Boy.  No idea.  I think it was a full (8 volume) box set of Anne of Green Gables.

4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often?
I still AM a re-reader.  The Little House Books and the Anne Books were definitely read to bits and replaced.  And Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

5. What’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?
I always loved the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and I startes reading them before I was in second grade.  I also read a lot of my mother's crime novels, Elliot Roosevelt, Margaret Truman, and Tony Hillerman were some of her favorites, and I read them when she was done.

6. Are there children’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?
I didn't read a lot of Dr. Seuss as a kid.  Mom wasn't a fan, so I didn't get them.  But  Green Eggs and Ham is seriously one of my favorite books of all time.

Posted by caltechgirl at November 21, 2006 09:41 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Thank goodness I didn't get this one. I have no idea at what age I started reading. I do know that I had read Gone with the Wind and The Tontine by the time I was 8 years old. The children's books I remember most fondly were the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew.

Posted by: Tink at November 21, 2006 07:56 PM

I hated reading when I was a kid. I recall threatening to blow up the school if they made me do it, but I eventually got to the point where I enjoyed doing it. I am rarely anywhere without something to read, even if I'm the one who wrote it; usually notes for my weblog. I did have a favorite book when I was a child, although I never read (my mother read to me): Where the Wild Things Are

Hmmmmm... The first book I bought was, if I'm not mistaken, 'Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three' by Stephen King. Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger was given to me by my mother's boyfriend, a man who loved to read as much as my mother did. I'm not sure why I resisted reading so much, considering how many people around me loved it.

I've only re-read one book in my life, and that was 'The Swords Trilogy' by Michael Moorcock. It was later re-released as 'Corum, the Coming of Chaos' and I bought a copy.

'Green Eggs and Ham' rocked! I wasn't keen on childrens' books when I was a kid, nor was I a fan of 'kid stuff' cartoons and such. Whenever Bugs Bunny would be pushed off a cliff and hover there, oblivious to the effects of gravity, it sent me into a rant and rave session. I never liked Bugs; he's probably the reason I don't like rabbits now.

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at November 22, 2006 08:16 PM

Right now the book I hate but love is "Fox in Socks". Try reading that one out loud to a 4 year old. Ugh.

Posted by: vw bug at November 25, 2006 05:07 PM

One Fish,
Two Fish,
Red Fish,
Blue Fish

Posted by: Thomas Warlock at November 25, 2006 11:04 PM