Kidsmum Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Neither of my parents were big readers i don't ever remember them buying me a book as a Birthday or Christmas present but one of my older sisters is a book lover she bought me quite a few books as a child & recommended books as i grew up. I read quite a lot of the classics when i was younger like Trollope, Hardy & Austen thanks to her & even now we talk & swap books when she comes to visit. So i wondered do any of you have someone in your life who ignited your love of books & reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 My mum made sure I could read and write the alphabet before I started school, and whenever I was good (e.g. didn't complain after a day shopping, or was a good girl at the dentist), a book was always the reward. She also insisted I kept my books (which is why I now still have all my favourites from childhood) whereas other toys were given away or sold as I grew out of them. I know that it's now understood to be really important that parents read aloud to their children, I honestly don't remember my mum or dad doing that for me once I'd learned to read for myself, and I genuinely think it's because I've always preferred to do things on my own. Being an only child, I also had a lot of time to fill when I'd be left to my own devices, and that would usually mean sticking my head in a book, which my mum was always happy to encourage (it was quiet and didn't make a mess!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 My mum and my gran always read to me when I was little. I had loads of ladybird books that I would want them to read to me again and again. I think that got me into books. When I was a teenager I always had a book in my hand - sometimes starting another before I'd finished the first! I could never read enough! It's continued into my adulthood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I had loads of ladybird books that I would want them to read to me again and again. I've still got mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 My Mam's a big reader and I was always encouraged to read. In fact, due to my Mam, I could read very well long before I went to school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I've still got mine! I wish I'd kept mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I still have all my old Ladybird books, too! My parents are both big readers, and I was read to from a very early age, and I can't remember a time when there weren't lots of books around for me; mostly Ladybird books and Enid Blyton when I was small. Like Kell, my mother had taught me to read before I went to school, and some of my earliest memories are reading or being read to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie_bint Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Hi Everyone Both my parents read a lot and my Grandma used to always buy me books. I still have some of my favourites upstairs. I also don't remember my parents reading to me, but saying that I don't remember learning to read either. I used to read to my Daughter when she was young, no matter how tired I was or what needed to be done we always had book time, now she gets through more books than I do and naggs me with an ever growing collection of 'must' reads, I have told her she should come on here and chat about books. My house always looks 'cluttered' with books, the door seems to bring more in than we can store, but its great, I don't remember who encouraged me to read, but I'm really pleased they did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffin Nail Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Mum taught me to read before I started school. I had to go to older classes til everyone got caught up. She wanted me to read classical posh stuff (or what I thought was posh at the time), Water Babies, Railway Children. But I got hooked on Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. I was an avid reader until my teens; until beer, boys and boogie temporarily took over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Carson Whit Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 As a child my mother always encouraged me to read, I remember her taking me to the Library and letting me read the horror books she used to collect, I dont know why she did collect them cos she's never been a big reader. My parents bought me books for Christmas and birthdays (I would get the Beano annual & the latest edition of the Guiness book of records every year, nothing weighty but still). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted June 20, 2010 Author Share Posted June 20, 2010 Good to read that lots of parents inspired you all. I'm hoping that because i've read to all my children (still reading to the younger ones) they'll be life long readers themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbielleRose Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I've always been addicted to books which is a bit odd because neither of my parents nor any of my grandparents are readers. My cousin gave me her entire collection of Babysitter's Club books when I was about 8 and I just kept getting her hand-me-downs. As soon as I could get a library card I started riding my bike to there to explore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffin Nail Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Good to read that lots of parents inspired you all. I'm hoping that because i've read to all my children (still reading to the younger ones) they'll be life long readers themselves. I tried that with mine. Sadly he's not interested at the moment. He's 19 though. He'll probably get the bug when he's older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexicola Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Both my parents would encourage me in my reading, and I was regularly treated to new books and spent many an afternoon in the children's section of the library. They would read to me too. My dad would choose the most dramatic of my books so that he could put on voices and unleash his previously unappreciated acting skills Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 my mum! i could read a bit and knew my alphabet before i went to school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Mostly my mom, since she stayed home with us while dad worked. We went to the library once a week without fail for storytime and checkings-out of books, and she was always encouraging me to look things up in our set of encyclopaedias whenever I asked a question. My favorite books that my parents read to me when I was little was my set of Dr. Seuss stories . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted June 20, 2010 Author Share Posted June 20, 2010 I tried that with mine. Sadly he's not interested at the moment. He's 19 though. He'll probably get the bug when he's older. My eldest son is 17 & is more interested in football & XBox at the moment but he does buy the NME so i guess that counts as reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffin Nail Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 My eldest son is 17 & is more interested in football & XBox at the moment but he does buy the NME so i guess that counts as reading My lad doesn't see reading as fun, he's at uni so he views reading as work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 My cousin gave me her entire collection of Babysitter's Club books when I was about 8 Lucky you! My parents aren't readers but they encouraged my brother and I by buying us lots of books and reading aloud to us when we were young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 (edited) My Mum, Dad and older sister are all avid readers, so the way I've turned out is hardly surprising my Mum in particular always read to me (way after the socially acceptable age I'm happy to say, down with propriety and go quality time) and took me and my sis on regular outings to the library - going to the bookstore to browse for hours was the biggest treat ever, it's still something we still do as a family when the occasion arises in fact, synchronising watches and all . Edited June 21, 2010 by BookJumper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I honestly don't remember! Much of my early childhood seems as if lost in fog. But I remember enjoying storytime at infant school, we used to sit outside on the grass and have a book read to us. I was always bookish and liked drawing whereas my younger brother liked to play sport. My parents didn't have time to read to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted June 21, 2010 Author Share Posted June 21, 2010 (edited) My Mum, Dad and older sister are all avid readers, so the way I've turned out is hardly surprising my Mum in particular always read to me (way after the socially acceptable age I'm happy to say, down with propriety and go quality time) and took me and my sis on regular outings to the library - going to the bookstore to browse for hours was the biggest treat ever, it's still something we still do as a family when the occasion arises in fact, synchronising watches and all . I love the idea of a family outing to the bookstore but i must admit i do see bookshop browsing as me time I honestly don't remember! Much of my early childhood seems as if lost in fog. But I remember enjoying storytime at infant school, we used to sit outside on the grass and have a book read to us. I was always bookish and liked drawing whereas my younger brother liked to play sport. My parents didn't have time to read to us. I guess that means that some book readers are born while others are created - nature & nurture and all that Edited June 21, 2010 by BookJumper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 In honestly I can't remember that much either, but my mother and father don't seem to be massive readers at present, so I would assume that they weren't then. However, my grandma seems to be big reader now, and always has been from what I can remember, so maybe it could have been her that encouraged me to read? I'm still leaning, however, towards the idea that it wasn't anyone at all that encouraged me, instead I feel like it was always just my own personal thirst for books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 My dad and my grandad were the ones who really encouraged me to read, both read to me and my siblings as a child and I continued to be encouraged to carry on into adulthood, when my grandad died I was relly upset that my grandma didn't give me any of his books and I didn't get them til she died a few years ago. However neither by brother or my sister are big readers though. These days I encourage my dad to read more as he confessed to me that he hadn't read a book in a while, so I bought him one for fathers day yesterday and told him I wanted a synopsis as soon as he was finished (not really). My mum reads a bit but she reads spanish books and doesn't get the chance to get them that often. She does tell the story of when I was little and she was reading to me that I got impatient with her pronunciation of the english words that I gently said ' don't worry mummy I will read it myself ' horrid child that I was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Univerze Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Well mom was a big reader when we were little (me and brother) and she took both me and brother to the library and we had a subscription since we were could read.. I still read a whole lot, and brother doesn't, he never really did. He rather watches bad films. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.