My Parents And Older Sisters

Thanks to hours and hours of bedtime stories, I was able to read from the age of 3. In kindergarten I read to my classmates, and by second grade I was reading series like The Boxcar Children and Trixie Belden. Books allowed me to get lost in other worlds full of adventure and excitement. My love for what words can do has extended through high school. I pride myself on my book collection, anything from Hunger Games to The Picture of Dorian Gray. I’ve continued to read all the way through high school, some books four or five times because I love them so much.

My love of reading blossomed when I was a child, because my parents showed me how wonderful reading is. There were countless nights when I remember myself as a little girl refusing to go to sleep before ‘tucking dad into bed’ by reading him a picture book. Not only did I uphold that tradition though, but my mother is a preschool teacher, so she gets really into reading out loud, and she would help me read books such as The Boxcar Children set, The Secret of NIMH and The Chronicles of Narnia weekly until I didn’t need help anymore.

My experience with literature started when I was in the first grade. My first-grade teacher was named Ms. Young. Every Friday, all the teachers would come together to have story time and read the children a book. I would be so excited for story time because I would sit down with my best friends Ashley and Jordan, and we would listen to the teacher that was assigned to read to us. During story time, all the children would gather around in a big circle and the teacher would be in the center in a big brown rocking chair, and read. Over time in the school year, the children would read bigger and longer books like the Junie B. Jones series, chapter books, and the extreme level, which would be the Harry potter series. Sometimes I would fall asleep because the book that was read was very dull. I remember Ms. Young read to us the “Very Hungary Caterpillar”9 by Eric Carle. I loved that book as a child. It had great illustrations of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly. This book made me love reading for the rest of my life. Now in college, I love to read books. I only

Growing up I was never a big fan of reading, but as I got older I noticed books are very essential. They are filled with adventures and lessons that only exist in wildest imagination. Without books many of us wouldn't know half the things we know today. Books teaches us math , science, history ,and even how to use a computer or how to play a sport. With so many different genres to choose from and millions of books to read , the task of reading can never get boring, especially when you're actively reading

Literature has always been a close personal friend. I've always been surrounded and engrossed with books. One of the first books I ever read was Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I must've read that book a thousand times when I was little. When I was in preschool my friend and I comically read along to the book. I credit most of my ability to read early on to my elementary's school librarian. I remember vividly in kindergarten our librarian teacher holding a book in her hand showing off the pictures. I was completely enthralled, more so than probably other children in the class. As time went on and I passed from grade to grade, I started to read books from the school's library. Most books I read were about tornadoes. I've always been fascinated with how

Before I began elementary school, I enjoyed reading picture books, the touch and feel books and pop-up books. I loved the author Dr. Suess, because he was funny and because I loved the rhyming he did in his writing. I can remember before bed, my mom or dad would read to me until I got old enough to read myself. My mom has always enjoyed reading, if she is not reading a book, then she is reading a recipe or a magazine. My dad on the other hand, I have only seen him read one book, besides reading manuals for his tools. Reading was not a big deal in my house, all of us kids were told that we needed to read, but they did not force us to read. This brings me to Richard Rodriguez’s essay, in his household reading was not as important, but once he got to school, he realized that reading is one of the main activities. I can relate to Rodriguez because in either one of our households we weren’t told that we had to read before we did something else. Once I got to elementary school is when I realized that reading was not for me. Before school, I enjoyed reading, then once I began elementary school, I was forced to read, take tests over books, and read out loud in front of the class which made reading a chore.

I’ve always been an avid reader. When I was in elementary school, my mother would take my brother and I to the library every week to pick out books. I would take the books to school and read them all in one day. I loved reading so much that my teachers would call home and tell my parents that I was reading my library books during class instead of my textbooks. Reading has always been a major part of my life. I used to aspire to become an author. I even wanted to become an editor at one point. I used to make daily household newspapers and magazines for my entire family to read and enjoy. My strong love for reading certainly came in handy during my freshman year of high school.

Some of my favorite books, mostly Dr. Seuss, mostly got me going on my reading skills. It was easy. Word were easy to pronounce and they also had pic to help me with words I couldn’t even say. I felt important reading his books. Then, as I got older and my reading skills improved, chapter books came into play. Through my childhood I did not have it so easy. My brother passed and he mostly taught me how to correctly read. So when he left, I was stuck. I had other people in my family to help but once you get use to that favorite person helping you, you get attached. When it came to one of my other brother, it sucked. I usually get talked about constantly by him because he was older and always run his mouth when I came across a word that I didn’t know. Reading books became an easy escape at that age. It was something to do, and kept me occupied without having to talk to myself. It was also a way to read about other people and about their lives, which I think is a reason for my taste in books now. My parents and my favorite math teacher always told me that I'm a very bright individual and my accomplishments in other subjects prove that. I approached and passed science and surprisingly math. They both dealt with reading and understanding things that I needed to know. To me, writing equals to nothing more than stress and frustration. I thought was too stupid to waste effort

Do you remember the first book you learned to read? Well, I do and it shaped me into the reader I am today. During my early years in elementary school, I began to learn about what reading was and how to read books. I always remember my kindergarten teacher reading “Love you forever” before I would go to nap time everyday. I eventually learned to read my favorite childhood book on my own. However, this was a problem when I didn't want to branch out and read books to better my reading skills. Reading and writing are such and important aspect in our lives that get abused every day. It may sound silly, but as a young child I came in contact with books that impacted me, changed me, and shaped me into the reader and writer I am today.

If I do not enjoy the book, I adore to think of other readers and their perspective on the book. I can easily change my perspective of how I see the book, and it seems to become a new book. While reading books I loved from early on, I will be locked in for hours. No matter how long, I will not stop the book until it is over. I often will lock myself in my room, and read until the sun is up. There are many reasons of why I read. As a child, I was hated reading, for all the books seemed to be boring or “girly”. I always wondered why our classes would read the Little House on the Prairie, instead of books of war and violence. My previous school really delayed my love for reading. We had a strange A.R where some students would read a total of six points a year, where I was required to read on an upward of 250 points annually as young kids. I was forced to speed read, and read books I didn’t enjoy just for the high points value. The change of schools caused my love of reading to excel. I learned about many amazing books that I could read without a nearly impossible deadline. I read more and more, and learned to love the books for the content, not the forced

As a kid I used to read a lot and my family use to read to me. Reading was my favorite thing to do, but as I got older I got out the habit of reading. I stopped reading because there were a lot of distractions, such as watching TV, and being on my cell phone all the time. Dr. Seuss once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” I absolutely love that quote it inspires me and motivates me so much. I have so many early reading memories, school reading memories, and some reading obstacles that I have had to overcome, all influencing my current approach to reading.

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one,” wrote George R.R. Martin. People read all kinds of books, some just for fun and others just for work. There is no limit to the books that can be found in this world, and even more are still being made now. Murder mystery, romance, adventure, action, etc. Books open the mind and create a mental movie only you can enjoy. You can decide what every individual looks like, what the scene looks like, and you can pretty much do anything when you read. For part of my life, reading did not play a major role; however, now it is a way of life.

Reading has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was a little child. I grew up as a normal child should grow and eventually I had to start learning for me to fit in society. My literacy started many years ago, after I knew how to talk and communicate with people. Reading my alphabet was quite stressful and I had to be given a hand by my family members. I remember my parents reading with me and it was the most meaningful and memorable way to spend time with me. This is because I liked reading a lot and I was eager to learn so that I could fit in with my older siblings. My favorite books were storybooks taking about adventures and fairytales

As a child, my interests were more focused on reading than writing. In elementary school I fell in love with books. Initially I read simple children’s books, much like everybody else in my class, but it did not take long for my passion to drive me to read more difficult writings. Fiction books quickly became a replacement for any childhood toys. Instead of blocks or stuffed animals I would ask my parents for books. Since they were aimed at young readers, they tended to be short. I found myself going through them within days, and then soon several hours. Towards the end of elementary school I was reading series like Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. I was captivated, and reading truly opened up a whole new world for me.

Although both my parents are from different parts of the world, I consider myself extremely Americanized. My mother, from China, and my father, from Malaysia, were both raised in America. Both my grandparents were strict and traditional. They passed on their values and beliefs to my parents; however, my parents did not believe in those values, so, they did not pass these values on to my brother and me. I have lived a very privileged life compared to my parents and cannot fathom living the way they had. This past summer, we learned that my father’s brother was getting married, and we were all expected to travel to Malaysia. So, my father planned a family vacation to go to Malaysia. Never did I think that a simple summer vacation trip could change my life.