Thinking Back...Haley Cromer

I don’t actually remember when I first began reading. As a child, the women in my life (mother, aunt, grandmother) all read to me. My mom would read a “bedtime story” to me every night before bed. Every time I visited my grandmother, she would read to me from a collection of children’s stories in a book that reminded me of an encyclopedia. My favorite story for my grandmother to read to me was “Hansel and Gretel.” I’m not sure why it enticed me so much, but it was my favorite. In kindergarten, I couldn’t wait to begin reading by myself. I read the books teachers sent home for homework and then moved on to the children’s books on our bookshelf at home. I eagerly looked forward to trips to the library with my mom.

A few of my teachers read aloud to the class, but the teacher that stands out the most in my memory is my 4th and 5th grade AG teacher. We had a small language arts class and she had a section of her room that had a couch, a few chairs, and bean bags. Every day we would gather in that corner, get comfy, and read. Sometimes we would read our individual books, but other times (my favorite) we read a book as a class. She would let us pick characters and read that part (kind of like reading a play). It got us engaged in the book and made it fun to read. We read books like Hatchet, The BFG, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. I loved every one of these books, and I partly owe my appreciation for reading to this teacher. Now as a young adult, I still love to read. I don’t have as much free time to read during the school year as I do during the summer, but I still try. It makes me sad when I hear people say they hate to read or reading is boring because reading is my escape, my chance to explore places I’ve never been and to live things I would never be able to.

Assignment 1

My earliest memory of reading as a child would have to be when my mother and father would read to me before bed. Every single night my mom or dad would read me a story before bed. And i just loved laying there about to fall asleep listening to a good story.
In elementary school i used to love circle time reading we would always sit on the circle rug and listen to the teacher read a book.
In middle school i was forced to do Battle of the Books and that is about all i read during those years. By the time i reached high school i hated reading and still I'm not too fond of it, but sometimes a good book is needed. I just recently finished reading "A Piece of Cake" by Cupcake Brown, it was one of the best books I've read in a long time, i would recommend it to anyone.

Assignment 1 Kim MacDougall

My earliest memories of reading consist of my Mom and Dad reading books to me like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff, Twas The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clark Moore, and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. My parents would read to me every night before I went to bed. My favorite book as a child was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. After being read the book on numerous occasions, I eventually memorized it and would pick it up myself and pretend I was reading. This past year I worked at the ASU Child Development Center. I would often sit with the three year old children and read to them and sometimes they would pretend to read to me. It reminded me of how I memorized books as a child and thought that I was reading them as I flipped through the pages and quoted the books.

Throughout elementary school I loved to read. I read the entire Boxcar Children series of children’s chapter books. I also read the Nancy Drew Notebook series of mysteries. I would often stay awake long past my bedtime at night to finish a good book. I know that many of my teachers read aloud to the class growing up, but there are not specific books that stand out in my mind that we read. When I was in fourth and fifth grade I was paired up with a kindergarten or first grader to be reading buddies with. A few times a month we would meet during the school day and I would read aloud and let them try to read to me. I really enjoyed having someone to read to and I felt like I was teaching them and able to help them out in their reading.

In middle school and high school my love for reading faded. We were required to read books that I wasn’t interested in and I stopped reading books for fun. During my senior year of high school I read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and rediscovered my love for reading. When I am interested in a book I don’t want to put it down, just like I had experienced in elementary school. I now have a big list of books that I want to read and am slowly working through it. The next couple books on my list are My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult and Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

Thinking Back... Assignment 1. Taryn Gill

My parents would always let me pick out a book before bed time and I would hop into bed and get ready for them to come read to me. I normally picked out something with a bright cover and fun designs. My favorite books growing up were the Junie B. Jones books and as I got older I read The Babysitters Club. Reading was always a lot of fun for me and I enjoyed the experience of learning something new or just reading for the adventure. When I got into Elementary School my teachers all read to me, in a group with the other kids, normally in the morning when we would be sitting on the carpet around the teacher in a rocking chair.

Books I read as an adult have inspired me to do things in my life that I had never thought of before, but as a child I was never really inspired by a book, although I enjoyed them. I read now when I have the time, the last book I read, which is my favorite book, is the Catcher and the Rye. I am in the middle of My Sister's Keeper now.

Assignment 1 - Olivia Combs

Well to be honest I do not really like reading a whole much, because I struggled with it all throughout middle school and high school. However the earliest memory is probably sometime during elementary school. Growing up my parents read to me, but not often because I would rather listen to music. So I did not asked my parents to read to me to much. On the other hand even though I do not like reading I still did have a favorite childrens book. My favorite children's book would have to be "Good night moon," because of the beautiful pictures in the books of the night time atmosphere. Again in middle school and high school I always struggled with reading and found it difficult, not because I did not understand what I was reading. But becasue I read slower than all the other children. What a regular child could read in an hour or two would take me three or four hours to read. To what I can remember my teachers did not read to us much inclass, but when they did they read books like Holes, Tuck Everlasting, and Anne Frank. Thinking back I do remember liking the book Holes very much and due to me finally finding a book I was interested it continue today to read that same book over and over, as a reminder to why it can be fun to read. As for today I do not read much on my own time, however when I do come across a good book I get it to save for a rainy day. When reading can be the most enjoyable.

Nicolette Lovell, Assignment 1

I have been the epitome of a bookworm since I was a young child. Rather than following along with the math lesson in elementary school, I preferred to hide one of my new chapter books behind the glossy cardboard and thin pages filled with numbers and problems to be solved. My earliest memory of reading was when I was four years old on Christmas eve. My main focus was Santa of course, and how he was going to manage fitting through our abnormally small chimney; but I soon forgot about that once my mom began to read Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express. I was immediately drawn in to the vivid and beautiful illustrations and entranced by the exciting story. I remember wondering if later that night my house would be visited by The Polar Express and my sisters and I would be taken to the North Pole. It was a secret wish of mine every Christmas thereafter. I come across the book each Christmas and read it to myself remembering the magic it held for me as a child, it it one of my personal favorites and reminds me of the little girl still within me that believes in magic, the impossible, and Santa Clause (who to my great surprise, made it down my chimney.)

Assignment.1 Mary Marshall

I have always loved books, even before I could read I would have a book in my hand. My parents love retelling the story of the time they found me chewing on the pages of a book. They say I was so frustrated that since couldn't read the words I took it out on the paper. When I grew a little, instead of destroying the books I began to pretend i could read by looking at the pictures and making up stories. My mom and dad would read to me until I could read for myself. After that, it was really my dad whose love of literature really instilled a passion for reading inside of me. Watching my dad devour novel after novel may have sparked my love for reading but it was my mom who read book that first caused to me to connect with the story and the characters.

My mom read Love You Forever by Robert Munsch out loud to me and my sisters one night. Through Munsch's words, and maybe my mom’s narration, I was really able to understand the love that was shown in the story. The mother watched her son grow older, saw him make a mess and make his own decisions. Yet despite the messes he made she always loved him, this was plainly obvious throughout the story. Throughout all of the stages of his life she would sneak in to his room after he was asleep and repeat the same words to him as she gently rocked him. “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.” Even at a young age I knew how important it was to love someone so completely and how this important love had to be passed on. The son did pass this love on, to his daughter. He repeated the same wonderful words to his baby, showing he felt the same unconditional love.

I haven’t read this story in at least ten years, and yet it has stuck with me. My dad inspired me reading words on a page, and reading into their meaning. My mother inspired me to do something even more precious. She helped me feel the stories and the feelings behind them. That, to me, is more important than being able to define any word. Now whenever I read a novel I become involved in the story. Maybe that is why my favorite novels to read are those filled with romance and happy endings!

Assignment.1 Cameron Kluttz

When I was really young my parents would read all sorts of Disney books for kids and then went on to the Eric Carle books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, and the Very Lonely Firefly. My parents both read to me very often at nights sitting on the couch before bed, I enjoyed that more then laying in bed. I did a lot of reading at First Wesleyan-starting in Pre-K with Ms. Lawing and then Mrs. Lynn in Kindergarten, I look up to both of those teacher to this day.
I am not sure of my favorite books-my guess would be one of the Eric Carle books. I feel like I enjoyed being read to over me reading on my own. When I was at First Wesleyan the attitude was more "read as many pages as you can" which really did not make me enjoy reading. At that point, they were more concerned with sounding out words and being able to read and pronounce things correctly. There was very little emphasis placed on comprehension and understanding what you were reading so that did not make it much fun for me. By the time my brother hit kindergarten, they were at the stage of less words and more pictures with answers at the end which made him enjoy it a lot more.
As far as a book making a difference in my life, I would have to say all the readings I did in the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul were wonderful. I also really enjoyed reading Night about the Holocaust and a few others through out high school. And yes, now I do enjoy reading for pleasure, I am currently reading Love the One Your With.

Assignment.1 Angela Humphries

Thinking back, one of my favorite books from my childhood would have be The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. I would love when my mom would choose that book to read to me before my bedtime. My Pre-K teacher also used to read it to us and have some of us try and read from it. From that point on I loved books. My parents bought me many books to read and in elementary school we had a program called Reading Counts and you would read books, take quizzes on them and they would give you points. Everyone had to earn a certain amount of points but the kids who earned more got to have pizza parties and small outings. This made kids want to read while also making some kids despise reading if they were not as good readers. Once I got to middle school I started reading the Nancy Drew series of books. They were about mysteries and crimes and she went around solving them.
I enjoyed reading as a child but as I have gotten older and had to read more textbook style books I have been slightly turned away from reading. I have picked it back up in the last year or so and I love to read biographies or books about history.

Thinking Back...

I vividly remember my dad reading to me at night when I was younger. He read to me every night to get me to sleep, this was the only way to get me to sleep. One book in particular stands out in my mind because he made it come alive, the book was The Dress I'll Wear to the Party, by Shirley Neitzel. When my dad read this book he would speed up as he read it because the book is very repetititive. As a young child i only remember my dad reading to me, but in talking to my mom she said that both her and my dad read. I do know that the first person that ever taught me to read was my grandmother, she also taught me how to write my name and do my numbers. To this day I still have books in my room that my parents read to me when I was younger such as, Amelia Bedelia, Little House on the Prarie, and a collection of Disney stories. Another one of my earliest memories occured in the 2nd grade when my teacher Mrs. Link would have a kid sit on her lap each day and help her read the story to the rest of the class. I was never a lover of books when I was younger, but I was always a good reader. I dont think a book really caught my attention until I was much older with the Nicholas Sparks books. I avidly have read many of his books but still am not very interested in reading for pleasure like many people are.

Assignment.1 Kendall Robinson

My earliest memory of reading is from the day before I started kindergarten. I went to "Meet your teacher night" with my mom, where Ms. Sarita gave each of us a book called "A Wishy, Washy Day". It was the first book that I was able to read all by myself and I sat in the classroom and read it with my mom. Before I was able to read on my own, my mom and dad read to my brother, sister and I every night before bed. My grandmother also read to me when she came to visit. She gave me a whole series of books about talking animals that we read together. In third grade, each student got to invite someone who was a role model to come in to our class and read with us. I invited Tori Seibert, who was my favorite UNC volleyball player at the time. As a huge UNC fan and a volleyball player, and after watching Tori play in so many games, I thought it was the coolest thing to get to read with her in my classroom. I was always forced to read when I was a kid and having to read inside the club house while my friends were playing in the pool during summer break, didn't make me like it very much. My mom made us read an hour every night and we had to read a certain number of books each summer. She still encourages me to read, but now that it's not forced upon me, I do enjoy reading as long as it's a book I like.

Think Back...

My earliest memory of reading is Hooked on Phonics. My mother was really concerned that I would be behind in school, so we would "work" with that everyday when I was in preschool. I remember that I hated it and it really turned me off to reading. It wasn't excited or fun to have every reading experience be work and there was a constant push to know more that I didn't really like. I enjoyed listening to books and being read to. My father used to read a book to me about a cat that got lost at sea and found his way back home. I can't remember what it was called, but I must have heard it a million times. I loved stories, but not reading them myself, it was a struggle.
When I started school reading was still a struggle, but it came a little easier by 3rd grade. I remember Mrs. Rumple had a real push for accelerated reader and discovering reading as an individual. Also, she would have us read novels in her class, each student would read a paragraph out loud and we would do a chapter or so a day. We read a novel called Beauty. It was about a boy and his horse. He loved his horse and the story captured his happiness, but at the end the horse was killed in a storm. I remember crying so hard they called my mom to pick me up early. That was the first time I allowed myself to enter a story so completely that it truly affected me. I felt his sadness and I finally understood what it was to read a story and let it become part of you. I have been an avid reader ever since. I go through about a book a week and I enjoy all types of novels, but romances are my favorite.

Assignment 1. Amber Nunn

Thinking back, my earliest memory of reading is hearing my mother or father read to me The Night Before Christmas. Every Christmas Eve, beginning with my first birthday, when it was time for bed my parents would read this to me in hopes I would fall asleep, but it only excited me more. As a child my mother read to me almost every night. When I was about 4 or 5 she returned to school to finish up her teaching degree, so she was always reading books to me she heard about in her classes.
My favorite book as a child was The Wednesday Witch. It was a book my mother loved growing up and she wanted to pass that love on to me. Growing up I asked her to read it over and over to me. By the time I entered high school the book had been read so much it was falling apart. When I entered third grade my friends and I discovered the Little House of the Prairie book series. We absolutely loved these books and hated waiting on each other to finish them. My elementary school had a small library so there was only one copy of each of the books. It was always killer being forced to wait to read what Laura Ingles next adventure would be.
As a child I always loved to read and was always reading something. After my mother quit reading at night to me I began reading the books to myself in order to fall asleep better. My teachers quite often read to my classes. I had one teacher who would let us always pick the books she read to keep us interested and from falling asleep.
A book has never made a difference in my life. I have always loved to read but no book has ever touched me that much. I still love to read but have difficulty making time for it while in school. However, when I am not in school, I can usually be found reading. This past summer I rediscovered the Harry Potter series and spent the last few weeks rereading them.

Assignment.1 Chelsea Bussey

I sort of remember my mom reading me the Color Kittens while she was rocking me to sleep in a rocking chair I had in my room. I was very young, and she did this every night. All of my grandparents used to read to me, and my grandpa(dad's side) still continues the tradition by reading his favorite books from his childhood like The Advenures of Remi and The Adventures of Peter Rabbit and Friends. I have discovered, devoured, and loved an entire book series. I have also struggled with reading from a very young age, and it really made me hate reading. I love being read to, though. Ender's Game made a difference in my life by making me like to read again. I read for pleasure now.

think back...Megan Cotterman

I have fond memories of curling up in my mom and dad’s bed with wet hair and pajamas on, ready for my mother to read one of the several books off my bookshelf. With me on one side of my mom and my older sister on the other, we would savor every word brought off the pages of those books and out of my mom’s soft relaxing voice. I cannot remember how often she read to us but I do remember the classic “Tale of the Fourth Grade Nothing” by Judy Blume always being our first choice. My sister and I loved all of Judy Blume's books, we also became interested in the American Girl books when we were a little bit older. After my mom thought it was time for us girls to read by ourselves I rarely enjoyed reading. I did have my favorite “Dear Diary” series that I enjoyed which was a historical fiction series but other than that I did not read very often. I do remember my teachers reading to me when I was younger. We read books about health and our bodies, stories that related to other subject matters. I did not really start reading for pleasure until I went to college. My mom bought me several books before I began college and told me that I needed to not just focus on required books but venture outwards. It has become an escape for me to read books now. When I have the fortunate opportunity to read a really good book I have trouble putting it down. I think it brings me back to the younger years when I would get so excited to read a good book with my mom.

-Megan Cotterman

Think Back...Lauren Ashley

My earliest memory of reading was with my parents as a very young child. Every night after I took a bath and had dinner, my parents would read to me before bed. I looked forward to this event every day, and it became a routine that has stayed with my throughout my adult years. My parents read to me very often but also my elementary school teachers read to our class every day as well. We had story time where our teacher would get in a rocking chair and we would all sit on the floor in front of her and listen to her read and show us pictures in the book. I must say it was my favorite time of the day!

My favorite books as a child were the Berenstain Bear Books by Jan Berenstain. I enjoyed the whole entire series, and my family would buy them for me for birthdays and Christmas. Throughout reading the series I learned so much. Each book had a theme, such as going to school, or meeting friends and things in life we all go through. Through these books I did discover love and read every single one in the series. I loved reading as a child and it was always a joy to read and have others read to me.

My teachers in elementary school did read aloud to me. They read Dr. Seuss Books and I can even remember a time in 3rd grade my teacher read aloud an entire novel to our class. It took a few months but it was the book Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. That was one of my favorites and our teacher would take 30 minutes out of the day to read aloud to us. I would have to say many books have made a difference in my life, and as a child all of the books I mentioned above impacted my learning ability for the future. Reading books on the holocaust such as the Anne Frank diaries definitely made an impact on my life also. I choose to read for pleasure now and enjoy it.

Assignment.1- Dixon Hord

I can remember as a child my mom reading books to me almost every night. She is a first grade teacher so many times she would read books to me that she had been using in her classroom. My mom would always read a book to me before I would go to sleep at night. The Dr. Seuss books were the main books that she read to me when I was little. I always enjoyed the Dr. Seuss books when I was little. My mom would make the story "come to life." I always loved to read books when I was a child. In elementary school we were required to read many different types of books. Also, we had to have a certain amount of accelerated reader points. My elementary school teachers would usually read the books to the class. However, when I got into fifth grade we had to read many chapter books on our own at home. I didn't have a favorite book when I was a kid. I just enjoyed reading the Dr. Seuss series. I enjoyed reading books a lot more when I was younger. As time has gone on I don't read books for fun as much as I used to. However, if someone suggests a book that I might enjoy then I will try to make some time to read it.

Assignment.1 - Sarah Cobb

My earliest memory of child is when my mom would hold me in the rocking chair and read Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. My mom read to me almost everyday as a child. Every so often my dad or my older sister would read to me. My favorite book as a child was Dr. Seuss's ABC book. I loved this book because my kindergarten teacher read it to us almost every week and she always used funny voices for each letter. I would go home and try to read it the same way she did. When I was little I didn't mind being read to, but I disliked reading to myself. I wouldn't say reading was a struggle, I just found reading to myself boring as a child. My kindergarten, first grade, and second grade teachers read out loud almost every week. We read a variety of books, I don't really remember any specific ones. I can't think of a book that made a difference in my life as a young child but when I got to middle school we read Night by Elie Wiesel. This book made a difference in my life. Night helped me open my eyes to a lot of things going on the world, past or present. This book showed a different side to WWII than Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. Night also helped me understand that sometimes I need to look at things through another person's point of view. I do choose to read for pleasure now. Over the past year or so I have discovered a love for reading. I am currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Reading as a child...

I can't remember learning to read, but I do know I learned to read and write before pre-school. My mom and grandma taught me how to read and write. I was a smart child and loved learning. My grandma was an assistant teacher and my mom was a secretary at the elementary school I attended. I loved to read and couldn't get enough books. By first grade I had reached a sixth grade reading level. Although I was a head in my class, that didn't stop me from finding more books to read. I read anything and everything. Reading came natural to me. I loved Shel Silverstein books and the Judy Blume books. They were my favorite authors and read almost every book that came out with. I remember in k-1 we had reading day and would bring our favorite books and pillows and read all day. The whole school did it, but it stopped when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. In kindergarten we also had partners with 5th graders; we would read to them and they would take turns reading to us. But again by the time I was in 5th grade they had stopped partner reading with the kindergarten students. Our school was still focused on reading, but it was busy work reading, book reports after book reports. School had made reading a hassle instead of showing children reading was fun and enjoyable. By 5th or 6th grade books began to bore me and I didn't read for fun any more. I guess it was because of all the books the school had picked out for the curriculum, they just didn't interest me and they weren't a challenge. I did pick reading for fun back up in 11th grade, but that was five years wasted. I want to change that for my students, I want to make reading fun again. Reading isn't just for education and book reports, it's to show children a different world, a different culture, a different way of thinking, or a different time period. Books to help educate children, but they do more, they spark their imagination. I want to show children that reading is fun, enjoyable, while educating them in the meantime.

Welcome!

Welcome to RE 3240! I am eager to get to know you as we explore children's literature together. I look forward to watching this blog fill and spill over with your thoughts and words.

Give Me a Book

Give me a book and long tall grass,
There will I look as the hours pass.
To other places I can see;
To other faces strange to me.

In black and white they fill my head
With men and women~ vanished, dead~
Of hope and fear, of wish and need.

The world stands still.
I, breathless, read.
And in their history I see
The untold mystery of me.

~ Myra Cohn Livingston

Hopkins, L. B., ed. (1990). Good books, good times! New York: HarperTrophy.

Think Back...

What is your earliest memory of reading?
Who read to you? Did they read to you often?
What was your favorite book as a child?
Did you ever discover, love, and devour an entire series of books?
Did you like to read as a child? Was reading a joy or a struggle?
Did your teachers read aloud regularly? What books did they read?
Did a book ever make a difference in your life?
Do you choose to read for pleasure now?
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Please reflect on these questions and share your thoughts with us in a post. You should post no later than 8:00 pm on Friday, August 28, 2009. Please label your post with "Assignment.1" and your name. Please read your classmates' posts and comment on at least two by 8:00 pm on Sunday, August 30.
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