Teacher.Mother.Reader

I am a teacher, a mother, and a reader.  I enjoy books!  I decided to start a blog about books to chronicle reading, being a teacher, and being a mother.  I am so excited, I don't even know where to start.  I guess I will start at the beginning...

I loved growing up with books.  I guess I didn't start reading until I was well into 1st grade, but even before that I was enjoying books.  I loved listening to stories and looking at the pictures on the pages, often making stories myself.  By the time I started reading in first grade I discovered that books were a magical place to  find friends and adventures.  I was told that I would sit and read to my dolls and stay up late with a flashlight reading under covers.  I never grew out of these habits!

When I became an independent reader, the library was my favorite place.  I would get piles of books and read, read, read.  I had already read all of my books at home multiple times!  My favorite books were picture books, fairy tales, and adventure books.  

One May, just as the summer was about to begin, I fell from a tree and had a severely broken leg which required a hip to my cast.  I was basically immobile, hot, and bored since most of my friends were off running and playing.  That summer it seemed like books were my only friend.  I started a reading summer challenge at my local library and read more than ever.  I remember reading longer chapter books and discovering new genres like fantasy and even poetry.  My summer was long but it was full of books...

After that I went off to a middle school with a huge library that I tried to spend as much time in as possible.  The librarian in that library would give me wonderful suggestions and I was reading more than ever. (Oh, how I wish I had such eager students!) But, like many eager readers I didn't connect my enjoyment of reading to school or even to the books I was reading in the classroom which, as I remember, were few.

By the time I got to High School I was a closet reader.  I read at home and flew through books in the classroom when they were assigned, but I didn't really connect with anyone about reading.  I remember when I was in high school my mom suggested that I try reading one of her (very tame) historical romance novels.   I loved it!  I also discovered one shelf of books in my local library with YA novels.  Wow!  I was in heaven as I read, read, read.

So, thats it for my first post.  Before I go for now, I was wondering: What are your earliest memories of books and reading?  I had my students once write an essay about reading, asking them to recall their earliest books, memories, and reading.  Many wrote about reading on parents laps, but some could only recall reading books with their Kindergarten teacher.  So, thanks for reading, I hope to have some 'views' soon.