My History as a Reader

As autumn leaves fall and pumpkin spice fills the air, I’m digging out my harvest décor and putting on a seasonal show. But the start of fall and the back-to-school fanfare go hand in hand.  As a retired Language Arts teacher, I can’t help but take a nostalgic pause. Perusing displays of crisp, new crayon boxes reminds me of those exciting first days of school when I planned my lessons to get to know something special about my new students.

One favorite assignment was to ask my 6th graders to describe their history as a reader. They wrote about their favorite books and reading experiences from their earliest memories. It was a fun way to share and to find commonalities with new classmates. When the first ads appeared for back-to-school supplies this year, I decided to tackle this assignment myself.

In my earliest memories, my father is sitting at my bedside, reading to my sister and me.  Our evening stories were written by Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm. Rumpelstiltskin was the story of the strange little man whose devious offer to the imprisoned miller’s daughter caused me great distress. The devilish imp offered to turn her straw into gold if she agreed to his increasingly wicked demands. Ultimately, she must guess his name correctly or give up her firstborn child. Fortunately, fate intervenes for a happy ending. The Little Match Girl froze to death selling her matches on a bitterly cold night. I still recall the forlorn feeling when the story ended.  Still, the assuring visions of her loving grandmother, into whose comforting arms she is eternally released, taught me an important lesson on the promise of a safe and everlasting life.

I was an early reader and savored the simple stories of Dick, Jane, and Spot. By second grade, I was an avid one.  I scoured our class history book, captivated by the stories of early explorers and colonial settlers to our country. Like so many of my generation, I adored Nancy Drew. She was the first female role model who was independent and brave, plus she could solve complex mysteries. I can still spend an enjoyable afternoon rereading The Hidden Staircase.

I was a habitual reader, often with my head buried in a book. Once, I was scolded by a teacher for walking through the hallway, my face down reading a novel. How could anyone, no less a teacher, be annoyed that a student was reading? I adored the stories of The Box Car Children and imagined my own family living in an abandoned train car somewhere in a forest. I relished the positivity of Pollyanna and The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. The inspirational story of Karen shaped my early perceptions of individuals with disabilities.  Karen was born with multiple sclerosis, and her parents were encouraged to institutionalize her early on. But they refused and Karen showed that she could read, write, and communicate well.  Her story helped me develop an understanding and compassion that influenced my outlook on individual differences.

One Christmas, my parents gave me the abridged versions of Dicken’s classics, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. It wasn’t long before I was tackling the originals. The Wizard of Oz was one of my favorite movies, and when I learned it was based on Frank L. Baum’s, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I had to read it. It was then I discovered that books are almost always better than the screen version.  Movies skimp on a character’s back story and details that enrich the plot.  

At the end of every school year, we eagerly anticipated our summer vacation. I was also curious to survey the titles on the required summer reading list. My first understanding of the horrors of war came from The Red Badge of Courage, and I was devastated by the memoir written by a father who lost his young son to brain cancer in Death Be Not Proud.  Charles Dicken’s classic, A Tale of Two Cities, brought me to a cruel place in time, the days before the fall of the French monarchy. I relished the love story of Charles Darney and Lucy Manette whose future was threatened by the French Revolution. It was also the first time I encountered true and unconditional love when Sidney Carlton secretly exchanges places with Charles, who is condemned to die at the guillotine. Sidney Carlton loved Lucy but gave his life to ensure her happiness with Charles. His final words end the novel and have stayed with me to this day.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

I am still an avid reader and enjoy literary fiction selections and enlightened non-fiction titles with messages on living your best life.  But those early days of reading still influence me.  Young readers learn essential life lessons through fiction and in doing so experience goodness and compassion.  They confront evil and learn to navigate difficult life situations by making moral decisions. Readers are exposed to different worlds and cultures; reading opens young minds to different ways of thinking and complex situations. It prepares them for challenging life choices.  

What books offered you a life lesson in your younger years? What do you recall and cherish in your history as a reader?

Bit by bit, that’s all she wrote…