Memories of Reading From My Childhood

I remember many people reading to me when I was to young to do it myself: my parents, other relatives, and teachers. When I started Kindergarten, students were encouraged to take time to read on their own and there was a cozy nook to do it in too! I did not have a total grasp on reading by Kindergarten, but I spent many hours just looking at the books and trying to understand what was going on in the stories through the pictures and the few words I could identify.

When I started to read, I enjoyed funny and weird books like Mike Thaler's Black Lagoon series, and Tedd Arnold's Parts trilogy. The pictures got pretty whacky, and were fun to look at and imagine the scenes playing out again and again.

As I got a bit older and started to read chapter books, my interest in the weird continued. I started going to my town's library and my school's library and checked out all the Goosebumps stories they had. The library was/and is right next to a playground which made for a great weekend stop as a kid. I used this photo from Library Land Project which highlights the new library in my town, and has this nice picture of the playground.

I don't remember anyone else in my immediate family being much of a reader, other than reading with me. My uncle would read nearly a book a day in the summer, and I remember being quite impressed by that. I was extremely proud of myself when I read The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket in one day, I couldn't comprehend reading those bigger adult books so quickly.

My happy visits to the library as a kid would eventually bring me back to volunteer there in my teens, and work there as an adult. I love to see kids checking out the newer versions of The Black Lagoon books, and getting old favorites of mine; I hope they enjoy them as much as I did.

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