The Love of Reading really has to be a culture. This was the culture in my growing up years:
- Mom's idea of relaxing (in her rare "free" time), was kicking back with a Janette Oke book. Other times, she was perusing books, to okay for my sister and me to read. She had to keep up with our voracious reading habits... my sister read more than I did.
- Speaking of my sister, in first grade, she was assigned to read the first chapter of Sarah, Plain and Tall during class. While everyone else read what was assigned, she read the ENTIRE book in that allotted time. Um ya, that's why I say VORACIOUS.
- Dad read at night... usually the Bible. That's a given for Mom and Dad. But, we'd also pester and he'd read aloud Bible stories and other books to us. You don't know what it's like having a story read to you until Dad does it. He had a voice for every character and perfect inflections. Close your eyes and let your imagination soar... On the other hand, we loved watching his face as he read.
- There was a big bookshelf in the hallway. And, on any given day, we were camped out beside, reading and rereading the selections there.
- My younger brother read too... the Guinness Book of World Records and those sorts of things. Consequently, he became an encyclopedia of what we referred to as useless information. :)
- And then, there's my youngest brother... I remember him as mostly being on the receiving end of reading. The way I read to my children was really developed and practiced in the times I read to him. Additionally, his reading interests were piqued by our brother, which eventually led to him becoming an encyclopedia as well...
Sweet memories to last a lifetime... my experiences with reading, growing up.
