1. What were your favorite childhood stories?
How far back are we going? There was all of Richard Scarry’s stuff, and Grimm’s Fairy Tales, but I got into the meatier stuff as soon as I figured out it was out there. Where The Wild Things Are was a pretty brief phase. The Hardy Boys flashed by, along with a bunch of thick books called The [something] Of Adventure, of which The Valley Of Adventure was my fave. Very British. And you can’t overlook the fact I devoured anything I could find about Robin Hood. The Adventures Of Robin Hood is the only book I still have from back then. I think my rapid powering through reading levels was heavily influenced by Star Wars coming out when I was seven or eight. There were spinoff books for every age category, and I had to read ’em all.
2. What books from your childhood would you like to share with your children?
Definitely the Robin Hood book. I’m pretty sure I brought a lot of my values out of my childhood with those stories. I’ve never forgiven Kevin Costner for butchering my hero. *glare* And Grimm’s Fairy Tales- that’s a huge chunk of our cultural history right there. That, and Disney. *sigh*
3. Have you re-read any of those childhood stories and been surprised by anything?
Nope. Being such a ravenous reader I kept re-reading them as I got older. Oh wait- I lost track of Where The Wild Things Are for years and years, and when I finally found a copy in my hands I discovered I had no idea how it ends. Strangely, I’ve forgotten again. Anybody have a copy?
4. How old were you when you first learned to read?
Not sure. My parents read to me every night before sleep, and I just took over more & more, until I suddenly realized they hadn’t read to me in ages. I’d been doing it myself. Sometime between kindergarten and grade one. In grade one we had these home-jobby ten page booklets that we could take to our desk, practice for half an hour, then take up to Miss Meyer’s desk to read aloud. I’d just stand at her desk reading one after another until she’d send me away so other kids could have a chance.
5. Do you remember the first ‘grown-up’ book you read? How old were you?
Shnykees. I have no idea. I never really made the demarcation. I think I was in grade five when my parents gave me a reading comprehension test and I showed a first-year university reading level. It was part of an IQ test and they’ve always refused to tell me what I scored, for fear it would “influence” me.
These are the same parents that owned the orginal Pong game and hid it from me for fear it would destroy my mind.
I was their first. The Practice Kid. The Trainer. My sister had it SO much easier, seven years later.
Me- I still read every night before I go to sleep. Almost every night. And I can’t see print without reading it. Did I tell you about the shampoo bottle in the shower? I have to turn it English side out or I’ll go mad reading the French over & over.
I love reading. I feel deeply, deeply sorry for people who don’t.