XianeBlog

I started reading so early that I have no functional memory of life without it.

My family was poor but we had full bookshelves and both my mom and gran [who we lived with] were voracious readers. Mom read to me and had books for me from the very beginning, and I took to reading easily and with much excitement. I think being curious and having a deep desire to know helped, but having a reading culture modeled for me was the most important part of the equation.

Mom knew that she could get toddler me to behave when we were out in public by offering to buy me a Little Golden Book. My relatives were encouraged to buy me books as gifts, and when they saw how happy that made me, they were thrilled to keep up the tradition. My beloved Aunt L, who had more money than we did and was always kind and generous, bought me some of my most treasured books–ones that Mom would have struggled to afford, like sets, collections, and encyclopedias of knowledge. I think she loved doing it because she understood what an impact her gifts made on me.

I mention money here because books are expensive, always have been, and it takes money to have one’s own library. As a kid I had more books than some adults I knew! I treasured my Collier’s Junior Classics, where I got a taste for folklore and mythology that would fuel further exploration and then the books I write today. I had an encyclopedia set of animals [bought by Aunt L] that sparked my obsession for wildlife and helped me spout facts at my partner whenever we watch animal videos or go to the National Zoo. All those books I owned helped form who I am today.

And don’t get me wrong, I went to the library religiously and would emerge with armfuls of books every time. I am an extremely fast reader so I would blaze through my pile and then read everything that Mom took out, too, even if it was “too old” for me. If I had questions, I’d ask Mom or use the dictionary to help me. My intellectual curiosity was fueled by not being restricted in what I could consume, and not being shamed if I asked a question that might be uncomfortable or that others might brand as too advanced for my age or experience. I had a safe home, in that way. I was encouraged to learn everything I wanted to, at my own pace. [This was a problem for me in school, unfortunately, and I was often bored and frustrated, forced to adhere to the pace of my peers. Not that I was any smarter than them, I just had an insatiable curiosity and lightning fast reading speed.]

Thing is about the library: it is an important–crucial!–resource, but having books in the home, at one’s fingertips whenever wanted, is important for keeping young minds invested in reading. These days, we’ve got the Internet to answer all our questions, but when I was a kid, having a big dictionary and encyclopedia was formative for me. I spent a summer reading the entirety of them from front to back, which explains a lot about me if you know me in person. You can’t force that kind of obsessive need for info, you can only nurture it. Getting an early start at reading, in a home that valued education, was vital.

And let me be clear here: my family was lower class blue collar. Until my mom and I went to college [at the same time!] we didn’t have anyone in the immediate family who had done the same. When I learned to read, I lived in an apartment with my mom, her sister, and their mother–my grandmother. We struggled, and I even shared a bed with my gran for years before my mom got married and we moved up in status a bit. But there were always books, always reading, always great value placed on learning things.

What’s my point in all of this?

We need to start kids reading early and enthusiastically foster the love of it by modeling a reading culture. Doesn’t matter if it’s a paper or electronic book; what matters most is the unfettered access to reading material and an unfaltering support for exploring whatever sparks a child’s curiosity. Don’t depend on your kid’s teachers to do this for them! It needs to start well before they hit their school years. If you’re like me and don’t have kids, gifting books or reading to young people is a good way to help. I think of my Aunt L, who invested in a kid that wasn’t her own, and what it helped to support. You can make a difference.

Also, there are programs like RIF – Reading is Fundamental – which make sure that kids, especially kids in less secure financial circumstances, get access to books in their own home. You can donate money or time to them, or organize a book giveaway with their help. They’re not the only organization that does this! A quick online search will reveal many more.

Investing in our future means investing in kids, because they are the future. One way to do that is to encourage curiosity. Reading opens so many doors. Let’s give kids every opportunity to walk through those doors with all kinds of possibilities in front of them.