Friday, January 28, 2011

who flipped the switch?

Something amazing has happened in our little family.  It means much more to me than to anyone else, mainly because I never thought it would happen.


LB has become a reader.


Okay, of course she's known how to read for years and has never had any trouble reading at grade level.  But she was missing that spark, that desire to lose herself in a book and it made me sad.


You see, I didn't read books as a child, I devoured them. 
My favorite teacher was the school librarian, Mrs. Puckett.
By the time I was in junior high, when I had read everything else in the house that Mama deemed appropriate, if I had no new library books, I would read my older brothers' school books (okay, I know that is odd, but I promise it is true).  I still remember reading I Heard the Owl Call My Name.  I don't remember much of the story, but I do remember that it made me feel things that I didn't understand at the time ... hmmm, maybe I should go back and read it again ...


Anyway, back to LB ... I am not sure exactly what happened, but it is like someone flipped a switch in her brain labeled you want to read a book!  I took her to the library last Friday while the boys were getting haircuts with their Daddy and she checked out two books, both of which she had read by Monday.  Granted, they weren't challenging books, but suddenly something is different and now she wants to read more than a chapter at a time and when it comes time for her to read during school she wants to know how many chapters she can read, rather than how many she has to read.


In case you can't tell, I am very excited about this new development in LB.  I can't help it because I know how wonderful it is to be able to just lose yourself in a good book and not even realize what is happening.  I am also thinking about books that she and I can read together ... books like Little Women and Anne of Green Gables come to mind.


Now, my husband wants to know where that switch is and if we can turn it on for him ...

3 comments:

Katharine said...

How wonderful! I devoured books as well...still do, although I don't have as much time as I would like!

Felicity said...

That's great!! I also devoured books as a child! Unfortunately I don't have that much time to read anymore, but I still have the ability to get totally lost in a story.
I'm very grateful that my children all love to read - I think it makes homeschooling so much easier.
We read "I heard the owl call my name" in early high school (I think..). I was just thinking about the book the other day and thought I should reread it and give it to my children.
I adore 'Anne of Green Gables' and my elder daughter LOVES 'Little Women'!! Great books!!

KTElltt said...

How wonderful! I am much like you -- I devoured books growing up, still do when I get the chance. I want the same for both of my kids. What a gift you have given to LB by continuing to encourage this!