Hutchinson's second grade class we learned about dinosaurs. She taught us the common dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops. That is what really got me interested in reading something for the first time. I craved knowledge about these magnificent creatures. I had never felt that need to know as much as I possibly could about something. Very few things since then have caught my interest so much. As I got older, my knowledge of dinosaurs increased and reached the point where there wasn't too much more that a fourth grader could understand. I became obsessed with Bill Waterson's "Calvin & Hobbes." Only later to crave books dealing with World War 2 and the Holocaust. Then, for some strange reason, my interest in reading plummeted at the end of eighth grade.
I was reading at about age four. This was when I was in pre-pre-kindergarten. I don't think that this was too much of a incredible feat because I've talked to many people who were also literate at four years old. It was typical for my family as well. My older brother and sister both read when they were four. All I read then were "See Jane run" type of books. Some of my very first reads .
Roughton 2.
were Goodnight Moon and To Say I Saw It on Mulberry Street. I was delighted to be reading just as any small child who reads is. I had been used to having those books read to me, now it was I reading them. Now bear in mind I wasn't exactly proficient at reading just yet, I still needed help with the whole reading thing. I had a hard enough time sitting still and reading a book couldn't yet hold my attention for long.
Kindergarten and first grade brought on new books and new formats. Whenever I went to the dentist, I would climb up to the shelf above the coat rack in the waiting room to reach my treasure. Popcorn was worth climbing on top of a chair and standing on my tippy-toes and maybe getting in a little bit of trouble.
