Children's Literature Autobiography

Getting Started:
As a child, I was always curious about books. I remember always seeing my brother in his room reading books or magazines, (he is 6 years older than me), so I would go to my room and try to copy the way in which he was reading. I sat for hours at a time trying to pretend to read chapter books. As soon as I got to Kindergarten, I remember my teachers sitting us in group because I ran up to the front of the group so as not to miss out on any of it. I also remember how mad and frustrated I used to feel when the kids beside or behind me began to talk or make noise and not let me hear the story. At home, I read to my sister and cousins during our dramatic play time. My mother has always taken a big part in my love for books. My mom tutored us with her version of the things we learned in school (like reading). However, because our primary language at home is Spanish, I remember having the toughest time separating the different rules that went with each language, but feeling really proud when I started learning bigger and harder words. I also remember going to school and feeling really proud as the teacher asked me to share with my classmates my talent of reading in spanish. I would bring my own books from home and she would let me read aloud to the class. Boy did those kids think I was smart. Even the other teachers knew about my talent and benefited from it because they would always ask me to translate for them when they couldn't get through to a child or parent who didn't speak english. I can't imagine my childhood without books.

Chapter Books:
I really loved moving from ordinary picture books to actual chapter books. Some of my favorites consisted of several series: Ramona Quimby, The Babysitters Club, The Boxcar Children, The Littles, The Little House on the Prairie, Hank the Cowdog, and several more. Television was always timed and limited at our house, so I remember being able to finish a book within a day without even thinking about it. Books followed me everywhere I went. My sister and I even used to sit out in the car reading while my mother grocery shopped. I know that this sounds pretty drastic, but it is true. I always made sure that I read an entire collection before moving on because if I did happen to move on, I couldn't concentrate on whatever book I did move onto. As I grew up, I moved onto more teenage books such as Sweet Valley High. I chose books that I could easily relate and understand. During middle school, however, I did begin to slowly decrease the amount of books I read.

School Assignments:
As I got older, school obviously became more intense. Therefore, most of my "free-time" was spent studying and finishing assignments. It seemed as if I no longer had the time or the energy to sit and actually enjoy a book of my choice. I was usually also loaded with book reports and other school work that honestly just bored me. Then, everything went down hill from here. To this day, I cannot sit and just enjoy a book because I seem to have lost interest. After years of always being forced to read within a time limit (and having my grades depend on how I understood and interpreted my readings, this was bound to happen.

My Future Hopes:
Due to the fact that I am now a mother, I want to give, (as much as possible anyway), to my child only the best of everything. I want to be able to teach him to grow up into a responsible and caring intellectual who appreciates and enjoys literature. Therefore, what's better than teaching your child by example? This is why I am now trying to attain that love of reading that I lost as an adolescent. My biggest hope is that my child succeeds; and one of the most important stepping stones to this is reading.