Friday five....

[fajrdrako]

From The Friday Five:

1. What were your favorite childhood stories?

From the youngest I can remember: A.A. Milne, the Winnie-the-Pooh books as well as "When We Were Very Young" and "Now We Are Six". A little later: "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss. Aged 9 or so: "Sir Francis Drake" and the novels of E. Nesbit and Enid Blyton, especially the Adventure series. Soon afterwards: "The Lost Queen of Egypt" and "Merrylips".


2. What books from your childhood would you like to share with [your] children?

All of them. Or at least - all the good ones.



3. Have you re-read any of those childhood stories and been surprised by anything?

I've reread my favourites, yes, except I haven't been able to find a copy of "Merrylips". Suprises? No. I remembered them rather well, and had the same reactions. A.A. Milne is still one of my favourite writers and I particularly enjoy reading his works in foreign languages.


4. How old were you when you first learned to read?

Six. There's a bad memory there. My parents thought I would be bored in school if I learned to read beforehand, so they didn't teach me to read, but told me I could learn to read when I went to school. I was more or less counting the days till I could go to school and learn to read on my own. They read to me often and I had no lack of books. I loved books with a passion even then.

I went to kindergarten and they had us drawing circles. After a few days or weeks of this I started to wonder why we weren't going on to more interesting things. I asked the teacher when we were going to learn to read and write. "That comes next year," she said.

I was shattered. A year is a long time when you're five years old, and reading was my heart's desire. I don't think the teacher had any idea how upset I was. "Can you just show me how to make an A?" I asked, probably pretty timidly, since I was a shy kid, and it shows what despair I was in that I would even ask.

"You'll get that in grade one," said the teacher.

I probably never told my parents about this; it was too upsetting to talk about. I did learn to read, eventually - in grade one. I vividly remember being on the bus, looking at the signs on shops and wishing I knew what they said, envying all the lucky adults who were able to read them so easily.

I never got over my disappointment and resentment towards school, and the memory of that day still distresses me.


5. Do you remember the first 'grown-up' book you read? How old were you?

Twelve years and three months. It was Christmas at my grandfather's place. I was bored, and picked a Perry Mason novel off his bookshelf, and enjoyed it - I used to watch Perry Mason on TV with my mother when I was six, and loved it. Within a few months I'd read all the Perry Mason novels then in print, and "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Jane Eyre" and then I started on Victoria Holt. There was no holding me back then!

Comments

[dargie.livejournal.com]

I am SO grateful that there was never a question of me not reading until I got into school. I can't imagine how hard it would have been to wait until I was "old enough." Ugh. Why do they hold children back so?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It was a bad idea. I know everyone meant well but I didn't need to go through that; there was no good reason for it. And of course I was bored in school anyway!

[dargie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, those of us who found school interminable didn't do so because of what we did know, it's because of what they wouldn't let us do.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. There was never a day in school I didn't feel they were holding me back. It was a little like prison. Maybe that's why I like Oz!