When I was growing up my mother always told my sister and I that she would never say no to buying us a new book. It didn't matter how much money we had she would find a way to get us the books we wanted. She is an English teacher, her mother was a teacher, her sister is a teacher, my Grandfather worked for years for a textbook publishing firm-so you see where it comes from. Education, particularly reading has always been encouraged (if not forced) upon my sister and I. My sister took to this very well. I always remember her reading-all the time. Me, well it took awhile for me to have the want to read. I loved riding my bike around the neighborhood with the boys and playing in the creek. I would have lived outdoors in my playhouse if my parents had let me. But then like magic, one day in the 3rd grade my teacher Mrs. Hood introduced our class to Matilda by Roald Dahl. I couldn't help but read ahead. I could not put that book down. I became a part of the story-Matilda and I were friends. Reading finally brought a story to life for me. After that I read every book that Roald Dahl wrote. And then I moved on to The Little House on the Prairie books, all of the old Nancy Drew novels and I just kept reading. I was not the coolest kid in elementary school. I had just started to get serious about my ballet lessons. So I was busy every day after school with dance class and most weekends too. I was a bunhead for sure. So the escapism that reading provided was important to me. In the library at East Side Elementary (my distinguished Alma Mater) was the most wonderful reading spot. Someone had taken an old claw foot tub and filled it with pillows and blankets. My bff at the time, Laura Hardy-wonder where she is these days?-and I would snuggle down in that tub together and read all of the mystery and ghost stories we could get our hands on. This special little memory has been carried with me all this time and I am now on the hunt for a unique reading spot for my little ones. I would love to find an old claw foot tub for the playroom and refurbish/paint it and fill it up with pillows and give them a little slice of my childhood heaven!
What do you think of a reading tub? What was the first book you fell in love with?
You must have gotten your love of reading from me. I never could sit still long enough to read a book until I was in the fourth grade and our teacher had a round tub full of books. The ones I picked out were about a young boy playing basketball and after reading the first one, I couldn't wait until I could start the next. Books are great and I can't wait until you write one. Maybe put all your "feathering nest" entries into a journal. They are so good.
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