...the first book you ever read?
Not the first book that was read to you (obviously), but the first book that you read all by yourself.
I do. It was a book called Susan's Special Summer by Joyce Boyle. I loved it because the main character had my name. It was one of my favorite books and my mom read it to me countless times. I remember being so excited the first time I could read it to myself. It took forever.... I just pulled it off my shelf and I see that it's 96 pages long... which was overwhelming at the time.
It's about a girl named Susan who spends the summer in a cottage with her parents before her baby brother is born. She explores the park near the cottage, has a wonderful encounter with a librarian, and gets to know her grandmother better. It also has a great map in the front of the book that I remember poring over. It may not sound exciting... but it was the book that helped me enter the world of reading (and that was exciting). It was published in 1954, has been out of print for a while and no one seems to have ever heard of it but me. It's got a special place in my heart and I remember every detail of it.
Do you remember that triumphant book where you finally cracked the code? If you do, I'd love to hear what it is.
I don't remember, Susan. I wish I did. The first books I can remember specifically reading are the Little House books, in third grade. But I know I read other books before that - I just don't have clear memories of which ones, or when. I mean, I have a vague memory of reading about Dick and Jane in first grade, but that doesn't count.
ReplyDeleteOne Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Say what you want about Seuss, but predictability ROCKS! I will never forget how I felt about finishing that book by myself for the first time!
ReplyDeleteI remember the first book I read, The Tent. I was about 4 years old and my grandmother wrote the words out on little index cards and taught me to read them before I ever saw the book. Once I could read them all, she gave me the book and told me to read it. I was hooked. It was about a little boy w/ a tent and he invited friend after friend until it exploded.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you remember this, Susan. I do not remember the first book I read by myself, but in my memory Ramona the Brave is the first chapter book I read. I was 5 years old and living in Spain, so I guess it must have come from either a public library or my brother's school library (he went to the American School of Madrid). All I know for sure is that it was in English! Twenty-five years later, I could *maybe* handle it in Spanish. :-)
ReplyDeleteHop on Pop! Although my mother claims that I had merely memorized it from countless readings, she's wrong. I READ THAT BABY. It's full of sight words!
ReplyDeleteThe first book I read without having had it read to me first involved a caveman. It was a short easy reader type thing. About cavemen and something about a rock. That's all I remember. I read it to my kindergarten class for show and tell the text week, I was so excited.
Man, I would have hated going to school with me.
I don't remember either, Susan! I think maybe, like Megan and Jennie, it was Seuss: Hop on Pop, maybe?
ReplyDeleteGood question, though!
The first book I read was The Fire Cat by Esther Averill. I remember this happening in kindergarten, but my mom claims I didn't read til second grade. Either my memory is faulty or that was the year I became a reader.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the first book I read on my own, but your post did inspire me to think about some of my own happy book-related memories!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember for myself, but I just remembered the book my daughter read for the first time. Well, actually, I can't remember the name but I know I still have it. I'm going to pull it out and put it somewhere special so years from now she'll be able to answer this question.
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteI recently blogged all about this topic on my LJ... I've been feeling nostalgic lately.
I still remember VERY vividly reading for my mother ~~~
Jeanne-Marie Goes to the Fair by Francoise Seignobosc.
She was so proud and I was elated. Just looking at the cover turns me to mush.
I'm working on a post of my MG fav covers.
I dunno what the first real book I read was, but I do remember when I was 5ish sitting on my mother's lap, reading Gaudy Night with her--with me only reading the first few lines of each left hand page before it was turned. I remember well how scary the cover was! (Why don't my children just sit quitly on my lap while I read? My mother dosn't appreciate how easy she had it...)
ReplyDeleteMy first book was either Little House in the Big Woods (Wilder) or The Saturdays (Enright). It's hard to remember! The first book I ever asked someone to buy for me was Daughter of the Moon, by Gregory Maguire, which I wanted after I heard it on "The Spider's Web."
ReplyDeleteSadly, it was probably my reading book from school. I was notorious for bringing my reading book home the first day of school and reading the entire book in one night. My teachers never knew what to do with me. I started this in first grade.
ReplyDeleteSure! It was my first grade reading book, about Billy and Jane and their monkey Winky. I even remember struggling with the first page I had to read aloud, probably on the second day of first grade. It was "Billy and Jane." I got Billy because my uncle's name was Bill, and "and" because my cousin's name was Ann--but Jane flummoxed me and I suppose the teacher had to help me. Soon after that I took off and read ahead, even though that was strictly forbidden. Billy and Jane went with their family to the west and saw prairie dogs, cowboys, and the like--and the west still has wonderful, mysterious associations for me, even though I've been there several times. I think--though I'm not sure--my first trade book was probably _the Bobbsey Twins_ which my father gave me. We didn't have a public library in my little town, so he gave me stacks of second books from the Salvation Army. Unfortunately, like Jen R's books, they are almost all gone now. I do have one Maida book and a Little Colonel that has pictures of Shirley Temple in it. I guess it was an early movie tie in!
ReplyDeleteMy sister taught me to read when I was three, and my earliest memories are from when I was four, so as far as I'm concerned I've always known how to read. According to said sister, the first book I read by myself was The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Leaf), which she says was one of the books she used when teaching me. I do remember having the book, so I guess that's the answer to your question....
ReplyDelete