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Corduroy
The first book I remember my mom reading to me was Corduroy . I had the whole thing memorized and would get irritated with my mom if she "skipped" a page. I always wanted a teddy bear that looked just like Corduroy. -
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
My grandmother was a school teacher at this time and she had a wonderful basket of books at her house. My grandfather would read Brown Bear, Brown Bear to me and "pretend" to read it incorrectly. I would always adamantly correct him and make him read it "right". She has since given this original copy of the book to me, and I realized the version is different than what I bought for my own kids. There are different animals in the book, but it was one of my own kids favorites also. -
Shel Silverstein
I received Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein at Christmas. I laughed so hard at all the great poems and memorized several from reading them so often. My mom loves to tell the story of the night she was in a hurry and put all my younger brothers and me in the bathtub together and I recited "There's too many kids in this tub...". -
Trixie Belden
My best friend in 4th grade was Tammy Dunkle. We would meet each other every Saturday morning in the basement of our town's public library (where the children's section was) and check out two books from the Trixie Belden series. Over the course of the year we read the entire series and made our own detective agency called the "Rockin' Robins" (instead of the Bob-Whites). We thought we were so cool! -
Becoming a writer
My 5th grade year I decided I was going to become an author, so I transformed my closet into my writer's office. I moved my toys to the basement, shoved my clothes to one side, and made a desk out of cement blocks and wood on the other side. It was in my "office" that I worked diligently on what I thought was going to be the greatest kids' book ever written. Still working on that dream of becoming a published author! -
Caught reading
By middle school (and on into high school) I learned the art of reading while bored in school. At times this was when the teacher was actually teaching, but I managed to hide my book inside and my desk and was never caught. I remember being so bored in all my classes whenever we would read out loud because it seemed like so many of the kids read so slow! Often I would read so far ahead I wasn't sure where we were when called on- playing "popcorn" helped know when you were going to be called. -
Dad's reading list
My 8th grade year my Dad gave me a list of books that he thought I should read before I graduated from high school. Many were classics I read later on in high school, and I didn't enjoy all of them (like Atlas Shrugged), but I loved having a list to mark off as I read. I plan to do the same with my kids, although my list will probably look a little different, including some more recent young adult books. -
AP English
I had my first English class I loved when I was a senior in high school and I took AP English. We read some amazing books and for the first time everyone in my class knew how to read, loved reading, and could intelligently discuss literature. Yea! My teacher was also amazing and the only reason I survived my freshmen year in college. -
Children's Literature class
By my sophomore year in college I decided to become a teacher, and I took my first children's literature course. It was so much fun to reconnect with some of the books from my childhood and to read all the new ones. I have since taken many child/teen literature classes and thoroughly enjoyed them all. -
Becoming a teacher
My first teaching job was in North Kansas City, I taught 4th grade, and then from there I taught in Central America, California, Springfield, and back in KC. I've taught 4th-8th grade, but my favorite part of any teaching job was reading aloud to the kids and discussing books with the kids. -
Reading to my own kids
I was so excited to have my first child and begin collecting books for her. I read to her every day from the moment she was born. She and her brother and sister love to read. We still manage to read together in spite of our business- often times it is a book on CD in the car. I can't wait to share all of their literary times with them! -
Becoming a librarian
I decided to go back to school and become a school librarian. I have never once regretted that decision and still love reading aloud to kids and discussing books with them.
