The Impact of Reading

Learning to read is always an exciting experience for young children. I remember many factors that influenced my desire to read. The very first book I was able to read was The Lion King. I remember the movie being one of my favorites when I was younger. I really wanted to be able to read the book on my own. I had my mom read the book to me frequently and show me the sound each letter made and how to sound out the words. I practiced over and over again until I felt I was able to read it in front of an audience. I gathered my family together and read them the story without any mistakes. I recall being showered with praise which motivated me to continue reading other books.
When I was in pre- school, I would receive advertisements every month about different books that I could order. This would always make me very excited. I would always love receiving the books when they finally arrived at school. There is one book that I distinctly remember ordering and that was Egbert: The Slightly Cracked Egg. The story described a very artistic egg that lived in a refrigerator and one day discovered he was cracked. His friends forced him to leave the refrigerator and find a new home. He went on many adventures to find where he felt he could be creative and fit in. I could not wait to get started on reading that book. My mom and I spent a lot of time sounding out words. This really helped me with my reading skills because I learned new sounds and new words. The pages were full of colorful illustrations that made me want to continue reading. I soon fell in love with the story. At the time, I felt it was the most profound piece of literature I had ever heard. I would read the story every night before I went to bed. It sounds silly now, but when I was younger, this story gave me a good sense of moral values and an understanding that everyone in the world is different and should be accepted for who they are. I felt I learned a great deal from that book and realized that reading can teach me so many things. I loved to learn so reading gave me a chance to do just that.
I often would ask my mom if we could go to the library. She would always love the idea of me being so interested in reading and could never say no to my request. We would spend a lot of time searching through the kids section for fun and exciting books. My favorite books would be any animal fact books. I would love to go home and see what my new books could teach.
Looking back, I realize that reading has made me the person I am today. Reading has always made me want to learn more about the world around me and understand things that I cannot encounter first hand. In high school I found it very difficult to find time to read for pleasure because I spent a lot of time reading novels for English class. Now that I am in college, there are less reading assignments for English class and more time to read independently.