Inspired to Read: The Grade School Years
© Kathy Kehrli
My passion for books began long before I set foot in the halls of kindergarten. Bedtime stories and picture books were scattered throughout our house and were always within arms reach of my child hands. So, I would be remiss in failing to mention that perhaps my greatest teacher of all was my mom. Her patient recitation of my favorite books instilled in me a reading craze that has continued throughout my life. Thanks Mom!
Since I already felt comfortable with books by the time I began school, reading came naturally to me. I never struggled with words and quite honestly I don’t even remember learning how to read. So, my early years are hazy. All I do remember is that Mrs. Sherwood’s first grade primers were Lions, Tigers and Dinosaurs.
Miss Fendrick’s second grade class, however, began a new phase in my ever-expanding hobby: Troll and Scholastic Book Club order forms. I can recall devouring the information contained therein, struggling to choose just two or three. To Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street and The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins were particular favorites, further solidifying Dr. Suess as one of my all-time favorite authors.
By the time third grade rolled around, I was already moving on to the middle grade section of the library, while most of my classmates lagged behind. Mrs. Conover was my teacher that year and Beverly Cleary became my author of choice Ramona, Henry Huggins and The Mouse and the Motorcycle stick clearly in my mind. It was also around this same time period that I was introduced to two of my all-time classic reads, Harriet the Spy and Charlotte’s Web. I still own those copies to this day!
Starting in fourth grade, it became apparent that I was a bookaholic and that’s where my memory starts to sharpen. Mrs. Griggs was intuitive enough to jump on a fad and roll with it. She chose to read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume out loud to our class, enticing many reluctant youngsters to read for pleasure. Little House on the Prairie was a top rated television series during this same time, so everyone was required to read a Laura Ingalls Wilder book and write a report for the class. I, of course, had already finished the entire series and choosing which one was my biggest dilemma
Finally, in fifth grade, Miss Obelenus made books a central part of the curriculum. We wrote book reports regularly and every Friday was popcorn and ‘read out loud’ day. Some of the many titles covered that year included Old Yeller, Savage Sam, Little Women and the ‘Choose your own Adventure’ books. Remember those?
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