Were you read to as a child?

[Indigo Blue]

I have no memories of being read to. I do remember my mom calling out some spelling words and similar things a few times. I can’t name one title that was read to me. No matter how hard I try to think back. I can remember reading the Dick and Jane books on the floor in first grade. I remember not being able to form any words with little letter tiles (Scrabble style) and other kids being able to make words easily. I did not understand the concept of making words from tiles!
 

But beginning from age 8, I began to spend so much time on my bed reading. I read all of the old Encyclopedia Britannica children’s encyclopedias from A to Z. I got armfuls of books from the bookmobile that came down our street. I read them all back to back in my room alone. Encyclopedia Brown. Ramona the Pest. So many more! My reading level must have progressed steadily, without my knowing or thinking about it. I became an excellent speller. 
 

I read SO much to my boys. I still have Courdoroy, Goodnight Moon, Mercer Mayer books, and more. They eventually read all the Encyclopedia Brown books on their own like I did. In no time, they were reading long chapter books and Harry Potter. 
 

But they remember Goodnight Moon and all the others. They are all in a box in storage. They have memories of being read to. Thank goodness. 
 

We always had a basket of books in the living room. They would go get a book and bring it to me to be read. When they were older, it was filled with library books and interesting books of all sorts. There was a huge bookshelf in their bedrooms. We read the same books and discussed them. 
 

I’m so glad I was a different kind of parent in that regard. 
 

Were you read to as a child?
 

 

[Arcadia]

Not by my parents, my mom worked shifts as a nurse (OT, NICU, maternity) and my dad was a teacher with class sizes of 40 (in asia). My pre-k, kindergarten and 1st grade teachers would read to us.
My kids went to story time at the libraries and Borders from when they were babies. DS18 went to Borders story time when he was a few days old because DS19 wanted to go. My husband would try to read to our kids but they rather read themselves. They are early readers. We have always lived within walking distance of a library and my teens are regular volunteers for friends of the library book sales. 

[Kassia]

I don't remember being read to ever, but I remember my mom taking me to the library when I was in elementary school so I could check out books.  I was an avid reader at a young age.  I loved reading to my kids starting when they were babies.  It was definitely one of my favorite things to do with them and reading to them is one of my favorite memories.  And I loved when they started reading on their own and we'd go to the library and come home with a huge stack of books and we'd all hang out together reading.  ❤️  Before bed, I'd sit on the floor with two on my lap and one behind me on the bed (this was before my youngest was born) and we'd all be cuddled together while I read to them.  

[HomeAgain]

As a very young child, my mother read to me often.  I learned to read at age 5, and by 6 was reading quite well, tackling large chapter books.  After that, the only people who read to me were my teachers.  Every single grade up through 8th had a teacher reading to us for 10-15 minutes a day.  My own mom didn't read to me after I learned.  I don't know if I stopped asking, or if it was her decision.

I'm the kind of parent all those people were.  I read to my kids daily, but I also had two different kids.  Oldest ds wanted to be read to.  He was slower at learning to read by a smidge and still loved me reading up through adulthood.  Youngest ds learned to read rapidly and was more interested in just doing it himself.  I turned to audiobooks for him, playing them in the car when I would take him places.

[Innisfree]

Oh, gosh, yes. All kinds of books. The classic picture books like Mike Mulligan and Make Way for Ducklings, Beatrix Potter books, nursery rhymes, Richard Scarry. Lots more. We went to the library regularly, and had plenty of kids’ books at home.

Once I could read, I remember my mother taking me to the big library downtown and consulting with the children’s librarian, then bringing me the Little House books and Understood Betsy. I was engrossed before we left, and pretty much never stopped reading after that. From that point on, my mother got me to tell her what was happening in my current book while she gave me a bath every night. When I started homeschooling my kids, and encountered the idea of narrations in TWTM, I realized that was essentially what she had me do, much more informally.

[Rosie_0801]

I don't remember my mother reading to me, though I know she did when I was small. She said she stopped because I didn't like it once I could read myself, but I can't remember that either. I remember her volunteering in my grade one classroom to listen to kids read. Stay at home mothers usually did back then. 

My father read my sister and I precisely one book and we enjoyed it so much he never did it again. My younger brother said he read a few of the boys classics to him, but I don't remember that either. 

All the primary school teachers read aloud to us, and we had a library class every week where the librarian read to us as well.

Dd is 17 and I still read to her when she's here, and over the phone most nights.

[Kareni]

I should start by saying that I have a poor memory so this may or may not be wholly accurate.

I don't recall my parents reading to me or my sister, but I do recall that my grandmother would read to us when we stayed with her for weeks over the Christmas summer holidays (she lived in New Zealand). She also gave us books, and I still have a few that she inscribed. 

I do recall that my mother would often take us to the public library.

Regards,

Kareni

[wendyroo]

Yes, I was read to a lot as a child.

I have no memories of listening to stories as a baby or toddler, but my mom was a nursery school teacher before she had me, and she LOVED reading to little kids. I've now gotten to watch her read to my four kids, so I can picture what it was like when I was itty bitty (I was an only child for the first five years, and she was a stay at home mom, so we had lots of time for reading, art, baking, pretend play, etc).

My dad also loves reading to kids. He is very comfortable reading picture books to little kids, but he especially loves reading novels to elementary schoolers. I remember him reading the whole Narnia series to me and my brother. And the BFG - which I hated. And Matilda - which I loved. And White Fang, and The Christmas Carol, and Encyclopedia Brown. When he was here a couple weeks ago, my dad picked up the book my 15 year old was reading (Quanta and Fields (The Biggest Ideas in the Universe)) and read him a chapter out loud. 😆

[Pawz4me]

Not that I can remember, but I was a very early reader myself. So it's possible that once I learned to read well they didn't see any reason to read to me. And honestly it's likely that even if they'd tried I wouldn't have had the patience for it, preferring to do it myself. Once I learned to read I never enjoyed being read to by someone else. It's probably why I don't care much for audiobooks.

[Terabith]

My mother spent HOURS reading to me, every single day, especially when I was a preschooler.  I remember her reading to me when I was less than 2.  She read to me at least up through the first few years of elementary school.  

At some point, I kind of preferred to read myself because it was so much faster, but yes, some of my best childhood memories.  

My mom did a lot of things wrong, but she did that right, and I remember lots of other awesome things from my early childhood.  (Riding on the back of her bike, climbing what seemed like a big hill, trips to the park, playing in the backyard, card games, trips to relative's houses, her laying down with me every night when I went to sleep and then I crawled into bed with her in the middle of the night; my poor Dad switched to my bed at that point.)

[KungFuPanda]

I remember parents and teachers reading to us often in the younger grades. My mom probably stopped reading me by second grade since I was reading chapter books, but I was the oldest of four so she would sometimes read to the whole group of us. 
 

I read to my kids even more than mom because some college professor recommended that we keep reading aloud even to kids who could read well because it’s so enjoyable. 

[Terabith]

My niece just got her library card at the same library I got my first card in 1980.  I remember my mom taking me and how I had to write my name myself.  I was four.

[Katy]

I don't remember my mom reading to me much. I know she DID read my favorite books over and over. But I learned to read by 3. I do remember her reading to my younger siblings. And I remember other people reading to me and noticing how their accents and inflections were different than my mom.

[sweet2ndchance]

I remember my mother reading us chapter books before bed in late elementary school. I don't remember picture books being read to me but I remember reading them aloud myself to my parents. I remember teachers reading aloud to us from chapter books through middle school.

[knitgrl]

Not really. My mother did not like being read to as a child, which is hard for me to understand. Her father read Dr. Seuss to us when we went to visit them, and he had such a marvelous baritone that I loved to listen to. My father would read to us out of divorced Dad guilt, I think. He's not much of a reader, and it didn't happen very often.

[KidsHappen]

My parents never read to me but between Hooked on Phonics and Dick and Jane books my mom had me reading before kinder garden. I read to all of my kids and grandkids. My oldest was never a big reader and other than Harry Potter, she is just now starting to read for pleasure. The three in the middle are all regular readers. The youngest reads slightly more than the oldest but less than the rest of her sisters. Their dad and I are very prolific readers. I have six double wide bookshelves of books here at home plus we utilize Kindle quite a bit.  

[maize]

Both my parents read to us. They read the books they themselves enjoyed--for my mother, that tended towards historical fiction and other realistic literature. For my dad, it meant fantasy like Lord of the Rings and also things like Pilgrim's Progress and a book of Native American legends. We also used to do Shakespeare plays as reader's theatre; my parents bought multiple copies of each play, and we would divvy up parts and read through them. Read-alouds never ended, they read to us even as teenagers.

[Innisfree]

7 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

My dad also loves reading to kids.

This just reminded me… my father read to me about archaeology and science. He’d get out big coffee table type books aimed at adults, but with lots of pictures. I’m not sure if he was reading the actual text or just telling me about the information, but I loved sitting in his lap and listening to stories about ancient Egypt and dinosaurs, evolution, early horse species, Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon sites and people. 

[cintinative]

3 minutes ago, maize said:

Both my parents read to us. They read the books they themselves enjoyed--for my mother, that tended towards historical fiction and other realistic literature. For my dad, it meant fantasy like Lord of the Rings and also things like Pilgrim's Progress and a book of Native American legends. We also used to do Shakespeare plays as reader's theatre; my parents bought multiple copies of each play, and we would divvy up parts and read through them. Read-alouds never ended, they read to us even as teenagers.

I love this so much.

[cintinative]

I remember my dad reading us some stories, but my guess is that my parents stopped when we started reading on our own.

I have been reading aloud to my kids since they were toddlers and we are still going all the way through high school. I love it. 

[Carrie12345]

I don’t have memories of being read to, but I know I was. I don’t remember learning to read, but I remember reading on my own from a young age. We had many books, we went to the library weekly, and my mother always had a book of her own going. Reading was important.

My kids, who were most definitely read to, did not inherit quite the same intensity. 😭 

[Melanie32]

I don’t have any memories of my parents reading to me but I know my mother did when I was little. I took to reading fairly early and was the only big reader in my family. I carried a book with me everywhere I went and preferred reading to television and video games. 
 

I’ve always enjoyed reading aloud so I read aloud to my kids for at least an hour nearly every day. We did this all the way through high school. My grown daughter still enjoys it when I read aloud to her while she draws and paints. 
 

Neither of my kids read like I did. My son is 28 and not much of a reader at all. My daughter is 22 and always has a book going but usually only reads in bed at night. 

[bookbard]

Our Dad read to us every night before bed - Green Knowe books, Little House on the Prairie books, other classics. We had a big family, so I sometimes read to the last 3; nice memories of reading a lot to the youngest, who has since died.

I have no memory of our mother reading to us, but she read a lot to her grandchildren. She probably read to us as preschoolers.

[Lori D.]

Yes!  My mother read a ton of picture books and chapter books when we were young, and then read longer books a bit above grade level, aloud at bedtime virtually every night up until high school. I also remember several of my public school elementary teachers reading aloud to the the class each day after lunch.

We had library cards in our own names from before starting school, and we went to the library weekly, bringing home a big armful of books to enjoy solo reading on top of all of the aloud reading.

I read aloud to DSs at least 2 hours a day when they were toddlers/preschoolers/elementary ages, and we continued to have family read aloud books all the way through high school, and even into the first year of college. Such precious memories of sharing so many wonderful books together!

Edited August 1 by Lori D.

[Annie G]

We had two books that Mom read to me over and over- Little Brown Bear and His Friends, and an Uncle Wiggily book of stories. So two books but probably 30 stories total. I think it was a very short period of time- from when I was 2 or three until I went to first grade. I still have the books, and cherish them. I was the third born, and for several reasons, I was an invisible child. So sweet memories like being read to are vivid. 

[prairiewindmomma]

No. Neither of my parents enjoy reading. I was considered snobby by them for preferring books to sportsball. 

My mom did sign a permission slip so I could check out books on my own once I was old enough to ride a bike to the village library, so, at least there was that.

One grandmother read storybooks to me as a very young kid, and would buy me books as gifts. 

[frogger]

I can't remember pre-5 years old. I lived with my mom but she was busy in school. I do have a vague memory of looking at medical books, bones, circulatory system etc next to her while she studied. I also remembered she took us to the planetarium, archeology digs etc. I can't remember the details of where we were allowed as I was so young.

When I moved in with my Dad I think my step mom read some to us but not a lot and certainly not when I learned to read.

When I got to visit my mom as a teen we read out loud sci-fi, fantasy, and classic stories rotating who read so our voices wouldn't get tired. Even when I went to visit as an adult with my sister we read Patrick McManus books which are humor and laughed until we cried at times.

[Kanin]

Yes, my mom read to me until I was probably in middle school - 11 or 12 or so. We read Laura Ingalls, Ramona Quimby, cried through My Friend Flicka, and lots more. Those are the ones I remember most. 

[marbel]

My mother read to me. Sometimes she would read a little, then hand the book off to me and fall asleep. I don't remember any specific books - it was a long time ago, after all - but I do remember my kindy teacher telling her to stop teaching me to read because she was doing it wrong. I suspect she would just run her finger under the words as she read and I started figuring it out. I don't remember if she continued to read to me after I was an independent reader. I read to my kids throughout high school - not because they couldn't read but because we all enjoyed it and I could read them things beyond their understanding (not reading comprehension per se) and discuss them on the spot. Of course they read to themselves as well.  

FWIW, I'm sure my mother read to my older siblings as well, but neither of them became an avid reader as I was. We're all different.  I never saw my father read a book in my life, and he surely did not read to me. 

 

Edited August 1 by marbel

[Teaching3bears]

My mother read to me most night, I think as a preschooler.  It was mostly Little Golden Books and nursery rhymes.  I liked reading the books over and over and felt the books contained magical worlds.  My elementary school teachers rarely read to us but when they did it was such a wonderful thing and we begged for more.  I remember every book they read to us.  
Now that I think about this, it is really a strange and sad memory., don’t you think?  Why should elementary school kids be begging to have books read to them in school?

[ScoutTN]

I have no memories of being read to, but I know it happened, at least when I was little. We had loads of books, went to the library often, loved finding new bookstores, etc. Both of my parents and both step-parents were readers. I had RA daily in school through 5th grade. 
 

I loved reading aloud to my kids. Absolutely one of the best parts of our family life when they were younger.

[Ottakee]

I don’t remember my mom reading to me a lot but I did have some little golden books so she must have.  She did practice reading g with me and I was reading pretty well when I entered kindergarten.

My grandmother took me to the library quite often and I loved that.

i was a very advid reader as a kid and I did buy tons of scholastic books.

[MrsMommy]

I remember the times I was read to very well, because my parents were blind, and there just weren't that many books available in braille for them to read to me. But I remember my mother reading Little House on the Prairie to me several times, because she could get that one.

[Kidlit]

I don't remember specific instances but I know I was when I was very young because I have personal books from that era.  I also know that even my daddy, not a reader himself, knew my favorite book as an early elementary student was More Spaghetti I Say, even to the point of having it memorized. 
 

As an older kid, I fell hard for Narnia when a neighbor's mom read Wardrobe to her, me, and my sister. 

[-----]

nm

Edited August 30 by kathyl

[J-rap]

Yes, every day.  When I was very young, my mother read to me often.  (I only remember bits of this.)  As I got older, my dad read to me almost every night at bedtime.  He loved reading children's classics to me, and poetry.  

[dirty ethel rackham]

I don't remember being read to as a child, but my memories are pretty spotty.  I was 5th out of 6 kids and when I was young, my parents were busy with pre-teens/teens in the mid 60s (sex, drugs, and rock and roll.)  But I do remember being read to at school when we couldn't go out for recess due to weather.  I remember one teacher, Mrs. Duerink, reading James and the Giant Peach, A Wrinkle in Time, and a couple other modern (for the time) classics.  I was a reader as soon as I learned to read and that teacher cemented that love of reading.  

I read to my kids from the birth, until maybe 4th grade or so, mostly because they were reading so much on their own.  Some of my most cherished memories from their childhoods were reading to them.  We lived at the library and book stores.  I am known as the "book aunt" as I usually include books in almost every child's gift.

[lmrich]

Yes - I was read to often. I fondly remembering my mom reading aloud to us on car trips. She read Farmer Boy was were traveling to upstate New York. My teachers K - 6 read aloud after recess sometimes for 20 - 30 minutes. 

I loved reading as a kid and still do. We had a great school library and a fantastic small library in bike riding difference. Every so often I was taken to the big library which was so beautiful. 

[Melanie32]

43 minutes ago, Teaching3bears said:

My mother read to me most night, I think as a preschooler.  It was mostly Little Golden Books and nursery rhymes.  I liked reading the books over and over and felt the books contained magical worlds.  My elementary school teachers rarely read to us but when they did it was such a wonderful thing and we begged for more.  I remember every book they read to us.  
Now that I think about this, it is really a strange and sad memory., don’t you think?  Why should elementary school kids be begging to have books read to them in school?

This brought back a memory of my 6th grade teacher reading Roald Dahl’s The BFG out loud to us every day after lunch. She was British and I loved hearing the book read in her beautiful accent! 

[Clarita]

I was read to. My parents did stop after I could red to myself. Of course teachers also read to me as part of the class. 

[SKL]

I have vague memories of my mom reading to us from a big fairy tale book, picture Bible, and a box of books called the Dandelion Library.  The memories are vague because I must have been 4yo or younger.  We all started reading fairly young, and my mom had a job and 4 (at the time) kids, so there wasn't a lot of time for read-alouds.  However, I remember my mom talking about how important it is to have good books around the house for kids.  We had sets of encyclopedias, history books, biographies, classics, etc.  I remember her buying me Little House in the Big Woods at the Salvation Army when I was 4 or 5.

When we were a bit older, when the lights were out due to a storm, my mom would read to us by candlelight from Edgar Allen Poe or H. P. Lovecraft.

ETA: my dad didn't read to us, because he was severely dyslexic.  However, he used to tell us elaborate bedtime stories that his dad had told him.  Great memories!  I didn't realize he was illiterate until I was well into elementary school.

I tried to read to my kids almost every day, and I didn't stop read-alouds until at least 8th grade.  I would have continued, but routines changed and we just never got back into it.  I was also having trouble with my eyesight, making it hard to read smoothly.  Oh well.  🙂  I know my kids enjoyed the read-alouds and will hopefully remember them fondly.  We also used to do a lot of audiobooks in the car, but that stopped when Covid hit and we never really got back into it.

Edited August 1 by SKL

[Corbster98]

Yes, I was read to often by both of my parents. 

They are now both deceased but Mom recorded my Dad ( before he died of ALS) reading one of my favorite bedtime stories and I am so thankful to have it in my possession.

It was a gift to me from my Mom soon after we buried Dad. I can't begin to explain the sobs and tears as I watched that video for the first time. It's truly been one of my greatest gifts outside of the video tape I have of me dancing with my Dad at my wedding. 

Edited August 1 by Corbster98

[KrissiK]

My mom read to me a lot. And I still have very fond memories of my Grandma reading Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel to me.

[Ellie]

Nope, except for the "101 Dalmations," the only book my mother ever read to me. My grandmother helped me read the Dick and Jane readers, but otherwise, I was left alone to read or not...which I did: all the horse books in every school library (I went to quite a few schools), my World Book Encyclopedias, even the basal readers from school, which I read almost as soon as I got my hands on them at the beginning of the school year. 🙂

[busymama7]

Yes. A lot. I have fond memories. My mom was a kindergarten teacher before having children and I remember The Read aloud handbook having a prominent place on our bookshelves. I taught myself to read (by sight) at age 3 or so the story goes.  I never remember learning to read or not knowing how. I then birthed a whole family of dyslexics and all the reading aloud I've done didn't teach them to read 😜 but I wouldn't change it for anything. It's still my favorite part of mothering.

My mom often quoted the poem:

 

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be--

I had a Mother who read to me.

 

It's longer but that's the part I remember her saying. My kids have such good memories of reading aloud and many books have become part of our family lore.  I'm currently reading  Harry Potter 5 to my youngest 2.  

 

 

[Ausmumof3]

Yes. Two of my earliest memories of my mum involve her reading to me. Once was the poem Sea Fever and my love for poetry and rhythm started that day. The other time was when she was reading Anne of Green Gables and I heard dad chuckling away in the corner while pretending not to be listening.

One of my other early memories is reading a red reader full of rhyming words that started out with “the cat” and went from there. My mind was amazed at how easy it was and just like a puzzle. That was before I started school at 4. I always wished I could find that book but eventually realised it was most likely McGuffeys when I saw a copy of them.

Having worked with kids with dyslexia or non-reading families I now realise how ridiculously lucky I was in that way. Plenty of other issues when growing up but so thankful for the reading rich start to life. 

Edited August 1 by Ausmumof3

[Ausmumof3]

I also remember having a book on tape called The Happy Man and His Dump Truck which I listened to a million times and one with a police officer who stopped a lady for going too fast and she said it was because she was listening to fast music so he told her to listen to slow music when she was driving 😂 my favourite little golden book was The boy with the toy drum and I begged anyone and everyone to read it to me.

[Rosie_0801]

I built quite a collection of Little Golden Books. Apparently my mother bought them to bribe me to behave while she grocery shopped, then left them in my cot to bribe me to keep quiet so she could sleep.

[Melissa in Australia]

Yes. My mum read to me and my siblings in a group. She taught me to read when I was 4 .

I remember her reading  books like the Narnia series and Little House on the Prairie, The Secret Garden, Bible stories, and the Borrower's. 

I think she might have read to us in the evenings while she breastfed the current at the time baby. There were 8 of us.

[crazyforlatin]

No, I didn’t even know about Dr. Seuss until my late 20s when someone was shocked I never heard of those books. We really didn’t have any picture books or books in general in the house until I could take out books from school. I did love getting books that came with a vinyl or cassette to listen along but I was older by then. But it also shows that kids on the upper end of elementary school do like to listen to stories even if they can read. My parents wouldn’t have known the benefits of reading along or even have time for that matter. I read to Dd basically within 2 months of her birth. Between me and Dh, I think he had the most joy in reading aloud longer books like Winnie the Pooh or Wizard of Oz whereas I preferred picture books.

I don’t know if it made a difference in my inability to communicate or grasp lessons in school. I seemed to never listen and look constantly out the window like I couldn’t focus. I looked like a model student because I was obedient and respectful made more so by the restrictiveness of a Catholic school, but I simply didn’t pay any attention in school. I got better the older I became. I read a lot on my own in late middle school and throughout high school. But I do think reading aloud and reading early made a difference with Dd in how she can focus and communicate well. It was one of the first things people noticed about her when she was little - people would ask if she was being homeschooled because of the way she was communicating. She could mimic the books we were reading together.