To read or not to read
One of my favorite websites (and stores) just got a new look.
Now I know not everyone appreciates reading as much as I do, but just let me rave over something that I reeeally love, which is reading.
I attribute to my mom my love for books. If not for her, I would not have learned to read at an early age (at about 3 years old i think), I would not have played pretend games where I was a newspaper editor/writer/publisher and that I wrote countless fictional news stories (complete with illustrations) on Grade 1 pad paper.
If she hadn’t spent enough time teaching me when I was a kid, I would not have had the patience to learn good english and be a good writer (well at least my mom and dad thinks I am) and speaker.
If not for my love of reading, I wouldn’t have known that Pisa is in Italy, Kilimanjaro is a volcano not a food, that Desire can be a person, that you can make a dish out of rose petals, or that Terry Pratchet is actually a guy. Well of course a lot of the information I’ve amassed over the years is partly due to television, but cable TV and the Discovery Channel was not uso back then.
Knowledge is power, as they say. What saddens me is that many kids and young people these days have developed an abhorrence for anything literary. It’s as if words suddenly become little gremlins with pitchfork tails and gleaming fangs. Or if they do read anything at all, they only read those 20-bucks-apiece romance novels or the Sunday paper’s comic strips.
Nothing wrong about reading those, but just those? I seriously doubt that they will get anything substantial from a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ story full of lust, jealousy, and revenge. No offense to those who read it, but I don’t have to apologize for the way I think these things affect the minds of our youths, especially if they do not have the right kind of educational support system.
Ok, so my point is, to those parents with children starting to read and explore the literary world, let them discover with you the right kinds of reading material. If you as a parent, think that a certain type will help in the emotional, psychological, or spiritual development of your child then go for it.
I’m glad my parents encouraged me to read (newspapers yeah, but I remember nothing about the violence and crime thank goodness) and write. But I’m more thankful that they were guiding me all throughout my learning.
March 30th, 2008 at 3:19 am
what a coincidence - i am tagging you for a book tag, and you have a post on books!
i’ve loved books from way before i knew how to read. while i grew up known as the nerdy bookworm who didn’t know how to play pantintero during lunch, i am now so glad that i continue to have the same abiding love for the written word. even in the advent of tv and film, nothing beats reading!
mia is very lucky to have a reading mom. she’ll probably pick up your love of books as well. it counts for a lot that she will see you reading as she grows up. i’ve tried hard to influence my mga inaanak to read more by giving them books, but i don’t know how well that’s worked. they probably just see me as that weird ninang who doesn’t give them toys.
as for the tag, hope you can play!
dr_clairebear’s last blog post..Book Cutting and the 123 Book Tag
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ris reply on March 31, 2008:
here’s to us bookworms. hehe. i really hope she does love reading as much as i do. maybe we won’t be filthy rich, but at least that’s something to leave her with in the future.
sure why not, i’ll do the tag.
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April 1st, 2008 at 7:09 am
i love books too! and every chance i get i buy a book for ninna (and read it with her too) just to encourage her to love them as much as i do (and why i resort to ebooks, dahil i have no money left to buy books for myself:P)
one of my fears is that ninna will abhor reading.
waaah 
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ris reply on April 1, 2008:
this is why magkasundo talaga tayo
we are not just stage moms but also bibliophiles (in milder form, hehe). pero i hope it’s true what they say, kung ano nakikita ng bata sa magulang, gagawin din niya. so i hope both mia and ninna copies our book loving habits.
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April 4th, 2008 at 10:50 am
[…] If she hadn’t spent enough time teaching me when I was a kid, I would not have had the patience to learn good english and be a good writer (well at least my mom and dad thinks I am) and speaker. (more…) […]
April 16th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I love books. That is one thing I definitely want to leave to my child. It is something that would not only enrich her but also something that she could enjoy.
Tahn’s last blog post..On getting my NBI clearance (calling out to guy in gray…)
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iris reply on April 16, 2008:
Hi Tahn! You’re right. my parents weren’t even rich but im grateful i grew to love learning and now im paying them back for it.
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