The Early Days

I remember when I was a wee young lad. I had learned to read at a fairly young age (between 2-3 years old) thanks to the efforts of my parents. (Interestingly, I had learned to speak Chinese around the same time.) Even when I could read, though, I enjoyed listening to stories that my parents read to me. After they had read books to me, I would pick them up and try to read them back to them in an effort to demonstrate my maturity and intelligence. My memory of this time is quickly fading, but I recall that there were a few books I really enjoyed and that have left an impact on me. Who could forget classics like Goodnight Moon and The Little Caterpillar. These books had great illustrations, and that's probably why I enjoyed them. But my all-time favorite was definitely Love You Forever, a book by Robert Munsch. I'm not sure what it was--perhaps it was the images of the messy child that reflected my own childhood--but I fell in love with the book immediately. Once again, this book was illustrated beautifully, which might also have been a source of my enjoyment. When I read the book many years later, I realized that the book had a much deeper theme hidden between the pages, which only made me love it more. The premise of the story is simple--a mother devotes a great deal of care and attention to her young son (some might call it being overprotective), and many years later, the son returns, now a man, to take care of his now aging mother. But though the story is simple, it still effectively reveals themes about the passage of time and the enduring power of love. The image of the grown man holding his frail but smiling mother really left an impact on me, as I think that's what drove the message home--that the bond between mother and son truly does last a lifetime. Alright, call me sentimental, but that book really started my literacy and love of reading. Not only that, it made me realize (several years later) that books are not just about the pictures or the order of the words--they are ways in which the authors send a message. Love You Forever taught me to look for the hidden meanings (symbols, allusions, etc.) and deeper themes in works of literature, something I am particularly fond of doing. Now in my high school years, I look back upon that time in my life with a bit of nostalgia. With my busy schedule, I rarely get the time to just sit down and read a book. In fact, I'll be honest--it's been over a year since I've read a book for pleasure (sorry English teachers!). I've got a whole stack of books sitting on my shelf that I've been dying to read. Just writing right now about my reading experiences has inspired me to pick up a book and start hunting for those hidden messages again.