Aside from the children’s books read to me from my parents before the start of elementary school, the most memorable book ever read to me was on my first, uncertain day of kindergarten. I went to Huddleston Elementary School in Peachtree City, Ga – a few blocks away from my home. I was close enough to the school that the bus route had a stop right in front of my house for my two older brothers, four weird-looking neighborhood kids, and me. I remember standing at the bus stop that dark, musk morning of the first day of school with the whole neighborhood gang, anxious to ride the bus for the first time. I was standing in the front of the line with my right hand in dad’s hand and my left hand in mom’s. As the bus pulled up in front of us and screeched to a stop, I remember pushing myself toward the back of the line with tears running down my face. I wasn’t ready for the first day of school.

Somehow I ended up in the car with my dad in the driver’s seat, my mom in the passenger seat, and me in the back – alone. My brothers rode off to school in the ugly yellow bus as I was chauffeured. As we walked into class, my parents helped me to get settled in and acquainted with my teachers. I clearly remember one of the first activities of the day was Ms. Nashky leading the class to the circle carpet for story time. She explained to us how we were going to meet a friend that was going to journey with us through our first year of elementary school. She began to talk about the fears and the concerns we may have had on our way to school that morning, especially about the school bus, and how our new friend was feeling the same way. She said she would introduce this new friend to us, and help us become familiar with her. Then by the middle of the school year, Ms. Nashky was going to let us read about our new friend on our own. After her introduction, she pulls from behind her back, “Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus.”

From that day, throughout my entire first year of kindergarten, I became best friends with Junie B. Jones. I collected every single book, both in English and a few in Spanish, even though I wasn’t at all bilingual. I felt so much a part of Junie B. Jones that I almost thought I was Junie B. Jones. As Ms. Nashky told us before we met her, she would have the same thoughts and feelings of school as we would. And to my surprise, our concerns were almost identical. From this book series, I gained a great fascination with many other book series that carried on my love for reading all throughout both elementary and middle school. I looked for comfort in book series where I could relate my thoughts and feelings the best. Moreover, it wasn’t necessarily the books themselves that linger in my memory like, “Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus,” but it was the characters; it was Junie B. Jones I remember. I was more grateful for her and the book’s characters than the actual plots of the books themselves, for it was my ability to identify myself through these characters that got me through my childhood and early teenage years.

I feel like the book that had a huge influence on me during my childhood is Rainbow Fish. My mom was an avid reader, so she always made sure me and my sister read a lot as children. Every night, she would ask me what book I would like to read. My mom said every night I would choose Rainbow Fish. The cover was my favorite thing to look at. His scales were so shiny. Even the textures of his shiny scales were smooth.

The story is about a fish that has very unique shiny scales. Every day he would swim by and all the fish would gawk at his beauty. One day a small blue fish asked him for one of his shiny scales. Rainbow fish told the little blue fish to leave him alone. The small fish swam away. He told all the other fish what Rainbow fish said. The next day when he swam pass them, they ignored him. He realized no one wanted to deal with him. He wandered what he could do to get his friends back. A starfish tells him he should go see the wise octopus in his cave.

Rainbow fish went to the octopus and told him the dilemma. The octopus told him to give away his scales so he could get his friends back. The small blue fish came back and asked for a tiny scale, so he gave him one. Next thing you know, every other fish wanted one too. Rainbow fish gave away his shiny scales and received friendship. As a child, I sort of realized the moral of the story but I mainly paid attention to the images. I think the lesson from the book comes across clearly. When I reread it again, it was still as enjoyable, especially the images.

Virtually every night of my childhood, my mother would read my sister and me a book (or two) before bed. We had a lot of different picture books when I was growing up, but I still remember that the first book I read on my own was Green Eggs and Ham by the great Seuss. I must have been either three or four at the time, and I was all alone in my room on a cloudy day when it happened. I remember feeling really proud, even independent as I made my way through the whole book without any trouble.

Thinking about this incident for the first time in a while, I realize that this was most likely a case of pure memorization. Not only had my mom read that book to me countless times, but I even had an interactive storybook computer game of it. By the time I read the book on my own, there is a good chance that I’d memorized it from those sources alone.

But that only illustrates two points. First, that memorization is a starting point from which a person can start to really comprehend. I was too young to make much sense of language, but the frequent exposure I had to it through reading made the learning process much easier. Second, I learned to read so rapidly because I loved books, and I surely couldn’t have gotten there at such a young age without the fascination with both pictures and words my parents encouraged every time they read to me. As a poetry major who draws constantly and often flirts with the idea of making picture books instead of going to grad school, I can say that this fascination has never left me, and still colors much of my interaction with the world. While I wouldn’t say that reading Green Eggs and Ham on my own was the moment that I realized my true purpose, the factors behind that moment definitely shaped me, and they continue to show their influence.

My childhood was like many others; I grew up with a loving family in a suburban neighborhood and went to one of the best public schools in the district. With that being said, I know when I was younger my parents or siblings read aloud to me but I can’t recall any books that stand out besides Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes, The Little Engine That Could, etc. Although I do recall the first book I was able to read on my own. When I was in kindergarten the elementary school I went to didn’t teach kindergartners how to read. Sure we learned our ABC’s, colors, and whatever else a kindergartner learns, but we were never taught to read. My kindergarten teacher was amazing and I do remember her always singing to us while giving us several different story times throughout the day. After I finished kindergarten, my family moved to a different county and I had to switch schools. Once I started first grade I was tremendously behind, because I didn’t know how to read. Most of the first graders in my class were able to read basic children’s books by Dr. Seuss and books about Clifford the Big Red Dog. When my teacher and family realized that I wasn’t keeping up with the class I was put into a reading program through my elementary school. During this program I would meet with a high school senior about twice week during school for about one hour to practice my reading. I was in this program for a semester until I was able to read. When I “graduated” the program there was a ceremony for all the students who participated as well as their tutors. My tutor, Erin, gave me the first book I ever received as a gift. The book was called Babette by Clare Turlay Newberry. Babette is a story about a little Siamese kitten that gets lost from her actual home. A little girl ends up finding Babette and gives her a loving home until her real owners claim her. Although the little girl ends up giving Babette back that doesn’t end their loving friendship that was created. The little girl gets to see Babette grow up with time. I absolutely loved this book when I was younger especially because I had a slight obsession with Siamese cats back then. I would read it every night before I went to “bed” and I would always carry it around with me. This book is very fond to me not only because of the cute illustrations and that it’s well written, but because this is the first book I learned to read on my own.

-Ilyanna Yates