Volitions Advocate on 12/11/2009 at 22:35
I was curious, seeing as how the what are you reading thread is going strong,
What was the first novel or non-picture book you read (i appologize for the lack of punctuation my multilingual keyboard is going all crazy at the moment ÉÉÉÉ) and how old were you.
If you remember that far...
I cant be entirely sure, but I believe it was either Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne, or the Swiss Family Robinson by Robert Louis Stevenson.
the next one I read was the 3 musketeers, and I think I was seven
Tonamel on 12/11/2009 at 23:05
Quote Posted by Volitions Advocate
If you remember that far...
Which I definitely can't. My mom told me once that I was a decent reader even before I started Kindergarten. The first thing I remember in a "yes, I definitely read that" way is
The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper.
There were definitely novels before that, I just have no idea what they were.
Renzatic on 12/11/2009 at 23:13
I can't quite remember that far back, either. I'm sure I read a picture free book before this, but the first I recall would be reading A Wrinkle In Time back in the 1st grade.
Then I got ballsy and tried reading the sequel, A Wind In The Door, in 2nd Grade. Confused the ever living shit out of me. Had no idea what mitochondria were..but hey...I rolled with it.
quinch on 12/11/2009 at 23:24
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I must have been about 7 or 8 because I remember thinking of Augustus Gloop as an older boy than me and he was 9. I still have the copy and it smells lovely! I didn't pick up on any of the reactionary nuances though.
Swiss Mercenary on 12/11/2009 at 23:33
Probably Treasure Island. I was.. Five? I don't know. I remember very well that I could read at a very young age.
june gloom on 12/11/2009 at 23:53
The very first thing I read was Jump Frog Jump. The very second thing I read was a newspaper article about some dude jumping fences to get away from cops. (Yes, I still remember that pretty clearly, as I'd read it aloud to my mother at the age of 4 and she was so impressed she reminds me of it from time to time.) All that, and yet I honestly have no clue what the first actual novel I read was.
demagogue on 12/11/2009 at 23:58
First?
Isn't that a little extreme to remember?
I'm not sure books you read that early can even mean much of anything to you at that age.
I started reading the Narnia and Xanth books very early on though.
My bet is that A Spell for Chameleon was my first real significant novel.
Renzatic on 13/11/2009 at 00:10
I also remember being really fond of the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators books. They and the John Bellairs novels were among the first I read.
Enchantermon on 13/11/2009 at 00:20
Quote Posted by quinch
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
It was either that or the first Animorphs book, The Invasion. I can't remember which.
Scots Taffer on 13/11/2009 at 01:05
My earliest childhood fiction recollections are of Roald Dahl and Choose Your Own Adventure novels, where I'd always keep my fingers strategically placed in case I decided to backtrack my choices.
