How old were you when you found your love for books?

[allesha]

OH geez I was young, not sure how old. I remember in elementary school when I'd be checking our real books instead of I Spy books like the rest of my classmates. I was obsessed with Beverly Cleary books!

[IReadALot]

Wow, good question. I was young, real young. At least 6-7. My parents used to get me Disney books, Animal magazines, etc. I never had video games, or even cable. I'd sit in my room with books spread throughout the room. But I REALLY got into serious reading when I was about 12. I got the Narnia books. Didn't leave my bedroom for hours at a time.

[Hannaa_Campbell]

Well, my first book was actually a dictionary. I picked it up when I was seven and didn't put it down till I was ten.

[RebekaV]

I loved books since I can remember. My parents are bookworms so I had my first library card as soon as I've learnt reading at the age of 7. And from there I became the youngest bookworm in the family.

[zeldagreene]

I was really young when I learned to read, about 4 or 5 years old. I read all the Dr. Seuss books and the Disney books and loved them all. However, I started reading obsessively in elementary school. I would visit the library everyday at nutrition and lunch and help Ms. Burns, the librarian with organizing and checking out books. Also, in elementary school you had to read a certain amount of books each year. Each book was worth a certain amount of points and you needed like 25 by the end of the year or something like that. Geez, I remember having the highest points in my grade with like 600 points or something. It was ridiculous.

[ALynnPowers]

I was 8 years old when I first read a full-length book, but I don't think it was until age 10, in 5th grade that I really found my passion for reading (and writing!).

[cyndiha11]

I don't even know, probably whenever I started learning to read. My Mom and Grandma threw books at me like they were candy, and I ate them up as quickly as possible.

[Angelica_92]

My mother read to me while I was in her belly and I think because of that I love to read. I learned to read before entering school, and read faster than almost everyone in my class. One Christmas, when I was 5 or 6, I made "Santa" bring me a book collection of Disney's stories, so I guess that makes "The Sleeping Beauty" my first book. Since then I've read everything that comes to my hands.

[sand1]

My mom used to read to me every night and I got to pick the book. I don't remember what age I started reading on my own but I remember looking forward to bed time and taking forever to pick the right book. I also know that I couldn't read yet but my mom was very good at making the story alive for me.

[autumnbharris]

i think i was around 14 years old

[Mollancholy]

This is such a fun thread. I love everyone's answers.

I know my mother used to read a series of children's books by Stephen Cosgrove called "Serendipity" when I was very, very young, and according to her stories, she would find me sleeping in various odd places throughout the house with the books in my arms or on my lap (particularly "Buttermilk" - that was evidently my favorite), but the day I actually REMEMBER falling in love with books was one summer's day when I was eleven years old. My stepfather had loaned me his copy of "Watership Down" and I curled up in my favorite nook in the den to read it. I don't even think I'd made it past the first handful of pages before I stopped and thought, "Wow... This is amazing." I was hooked on reading from there on out.

[Airam Velarde]

I was in elementary school, probably eight or nine years old. There was a contest the school would do every year. We had to read whatever book we wanted form the library and take a test on it on the teacher's computer. If you passed the test, the book would go on a list of how many books you have read throughout the school year. Each student had a list and whoever read the most books, would be given a bicycle at the end of the year. Of course I wanted the bicycle, but soon I started reading only for the sake of reading. That's when I started to love books. I read so much I was way ahead of everyone else. The three years at that school were spent reading everything I could get my hands on. My mom would even sometimes scold me because I would refuse to got to sleep, and would instead stay up reading. Needless to say, I ended up winning 1st place three years in a row.

[MatthewAlexander]

I was in fifth grade, so I guess I was 10 or 11. I didn't have many friends back then, so books became my friends...I sound like a real dork, don't I? xP

[calfurshoney]

I hated to read as a child and even teenage years. I wasted all those years. Now as an adult, I am trying to play catch up and I am always reading something!

[Purely_Poetic]

I think I was about 10 or 11. I was grounded the weekend after Christmas (although I can't remember why). I had received the first three Harry Potter books for Christmas and had nothing to do but read. That completely changed my life and since then I always have a book in my purse, on my phone, iPad, laptop and computer.