My Journey into the World of Reading

The process involved in appreciative reading seems primarily automatic and effortless to skilled readers. Lonigan (2015, p.2) states that “it is hard for a skilled reader not to read.” Such individuals typically view reading a crucial element in their life, and which lacks substitutes. Also, there is another group of people for whom the sight of a book induces negative psychological responses. In my early years, I was a non-reader. For the purposes of this narrative literacy essay, the term “non-reader” refers to an individual who finds it difficult to habitually read novels for pleasure. However, I currently consider reading to be an important aspect of life. One may wonder how I managed to turn off the “non-reader” me to become what I am today. In this paper, I describe a pivotal moment in my literacy journey and detail its significance. I attribute my reading culture to the positive reinforcement provided by my parents during my early childhood.

Some of my friends consider me to be a bibliophile. However, I do not define myself this way. All I know is that I like books and enjoy reading. However, I was not always like this. As early as I can remember, my mother was keen to ensure that I adopted her culture of reading. She would explain to me the associated benefits and even collect some of the books that would supposedly change my life. However, I never found reading as an activity worth my time. Perusing seemed to be for the chosen few who were genetically hardwired for the same. I could not get the sensation that I always got when playing computer games or watching television, two of the main activities that dominated my leisure time during my early childhood. When my mother prodded and encouraged me to read, I repeatedly told her that I would peruse books when my time comes.

However, my parents appeared to know my problem and had a way to solve it. They had an intervention! At the beginning of my 4^th grade, my mother created a plan that she confidently thought would change me into the person she wanted. I remember we were in our living room when she brought up the idea of rewarding me for reading the novels of her choice. Every 25 pages would translate into a dollar in my pocket. I immediately liked this quid pro quo plan as I would meet her interest for me to read and earn money to buy what came to mind. Clothing, gaming accessories, toys, and other items. The next day after the deal, I was ready to begin my journey of making money, although our contract grossly violated the federal provisions concerning minimum wage.

The first book that I was tasked to read was “A Hole to Dig,” written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. At first, I would feel sleepy or absent-minded when I tried to read. Nevertheless, the reward involved provided me with sufficient motivation. I completed “A Hole to Dig” in five days, received two dollars, and asked for the next text. Although I experienced several challenges while reading Krauss and Sendak’s work, my experience was somewhat positive as I found myself smiling at the definitions contained in the book. Next in line was Norton Juster’s “The Phantom Tollbooth.” The book was four times longer than my first read. That meant more money. In the early sections of the novel, I could feel that I needed to know what would happen to the characters. Also, I had emotional responses to the challenges facing Reason and Rhyme. I do not remember how long it took me to complete this book. Nevertheless, I earned a substantial amount of money and enjoyed every part of the reading process. In fact, I looked forward to the next book as I was beginning to establish the benefits of reading.

Today, I thank my mother for her genius read-for-reward plan, as I believe it was the foundation of my reading culture. Specifically, the deal made me appreciate the value of reading books. The “contract” continued for approximately eighteen months, during which I read a wide variety of children’s books. I came to love fantasy fiction, classic literature, as well as folklore and fairy tales. I progressively developed a strong interest in reading without applying much effort. Several of the novels that my parents bought me were fascinating to the extent that I carried them to school, where I would engage in my reading activity whenever time allowed. Also, I remember telling my classmates which book I was currently reading on my shelf and how enjoyable it was. When talking to other people at school while in grade 5, my friends noticed that I would occasionally use phrases that they had never heard of or that I had to explain further for them to understand. Also, my newfound interest in reading caught the attention of my English teacher. He noticed that my vocabulary had significantly grown within a year and recommended other age-appropriate books that I could access from the school library.

Until the age of nine, I had never thought that I would one day devote my time to reading written text, understanding the author’s message, documenting what I had learned, being absorbed into the book, and unconsciously rating the overall experience as fun and enjoyable. Indeed, I initially lacked the motivation to engage in reading, an element crucial for engaging the self-drive mode in the world of reading. I describe the significance of the read-for-reward deal from the chaos theory perspective. Chaos theory provides that complex, nonlinear, dynamic systems can have unpredictable outcomes upon the change of initial conditions (Oestreicher, 2022). Based on this theoretical framework, my parents’ decision to reward me for every twenty-five pages read altered my negative attitude towards reading and gave me the motivation that I had lacked for years. Although my initial goal was to earn money, the fact that I was reading novels, something that I had loathed to undertake for years, remained constant. In the process, what chaos theory considers to be unexpected outcomes happened. My interest in reading has substantially grown since grade four.