ReaderCon Filipino Friday: My Reader's Story

I wasn't exactly a voracious reader when I was little but I do remember loving story telling. My mom made up a story entitled "Si Kudangdang". It's a story of a little girl named Kudangdang who was playing in a rice mill when a flock of brightly colored birds descended on the pavement to eat the scattered grains. Kudangdang wanted to catch one but they were all too fast for her, save for a big white bird who was too full to fly away. The big white bird's distress calls were ignored and laughed at by his fellow birds and so he was caught by Kudangdang. I'll have to leave the story at that or else I'll run out of both time and space. Anyhow, I would always nag my mom to tell me that story a billion times a day and in her exasperation, she recorded herself telling the story in a cassette tape (I'm not kidding). So every time, I wanted the story told, she'll just press a button on the radio. Genius no. During my elementary years, I usually stay in school for lunch and we would always gather from time to time with my classmates and head on over to this kid who always has a lot of ghost stories. I also remember getting into business with my classmates, although this was not allowed in school. We would pool all our Archie Comic books and Sweet Valleys and lend them to fellow classmates for 5 pesos. And I did get caught one time reading a comic book under my desk. I was so engrossed in it that I didn't notice my teacher standing in front of me with her hands on her hips!   

None of my family members are bookish save for my big sister. And a lot of my being a reader now, stems from her. As big sisters always do, her room was kept off limits to me. But as little sisters always do, I would sneak into her room when she's not around. That's when I saw a couple of books on her shelf, I started flipping them. I was too young to understand them but I got intrigued by the words and what stories all these books would contain. When my mom got me a big book of fairy tales, it was my big sister who would read-aloud with me, one story a day. I always looked forward to that. 

I also have to mention Harry Potter books because these books were the ones that really tripled my love for books and got me more into reading than I could ever imagine. 

I can't understand anyone not loving books/reading. It takes you into a whole new world, you learn a lot of things, you make a lot of realizations, and basically allows you to grow as a person. It's the best invention ever. 

     

Comments

  1. ChachicAugust 21, 2011 at 9:12 PM

    Bwahaha I'm laughing at the idea of you putting up a book borrowing business when you were in grade school. I was too afraid of my teachers back then to try reading fiction books during class hours. And the nerd in me enjoyed the classes so I only read books when I was at home. I devoured all of the fiction books in our grade school library though.

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  2. TinAugust 22, 2011 at 4:46 AM

    @Chachic
    Aside from the really heavy textbooks for school, I was adamant about bringing a couple more books for our biz, ignoring my dad's pleas. He was afraid all those books will break my back :P. I am normally a rule follower though, it's my friends that are such bad influences! Haha!:P

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