just a little easy reading

If books have the power to challenge your worldview, what do your first books say about you? (I didn’t force that rhyme. It happened naturally. Promise.)

There’s something magical about learning to read. I was so desperate to read as a kid, I used to stare at books, hoping the scribbles would transform themselves into a message I could understand. It didn’t happen instantaneously like I wanted, but eventually letters ceased to be baffling scribbles.

I was thinking about this a few months ago, trying to recall some of the first books I ever read. There were four that came to mind. And I realized those books explain a lot about me. Like, a whole lot.

One of the first easy-reading books I tackled was about Pompeii. Yep, the city that was buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted. A little light reading for a 6-year-old.

The second book was The Princess & The Pea. What I really loved about that one was that the pages were cardboard so the spine was about the same size as a “real” book. It made me feel all grown up. I blame that book for my sleep problems.

The third was about the Titanic. I was fascinated with the whole Titanic debacle for years. Maybe that’s why I got a degree in Org. Management. Talk about a management disaster! There were the engineers who couldn’t imagine a way their beautiful ship could sink, the captain of the nearby ship whose radio was off, and too few lifeboats for the number of passengers. Bad planning all around. This also resulted in my refusal to ever go on a cruise. (Recent events have done nothing to challenge my resolve.)

Finally, I had a book about King Tut. Who doesn’t love a story about a young, long-dead pharaoh whose well-hidden final resting place held all kinds of riches? I was probably trying to find some help for my hide-and-seek game. Or taking notes on the best way to find treasure. Two vital pieces of information for a kid.

I wonder how I would be different if I had started with some Disney-fied fairy tales? Sure, reading books about catastrophes might not have been incredibly healthy, but let’s just say when some disaster happens who would you rather have by your side—the girl who studied Pompeii and the Titanic or the one who lost herself in fairy tales?

I’m just sayin’…

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