For me it was Bomba the Jungle Boy, The Chessmen of Mars and Lord of the Rings. There were many other books and authors who helped me continue the adventure, but those three started it.
As I mentioned, in an earlier post, Bomba the Jungle Boy was read to me by my father – a chapter a night. It was the perfect fit for me in that moment. That’s critical in developing a love of reading – finding or presenting the right book at the right time that is appropriate for your reader: a book that sweeps them up in the time, place and adventure – capturing their imagination and pulling them into it.
Years later it was The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Here it was initially the cover that attracted me, but the other-worldly adventures of John Carter lead me to read the whole Martian series and some other forty ERB books – including Tarzan of course.
The next major attraction and influence had to be Tolkien and Lord of the Rings. My edition had all the novels combined into one and it took me weeks to read it. Weeks of experiencing another world that actually started altering my speech patterns for a time – that’s how deeply immersed in it I had become.
Of course as an adult I was drawn eventually to other authors, but I have to say, those first three “important reads” had the most influence.
How about you? Who started you on the road to reading – and perhaps writing?
