Simple stories, I could not handle alone,
Ones that I’ve heard almost every night,
eagerly following along.
Taking turns with my parents on
reading lines out loud.
Goodnight Moon,
If You Give A Mouse a Cookie,
Peter Rabbit, Corduroy,
Where the Wild Things Are,
The Giving Tree, Winnie-The-Pooh.


Slightly longer but not quite chapter books.
Stuttering slightly, I read out loud to
practice the flow of my reading.
My parents would step in
if I was stuck with a word or two.
Amelia Bedelia, Madeline,
Mr. Popper’s Penguins,
The Magic Tree House Series.

Small chapter books,
I am able to conquer them all alone.
Occasionally reading to my parents,
but not for help, but for showing off my
newfound talent.
Junie B. Jones, Ramona and Beezus,
The Tale of Despereaux.

I discovered the magic of reading,
the ability to fall into a another world,
as soon as I read the first page.
I often wished these stories were real.
Little Women, The Princess Bride,
The Wind in the Willows,
The Chronicles of Narnia,
The Harry Potter series.

I read the silly teen books,
everyone reads them eventually.
I’ve lost the magic of reading,
the reason why I read books.
But it’s still in me somewhere.
Entertaining stories for the teenage girl,
often filled with romance,
almost always using the same plot.
The Clique, Private Novels,
The Twilight Series, Dear John,
The Notebook, The Last Song.


After reading To Kill a Mockingbird,
something inside me clicks.
And I’ve found my reading self again.
I feel like I’ve returned home from a long journey,
and my bookcase slowly fills up,
with more serious works of literature.
I’d stay up late on a school night,
repeatedly telling myself “I’ll stop after this chapter”,
but before realizing what time it was,
I had finished the book.
Once again, I easily get lost in a story.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Atonement,
Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Into the Wild,
The Harry Potter Series once more.
Sense & Sensibility, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy,
The Once and Future King, Huckleberry Finn, &
The Sherlock Holmes Series.

I’ve never read a book that I have hated,
And I don’t think I ever will.
Reading is a part of me, and it’s something
I know I will always have.