Harry and Amanda

My grandmother was not the only person who contributed to my literacy. My sister Amanda (who I once again mentioned in my first blog post) also was a major factor. In fact Amanda was the first person to introduce me to the, now famous, wonderful world of Harry Potter. Coming back from vacation one summer she was telling me all about this really cool book she was reading about this young boy who through a twist of fate ends up finding out that he is in fact a famous wizard and has been invited to go to school at the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

Of course I was fascinated with the story and wanted her too tell me the entire story. Unfortunately she couldn't tell me the ending because she wasn't even done with the book. But instead of me waiting for her to finish the book she decided to read me the book cover to cover. I loved when she read me the book. She would use a cool voice for each character and I fell in love with the series. The only problem was that I had to make sure I didn't make her mad at me because if I did something to make her mad she wouldn't read to me that day. After we were done with the first book I asked her if she would do the same thing for the next book. She agreed. This continued on for the next several books. Even though by the 3rd book I could have read the book by myself I really enjoyed having them read to me. This continued on until the 6th book when she got kind of tired due to my age and the fact that the books were getting so long it probably would have taken us months to read it. But not all the magic was lost I still finished the series and could enjoy lengthy discussions about the last two books.

My Grandmother

So one person I that contributed to my literacy would have to be my Grandmother. Like I mentioned in one of my other blog posts my grandmother actually works at a library. So of course when I was growing up she was a major influence in my literacy. My grandparents live a couple of roads away from my house so any time I my parents or my sister had to go some where I would go to my grandparents house. Except on Tuesdays or Thursdays when I would go with my grandmother to the Rosendale Library. When I was too young to read to would just color or listen during story hour, but when I got old enough to read my grandmother would pick out simple stories I would be able to read on my own.
As I got older and my reading skills improved she would ask me what reading genres I preferred mostly I would say "mysteries." I have always loved reading mysteries. Even now I enjoy reading or watching mysteries and figuring out "who did it?" Another thing that my grandmother helps me with even now is helping me find books or movies that are not available at the New Paltz library. Of course if Rosendale does not have it I also use the midhudson system but it can be so convenient knowing that I can be a quick phone call away from getting a book, movie or cd of my choosing.