Pity the man who has a favourite restaurant, but not a favourite author. He's picked out a favourite place to feed his body, but he doesn't have a favourite place to feed his mind.
Brian Tracy
Ever since I was taught the skill, I've always been an avid reader - not voracious - but avid. I'm working on the voracious part! As a child I enjoyed reading book series like the Hardy Boy mysteries. As a teenager, current events in newspapers and magazines caught my attention. Then, as I grew older I developed a more mature taste. I remember the books of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. being among my favourites in my twenties. But over the last 20 or so I've tried to accelerate the information intake curve.
When our son was born (almost 21 years ago); in order to get him started on a love of the printed word, my wife and I, beginning when he was just a few weeks old, regularly fed him a diet of picture books. These books ranged from the classic fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm (Rumpelstiltskin was a favourite) to the pedagogical masterpieces of the inimitable Dr. Seuss (There's a Wocket in My Pocket and The Cat in the Hat called for many encore readings). At that time I had just started a new position as a teacher/librarian, and most days I would come home making a big deal out of the latest additions to our school library's collection. Our son just loved to be read to, so much so that before his third birthday he had already developed his own capacity to read. We were amazed.
Of course, when our two daughters came along, we similarly exposed them to the best of children's literature. (One of my favourites in that genre is the classic by Margaret Wise Brown called Goodnight Moon - I just love that book.) Likewise, our daughters have impressed us with their love of books. Predictably, stories of princesses and castles got their early attention, but they also enjoyed the many rereads of books like those mentioned above. Like our son, our daughters have impressed us with their disciplined work habits at school - in my mind, a direct corollary of a focus on reading.
From the repetitive reading of the picture books, I've "graduated" to a particular focus on what many would call human psychology books. You know the type - books on human relationships; success principles; business philosophies; and biographies. I guess I'm fascinated by human behaviour. I love to read about the lives of people who have overcome challenges and went on to achieve great things. As well, I like to learn about the timeless principles of success (from authors like Steven Covey, Og Mandino, Napoleon Hill, and Dr. Wayne Dyer, to name a few) so that some of those seeds of profound thinking will germinate in my own life - hopefully causing a ripple effect of goodwill in my encounters with other people.
One of my favourite authors, Brian Tracy, throws out this challenge: "Read an hour every day in your chosen field. This works out to about one book per week, 50 books per year, and will guarantee your success." Now that's an accelerated learning curve!
Leonard Quilty is a teacher with the Centre for Learning@Home in Okotoks, Alta. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]
