This month is International Literacy Association's Women's History Month. Mississippi Reading Association President, Dr. LeAnn Carter, asked board members to write about Women of Literacy who have influenced our lives.
The first person who came to mind was my mother, Helen Thornton. No, she is not a teacher. But she is the person who instilled my love of books. She read to my brothers and me from our earliest days. She took us to the public library once a week. We were there for Story-time as preschoolers and in the summer when we were school-age.
I remember my mother reading books for her own enjoyment, too. The first book I remember discussing with her was Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I was in first grade and just beginning to read. The book she was reading was SO thick. It was the thickest book I had ever seen, even thicker than her Bible. I was curious about a story that kept her reading page after page. I asked her what the book was about and that was the beginning of our conversations about books.
Mom will be ninety-one this week. She still loves to read. Her favorite books now are biographies. She still likes to talk about the books she is reading. She likes to share 'just a page' or 'just a paragraph' to other willing readers.
Who is your Woman of Literacy?
