Saturday, June 28, 2008

Hour 4/24 Mini-Challenge #3 Favorite Quotes

Oh, magic hour when a child first knows it can read printed words!

For quite a while, Francie had been spelling out letters, sounding them and then putting the sounds together to mean a word. But one day, she looked at a page and the word "mouse" had instantaneous meaning. She looked at the word, and the picture of a gray mouse scampered through her mind. She looked further and when she saw "horse," she heard him pawing the ground and saw the sun glint on his glossy coat. The word "running" hit her suddenly and she breathed hard as though running herself. The barrier between the individual sound of each letter and the whole meaning of the word was removed and the printed word meant a thing at one quick glance. She read the pages rapidly and almost became ill with excitement. She wanted to shout it out. She could read! She could read!

From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.

From A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith, p. 166-167

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

6 comments:

Vasilly said...

Great quote!

Ana S. said...

I like that quote!

Eva said...

Wonderful passage! I really need to read that book soon. :)

Icedream said...

Hi Becky! I loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Another book by Betty Smith I loved was Maggie Now.

Unknown said...

I found A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in my granparent's attic on a visit to their home in the country near Spokane. We were there for several days with very little to do in the evenings, so I read it cover to cover in two days.

I was very pleased with myself to have read a whole book in such a short time. I was in 6th grade at them time.

Years late my grandmother gave me the book. She gave me the whole series--Reader's Digest Condensed Books. ;-)

When you're done reading, come by my blog to sign up for to win a free book of your choice.

http://www.readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com

Keep on reading!!!

Andromeda Jazmon said...

What a wonderful description of the magic that takes us.