Vintage Ladybird

 

Pss... I'll let you in on a secret but promise not to laugh, ya? When I was a kid, I picked up reading real late. I recall going to elementary school and really dreading the sessions where we had to practice reading. The teacher would hold up a huge book. She would read a little, get us to read as a class, and also get students to read aloud individually. Before she called out a name, my heart would be thumping so loudly I was sure the kid next to me could hear it too. During those moments, I was sure the thing I wanted most in the world was not to be called. Obviously, my wish didn't always come true. I would find myself standing up and staring at the alphabets in the book. They were just alphabets strung together, some forming a larger group, some smaller. 

I don't know when exactly, but thankfully, somehow along the way, I learnt to read. I integrated into primary school pretty normal. That must be a huge "whew" for my parents. Haha. Why was I so slow? I'm not sure. It's not that I wasn't exposed to books. My mother read alot to me before I went to school. We went to the library frequently and my parents bought me books as well. I had a pretty decent collection of the Ladybird books. "Puss in Boots", "The Enormous Turnip", "Red Riding Hood" etc. I saw these on the internet recently and they conjured up the memory illustrated above. Did you own the Ladybird books too?

It's a shame we tossed out my collection when we shifted. It's so ironic because I feel like getting my hands on them now. I have a fascination with vintage things. 

By the way, I can write fine, right? 

[images from Flickr Vintage Ladybird Books]