Filipino Friday: Becoming a Reader

Fudge! I just checked September 14 in the calendar, and it falls on a Wednesday. That means, I can't attend the first Filipino Readers’ Conference in SMX Mall of Asia unless an unexpected typhoon comes for a quick visit and DepEd declares another ill-advised suspension. Given my situation, I'll just show my support by participating in this meme. So for this week, the questions at hand are the following: How did you become a reader? What factors influenced you to take up reading as a hobby and why do you enjoy it so much? Because I was thrilled to introduce myself last week, I think I had spoiled my answers for this week. So this post would just give you a recap, additional info on the things I've blabbed in my previous post. I was forced by circumstances to read-- -after that Creative Writing class nightmare -the required readings in college (hahanapin mo pa sa UP Shopping Center; makikipag-unahan sa pagpapa-reserve sa library; manghihiram sa classmate). When I was a child, I equated reading to reading textbooks. My very first memory of reading is when my Mama taught me how to read using the classic

I think the original cover page is the one with the nipa hut. After that, puro textbook stories na. If you studied in a public school, you'll understand why most Filipino children in public schools are not exposed to authentic children's literature. Gayunpaman, na-enjoy ko pa rin ang mga short stories sa mga naghihingalong libro namin sa Filipino at English. Sayang, hindi nauso ang library sa school namin. I was a freshman in high school when I read my first YA novel. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I read that for a book report. Not bad. I enjoyed reading it but it didn't made me want for more. Malay ko ba na exciting pala ang mga detective stories at magkakaroon ng Sherlock movie after 8 years :) So I didn't bother asking the owner of the book if she had other Sherlock books. Bob Ong books

ang pumuno sa 'love' ko for reading. Pang-masa. Thank you Bob Ong (kung sino/sino-sino/ano ka man), because of your book, I discovered that I and reading are meant for each other.Before I graduated from high school, two books were added in my list--The Little Prince (recommended by a classmate who has a UP student-sister and Daddy Long Legs (lent by a classmate who has a UP student-cousin). HIndi ko natapos ang TLP kasi ang lalim. Na-excite naman ako sa DLL dahil may TV series sa Channel 2 no'n. I still feel blessed even if I didn't get to spend my younger years with Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Boxcar Children and all the other classics. I had a very typical masang Filipino childhood. TV, street games, school. I am more blessed now because I have the opportunity of inspiring children to spend their childhood with dragons, vampires, real people, fairies, talking animals from books.

My prayer is that through this convention, literature advocates would reach out to Filipino children, regardless of their socioeconomic status, and introduce to them the joy and power of reading.