I do not remember a time in my life when I could not read.  I had the special honor of being the first-born child and the first grandchild in my family. Every move I made and everything I did was met with approval and wonder.  Somewhere along the way my early attempts at speaking, reading and writing were praised by the people who I loved.  There was never a struggle for me to enter the world of literacy, it was more a case of developing a value that was special to the people who valued me.

     My grandfather was, and continues to be, a great literacy influence in my life.  The way he talks about books and the way he gently touches his books are living examples to me of the magic and wonder of being able to read.  As a child, I would sit on his lap as he read to me, we read together, and then me to him.  When no one else was around my grandfather and I would sing songs like, Oh, Where Have You Been Billy Boy and She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain.  We sang all the verses we knew, and then we made new ones.  My parents and grandparents bought me lots of Little Golden Books, and I knew them by heart.  When company came to visit, my grandparents would pull out a book and call for me to come and "read" it to them.  My parents would excuse my abilities by telling people that "she really isn't reading, she just has the words memorized."  And I did.  And I still do.

     We lived in the country, a long way from a public library, so I didn't have lots of fancy hardback books to read.  Someone had given us an old reading textbook entitled, Down the River Road.  I can still remember that it was a blue book and on the front cover, etched in orange, was  picture of a farm on the banks of a  river.  I would pretend that the creek that ran through our farm was really a big river and I would image all sorts of adventures like the ones in the book.  One of my greatest desires as a child was to live near a river and have my own adventures.  Ironically, my husband and I have raised our children on the banks of the Cumberland River for the last twenty-one years.  And we've had some wonderful adventures.  Some dreams do come true.  The "river" of literacy continues to flow through my life.

     As an educator, I have dedicated my life to leading children to the magic found in books.  There is no greater joy that to witness literacy emerge from a child - flickers that become flames.   I am passionate about fanning those flames.

A student found this book on ebay and told me about it ...
now I have my very own copy!

Pam Petty
Western Kentucky University
Special Instructional Programs
Tate Page Hall # 120
Campus Telephone:  745-2922
Home Telephone:  615-735-9198
Campus Email:  pamela.petty@wku.edu
Home Email:  pam@pampetty.com
Personal Homepage:  http://www.pampetty.com
Campus Homepage:  http://edtech.tph.wku.edu/~ppetty