The Lorax and The Little Mermaid
My first experience in understanding that the world consisted of things and representations of things actually cam before I could read. My first book was an audio book of the Disney story “The Little Mermaid�. I listened to that audio tape over and over again until the tape wore out and my mom had to buy me a new one. I couldn’t read the words on the page, but I understood that the words represented what I was hearing and what I could see on the pages. I tried very hard to learn how to read and follow along with the tape. I’m not sure how I knew that the words on the page were the same as what I was hearing on the tape; perhaps it was from my parents reading the book to me. This understanding that the words on the page controlled the pictures in the book and what I was hearing was a great discovery for me.
When I was older and could read fluently I think the book The Lorax by Dr. Suess gave me a deeper understanding of the meaning of books. In fact all of the Dr. Suess books had this effect but The Lorax spoke most directly to me. I realized that the book was made up of entirely fictional characters, objects, and scenery, but the story still had meaning to me. If I didn’t know what a Lorax or a swamee swan was, how could I understand the meaning in the text? This particular Dr. Suess story has a harsh moral imbedded in the text. I began to realize that words had the power to create images in the mind and that the imagery could be controlled by the way in which the words were combined. This inspired me to read books without pictures because began to believe in the power the words had over you while you were reading a book. For me, I become totally engrossed in books when reading something that I find interesting and I hardly notice my surroundings. When I am reading something that I find uninteresting, my surroundings almost seem to impede onto the page, distracting me even further.