I think it was the Curious George seris then onto Pippi Longstocking. In my teens was "gone with the wind"

Dick & Jane. Puff too.

Dick and Jane...those are precious memories...and I'd kill to have the original reader! way out of my price range on ebay! I did buy the reprints a few years ago...the illustrations are precious...

In school we learned to read using "Dick and Jane" (featuring Spot and Puff).

What a joy to learn to read! To know you didn't have to beg an adult to read TO you! My mother had a simplified copy of "The Black Stalion", saved from her childhood. (She was born in 1905.) That's the first book I *remember* reading by myself. It had mostly single-sylable words; longer ones were broken up with hyphens to make them easier to decipher.

I learned to read by sounding out words, using phonetics. Did any of you learn the 'look, say' way -- memorizing words as wholes?

Most of the books for children that I recall taught some moral lesson.

Dick, Jane and Sally here too...and of course, Puff and Spot...the primers were so special to me. We didn't have kindergarten either and my first grade books were a beautiful adventure to me. The first "big" book I remember reading was the Little Golden Book, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff"....I still love it and it was one of the grandkids favorites.......

Dick and Jane here too, no kindergarten, started in first grade.

Dick and Jane too and I have a copy of the Elson-Gray Basic REaders Book One (last CW in the book 1936) I think this is one that we used in conjunction with Dick and Jane Such delightful illustrations

Our first grade reader was Tip and Mitten.
I can remember reading Are You My Mother? a Dr Seuss book in second grade. Another one I remember was a school library book - Little Black a Pony.

WE had 3 reading groups in the first & second grade-

David & Ann---1st group
Dick & Jane---2nd group
Alice & Jerry-3rd group

I was in the Dick & Jane group--LOL

Donna (^_^)

Dr. Suess here. If I Ran the Zoo; Fox in Socks; Green Eggs and Ham among others.

My mom read to us a lot and that is something we carried forward to our kids too. We also went to the library every week. I love to read!

I can;t remember the first but a couple I do remember are: The Color Kittens ~ a little golden book
The Betsy and Tacy series
Magilla Gorilla ~ another little golden book
The Bobsey Twins series
Casey the Utterly Impossible Horse
Petey the Peanut Man

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Of course, Dick and Jane... Look.Look. See Spot run.
It is still magic to me to see those words.

Dick and Jane, and I was so happy to be able to read by myself!

The first book I owned was A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I cherished that book.

My favorite verse:

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

Nice memories.

Sue

The Black Stallion series were wonderful books. And so was Mrs. Mike. A true story, as I remember.
I remember reading Toby Tyler in about 4th grade, and trying to hide my head in my desk, cause the ending was so sad and I didn't want anyone to know I was crying.
JoanMN/FL

sue, i had the exact same books!

I don't remember the firt one specifically, but I do remember a book called, I think, "The Grownup Book". It was about children who pretend to be grownups for the day, acting out what grownups do. I can't believe my feminist mother let me have this book. This would have been about 1973, the boy/father gets ready for work, etc., the girl/mother takes care of the babies and the husband. Ugh. "Today and I am a grownup and you are a grownup too, we are busy doing what grownup people do". 35+ years later I still remember it.

I LOVE the Velveteen Rabbit, I always cry at the end.

Still may not be my first...but you've jogged my memory...I have a book that I got for Christmas when I was about 4 or 5..It is called "Miss Sniff"...it is a large book about a black cat called Miss Sniff and her mistress who if I remember right was called Sally. I can see Sally and Miss Sniff in my mind. The cat was in fuzzy velvet when new. I think I rubbed off quite a bit of the fuzzy over the years petting her.

I still have the book here somewhere. Maybe in one of my trunks.

patti

Not a book, but a story, "The Ugly Duckling". I was four years old (a very long time ago!) and had learned to read by sitting with my older sister when she practiced her reading. She was just learning to read. Of course, she was reading "Dick and Jane". I was so jealous that she could go to school and I couldn't!

The one and only book I remember my mother giving to me was "The Adventures of Mr. Mockingbird". I remember not quite understanding the plot, if there was one, but I was immensely proud of that book and couldn't believe it was my own. But where is it now????

Maybe "Peter Rabbit" ... maybe "Treasure Island" or "The Girl of the Limberlost".

Dick and Jane weren't even fetuses when I grew up.

Daughter liked "pippi longstocking" (and nephew "Curious George").

ole joyful

Dick and Jane, then Little Women and Secret Garden.

I can't remember the first book that I read by myself, but I'm sure it was after I had completed the 1st grade. The earliest book that sticks in my memory is "The Yearling", a story about a young boy who raised an orphaned fawn, and as the deer matured, it turned to eating their vegtable garden and a small corn field. The family was poor and stuggling in the Florida swamps. The loss of a garden was deterimental to their survival.

Other early books were "Little Men", "Little Women", and several Golden Books. "Uncle Remus" was a title also, but I think that I read that one a couple of years later.

I guess the first book I remember was my first grade reading book, way before Dick and Jane. It had Nancy and Tom. I have a copy of it someplace.

The Dick and Jane series. My I loved their spotted pony. What lucky children they were.
Does anyone remember the stories about Big Barbie the draft mare with twins and the dog named Cinders? The uncle said he was sending the kids a box with Cinders in it. Cute story.

Can't believe I got my book wrong! It wasn't "The Black Stallion". It was "Black Beauty"!

Gosh, my mom even named her dog 'Beauty'. Her dad came home to the farm from fetching supplies one evening. When my mother ran out to greet him, he held up the lantern to show her a bundle on the wagon floor, under his feet. It was a collie pup. My mother was an only child; 'Beauty' was her constant companion.

Black Beauty...that book made me cry ever time I read it.

Anyone ever read "The Voice of Bugle Ann" and "Where the Red Fern Grows"? Two great books about dogs. And the Albert Payson Terhune books about "Lad, A Dog"?
JoanMN/FL

Probably one of the Dick and Jane books. Who knows?

I can't remember the 1st book, but I know Peppermint the cat was one of them. something about a litter of kittens born in ice cream or candy store and they all had candy names?

Joanmn-I will never forget my 3rd grade teacher reading us, "Where the Red Fern Grows"!! Seems like a long book to have read aloud. Good but very sad! Ol Dan and Little Ann

Dr. Seuss- it was a dictionary. My dad took it away from me when he heard me reading it out loud. "G" was for gun in that book. He replaced it with many many more books. To this day I still go to the library!

Trish

I can't remember but it had the word deep in it. How do I remember? Because I was the only one who knew what the word was. Nowadays a 2 yr old would know it.

We started out with those Dick and Jane books so it could have been one of them.

I remember reading Dick and Jane books too. Was it "Make Way For Ducklings" that I read on my own first? That was a long time ago.

Mine was Black Beauty. I remember we always kept the stair light on and I would secretly read at night when I was supposed to be sleeping. I read it to my girls too and they love it.

What was the series of books about a baby-sitter/nanny who let her nasty little charges do awful things -- and then they found out why they *were* awful things? I'm thinking it was something like "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle". Does that ring a bell with anyone? These were read TO me around 1944.

I loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! I read them in the late 50s, early 60s.

We were not allowed to get a library card of our own until we could prove to the librabrian that we could read. When I was 5, she selected a book from the children's shelves that would be so politically incorrect today...it was called "Little Black Sambo."

I googled it. It is "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle". There are at least four books. In each story a child learns a lesson; sometimes his or her parents learn one too!

The boy who won't put his toys away eventually is trapped in his room by piles of toys and can't get out even to eat until he starts putting the toys away. The picky eater gets her just desserts! LOL Some of the content is aimed at too-lenient parents.

I think every child loves to hear about what happens to 'bad' kids.

Speaking of that, does anyone remember "The Big Tidy-Up" by Norah Smaridge? I picked that up for my youngest DD (who even at a tender age was a pack-rat) and both girls loved it.

Unfortunately, as much as she love the book and wonderful illustrations, she's still a pack-rat. Think it would help to buy her Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle? She's 39.

My school was out of the loop. We didn't have Dick and Jane. We had Tom and Betty and Fip, the dog. I never hear anyone else who had that reading series. Remember spending MANY hours reading Nancy Drew. My best friend and I would lay in hammocks and read, read, read! I still have mine and my mom's Nancy Drews, too. (She's 81)

Can't remember the first book either, other then the Dick and Jane books, but do remember Charlotte's Web. It was my favorite which I read several times.
Clare

Fun With Dick and Jane, first grade. The first word on the first page was "Look." I've never forgotten.

Barb from pa, Nancy Drew was a favorite of mine too, but I borrowed them from the library. Checking Amazon I see they are still printing copies and still popular.

Old books, to me, are treasures. Especially if they originally belonged to family members. I have a few signed copies given to Mom and Dad by the author who was a friend of theirs, a prominent surgeon (and County Coroner) back in the 40's-50's. You can just imagine how health care has changed since then and I find old medical books especially fascinating. But that's just me.

But your mom's books...well just take a look at this. Scroll down the list.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nancy Drew

The original Nancy Drews used language like luncheon, frock, etc. I got a couple after I grew up and they had updated the language, totally ruined them for me.
JoanMN/FL

I still have "Mr. Pine's Purple House," an Easy Reader book. It is inscribed inside, "To Stephanie from Grandma Christmas 1976." I would have been 6. From my maternal grandmother. The price on the front is 79 cents. However, it is priceless. ;o)

I don't remember for sure if this book was "the first." But it's got to be one of the first.

One of the first children's chapter books I remember reading was "Harriet the Spy." I guess I was maybe 7 or 8, I remember reading it over and over, being really crazy about it.

There are so many books that are part of my childhood memories, and later memories (like reading Harry Potter with my kids). Perhaps when I write my memoir it will be a memoir in books. ;o)

I haven't heard "Horten hears a hoo" yet maybe not the first but a very memorable one!!

The "Little Golden Book" series of books - The Poky Little Puppy was one of my favorites.

Can't remember either, but I started reading when I was 4 and never stopped! I read tons of books including all the older kids classics.... Horse stories were my favorites. I read all the Black Stallion (and related books), Misty of Chincoteague, Seabiscuit, and many others. And dog books, Call of the Wild, Old Yeller, and so on. I read the Nancy Drew books, the Hardy boys books, the Trixie Beldon books, Little Women, Litle Men, Eight Cousins, the Little house books... and then I read a lot of books too old for me. Books that belonged to my grandmother (who had been a teacher) and books that my mom had bought from some book club long before (not sure why as she was NOT a reader).

I love reading.

It's just a shame it gets harder to read as the eyes get older... even with my trifocal lenses.

No kindergarten here either, straight into Grade 1.

First book, if I recall correctly was "The March Family", which we all know was Dick and Jane's family!

You know, I can still remember the excitement of learning to read and the exact moment when I "got it". It was like discovering the caramilk secret.

Then "Arithmetic" was introduced and my confidence was shattered for life. lol That was one word (Arithmetic) that didn't bring joy! :~)

OLE JOYFUL: I about spit my coffee out about Dick and Jane not even being fetuses when you learned to read. Your posts always make me smile/laugh/think and sometimes all three at once! :~)

BJ

breenthumb -- Great idea! I'm ging to give my DS (38 in April) a Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. He's a pack-rat on a scale so grand that he once had 17 cars or parts of cars in the fenced backyard of his home on one acre in an unincorporated area. (Feel better about your DD now?)

Hmm...I think I will give the books to DGS (4) and let DS read them to him.

I still have my Pokey Little Puppy book. I had forgotten about The Black Stallion until Patti mentioned it. I also enjoyed the Sue Barton nurse series such as Sue Barton Visiting Nurse.

Something named the kittens and their mittens.
I'm sure there were some See Dick and Jane books later on but the kitten and mitten story is the first I remember.

Lori