Here's To Dick, Jane, Sally, And Spot

book a set of written, printed, or blank sheets bound together in a volume

They once taught a generation of children to read. As an introduction to Literature, they failed, but as a quartet of tools opening the way to literacy, they succeeded. It's probable no one has ever voiced a desire to read another book featuring Dick, Jane, Sally, and Spot. It would be interesting to know if anyone past the age of Kindergarten or First Grade kept copies of those books in plain sight on a bookshelf. Any existent copies are probably rare enough to be collectors' items - but certainly not kept for their entertainment value. Perhaps the illustrations, today, would bring back amusing and nostalgic memories of a simpler time. In speaking with someone who knows, it has been pointed out that the various characters were introduced gradually as the little pupil progressed in reading skills.

What was your first introduction to reading? Do you remember learning to read or are you one of those fortunate people who feels as if you were born able to read? Do you read for pleasure, for information, or both? Do you have a book or books that you like to reread at least once a year?

Francis Bacon wrote

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.