Needing to know the instructions for how to operate something.

Curiosity and love of stories. I have always loved getting lost in stories in books. And I have always liked to learn through reading.

My parents read to us every night.
We were on a remote mission in Haiti, so my mom taught my two older brothers with the advanced CA Calvert correspondence course.

I was only four, but bugged my mom to let me learn also. Unfortunately, she tried to force me to memorize words by their shapes-as was being done in the public schools, and kept yelling at me and trying to shame me when I didn't get it.

Finally one day I saw a beautiful, illustrated story about an Indian maiden in my oldest brother's reading book and decided I'd had enough.
I went to my mom with the alphabet and calmly asked her to tell the phonetic sounds of all the letters. She stared at me for a short time, perhaps considering whether or not to mock me, but suddenly decided to do what I asked. Afterward, I returned to read the book, and never stopped reading since.

My kids did the same thing..bringing the alphabet to me when they were still almost toddlers, and quietly insisting I teach them the phonetic sounds. By then, I'd purchased a Sing, Spell, Read and Write course to use when the kids were old enough for school, so I used the phonics songs, and both started reading.

My daughter learned to read before she turned three, and within a couple of months she was reading 20 page books, and soon was taking her turn, along with her brother, reading aloud from books I read the kids at night, such as the "Little House on the Prairie" series, and the kids were bringing home 200 library books every two weeks.

I have been a reader as long as I can remember; so I can't really remember why. My kids on the other hand may provide some insight. My daughter loved stories; whether I read to her or made them up. She always insisted that I read to her. Incidentally, when she was a few months old, I would read whatever I was reading aloud to her when she woke up in the middle of the night.
Later after my ex and I separated she lived with me. She was already an avid reader, but I let her read after she went to bed. I think being allowed to stay up helped encourage her reading.
My son wouldn't sit still to be read to. He made it clear that it bored him. His interest in reading didn't manifest until he was 12 or 13. He never seemed to be still long enough to read more than a short magazine article. Later though, I discovered that finding his area of interest was what it took. The first book he asked me to buy for him was the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes.

Loved reading when I was a kid. Drove to the library which was at the next town once a week and got a bag of book. Not much going on where I lived, and liked to escape into the stories. Took me away for a time. Read mostly after dark, when there weren't things to do outside.

My youngest son hated reading, and would fight back on everything I tried. He received a video game that he was having problems with and I bought him a book to help him with it. That was the thing that helped him read.

Everyone has their own interests; you just have to find the one that jives with them.

Gramps, Gramma, Mom, and Mama Smith all read a lot. By the time I was six I had read (yes, read) the entire 22 volumes of the Encyclopedia Americana -- 1945 edition. I'm pretty sure I understood a good share of what I had read, too. My curiosity is insatiable to the point that I read the small print on the goddamn labels in the grocery store.

I greatly appreciate the Internet because of the ease and speed of searching material when I'm researching, something that books can't come close to competing with, but I still prefer to read for enjoyment with something substantial in my hand with the feel and smell of paper. I have Kindle and I like it when I'm traveling, but I find great enjoyment fondling the books in any library and at home.

I read. It's a compulsion. Tee shirts can produce some embarrassing moments.

I was up until the age of ten....I discovered my love of writing and primary school prepared me but it was not till I got to secondary that piqued my love of reading...xx

I think having a parent read to you is greatly beneficial in developing a love of reading. Although correlation does not necessarily dictate causation, people that read (especially when they are young) tend to have higher (verbal) IQ's. Years ago while getting a gifted-ed credential, I ran across a study that reportedly found the number one factor that predicted a child would be placed in a "gifted education" program was having a father that read to him or her.

I think being inquisitive. I read a newspaper everyday.

wow....lol

I am severely dyslexic, so did not read as a child, I struggled with text books and had to commit lessons to memory. When I had young kids, I would read to them, and after a while they would read to me.

I love reading good books, but mostly scifi and fantasy....it takes me away from real life and sets me in worlds that are breathtaking, heartbreaking and astonishing all in one page...makes me happy when I am lost within the words...xx

My parents told me the Grimm;s Fairy Tales and the Norse Mythology stories. There were no books at that time in our house. When I was five, my mother started buying books for me, "Heidi", Gritly's Kinder", Die Heldensagen"
, books I read on my own. My father made me read the newspaper and we had great "political" discussions. So, consequently, my house has books in every room; I use all the libraries in my county and TV is almost never on.

Problem with reading in School it isn't necessarily what you would choose to read . I agree that parents reading to their children are likely to want to read.

we were taught to

Gossip gets people to read. Unfortunately.

My oldest was read to frequently from the start. When she was 3ish she would ask to have 5 or 6 books read to her, and then toddle off to her room and "reread" them. When she was 5, the summer before Kindergarten I bought an American Girls book for her from a museum gift shop while we were on a trip. I thought daddy could read it to her as a bedtime story. She read it before we got to the hotel. I didn't believe her, and she proceeded to give me the details of the story. For those of you who don't know, that book is recommended for third grade readers. I don't remember not being able to read. I also remember in 2nd grade being so engrossed in a book I did not hear my teacher call on me. All my kids are readers. I have a stack of library books in my bedroom right now waiting to be read. According to GoodReads.com I read about 50 books last year. I read because I love it. I read to learn, I read to escape. I read anything in print that is put in front of my eyes. Yes, I read license plates.

For me it was instructions...that I had to allow....lol