My mom discovered that I knew how to read when I was four years old. She was very tired one evening. I think that must have been after she went back to school. She had a husband and four kids and all of that kept her very busy and tired. My mom decided that she would read a book to me but she would abridge it so that she could get to bed a little bit earlier.
She didn't count on my response: "But, Mommy, you left out all of those words!"
"What words did I leave out, honey?"
I read the entire book to her.
My mom later told me that she thought that I had memorized the book but she wanted to test that theory. She said, "Wait a minute, honey." And she got out another book, one that she had just bought for me.
"Read this book," my mother said.
I read the book. My mother then knew that I was a reader.
Yet, when I went to first grade, I was bumped from fast reading group (I already knew how to read so that's where I was placed) to middle reading group to the slow reading group... all because I could not do the phonics drills. I never could do phonics, mainly because I have an auditory processing disorder. To this day, I see words as pictures that represent words. I never sound out words at all.
Reading was just a code that needed to be broken. When I broke it, I became a reader.
And, yes, I love to read... except when the weather is good and I'd rather be outside, having adventures and seeing the world.