The question is: are readers born or made? In response to this question,  an article in the Washington Post claims that readers are made.  I would have to agree with this conclusion based on my personal experience.  Reading is not only a wonderful pasttime but it is an exercise in brain-building.  Some educators and parents would like to claim that reading is a talent and some kids just didn't get it.  This is simply not true. Of course, reading, as a skill, must be attained.  Some of us grasp it much sooner than others.  Often a delay or disability in reading will lead educators and parents alike to assume that the child in question must not be a "reader".  With more exposure, patience, and encouragement all children can become readers.   As most older brothers do, mine would tell me I was adopted.  He often cited my lack of desire to read as evidence of this adoption.  Both of my parents and my brother are avid readers.  I was not.  Though I never truly believed him, sometimes the idea did give me pause.  How could I be a part of this family of "readers"?  Clearly, I was not born a reader. Now, years later, I too am an avid reader.  So what happened?  I found books, topics, and authors that I like.  I may be a picky reader, selecting only themes that appeal to me (where my family will read anything with letters!), but I am a reader all the same.  It took time and patience but I've been converted.