Note: This letter is included in Pictures Are For Babies as the first exercise, meant to be read to the student out loud once before starting the program. It is reproduced here to help introduce prospective users to the memories and principles that inspired the program's creation.
I was three years old. My mother was raised in a remote ranch in central Mexico that simply goes by the name "The Ranch", because for us there are no other ranches more precious nor important than that old house at the bottom of a small valley. So she only had the chance to complete the sixth grade and now, as a mother of two, had signed up to complete middle school in the adult system. That is how her Mexican history book, covering the period between prehistory and the Spanish conquest, landed on my lap.
It was love at first sight. Love for the warm smell of its yellowed pages, for the images that opened a window into a foreign world where pyramids, ritual knives, and sculptures of the old gods had once been a common sight. Above all, love for the unknown squiggles on its pages that revealed the stories at which the photographs and paintings could only hint. If only I could understand them.
The book quickly became mine, handled with the carelessness of young love. Unable to read the words, I had no choice but to settle on looking at the pictures, over and over until the pages fell apart. The last section was the first to go, and I had to wait a couple of years to discover how the story ended. The pages from the other end followed until the book was nothing more than the middle section in tatters. I have no memory of when or how this final remnant of my first love left our home.
Years later, my whole family spent a day walking along the narrow and busy streets of Mexico City's central neighborhood, going from bookstore to bookstore looking for it. Because the book had been published by a government agency, no bookstore carried it, and we came home empty-handed. Years later, I looked for it on the internet without any luck. While writing this letter, another attempt ended with the same result.
My first love is forever gone, but this is not a sad story. Another book on Mexican history found its way into the space the first one carved into my heart, and my excitement was renewed. This time, I paid more attention to the written symbols, especially those under the images, and asked my parents over and over to read a single caption, until the great discovery was made. The symbols represent sounds, and when put together, they make up words and sentences. Since the book was in Spanish, the rules are simple and consistent, but the same process of discovery follows for every language, whether the symbols represent sounds, syllables, or entire words.
Many books followed and many of them I have loved as much or more as the first one. They have instructed me, lightened up my day, introduced me to new ways of being and thinking, and allowed me to be a part of distant worlds, even if only for a short while. Pictures Are For Babies, the literacy software you are about to use, is a natural expression of this love, aiming to help you enjoy reading as much as I do, and to express your thoughts in writing without any difficulties.
This love flows through all of its aspects, from the cute pair of bears that adorn the cover, to the planning of the lessons, and to this letter. If you are hearing it, read out loud by a caring voice, I have a few wishes as you embark on this new adventure. The first is that you use Pictures Are For Babies to follow that same process of discovery, at your own pace, in gentle sessions. If you are the one reading it, my wish is that you share in the joy of this discovery, providing help and clarification when needed while forging cherished memories of your time together.
My final wish is that you find and fall in love with all the books, stories, articles, and poems that call out to the deepest corners of your heart without any worry about how to read them. They will be unique to you, yet the love is shared across all generations of readers. You are now taking the first step to be a part of this lineage.
Perhaps one day, it will be your voice that carries this letter to a new reader.
MartÃn, a fellow reader.