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Brandon Sanderson spends a lot of time around books. As of this writing, Sanderson has written over 71 books, many of them as part of the Cosmere literary universe. However, Sanderson wasn’t always a lover of books.

“I didn’t like books when I was a kid,” Brandon Sanderson says during New York Comic Con 2022’s Titans of Fantasy panel. “I as a kid just could not get into reading. Lots of teachers tried. They gave me My Side of the Mountain. They gave me Old Yeller. I was in Nebraska. You give kids books about wilderness apparently when you’re in Nebraska. Watch out, there’s lots of dead dogs. I didn’t really like books. I remember one that I loved, which was Jane Yolen’s Dragon’s Blood, but I read that when I was like 10 or 11. But I didn’t get into the fantasy genre. I didn’t know it was a genre.”

Sanderson went on to credit his eighth grade teacher Ms. Reader for turning him on to fantasy. According to Sanderson, it all started when she caught him cheating on his book reports. “I really credit my teacher Ms. Reader, true story, in eighth grade handing me a book. She was a really good teacher and she knew I was faking my way through book reports because I’m a smart enough kid to know they put most of the book on the back. I can usually either guess or read a few chapters at the end, then I could do a book report right?”

“She figured me out. I wasn’t as smart as I thought. She said, ‘I think you’re cheating on your book reports. What’s the deal?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t like books.’ And so, she took me to the back of the room where there was this cart of old books. She’s like, ‘You’ve got to read one of these for your next book report. These are books I know really well and then just talk through your book report with me. But pick one of these.’ And so, I started browsing reluctantly and I ran across this book with a dragon on the cover. It was Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. It’s a fantastic book.”

From there, Sanderson was hooked. “This book really worked, to the point where I’m like, ‘I love this book. Are there more like it?’ And the teacher says, ‘Let me introduce you to this place called the library.’”

And thus, Sanderson’s love of fantasy was born, which led to the author creating the Cosmere literary universe as an adult. Just think, this never would’ve happened without Ms. Reader’s mentorship. That’s the power of a good teacher.

Are you interested in more Brandon Sanderson? Check out our guide to learn how to read Cosmere in release and chronological order.