They probably were - I read the newspaper at breakfast every morning beginning at age 5 until I went off to college. For some people, learning to read is a process. For others, it's more of an instant epiphany. I've seen two year olds who were doing a pretty good job on Dick and Jane, so it isn't unrealistic to think by 4 they were clicking right along. There is probably someone here on HN who has researched all of this and could tell us more about the steps young minds go through and what works better / worse.
Me too. Any parent can teach their kids to read. Read to them at bed time and angle the book so the kid can follow along. I started reading Dr. Seuss at around age 3 or 4 and by age 6 I was reading illustrated medical texts. I didn't become a scholar or anything. But I did develop a very independent mind. This was 22 years before the common www.
Another me too here.
According to my parents, supposedly at 3. My oldest son did as well.
My favorite books at this age were encyclopedias, because their content is the easiest to attach to a young person's reality map. Although stupid stories for children I consumed as well, not least because the СЭС encyclopedia [1] weighed maybe 10% of my weight.
Sure. Encyclopedias, programming books (ZX Spectrum BASIC manual - didn't understand it much back then though, that came around 6-7 y/o)... And of course story books too.