Agatha Christie's mother was against her daughter learning to read.

One of the interesting facts about Agatha Christie is that her mother is against her daughter learning to read. Christie's mother reportedly objected to her daughter learning to read until the age of 8 (Christie was self-taught) and insisted that the author be homeschooled before she went on to become a best-selling author. Agatha didn't receive formal education from Mrs. Christie until she was 15 years old when her parents sent her to a finishing school in Paris.

Christie claims that Clara thinks she shouldn't begin learning to read until she is eight years old. However, due to her natural interest, Clara began reading books at the age of four. Their mother demanded that Christie receive her education at home while her sister was sent to a boarding school. She was therefore taught to read, write, and do basic mathematics, which she liked, by her parents and older sister. She was also taught music, and she mastered the mandolin and piano.

Christie has always been a voracious reader. Reading children's books by Mrs. Molesworth and Edith Nesbit is one of her earliest memories. She began reading surreal poetry by Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll as she grew older. She read Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas while she was a teen. At the age of 10, she penned "The Cow Slip," her first poetry, in April 1901.