Favourite childhood book?

[Wilfred]

What is your favorite piece of chirlden's literature?

[Stanislaw]

Green Eggs and ham. The dark. and Maltilda.

[Wilfred]

Those are some good books, especially Green Eggs and Ham.

[azmuse]

The Giant Jam Sandwich and the Oz books

[Wilfred]

I have never read The Giant Jam Sandwich. I really like the Oz books too.

[azmuse]

it's written & illust. by John Vernon Lord
did you wish you lived in Oz when you were little?
The G.J.S. begins so:
One hot summer in Itching Down,
Four million wasps flew into town.

excellent! story. my nephew got my copy, and i found myself special ordering it 4 years ago so i would have it again...he's now 13 so my sister gave it back!

[David J]

Clive Barker's The Thief of Always

The Hobbit

[Wilfred]

The Diant Jam Sandwich sounds good, I'll have to read it. Yes, I still wish I lived in Oz.

[IWilKikU]

CS Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
Green Eggs and Ham
Shel Silversteen's poetry
Anything by Dahl

[Wilfred]

Dahl is awesome.

[piquant]

Narnia

[Azoic]

Narnia is really good. Imagine my surprize as a atheist 6th grader, going into a catholic school and they had it. Although since then I've realized what's really going on in those books.
The Hobbit is really good too, and these days I'm becomming fond of Harry Potter, although the Potter movies suck.
Are these Oz books I'm hearing about refering to Wizard of Oz, Oz the HBO series, or something else that my narrow mind can no doubt not comprehend?

[Wilfred]

These Oz books are the Wizard of Oz books.

[IWilKikU]

Uhh... If you look back somone said they wish that they lived in Oz. I dont think that that refers to the HBO series ;). In all seriousness though, it is the Wizard that people are talking about. Did anyone see Return to Oz, with the wheelers and all? I remember seeing it as a kid, but I never read the books so I dont really remember that much about it.

[azmuse]

to clarify...the 14 oz books by L. Frank Baum are as follows :)
the wizard of oz
the land of oz
ozma of oz
dorothy and the wizard in oz
the road to oz
the emerald city of oz
the patchwork girl of oz
tik-tok of oz
the scarecrow of oz
rinkitink in oz (hard to find)
the lost princess of oz
the tin woodman of oz
the magic of oz
glinda of oz

i only have a few by ruth plumly thompson, she writes a lot! like baum which is great
#'s 20, 27-29:
the hungry tiger of oz
ojo in oz
speedy in oz
the wishing horse of oz

[IWilKikU]

damn, thats alot of oz!

[Azoic]

That is a lot of Oz.

Thanks to all for the clarification.

[azmuse]

ainit though :)

wilfred, you never sayed which books here'n you like yo'self: 'n' we's still waitin' on that quote o' your'n...

like, which books do you like that weren't mentioned and concurred with, and still remember fondly and cuddle with like a favorite stuffed teddy?

:)

[shortysweetp]

i was wonder what everyone's favorite children's literature book is?

[Stanislaw]

http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/cartoon/images/seuss/bk-fish-mint.JPG

A picture is worth a thousand words!

[shortysweetp]

i love Dr. seuss i love to dr. seuss books read to my 2 year old daughter. she likes it

[Jester]

http://myhero.com/ReadingRoom/books/830661.jpg

still cracks me up every time...... ahh what fun for all ages

[shortysweetp]

i would like to get all of the dr. seuss books for my daughter and the old movies. not the crap ones they are making now. i dont think dr.seuss would approve of the Cat in the Hat movie with Mike Myers.

[Jester]

no, but the jim carey one was pretty good, .... of course i loved the old ones... i never did like cat in the hat, you know a single doctor suess book in teh states is like twenty bucks...!!!! caught me by complete surprise

[mono]

Dr. Seuss will always identify as a classic children's writer. Some of my other favorites, however, also seemed classics, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Peter the Rabbit, Aesop's Fables, and works by Jules Verne.

[Helga]

The books by Thorbjorn Egner are great! he wrote a play about animals and how they learn to be friends and NOT eat each other.. and one about the two bactereas that live in your mouth if you don't brush your teeth!

[Shea]

I loved many of my childrens books, but I must say that my favorites were The Chronicles of Narnia (I probably read all of them about 8 times), and The Secret Garden. Not only do I love that story but it keeps popping up in my life. For example, the first time I went to New York, we were going to see Cats but went to see The Secret Garden instead because it happened to be there. Now, the tea room that I play harp at, they have a "garden room" and everything is designed after the story. There is even a key at the gate and a robin in the big fake tree. ;)

[Helga]

I almost forgot, I love the book 'The last flower? by James Thurber

[simon]

I always enjoyed A Modest Proposal as a child.
Perhaps it was the sheer impending doom of being turned into a pair of ladies gloves.

[Stanislaw]

A modest proposal? morbid as a kid eh?

[Turtlemother]

well, at present, I am remembering "Wind in The Willows" , that droll tale..
there is a scene where the creatures meet Pan in the forest, so beautiful, and it entirely escaped me as a child....
"The Narnian Chronicles";;; I read this to my daughter for a long time..
"ISland of Blue Dolphins". but that is for a little older children..
and above all FAIRY TALES!!

[Bongitybongbong]

If You Give a Moose a Muffin is the best little kid book ever.

[Koa]

Hey hey hey, why noone mentioned the unique marvellous fabolous Rolad Dahl here (yeah, Faye is not around ;))... i adored his books as a child, especially Matilda ... And I recently found out he wrote stuff for grown ups too, enjoyed a short story just yesterday...

(there was a thread about it in the General Literature section)

[shortysweetp]

i love his books! i like BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Matilda all of them. I have a 2 year daughter that i would like to start a collection of literature for i would love to be able to find all of his books. i want her to appreciate good literature but maybe i'm wanting too much as of right now seeing that she is only 2 but never to early to start :)

[Helga]

I mentioned before some of my favorite kid books but I always remember my dad reading with me. He didn't like books that were for kids so he read ' The Last Mohican' when I was seven or eight, but he died before he could finish it and I've never read the whole book. He also read books by Icelandic authors for me.

[EAP]

Heh, Heidi. Such a cute book.

[mono]

In my poetry class today, we had an odd review of children's poetry, including Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, later used in his classic tale, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. The poem brought back old memories of reading it as a child, wondering at the vocabulary, but amused by the rhythm.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.


"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.


`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

[Stanislaw]

Anyone ever read the childrens story by James Clavell??

[CarniFreak]

Charlotte's Web. It was the first book I ever read by myself without it being required for school. That was a long time ago, but I can still remember how cool it was when I read it.

[alshadai]

Charlotte's Web
I'm glad so many children read this book because it is the only book I have ever seen to actually tell children about what death is in such a great way. This book, I think, would help every child cope.

[thingamajig]

I recently bought Matilda and it is definitely my favorite childrens book!! I loved reading it!

[thevintagepiper]

In my poetry class today, we had an odd review of children's poetry, including Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, later used in his classic tale, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. The poem brought back old memories of reading it as a child, wondering at the vocabulary, but amused by the rhythm.




I love that poem! A good friend of mine wrote an accompanying grammar rhyme to it, which is absolutely hysterical. "Twas lipsy and the palindrome/Did grave accutely in the phrase.."

In any case....some my favorite children's books are Cinderella, The Chronicles of Narnia or anything anything Dr. Seuss.

My all-time favorite, though, is a newer one called "The Princess and the Kiss." I think it may be published by Vision Forum...it's amazing.

http://www.in-his-grace.com/Princess%20and%20the%20Kiss.jpg

[SleepyWitch]

who's DrSeuss? never heard of those books.. .are they American or British? what kind of stories are they?
when i was a kid i mainly read Astrid Lindgren and some childrens sci-fi books...

[Virgil]

I used to love this as a child:

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/covers/0/06/443/178/0064431789.l.gif

[Scheherazade]

who's DrSeuss? never heard of those books.. .are they American or British? what kind of stories are they?
when i was a kid i mainly read Astrid Lindgren and some childrens sci-fi books...I had not read any Dr Seuss (he is American) books either until I joined the Forum, SW. Upon Stan's encouragement, I decided to try some and they are amazingly funny stories, aimed at early readers. They rhyme and sound a lot like tongue twisters so help readers develop an awareness of word recognition and pronunciation strategies. My favorites so far are Fox in Socks and Green Eggs and Ham. You might also be familiar with Cat in Hat

From Fox in Socks:

When beetles battles beetles in a puddle paddle battle and beetle battle puddle is a puddle battle, they call this a tweetle beetle bottle puddle pattle battle muddle...

I have even used some of these text in my classes for adults and they loved them. Most of them starting reading them with their kids too :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss

[SleepyWitch]

I used to love this as a child:

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/covers/0/06/443/178/0064431789.l.gif

hey, hang on.. this looks like the Gruffalo! is the author of the Gruffalo a copy cat or is it the same author? hehe, i suppose that's not possible seeing as it's been a while since Virgil was a child :)

[Lycosparks]

As many of you mentioned, Charlotte's Web was a favorite of mine as well.
I also really enjoyed Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Flowers for Algernon.

Even younger than that my favorite was The Rainbow Fish.

[Whifflingpin]

Joan Aiken - author of many books for children and some for adults.
Racing plots, bubbly language, lots of fun & scariness in good measure.

Several of her books feature the character Dido Twite, and I think these are my favourites - a toss up between "Nightbirds on Nantucket" and "The Cuckoo Tree."

.

[Woland]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dr. Seuss books

[Virgil]

hehe, i suppose that's not possible seeing as it's been a while since Virgil was a child :)
:lol: :lol: Yes, it's been a long time!!!

[pqb57]

Wow, reading all your posts, really makes me feel old. That said, my favorite childrens book (though politically incorrect now) was Little Black Sambo.

[rabid reader]

Bridge to Terabithia- Katherine Paterson

[cruciverbalist]

Enid Blyton's Noddy series as a pre-schooler and later, her Famous Five series; Roald Dahl, especially Charlie and The Chocolate Factory; and Ruskin Bond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruskin_Bond)'s ghost stories. In fact, I still enjoy reading Bond's nature stories.

[Lycosparks]

Bridge to Terabithia- Katherine Paterson

aww, one of my favorites of all time too!

[Virgil]

Wow, reading all your posts, really makes me feel old. That said, my favorite childrens book (though politically incorrect now) was Little Black Sambo.
Welcome pqb. No one is too old for lit net. Stick around and have intelligent conversation or just fun.

[andave_ya]

Does anyone still read childrens literature occasionally? I have a couple favorites that I go back to time and again. First would have to be Peter Pan. I absolutely love that story. Fairyland.

Number two would be the Wizard of Oz books. Dorothy is absolutely adorable, and there is a sense of magic entwined about the books coupled with the innocence of childhood that is absolutely entrancing.

J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, has written other plays that are also really cute.

Well, what do you all say?

[kandaurov]

Does Lewis Carroll count? I have no shame in admitting that Alice in Wonderland and Looking Through the Looking Glass are among my favourite books, for several reasons.

[Orual]

I first read The Chronicles of Narnia when I was seven years old and I still love them. As a fan of C.S. Lewis's adult work, the narration in The Chronicles of Narnia always makes me smile because there is so much of the author's voice in them ("There once was a boy named Eustace Scrub, and he almost deserved it" comes to mind.)

I'm also still a fan of A Wrinkle in Time and, to a lesser degree, the books that followed it.

Oh yes, and A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. I haven't read those in quite a while, but I suspect I would still enjoy them.

[Nick Rubashov]

I'm still an avid reader of Dr. Seuss whenever I find one of his masterpieces laying around.

[siubhan]

I'm doing a children's literature unit for uni atm... narnia and peter pan are on the reading list.. for you what are the ideologies being communicated in peter pan?

[Bakiryu]

I do *blush*. I'm hooked up on manga and teen-rated books. Can't help it.

[kathycf]

I still own many of the books I received as a child, if not all of them. I confess...I am a complete packrat and am unable to throw anything away. :blush:

It does make it simpler to revisit childhood favorites when they are stacked in bookcase number 4 though. I still re-read Nancy Drew on occasion, as well as any of the books in The Chronicles of Narnia.

[Pensive]

Heidi and A Bridge to Terabithia are also wonderful books written mainly for children. If anyone understands Urdu, he/she might be interested in Umro Ayar series, Herculus series, Tarzan series, Chalosak Malosak series, Dastaan-e-Ameer Hamza, Ishtayaq Ahmad's jasoosi (suspense) novels and many more! I loved reading them. I still wouldn't mind reading these good stories. :)

[Schokokeks]

Despite its being a German classic, I have to admit that I've never read Heidi :blush:.
My favourite books as a child were mostly by James M. Barrie: Peter Pan, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Peter Pan and Wendy,...
I also loved the children's version of Robinson Crusoe, and Gulliver's Travels. When moving out last autumn, I also found a copy of Little Women by Louisa Alcott and read it again, it made me cry remembering :) Apart from that, I read mainly serials featuring my favourite heroes, such as Batman, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Famous Five and Hanni and Nanni by Enid Blyton... Oh, those were times ! *puts on her nostalgia cap* :)

[Pensive]

Despite its being a German classic, I have to admit that I've never read Heidi :blush:.
My favourite books as a child were mostly by James M. Barrie: Peter Pan, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Peter Pan and Wendy,...
I also loved the children's version of Robinson Crusoe, and Gulliver's Travels. When moving out last autumn, I also found a copy of Little Women by Louisa Alcott and read it again, it made me cry remembering :) Apart from that, I read mainly serials featuring my favourite heroes, such as Batman, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Famous Five and Hanni and Nanni by Enid Blyton... Oh, those were times ! *puts on her nostalgia cap* :)

You should read it, you wouldn't mosty probably regret that! :D And yes, Enid Blyton's works are a lot of fun too!

[Schokokeks]

You should read it, you wouldn't mosty probably regret that! :D
I think I saw a film version much later, but didn't like it a lot... too little action ;).

[Niamh]

Yes i still read a lot of childrens books. But at the moment i am mainly reading modern ones such as Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer and Garth Nix's Old Kingdom/ Abhorsen Series. One of the best i've read recently was Kate Thompsons The Forth Horseman, and John Boynes The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, both of which are award winning books and rightly so.

Schok and Pensive: I Love Heidi!

[manolia]

Does anyone still read childrens literature occasionally? I have a couple favorites that I go back to time and again. First would have to be Peter Pan. I absolutely love that story. Fairyland.


Ummm..i bought Peter Pan two days ago..and i intend to read it for the first time:blush:

[andave_ya]

You'll love it. It's magic! Barrie aptly manages to convey the viewpoint of a child. I especially love the way that the children embrace the fact that they can fly. And not to mention, any story with pirates and swashbuckling is tons of fun. Especially when the pirates are really not that scary. And when it's from a kids point of view.

Lots of mentions of Chronicles of Narnia in here. I wasn't sure if it would be considered children's literature or not. In any case, they are gems of books I read over and over.

[manolia]

You'll love it. It's magic! Barrie aptly manages to convey the viewpoint of a child. I especially love the way that the children embrace the fact that they can fly. And not to mention, any story with pirates and swashbuckling is tons of fun. Especially when the pirates are really not that scary. And when it's from a kids point of view.

I loved it as a film and i am sure that i'll love the book too.:)



Lots of mentions of Chronicles of Narnia in here. I wasn't sure if it would be considered children's literature or not. In any case, they are gems of books I read over and over.

My favourite books as a child along with 'The Hobbit' ;)

[Aiculík]

When I was kid, I was reading mostly adult books, as I found most of children books primitive and boring.

With few exceptions...
"Three Investigators", especially first books by Robert Arthur... Ssssh! The Green Ghost is about to scream!
"Pastures of the Blue crane" by Hesba Fay Brinsmead
"The summer of the swans" by Betsy Byars
"Marion" - some French author, I can't remember the name, it was about the girl who wanted to play violine but her father was against...
there were few more, by Slavic authors, but alltogether there wasn't more than 20-30 children books that I really loved.

But I still love to reread these 30 books. And some new ones, too - like Harry Potter. I especially enjoy poetry for children. It's so... innocent and optimistic. :)

[Whifflingpin]

I seem to be a generation or six removed from most of the contributors to this thread - The authors that I read as a child and still enjoy reading include Ballantyne, Stevenson, Kipling, Nesbit, Violet Needham & Geoffrey Trease.

Children's authors that I first read in my early twenties, whom I still enjoy reading, include Peter Dickinson, Joan Aiken, Ursula le Guin, Alan Garner (well, "Owl Service" & "Red Shift," at least.)

Of a later generation, Rowling yes, Pullman and Colfer blehh.

I notice that most of the earlier authors I've named would probably not call themselves children's authors - rather authors some of whose books are primarily intended for children.

[genoveva]

Leo Lionni has some wonderful picture books that he also illustrates.

[Hyacinth42]

Well, when I was young, I was reading books above my age level... And I remember this one time when my parents bought me three diferent books that were first in a series, and I read them all in one day... They decided I was too old for them and therefore I didn't get to read the rest of the series... Very annoying... Well, I really liked Pullman, Colfer needs to finish up Artemis Fowl and stop writing random side stories :P and I am a big fan of HP fanfiction, but I don't seem to like her original books anymore... Still want to know what happens in book 7 though ;) Erm... I absolutely hate nancy Drew, I read almost all of them, 1 book a day, all in a row... I now absolutely detest Nancy Drew...

Some good ones:

Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls: Really good/sad book that I still like to read
Peter and the Starcatchers - Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson: Good begining explination to Peter Pan

[andave_ya]

Thanks for all the comments: Peter and the Starcatchers sounds good. Is it by the same humorist/columnist Dave Barry?

[gcmom16]

My daughter and I are searching for the name of a series that she used to read when she was younger. Neither of us can remember the title, but this is her description of the books about 4 girls---" I can see it....all the books were lightish pink-colored, and there were four girls in the books...one was a curly redhead that wants to be an actress, another is a rich prep girl from canada whose brother plays hockey, one is a tomboy that plays..hockey i think, and another is a punk who calls her mom "M". lol."
Can anyone help us out? Thanks~

[Shurtugal]

ok, my turn. i have a couple favorite childs books. infact all my favorite books are child books ('cept for maybe "eragon" and eldest" but i'm not sure what they are under) funny, all my favorite books seemed to have already been listed. i like Peter Pan (the way J.M. Berrie writes is just enchanting!), The Last Battle, ( i like all the narnia series but this one is me favorite) Bridge to Teribithia (I just saw the movie and it was so awsome! you have to see it. unless you don't like tear jerkers) Eragon and Eldest ( the author was only fifteen when he started to write! he's like an inspiration to me, other then Billy Gilman.) ok... who's next?:D

[barbara0207]

Harry Potter, of course. :blush: (Waiting for #7 impatiently.) But I don't think I would reread them. Always worth rereading, however, is Dr Seuss, especially The Grinch, and Roald Dahl. Last summer I read "Matilda" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on the beach and found them delightful. I think Dahl's sense of humour appeals to adults as much as to children. :D

[NickAdams]

I just bought Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree: I love that book!

[higley]

-Narnia books
-Sherlock Holmes (though the Baskerville fido gave me nightmares)
-My Brother Sam is Dead
-Where the Red Fern Grows
-book of world's best fairy tales my dad had as a kid
-anything and everything about dolphins (oh geez I could name you like every species of dolphin there was, what parts of the world they lived in and dumb things like how much each weighed or cultural history or whatever, and the differences between them and porpoises--for some reason I disliked porpoises and always got irritated whenever someone confused them. I was maybe 6 or 7? Geekhood came early!)
-story versions of Shakespeare
-Little Women
and lots more!

I also loved picture books as an anklebiter, like Where the Wild Things Are and anything by Shel Silverstein. It's my ambition to write and illustrate children's books so I try to keep in mind what my favorite things about books were back then!

[kratsayra]

"Three Investigators", especially first books by Robert Arthur... Ssssh! The Green Ghost is about to scream!


Oh my gosh, I have never run into anyone else who has read or even heard of those! For me it was never Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, it was always the Three Investigators. :D

And I must admit that Jupiter Jones was probably one of my first crushes. I also tried to write books that were just like those books - I had imagined a group of three girls whose characteristics very closely mirrored those of the Three Investigators. I haven't picked up one of those books in ages. I will have to take a look sometime.

As for recently enjoyed children's books. In addition to Harry Potter (right now I'm re-reading #6 in preparation for #7) - a few months ago, I listened to A Little Princess on audio book, and it was absolutely lovely.

[applepie]

I am happily using my children as an excuse to read old favorites. Right now, my son and I are reading The Wind in the Willows. This is the first time he has ever been old enough to remember what happened in the story the day before. I'm working to get him listening to longer stories and I can't wait to be able to read longer books with him.

[MirrorOfEnigmas]

I completely agree with Peter Pan. J.M. Barrie has the most beautiful way with words. I also love the Chronicles of Narnia.

I'm not sure whether Roald Dahl is technichly classed as literature but i could read most of his books time and time again

Oh, and of course Harry Potter.

[andave_ya]

-book of world's best fairy tales

I have that one! rather thick greenish book, right?

[higley]

I have that one! rather thick greenish book, right?

Very thick, mostly red with a bit of green in the illustrations on the cover. I don't know about more recent versions as mine was published in 1967 by Reader's Digest Association. But it's wonderful!

[barbara0207]

I'm not sure whether Roald Dahl is technichly classed as literature but i could read most of his books time and time again

Er, I don't see any reason why Dahl's works shouldn't be "literature". What's your definition of that term??

[byquist]

Yea, J.M. Barry had some fun writing. And agree that Dahl is fun stuff. The movie Matilda is a gas, esp. that school principal.

[Pensive]

I have actually read both Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I don't see why they shan't be called literature!

[Annamariah]

Some of my favourite books that are found in the library's at the children's books section:
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
- Books by L. M. Montgomery
- Books by L. M. Alcott
- The Little Princess and The Secret Garden by F. H. Burnett
- Tiina-series by Anni Polva (My favourite Finnish children's books)

(And yeah, I like Roald Dahl's books, too :))

[Mortis Anarchy]

Peter Rabbit!!! All the way:D

I couldn't get into Dahl...I liked Platform 13(?), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, C.S. Lewis, Avi and Brian Jacques...wow I lived on his books. Brilliant!

[vintage]

I'm looking for some good children's or young adult books to read out loud to my 9 year old sister. We enjoy more of the classic, wholesome, vintage-y sort of books. Where the children ACT like children. The problem is that we LOVE to read and it seems like everyone continues to recommend the same books to us. We need some fresh reading material! :)

We've really enjoyed these series: The Katie John books
The Ginnie and Geneva series

Plus the always mentioned classics :) : Little Women
Anne of Green Gables
Betsy, Tacy, and Tib
and The Moffats

Can you give me fresh ideas for books that a little girl would love? :idea:

* She also loves books set during WW2

[JBI]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice found, by Lewis Carrol

A few that also come to mind are the Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Anne of Green Gables, and a few others.

[Bakiryu]

Can you give me fresh ideas for books that a little girl would love? :idea:

* She also loves books set during WW2

I don't know many old-fashioned books but I love these:

Well you could read The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Keesler: It's a story about a girl who's also a mermaid something that all little girls would want to be.

A Little Princess is pretty good too.

OOh, and The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff: I loved this one and always read it to my cousins while babysitting, they love it too.

[Whifflingpin]

E Nesbit - The Treasure Seekers, The Railway Children, The Phoenix and the Carpet etc.

Joan Aiken - Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Black Hearts in Battersea, Nightbirds on Nantucket etc

Peter Dickinson - The Weathermonger, The Blue Hawk, Tulku etc

Violet Needham - (you'll have to hunt for these) The Woods of Windri, The Black Riders etc.

Arthur Ransome - Swallows & Amazons etc.


All the above are good quality children's books that carry sufficient depth to be worth reading as adults. They certainly fulfil the criteria of "classic, wholesome, vintage-y sort of books, where the children act like children."

[thutchison]

Can anyone recommend some great easy reading books for a struggling second grader?

[jerincissac]

try reading tom soyer
or dickens short stories or plays to improve language and reading skills

[Bakiryu]

try reading easy faerie tales and things improve the imagination.

[JoanS]

i lost the oportunity of read Robinson Crusoe when i was 13-15.. so, was this book written for children?

[Jeroun]

I really enjoyed reading Solo by Roald Dahl when I was a child. It's about his life during WWII. It's not that heavy though: it's still a children's book.

[aabbcc]

I must admit that I was not reading much of what was 'officially' considered "children's literature" as a child; in fact, all the works of the genre I can remember at the moment were exceptions in my repertoire rather than the main things it consisted of.

I started to read in English when I was very young, in fact, most of the typical "children's literature" I read as a child was in English, in the period when I was 5-9 years of age.
I remember having read the Famous Five book series by E. Blyton (a couple of them I read in Croatian translation, from the library, whilst most of them I borrowed in original by a friend), which was not as exciting to me as to most of my friends, same thing with Anne of Green Gables, The Wizard of Oz and other 'classics' of children's literature; I loved works of Frances Hodgson Burnett (especially Little Princess); I also liked Heidi; and I recall an occassional [insert name of the popular children's literature author here, such as Pullman].
Far more than those works, and the similar works assigned to me by school or put into my hands by librarians or friends, I loved fairy tales and Greek myths (which I a little bit later got a very "inside" view of when I started my classical education with Latin and Greek).

However, that was roughly it regarding the typical and predictable part of my repertoire during those ages, most of the works I read were not children's works.

[LadyWentworth]

I still own many of the books I received as a child, if not all of them.

Well, I'll be honest and admit that not only do I own every single book I have read from my teenage years on, but also EVERY book that I owned as a kid! If nothing else, I figure that I'll still have the books for any future children I might have someday (besides, I still just want them!).

Anyway, for me it is Laura Ingalls Wilder and her "Little House" series. In fact, I finally took my "Little House" trip this summer to all the sites (excluding in New York - for the Almanzo Wilder home - too out of my way).

Also, I made my way down to Hannibal, Missouri for the Mark Twain connection (I had to go to Mansfield, Missouri for the LIW site, anyway). It was really an enjoyable trip!

But I just love the "Little House" series!

[Clouder]

Peter Pan and Little Prince

[StayGolden]

No one's mentioned the Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A. Milne? :(

[Gadget Girl]

Mine is Harry Potter (my most favorite series of all time) by JKR and The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls by Elise Primavera.

[*Classic*Charm*]

I loved Dr. Seuss as a child- my parents read them to my brothers adn I and then taught us to read with them. It seemed to work out haha.

My fav children's lit from when I was older was Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (so much better than the movie) and Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl.

[Whifflingpin]

"i lost the oportunity of read Robinson Crusoe when i was 13-15.. so, was this book written for children?"

It was not.

[blazeofglory]

What is your favorite piece of chirlden's literature?

Alice in wonderland, Gulliver's travels, for these books take us in a flight of imagination somewhere distantly placed and we in point of fact can visit in a dream-like state only.

I like them for two main reasons, one is there is philosophy in them, and secondly they are highly entertaining, and hardly pieces of literature can be be seen more engrossing than these two as a matter of fact, for they combine both things comprising together, one is the fervor of imaginative flight and the other i s philosophical profundity and reveleations.

Both adults and children can read these books together at the same time; children take on an imaginary path and adults will delight in philosophical depth

[Bakiryu]

My fav children's lit from when I was older was Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (so much better than the movie) and Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl.

I love these. Have you read the sequel to Stargirl and the new book by C.Levine "Fairest"?

[LadyW]

Do you remember a particular book you read in your early youth?
Share them with everyone here.
For me, it was The Farthest Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks

[aabbcc]

When I was a child, 7-8 years old, I really liked Frances Hodgson Burnett's works, which were probably amongst the first "real" books I have read in English.
A couple of years later I grew to really like some of Hesse's works (yeah, I was a weird child :D), especially Demian (when I was about 10 and read it for the first time).

I also liked fairy tales. :D

[bazarov]

Marija Jurich Zagorka; Grich Witch.
I was 8 years old, couldn't stop reading it.

[aabbcc]

Marija Jurich Zagorka; Grich Witch.
I was 8 years old, couldn't stop reading it.
Wow. A set of lenghty historical books, quite atypical for a child of that age!
But then again, I liked Šenoa when I was a young child, so... :D Interesting choice, however. I never managed to read any of Zagorka's works even when I was a lot older.

[bazarov]

Wow. A set of lenghty historical books, quite atypical for a child of that age!
But then again, I liked Šenoa when I was a young child, so... :D Interesting choice, however. I never managed to read any of Zagorka's works even when I was a lot older.

I was not a normal kid :lol:
O yes, Zlatarevo Zlato, Kći Lotršćaka...To be honest, I think I couldn't read Zagorka again now
Well, imaginary witches and heroes in my town; great :D

[Dori]

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

[manolia]

The Hobbit, Narnia series and Charly and the chocolate factory...and Matilda :D (see, i can't just name one :p )

[Dori]

The Hobbit, Narnia series and Charly and the chocolate factory...and Matilda :D (see, i can't just name one :p )

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I loved The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I still have yet to read the rest of them though.

Calvin and Hobbes also was a favorite of mine.

[dum_spiro_spero]

Hector Malot Nobody's boy
i think i've read this one about a dozen times...it looks battered, my fault :D .
weird thing, my favourite character was Capi the dog.

[Rogers_68]

My dad used to read Return to the Land of the Music Machine, which was an Agapeland book. I read it to my son now. He also read from the Bible a lot, even when I was too young to understand any of it.

The first fiction book I remember being very fond of was The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. I think I read it in 4th grade. I also used to read Great American Fighter Pilots of WWII in 3rd grade.

I also loved Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side collections, as well as the Narnia books.

[JBI]

I didn't start reading really until 12 or so. Shame really; though I did have some interesting classic fairy tale books. That's pretty much what I read as a kid, though I didn't really learn to read until I was 7. Scary, now I have read more books than anyone my age I know, and they had all the opportunities when they were younger to read.

[LadyWentworth]

I loved (and still very much love) the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

[rosa]

I did not read at all as a child I am not sure why.I started in school with Homer and Virgil.I did not like them at first but during the summer decided to read them again just in case I missed something.That was many years ago.
I read classics.I love them.Sorry no comics etc.

[Topekachu]

When I was 'young' (which really isn't that long ago, considering my age) I loved the first Harry Potter book...I was really little. I also read Alice in Wonderland and that's STILL one of my favorite books. Oh, and Roald Dahl! I remember not being able to pronounce "Roald" and I called him "Ronald".

[thelastmelon]

You probably haven't heard of most of these (unless you're Swedish, and maybe not even then) but here we go:

Rut-Emma, Ingeborg och Madlän by Karin Stjernholm Raeder.
Nalle Lufs by Gösta Knutsson.
Pelle Svanslös by Gösta Knutsson.
Kvirre och Hoppsan by Ester Rignér-Lundgren.

Do these books or authors ring a bell? :p

[Pandora Eve]

The first book I remembered from childhood is Miss Twiggley's Tree which my Mother would read over and over again. As I got older and was reading myself I remembered A Little Princess. As a teen one of my favorites was The Outsiders which I did a paper on for library school.

[Wintermute]

You probably haven't heard of most of these (unless you're Swedish, and maybe not even then) but here we go:

Rut-Emma, Ingeborg och Madlän by Karin Stjernholm Raeder.
Nalle Lufs by Gösta Knutsson.
Pelle Svanslös by Gösta Knutsson.
Kvirre och Hoppsan by Ester Rignér-Lundgren.

Do these books or authors ring a bell? :p

Hi TheLastMelon (DetSisteMelon pa Norsk?)

All the titles seem like names of people, is that right? I used to speak Norwegian fairly fluently. I wonder if reading Norsk barnabok would help me recall some?

My favorite when I was a kid was Swiss Family Robinson, and Robinson Caruso.

[thelastmelon]

Hi TheLastMelon (DetSisteMelon pa Norsk?)

All the titles seem like names of people, is that right? I used to speak Norwegian fairly fluently. I wonder if reading Norsk barnabok would help me recall some?

My favorite when I was a kid was Swiss Family Robinson, and Robinson Caruso.

Yes. The first title are names of three sisters, the second of a bear, the third is a cat and the last title are names of two little trolls. :) And yes, maybe reading something norwegian would help you. How come you don't speak Norwegian anymore?

[hellsapoppin]

Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain. I read it in the 5th grade and was totally obsessed by it. I also enjoyed ''Tom Sawyer'', ''Huckleberry Finn'', and ''Tom Sawyer, Detective''. But none could approach ''Abroad''.

[n_maw]

I loved The Little House on the Prairie Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I would love to reread them at some point.

[Ruth?]

I think I read pretty much all of Enid Blyton's books, The Famous Five books being particular favourites. I also wanted to go to Malory Towers...

Roald Dahl's revolting rhymes on tape was amazing-I can stil recite about 4 poems from it.

I was however banned from listening to the tape of The Wind in the Willows before bed, as I got very excited and kept shouting "Weasels! Stoats!" very loudly...

[hellsapoppin]

My second favorite book when I was a child: The Story of Dick Whittington.


Here's a view of this classic:


http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/306.htm

[ben.!]

The book I loved as a child was 'Bridge to Teribithia', I pretty much grew up on that book. The teacher read it out to us in year 5.

I recently saw the film of it and when the girl dies it still brought tears to my eyes.

I also loved 'The Hobbit' and 'LoTR', Dad read that out to me, as well as all the Roald Dahl ones.

[Rogers_68]

I remember reading The BFG a few times but I don't know what age I was. And Where The Sidewalk Ends.

[hollywoodkid]

Wind In The Willows was probably my favourite

And of course anything by Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl

[Old Crow]

Early on I read the Narnia books, and a few of the Redwall books, and for a long time I would have said my favorite book was The Three Musketeers, but the first book that I can remember really taking hold of me was The Scarlet Letter.

[AtomicCafe1]

Calvin and Hobbes also was a favorite of mine.

It is pretty much mandatory for every human being to like this.

My favorites were the Redwall series. I was and still am fascinated at animals depicted as humans, accompanied with the middle age weaponry and all. I have to read those again.

Oh, and The Littles family series. You know, the books where the family was little.

[Tersely]

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare.
For some reason, I've been thinking bout it lately...as in a desire to read it again. It's just one of those early books that have always stuck with me. Its so random, all I did was pick it up at those elementary scholastic book fairs. Now I can't seem to get rid of it.

[Lily Adams]

I remember being quite fond of Dinosaur Roar. Read it to my kindergarten class. I've always liked dinosaurs...

[Boris239]

Everything by Astrid Lindgren- especially Karlsson, stories about Emil from Lonneberga and "Mio, my Mio"

A bit later came Alfred Szklarski series about Tomek
And after that there were Julel Vernes and Dumas

[PoeticPassions]

Jules Verne, Theodore Dreiser- An American Tragedy

but my favorites in 5th grade... Tuck Everlasting and The Giver :)

[Lost Arts]

As I may have mentioned elsewhere ;) - I started out on Little Women and reread it many many times.

[illuminatus]

I always loved the Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer. :D

[samg3008]

oh it has to be Heidi or Little Women - brilliant!

[Bakiryu]

Ronia Daughter of the Bandit by Astrid Lingren. (In spanish it was Ronja, la hija del bandolero)

[AngelofPhantoms]

My favorites were and stil are:

Wizard of Oz (My first real chapter book)
"Little House" books (Loved the show, had to read the books)
Anything by Roald Dahl, especially Chocolate Factory, Matilda,and Danny, Champion of the World

[bouquin]

the Nancy Drew series.

[Annamariah]

the Nancy Drew series.

I read them too, all those I could find in the library :lol: They were my favourites when I was 7 and 8 years old :D

I started reading books at the age of 6, but I can't remember which of my favourite books I actually read myself for the first time, since my father used to read to me and my brother even when we both had already learned to read ourselves.

I do remember liking Narnia and Montgomery's and Alcott's books, I still like to re-read them every now and then.

[naomi moon]

I didn't read a lot when i was a kid, only things related to school, i was not reading for my personal pleasure, but even though i've enjoyed and still enjoy Le Petit Prince d'Antoine de Saint Exupéry which is a book in French for a French author, of course, i've also read Alice in Wanderland.

[Kafka's Crow]

I very much grew up on Russian Folk Tales. I loved those simple stories, the adventures of Illia of Mourum who caught the whistling highwayman, Nakita the Tanner who killed the horrible dragon with his dagger, Baba Yaga the witch whose hut stood on chiken-feet. I loved those stories. Then I moved on to Edgar Rice Burroghs' Tarzan in four volumes, read a lot of Adventure Series by Willard Price and also read Hardy Boys books.

My ten year old son is reading the Redwall series these days. He has already read 12 volumes back to back. He loves them. He asked a strange question the other day, "These books are great. Harry Potter series is not that great. I wonder why people like it so much?" This gave me a chance to explain the concepts of 'marketing' and 'hype' to a ten year old. I am sure he will never forget this lesson.

[Weisinheimer]

The Narnia Books,

[sonofaslan]

I remember being around 11 years old, and living in a social demographic that associated reading for the mere pleasure of it as a thing for the educated and/or rich. I was in the fifth grade, and our teacher read us Wilson Rawls' Where the Red Fern Grows. I was mesmerized, and hooked. I hung on every word. From then on, in school, I was a regular visitor to the library and checking out the books no one else wanted to read. Before I was in high school, I had read much of Hemingway, Jack London, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, R.L. Stevenson, Dickens, Hawthorne, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (modern english translations, of course). When it came time to do book reports, I usually was the first with one.

During my 10th year, my English teacher spent the last 15 minutes of class just reading us mythology. She was chastised and eventually terminated because of this. Baptist town associated such things with religion, and mythology was anathema to them. But again, I loved it, and now gravitate to books with mythological depth about them.

[byquist]

Can't recall, but fav. book read to my kids probably "Whistle for Willie"

[tractatus]

Samed Behrengi, Iranian writer, was popular and really very nice.
"A Peach, Thousand Peach" and "Little Black Fish" .. These are book names i can remember. Also a writer from my country Sabahattin Ali was published good stories & poems for children but you probably not heard.


I very much grew up on Russian Folk Tales.

I remember a very nice Russian cartoon movie-story, "Hedgehog In The Fog". It was magical. Still i watch it. Me and brother imitate the Bear and shout "Yozhik!" like in the movie.
It is available with English subtitle at Youtube. Just type the name and enjoy. See the difference what is really for children.

[amalia1985]

My favourite childhood book has always been "Beauty and The Beast". I admit I still adore it, even now. Then, the Narnia masterpieces hold a special place in my heart.

[Jeb0092]

My favorite childhood book was "Castle in the Attic." I can't even remeber who wrote it. Maybe some help?

[_JadeRain_]

Alice's Adventure in Wonderland

[Jeb0092]

The Mercer Mayer books were nice. My favorite was "Just me and My Dad."

[TEND]

"The Hockey Sweater" of course! Read it all the time in school, unfortunately I didn't own it. However! Not to let something like that happen again, when my cousin was born I bought it for him on his first birthday so he can always have it at hand :D .

[_JadeRain_]

The Mercer Mayer books were nice. My favorite was "Just me and My Dad."

My favorite by this author was Bubble, Bubble. It was about a boy who blew magic bubbles. How fun!

[Homyrrh]

The first "real" books I began with a a young age were the Carl Hiassen beach reads...at 10 it was more for profound entertainment value, needless to mention, hopefully.

To go back, WAY back, I LOVED "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" by Judy and Ron Barrett. At the same age, a time when kindling an imagination was key, the whole Make-your-own-Adventure series was a throttling time. "Aesop's Fables" was a timeless classic in my home especially; great read for being put to sleep.

Edward Bloor had some awkward yet interesting reads (in the case of a grade-schooler, please...) with "Tangerine" and "Crusader".

A lot of my reading time was spent with an odd collection of outdated history and science texts from a much older neighbor's garage sale: Funk and Wagnall's, Nat. Geo., various TIME-Life collections, etc. etc.

Sherlock Holmes was divine then, as were my favorite war history books, specifically my modest collection of Patton biographies.

...

[stargazer001]

My favorite was Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, as well as Cinderella, a version from a long time ago. As I got older, I quickly progressed to Dahl.

[Celine Field]

My favorite childhood stories were the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Narnia chronicles, Shakespere stories by Charles and Mary Lamb, and Sleeping Beauty.(Grimms fairytale)

[Tournesol]

'Red Tag'...a heartwarming story about a boy, and the cycle of a salmon fish that he and his dad tagged with a red tag.
He grows older as does the fish, he would go to the river every few days to see Red Tag.

Until one day he sees Red Tag no more [the name of the fish] and it's heartwrenching when he has to learn that he would see Red Tag no more.

Even though it's sad, I loved it so much! I guess it's cause I love animals.

[agardenia]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The little prince

[HowlingMan]

I remember loving The Ox Cart Man as a kid. I was always fascinated at the aspect that the whole book is one sentence.

I still think of that book every time I write something...

[Lynne Fees]

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne - no contest

[Scheherazade]

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne - no contestRead Winnie the Pooh books only last year (yes, for the first time) and loved them.

[Gustavo L.]

The Little Prince by Saint-Exupéry.

Actually it is one of my adulthood favorites too. :D

[Wilde woman]

I loved the Black Stallion series by Walter Farley. I devoured the series growing up and now keep up with the races.

Also, I admittedly read the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. Very cute stuff. I remember always being hungry when I read the books because they have such sumptuous descriptions of food. :lol:

I really liked the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. I think it's one of the first things that spurred my interest in Arthurian studies.

[Emmy Castrol]

My absolute favourite book as a child was A Little Princess by Frances Hodgeson Burnett. And then, I liked Heidi and then it was a tie between Enid Blyton's Mr Galliano's circus and Jack London's White Fang.

And like you Wilde, the way food was described in Enid Blyton books always made them seem so delicious, even if it was something i'd wouldn't eat in real life... like currant cake. But somehow it sounds wonderful on the page.

[Tsuyoiko]

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. My mum had a picture book version that we would read together when I was very small.

[crystalmoonshin]

Mine's Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper". But I was also very into Spooksville and Goosebumps.

[Chloe M]

The ones I remember rereading the most were The Phantom Tollbooth, All-of-a-Kind Family and Little Women.

[crystalmoonshin]

The ones I remember rereading the most were The Phantom Tollbooth, All-of-a-Kind Family and Little Women.

I just read The Phantom Tollbooth last week. It was really good, I'm gonna make my nephew read it once reaches the age of 8. Too bad, I only got to know of it this year and I'm already 20 (sob!).

I love Louisa May Alcott. I've read "Little Women" thrice and "Little Men" twice. :) (And I was so shocked when I read "A Modern Mephistopheles" and "A Long Fatal Love Chase"!)

[Annamariah]

I love Louisa May Alcott. I've read "Little Women" thrice and "Little Men" twice. :) (And I was so shocked when I read "A Modern Mephistopheles" and "A Long Fatal Love Chase"!)

:lol: Yeah, those are somewhat different than her children's books, don't you think? It's funny especially after how bad Jo feels after writing some "trash" for magazines and ends up burning all those stories. I mean, Alcott herself wrote a lot of stories like that to make money :D

[AnnieHall]

I was always a fan of the Ramona books. Also nancy drew, haha.
When i was really young my favorite books were: the velveteen rabbit, the ghost eye tree and cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

[prendrelemick]

Winnie the pooh. I got a copy for Christmas in 1964. It was the very start of my interest in literature.

[con hourihan]

1.l Fifty Famous Fairy Tales
2. The Hardy Boys series
3. Nancy Drew and the Mystery of Lilac Inn.

Books like these are great for kids and help develope a habit of reading.

[K.K.]

I loved Phantom Tollbooth! I also remember my mother reading The Wizard of Oz to my sister and me when we were very young. The Hobbit, The Borrowers, and Alcott's trilogy were other favorites of mine.

[MissScarlett]

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Anything with Donald Duck

I had a big book about jungle animals and I adored it.

[mona amon]

Three Fat Men by Yuri Olesha.

My son's favourite is Winnie the Pooh, which is my favourite children's book after I became an adult. :)

[jinjang]

I did not grow up with books in English. But while raising children, I ran into many favorites: Dr. Seuss books, P.D Eastman books, Beatrix Potter books, Narnia series, Golden Compass series, Harry Potter series, Lord of Rings (is it considered children book? At least youth book), and now I am crazy about Bartimaeus trilogy and Peter and the shadow thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

[naphelge]

Definitely without question C.S. Lewis' Chronicles Of Narnia held almost as much magic for me reading them as they did the protagonists being in the stories. I remember so vividly not being able to put a book down until I had read the entire series, after being introduced to the first novel in grade six.

cheers,
nap

[Lynne50]

I'm definitely not a Dr. Seuss fan. Many people think he writes for children, but sometimes his message is very deep. Plus, I get tired reading them. If they were shorter I think I would like them better. As a child, I loved, The Box Car Children by Gertrude Warner and now as a 1st grade teacher's aide, I love anything by Cynthia Rylant.

[aurevoiryouth]

i was born and lived in moscow for 7 years before moving to chicago, so my first books were by astrid lindgren, the brothers grimm, folklore about baba yaga (which freaked me out), and cheburashka :).

my later favorites are by roald dahl (matilda, charlie, etc.), shel silverstein, judy blume (tales of a 4th grade nothing and sheila the great), and sharon creech. plus number the stars and calvin and hobbes. and even though i loved both, lemony snicket was a lot better than harry potter, haha.

long enough. i forgot some things but this is good.

[BienvenuJDC]

I'd have to agree about the Ronald Dahl, Shel Silverstein, Judy Blum...but my favorite is still Fox in Socks by Dr Suess...

[Silas Thorne]

Very young, 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak
A little older, 'The Warlock of Firetop Mountain' by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and other books in the Fighting Fantasy series.

[BienvenuJDC]

Very young, 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak
A little older, 'The Warlock of Firetop Mountain' by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and other books in the Fighting Fantasy series.

First selection...Good Choice
second selection...not familiar with...maybe I'll have to check it out

[Silas Thorne]

They are roleplaying books, not read-through books. You make choices and are told which page to turn to. You roll dice, and keep notes with a pencil, kill monsters and solve puzzles. The pictures in them were quite good too. But not literature as such, I suppose. I still like them.

[Adagio]

The Wind in the Willows. What a great story.

[Apocrypha75]

Well it's an obvious one: The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. It had a profound effect on me and was the first real book that I consciously fell in love with.
Before that my favourite read was a book of Greek Myths, which I was constantly checking in/out of my Primary school library and for some reason I latched onto Stephen King's The Dark Half as a favourite in my latter school years; perhaps it was all the teen angst etc. :)

[Maida]

To Kill a Mockingbird by Haper Lee
Treasure Island by Stevenson

[Stargazer86]

When my sister and I were little, my dad would read us the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingells Wilder. We went through all of them from first to last. They are very sentimental to me. I adored those stories (and still do). My dad has now promised to read them to my daughter when she gets a bit older.

One of my favorite books that I've found recently (well in the past couple years) is called The Rainbow Goblins by Count Ul de Rico. I was working at Barnes and Noble at the time in the kids section and just started browsing through the picture books. The illustrations are absolutely breathtaking

I'm not sure how to post pix in the forum or else I'd share a couple of the illustrations here. de Rico is phenomenally talented


They are roleplaying books, not read-through books. You make choices and are told which page to turn to. You roll dice, and keep notes with a pencil, kill monsters and solve puzzles. The pictures in them were quite good too. But not literature as such, I suppose. I still like them.

That sounds really cool. I should check that out to read with my 6 year old. He's a smart kid and reads quite well. While he enjoys hearing stories, getting him to read one to me or on his own is like pulling teeth. I wish he didn't feel like it was such a chore! Perhaps something more interactive like this suggestion may help. I want him to enjoy reading as I did as a child. I want him to pick up books to read on his own when he's bored instead of immediately going for video games

[Bastable]

They are roleplaying books, not read-through books. You make choices and are told which page to turn to. You roll dice, and keep notes with a pencil, kill monsters and solve puzzles. The pictures in them were quite good too. But not literature as such, I suppose. I still like them.

Hey that's great! the first non-picture book i ever read was one in that series...can't remember the name of it though. still...good nerdy memories

[Michael T]

I recall with fondness reading the 'Swallows and Amazons' series of books by Arthur Ransome. They were originally written in the 1930's but still popular when I was but a wee small child! :) I also have to admit to reading many a 'Hardy Boys' mystery in my youth. I love 'Calvin and Hobbes' but think you need to be an adult/parent to really appreciate the humour.

[Mariamosis]

'Mother Goose' was always a favorite as a tot, and Frank Baum's 'Mother Goose in Prose' is also entertaining!

[PoeticPassions]

I loved the following books when I was in elementary school:

Tuck Everlasting
The Giver
A Wrinkle in Time
The Chronicles of Narnia
30,000 Leagues Under the Sea

and when I was in third grade or so I LOVED the Goosebumps series

However, when I was 12 or so, I read two of my favorite novels to this day- Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment, as well as fell in love with Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy and went on to read his Sister Carrie and Jennie Gerhard a couple years later

When I was REALLY little, I liked the Grimm fairytales, and a lot of children's poetry... Plus there was this one story that I cannot remember what it was called... it had a deer in it and a boy and a girl... and the boy's heart becomes frozen or something like that. Ah goodness, I was 6 or so, so I cannot recall what it was called.

[Scheherazade]

I recall with fondness reading the 'Swallows and Amazons' series of books by Arthur Ransome. I read Swallows and Amazons last year and found it very boring. Struggled to finish it. Unlikely to try the other ones in the series.

[Michael T]

I read Swallows and Amazons last year and found it very boring. Struggled to finish it. Unlikely to try the other ones in the series.

I was very young at the time scheherazade! :)

[Aluminum]

When I was a tween, my favorites were Nancy Drew, the American Girl series and The Lottery. When I was younger my favorite stories were Rumpelstiltskin and anything 'The Magic School Bus'.

[onioneater]

As a small child, I loved "The Five Chinese Brothers"!

[Scheherazade]

I was very young at the time scheherazade! :)As am I at the moment?

;)

This is something I often wonder about. I did not read most of the English children's classics while growing up and when I read them now, some of them disappoint me, which leaves me wondering how I would have felt had I read them as a child...

Something I will never find out, I guess! :)

[Michael T]

As am I at the moment?

;)

This is something I often wonder about. I did not read most of the English children's classics while growing up and when I read them now, some of them disappoint me, which leaves me wondering how I would have felt had I read them as a child...

Something I will never find out, I guess! :)


Perhaps it's because good adult literature can have so much more depth and levels of meaning. It's probably something you don't miss as a child reader, but is very noticeable as an adult where the levels of expectancy are higher. I'm sure I would feel the same were I to re-read them now. :)

[cute kitten]

mine was goosebumps series, and of course cant forget ladybird too.

[crystalmoonshin]

As a small child, I loved "The Five Chinese Brothers"!

isn't this a short story? It was a good one, too. I remember it being included in our English textbooks when I was in elementary. :)

[Stargazer86]

I'd forgotten about the Chinese Brothers! That's a great one

[meh!]

The What-a-mess stories
Where the wild things are
how many trucks can a tow truck tow

when I could read by my self:

Hans christian anderson stands out
Narnia
secret seven/famous five
hardy brothers
etc

[Stargazer86]

The What-a-mess stories
Where the wild things are
how many trucks can a tow truck tow

when I could read by my self:

Hans christian anderson stands out
Narnia
secret seven/famous five
hardy brothers
etc


The Hardy Boys!! I was an avid reader of these...read every one of the originals and then moved on to some of the modern ones. For YEARS I was into this..from the ages of 8-12, I think. I didn't like Nancy Drew nearly as much. I need to go and find all my old Hardy Boys books. The ones I read belonged to my dad and are from the early 60's so I hope they're still where I left them when I boxed them up!

Wow..I love this thread. It's bringing back some great memories and things I hadn't though of for years.

I was also way into the Sherlock Holmes stories and read nearly everything by Doyle (over and over again) from the ages of 10-14. My grandmother and I used to watch the series with Jeremy Brett religiously *runs to Netflix to add them*

I just thought of another:

Moorchild I can't remember who wrote it. I loved it when I last read it as a child. I think I may see if I still have it and read it again :)

[meh!]

Hardy boys!

I knew something was up when I wrote brothers, but I couldn't remember the name for the life of me. not read one since I was wee.

Though I did find the narnia books being read on youtube; i've started listening to the magician's nephew. Such a weird feeling re-reading books that you read over and over again when you were little: every word is so familiar you almost hear it before they say it.

[JoeLopp]

Lion, Witch, Wardrobe

The Three Investigators (better than Hardy Boys by far)

[JohnMelmoth]

When I was a boy I read Mostly Mary by Gwynedd Rae. I've just bought a copy on Amazon as a result of this post, so thanks for the memory!

[dramasnot6]

The Witches by Roald Dahl

[dramasnot6]

I loved Phantom Tollbooth! I also remember my mother reading The Wizard of Oz to my sister and me when we were very young. The Hobbit, The Borrowers, and Alcott's trilogy were other favorites of mine.

I also loved the Phantom Tollbooth!

[crystalmoonshin]

It's sad that I got to read "The Phantom Tollbooth" just last month. I love Roald Dahl, too. My fave's "Matilda" and "The BFG". :)

[Phangirl7]

Some of my faves growing up were the Dr. Suess books, especially "The Grinch". Still a favorite!
P.G.7.

[dramasnot6]

It's sad that I got to read "The Phantom Tollbooth" just last month. I love Roald Dahl, too. My fave's "Matilda" and "The BFG". :)

Everything Dahl wrote is genius. :)

[AmericanEagle]

Awake and Dreaming - Kit Pearson

[Desolation]

Where the Wild Things Are, the movie of which I'm very excited for.
The Hobbit, which got me through big book reports from 5th to 7th grade.
And I also remember being really fond of reading a series of books about elementary school kids whose school faculty were an array of mythical characters. I can't remember what it was called, though.
Green Lantern and Batman comics were a major part of my childhood as well, naturally.

[Lynne50]

One of my treasured possessions is a copy of The Tall Book of Make-Believe that I received when I was six. I still have it, but it definitely shows now that it was well-read. It's a collection of short stories and poems, with lovely illustrations by Garth Williams. I think those illustrations were what captivated me back then.

[Nabokov_love]

Honestly all my favorite childhood books have already been listed! Which makes me happy ;) Phantom Tollbooth was at the top of my list, like many of you. That book has to be one of the most creative pieces of childrens literature I have ever read, the plays on words are amazing to boot! Of course I must echo praises for Rahl Dahl as well, since his books are so enrapturing and just perfect.
The Giver should be added to this list as well as 'Go Ask Alice' which, even though its a diary, counts I think :)

Now I must go read all of these!

[AmericanEagle]

I loved the Baby-Sitters Club series.

[eyemaker]

I had a collection of Burnett's books and Wilder's. I enjoyed those back when I was little. :)

[lattywatty]

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Never thought about the religious symbolism until now since we never actually studied it. It suddenly becomes very obvious; can't believe I didn't see that before!

Also IT by Stephen King. Scared me a lot, but still excellent. Took me a good three months too :p

[feministdoris]

As a kid, I was crazy about Karl May's Winnetou. I still remember facts from the book and I always sympathized with the indians...

[JBI]

Invitation to the Game - Monica Hughes

[Mathor]

The Hobbit in 2nd grade was my first REAL book. I read it over and over up until like 6th grade, when I realized there was something called Lord of The Rings. (They didn't have google back then)