Favorite Children's Books

[Cirdan]

What weere your favorite books growing up?

What are your children's favorite books?

I'm looking for books beyond Harry Potter, but in the same general reading age/level group.

[azalea]

I liked too many to name, but here are a few of my favorites:

Nancy Drew
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Hobbit (duh)
Emily of New Moon
The Secret Garden
ghost stories in general
The Dark is Rising series
The works of James Thurber
The works of Mark Twain
The works of Roald Dahl
classic sci fi such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells
The works of Robert Louis Stevenson
The Little House series
Charlotte's Web (and other books by E.B. White)
Hmm, I can't think of any more right now.

[Lizra]

I really liked reading our encyclopedias. I was a "non-fiction" type even then! I miss the old set, I wish my parents hadn't gotten rid of them. I also enjoyed the Laura Ingels Wilder stuff, and a series called "Betsy Tacey", the Narnia books, The Boxcar Children, and Highlights magazine.

[Cirdan]

Originally posted by Lizra
I really liked reading our encyclopedias. I was a "non-fiction" type even then! I miss the old set, I wish my parents hadn't gotten rid of them. I also enjoyed the Laura Ingels Wilder stuff, and a series called "Betsy Tacey", the Narnia books, The Boxcar Children, and Highlights magazine.

We got a set of World Books when I was eight or nine. Before that we had some other smaller sets. I would cross reference from one subject to another until I had the whole set down. Surfing before the Internet!

I remeber the Boxcar children! Now that takes me back.

Nancy Drew
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Hobbit (duh)
Emily of New Moon
The Secret Garden
ghost stories in general
The Dark is Rising series
The works of James Thurber
The works of Mark Twain
The works of Roald Dahl
classic sci fi such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells
The works of Robert Louis Stevenson
The Little House series
Charlotte's Web (and other books by E.B. White)


I never finished the Chronicles. I loved Thurber as a child. We just finished "Treasure Island" here which was a big hit and one of my favorites as well. I was more of a Stuart Little, but I liked all of E.B. White. We have started those recently, but it sort of got pushed aside by the LotR readings.

Dunadan mentioned the Redwall series in another thread, which seems to be an English favorite. There are 15 in the series. Has anyone else read them?

[Dunadan]

I liked "The Owl Service" by Alan Garner. Really spooky stuff. I can recall literally being afraid to turn the page. Highly recommended.

(Oh, and the title refers to a set of dinner plates (or "service"), not a *&@*! postal service!)

I think I was into John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids, Midwich Cuckoos) about the same time as getting into LOTR. Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant Chronicles not long after; interesting but maybe a bit too old for <14s.

For fluffiness, Watership Down (Richard Adams)

The Amber Spyglass books (Phillip Pullman) are getting rave reviews here in the UK. I've not read them, but they sound good.

cheers

D

PS - to carry over from exchange with Cirdan: kids these days (well, mine) seem to go bananas for the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. (Think of Aragorn as a mouse).

[Lizra]

I tried! (to think of Aragorn as a mouse! :D ) It's not working! :)

[sun-star]

Stop me if you like any of these:

Chronicles of Narnia
Anne of Green Gables
The works of Louisa May Alcott
Just William
Jennings (no one in the whole world actually likes these books any more, not even me :) )
The works of E. Nesbit
Enid Blyton - Malory Towers anyone?
Harry Potter (now)

and best of all... The Chalet School Series, by Elinor Brent-Dyer. There are 60 of these books, and I read them non-stop for about five years :rolleyes: :D

[Cirdan]

Originally posted by Dunadan
...to carry over from exchange with Cirdan: kids these days (well, mine) seem to go bananas for the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. (Think of Aragorn as a mouse).

I grew up on cartoons so I can think of anyone as a mouse. Napoleon as a mouse, George Washington as a mouse, Hamlet as a mouse. They make good underdogs.:)

My list of goods to get for "the boy" has grown considerably. There are some great suggestions here.

[Draken]

"The Mouse and his Child" by Russell Hoban. Wonderful book by a much under-rated author.

[osszie]

I was read to/read the classic Enid Blyton famous 5 and Secret 7..probably a bit dated but great for teaching kids the changes in tone and atmosphere in a story:)

Then the (almost compulsory) journey through Narnia:)

Then I was introduced to the Rudyard Kipling and Roald Dahl.......still the best fuel for a childs imagination IMO......until they reach for The Hobbit that is;)


My favourite book as a child was The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe :) .......I still think of it whenever I eat Turkish Delight:D

great sig Draken..........been a while since I listened to Aztec Camera:cool:

[BeardofPants]

Hmmm. Let's see....

Enid Blyton (Secret seven, famous five, the ring-a-ding whatever they're called mysteries, the X of adventure series.)

Anne of Green Gables - Been years since I read them, but they were enchanting.

Huck Finn.

Roald Dahl (BFG, George's Marvelous Medicine, the Twits.)

Chronicles of Narnia (Lion, Magicians Nephew.)

Oooh yes, Rudyard Kipling!

Little Women.

Then there's stuff like Jane Eyre and Wuthring heights, but I don't really think that the boy would like these. ;)

You could always try Moby Dick. I tried once when I was ten... didn't get very far. :rolleyes:

And then there's Tin Tin and Asterix... and there was this remarkable picture book series about Church Mice... can't remember their names.

Oh, and Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy! But maybe that's a bit grown up...

[osszie]

I forgot Asterix:eek: .......... when a kid can read, and decipher, the names in an Asterix book......he's flying:cool:

Very clever (and immensly fun) books:D

[katya]

i liked the boxcar children books a lot, and the american girls. i think i read some baby sitters little sisters books. like the little sisters of the baby sitters clubs. other than that, just random books. i read ella enchanted 3 times.

[crickhollow]

I read a lot of the previously posted:
Little Women
Little House on the Prairie
The Boxcar Children ("Oh!" cried Henry, "Oh!" cried Jessie, "Let's all cry!" cried Henry and Jessie--yeah, not the highest quality...)
Anything and everything by L.Frank Baum
I read a lot of the Black Stallion books, and the Marguerite Henry Books ("Misty of Chincoteague", "King of the Wind", etc
Anything by L.M. Montgomery--favourite would be Magic for Marigold.

[Rían]

Wow - great books! I'll have to try some of the ones I haven't read yet.

I saw one mention of E. Nesbit, but I'll mention her again. "5 Children and It" is really funny.

[katya]

an author i never never liked was roald dahl. he really scared and disturbed me.

[crickhollow]

I thought of another:

Winnie ther Pooh

(that's not a typo, read the ahem at the beginning)
[edit: ahem=forward]

[Hasty Ent]

Haven't read any of the Harry Potter books, so don't know if these are at the same age/reading level, but they were my favorites when I was growing up:

The Wind in the Willows
Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking-Glass
the ORIGINAL Grimm's Fairy Tales (not the emasculated, Disney-fied, cleaned-up-so-they're-safe-for-consumers versions)
ditto for Arabian Nights

[crickhollow]

how could I have forgotten alice in Wonderland??? (I can still quote the Walrus and the Carpenter in its entirety)
I somehow never could make it all the way through the Wind in the willows, but I will this summer, b/c it's on the syllabus for Children's Lit.

more great mouse books: Stuart Little
Runaway Ralph

[Draken]

Anyone ever read "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH"? The memory's just about still there from when I was very young.

Cheers Osszie, the 80's songs need airing now and then I think. Just wondering what to follow it up with. Whatever happened to the Aztecs? (the group that is, not the indigenous meso-American empire, I've a fair idea what happened to that).

[BeardofPants]

*slaps forehead*

How could I forget Runaway Ralph, Alice, or Wind in the Willows?! :eek:

[osszie]

, oh and for the kids of today (have consulted best friends children)

Harry Potter (surprise surprise) and the T. Pratchett Trucker, Diggers and Wings books!

And apperently they read Point fiction, fantasy, horror etc........although personally I know nowt about these:confused:

And from me personally I forgot the Robert Louis Stephenson books, Kidnapped et al..........how did I forget those:rolleyes: they were great:D

this is a brilliant trip down memory lane:). Draken how about a lil' Prefab Sprout for your siggy;)

[azalea]

Lizra, I too used to read the encyclopedias! My parents bought us a set of 1969 World Books, and my favorite was the section on costumes, where it pictured the traditional clothes of each major era in history, and clothes from around the world. The funny part is where they show "clothing of today," and you see 1969 type clothing (it was about 1978 when we got the set -- they still have it). I know now that sets of encyclopedias are becoming rare -- everyone gets theirs on cd. But I bought a used set of Britannicas at a library book sale because I still like to browse without getting a headache from staring at the screen for that long!:)

[cassiopeia]

The books I read when I was a child:

*Any book by Roald Dahl: they books were disgusting and funny, the kind of thing you love as a kid.

*The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Series: yes, I'm embaressed about them, but I did learn a lot about American culture.

*Nancy Drew

*Those choose your own adventure books

[crickhollow]

I always read the 'choose your own adventure books' straight through just for the heck of it :D

I shamefully admit to reading the Babysitter Club books, too. That is, until my mom picked one up and decided there wasn't anything worthwhile in them, and told me not to read them anymore. Thanks, Mom!

Did you know that Robert Louis Stevenson went diving (this is in the 19th century, when they had those funny suits and helmet, and someone on the boat is pumping air down to you) off the coast of Scotland for the adventure of it?

[sun-star]

This has reminded me of lots of books I used to love: Alice in Wonderland is fantastic! Honourable mention as well (since it hasn't been mentioned yet) to Mary Norton's series about the Borrowers - like hobbits, but smaller and living in houses (so not like hobbits at all...). There was a great TV version of it with Ian Holm too, if anyone remembers that.

[Draken]

Anyone ever read any of the Moomintrolls books? I vaguely recall them - they were quite bizarre and dark at times. I think they were from Finland originally. Not sure who the author was, but I'll have a pint of whatever they were on!

Osszie - hmm yes, the Sprouts, Langley Moor's contribution to 80s culture! (or was it Langley Park, always get those mixed up). Might well do.

[IronParrot]

If I were to recommend children's literature? Here are the must-reads:

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (possibly a difficult read for the youngest of the young, but there is no excuse for not reading this)

- Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He also wrote thirteen sequels to it, which mostly have to be read in sequence, and they're good reads (though they really begin to slow down a bit after #6, The Emerald City of Oz...)

- The Harry Potter saga for sure.

- The Hobbit - may be a difficult read at that level, but... quintessential. I'm sure you all understand.

- Something, just something, by Roald Dahl. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is of course the perennial favourite, but I've always had a thing for Fantastic Mr. Fox... that was the first book I read to my brother, when he was a little over a year old, probably.

After those absolute priorities are out of the way:

- Many have mentioned Lewis' Narnia... I never got into it too much myself as a kid, but I recommend that people read it while they're young enough that the Christian allegory in it is not so overt and in-your-face, as it appears when you're older.

- Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising is highly recommended.

- As far as youth sci-fi goes, I grew up on Monica Hughes, and although it's pretty deeply rooted in Western Canada, I'm sure it's applicable outside...

- Lois Lowry's The Giver for anyone who's mature enough to handle it. I didn't read it until I was perhaps eleven, but that's mostly because that's when it was first published.

[galadriel88]

The Noddy books, by Enid Blyton - my grandparents used to live in South Africa and would send me one of these for my birthday when I was quite young. Still wonderful books! Also each of my cousins and I received a Noddy doll, handmade my my grandmother, when we were born. I still have mine.

Little House on the Prarie series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder - my love for these books started when a lady that goes to church with me gave me and my best friend both copies of the first book in the series, Little House in the Big Woods, for KG graduation. I read it and begged my mom to get me the rest, so over time, I got the rest of the books and finished the series. A timeless classic for any little girl.

Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne - when I was about 3 the BP gas stations offered a deal where you could buy a set of books with one chapter each of the real book. My dad bought them for me, and I still remember my mom reading them to me.

The American Girls series, various authors - A series of books based on the dolls that went with them. Short books, good messages.

The Babysitters Club and Babysitters Little Sister series, by Ann M. Martin - Yes, I admit it, I used to love these books! And don't be too quick to say they don't have anything worth reading in them - I remember one book that dealt with child abuse. Very educational.

The Wind in the Willows - I have loved this book ever since I discovered it in the bookcase in the living room. Wonderful stories!

More later...

[HobbitChick88]

Actually, I used to love the Sweet Valley series. I also love the Wind in the Willows. :)

[crickhollow]

Anybody out there remember the 'Grandma's Attic' books?

You know, I think I appreciate winnie the pooh so much more now than I did when I was a kid.

[BeardofPants]

You could always try some traditional fairy tales. I was always absolutely horried and fascinated by some of Grimms adaptions, as well as Hans Christian Andersen.... I remember a particularly gory story about red dancing shoes, and a sad one about a couple who wanted a child, and got a snow child.... :(

And Edward Lear is always fun!

[Sween]

i allways liked there wheres wally books :D wheres waldo for our american friends :p

[HobbitChick88]

Originally posted by Sween
i allways liked there wheres wally books :D wheres waldo for our american friends :p

lol, I loved those too! ;)

[azalea]

I have The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Yeah, there are some heavy stories in there. I think The Tinder Box is one of theirs; that's pretty weird. I also have an old hardcover edition of Hans Christian Anderson's stories. Oscar Wilde had some good fairy tales.
A book I always loved as a kid was The House with the Clock in its Walls by John Belliars. There was a sequel called The Figure in the Shadows. They're both fantasy mysteries about a boy staying with his uncle(?), who happens to be a warlock, if I remember. They were written many years ago, and I think the author did more of the same series, but I'm not sure. I loved them and they're definately worth reading.
Another I alwas liked was From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It was made into a TV movie when I was a kid (I think with Anne Bancroft, not sure), and then was remade more recently (6 or 8 years ago).

[barrelrider110]

All of the titles that have been mentioned are excellent. Some that havn't been mentioned:
My all-time favorite was Charlotte's Web and also Stuart Little by E.B. White and The Selfish Giant a short story by Oscar Wilde.
And for a little more advanced than JK Rowling-- The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway) and all Ray Bradbury--The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, etc.

[Dunadan]

Wow, what a great compilation. That kid of mine has a whole heap o books coming his way this Xmas!

The old tales are hellish gruesome and un-PC. You'd get sued for writing that stuff these days. There's some great "real" fairy tales in a groovy book called Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee (the same one who did the design for LoTR).

[Miranda]

Ooh might have to get that one for my collection of fairy stories. Have you read the Bloody Chamber- its a compilation of the old fairytales from which sprung stuff like beauty and the beast, cinderella etc- its pretty grim reading and you'll never look at Disney the same way again. I'm a big Narnia fan I have to admit. I had real problems reading when I was a kid because of my bad eye sight but everytime I got better Ma would let me read some of Narnia and I just fell in love with it- then came LOTR of course! I even have a photo of me (And this is recent history) on a stone table in the middle of MuckRoss House, Co. Kerry, Ireland doing an Aslan impression- Arghhh! The embarrassment of it all. Mx

[Duddun]

I really loved Roald Dahl books. I loved Where's Waldo too. I really can't think of anymore right now, it's the morning.

[Varda Oiolosseo]

I liked Roald Dahl to infact i still do especially Matilda!!
I also used to love Enid Blyton i read all her books they were sooo good! I've still got them all! :)

[Miranda]

I always had a soft spot for the Sweet Dreams series- real boy meets girl, falls in love then disaster strikes but its always a happy ever after kinda stuff. I find it really sick now but I'm still a hopeless romantic at heart but I tend to go for your swash buckling, orc killing, Strider type guy now rather than skinny little teenage brat with the IQ of a goldfish!!!! Mx

[Varda Oiolosseo]

Yep! Enid Blyton was my fave! I particually loveThe Magic Faraway Tree! They were great!! I loved the character Moonface! :D :D :D

[sun-star]

I loved the Faraway Tree as well! Especially the land with all the birthday parties :D

[Varda Oiolosseo]

When i was really small i used to wish i lived there and that i could visit a different land everyday!
i used to read it all the time!

What was the name of that food they used to eat in the Faraway tree?

Oh and they had that slide that led to the bottom of the tree!!

I'm gonna have to find it and read it again!!! :D :D

[sun-star]

Didn't they use to have biscuits which would explode in your mouth? I wanted those so much!

[Varda Oiolosseo]

That's it yeah!! I used to want those soooooooooo much! I used to ask my mum to make some!!

WHat other lands came? THere was the land with all the birthday parties, oh and there was theone with all the ice cream flavours!
Once they all went to visit Moonface's friend and his house and everywhere you went was made of food!!
In fact that was the same landin which they had all the ice cream flavours! and soup flavours!

[samwiselvr2008]

I like the Laura Engles Wilder series, me and my mom read them together so I don't know what level they are on. I also liked the Cronacles of Narnia, even thought I never finished them, me and my mom started to read them together, and ever since we moved we haven't picked them back up, I'd like to finish them, but I want to read them with my mom, she said that we would pick them up soon! I also liked Chinees Cinderalla, it's on autobiograpy, but it's really good and sad (be prepared to cry). I think that this is on a 4th grade reading level, but another favorite is Where the Red Fern Grows, I'v read it 4-5 times since 2nd grade, it was a yearly thing and then I got intrested in other books (I'm in 7th grade now). I never read Harry Potter, so I'm not sher what level it is on, so forgive me if these are below or above that level of reading! I know that there are alot more, but I can't think of them right now!

A good author to check out that I would sugest is Gary Paulson, he only wrote one boook that I didn't like, and he has writen alot of books (I haven't read all of them, even though I spent over half of my 5th grade year reading only Gary Paulson, theres that many books). He wrote some really good ones, there's one that is SF, but I can't think of the title, the other ones are fiction and historicle fiction mostly. The first one of his that I read was called Hatchet, after you read that, you can also read Brian's Winter and another one about the same story that comes after it that I can't remember the name of.

Another Favorite book is called Holes, I don't remember it that well, because it's been a while since I read it, but I remember asking people if there was a sequal to it after I finished it, and I was disapunted that there wasn't.

[azalea]

I just finished reading my four year old the Pooh books (Winnie the Pooh, followed by The House at Pooh Corner). It was so funny because at the end I cried (if you don't know why, read the last chapter of The House at Pooh Corner!), and he didn't understand why, and I tried to tell him that sometimes a good book makes you cry. He gave me a hug.:)
Anyway, that is one great piece of children's literature!

[Millane]

mmm fav books growing up Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and most Roald Dahl books and when i was really young Grug i doubt anyone has heard of grug but trust me if you find one his books read it there great:D
Fav childrens book Watership Down and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... i read these now because they are way different looking at them older and arent as neat and kiddy-ish as the Enid Blyton books which i always found too dull

[cassiopeia]

Originally posted by Millane
mmm fav books growing up Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and most Roald Dahl books and when i was really young Grug i doubt anyone has heard of grug but trust me if you find one his books read it there great:D

Is Grug a little mushroom-shaped creature with long brown hair? I remember those books. :)

[Orion]

I used to read a lot L.M. Montgomery´s and Louisa Alcott´s books as a kid, and I just loved Emily of the New Moon.. it was the old-fashiousness of those books which made them so fascinating. It was the same thing with Laura Ingalls-Wilder´s books. I used to read also E.R. Burroughs´ Tarzans :D , Nancy Drew and Enid Blyton. The oldest books were the best.. :)

[Millane]

Is Grug a little mushroom-shaped creature with long brown hair? I remember those books.
hahahaha thats the one... you have proved me wrong someone else does know Grug:D

[gandalfstormcrow]

Well, Dr. Seuss was always my favorite as a kid. The Berenstein Bear books were also good. I have more but I can't remember titles or the authors at the moment.

I just remembered! One of those was Where the Wild Things Arebut I can't remember the author.

[azalea]

Maurice Sendak

[Elvengirl]

My favorite children's book is Charlotte's Web. Beautiful story I still cry when I read it:o
I love Winnie the Pooh too
Laura Ingalls Wilder,
every Nancy Drew book(the old ones)
Narnia
oh, and all the Aesops Fables, fairy tales.....these are just a few

The Roald Dahl (sp?) books used to scare me, sorry but they are just wierd.

[Belle]

Enid Blyton and the Faraway Tree was brilliant, as was the Wishing Chair (I think that's what it was called!) I always wanted to be Silky the fairy, she was cool. I also loved Malory Towers with Daryl and everyone, like Harry Potter with no magic! And of course Narnia was amazing, but I have to say that His Dark Materials Trilogy was an amazing read, i cried so much at the end of TAS. Terry Pratchett Truckers, Diggers and Wings was good too, and I recently read his new children's book 'Maurice and his Amazing Rodents', which actually disturbed me quite a bit! Roald Dahl is another favourite, The BFG and George's Marvellous Medicine, and the Magic Finger. And yes (shame) I used to love the Sweet Valley books, with the Unicorn Club! How sad am i?

[Elvengirl]

lol.. I used to read Sweet Valley, oh, and the Babysitters Club. :o Ssh.. don't tell anyone ;) It'll be our secret :D
I have to thank Tolkien once again. After I read the Hobbit, I found a whole new genre of awesome stories.
Another of my favorites is The High King by Lloyd Alexander, if I remember correctly.

[miss_poet]

Originally posted by Varda Oiolosseo
I liked Roald Dahl to infact i still do especially Matilda!!
I also used to love Enid Blyton i read all her books they were sooo good! I've still got them all! :)

I LOVE the books by Roald Dahl! He uses descriptive words in his books! I enjoyed reading The BFG, George's Marvelous Potion, and some of his other books! They are very good books and I recommend them to anyone!

[GrayMouser]

Originally posted by Varda Oiolosseo
Yep! Enid Blyton was my fave! I particually loveThe Magic Faraway Tree! They were great!! I loved the character Moonface! :D :D :D

Thank you thank you thank you! I read that a loooong time ago, and could never remember the name oe the author, and never came across anyone else who had read it.

And yes Finn Family Moomintroll! (and the rest in the series) by Tove Jannson.

Historical books, anyone? For some reason my interest was always pre-medieval - from prehistoric through Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome.

Though one more modern favorite was "The Hills of Varna" by Geoffrey Trease.

[Huan]

As a kid, I focused almost exclusively on superhero comic books, but occasionally I'd let an actual book slip through. The Hobbit was great, of course. As a really little kid, I loved those - grrr I forget what they were called, but that whole series of little hardcovers for early readers: The Pokey Little Puppy, There's a Monster at the End of This Book (featuring Sesame Street's Grover), etc. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Loved Maurice Sendak. And above all, I loved Henry and Ribsy and the Ramona books. I read somewhere once upon a time that all people who read as children can be evenly divided as either Beverly Clearys or Judy Blumes, and I find that to be quite true. Myself, I've never read a Blume book, but I devoured Ms. Cleary's tomes. The question is, why should this be true, that you either like one or the other of those two authors? Who here are the Clearys, and who the Blumes?

[crickhollow]

I've read a few Blumes, but I'll stay with Cleary. I mean, even aside from Ramona (who did lots of things that I always wanted to do, like squeeze all the toothpaste out of the tube) and Howie, there's Henry Huggins and Runaway Ralph.

[cassiopeia]

Originally posted by Huan
As a kid, I focused almost exclusively on superhero comic books, but occasionally I'd let an actual book slip through. The Hobbit was great, of course. As a really little kid, I loved those - grrr I forget what they were called, but that whole series of little hardcovers for early readers: The Pokey Little Puppy, There's a Monster at the End of This Book (featuring Sesame Street's Grover), etc. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Loved Maurice Sendak. And above all, I loved Henry and Ribsy and the Ramona books. I read somewhere once upon a time that all people who read as children can be evenly divided as either Beverly Clearys or Judy Blumes, and I find that to be quite true. Myself, I've never read a Blume book, but I devoured Ms. Cleary's tomes. The question is, why should this be true, that you either like one or the other of those two authors? Who here are the Clearys, and who the Blumes?
You aren't by chance talking about Golden Books, are you? I've got many of them at home, like The Pokey Little Puppy, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Sesame Street ones, and many more. Some are over 20 years old.

[BeardofPants]

Originally posted by Huan
Who here are the Clearys, and who the Blumes?

I liked both - probably Blume slightly more, but generally, I devoured both.

[Linaewen]

I can't remember the rest of them, but when I was younger, I absolutely adored Enid Blyton (Loved the Faraway Tree) and Judy Blume.

[Huan]

Golden Books! Yes indeed. Thanks, Cassiopeia.

[Orion]

Originally posted by Linaewen
I can't remember the rest of them, but when I was younger, I absolutely adored Enid Blyton (Loved the Faraway Tree) and Judy Blume.
I used to like Enid Blyton´s books too, especially the ones where were the 4 kids (Jack, Anne Philip and Dinah..?) and the cockatoo (don´t know what that series is called in English..) Those were really good - and I remember wanting to have a cockatoo when I read those.. :D

[BeardofPants]

The bird was called Kiki. I don't know if they had a name: but they were the X of Adventure series. They were great. :D

[Wayfarer]

The Princess and the Goblins was a favorite of mine as a child.
Doctor Seuss is to blame for the better part of my psychosis.
Tom Sawyer, Robinson Crusoe, the wind in the willows...

Other than that, I started reading my mother's college textbooks around third grade.

[Elvellyn]

Other than that, I started reading my mother's college textbooks around third grade.

Wow! I thought I was the only one who did that! Except they were my aunt's. I found them in my grandma's attic one day. I didn't always understand them, but I would look up all the big words in the dictionary.

For lighter reading though, I liked the Berinstein Bears books. And of course Dr. Suess. Who doesn't love Dr. Suess?