Question 1 - Childhood Books

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

I have a soft spot in my heart for Call of the Wild because my mother bought me a copy when I was too young to get that it cost money (I still have the copy). I loved Pippi Longstocking and O Henry stories and now I want to go read both. And then there was the teacher who had us read Bradbury's short story All Summer in a Day, which I credit for helping me figure out there were stories about people hidden in the science fiction section behind covers with ray guns and aliens.

[Bouchra]

Enid Blyton's Famous Five series was my favorite, although I liked all of her other adventure/mystery series and her boarding school series: Secret Seven, Adventure Series, Malory Towers, and St. Clare's.

[Molly]

I remember reading The Royal Ballet School Diaries series over and over again in elementary school. I always fantasized about going to a ballet boarding school after that. I also remember reading The Phantom Tollbooth at least ten times.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

I've just remembered a few more that I can't believe I forgot - Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH! Loved it. And the Mandie series. And the Wombles series, though mostly I was into the TV show and playing the records nonstop.

[Kate]

Ahhh childhood.. I was so into the Nancy Drew series! I remember being at awe that a chick could also be a sleuth :D I think that's what got me to love crime/thriller/mystery type of books. And then there's always the R.L. Stine books. I enjoyed those too, especially the one where you choose your own adventure. :D

[Laura Anne]

When I was in the 4th grade my teacher read a science fiction book aloud to us and I loved every second of it. I think I can attribute my love of dystopian books back to this wonderful and as of yet untraceable book. I can remember everything about this book except the title which is a downright tragedy.

[A]

Kate wrote: "Ahhh childhood.. I was so into the Nancy Drew series! I remember being at awe that a chick could also be a sleuth :D I think that's what got me to love crime/thriller/mystery type of books. And the..."

I loved the Nancy Drew series too!! And Hardy Boys!!!:):P

[James]

I've mentioned Asterix and Lucky Luke (French comics) in another thread already, then Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, all of them I doubt I'd enjoy to read again; then I distantly remember some picture books, which I probably would enjoy to read again but first I'd have to investigate their names and authors. When I was 12 or 13 I discovered Franz Kafka whose stories I love ever since. I refused to discuss this author in school to avoid the teacher and other pupils to spoil my enjoyment.

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

James wrote: "I've mentioned Asterix and Lucky Luke (French comics) in another thread already, then Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, all of them I doubt I'd enjoy to read again; then I distantly rem..."

Oh, thank you for mentioning Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators! They've been bugging me for years because I couldn't remember their name. I think of them and Trixie Belden every time someone mentions Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.

[Sarah. B]

I loved Roald Dahl`s children books. ( Still love them now and his short stories. ) They were always so unpredictable and full of unforgetable characters.

[Michael]

I reread these almost every year

[[deleted user]]

Sandy, I love Enid Blyton. I have all the old copies I used to buy with my pocket money at boot sales when I was small!
The faraway tree an adventures of the wishing chair were my favourite!
I also loved Roald Dahl. James and the giant peach was my favourite.

[Linda]

I started out reading Little Golden Books with my mother. Next came all of the Bobbsey Twins books, followed by the Nancy Drew series (as many as were written in the '50s). By the time I was in 6th grade, my girlfriend and I started checking out all the Perry Mason mysteries from the library -- we felt so grown up! It was onward and upward from there.

[Yvonne]

When I was very young I remember owning Fairytale books that had really nice pictures in them. In junior school I was reading stuff like Charlotte's Web, BFG, The Secret Garden. And I was into stuff like The Hardy Boys, Famous Five, Three Investigators, Mallory Towers etc. In high school I was getting into Stephen King and Anne Rice. Most of what I was into as a child I still own, though the fairytale books disappeared (no idea where they went) so I've got shelves on which the likes of Stephen King and James Herbert sit side by side with Judy Blume and Lois Lowry.

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

Yvonne wrote: "When I was very young I remember owning Fairytale books that had really nice pictures in them. In junior school I was reading stuff like Charlotte's Web, BFG, The Secret Garden. And I was into stuf..."

I love mixed up quirky bookshelves! I have a copy of The Further Adventures of Xena: Warrior Princess next to things like Bullfinch's Mythology: Including the complete texts of The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne. And naturally Valley of the Dolls goes next to the feminist books.

[Clare]

I grew up on Enid Blyton books. My favourites were The faraway tree series.

[John]

Vespertine - two of my young granddaughters were enthralled by these when I read all of them to them last year!

[Jude]

I adored Enid Blyton, especially the Malory Towers series. When I was ten I got the 6 volumes in one edition, my very first big book, and I've been seaching for it ever since! I still get nostalgic for ginger beer and train journeys :o)

[Claire]

Ooh, so many that I still love to read - it's like comfort food.

Enid Blyton here too - Wishing Chair & Faraway Trees, then on to Famous Five, Mallory Towers, and St Clare's. Charlotte's Web, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Owl Service, Huckleberry Finn, All the Narnia books, Judy Blume and Paul Zindel, Ooh Margaret Mahy especially Memory and The Tricksters, The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland, Howl's Moving Castle, and The Cats of Seroster....and I still read them all.

[Srividya]

Famous Five, Secret Seven, Five Findouters, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, other Enid Blyton books, Malory Towers, St. Clares, Bobbsey Twins, Trixie Belden ... ooh those times were simply wonderful. Used to love devouring these books. And there was this wonderful series called Billy Bunter series.. it was hilarious

And then after fifth grade we were introduced to classics so it was Charles Dickens, Bronte sisters, Jane Austen as well as others like Nevil Shute, PG Wodehouse, Erle Stanley Gardner etc.. the list and choice was endless.. Simply love those books even today.. Brings back great memories :)

[Amy]

there are 3 and I still have the original copies I got of them - the first would be the secret garden, I received it as a gift for my 7th birthday, the second would be the outsiders which I read in year 9 at school and the third would be forever by judy blume, which I read at age 14 and gor my mum to buy me a copy, even now I enjoy reading it.

[Judy]

My fondest very young childhoods books were "There's a Monster at the End of This Book" staring my favorite Grover and "The Berenstain Bears New Baby". In the late elementary and middle school years, I read a lot of Nancy Drew and Judy Bloom. I also remember greatly enjoying Island of the Blue Dolphins.

[AmberZehr]

I dont remember the names of all of them but one was about a pony and another one was about an indian girl who lived on an island called dolphin isle. there was one about a boy who got in trouble and had to spend like a month in the alaskan wilderness and met a spirit bear. and there was one about a boy who ran away and all i remember from that is that he loved crumpets.... i dont remember any of the names now that i'm thinking about it. ooo and number the stars. thats good too. :)

[Rachael]

Favorite childhood book is Junie B. Jones and The Magic Tree House.

[♞ Pat]

I loved The Boxcar Children, Pippi Longstocking, Harriet The Spy, and The Black Stallion series. I read everything I could get my hands on, but those books stand out in my mind forty-five years later.

[Eileen]

I like the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and the books by Beverly Cleary, Beezus and Romona, etc. Also I liked Harriet the Spy.

[Tiffany]

As an elementary teacher I read so many books each year! My al time fav is the tale of DESPEREAUX! Such a rich and complex plot, I highly recommend it to all!

[Richard]

I found A Wrinkle in Time captivating when I was in seventh grade. Remembering the climax still fills me with enchantment. Also, Stuart Little also still haunts me. My father read it to me, and the ending is open-ended and bittersweet.

[Just_me]

The wishing chair books by Enid Blyton and anything of Roald Dahl were my all time favourites when I was young. I also had the Cabbage Patch kids and the padding on bear stories on audio book that never stopped playing (if these still class as a books)

I've managed to re-experience them with my boys and I get to read them all again with my little girl

[Lindsay]

Faye wrote: "Question 1 - What were your favourite childhood books? Do any still stand out in your memory today and give you that warm feeling of book-love all over again just thinking about them?"

Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles by Julie Andrews. I read it to the kids I worked With at the School 3 years ago. They loved it, maybe because my enthusiasm for it Was Contagious.

[Candy]

Lindsay wrote: "Faye wrote: "Question 1 - What were your favourite childhood books? Do any still stand out in your memory today and give you that warm feeling of book-love all over again just thinking about them?"..."

One that comes to mind (besides Beatrix Potter, Nancy Drew series, and many I have forgotten) is "Misty of Chincoteaque". Later on I went to the island and saw the horses with my husband. I don't remember much about the book but I remember it was very special to me.

[Emily]

My favourite author was Linda Chapman and her books The Magic Spell and Dreams Come True
I also loved books like dairy of a wimpy kid, Indie Kidd, the Go Girl books. And anything Roald Dahl and Dr Seuss

[Overbooked ✎]

I loved adventures books so my favourites were Salgari's, Pinocchio and fairy tales (Grimm's in particular).

In my second childhood (vicariously through my kids) Lynley Dodd's Hairy Maclary, Roald Dahl books and Harry Potter's series.

[Irene]

I remember my mum reading The Little House on the Prairie series to me several times when I was about 7. She read them over and over again, and I still own the books and love them very much!

[Polly]

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes was fantastic.
The Princess and the Frog by Vera Southgate - I particularly loved the pictures
I competed with a neighbour as to how many Enid Blyton books I could collect. My favourite was The Faraway Tree.
Charlotte's Web by E B White left a clear childhood impression of fear and shock for a little runt of a pig who might get the chop.

Into my teens it was Edgar Allen Poe.

[Evangeline]

To kill a mockingbird, Harry Potter, The Magic Tree House and The Great Gatsby. Sorry, could NOT choose my only fav!

[Natalia]

The Witches
Millicent and the Wind
The Twits
Bunnicula
Courdroy
Something Good

[Charlotte]

DORA!!! I think....

[Stephanie]

My favorite childhood books were the Animal Ark series, a Series of Unfortunate Events, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, and of course Harry Potter.

[Pikobooks]

Well, let's take a look at my chilwood :
- it goes without saying : the Harry Potter's book (I was 11 when I started reading it, so I was as old as the hero, great !)
- The just so stories, by R. Kipling ! This is one of my "bibles". My grandma red it to me at nights.
- all the books written by Roald Dahl (Charlie, Mathilda, Sacrées sorcières...)
- the hobbit, by Tolkien. I was 12 when it came to me, it was very precious to me. It came to me, mine, my tresor, my precious. And so goes too The lord of the rings.

And as a french girl from the 90's, I also adored BABAR (the little elephant who becomes king of the elephant and who weares a green suit). Do tou know the legendary Babar ?

[Laura]

My favourite childhood book, the one that truely first captured me and made me really love reading was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. This was the first book i have a solid memory of that really grabbed my imagination and showed me that a book can take you completely out of reality and into a much more magical place.

[Alexandra]

Definitely Harry Potter series (third book, Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite). I've been reading them all year round since 6 to 14 y.o, so I know them by heart (only in Russian, though). Then, at the age of 13 I've read Dracula and that's when my love for reading showed itself and I started reading other books too.

[Candy]

My childhood was quite awhile ago (I turned 60 this year) but I remember being very devoted and excited to the book "Misty of Chincotegue".

[Aitziber]

I loved Datrebil, 7 cuentos y un espejo, which influence I only recently realized. It was a book of 7 short stories that placed a lot of importance on form.

It had a page that was a mirror, and the pages next to it had the words printed the opposite way, so you had to read them in the mirror-like page. There were other neat little tricks like that, such as the sections being out of order, so for instance you had to find the first word of the next section within the section you were reading. Even now, just describing it, it sounds like the kind of book that you'd find described in a fairytale or the kind of book a mysterious relative might give as a present before disappearing forever! My parents got it for me, though, haha.

I also enjoyed reading Pappa Pellerin's Daughter because it was meant for children 14 and up, but I was such an advanced reader that I first read it when I was 10. I was pretty proud of that. :P

Also, a bunch of Christine Nöstlinger books, such as Conrad: The Factory-Made Boy, and the Susi and Paul books. These books were about a couple of childhood friends, Susi and Paul, who get separated because Paul's father finds a job elsewhere. They go on vacation that year, then Susi becomes friends with the son of Turkish immigrants, Ali, which Paul is jealous about. Those were cool books, they introduced me to race relations in Germany.

And finally, The Little Vampire series by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg. I think there was a movie based on these books, but it was terrible. The books are so much better.

Edit: Oh, and I can't forget The Neverending Story by Michael Ende! You know, looking back, it's a mystery that I learned English and not German. The majority of these are German authors. :P

[Becca]

Candy wrote: "My childhood was quite awhile ago (I turned 60 this year) but I remember being very devoted and excited to the book "Misty of Chincotegue"."

I was wondering if there were other "oldies, but goodies" on this list. I'll be 65 in January. I also loved "Misty of Chincoteague" and bought it for my great-niece last year.

[Cynthia]

My parents weren't readers, so my book choices were limited to the library and the yearly book sale at school. If you happened to read above your grade level, poor you.

I started getting an allowance in 4th grade, and I spent it on books. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Phantom Tollbooth, and The Secret Garden are books I remember buying.

By 6th grade I was reading more adult books. I think my first 'grown-up' book was either The Thorn Birds or The World According to Garp. Maybe something Mary Higgins Clark. I got hooked on John Jakes Kent Family Chronicles in 6th Grade, too.

[[deleted user]]

My favorite childhood books were the Little Golden Books when I was really young, I had a huge collection of them back then.
As I got older, I read lots of the Classics, the ones standing out most were The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales and Robinson Crusoe .

I also loved Homer Price and read it many times .Part 2 of this was Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price ,which I also loved .

Those are the main ones that stand out ,but as someone above stated, my childhood was long ago ....

[Becca]

This thread made me think about how much I liked Pippi Longstocking so I bought myself a copy. It's still good!

[Sarah]

I always loved Little Bear and Chrysanthemum. I would read those over and over again when I was younger.

[Cameron]

I liked to read Harry Potter, been in love ever since!!!!!!