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  Childhood Favorites

  Since most of us have been readers since our childhood, there are certain books we've loved, that bring back wonderful memories and (in some cases) we've read again and again. This is a great place to discuss those - and stir up the memory cells.

  What were a few of your favorites?
  

  Marie T started this discussion 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Marie T (edited)

  When I was young I read and reread The Prince and The Pauper (Mark Twain) several times and loved it more each time. Funny thing is, it was only the other day that I looked up the author and found that great name!!! I'm sure I knew it when I was young, but then I hadn't visited his home (Hartford, CT area), seen a TV show with his part being played by a famous star, learned all I have learned about his wit, etc.

  I loved reading about collie dogs (Lad, A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune comes to mind), but now wouldn't have one only because of the hair I'd have to deal with.

  I wanted to be a stewardess, so read all the books I could put my hands on about that - until I found that being short I couldn't be considered. Period to the end of that sentence!

  Clara Barton series, every fairy tale book of every color I could carry home (am I a romantic? YES!)

  Louisa May Alcott's books - I read Little Women many times.

  Now, I'll hope that others will be intrigued by this discussion - and it will awaken many more memories, if they do.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Elaine W-W 

  Most of the books I really enjoyed as a child I will still re-vist occasionally.

  I still read The Chronicles of Narnia, intermittently, Jane Eyre is probably my favourite book and I first read that in my early teens, and I have two sci-fi books from when I was about 8 called Kemlo and the Star Men and Kemlo and the Space Lanes, really silly, but I find I read them when I'm tired and simply don't want to concentrate on anything much.

  One that I re-read a lot is 'A Traveller In Time' by Alison Uttley. I love the story about a young girl who keeps being transported back to the Time of Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots, and it is set not too far from where I live and is based on real events. I have owned about 6 copies as everytime I lend it out it just doesn't come back and I have to wait for it to be re-printed. It can be a bit hard for non-locals as some of the narrative is in local dialect, but it always brings a tear to my eye.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    Marie T 

    How wonderful, Elaine W-W! That you live nearby is especially great. When I was a girl, Narnia wasn't around, and I've never read it, the movies were too action-packed and loud for my taste, so I've missed it. Probably should partake of it and see what the enjoyment is - so many love it. For a while I worked in a local school system and that was a newer book then, that and Where the Wild Things Are, Shel Silverstein's great poetry, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, etc. So they were marked more or less for kids (I had two who have read some of those). Couldn't even get into Jane Eyre (I was too young).

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    JennLynn 

    I will have to get a hold of "A Traveller in Time" .... sounds great! And I think I read Jane Eyre ages ago, but i have no memory of it. It has been on my TBR for years ... I will have to move it to the top of the pile.. thanks for the recommendation.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Jari 

  I used to love Momo by Miachel Ende. My mother read it to me every evening.
  After I started reading for myself I often read the childrens books written by Cornelia Funke (which I still love) and the ones by Frederica de Cesco.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Marie T 

  Those are new ones to me, Jari - probably not to others, though.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Shawna B 

  I was really into authors when I was young. Roald Dahl - Matilda (especially) James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
  Judy Blume, Are You There God, Its me Margaret she was so great with girls and learning life lessons!
  I was also obsessed with Anne Frank though I know I didnt fully understand the meaning.
  I was also a big fan of series' The Boxcar Kids, and The Babysitters Club, (which was interesting since I had no desire to be a babysitter!)
  I am suprised now by all of the books that kids have to choose from, I grew up in a really small town with a really small library which mainly carried just the classics, and now working at a book store, it amazes me! Harry Potter, and great authors like Cornelia Funke, Rick Riordan, Sarah Dessen. I am excited for kids!

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Charlene V 

  I've read Pride and Prejudice several times. Love that book. I want to read To Kill a Mockingbird again, I enjoyed that when I read it years......ago.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  KimBear 

  Hi Marie,

  Let's see...my all-time favorite was Diary of a Young Girl. I read all of the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series, Nancy Drew series, any and all Judy Blume, loved Harriet the Spy, and The View From the Cherry Tree...I could go on and on...I am a Children's Librarian now so I still get to live in the past...how lucky am I?

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    Marie T 

    It's wonderful you have a job you love!

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    Sabina E 

    Hi Kim, I read Anne Frank's diary when I was about 13 and it touched me deeply; it's still on my shelf and I can understand that you like it so much. My 18 year old daughter is in Europe at the moment and when she was in Amsterdam I made sure she went to the house at the Prinsengraacht and did the tour (she read it as well when she was younger).

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    JennLynn 

    Oh I loved Alfred Hitchcock/3 Investigators!!!!!

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    KimBear 

    That is so cool!!

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    Mon 

    i love the nancy drew series

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  Chanelle 

  I loved anything by Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume and Lois Lowry. I also loved The Secret Garden, Charlotte's Web, Snot Stew, and the Babysitter's Club series.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Tea Cup 

  When it came to series I like Roald Dahl, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Secret Seven, Famous Five, Adventure Series by Willard Price, Animorphs, Goosebumps, Earths Children book series a lot! I also fell in love with Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, To kill a mocking bird, The room with a view, and other classics as well as Poe, Wilfred Ownes "Dulce et Decorum est" ect ect....man reading was always an adventure, I used to speed eat during break time so I can go read in the library *sigh* good times :)

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  Madelyn L 

  My all time favorite is Anne of Green Gables by R. L. Montogomery. I still love that book.

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    Avid Reader 

    On my list of favorites also - along with all the Anne Books.

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    Laurie G 

    I never read Anne of GG until I was in my 30's. I wish I had those books when I was kid.It is one of my favorites.

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  Beng G (edited)

  My favorite is The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper; I'm an avid King Arthur follower since childhood.

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    KimBear 

    One of the ladies I work with tells me this is her favorite book too!

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    Beng G 

    Tell you a secret...

    I still re-read them! ^_^

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    Jeanne D 

    Yes! This was great. Later I went for the sword in the stone.

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  Sabina E 

  I was very fortunate to have lots of books as a child and I can't remember all the titles (or what they would be called in English), but I remember I loved The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. I also had various books on greek mythology (appropriate for different age levels as I got older) and I still love those stories, especially about Troy and the Odyssey.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Charlie Ravioli 

  I member reading small little thick books with Disney characters (Donald Duck and his nephews comes to mind) that I would buy at my school book fair. Sometimes they had animation along the side of the pages if you flipped them fast enough.

  I also loved the Encyclopedia Brown books and both Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge by Judy Blume.

  Great discussion topic Marie T, thx.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    Marie T 

    Charlei Ravioli - were those the Big-Little books? If so, my girlfriend had a stack of them and used to "charge" me to borrow them! All kinds of them, not just Disney. Dick Tracy comes to mind. We called those little corner pictures "movies"...... Thanks back to you for that memory! And really, the thanks for this discussion goes to two guys (I think they were Tony Peters and Stephen P from another discussion) who gave me the idea.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    Charlie Ravioli 

    Yes, I think they were the Big-Little books. I loved the movies.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  JennLynn 

  The Nancy Drew series is what made me fall in love with reading to begin with.

  Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp is one of my all-time favorite books (and was just re-released ... yay!)

  I still have my original copy of Gypsy from Nowhere by Sharon Wagner (and it is totally falling apart, meaning well loved! LOL)

  And I have to also put a plug in for my favorite board/picture book "The Monster At the End of This Book" with Grover from Sesame Street ..... still makes me smile!

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    Marie T (edited)

    And aren't you fortunate to still have them! Maybe you could look on PBS for a replacement for that one that's falling apart, so you could "still have it" once it's totally gonzo. And maybe put that one in a ziploc bag.

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    Mindy D 

    My husband would read Monster at the end of this book to our kids and he would do a wonderful Grover impression. I really liked that book.

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    Laurie G 

    I have my Grandmother's copy of Mystery at Lilac Inn from the Nancy Drew series. It was printed in 1930 and all the illustrations,the characters look like they came out of a black and white Lombard movie! I plan to read that this summer for our library club.My best friend works in a daycare and says she reads these everyday to the kids and enjoys them. I never read Nancy Drew as a kid.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Julie L (edited)

  I love this topic but I still read children's and young adult books. Here are some of my favorites from childhood-

  "The Velvet Room" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
  Little Women Series
  "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle
  "The Outsiders" by SE Hinton
  "Charlotte's Web"
  "The Secret Garden"
  "To Kill A Mockingbird"
  and how could I forget-
  "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"

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    Jeanne D 

    All of these book are on my list of favorites!!

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Janice Loves B♥♥ks! (edited)

  many of the Little Golden books
  Bobbsey Twins books
  Nancy Drew books
  The Borrowers books

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Cheryl P 

  The Ship That Flew, Hilda Lewis
  Cherry Ames series
  Bobbsey Twins series
  Little Women
  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  The Diary of Anne Frank

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Reader 

  Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
  Nancy Drew series
  Harry Potter
  American Girl books

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Avid Reader 

  My list would include:
  Laura Ingall Wilder books
  The Secret Garden
  Anne of Green Gables and the other books in the series
  The Wizard of Oz books

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  MsNik@Nite 

  Hmmmm....A Wrinkle in Time comes to mind. Also, The Hobbit.

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    Laura T 

    I did not read Wrinkle until 2 years ago and I wondered why I hadn't. It was great.

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    MsNik@Nite 

    Hi Laura!

    I am glad you liked it! It is a unique book! Have you read any other books in the series?

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Emily T 

  I was mad for the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, then came Nancy Drew mania, and to this day, I still read, re-read and re-re-read the Anne of Green Gables books.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Sarah C 

  Mrs Piggle Wiggle
  Nancy Drew
  all of Shel Silversteins books

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    Julie L 

    How could I forget the Mrs. Pigglewiggle books? Those were my favorites also.

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  Mindy D 

  I loved The Trixie Beldon series. for some reason I couldn't get into nancy drew but Loved Trixie.

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    Sabina E 

    Oh that's right, I remember those, absolutely loved them.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Pinkhair (edited)

  Well, I read The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe and, even though I'm not religious, that was one of my favorites when I was younger!

  Another one that I loved was Shiloh. It was a school requirement but that was one of my favorites for a while.

  I also loved The Giving Tree. Even when I was older, that was one I loved. I still think it's great. The message came to me even as a child and it still does.

  The BabySitter's Club were ones that I enjoyed for a while, but I only read up to like 10.

  Then when I was about...10, I think, I read Maximum Ride by James Patterson and that's still one of my favorite series!

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Charlene V (edited)

  Oh yes Nancy Drew. I would buy one once a month when my mother would take me to the store, that was pretty much my allowance. Loved those stories. I also remember the Bobbsie Twins. Those got me interested in mysteries. Funny that I don't remember many of the books when I was a child except those, even tho my house was full of books, my dad bought hundreds.

  I remember more of what I read in High School and remember spending any free time in the Library taking out books. I read Anna and the King of Siam. Took me a bit but loved it. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Once and Future King, Rebecca, Jamaica Inn.

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    Marie T 

    My oldest daughter (54 now) absolutely loved The Once and Future King = still talks about it, in fact it was part of a discussion last week.

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    Charlene V 

    I remember that it was on a list of books for summer reading for high school. I think I was the only one who read that. Most of the other girls in my class were not readers and would pick the smallest books on the list. I think I read most of them, big or small. We would get a very long list of questions to answer once we were back in school the next year to make sure we read it and not the 'cliff notes'. Even with a summer job, I had my head in a book as much as possible. :- ]

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    Hope H 

    I read Rebecca in high school and loved it. I know I started Jamaica Inn, but it was scary so I put it down and never got back to it. I may have to go back and read it now! Also read Du Maurier's Don't Look Now when I was in high school and loved it.

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    Marie T 

    Yes, that's the sign of a reader! My mother used to want me to do chores, of course, and I was always curled up in a chair with a book. She always complained about how I did the chores because I was dying to get back to the book and gave everything "a lick and a promise" (in her words).

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Amy O 

  Stargirl is really good, Harry Potter, and The Secret Garden were my favorites.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  BenLarken 

  Encyclopedia Brown. I'd reread the stories over and over, determined to figure out the clue to solve the case before I turned to the back of the book to see if I was right.

  Then I'd see I was wrong and go back to staring at shiny objects. Haha

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    MsNik@Nite 

    OMG!! Encyclopedia Brown was awesome!!

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  Laura T 

  I was in a book club one summer and got hardback Nancy Drew books in the mail. This was so special in the 1950's. So Nancy was one of my childhood favorites. I also cry everytime I read The Selfish Giant.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Hope H 

  I read all of the Tizz the Cowpony books in second grade and thought they were the best. I wanted a pony so much because of those books!

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Marie T (edited)

  What excellent comments, folks! There are so many books mentioned here that I never heard of - and yet, those books are remembered by you as special and hold a special place in your heart. Some of the Young Adult books on the market are super, too - I've read a couple and found them just as good as those not labeled YA. Gary Paulsen has a slew of them.
  My kids were brought up on Dr. Seuss's books - we'd read them to them and get such a kick out of the rhymes. Then, the boys loved Richard Scarry (sp?) and Mike and the Steamshovel, and of course, Shel Silverstein when they came out.

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    Charlene V (edited)

    You just reminded me of Mike Mulligan and His Stem Shovel. That is a wonderful book. I'm quite sure I even read that to my kids. That reminded me of "The Story of Ferdinand" and "The Little Engine That Could" and "Madeline", wonderful stories.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    Jeanne D 

    I when I was very young, I was in a Dr Seuss book club and would get a new one every other month or so. I lived on a remote island in the Philippines and the books were the world to me! It was SO exciting to get one!

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Marty C 

  Harriet The Spy

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  terrell67 

  Animal Farm by George Orwell

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Elaine W-W 

  I also used to love reading a series of books about Nurse Matilda - a nursery nurse to a large Victorian family. The children were really naught and she was exceptionally ugly, but as the children became better behaved so she became more attractive. I can remember neither the book titles nor the author, but I read them loads as a child.

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    Charlene V 

    I wonder if Emma Thompson used those stories for her movie "Nanny McPhee"? Sound very much the same. I've never heard of Nurse Matilda stories before.

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    Elaine W-W 

    I think she did - but I keep wracking my brains and can't come up with the titles.

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    Marie T 

    That Nanny McPhee movie was so great! And it does sound as if it was taken from that book series, Elaine W-W. I don't recall those stories here in the US, but I apparently don't know much about the books for children; as I noted before, many of these favorites aren't ones I even knew of!

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  Laurie G 

  My favorites were Bobbsey Twins,Happy Hollisters. I loved Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn as well as Ann Frank.I remember "Water water everywhere" and Laurie and the Yellow Curtains.
  I still have the water book but just the covers,teh apges are long gone.

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    Avid Reader 

    Ohh, I've got the whole set of Happy Hollister books. I loved them and I can remember thinking when I stopped getting them that my parents just wouldn't buy any more of them.

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    Laurie G 

    I still have mine.I hope my parents didn't just stop buying them. My dog ate one of the Hollister books.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    Marie T (edited)

    Something about that "Water, water, everywhere.." niggles at a memory, but it just won't come. Do you mind bringing it further?? Wasn't that from The Bobbsey Twins? "Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink ................."

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    Julie L 

    Loved the Happy Hollister clan. All these books are bringing back such memories.

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    Laurie G 

    Marie-My water water everywhere is a Wonder Book with a washable cover. There is a boy and girl on the front cover (drawn/colored in) sitting under a beach umbrella and lwith seashells to their ears. The pages are all gone. I just have the cover left.I guess that is how much I loved it, I read it to death.I do remember reading it ALOT.It was about a day sepnt at the beach.No author name on the cover anywhere.This would be from late 50's.
    I searched Amamzon and they still have Laurie and the Yellow curtains selling privately and it is going for $ 22.00+ not bad for a book that sold for 59 cents originally. I will never sell mine.
    Water water everywhere comes up,but it seems to be a different book.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Stephen P 

  I loved the Egar Rice Burroughs 'Barsoom series' about Mars. I didn't like the Tarzan books as much.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Antoinette P 

  When I was younger, I loved The Secret Garden, The Big Comfy Couch books, and Winnie the Pooh stories. Even now, when I think back on those books, I can't help but smile. I wish I had them with me.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Jeanne D 

  So many of the books people have mentioned above were wonderful!
  I'll only mention a couple that I loved that were not already mentioned:
  The Melendy Family series(The Saturdays, 4 story mistake, ect.) by Elizabeth Enright
  Raggedy Ann & Andy series
  Mrs Piggle Wiggle Series
  Half Magic series by Edgar Egar
  Mrs Frisby & The Rats of NIMH

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Laurie G 

  I will add that in 5th grade out teacher read everyday after lunch.She read the entire series of Little House on Prarie to us. She would read for 30 minutes and if not much was going on she might have read until it was time to leave. I never enjoyed reading those books on my own or the tv show, she spoiled me for those books. She passed away last year and I told her daughter that memory and she cried,she told me her mother read those to her and her siblings every night!
  I wonder if she knew the memories and joy she created for her students?

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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    Avid Reader 

    My 4th grade teacher read to us after lunch, too. Little House In The Big Woods was one of the books she read to us and then told us if we wanted to know more about Laura we had to read the rest of the book. Mrs. Redmond was one of the best teachers I ever had.

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    Marie T 

    What a great memory of a truly super teacher. I wonder if today's teachers have enough time to do something like that?

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  Laurie G 

  I would hope so Marie. But I think today's teachers have much more serious issues to worry abt. I would hope so tho!!! The kids would miss out on so much.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Morgan :) 

  My mother read me a lot of Roadl Dahl so I definitely like those. I think my favorite was The Twits or George's Marvelous Medicine. I also liked the Royal Diaries series and that is where I developed my love of Anastasia and Marie Antoinette. But my favorite book I would have to say was Are You There God? It's Me Margaret.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Morgan :) 

  Growing up my mother read me a lot of Roadl Dahl books and I have to say my favorites were probably The Twits or George's Marvelous Medicine. I also liked the Royal Diaries series which is how I developed my love of Marie Antoinette and Anastasia. But I have to say my favorite was Are you there God? It's me Margaret.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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  Marguerite M 

  When I was very young my favorite was Alice in Wonderland, because my father read it to me each night before I fell asleep.
  The favorites I remember reading:
  The Little House on the Prairie series
  Nancy Drew
  The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
  The Lord of the Rings also Tolkien
  Black Beauty (I can't remember who wrote that)

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    Marie T (edited)

    Ah -- Black Beauty! That, too, was one I read a few times; Lassie, Come Home, The Yearling - I remember crying over these stories and loving them.

    Marguerite M. - just looked up the author of Black Beauty; it's Anna Sewell.

    posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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