Favorite Childhood Books

sturlington: My father read it aloud to me when I was 5 or 6. It's a wonderful memory.

Drapetsona: actually, I never read it as a child. I wish I had.

anglemark: The winter landscape on the other side of the wardrobe has haunted my imagination all my life.

sturlington: Meg is the first heroine I wanted to emulate.

ahef1963: Loved this book. It's probably the first fantasy book I ever read and re-read.

SaintSunniva: Such a lovely secret...the hidden garden, coming to life.

aulsmith : Didn't like romances even then.

RuMuse: Secret joy provides meaning

ahef1963: Loved this story.

Diane-bpcb: Seemed magical to me.

SaintSunniva : I have never liked it - too weird, too scary, the queen, the cat, the hookah...Alice herself.

ahef1963 : Not a huge fan of it. I found it more creepy than anything.

timspalding : I hated this book. Pippi's life terrified me.

deslivres5: Her pigtails and her monkey captured my attention. Her wild adventures and unorthodox lifestyle were an eye opener.

ahef1963: The Little House books were my childhood favourites.

timspalding : Scared me. Seemed needlessly cruel. I still feel this way.

deslivres5: I remember loving the passages where she would eat fresh cheese when in the mountains. Yum!

ahef1963 : I was always unsettled by the idea of an elephant king, and I was bothered by a book printed in italics.

aulsmith : Too gooey

aulsmith : Liked it the first time, but was bored on the re-read

ahef1963 : I found this terribly creepy.

timspalding : Terrifying.

ahef1963: This was my favourite book to read to my sleepy children.

timspalding: I remember the revelation that his tutor was a half-dwarf as… mind-blowing!

aulsmith : Too weird for me. All that mumbo-jumbo about remembering being born.

timspalding : Spooky. I think I read it too young.

ahef1963: One of the best children's books out there.

Bookish59: Another favorite; so glad it's listed here.

ahef1963: Read in university for a children's lit course. Liked it so much that I found copies of the rest of the series.

SaintSunniva: My mother read it to us...and I subsequently read all the Little House books.

ahef1963: The Little House books were the background to all my childhood and early adolescent fantasies. I still want to ride in a covered wagon.

Drapetsona: When I finally came to read it after having collected so much bubble gum pictures of the Disney movie, I found it astonishing and very adult. I loved it. Favourites: Rikki Tikki, the little seal and the elephant boy.

Diane-bpcb: There's a Betsy-Tacy society active in Mankato, Minnesota, where you can visit the Betsy and Tacy houses side-by-side in town. I loved all the[ Betsy-Tacy and Tib] books. At the time I read them, I believed that life really had existed in those days without the problems of the 20th century. The friendship of the girls was wonderful. Escapism when I needed it.

sturlington: Long-time favorite.

timspalding: I should put more non-fiction on the list. This one was great.

ahef1963 : Raggedy Ann (and Andy) dolls scared me as a child and still do.

Diane-bpcb: This was read to me. I adored my cloth and yarn Raggedly Ann so much, that listening to her stories allowed me to enjoy her all the more.

timspalding: I loved this as a kid. It doesn't hold up.

timspalding: Great book.

ahef1963: I loved this book. My father read it to me as a child, and made up a tune to sing parts of it. Great memories.