Favorite Children's Books

Cirdan · 10-01-2002, 02:12 PM

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*** · 10-01-2002, 02:58 PM

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 · 10-01-2002, 03:03 PM

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 · 10-01-2002, 03:19 PM

Quote:

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.

Quote:

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 · 10-01-2002, 04:06 PM

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 · 10-01-2002, 04:26 PM

I tried! (to think of Aragorn as a mouse!

) It's not working!

sun-star · 10-01-2002, 05:08 PM

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

Cirdan · 10-01-2002, 05:20 PM

Quote:

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 · 10-01-2002, 05:30 PM

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

osszie · 10-01-2002, 05:45 PM

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

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

BeardofPants · 10-01-2002, 06:49 PM

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.

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 · 10-01-2002, 07:02 PM

I forgot Asterix

.......... when a kid can read, and decipher, the names in an Asterix book......he's flying

Very clever (and immensly fun) books

katya · 10-01-2002, 07:59 PM

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** · 10-01-2002, 08:13 PM

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*** · 10-01-2002, 08:26 PM

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 · 10-01-2002, 08:33 PM

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

**crickhollow** · 10-01-2002, 08:50 PM

I thought of another:

Winnie ther Pooh

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

Hasty Ent · 10-02-2002, 11:30 AM

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** · 10-02-2002, 01:36 PM

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 · 10-02-2002, 05:52 PM

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).

10-01-2002, 02:12 PM	#1
Cirdan Elf Lord of the Grey Havens Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: somewhere else Posts: 2,381	Favorite Children's Books 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. __________________ There exists a limit to the force even ther most powerful may apply without destroying themselves. Judging this limit is the true artistry of government. Misuse of power is the fatal sin. The law cannot be a tool of vengance, never a hostage, nor a fortification against the martyrs it has created. You cannot threaten any individual and escape the consequences. -Muad'dib on Law The Stilgar Commentary

10-01-2002, 03:03 PM	#3
Lizra Domesticated Swing Babe Join Date: May 2002 Location: Reality Posts: 5,340	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. __________________ Happy Atheist Go Democrats!

10-01-2002, 04:06 PM	#5
Dunadan The Quite Querulous Quendi Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Oxon, UK Posts: 638	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). Last edited by Dunadan : 10-01-2002 at 04:10 PM.

10-01-2002, 04:26 PM	#6
Lizra Domesticated Swing Babe Join Date: May 2002 Location: Reality Posts: 5,340	I tried! (to think of Aragorn as a mouse! ) It's not working! __________________ Happy Atheist Go Democrats!

10-01-2002, 05:08 PM	#7
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	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 __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

10-01-2002, 02:58 PM	#2
*azalea* Long lost mooter Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 3,342	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.

10-01-2002, 05:30 PM	#9
Draken Elf Lord Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Durham, England Posts: 694	"The Mouse and his Child" by Russell Hoban. Wonderful book by a much under-rated author. __________________ I'm beset by self-doubt ....or am I?

10-01-2002, 05:45 PM	#10
osszie Elven Warrior Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 409	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 great sig Draken..........been a while since I listened to Aztec Camera

10-01-2002, 06:49 PM	#11
BeardofPants the Shrike Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: San Francisco, CA <3 Posts: 10,647	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. 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... __________________ "Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords

10-01-2002, 07:02 PM	#12
osszie Elven Warrior Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 409	I forgot Asterix .......... when a kid can read, and decipher, the names in an Asterix book......he's flying Very clever (and immensly fun) books

10-01-2002, 07:59 PM	#13
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	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.

10-01-2002, 08:13 PM	#14
crickhollow The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas). Posts: 1,345	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. __________________ A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

10-01-2002, 08:26 PM	#15
*Rían* Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!) Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Not where I want to be ... Posts: 15,254	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. __________________ . I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva!

10-01-2002, 08:33 PM	#16
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	an author i never never liked was roald dahl. he really scared and disturbed me.

10-01-2002, 08:50 PM	#17
crickhollow The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas). Posts: 1,345	I thought of another: Winnie ther Pooh (that's not a typo, read the ahem at the beginning) [edit: ahem=forward] __________________ A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

10-02-2002, 11:30 AM	#18
Hasty Ent Elf Lord Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 516	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 __________________ Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

10-02-2002, 01:36 PM	#19
crickhollow The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas). Posts: 1,345	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 __________________ A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

10-02-2002, 05:52 PM	#20
Draken Elf Lord Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Durham, England Posts: 694	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). __________________ I'm beset by self-doubt ....or am I?

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