Kris made a comment the other day that her family was rereading some childhood favorites for comfort and asked about favorite books from my childhood. Below are a few that I collected from my bookshelf.
Ghost Town Treasure by Clyde Robert Bulla. This book brings back fond memories, not so much for the story, but because this was the first chapter book I read all by myself. I was very proud of this accomplishment and I can still feel how good that felt, even today.
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. When I was in second grade, my teacher, Mrs. Murray, read us a chapter from this book everyday after our lunch time recess. I loved the story about how the four orphan children made their home in a boxcar they found in the woods and looked forward everyday to hear about their further adventures. There have been over 150 more Boxcar Children books written since the first one, but I think the first one is the best and I reread it from time to time.
Old Mother West Wind stories by Tornton W. Burgess. I discovered these books in third grade. There was a set of them on a shelf near my desk and when I finished my work, I would get one to read. They were stories about animals who lived in the Green Forest. What I liked about them was, even though the animals talked, they remained true to the way they were in nature. Reading them was discovering nature in a fun way. I have not see an original set since then, although I did find this compilation that I read to my kids.
Trixie Belden books by Kathryn Kenny. I discovered these about the same time I was reading Nancy Drew books. I like these better. While Nancy was older and sophisticated, Trixie was younger and more down to earth. What I liked best about Trixie was that she had chores to do before she could go on her adventures and solve mysteries. I thought I had to do more chores than all of my friends, so I related to Trixie. I have a few Trixie Belden books that I still pull out from time to time for comfort reading.
I couldn't find the copy of perhaps the book I liked best of all, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I'll talk about it another time.
What books did you like as a child?
I was a Nancy Drew nerd. My parents used to play canasta with some of their friends. One set of friends had a daughter a few years older than me who had the complete set of Nancy Drew books. While the parents played cards and my sister and their younger daughter played in the playroom , I would sit and read, then she would let me take it home to finish reading it. Fortunately we lived in walking distance so I could return it as soon as I finished it.Thanks to T, I managed to read every book.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I read them all, but I did read a lot of the Nancy Drew books. I got them from the school library. Have you seen all of the variations on the Nancy Drew books that are out there these days?
DeleteI was a Nancy Drew fan but I also liked Trixie Belden. The Chronicles of Narnia were and still are favorites. There were a couple of more obscure picture books that I loved and have inherited. One was called Whatever Happened to George. It was about a pig whose mother made donuts and left a platter on the table. George was the only one home and he ate his way through 12 donuts. And then, boom! The kitchen roof exploded. His mother thought he became an angel because he was such a good little pig. Another family member thought he became a blimp because he was so far. But the wise grandfather pig thought he just plain burst. My kids still think it's a funny story.
ReplyDeleteThe other book was about a teapot that falls and gets its spout broken and all the food items and kitchen items rescue the situation. There are lots of rhymes and a good rhythm to the story that is appealing to young readers.
I could go on all day long so I will stop now!
I love the story of "What Happened to George. I was not familiar with it, so I looked it up on Amazon. Do you know that there are copies selling from $180 to $250? You might want to wear gloves the next time you read it. :0
DeleteMy sister told me that recently. Our copy is definitely a well loved version so I'm not sure it would have the monetary value. My sisters and I have "fought" over who gets to keep them .... that's one of the few things I really want from my parent's house.
DeleteFat, not far.
ReplyDeleteThe Trumpet of the Swan was one of my favorite books, and I couldn't wait to read it to my children. I also loved Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. A little later I discovered Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I thought my daughters would enjoy Nancy Drew, but I just couldn't get them interested. I also loved The Secret Garden and that one both of my daughters did really enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI tried to get my boys interested in the Hardy Boys, but after a couple, they weren't interested. However, Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web were classics that I enjoyed with them.
DeleteMy kids also got quickly bored with them. I have wondered if there is a generational difference in what interests kids.
DeleteI forgot to mention the Little House books. We have touched on some of the controversy around them in a recent post but as a person who loves history, they will always hold a warm spot in my heart.
To be quite fair, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are not great literature. My kids were into Animorphs and the Red Wall books when they were Hardy Boy age. Those are better written than Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. But nevertheless, I still liked them.
DeleteI love this post and topic. My favorite English language books as a child included the Noddy series by Enid Blyton. Noddy was a wooden toy man whose head nodded; he lived in Toyland, in a house built of blocks and drove a taxi (the fare was 6 pence, but, in at least one book, he said that if you ever visited Toyland, he'd drive you around and wouldn't charge you anything! I wanted to go to Toyland and my mother had a time trying to explain to a 6 year old me that Toyland wasn't a real place! LOL.)
ReplyDeleteI am familiar with the author, but not Noddy, so I looked him up at our library. Do you know that there are a set of DVDs about Noddy and his adventures? You might check your library to see if they have the DVD's for a trip down memory lane. I'm sure they have some kind of contactless pickup service. I'm going to see if my local library has any copies when I go to work.
DeleteThere was a series of books about life of the presidents. I can't remember the Name of them. Can't remember the name. But they were written for kids. I liked Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew as well
ReplyDeleteI would have liked a series about presidents also but don't remember anything like that. I bet you still remember some things you learned in those books.
DeleteI don't remember all the books from my childhood except I read the Bobbsey Twins. There were a lot of those books. And I like the Misty of Chincoteague books although they made me cry. I was traumatized often by Disney movies. Lol.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read the Bobbsey Twins, but I picked up one of those books at a yard sale and started to read it with my kids when they were little. However, I stopped pretty quickly. The social attitudes in the 1930's, when the book was published, was not what I wanted to share with my kids at that point. They were not old enough to have a discussion about them so I got rid of the book. I could have looked for an updated version, but I didn't.
DeleteI read the Misty of Chincoteague books also and liked them. Some day I want to visit the islands and see the ponies. They are within driving distance. However, tales of how many mosquitos that are there has deterred me.