# What is your favourite children's book?



## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

As a writer for children, I am intrigued to know other readers/writers favourite childrens books. 

Mine is Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'... Simply perfect!


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

As a child "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett and all the Willard Price books. As an adult my favourite children's books have been Harry Potter, and His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

So many to choose from . . . I would have to say Mary Norton's Borrowers stories.  Those stories made me believe there were borrowers living in my house.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Excellent choices. I'm a Potter fan, too. Oh, and The Borrowers - excellent.x


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## jesscscott (Aug 5, 2009)

Carl Ashmore said:


> Mine is Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'... Simply perfect!


Oh yes, I've enjoyed almost every single one of Roald Dahl's books (for children and adults) !

I really liked Legend of Sleepy Hollow too. Eerie, eerie, eerie...


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Narnia
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Black Stallion Series


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

As a small kid I loved the Little Critters books, and Shel Silverstein poetry.

A little older (like tween), my favorite was Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt and The Giver by Lois Lowry.


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

_Matilda_ and _Jacob Have I Loved_

I'm not sure that the latter was intended to be a children's book, but I must have read it thirty times in the summer after third grade.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Oh, gosh. There are so many. I'd like to recommend one that you may not have heard of though...

The Glassblower's Children by Maria Gripe

It's strange and wonderful and well worth a read, imho.


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## PraiseGod13 (Oct 27, 2008)

Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce. It isn't available for Kindle.... I have been "clicking" for two years trying to encourage them to make it available. My DH and son got me a DTB version a few years ago and I was almost afraid to re-read it as an adult fearing that I would now find that it wasn't as good as I remembered from childhood. Happily.... it was as enchanting as ever.... I LOVE this book!!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Gosh, how wonderful I thought I'd read so many children's books, but you guys are reminding me how many great ones there are still to read. I'll certainly hunt down 'The Glassblower's children' and I love the title - 'The Phanton Tollbooth.'


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## ajhunter (Aug 23, 2010)

I loved Dahl and Silverstein as well, but my all-time favorite book as a youngster was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  That book was so well loved by my brothers and me that its binding eventually came undone.  However, our mother, being the ever-thoughtful gift-giver, gave each of us (now all grown up) a copy for a recent Christmas!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

You have a wonderful mother


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## Tatiana (Aug 20, 2010)

Charlotte's Web.


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## askenase13 (Mar 1, 2009)

Apart from Superman comics, I really loved the Happy Hollisters series (I was about 10).  I even tried writing one.


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

Well, for very young children, "Good Night, Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown was a huge favorite. I read it so often to both my kids it kind of got it's own little spot in my heart. Occasionally I come across it at a library or book store, and think of all those nights with a lap full of youngsters fighting sleep all over again.


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## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

askenase13 said:


> Apart from Superman comics, I really loved the Happy Hollisters series (I was about 10). I even tried writing one.


I loved the Happy Hollisters series! My grandmother worked next door to a book store and she bought me the entire series, in order. I also liked _The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew_.


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## Guest (Oct 13, 2010)




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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

In the first grade I remember my teacher reading Shel Silverstein to us and just loving the little silly rhymes and stories.
Later in third grade my teacher read Matilda, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and James and The Giant Peach to us. I remember absolutely loving them! 

Other than the Velveteen Rabbit, I think those are the ones that stick out most to me from my childhood.


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

> Charlotte's Web.


Ditto . Read Charlotte's Web over and over again. I also had the entire set of "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My younger brother defiled one fo them however when he wrote "Out" in front of "House" on the cover so it read "Little Outhouse on the Prairie." Little brothers can be a pain.... even when they are no longer little .


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## Malweth (Oct 18, 2009)

I thought of picture books until I read through others answers...
What came to mind was "Le Petit Prince."
Also... "If you give a mouse a cookie..."

... My kids are young (5 & 1).


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

I can't believe I forgot this one -- should have included it in my previous post.  Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising" series.  My aunt gave it to me the first as a Christmas gift and I finished it that night and was waiting at the library door when it opened after the holiday.


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## ZsuZsu (Dec 27, 2009)

I loved SO many different kinds of books as a child (and as an adult!)... some of the ones that I recall as "favorites" that were read many times were The Phantom Tollbooth, The Secret Garden, the original Grimm's Fairy Tales and every Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Trixie Belden book I could get my hands on!!!


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## Joel Arnold (May 3, 2010)

Mine is _Where the Red Fern Grows_ by Wilson Rawls. I also loved the _Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators_ series!


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## scottnicholson (Jan 31, 2010)

Dr. Seuss! Lorax, Horton, Butter Battle, Cat in the Hat


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## strawhatbrat (Aug 20, 2010)

Narnia!


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

Probably A Little Princess -- I had big chunks of that one memorized -- but I also loved:

The Little House series (I still reread these every year or two)
Mara, Daughter of the Nile
The House with a Clock in Its Walls
A Wrinkle in Time
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Chronicles of Prydain
The Changeling


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

The Red Dory.  Don't remember much about it other than how much I loved it, and what a mood it put me in.  I remember the sea, fogs, the lapping of the waves, a kindly old man.  It's all disjointed.  The book is out of print, I believe.  I'd love to read it again.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

It has to be The Grinch That Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. I read it for the first time ever, to my son, and I had no idea of how utterly beautiful that poem really was until I read the whole thing as an adult. Just an excellent book.

Dawn


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

Blanche said:


> Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising" series.


I love those, didn't encounter them until I was an adult, always thought of them as Teen/Young Adult rather than for children.

Which reminded me of the Children of Green Knowe (and the remainder of the series) by L.M. Boston


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

ANYTHING by Dr. Seuss. My kids both loved him.

My youngest loved Goodnight Moon. I never understood why, but he was mesmerized by it.

Malweth - 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie' was a favorite for all of us. To this day, when we get sidetracked, we use the expression 'No, I didn't get that done. I was busy feeding cookies to mice'. LOVED that book.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

The _Tom Swift, Jr._ series. _Robin Hood. Treasure Island._


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

'Butter Battle'? What a great title. Never heard of that.


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

Definitely Narnia for me, but anything by L.M. Montgomery would be a close second.


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## sbaum4853 (May 3, 2010)

I love all the classics with a particular fondness for Lloyd Alexander.

Once when I was in 3rd grade I found a gem of a book at the library called Invasion of the Brain Sharpeners. I clearly remember reading it all in one sitting. It's long out of print, but through the magic of the Internet, old, worn out copies are still floating around for sale.


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## Figment (Oct 27, 2008)

Dr. Seuss...but not _The Cat In The Hat_ and its progeny...not the children's readers at all. I loved the poetry and word play of the earlier books: _And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, The 1001 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches the Egg_...etc., etc., etc. The drawings were very much a bonus to the wordplay. My father read those books to all of us...8 kids spread out over 20 years...GREAT MEMORIES!

While I never really outgrew sitting around before bed and listening to Dad read to the younger kids (something he did for about 30 years), once I was choosing books on my own, no competition: My absolute favorite book of childhood was _Secret Garden_. I don't believe it was on the shelf at the local library for about two years, because I kept it checked out (two weeks at a time...then take it back and wait a whole day for it to get reshelved before I could snatch it again). I LOVED that book!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I'm embarrassed to say I've never read any Dr Seuss


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

The first book that I *loved* was The Boxcar Children. I was eight and in third grade. I'm not sure that was my favorite book, but it was the most pivotal because before that, I liked reading, but I'd only read very short stories like you find in school reading books. 

One of my favorites was "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead. It took what I loved about The Boxcar Children, the whole living on their own, and took it to a new level.


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

MaryMcDonald said:


> One of my favorites was "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead. It took what I loved about The Boxcar Children, the whole living on their own, and took it to a new level.


I loved that book better than any of her others, wanted to live in my own hollow tree! And Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell was another read again-and-again favorite. I also loved a book called Follow My Leader


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## Philip N (Oct 8, 2010)

I very much enjoyed George Macdonald's fairy-tale stories, especially these:
_
The Princess and the Goblin
The Princess and Curdie
The Golden Key_ (my favorite short story of all time)
_The Day Boy and the Night Girl (Nycteris and Photogen)
The Light Princess
The Lost Princess (The Wise Woman)
Little Daylight_

Of books not yet mentioned, I also really enjoyed the Mad Scientists' Club and the Rick Brant Science/Electronic adventures.


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

ZsuZsu said:


> I loved SO many different kinds of books as a child (and as an adult!)... some of the ones that I recall as "favorites" that were read many times were The Phantom Tollbooth, The Secret Garden, the original Grimm's Fairy Tales and every Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Trixie Belden book I could get my hands on!!!


I read every Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden book, too ... but never thought to try any of the Hardy Boys books. Would a girl or woman like them, too?


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss
There's a Monster at the End of this Book by Grover (from Sesame Street) ~ It's a Little Golden Book and I've probably gone through 10 copies of that books since I was young. 

So many of these books mentioned are on the BRATs bookshelves. We read so much!


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## CaroleC (Apr 19, 2010)

I am 62 years old and I am re-reading the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. A few weeks ago I finished re-reading the _Road to Oz_, one of my favorites as a little girl, and I loved it.

What a wonderful book, and how innocent were the times in which it was written. I think it is my favorite children's book at the moment.


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

CaroleC said:


> I am 62 years old and I am re-reading the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. A few weeks ago I finished re-reading the _Road to Oz_, one of my favorites as a little girl, and I loved it.
> 
> What a wonderful book, and how innocent were the times in which it was written. I think it is my favorite children's book at the moment.


I'm 58 and that series is on my "To Be Read" list as well. I am sooooooo ready to read some books from a simpler time.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Carl Ashmore said:


> I'm embarrassed to say I've never read any Dr Seuss


I never read any until my son came along, now we have most of them.

Dawn


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## William Meikle (Apr 19, 2010)

Carl Ashmore said:


> As a writer for children, I am intrigued to know other readers/writers favourite childrens books.
> 
> Mine is Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'... Simply perfect!


Treasure Island. Nearly 45 years since I first read it, and it still captivates me. Pirates, buried treasure and skullduggery on the high seas. What's not to like?


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## JaneD (May 11, 2010)

Definitely Little Women. Read it many times over.


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## Guest (Oct 17, 2010)

Dawn McCullough White said:


> It has to be The Grinch That Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. I read it for the first time ever, to my son, and I had no idea of how utterly beautiful that poem really was until I read the whole thing as an adult. Just an excellent book.
> 
> Dawn


YES. When I was teaching in Japan, I brought a copy of this book and a copy of the movie in to my elementary school for Christmas. We watched the movie and read the book and they loved it even though they probably couldn't understand half of it. They were so adorable and thrilled with it. At the end I would ask them some questions, and I'd always get choked up when I asked


Spoiler



why the Grinch brought the presents back and I read the line: "Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.


 I left the book there so even though I'm gone they'll be able to enjoy it at Christmastime.


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## Cathymw (May 27, 2010)

Candee15 said:


> I read every Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden book, too ... but never thought to try any of the Hardy Boys books. Would a girl or woman like them, too?


I think so. This woman did when she was a girl (and reread them occasionally). They followed the same idea as Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden (and Trixie Belden was my favorite children's series, hands down.) with young people solving the mysteries.

The main characters were teenage boys, but they did really cool stuff (like flying, spelunking) that I think many girls would like too. And there were secondary female characters too that showed up often, and even helped investigate.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I've never even heard of Trixie Beldon. Might have to google that one.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Mine would have to be the Narnia series. We have family reading time every night and we are nearly finished with Prince Caspian.

When I was a kid, I have to admit that I did like the Hardy Boys books. I think a lot of it had to do with there were so many of them. I would save my allowance and get one every chance that I could for a year or so. Here are some others that I remember fondly:




































I just found White Fang free on kindle! Into my TBR pile it goes! I used to have a hardcover, but I don't have a clue what happened to it.


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Cathymw said:


> I think so. This woman did when she was a girl (and reread them occasionally). They followed the same idea as Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden (and Trixie Belden was my favorite children's series, hands down.) with young people solving the mysteries.
> 
> The main characters were teenage boys, but they did really cool stuff (like flying, spelunking) that I think many girls would like too. And there were secondary female characters too that showed up often, and even helped investigate.


Thanks! Me, too, as far as Trixie Belden being MY favorites, too. I still remember always carrying a book around with me.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

oooh, thanks for the 'White Fang' tip. I'll upload that.


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## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

Candee15 said:


> Thanks! Me, too, as far as Trixie Belden being MY favorites, too. I still remember always carrying a book around with me.


Trixie Belden was definitely one of my favorites. Riding horses and solving mysteries sounded like heaven to a city kid like me - I wanted to BE a Bobwhite of the Glen.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Carl Ashmore said:


> oooh, thanks for the 'White Fang' tip. I'll upload that.


No problem at all. I haven't been on a free book cruise for a while, so if I get a chance I'll go back out on the free classic children's book hunt and post for everyone.


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## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

Carl Ashmore said:


> I've never even heard of Trixie Beldon. Might have to google that one.


Never. Heard. Of Trixie... !









Well, after that... of the kid's books I still own (MANY) and would have to be pried out of my cold, dead fingers before I gave them up without a fight---the Rick Brant series. (I'm only missing four to make a complete set.) Although many times, especially lately, I've been tempted to sell them on eBay and just as many times knew I'd regret it forever if I did... The science and tech in the stories might be a little dated, but they still kick major butt!


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## Philip N (Oct 8, 2010)

T.M. Roy (Terry) said:


> Well, after that... of the kid's books I still own (MANY) and would have to be pried out of my cold, dead fingers before I gave them up without a fight---the Rick Brant series. (I'm only missing four to make a complete set.) Although many times, especially lately, I've been tempted to sell them on eBay and just as many times knew I'd regret it forever if I did... The science and tech in the stories might be a little dated, but they still kick major butt!


Which is your favorite? We had maybe half of the Rick Brant's growing up, but the one that stands out the most is the Pirates of Shan. I loved the PT boat! And the scenes with tacks and hombargers.

Chahda is one of my favorite characters ever.


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## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

Philip N said:


> Which is your favorite? We had maybe half of the Rick Brant's growing up, but the one that stands out the most is the Pirates of Shan. I loved the PT boat! And the scenes with tacks and hombargers.
> 
> Chahda is one of my favorite characters ever.


Oh gosh... what is my favorite? _The Lost City_, in which they first meet Chahda. _The Flying Stingaree_. _Rocket Jumper_. _The Pirates of Shan_ is one I am missing although I KNOW it was part of the collection when I was a kid because I read it and the cover is firmly stuck in my mind. (Missing _Pirates_, _Egyptian Cat, Deadly Dutchman_, and the _Caves of Fear_. Have all the others.)

I always thought Johnny Quest was a blatant rip off of this series.


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## Philip N (Oct 8, 2010)

T.M. Roy (Terry) said:


> Oh gosh... what is my favorite? _The Lost City_, in which they first meet Chahda. _The Flying Stingaree_. _Rocket Jumper_. _The Pirates of Shan_ is one I am missing although I KNOW it was part of the collection when I was a kid because I read it and the cover is firmly stuck in my mind. (Missing _Pirates_, _Egyptian Cat, Deadly Dutchman_, and the _Caves of Fear_. Have all the others.)
> 
> I always thought Johnny Quest was a blatant rip off of this series.


No Pirates? Ouch! Have you tried eBay/ABE for a cheap copy?

We didn't have Lost City growing up, and I always wanted to know what happened. An aura of mystery surrounded the stories we didn't have: those darn advertisements in the back of the book.  Didn't have Stingaree, either, and didn't even know about later ones like Rocket Jumper.

I agree about Johnny Quest: that show seemed to combine both the Rick Brant and Tom Quest series. I really enjoyed it, though; I wish there had been more than one season.


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## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

Philip N said:


> No Pirates? Ouch! Have you tried eBay/ABE for a cheap copy?
> 
> We didn't have Lost City growing up, and I always wanted to know what happened. An aura of mystery surrounded the stories we didn't have: those darn advertisements in the back of the book.  Didn't have Stingaree, either, and didn't even know about later ones like Rocket Jumper.
> 
> I agree about Johnny Quest: that show seemed to combine both the Rick Brant and Tom Quest series. I really enjoyed it, though; I wish there had been more than one season.


When I get a steady income again, I'll try to pick up some of my missing volumes. I loved _Stingaree _because I did some growing up around that area (Chesapeake Bay)--oh, and _Whispering Box_, which took place in Washington D.C. I think they first met Steve Ames in _Whispering Box_, too. Dang it, now I'm going to have to go on a Rick Kick some time soon. Must resist! Have projects to finish first...

Guys... Sorry to hijack the thread with Rick Brant, but its even more rare to meet up with another Rick Brant fan than a Trixie Belden fan.


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## Pinworms (Oct 20, 2010)

I liked books by Gordon Korman.  He has a series of books based around two characters named Bruno and Boots, and their shenanigans at boarding school.  The humor was really, really spot on for a middle schooler.


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## Philip N (Oct 8, 2010)

T.M. Roy (Terry) said:


> When I get a steady income again, I'll try to pick up some of my missing volumes. I loved _Stingaree _because I did some growing up around that area (Chesapeake Bay)--oh, and _Whispering Box_, which took place in Washington D.C. I think they first met Steve Ames in _Whispering Box_, too. Dang it, now I'm going to have to go on a Rick Kick some time soon. Must resist! Have projects to finish first...
> 
> Guys... Sorry to hijack the thread with Rick Brant, but its even more rare to meet up with another Rick Brant fan than a Trixie Belden fan.


Steve Ames is cool.  Perhaps what I liked most about the Rick Brant series was the plethora of good, recurring characters (even if there wasn't an overarching plot).


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## KindleChickie (Oct 24, 2009)

Watership Down was always my favorite.


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## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

So many books mentioned bring back great memories. I always loved _Winnie-the-Pooh_ as a young child. A little older, I loved _The Phantom Tollbooth_ and _Anne of Green Gables_.


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## MelissaBuell (Oct 8, 2010)

Previous posters hit so many old favorites!    The Phantom Tollbooth, The Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables series, The Little House on the Prairie series...so many more I can't think of right now. I've always loved reading and love to re-read the old favorites.


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## Cirlonde (Sep 25, 2010)

Sometimes I think I have more favorite children's books than I do adult books!  Sooooo many that I still love!

To name a few...Cloud Horse by Jill Pinkwater (one of the best gifts my husband ever gave me was hunting down a copy of this book).
The entire Hank the Cowdog series.
Black Beauty.
Anne of Green Gables.
Enchanted Chronicles series by Patricia C. Wrede.
And a strong second for the Phantom Tollbooth (gonna make my husband sit down and read that one day it's so worth it).
-C


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

Cirlonde said:


> And a strong second for the Phantom Tollbooth (gonna make my husband sit down and read that one day it's so worth it).


Consider making the time to read The Phantom Tollbooth to your husband. Years ago, a boyfriend and I did this for each other (I read him Phantom Tollbooth, he read me Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). It's a wonderful shared activity. Adults just don't get read to anymore, and audiobooks really aren't the same!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Stormhawk, I couldn't agree more.


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## tsilver (Aug 9, 2010)

The Pollyanna books which are considered corny today.  They helped me survive my childhood.  Also the Nancy Drew books and the Hardy Boys.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Carl, I like that your status is "Dr. Seuss" right now, which is perfect for this thread. I happen to teach children's literature, which is a particular delight: college students rethinking their connection to childhood and how to write for young children to young adults. We start with the first Harry Potter, read eight picture books including "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak, and the newer and fabulous "The Frog Prince Continued" by Jon Scieszka. We plow along with Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach" and, with several other books in between, end with "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. 

There are a lot of great children's books--but will they ever make it to the Kindle?


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## jwasserman (Aug 30, 2010)

Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude

My son loves this book and I confess it's a lot of fun- great illustratons and very funny


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Christopher Meeks said:


> Carl, I like that your status is "Dr. Seuss" right now, which is perfect for this thread. I happen to teach children's literature, which is a particular delight: college students rethinking their connection to childhood and how to write for young children to young adults. We start with the first Harry Potter, read eight picture books including "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak, and the newer and fabulous "The Frog Prince Continued" by Jon Scieszka. We plow along with Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach" and, with several other books in between, end with "The Giver" by Lois Lowry.
> 
> There are a lot of great children's books--but will they ever make it to the Kindle?


I sooooo wish there was a compilation of Dr. Seuss books for Kindle...for me <g>. I want that!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Sounds like a great little course you're running there, Chris. I'm a lecturer in a college myself (in Film. Media and Screenwriting) but I'd certainly like to sit in your classes.


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## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

jwasserman said:


> Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude
> 
> My son loves this book and I confess it's a lot of fun- great illustratons and very funny


There is a sequel to this called _Once Upon a Royal Superbaby_ - same concept and a lot of fun.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks, Margaret


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## jwasserman (Aug 30, 2010)

how did i miss that? thanks margaret. i'll definitely have to pick that one up



Margaret said:


> There is a sequel to this called _Once Upon a Royal Superbaby_ - same concept and a lot of fun.


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

MelissaBuell said:


> Previous posters hit so many old favorites!  The Phantom Tollbooth, The Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables series, The Little House on the Prairie series...so many more I can't think of right now. I've always loved reading and love to re-read the old favorites.


I love, love, love The Phantom Tollbooth. What a special book!!!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

You know I'm sad to say I'd never heard of 'The Phantom Tollbooth.' I shall certainly find it. 
Carl


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Carl Ashmore said:


> You know I'm sad to say I'd never heard of 'The Phantom Tollbooth.' I shall certainly find it.
> Carl


I had never heard of it either until this thread. What a special, special book that I missed out on. It's an amazing book from an adult's point of view.


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## Greg Slomba (Oct 31, 2010)

There are so many! Where to begin? The Narnia series is probably my favorite, but The Phantom Tollbooth is great as well.I love tales of children who are drawn into a new world and what they learn about themselves through that.
Greg


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## julydreamer (Jun 29, 2010)

as a child I loved what I called the big blue book, it was well a big blue book filled with the golden book stories, I read it so much I had it duck taped together and that eventually didn't hold it together either. I had several books that I reread over and over though as I got older, most of which are mentioned here, the borrowers-haven't read the other 4 though just the one, narnia of course and sad to say I went through a period where I was obsessed with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and read all of their mystery books


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Yeah, I was a huge Narnia fan as a child, Greg. Still am.


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

Andrew Lang's fairytale collections. Those are superb. Also, any of Tomi Ungerer's books (Moon Man, The Hat, Crictor, etc).


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks, CH. Again, more books that I'm not aware of. Wonderful.


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## Greg Slomba (Oct 31, 2010)

I find that many of the books I read when I was younger have another dimension now that I'm an adult. I think that's what makes certain books Classics. Another one that I love(d) is My Brother Sam is Dead, which takes place in Connecticut during the American Revolution. As a child, it fascinated me to read about what it was like 200 years ago in the area where I lived.


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

The Red Dory.  I don't remember who wrote it, what the main character's name was, the exact town in took place in.  All I remember is that it was New England coast, and a boy lived with a fisherman.  Maybe this is why I enjoy fishing.  When I think of this book I smell the saltwater and can hear the sound of the surf, although, since it's foggy, I cannot see the sea.  Ha!  I give it 5 stars!


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## kindlequeen (Sep 3, 2010)

Green Eggs and Ham - I love the lesson of stepping out of your comfort zone to try something new and the other lesson about never giving up!

Goodnight Moon - so simple and beautiful, I had several copies of this as a child!

Velveteen Rabbit, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Anne of Green Gables, any fairytales I could get my hands on, too

And.... I might be lynched for this but I loved the Babysitter's Club books!  Great lessons on friendship!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Queen, I would never allow you to be lynched


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

kindlequeen said:


> Green Eggs and Ham - I love the lesson of stepping out of your comfort zone to try something new and the other lesson about never giving up!
> 
> Goodnight Moon - so simple and beautiful, I had several copies of this as a child!
> 
> ...


I thought that the BSC rocked! I devoured those books.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I've certainly never read them


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

I'll agree with the others who've mentioned Narnia and The Borrowers, but I think my favorite has to be:



Loved the whole series!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Again, another one I don;t know. Thanks, Jason


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Carl Ashmore said:


> Again, another one I don;t know. Thanks, Jason


That's what I love about these boards...sharing ideas and suggestions. I would have missed out on experiencing The Phantom Tollbooth, which is such a worthwhile read.


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## runner4546 (Oct 27, 2010)

Right now, since my daughter is not yet 2, we're enjoying "God Gave Us You". I cried the first time I read it to her! I'm sure this will change as we get into the bigger books and the classics that I read as a kid!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

You're quite right, Candee. And that's been the most recommended book on the thread.


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## warobison (Aug 29, 2010)

_Watership Down_ if we accept that it was ever intended to be a children's book (available on kindle for $12.99!).

A less expensive choice, and one definitely designed more for young people, is Robert Newton Peck's _A Day No Pigs Would Die_. And, even better, its Kindle edition is only $5.49.

At the end of _Watership Down_, I always get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, but with Peck's book, the tears come much sooner and last a lot longer.


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

I was recently reminded of the Beverly Cleary books ... Ramona the Pest,  her sister Beezus, Henry Huggins and Ribsy. Childhood should be full of mischevious friends.

And I was always clearing the shelves of Marguerite Henry's Horse books ... Misty of Chincoteage, Stormy Misty's Foal, Sea Star, King of the Wind, Gaudenzia Pride of the Palio, Black Gold, Born to Trot ... my childhood was full of horse books. And the C.W. Anderson books! 

And I read Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy over and over. Didn't like the movie. Rosie O'Donnell was NOT Ole Golly!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Lol, Storm.


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## Dee_DeTarsio (Oct 26, 2010)

My first favorite children's book (that I love to buy for new parents with new babies) is Love You Forever...It always makes me cry! (Which for some strange reason I love!)


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Dee_DeTarsio said:


> My first favorite children's book (that I love to buy for new parents with new babies) is Love You Forever...It always makes me cry! (Which for some strange reason I love!)


I was just going to recommend that book. It is beautiful, but it tears my heart out.


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## Julie Christensen (Oct 13, 2010)

I loved the drawings in those Cordury books.  Remember them?  The bear in the department store who's missing a button?  Don Freeman was the author/illustrator.  He did great illustrations of city life - everyone a different ethnicity, going to the laundrymat, plus the department store reminds me of Macy's in NYC.  Escalators, etc, back before the days of Walmart.


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## julydreamer (Jun 29, 2010)

yes! I loved that book too! this thread makes me want to go sit in the children's department and just read a bunch of old books


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Me too, July. xx


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## Trilby (Jul 26, 2009)

*Hubby and I bought this book for our Son when he was about 10 (He's 27 now) and we still talk about it! It's just an awesome little story and the pictures are great!*


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

warobison said:


> _Watership Down_ if we accept that it was ever intended to be a children's book (available on kindle for $12.99!).
> 
> A less expensive choice, and one definitely designed more for young people, is Robert Newton Peck's _A Day No Pigs Would Die_. And, even better, its Kindle edition is only $5.49.
> 
> At the end of _Watership Down_, I always get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, but with Peck's book, the tears come much sooner and last a lot longer.


I'd forgotten about _A Day No Pigs Would Die_. I cried buckets while reading that one. I might be due for a re-read.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks, Triliby and Aravis.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I've just read TimeRiders by Alex SCarrow. That was quite good.


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## OliverBrant (Dec 21, 2010)

Favorite books: _Charlotte's Web_ (age 6), _The Jungle Books_ (age 7), _ Robin Hood_ and _Swiss Family Robinson_ ( age 8 ), _The Little Mermaid_ (age 9), _Tom Sawyer_ and _Huckleberry Finn_ (age 10), _The Hardy Boys Mysteries_ (age 11), _The Wizard of Oz_ (age 12). My first grade teacher read _Charlotte's Web_ to us during the lunch hour over the course of the year, and I remember looking forward to learning what was going to become of poor Wilbur. The version of _The Jungle Books_ I read was a simplified one (I have since read the original as an adult. It is, of course, quite good; but I doubt I could have tackled it at age 7.) I particularly liked the menacing figure of Shere Khan and the way the character gives the story its shape. The characters in _Robin Hood_ were captivating (Little John, Friar Tuck, and Will Scarlet), and _Swiss Family Robinson_ was incredible. And, yes, yes, I know. Boys aren't supposed to like _The Little Mermaid_, but I did. An aunt gave it to me, and I loved it. _Tom Sawyer_ was child's play, while _Huckleberry Finn_ was more difficult fare. I recall having trouble getting through the middle, when it discusses 'the King' and 'the Duke', two con men than Huck and Jim encounter. Yet, I stuck with it. When I read it 20 years later, it was equally good. There's just something about the trip down the Mississipp that's enthralling. My love affair with the Hardy Boys was kicked off with _The Mystery of the Secret Panel_. I recall reading _The Wizard of Oz_ during a particularly severe summer, when it was too hot to go out during the day. I lay inside my grandparents' house and read about the Yellow Brick Road under an old evaporative cooler that drowned out any and all noise in the house. The story was lovely and thoroughly entranced me.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

My favorite books from Childhood:

The King, the Mice and the Cheese
I loved the cause and effect--cats to get rid of mice, dogs to chase off the cats--lions to chase off the dogs--until it comes full circle. The pictures, while simple were and remain quite memorable.

and

The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek

I loved dinosaurs and this book just set off my imagination of "what ifs" while reading the adventure.


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

At the moment "Roly Poly Pangdolin".  I just read it to my 2-year old grandson the other day.  A great read for kids who have a lot of fears, like me when I was a child.  But it's good for a baby too, because of the sing-songy rhyming.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Many thanks, Nancy. I have a 17 month old so I'll look for that


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

Carl Ashmore said:


> Many thanks, Nancy. I have a 17 month old so I'll look for that


Carl, if you haven't yet, check out the Llama Llama books by the same author, Anna Dewdney. Also great for babies.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks, Nancy. I haven;t seen them. I shall look around. Alice likes the Usborne publishing 'phonics readers' like 'Ted in a Red Bed. And I love reading them to her 
xx


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Oh, and thanks for recommending The Hunger Games. I loved it.


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## Amy Corwin (Jan 3, 2011)

I have so many favorites, but here are a few:
The Swiss Family Robinson - 


And I just loved the Tom Swift books:


I really liked adventure and mystery stories. In fact, I still do!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Ah, wasn't The Swiss Family Robinson a wonderful story? And John Mills was great in the film.


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## Kimberly Montague (Jan 3, 2011)

I still have my old cracked and battered copy of The Poky Little Puppy and the Patchwork Blanket. I loved that book so much when I was little. Unfortunately, I really don't remember anything in between Poky and Bridge to Terabithia. Terabithia was the first book I read that I re-read several times. Others that I loved were Witches by Roald Dahl and does anyone remember The Castle in the Attic? That was a good book!


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## payabana (Oct 16, 2010)

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin!


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

payabana said:


> The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin!


That reminds me that I loved her book, The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues

Which, for some reason, reminded me of Harriet the Spy


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Ah, never heard of that, Kimberley.


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## Miriam Minger (Nov 27, 2010)

I, too, loved the Borrowers and Pippi Longstocking.

Miriam


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I've never actually read 'The Borrowers'. Shame on me


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## Bakari (May 25, 2010)

'Hands down' it was the _Encyclopedia Brown_ series. It made me want to be smarter and to study the world more. It's also why I love shows like _Psyche_.

_--- no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar, please_


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## sparklemotion (Jan 13, 2011)

Two of my very favorites are The Little Prince and Little Women.


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## Mrs. K. (Dec 31, 2010)

So many I could have chosen, but the best of the best is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. LOVED this book both as a child and as an adult. What I found amusing as a child is both darkly ironic and laugh-out-loud hilarious now. 

Contenders were the Beverly Cleary books. There's not a bad one in the bunch but The Mouse and the Motorcycle immediately comes to mind as a favorite.  

Oh but then there was Encyclopedia Brown...and The Boxcar Children...

...sigh...


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

'Charlie' is my favourite book too, Mrs K. It's lovely. I try and read it at least twice a year


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## Oh2Read (Jan 10, 2011)

This one is hard, too many books to choose from, but a lot have been mentioned already.

The Great Brain series- very smart and funny!
Charlie & The Choccy Factory- I read and watch this movie at least 2x a yr. (The original, tyvm, Johnny Depp is NO Gene Wilder)
Trixie Belden
Encyclopedia Brown
The Westing Game
The Egypt Game- It scared me as a kid..the psychological kind of fear..I don't think I can remember another book that had the same effect.
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Also as an adult.. Philadelphia Chicken..my daughter and I loved reading this one together.


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## harpwriter (Sep 28, 2010)

_In the Keep of Time_ by Margaret Anderson, in which four siblings go in a Scottish keep to explore, and come down to medieval Scotland. I read and re-read it and have read it to my children. Not surprisingly, it's one of the inspirations for my own novel, which also involves people going into a castle keep and coming out in different times. (Although mine is very different, and not a children's novel.)


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

> The Egypt Game- It scared me as a kid..the psychological kind of fear..I don't think I can remember another book that had the same effect.


I haven't thought of that book in years, but it was always one of my favorites ... and the creepiness was a part of that. I've hunted down copies to give to children of friends a couple of times.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I'd never heard of The Egypt Game. I'll look out for that.


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## M.C. Walker (Sep 19, 2010)

Charlotte's Web.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Cheers, MC. Like your book cover.


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Daphne said:


> As a child "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett


Frances Hodgson Burnett is wonderful. Have you read _Editha's Burglar_? It's a short story, absolutely charming. You can easily find it online for free.

My all time favorite is Narnia.


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## MeloniePhillips (Jan 13, 2011)

The first two books I can remember from when I was a child are Amelia Bedelia, and then Charlie and the Dinosaur, I think that was the name.  After that anything by Judy Blume!  Superfudge, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Blubber, Are You There God, It's me Margaret.  Oh and I forgot Stuart Little.


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## buekwurm (Jan 22, 2011)

I have a few favorites as well. I found these titles...


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I named my daughter Alice (after Mr Carroll)


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## Manley (Nov 14, 2010)

One of my recent favorites is Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger by Kevin Bolger. It inspired me to realize that kids like to read unorthodox stories like that. I know I do. So, in a way, Sir Fartsalot gave birth to Bloated Goat.

Boy, that's a rough mental image.


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## Arthur Slade (Jan 20, 2011)

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. First fantasy novel I read on my own. Let me know there were all sorts of other worlds out there.

The Hobbit would be a close 2nd. My family went to Disneyland for a week when I was in grade four and I remember being upset that I would miss a week of my teacher reading the Hobbit.

Art


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## Manley (Nov 14, 2010)

Arthur Slade said:


> The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. First fantasy novel I read on my own. Let me know there were all sorts of other worlds out there.
> 
> The Hobbit would be a close 2nd. My family went to Disneyland for a week when I was in grade four and I remember being upset that I would miss a week of my teacher reading the Hobbit.
> 
> Art


@Art - yeah, I mention The Book of Three all of the time, too. I love all 5 books in the Prydain Chronicles. I had my daughter read those when she was 9 or so. Of course, she loved them. Lloyd Alexander was a great author.


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## Annalinde Matichei (Jan 23, 2011)

All of E. Nesbit's magical books (especially _Five Children and It_). Also Edward Eager's magical books, each of which is a specific homage to one of Miss Nesbit's (_Half Magic_ to _The Story of the Amulet_, for example). Sadly rather forgotten now, but magical and beautiful.


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## Margaret Jean (Aug 31, 2010)

At 10 yrs old: BLACK BEAUTY. Today: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.  We never outgrow the magic & the mystery.


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

Oooh, yeah. Childhood. Magick. Coolness. 

The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston 

there's a whole series of them. None for Kindle yet, though.


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## 28612 (Dec 7, 2010)

purplepen79 said:


> So many to choose from . . . I would have to say Mary Norton's Borrowers stories. Those stories made me believe there were borrowers living in my house.


YES! And it wasn't my fault when things went missing 

Other favorites included Marguerite Henry's books (Misty of Chincotegue) and Albert Payson Terhune's about collies.


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## Bunny Hugger (Jan 7, 2011)

There are so many to choose from!  I'll stick to top 3 stand alone books and 1 series:

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (I saw that someone posted this earlier, so I'll second it!  LOVE this book so much)

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (All of my friends' kids receive this book from me)

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn

I also loved all of the Fear Street books by RL Stein & any books by Christopher Pike when I was younger.


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## Talia Jager (Sep 22, 2010)

For young children, my favorite book is Love You Forever. Older kids: The Borrowers, Narnia, Judy Blume books. When I was younger: The Babysitter's Club, Sweet Valley Twins/High, VC Andrews, and Christopher Pike books. My 9 year old likes the Allie Finkle books. My 13 year old is not a book lover  But, Twilight and The Hunger Games have her reading lately.


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## Patrick Skelton (Jan 7, 2011)

I really like THE GIVER.  Just read it the other day...still good even as an adult.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

The best children's books are for all ages, Patrick. And thanks. I didn't know that one


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

Anything by H.P. Lovecraft. Kidding! I have a 3 year old at home, the last thing I need her to think is that there are rats in the walls. 

I read her Alice's adventures in Wonderland. She told me to stop reading when the Queen of Hearts called out "Off with his head!" Butwe kept reading it, and when it was done she clapped. She never claps at the end of books.

Reading some of these messages reminded me of books I haven't thought of in ages. I liked A Wrinkle in Time, the only thing that bothered me was a review on the back of the book which said essentially, "it isn't science fiction, it's _good_!" Phantom Toll booth was good. We lived 60 miles from the nearest bookstore, but there were a lot of books in our house. I read Trixie Belden and the Happy Holisters.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks Quantum. I've heard good things about Phantom Tollbooth. I named by daughter after Mr Carroll's heroine


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## 28612 (Dec 7, 2010)

sparklemotion said:


> Two of my very favorites are The Little Prince and Little Women.


Oh, yes -- Little Women. And the rest of the books: Little Men, Jo's Boys.

Also loved the whole series of Oz books beyond The Wizard of


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I loved the film when I was a kid - was it June Allyson??


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## Chryse (Oct 4, 2010)

My absolute favorite as a kiddo
Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months


I also liked this one, along with the original Charlie.


Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

My kiddo's current favorite:

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? (Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners)

He's a big Dr. Seuss fan, as am I.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Great choice, Chryse


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## tim290280 (Jan 11, 2011)

As a child a really loved The Magic Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton.

Now as an adult I'd have to say that I'd probably prefer reading my (future) kids Harry Potter.


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## Cardinal (Feb 24, 2010)

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. 

When I was really little my favorites were Poke-a-Long and The Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings and Winnie the Pooh.

I discovered The Great Brain series in my school library.  I can't wait for the those to come to Kindle and reread them, I'm constantly clicking on them.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Enid Blyton is probably the most mentioned of all. Didn't expect that.


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## dltanner99 (Sep 9, 2010)

I am a huge fan of LLoyd Alexander's "Chronicles pf Prydain", which included the great book but not-so-much animated film, "The Black Cauldron".


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

At age 63, I still get warm fuzzies from:

Lil' TOOT


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

I  loved everything written by English author, Enid Blyton. I learned to read from her books and still have the whole collection in perfect condition. As a kid I found her books magical.


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Green Eggs and Ham

I fell in love with it when my two youngest boys were small.  Reading it to them was a always a good time.


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## Cherilyn (Dec 27, 2010)

For the babies, Love you forever. I still tear up even thinking of that book!

Older, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Wrinkle in Time, Tuck Everlasting...I may have to get these for my kindle. I love them!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

You're not alone on  that one, Cherilyn.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Seriously, there have been some great books mentioned


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## Philip N (Oct 8, 2010)

Another of my favorite books growing up was _Snow Treasure_. It's about Norwegian children smuggling out their country's gold under the noses of Nazis during WWII.


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

Philip N said:


> Another of my favorite books growing up was _Snow Treasure_. It's about Norwegian children smuggling out their country's gold under the noses of Nazis during WWII.


I remember reading this book in school and loving it. I found a copy a couple of years ago and re-read it. Such a neat story.


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## Miriam Minger (Nov 27, 2010)

Anything by Hans Christian Andersen...Thumbelina.

Miriam Minger


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks, Miriam. He's underrated.


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## jimbronyaur (Feb 9, 2011)

The Giving Tree


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## LaFlamme (Dec 9, 2010)

Man, Dr. Suess. I don't remember the name of the volume, but it's the one with the story called "What Was I Scared of?" Pale green pants with nobody inside 'em. I swear that story is the reason I lean toward horror even when I don't want to.


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## MeikMeik (Feb 11, 2011)

There's a Monster at the End of This Book 

I'm not sure if these would be considered children's books but my mom bought them so I read them: The Velveteen Rabbit  and  Black Beauty


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## Guy Dragon (Feb 6, 2011)

Wow. I barely remember back that far!
_Where the Red Fern Grows_ was always one of my favorites.
Continuing with stories with dogs: _Big Red_ by Jim Kjelgaard.


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## lstrange (May 21, 2010)

As a young child my all-time favourite book was The Monster's Nose is Cold. It's out of print now, but I found a copy a few years ago.


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## matt youngmark (Jan 11, 2011)

My ALL TIME favorite book as a little kid:


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## scribblydoodler (Feb 9, 2011)

As a child, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I remember reading it under the dining room table (a very large table), one evening in the winter, and it was the first book that actually physically transported me into another world. Funnily enough, I don't think I ever read the other two books in the Narnia trilogy.


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## matt youngmark (Jan 11, 2011)

scribblydoodler said:


> Funnily enough, I don't think I ever read the other two books in the Narnia trilogy.


Pretty sure there were seven!


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## scribblydoodler (Feb 9, 2011)

Was there? Blimey!


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## Ciareader (Feb 3, 2011)

Some great classics have been mentioned.

I remember loving a Swiftly Tilting Planet b Madeleine L'Engle.  I've got to go back and read that stuff.


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## Ciareader (Feb 3, 2011)

I also liked the Choose Your Own Adventure books, books by Judy Blume, poetry by Shel Silverstein (sp?).


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## matt youngmark (Jan 11, 2011)

Ciareader said:


> I also liked the Choose Your Own Adventure books, books by Judy Blume, poetry by Shel Silverstein (sp?).


Oh, those too! I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books so much, I wrote my own.


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## NotActive (Jan 24, 2011)

content


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## HeadshotHeather (Jan 7, 2010)

Picture book - Skippyjon Jones
Stories/poems - Shel Silverstein & Dr Seuss (any and all)
Chapter book - Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

For an interesting compare-and-contrast selection:


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

_Le Petit Prince_ by de Saint-Exupéry. "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." It still makes me cry.

But most of my favorite childhood books were not children's books. _The Three Musketeers_, _The Count of Monte Cristo_, _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_...


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## Ciareader (Feb 3, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> _Le Petit Prince_ by de Saint-Exupéry. "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." It still makes me cry.
> 
> But most of my favorite childhood books were not children's books. _The Three Musketeers_, _The Count of Monte Cristo_, _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_...


Je l'ai lu au lycee...


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## Indy (Jun 7, 2010)

I don't know if I replied to this thread yet or not.  The first book I remember reading was Thumbelina, I was so thrilled because I checked it out from the library.  My babysitter across the street had a lovely huge book of fairy tales, very nicely illustrated, that I must have read hundreds of times.  There were stories in there whose names I've forgotten and never seen anything like them anywhere else.  I also attempted to read Strunk and White's The Elements of Style from the same bookshelf, but alas, it put me to sleep.

Then I read the Hobbit before I was ten and that was mindblowing, but I waited a couple of years before checking out Lord of the Rings.  Oh but for simple lullaby sweetness, I have a board book of Wynken, Blynken and Nod that I read to my babies many times over when they were little.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Thank you, Indy and JR. Lovely stories.


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## Philip N (Oct 8, 2010)

JRTomlin said:


> But most of my favorite childhood books were not children's books. _The Three Musketeers_, _The Count of Monte Cristo_, _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_...


I remember reading the last two while young. Dumas was a little thick for me, but I liked Verne, especially _Journey to the Center of the Earth_ and _Mysterious Island_. And while it's not Verne, I also loved _The Prisoner of Zenda_ (which isn't a children's book either).

I've also remembered some more children's books I thoroughly enjoyed as a child growing up:

_Emil and the Detectives_ (actually a German story translated into English?)
_Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Heidi
The Black Arrow (by R. L. Stevenson)
The Jungle Book
Under the Lilacs_

And everything by L. M. Montgomery I could find.


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## Indy (Jun 7, 2010)

JRTomlin said:


> _Le Petit Prince_ by de Saint-Exupéry. "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." It still makes me cry.
> 
> But most of my favorite childhood books were not children's books. _The Three Musketeers_, _The Count of Monte Cristo_, _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_...


I'm with you on Count. I read a kiddy version of it (in a tiny square book, no less) when I was oh, ten or eleven? Even in such a dumbed-down format it was a compelling story. I've gone through three paperbacks (read 'em till they fell apart) and it's on my kindle now. It took me 32 years to get to the unabridged version!


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Ciareader said:


> Je l'ai lu au lycee...


Wow. That takes me back about a million years <g>. I "had" to read that book in French class in Junior High School. It was tough for me to get through because my French wasn't good enough (I feel NOW, looking back), but I remember LOVING the story. I think it's time for a re-read for me...in English...so I can totally enjoy the book again

Thank you for mentioning this one.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Oh, I always struggled with The Count of Monte Christo. It is such a great story though


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

bump


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## RachelHowzell (Nov 4, 2010)

I'm going really 'children's book' here but it makes me cry every time I read it (and now my daughter's reading it which adds to the sentimentality):

*The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein*

Rachel


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## sparklemotion (Jan 13, 2011)

RachelHowzell said:


> I'm going really 'children's book' here but it makes me cry every time I read it (and now my daughter's reading it which adds to the sentimentality):
> 
> *The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein*
> 
> Rachel


Oh, I love that book very much too.


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## AnneKAlbert (Dec 7, 2010)

I adore The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. Besides being witty and amusing, it made the concept of POV crystal clear to me.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks Rach, Spark and Anne.


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## Miriam Minger (Nov 27, 2010)

I've also always loved Are You My Mother? by Dr. Seuss.  I learned to read on Dr. Seuss books!

Miriam Minger


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Carl Ashmore said:


> Oh, I always struggled with The Count of Monte Christo. It is such a great story though


Why did you struggle? Did you find it hard to read?

I love this story, too. My struggle is with its numerous movie adaptations. I don't know how many I've seen, but they all mess up the ending!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I think it's just the language. I haven't read it for twenty or so years. I think it's time I tried again.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

weekly boomp


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## dawnflight1984 (Aug 21, 2009)

It will definitely have to be A Wrinkle in Time for me. It is like one of those comfort books that always makes me feel better after reading. The other one is Tiger Eyes (Judy Blume).


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## Averydebow (Jan 20, 2011)

JaneD said:


> Definitely Little Women. Read it many times over.


Me, too. I owned my mother's childhood copy and The Valley of Shadow chapter is horribly stained from cross-generational weeping.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

As a portly bloke, I've never read it


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Are you reading _The Doomsday Book_, Thalia? That was one of the most unforgettable books I've read in the last fifteen years. What a tour de force. I felt like Connie Willis had put _me_ in a time machine and sent me someplace cataclysmic. Stunning.

And judging by the list of children's books you posted, you and I lived parallel childhoods. LOL. Not only do I still read the Little House books frequently, my daughter and I used The Little House Cookbook as an inspiration for every one of her science projects. We made sourdough bread as a microbiology experiment. Cucumber pickles proved our hypothesis that an acid solution could kill food-decomposing bacteria. And so on...

Books like Mara, Daughter of the Nile probably fostered the love of archaeology that has resulted in my archaeological mysteries.

A Wrinkle in Time and The Witch of Blackbird Pond both made such an impression on me that I still remember big chunks of dialogue.

Needless to say, I made sure all my children read these books. Good times...



Thalia the Muse said:


> Probably A Little Princess -- I had big chunks of that one memorized -- but I also loved:
> 
> The Little House series (I still reread these every year or two)
> Mara, Daughter of the Nile
> ...


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## Jennybeanses (Jan 27, 2011)

I love A Wrinkle in Time and the Harry Potter Series. There was a book I read a few years ago, and for the life of me I can never remember what it's called, but it was about the moon. I must find that title.

Right now I'm reading Astel by J.R. Murdock, which hasn't been released yet, but should be next week. It's a very good story about a princess who discovers she is the chosen one, and must decide which path she will follow--the wizards or the dragons--in the course of her adventure.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I'm reading Half Blood Prince again at the mo, and thoroughly enjoying it


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Oh, wow, it's hard for me to pick just one favorite. _Frog and Toad _ were good but so was _Owl and the Pussycat_. Dr. Suess' books were fun but I also loved the _Little Bear _ books. Then there was this old series called _Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka,_ about three little girls who lived in Sweden. There was also an old series called the _Betsy, Tacey, and Tib_ books. I thought I was Tib because she had blond hair. LOL


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## Brandon514 (Mar 5, 2011)

"Halloween pigs" is a great children's book to read around Halloween.


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## Jamie Case (Feb 15, 2011)

I have to second the recommendation for The Giver. That book has the best "loss of innocence" story that I have read to date.
Other favorites include A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Animal Farm. I know Animal Farm isn't technically a children's book, but I read it as if it was. Talking animals=fantasy to my nine-year old mind. It wasn't until later that I found out that the book had much heavier themes.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Ah, you're the first person to mention Animal Farm. Thanks for that. Great book!


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## Brandon514 (Mar 5, 2011)

Jamie Case said:


> I have to second the recommendation for The Giver. That book has the best "loss of innocence" story that I have read to date.
> Other favorites include A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Animal Farm. I know Animal Farm isn't technically a children's book, but I read it as if it was. Talking animals=fantasy to my nine-year old mind. It wasn't until later that I found out that the book had much heavier themes.


"The Giver" and "Animal Farm" were both excellent reads, but "The Giver" I wouldn't consider a children's book due to it's dark, heavy themes. I can definitely see how you would see "Animal Farm" as a great children's book though, considering that it can be either a child's book or an adult book depending on your perspective.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

How true, Brandon. I've not read The Giver.


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## CaitLondon (Oct 12, 2010)

The Giving Tree.


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## Jamie Case (Feb 15, 2011)

Brandon514 said:


> "The Giver" and "Animal Farm" were both excellent reads, but "The Giver" I wouldn't consider a children's book due to it's dark, heavy themes. I can definitely see how you would see "Animal Farm" as a great children's book though, considering that it can be either a child's book or an adult book depending on your perspective.


And Boxer working himself to the point of exhaustion and then being sent to the slaughterhouse in exchange for a case of whiskey is all sunshine and bunny rabbits? 

In all seriousness though, Lois Lowry is a children's book author and wrote The Giver for children. George Orwell...not so much.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

It certainly sounds interesting.


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## Painter John (Mar 6, 2011)

Swallows and Amazons, Arthur Ransom, great old series.

- Painter John


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I wouldn't put Young Adult books in the same category as Children's books. When it comes to Children's I don't think there has ever been on better than Saint-Exupéry's _Le Petit Prince_.

I must admit that by the time I was a young adult, I had moved on to what most people consider adult literature but _A Wrinkle in Time_ is a wonderful book whatever your age.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Agreed, JR (about 'A Wrinkle in Time). I don't agree about the categorising. I have np problem with the two being categorised together.


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## phatpuppyart (Feb 26, 2011)

I have so many - one though Shel Silversteins's "The Giving Tree".


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## EverythingIndie (Mar 9, 2011)

Hm, it feels so long ago that I barely remember... Though I did absolutely love the Roald Dahl books when I was in primary school (ages 4 - 11), particularly The BFG. In secondary school and later college I was big on Harry Potter. Sad to say, I wasn't a very widely read child!


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## Ian Fraser (Mar 8, 2011)

Enid Blyton's The FarAway Tree (and most of her other 700? 800? books


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## RChaffee (Mar 3, 2011)

Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends!


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## Julia444 (Feb 24, 2011)

What a fun question!

When I was really little, I loved a book called GWENDOLINE, THE MIRACLE HEN.  

But for young adults, my all-time favorite is a book published in the 70s called ANDREW, THE BIG DEAL by Barbara Brooks Wallace.  It was narrated by a thirteen-year-old boy and the voice was perfect.

Julia


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Cheers, Julie. Nice choice


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## geniebeanie (Apr 23, 2009)

A tie between The Secret Garden and Peter Pan.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I have a first edition of Peter and Wendy from 1912. It's in dreadful condition, but I do love it so.


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## SneezyCharmed (Oct 13, 2010)

The famous five/secret seven/mallory towers/St claires series' - everytime we went out for the day my mum/dad would buy me a book usually an Enid blyton one!

Winnie the Pooh
Narnia


Can't wait to have my own children so I can introduce them to reading.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Ah, Sneezy. I used to love that Blyton present when I'd been good


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## cinder (Mar 8, 2011)

My favorite children's book would be The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco. I read it when I first got my kindle and I fell in love with it.


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## Tom Schreck (Dec 12, 2010)

Curious George!


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## Starry Eve (Mar 10, 2011)

I've always liked the animal-themed books, especially when there's a deeper meaning within the story:
_Bambi_ by Felix Salten
_King of the Wind_ by Marguerite Henry
_Where the Red Fern Grows_ by Wilson Rawls
_The Fox and the Hound_ by Daniel P. Mannix


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## Davhopkins (Mar 15, 2011)

Without any shadow of a doubt, it's got to be the excellent, fabulous, genius book, that is The Hobbit!


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## Sharonnelson123 (Feb 18, 2011)

I think I would have to say Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are by Dr. Seuss. A close second for older kids would be the magic treehouse books. They are super fun and teach a little bit of history along the way.


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## TheSeagull (Oct 25, 2009)

I find it hard to define 'children's book'. Of course there are books like Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh that are undoubtedly for children but when you look at series like The Chronicles of Narnia and His Dark Materials they are understandable and enjoyable for a child but there are layers that are aimed at adult readers (I doubt many children can pick up on Narnia's and HDM's biblical allegory). There are also books that are marketed at children but it's questionable whether children should read them at all -- Watership Down for example is quite harrowing. If I had to name my favourite book out of the titles I read as a child I would probably say J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit'. I also enjoyed the Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales, Henry Williamson's 'Tarka the Otter' and Lewis Carroll's Alice books.


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## Barbara Bartholomew (Nov 13, 2010)

"Bertram's Fabulous Animals" by Paul T. Gilbert. My uncle gave me a tattered copy when I was a little girl. It was first published in 1934. So funny!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Great title, Barbara .x


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## kindlec (Mar 12, 2011)

SneezyCharmed said:


> The famous five/secret seven/mallory towers/St claires series' - everytime we went out for the day my mum/dad would buy me a book usually an Enid blyton one!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Famous five and secret seven is my choice. Coincidentally, my parents will almost always recommend me a book by Enid Blyton as well!


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

I think Blyton is the winner, actually. More plump for her than anyone.


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## brianrowe (Mar 10, 2011)

Anything by Roald Dahl would definitely be in my favorites. I'm also partial to R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series, but those are practically unreadable once you hit your teen years, haha. But I'd have to go with the Harry Potter series... we'll never see something that magical again for a long time, if ever.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

HP was something special, Brian. I loved them.


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## Bill Talcott (Mar 19, 2011)

John Christopher's The Tripods Trilogy. I've read it a few times and after I'm finished with the book I'm on now, I might read it again.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Good for you, William


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Does anyone remember a book called 'Ned, the lonely donkey'?


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

Easy! The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis~! What a master writer that guy was...


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## Anna Elliott (Apr 24, 2011)

Oh my gosh, so many to choose from!  If I had to pick just one, it would be The Secret Garden.  But any of the Little House on the Prairie books or the Anne of Green Gables series would be close seconds.


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## PMCrawford (May 9, 2011)

Really hard to pick, but I think I'd say the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar... or Holes, if we're talking when I was a little bit older. A great mix of humor/strange meaning hidden between the lines...


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## Bernard J. Schaffer (Apr 16, 2011)

THE NIGHT KITCHEN by Maurice Sendak.


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## Guy James (May 2, 2011)

His Dark Materials, by Pullman. I'm reading the second book in the series now. It's a nice story and a good way to learn about animals and expand vocabulary. In fact, I like it more than most of the "adult" books I read.


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## Cristian YoungMiller (Mar 3, 2011)

Mine were the Berenstain Bears.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

You know, Guy, I'll be honest. I wasn;t keen on 'The Subtle Knife' .


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## kevinjamesbreaux (May 23, 2011)

My favorite children's book was Bunicula. The vampire rabbit book.  I must have read it 20 times when I was in elementary school. I wonder if I would still enjoy it now. Especially since I am a writer now, and that  effects everything I read and watch... 

Kevin James Breaux


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Good point, Kevin. You should try it.


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## Patrick Skelton (Jan 7, 2011)

Hands down... The Giver


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## jherrick (Apr 1, 2011)

I loved The Pets Revolt as a kid. A story about a bunch of small pets in an apartment building that got tired of being penned up, so they banded together and lived as a community in the building's woodwork.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Not read that one.


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## HDJensen (Apr 20, 2011)

I love Bruce Coville's J*eremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher*. I'm reading the same copy to my son now that I had in grade school. It was the first book I remember really falling in love with. You can tell by the poor haggard cover that it's been truly loved.


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## Miriam Minger (Nov 27, 2010)

Little Mike and Maddie's First Motorcycle Ride.


Miriam Minger


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## Tippy (Dec 8, 2008)

Tonight my favorite is Anne of Green Gables.  Sigh.


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## MJFredrick (Jun 20, 2011)

Just one? The Long Winter from the Little House series.


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

As a kid I especially loved _A Wrinkle in Time_, _The Giver_, and _Harry Potter_. A few years ago I read _The True Meaning of Smekday_, which was HILARIOUS.


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## Colin Taber (Apr 4, 2011)

This is the best picture book of all time...

...or so I think.

It's now out of print, but still listed as around, hidden away in dark corners. Yours, new, for only $287!

http://www.amazon.com/Sea-People-Jorg-Muller/dp/0805238131/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310792045&sr=1-1

Beautiful art, fantastic story. Timeless. I found it in the high school library and eventually got hold of my own copy about ten years ago. I am so glad I did!

Any one ever heard of it?


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## Lursa (aka 9MMare) (Jun 23, 2011)

The Black Stallion series

Misty of Chincotegue and Margurite (sp) Henry's other books

Stella Luna


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## WriterCTaylor (Jul 11, 2011)

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. As a child I set off to find a giant peach as well.


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

Never read the Black Stallion series. Is that like Black Beauty?


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