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Favourite Children's books

My Mother had a complete set of first editions of Baum's OZ books that all of my brothers and sisters loved. My favorite was by Baum, but not technically an "OZ" book: "Queen Zixi of Ix".

Plus "the Trumpeter of Krakow" and "The Hobbit". Good stuff.
 
It took me about a month to remember the name of the series/author that enchanted me as a child: The "Shoes" books by Noel Streatfeild. "Circus Shoes", "Theatre Shoes", "Ballet Shoes", etc. The heroine took on a variety of roles in life and taught us all about whatever her vocation was. Great stuff for imagination and knowledge!
 
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Blank said:
This far and no mention of Roald Dahl... Charlie and the chocolate factory is definately worth it.
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The BFG scared the **** out of me when I was a child.

Holy crap, I just realized that Dahl also wrote "Fantastic Mr. Fox!"
"Boggis and Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean.
These horrible crooks
So different in looks
Were nonetheless equally mean."

Good times, good times.
 
Yes Blank, a big ommission.

My (8-yr old) daughter loves anything about Dahl, including reading "Boy".

My othertwo kids do too.

I have a rule of thumb that if a book has been illustrated by Quentin Blake, then it is certainlyworth checking out.
 
My favorite was D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths. I read it so many times I'm surprised the school didn't say "Let someone else check it out!"
It has color pastels alternating with sepia tones. Beautiful book and it's a great introduction for kids.
I was so happy to find it still in print when I started working in the book store; I haven't bought it yet but give me time.

Kore
 
My wife has just finished reading "The Hounds of the Morrigan" to the kids.

Nice tour round Irish mythology, and much enjoyed.

My six-year old son has been reading the "Greek Myths for Young Children (Usborne Gift Book) as his reading book because he was bored with the reading scheme books, I've got the Roger Lancelyn Green, "Tales of the Greek Heroes", and am going to read those out loud when it is my turn.

Roger Lancelyn Green 's books are pretty good retellings, and not too bowlderised.

My kids like the "Myths of the Norsemen" by him.

I keep wondering if there are any "Myths of the Hebrews" that I could bear to read to my kids (it's another deity, so there might be some literary merit, but the deus ex machina endings keep ruining any dramatic tension IM(H)O).
 
By the way, the Freddy the Pig books were also children's books that I enjoyed greatly. And the Oz books.
 
Gregory said:
The Dark is Rising and the Chronicles of Narnia. But mainly as a child, I was absorbed by the Hollow Tree books, three brilliant and regretably out of print books about a raccoon, possum, and crow who lived together in a giant hollow tree.
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I loved The Dark is Rising, and the Narnia books (although on rereading them to my kids, my wife and I noticed the heavy-handed allogory. (My wife started shaking an invisible tamborine whenever Aslan was mentioned, much to the amusement of the kids...)

I am not familiar with the hollow tree books (I feel a library request coming on).

BTW. I saw the trailer for the film The Dark is Rising, and it looks really poor.
 
The Jungle books, Just So Stories etc, but then I like Kipling. Pretty much anything by the Rev. Dodgson, beautiful use of language and wordplay and I do like to go a carrolling. Songs of the South is quite good as well, the book preferably. For somewhat older children, Tarzan, Treasure Island, Black Beauty et al. Oh, and the Tom Swift books were always fun.
 
Wow. A lot of books I read have been mentioned, but then I read a lot (no T.V.).

Some others:

Margerite Henry, anything by her. As an adult, I realize that I got my first ideas of the unfairness of the traditional roles of women/men from "Misty of Chincoteague" (Maureen has to stay home & mind the chickens because she's a girl while Paul gets to go on the horse roundup because he's a boy).

The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame. Loved it as a child, re-read it recently as an adult - very, very weird. What's with that part where the little lost otter has a vision of Pan?

The Door in the Wall, Marguerite De Angeli

The Animal Garden, by Ogden Nash & Hilary Knight - a very, very weird book

The Family Finds Out and The Tuckers - unknown authors

Farewell to Shady Glade, Bill Peet - an environmental book with a happy ending

Miss Twiggley's Tree, Dorothea Warren Fox - the strange lady who everyone shuns turns out to be cool in the end

Eloise, Kay Thompson/Hilary Knight (again - illustrator) - need I say more?

The Bear That Wasn't, Frank Tashlin - "You're not a bear, you're a silly man in a fur coat"

Hmmm. Worst mistake: reading "Japanese Fairy Tales" at the age of eight. Look up "The Boy Who Drew Cats" if you want to know why & you'll have a good handle on my childhood nightmares - for years -
 
Sounds like a good collection of mythology...

Some of the Greek Myths and Norse ones are pretty bloody, and unfair.

I have trouble with the patriarchial assumptions in a lot of these stories: "so her daddy decided to give his daughter, the princess to the prince who...."
 
jimbob said:
Sounds like a good collection of mythology...

Some of the Greek Myths and Norse ones are pretty bloody, and unfair.

I have trouble with the patriarchial assumptions in a lot of these stories: "so her daddy decided to give his daughter, the princess to the prince who...."
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Dear jim,

I can understand your mixed feelings, but, we should keep in mind that fairy tales are children's first "zone of risk" that they can put a toe into to explore. Without that, a false impression of reality builds like a snowball down a winter slope. Kids need evil witches, dragons, dragonslayers, Jack offing some large guy to steal his gold, noble archetypes of men and women from a time past. It's all just a story, right? But, stories aren't just stories to children, they're myths, and myths are a fine way to teach the childlike mind that which it is unable to conceptually grasp for lack of textual-logico-linguistic sophistication. My niece donned artificial wings once and asked me if she were a fairy. I told her she was.

Not all non-factual volumes are fiction, my friend.

Yours,

Cpl Ferro
 
Agreed, but that doesn't stop me trying to subvert them too...

"The Wildest Brother", "Pirate Girl" , and "the Princess Knight" by Cornelia Funke are good subversions...
 
Jon. said:
AI Am David by Anne Holm. I think it was originally written in Danish. It's about a boy who escapes from a concentration camp he's been in for as long as he can remember. The descriptions of his experiences, as he sees things he's never seen before, like an orange, are moving and beautiful.
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Seconded big-time. My Mom gave me that book when I was little. She is no longer with us. Those who remember the ending of the book can imagine what kind of emotional impact it still has on me.

Also:
The Secret World of Og, by Pierre Burton.
 
How has nobody listed the Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole? You can't know how those saved me from all kinds of Sweet Valley Horrors.

I'm also a bit put off that my very, very favorite book of all time has been neglected here. Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince. Beautiful work. His aviation novels are nearly as lovely, too.

Also, if anyone from New Zealand reads this, do they still print Charlie the Cheeky Kia and then there was one about a Captain Cook pig that we lost in Hurricane Katrina. They were two of my favorite books as a child after my grandparents brought them back from NZ (granddad was a bird enthusiast) and I've never been able to find them since. If any of you find a copy and have paypal/e-bay I'd certainly shell out for it. :)
 
KateHW said:
How has nobody listed the Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole? You can't know how those saved me from all kinds of Sweet Valley Horrors.

I'm also a bit put off that my very, very favorite book of all time has been neglected here. Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince. Beautiful work. His aviation novels are nearly as lovely, too.

Also, if anyone from New Zealand reads this, do they still print Charlie the Cheeky Kia and then there was one about a Captain Cook pig that we lost in Hurricane Katrina. They were two of my favorite books as a child after my grandparents brought them back from NZ (granddad was a bird enthusiast) and I've never been able to find them since. If any of you find a copy and have paypal/e-bay I'd certainly shell out for it. :)
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Ah Kiwis: Margeret Mahy

The great piratical rumbustification
 
I should add that "the Great Piratical Rumbustification" is illustrated by Quentin Blake...
 
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aries said:
I loced the tales and stories by Jules Verne, from Captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea to A captain of 15 (I think that is Verne??) It's been a while ;)
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Verne was a big name for me as well. "20,000 Leagues" was the first book I ever read to shreds. Eventually, my dad bought me a new copy, which I still possess. I also had a lot of comics, Tintin, Iznogoud and Asterix mostly.
 
mmm Asterix...
 
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