# Best books from your childhood **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431 "2004-01-28T16:10:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/21 "2004-01-29T01:03:22Z")
Hmm, I thought the Moomins were some sort of big phenomenon that I had missed. They have an entire store dedicated to them at Victoria Ward Center. A few more books that I loved which were not quite as challenging as The Borrowers although still fairly difficult. Have Spacesuit Will Travel The Forgotten Door A Walk in Wolf Woods I’d say for beginner readers Amelia Bedelia is the best of my choices. It’s a very funny story about a new maid who does everything litterally like dressing a chicken with clothes and dusting the furniture with dusting powder. Some pictures and easy to read. Oh, I can’t believe I forgot “The Poky Little Puppy.” ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/22 "2004-01-29T01:58:22Z")
**Blueberries for Sal** and, later, **Homer Price** by Robert McClosky All of the fantasy books by E.Nesbit and Edward Eager ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/23 "2004-01-29T01:59:54Z")
Spelling correction: it’s Robert McCloskey also: Make Way for Ducklings 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CairaJade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@CairaJade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairaJade)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/24 "2004-01-29T02:01:48Z")
The Chronicles of Narnia ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/25 "2004-01-29T02:03:21Z")
A few of my (many) favorites that are relatively obscure: My favorite picture book: [The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll and the Broom Handle, and Who Was In It](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0152949305/qid=1075341434/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3816420-5599951?v=glance&s=books) by Carl Sandburg Favorite Dr Suess: [The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/039484484X/qid=1075341533/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3816420-5599951?v=glance&s=books) [The Twenty One Balloons](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140320970/qid=1075341580/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3816420-5599951?v=glance&s=books) by William Pene DuBois This one’s not obscure, but in a more Jr. High time frame, I adored Anne McCaffrey’s **Harper Hall Trilogy** , which begins with [Dragonsong](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689860080/qid=1075341671/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-3816420-5599951) ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/26 "2004-01-29T02:06:00Z")
What’s the name of the book about the little boy who keeps overfeeding his golfish until it grows gigantic? I loved that book when I was learning to read. The complete works of Dr. Seuss Shel Silverstein, especially ‘A Light in the Attic’ and ‘The Giving Tree.’ Harold and the Purple Crayon ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/27 "2004-01-29T02:08:58Z")
Oh, and I second (or third) the fantasy books of **Edward Eager** , in particular _Half Magic_ and _Knight’s Castle_. (If I recall correctly, the only library book that I ever destroyed was a copy of _Magic by the Lake_, which, ironically, I dropped while reading in the tub.) And Edward Eager introduced me to his Victorian-era antecedent, **E. Nesbit** , who I see **Caprese** has already mentioned, but who I have never heard if in any other context. And here’s an oddball one. While I was in junior high school, I randomly picked up [this book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060252596/qid=1075342021/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3816420-5599951?v=glance&s=books) on the pacific theatre in WWII, which I had not previously been particularly interested in, and ended up rereading it numerous times. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Escorpio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@El\_Escorpio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Escorpio)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/28 "2004-01-29T02:52:11Z")
Don’t forget Roald Dahl: The Witches Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Fantastic Mr. Fox James and the Giant Peach And Bill Peet: The Whingdingdilly Randy’s Dandy Lions Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent Drufus the Dragon Who Lost His Head The Gnats of Knotty Pine And Raymond Briggs: Father Christmas Goes on Holiday Fungus the Bogeyman And, by others: Father Fox’s Penny Rhymes Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day As I Was Crossing Boston Common – I think that’s the name Goodnight Moon Big Dog, Little Dog Fast Slow High Low and for slightly older kids: The Phantom Tollbooth The Man in the Ceiling – newer, read it in college, but still wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/29 "2004-01-29T03:57:36Z")
Many, many books, but here are a couple: [The Velveteen Rabbit](http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385077254/701-2145058-5017941) by Margery Williams [The Story About Ping](http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670672238/qid=1075348447/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/701-2145058-5017941) by Marjorie Flack although I had a love/hate relationship with it since my family took to calling me Ping for being late. ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/30 "2004-01-29T04:03:22Z")
Any of the Amelia Bedelia, Ms. Piggle Wiggle or Ramona (and other Beverly Cleary characters. I remember one that I loved about a girl named Emily, and she bleached a horse so that she’d have a lovely snow white steed, but I din’t remember the name right offhand.) books. The Borrowers Any of the Judy Blume books The Poky Little Puppy Rabbits on Rollerskates Little Bear Frog and Toad Stuart Little The Little House on the Prairie series ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/31 "2004-01-29T04:05:52Z")
> [@FisherQueen](#): > > What’s the name of the book about the little boy who keeps overfeeding his golfish until it grows gigantic? I loved that book when I was learning to read. … I wish I could remember, darn it. I really liked that one too. Aside from many already mentioned here I’d have to add Island of the Blue Dolphins. I also remember a book about a Inuit girl who becomes a member of a wolf pack-can’t recall the title though. I read that one several times. I was also quite fond of the Pippi Longstocking stories. And of course, my all-time number one favorite, The Wind in the Willows. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/32 "2004-01-29T04:44:43Z")
My earliest favorite books included: \*Tubby and the Lantern \* (which is, sadly, out of print) _Sylvester and the Magic Pebble The Digging-est Dog Dr. Seuss’s ABC The Pokey Little Puppy_ By second grade I was heavily into \*Hardy Boys \* books. Read every one that had been published at the time. Gradeschool favorites included: \*The Great Brain \* series \*The Westing Game Danny the Champion of the World The Black Stallion The Encyclopedia Brown \* series ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/33 "2004-01-29T07:05:38Z")
I always loved [Imogene’s Antlers](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0517562421/qid=1075358969//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl14/102-9848465-4723300?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), which, unsurprisingly, is about a girl who grew antlers overnight. It was also a Reading Rainbow book. I loved The Borrowers books as well, though I was always slightly put out that Arrietty gave up her dreams of running away with Spiller and decided to stick with that bookish country squire Peagreen. I think quite a few of my afternoons were spent imagining the adventures she could have had with Spiller and his little soap dish boat. Sadly, all my Borrowers books were packed away when I turned sixteen, and I haven’t seen them since. ☹ Charlotte’s Web, which my sister read to me, a chapter a night, just as I was learning to read. [Katie the Kitten](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0307681246/qid=1075359216/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-9848465-4723300?v=glance&s=books). How I adored this book! I loved kittens too, and Katie was just so cute. I wished I had a kitten just like her. The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss “Oh! The places you’ll go and the people you’ll see . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/34 "2004-01-29T07:25:59Z")
A lot of these have been said already, but here goes: All of the _Ramona_ books(Beverly Cleary) _A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Giving Tree, Uncle Shelby’s ABZ book_(this one’s actually more adult oriented, and it’s hysterical) (Shel Silverstein) _James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, The BFG, The Witches, Matilda, and others I’m sure I’m forgetting_ (Roald Dahl) _Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo, Blubber, Are you there God? It’s Me, Margaret, Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, Just as Long as We’re Together_(Judy Blume) Series: _The Babysitter’s Club Sweet Valley High Sleepover Friends Fear Street_(or anything by R.L. Stine) _The Indian in the Cupboard_ by Lynn Reid Banks(IIRC) and there was another one she wrote about like fairies or something that I can’t remember Various fairy tales by the Grimms Brothers(_The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin_ to name a few) Speaking of disturbing stories, _The Red Shoes_ _A Wrinkle in Time_ by Madeline L’Engle Random assortment, can’t remember who wrote 'em: _Kid Power_(young girl starts an odd job business, hijinks ensue) - Ten Kids, No Pets\* (title pretty much describes the plot, 10 kids try to convince their parents that they need a pet) - Help! I’m a Prisoner in the Library!\*(two girls get locked in library overnight) - Yours Turly, Shirley, Then Again Maybe I Won’t, I Would if I Could but I Can’t, Oh Honestly Angela\* all of which I remember nothing about, save that I read them at some point. The Chronicles of Narnia, though I only read \* The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.\* Also, \* How to Eat Fried Worms \* and \* My Teacher is an Alien. \* And that’s just off the top of my head. I know there’s more. All I did when I was younger was read. Now that I think of it, there’s a book I’ve been trying to recall the name of that I read several times when I was younger. I only remember a few vague details, but I know I’d recognize the title if I heard it. Hopefully this book isn’t super obscure and someone will recognize it. \*Girl lives next door to cranky old lady \*Girl hears a child crying at night, can’t figure out where it’s coming from \*Girl ventures into forbidden part of garden and is transported into the past \*While there she meets a little girl her age named Louisa Perkins \*Louisa has consumption and is dying \*Girl finds note…somewhere…addressed to Louisa, apologizing for something and is signed by someone named Carrie \*Somehow it is revealed that cranky old lady next door was in fact Carrie, the one who wrote the note all those years ago \*Cranky old lady™ goes into past with girl and makes peace with Louisa(They had a fight or something and then Louisa died before they made up) \*Girl doesn’t hear child crying at night anymore I cannot for the life of me think of what this book is called. If someone knows it I’ll be forever grateful. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/35 "2004-01-29T07:33:22Z")
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, oh how I love this book. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![Sapphire\_Bullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sapphire\_Bullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapphire_Bullet)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/36 "2004-01-29T08:26:34Z")
Wow, so many. The ones that come to mind are: _Sylvester and the Magic Pebble_, by William Stein _The Little House_ , by Virginia Lee Burton- which I loved more for the illustrations than the story. _Miss Twiggley’s Tree_, by Dorothea Warren Fox, which has seen much better days. It is missing its cover and the sewn spine is coming apart. Even thought those three are technically children’s books, I still reread them from time to time- they’re comforting and have a good “moral” while not being preachy or obvious. _A Wrinkle in Time_ and _A Wind in the Door_ by Madeline L’Engle. I just reread them a couple of months ago. Imagine my surprise in seventh grade science when I learned that mitochondria were actual things and not some made up word! _From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_, by EL Konigsburg. In 6th grade english, we read _The Outsiders_, by SE Hinton and I loved it. When I moved away, my teacher gave me a copy of _Gone With the Wind_ and I read it again and again until it fell apart. Then I bought a new copy and read it a few million times more. And of course I would be remiss if I did not mention _To Kill A Mockingbird_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/37 "2004-01-29T08:44:00Z")
> [@FisherQueen](#): > > What’s the name of the book about the little boy who keeps overfeeding his golfish until it grows gigantic? _[A Fish Out of Water](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394800230/qid=1075365567/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-9435256-4302501)_ by Helen Palmer. First published in 1961 under the Beginner Books imprint, which also published Dr. Seuss’s books. Otto is the name of the boy, and the petshop owner fixes the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Sapphire\_Bullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sapphire\_Bullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapphire_Bullet)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/38 "2004-01-29T08:54:03Z")
Argh. _Sylvester and the Magic Pebble_ was written by William Stei **g**. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/39 "2004-01-29T11:59:59Z")
\*\*Imogene’s Antler’s Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse Chysthanthmum Owen Chester’s Way \*\* All by Kevin Henkes \*\*Six Dinner Sid Dogger - \*\* By Shirley Hughes. A must for every kid who gets a new sibling. \*\*Shirley’s Death Collection \*\* Badger’s Parting Gifts. **( deals with death. great story to help kids on this subject.) \*\* Dog Heaven/Cat Heaven .** By Cynthia Rylant. Two sep. books dealing with the loss of a pet and what they do in Heaven. Excellent in dealing on this subject. \*\*The Mountains of Tibet \*\* another death book. Dealing with reincarnation. Excellent. \*\*Seven Chinese Fishermen The Four Little Puppies. Dr. Suess. **Seven Silly Eaters** Mary Ann Hoberman. Great cadence about 7 fussy children who are picky eater. \*\*The Ugly Vegetables \*\* This is my daughter’s favorite book. A Chinese Amercian girl and her mother plant a garden full of chinese veggies and she wants to do flowers like the rest of the nice anglo neighborhood. Until the veggies are ready and it is soup time and all the neighbors can smell the soup and come over. Lovely. \*\*Edward and the Pirates \*\* David McPhail. A kid who day dreams great adventures. There is a little Edward in all of us. **Goose** by molly bang. I don’t know why this isn’t more popular. It is just a lovely story of a goose that is adopted by woodchucks and does wood chuckie things to the best of her ability , but eventually feels like something is missing. So she waddles off to find herself. And learns through it all, that she can fly. and returns to her woodchuck family. If you know someone who is adopting, this would be a very lovely little book. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/40 "2004-01-29T12:10:19Z")
\*\*The Rocking Horse Christmas \*\* This book makes me cry.[Here](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0590929550/qid=1075377744//ref=pd_ka_1/102-8323837-5684905?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) A rocking horse that faithfully waits for it’s young owner, who grows up. Wah! \*\*McDuff Series. \*\* ( Picture books) about a little scottie and his life. MacDuff and the New Baby. McDuff Goes to school. McDuff saves the day. **Thomas the Tank Engine** I just asked my 5 year old what his favorite book was when he was little. Thomas. Great little stories that teach moral lessons in a sneaky fashion. The books are 3 stories in one book. In book one, someone does something they aren’t suppose too. They get into trouble. Book Two someone else does the same thing, and the train that learned his lesson, helps them through it. Book three is usually the frieght trains getting their comeuppence. Nice little stories. A bit long, but kids just love them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431.md?page=3)