# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/61 "2004-01-29T19:46:47Z")
OH OH OH! I forgot the Bobbsey Twins books! All of my allowance would be spent on these! One year for Christmas pretty much all I got was BT books! How could I have forgotten them!?! I even have an original first edition of the first book! ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/62 "2004-01-29T19:51:46Z")
The summer I was 7, I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. And then I spent that autumn sleeping on the floor of my parents’ room every night because I developed a strange fear of criminals. 🙂 Since I left home, I’ve carried a big box o’ Nancy Drews with me to every succesive apartment, and at least once a month I have to take one out and spend a couple hours remembering who did it. A few of my other favorites were _Bridge to Terabithia_, which made me cry for about six hours straight; _The Westing Game_ which is just plain fun in a Clue-like manner; and just about anything by Judy Blume. And I still haven’t forgiven my mother for calling me “Ramona” whenever I did anything stupid. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![bee\_with\_an\_itch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@bee\_with\_an\_itch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bee_with_an_itch)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/63 "2004-01-29T19:54:17Z")
Where The Sidewalk Ends - Shel Silverstein Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/64 "2004-01-29T20:17:32Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] [Snow Treasure](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0590425374/qid=1075397743/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-8323837-5684905) Norweigen children thwarting those fun loving Kraut’s. I’ve often wondered what books German kids have about WWII. anyone? _Heidi_? 🙂 Oh crap, I had forgotten all about _Snow Treasure_ until you mentioned it. Isn’t that the one where they steal Nazi gold by hiding it under their toboggans and sledding past the guards? ---
**Author:** ![big\_alex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@big\_alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_alex)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/65 "2004-01-29T21:11:11Z")
Best book I ever read when I was younger: “Fattipuffs and Thinifers.” Two brothers, one fat and the other thin, go into the earth into another land where the people of different sizes are separated. Can’t remember much more, and I don’t know who wrote it, but it was a class book if only for the comedy title. Also, “Stig of the Dump.” ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/66 "2004-01-30T00:51:27Z")
My copy of Robin McKinley’s **Beauty** has the cover off. I love her stuff- my handle is from **Deerskin**. Have you read **Rose Daughter** , her other take on the story of Beauty and the Beast? It’s marvellous. **The Blue Sword** is also great, and it has a strong heroine. Actually, all her books do, although I wouldn’t recommend **Deerskin** for anyone under 14. _The Witch Of Blackbird Pond_\*- 18th historical novel, and it launched my obsession with costume history. **The Egypt Game** - fascinating novel. Still have a copy at my parent’s house somewhere. The **Song Of The Lioness** series by Tamora Pierce. I discovered them in 7th grade, when I was reading Robin McKinley and Madeleine L’Engle. I think I lived entirely inside of books from the 6th grade until I finished High School. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/67 "2004-01-30T01:12:56Z")
Does anyone remember the greatest picture book ever, _The elephant who liked to smash small cars_, by Jean Merrill? It’s been out of print for years and costs a mint, or I’d buy it. The elephant sings “Smashing cars! Smashing cars! How I love to smash small cars!” Along with many others on this list, I loved _The last of the really great whangdoodles_, by Julie Andrews of all people. And, finally, I’m another Moomintroll lover. Yay for Moomintrolls! ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/68 "2004-01-30T01:37:31Z")
_One Monster After Another_ by Mercer Mayer. This book kept me enthralled, even though it is very short and simple. It shows how the postal system works. You put a letter in the mailbox and a monster steals it. Then another monster steals it from the first monster, and another monster, and another monster, until finally it arrives at the destination. _The Cat and Mrs Cary._ A woman and her cat solve an ancient mystery. The cat can talk—but only to her. I read this one a great many times. _Matthew Looney and the Space Pirates._ Wonderful and silly. There’s another story which I can’t remember the name of that involved a young boy in New Hampshire who found a triceratops egg, and it hatched and grew into a real pet dinosaur. And _The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead_ and _The Pool of Fire_ by John Christopher. Great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/69 "2004-01-30T01:58:55Z")
Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t seen any lovers of **Beatrix Potter** yet. _The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin_ was my favorite of hers, the first book I remember reading. I also loved anything by Richard Scarry; _Pig Will and Pig Won’t_ was my favorite as a child. Best Dr. Suess - _On Beyond Zebra!_ Another one I loved was a book that I think was called “City in the Fog”. Several of the pages were translucent (like tracing paper) to look like you were approaching bright objects in the fog. Brilliantly done. There was another series (or maybe just one book of stories) about Olaf, who was sort of like Amelia Bedelia. I remember one where he’s just learned to read, goes to the library and figures out the sign “quite? OH, QUIET!” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/70 "2004-01-30T02:11:59Z")
When I was very small, Maurice Sendak’s **Nutshell Library** was a big favorite. Later, Eric and Nancy Gurney’s **The King, the Mice and the Cheese** made a huge impression (I even wrote a play based on it for my community theater group, much later in life; the idea of trading off bigger problems for small ones really resonated). By fourth grade I was really sold on the “Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators” 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 30, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/71 "2004-01-30T02:28:46Z")
Fabulous thread, really jogged the old memory. In a pleasant way. I did a little digging and the title I was trying to remember was Julie of the Wolves. Great read. I also unearthed a few others I enjoyed as a kid-The Bronze Bow, Rifles for Watie, The Trumpeter Swan, and Johnny Tremain. ---
**Author:** ![CurlyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@CurlyD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurlyD)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/72 "2004-01-30T02:47:50Z")
I don’t remember hearing many when I was small, because as soon as I could read I wanted to read them all by myself. But “Are You My Mother” by P. D. Eastman sticks in my mind. “You are not my mother. You are a SNORT.” Giggles for an hour. OK, I was a pint-sized geek, but I loved reading “The Golden Book Encyclopedia” and “Answers and More Answers.” As for Dr. Seuss, “Fox in Socks” is great fun. (“Now is your tongue numb?”) And I always loved “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.” To this day I can quote it at length. Don’t ask me . . . I still have cherished memories of Dad reading Kipling poems - they have such great scan, cadence, or whatever it’s called - a great sense of meter and rhyme, and epic stories, as well. I’m remembering “The Ballad of the East and the West” and “Gunga Din” especially. Dad was an engaging reader. But nothing beats “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. ---
**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 30, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/73 "2004-01-30T04:25:43Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Second Star to the Right writes: > > \> I cannot for the life of me think of what this book is called. If someone knows it > \> I’ll be forever grateful. > > At first I thought that you meant _The Secret Garden_ by Frances Hodgson Burnett, but that doesn’t seem to match your description. Perhaps you mean _A Doll in the Garden_ by Mary Downing Hahn. That’s the only thing I get when I Google on “Louisa Perkins” and “garden.” THAT’S IT! I don’t know why I didn’t just think to Google it. Such is my faith in my fellow dopers, I suppose. 😉 Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/74 "2004-01-30T07:49:41Z")
> [@Lissla Lissar](#): > > My copy of Robin McKinley’s **Beauty** has the cover off. I love her stuff- my handle is from **Deerskin**. Have you read **Rose Daughter** , her other take on the story of Beauty and the Beast? It’s marvellous. **The Blue Sword** is also great, and it has a strong heroine. Actually, all her books do, although I wouldn’t recommend **Deerskin** for anyone under 14. Actually my all time fave from Ms. McKinley was **Beauty**. I just couldn’t get into **Rose Daughter** but all of my friends who have read it say it’s fabu. I do, however, have it on my TBR pile and will try it again (and again and again if I have to!) at a later date just in case I might have missed something. _G_ ---
**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 30, 2004, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/75 "2004-01-30T08:20:51Z")
Some more I loved I Wish that I had Duck Feet That’s still my mom’s favorite book of all the ones I read as a kid. My favorites from the Berenstein Bears were “The Spooky Old Tree,” “Bears in the Night” and “The Missing Dinosaur Bone.” I remember I had to get on a waiting list at the library to get the last one. Sadly it lookslike the Berensteings have dumbed down the series and gone from adventure to teaching manners. F’meh, that what led me to hate the Rugrats too. I also loved the Choose Your Own Adventure series. I plan on collecting them all sooner or later beginning with the first one “The Cave of Time.” ---
**Author:** ![Farmwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/76 "2004-01-30T11:51:02Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the classic _Where the Wild Things Are_ by Maurice Sendak, my favorite picture book from childhood and now top in my son’s rotation. As for chapter book, I remember spending time with [Beautiful Joe](http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/saunders/joe/joe.html) as a child…can’t even call it reading because I was so incredibly immersed in the experience. This is an often forgotten book of real merit IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/77 "2004-01-30T13:15:02Z")
**Dangermom** , you might also like Mandy by Julie Andrews (Edwards). I did, but I didn’t care for The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. I mean, it starts out with kids meeting a weird stranger in the park and going to his house. I think they lie to their parents about it too. ---
**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 30, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/78 "2004-01-30T15:09:04Z")
\*\*Where the Wild Things Are \*\* excellent. Just excellent. How could I ever forget that one? And, may I jog your memories for one of the best kids books in the last 20 years, **The Monster At The End Of This Book** starring lovely, old, furry Grover. ---
**Author:** ![WavyRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea666f/32.png) [@WavyRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WavyRabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/79 "2004-01-30T15:42:51Z")
I love this thread, it’s bringing back so many childhood memories. I remember sneaking a flashlight under my covers so I could read after bedtime! Just about all the books I loved have been mentioned, several of them I’ve recently reread, and they are still great. Some of my favorites How to Eat Fried Worms Five Chinese Brothers Aesop’s Fables Japanese Fairy Tales (esp Little One Inch) Judy Bloom books The Boxcar Children The Danny Dunn series The Westing Game Island of the Blue Dolphins A Wrinkle in Time Bridge to Terabithia King of the Wind Paul Zindel books There was also one about a giant peanut butter and jelly sandwich, maybe to catch flies or something? And one about a girl who was in foster homes and one included a heavyset woman named Mrs Potter, for the life of me I can’t remember anything else, but that part always stuck with me. If anyone knows, I’d be grateful. Great, great thread…I have to go back to the library now! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431/80 "2004-01-30T15:53:26Z")
> [@](#): > > The Danny Dunn series Good one, **WavyRabbit**! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-books-from-your-childhood/226431.md?page=5)