Oh wow, agree ten times over on Roald Dahl. My teacher red us the one about the foxes in 2nd grade (out loud) and I read every last one after that. Even My Uncle Oswald, which is most definitely not a children’s tale.
Before, I forget, Gerald Durrell. My dad gave me My Family and Other Animals on my 7th birthday.
I just re-read the first book in John D. Fitzgerald’s Great Brain series, and it held up remarkably well. I can’t wait to read the rest of them now!
I loved The Mad Scientists Club years ago, and I think it would hold up. I will second the Trixie Belden books.
I just read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and found it hauntingly beautiful–not at all treacly-sick, as I thought when I was a child.
the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
I first read that as an adult, and I agree. The Little Princess, though, is pretty saccharine.
A Taste of Blackberries
A Separate Peace
Superfudge
Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing
Ditto Encyclopedia Brown, although I do wish Bugs Meany would have really beat the shit out of him once, just on principle.
Wow, all these posts reminded me of more books from my childhood/teen years I would like the kids in my life to read:
[ul]
[li]Most of Judy Blume’s children’s/YA books. My niece liked The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo and I plan to read it to my daughter as well. I think my niece will be ready for Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret sometime in the next couple of years. (Still not sure about Deenie.) In the meantime, I will see if I can find a copy of Blubber for her. (She’s neither bullied nor a bully, but has seen it happen). I may also make Then Again, Maybe I Won’t available to my nephew when he’s ready (though maybe Grandpa or his uncle should be the ones to get the book to him).[/li][li]Where the Lilies Bloom. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about the story, but my sisters saw the film in school, and we spent the rest of that school year addressing each other as “Mary Call” and “Ima Dean”. 
[/li][li]Bridge to Terabithia. My sisters loved it, I thought it was OK until the ending. [/li][li]Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary. One of the more realistic books she’s written, besides the Ramona series.[/li][li]The Pigman by Paul Zindel. I liked the intergenerational friendship of the kids and Mr. Pignati, and was upset to see how they betrayed him by having a party at his house, which was trashed by the other kids, all while he was in the hospital. (sorry about the spoiler, I don’t know how to make spoiler space.)[/li][li]The Choose Your Own Adventure series, if it’s still in print. Sometimes cool, sometimes frustrating, always fun.[/li][/ul]
I also like the Harry Potter books, and have been buying them as they have been released, to pass on to my daughter.
Now, some books I’d rather they stay away from - not forbid or censor, merely discourage on account of poor quality, although there’s no accounting for taste:
[ul]
[li]The Sweet Valley High series. The first couple of books were OK, but they went downhill fast. Also, I got sick of the constant harping on the Wakefield twins’ blond hair, blue eyes the color of the Pacific, and perfect size-6 figures. Not to mention their little white car.[/li][li]Most of Blossom Elfman’s work, including The Girls of Huntington House, The Sister Act, and **A House for Jonnie O. ** I found the last one particularly depressing, because you just knew all the characters’ lives were going to suck afterward. [/li][li]That series (I forget what it’s called) where the protagonists are all dying girls.[/li][li]My Darling, My Hamburger by Paul Zindel. I read it when I was 12 and found it depressing and dated as well (and a bit sexist to boot).[/li][/ul]
I cut my scifi teeth as a kid on Heinlein and Asimov. Timeless reads.
I believe that’s the “One Last Wish” series by Lurlene McDaniels. And you’re right. It didn’t hold up well.
My favourite childhood book was “The Hundred and One Dalmations” by Dodie Smith. Very excellent. The dogs had an entire language and history and culture - absolutely charming. I do not find myself lacking anything when I reread it.
Next would have been “The Chronicles of Narnia”. Although I loved them, the books were clearly written for kids. My imagination filled in a lot of stuff that I later realised didn’t actually happen.
Last would have been anything by Monica Hughes. I think my favourite was “Invitation to the Game” or possibly the entire Isis series. The concepts still hold up, even if the books were a little simply written.
I’d just like to add The House with a Clock in it’s Walls, and even moreso The Face in the Frost, both by John Bellairs.
Island of the Blue Dolphins. Required reading in California, of course. Anywhere else? Magnificent book.
Agreed, agreed, agreed. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed any book as much in my life as I enjoyed The BFG.
As for other books, I’ve barely reread any that I read as a child. One in particular that I’m interested in checking out is There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom. Absolutely adored that one, and can’t for the life of me remember why.
Homer’s Odyssey and Edgar Allen Poe.
I kinda wish I was kidding.
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
Jane Langton’s The Diamond in the Window
I didn’t read Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books until I was an adult. They hold up amazingly well.
anu-la, I still love the Besty-Tacy books. When I’ve had a bad day, they’re like snuggling under a down comforter with a mug of warm milk.
Although it’s not a kid’s book, I read To Kill a Mockingbird as a young’un, and it’s still one of my favorites. Every time I read it, I take away something different.
The Collected Works of Robert Service and most of Kipling’s Barrack Room Ballads. Lord of the Rings as a great first 'grown-up book. All the Hornblower books. Every boy wants to be Hornblower. And of course the model and blueprint for all correct morality, Starship Troopers.
lokji,
You posted my list except I beg to differ on those Boxcar Children… too saccharine sweet! I was the brisk, bossy big sister, but they don’t hold up for me.
Ursula Le Guin’s original Earthsea trilogy {ignore the later additions to the series} actually gets even better when you read it as an adult. I must have first read them when I was ten or so, and they still get dusted off at least once a year.
I started reading Stephen King when I was in 4th grade. *Christine * was the first one. The Stand was the only one I couldn’t get through until high school.
I also had a passion for Grimm’s Fairy Tales (the real ones with the unhappy endings).
How to Eat Fried Worms, Bridge to Terebithia, and Witches Sister all stand out as excellent reading.