The Necronomicon, of course.
Did you ever read the sequel, The Starlight Barking? Not as good, but still worth a read.
My own childhood treasure that still holds up today is The Ship That Flew, by Hilda Lewis. Hard to find today, but a wonderful book. Just re-read it last night, and it still enchanted me after thirty years.
Back around grade 6, I discovered a book in my school library called Sir MacHinery. I must’ve checked that book out a dozen times to read it over and over. The story takes place in Scotland, where a scientist is working on constructing a robot. Some brownies (the little magic people kind, not the Girl Scout-ish kind) happen upon the robot, believe him to be a knight in armor, and call him “Sir MacHinery”, because there are boxes labeled “machinery” everywhere. And adventure ensues, with ghosts, the Loch Ness Monster, and all kinds of wonderfulness.
Unfortunately, the book’s long out of print, so I haven’t read it in over twenty years. I would dearly love a copy so that I could revisit it, and maybe share it with my own kids someday. I did recently discover that there is a SirMacHinery.com website which has a bit of a blurb about the book, but unfortunately that’s about it.
*The Chosen * and *The Promise * by Chaim Potok; read them first around 13 and still have copies around the house to dip into once in awhile. Likewise, *The * *Screwtape Letters * by C.S. Lewis.
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Earthsea trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin, and Watership Down by Richard Adams. Not only do they hold up well, but I still find myself finding new things about them when I re-read them now.
The Wind in the Willows.
Frog and Toad are Friends, and Frog and Toad Together.
Hold Fast, by Canadian writer Kevin Major
The aforementioned Stuart Little.
The common thread seems to be that all these books are wistful, with moments of true sadness. Anyone’s childhood will have moments like that, and it takes a skilled author to capture that reality without overdoing it.
I enjoyed the other books you mentioned, but especially Watership Down.
It was assigned to me many many years ago for a leadership class I was taking.
I still reread it regularly.
Ohhhh…The Fantastic Mr. Fox…I LOVED that book! Never a big Charlie & the Chocolate Factory fan, but Mr. Fox was the best.
I also agree with those who mentioned L.M. Montgomery…I still reread the Anne and Emily series from time to time.
I didn’t discover Betsy-Tacy until I was an adult, and I read them all…very charming, with realistic characters.
Laura Ingalls Wilder is my favorite, and they get a reread fairly regularly.