# Do you have a favorite kids book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125 "2002-10-07T01:11:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/21 "2002-10-07T23:07:38Z")
My favorite books I read when I was a kid were **The Dark is Rising** series, by Susan Cooper. If I had to pick a single favorite out of the series it would be _The Grey King_, but really the whole series is great. I still read it now and again. Another good one, not very well-known, was _The Pushcart War_ by Jean Merrill… a funny but barbed little story. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/22 "2002-10-07T23:09:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lab2490 \* > \*\*I cant remember the author but I once found a very good,short book called “the very hungry caterpillar” When i read it to the little ones,they seemed to like it \*\* That’s an Eric Carle book… my girls loved that one too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/23 "2002-10-08T00:09:09Z")
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: [The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll and the Broom Handle, and Who Was In It](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0156954877/qid=1034035292/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-3499749-1458411?v=glance&n=507846) ---
**Author:** ![Lab2490](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Lab2490](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lab2490)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/24 "2002-10-08T03:06:02Z")
One book that just about every kid loves is called something along the lines of “The Stinky Cheese man and other fairy tales” I found it hilarious for a kids book ---
**Author:** ![AuntieRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AuntieRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntieRae)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/25 "2002-10-08T04:15:06Z")
Winnie The Pooh (not the Disney version) A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman The Reluctant Dragon From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden The Light Princess (and other books, too, by George McDonald – the edition of this one that I had was illustrated by Sendak 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Entwife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dc4da7/32.png) [@Entwife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Entwife)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/26 "2002-10-08T04:39:43Z")
I still love The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Anything by John Bellairs, particularly The House With a Clock in It’s Walls . And another vote for anything by Roald Dahl. ---
**Author:** ![Lab2490](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Lab2490](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lab2490)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/27 "2002-10-08T17:36:05Z")
The westing game! I tottally forgot about that. I still love that one too. the other books by Ellen Raskin are just as good . Geez , it seems like doper minds think alike. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/28 "2002-10-08T17:57:15Z")
> [@](#): > > One book that just about every kid loves is called something along the lines of “The Stinky Cheese man and other fairy tales” It’s _The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales_. Don’t remember the author, though. My favorites would have to be _A Wrinkle in Time_, by Madeline L’Engle, _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_, by C. S. Lewis, and _The Hobbit_, by J. R. R. Tolkien. And their respective sequals. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/29 "2002-10-08T20:38:42Z")
I’ll have to second (or third) the nominations of **The Chronicles of Narna** by C.S. Lewis and the **A Wrinkle in Time** series by L’Engle. ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/30 "2002-10-09T00:26:23Z")
Me too on the C.S. Lewis and Madeline L’Engle. They played heavily in my childhood and I still go back and read them occasionally. My favorite picture book as a kid was **Miss Susy** by Miriam Young, illistrated by Arnold Lobel. It’s turned out to be my 2 yo son’s favorite too. ---
**Author:** ![Romola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e36b37/32.png) [@Romola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Romola)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/31 "2002-10-09T01:31:51Z")
_Where the Red Fern Grows_, followed by _My Side of the Mountain_ and _Bridge to Terabithia_. ---
**Author:** ![tmwster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/57b2e6/32.png) [@tmwster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tmwster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/32 "2002-10-11T03:28:10Z")
oooh, I see some of my favorites already listed… I can’t pick just one, though. The Hobbit (and Lord of the Rings trilogy) The Little Princess & The Secret Garden - by FH Burnett National Velvet Lochinvar Luck & Lad: A Dog - by AP Terhune almost \*\* any \*\* Nancy Drew, but fav is The Hidden Staircase And thanks to Romola for Where the Red Fern Grows, I’d forgotten about that wonderful story! ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/33 "2002-10-11T17:34:28Z")
My favorite children’s book is _The Diamond in the Window_ by Jane Langton. An amazing book, well worth reading and re-reading. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned E.B. White yet. You can’t go wrong with _Charlotte’s Web_ or _Stuart Little_. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/34 "2002-10-11T20:08:27Z")
The all time best has to be “Everyone Poops.” Kids love it. I also vote for The Stinky Cheese Man and of course anything by Dr. Suess. I hate the real cutesy ones like Barbie books (uuugh), but when my kids got them as gifts, I would read them and make Barbie sound like a grizzled old barfly, and Skipper like a kid from Village of the Damned. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/35 "2002-10-11T20:09:06Z")
**SpoilerVirgin** I remember checking _The Diamond in the Window_ out from the library over and over again… is this book still in print? What an excellent story it was. In some ways it reminded me of all of the E.Nesbit stories, but it was a bit more sophisticated. I am sure that E.B.White was mentioned in the former kids’ books thread. Another favorite of mine was **The Jungle Book** by Rudyard Kipling. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bibliophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophile)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/36 "2002-10-11T20:18:47Z")
I can’t remember the author, but I loved “A Cricket in Times Square” as a kid. Also, you can never go wrong with Dr. Suess. My personal favorites are “The Lorax” and “The Sneetches.” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/37 "2002-10-11T20:21:33Z")
**Shadow Castle, The Wizard of Oz** books and anything by Enid Blyton. I also read **Gone With the Wind** when I was 12…I think that was somewhat ambitious, but I wouldn’t count it as a kid’s book. **The Very Quiet Cricket** is a good one too. ---
**Author:** ![Lab2490](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Lab2490](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lab2490)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/38 "2002-10-11T20:57:23Z")
I just remembered how much I liked " Little Women" when I was a kid. Also, any of the “Anne of Green Gables” books I think there were like 7 of them ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_of\_Graymatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Baron\_of\_Graymatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_of_Graymatter)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/39 "2002-10-11T21:03:46Z")
Hmm…I think I still have a few copies of my Tom Corbett, Space Cadet series around here somewhere (Along with my Tom Swift and His Repellatron Skyway…) ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125/40 "2002-10-11T21:28:02Z")
I forgot about **Where the Red Fern Grows**. A teacher read that to us in class! I still have copies of **The Cat Ate My Gymsuit** and **The Witch of Blackbird Pond** and **It’s Like This, Cat**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-favorite-kids-book/131125.md?page=3)