# What are your favorite children's books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** middle-earth\ **Created:** [January 22, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509 "2024-01-22T19:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [January 23, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/61 "2024-01-23T22:10:16Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > Somebody said LoTR is for adults, but my under-10 kids are enjoying it just fine. Dopers and their families read at above their age level; film at 11. Oh, and Amelia Bedelia! Though I never could find very many of her books. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/62 "2024-01-23T22:11:48Z")
That’s okay. Neither could she. It was when her employer asked her to “cook the books” that the true disaster happened. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/63 "2024-01-23T22:16:27Z")
_Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book_. My favorite book when my parent’s would read to me, and my favorite book when I would read to my kids. At one point I had the whole thing memorized. I still can recall the first 8-10 pages more than 25 years after I last read them to someone. > **[Amazon.com: Dr Seuss's Sleep Book: 9780394800912: Dr. Seuss: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Seusss-Sleep-Book-Dr-Seuss/dp/0394800915)** > > Amazon.com: Dr Seuss's Sleep Book: 9780394800912: Dr. Seuss: Books ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/64 "2024-01-23T22:21:02Z")
Oh, and _Tom Sawyer_ and sequels, _Doctor Dolittle_ series, and _Penrod_. ---
**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:** [January 23, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/65 "2024-01-23T22:34:44Z")
Oh, and of books others have mentioned that I would have voted for: - Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel - The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - The first book of the Dark Is Rising series (Over Sea, Under Stone), but I never could get into the rest of them. - The Mad Scientists’ Club - The Encyclopedia Brown series - The Tiffany Aching series - Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn There are a few others that I remember, but I think I overthought them as a kid. Like, IIRC, in The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree, the spaceship could teleport, but only long distances, not short distances. So if you wanted to go a short distance, why not just go to the Moon or wherever, and then back to your actual destination? Or in Half Magic, it’s just a matter of phrasing your wish so you’re asking for twice as much as you actually want. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/66 "2024-01-23T22:36:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or in Half Magic, it’s just a matter of phrasing your wish so you’re asking for twice as much as you actually want. They do figure that out, but sometimes they screwed up even so. _7 day magic_ is better. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/67 "2024-01-23T22:40:31Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > For “some other title”, I nominate _The Phantom Tollbooth_ by Norton Juster. This was my first thought too (I literally came into this thread to see if it was there and post if it wasn’t). Glad to see it was the first response. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/68 "2024-01-23T22:46:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Where are the books from the 21st century? > [@Chingon](#): > > I mean, you know this board’s demographics. Yeah, people in this thread are drawing heavily from (although not all limiting themselves to) books from their own childhoods, when 21st century books did not exist. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/69 "2024-01-23T22:55:37Z")
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett The Finch’s Fabulous Furnace by Roger Drury Any many more I can’t remember. I never read any of those on the list when I was a kid but have read many of them since. I guess there’s still a kid inside me somewhere! ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/70 "2024-01-23T23:08:32Z")
Aside what I mentioned above —when I was a child in the 80s I really enjoyed reading _Choose Your Own Adventure_ books. I am surprised no one else has mentioned them. Also their competitors–_Which Way Books_ and _TwistaPlot_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/71 "2024-01-23T23:17:49Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > -Where are the books from the 21st century? My daughter, who was born in Moscow in 1995, taught herself to read when she was three using the _Prostokvashino_ books, which are very popular in Russia. (There is also a cartoon series of the same name.) [![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UQFmIlG8cCc/U48cXmCK3DI/AAAAAAAAAgI/lFunYCd__sQ/s1600/Book-Uspensky.jpg) ](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UQFmIlG8cCc/U48cXmCK3DI/AAAAAAAAAgI/lFunYCd__sQ/s1600/Book-Uspensky.jpg) Later on, she read Rene Goscinny’s _ **Little Nicholas** _ (in Russian, but she could have read it in French too). > **[Le Petit Nicolas](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/74256.Le_Petit_Nicolas)** > > La maîtresse est inquiète, le photographe s'éponge le f… She wasn’t much interested in reading English (the spelling is just too weird) until she discovered the _ **Harry Potter** _ series when she was seven or eight. Then she devoured the books. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/72 "2024-01-23T23:54:01Z")
I can’t believe I forgot Elizabeth Enright! **Gone-Away Lake** and the Melendys Nancy Drew. ---
**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 24, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/73 "2024-01-24T00:01:41Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I hope to get a complete set of _ **The Mad Scientists’ Club** _ books before I finally croak. Will it to me, I only had the first one. ---
**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 24, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/74 "2024-01-24T00:05:48Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The film is very decent. Why they couldn’t have chosen a chubby kid for Louis annoyed me, tho. I thought so at first, but maybe I was just relieved it was no worse. Baby Jack Black ruined it. The book still stands as something that truly frightened me…I was cold while reading it on a warm Fort Lauderdale afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/75 "2024-01-24T00:08:42Z")
I loved all the Henry Reed books when I was a kid, especially the first, _Henry Reed, Inc._ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/76 "2024-01-24T00:30:43Z")
Here you go, only ninety-some bucks: > **[Mad Scientists' Club: Complete Collection: Brinley, Bertrand R., Geer, Charles:...](https://www.amazon.ca/Mad-Scientists-Club-Complete-Collection/dp/1930900511)** > > Mad Scientists' Club: Complete Collection: Brinley, Bertrand R., Geer, Charles: 9781930900516: Books - Amazon.ca ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/77 "2024-01-24T01:11:20Z")
Karla Kuskin’s **The Philharmonic Gets Dressed** and its sequel, **The Dallas Titans Get Ready for Bed**. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/78 "2024-01-24T01:18:08Z")
Another oldie but goodie: _Homer Price_ and the sequel _Centerburg Tales_ by Robert McCloskey, who has already been mentioned for his picture books. My cousin wrote a paper in her master’s program in which she interviewed various adults about the books they remembered best from their childhoods. Among the people she interviewed were my uncle (her dad) and my son, and both mentioned _Homer Price._ Had she interviewed me (which she didn’t) I would likely have mentioned it too. Impressive to have a book be a favorite for three generations. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/79 "2024-01-24T01:32:05Z")
I just realized that neither Uspensky or Goscinny were 21st century authors, though the former lived until 2018. I was thrown off because I didn’t read either of them until I was well into my adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509/80 "2024-01-24T01:54:33Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > First, one I think is pretty well known: “Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel Another vote for Mike Mulligan. Also adding in Trumpet of the Swan by EB White. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-childrens-books/996509.md?page=5)