# What was the first book you fell in love with? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080 "2002-05-14T20:50:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/41 "2002-05-15T13:39:27Z")
Hmmmm, the first that I can remember being read to me that blew me away was Roald Dahl’s _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ - read by my teacher when I was 9 - what a truly magical experience. After that, there are so many books that I was fortunate enough to read at the right time and that had a profound impact on me, but I would have to say that Charlie was probably the first. ---
**Author:** ![white-tigeress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f475e1/32.png) [@white-tigeress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/white-tigeress)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/42 "2002-05-15T13:40:04Z")
Mine was Little WOmen and Black Beauty. I jus tloved them both. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/43 "2002-05-15T13:40:28Z")
At about 10, I read _The Trumpet of the Swan_ by E.B. White. First novel I read, I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/44 "2002-05-15T14:25:18Z")
I liked reading very much as a child, but never really had any favorites back then. Two of the books I’ve read over and over (now) have been Paula by Isabel Allende and To kill a mockingbird. I absolutely love those books. For whom the bell tolls was great too. ---
**Author:** ![Molly\_Coddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bcef8e/32.png) [@Molly\_Coddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molly_Coddle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/45 "2002-05-15T14:33:38Z")
**Flowers in the Attic** By V.C. Andrews So it’s not the most cheery book in the world, but there was an interesting little story that goes along with it : My mother and I were in a CVS or Rite Aid ,some type of little drug store, and I was checking out the book section. A dully famillar title caught my eye and I realized it was a movie I had seen a few years back. Now, then I didn’t know that the movie was made years after the book, but I picked it up and I bought it. I couldn’t put it down, always sneaking peeks during class and on the bus ride to school. I was slightly disappointed that I finished it in two days, I I began reading (almost in order) the rest of the books by the same author. Today, I have every book published under V.C. Andrews’s name (though she died some time ago and has a ghostwriter) and I am eagerly awaiting the others to come. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/46 "2002-05-15T14:43:20Z")
Anna Karenina ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/47 "2002-05-15T14:54:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brachyrhynchos \* > \*\* > Or maybe Uncle Shelby’s ABC Book. \*\* Actually, that should be Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book. (Shel Silverstein). That was a great book, but I didn’t discover it until I was an adult (a fact for which my parents are probably eternally greatful). Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Clever\_Hans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Clever\_Hans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clever_Hans)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/48 "2002-05-15T15:07:40Z")
So many books I remember fondly and hard to narrow it down: Summer of the Monkeys Tom Sawyer Where the Red Fern Grows Shane but I fell in love with Bridge to Terabithia, almost made me cry at school. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/49 "2002-05-15T17:06:49Z")
_The Annotated Alice_, but I was five and my college age sister was reading it to me. After that, it was fifth or sixth grade before my friends and I discovered Andre Norton’s science fiction in the school library. I can’t remember the titles any more, but we kept that library shelf empty for a year. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/50 "2002-05-15T17:10:55Z")
_The Book of Three_ by Lloyd Alexander. I read it when I was eight and thought it was the most amazing, magical book ever. I checked out the library’s copy so many times that I can still picture exactly what it looks like. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/51 "2002-05-15T17:27:59Z")
I, too, was a serious reader before I started school. The first book I can recall really digging must have Maurice Sendak’s _Where The Wild Things Are_. I remeber reading that when I was 5 or 6, and just completely looking at the pictures and reading about Max’s adventures with the friendly monsters. When I was about 9, I read _Dracula_ and _Frankenstein_ (the grownup versions, NOT retold for kids) and being completely blown away by them. I had no idea Frankenstein’s monster was so chatty! ---
**Author:** ![Chekmate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@Chekmate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chekmate)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/52 "2002-05-15T17:33:37Z")
I’d have to go with the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Turned me on to reading in general, not to metion the fantasy Genre. R.L. Stine was a good set for me too, but Eddings came first. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/53 "2002-05-15T17:50:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kru-baby \* > \*\*The first book I ever fell in love with was Bunnicula, and I dont even know who the author is anymore, but I just loved that book. It was so funny to me when I was little. \*\* Bunnicula is by James and Deborah Howe and is a great book–they just came out with a 20th anniversary edition. The whole Chronicles of Narnia series, which I see others have mentioned—my favorite within the series is probably _The Magician’s Nephew_. My first major reading experience that I recall vividly—the one where I realized, hey, I can READ!–was Shel Silverstein’s _Where the Sidewalk Ends_. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/54 "2002-05-15T17:59:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kru-baby \* > \*\*The first book I ever fell in love with was Bunnicula, and I dont even know who the author is anymore, but I just loved that book. It was so funny to me when I was little. \*\* Bunnicula is by James and Deborah Howe and is a great book–they just came out with a 20th anniversary edition. The whole Chronicles of Narnia series, which I see others have mentioned—my favorite within the series is probably _The Magician’s Nephew_. My first major reading experience that I recall vividly—the one where I realized, hey, I can READ!–was Shel Silverstein’s _Where the Sidewalk Ends_. ---
**Author:** ![kore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@kore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kore)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/55 "2002-05-15T18:11:13Z")
One of my all time favorites when I was very little was _The Mountain and the Summer Stars_ by Micheal Baker. After 20 odd years, it went missing in a move. As further evidence that my mom is a much neater lady than I gave her credit for as I was growing up, she found me a copy for xmas last year… happy happy!! ---
**Author:** ![kore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@kore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kore)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/56 "2002-05-15T18:16:45Z")
One of my all time favorites when I was very little was _The Mountain and the Summer Stars_ by Micheal Baker. After 20 odd years, it went missing in a move. As further evidence that my mom is a much neater lady than I gave her credit for as I was growing up, she found me a copy for xmas last year… happy happy!! ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/57 "2002-05-15T19:08:35Z")
When I was seven, my family and I were traveling through Britain, on our way to Spain, where we’d live for the next five years. We stayed for a while in a hotel in Scotland, deep in the country, in an upstairs room with a slanted, beamed ceiling. At night, my mother would read to us from a copy of Mary Norton’s **The Borrowers**. When I got to Spain, I couldn’t wait to read more, and wanted to read something for myself. I got ahold of an Enid Blyton book, one of the Famous Five series. It took me so long to read it that the cover was entirely off by the time I was through. But I remember what it felt like, having finished that book, all by myself, and lived all the adventures in it. I went romping into the living room, singing my little book-finishing song, which I still, sometimes, sing in my head after turning the last page. After that, it was everything Enid Blyton had ever written. ---
**Author:** ![GKW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@GKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GKW)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/58 "2002-05-15T19:40:52Z")
I’ve always loved books, libraries, and book stores. The first book I remeber loving was one on Greek Mythology. The first adult-type book I fell in love with was _Demian_ by Hermann Hesse at age 11. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/59 "2002-05-15T21:18:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tavalla \* > \*\*_The Darkangel_ by Meredith Ann Pierce. It absolutely captivated me when I first read it (aged 11 or so). It was a borrowed copy and it took me until I was nineteen to find another copy of it to buy. \*\* Have you read the other two books in the trilogy? They were all reissued a couple years ago. In early middle school, I was a bit obsessed with _My Side of the Mountain_. I wanted to run away and live in the woods like Sam. ---
**Author:** ![MachV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@MachV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MachV)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080/60 "2002-05-15T21:56:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by anenquiringmind \* > **"The Secret Garden" > will always be in my heart** Ah, yes. The first book I thought of when I saw this thread. Had to scroll down just to see if anyone beat me to it. This one goes down as my childhood favorite. A few notable mentions, though: **The Mouse and the Motorcycle** by Beverly Cleary - When I decided to have an imaginary friend, he was a mouse named Ralph. I even built a little shoebox house for him and everything. **Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing** by Judy Blume - Simply put: Fudge rocks the house. **The Boxcar Children** by Gertrude Chandler Warner (had to Google for the author, I hope I got it right) - This one always made me hungry for my mom’s “hobo stew”. Mmm…hobo stew… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-book-you-fell-in-love-with/109080.md?page=4)