OMG, was this REALLY a book? For a number of years this ‘Telemovie’ was shown on Aus (Melbourne) T.V. on New Years Day as a ‘filler’. My ex and I sat there the first year, nursing abyssmal hangovers from the night before, ASTOUNDED that they could put such drek on the screen.
Then they did it the year after…
And the one after that…
And so on, ad NAUSEUM (and I mean that literally!)
In the end it became a bit of an annual ritual to watch ‘My Side of the Mountain’, and we’d invite friends around to join in the hilarity with us. Even when the kids came along, there it was, filling our loungeroom with Technicolour Glory and stomach-retching Muzak.
But I have to admit, I enjoyed the story, and secretely wanted to be Sam too.
OMG, was this REALLY a book? For a number of years this ‘Telemovie’ was shown on Aus (Melbourne) T.V. on New Years Day as a ‘filler’. My ex and I sat there the first year, nursing abyssmal hangovers from the night before, ASTOUNDED that they could put such drek on the screen.
Then they did it the year after…
And the one after that…
And so on, ad NAUSEUM (and I mean that literally!)
In the end it became a bit of an annual ritual to watch ‘My Side of the Mountain’, and we’d invite friends around to join in the hilarity with us. Even when the kids came along, there it was, filling our loungeroom with Technicolour Glory and stomach-retching Muzak.
But I have to admit, I enjoyed the story, and secretely wanted to be Sam too.
Yeah, I saw them in the library a few years ago and read them. I don’t know, I think they’d shifted in style from this wonderful, dreamlike tale to something self-conscious. I can’t even remember what they’re called.
Wow, so many good books that I’ve been reminded of. I was always reading in elementary school - I got very good at the “reading after bedtime without Mom catching me” bit.
But the books I remember most were from 2nd grade: Fantastic Mr. Fox, which got me hooked on Roald Dahl (I think the teacher also read Matilda to us) and the series of My Father’s Dragon, Elmer’s Dragon, * and * The Dragons of Blueland (The author, Ruth Stiles Gannett came to our school, and I think I have signed copies of all three books).
Mine is To Kill A Mockingbird too. I read it in 8th grade and it was the first book I ever read that I did not want to set aside for anything. I read it at school every spare moment I had, and would only close the book when it became obvious that I had to start paying attention to what the teacher was saying. I haven’t read it since, but I think I’ve forgotten enough about it that I can read it again - almost as if for the first time. I’m going to have to re-read it to see what all the fuss is about, I guess.
I’d been reading since kindergarten, but this was the first book that ever affected me like this. Afterwards, I found special places in my heart for Lord of the Rings and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “trilogy.” For different reasons, these are probably the three most fascinating stories I’ve read thus far.
I was another early reader, so things are a little blurry. An early favorite, though, was The Rose and The Ring, by William Thackeray. It had such cool illustrations. And Kon-Tiki, by Thor Heyerdahl - this one I had practically memorized by the time I was twelve.
Count me in as another fan of Which Witch? I wished I could be Belladonna and wear a bat in my hair.
First love book though, would have to be Pride and Prejudice, cos it took me a while to get through it, but when I did, I loved it. I also used to re-read the soppy bits of Jane Eyre and wish I could marry Mr Rochester (sigh).
Of course, you’re right zev! Geeze, I should be able to remember the title after all the times I’ve read that gem.
(paraphrasing)
“D is for Daddy. See Daddy sleeping. Daddy needs a haircut. Poor Daddy. Daddy has no money because he buys you toys and oatmeal. Poor poor Daddy. See the scissors. Poor poor poor poor Daddy.”
A little more twisted than the “Ted and Sally” reading primers, he-he.
Katherine by Anya Seton - a real rising breasts, knights in not-so shining armor, I was surprised that my Mom read this kind of stuff. She recommended reading War and Peace plus Gone With The Wind to get my reading tastes away from English bastards sired by John of Gaunt.
But the book that really began my love affair with reading and ideas was The Last Temptation of Christ… I’m not religious but I marvel at the idea of someone examining the idea of Jesus’ human/son of God conflict. I also liked the political conflict of what the “messiah” was supposed to be all about. I’ve read the book several times since and wonder why Christians are so critical, hypocritical, about the book.
I was quite sick,
when I was two.
Cooped up all day
with nothing to do.
They poked me with needles,
And kept me in bed
I thought I might truly
go out of my head.
Then through the doorway
and out in the hall
I heard a commotion
and in came Uncle Paul!
He strode through the doorway
and came right to my bed
Looked up and down
and Uncle Paul said
“I’m sorry you’re feeling so pooly, it’s true,
but I’ve got a mighty fine present for you.”
He reached in a bag he had brought in my room
and a light seemed to shine andcut through all that gloom.
For it was none other than “The Cat in the Hat;”
Uncle Paul grinned and, well, that was that.
We read the book once and went back for more
Two times and three times and then it was four!
Again and again we read of that cat,
that cat with Thing One and Thing Two and that hat!
I read it to pieces, my favorite Seuss book
and went on to others, with a more grown up look.
But first in my heart is “The Cat in the Hat”
I fell in love – can you beat that?
My first books were actually history and science fiction
When I was 5 ( supposedly family legend says i could read cereal boxes at 2 or 3 ) my dad made a deal …If i could read the star wars book hed take me to see the movie
Any my grandparents wanted me to be the first child in the family that knew somehting so i read history books bible stories and the like
But I’ve never had a favorite book … I read anything and just some more than once
My mother tells stories of having to read The Little Red Hen to me until she was ready to burn the damn thing. Sadly, I can’t remember a word of it now.
The first book I feel in love with through reading it myself would have to be Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends
Do Classics Comics count, or do they have to be real books?
My uncles were too lazy to read the books they were assigned in high school, back in the 50s, so they generally took the easy way out and bought the Classics Comics versions. As a result, my grandmother had a hundred Classics Comics in her apartment, and they were my bedtime reading material, when I was 6 or 7.
Even now, I feel utterly familiar with books I never really read because I read the Classics version as a little kid. The ones I loved most were probably H.G. Wells’ “First Men in The Moon” and “The War of the Worlds,” Frank Norris’ “The Octopus,” Mark Twain’s “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” and Willkie Collins’ “The Moonstone.”
I didn’t read much in the way of kiddie literature as a kid. Any time I did, my Dad took that as an opportunity to move me on to adult reading. When I took a liking to Encyclopedia Brown mysteries, he introduced me to Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. When he saw me reading a kiddie version of “Rip Van Winkle,” he made me read Washington Irving.
I suppose the first book I really fell in love with was my Dad’s complete collection of Sherlock Holmes stories.
As a little kid, I remember loving the Freddy the Pig books, author’s name forgotten. Later, I was very fond of the Saint series, by Leslie Charteris, and the Nero Wolfe series, by Rex Stout.
I started reading science fiction in about 6th or 7th grade. The first book I bought on my own, with my own money, was The Door into Summer, by Robert Heinlein, purchased from a paperback rack in a stationery store. I hesitated for several days over this expensive item (it cost as much as three and a half comic books or seven candy bars), going in, reading the blurbs (inside and back cover), putting it down and going out. Finally I decided I had to have it. I reread it numerous times. I went on to read everything else he’d written, but that one remained a favorite.
I fell in love with the first book I ever read cover-to-cover and I credit it with starting my life-long love of books. To this day, I still think The Story of Ferdinand is one of the best children’s stories, ever. The Chronicles of Narnia are a close second, though.
Children’s books aside (Curious George Goes to the Hospital would top it there), Roger McCammon’s Boy’s Life is the only book I’ve read three times over, and I absolutely love it. I’ve given it out to my dad and and old friend of mine as gifts because for them, it was the greatest gift I felt I could share. One, up until recently, I just HATED to read. I’m getting better at it though. It’s just a great story, and it’s concept of everyone having “Magic” in them, but losing it as they grow older just really hits home for me. I see too many adults with no imagination, and it frightens me to think I may become one of them. This book really touches me and does an amazing job of connecting me with my dreams of flying and all those other childhood fantasies I don’t enjoy enough anymore.
I was assigned The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm by Nancy Farmer in 5th grade. It was such a strange and interesting book. And I had never read a book that I actually wanted to read since I had first learned.
