# What were your favorite children's books?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 14, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456 "2008-01-14T06:35:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/1 "2008-01-14T06:35:57Z")
I recently had a talk with a friend about the Dr. Dolittle books. Try as I might, I cannot FIND the box set of paperback stories that comprised the entire set of novels. I was given them as a child for Hannukah one year and they were quite wonderful.
We then talked about all of our favorite children’s books. Here is what I remember. I’m listing children’s books as stuff I enjoyed before the age of 12. Not that I didn’t re-read them after that age, but these are titles I know I discovered as a child.
Mods, I know this is a poll but it’s about literature so I put it in here. If it needs to slide to IMHO, I understand.
The 21 Balloons
The Little Prince
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Little House on the Prairie/ Big House In The Woods series
Dr. Dolittle stories
A Wrinkle In Time
What were yours?
Cartooniverse
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/2 "2008-01-14T07:06:31Z")
The Winnie the Pooh books
The Babar books
The Pokey Little Puppy
The Tall Book of Make Believe (my favorite)
The Little Prince
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/3 "2008-01-14T07:40:19Z")
Where the Wild Things are
The Chrysalids
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Anne of Green Gables
The Hobbit
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### Author:  [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/4 "2008-01-14T10:28:14Z")
Noddy
later, The Naughtiest Girl In The School series and then the Famous Five and… well, everything else by Enid Blyton… the Galliano’s Circus books, the Children of Cherry Tree/Willow Farm books, The Magic Wishing Chair and sequel, The Folk of the Faraway Tree, etc.
More Spaghetti I Say
the Berenstain Bears books
The Best Nest
Dr Seuss books
No Such Thing As A Witch
Possum Magic
the Little House on the Prairie books
the Anne of Green Gables series
the Little Women series
Pollyanna
A Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Heidi
a lot of Robin Klein books, including Hating Alison Ashley, Junk Castle, Penny Pollard’s Diary, Halfway Across The Galaxy and Turn Left, Ratbags and Rascals
Encyclopedia Brown
Trixie Belden
Nancy Drew
The Chronicles of Narnia
Charlotte’s Web
most of Roald Dahl, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, George’s Marvelous Medicine and The Twits
Alice in Wonderland
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (or is it NIHM? I always forget)
The Magic Pudding
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
I just know I’m forgetting hundreds.
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### Author:  [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/5 "2008-01-14T11:37:38Z")
Various Enid Blyton crap (we didn’t know better) but not Noddy thank goodness.
The Moomintroll books, a nice spooky edge to some of these stories.
The Professor Branestawm books
Biggles (this was probably the law in England back then).
And I remember being handed Ted Hughes’ Iron Man at school, pretty heavy for a primary school kid.
Crap loads of other stuff but these ones stand out.
Ooh edit: And Alice in Wonderland, but like Biggles I think this was mandatory reading at the time.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/6 "2008-01-14T12:06:49Z")
I just read **21 Balloons** and it is throughly enjoyable.
Little House on the Praire series was huge for me. Particularly Little House in the Big Woods. The rest, not so much.
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### Author:  [@Ro\_Carter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ro_Carter)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/7 "2008-01-14T12:31:19Z")
Dr. Seuss
The Bearenstein Bears
Ping
Beatrix Potter
Boxcar Children
Adventures from Third Street School
Roald Dahl
Great Illustrated Classics
Wizard’s Hall
Dear America
The Magic School Bus
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/8 "2008-01-14T12:35:59Z")
The one I remember the most vividly was James and Giant Peach.
But I also remember reading a lot of books about dogs:
Old Yeller
Big Red (and all the other Red books I could find)
Bristleface
I’ve recently thought about buying those in a fit of nostalgia but decided that it would be better to let my memories of them stay in tact.
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### Author:  [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/9 "2008-01-14T12:46:57Z")
Enid Blyton
The Moomins
Dr Seuss
Beatrix Potter
Roald Dahl
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### Author:  [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/10 "2008-01-14T14:15:18Z")
Black Beauty
Misty of Chinteague and all accompanying stories
The Black Stallion series
Little House on the Prairie series
Artie the Smartie (I made my parents read this to me when I was little until the book fell apart)
Horton Hears A Who
Charlotte’s Web
The Boxcar Children Series
Various and sundry Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys books
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/11 "2008-01-14T14:43:37Z")
[Oh, where to begin . . .](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=308215)
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### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/12 "2008-01-14T15:20:04Z")
[QUOTE=BaneSidhe]
…The Boxcar Children Series
Various and sundry Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys books
[/QUOTE]
You mean there was a _Boxcar Children_ _Series_? I was ripped off! I read plenty of Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys books–but even as a kid, realized that they wouldn’t stand up to re-reading.
Loved all the _Little House_ books. But I never watched the TV show–because I knew that [Paw](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GB6MWNQSL._AA240_.jpg) did not look like Little Joe!
_Little Women_ was my favorite Louisa May Alcott book. The others were pretty good–but I wasn’t surprised that she considered them hack work. (She had a bunch of relatives to support & her “wholesome” stuff sold better than her more adult, slightly racy stories.)
_Twenty One Balloons_ was beautiful–& I need to get a copy!
Andre Norton’s _The Stars are Ours_ was my first SF. Loved her other stuff & Heinlein’s “juveniles.”
Am I the first Edward Eager fan? (Start with _Half Magic_ & _Knight’s Castle_.)
And–who wouldn’t want to be raised by wolves? Especially if you could have a black panther as teacher.
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### Author:  [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/13 "2008-01-14T15:23:48Z")
The Anne of Green Gables series was my favourite, ever.
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/14 "2008-01-14T15:34:47Z")
The Edward Eager books:
_Magic or Not
Half Magic
Knight’s Castle
Magic by the Lake
Seven Day Magic
The Time Garden_
and _The Story of Ferdinand_, by Munro Leaf
[edited to add: oops, hi **Bridget** 🙂]
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/15 "2008-01-14T15:37:59Z")
Nobody has mentioned [Beverly Clearly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Cleary)? Ramona was a childhood favorite!
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/16 "2008-01-14T15:39:12Z")
Winnie the Pooh
House at Pooh Corner
They were my first book, and came in a singe volume, writen by Milne and illustrated by Shepard, and got me through half a year in which I was confined to a hospital bed.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/17 "2008-01-14T15:41:12Z")
Too many to list, but… I really liked Robert Lawson’s books about animals who were pets of, or who helped, famous people. _I Discover Columbus_ was about the parrot who helps guide Columbus; _Ben and Me_ was about the mouse who gives Ben Franklin all his great ideas; _Captain’s Kidd’s Cat_ (my favorite) is self-explanatory, as is _Paul Revere’s Horse_. They’re a great way to interest kids in history; I think most, if not all, are still in print. The illustrations are even better than the text, which is always fun. Lawson’s _Rabbit Hill_ series, about the community of woodland creatures who live near a mansion, is also terrific. He also did the illustrations (although he didn’t write the text, IIRC) for _Ferdinand_, about a sweet-tempered bull in Spain who doesn’t want to take part in the bullfights.
I also really liked _The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship_, based on an old Russian folktale, which is simply delightful. Ditto _Caps for Sale!_, about a cap salesman and a treeful of mischievous monkeys.
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/18 "2008-01-14T15:51:04Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke]
Am I the first Edward Eager fan? (Start with _Half Magic_ & _Knight’s Castle_.)
[/QUOTE]
I loved _Half Magic_ as a kid, but I recently reread it and was disappointed at its failure to stand up.
All of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne and Emily books.
Elizabeth Enright’s Melendy books.
I think I read everything Beverly Cleary every wrote.
Ditto Judy Blume, although I was maybe a little older then. Esp. _Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself_.
Loved the Little House books. I STILL want to live in a sod house, like Laura does in _By the Banks of Plum Creek_, dammit. I’m currently living in a fairly nineteenth century fashion (well, if they had the internet in nineteenth century, obviously), and I cheer myself up when I’m carting water back to my house by imagining myself in a Little House book.
Loved Zilpha Keatley Snyder, especially _The Egypt Game_.
Oh yeah, and for a couple years in elementary school, I read about eight trillion Babysitters’ Club books.
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### Author:  [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/19 "2008-01-14T19:27:22Z")
Like a lot of dopers, probably too many to list, but the series that I read most often are:
[ul]
[li]The Tom Swift Jr. books. Gave me my first interest in science and technology. Which is a bit part of my career now. [/li][li]The Hardy Boys[/li][li]The Black Stallion[/li][li]The Three Investigators[/li][li]Encyclopedia Brown[/li][li]There was the great two volume kids encyclopedia set that used Disney characters for all the entries. I’ve looked, but never been able to find it. [/li][/ul]
I also read the Little House on the Prarie books, but I only remember reading them once, where as all these other series I read over and over. Several of them I’ve actually collected and have for when my children are a bit older.
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### Author:  [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-childrens-books/433456/20 "2008-01-14T20:00:16Z")
Pooh
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Dr. Seuss
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Richard Scarry
Dr. Doolittle
Beverly Cleary
Henry Huggins
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
Miss Pickerell
Pipi Longstocking
The Just So Stories
Encyclopedia Brown
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