# Your favorite books of childhood **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 4, 1999, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861 "1999-11-04T19:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/41 "1999-11-04T22:09:00Z")
Some of mine I’ve seen already: The Great Brain books The Mixed-Up Files etc. Encyclopedia Brown Pretty much anything by Dr. Seuss Some of the Choose Your Own Adventure-type books Charlotte’s Web Things I didn’t read as a child but would have liked if I had: The Hobbit (and Lord of the Rings for older kids) Chronicles of Narnia The Oz books The Tarzan books (and most of the other series by Burroughs), again for the upper end of your age range; some of them would be somewhat racy and/or frightening for young kids Others I haven’t seen mentioned yet: The “Two-Minute Mysteries” books The Danny Dunn books (these are great if the kid in question has any interest in science) The Sword in the Stone from The Once and Future King (the real one, not the Disney version) A Wrinkle in Time Half Magic Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates Tom Sawyer (and Huckleberry Finn) The King of the Golden River ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/42 "1999-11-04T22:11:00Z")
The giving tree How to eat fried worms freckle juice * * * The only way to rid yourself of temptation is to yield to it–Oscar Wilde ---
**Author:** ![jazzmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jazzmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jazzmine)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/43 "1999-11-04T22:15:00Z")
Oh you guys! \*Flat Stanley[\i] No one I know has ever heard of this book and I even thought for a little while that I had made it up. I loved that book! My list, many have been mentioned before: Beverly Cleary Books (all of them) Nancy Drew Series Charlotte’s Web Wind In The Willow Man O’ War (Walter Farley) Big Red (Jim Kjelgaard) My Friend Flicka Chronicles of Narnia Black Beauty - LOVED this book Wizard of Oz Little Women (the whole series) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms Watership Down Misty of Chincoteague (Marguerite Henry) (loved the whole series) Black Stallion series Phar Lap Island of the Blue Dolphins I could go on and on. What a wonderful thread, Shirley! My whole day feels good now. trisha ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/44 "1999-11-04T22:17:00Z")
Left this out because I couldn’t remember the names: The “Trick” series by Scott Corbett. The two I remember specifically are “The Limerick Trick” and “The Lemonade Trick”. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/45 "1999-11-04T22:28:00Z")
A couple more–Lloyd Alexander’s _Westmark_ trilogy–which is a thousand times better than th better known _Black Cauldron_ set, Robin Mckinly’s books, any of them (Although the _Hero and the Crown_ is probably the best place to start) and Jim Kjeelgard’s various dog books, especially _Snow Dog_. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/46 "1999-11-04T22:40:00Z")
One more that I forgot–“The Westing Game.” Wasn’t that one just made into a movie recently? ---
**Author:** ![krish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c57346/32.png) [@krish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krish)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/47 "1999-11-04T22:46:00Z")
Let’s see, Cam Jansen The Boxcar Children Miss Mallard Arthur Roger Hargreaves’s Mr. Men and Little Miss series Choose Your Own Adventure series (a little different from the others, but it was interesting.) If I think of more, I’ll add them. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleCrackwhore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@PurpleCrackwhore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleCrackwhore)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/48 "1999-11-04T22:46:00Z")
## Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Winnie the Pooh Pipi Longstocking Nancy Drew/Hardy Boy Mysteries Green Eggs and Ham “Only when he no longer knows what he is doing, does the painter do good things.” --Edgar Degas ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/49 "1999-11-04T22:54:00Z")
I agree that the Great Brain and Lloyd Alexander stuff was great. I’m remembering a book I read when I was 11 or so called “The Teddy Bear Habit” about a kid in the beatniks era trying to learn to play guitar-- it was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/50 "1999-11-04T23:05:00Z")
God, does this thread bring back memories. I read most of these. The Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler was great. I liked Encyclopedia Brown, the Danny Dunn series, the Three Investigators, the Beverly Cleary books (Ramona/Henry Huggins/Beezus), and many of the others mentioned. The Great Brain series I especially enjoyed. The stories were actually semi-autobiographical. The author really did grow up in Utah. He also wrote some nonfiction about his family’s life. (The author was the model for the little brother in the books. The older brother (Tom?) was the Great Brain) Although the family was Catholic in the children’s books, as someone pointed out, apparently part of the family was Mormon in reality. (I think one of the parents was Mormon and one Catholic.) I though the nonfiction books were actually better than the kid’s books, even when I first read them in my very early teens. Anybody remember the author’s name? ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/51 "1999-11-04T23:18:00Z")
Pretty much my whole list is here so far, but what about Where the Wild Things Are by M Sendak? Way cool book. * * * Make it fit. ---
**Author:** ![Minxsmom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Minxsmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minxsmom)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/52 "1999-11-04T23:19:00Z")
Oh, Boy, what great memories lie in this thread! I LOVED Encyclopedia Brown - I forgot about him! Gee, where do I start? A Wrinkle in Time The Hobbit The Iceberg Hermit Watership Down The Velveteen Rabbit Call of the Wild Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The “Little House” series The - Red, Green, Brown, Yellow, etc - Fairy Book Stories of King Arthur Adventures of Robin Hood I’m sure I’ll think of more. * * * **WARNING:** I cannot be held responsible for the above as apparently my cat has learned to type. =^…^= ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/53 "1999-11-04T23:58:00Z")
Reading through the list reminded me of several books I’ve loved because they were mentioned by other people (special kudos to **pldennison** for mention of “Le Petit Prince” by “Antoine de Saint-Exupery”) But then I remembered **Treasure Island** by Stevenson I still love that book! Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! And then Jules Verne of course: Deux Ans de Vacances De la Terre a La Lune Voyage Au Centre de la Terre Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers L’Ile mysterieuse and H. G. Welles War of the worlds The invisible man And how about Conan Doyle’s series with Professor Challenger? The Lost World et al. * * * La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit. H. de Livry ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/54 "1999-11-04T23:59:00Z")
Wait wait wait! And also Alice in Wonderland Alice through the looking glass by Lewis Carroll * * * La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit. H. de Livry ---
**Author:** ![mr\_john](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@mr\_john](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_john)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/55 "1999-11-05T00:21:00Z")
OH great, I been away a while and they STILL don’t remember my pass word. Who’s euchy? Is (s)he cool? Hey, shirl, who’s been here since I been gone? I read these when I was around ten or eleven, HUCKLEBERRY FINN ( i am a southren boy) taught me all I know about racists, nasty thing to be, avoid if you can Most of Poe ( scared me!!) Conan Doyle , damn wish I could be that logical bout things,(cept for that spiritualism)Asimov, didn’t make me ‘think’ stead i just was glad somebody ELSE was thinkin that way.OH yeh, for fun there wad the Hardy Boys!! Made me jealouse " Hey, Pop, can we borrow the helecopter tonight? We want to visit our friend in Alaska." Yeh right. * * * “Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/56 "1999-11-05T00:32:00Z")
Ha, the ex- children’s bookstore clerk finally gets to show off her knowledge… Drain Bead: IIRC, the Roald Dahl story you’re thinking of is called “The Marvelous Story of Henry Sugar.” Random: The author of the Great Brain books was John D. Fitzgerald. Looks like people have already mentioned most of my favorites. A couple of others that bring back warm memories: The All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor. (Kind of an urban version of Laura Ingalls Wilder, about five little Jewish girls in turn-of-the-century New York.) _Adam of the Road_ by Elizabeth Janet Grey. _Bunnicula_ and _Howliday Inn_ by James Howe. The Bruno and Boots books by Gordon Korman. Absolutely hilarious. * * * “The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.” - Bill Watterson ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/57 "1999-11-05T00:34:00Z")
“Half Magic” “Ben And Me” And Tove Jannisson’s Moomintrolls series. Also I collected almost all of the Tom Swift Jr. series. Loved that Sub-Ocean Geotron gadget of his… * * * YO-HO, ME HEARTIES! ALL HANDS ON DECK FOR THE MUSICAL BATTLE AT SEA! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/58 "1999-11-05T00:37:00Z")
The Boxcar Children! Thanks, ChrisCTP and Krish – I’d forgotten about that wonderful book. Was there more than one? Gonna have to check. Little kids are having fun now with something called the “Dumb Bunny” series – I’ve read a couple and they’re pretty good. Too bad kids’ books are so pricey – but usually the illustrations are worth it. “The Geranium on the Windowsill Just Died” was a favorite of my kids’ too. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/59 "1999-11-05T01:00:00Z")
According to **Christi** : _My all-time favorite book when I was a really littler kid was a book about an Easter bunny who was late for Easter. I think that was the title, in fact, “The Easter Bunny Who Was Late,” or something like that. There were pictures of EB dressed up in all kinds of holiday outfits, trying to offload the eggs he hadn’t delivered at Easter time. If anyone else knows of this book and where I can get a copy, please let me know!_ Sounds like “The Easter Bunny that Overslept”: “Having slept past Easter, the Easter bunny tries to distribute his eggs on Mother’s Day, the Fourth of July, and Halloween, but no one is interested. At Christmas time it is Santa who gets him back on track.” [www.addadd.com/Used/](http://www.addadd.com/Used/) lists numerous copies. “The Easter Bunny That Ate My Sister” also looks interesting… ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-books-of-childhood/10861/60 "1999-11-05T01:03:00Z")
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