# Your favorite kid's books **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2000, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849 "2000-07-26T00:49:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![cakebelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@cakebelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cakebelly)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/141 "2000-08-17T17:23:06Z")
i apologize for my earlier redundant posts. i got excited halfway down reading the other posts, and jumped the gun on replying. I was about to put int mixed up files of mrs. basil e frankweiler, but then i saw poor oldnerd already had it in there. lesson learned:to reaad the posts before replying. Great topic! i loved reading when i was little (and now, as well) and would spend the summer reading book after book after book, and these titles really really bring me back. i would like to say for the record, that it is so refreshing to see others who read GOOD LITERATURE when they were young, instead of, say, babysitter’s club and sweet valley high, which i abhorred and was scorned b/c i didn’t know what was up with jessica and elizabeth wakefield in sweet valley. Thanks for restoring my faith in the idea that people aren’t all raised on mind candy. ---
**Author:** ![Unix\_Geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unix_geek/32/19368_2.png) [@Unix\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unix_Geek)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/142 "2000-08-17T17:25:08Z")
Almost everynight since my daughter was able to hold her head up while sitting on my lap I have read to her before bedtime. Needless to say now that she is turning seven I have read more than my fair share of children’s books. Just finished _Island of the Blue Dolphins_ and we are currently working on _Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH_. Next up is _Wrinkle in Time_. Please turn off the TV in the evening and sit down with your children (no matter how old) and read with each other. If your child is too young to read, then read to them AND talk about the book. As they get older have them read shorter easier works and finish up with a chapter from any of the works listed here. As they become pre-teen have them do most of the reading and probe them on what they read. It’s probably the greatest gift you can give them. One of my favorites not mentioned here is _The True Story of the Three Little Pigs_ (Told from the wolf’s perspective). And if you like Stellaluna then pick up _Verdi_ by the same author. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/143 "2000-08-17T17:26:59Z")
Well _I_ don’t have a favorite kid as I love them both equally! I have to say Claire (6) loves “The Carasoyn” by George MacDonald; authour of The Light Princess. She likes the fairies! Madeline is always popular too Andrew(3-3/4 going on 12)still really likes the Three Little Pigs for some reason it’s a perennial fave nite time book. He also likes Curious George. We are reading the Hobbit together–I have almost every JRR Tolkien book and even go to the NG’s to talk with fellow geeks! The Dark is Rising series was one of my favorite books as a youngster and I recently came across it in a bookstore, bought it, and read all the books in one night. It’s sitting on the bookshelf waiting for Claire to get a little older. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/144 "2000-08-17T19:08:55Z")
Well I’m suprized no one has said \\The Neverending Story\\ by Michael Ende. Exelent book and good first movie. I also loved the Choose your own adventure series. I think I had all but a few of them, and there was something like 120 or so. I also remember a few Tom Swift and Hardy boy’s novels. but I didn’t ever like Encyclopedia Brown stuff. but there is one book that I liked and can’t remember the name maybe someone else does. it was a boy and a girl who lived next to an old house that was owned by a rich old guy who didn’t like anyone. well the girl’s father was an archaeologist and she wanted to be one too so she got it in her head to go looking for this guys money. they end up tearing up the lawn looking for it and finally find it in a tunnel only to learn that the guy had burned most of the money. it was also one of those Saturday morning ABC specials if you remember them. anyone know this book? ---
**Author:** ![UnderDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecd19e/32.png) [@UnderDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnderDog)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/145 "2000-08-17T19:23:47Z")
I would add ‘all of the above’ plus… for the 8-12 set… A Wind In The Door (and the series) A Wizard of Earthsea (and the series) The Book of the DunCow (weird and wonderful) Treasure Island! The Hobbit(Lord of the Rings isn’t a kid’s series imho) Escape to the Mushroom Planet (Julie Andrews actually wrote this I was told… kinda weird) Any and all Roald Dahl books but my all time favorite is: Danny The Champion of the World… Maybe it’s because I can remember my mom reading that to me to show me what a Cockney accent was supposed to sound like. Excellent memories. Now I’m a dad and can’t wait to begin reading stories to my girl. We’re still on the cardboard ‘baby’ books. Thanks for the thread. I think I’ll print this out as a shopping list! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/146 "2000-08-17T19:59:41Z")
One of my favorite kid books was the Snark-Out Boys and the Avocado of Doom! It’s great. I just reread it recently. Anybody else remember this modern classic? ---
**Author:** ![cakebelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@cakebelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cakebelly)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/147 "2000-08-17T20:39:59Z")
one more i think a lot of people liked a lot: Harriet the spy by louise fitzgerald ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/148 "2000-08-17T20:42:36Z")
I’m so happy to see someone mention The Princess and the Goblin, but my favorite book growing up was its sequel The Princess and Curdie. I am also a big fan of many of the other books mentioned here including Narnia Hobbitt and Lord of the Rings Dark Is Rising The series from page 1 by Lloyd Alexander (includes Black Cauldron - you know the Disney movie) Any mythology or fairy tale compilations I could get my hands on The Hardy Boys (I read all of my school library’s collection of approx. 40 or so) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/149 "2000-08-17T21:00:59Z")
Hey you guys. I’m a new poster…I’ve wanted to register for awihle and I decided that I just had to when the subject came around to books. 🙂 Anyway, I too really like Louise Fitzhugh’s books, particularly the Long Secret. And the Bunnicula books, I just remembered those. Also, someone here brought up Ruth Chew. I read a book by her called “No Such Thing as a Witch”. I really liked that book and recently I was thinking about it. It was simple, but really good. Anyone read that? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/150 "2000-08-17T21:37:37Z")
Im not sure if this is even considered a children’s book by most people, but I LOVE “Le Petit Prince”(the little prince) by Antoine de St.-Exupéry. It is such a beautiful, wonderful book, even now i read it every few months or so, and fall in love with it all over again. Its like reading a different book every time. -S’il vous plait…déssine moi un mouton… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/151 "2000-08-18T01:30:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Any and all Roald Dahl books but my all time favorite is: > Danny The Champion of the World… Maybe it’s because I can remember my mom reading that to me to show me what a Cockney accent was supposed to sound like. Excellent memories. > > \*\* Oh yeah. I loved Roald Dahl when I was a kid. The Witches scared the hell out of me though. It felt so vivid. Now I still enjoy the books he’s written for older people. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- another great one. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/152 "2000-08-18T02:32:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobSchroeck \* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Kat \* > > \*\*the Ramona Quimby books > > So You Want to be a Wizard > > \*\* > > All of Diane Duane’s “Wizards” books are great, whether you’re an adult or a kid! I never knew there were others. _So You Want to be a Wizard_ was the only one my library had when I was a kid and I haven’t thought about that book in years. I’ll have to get my hands on them. > [@](#): > > I’m gratified to see a few mentions of “The Phantom Toolbooth,” and “A Wrinkle In Time,” and disappointed to see so much said of Bev Cleary’s “Ramona” books when her earlier “Henry Huggins” books (“Henry And The Paper Route” and “Henry And The Clubhouse,” in which Ramona had bit parts) were so far superior. _sigh_ I guess Ramona was more commercial. I never liked the Henry Huggins books. Henry reminded me of my older brother and, along with Beezus, seemed a stick-in-the-mud more than not. Ramona was around my age/slightly younger and got to do more fun stuff than me. ---
**Author:** ![wombat18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8e8cbc/32.png) [@wombat18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombat18)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/153 "2000-08-18T07:08:47Z")
I remember reading a book called ‘Rebecca’s World’ at school when I was a kid. It was strange and surreal and utterly compelling. It was written by the same guy who invented the Daleks, Terry Nation, and the hardback edition had the most incredible illustrations. I looked it up on the internet, and apart from about 3,000 homepages belonging to people called Rebecca all I found was a picture of the front cover of the paperback edition, which appeared to have been illustrated by someone with a box of crayons and a spare five minutes. Really disappointing. I would love to see the hardback version of this book again. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/154 "2000-08-18T08:46:12Z")
I adored the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series. “Bridge To Terabithia” was a keeper – it made me sad. The “Encyclopedia Brown” series was terrific, even though I rarely managed to solve the mysteries without looking in the back of the book. “Jacob Have I Loved” was the first time I had seen the word “breast” in print in a non-doctor-like context, so that was certainly a milestone. Whew! ---
**Author:** ![Fanny\_May](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3be4f8/32.png) [@Fanny\_May](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fanny_May)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2000, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/155 "2000-08-18T13:48:26Z")
A favorite of mine, which I read a lot at story time in the library, is “Where Do Butterflies Go When It Rains?” It’s a picture book full of swarming colors, very visually exciting, and simple enough for a new reader, with help. ---
**Author:** ![Sakura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Sakura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakura)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/156 "2000-08-19T01:18:23Z")
I went through “book phases” as a elementary kid. I would be addicted to certain series for months and then kick that habbit when another series came along. I loved: The Babysitter’s Club Sweet Valley High Old & new Nancy Drew mystery series The Little House series I’m still in love with: The Pyrdian Chronicles Harry Potter The Chronicles of Narnia A Wrinkle in Time and all sequels except Rising Waters Any Dr. Suess books Matilda - she loved to read as much as me! The Wizard of Oz The Road to Oz Alice in Wonderland Alice Through the Looking Glass My kiddy faves were: Danny and the Dinosaur Max’s Christmas (you know, the baby rabbit w/a sister named Ruby) Happy Father’s Day! (I still read this w/my dad every Father’s Day) The Oxcart Man The Berenstein Bears series ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/157 "2000-08-19T01:38:04Z")
Great book with lots of illustrations. I particularly like the one at the end that shows the head from Zeus’ statue lying on the grass, with the cosmos in the background, and text explaining how, like everything else, the greek gods reigns came to an end. (not sure on the spelling of Daulares - there is definitely an apostrophe in there somewhere) ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/158 "2000-08-19T01:50:24Z")
There are so many excellent kids books out there, that it makes it hard to pick some. But I’ll see what I can remember… Young kids: _Drummer Hoff Caps For Sale Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm(absolutely hilarious) The Serendipity books Leo the Lop…and a bunch of others The B Book(Think this is by Stan and Jan Berenstein) Dr. Seuss- And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street The Lorax Arrow to the Sun Blueberries for Sal Where is your mother?(I have never met anyone else who knows this one- about a little mouse looking for his family)_ Slightly older kids/young adult type books _The Ordinary Princess, by M.M. Kaye The Cherry Ames books, not sure who wrote them Ender’s Game, though I never liked the others in the series as much A series by Jean Karl, Strange Tomorrow, The Turning Place(Point?), and But We Are Not of Earth The Alana books by Tamora Pierce A series that included the book Winter of Magic’s Return and Tomorrow’s Magic, by Pamela F. Service All the books by Ellen Emerson White: Friends For Life, Life Without Friends, White House Autumn, The President’s Daughter, and Long Live The Queen A tale of time city by Dianna Wynne Jones_ There are so many more… I wish I could think of all of them and not be completely redundant…but all of the ones listed by everyone are GREAT! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/159 "2000-08-20T21:18:05Z")
I’ve got a lot of fave books too-I don’t remember the ones I liked when I was really little…too long ago. But these are the ones I can remember, they’re mostly YA books: The Bunnicula books The Superfudge books The Long Secret/Harriet the Spy The Trial of Anna Cotman, The Haunting of Cassie Palmer (and other books by Vivian Alcock- has anyone read anything by her? her books are for kids but they are pretty dark) Angela and Diabola Where the Red Fern Grows The Night Room A Tree Grows in Brooklyn The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm That’s my Baby Just as Long as we’re together/Here’s to you, Rachel Robinson Books by Enid Blyton Many Waters In the Middle of the Night, We All Fall Down, Fade (and others by Robert Cormier) Slave Day/Rats Saw God Bad Girls Secret Garden Probably others that I can’t really remember right now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849/160 "2000-08-20T21:46:01Z")
As has been mentioned many times above, “Charlotte’s Web” was a very influential book in my life. I truly love it. I must have read the book about 6 times over, back to back. When I was a senior in high school I had a choice between portraying the lead in “Grease” (I was a theater dork) at school or a small part in “Charlotte’s Web” at a fairly prestigious community theater. I chose to be “John Abel” . . . "Fern"s dad. I do not regret it. My HS drama director never forgave me. Oh well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-kids-books/26849.md?page=9)