Do any of you still read children's books

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Some of my favourite comfort reads are old books I enjoyed as a child - Enid Blyton, Noel Streatfeild, the William books and so on.

Do any of you still read your old childhood favourites and what are they? eg the Beano Annual 1985.

Birneybau

There are some amazing books, ostensibly children's, that are well worth a read, Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy being a great case in point.

Birneybau

Birneybau wrote: »

There are some amazing books, ostensibly children's, that are well worth a read, Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy being a great case in point.

and watership down

Kovu

All the time, I love an easy read book that can be read over a couple of nights. I'm almost finished my first entire read through of Discworld and am thoroughly enjoying it. Haven't read any of my older children's books for years but all still have a place on my bookshelves, Famous Five and the Five-Find-outers and Dog, The Wishing Chair and The Magic Faraway Tree to name a few!

eviltwin

One of the best things about having kids is rediscovering kids books. Myself and my 5 yr old are currently reading our way through Roald Dahl and David Walliams books and thanks to my teenager I've read Harry Potter and the Hunger Games. There is some great children's literature out there.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Read Adrian Mole a few years back for the first time in since childhood. Wasn't as funny as I remembered it.

Pratchetts childrne's books are worth a read - the truckers series and the johnny and the bomb/dead ones.

whiskeyman

Anne & Barry.

Kovu

bluewolf wrote: »

and watership down

No! Too sad! And all the Tom McCaughren novels about the foxes. Old Sage Brush and Ratwiddle, and Vickey who lost three cubs to the feral cats.

CS Lewis said a childrens story that only be enjoyed by children is not a good childrens story in the slightest, and when you look at the success of Harry Potter and how the books have been enjoyed by adults and kids alike, he's got a point. The best kids books are good books, and anyone can enjoy a good book.

My favourite book as a child is The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, I loved the thought that loving things brought them to life. I still love the story and still read it when I'm low. Another favourite is Peter Pan, it's timeless.

fussyonion

I love "Candy on the DART" by Ita Daly.

It was first read to us in 4th class by our teacher and I fell in love with it.
For those of you who don't know, it's a story about 10-year-old Candy, who decides to run away from home after being left in the care of her narky housekeeper while her parents are away abroad.

She leaves home and meets Sharon, another 10-year-old, and the story follows them as they travel around Dublin, on the run, meeting quirky characters on the way.

It was a story I always remembered and still a book I read every now and again because it was a decent storyline.

Samaris

Noel Streatfeild is a big one for me, I have most of her books around. Various old girls' school stories. Couple of favoured Blytons. Narnia. Definately Narnia.

Lucyfur

fussyonion wrote: »

I love "Candy on the DART" by Ita Daly.

It was first read to us in 4th class by our teacher and I fell in love with it.
For those of you who don't know, it's a story about 10-year-old Candy, who decides to run away from home after being left in the care of her narky housekeeper while her parents are away abroad.

She leaves home and meets Sharon, another 10-year-old, and the story follows them as they travel around Dublin, on the run, meeting quirky characters on the way.

It was a story I always remembered and still a book I read every now and again because it was a decent storyline.

I got that for Christmas one year. I loved it

Matilda is my favourite book. It's like comfort food in book form

anncoates

Reread two of my favourite childhood books, The Machine Gunners (Robert Westall) and Walkabout (James Vance Marshall) in recent years (building a library for my kids to enjoy when they're a little older) and they're still pretty good.

NachoBusiness

Wonder if George Bush has finished The Pet Goat yet.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Did anyone ever read the Chalet School books? They still have a massive adult readership. I found a few of them in my mother's attic a while ago and had a pleasant few days reliving my childhood.

MagicMarker

I'm in my 30s and started reading Harry Potter last year.

Alisha Dead User

Alisha Dead User wrote: »

Did anyone ever read the Chalet School books? They still have a massive adult readership. I found a few of them in my mother's attic a while ago and had a pleasant few days reliving my childhood.

Loved them! Much better than Mallory Towers.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

MagicMarker wrote: »

I'm in my 30s and started reading Harry Potter last year.

Lovely books MagicMarker. My 70 something parents devoured them, along with their children and grandchildren.

cloud493

Enid Blyton books are still great to read, even if they're a teeny bit racist.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Candie wrote: »

Loved them! Much better than Mallory Towers.

I agree. Far more indepth stories. Although re read Malory Towers last Summer for the first time in years and years, and they were surprisingly comforting.

Alisha Dead User

Alisha Dead User wrote: »

Did anyone ever read the Chalet School books? They still have a massive adult readership. I found a few of them in my mother's attic a while ago and had a pleasant few days reliving my childhood.

Oh man I loved them so much as a kid.
I was trying to work my way through all the books ... i think there were a few I couldn't get a hold of
oh wow there is a website and everything
http://www.chaletschool.org.uk/

diograis

Alice in Wonderland is amazing

mud

I have Charlie Brown (Peanuts) and Calvin & Hobbes paperbacks that are never too far away

Philip Pullman's Dark Materials is a favourite and his other YA novels are great too. "I was a Rat!" and "The Firework Maker's Daughter" spring to mind.

Pick up Adrian Mole every now and then. Dated? Yes, but still good for some snorty moments!

The first book I remember having a huge impact was Charles Perrault's fairytales. Terrifying. I managed to incorporate some of them into my MA thesis though so all early reading is relevant.

Corruptedmorals

Yes, somewhat regularly. My favourite book is a children's book- Anne of Green Gables. I re-read it so often as a child that it had a big influence on my vocabulary and English writing skills.

I also read St Clares and Malory Towers every so often, they are amazing. As someone else said, comforting! The famous five though are a bit of a struggle to enjoy when older. Books like under the hawthorn tree and all of the rest she wrote...especially Faraway Home..are classics. I loved another Irish series 'Rosie's Gift/War' about a girl who could time travel. And Narnia.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Just bought a couple of the original Malory Towers on line. No decimal currency or references to 'record players' etc to spoil the 1940s nostalgia.

stinkle

Oddly enough, I tried to source a few books online recently that I'd read as a kid. 3 in particular stood out but I couldnt find copies. Seeing pics of the covers was super nostalgic in itself. One was Stan by Ann Pilling, about a boy who runs away (from England to Ireland, I think) and there's a bad guy after him - I can't remember much of the plot but do remember the bad guy being a very chilling, vivid character in my imagination. I remember fighting with my brother over the book - it must have belonged to one of us and the other got annoyed that it was being hogged!

New Patches for Old by Christobel Mattingly about a girl that moves from the UK to Australia. She is bullied and has trouble fitting in to the new culture. Some of the themes were a bit "grown up" for me at the time of reading, so Id like to read it again and remember what confused me!

Song for a Tattered Flag by Geoffrey Trease was one I loved and really got me into historical fiction. An Irish/Romanian lad goes to his mother's hometown in Romania for the summer and it's during the fall of the Iron Curtain so he gets mixed up in revolutionary activity. I thought it was so cool when I looked up names like Ceaucescu afterwards and realised the story was based on real historical events.

I want to re-read all the Harry Potters in one big marathon. I loved Judy Blume's books too and would happily read them again with the delight of having survived those awkward teenage years

Grayson

Candie wrote: »

CS Lewis said a childrens story that only be enjoyed by children is not a good childrens story in the slightest, and when you look at the success of Harry Potter and how the books have been enjoyed by adults and kids alike, he's got a point. The best kids books are good books, and anyone can enjoy a good book.

My favourite book as a child is The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, I loved the thought that loving things brought them to life. I still love the story and still read it when I'm low. Another favourite is Peter Pan, it's timeless.

I had that book as a child. Loved it.

I can highly recommend the never ending story. I read it when I was 10 and saw the film when I was 11. I hated the adaptation. Some of my favourite bits weren't in the film and the film really failed to capture the dread of the encroaching nothingness. It's one of the best books I ever read.

I also have to mention To Kill a Mocking bird. I'm old enough that it wasn't on the course when I was in school. For years I heard people talk about it and never read it. I got around to it a few years ago. It's amazing.

Finally, Sophies World. It's an amazing introduction to philosophy and gave me a passion for it that's still going.

I read an article about adult colouring books yesterday. They're really popular now and are on the best seller list. I'm thinking of ordering one.

Grayson

Alisha Dead User wrote: »

Just bought a couple of the original Malory Towers on line. No decimal currency or references to 'record players' etc to spoil the 1940s nostalgia.

Buy some ginger beer and have a midnight feast whilst you read them

darkpagandeath

Everyone seems to, Harry potter, Twilight.

Grayson

stinkle wrote: »

Oddly enough, I tried to source a few books online recently that I'd read as a kid. 3 in particular stood out but I couldnt find copies. Seeing pics of the covers was super nostalgic in itself. One was Stan by Ann Pilling, about a boy who runs away (from England to Ireland, I think) and there's a bad guy after him - I can't remember much of the plot but do remember the bad guy being a very chilling, vivid character in my imagination. I remember fighting with my brother over the book - it must have belonged to one of us and the other got annoyed that it was being hogged!

New Patches for Old by Christobel Mattingly about a girl that moves from the UK to Australia. She is bullied and has trouble fitting in to the new culture. Some of the themes were a bit "grown up" for me at the time of reading, so Id like to read it again and remember what confused me!

Song for a Tattered Flag by Geoffrey Trease was one I loved and really got me into historical fiction. An Irish/Romanian lad goes to his mother's hometown in Romania for the summer and it's during the fall of the Iron Curtain so he gets mixed up in revolutionary activity. I thought it was so cool when I looked up names like Ceaucescu afterwards and realised the story was based on real historical events.

I want to re-read all the Harry Potters in one big marathon. I loved Judy Blume's books too and would happily read them again with the delight of having survived those awkward teenage years

Quick ebay search found them,

Ruu

White Fang is one of my favourites.

Yeah, have a set of Puddle Lane books. Do comics count? I have several Dennis the Menace annuals from my Gnasher club days.

r93kaey5p2izun

I regularly read children's books but not the ones I actually read as a child or teen. Back then I loved Enid Blyton (Famous Five, Mallory Towers, Faraway Tree), Roald Dahl, Nancy Drew and The Babysitter's Club.

I re-read Harry Potter now to get through difficult times. I also love Philip Pullman (HDM and Sally Lockhart) and have enjoyed Skulduggery Pleasant, Adrian Mole, Darren Shan and Nina Bawden's books. Many of the best books are in the Young Adult fiction section!

frankoreagan

I read To Kill a Mockingbird every year or two, and I first read it when I was 9/10 I think.

_Whimsical_

I think some the books that affected me most were ones I read between 9 - 11. One of my favourites was called The Midnight Fox by Betsy Buyers, there were lots of small notions in that I still occasionally think of. One small one was where the main character needed help but knew any adult would ask too many questions and wouldn't understand anyway so he used to muse that he wished there was a word you could use 3 times in your life where if said to another person they would understand how desperate you were and have to help you or do as you say without asking questions, they'd just have to trust your judgement 100%. I'd have used my three goes long ago but still when I've been desperate I think of it and when I've seen other people desperate and need my help it's come into my mind too and I've been more inclined to just help and shut up with my own advice or thoughts on how they should do something.

Id love to reread some of those books from those years but I'd be afraid they wouldn't live up to my epic memories of them. I'd hate to burst that bubble.

stinkle

Grayson wrote: »

Quick ebay search found them,

Not ebooks though Not able to accumulate much stuff at the moment so prefer to hold off on hard copies for a while

El Weirdo

Alisha Dead User wrote: »

My 70 something parents devoured them, along with their children and grandchildren.

Jesus.

Aongus Von Bismarck

It's funny that this thread came up. I'm back in Ireland for a few weeks holiday, and I was rooting around my old boxes of stuff in the attic this morning. I found a really old copy of Fantastic Mr. Fox; it had been signed by the author, and was given to me by an Aunt who lived in London at the time and queued up to have the book signatured by the writer.

It tells the story of a willy, cunning and hugely charismatic fox called Mr. Fox. It goes on to detail his great ideas in trying to steal from the 3 farmers situated within his area: Boggis, Bunce and Bean. There's some action scenes in the middle, and a great happy ending that made me laugh. I then descended the stairs from the attic and went to make a cup of tea.

Wes Anderson made a great movie based on the story as well.

Turtyturd

Ruu wrote: »

Yeah, have a set of Puddle Lane books.

They're a blast from the past.

Would read Animal Farm fairly regularly. Always amazes me how such a simple story on the surface can be so much more.

Summer wind

There's always loads of great books in the young adult section in any book shop. The morganville book series and the Pittacus Lore series are really great reads.

steddyeddy

The secret of the Nimh was great. My grandmother used to get me the books of David the gnome. They were fantastic they had mythological stories in them, geographical and cultural facts from around the world and cool articles. The best books I read as a kid are the ones that didn't try to patronise kids.

DEFTLEFTHAND

I read Danny The Champion of the World again recently, I was always a huge fan of Dahl as a young reader.

His two autobiographies 'Boy' and 'Gong Solo' are also fascinating reads, they guy lived an amazing life. A child of Norwegian immigrants in Wales who was schooled in Repton, worked for Shell in Africa before joining the RAF as a fighter pilot in WW2.

steddyeddy

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

I read Danny The Champion of the World again recently, I was always a huge fan of Dahl as a young reader.

His two autobiographies 'Boy' and 'Gong Solo' are also fascinating reads, they guy lived an amazing life. A child of Norwegian immigrants in Wales who was schooled in Repton, worked for Shell in Africa before joining the RAF as a fighter pilot in WW2.

His book "The Story Of Henry Sugar" always struck me as one of his weirder ones.

Canis Lupus

The Faraway Tree series were amazing growing up but I suppose I'd be hard pushed to read them as a grown up.

Mountainsandh

I love young adult fiction.
Had to read some for work, now I read it for pleasure. I discovered I love the dystopian genre, never thought I would !
I really enjoyed Patrick Ness's trilogy and a couple of other titles by him. I just read Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, and before that Teeth, by Hannah Moskowitz.

I love John Green's nerdy characters, and The Universe vs Alex Wood type of characters. Nice touch of humour in these books too.

I think To Kill A Mockingbird is overrated, I find the writing convoluted and hard work. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry is more moving and more accessible imo.
I like simplicity.

Edit : any suggestions ?

Aongus Von Bismarck

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

It's funny that this thread came up. I'm back in Ireland for a few weeks holiday, and I was rooting around my old boxes of stuff in the attic this morning. I found a really old copy of Fantastic Mr. Fox; it had been signed by the author, and was given to me by an Aunt who lived in London at the time and queued up to have the book signatured by the writer.

It tells the story of a willy

I don't think that's a kids book :eek:

Medusa22

I'm reading Harry Potter at the moment, I'm on the last book and I'm really enjoying it. I also have a few Enid Blyton books from my childhood, 'The Magic Faraway Tree' being my favourite and I still like to read my Roald Dahl books from time to time, especially 'The Witches' and 'Matilda'.

bolopapa

Guilty, love em alot.

cloud493

Nobody can make me hungry like Enid Blyton can (still) the way she describes food makes it sounds amazing.

Kovu

cloud493 wrote: »

Nobody can make me hungry like Enid Blyton can (still) the way she describes food makes it sounds amazing.

I remember in one of the Famous Five books one of them described boiled fish tasting like stewed knitting
I also loved a horse series about a racehorse called Ashleigh's Wonder. Any horse books really, have the entire collection of Half Moon Ranch and almost have Black Beauty off by heart
All the penguin books like Stig of the dump, Tarka, Call of the wild. Collected a lot of those eating Weetabix for tokens!

Diamond Doll

I probably reread the whole Anne of Green Gables series once a year or so. Really helps me switch off. I particularly enjoy the later books when she's an adult ... I never read them as a child, only in the past couple of years.

I was in a hotel recently where they had a few Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley books in their childrens library. I was like an addict, devouring them for the couple of days we were there!

I'd definitely reread any of the Enid Blyton/Roald Dahl books if I found them. I always read my younger sister's Jacqueline Wilson books, too ... those ones are so formulaic, it's somehow comforting to read them!

Was anyone else a fan of Roger and Hal's adventure books? I think Willard Price was the author's name. I used to fancy Roger so much!

mud

Ruu wrote: »

White Fang is one of my favourites.

Yeah, have a set of Puddle Lane books. Do comics count? I have several Dennis the Menace annuals from my Gnasher club days.

Oh man! Puddle Lane. The Blue Mountains!

Nostalgia buzz