Do any of you still read children's books

gutenberg · 28-06-2015 03:24PM

I still occasionally re-read Malory Towers by Enid Blyton, I loved them (I think I saw a lot of Darrell in myself).

I usually re-read the Harry Potter series every few years, and also Matilda by Roald Dahl. Other favourites that I regularly re-visit include Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (the latter I brought with me when I moved country...

)

Ice Storm · 28-06-2015 03:43PM

bluewolf wrote: »

Was it one of the enid blyton school series books where they stole all your money and gave you 20p a month out of it?
I hated those they made me angry
lol
I used to think of all the poor parents in the books who might be scrimping and saving to ensure their kid had a bit of sweet money or money for supplies or something and it'd be bullied out of them

edit: It was "the naughiest girl", apparently

I didn't read The Naughtiest Girl but I think in Malory Towers anyone with large sums of money had to hand it over to matron.

Money had a habit of going missing and the wrong person would inevitability be accused. The culprit would turn out to be someone whose parents couldn't afford pocket money and they would have spent the money on gifts to alleviate their guilt!

Diamond Doll · 28-06-2015 04:58PM

KatW4 wrote: »

Oh I've also remembered Under the Hawthorn Tree and the two books that followed. Absolutely adore those books.

Oh me too! I only recently reread Under the Hawthorn Tree, the bit where Peggy gets bitten by the dogs had me in tears, even though I knew she'd survive. Wildflower Girl was the next one, can't remember the one after that but it wasn't as good as the others.

bluewolf wrote: »

Was it one of the enid blyton school series books where they stole all your money and gave you 20p a month out of it?
I hated those they made me angry

They did that in a Gaelteacht I went too, we were allowed to the shop every evening but first we had to go and ask the Muinteoir for cash from the pocket money our parents had send with us. I suppose so that we wouldn't make little piggies of ourselves every night, LOL!

28-06-2015 05:01PM

This little piggy wrote: »

Oh me too! I only recently reread Under the Hawthorn Tree, the bit where Peggy gets bitten by the dogs had me in tears, even though I knew she'd survive. Wildflower Girl was the next one, can't remember the one after that but it wasn't as good as the others.

They did that in a Gaelteacht I went too, we were allowed to the shop every evening but first we had to go and ask the Muinteoir for cash from the pocket money our parents had send with us. I suppose so that we wouldn't make little piggies of ourselves every night, LOL!

Yeah but it was still your money right?
In the book it was all stolen off you and you never got it back and had to beg and be deemed worthy for a pittance every week, the rest was given to all the other kids!
I have no problem with handing it over and getting ALL of it back in dribs and drabs like budgeting!

cloud493 · 28-06-2015 05:11PM

The Enid Blyton book where all the kids money was pooled was the naughtiest girl :pac:

melissak · 28-06-2015 05:38PM

Yes. All the time. Both with my kids and alone. I love the secret garden and the little prince particularly.

melissak · 28-06-2015 05:43PM

Under the hawthorn tree was great. Haven't read it since i was a child though. Must look it up

This little piggy wrote: »

Oh me too! I only recently reread Under the Hawthorn Tree, the bit where Peggy gets bitten by the dogs had me in tears, even though I knew she'd survive. Wildflower Girl was the next one, can't remember the one after that but it wasn't as good as the others.

They did that in a Gaelteacht I went too, we were allowed to the shop every evening but first we had to go and ask the Muinteoir for cash from the pocket money our parents had send with us. I suppose so that we wouldn't make little piggies of ourselves every night, LOL!

Xaracatz · 28-06-2015 05:58PM

Oh man. Such nostalgia! I must hunt down Under the Hawthorn Tree and the sequels.

I actually found the first Famous Five book online there a while ago and raced through it. Loved Alice in Wonderland and Malory Towers too. And there was another Enid Blyton series starting with The Mistletoe Farm. I remember as a kid (about 10 or 11) buying some Shaun Hutson horror books from the Pound Shop, and I would read a chapter of Mistletoe Farm before going to bed after reading these to balance out the scariness!

There was another series that I've tried to find, but I can't. All I remember of it was a boy and a girl, something about a stone I think. Then the librarian turned out to be the evil character. Then there was a dragon. And there was also a dwarf who served pork and apple sauce (I remember that bit because I hated pork at the time and kept asking my mum to make apple sauce). That is literally all I remember, but I would love to figure out what those books were.

The Runaways by Victor Canning was also excellent. A story about a boy who... ran away, and discovered an escaped cheetah along his travels.

cloud493 · 28-06-2015 08:23PM

Remember the first time I drank ginger beer after reading about it for years, it was bloody foul.

29-06-2015 08:14AM

I re-read some Willard Price recently. Quite informative books as a lot of it is based on real facts - with some fantasy added on. Have a nearly 5 year old daughter now though so I am re-reading a lot of things to her too which is taking me back.

greenbicycle · 29-06-2015 08:30AM

This little piggy wrote: »

Oh me too! I only recently reread Under the Hawthorn Tree, the bit where Peggy gets bitten by the dogs had me in tears, even though I knew she'd survive. Wildflower Girl was the next one, can't remember the one after that but it wasn't as good as the others.

Wasnt it "the blue horse" or something like that? or was that not related to the first two at all.... was it about a settled traveller family or is that a different book I am thinking of, need to dig them out and re read.... along with all the tom mccaughran ones about the foxes and he had abother one about a protestant and cathloic boy playing near a lake on the border with the english army and the Ira shooting at each other, I think that is what it was about anyway!

other than that, as other have metioned, the faraway tree by enid blighton was phenomenal, moonface and silkie the fairy with the toffee shock biscuits... oh and the saucepan man. I cant find my copy of this, I had one of those five books in one of this, would give anything to find it again.

the roald dahl, what a genius he was, the twits will always be my favourite, my copy of this has a few pages missing now sadly, thankfully my other roald dahl books are all intact.

terrible urge to go read them all now and not do any work!

Ice Storm · 29-06-2015 08:50AM

The third Under the Hawthorn Tree book was called Fields of Home.

I remember buying it when it came out. We'd read Wildflower Girl in school and I was the envy of all my class to be the first to have it.

And no, it wasn't as good as the others!

c68zapdsm5i1ru · 29-06-2015 10:23AM

Did any of you ever read Charlotte Sometimes? It's a time slip book about a 12 year old girl who moves between the 1960s and 1914 and ends up getting stuck in 1914 for a while. I re-read it recently and it really stands the test of time.

c68zapdsm5i1ru · 29-06-2015 10:25AM

Re the pooling of everyone's pocket money in the 'Naughtiest Girl' series, I always found that ridiculous. No parents would stand for it. Mind you, I re-read those books recently and the whole premise is daft - a school that's practically run by the older pupils with the Heads keeping out of it unless they're specifically called upon for advice. I think the parents would have something to say about that as well.

AudreyHepburn · 29-06-2015 10:33AM

Does Harry Potter count....I'm currently re-reading them!

lizzyman · 30-06-2015 01:36AM

cloud493 wrote: »

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

My sister used to read them. I tried once but all I can remember is page after page of characters eating deviled eggs and lashings of ginger beer!

mud · 30-06-2015 01:42AM

Tongue sammiches!

danslevent · 30-06-2015 01:46AM

I am currently trying to learn another language so I have been rereading some of my favourite childhood books in that language. It's been really great! At the moment I am reading Alice in Wonderland

FanadMan · 30-06-2015 02:50AM

If I hadn't given my Enid Blyton collection to my cousin years ago I'd still be reading them

I got e-versions of The Famous Five a while back but it's not the same.....I WANT MY BOOKS BACK

il gatto · 30-06-2015 07:21AM

All the time. And there's nothing they can do about it because I'm bigger than them.

Corruptedmorals · 30-06-2015 07:39AM

Alisha Dead User wrote: »

Re the pooling of everyone's pocket money in the 'Naughtiest Girl' series, I always found that ridiculous. No parents would stand for it. Mind you, I re-read those books recently and the whole premise is daft - a school that's practically run by the older pupils with the Heads keeping out of it unless they're specifically called upon for advice. I think the parents would have something to say about that as well.

Apparently the series is based on a school called Summerhill in England. I wouldn't imagine they do the money thing though, if they ever did.

limklad · 30-06-2015 12:02PM

All the time, when I visit any household with kids in them, that know I can read. They demands for me to read for them, especially at bed time. The biggest problem is waiting for them to decide which book for me to read and they always insist for me to read an extra one or the best trick lately, they have is a book for each one for me to read. Thank god for little number of pages and large fonts and big pictures.

There one household the young lady knows how to read but insists on me reading for her, and if I skip any word, she pulls me on it and get annoyed with me. Some times I skip for fun to test if she still listening or add a word here and there, to test her listening skills and how much she already know the story.

mud · 30-06-2015 01:05PM

Just remembered the Hennessy books. As far as I can remember he was an Irish lad who'd been brought up in Africa then had to move back to Ireland?

I seem to remember a parrot . . .

Edit: between the Hennessy writing award/book and the cognac I'm getting nowhere with this one! Hope someone else can remember it too

endacl · 30-06-2015 01:07PM

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.

bluewolf wrote: »

and watership down

Both good examples.

Harry Potter: bad example. Harry Potter is for children.

:pac:

the evasion_kid · 30-06-2015 01:23PM

Recently re-read the Arabian nights(a thousand and one nights) a great collection of stories.

wp_rathead · 30-06-2015 01:26PM

Roald Dahl - Witches and Matilda my favs
Harry Potter - recently got the Audio Books read by Stephen Fry
Calvin and Hobbes - still hilarious
Aesops Fables

endacl · 30-06-2015 01:37PM

wp_rathead wrote: »

Roald Dahl - Witches and Matilda my favs
Harry Potter - recently got the Audio Books read by Stephen Fry
Calvin and Hobbes - still hilarious
Aesops Fables

Calvin & Hobbes?!? When was that not for adults?

wp_rathead · 30-06-2015 01:40PM

endacl wrote: »

Calvin & Hobbes?!? When was that not for adults?

Well I kept getting them as a presents when I was younger
So I assumed they were children's books
Unless my parents got them for themselves and passed them as presents for me

My childhood was a lie
Thanks Endacl

cloud493 · 30-06-2015 01:51PM

I downloaded the ebook for the naughtiest girl and started reading, this system is bull ****. Every kid puts all their money into a pot, and every gets what, 2 quid every 2 weeks or a month or so? Sounds like bollocks.

Belle E. Flops · 30-06-2015 02:32PM

Like a few people here I re-read the Harry Potter books every few years. Adore them. Currently on Prisoner of Azkhaban again.

Also love Roald Dahl's stuff, Marita Conlon McKenna's 'Under the Hawthorn Tree' trilogy, and Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite books of all time.

I must root through the boxes in the attic to see if I can find the Tom McCaughren Run Swift Run Free series. I remember adoring them as a child.

I also remember a few years ago, one night when I couldn't sleep I started reading Goodnight Mr Tom and read it through until morning. Great book

Do any of you still read children's books

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