Favorite/Most Memorable Childhood Books

Auspice · Nov 25, 2020, 9:03 AM

What books have stuck with you? Which ones do you find yourself thinking of again and again?

For me, especially recently, it's The Phantom Tollbooth. Chronicles of Narnia have also always held a special place for me.

Arkandel · Nov 25, 2020, 9:07 AM

When I was in the sixth grade a friend brought The Hobbit to school and lent it to me. I had never read anything like it, it took me like... three days to go through it, and loved it.

Then when I brought it back and thanked him, George told me there was 'another book picking up the story'. We didn't even have a name for a sequel at the time - I had no idea books could do that.

So he lent me The Fellowship of the Ring, which I just refused to put down for several nights straight. It didn't just blow my mind, it left me in awe.

I'm still chasing that feeling of awe.

Auspice · Nov 25, 2020, 9:18 AM

@Arkandel said in Favorite/Most Memorable Childhood Books:

The Hobbit

I had the Michael Hague illustrated version of The Hobbit as a kid. It was one of my prized possessions. Then my brother destroyed it and my parents thought a paperback replacement would suffice.

So add that to my list, yes.

(It never did.)

GreenFlashlight · Nov 25, 2020, 12:07 PM

The Ramona and Beezus series. The characters seemed so relatable even though the world was so strange because the writer used words from way before my time; I still remember trying to guess from context what a davenport is, and tentatively deciding it must be some kind of cabinet.

silverfox · Nov 25, 2020, 1:42 PM

The Phantom Tollbooth is a big one for me - big enough I've taught it 6/10 years I've taught. It is my biggest regret moving down to 2nd, they are too inexperienced to really get a lot of the deeper connections without a lot of backfill which would ruin the pace of reading.

Narnia is another. My mother read them to my older siblings but I was too young to really get into anything with chapters, and then it took me a while to learn to read. Once I did I would sneak into my parents room to lay on their water bed and read them. That poor box set (which, unlike the newer ones followed the PROPER reading order of The Magician's Nephew after The Horse and His Boy, and before The Final Battle) fell apart in my hands. I now own two box sets- because it is IMPORTANT.

Winnie the Pooh was my other one. Like Narnia this one sat on my mother's headboard instead of the bookcase. I loved reading those books.

Now... if we go into picture books... I could go on forever. As I've grown up more I've realized some of them have not aged well though, so they are retired to a box of 'aww, good memories but woah, racist as fuck, set aside and never read to the next generation.' (5 Chinese Brothers being the most recently added when I came across it in a second hand bookstore.)

Auspice · Nov 25, 2020, 2:00 PM

@silverfox

I have that same set I do believe. Mostly. One book did completely fall apart.

And I am torn re: 'proper order'. I know we grew up with Lion, Witch, Wardrobe first...but Lewis always intended Magician's Nephew first.

So while a part of me hates it so and wants my 'traditional' ordering....I also want to respect the author's wishes.

Warma Sheen · Nov 25, 2020, 2:24 PM

Definitely Ender's Game.

Derp · Nov 25, 2020, 2:39 PM

Let's see.

Jane Yolen - Wizard's Hall: Like Harry Potter but with a less clueless protagonist, IIRC.

Christopher Pike - The Last Vampire series: Say what you want, but Sita is a pretty cool character.

V.C. Andrews - Flowers in the Attic Series: Look, I was a pretty advanced reader and I devoured this series. Even the prequel that everyone else hated.

Anne Rice - The Vampire Chronicles: Specifically I'd have to say my favorites are Tale of the Body Thief was Memnoch the Devil, just for the depth of the writing, even if she was starting to get into weirdly religious territory. The nature of his relationships with the other vampires, the way they change over those books, is powerful stuff, man.

Ganymede · Nov 25, 2020, 5:57 PM

I will always love The Belgariad and The Malloreon series by Eddings.

Like, Silk is my totem guide in all things humorous.

Herja · Nov 25, 2020, 7:03 PM

Charlotte’s Web. It was the first book that ever made me cry. Also, Jane Eyre.

Macha · Nov 25, 2020, 8:03 PM

My sister teaches kids that read well below their 'age level'. She told me to pick out books for her classroom library for her birthday.

I totally went with Ribsy, Ramona Quimby age 8, and Mouse and the Motorcycle, along with a couple newer ones. Beverly Cleary was about all I read in 2nd grade.

I read a LOT as a kid, so the "classics" like Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Wizard of Oz, Black Beauty, etc all stand out, but other things kinda blur

silverfox · Nov 25, 2020, 8:28 PM

@Macha

Oh man, The Black Stallion.

SilentHills · Nov 26, 2020, 1:10 AM

You're all saying 'childhood' and posting a bunch of deep bullshit.

For me it was The Pokey Little Puppy. We also had it on VHS that we ripped off PBS, and that fucker made me cry every TIME. That story of loss, being the underdog, redemption, and love really stuck with me. I've always been a pokey little puppy myself. I feel you, my little fuck up puppy.

silverfox · Nov 26, 2020, 1:47 AM

@SilentHills

We called my older brother the pokey little puppy when he was little because he was ALWAYS making a mess and being slow.

GreenFlashlight · Nov 26, 2020, 2:07 AM

@SilentHills said in Favorite/Most Memorable Childhood Books:

You're all saying 'childhood' and posting a bunch of deep bullshit.

It depends on what we call childhood, I suppose. If we go way back, I remember Curious George very fondly, and Encyclopedia Brown, and Bunnicula. These might not count, but I also remember getting into comics by reading these pocket-sized digest comic versions of horror novels like Dracula and Frankenstein (I really wish I could remember those more clearly because I'd love to buy them if I could just find them).

Ganymede · Nov 26, 2020, 2:23 AM

@SilentHills said in Favorite/Most Memorable Childhood Books:

You're all saying 'childhood' and posting a bunch of deep bullshit.

The Death of Optimus Prime fucked me up.

silverfox · Nov 26, 2020, 2:31 AM

More:

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. The shovel was //obsolete// and then rocked the town's socks. After, they took care of her and Mike.

The Little House. The illustrations in that book wow me even today. They're so freaking detailed. It's what a children's picture book SHOULD be. You can feel the loneliness of the house as it gets abandoned and the city built up around it. Then when it is FOUND and is LIVE IN AND LOVED just. ---> <3!

Aria · Nov 26, 2020, 2:33 AM

It's funny that this topic came up today of all days because @insomniac7809 and I were literally talking about Bruce Coville books on the way home and how much I loved them as a kid. He swore he didn't know who that was until I pulled up Google and started rattling off titles, at which point it was the classic "Oh, shit! Yeah, I remember...." and then running through Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher and Jennifer Murdley's Toad plotlines, which I swear were the early 90s precursor to the urban fantasy boom we have now.

I also really, really loved The Farthest-Away Mountain when I was little, which no one has ever heard of even though it's the same author who wrote The Indian in the Cupboard series.

GreenFlashlight · Nov 26, 2020, 2:43 AM

@Aria said in Favorite/Most Memorable Childhood Books:

I also really, really loved The Farthest-Away Mountain when I was little, which no one has ever heard of even though it's the same author who wrote The Indian in the Cupboard series.

Oh shit I forgot all about Lynne Reid Banks! I gave all my Cupboard books to my niece when she was seven or eight, because she liked them so much.

Aria · Nov 26, 2020, 2:49 AM

@GreenFlashlight said in Favorite/Most Memorable Childhood Books:

@Aria said in Favorite/Most Memorable Childhood Books:

I also really, really loved The Farthest-Away Mountain when I was little, which no one has ever heard of even though it's the same author who wrote The Indian in the Cupboard series.

Oh shit I forgot all about Lynne Reid Banks! I gave all my Cupboard books to my niece when she was seven or eight, because she liked them so much.

Yeah, they were a bit of a thing for my friends because the book was turned into a movie right around the time that we were the right age to read it. Depending on how old your niece is now, she might like The Farthest-Away Mountain. The protagonist is female and, like..... 15 or something? So just about right for 10-11 year old to read.