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I haven't read this is decades! I figure it might give me some insight into my kid's minds and help me reset my understanding of what counts as important in their mind. But even if not, it's a funny book. I don't plan to read the other books in the series, but I remember most of Cleary's books fondly. I'm hoping my two kids in that age range will read it after I'm done...

What children's books do you recall enjoying when you were little?

(Dave - you can mention your favorite paleolithic cave painting from when you were a child if you like)

(Poll has nothing to do with this thread. I'm going to post random polls whenever I start a thread, just because I can)

Just started reading Nancy Drew to my daughter, when did they start editing he age?

I always liked Encyclopedia Brown as a book series when I was young.

That and classical Greek myths.

I loved Cleary's books. And Nancy Drew. Walter Farley's Black Stallion series. Little House on the Prairie series. And we had a collection of folk tales and classics that had come with our encyclopedia set. They were bowdlerized versions (it was from 1959) of Shakespeare, King Arthur, Treasure Island, Hans Christian Anderson, the Grimms, Greek and Norse myths, and various folk tales from around the world, but a good enough introduction to the stories for a little kid. I loved those books. I read them over and over again.

I hate you for making me think this was a sequel to Scott Pilgrim thread.

ON the topic, I honestly mostly read fantasy books as a child. Hobbit when I was under 10, Lord of the Rings shortly after. Around the same time I read the Dragon's Trilogy from Dragonlance. When I wasn't reading Fantasy, I was usually reading up on Greek mythologies and all the stories there-in. I really never got into the "children's books" or fairy tales for as long as I can remember. Not sure why, just never held my attention.

I remember reading Jurassic Park at 10 years old. I was so proud of myself.

Even though I was ahead of many others when it came to reading, I didn't do a lot on my own. I know when I got older, there were a few I enjoyed. I remember one called Lumps, Bumps, and Bodyslams. And of course, like many middle schoolers, I read the hell out of Stephen King. Eyes of the Dragon was one of my first for-fun books and remains one of my favourites.

I also used to like reading novel adaptations of movies, like Gremlins 2 and Childs Play 2.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

I, too, started reading adult fiction when I was a precocious youngster. One of my favorite series as a tween was Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. Though I wouldn't suggest those, I do think that A Night in the Lonesome October should be pretty good for tweens.

I also enjoyed the Enchanted Forest Chronicles (or did I read those when my younger sisters go into them?)


Lots more I don't feel like dredging up right now.

Ironically, Ramona the Brave is what I'm reading to my 5 year old daughter at bed right now. I don't need to go back to kid's books by myself!

The Ramona books were favorites of mine. I also loved The Phantom Tollbooth. What a rich story.

All of them. I read like breathing when I was a kid. I even went through a classics phase in middle school. I must not have understood it all, but I sure read it. I loved Tolkien before I even knew it was supposed to be cool. I loved loved loved the Prydain Chronicles. (aside: I would love to see a better movie than the animated Black Cauldron come out of these books, but Disney probably has a death grip on the rights) I also really liked the Danny Dunn serials, even though I was about 30 years late for them. Especially Danny Dunn and the Smallifying Machine. It's probably why I like Venture Brothers so much because it's like Danny grew up and had some messed up kids. Now that I think about it, I had a soft spot for 50s era scifi. The way the authors described things was different than the newer stuff. It was like they knew it was just out of their realm of imagination, and they described things in terms of stuff they knew, but made sure you knew it was only a poor description. I liked My Side of the Mountain enough to attempt to copy it in our family's woods. I liked a lot of sentimental dramas, too, like Where the Red Fern Grows and the like.

Well my memory has had a little time to percolate so, more random books I remember loving as a kid:

Sideways Stores from Wayside School
The Secret Life of Dilly McBean
Oliver Dibs to the Rescue
Maniac Magee (actually, I still re-read this one)
The Celery Stalks at Midnight (and the other Bunnicula books)
The Chronicles of Narnia

Oh, and picture books from even younger:
Harold and Purple Crayon
Big Bad Bruce
Round Trip
Professor Wormbog and the Search for the Zipperumpazoo
"I Spy" books (not really part of my childhood, but they were part of my younger sister's, and they are awesome.)

Hmm.... lots of Bruce Coville, Clive Cussler, and Brian Jacques as a kid. I read Tolkien and like as well, but I figured I'd mention stuff that people haven't talked about. To name a few:

- My Teacher is an Alien series: Specifically, My Teacher is an Alien, My Teacher Fried My Brains, My Teacher Glows in the Dark, and My Teacher Flunked the Planet. It's an overarching story about aliens coming to earth to judge humanity... mainly because their terrified of both our infinite intelligence and infinite depths of cruelty. Surprisingly deep for a kids series and it doesn't pull punches that often.

- Magic Shop series: Mainly Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher and The Skull of Truth, though a few connected stories also pop up in The Book of Magic.

- Redwall series: I have read 21 of the 23 books in the Redwall series. I'm kinda sad this series has ended, as Brian Jacques died on February 5, 2011, but it's given me great happiness since I started reading it at 11. I'll need to get those last two books and then start working on getting a complete set of the series for when I have kids.

- Dirk Pitt series: 21 books, dating back from 1973 to now. It's a fairly well done pulp series about shipwreck hunting and action movie staples. Oddly enough, Dirk Pitt has aged in real time so he's like 50-60 now, meaning he doesn't do as much adventuring as he used to. The best thing about the series is that Clive Cussler's real life started mirroring it at some point: He's used his book funds to locate several lost ships and written about them in his Sea Hunters series.

Ah, the Magic Shop. Twist it once you're horned and haired. Twice it twice, and fangs are bared. Twist it thrice, no one has dared.

fade said:

Ah, the Magic Shop. Twist it once you're horned and haired. Twice it twice, and fangs are bared. Twist it thrice, no one has dared.

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I never actually read The Monster's Ring. I'll need to get to it eventually, but it's going to have to wait till I finish the Red Wall series.

AshburnerX said:

- My Teacher is an Alien series:

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I'd almost forgotten about those, I read them as well.

Oh, that reminds me of The Plant that Ate Dirty Socks, what a great series.

Redwall series: I have read 21 of the 23 books in the Redwall series.

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I thought those got a little repetitive after a while. Formulaic I can handle, but it started to feel like I was reading the same book over again.

figmentPez said:

I'd almost forgotten about those, I read them as well.

Oh, that reminds me of The Plant that Ate Dirty Socks, what a great series.

I thought those got a little repetitive after a while. Formulaic I can handle, but it started to feel like I was reading the same book over again.

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They may have lacked depth after awhile, but they certainly had a great setting. Besides, the mythology of the world was top notch. But yeah, I'm probably looking through the books with nostalgia tinted glasses.