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Childhood books

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Amanda
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by Amanda » Tue October 28th, 2008, 1:30 am

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes - particularly as I read it when I was about 10 and I was sick, and the doctor took a blood test. When we went back to the doctor for the results, and I was all better, she just happened to mention that she had wanted to be sure I didn'te have leukaemia! It kind of scared me as I had just read about it!

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Ariadne
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Location: At the foothills of Mt. Level

Post by Ariadne » Tue October 28th, 2008, 2:09 am

When I was young, my grandmother worked in an education library in NYC and got to take home whatever discards she wanted, so I grew up reading girls' books first published in the 1950s and 60s. My favorite was one called Just Plain Maggie by Lorraine Beim, about the adventures of a tomboy who went off to summer camp. I'll be surprised if anyone else has heard of it.

Other favorites were Beverly Cleary's Beezus and Ramona books, Carolyn Haywood's Betsy books, all the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, a few of Judy Blume's, and a creepy historical ghost story called Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp, which I posted about on my blog a while back (Clapp's granddaughter posted a comment later, which I thought was pretty cool).

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red805
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Joined: August 2008
Preferred HF: I like a series the best - more to look forward to after one book ends. Masters of Rome, The Century Trilogy, & the Outlander series are some of my favorites.
Location: Southern California

Post by red805 » Tue October 28th, 2008, 2:28 am

Great Question! I have to say I'm dating myself too, Boswell. I still have all my Happy Hollister books! Every month for about 2 years I got one in the mail, & it was like Christmas came 12 times a year. I have been saving them for my niece.

I loved horse books when I was a kid, & read every Black Stallion book by Walter Farley I could get my hands on. I also liked "Justin Morgan Had A Horse" by Marguerite Henry, a Newbury runner-up in 1946. When I was 18 I travelled to the East Coast (from California) with my grandparents, & made them take me to the farm in Vermont where Justin Morgan bred his horse.

The first time I visited New York City I just had to go to the Metropolitan Museum, like the kids in "From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." I also loved books about Indians, and "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George, a 1960 Newbury runner-up, but luckily didn't try to hitchhike to the wilderness!

I think my favorite childhood book must be "Island of the Blue Dolphins." Since I live fairly near to Santa Barbara, and the mission where the girl was taken when she was rescued, I often look out at the islands when I drive up the coast and think about the book. It sort of haunts me, but not in a scary way. I guess just in the way that a good book does.

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Tue October 28th, 2008, 2:41 am

[quote=""red805""]Great Question! I have to say I'm dating myself too, Boswell. I still have all my Happy Hollister books! Every month for about 2 years I got one in the mail, & it was like Christmas came 12 times a year. I have been saving them for my niece.

[/quote]

That's right, they came in the mail, didn't they? That was something to look forward to. Now the closest thing is getting those nice boxes from Amazon!
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


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Alaric
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Post by Alaric » Tue October 28th, 2008, 6:30 am

Oliver Twist, and most of Roald Dahl's books.

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Vanessa
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Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Tue October 28th, 2008, 9:07 am

Charlotte's Web by E B White
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
the Little House stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Famous Five stories by Enid Blyton
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Five Children and It by Edith Nesbitt
The Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbitt
The Narnia stories by C S Lewis
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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diamondlil
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Post by diamondlil » Tue October 28th, 2008, 10:25 am

Wind in the Willows, Black Beauty, anything from Enid Blyton - particularly the Wishing Chair books and the Magic Faraway Tree books.

I also loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books, although once I had read them a couple of time choosing where to go next I then just read them straight through from beginning to end.

I also was a Trixie Belden girl - loved those books. I think Jim Frayne was my first literary crush....although certainly not my last!

I also have fond memories of a couple of Australian books - Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs and The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay.
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Vanessa
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4378
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Tue October 28th, 2008, 10:56 am

Oh, yes, I remember the Faraway Tree stories, I loved those, too! There used to be a different world that appeared at the top of the tree every so often, didn't there?

Another book I remember which I loved is Five Dolls in a House by Helen Clare, about a girl who could wish herself small so she could visit her dolls in her dolls house. There was a monkey who lived on the roof who used to shout things down the chimney, usually sarcastic comments. It's out of print now, but I would love to find a copy.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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sweetpotatoboy
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Location: London, UK

Post by sweetpotatoboy » Tue October 28th, 2008, 1:06 pm

I'm sure there were plenty that I can't bring to mind right now as I read an awful lot as a child.

But the ones that made most impression were probably the books by Roger Lancelyn Green on the myths of Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and the Norse and Arthurian legends.

I also read and enjoyed The Chronicles of Prydain that others have mentioned.

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Leyland
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Post by Leyland » Tue October 28th, 2008, 2:54 pm

[quote=""Ariadne""]and a creepy historical ghost story called Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp, which I posted about on my blog a while back (Clapp's granddaughter posted a comment later, which I thought was pretty cool).[/quote]
Ariadne - I love that book! I still have the paperback I bought in the 70's while still in middle school and have read it at least a half dozen times. I'll keep reading that one until I'm a little old lady.

Mrs. Canfield's tragically developed strength of will was crucial as Jane-Emily had certainly been a spoiled cruel terror and continued to be so. I really liked Louisa and her calm strength. Clapp's ability to create characters with intense strengths and weaknesses, and then combine them in a spooky family ghost story is wonderful.
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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