Who was your favorite author when you were a kid/what were your favorite children's books?


I've recently started working with the literacy coordinator at an elementary school, so I hang out in the book room a lot.... and I get to peruse all these great, great novels I loved and forgot about when I was a kid!

Shel Silverstein remains, to date, one of my favorite poets/authors/songwriters EVER. I love the guy. But yeah, he's kind of a kid's author (but his music is very adult).

Otherwise, A Wrinkle in Time, anything by Rohld Dahl, the Ramona books, The Phantom Tollbooth..... Ah, I miss children's lit!! What about you guys? What books do you have fond memories of as a kid?

Definitely Rohld Dahl

I can't remember reading much kiddie lit, I used to read the classics like Secret Garden and stuff, but pretty soon I moved onto trashy adult novels! A friend of mine loved the sweet valley high books, but they were rubbish! Never liked them!

Shel Silverstein is definitely on the list.

Bridge to Teribathia was the first book that ever made me cry.

I used to be really into Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (I read that one 5 times) and there were about 2 or 3 other books that followed.

The only series I really got into were books by Lurlene McDanial. Those dealt with teens needing organ transplants and dealing with some heavy situations. Someone died in almost every book, but the series made me decide that I wanted to be an organ donor.

I loved the Dr. Seuss books when I was very young, but by the time I was 8 I had discovered Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Dana Girls, Trixie Belden, etc. I'm 42 and I still have my collection of Nancy Drew Books and Trixie Belden Books.

Amelia Bedilia books.... She cracked me up!! I loved them! Even now when I read them I laugh to myself... ripping up a calender to make a "date cake". HAHAHA!!!! And Barbapapa books... Hehe!!

I loved the Madeleine L'Engle books (especially the Wrinkle in Time series), Robert Munsch was great, and the Chronicles of Narnia were one of my all-time favourites - I still read them! I feel like I could probably go on for a long time - I read constantly (and still do). I think I might go dig out some of those books now! Oh, and anything by Judy Blume.... okay, I'll stop now.

Charlotte's Web

As a small child, it was the Berenstein (sp?) Bears collection. As I got a little older it was whatever I could get my hands on: RL Stein, Babysitter's Club (haha), Judy Bloom and Madeline L'Engle. I think Barthe Declements was my favorite (Nothing's Fair in 5th Grade series).

When I was very little I loved (ok I still do you caught me) If you give a mouse a cookie...great read lol! I loved Shel Silverstein too oh and choose your own adventure books, they rocked!

OMG... I had totally forgotten about Amelia Bedelia.... I LOVED those books.

My first memory in regards to reading was my mother reading The Chronicals of Narnia to my sister and I when I was really young. Reading myself, I loved the Babysitters Club and the Sweet Valley books.

"Kiddie reading" didn't last really long for me.. My sister and I both had college reading levels by the time we left elementary school.. I remember reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Roots, and Gone With the Wind by the time I hit middle school.. I didn't understand everything in them, hehe.

Oh, gods. I read EVERYTHING as a kid. Babysitter's Club, Nancy Drew, anything by Madeleine L'Engle, the Black Stallion series, the Thoroughbred series (I was a major horsey kid), Bridge to Terebithia, Chronicles of Narnia (which I just reread about a week ago, actually, hehe), Lord of the Rings (my dad introduced me to those books when I was 9 or so, and had me reading all the bits of Elvish poetry aloud with him). I started reading Mary Higgens Clark's murder mysteries when I was 11. Oh, and the Boxcar Children series! I was an obsessive reader as a child; I probably always will be!

My favorite books were the ENCYLOPEDIA BROWN series.

Amelia Bedilia, Nancy Drew, and (I think this was the name) The Box Car Kids. Oh, and the Goosebumps series. lol

Wow you all brought up some great books that I had forgotten about!!! I loved all of those books.... sigh!