What were some of your favorite books when you were little?

I loved The Boxcar Children.  And all of Judy Blume's books.  Especially Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge.  I also loved "scary" books.  There was one called Wait til Helen Comes that scared the crap out of me but I read it over and over again.  And of course there's Nancy Drew and Little House on the Prairie.  This is what I can think of off the top of my head - what about ya'll?

Little House series, definitely.  The books are still published with the original Garth Williams illustrations, right?  The illustrations are integral to the overall feeling of the story.  

Also,The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.  My father was adamant on J. R.R. Tolkien.  He wasn't concerned with the Tolkien esoterica, which he read as well, but he read LOTR and The Hobbit to us and then we read them ourselves when we were a little older.  Some of the best memories I have of my dad are of him reading LOTR to us.  He had a fantastically rich, deep voice and a theatrical knowledge of rhythm.  A treat to listen to.  Sometimes I would go off to bed with fantastic visions of the beautiful and the horrible I heard in Tolkien's words!
Also

E.B White, Charlotte's Webb
C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia
Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
George MacDonald: The Princess and the Goblin
Harper Lee: To Kill A Mockingbird

I also liked the Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary, who is still alive at the age of 94!  Just after, as my reading skill progressed, I loved the "Great Brain" series by John D. Fitzgerald.  These aren't in the canon of classical children's literature, but screw all that, that's what I liked to read.  At least I was reading!  
;D

Same with the S.E. Hinton novels in adolescence.  Especially, The Outsiders.  That book used to get banned from schools, now it's standard eighth grade curriculum.  Possibly passe.  Some schools still ban J.D. Salinger's Catcher In The Rye.  That was my favorite in ninth grade.

We were exposed to literature as recited or intoned by our teachers at the Waldorf School.  Our parents read to us at home.  I think that's an experience a lot of kids miss.  To hear books read aloud helps kids develop a sense of voice and narrative in literature. Otherwise, it's like knowing how to sight read music but never being able to listen to Mozart.  I don't blame kids for thinking reading is boring.  It is often presented to them in a boring manner.  

What were some of your favorite books when you were little?

I loved The Boxcar Children.  And all of Judy Blume's books.  Especially Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge.  I also loved "scary" books.  There was one called Wait til Helen Comes that scared the crap out of me but I read it over and over again.  And of course there's Nancy Drew and Little House on the Prairie.  This is what I can think of off the top of my head - what about ya'll?


Wait till Helen Comes Home... you may be the only person I know who's read it... that book defined on page 62 or 67 or something exactly how I feel about death!

I read all the Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books then at 12 I found and fell in love with Trixie Belden!!!

as I got older it was the lois duncan books. Particularly  The Third Eye, Five Were Missing (aka Ransom)
And then random books. The Solid Gold Kid (about kidnapping) The Creep (about a child molester)  (I was a twisted teen...)

Ritchie Tankersly Cusack's The Lifeguard

and books by Joan Lowery Nixon (who wrote the box car children) but I preferred her young adult stuff.

Keyes, Flowers for Algernon
Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men
:\'(

What were some of your favorite books when you were little?

I loved The Boxcar Children.  And all of Judy Blume's books.  Especially Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge.  I also loved "scary" books.  There was one called Wait til Helen Comes that scared the crap out of me but I read it over and over again.  And of course there's Nancy Drew and Little House on the Prairie.  This is what I can think of off the top of my head - what about ya'll?


I loved the The Boxcar Children!  Luckily there were lots of Nancy Drew, because one summer I think I read one a day, I wanted to be her, until James Bond showed up, then I wanted to be Bond....James Bond.

oh yeah... I was a total sucker for Encyclopedia Brown and also the Three Investigators... they were geared for boys but I didn't care..

The first 4 Harry Potter books were great. Then books 5 to 7 dissapointed me greatly! JK must've lost her passion for Harry after the first 4 books!  :o

Not exactly a novel, but I *loved* Amelia Bedelia!! :D

I don't remember reading many novels unless I had to for school.  I had this set of children's encyclopedias and several of those "choose your own ending" books I mostly read.

The first 4 Harry Potter books were great. Then books 5 to 7 dissapointed me greatly! JK must've lost her passion for Harry after the first 4 books!  :o


I disagree... I think she accurately captured the anguish and annoyance of teen angst. Of course when I read the books I did so in my late 30s so I was a bit more removed and objective than you probably were

Not exactly a novel, but I *loved* Amelia Bedelia!! :D

I don't remember reading many novels unless I had to for school.  I had this set of children's encyclopedias and several of those "choose your own ending" books I mostly read.




the choose your own adventure books were great! I also loved those one minute/five minute mystery books where they gave you a mystery and you tried to figure out the ending...

oh yeah... I was a total sucker for Encyclopedia Brown and also the Three Investigators... they were geared for boys but I didn't care..


Oh...I loved The Three Investigator series as well. They had cool titles...like The case of the Stuttering Parrot or The Green Ghost ... :)

The Secret Seven series was my favorite (before I found the Three Investigators).

I disagree... I think she accurately captured the anguish and annoyance of teen angst. Of course when I read the books I did so in my late 30s so I was a bit more removed and objective than you probably were


Yeah, I read the last 3 books when I was deep in a depression so maybe I was in a bad mood when I read the last 3 books.  :-[

I'll reread them again and try to see if I can like them. I think what I liked about the first 4 books was the innocence. So maybe that's why the last 3 weren't my cup of tea. But hey, I'll take your word for it!  :(

Yeah, I read the last 3 books when I was deep in a depression so maybe I was in a bad mood when I read the last 3 books.  :-[

I'll reread them again and try to see if I can like them. I think what I liked about the first 4 books was the innocence. So maybe that's why the last 3 weren't my cup of tea. But hey, I'll take your word for it!  :(




liking the innocence of the first 4 makes total sense but, if you think about everything Harry experienced... especially  watching Cedric die.... there was no way for Harry to retain his innocence.

I read Uncle Tom's Cabin this summer. It was more interesting than I thought. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Le Petit prince - Antoine de St Exupery

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain


Most definitely!  Also Huckleberry Finn.  


I read Uncle Tom's Cabin this summer. It was more interesting than I thought. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars!


Harrie Beecher Stowe.  I never forgot that book.  I wouldn't recommend UTC for anyone under 14 or thereabouts.  It depends on the reading aptitude and maturity of the individual.  Of course, sentences such as,
"Sam paced frantically up and down the barn, ejaculating all the while,"
are always fun!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/nerd.gif

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain


Ooh, I HAVE GOT TO read that one!

I read most of the Little House books.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Books by Paul Zindel and Judy Blume.

Le Petit prince - Antoine de St Exupery


http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/asteroid.png

For every Internet thread, there exists at least one XKCD.

Now that that's out of the way...

Me?  I'm going to go for the obscure The Vandarian Incident (aka The Day The Sky Exploded, by the late, and equally-obscure Martyn Godfrey.  

I remember nothing about the novel except that it introduced me to the concept of "The X-Factor".  In 1981, that term didn't refer to a UK-based reality show.  It was a concept that neatly encapsulated "The best-laid plans of mice and men...", or "Poop happens".  It doesn't matter what you do, something unpredictable can always come up.  Because it's unpredictable, you can't compute how probable it is.  Because it's impossible to predict what will happen, you can't even take preventative measures against it.  The only thing you can do is (to borrow two phrases from two different age groups) to "be prepared" to "adapt and overcome"...

A more adult science-fiction reference would be the Outside Context Problem, from Iain Banks' Excession, and a real-world example would be Nassim Taleb's Black Swan.

Knowing about it didn't save my butt during the Crash of 2008, but encountering the concept shortly before junior high got me to the point where I cared about the Crash of 2008.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to dig around in my boxes of archived books :)

VERY YOUNG books (probably not considered novels):

-The Jenny Linsky books. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Averill  A few years back I think I bought all of them-for myself.  :D ;D ;D ;D
- I also loved Barney Beagle. ("Every dog should have his own boy." )
-Where the Wild Thing Are-Maurice Sendak

Jr/Sr. high school:

-The Pigman-Paul Zindel
-From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler-E.L. Konigsburg
-The Cat Ate My Gymsuit-Paula Danziger
-The Outsiders-S.E. Hinton
-That Was Then, This is Now-S.E. Hinton
-If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? - M.E. Kerr
-The Giver-Lois Lowry
-My Darling, My Hamburger-Paul Zindel.



I'm sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of off hand.



Cat

VERY YOUNG books (probably not considered novels):

-The Jenny Linsky books. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Averill  A few years back I think I bought all of them-for myself.  :D ;D ;D ;D
- I also loved Barney Beagle. ("Every dog should have his own boy." )
-Where the Wild Thing Are-Maurice Sendak

Jr/Sr. high school:

-The Pigman-Paul Zindel
-From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler-E.L. Konigsburg
-The Cat Ate My Gymsuit-Paula Danziger
-The Outsiders-S.E. Hinton
-That Was Then, This is Now-S.E. Hinton
-If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? - M.E. Kerr
-The Giver-Lois Lowry
-My Darling, My Hamburger-Paul Zindel.



I'm sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of off hand.



Cat






I have read your list and would like to add every single one of those books to my list!  :)

VERY YOUNG books (probably not considered novels):

-The Jenny Linsky books. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Averill  A few years back I think I bought all of them-for myself.  :D ;D ;D ;D
- I also loved Barney Beagle. ("Every dog should have his own boy." )
-Where the Wild Thing Are-Maurice Sendak

Jr/Sr. high school:

-The Pigman-Paul Zindel
-From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler-E.L. Konigsburg
-The Cat Ate My Gymsuit-Paula Danziger
-The Outsiders-S.E. Hinton
-That Was Then, This is Now-S.E. Hinton
-If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? - M.E. Kerr
-The Giver-Lois Lowry
-My Darling, My Hamburger-Paul Zindel.



I'm sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of off hand.



Cat


"The Outsiders" is still one of my favorite novels.  From a critical standpoint...who cares?  It made a huge impression on me the first time I read it when I was eleven.  And of course my two favorite characters are the most tragic...Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston.  The greasers and the socs.  I wasn't clued in I should pronounce "soc" as "sōsh."  I read it as greasers and socks!
:D

Oh, and don't bother with the movie.  It's crap.  Worth it if you've got the hots for Matt Dillon and/or Ralph Macchio.  Even then, the screenplay doesn't do justice to Hinton's novel!

I have a special affinity for Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" because the kid's name is Max.
:)

 The greasers and the socs.  I wasn't clued in I should pronounce "soc" as "sōsh."  I read it as greasers and socks!
:D




same here.... even after seeing the movie I still pronounced it as socks.... it's only seeing it now that I realize socs is short for socialites

what? I wasn't putting any deep thought into it at the time and I hadn't thought about it since...



as for the movie... I liked it.... except for that one scene... Matt Dillion gives the worst death scene in Hollywood history  ;D

same here.... even after seeing the movie I still pronounced it as socks.... it's only seeing it now that I realize socs is short for socialites

what? I wasn't putting any deep thought into it at the time and I hadn't thought about it since...



as for the movie... I liked it.... except for that one scene... Matt Dillion gives the worst death scene in Hollywood history  ;D



I think Hinton uses the phrase "social jetsetters" or something once early on.  That's where we were supposed to pick up on it
::)

I think Hinton uses the phrase "social jetsetters" or something once early on.  That's where we were supposed to pick up on it
::)


yeah I was such a stupid kid I probably had no clue what that meant.. .it'd be interesting to go back and read it as an adult... I wonder if I stil own a copy.

yeah I was such a stupid kid I probably had no clue what that meant.. .it'd be interesting to go back and read it as an adult... I wonder if I stil own a copy.


I didn't even know it took place in Oklahoma City.  It seemed like she was writing about a city in the Midwest, but it was modeled on OKC.

I didn't even know it took place in Oklahoma City.  It seemed like she was writing about a city in the Midwest, but it was modeled on OKC.




That I did know.

I have read your list and would like to add every single one of those books to my list!  :)



Even the Jenny Linsky books?





"The Outsiders" is still one of my favorite novels.  From a critical standpoint...who cares?  It made a huge impression on me the first time I read it when I was eleven.  And of course my two favorite characters are the most tragic...Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston.  The greasers and the socs.  I wasn't clued in I should pronounce "soc" as "sōsh."  I read it as greasers and socks!
:D

Oh, and don't bother with the movie.  It's crap.  Worth it if you've got the hots for Matt Dillon and/or Ralph Macchio.  Even then, the screenplay doesn't do justice to Hinton's novel!

I have a special affinity for Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" because the kid's name is Max.
:)



I lived in Tulsa, OK in 1977-78 and they still used the terms "socs" & "hoods".



Cat

Even the Jenny Linsky books?





I lived in Tulsa, OK in 1977-78 and they still used the terms "socs" & "hoods".



Cat


"Soc" must be a Midwest thing.  I've never heard it anywhere but in S.E. Hinton.
Actually Hinton is from Tulsa, not OKC.  My mistake.

I had a summer filled with Sherlock Holmes

They're not novels but when I was really little I loved...

George and Martha
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=242743322705&id=982077038a973b18987798c9f7f606e8&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.kdl.org%2fimage_attachments%2f0000%2f3151%2f512qwghjdtl.jpg%3f1192456953

Gus was a Friendly Ghost
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=233359872261&id=a8b125919fa45c9ba0eb39c344828345&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.vintagehalloween.com%2f09scangus.jpg

The House on East 88th Street
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=242028848303&id=77e5c111f85d353ba228dfc087be8713&url=http%3a%2f%2f2.bp.blogspot.com%2f_UbhxqgDtiHE%2fR1TN6tTF7YI%2fAAAAAAAAAkc%2fBCVfp2BqX3I%2fs1600-R%2fThe%2bHouse%2bon%2b88th%2b

Christina Katerina and the Box
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=215075655581&id=3a0cdb32d04257db668cd226b0b26f44&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us%2f169020821113429157%2flib%2f169020821113429157%2fchristinakaterina.jp

When I had kidsI bought the books for them.

Ethelyn M. Parkinson's "Rupert Piper" books.  These were written between the 1950s and 1970s.  I mostly remember "Double Trouble For Rupert" and "Triple Trouble For Rupert."  

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/22/58/308092c008a055965b70b010.L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Nancy Drew mysteries
Hardy Boys mysteries
The red badge of courage
Call of the wild

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/The_500_hats_of_bartholomew_cubbins.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emt08NorRU8



Cat

One of my favorites was Between Friends by Shiela Garrigue.  It was about a girl that moves in to a house next to a family with a girl her age with Downs Syndrome.  It is a sweet book. 

I read a few of the Boxcar Children books, as well as many of Beverly Cleary's books.



"The Outsiders" is still one of my favorite novels.  From a critical standpoint...who cares?  It made a huge impression on me the first time I read it when I was eleven.  And of course my two favorite characters are the most tragic...Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston.  The greasers and the socs.  I wasn't clued in I should pronounce "soc" as "sōsh."  I read it as greasers and socks!
:D

I read that as a teen; I, too, was unaware at first that "soc" was short for socialist; so naturally I pronounced it "sock". Also, seeing the film helped me to understand the story a little better.

We read a lot of books as a class in the third grade. My favorites were Beverly Cleary's books especially the Ramona series.

In sixth grade, my teacher introduced us to Peg Kehret's memoir, Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio. I read that book, enjoyed it, and read some of her other books (such as I'm Not Who You Think I Am and Horror At The Haunted House - she was really big on suspense). Kehret became one of my favorite childhood novelists as well as Cleary.

I didn't even read the Harry Potter books for real until just over a year ago, even though I've had the books stashed away in my bedroom for years.

My favourites as a child was Enid Blytons novel " The Enchanted Forest" and " The Faraway Tree".  As I got older I started reading her "Secret Seven" and " Famous Five" novels.

There was an "Alfred Hitchcock" series of books I liked when I was about 12 (e.g The Case of the Stuttering Parrot).

I loved the Dorie the Witch books by Patricia Coombs when I was very young, the first ones I really remember reading that I chose for myself.
Then there was, off the top of my head:
Me and Fat Glenda by Lila Peri
Summer of The Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
ALL of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
Judy Blume's Fudge books
Summer of the Swans
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Hail Hail Camp Timberwood
The Changeling and The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
can you tell Scholastic played a huge part of my formative reading years? *grin*
Madelyne L'engle books
Bridge to Terabithia
Mrs Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
One of my favorites to this day-The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Nancy Drew series, Encyclopedia Brown, and Boxcar Children were favorites.

I was an avid reader as a child, these are the ones I remember most from early childhood, then when teen years came I discovered Daniel Pinkwater and LOVED his stories, every one of them but especially the Snarkout Boys.
I then discovered Hitchhikers Guide and you couldn't tear me away from science fiction and fantasy novels, but I would read some of the classics or other general fiction alongside. So, it was not unusual to be reading one of the Soul Rider series along with something like Of Mice and Men or Jane Eyre, for example.  ;D

I still revisit Daniel Pinkwater's books every couple of years. And Richard Addams novels! :)

I read alot as a kid.

Sweet Valley Twins
Sweet Valley High
Behind the Attic Wall (will always be one of my faves)
Agatha Christie novels
Alvin Schwartz horror stories
American Girls books, particularly Samantha's stories.
I lived breathed and died for RL Stine as a child and he's one of the reasons I write now. I'd love to meet him. I read Goosebumps, Goosebumps 2000, Fear Street, Ghosts of Fear Street.
The Princess in the Pig Pen
20 Pageants Later
The Diary of Anne Frank
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, I actually still have that book in my house. It was a tough pill to swallow at about 8 years old to learn what racism really was like. I still remember them digging that hole and the bus falling into it and breaking the axle.
That's what I remember, but I know it's many more, I was a lonely child and read compulsively.

When I was in junior high, I loved to read science fiction novels by William Sleator.  I found his stories like Interstellar Pig, House of Stairs  and The Nights the Heads Came all very entertaining.  I also enjoyed Gary Paulson and Steven King.  I am glad to see that some one else here has read The Pig Man because I really enjoyed that book too! Remembering the Good Times is very similar novel which deals with the topic of suicide :\'(.

I've read some of the Circle of Magic and Xanth books, just not all of them.