Children's Books

[allycat228]

I must admit i have enjoyed the Harry Potter books, but what books did everone enjoy when they were children?

I loved Enid Blyton and the blackberry farm books.

[jim mcglinchey]

Victor Cannings Runaway trilogy, brilliant, amongst a load of others of course.

I've been reading the Limony Snicket books to my son every night to get him to sleep and I'm on Book 5....and I'm getting a bit bloody sick of them, I mean how much misfortune can three kids possibly have?

[donKey jote]

the 7 tales of Narnia and Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books are the ones I remember enjoying the most :)
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_166.gif

[DonnieDarco]

The Carbonel series by Barbara Sleigh are firm favourites of mine, I read the first one at the age of about seven.

There's also The Dark Is Rising Series, by Susan cooper, The Giant Under The Snow by John Gordon, The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, and many others. Narnia of course, was a must read :D

I loved a series that began with a book called Half Magic, by Edward Eager. Stig Of The Dump by Clive King was a favourite then and now, as is The Whispering Knights, by Penelope Lively.

Anyone remember a book called The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster? Loved that, and also Charmed Life, by Diana Wynne Jones. She changed her writing style for subsequent books though, and I've not liked any of the rest.

As a smaller child I read Enid Blyton too, and particularly liked all the Brer Rabbit stories. And I of course being a girl, had a book or two of fairy tales which I read lots :D

And those are just the ones that immediately spring to mind :D

[Drew]

I was obsessed with the goosebumps collection, then went off books totally :)

[gadjo_dilo]

As a kid I read hundreds of books. I remember an impressive collection of "eternal tales ", including all the classics. Then we have a few great national story tellers. But as I found them more exotic I prefered books like The Book of One Thousand and One Nights ( known also as Arabian Nights ), The fairy tales of asian people, The african fairy tales.

I also liked a lot Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb; I think I knew those stories by heart. :laugh:

Then, when I was 12 I was impressed by a book of Bengt Danielssson called Terry following Kon Tiki. The author was a member of the original crew of Kon Tiki and imagined a story about some kids who by accident remaked the voyage of the raft Kon Tiki.

[tinchote]

Many books. The first few that come to mind:

- All of Jules Verne
- Tom Sawyer
- Philippe Ebly: Conquerors of the impossible (there were 9 of them, I guess)
- Stevenson's Treasure Island.

[LotusElise]

As a small child, Beatrix Potter stories were my favourites. Someone also bought me a set of vaguely similar picture books about the mice of Brambly Hedge. They were by Jill Barklem and each one was based around a season of the year.

Later I loved anything by Dick King-Smith, Roald Dahl and Anne Fine. Anne's books go right up to teenage readership - The Book Of The Banshee is a great story about teen life from the point of view of someone younger.

[janneppi]

The three investigators were probably the first ones, moved to reading Alistair Macleans, Jack Higgins's, Clancys, Douglas Reemans and the like quite fast though. :)
I never was interested about magic and dragons and other such sillyness.

[ozrevhead]

There was an Adelaide writer called Colin Theale who wrote 'Febuary Dragon' and 'Storm Boy'

I also loved Paul Jennings, Edith Blythman's 'The Famous Five' and The Choose your own Adventer Books

[fandango]

I once got a book from the library about a formula 1 driver who wins his first race, there could have been detective stuff in there too, and part of the book explained something about the racing line, apexes etc. Then I saw Gilles Villeneuve race, and here I am.

Another one from from the library was a book called "The Black Mercedes". Anyone remember that?

[CCFanatic]

You mean you were supposed to read as a child. Opps!

No, I love the Dr. Seuse. I am 17 and I still read them. Great works of art.

[Sleeper]

Beatrix Potter, when I was very young, and Tolkiens The Hobbit from a bit older are about all I can remember.

[oily oaf]

Ah yes my friends I'll never forget that magical Christmas morn when as an excited 5 year old I opened my stocking and discovered a filth encrusted copy of "Your Very First Pop Up Fundamentals Of Motor Vehicle Technology" with a foreword by Lulu.
How my parents glowed with pride as I left the house on Boxing Day and did a full gearbox and rear axle rebuild on our next door neighbours Bull Nose Morris.
Halcyon, innocent days indeed my dear friends :mad:

[oily oaf]

Apart from that I used to like "Little Black Sambo" :monster:

[donKey jote]

Apart from that I used to like "Little Black Sambo"
Only the other day my donkito's were reading the same book I read over 30 donkeys ago... I still enjoy reading the ... "a Hundred and Sixty-nine" pancakes !! :crazy: :p :

Next week I'll see if "Tintin en el Congo" is still in the attic in my parents stables in Madrid, so I can burn it face down together with a signed first edition copy of Wein Krampf and my collection of used mags :mad:

On second thoughts... maybe I should keep them another couple of years. They might become fashionable again wot wid all them bleedin immigrants taking our jobs, houses, wimmen and cats :devil:

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_166.gif

[oily oaf]

Only the other day my donkito's were reading the same book I read over 30 donkeys ago... I still enjoy reading the ... "a Hundred and Sixty-nine" pancakes !! :crazy: :p :

Next week I'll see if "Tintin en el Congo" is still in the attic in my parents stables in Madrid, so I can burn it face down together with a signed first edition copy of Wein Krampf and my collection of used mags :mad:

On second thoughts... maybe I should keep them another couple of years. They might become fashionable again wot wid all them bleedin immigrants taking our jobs, houses, wimmen and cats :devil:

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_166.gif

Hehehehehe Quality stuff Donks.
(adopts Yorkshire accent) "Aye yer right there Obidiah. You try telling t' kids o' today that we used to read Little Black Sambo and Tintin in T'Congo and they wouldn't believe yer"

Thanks for digging out that picture of the LBS book cover btw. Brought back many happy memories of quiet swivel-eyed racist contemplation in the school library and dreamy thoughts of how I would one day conquer the world and rid it of darkies, Jews and people who quite like Arsenal football club.
(pastes bit of paintbrush under nose, goose steps round living room, hangs cat on meat hook for insurbordination and invades Poland)

[donKey jote]

I do try my best to provide my kids with at least a minimum of British culture so they don't turn into complete little Germans. Integration is taken a (goose) step too far here, if you ask me, but we will never surrender ! :mad:
I still can't understand what the RSPCA have against the book though, I see nothing wrong with eating Tiger "Ghi" pancakes... serves them scary buggers right :monster:
(rounds up the neighbour's cats and chases them round and round and round the shed... cat "Ghi" and Marmite on burnt toast for brekkers tomorrow :facelick: )

[stevie_gerrard]

i'd have to say Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl was what i read a lot of, and i remember collecting the goosebumps books as well :)

[BDunnell]

Hehehehehe Quality stuff Donks.
(adopts Yorkshire accent) "Aye yer right there Obidiah. You try telling t' kids o' today that we used to read Little Black Sambo and Tintin in T'Congo and they wouldn't believe yer"

Thanks for digging out that picture of the LBS book cover btw. Brought back many happy memories of quiet swivel-eyed racist contemplation in the school library and dreamy thoughts of how I would one day conquer the world and rid it of darkies, Jews and people who quite like Arsenal football club.
(pastes bit of paintbrush under nose, goose steps round living room, hangs cat on meat hook for insurbordination and invades Poland)

Fantastic, as always.

I was exposed early on to my mother's old Noddy books, with their mildly racist content and support of rather dangerous behaviour — one example being a sentence that read, 'Noddy sped through the town centre at 100 miles an hour'. I believe it is later in that same volume that, having sprinked invisible dust on his car, he managed to drown Mr Bruin Bear by reversing into him and pushing him into a lake. And people think that Wayne Rooney is a bad role model for the young...