Having see the 'sobbed' thread, wondered about all the lovely childhood books we all read, and what you read and liked/disliked?

I read Black Beauty, which I loved, all the 'Jill' books, which were typical pony books of a young girl growing up with her widowed mum in a rose covered cottage, living on the breadline yet I would have said not starving ;)  and all her antics with ponies until she left school. Jaky Jumps to the Top, what I aways dreamed of doing....My friend Flicca, thunderhead and the green grass of wyoming, the series of books....again horses ;)

The book that most stands out for me from my school days farenhgt 451, a science fiction book, much of which inside the pages has sort of come true! Huge TV's, cameras (cctv) etc

Oh wow! too many books to mention :) Def all the jill books, everything by the pullein- thompsons, mary gervais, gillian baxter - everything horsey and Ive still got them all hee hee. Snow Cloud Stallion was one of my faves. I lived in a total dream world of horses. In my 30's I did my dream job of working with horses in a riding school for 5 years - the best years of my life.
Also loved all the bancroft classics - still have about 12 of those, and of course Rupert!! Naughtiest Girl in the School etc :) ABSOLUTELY loved Magic Faraway Tree and the rest in the series, the triffids, the chrysalids,tarka, ring of bright water, To Sir With Love......I LOVE BOOKS The whole wall in my dining room is floor to ceiling books :)

Oh gosh yes, definitely My friend Flicka.  (Also anything horsy too!!)
Charlotte's Web, and I must confess I had a day off work this week and sat and watched the recent movie version and wept like a baby!
Lord of the Flies I loved.  Animal Farm.  Swallows and Amazons. 
I'll have to edit as I think of more! :-)

Hey everyone....you do realise that the titles of our childhood books will give away our age don't you? :-D
Forgot to add - all the silver brumby series :)

After my own heart!!  Loved pony books and Enid Blyton was my favourite author!  I still have heaps of her books and still have a sneaky read every now and again!!

I can remember reading the Jennings books by Antony Buckeridge when I was about 10 after that it was Tolkiens books and science fiction.  I read pretty much everything my mum was a librarian so she used to bring all sorts home :).  I do remember when I was in the third year of secondary school (year 9 for the younger ones here) reading Catch 22 which I really enjoyed and doing a book review for it at school and the teacher telling me he was not really sure it was a suitable book :)

I was going to reply saying I absolutely loved the flicka/thunderhead books and was going to ask what the name of the books with the wild silver stallion and his band where...then Killickchick mentioned them - the silver brumby series...I loved them :-D

Also Enid Blytons famous five and what was the boarding school series of books?

edited to add - just googled it...Malory Towers :-)

All the usual pony books that everyone else has mentioned, and Malory Towers, and the Famous Five, and the Jennings series, and anything by John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids, the Chrysalids etc) and the Punchbowl Farm books by Monica Edwards. That lifestyle was my dream!

One of my favourites was called "My Friend Walter" by Michael Morpurgo (i think) all about Sir Walter Raleigh being locked in the London Tower. Cant remember exactly what it was about but it was great and i read it over and over again. I would often sit on the bathroom floor and read it to my mum when she was having a bath as she really enjoyed the book too :-)
The famous 5 books were always good and i used to pretend i could go on adventures like them.
Adrian Mole - hilarious
All creatures great and small. Not strictly a childrens book but i enjoyed reading it as a child.
Charlottes Web

Trying to think of others now...:-)

talking of Adrian Mole, I've just finished Sue Townsend's Queen Camilla - thoroughly enjoyed it :-D

I loved the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I must have read all of them a dozen times.  Also liked Billy Bunter and Famous Five, Secret Seven, Mallory Towers, Thursday's Child, Secret Garden etc etc etc.  I spent all my time reading as a child - still do :)

CG

I got a bit of a shock reading the Little House books to one of my daughters, I hated the TV series it was far to sentimental etc.  Then I started to read the books to my daughter and one of the first things you get is a detailed description of slaughtering a pig.

Oh, and 'Charlotte Sometimes'. I adored that book, and my mother had to get it from the library for me on a regular basis! (I recently got my very own copy from eBay - it's still a great story!)

One hundred and one Dalmations was the first book I ever read twice (well three times actually) loved it!  Then discovered C S Lewis after The Lion the Witch etc was broadcast as a radio series.  I spent ages afterwards checking the back of my wardrobe before I went to bed!  Also read Pony books and ballet books. 

The Magic faraway tree was one of my favourites too .But the one i remember most was ' Conrad ' , about a boy which a single woman ordered and he arrived in a tin which had to be opened  with a tin opener !
The other book which i pick up again and again is one which i did for O Level English Lit - To Kill a Mocking Bird .  I think that , because i read it for English Lit , i understand more about the story and hidden meanings so i enjoy it more .

The Land of the Faraway Tree books were MY favourite :)
That shows where my mentality lays ;)

Anyone read Fluke, by James herbert, the dog that thinks hes a man...seems the man died but didnt realise and came back as a dog...found it fasinating

Any Thelwell fans?

As a young child I loved Enid Blyton's famous five and secret seven.  Also were the St Clares books by Enid Blyton ? love those.  Loved the little house books (so much better than the tv series.  I was reading adult books quite early on and love James Herriott, Joyce Stranger and Shelia Hocken.

I saw the film Fluke.  V. good.  Also loved Thelwell too.  Had a great Thelwell colouring book when I was a kid.  Was horse mad!

I have to confess that I'm gradually buying and re reading all the pony books of my childhood from EBay so if any one wants a bit of nostalgia let me know the title and I bet I have it :D I'll be glad to lend them too.

I loved Charlotte Sometimes! Also A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley  Noel Streatfield Lorna Hill and C.S Lewis are still favourites looking forward to film of Prince Caspian

All the Enid Blyton, plus Narnia books. That dates me a bit!!!

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was my favourite, teacher read it to us at primary school and I couldn't wait for the next chapter each week. At home I read every Nancy Drew that was in the Library - just loved them.

My favourite book when I was really young, was a book called "Im Not Sleepy".  We are talking really young, like a toddler.  Mom would read it to us.  It was about a girl, who said she wasnt sleepy, then goes round saying goodnite to all her friends (the fish, the cat, the dog, etc) and realized they are all asleep.  So by the end, she realized she was asleep to, and heads off to bed. 

School age, it was anything by Laurline McDaniel.  She wrote about cancer kids.  It was really sad, but it made us "think" we knew more about what our friend was going through - she had cancer - so the class as a whole felt a bit better.

Goosebumps - RL Stine.  Those I would read constantly.

Pony Tails - three girls and their ponies, go on various adventures.  Still have a couple floating around here somewhere!

Watership Down was my first serious read,

I remember reading Fluke and drawing the picture of the dog in my Art class,

All the Enid Blyton

Then I went onto scary and horror stories,

> Then I went onto scary and horror stories

Me too carrington,James Herbert,Stephen King, Wilbur Smith,Virginia Andrews but after ponies etc I read and collected (as a young teenager! ) all Danielle Steeles books and later named my youngest after her!!! Another fave was Duncton Wood, bit like Watership Down but with moles :)

Duncton wood are amazing books (I did read them as an adult though) never heard them mentioned by anyone else before! as a child I started on Rupert annuals and then read every enid blyton I could get my hands on, absolutely adored them. then as teenager read books like "tiger eyes" ?? cant remember author but they were teenagey love stories.

Never bothered with Enid Blyton (except Noddy when very small) but rather favoured Malcolm Saville who wrote similar adventure stories set around my home town - Church Stretton.  Made things a lot more exciting when you read about places you are familiar with.  I forgot to say my earliest memories (now I am really giving away my age) are of Rupert annuals - especially the story of Rupert and the flying horse - I still have my battered copy.  ***%%$$** years old!  The fantasy story set the path of my future reading - when I bought my first book from book club in school it was Earthlight by Arthur C Clarke.  I also used to spend all my pocket money on American comics when we had our annual holiday. 

My all time favourites are among those already mentioned  above......Malcolm Saville takes me back, but cant recall Jennings books, are you lot much younger perhaps?
But what I really remember from being very young and impressionable was 'The Water Babies'.
I loved reading and still do.

Karen :)

I don't remember when the Jennings books were published but I was reading them in the early 70s so I suspect we are not younger :-D

I really feel I've missed something now......Will be looking for the Jennings stuff.
..shadbolts what is your opinion now, on children reading books that are deemed unsuitable by adults?
My 12 year old recently read 'Chocolat' and loved it..I said nothing but wasn't sure that was 'suitable'.
Part of me says they can sort out thoughts and ask questions if necessary...but not 100% comfortable!

Karen

There are far more unsuitable things to see on tv than what is in most adult books ( bar erotica ;) )

I was at infant school when I fell in love with"Mick the disobedient dog" little did I know that in later life that I would be hooked on poodles.I also enjoyed "Black Beauty".

Heidi,The Hobbitt, Famous Five, Mallory Towers,The Secret Garden,( I love the recent version of the film, the little girl looks just like my daughter)!!The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe and DOCTOR WHO annuals.

I always had my head in a book. Still do I often have a book on the go at home and one at work, and I dont get confused !!

Nobody's mentioned the Chalet School series.

Stig Of The Dump

>>Nobody's mentioned the Chalet School series>>

Took the words out of my mouth :D

The Water Babies and Black Beauty - yes read those but not my favourite because they both have horrible things in them - I didn't like certain parts but you have to keep reading them - they sort of leave a bad memory there like a nasty taste even though it all works out in the end.   I have read a lot of children's books since becoming an adult - as a Mum and teacher I got to read a lot of them.  A child recommended me a book called Misty of Chincoteague - a horse story.  I loved it and when we visited America we went to Chincoteague and Assateague islands and saw the wild horses there.   Oh just remembered Alan Garner - used to like him too. 

its got to be the adarin mole books.
i have all of them and re-read them every now and again and they still make me lol.

>cant recall Jennings books, are you lot much younger perhaps?

No, I was reading Jennings in the late 60s. :-)

ohhh... lots and lots. enid blyton and the general kids stuff, pratchetts kids books. animal wise the animal ark books, a book i can;t remember the name of but it was about an eagle captured for london zoo, another one about owls, hunters moon or something and various others, very keen on reading! my fav though was "call of the wild"- i've read it about 40 times now and wrote my higher english specialist study on it.

Charlotte's Web....it's still one of my favourite books of al times.  I didn't really read a lot of the other typical childrens' books series like Enid Blyton etc...I was reading James Herbert & Stephen king by the time I was 10.

So.........Steven King at 10.......Chocolat no probs for 12 then!!!

Have I missed something with the Jennings 's then?
Should I look them up?

Karen

I don't think it's done me any harm but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for every child.  I'd say Chocolat would be ok for many 12 year olds (think I read the Thorn Birds at about that age...another book that I still love).

shaynlola,

You are a woman after my own heart, I read my 1st stephen king book aged 9 and you own i newf, so you can be my NBF on the internet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read Enid Blyton, Narnia, Left Behind series, the Jill books, a couple of Jacqueline Wilson books, lots of non fiction animal books, oh yes and lots of Animal Ark books, Black Beauty, White Fang (or something like that), 101 dalmatians , Ally's world and tons more.

does anyone remember a seris of books called sweet valley high?

when i was about 10 they were the must read and we looked forward to each one much, in the way that kids do now with the Harry Potters books (but without all the hype)

my mum read green eggs and ham to me all the time when i was little so i do it now with my children and they collect all the dr suess books

I remember them.  Some of my friends were very into them.

hmm well i read a whole series by the same (male)author but cant remember what they or he were called other than they were just fantastic...all about a teenager called Hal and his brother (cant recall name) and it was like a slightly more adventurous "famous 5".........they were always off in africa big game spotting and stuff. Does anyone else remember those???

yes I read those I had forgotten all about them I think the brother may have been called Dick??  they did scuba diving and all james bondy kind of things!