What did you read?

tealady

Apologies if I missed it but have just skim read the thread.
How about one of my childhood favourites? Paddington Bear!!!!

Odette

I loved the Redwall series by Brian Jaques. Infact when I was in year 4 because I used to spend all my playtime reading instead of playing...this was a shock to the school :eek: but thats what began my lifelong love of books.
I also enjoyed The Depford Mice series of books. His Dark Materials series and as an adult I have enjoyed Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.
I hope your child keeps loving reading, it really is a skill that I believe makes you a better person!

pollypenny

How could I forget !!!!!! King Smith! Wonderful!

I also forgot Black Beauty - but I didn't read it; it was my father's favourite book and he read it to me, again and again.

I would still counsel against Jane Eyre and Wild Sagrasso Sea - the words might be understood, but the concepts are very adult.

I fact, there are so many excellent children's authors, that I would just go and browse bookshelves.

donnap83

I can't believe it!! Other people have read the Chalet School books!

I loved those books! Read Malory Towers and the St Clares books!

Happy days!!

Oldernotwiser

thorsoak wrote: »

I'm another avid fan of Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge - introduced my DD to it, who, in turn, has introduced her DD plus several God-daughters!
!

Have you read her other children's books; these are excellent as well.

Oldernotwiser

Did anybody else read the Abbey School books?

I used to have most of them but my dad threw them away when I left home and they're now costing me a fortune to replace!

Bunny

My mum gave me a Dr Doolittle book, it was a 30's edition so there are a couple of racist remarks in there, but the journey in the book is good, quite similar to james and the giant peach
I used to re-read the worst witch series over and over
The diary of Anne Frank
Jaqueline Wilson books
Of course Roald Dahl
What Katy did
Anne of Green Gables
Black Beauty
Harry Potter

I didn't like the Borrowers, my mum bought the omnibus edition, I for some reason can't get rid of it, it's like a bad penny, it keeps turning up!

mouche

Oh I loved the Chalet school books - I have a whole shelf full of them at my parents house still. My dreams of passing them on to a daughter won't be happening as the chappie kicking in my belly is a boy! Still, my niece is 11 so will offer them to her.

I loved Agatha Christie when I was 8 - my mum also let me read selected books by Jack Higgins and John Grisham. I remember reading The Eagle has Landed some time between by 8th and 9th birthday - it's given me a lifelong fascination with World War II. I'd read my way through most of Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew and Anne Digby by then but surprisingly I discovered the Chalet School a lot later (around 12) but I still loved them. I also read lots and lots of abriged children's classics, though I remember someone gave me the unabridged Tom Brown's Schooldays when I was 6 and I never managed to get through that one!

My mum was very relaxed about what I read - probably because she knew I didn't have a clue about sex - the only things I wasn't allowed to read from her bookshelves was James Hadley Chase, Sidney Sheldon (though I was reading those by 13-14) and surprisingly, Gone with the Wind. I wasn't allowed to read that till I was 16 because she said she wanted me to read it for the first time when I would fully appreciate it. I still aprreciate her making me wait - it was worth it! Oh I also read a lot of PG Wodehouse and Erle Stanley Gardner, though in hindsight I was probably closer to 11 than 8 when I was reading them.

Oh and I've just remembered - I loved James Heriot!

mouche

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Did anybody else read the Abbey School books?

I used to have most of them but my dad threw them away when I left home and they're now costing me a fortune to replace!

Were these the ones set in an abbey and had occasional spooky happenings - and did they have 2 sisters in them. I remember very vaguely reading these out of the library but I can't have been more than 6 so I've lost most memory of them other than I loved them!

cyclamen_2

Brighton_belle wrote: »

I loved the chalet school books too. i believe they are out of print now and very expensive to buy from specialist 2nd hand book shops. I can't understand why someone doesn't reprin them.

They have! Look up Girls Gone By Publishers - can't post a link as am a newbie. They're doing all the Chalet books (not all at once) and various other school stories etc - unabridged, quite big paperbacks at about £12 so not exactly cheap but compared to the expensive 2nd hand copies they're good value. And no, I don't work for them!