What's your favourite children's book?

pinkduvetdiva

I loved the Famous Five, Secret Seven, St Clare's and Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton when I was younger.* I don't have any children myself, but my favourite book to read to my boyfriend's little boy is Room On The Broom.

*Five Go On A Hike may or may not have accidentally downloaded itself on my Kindle in recent months...

Jellybro

My son loved the Hairy Mclairy books.

pollypenny

VJsmum wrote: »

I am in the minority - I can't stand Enid Blyton:eek::p

As a child I loved the chalet school books

But others I liked were
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner
The viaduct by Roy Brown
Knights of the Cardboard Castle by Elizabeth Beresford

Now, I love the Harry Potter books and Michael Morpurgo

I loved, and devoured Enid Blyton when I was 7. Didn't use them at all with my kids, as they don't read aloud well.


DD followed me in loving Noel Streatfield's books and both loved all Alan Garner's books.

So hard to judge, but I think my favourite authors for older kids are Robert Westall and Robert Cormier. Big write complex plots with moral dilemmas. Great for teaching, too.

Running_Horse

When Marnie Was There (the clear winner).

Pippi Longstocking.

Heidi.

The Wee Free Men.

The Little Prince.

Goth Girl.

Anne of Green Gables.

Ronia the Robber's Daughter.

Savvy.

George's Secret Key to the Universe.

Missus_Hyde

So many lovely children's books.

I love horses, so avidly read:

Silver Snaffles......Primrose Cummings

All the "Jill" books by Ruby Ferguson

All the earlier books by Gillian Baxter and the Pullein-Thompson sisters.

The Three Jays series by Pat Smythe

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

Heidi........cried most of the way through.

King Solomon's Mines. I suppose this isn't really strictly speaking a "children's book", although it was a book we studied at junior school. I absolutely loved it; it's a cracking adventure book, but I can't imagine that it would be read as a school book today.......far too politically incorrect!!!

Former_MSE_Andrea

Several votes for Heidi here. We're thinking of polling you all on the top 10

Running_Horse

Funny one Heidi. Seems a horribly stiff and formal translation. Not very accessible for younger readers. But my daughter hung on every word, responding to the slightest emotion or action. Also has a decent animation series on Netflix to accompany the reading.

tea_lover

Blitzcat - although just thinking about it is enough to bring me close to tears.

Also loved The Animals of Farthing Wood series.

Couldn't stand Enid Blyton.

benrben

Paddington Bear & Wind in the Willows have to be my favourite children's books (I still read them now when I need a book hug), but I also grew up on & loved the Chronicles of Narnia, Charlottes Web, Pippi Longstocking, Mrs Pepperpot, The Chalet School series.

My son loved Redwall, Goosebumps, The Keys to the Kingdom series, The Saga of Darren Shan, Narnia.

The youngest two adore Winnie the Witch, Gruffalo, Paddington Bear & they still read Rod Campbell's Oh Dear & Dear Zoo.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Five On A Treasure Island was the first book I read on my own, so Enid Blyton will always hold special memories. I liked the Adventure series best (Circus/Castle/Ship of Adventure etc with Kiki the parrot). Roald Dahl was just becoming popular in the 80s and we were read many of his at school. I recall the teacher stopping for the day half way through the sentence where Charlie unwraps his birthday bar so we wouldn't know til the next day whether it contained a golden ticket or not....

My brother and I loved a simple book called Diggy Takes His Pick, which my mum read every Christmas. I think it involved a lost Christmas pudding.

Never understood Winnie The Pooh. I have a degree in Eng Lit and think it's the only book I've failed to finish!

I was pony-mad from 11, so loved all the classic gymkhana-winning tales, plus the more unusal ones like the Jinny series by Patricia Leitch.

Rosemary Sutcliffe wrote enthralling historical stories, and I also recall Robert Westall and Helen Creswell- hope they're still in print and firing imaginations.