Mumsnet Talk

The Summer of my German Soldier! That made me cry till I was sick, when I was 12 and all lovelorn with nobody yet to love.

The talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell and all of the above. My DS is currently reading 'The Growing Summer' by Noel Streatfield and is absolutely hooked - not sure that I will convince him to read 'ballet shoes' though!

Happy Christmas Olivia, and everyone.

I am overjoyed at this thread. I have remembered so many books I had read and loved as a child but had forgotten the names of. Glad this is now in books, I plan on scouring charity shops and amazon for the next 12 months, make DS's little library something special.

Off the top of my head, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Richard Scarry, Dogger, Miss Jaster's Garden, Mallory Towers, St. Claire's and Trebizon (?) When older, Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby and Wuthering Heights. Also anyone remember Mr A.Mazing Monster books http://www.amazingmonsters.com/a_mazing/ I loved them.

Also ,almost compulsary for little ones...The Giving Tree.

I am not a child -oldish- and have had these read to me recently by a young man,who enjoyed them as much as I did.We read them slowly and sparingly.Wonderful! Trilogy by Steve Augarde...The Various, Celandine,and Winter Wood.

No-one's mentioned The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.

Also a Book of Princesses ed by Johnson 1965 which has stories by giants such as Oscar Wilde, E.Nesbit etc etc. I didn't notice the authors when I was a child but their stories resonate still. In fact I can't find our copy. My daughter has left it somewhere yet again.

Cynthia Harnett's The Woolpack - great historical stuff.

And I inherited Violet Needham books from my mother which I loved, although she put some pretty dodgy of-their-time ideas into a few of her stories.

Bluebellswood - that's the one!! Thank you so much.

BlingLoving - that's what I was going to say! I adored and still adore The Ordinary Princess. I was such a fairy tale junkie when I was young and it was a wonderful antidote to that, but also a lovely tale in its own right. (When I got a bit older I also enjoyed some of MM Kaye's adult stuff like Death in Zanzibar. I never quite got round to The Far Pavilions though. Maybe it's time I did!)

I loved The Summer Birds and Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
The Dark is rising Saga by Susan Cooper
Any of the horsey books by Emily Dickinson
The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett Hodge
and I can't remember the names of her books but I used to love the author known as Miss Read!

The Six Cousins on Mistletoe Farm and Six Cousins again are great books. There are 3 down to earth farm children living in a grubby farm house with dogs and horses, and their uncle's house burns down and their 3 towny snobby cousins have to come and live with them. The town children have posh names - Melisande and Roderick, and the farm kids are called things like Susan. Brilliant, classic Enid Blyton stereotyping.

dollybird The Enid Blyton one is 'Six Cousins on Mistletoe Farm' followed by 'The Children of Willow Farm' if that's any help! I loved them as a child, and still have them.

Dollybird - no, not Green Smoke, The Dragon's Quest, which was in the same series but set in the past. The little girl (Susan?) wasn't in that book.

I was not a child when I read them but I hope my DCs enjoy lemony snicket (not the horrific excuse for a film though), his dark materials (ditto) and Artemis Fowl.

ninjasquirrel it could be Green Smoke but it didn't sound familiar on amazon. Does anyone remember an Enid Blyton one with six step brothers and sisters I think who lived on a farm. I mainly remember them having 'high tea'!

So many great recommendations! I will come back to read this thread over Christmas - I want to look up a few authors I haven't heard of, and may be spending some Christmas money on Ebay and Amazon!

There are some very dodgy names lookign back - as well as the Fannys and Tittys (do you change to -ies if it's a proper name?) what about Enid Blyton's Mr Pink-Whistle? Think he's on a register somewhere....

I loved those Rumer Godden books, though they used to make me feel a built guilty for not caring as much about my dolls! Loved the descriptions of Gem Tiffany Jones's room and clothes....

I liked Daddy Long Legs, too, though thinking back it's a tad dodgy really isn't it? And Judy was a bit annoying.

Has anyone said Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, by Rumer Godden, and the sequel Little Plum? And The Story of Holly and Ivy, very Christmassy.

minicooper I snapped up a nice copy of Daddy Long Legs in a second hand books shop recently so that my 2 year old will have one when she needs it. ( it's a really nice one, a wee hardback, lovely). I couldn't believe how ancient it is!

UrbanSpaceMum no way! I read Z for Zachariah in about 1985 at about 8 or 9 and was totally unaware of the Cold War. I mean I knew about the Iron Curtain and everything but that fear wasn't there. It's struggle, isolation, survival, resilience... the plume of smoke growing ever closer too is an image that stays with me even now!

I can't remember much about the Peter Dickinson (thanks Urban and splishsplosh ) but there was that sense of peril that is so thrilling as a child. To be safely scared iykwim.

Lots of good ones here, but can I second Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster? (If we're allowed American books!)
Just finished Milly Molly Mandy with my 5 year old and she adored it. She also loves Famous 5, Secret 7 - we're moving onto My Naughty Little Sister and Pippi Longstocking next!

Hope these haven't already been mentioned,
Both my two loved

How to Train your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell

The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies (plus the rest of her books)

My son loved the Katie Davie books so much that they were the first ones that he read by himself.

Oh, and The Tree that Sat Down by Beverley Nicholls.

And the Flambards series.

And a book called To Be Looked For, can't remember the author

And lots of others mentioned here. Love this thread.