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Children's books

Join in for children's book recommendations.

Original poster

Forgotten Classics

114 replies

beatricequimby · 23/01/2015 20:06

Any recommendations for an 8 year old girl? I am a bit of a children's book hoarder so we have all the obvious ones - Katy books, E Nesbits, Frances Hodgson Burnetts, Little Women, Noel Streatfeilds etc.

Recently discovered Nancy and Plum by Betty MacDonald which I had never heard of. It's lovely and perfect for an 8 year old.

So has anyone got any forgotten classic recommendations? The

OP posts:
SorrelForbes · 09/03/2015 20:38

I still have my copy of Rebecca's World.

So many of my favourites on this thread. Can I also add:
Beverly Nicols: The Mountain of Magic, The Tree that Sat Down, The Stream that Stood Still.

FH Burnett: The Lost Prince

(There's an E Nesbitt type sequel out now about the Bastable children, set in WWI)

AnneOfCleavage · 09/03/2015 20:27

I loved the Jill series - pony mad Jill Crewe was my idol growing up

DD loved:

Goodnight Mr Tom
Malory Towers series
Twins at St Clares
Pippi Longstockings
Hollow Tree House
The Borrowers

SerenaJoy · 09/03/2015 20:23

Not sure if it's the right age but I loved Bottersnikes and Gumbles by S.A. Wakefield. It's out of print, so I spent twenty a few ok thirty five quid getting it from Abe Books. But please don't tell my DH Smile

BadPenny · 09/03/2015 20:18

What a trip down memory lane... Animal stories were my thing:

My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead and The Green Grass of Wyoming (Mary O'Hara)

I think I was somewhere around 8/9 when I read the James Herriot vet books - which were great!

RustyBear · 09/03/2015 20:13

I'd totally forgotten A Cat called Tootoo until you mentioned it, Pausing! that was the one about the cockney Siamese living with a 'posh' one, wasn't it?

MeAndMySpoon · 09/03/2015 20:02

Everything here makes me smile fondly. Grin

What about The Swish of the Curtain? (the others in the series too, but maybe a bit more grown-up) Fab if your child already likes Ballet Shoes, etc.

Raahh · 09/03/2015 20:01

Baby and Pausing- I loved Rebecca's World . It was read to us at school, and I have been searching for a copy for years (that isn't a spoken word version, or REALLY expensive!).

PausingFlatly · 09/03/2015 19:53

Oh yes yes to any Helen Creswell.

Rebecca's World was one of my favourite ever books.

That and A Dog So Small by Philipa Pearce.

BabyClam · 09/03/2015 19:51

Can I add these;
Moondial - Helen cresswell
Rebecca's world - terry nation
Marmalade Atkins
The cuckoo sister

PausingFlatly · 09/03/2015 19:45

Gerald Durrell the naturalist did some rather fun children's books too.

Ubik1 · 09/03/2015 19:45

Yy to all these

'Iggy and Me ' very popular. My eight year old currently ploughing through Harry Potter .

She also enjoyed the How to Train Your Dragon series.

PausingFlatly · 09/03/2015 19:43

A Cat Called TooToo, and all the other TooToo books by Warren Chetham-Strode.

Yy to Joan Aiken, including the Mortimer the Raven books.

I loved the Hardy Boys at that age, and as for Biggles - well hands off, he was mine.

AngusAndElspethsThistleWhistle · 09/03/2015 19:34

Great thread!

I loved lots of the above and also the Flossie Teacake series Smile

Loulou0615 · 09/03/2015 19:28

I absolutely loved Enid Blitons, The wishing chair and The magical far away tree, I will definitely be buying these to read to my daughter when she's old enough

spiffysquiffyspiggy · 09/03/2015 18:58

Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh. Its about a witch's cat. Was my mother's favourite book and she gave it to me when I was little. I loved it too.

RustyBear · 09/03/2015 18:54

I'd love to recommend the Mr Twink books by Freda Hurt, about a black half-Siamese cat who was a detective, but sadly I've never been able to find a copy anywhere for less than £50.

mollyonthemove · 09/03/2015 18:52

Does anyone remember 'Charlotte Sometimes'? about a girl at boarding school who goes back in time and swaps with a girl called Clare who was at the school in world wat one. I Loved it Grin

RustyBear · 09/03/2015 18:48

That should be 200 pages long, not 2000!

RustyBear · 09/03/2015 18:47

SDTG - I love the bit about the donkey

"like an arrow from a bow, like a homing swallow, like a comet in the sky - like a donkey that had just sat down on a pin - he sped down the street"

You do have to make sure you get the full (1966) version though, which is nearly 2000 pages long - the 1975 version is 75 pages shorts and has lost a lot of the original jokes.

LeBearPolar · 09/03/2015 18:45

Does anyone else remember Five Dolls in a House by Helen Clare? It was about a girl who could turn small and visit her dolls in their dollshouse. I loved that book when I was young and read it over and over again.

I also loved Secret Island by Enid Blyton about four children who ran away from home (cruel aunt) and lived on an island (obviously).

I was obsessed with pony stories: Wish For a Pony was one of my favourite books ever.

RustyBear · 09/03/2015 18:41

The Witch Family Eleanor Estes
Lassie Come Home Eric Knight
The Magic Pudding Norman Lindsey
Tom's Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce
Tottie: the Story of a Doll's House Rumer Godden
The Chesterfield Gold Roger Pilkington
Bambi Felix Salten
Friday's Tunnel John Verney
The Log of theArk Kenneth Walker & Geoffrey Boumphrey
The Nine Lives of Island Mackenzie Ursula Moray Williams

IrenetheQuaint · 09/03/2015 18:39

My favourite book aged 8 was Eric Linklater's The Wind on the Moon, tales of two girls and their adventures with animals, plus very funny.

RustyBear · 09/03/2015 18:27

Moorland Mousie and Older Mousie by Golden Gorse.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 09/03/2015 18:25

I second Eva Ibbotson - she has written a number of children's books.

I also love The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley - it is a sequel to the Aladdin story, and is absolutely hilarious. It has a flying back garden, villains called Rub Dub Ben Thud and Tin Tack Ping Foo, a magician who has accidentally turned himself into a button-nosed tortoise, and can't change himself back, and a donkey who sits on a pin.

bialystockandbloom · 09/03/2015 18:23

The Dolls House, also Rumer Godden.