Obscure children's books that you used to love

So many more books that I loved as a child - and many I still love now!

The Rumer Godden books - The Diddakoi was a childhood favourite, and I have In This House of Brede, and Thursdays Children, which are adult books.

I collected most of the Malcolm Saville Lone Pine books - I grew up in Shropshire from age 10, and knew some of the locations mentioned, at least to drive past. I longed to be one of the Lone Pine gang - I was a lonely child.

Some others have come to mind - The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge; anything by Eva Ibbotson; the Sue Barton nursing series by Helen Dore Boylston, and though they probably don't count as obscure, all the Arthur Ransomes.

I still have a lot of the books I loved as a child - all the ones I have mentioned on here, apart from the Diddakoi - plus all the Chalet School books, and I do reread them from time to time - I think good children's fiction carries on being fun to read however old you are.

ThomasRichard the last two Trebizons are both £3.48 for Kindle (you can read on your PC if you don't have a kindle).

I had a book called War of the Computers by Granville Wilson, that I think was my intro to sci-fi and I read it pretty young, 8 or 9 maybe, and immediately turned back to the beginning and read it again!

Out of Cheese Error Waterbound, by Jane Stemp.

outofcheese, your point about views on age appropriateness is interesting. I was a voracious reader with a precocious reading age. I remember our neighbour asking my mum whether I ought to be reading, at 9, 'Anna and the King of Siam', the book on which 'The King and I' was based. It was full of concubines and ill treatment. Mum airily said she encouraged me to read whatever I wanted.

Oddly though, a year earlier, Mum stopped me reading a book called 'Forty Odd' by Mary Bard, which appears to be about a woman's feeling as she aporoached the menopuase (according to Amazon). Before it was taken off me I was finding it very funny. I can't think why it was prohibited and keep meaning to get hold of a copy but get put off by the price.

I remember it began "I awoke on my fortieth birthday......". I was so indignant at its removal that I decided to write my own version. It began "I awoke on my forty first birthday......... " .

Oh Dancergirl that is another one I have been looking for! If it is the same one it is a Cinderella type tale of a girl living with evil stepsisters who make her go and find strawberries in January, violets in ...whenever violets are not around...Rather than saying "piss off you delusional sadists" she wanders around in the wood and finds the months of the year having a meeting and they make the appropriate month for her and she skips off back to the unappreciative sisters with a basket of violets/ strawberries/ apples/ whatever.

It may be called Violets in the Snow or Strawberries in the Snow. But the version I am looking for was in a school reading book, in the Elf Light and Candle Light/ Fire Light and Taper Light type title series, which were gold and silver. There was also a story about a winged horse, probably Pegasus. I have bought a few of those books but they never have chapter listings so its a bit random - haven't found the one so far.

Just remembered another one a - picture book called Hop Along Jenny - about a little girl with a bad leg who befriends a group of donkeys.....

Great thread; thanks, OP!

Flappingandflying mentioned The Little White Horse and the wonderfully named Loveday Minette.

When I joined MN I wanted my NN to be LovedayMinette, but was told the name was taken. Wouldn't mind, but the poster with that name has either never actually used it or has had all her posts deleted, as no posts come up in Advanced search.

My obscure children's book is a collection of Victorian fairy tales called (surprise surprise) The Necklace of Princess Fiorimonde and Other Stories. I still have my copy, though it's lost its front cover. It was beautifully illustrated with engravings, though sadly I wrecked mine with felt tips when I was about 8. Many of the stories are a bit of a sobfest...

Lots of books mentioned here I've never heard of! But yy to things like Children on the Oregon Trail, The Silver Sword and I Am David.

Anyone else remember Ash Road, which is about children surviving a bush fire in Australia?

I've still got The Tree That Sat Down and it's two sequels and prequel - very whimsical and moralizing, but delightful!

Loved Grimble ('do not eat this biscuit as eating green ink is bad for you').

And Hi There Supermouse, plus sequel 'Nicola Mimosa', as well as all the other Jean Ures. One of them I only ever had from the library - I think it was called Frankie's Dad. Bloody awful - this little girl is either in care or living with unpleasant mum and stepfather, and her father, who lives in Jamaica, returns for a bit and is lovely, but I think for whatever reason it ends with her back in the horrible home on a urine soaked mattress! I think the craze for comforting endings must have been a very 1990s/21st century thing in children's books!

So many books bringing back memories!

I loved Starchild and Witchfire by David Henshall - think it was the only book he wrote. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken was another favourite.

And YY to Grimble and Grimble at Christmas. The later editions were illustrated by Quentin Blake ... a match made in heaven!

I THINK the little girl character might have actually been called 'Little Girl'.

Love this thread!

I remember loads of these:

Olga da Polga
Ramona books
Rumar Godden books
Little Grey Rabbit

My dc are also voracious readers and I've had a huge nostalgic trip buying and re-reading all my childhood faves.

Not sure if it's been mentioned but....The Bullerby Children? I remember reading the whole book in Hendon Library in 1982 while my mum looked something up. Dd has a copy on her bookshelf now

Break in the Sun - Bernard Ashley - the book from the TV series

I have a couple of very obscure ones, anyone remember these:

I think the title was All About Aldo. Short chapter book about a boy learning about animals being killed for meat and being uncomfortable about it and thinking about becoming vegetarian.

Hi There Supermouse - about 2 sisters who did dance and drama but one was much better/prettier than the other one.....

And this one no-one has ever been able to identify - I am desperate to know! It's a picture book, large, square about a little girl and this group of 12 men (Greek Gods, idols...??) think they were called January, February etc....? Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Thank you, Deewe!

Brother in the Land was by Robert Swindells - thanks Google

Tusk Tusk

*Mossy Trotter (stupid autocorrect phone)

I loved Missy Trotter by Elizabeth Taylor which has just been republished and is still fab. 7 yo ds loved it too - can't recommend highly enough.
I had a copy of The Tree That Sat Down by a male author called Beverley Nichols. Think it was some sort of magical tale. Have googled and its out of print now, but was originally published in 1945 so may have been something my dmum read as a child.
Also loved The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier about polish children in WW2, a book called Brother in the Land (possibly by Robert Weston?) about a post nuclear holocaust dystopian future north of England and remember reading The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (Penelope Lively?) at school - about a poltergeist. Found that one quite scary!

Prepperpig - yeah, in hindsight it probably shouldn't have been in our primary school library, though it was written in a less stark way than I described it - it's only remembering it as an adult that I realise the full horror of the concept. I do remember being allowed, even encouraged, to read books with some pretty dark themes at quite a young age - Sophie's Choice when I was about 11, for example. I wonder if ideas about what is age appropriate have changed in the last 30 years or if I just grew up in an overly permissive environment!

I remember the story with the tin of paint, think it was from Mandy. Does anyone remember another one from an annual? It was about a girl who found a painting of a Victorian scene and it told the story of the people in it? I think two siblings found each other and died of hunger under a tree? Also Valda, she never aged, but they found an old WW2 plane and she had been in love with the pilot?

wyrdbyrd I remember the strawberry handkerchief one! Was it in Tammy? I think the hankie was cursed and the actor playing Othello almost strangles the girl playing Desdemona for real. Also the wedding dress and the blood that turns out to be paint - the sister sees the fortune teller and keeps trying to sabotage the wedding. The "Rowan tree, Rowan tree" one sounds familiar but I can't remember what happens.
Anyone remember Misty annual/comic? Some great stories from there

Cross posted Symphony - The Saturdays was great, I wished I was allowed to wander around New York and do glamorous things.

Don't know it out but it doesn't sound much like a children's book!

Perspicacia I haven't read Spiderweb for Two but I loved some of the others in the Melendy series - The Saturdays and And Then There Were Five. the latter made me want to have a sprawling garden so I could can rows of tomatoes, pickles, jam etc.

Giddy It is funny you mention Mr Benn and left wing leanings - have you read Denver by the same author as Mr Benn (and Not Now Bernard, I think)? It is the least left wing children's book I have ever read I think! A massively over-egged message about rich people being rich because they deserve it and if you give poor people money they will squander it fecklessly.

Can anyone remember this book? It was set in the future and probably aimed at approx 8-12 year olds, about a society where no-one knew what a disability was, because medicine was very advanced - but then it turned out that there was enforced termination of pregnancies where the foetus was diagnosed with disabilities. I think one of the main characters had a brother who was deaf, and they kept him in hiding but the authorities were suspicious and they had to help him escape.

Haven't read the whole thread but I used to love a book called The Saturdays. I think it was very old and definitely american.

Annabel and Bryony - fairies as soldiers (very detailed on the regiments/uniforms). And Bryony was a deeply sexy fairy.

Also, illustrated by Pauline Baynes of Narnia Chronicles fame.

Lady Plumpington, your bonsai and lobotomy book is 'The Guardians' by John Christopher (he wrote the Tripods trilogy). Great book, and unfortunately not available on kindle.

On the subject of dystopian pre-hunger games young adult books, Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall was brilliant - but very disturbing.