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Children's books

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Original poster

Obscure children's books that you used to love

661 replies

LadyPlumpington · 15/07/2015 20:06

Mine is 'The Island of the Skog' by Steven Kellogg. The DC love it too :)

What are your old obscure favourites?

Obscure children's books that you used to love
OP posts:
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missmargot · 15/07/2015 21:23

Does Boffy and the Teacher Eater count as obscure? Margaret Stuart Barry was better known for her Simon and the Witch series but I loved Boffy.

Also the Jeremy James books, sadly out of print now I believe.

Original poster
LadyPlumpington · 15/07/2015 21:22

Amazing Maisie!!! I'd forgotten that I'd read that!

That witches book is doing my head in as Google is being frustratingly unhelpful.

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UnspecialSnowflake · 15/07/2015 21:22

Necklace of Rainbows scared me. IIRC one of the stories was about a girl who went on such amazing adventures in her dreams that she became weakened in real life and died (I think). Beautiful illustrations though.

dementedma · 15/07/2015 21:22

Orlando the Marmalade cat. He used to have a watch on his tail

bruffin · 15/07/2015 21:20

I loved the Tripods and there was another trilogy by John Christopher called The Prince In Waiting, which was just as good.

UnspecialSnowflake · 15/07/2015 21:19

Just had a rummage around the bookshelves and found this little lot.

Obscure children's books that you used to love
JeanneDeMontbaston · 15/07/2015 21:19

Ohhh, yes ... Children of the Oregon Trail! I loved it, but was shocked to realize as an adult that it is quite a slim book. It'd obviously taken me weeks to read.

redannie118 · 15/07/2015 21:18

This reply has been withdrawn

The OP has privacy concerns, and so we've agreed to take this down now.

sassytheFIRST · 15/07/2015 21:18

A necklace of rainbows. Think they were a mixture of stories written by the author (Joan Aitken??) and retellings of traditional legends but they had the most magical illustrations using black cutout pictures. Copies go for £££ on eBay these days.

Mrsj70 · 15/07/2015 21:18

scouse the mouse by Donald Pleasance. I wish I hadn't given my childhood copy to my nephew, he binned it and I would so loved to have read it to my own DC's

dementedma · 15/07/2015 21:16

The Bobbsey twins?

AnneOfSleeves · 15/07/2015 21:16

A book called "Comfort Herself" about a child whose mum died and she had to move to Ghana. Loved it.

Also Trebizon too.

FraterculaArctica · 15/07/2015 21:15

and also 'The Queen's Nose' - Dick King-Smith.

PurpleDaisies · 15/07/2015 21:14

I read everything by Paula Danziger and all the Trebizon books MummyWeeble.

I never realised Flossie Teacake was from a book. That was what my grandfather used to call my rabbit!

FraterculaArctica · 15/07/2015 21:14

The Voyage of QV66 - one of Penelope Lively's children's books. Brilliantly funny. Has anyone else ever read it?

Original poster
LadyPlumpington · 15/07/2015 21:13

I heartily provide my consent Olivia

Oooh, Children on the Oregon Trail - they had a baby sister called Independentia! That name's due a comebacck, surely.....

I quite enjoyed Trebizon, a bit less po-faced than Blyton.

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UnspecialSnowflake · 15/07/2015 21:12

The Bagthorpes, I'd been trying to remember the name of that series.

I've also got a copy of Fattypuffs and Thinifers. Emma Kennedy talks about reading it on one of her disastrous family holidays in The Tent, The Bucket and Me.

basgetti · 15/07/2015 21:12

MummyWeeble I read The Tennis Term at Trebizon about a million times! Loved that series.

MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 15/07/2015 21:10

So many on here are bringing back fond memories Smile

I love the Olga books, I think we have one somewhere.

There's been a Moomintroll anniversary and there's a beautiful hardback edition of her original newspaper cartoons in a slipcase. About £50.00 though Sad

I used to love the Sam Pig books and borrow them over and over again from the library. There was also a series about twins from different countries. Each book had a boy/girl pair and they led really outdated stereotypical lives, totally un-PC for nowadays. I still loved them though and was delighted to find some secondhand ones a few years ago.

One of my favourites was The Children on the Oregon Trail based on a true story of a family of children who left their wagon caravan when their parents died and walked across part of America enduring really bad hardships.

Hmm, will have to re-read a few of these.

Original poster
LadyPlumpington · 15/07/2015 21:10

Did anyone read the Tripods trilogy? I thought the first book was the best but that the series ended poorly.

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magichandles · 15/07/2015 21:10

Daft - Yes - but there were four of the books! The first one is where she trains to be a knight and her brother studies as a sorceror, and then there were more as well; they were still available last time I had a look.

MNHQ
TheOnlyOliviaMumsnet · 15/07/2015 21:10

The Happy Orpheline
NB Do you mind if we move this out of chat - looks like a lovely thread to keep Grin

MummyWeeble · 15/07/2015 21:10

Oh, and another set of books... I think about a little girl called Flossie Teacake, (I am only just remembering this now, I could be slightly wrong). I think she could turn into a teenager at any moment, without warning, with funny, and sometimes disastrous consequences.

Also, the Amber Brown books by Paula Danziger.

Used to love The Borrowers series - not so obscure though.

Trebizon (spelling?) Series by Anne Digby, about a girls' boarding school, a bit like Enid Blyton's St Clare's.

Dicey Tylerman books by Cynthia Voyit (sp?). DIcey age 13ish, is abandoned by her mum, who has mh problems. She has to get herself, and her siblings, across America, on very little money. She is aiming to get to her Grandmother's home.

Izzy Willy-Nilly (title?) By the same author, about a teenager, involved in a car crash, who loses her leg.

The Runaways? - Half remembered, about 3 kids who get kidnapped in a caravan? My memories of this one are slightly less reliable!!!

LoveVintage · 15/07/2015 21:10

My mum has the Giant Jam Sandwich at her house! I have never seen or heard of it anywhere else. She bought it randomly in a charity shop years ago when her first grandchild - now 21! - was, little. All the dgcs have read and loved it since.

DaftVader36 · 15/07/2015 21:09

Oh my goodness, they did publish the other books!! Thanks for this thread, you've made my evening.

(Am rushing off to Amazon).