What did kids read in the 70s and 80s?

There are lots of books I recall but cannot remember the names.

There were two children, an English boy and his younger French girl cousin who ended up in a dark satanic mill making carpets...anyone? There was a memorable scene, where the carpet is spread flat, and a giant press comes down on it. If there is any rubbish on the carpet a child has to run and get it off before the press comes down.....

Anyone?

And the Alan garner book, weirdstone of Brisingemen was ace.

Toms midnight garden
Huck Finn /tom sawyer
Chalet school books
Wizard of earthsea
Loads of horse books by various Pullen-Thompson sisters.
Ramona quimby

The Dark is Rising is my most favourite children's book, so,much so i named my youngest after characters from the books. Luckily my kids like it too.

They also really enjoyed The Green Knowe series of books. I only bought them as I loves the TV series when I was younger, I haven't actually read them myself. I must rectify that.

Moondial was another great book that was made into a TV series.

Robert Westsall was one of favourites too.

Roald Dahl - my lot have read all my old books, he's still very popular.

I was never into Enid Blyton but my eldest loved all the Famous Five and Secret Seven books.

For Christmas Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising.
Also the narnia books, and I read shit loads of Nancy drew

I used to love anything by Paula Danziger, especially The Cat Ate my Gymsuit and There's a Bat in Bunk Five.

The Worst Witch, Ramona, Chronicles of Narnia, The Box of Delights, The Owl Service, Hounds of the Morrigan, Enid Blyton, Redwall, The Animals of Farthing Wood... I need to get all of these for my kids when they're a bit older!

hesterton you've just reminded me about the trainee geography teacher we had in y7 who very earnestly recommended "Perfume" to a class of 11/12 year olds

I don't think any of us were permanently traumatised...

Stig of the Dump, Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Thomas Kemp, Heidi.

Ladybird books, Topsy and Tim, Enid Blyton, Paddington, What Katy Did, Ramona the Pest (still got it). Always had an Annual at Christmas.

Slightly off topic and this may be old news, but had anyone heard about this? www.sevenstories.org.uk I'm not in the right part of the country, but what a lovely idea.

The Alanna books by Tamara Pierce

In addition to the others mentioned a favourite of mine was the Kingdom of Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh (about a cat).

Also The Changes Trilogy.

"It takes a 21st C child time to aquire the reading skills and persistence that we did. They don't cope as easily with flowery texts and slow moving plot"

They're not a different species, you know. Some of our old favourites may have dated but the real 'classics' don't. And the 21st C child has the enormous advantage of being able to google if there's some term they dont understand - especially in some of the 19th/early 20th C American/Canadian fiction. I really enjoyed reading some of my old favourites to DD and being able to check up on terms which had once baffled me!

Forgot to say, don't be downhearted about the swathes of Tom Gates etc, there is still loads of good new stuff out there - second the Frances Hardinge recommendation!

I do agree about the style of older books being different. I have 2 suggestions of books that I read that my children did enjoy. One is the Adventure series by Willard Price - Amazon Adventure, Arctic Adventure etc. Might be a bit young for your DS now but they are good 'boyish' fun. Also you might like to try My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.

I used to love the My Naughty Little Sister books when I was a child.

As a teen I loved reading Judy Bloom.

Anastasia plus judy Blume.

The Coral Island, Robinson Crusoe, Anne of Green Gables etc , That series about king arthur and that in Cornwall. .dark is rising maybe? and enid blyton. Tried to read Wizard of Oz, under the grewnwood tree and little women but struggled to understand the themes at age 7

Just remembered the Greene Knowe series, which were firm favourites. DD 9 had started enjoying them too.

Anne McCaffrey is a good shout too, if for slightly older ages. I loved the Tower and Prime series

"It takes a 21st C child time to aquire the reading skills and persistence that we did. They don't cope as easily with flowery texts and slow moving plot"

Not convinced by this one - dd happily read her way through Noel Streatfield, Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess et al.

I actually think a lot of 70s/80s fantasy in particular is quite short & simple in comparison to some of the currently popular books - I think Harry Potter and the Northern Lights series between them showed publishers that longer books will sell well.

I'd also suggest that - just for example - any 12 year old reading Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge or The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland series would find many of the classics a walk in the park by comparison!!! (And OP, if your DC haven't read Frances Hardinge, her books are amazing - A Face Like Glass is another fabulous read and probably more accessible to a 10 y/o as well.)

I'm getting DD (10) the Snow Spider books by Jenny Nimmo for Christmas. I've only read a short extract from them, but it seems like a fascinating mixture of modern woes healed by ancient craft...

I loved the Weirdstone of Brisingamen (Alan Garner?) at that age, too.

One for the night that's in it...
Hobberdy Dick by K.M.Briggs, an expert in English folklore.

It's about the old English traditions being lost in Jacobean times.
Dick is a domestic spirit, tied to a country house, helping and hindering in equal measures until he's given his freedom. Emotional and thought-provoking, I wouldn't give it to a kid under 10, but it's definitely the inspiration for JKR's Dobby the House Elf.

Smith was brilliant!
Have you got to the scene where he strips for the bath!? unforgettable!
The sound of Coaches is brilliant too.