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Children's books

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Children’s books that make you cry

179 replies

BikeRunSki · 18/03/2018 20:25

When DD (now 6) was younger I could never finish The Paper Dolls without shedding a tear.

Tonight, we’be just finished the Sophie series (Dick King-Smith). The last 2 or 3 chapters had me crying my eyes out. DD was Hmm “but Mummy, it’s only a book’”.

OP posts:
bookworm14 · 05/04/2018 13:44

I'm sure all of these have already been mentioned, but:

The Paper Dolls by Rebecca Cobb (the kind granny!)
The Railway Children
I Am David
No Matter What by Debi Gilori ('love, like starlight, never dies').
The end of the Winnie the Pooh series ('But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.')
The end of the Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

lucysnowe · 04/04/2018 18:03

YY to all of these, also Nothing by Mick Inkpen about a little soft toy cat that gets forgotten. The line about the baby biting its ear is so lovely :)

I also cry at the end of Some Dogs Do but that's happy tears!

AiryFairy1 · 19/03/2018 21:38

Ahhh Bagger Brown had me gasping and sobbing so much that DH had to take over- kids were Hmm, and also the Sophie stories- DD is so kind though... “just be brave, mummy” 😭
Lassie Come Home is another tear jerker

Basseting · 19/03/2018 21:22

MrsGrindah go get some. Read them' to' the child you once were
(if that isnt hideously twee - read them anyway - they are fab!).x

Basseting · 19/03/2018 21:18

For older children: The Book Theif by Marcus Zusak.
I thought 'I am David' was enough (read when I was 10)
but ds and I have just gone through TBT and we were both moist eyed.
(tbf it is about a 10 yr old orphan in Nazi Germany and is narrated by Death) It is an extremely good read for young teens but, oh boy....

DownWentTheFlag · 19/03/2018 21:05

Wherever you are my love will find you, by Nancy Tillman.

I wanted you more than you will ever know
So I sent love to follow wherever you go.
It’s as high as you wish it. It’s quick as an elf.
You’ll never outgrow it... it stretches itself!

Makes me weep every time.

TimesNewRoman · 19/03/2018 21:02

Onemouseplace
those are the exact lines that get me too.

littlegecko · 19/03/2018 20:58

Yes to "The Paper Dolls". I had no idea what it was about prior to reading it and was surprised at how much it touched me.

My mum used to read me Oscar Wilde's children stories when I was little and "The Selfish Giant" and "The Happy Prince" are particularly heart rendering for me, even now !

MrsGrindah · 19/03/2018 20:54

I have a huge lump in my throat now. I havent read most of these books. I’m 48 years old and have never had children. But sorely tempted to go into the bookshop tomorrow and play Russian roulette in the children’s section...

HolyGoats · 19/03/2018 20:52

I bought Love You Forever based on previous threads of this ilk. It starts off nicely enough but then it gets creepy as fuck! There would be some serious recommendations that the poor boy go NC if he had ever started a thread about his dm on here - the woman’s a fucking nutcase! Who gets a bus accross town, lets themselves into their grown up child’s house, then sneaks up to their bedroom and starts rocking the sleeping body they find there. No wonder there was no sign of a mother to the sons newborn daughter. The mil had probably buried her in the garden.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! gets me every time though.

Basseting · 19/03/2018 20:48

another vote for The Velveteen Rabbit

Lancelottie · 19/03/2018 20:46

The Little Boat

I don't even know why.

TheBrilloPad · 19/03/2018 20:44

For all those that said "dogger", I ordered it yesterday from Amazon and it arrived today and I sobbed. Loved it! Thanks!

Petalflowers · 19/03/2018 20:44

‘cool’ by Michael Morpurgo, about a boy in a coma (strange subject for a children’s book). Spoiler alert. -he only comes around when his dad bring s his dog to the hospital -previously he thought the dog had been killed. I definitely welled up at the end.

HumphreyCobblers · 19/03/2018 20:38

The Toymaker by Martin Waddell

"And she made it with love, for she had not forgotten"

Also Where the Wild Things Are gives me a pang when the wild things say "Oh please don't go, we'll eat you up we love you so". It is the echo of what Max said to his mother that got him sent to bed. It breaks my heart.

Creatureofthenight · 19/03/2018 20:37

The selfish giant and The happy prince
A monster calls made me cry buckets
Harry and Hopper
Missing Mummy - a great book for younger bereaved children but so incredibly sad

strawberrypenguin · 19/03/2018 20:26

jassmells is Perkins he one with the blind boy and his cat that goes missing while he's on holiday and he can tell that the cat who got found wasn't his by touch and manages to get his cat back? I've not read it for years but really loved it.

Also I forgot about The Incredible Journey. That one always makes me cry too

SchnitzelVonKrumm · 19/03/2018 18:20

The Heart and the Bottle makes me blub but leaves the children unmoved -I think it's not really a book for children.

Steamcloud · 19/03/2018 13:43

The Selfish Giant

Oscar Wilde

onemouseplace · 19/03/2018 13:40

TimesNewRoman The Snail and the Whale gets me as well - there is just something about the writing and the lines
"And she gazed at the sky, the sea, the land,
The waves and the caves and the golden sand,
She gazed and gazed, amazed by it all,
And she said to the whale, "I feel so small."

It's my favourite of the Julia Donaldon books by a long way.

SnowbellinA · 19/03/2018 09:37

Once there were Giants (Martin Waddell & Penny Dale)

And more recently
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips (Michael Morpurgo)

LoveYouSo · 19/03/2018 09:25

Greyfriar's Bobby (abridged version for young children).

And most of the aforementioned stories.

WipedOutDaze · 19/03/2018 09:19

Orlando, I agree. That part of Pooh is just so tragic one can't even think of it.

thesunwillout · 19/03/2018 09:16

Holly and Ivy - Rumer Godden

Pinklady301 · 19/03/2018 09:11

I used to cry at some of the Aesop's Fables too!

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