Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Children's books

Join in for children's book recommendations.

Original poster

What is your favourite children's book when you were a child,,?

130 replies

BabyBearRus · 01/11/2021 03:49

What is the best children's book of all time? Any reason why?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
carbuncleonapigsposterior · 01/11/2021 18:32

The Water Babies
Both the Alice books Wonderland and Looking Glass
What Katy Did
Pretty much all of the Enid Blytons starting with Far Away Tree through to Mallory Towers with The Famous Five and Adventures series in between.

Suddenlyfamily5 · 01/11/2021 18:30

The Castle of Adventure by Enid Blyton. First book I couldn’t put down; I remember the vivid descriptions of the storm and barely being able to breath as the men came in to the secret room where Jack and Philip were hiding.

mumonthehill · 01/11/2021 18:28

Brambly hedge books, famous five and milly molly Mandy. Still have them all!

NerrSnerr · 01/11/2021 18:26

I loved Peace at last as a small child. My favourites as I got older were;
The Island Bus- Elizabeth Beresford
Island adventure- Enid Blyton
All the point horrors!

NerrSnerr · 01/11/2021 18:22

@Binglebong

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It had an overarching story but each chapter was complete on its own - the book was one of the earliest "proper" books I read as a result.
I am currently reading this to my 7 year old (we're going through the Narnia series) and she is loving it. She loves it more than The Lion the witch and the wardrobe. She'd stay up all night listening if I let her.
TeeTotaller1 · 01/11/2021 18:15

Ballet Shoes 🩰
Absolutely adored it and still have the book

Itsnotdeep · 01/11/2021 18:14

I loved Joan Aiken too. And Diana Wynne Jones - the Chrestomanci books. .

My favourite book was Playing Beattie Bow by Ruth Park. I just loved it.

When I was a bit younger I loved all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.

AliceAldridge · 01/11/2021 18:12

Loved (the original) The Enchanted Wood stories so much.

Also Charlotte Sometimes.

drpaddington · 01/11/2021 18:11

Several by Roald Dahl- I couldn't possibly choose just one.

Mochudubh · 01/11/2021 18:10

The Ladybird edition of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Like a pp I loved The Little Grey Men by BB and still have my childhood copy, very tatty but much loved.

What is your favourite children's book when you were a child,,?
Pascha · 01/11/2021 18:09

Favourite book as a child and Best book fo all time are very different things for me.

Favourite book when younger according to my dad was The Flying Postman by VH Drummond

Favourite book as I got a bit older was The Ordinary Princess by MM Kaye

Favourite book of all time doesn't exist, it's all dependent on the mood

SoupDragon · 01/11/2021 18:08

The Magic Faraway Tree was my favourite. Then The Famous Five. I wouldn't say either of those was the best children's book ever though!

Others that left their mark on me were:

Charmed Life by Diane Wynne Jones
The Phantom Toll Booth by Norton Juster
Heritage of the Star by Sylvia Engdahl
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Ariela · 01/11/2021 18:08

The Wool Pack by Cynthia Harnett Lovely illustrations. I see my copy is now worth about £80!

I also liked the JIll series by Ruby Ferguson and the Punchbowl and Rye series of books by Monica Edwards. Again I've got most of these in hardback some of the first editions are worth a fortune (picked up for pence at school fetes)

youvemademyshitlist · 01/11/2021 18:03

I loved The Secret Island by Enid Blyton. I inherited my sister's copy and I think it fell to pieces, I read it so often.

I love all of Roald Dahl's books as well, especially George's Marvellous Medicine, The Witches and The Twits

(I mainly read The Beano every week when I was a kid though!)

Peakypolly · 01/11/2021 18:00

Most Enid Blyton, Just William and Milly Molly Mandy.
My DC love them too.

Hetyanni · 01/11/2021 18:00

I loved Roald Dahl, especially George's Marvellous Medicine and The Twits

MissyB1 · 01/11/2021 17:58

I was a prolific reader as a child, my favourites were:
The Chalet School series (I still read them now)
Enid Blyton - any of hers
Noel Streatfield - again any
The Little house on the prairie series

ImNotWhoYouThinkIam · 01/11/2021 17:57

As a small child it was Dogger.
As an older child Ballet Shoes. I may have read my way through 3 copies (as in read them until they fell apart) Last time I needed to replace it I really struggled to find a copy I liked. (I'm mega fussy)

I also adored The Faraway Tree and A little Princess.

Harry Potter ranks very high on my list as a teen.

Etherealhedgehog · 01/11/2021 17:56

Love that the Little White Horse has already had multiple mentions - that's my second favourite, topped only by Linnets and Valerians by the same author. @YouHaveNoAuthorityHereJackie @DoesHePlayTheFiddle if you haven't read it I would highly recommend seeking out a copy - I might comfort read both this winter

eddiemairswife · 01/11/2021 17:52

Enid Blyton, Enid Blyton, Enid Blyton. Not so much affordable children's fiction around as today, so I relied on Birthday, Christmas and the library plus whatever was hanging around at home. We also had a set of Victorian Classics which I dipped into from time to time, and a very thick atlas. I still find maps fascinating.

Binglebong · 01/11/2021 17:45

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It had an overarching story but each chapter was complete on its own - the book was one of the earliest "proper" books I read as a result.

Cattenberg · 01/11/2021 17:36

I loved many of the above plus When Marnie was There, by Joan G. Robinson. When I was a bit older, I loved Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones.

gollygumdrops · 01/11/2021 17:30

The Faraway Tree
Famous Five
St Clares and Mallory Towers series
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Swallows and Amazons and all the Arthur Ransome books

Absolutely loved reading as a child!

StrychnineInTheSandwiches · 01/11/2021 17:27

Anne of Green Gables
Tom's Midnight Garden

Even thinking about those two books give me warm feelings. Read them both so often they're etched on my heart.

Would love to own a first edition of both. Anne will forever be out of reach I suspect, but Tom is more accessible.

ElizabethinherGermanGarden · 01/11/2021 17:23

Mog the Forgetful Cat

Swipe left for the next trending thread