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Original poster

DD2 (9) wants to know what your best ever children's book is

137 replies

castille · 05/03/2009 12:10

She recently read Heidi and loved it, and wants to read some more "brilliant stories".

Any suggestions?

OP posts:
LadyGlencoraPalliser · 10/03/2009 23:12

Yes, MDS, fantastic book. And the two sequels are even better IMO.

MadamDeathstare · 10/03/2009 23:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thumbwitch · 10/03/2009 23:03

The Diddakoi from amazon marketplace - a brilliant story, although I still get a bit teary thinking about the old horse...

If she is at all tomboyish, then try the Just William books;

If she likes fantasy, then the Terry Pratchett books for children are excellent stories - the Johnny series are fab, but the Discworld children's stories are also great.

The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy too.

Jux · 10/03/2009 21:03

The Phantom Tollbooth, Norman Juster. Fantastic book. DD 'did' it at school last year (y4).

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 10/03/2009 20:57

I think they actually tried to stick to the story at first, but about halfway through series one it just went off in a different direction. I used to drive my brothers and sisters up the wall by sitting there going 'but that's not right, that didn't happen in the book' through every episode.

MorocconOil · 10/03/2009 20:46

LadyG, the Little House TV series was such a disappointment to me. The first few episodes were quite good and true to the books, but it then all went a bit weird and ridiculous and I became disillusioned with it. Or maybe it was adolescence and pop music became my new obsession.

differentID · 10/03/2009 20:42

The Little White Horse
The Way to Sattin Shore
A Little Princess
Rumer Godden's Story The Diddakoi. Probably impossible to get hold of now.

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 10/03/2009 20:37

Yes, me too, Mimizan. My American aunt sent them all to me - it was before the TV series came out (over here anyway) which shows you how old I am.

MissM · 10/03/2009 19:41

???????!!!!!!!????!!!Cap Garland killed???!!!! I don't believe it!

MorocconOil · 10/03/2009 19:36

My DC love all Michael Morpurgo books. 'Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea' was my favourite.

LadyG, thanks for that reference. I'm going to buy that biography you recommended. There was one book listed I never even knew existed. I was such a LIW fan at 10, we asked people going to US bring books back that weren't published by Puffin.

Fennel · 10/03/2009 16:49

oh yes, The Tree that sat down and The Stream that stood still. I loved those but haven't heard of them in years.

My favourites as a 9 year old child were Ballet Shoes, Swallows and Amazons, The talking parcel.

I still love Heidi.

kalo12 · 10/03/2009 16:49

The Pinballs - by Betsy Byars,

infact all betsy byars books. I loved them at thiat age.

MaryBS · 10/03/2009 16:46

DD is nine and says HER favourite books are "The Butterfly Lion" and "Friend or Foe" by Michael Morpurgo.

My favourite was The Secret Garden.

SixSpot · 10/03/2009 16:42

Jane Eyre

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 10/03/2009 16:39

He was killed in a hideous threshing machine accident at the age of 26.

MissM · 10/03/2009 16:16

Hang on, hang on, WHAT happened to Cap Garland in real life?????

And as for The Tree that Sat Down - I thought I was the only person in the whole world that had read that series. I'm so excited to find there is someone else!!

LaDiDaDi · 09/03/2009 20:55

Matilda by Roald Dahl sprang to mind when I saw the title.

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 09/03/2009 20:50

Mimizan - this is the definitive biography as far as I know. It makes it clear that the books were very much a collaborative effort between Laura and Rose.

MorocconOil · 09/03/2009 14:29

LadyG, that was very interesting about Rose possibly rewriting the books. How did you find that out? I would like to read more about the background to the books, if you could direct me.

thumbwitch · 09/03/2009 01:12

love the Family at One End Street series - brilliant.
Roald Dahl - especially Danny the Champion of the World (even if she is a girl, still a good book)
Loved the Malcolm Saville books
Chalet school books
Narnia series
Drina ballet books
Noel Streatfield of course
Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet and other E. Nesbit books
Carbonel series, excellent
Watership Down (maybe a bit too sad in places)

HappyandEiknowit · 09/03/2009 00:59

charlottes web

the sheep-pig

malory towers series

goodnight mr tom

babysitters club series

narnia series

the wonderful wizard of oz

alice in wonderland (though this one is quite hefty in comparison to the others)

i loved all of these when i was around your DDs age and have bought quite a few for me to read for DD when she gets older

xx ei xx

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 09/03/2009 00:36

I agree that Laura and her Pa did have more enlightened attitudes than Ma, Mimizan but the books are not as straightforward as they appear. They were only written in the 1930s when Laura was quite elderly and there is a lot of debate about how much input her daughter Rose, who was a professional writer and quite left wing, had into them. She prepared them for publication and may have substantially rewritten them.

5Foot5 · 08/03/2009 18:38

Takver - my DD and I loved the Little House books too.

Also can I recommend 'The Children Who Lived In a Barn' by Eleanor Graham

Very probably out of print but you might find a copy on line - we did.

mistlethrush · 07/03/2009 21:02

The talking parcell Gerald Durrell.

mimsum · 07/03/2009 19:56

I just discovered my very old, very battered copy of The Land of Green Ginger - Noel Langley - it's on the verge of complete disintegration so I said I'd read it to ds2 and dd and they absolutely love it - it's genuinely laugh out loud funny

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