As an Adult, What Children's Books Have You Enjoyed?

Percy Jackson series
Artemis Fowl series
Enola Holmes series

Books/authors I often re-read from my childhood:
Noel Streatfeild
Trebizon
80s Jean Ure
Judy Blume
Bullerby Children

Books/authors I discovered as an adult:
The Swish of the Curtain and follow ups
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Katya Balen
Arthur Ransome
Wonder
Holes and Small Steps

Books I enjoy reading to kids but wouldn’t read just for my own pleasure:
Mr Gum
Wolf Brother
The Bolds
Stig of the Dump

Some I have reread as an adult relatively recently:
White Boots, Noel Streatfeild
The Haunting, Margaret Mahy
Tom’s Midnight Garden
End of Term, Antonia Forest
The Dark is Rising and Over Sea, Under Stone

I also read fantasy and the lines between children’s / YA and adult books can be quite blurred.

I only discovered the wonderful Diana Wynne Jones as an adult. Likewise Garth Nix Old Kingdom trilogy.

Tamora Pierce - I read the first Alanna book as a child and was excited to find out over 20 years later that there were three more in the quartet! Also love the Protector of the Small quartet though I have more mixed feelings about some of her other books.

And someone already mentioned Frances Hardinge, who is an amazing writer. Recommend Unraveller, Cuckoo Song, The Lie Tree, and A Face Like Glass.

I only read I Capture the Castle aged 25, and loved it

Me, too! And the same age!

The Hobbit
Harry Potter.
His Dark Materials.

@EarringsandLipstick

Some of these suggestions are what posters loved as a child but the question was children's books you've enjoyed as an adult!

@TheSolstices

Yes, and I definitely make a further distinction between books I first read as a child and still love as an adult, and children’s books I only read in adulthood.

Me too

Yes, and I definitely make a further distinction between books I first read as a child and still love as an adult, and children’s books I only read in adulthood.

For instance, I only read I Capture the Castle aged 25, and loved it. Antonia Forest’s Kingscote books I loved as a child, but I only read her Tudor-set books in my 30s. She’s a genius. Her books are incredibly sophisticated.

Enid Blytons 'Adventure' series, my Dad used to buy them for me and I loved them.
I bought Castle of Adventure last year on EBay, and really enjoyed reading it again. Audible have a couple of this series in their £2.99 sale, so I might download those.

Also re-read Noel Streatfields Ballet Shoes a couple of years ago. When I first read it as a child, I so wanted a coral necklace!

Emily of New Moon LM Montgomery

Some of these suggestions are what posters loved as a child but the question was children's books you've enjoyed as an adult!

A couple of the ones I mentioned are books I read as a child, but rediscovered as an adult.

Another one for The Dark is Rising - read it first as a child and re-read it every few years. So fantastic.
Bilgewater by Jane Gardam ( see my user name.) Also re-read it every few years. Just wonderful.
Same with The Giant under the Snow (John Gordon)
The Diddakoi ( Rumer Godden)
The High House (Honor Arundel)

There are loads more, as I love 60s/70s YA/children's fiction but these are the ones I tend to pick most often as a comfort read. Wasn't able to interest my now-adult dc in any of them though!

Some of these suggestions are what posters loved as a child but the question was children's books you've enjoyed as an adult!

Adrian Mole - that has brought back memories, I remember it well! I must read it again as an adult 😀

I also loved all Enid Blyton Famous Five books as a child. I remember Mr Twiddle making me laugh. The Enchanted Wood series of books with Moon Face, Saucepan Man and Silky.

Another vote for Charlotte's Webb.

Katherine Rundell wrote an essay about why adults should read children's books. I'd rather read a children's classic like 'Tom's Midnight Garden' or 'Carrie's War' than most genre fiction.

One that is even better as an adult is Adrian Mole. My children are teenagers now and they make me howl with laughter.

I think there is nothing wrong with reading children's books, as an adult. To me, the sign of a well written children's book is that it is enjoyable as an adult too. And we don't have to stick to gritty reality or intellectually challenging books all the time - nothing wrong with a bit of relaxation and nostalgia.

I had forgotten one of my favourite series of books - the Sue Barton series, by Helen Dore Boylston.

Ramona Quimby,
Goodnight Mr Tom
The wolves of Willoughby chase.

I love children's books. I tell myself it's because I'm a primary school teacher so I need to read them to stay relevant, but really I just love them.

Here are my favourites:

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and its prequel series All the Wrong Questions.

The Murder Most Unladylike series and its prequel series The Ministry of Unladylike Activity by Robin Stevens.

The Diamond Brothers series by Anthony Horowitz.

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo.

The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgeson Burnett.

I'm sure I'll think of more later!

Philip Pullman Lara/Dust books, the Hunger Games series and lots of Michael Morpurgo books.

The above I enjoyed as an adult. The books I enjoyed as a child that have been mentioned upthread are Tom's Midnight Garden, Flambards series, The Dark is Rising series and Goodnight Mr Tom.

I loved Diary of a Chav books by Grace Dent. I'm not a reader and wasn't as a teen but read these at about 18 and laughed the whole way through. Gave them to my mum when I finished and she laughed lots too. Completely opposite to her usual Ian Rankin and James Patterson!

If you like fantastic fiction then Frances Hardinge is an excellent modern author. I also adored Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans.

This thread had brought back great memories of books I loved as a child. Laura Ingalls Wilder seems a common favourite. I think it was my favourite series We went to the library every week as children and it was my favourite time of the week. Although many series I had to read out of order! This was the 60's!
Others I loved:
The Silver Sword- Ian Serralier
The wolves of Willoughby Chase-Joan Aitken
5 children and it-E Nesbit
Mrs Pepperpot
Pippi Longstocking
Anne of Green Gables
Little Women
What Katy did
Heidi
Mallory Towers and St Clare's, 5 go etc
All Enid Blyton
I look forward to introducing my granddaughter to these books as I did with my daughter.

All of them! The cat in the hat is a personal fave. I like re-reading Enid blyton, judy Blume, RL Stine etc.

Trebizon chalet school and Antonia forest are ones I have reread recently

Plus the what Katy did series. Particularly the last 2 -clover and in the high valley which I only discovered as an adult -girls gone by publishing publish them (and chalet stuff)

Skellig is amazing (discovered as an adult)
Moondial
Charlotte’s Web
Carrie’s War
Private, Keep Out (very of its time, in many ways, but utterly charming and cry-with laughter funny)
The Sally Lockhart Philip Pullman books