What were your favourite books to read over and over again as a child?

[sprigatito]

I'm currently rereading some of my childhood favourites on my Kindle and it's lovely ☺️

So far I've read A Traveller in Time, Marianne Dreams, Green Smoke, Charlotte Sometimes, A Stitch in Time and loads of Enid Blyton.

What were your beloved books as a child? I also loved Carbonel, Gobbolino the Witch's Cat, Tom's Midnight Garden, the Noel Streatfeild books and E Nesbitt.

Primary school:
The Secret Garden
The Hobbit
The Snow Spider
The Secret Island (Enid Blyton), The Secret Mountain
Danny, the Champion of the World
Redwall books
Ramona Quimby books

Narnia, Katy, Little Women, A Traveller in Time, Chalet School, Casilda of the Rising Moon, The Gentle Falcon, Children of Greene Knowe, All Because of Posy..
I read these over and over and then everything in the local library.
My Dad bought me Blackie's Children's Classics so I read watered down versions of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Ben-Hur etc.
I'd re-read the cereal packet if I couldn't get my hands on a book!

The best present to receive was a book token 🙂

Gosh this has brought back many memories.

like many others I read all the Enid blyton books: loved the faraway tree series and the wishing chair.
also loved the Alan garner books but my favourite was elidor. In fact I see these as the gateway into my love of fantasy and I graduated on to the Weis and Hickman dragonlance books which i still love to this day, and the lord of the rings which I must have read 100s of times!

Did any other 80s children read the books by Gwen Grant "Private keep out", "Knock and wait" and "One way only"?

They were written as the diaries of a Nottinghamshire girl growing up in, I think the 40s/50s?

She comes from a big family and writes about everything they get up to. The books are both completely hilarious and really poignant in parts.

I've just discovered the first one's on Kindle! amzn.eu/d/2nPFhsK

I loved these too. The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy was my favourite. Really scared me - in the best way!

Dido Twite is one of the best characters in literature. I also read Night Birds on Nantucket over and over. I loved the Wolves of Willoughby chase - it’s my favourite book to this day. Once I finished them (first three), I just started again!

The story where My naughty little sister and bad Harry ate away at the birthday trifle! Wonderful 💛

Wonderful book! Have you ever visited Hemingford Grey Manor? Lucy Boston’s house? I’ve been meaning to go for about 25 years! 😅

Lived the Katy books.
I read it last, oh probably sixty years ago, and I believe it was the first time that a book pulled at my emotions.
The part where Katy fell off the swing?
I hope I've got that right.
I also felt an affinity to her sister, Clover.

Apart from Katy, I also liked boarding school (Dimsey amongst the prefects) adventures.

Of course Enid Blyton figured large too.

First books were the Janet and John.

Then it was Noddy and Big Ears....

Loved reading comic books like Dandy Beano Beezer Topper.

Then the very "proper" magazine for girls called Bunty... I read it from cover to cover.
After, I cut out the Bunty girl figure, cut out all her wardrobe (with the tabs to fix to her outline.
I had a whole shoebox of Bunty clothing!

Thanks for this topic! So many lovely memories. Lots of my favourites have been mentioned, and my most beloved author was Joan Aiken - her books meant so much to me.
I was very taken with Devil on my Back by Monica Hughes. I think it started me off on dystopian fiction!
Futuretrack 5 - another very philosophical one.
Then I got terrified and obsessed with nuclear war so read Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence over and over. My brother has never forgiven me for making him read it!

All the pony books though my absolute favourite was Cobbler's Dream by Monica Dickens. So beautifully written.
All the Follyfoot books too
Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls
Silver Brumby
Mandy by Julie Edwards (Andrews)
Moomins
The Country Child by Alison Uttley - again, beautiful writing
Malory Towers
A Little Princess
Winnie the Pooh
When we were very young
Black Beauty
Richard Scarry's Busy Busy World
Dr Seuss

There will be more!

The Faraway Tree books, Roald Dahl, Narnia and Alan Garner.

When I was really young, Garden Gang and Talkabout books (showing my age).

Oh, Redwall! I can't believe I forgot to mention those.

A few more.....
Malory Towers.
Enid Blyton's Adventure Series.
Five find outers and dog series.
What Katy Did.
The Jill pony books.
Pony books by Monica Edwards, particularly, The White Riders and No Mistaking Corker.
The Famous Five books.

Yes Redwall! Just googled them and bought back so many memories! I think there was another similar series that I also liked.

I wish I'd kept these books now!

Oh yes me too ! I loved it so much.

I’ve also wanted to visit, but not gone yet.

Sadly not, but I have read about it and it sounds a very interesting place!

Just remembered another one Bogwopit 🙈😂

I loved that book and it's now my dogs affectionate nickname 😂

All the Dick King Smith books were good.

@Tallisker

Are you a Jinny fan with that username?

Those books were my favourites, my mother gave mine away, without my permission. Took me years to replace them! I know they've been released again, but I wanted the original covers with Faruk on them.

Most of them are on Kindle now, so I bought those, and have kept my books in a special box

I recently re-read the whole Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton. The original 6, plus the 6 written in her style by a ghost writer. Thoroughly enjoyed them, including the newer ones, which managed to catch Blyton's style perfectly.

@BebbanburgIsMine more of a whisky fan 😉

I'm sure I've read some Jinny books and enjoyed them, but they were published in my mid teens (I'm really old) when I'd grown out of my little-girl-pony-obsession.

Her horse's name is familiar, but I can't recall the stories. I shall try a couple on Kindle.

@Tallisker

Faruk is the real name of the horse on the early covers, Jinny's horse was called Shantih, and she was rescued from a circus.

I asked about Tallisker because later on, in Jump For The Moon (Book 10) it turns out that Shantih was stolen as a youngster by the circus. The stud where she was stolen from is called Tallisker, and Finmory Bay is based on Tallisker Bay on Skye.

Yes! She was ill and sent to a school to recover. Did the family use coal dust to brush their teeth or was that another book?

I still have these books! No one else remembers them. They were one of my faves growing up.