To love re-reading old childhood favourites

[balletnotlacrosse]

Having found a stash of my old childhood books in my parents' attic a few years ago I have become hooked, once again, on school stories, ballet stories, etc etc and love buying old Noel Streatfeild books, Chalet School stories and so on to re-read.

AIBU to spend as much time reading children's books as adult's book and to enjoy them more just as much?

Knitting, I agree that Joey Maynard in her 'writer mother of millions' mode is an amalgam of some of the more irritating elements of Anne Blythe (though I suppose we should applaud EBD for allowing Joey to become a well-known author, rather than giving her the previously ambitious Anne's decline into 'occasionally writing little sketches for magazines'...)

Joey's pregnancy with the triplets has to be the most coyly handled of all of literature, though - she was a waif of a thing carrying three babies, and even if they were small must have looked like a house. But no one appears to notice, despite them being born at the start of November and Joey having had Gertrude the Nazi Spy over for tea about a month beforehand, and the Robin (with whom she lives) apparently oblivious to her beloved Joey becoming a Strange Shape...

And then all subsequent pregnancies are described as Joey 'being busy'. Snort.

But Baby I'm sure she wore nice elegant shawls, so how could anyone notice that she's nine months pregnant with triplets?

Feel like I've found my people here! Currently re-reading Anne of GG, just starting Anne's House of Dreams. Hadn't read Anne of Windy Poplars for years and remembered why...it's like knitting said, Anne becomes too saintly and manages to solve everyone's problems.

Love the Chalet School too, wish I could find them all as Ebooks.

I've got lots of children's books, some my own from childhood, the others I've bought add an adult.
Carbonel anyone?

milky there were transcripts of a lot of the Chalet School books floating around on MN about a year ago.

Oh God I feel a Chalet School splurge coming along. I can't really remember the details of the pregnancy thing. Why AREN'T they on ebook? I would happily splurge.

If you want to feel love but RAGE too, reread The Painted Garden by N Streatfeild [sp?] as they are all so mean to Jane! She's clearly deprived of attention and is really smart and lovely and they're all just like 'SHH, Jane, we're talking about your sister and brother's amazingness, go and sit in the corner'. Poor thing. Also, they so totally exploit Peaseblossom, who simply acts as unpaid nanny-slave - in fact pays for the trip to the states - while their mother just wafts about going to cocktail parties. Hmph.

I read many more children's books than adult.
I currently read collect:
Malcolm Saville (almost full set)
Monica Edwards (full set bar one!)
Arthur Ransome
Gwendoline Courtney
Chalet School
Enid Blyton (the adventure types)
Pat Smythe
Geoffrey Trease
Joan Aiken
Jane Shaw
Three Investigator
Biggles (although mostly for ds)
Arthur Catherall
Noel Streatfield
Little House books
Antonia Forest
Violet Needham...
and I'm sure I will think of more when I come off.
Dh said we didn't need more bookcases, we needed to get rid of some books... we bought a new bookcase. I suggest an extension.

What's nice is that all the above at least one of my dc has liked. Ds (7yo)is currntly reading through the Lone Pine series and is starting to mourn that he's only 3 left. His favourite books is Cue for treason.
DD2 (11yo) went as Len Maynard for world book day a couple of years ago, and keeps a firm eye on GGBP for new Chalet Schools, she also requested I wrote for a prospectus . She also likes the other GO type.
Dd1 (14yo) loved the Arthur Ransome books, and when she'd read all of the Mallory Towers series discovered the Marlows, which she thought were better. She also moved onto the 3 Investigator from Famous Five.

I bought The Painted Garden recently and am looking forward to reading it. I do vaguely remember Jane being treated quite badly. The worst case of all though was Nicky in Tennis Shoes. She was treated appallingly by her parents; nothing but umbrellas for her birthday or Christmas for about 3 years because she had sold a couple of household ones to a rag and bone man without permission; her original success in tennis being glossed over and not discussed in case it upset the precious Susan; and her entire family walking out in the middle of a hugely important and prestigious match to discuss a burglary at their house (that they already knew about and had reported) with a policeman.

Even as a child I couldn't believe how unfairly they treated her.

Really dont understand the chalet school series. Seemed far fetched to me. Read a couple then didnt bother with anymore. Is it better as an adult reading them?

Almost all my favorite books are children's books, I only like books that were written well before I was born (apart from Lemony Snicket's)
I read more adult books when I was 10 or 11 than I do now.

I have books by most of the authors people have mentioned - DeeWe I have ALL Monica Edward's book! And you mentioned Jane Shaw - I have all the Susan books, they're wonderful!

The Uncle books by JP Martin. When I first read them I really liked Uncle. But as an adult I realised he was a pompous, vain bully and his chief adversaries the Hateman family are a lot of fun.

I loved Susan at School. It's still one of my favourite comfort reads. I bought a couple of other ones recently but they didn't measure up

Monica Edwards Punchbowl series and also her Rye Harbour books. Loved Punchbowl Farm and Lindsey as a child. Started buying as an adult and discovered Rye and Tamsin - love these books!

i reread a lot- although I am a bit embarrassed by it so tend to do it secretly. Dianna Wynne Jones is fantastic - I reread a lot of Noel Streatfield - including the vicarage family and had much more sympathy for the mother. Has anyone read the Wells books - all ballet- starts with Dream of the wells i think- i discovered about 4 later ones i had never heard of...

Charlotte Sometimes is another book I love to read. Mainly for that spine tingling moment when she gets a letter from the grown up Emily.

I loved the earlier Wells books and bought a few of them recently on Abe Books. I also found a couple of my childhood ones up in the attic.

I loved ballet shoes and Thursday's child by Noël streatfeild and re read both recently. Bs holds up but Margaret Thursday is pretty silly and melodramatic . I found a stack of old bunty comics in a charity shop and revelled in the four marys once more

Ah I was just going to say Charlotte Sometimes - I LOVED that book, and was reading the first part of this thread (about how sometimes books don't measure up to your memories) thinking "But what if it's awful?"

I'm lucky my mother still has a lot of these on the shelves at home! Enid B, Antonia Forest, lots of Chalet School...

Isadora the one I haven't got is Joan Goes farming. Never seen it at all, but I've got it listed. I don't think they've released it (or Rennie goes riding) in GGBP yet either.

Monica Edwards was the one who started me on book collecting while doing my A-levels.

I managed to persude dh that we needed to holiday on the Kent/Sussex borders. managed to get everyone to Wrestling (Rye Harbour) on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, Rye (although we didn't manage to see the Gay Dolphin) lots of Martello towers... dd1 got to the point of rolling her eyes at me. Dd2 and ds got quite excited too.
Now I live quite close to the Punchbowl and have been there a few times which is also exciting.

Dd1 used to be sick on the way to meet my parents in Wales on a particular stretch of road with a great view of the Long Mynd. Dh would be scrubbing away at the car while I stood and made helpful comments like "Look the Devil is in his chair" or "Do you think those are Ingles' sheep?"

My favourite Jane Shaws are the Bermese/Breton adventures. Very funny!

Diane Wynne Jones is one I discovered in adulthood. Dsis gave me some.

I did think of another author. Elizabeth Goudge. Dm met her-I've got a signed copy of one of her poetry books-as her niece was a friend of the family.

On the umbrellas for presents in Tennis shoes I thought as a child that was really mean, but when I reread it to ds I noticed that they all got what we would regard as one small present... Jim and Susan got a book (Kim/Pride and Predudise) and the little boy, whose name escapes me at present, got some farm plastic cows. So probably similar in price to an umbrella.
Nicky does get away with an awful lot and I think she is well shown as being deliberately awkward with the others. How much is cause and how much is effect is the question. She's a particularly well drawn character because you can sympathise with her feeling that everyone's against her, but you can also sympathise with the others finding her very irritating.

I love re reading my books from childhood. Enid Blyton, Judy Blume, sweet Valley High etc. I'm so glad I'm not the only one!

I'm re-reading St Clare's at the moment.

Ballet Shoes has to be one of my most-read books.

Thanks guys I will keep monitoring those places. DD will be well impressed if I manage to get any of the Kingscote books.

Just ordered End of Term!!