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?

I collect Lorna Hill - The Wells ballet books and her other horsey ones. I love them, and have spent a LOT of money on them in the past 30 years! But trying to read them to daughter showed up how very dated they are for a modern audience - the post-war setting and the crazy amounts of smoking!

I still read YA, old and new, and I still have virtually all my childhood books - our copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my one from 1972.

We've just read 101 Dalmatians, The Worst Witch, The With Family, My Naughty Little Sister, they've all gone down really well...

Wait, what? More Trebizond you say, Seth? Joy of joys, I love those!

I found Rumer Godden's Thursday's Children a little while ago. I hadn't read it for over 15 years, but it was one of my very favourite childhood books and losing myself in it again was like falling into a clean, comfy bed.

I enjoy re reading the Drina books but I don't think they stand up to adult scrutiny as well as the Lorna Hill books or Noel Streatfeild's Ballet shoes.
Drina is just a bit too saccharine and sweet and benefits from an awful lot of lucky breaks and coincidences. She just lacks the determination and passion of Veronica Weston or the single minded feistiness of Posy Fossil (or Lydia in the Gemma books).

A lot of you have mentioned Noel Streatfield's Ballet Shoes books. I never really read any of those as a child but I do remember reading one book about ballet that I quite liked. I've never been able to find it though as I forgot the name!

It was about a girl who went to live with family (I think she may have been orphaned, or possibly just there for an extended holiday because of absent parents) who were all mad keen ballet dancers. They examined her feet and found them perfect for ballet (the first two or three toes all the same length I think) but she just wasn't interested. She did, however, become really interested in set design, possibly also costume design, and so the family decided that she was OK after all. I'm sure she did some set/costume design for Swan Lake/Odette or possibly Giselle?

Anyone recognise that book and can give it a name for me?

PrettyPenguin, I'm pretty sure that the book you're looking for is 'The Ballet Family' by Mabel Esther Allen. And yes, the girl was orphaned. The book was very snooty about northerners who were apparently all working class philistines who didn't understand about art, dahhrling.

Yes, The Ballet Family rings a bell now. Thanks, jeee I'm pretty sure that was the title I've searched for previously, but I was probably searching also with Noel Streatfield, which is why I never got any results!!

So has no-one else here read "The Children Who Lived In A Barn" by Eleanor Graham? Such a brilliant book. IMO. DD loves it too even though it is definitely dated now

Regarding Joey Maynard!

My friend has been very busy and will have her hands very full by next week.

Sadly she didn't bag a doctor though.

Can anyone explain why, if GGB publishers have the rights to all of Antonia Forest's books (I'm sure I've read that they do), they don't publish all of them? I am sure that there is enough of a market for them (see all the fan-sites).

I've begun to imagine a conspiracy (right up there with the Queen being a lizard) by a secret society of second hand book sellers keen to keep 'The Cricket Term' valuable.

Ask on the Trennels community, Jeee - the AF fans there are pretty well-informed about AF's estate etc., and might know more about the terms on which GGB publish her...?

It's always struck me as strange. I would imagine a younger audience would also find them interesting as they haven't really dated in the way the Chalet School books have. They take a very realistic look at what it's like to be a teenage girl with the school acting more as a backdrop than as the star of the story.

Loved Farmers Boy best of all. Think I may now have to purchase a copy as the local library doesn't have them.

I have all of the Kingscote books but Run Away Home was very expensive!

Other favourites I've re read recently were the Kevin & Sadie series by Joan Lingard.

Takver, brilliant link, thank you.

5Foot5 I've read The Children Who Lived In A Barn several times

I have all the Antonia Forest books and masses of Pullein Thompson pony books. I also enjoyed the P-T autobiography 'Fair Girls on Grey Horses'. Did you know their mum was Joanna Cannam who also wrote pony books.
Does anyone else like the Abbey Girls books?
I read and re read old favourites constantly.

I feel really excited to realise I am not the only one...

The children who

I have just treated myself to a copy of The Children who Lived in a Barn as it was completely new to me.

I have a pdf copy of a Noel Streatfeild short story about the Fossils. PM me if you'd like a copy.

I'm a huge Noel Streatfeild and Lorna Hill fan..

The Children Who Lived In A Barn is still in print with Persephone Books - they do lovely productions.

I also still love Fell Farm, anything about adventurous kids camping, sailing, hiking etc, or ballet and theatre - Blue Door by Pamela Brown is a big fave as is Noel Streatfeild.

There are things I'm hunting for, but they are madly expensive or impossible to find.

If anyone's got Mossy Green Theatre or Caterpillar Hall to sell, I'm your woman!

For anyone who is looking, The Haunted Bookshop in Cambridge is amazing - best selection of anywhere I've ever been, including ALL of Hay On Wye.

And Peakirk is supposed to be good but I've not been.

I love this thread . Lots of old favourites.

I read loads of Enid Blyton - the Famous Five, the Secret Seven, the Five Find Outers, the Adventure series, Malory Towers, St. Clares, the Naughtiest Girl series, Mr. Galliano's Circus (I really wanted to join the circus) etc. etc.

I read a lot of pony books too even though the nearest I came to a pony was the horse who pulled the coal man's cart. I think someone already mentioned Christina Pullein Thompson. She wrote the 'Phantom Horse' series.

I loved the Chalet School books and used to read them over and over again. I didn't quite manage to find all 60 or so but I read most of them. I also preferred the ones set in Austria - the Swiss ones became very repetitive.

I also read all of the 'Little House on the Prairie' books and still enjoy them as an adult.

When I got a bit older I moved on to Noel Streatfeild (anyone remember the Gemma series) and Lorna Hill (the Saddlers Wells series) and Judy Blume.

I've introduced some of these books to DD but they haven't gone down very well. A lot of the books feature long, descriptive passages and she finds them boring. She prefers Cathy Cassidy and Judi Curtin.

Fantastic thread, I've loved so many of these books! Currently reading Ballet Shoes to 6yo DD but although I still love it (and she's quite keen), there are some long descriptive passages full of detail which are a touch dull to read out loud. Loving it though and looking forward to reading more of my favourites to her :)