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?

A little princess! I loved a little princess

Its a comfort isnt it?

I was decluttering today and found a Mandy annual from 1982.

coffee. Brioche.

DC having a nap.

Lost myself for half an hour in my childhood book!

love re-reading Heidi, my Mallory towers and St clares books too.

Wasn't Misty one of those weekly comic books filled with serialized girl's stories? Like Bunty or Mandy?

I loved A Little Princess too, Euphemia. Have you read Wishing for Tomorrow which is a recent sequel? It certainly doesn't have the magic of the original, but it's worth reading. Also, people who liked Ballet Shoes, do you know The Wicharts? It's also written by Noel Streatfeild, and I think it was before Ballet Shoes (but I might have got that wrong) and it's the adult version. The girls - ahem - arrive in a rather different fashion!

I used to love historical fiction, and Cynthia Harnett was one of my childhood favourite authors. I also liked timeslip books like Charlotte Sometimes and A Traveller In Time (there was a wonderful serialisation of this sometime in the 70s).

I loved the Family at One End Street, the Borrowers and the Little House series, the Hobbit, The Silver Sword, the Enid Blyton stories with Jack, Philip, Dinah, Lucy? and the parrot. I remember really loving the Flambards trilogy by KM Peyton, but I haven't read it since. I've read all the rest to my children and most of them went down really well though I haven't been able to persuade my daughter to read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase after blowing it with What Katy Did. I'd completely forgotten that Katy becomes insufferable at the end!
One of my favourite children's books is I am David by Anne Holm. It's wonderful.

Misty was superior. It was chick full of weird horror and sci_fi. In one annual I have vampires, post apocalyptic horror, voodoo, zombies, time slip stuff and a cursed object story. Not a make up hint or ballet shoe in sight. I loved it.It would sell well now I think.

I have the Malory Towers and St Clare's books on my iPhone in audiobook format. I have them for the "kids"! despite them being 15 and 11 year old boys.

Being read to and listening to these old favorites whilst in a traffic jam is so relaxing.

These are the ones I re-read every year, usually:
The Box of Delights
Dark is Rising sequence (still stands up to the test of time for me!)
Dark Materials (though I barely count it as a kids book!)

Also love to pick up Ballet Shoes every so often, and Alan Garner books, National Velvet, Cynthia Harnett books, Joan Aiken, etc etc.

Still own Green Gables books and Little Women but don't really want to re-read them - find them a bit too mawkish and religious now.

Laura Ingalls is my all time heroine though. Little House books are the best.

As you might guess, I loved Noel Streatfeild, along with an awful lot of the other books mentioned on this thread. I reread my favourites often and don't think I've ever been into a bookshop as an adult without having a quick scan of the children's section for any new books from my favourite authors. I'm reading the latest Michelle Magorian now.

However, Antonia Forest has passed me by and having read this thread, I really, really want to read some but they are ££££, anyone know anywhere they are available as ebooks? I've searched but no luck yet.

Oh yes and I also still have Frances Hodgson Burnett books, 101 Dalmatians and the Borrowers. All get re-read often.

Didn't get The Little White Horse at all. So many people said they loved it, but I read it as an adult and didn't like it much.

Always swore I'd never re-read LOTR but I did last year - it was awesome.

And whoever it was said they preferred Emily to Anne - me too! Loved them both though.

Nearly all of Vivien Alcock (The haunting of Cassie Palmer and tons more.) She was married to Leon Garfield, who I also loved. His "Smith" is amazing. I still use it in teaching now.

I love them. I've just bought my daughter the first 7 Trebizon books, which I had to reread first. I'm so excited that there are lots of new titles since I last read them in about 1984.

I have lots of Chalet school books, Noel Streatfeild, all the Mallory Towers and St Clares books and also loads of my mums old boarding school books. I love them all.

And "The Machine Gunners" which so entranced my year six this year they have asked for it be to their end of year play.

I've got DD1 addicted to the Little House books which means she's more enthusiastic about me reading her classics which is a great excuse to read them myself. There's lots of mid century stuff I'm really looking forward to reading to her: Tom's Midnight Garden (saw the play of that last year with the DDs and every adult in the theatre was misty eyed when Tom said goodbye to the adult Hatty), Carrie's War, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, 101 Dalmations, The Children of Green Knowe (can't wait to take the kids to the place it's based on), Swallows and Amazons (ditto).

Phleb yes, yes, The Machine Gunners was one of my favourites. I was a bit obsessed with war novels actually, but I guess it was only 30 years after the war when I was growing up, not ancient history like it seems to the kids.

I'm really enjoying reading the 'My Naughty Little Sister' collection to my DC at the moment, they love the stories!

I don't think anyone has mentioned the Sue Barton books yet, I love those.

Oh yes, Leon Garfield! I loved The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris, haven't read it for ages...

I bought a book recently because of recommendations here, it's by Elizabeth Goudge, can't remember the name of it but I read it and loved it. About four children who run away from their grandmother(?), end up living with an uncle they didn't know they had and had lots of adventures. Characters such a Abednego the money, a cook/bottle-washer and all round nice man with a wooden leg - and many, many bees who are worshipped and who in turn protect the children... fantastic book.

I've just had my first children's novel published and the absolute best bit about the whole process was going into Waterstones and seeing my book on the shelf next to books I loved as a child or loved to read to my own kids. Bursting with pride hardly covers it.

I'd forgotten how much I loved Leon Garfield as a child. Smith was fabulous.

Lyingwitchinthewardrobe, is that Linnets and Valerians?

The St Clare's series is available as an audiobook?! Wow I didn't know that. I love Enid blyton, I'm just gutted my niece and nephew don't like her!

HumphreyCobbler I bought some of the Sue Barton books a few years ago but haven't got "Student Nurse" yet - I kind of enjoyed reading them again but I don't think they really stand the test of time ... interesting as social history tho'.