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?

PaulineFossil, Girls Gone By are going to reissue some of Antonia Forest's books, and I can (almost!) promise that whatever you spend on them, you will not regret it!

so glad its not just me that enjoys reading my old favourites!

My eight year old dd is currently loving my old secret sevens!

My go to for comfort though is the Silver Brumby series
I was a horse mad child & obsessed with Throwra, Storm & Golden

the Enid Blyton stories with Jack, Philip, Dinah, Lucy? and the parrot

That would be Lucy Ann and Kiki the parrot, of the Adventure series.

Unsurprisingly, from my nn, I'm a fan of the YA Discworld fiction. Also partial to a spot of His Dark Materials, The Midnight Folk/The Box of Delights and some old school pony fiction. I liked the Swallows and Amazons series, and the very similarly feeling Oxus series of pony books too.

And if I'm very honest, I did re-read the Island of Adventure in the sunshine the other week. Enid Blyton books stand up vastly better when read outdoors, during a heatwave

My other faves are the follyfoot series

And Gobbolino the witches cat

Yes to both The Dark is Rising - amazing & under read & The Tripods.

And Arthur Ransome - always felt like Nancy Blackett was my alter ego .

My favourites:
A traveller in time - Alison Uttley
The Whitby Witches - and all Robin Jarvis books
All Nina Bawden books
The Sadler Wells series
And there was a series of 6 or 7 books about the Plantagenets, starting with the betrothal of two young children. I can't remeber what it was called but I read the series over and over. Can anyone help? I'm sure the first book was called 'The xxx and the xxxx'.

Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry - remember it being quite powerful.

Don't know if anyone can help. Remember reading a story set just after WW2 (I think). About a little girl perhaps with Polish or East European background. She goes to live with some ladies, possibly aunts. There is also a parrallel story about a girl who I think was in a concentration camp or who had been tortured and died. Almost like a ghost story. I found it really disturbing but very powerful but can't find anything about it.

I was also a horse at heart and lived the Silver Brumby series. Love, love, love those books.
Nice to see a couple of other PPs mention them

I have the original watercolour by the illustrator for one of The Chalet School dust jackets. I think she was called Nina K Brisley.

It is hanging up in my bedroom.

The Hugo and Josephine trilogy were my favourites

George MacDonald

His description of a rock crystal sandglass in a moonlit attic was just wonderful and so evocative.

Also who remembers the story of the magical moose head in the attic who shook his antlers and showered gold dust and turned ordinary paste jewels into real rubies and diamonds and turned a poor families life around?

So many of my favourites have been mentioned - I particularly loved Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, Ursula leGuin, Penelope Lively, Cynthia Harnett, Nina Bawden, Noel Streatfield and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley is also one of my favourites.

I've just reread the Flambards Quartet, God I love those books as much as I did when I was young, and when I first read it the fourth installment hadn't been written.

Chiming in belatedly to second (third? fourth?) Charlotte Sometimes, I just re read it recently after 25 years and it is still great, even better than I remembered it. I must re-read A Stitch in Time and Tom's Midnight Garden, I LOVED time travel books.

Possibly not as popular in the UK but as a young teen I loved the Tomorrow When The War Began series (set in Australia) although it became quite dark in later books.

PookBob you mean Barbara Willard, the first one is The Sprig of Bloom I think, or it might be The Lark and the Laurel. I bought the series fairly recently through Amazon marketplace.

Lots of great books mentioned in this thread :) I kept most of my favourites and have reread them many times, and then a while back I bought a few of the ones that my big sister had and so took away to her house. Many of which she read to me when I was small :)

My children have enjoyed some, have some read to them whether they liked it or not and steered well away from others!

The Lark and the Laurel! Thank you!

There was a wonderful tv series made of A Traveller in Time a long time ago. Starred a very young Sophie Thompson. I love/d time travelling themes, probably explains my obsession with Doctor Who.
Does anyone remember the Jim Starling books? He was a young working class school boy with a gang. I loved him.

My tastes as a child ran to the somewhat trashy - I devoured the point horror books as a pre-teen (and some of them even hinted at sex! It made me feel terribly grown up) and also The Baby-Sitters Club - although thinking back the amount of scrapes they got into with the kids, I'm surprised they got any second chances. I can just imagine some of the AIBU posts...

On the other hand, I did love the famous five and secret seven, and also swallows and amazons. I used to be most put out when mum refused to entertain the idea of me and my pals going on a seven-day hiking trip on the moors unsupervised, armed only with some currant buns and lashings of ginger beer.

I have recently read 'Road to Nowhere' by Christopher Pike, which was my favourite from childhood. It kind of makes me wonder if my parents vetted my reading at all, in hindsight.

Anyone remember tim and tobias.

Another book I remember reading over and over was 'Behind the Attic Wall'. I always found it very unsettling.

I remember reading, The Adventures of Mrs. Pepperpot books by Alf Proysen.

Olga da Polga- Stories of a guinea pig who would tell tall stories, in the vein of Baron Munchausen. The stories were written by Michael Bond, who wrote the books about Paddington Bear.

The Worst Witch books- Jill Murphy. I cannot believe nobody has mentioned these, they are modern classics.

Joan Aiken- A Necklace of Raindrops and other stories, including There's Some Sky in this Pie, The Patchwork Quilt, The Elves in the Shelves and so on. The editions have to be copies that use the original illustrations by Jan Pienkowski. I believe the newer editions are rubbish because of a different artist illustrating the stories. I am trying to find an original copy!! Incidentally, Joan Aiken wrote, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

No More School-William Mayne

Stig of the Dump

My Naughty Little Sister stories. That caused mayhem in our home because my elder siblings used to tease me that they were written about me. I was about 5 years old, and gullible.