to ask you for favourite novel as a child?

[grapeswithseeds]

For me it was probably The Famous 5 series, I love adventure!

Anne of Green Gables
The Long Winter (one of the Little house on the Prairie series)
The Secret Island (Enid Blyton)
All About the Bullerby Children (Astrid Lindgren)

I loved The Bagthorpe Saga when I was a kid. Read them to DS a couple of years ago and he loved them too now

Charmed Life by Dianna Wynn-Jones it is a great book. I now have a treasured first edition copy.

Lion the witch and the wardrobe. Only book I have ever finished then restarted again immediately I loved it so much. I enjoyed others in the narnia series too.

My enchanted wood trilogy book was practically falling apart by the time I was finally done with it!

There was another I read to death but can’t for the life of me remember what it was called or many details. The few snippets I remember are the main character getting into trouble with someone for trampling on their rhododendrons, the character mistaking them for weeds, and some weasels or stoats pressing faggots (old fashioned bundle of sticks used for kindling) into the side of a house with the intention of setting it alight.

Anne of Green Gables. I still love it now.

@FuzzyPuffling

@MyPersona..you've inspired me to find it and read it now! I must have loved it to keep it for 50 years!

Actually I got all nostalgic and got the kindle copy off Amazon. I’m not sure it stands the test of time, there are a few elements which are a tad problematic

@AdaColeman I used to love visiting our library van and you've reminded me it used to visit my school too (next village over). I live in Sussex these days and I see the modern equivalent out and about. It gives me such a pang of nostalgia! The little cardboard sleeves for your ticket and the long wooden drawers they lived in

Mine was The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley. My grandmother was a huge Dennis Wheatley fan. I then discovered Henry Miller at about 11 or 12 and lent her the Rosy Crucifixion trilogy.

Gumble's Yard by John Rowe Townsend. Great mystery/thriller for 9ish year old.

Narnia series
Tom's Midnight Garden
Ballet Shoes
Black Beauty
Stig of the Dump
Awkward Magic (by Elisabeth Beresford who wrote the Wombles books, which I also loved - showing my age! )
The Phoenix and the Carpet

@Pashazade Oh! The excited anticipation of The Library Van Day! How when the driver got to know you, he would park outside the house, or he’d send you in some books when you were ill. My Mother wasn’t a keen reader, she never understood how important it was!

@Wotsitsarecheesy Downy Duckling!! That book meant so much to me! IIRC there was a bit in it which I always found upsetting (can't remember now - does he fall through the ice or something?) but somehow I always soldiered my little way through it because I loved the rest of it so much. I still have it somewhere.

@Fleamaker123 How could I forget the Moomins?! I adored every one of those books, but Moominland Midwinter is clearly the superior work and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.

The Babysitters Club and Karen spin offs, Goosebumps and then when I was a bit older, Point Horror 🤣

Half Magic by Edward Eager, the My Naughty Little Sister series by Dorothy Edwards and The Naughtiest Girl in School/Mallory Towers/Famous Five by Enid Blyton oh and anything by Roald Dahl.

@TerryWoganFanGirl was the book about the young couple called Changing Times by Tim Kennemore?

www.goodreads.com/book/show/1928435.Changing_Times

I loved this book & ordered it from Amazon when it still predominantly sold books.

I love these threads. As a little girl I read most of the chalet school but at Junior School I kept it a secret because it was so old-fashioned. I have been delighted on Mumsnet to find out how many people out there loved it as much as I did. Also adored all Noel Streatfield (White Boots especially), Sadler Wells, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Charlotte Sometimes, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, I am David & many more already mentioned.

My Mum disapproved of Enid Blyton but I loved one of her books House at the Corner. It was very moralistic. I think I was born old & have regressed with the years.

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. Wonderful book

@BertieBotts I quite enjoyed Heidi - not one of my top favourites as I preferred magical stories, but I read it a couple of times. Two of my family members called their DDs Heidi (one Heidi is now in her 30s, the other late teens) which I found very surprising!

Pre teen -
Secret Seven
Malory Towers (I even watched the recent CBBC TV series a few months ago on iPlayer)

Tween / Teenager
Judy Blume (Are You There God Its Me Margaret was popular when we were about 11ish)
Sweet Dreams - Series of books that were cheesy young American romance / first love (The main love interest always had a name like Miles J Peterson)
Cheerleaders - Series
Anne of Green Gables and all of the follow on books (I had a terrible crush on Gilbert Blythe character played by Jonathan Crombie in the 80's TV adaptation)

@BramblyMess I'm another Moonfleet lover and I also re-read it recently.

I visited Carisbrooke Castle a few years ago and the well house is there, exactly as described in the book. I was amazed that they weren't selling the book in the the gift shop and when I asked about it, the person I spoke to had never heard of it! I told her that the book was the main reason I had wanted to visit the castle.

I read massive amounts as a child but enduring favourites were Carbonel/Kingdom of Carbonel/Carbonel and Calidor, Watership down and Menfreya.

I also had loads of Sweet Valley books, and read a lot of teen horror too.

@Timeforredwine could the book with Dorinda in it be 'The Wind on the Moon'?

It's about a girl called Dorinda and her sister Dinah, plus a wonderful caste of supporting characters including a golden puma and silver falcon.

What Katie did and Lady Daisy Chain.

What were the Ginny from Finmory books actually called? I was obsessed!
The Dark is Rising Trilogy - amazing
I remember a book about astral projection too - ring any bells with anyone?

Oh and Deenie by Judy Blume. Made me realise I had scoliosis. Favourite had to be ‘Are you there God it’s me Margaret’ though and the racy ‘Forever’