To ask what your favourite children's book is/was

[LaVieEstBelle159]

The book or books that bring back comforting and happy memories.

Mine are Magic Faraway Tree, Mallory Towers and St Clares, all by Enid Blyton.

What are yours?

My absolute top two are:

• The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater
• The Twilight of Magic by Hugh Lofting

Other favourites:

• Jennings books
• Paddington books
• Dr Doolittle books
• Mary Poppins books
• The Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and most of all, The Lost Prince - all by Books by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
• The Call of the Wild
• Ballet Shoes
• Black Beauty
• What Katy Did
• Little Women
• Heidi
• The Narnia books
• Rikki Tikki Tavi
• The Just So Stories
• The Andrew Lang Coloured Fairy Books
• Greek and Roman myths.

Mrs pepper pot
The silver sword
Darkie and co
The little ghost
Half magic
Laura ingles
The moonmins
Argtha Christie
Catherine Cookson
James Herriot

Enid Blyton every time

Loved James Herriot too

Enid Blyton, loved them so much, especially the Find Outers.
Loved American writers - Judy Blume, Paula Danziger, babysitters club, point horror
Lois Duncan
Betsy Byars
Sweet Valley high, but even then I knew they were really poorly written!
Adored Ramona Quimby, so disappointed when my DD wasn’t interested.
No one has mentioned Anastasia Krupnik, who I also loved and found so inspiring!
I much preferred American fiction!

Special mention for Carbonel series and the owl who was afraid of the dark.
Jean Ure.

However no one apart from @bluechameleon has mentions Back Home by Michelle Magorian, same author as Goodnight Mr Tom. I can’t understand why it isn’t more popular than GMT. It’s probably my favourite book of all time, it’s an amazing, rich story, wonderful characters and so moving.
If you are a fan of GMT and haven’t read this I urge you to read it!

@Snoopsnoggysnog
Lois Duncan terrified me!! I had nightmares after reading the stranger with my face.
I loved point horror and Stephen king but that one was creepy.

@Serena1977 I loved the grey sister. I wanted to be Cassie!

The House on Exeter Street

(Or maybe it’s called Christmas on Exeter Street, can’t remember 😊)

@emmylousings

All Judy Blume's books were great for me, also and the 'Sweet Valley High' collection, it was cheesy. I was fantasising about living in the US.

Just was about to post about sweet valley high ! Bloody loved those books. Yes my ambition was to live in New Jersey and have a split level house (whatever that is!)

Not necessarily favourites but ones I remember from being very young Weird books like little Prince and this really weird book about noodles growing on trees noodle island??? Think it might have been about communism or something? Someone came into power and everyone starved - my hippy parents loved these kind of bleak messagey weird books

My favourite was Jane Hissey, Old Bear. Gorgeous.

Enid Blyton
Famous five
The Secret seven
My naughty little sister
Dilly the dinosaur

Dogger 🥰
And the lion the witch and the wardrobe

Tom’s Midnight Garden, The Chalet Girls, The (various things) of adventure by Enid Blyton, The Ship That Flew, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings plus the Father Brown and the Bertie Wooster stories, the Just William stories and Professor Branestawm. There was also a series of books that were a little bit like Adrian Mole: from memory, “Down with Skool” about a boy’s experience of being sent to boarding school, where the younger brother was referred to as “surname” minor.
So. Many. Great. Books!
For my own DC, reading aloud, Now we are six, the Cautionary tales of both Hilaire Belloc and Dick King-Smith, as well as the Little House on the Prairie books.

Nancy Drew mysteries

Enid Blyton boarding school books

Goosebumps

I used to like those books where you had to make a decision and then turn to a certain page to find out the outcome. There were some with puzzles to solve before you could read on as well. I used to get them from the library but I can't remember anything else about them.

@LadyMacduff choose your own adventure. I used to get them from the library as well!

The Cherry tree farm series, the Willow Farm books and all the Faraway Tree series.

Read them over and over.

Most children's horsey books I loved ( was too poor to own one , but I did have a few lessons once as a child )
The Jill pony books were great , black beauty or the ' horse in the house' book they turned into a tv drama. White horses with it's awful dubbing into English was also a book I think ?
( I envied those who could afford to own a pony or a horse , will never own one unless I win the lottery! )

Everything Enid Blyton but my absolute favourite was Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden.

The Land of Green Ginger, by Noel Langley.

Closely followed by the Little House on the Prairie books, the Chalet School books, Arthur Ransome's books, and Elizabeth Goudge's books.

Oh I loved miss happiness and miss flower! I still have my copy.

@Yika

Oh I loved miss happiness and miss flower! I still have my copy.

Mine went astray over the years but my DM bought me a copy for Christmas a few years ago

Either Danny Champion of the World or Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer. Both always make me have a little weep.

When I was young I used to love all things Enid Blyton but as an adult just really get them so much and never read them with DC.

Also Asterix. I loved the books so much