Books you loved as a child and hope your children will love too.

[TheCortanaThatStoleChristmas]

Inspired by another thread.

I remember buying Dogger don't laugh at the title it's a lovely book! and All In One Piece before DS was born as I wanted to pass on the joy these books brought me.

He has recently read The Hobbit; Swallows and Amazons; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Treasure Island and Charlotte's Web. Books that made my childhood.

I hope he will soon find and enjoy the LOTR books, Hitchhikers Guide, Little Women, and Goodnight Mr Tom.

I feel real excitement at the thought of my DS reading lovely books and enjoying them the way I did. Got me wondering what I might have missed though, are there other books that are wonderful for children and deserve to go on a "Books Every Child Should Read" list?

What were your favorite childhood books, and will you buy/pass them on for your children?

Ah so many memories on this thread! Can't wait for my DS to be old enough to be shown these. He already loves books at 20 months so I have high hopes.

Glad to see mentions for Joan Aitken, The Snow Spider (Ah!), Carbonel, Children of Greene Knowe (spelling?!) The Box of Delights and some other wonderful titles. I have some very special memories of my father reading a beautiful edition of The Hobbit to me. I also loved Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Grim tales. So many...

Did any of you ever read the Chronicals of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander? Loosely based on Welsh mythology and a cracking read!

I remember when every winter the BBC would show really fantastic adaptations of children's stories on Sunday afternoons that would often inspire me to hen go read the books, which were always better. A big part of family life was settling down in front of the fire and the telly with a cuppa tea and cinnamon toast to watch the sunday afternoon children's program. The Henderson workshop fairytails with John hurt were wonderful.

Fab thread, a trip down memory lane. What about Super Gran or was that just me?
Think most of my others have been mentioned.

Oh oh Jeffy the Burglars cat! Brilliant!

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.

The E. Nesbit books.

Noel Streatfield books; White Boots: Ballet Shoes, and the rest.

Anne of Green Gables.

Little House on the Prairie.

Family From One End Street.

Am gutted she likes none! I was bookworm. Must accept she's not. Gritted teeth.....

PepeLePew

The book you recall was Charlie by, I think, Joan G Robinson

O

Robin (still love it, but probably out of print)
The Saturdays
I've recently discovered Rummer Godden's children's books - eg Little Plum. The DCs love them.
So pleased that DC1 loved the whole Laura Ingalls Little House series (about 7 of them).
But left to herself, she'll read the modern fantasy stuff.

Housemum I managed to find an affordable copy of Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World on Ebay....it brought back lots of happy memories, and DD (5) loved it! Worth every penny!

Oh, and The Tree that Sat Down by Beverley Nicholls.

And the Flambards series.

And a book called To Be Looked For, can't remember the author

And lots of others mentioned here. Love this thread.

Hope these haven't already been mentioned,
Both my two loved

How to Train your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell

The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies (plus the rest of her books)

My son loved the Katie Davie books so much that they were the first ones that he read by himself.

Lots of good ones here, but can I second Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster? (If we're allowed American books!)
Just finished Milly Molly Mandy with my 5 year old and she adored it. She also loves Famous 5, Secret 7 - we're moving onto My Naughty Little Sister and Pippi Longstocking next!

UrbanSpaceMum no way! I read Z for Zachariah in about 1985 at about 8 or 9 and was totally unaware of the Cold War. I mean I knew about the Iron Curtain and everything but that fear wasn't there. It's struggle, isolation, survival, resilience... the plume of smoke growing ever closer too is an image that stays with me even now!

I can't remember much about the Peter Dickinson (thanks Urban and splishsplosh ) but there was that sense of peril that is so thrilling as a child. To be safely scared iykwim.

minicooper I snapped up a nice copy of Daddy Long Legs in a second hand books shop recently so that my 2 year old will have one when she needs it. ( it's a really nice one, a wee hardback, lovely). I couldn't believe how ancient it is!

Has anyone said Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, by Rumer Godden, and the sequel Little Plum? And The Story of Holly and Ivy, very Christmassy.

I loved those Rumer Godden books, though they used to make me feel a built guilty for not caring as much about my dolls! Loved the descriptions of Gem Tiffany Jones's room and clothes....

I liked Daddy Long Legs, too, though thinking back it's a tad dodgy really isn't it? And Judy was a bit annoying.

There are some very dodgy names lookign back - as well as the Fannys and Tittys (do you change to -ies if it's a proper name?) what about Enid Blyton's Mr Pink-Whistle? Think he's on a register somewhere....

So many great recommendations! I will come back to read this thread over Christmas - I want to look up a few authors I haven't heard of, and may be spending some Christmas money on Ebay and Amazon!

ninjasquirrel it could be Green Smoke but it didn't sound familiar on amazon. Does anyone remember an Enid Blyton one with six step brothers and sisters I think who lived on a farm. I mainly remember them having 'high tea'!

I was not a child when I read them :o but I hope my DCs enjoy lemony snicket (not the horrific excuse for a film though), his dark materials (ditto) and Artemis Fowl.

Dollybird - no, not Green Smoke, The Dragon's Quest, which was in the same series but set in the past. The little girl (Susan?) wasn't in that book.

dollybird The Enid Blyton one is 'Six Cousins on Mistletoe Farm' followed by 'The Children of Willow Farm' if that's any help! I loved them as a child, and still have them.

The Six Cousins on Mistletoe Farm and Six Cousins again are great books. There are 3 down to earth farm children living in a grubby farm house with dogs and horses, and their uncle's house burns down and their 3 towny snobby cousins have to come and live with them. The town children have posh names - Melisande and Roderick, and the farm kids are called things like Susan. Brilliant, classic Enid Blyton stereotyping.

I loved The Summer Birds and Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
The Dark is rising Saga by Susan Cooper
Any of the horsey books by Emily Dickinson
The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett Hodge
and I can't remember the names of her books but I used to love the author known as Miss Read!

BlingLoving - that's what I was going to say! I adored and still adore The Ordinary Princess. I was such a fairy tale junkie when I was young and it was a wonderful antidote to that, but also a lovely tale in its own right. (When I got a bit older I also enjoyed some of MM Kaye's adult stuff like Death in Zanzibar. I never quite got round to The Far Pavilions though. Maybe it's time I did!)

Bluebellswood - that's the one!! Thank you so much.

No-one's mentioned The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.

Also a Book of Princesses ed by Johnson 1965 which has stories by giants such as Oscar Wilde, E.Nesbit etc etc. I didn't notice the authors when I was a child but their stories resonate still. In fact I can't find our copy. My daughter has left it somewhere yet again.

Cynthia Harnett's The Woolpack - great historical stuff.

And I inherited Violet Needham books from my mother which I loved, although she put some pretty dodgy of-their-time ideas into a few of her stories.