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?

Greensleeves - thank you so much for mentioning The Silver Crown by Robert C O'Brien this book has stuck in my mind since I was 10 I am now 45 -- I could not remember the title but remembered the cover. I cant wait to get it for my daughter. Anyone remember Una and Grubstreet by Prudence Andrew or "Across the Barricades" about Kevin and Sadie from either side of the tracks in Belfast?

Am I really showing my age to remember loving my copy of Tootles the Taxi

We have a first edition here, in a very well loved condition.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Matilda
Dogger
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
any book featuring Alfie and Annie Rose
The Secret Seven
5 Minutes Peace
Are you there God? Its Me, Margaret
Super Fudge

Oh and loved Ramona Quimby too

Oh and The Sheep Pig and Dick King-Smith's Sophie books!

Wind in the Willows
The Hobbit
Minnow on the Say
Just So Stories
all the Flower Fairy books for their beautiful pictures
The Borrowers books

Judy Blume- Starring Sally J. Freedman as herself

Posy and Sam- Ruth Silcock

and has anyone read Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson??

So many memories on this thread. I went through a phase of buying books from my childhood- I got 'Bogwoppit', 'The last of the really Wangdoodles' (written by Julie Andrews,under her married name) and '99 Dragons'. I really want 'Rebecca's World' by Terry Nation- but I can't seem to find a reasonably priced copy.

Another book I loved was ' Marianne Dreams'. I absolutely loved that.

yes to all of these.
Also "When hitler stole pink rabbit" is a book that has stayed with me forever
"Carbonel" is another.
Moomins

Anyone remember the Mary Plain books?

Charlottes web
Olga da Polga (found a copy recently on eBay and had to buy)
The Magic Far Away Tree
Ramona
Toms Midnight Garden

The Ogre Downstairs - Diana Wynne Jones

The little Princess
secret garden
Roald Dhal
Little Women
Anne Green Gables
E nesbitt - esp five children and it

There are some great lists here.

My all time favourites (already mentioned) are The Silver Sword by Ian Serrallier - if I could only ever read one children's book, it would be that one and the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series, especially Blackhearts in Battersea - it's steampunk before steampunk existed.

Modern classics: Holes, Small Steps - both by Louis Sachar (and all his other books - especially There's A Boy in The Girl's Bathroom which I credit for having stopped a child bully in DS1's class); The Thief Lord - fabulous.

Ds1 is 11 and a reluctant reader and not keen on fiction generally but we enjoyed reading the following together:
My Side of the Mountain
The Alex Rider Series
The young Bond series
Stig of the Dump
I have bought him the first young Sherlock Holmes series by Andrew Lane for Xmas. Will introduce him to Kestral for a Knave in a couple of years time
For the younger dcs:
Olga de Polga
My naughty little sister
The gift from Winklesea
The Oscar Wilde stories for children
The Secret Garden
Tubby and the Lantern
The Witch in the Cherry Tree
We're going on a bear hunt
Topsy and Tim

Does anyone remember the "Emil the Detective" book(s) set in Germany, I think.

I can't believe that no-one has mentioned the Richard Scary books: "What do People do All Day", "The Busiest Story Book Ever", "Cars, Tructs and Things that Go", "The Funniest Story Book Ever", with Goldbug, Huckle and Lowly worm. They are lovely and so detailed, lots to see and look for on every page. I have even snapped up a couple of really old ones of the nursery rhymes and children's dictionary, illustrated by Richard Scary. I nearly wet my pants in excitement in the charity shop.

Ooh yes, I loved Emil, Santa!

Narniaaaaaaaaa. All seven in a box set. Or dogeared and well thumbed.
Actual Sherlock not abridged.
Wind in the Willows
Swallows and Amazons
Tom Sawyer
Treasure Island
Swiss Family Robinson
Oxford Book of Famous People
Three Musketeers
The Black Tulip
October Sky
The Secret Garden
The Little Princess
Ballet Shoes
Five Children and It
Lorna Doone
Richard Scary
Roald Dahl
Nancy Drew
Secret Seven
Chalet Girls
Malory Towers
Nothing by the current children's laureate Anne Fine as too creepy.
The Hobbit
Animal Farm
Malcolm Saville Lone Pine
House at Greene Knowe etc
PG Wodehouse

How old are the children. Unlock the bookcases. Throw the world wide open.

Loved reading His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman to DS. We made a special trip to Oxford to visit the Pit Rivers Museum and Botanic Gardens (and sit on the bench).

Charlotte's web and Fantastic Mr.fox which I read about 100 times!

Just re-read the title, and realised that these books don't really qualify as I wasn't a child when I read them! But still worth mentioning I'm sure.

By these books I mean the Philip Pullman ones (really do need to use preview message more....)

McPhee, you've just reminded me about toodles the taxi. I loved that book, especially the page with the caravan. There were some little rabbits playing in the grass and the windows were all aglow. I really must get into my parents' loft to find it and all my old books.

I read just about anything as a child. I loved reading my mum's old books because they were from another age and full of wonderful expressions and old fashioned ideas.

I started reading The Magic Faraway Tree to dd1 a few months ago but she didn't have the concentration.

I hope the dc will enjoy Enid Blyton, Judy Blume, Diana Wynne Jones and many many more.

I hope they enjoy reading as much as I did. I'm looking forward to them introducing me to all the books that have been written since I was twelve so I can discover some new favorites as well as rediscover some old ones.

SantasComing, I had the Richard Scary nursery rhyme book. I asked my mum to look it it of her loft after dd1 was born and she confessed she'd binned it. It had been a hand-me-down and she'd felt no attachment to it. I'd loved that book. On the 'star light star bright' page someone had dropped spice ring biscuit crumbs into the spine and it smelled delicious. I had a look on amazon but it said it was out of print .

Oh yes, to so many of these!

Another vote for Diana Wynne Jones!
And for Rosemary Sutcliff - the Eagle of the Ninth but also Knight's Fee, Mark of the Horse Lord, Frontier Wolf, the Armourer's House...

Can I add Playing Beattie Bow, or My Sister Sif, both by Ruth Park - anyone else read them?
The Indian in the Cuboard, by Lynne Reid Banks
Last Legionary quartet, by Douglas Hill

McPheastofStephen
I think your Joan Aiken story about Emmeline might be The Dark Streets of Kimball's Green, in Harp of Fishbones. Great stuff, and you're right, pretty bleak!

Lots of those already mentioned here, especially Chalet School, Five Find-Outers and Phoenix and the Carpet; also Five Dolls in a House by Helen Clare, Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster (loved this but no one else seems to remember it!) and Curtain Up by Noel Streatfield. Oh and Shadow the Sheepdog!
I took Pamela Browne's Swish of the Curtain out of the library so many times that, when they came to sell it off when it was getting tatty, they put it under the counter for me!
Ooh and when I was younger - the Blackberry Farm books. I can still remember the pictures and crying at Rusty the Sheepdog! Other favourites were Ernest Owl Starts a School, Mother Hen and Mary and Postman Joe.

101 Dalamations - it is a fantastic book. I remember reading it in one sitting as a child on a day that I was off school poorly. Nothing like the film and so well written.