Obscure children's books that you used to love

[LadyPlumpington]

Mine is 'The Island of the Skog' by Steven Kellogg. The DC love it too :)

What are your old obscure favourites?

Phoebe and the hot water bottles ...!
I bought that for DD ( when she was 30 ) as it was a book we often borrowed from the library and she always wanted it . Tracked it down in Canada and she cried when she unwrapped it !

I'm coming to get you by Tony Ross . Monster rampages through space eating planets and terrorising gentle beings until he spies a small green planet and a boy " I'm coming to get you " he roars and waits for Tommy but .... Well you will have to read the book !

Not now Bernard ,a firm favourite with Dgc.

The young visiters ( sic) written by Daisy Ashford at 9 years old in 1919" Mr Saltena was an elderly man of 42" love it and can't find my copy. ,

The silver Sword by Ian Serrailier the first book that made my DS cry when he read it to himself . Brilliant book based on a true story during and after the Second World War as 4 children fight starvation to travel from Poland to Switzerland.

So many memories being dusted of in the distant reaches of my mind her.

One of my favourites was a book I later reread as an adult (was about 8 when I first got it) was The Glassblower's Children, one of the main character's was a witch called Flutter Mildweather - I really coveted that name.

Actually, can anyone help me identify a book I read, probably as an older child?

All I can remember about it is that the child character got into bed and the nanny/guardian type character who was cold and horrible had put a dead crow under the sheets at the end of the bed as a punishment.

Not much to go on I know, but I have never forgotten that part of the book, and often wonder what the book was.

Some great books on here

Additions from me. The Paper bag princess, family from one end street, moonlight kingdom, Rosie's walk,

And Giant Jam Sandwich is a firm favourite here

Lots of these!

Has anyone mentioned Joan Aiken's Dido Twice books, especially The Cuckoo Tree and Dido and Pa.

Robinsheugh by Eileen Dunlop is a fab creepy time travel book.

Yes...the Silver Sword, we read that at school. Wonderful book.

Still love everything by Alan Garner - the more of his books you read it just gets better, they all start to join up somehow.

Yes to Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge! And A City of Bells.

On the subject of books that make you cry, I am David by Anne Holm. Escape from totalitarian prison camp, journey across Europe to an address which is all he has, and the door opens - 'My son, David'

Oh and I remember the Twin books - Cave Twins, Eskimo Twins, Spartan Twins and Chinese Twins are the ones I remember. They were actually quite modern-thinking in that the girls were always trying to do as well as their brothers and be allowed to join in - in the Chinese story the girl runs away from a (threatened) arranged marriage and goes in disguise as a boy to go to school with her brother. I always wished I had more copies of the stories than just those ones - they never seemed to be in libraries or anywhere.

the Yami of Yawn.
wish I could get it for my kids. brilliant psychedelic seventies illustrations.

So many of my favourites on here. Even Brown Mouse. Dawndonnaagain can't believe you know this book too. It's Frank Jennens by the way. It was my mum's favourite book then mine and DD loved it too. Wendy and Sheila and the lovely filmy golden dresses and her mean old sisters and lovely Clive the fact that she was beautiful really .

YY to Rebecca's World and to Mister Glister being Liberace. I still have my copy with the Larry Learmonth (?) illustrations. Fab. Have read that to DD as well.

Bottersnikes and Gumbles is great too.

Also loved the Giant Jam Sandwich and Tikki Tikki Tembo and so do the DCs.

They've loved all these but the one I loved the most was the Animal Family by Randall Jarrell about a hunter who marries a mermaid and they adopt a series of wild animals (a bear, a lynx). The DCs didn't love that as much heartless beasts

I have all of these at home so could share them but the other one I loved that I don't have is called the Kerry Caravan about some children who end up living by themselves in a gypsy caravan, fending for themselves and cooking potatoes in straw boxes

Mine was Follow That Bird

Also, the Amelia Bedelia stories!

Really enjoyed this thread. I remember Tim and Tobias, which somebody mentioned.

I recently found a box full of my old favourites, including The Ordinary Princess (I pretty much knew that off by heart), Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf, Count Bakwordz on the Carpet, and The Millhouse Cat.

Also some from when I was younger:
Mouse Soup
Charlie the Tramp
A Kiss for Little Bear - which had the most wonderful illustrations.

Charlotte Sometimes.

A great book about a girl who goes to boarding school and wakes up in the same bed in the past.

The book has a great twist at the end.

The Shrinking of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide, with illustrations by Edward Gorey - I passed my own cherished copy on to my DCs and somebody has scrawled in it with a green pencil.

Walt and Pepper by Lisl Weil, about a cat and a dog who lived across the road from each other.

The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley, as mentioned above.

"As long ago as long ago and as long ago again as that....."

Yy to Go Well, Stay Well, one of my fave books when I was about nine/ten!
I have read all of Garner's books and would absolutely read them all again.
The Silver Sword is on my dds shelf (she is spoilt rotten when it comes to books!). And I absolutely loved The Young Visiters!!
I would have mentioned Mrs Pepperpot but it never occurred to me that they might be considered obscure.
But has anyone read 'The Flying Classroom'?

Or Nasty by Michael Rosen? And also The Mennyms?

Yes to Mary Plain. Sadly, I only have one of the books, but read them all when a child.

I am so pleased Violet Needham finally got mentioned. I love all her books, she wrote 19, I have eleven and they regularly get re-read. I don't understand why so few people are acquainted with her.

Does anyone remember Orlando the Marmalade Cat? The illustrations were beautiful.

One very obscure book which I loved and still have is "The Gooseyplums of Duckpond-in-the-Dip", written by Frances Dale, better known as Fanny Cradock. Does anyone else have any Gooseyplum books ?

Ladyplumpington The book with the blind boy is Annerton Pit.

I have a battered copy of the Little Wooden Horse that I loved but I could name many more!

Morning all!

I remember the Didakoi, but am drawing a blank with nearly everything else

Is there any chance this thread could be moved to Children's Books so that it doesn't disappear after 90 days?
So many memories here.

The Wells ballet books as in 'Veronica at the Wells' and 'Masquerade at the Wells' all the way to 'Vicky in Venice' etc - I reread them so many times and Veronica and Sebastian was the first fictional relationship I was totally over-invested in. I think most of them are out of print now though I still have my much-loved, very 1970s copies.

Orlando the marmalade cat was set in Aldeburgh I think - the fantastic bookshop there always features it.