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?

I have just been and bought The Girls of Rose Dormitory - I love school stories.

I've remembered another series - the Bagthorpes, by Helen Cresswell. In one of them, the mum (I think) becomes obsessed with winning competitions so takes the labels off everything, including all the tins of food - which makes mealtimes an interesting gamble!

I've just googled Norham Gardens. The road is real, but (unsurprisingly) it doesn't go as far as number 40. There are, however, a number of houses which look like they could be the model for the house in the title.

SDTG glad to see you're curious enough about the Rose Dormitory girls to want to get a copy - I'm surprised that book's still around.

Does anyone remember a book called Red Feather? Very odd story about fairies, a botched attempt to steal a mortal baby and leave a changeling in its place.

An absolutely brilliant book is Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. A little girl being raised by well-meaning but rather clueless relatives has to go and live with another set of cousins in Vermont. The book shows her transformation from a sheltered, terrified child to a confident and competent girl. It includes a heart-breaking sub-plot about child abuse (with a happy if improbable conclusion) and some rather radical ideas about education, especially given that the book was originally published 100 years or so ago.

In the night kitchen

Those of you who love the Green Knowe books, you can visit the actual Green Knowe house if you book in advance. It's near Cambridge, in a tiny village called Hemmingford Grey, and it's fascinating.

There are people living in the area who are actually called Oldknow.

SydneyCarton yes, Tammy - that rings a bell, and you're bang on re the strangling in the Strawberry Handkerchief!

Am well chuffed to find someone else who remembers them, I'm nearly 40 and have never met anyone else who does!

I can forsee lots of hanging out looking for retro girls' comics on ebay this summer - have already managed to track down and order a Woodland Adventures Book.

Mind you, my nearly 11yo DD would probably look at me like if I did get hold of some - she's more into fantasy and steampunk!

wol, they're almost all split into several apartments or used as university buildings now, but IIRC that is what the book says is happening even then. They're eye-wateringly expensive, too.

I lived a couple of roads up from Norham Gardens in my postgrad year. They're lovely houses.

Haven't read the whole thread so don't know if it's come up, but George and Matilda Mouse and the Dollshouse by Heather S Buchanan. The illustrations are so beautiful. There's another one called George and Matilda Mouse and the Floating School too.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher is a brilliant writer - her book for adults The Home Maker is published in a beautiful edition by Persephone. It's very moving.

(She was also v influential in bringing Montessori to the US)

I had the One End Street stories from the library - I remember Lily Rose ironing a green petticoat that shrank to the size of a doll's skirt - but the only one of the series I had my own copy of was the Dew Drop Inn, a story about Kate only who goes to stay in the country to convalesce after scarlet fever or something. And wins all the prizes at the Flower Show for her poems and wild flower arrangement.

I want to get my hands on a copy of The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll - think it's recently been reprinted - and the Old Nurse's Stocking Basket, both have Edward Ardizzone illustrations and I loved them both.

And whoever mentioned Tilly's House, I found a copy in my local charity shop recently, and was thrilled. Bought much more for me than for the DDs.

Oh and I had a friend with v religious parents who had Treasures of the Snow and all the Haffertee Hamster books - I regarded the religious messages being smuggled into the story with deep suspicion as a child. Same with Heidi and Little Women really, they are very preachy, but I did love them.

I loved A Dog So Small, about a boy who was desperate for a dog, and wasn't allowed one, so conjured up a dog so small he could keep him in his mind
Mary plain - my sister threw away my almost complete collection and I'm slowly buying them again.
I loved a book call ed Tubby and Tootsy, about two little bears. If anyone else has heard of it I'll be so chuffed!

Ooh Lavender you have reminded me we read A Dog So Small at primary school, it's all come flooding back! Have just looked it up and its by Philippa Pearce of Tom's Midnight Garden fame. I am going to get it for ds2 who is hankering for a dog. We also have a more recent book by her called A Finders Magic which is lovely.

As previously mentioned The Diddakoi- by Rumer Godden, it was made in to a TV Series in the mid 70's called "Kizzy", I remember being so taken with that I named my daughter after the character.

My obscure book would be "The Wave" by Morten Rhue (Todd Strasser), which was based on a real life experiment called "The Third Wave" ( to show the rise in popularity of the Nazi party), which was used in an American High school history class.

These are some of the childhood favourites that I rescued from my parents' loft. I was a big fan of the local library though so there are hundreds more that I didn't own. Thank you for this thread; my Amazon wishlist has suddenly grown huge!

And for those of you who are Rumer Godden fans - I bought this off eBay and it arrived yesterday. I can't wait to watch it.

One more thing... For those of you trying to track down obscure books for a decent price, try www.bookbutler.com. It currently shows copies of Rebecca's World for £8 on the French Amazon site (which works with your UK Amazon log in, incidentally).

The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell

Children of the stones- about a dad and son who go to live in a community within a standing stone circle as part of dads research job.

Freaky stuff with stars, magnetism and mind control, all orchestrated by the nice village head.

Happy day!

Marshmallow I loved Treasures of the Snow & The Tanglewood Secret.

Oh, Micah I didn't know Children of the Stones was a book too. I LOVED the tv series, though my memories are hazy. It was a long time ago.

I bought the dvd of Children of the Stones for dc. Looks dated but still scary, i think i still have the book around somewhere. Bought the Tripods ( well the 2 parts the bbc made) and that went down well .

Bruffin I think I might need to buy the book. My main memory was of a painting with a dragon on it?

And more bizarrely, I associate it with oxo cubes...

No, I don't remember why either