What really stands out when you think of your childhood books?

[invisiblegorilla]

For me:

The Chalet School series. The early ones, when Jo was still a pupil! I brought them second hand. Eustacia, Elisaveta and so on. I remember when Jo and co. were given their prefect rooms in the new building and being in love with the descriptions/idea of it all.

Nancy Drew. Can't remember which ones, it's just a lot of investigations and stories blended it together in my memory.

The Chronicles of Narnia. I found the last book a little strange, but I read the first three over and over again.

And anything by Roald Dahl. There's a lot more (anything to do with boarding schools and midnight feasts had me obsessed) but I'm curious about what books other people remember the most.

Anne of Green Gables series
Flambards series
Harriet the Spy
Everything Judy Blume
Little Women series
The Summer of My German Soldier
A Tree Grows in Brookland
Sherlock Holmes
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiller
Everything Noel Stretfield
Everything Francis Hogsten Burnett

These are the books which stand out. What is striking is that YA fiction I read compared to what my DS is reading is more rooted in reality, and not as dark. Definitely no vampires or post apocalypse dystopia in my reading!

How amazing to read this thread and find two books that I remembered the story of, but not the titles. These were the Sugar Mouse and Traveller in Time, will definitely try and get them on Amazon to read again!

Does anyone remember Agaton Sax the detective, I think he was Swedish, or the Uncle books written by JP Martin about a millionaire elephant who lived in a castle?

Also wondered if anyone recognises these stories - one was about smugglers who hid some diamonds inside bloaters, a type of fish. Think there was a cat involved?

The other was about a boy and a girl I think who had to find and collect a number of objects belonging to a witch. They found a cauldron in a junk shop I think....

Finally, a story about a boy who could shrink and went to join a community of tiny warlike people. He could then return home having spent a fortnight with them, to find no time had gone by at home.

Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on these.

I loved A Traveller in Time; nobody I know in real left has read it! I can still reread it, at nearly 60!

Maybe 'the shrinking of Treehorn?'

Thank you, GeraniumRed, but, no, it was a bit more of a serious story than Treehorn. There were some rather obscure stories in my local childhood library, I fear...

Flatulent is the cauldron one Carbonel?

For me

-Carbonel

• The Demon headmaster (plus cbbc or maybe itv adaptation)

-The Cuckoo Sister (plus TV adaptation)

• Milly molly Mandy
• All of Enid Blyton. Except the biblically inspired ones.
• Pony books. Thoroughly recommend a book called heroines on horseback by Jane Badger for anyone nostalgic about pony fiction
• teddy Robinson was one of my early childhood favourites. I remember the 3 books, the green one was my favourite.
• Mrs pepperpot was also a favourite at a young age I remember my mum reading them to me.

For pony book lovers www.amazon.co.uk/Heroines-Horseback-Pony-Childrens-Fiction/dp/1847451543

Loads of the ones mentioned - cressetmama I remember a Traveller in Time (I thought she was a bit young to be swooning over the plotting nobleman )

Also lots by Leon Garfield and Rosemary Sutcliffe

Mominatrix I read a few post apocalypse dystopian books eg Brother in the Land (Robert Swindells) and the Tripod series (can't remember the author). No vampire books, but I did read Point Horror...

I've remembered more!

• "Back Home" by Michelle Magorian - less mawkish than "Goodnight Mister Tom".
• The "Flossie Teacake" books. Very funny.
• Books about teenage life in slightly earlier eras, e.g. "Fifteen".
• Other books I read as a child that were not children's books as such: Isaac Asimov (the mystery ones as well as the robot ones); lots of George Orwell; lots of Agatha Christie.
• John Wyndham: "Chocky", "The Midwich Cuckoos", "The Tripods".
• "The Lotus Caves" by John Christopher, about teenagers living in the first lunar colony and how claustrophobic that is.
• Gerald Durrell's books. I preferred the bits about his family and their friends to the bits about animals and scenery.
• All of E. Nesbit, especially the Bastable books ("The Story of the Treasure Seekers", etc.) - Victorian and Edwardian feminism!
• Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, and the Lone Pine books.

A definite yes to Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban. It's wonderful. So is A Birthday for Frances. And his book for older children The Mouse and his Child is brilliant. Books I still love are the Borrowers series, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert O'Brien and his other children's novel Z for Zachariah, I am David by Ann Holm and everything Enid Blyton wrote except the Noddy books.

When i was at Junior school, a friend of mine had a copy of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl. I remember finding the story Lucky Break about his school days and his description of getting the cane as an 8 year old quite sad and shocking. I remember the words "If only your mother were here, you told yourself, she would not let this happen. She wasn't here. You were alone."

uriahheep no I don't know that one by Kate Seredy at all, have only ever read The Good Master (which tbh I wasn't mad about). I will look for it. Always good to get a recommendation!

MimiLaBonq - thank you, I have just googled Carbonel and that definitely is the cauldron story I remembered. I'm really grateful as it was years ago I read it and never thought I would track it down. Off to order it on Amazon!

The chalet school
Drina Ballerina
Trebizon
Malory Towers
St Clare's

All of these.. Also remember the grain of rid one, what was it called?!

Also:

Fly by Night
New Patches for Old
Easy Connections

Most of my favourites have already been mentioned many times:

The Chalet School
Anything by Noel Streatfeild but particularly Ballet Shoes
Malory Towers
The Sadlers Wells books by Lorna Hill
The Jill Books by Ruby Ferguson
The William Books
Charlotte Sometimes

I still read all of the above and get as much pleasure from them now as I did back then.

The chronicles of Narnia.

Enid Blyton, JK Rowling, Philip Pullman.

Yay - someone else finally mentioned The Tripods (though it's John Christopher rather than Wyndham)

I lived Blyton back in the 70's - but my kids just aren't keen at all. Saying that, many are very very repetitive and a bit dull now.

CuffsAndCollar was Easy Connections the story about a girl who meets a pop star who becomes obsessed with her, and there's a bit where another character says that him, her and A N Other are members of the Tuatha de Danann reincarnated? I read that a couple of times from the library many years ago and bits of it really stuck, but I could never remember what it was called. That rings a huge bell though.

If it is the one I'm thinking of, there's a very controversial rape scene.

He faraway tree
The wishing chair
The famous five
The island of... Series - all Enid Blyton

Frances hodges on Burnett - the little princess's
The secret garden
Little lord Fauntleroy

Kizzy

Sweet valley high books about twins

The chalet school series

Malory towers
St Claire's

The hose books by the pullein-Thompson sisters and Judy Blume books...

I read a Traveller in Time to my DDs, they both loved it too!

One I used to get out of the library over and over again: A Wrinkle in Time. The idea really fascinated me.

I loved A Wrinkle in Time too! There were a few others in the series which I tracked down, but I didn't enjoy them quite so much.