DD2 (9) wants to know what your best ever children's book is

[castille]

She recently read Heidi and loved it, and wants to read some more "brilliant stories".

Any suggestions?

a little princess
the wind on teh moon - eric linklater
any e nesbit

This is a book I loved when I was a child I might have been a bit younger than your DD and read it in the original French version.

I loved

Rufus (about a boy in a children's home)
Bogwoppit
The Katy Did series
Little Women

or The secret passage - Nina Bawden. My dc loved it read aloud, but dd also reread herself. Is Carrie's war too scary? (I remember being frightened!).

Or what about the indian in the cupboard - Lynne Reid Banks. Just started it and seems to be good, although I don't know how it ends!

the

Carbonel series was pretty impressive and both my dds (11 and 9) loved 'em.

Also would second other peeps' suggestions of Noel Streatfield books, Mary Plain series by Gwynnedd Rae and Arthur Ransome's Swallows & Amazons series.

Yes we've got the original French version of Le Petit Prince (DH is French) which she would read if I could find it....

Oh, Nina Bawden stuff was great, as were some of the Penelope Lively books too.

Oh, can't wait fo rmy dds to be old enough to read all these

Echoing lots of the suggestions above - I think I might now want a dd so that we can read Anne of Green Gables together!!

I also remember discovering and loving the Mary Poppins books at around that age. Don't know if they are still in print, but they were great fun. Haven't thought about them in more than 30 years

Series of Unfortunate events? My dd addicted to the audio book! but loves the real books too

Oh I forgot Carbonel! I loved those

Also Wolves of Willoughby Chase and the rest of the series. Joan Aiken I think. Brilliant!

At around her age my favourite were:

Little Women

The diary of Anne Frank

Astrid Lindgren "Madicken"

And Pollyanna

DD is currently reading, and enjoying, the Inkheart trilogy.

malory Towers and St Clares

Castille, check this Book People collection out. Your DD should like most of these if she hasn't read them already - at that price you can always use the duplicates as pressies.
Family at one end street was republished last year and I do recommend it.
My nine year old DD is loving the Little House on the Prairie series at the moment.
Also Charlotte Sometimes.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie books. We are reading them to the DC ATM and they love them too.

How far have you got Mimizan? We are in the middle of The Long Winter at the moment - its my favourite one!

sorry most of these will be repeats

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower

Swallows and Amazons - except not S&A itself which is pretty dull IMO - start her on Winter Holiday, then Pigeon Post, then Picts and Martyrs, then maybe Great Northern, then the others. Oooh must reread.

I know lots of people who loved the Hobbit at that age. Not me - couldn't make head or tail of it.

THE RESCUERS - not the Disney version - loved all of those sooooooooooo much. Miss Bianca and the Salt Mine was my favourite of all but start her off at the beginning.

Joan Aiken - A Necklace of Raindrops and all her short stories, as well as Black Hearts in Battersea obviously.

Emil and the Detectives, although I think a lot of children do it in school now.

I loved Dr Dolittle at that sort of age, though they are some of the books I would never re-read now, and apparently they are pretty from a political point of view so I don't plan to introduce them to ds. Is that helpful??

NURSE MATILDA. Not the Nanny McPhee film novelisation.

LadyGlen,We're just near the end of By the Shores of Silver Lake. The Long Winter is waiting at the bookshop to be collected. I had to send off to an American publisher to get any past Plum Creek. Where did you get yours from?

I've hardly got to read any of them as DH has become addicted to them, even though he didn't read them as a boy, so he does the bedtime story.

My fave was These Golden Years. I've been surprised at how political they are from reading as an adult. How about you?

Watership Down.

What about the Rosemary Sutcliffe historical novels? Hard to say a particular favourite but perhaps 'Simon', and 'The Mark of the Horse Lord'

Lots of great suggestions already - you might like to look at the titles published by Jane Nissen Books - they include some of the books already mentioned. www.janenissenbooks.co.uk/
Also, do look at Amanda Craig's website for lots of ideas and excellent articles about children's books.
www.amandacraig.com/childrens.htm

Good sites there provinciallady - reminds me of another of my all time favourite childrens books - the Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynne Jones. (Can you tell I used to like books that made me cry? )

Mimizan - I have picked up all of mine secondhand over the years - one or two are the same US editions that I had as a child - I love those covers and Garth Williams' illustrations.

I just read DD2 the Cap Garland chapter in The Long Winter last night. It is so obvious reading it as an adult that Laura was carrying a bit of a torch for him before settling for Almanzo. And so sad, thinking of what happened to him in real life.