What’s one story from your childhood that still gives you that warm, magical feeling? - Win cinema vouchers

[EllieSmumsnet]

Some stories stay with us forever. They’re the ones that sparked our imaginations, introduced us to unforgettable characters, and made us believe that extraordinary things could happen in ordinary places. Long after childhood, those tales still carry a sense of comfort and wonder.

Now, as The Magic Faraway Tree makes its journey from beloved book to the big screen, arriving in UK & Ireland cinemas on 27 March 2026, it’s the perfect moment to celebrate the stories that shaped us.

What’s one story from your childhood that still fills you with that warm, magical feeling and why? Was it a book you read again and again? A character you wished you could meet? A world you imagined so vividly it felt real?

Share your memory with us by 22/04/2026 for your chance to win a £200 VEX voucher and cinema vouchers to see The Magic Faraway Tree with your family (T&Cs apply).

Carbonelle about a black cat

It was my Dad's bedtime stories. He would make them up and take us to magical lands. Each night he would ask us what we remembered from the night before and then he would continue the story. As adults we realised it was because he couldn't remember what he said. Stories normally came to an end with my mum shouting up the stairs that he was supposed to be telling us a calm story to settle us down, not getting us overexcited and jumping on beds! Its now 4 years since we lost him but I like to think he still joins us as I read bedtime stories to my children.

Definitely Ballet Shoes, it was such a good story that turned out in the end, even if you thought it wouldn't.

I once read one called - the last polar bear, just a short book, not a best seller, never seen it anywhere since, but at 10 it had such a profound affect on my life, and made me feel sad about global warning, but happy that the polar bear did find other polar bears at the end.

I read a book called The Shrinking of Treehorn as a child. It was about a young boy who begins shrinking one day, whose parents barely notice when he shrinks. I loved the illustrations and the story made me laugh. It was a book that I read over and over as a child.

One story from my childhood that still makes me smile is The BFG by Roald Dahl. Even now, just seeing the cover takes me straight back to being a child curled up in bed, legs wrapped in the duvet, reading a proper book (remember those?) by the glow of the lamp I was absolutely not supposed to still have on.

My sister’s favourite book was The Magic Faraway Tree and so we can’t wait to see the film. The books I hold dearest are the Ramona series. I loved her so much.

Enid Blyton’s Adventures of the Wishing Chair. Loved the idea of the flying chair that had its own personality and took them on so many adventures. My dear nan used to read it to me so that brings back happy memories too. Also The Silver Sword when I was a bit older.

I have such warm fuzzy memories of my mum reading me and my brother a chapter a night of The Chronicles of Narnia. My favourites were The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. We also loved The Borrowers, Five Children and It, and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

Once I was an independent reader, my favourites were the Anne of Green Gables books and the When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit trilogy.

I loved Tom’s Midnight Garden. I think mostly because I wanted to have a time-slip experience myself - the Greene Knowe books were favourites too.

The only ones I re-read though are at Christmas: The Box of Delights, and The Dark is Rising.

My friend and I loved Watership Down by Richard Adams. We used to play games involving the characters we loved, etc. It was like having a whole alternative world to inhabit!

I loved it too.

One book I loved from my childhood in the 1990s was Goosebumps by R. L. Stine. I remember being engrossed in this book - not been a reader as a child, the eerie twists, cliff‑hanger chapter endings really kept me coming back. I went on to read night of the living dummy, very scooby doo, but more grown up.

There are actually 5 books in this series and I reread them all every few years.
A prequel, about the grandmother. Garden of Shadows.
You’ll feel a bit sorry for her tbh.

And a sequel to If there be thorns. It’s called Seeds of Yesterday.

I had all the stepback covers. Wish I’d kept them!

Every time I see purple and red clothing, shoes, accessories etc; I think of Carrie.
I still cry over Cory.

There is a follow up to Mrs Frisby called Racso and the rats of Nimh.
It’s written by the author’s daughter. I enjoyed it.

I remember Mrs Frisby being read on Jackanory and I knew I had to have the book! Oh and I wanted to be called Nicodemus 🤣

A sound of thunder by Ray Bradbury - it gave me my love for sci-fi and mystery/thriller books and stories

Ha! This made me laugh out loud 🤣. We’ve read them to my daughter too, and she thought they were mainly about the lavish picnics they have at every meal. It’s unbelievable how much they eat!!! 🤣

I loved Elizabeth Beresford's The Wombles as a child - both the picture books and animations when I was tiny, and the novels when I'd learned to read fluently. Their world, with wise Great Uncle Bulgaria watching over everything, grumpy Tobermory, bossy Bungo, had such a cosy feeling and of course, the reassurance that if you did the right thing you'd be rewarded, if you did the wrong thing you'd learn your lesson.

I still read the novels now sometimes, and it's a world I'm glad to know that children of today still enjoy, complete with some new characters who weren't around in the 70s and 80s.

The film with Bonnie Langford ('Wombling Free') didn't really do the characters justice (no reflection on Bonnie, it just didn't have a coherent plot). A new film is well overdue in my opinion. They could use CGI to recreate the original stop-motion feel of the animated series.

Meg and Mog as a child, loved to read this with my nan - special memories

I remember reading and loving Matilda s a child because it made me feel like being clever and different was a superpower, I was very geeky and did not have many friends and school, my favourite character was Matilda because she was brave, kind, and quietly stood up for herself - qualities I try to instil by my DD and DN's

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. A timeless gem.

At primary school we had a wonderful teacher, Miss Barnes, who read us ;The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe.' We crafted wardrobes, that opened out into a magical land, and it was so fun. She brought us in pieces of Turkish Delight to try as they were mentioned in a key part of the novel and nobody knew what it was. I can still remember the icing sugar sweetness and smell. When we visited my Grandmother who had a sturdy old fashioned wardrobe we tried to go through it. It was a magical story and shared so well.

My parents had me in their teens, and money was short. We’re Scottish, but my dad went to Manchester to work for a bit. I didn’t have the most emotionally present mum, but adored my dad and really, really struggled with him being away. I must have been 5 or 6 at this time. One night, I was asleep in bed (we lived with my gran at this time) and woke up to the sound of my dad’s voice. I hadn’t been expecting him home and it was the most wonderful and welcome sound of all. I remember vividly going back to sleep with a smile on my face, thinking that everything was going to be ok.
When I woke up in the morning, there was a Wonder Woman doll on my bed. I thought I must have died and gone to heaven!

Oh bugger, sorry! I feel like an idiot now, but I had taken story to mean something that happened in your childhood 😳
My favourite actual story was the Patchwork Cat. And pretty much anything by Enid Blyton.

As someone who works in attendance in a secondary school, I hear you. It's frustrating when reading countless posts about how schools and CAMHS are failing children, how much appalling parenting we see every day!

But calling parents out is very frowned upon because school has become a one stop shop for all of societies issues. And I say that as the mother of two autistic (diagnosed) teenage daughters.