Anyone still like re reading their old childhood books ?

[dottiedodah]

Just been reading thread about controversial books .I still like to re read some of my favourite childhood Authors ,Enid Blyton FF and MT, also Harry Potter .Does anyone remember Alan Garner as well ?

I loved re reading my favourite childhood books to my own children when they were smaller. Don't remember Alan Garner but I have reread all of my childhood favourites dozens of times.

Yes, me too - love reading my childhood favourites over and over again:

Alan Garner
'Earthfasts' and 'A swarm In May' by William Mayne
Barbara Euphan Todd's 'Worzel Gummidge' series
All of Richmal Crompton's 'Just William' books
'Jennings' by Anthony Buckridge
'Billy Bunter'
'Bevis; The Story Of A Boy' by Richard Jeffries
'Brendon Chase', 'Down The Bright Stream' and 'The Little Grey Men' by Denys Watkins Pitchford

Pure nostalgia and escapism and I never tire of reading them

Oh, I forgot!

Rudyard Kipling's 'Stalky & Co'
'The Fifth Form At St Dominics' by Talbot Baines Reed

I bought "are you there god?it's me,Margaret" by Judy Bloom for my daughter for Christmas. I'd read it myself as a child and knew she'd enjoy it. But she had to wait till I'd re read it first 😂

Scarlett OK glad to hear its not just me then! Alan Garner was a 1960s Author who wrote mystery /magical type stories ,very good had a kind of atmosphere to his work IYSWIM .Beekeeper 1 ,Just William was funny and my DMs favourite Author too .Like Enid Blyton so much .Lost my DF when I was 8 ,and would devour her books as such an escape for a little girl living in London .Missing DF and finding solace in a group of lovely children having adventures in a world of picnics,sunshine ,and bike rides true heaven !

I do, have tracked down a few over the years where I remembered bits of the story but not the title or author, very satisfying when I've finally found them. I love Alan Garner and Penelope Lively, and read books that I'd have liked as a child but somehow missed - I was reading 'Over Sea, Under Stone' by Susan Cooper on the train yesterday.

Folks of the faraway tree..at 43 lol

Yes - I love re-reading Malory towers, st Clare's and the naughtiest girl in the school. I was a huge fan of Jacqueline Wilson books when I was young, and re-read one last year to bring me some nostalgia...but unfortunately for me it went the other way, I really disliked it, felt like it was poorly written etc, which disappointed me

I enjoy rereading the Narnia books, Under Sea Under Stone series, E Nesbit, Leon Garfield, Little House on the Prairie (and the others) and Rosemary Sutcliffe. But my all-time comfort read is A Little Princess.

I tried reading Enid Blyton to dd when she was younger with mixed results. We both loved the Faraway Tree books but the casual racism and snobbery of the school stories and the Famous Five really wound me up. I couldn't stand the way that upper middle class children spoke to working class adults. I hadn't picked up on that as a kid.

1066vegan I take your point ,but dont forget these books were written in different times ,when that kind of snobbery was more prevalent .Enid Blyton was married to a Surgeon ,and they went on holiday 4 times per year to a lovely Hotel in Studland .She was wealthy and presumably this sort of thing was seen as acceptable ,when now quite rightly it is being dealt with properly (We hope)!

I have a whole bookcase of childhood favourites in my spare room and regularly reread them!

I re-read Winnie the Pooh books as an adult. Really enjoyed them.

Beekeeper1 I recently reread A Swarm in May, presumably the source of your username? I work with boy choristers and there's no way I'd let them anywhere near a beehive- it would be a Health & Safety and Safeguarding nightmare! Also, my lot don't walk around quoting psalms at each other...

Not just my old childhood books but newer ones too, there is some absolutely brilliant literature around for kids at the moment, I keep sneaking books from my children. My dd in particular is a total book worm and her shelves are heaving with wonderful books.

Yes! I kept loads of my childhood books and re-read them often. Enid Blyton hasn't really agreed well enough to go back to, for me, but I still love Susan Cooper, Tamora Pearce, Anne Fine, Joan Aiken, Diana Wynne Jones and of course all the classics like Ballet Shoes and Heidi and What Katy Did...

And I re-read Alan Garner's The Owl Service recently - super creepy!

Loved a Little Princess too. So much so that it’s influenced my domestic furnishings aesthetic quite considerably (currently sitting in my living room looking at a deep red Indian carpet and some similarly inspired cushions as if an Indian well wisher has broken into my lonely garret and made it cosy for me).

Also still love to read the Railway Children. It’s perfectly written .

Ballet Shoes, Tennis Shoes, The Painted Garden, The Family at One End Street, Little Women, Good Wives, Jo's Boys, Eight Cousins, The Little House on the Prairie.

I re-read The Children of Green Knowe and The Dark is Rising almost every Christmas. I wasn’t a child when Harry Potter was written but still reread the first three - I can’t be doing with the ones after that, way too long! I also reread The Enchanted Castle, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, The Saturdays and Then They Were Five by Elizabeth Enright, The Railway Children, Ballet Shoes, White Boots, Camerons at the Castle, the Susan series (“Susan Rushes In), all the Narnia books except The Last Battle, probably loads more. Oh yes, Anne of Green Gables of course.

Beekeeper1, The Little Grey Men and Stalky & Co - yes! I love those books. Never met anyone else who has even heard of them. On my bookshelf and I read LGM aloud to my kids a couple of years ago (age 11 and 14), they loved it. I am going to look up your other reads as we have similar tastes. 👋🏻

Yes! Currently re-reading Anne of Green Gables after watching Anne with an E and remembering how much I adored it. Unfortunately my son isn’t that interested in a lot of the books I loved as a child and won’t let me read them to him

Love Alan Garner - Weirdstone of Brisingamen was just about my favourite book as a child (and the sequel Moon of Gomrath) though I can't bring myself to read his recent third book in the series.
Also love Antonia Forest - like to re-read Peters Room or Run Away Home at Christmas. She writes brilliantly.

Reread Carrie's War recently and it was still wonderful. Loved Children of Green Knowe but haven't read it for years, want to visit the house though. Will maybe buy for the DC, think DD2 will love. Can't cope with Alan Garner, freaked me out as a child, don't want to repeat that.

@FranKatzenjammer, yes, third generation beekeeper, hence unoriginal username! However, having just googled William Mayne I no longer wish to read or have his books in my house - I had no idea a@nd feel uneasy that this person WAS one of my favourite authors. Ugh!

@Riddleofthesands, it sounds as though our literary tastes are very similar. 'Down The Bright Stream' is the sequel to 'Little Grey Men and I think you would enjoy it. Denys Watkins Pitchford wrote prolifically - not all children's literature to be sure, but 'Manka, The Sky Gypsy' and 'Wild Lone, The Story Of The Pychley Fox' may also appeal to you

Dottie I am re reading Elidor! It's so good!