Books you read as a child/ teenager that you would love to read again!

[Sixofone]

I've recently started re-reading books I read as a child and teenager, having a fantastic time doing it so thought I'd share, would love to hear your books! As you will see there is a strong Enid Blyton theme....

Famous Five (but not all of them)
Malory Towers
Faraway Tree
Goodnight Mr Tom
Black Beauty (who was this by?)
the Little HOuse on the Prairie series
Nancy Drew

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and the Moon of Gomrath....these were some of my favourites too.

I remember The Giant Under the Snow too. weren't there some baddies called the leathermen or something?

My special favourite book was "The children of Greene Knowe'. Recently I bought all of the books off Ebay and enjoyed them all although the first one was the best. The house was magical.

Recently I discovered Marianne Dreams. Can't wait to read it to DS when he's older or indeed any of these titles.

loved "When Marnie was there" too. Re read this recently to.

if there are any children's book you remember vaguely but don't remeber the title or author, try "Booksleuth" on www.abebooks.com. I've rediscovered lots of faves this way.

Enough blurbling on now, off to bed.

Vlugar: did actualy try Booksleuth for my mysterious train story, but no response Oh well, one day I'll at least identify it. I recall quite clearly a picture of the train with a frightened face, going along the rails into a wood with bats flying out...

Anyone remeber a book about a boy detective called Dick who finds a sign on a train window like -E rotated clockwise 90 degrees. The sign is repeated wherever he goes and leads him into adventure. I read it in the 70's and would love to find it again.

madamez. Sorry that you didn't find your past favourite. I can't recall it either, sounds quite a strange book!

I read The Chrysalids by John Wyndham when I was about 10 and loved it. DP bought it for me a few months ago, and it was interesting which bits I had remembered and which parts went totally over my young head

Marianne Dreams has been adapted for stage and is on this December at the Almeida in Islington if any of you Catherine Storr fans are London types. We've got the programme in the office and it says it's suitable for 7 yrs and above. The adaptation is by Moira Buffini who (IMO) is v talented so it will probably be fab. My dds are too small but I might go on my own anyway! Those stones were SO scary.

Did anyone else have a passion for Beverley Nichols - The Tree that Sat Down, The Stream that Stood Still, The Wickedest Witch in the World? I think they're out of print now but were wonderful - as are his adult gardening books, but that's a different thread entirely.

Does anyone remember a book of (bad)children's poems, a bit 1950s-ish, or early 1960s, with illustrations, including these fragments:

'Tom, Tom Tomato
Down the Red Lane
We won't see old Tom Tomato again'

And (in a poem about the months over the year)

'We ate them all, yes every one
Those blackberries, sweet blackberries.'

(Longest of long shots.)

So many of my favourites are mentioned on this thread. I think one of the great joys for me of having children is having an excuse to buy and read and share the books I loved as a child. I have also discovered that some of the books I loved were part of a series - I hadn't realised how many Anne of Green Gables books there were and have really enjoyed catching up with grown-up Anne and her children. I also found a wonderful book by Elizabeth Goudge recently called Linnets and Valerians. And I have amassed every single Rosemary Sutcliff and Henry Treece that I can lay my hands on.

Yes, I'll probably go and see DiR as well, though I realise I might live to regret it...

I'm so glad now that dh and I have kept all our children's books. We're expecting our first baby any time now (actually two days ago ) and have moved all the children's books into the nursery. Even though it will be at least five years before he's old enough to have any of them read to him .

Another one I didn't read as a child but was introduced to by DH is The Once and Future King by TH White - really magical.

Joan Aiken - Wolves series and Whispering Mountain series
Alan Garner - Weirdstone of Brisingamen series
Lord of the Flies just blew me away.

And more recently I wish I hadn't read the Philip Pullman trilogy yet. I would love to have the experience of reading them all for the first time again.

And I think the Lemony Snickett books are FANTASTIC writing and I love reading them with my dd.

Oh yeh, just seen someone mention Rosemary Sutcliffe and Susan Cooper.

Haven't read the Once and Future King but Mistress Masham's Repose by TH White is fantastic. Didn't he also write the Sword in the Stone?

Beaver Towers, The Witches Revenge by Nigel Hinton

:-D

MayrAnnSingleton - try me with your pony book.
I read hundreds - and to my delight, dd is enjoying some of them. What was it about?

Does anyone remember the Josie Smith series of books? I would love to read them again.

I love so many books already mentioned, especially the Alan Garner ones, The Giant Under the Snow, Marianne Dreams, Lorna Hill ones (but manily Sebastian and Veronica ones)
Also the Chalet School books - til Joey left, it was never the same after that.

Furzella - I loved Easy Connections, can't believ she wrote another and I never knew... as it about the same people?

Does anyone remember Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer?

Also think Margaret Mahy books are great, especially The Changeover and The Tricksters.

Luckily we've kept all our books, must have 100s of kids and teenage books. Am now getting the urge to start reading them all again.

So many good memories of reading these books as a child - some of them I used to re-read over and over again - never do that as an adult. I loved

Little House on the Prairie series - but the last book was a biography with photos - so disappointing to see how they all looked
All the Chalet School books
Judy Blume
Diary of Ann Frank
The Little Prince

I read that the BBC are making a film of Ballet Shoes with the girl from Harry Potter.

The Thornbirds, especially page 100 and something.
The bonfire of the vanities

Oh my GOD hanaflower, I've just seen the trailer . It looks appalling!!! Apart from one or two references I could have watched it and not had a clue it was even adapted from the book. How can Susan Cooper have let this happen??

Furzella, you're right - the Once and Future King is just the name for the series of five books about King Arthur, of which the Sword in the Stone is the first.

Blimmin heck, I didn't realise that the Sword in the Stone was part of a series! I read it with DS2 a year or so ago and loved it. It's a great one for younger siblings to read because the older brother (or step-brother) in the story is such an egotist and so hard on Arthur, who turns out on top in the end!
Will look up the others in the series, but ds2 might be a little too old now at 8yo.

Madamez, thanks for that. It does make sense when you think about it - and frankly childens stories wouldn't work at all if they all featured parents on each page!

Furzella - I remember The Wickedest Witch in the World, loved it as a child. Think it featured Otto the Octopus who travelled in a special trunk? Didn't realise there were more on offer.

Glad I found this thread as I loved the Lorna Hill books too but couldn't remember who had written them... still have a soft spot for the name Sebastian!

As a teenager I loved the SE Hinton books (The Outsiders, Rumblefish, etc)