As an Adult, What Children's Books Have You Enjoyed?

[SprinkledGlitter]

I've seen an old thread about this and I thought I'd create a new one.

What would you recommend? I love discovering new books!

Oh wow; I've never heard of Holes but Louis Sacher rang a bell.

Just looked him up and he wrote The Boy Who Lost His Face, which I LOVED as a child and bought again in my 20s.

Would definitely recommend - it's about a boy dealing with bullying and exclusion and finding his own friends. It's very poignant without being over the top. It's great.

The Chaos Walking Series by Patrick Ness

Morrigan crow, I am obsessed!

Plus Mr gum, how to train your dragon, the last dragon slayer by jasper fforde, fortunately the milk, holes (and some but not all of Louis sachars other books, fuzzy mud was fun)

And a re read of the little princess!

Rosemary Sutcliffe's historical novels, love them and still reread.
C S Lewis Narnia books
Harry Potter
Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising series
michelle Paver's Wolf Brother series (prehistoric novels)

I've enjoyed all the Chalet School fill ins. I'm a massive Chalet School fan anyway, but discovering the fill ins has been a real bonus.

Lemony Snicket - A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Yes. Just loved the dismal dedications.

For little kids I loved reading the Shirley Hughes' books and Sandra Boynton. I still buy them for babies.

I've re-read the What Katy Did books recently. Also the Walter Macken Seek the Fair Land trilogy. I'm not sure if they were for children but I read them as a 12 year old.

Anything by Katherine Rundell. The skulduggery pleasant series, Holly Black.

I just read the Lockwood & Co series by Jonathan Stroud which was really good.

Have read everything by Diana Wynne Jones a million times, but the Spellcoat Quartet is particularly wonderful.

Here Lies Arthur and any book in the Mortal Engines universe by Philip Reeve.

Harry Potter read as an adult.
The Jill pony series by Ruby Ferguson as a child and still have them.

The Humphrey series by Betty G. Birney, if you like animals. The first one in particular has a lot in it for ages from about 8 onwards.

Humphrey is a furry classroom pet, and in the series, a second pet is introduced (Og the Frog) - there are books that tell the same kind of timescale from Og's perspective, within the series, and I like his take on things too. It's the sort of thing that writers only rarely pull off in an interesting way (the same story from 2 different angles).

I very much enjoyed reading Anne Fine book diary of a killer cat when dd was young

Diana Wynne-Jones' Fire and Hemlock and Hexwood are two of my all time favourite books.

I like to listen to audio books to help me sleep and thoroughly recommend Jacqueline Wilson's continuation of Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree stories for nice, relaxing but fun listening.

But for reading; all of those pony books I loved as a child; the Jill books, the Pullein-Thompson sisters books, Silver Snaffles.. I could read those all day.

Karen Cushman's Catherine called Birdy (also great film) & Ballad of Lucy Whipple.

More a young adult than Childrens book, but I have really been enjoying reading the Scythe series by Neal Shusterman which are my 26 yo dds.

Scythe trilogy

@longtompot yes I also enjoyed the scythe books. My 13 year old is obsessed!

Holes is amazing

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer is one of the best children's books that can be reread as an adult.

I still love loads of books I read as a child but ones I have first read as an adult and enjoyed are:
All Diana Wynne Jones, the only one I read as a child was Witch Week
The Dido Twite books after Stolen Lake, I hadn't realised there were any more as a child
Philip Pullman
More YA than children's, but Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse

@DrJoanAllenby did you know Charlotte Sometimes is one of a trilogy? I'm trying to track the other ones down and read them!

The Laura Ingalls Wilder books (Little House on the Prairie etc)

Heidi

The Railway Children

Noel Streatfield books

Another one for Swallows and Amazons, which I didn't get at all as a child, but as an adult I think they are brilliant.

Susan Cooper
Lemony Snicket
Wolf Brother
Paddington

The Anne Of Green Gables series

I did a module on Children’s Literature for my OU degree a couple of years ago. Set books included Little Women which I’d never read. Also Swallows and Amazons and Treasure Island. I enjoyed all three. There were other shorter books but I did enjoy these classics which I vaguely knew but can’t remember reading as a child.

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.

I love Bullerby Children books @Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain! Hardly anyone seems to know them