Books that were important to you growing up.

[Chavymishmacoy]

After reading the thread about a childrens book set in an African village, I am curious to titles of books that you felt were important to you growing up. Looking for some summer reading for my daughters age 14, 12, and 7. They are all avid readers. I mostly let them pick their own books, but occasionally I like to challenge them and have them read something they normally would not read.

[lizziesmom]

When I was your youngest daughter's age, one of my favorite books was "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Franklweiler". It is about two children who run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At around age 12 or 13 I fell in love with the Melendy Family. The Saturdays, The Four Story Mistake and Then There Were Five, were all books about them, written in the 30s and 40s.

[crazyforkate]

If your daughters haven't read Little Women, by God, get it for them. Still one of my all-time favourites, and my future daughter Josephine will have that book to blame for her weird name.

Try "Dear America", "Dear Canada" and "The Royal Diaries", especially for your younger daughter. They're faux-diaries from historical periods, either written by typical girls of the era or royal princesses/Queens. You can learn about the era and other countries, but most of all, they're FUN. They were like crack to my 10-year-old brain. I think the Anastasia "diary" is what started my Russian obsession which continues to this day.

[RandomTrivia]

For the older ones, Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time is one that I've worn out many times. Not sure for the younger one, but my 7 year old is wild about Boxcar Children right now (and Calvin & Hobbes). I might have to look up the diary books - are any written from a boy's point of view?

[dawbs]

If your daughters haven't read Little Women, by God, get it for them. Still one of my all-time favourites, and my future daughter Josephine will have that book to blame for her weird name.

Try "Dear America", "Dear Canada" and "The Royal Diaries", especially for your younger daughter. They're faux-diaries from historical periods, either written by typical girls of the era or royal princesses/Queens. You can learn about the era and other countries, but most of all, they're FUN. They were like crack to my 10-year-old brain. I think the Anastasia "diary" is what started my Russian obsession which continues to this day.

I *just* saw a commercial for "Dear America" and "The Royal Diaries" as a mini-series? or somesuch, today.

I was thinking it didn't look all bad

[OkToBeTakei]

Anybody at all familiar with 'The Chalet School' series?

[crazyforkate]

RandomTrivia, I know there's a companion series to "Dear America" with boy protagonists called "My Name is America". Never read them though.

Also, the works of Louis Sachar. Even now they make me laugh. Wayside School FTW!

[Arete]

From my wicked youth, the one's that stay most with me:

1. The Little House On the Prairie series (8 years old to adulthood)

2. Little Women

3. Anne of the Green Gables

4. Aesop's Fables (great for the 4-10 crowd)

5. Anything by Judy Blume (10 years old and up)

6. The Beverly Cleary Ramona books

7. The Asterix series (this is a French cartoon series, there are English translations, and Asterix and crew are awesome :mrgreen: ) 8 and up

8. The C.S. Lewis Narnia series

9. Alexander Dumas's The Three Musketeers and its sequel books such as the Vicomte deBraglione and The Man In the Iron Mask )(13 and up)

10. The Little Prince (4 and up)

The siblings and I have been passing these titles to the niblings as they get into the age ranges, and so far they have all been big hits.

[Marian the Librarian]

1. A Wrinkle in Time, and everything else Madeleine L'Engle ever wrote, including her adult novels and non-fiction works.

2. Everything by Elizabeth Enright, especially the Melendy Family quartet (The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, Spiderweb for Two.)

3. The All-of-a-Kind Family series (Jewish immigrant family in turn of the century New York City).

4. Jane Eyre.

5. Little Women.

6. The Andrew Lang fairy tale series (Blue Fairy Book, Red Fairy Book, etc.)

7. Island of the Blue Dolphins.

8. Witch of Blackbird Pond.

9. Gone With the WInd.

10. To Kill a Mockingbird.

[happy atheist]

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Mrs Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH

Narnia series

The Black Stallion series

[Pond]

I'd probably read too many books by the time I was in the second grade, but a few that meant a lot to me were these:

- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - I was in love with the idea of running away to an art museum and solving an intricate art mystery in the home of an eccentric art collector. I think that might be when I first started loving art. Lost the book, but I recently bought a new copy online. Can't wait to reread it.

- The entire Little House series - I wanted to be the kind of girl (and woman) Laura Ingalls was.

The Chronicles of Narnia - Was about 8 when I read the first two books, I believe C.S. Lewis was one of the authors that made me love reading.

- The Happy Price - Oscar Wilde, another author that made me love reading with this particular story.

- Matilda - I read this when I was about 11/12, let's just say I found myself related to Matilda when it came to reading.

- Harry Potter series - I didn't start reading until I was about 14 (I know, I was a bit slow and I didn't even start with the first book), but it was one of those books that I could completely get myself lost into with the writing, the stories and the characters.

I was a big nerd as a kid, and I still am at 28 :lol:

[miffy]

The Faraway Tree books

Little Women

Flambards

[lilwriter85]

For the 12 year old range, I remember reading these books and they left a postive impact on me.

The Tillerman Cycle books by Cynthia Voight. These books are mostly about a family of four kids who are abandoned by their mother and they find their estranged grandmother. Some of the books are about them, The Runner is a sort of prequel about their uncle and a couple of books are spin-off type books about the oldest sister's friends.

Homecoming

Dicey's Song

The Runner

Seventeen Against The Dealer

Come a Stranger

Songs from Afar

A Solitary Blue

The Cassie and Logan family triology by Mildred Taylor-About a black girl and her family living in the South in the 1930s

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Let the Circle Be Unbroken

Song of The Trees

[Celtic_Thunder]

I always loved the Hardy Boys. Nancy Drew was ok, but it seemed she had her boyfriend do all her dirty work; whereas the Hardy Boys did it all themselves, lol. I actually still love reading the Hardy Boys books.

I also loved The Magic Treehouse books. My favorite book in second grade was Bunnicula (the full version, not the picture book). Oh, and can't forget Goosebumps! I loved Goosebumps. I wasn't allowed to read them, but I did anyway, lol. (And on that subject, R.L. Stine also wrote the Fear Street series of scary stories for even younger readers than what Goosebumps was aimed at). Chronicles of Narnia, obviously were also among my favorites; as were the Lord of the Rings books (and the prequel, The Hobbit). Heidi was a good one. And the Secret Garden. And there was one that I really loved, but for some reason I can't remember the title. It started with an M, I think, and was a girl's name? Maybe? Weird I can't remember it, since it was one of my favorites. But then, I was probably only about 7 or 8 when I read it. So all I really remember is that it was a pretty thick book about a little girl whose name may or may not have started with an M, and I really liked it. :P Anyway, I also liked the Marvin Redpost books, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Treasure Island, and anything by Ray Bradbury (especially Fahrenheit 411, but also The Last Book in the Universe). Oh, and Hank the Cowdog series! And, well, as you can see, I've always been an avid reader, so once you get me started on this subject, it can be difficult to get me to stop, lol.

[crazyforkate]

Ah, yes, Roald Dahl in any form! (Except maybe not Lambs to the Slaughter or My Uncle Oswald - might want to wait thirty years on those.) I got my godson a collection of Dahl for his seventh birthday and he's been reading them diligently ever since.

[Celtic_Thunder]

Ah, yes, Roald Dahl in any form! (Except maybe not Lambs to the Slaughter or My Uncle Oswald - might want to wait thirty years on those.) I got my godson a collection of Dahl for his seventh birthday and he's been reading them diligently ever since.

Ooh! Yes! I loved Lambs to the Slaughter and My Uncle Oswald--again, wasn't allowed to read them, but did anyway. XD ) Admittedly, probably not the best books for most children. There are exceptions, I'm sure. But most children probably not. :P

[Gertie]

The Tillerman Cycle books by Cynthia Voight. These books are mostly about a family of four kids who are abandoned by their mother and they find their estranged grandmother. Some of the books are about them, The Runner is a sort of prequel about their uncle and a couple of books are spin-off type books about the oldest sister's friends.

Homecoming

Dicey's Song

The Runner

Seventeen Against The Dealer

Come a Stranger

Songs from Afar

A Solitary Blue

!!!!! I loved the first two books and had no idea there were more!

One of my favourite series as a kid was "Swallows and Amazons" by Arthur Ransome. Even though it had a lot to do with sailing and I had never sailed in my life, I loved them.

[Pond]

I loved A Solitary Blue, not so much the rest of the series though.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl - still one of my favourite books ever.

[duplessis3]

The Oz series by L. Frank Baum (and most anything by him. ) As Gore Vidal says, at the age of six, I read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and never looked back. The Fantastic Mr. Fox was also a turning point in realizing I loved to read. (Roald Dahl. I have not seen the movie.) Older, Pride and Prejudice made me realize I could read literature for fun, not just for school. I concur with the Mixed Up Files, and the Saturday Club, too. And Little House on the Prarie. Marion Zimmer Bradley might be good for your older girls. I love love love the Darkover series.

[crazyforkate]

Just thought of another one. These are easier to get in Canada, but the works of Kit Pearson are incredibly enjoyable, especially the "Guests of War" trilogy (about a brother and sister who are evacuated to Toronto during WWII, and the five years they spend away). As well, the works of Irene N. Watts (Goodbye Marianne, Remember Me, Finding Sophie) about the Kindertransport - why yes, I was on a WWII kick at that age, how did you guess? - and for more contemporary history, the works of Deborah Ellis, such as The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey and Mud City, about young girls in Taliban-era Afghanistan. All excellent when I was about 10-12.

[laura oz]

My stand out book is embarrassing to me. I loved The Pokie Little Puppy. :embarrassed: I didn't start reading real books until I was about 12.

[Pond]

The Tomorrow Series by John Marsden was one of my fave. We read a lot of his books also in middle school English class. I miss reading them so I've been trying to get copies of the books online but haven't got much luck :(

[MsSaylor]

The Giver!

Also anything by Katherine Patterson.

The Fear Street books by R.L Stein are actually for older readers than Goosebumps. I remember reading one about a ghost girl who had committed suicide.

I did enjoy both series.

I totally second Louis Sachars Wayside school books. I kind of want to read then right now.

[Pond]

I'd read all the Goosebumps and Fear Street books by the time I was 10. Also, The Babysitters Club. I was never without one of those three whenever we were out. :whistle:

[znthahmed378]

Harry Potter, mostly.

I also read a book called "The Breadwinner" when I was 10/11. I don't remember the author, but its about a young Afghan girl who, during the Taliban reign, has to dress up as a boy to go work in a market and earn money to support her family because her brother died and her father is gone. There's more to it, but it's been a long time since I read it.