Author Topic: Favorite Childhood Novels  (Read 8771 times)

Katebo

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Favorite Childhood Novels
« on: March 27, 2007, 11:34:10 PM »
I'm always keeping an eye out for great children's books. Any suggestions? Some of my favorites were A Wrinkle in Time, the L. Frank Baum Oz books, Ann of Green Gables, Arabian Nights (Shaharazad and all that), The Hobbit, all the Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot novels, greek and roman mythology, and the Dealing with Dragons series.

winrit

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2007, 11:40:15 PM »
My favorite childhood book series was The Boxcar Children, "One night, under a full moon, four orphaned children set out on their own and turned an abandoned boxcar into their home. So begins the story of the Boxcar Children..."

I must have read the first book a hundred times.
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Junior

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2007, 11:40:27 PM »
When I wrote an essay last year where I had to compare two works of writing, I used Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Despite having to write a long paper on the two, I still love these two books. I would rank them in my top 5 books ever list, with TPT taking the top spot. It turns out that the popular theory is that both of these books rail against traditional methods of education, which makes sense when you think about it. I haven't read Through the Looking Glass yet, but that will be a summer read for sure.
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karlwinslow

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2007, 12:05:16 AM »
My favorite childhood book series was The Boxcar Children, "One night, under a full moon, four orphaned children set out on their own and turned an abandoned boxcar into their home. So begins the story of the Boxcar Children..."

I must have read the first book a hundred times.

Yes! Loved that series.  I was a big mystery buff in elementary school.

One of my favorite books as a child was Maniac McGee.  Some reviews say it's confusing, but I absolutely loved it.  Must have read it 5 or 6 times.

OldWest

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2007, 12:15:51 AM »
I loved the Black Cauldron series.

sdedalus

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2007, 12:26:15 AM »
The Hitchhiker's and Dirk Gently books by Douglas Adams.
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lise

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2007, 01:06:40 AM »
OK I loved all the books just mentioned... and I'm not just saying that... I read an awful lot! I still remember being upset when I couldn't get all the boxcar children books

I also loved

Lark - sally watson I actually loved history for a while after reading this - i think I read it 1000 times
trixie beldan mysteries - i read my fair share of nancy drew but i was obsessed with trixie beldan
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - the idea of sleeping in a museum was sooo cool
the secret garden - yep i'm one of those girls
dragon singer/songs/drums - anne mccaffrey

i also loved
the belgariad series- david eddings
over sea, under stone  and dark is rising - susan cooper
kim - i fully believe early exposure to kipling made me the crazy person i am today.



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alexarch

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2007, 07:23:38 AM »
James and the Giant Peach and all of The Wrinkle in Time books.

Katebo

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2007, 07:24:47 AM »
Maniac McGee and From the Mixed Up Files...! I loved those ones too, haven't thought of them in quite a while. We (meaning my siblings and me) even called one of my brothers "Maniac McGee" for, like, a month. The Douglas Adams, of course, are fantastic (though I didn't really discover them til middle school), and I definately remember enjoying The Phantom Tollbooth, though I think I remember the cartoon more than the book- was that a faithful adaptation, do you know, Junior? Actually, I read (and really enjoyed) all of these but a couple of lise's and the Boxcar children books. Never got into 'em. I did Nancy Drew for a while- literally read every one in both my library and my school library, and started sending away to other libraries for more, until I (and I remember this moment distinctly) realized every single book was exactly the same and none of them were really that good. Surprising that it took me that long to figure it out...

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Re: Favorite Childhood Novels
« Reply #9 on: March 28, 2007, 10:53:51 AM »
The White Mountains trilogy was great. I think I read them first around 5th grade. Oh, I see that there is now a fourth book which is a prequel to the trilogy, though it doesn't sound like it is really as good as the first three.

And some others that have already been mentioned.
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