Give me The 21 Balloons. I became obsessed with Krakatoa after reading that. It took another 30 years to scratch that itch with Simon Winchester’s book about it.
Favorite Books from your childhood.
- Thread starter nortac
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I really never learned to read well until freshman year. Then I read ALL of Robert Heinlein. Just reread "Citizen of the Galaxy" last week. Started "Farmer in the Sky" last night.
I couldn't sit still long enough to read till I had heart problems in my Freshman year. Then I taught myself.
In elementary I read all the simple Biographies of the US Presidents. Pretty simple reading. I guess I also read comic books!
I couldn't sit still long enough to read till I had heart problems in my Freshman year. Then I taught myself.
In elementary I read all the simple Biographies of the US Presidents. Pretty simple reading. I guess I also read comic books!
If you remember the cover of Heinlein’s ‘Friday,’ I got in trouble for buying that. I also got yelled at for reading ‘Maggie, a Girl of the Streets.’ My dad got a little red-faced when I showed him it was written by Stephen Crane of Red Badge of Courage fame.
The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush
I was a huge Doc Savage fan in junior high school. Before that I liked the Hugh Lifting Dr Dolittle books, The Great Cheese Conspiracy and the Deaulaire (sp?) mythology books.
Friday was brilliant. I remember reading the "novella" or short story that featured one of Friday's 23 or however many "parents" she had, back in the 80's. He wrote the story (I forget the title) in the 40's... I remember the story mentioned old folks homes on the Moon because of the low gravity. RICH old folks, LOL!
When I was very young I liked the Roald Dahl books, and also Tin Tin and Asterix comics.
When I was about twelve I read Papillon, and that became my favourite, and I read it about three or four times. I also liked Stephen King. I was about twelve or thirteen when that came out, and it scared the willies out of me, but I loved it. My friend and I were basically just borrowing books off his parents bookshelf.
When I was about twelve I read Papillon, and that became my favourite, and I read it about three or four times. I also liked Stephen King. I was about twelve or thirteen when that came out, and it scared the willies out of me, but I loved it. My friend and I were basically just borrowing books off his parents bookshelf.
I was - and still am - a voracious reader. I'm another one that grew up on the Hardy Boys books, although they were outdated even by then. I also read the Encyclopedia Brown series (anyone remember those?). I had a bunch of the Illustrated Classics Editions books, which were abridged versions of classic novels, with a pencil drawing every other page. My favorite was The Count of Monte Cristo. The first "serious" book I read was The Pearl by John Steinbeck, in 6th grade. Not a kids book and when I read it several years later I understood the themes better. Steinbeck remains a favorite.
Hardy Boys and Biggles were my favourite books to read. Comic wise The Phantom and the good old Commando war comics. I still have some somewhere.
When I was 9, Dr Dolittle started me on a lifetime of reading. I have all Lofting's Dolittle works as ebooks now and still enjoy revisiting Polynesia the parrot and Chee Chee the monkey. I also liked Wind in the Willows and Eloise.
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I loved The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is also up there, but Tom Sawyer captured the nuisances (especially the innocence) of youth and boyhood better, IMHO. I read it when I was in 5th grade and it immediately became a favorite as I was able to identify with the same mix of adventure, (false) bravado, innocence, humor, and romance in Tom.
That said, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an absolute classic of American literature (far outstripping Tom Sawyer). I've read it at different ages and gotten so much more from it with each re-reading. Where I am brought back to a simpler time with Tom Sawyer, with Huck Finn, I am reminded of America's perennial struggles on the issues of race, class, power, and respectability. It's probably not going too far to call Huck Finn Mark Twain's magnum opus.
But getting back to childhood favorites, some of my other favorites included (in no particular order): The Phantom Tollbooth; The Three Investigators series; the Hardy Boys series; the Encyclopedia Brown series, Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories; assorted books on Greek myths, gods, and legends; numerous books on the Arthurian romances (including by Bullfinch, Malory, and Pyle); various books on Robin Hood; The Three Musketeers; Treasure Island; The Swiss Family Robinson; Grimm's fairy tales; 1001 Arabian Nights; Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales; the Mrs. Pigglewiggle series; the Babysitters Club series; the Choose Your Own Adventure series; the Doctor Doolittle books, and the Lewis Barnavelt series.
As I entered adolescence, I started reading fantasy novels. Some of my favorites included the Ebeneezum and the Wuntvor trilogies by Craig Shaw Gardner, the Myth series by Robert Lynn Asprin, the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, the Riftwar Saga of books by Raymond E. Feist, the Castle Roogna series by John de Chancie, and The incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony. I also liked the Callahan series by Spider Robinson, but that was less fantasy and a bit more sci-fi. I also enjoyed reading some of Robert A. Heinlein's books, including Job: A Comedy of Justice and Starship Troopers. Of course, I also greatly enjoyed Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
"Smiley" by Moore Raymond, published by Sylvan Press, London, 1943.
Hie To The Hunters
By Jesse Stuart
By Jesse Stuart
Burroughs Tarzan books and Howards Conan books.
I have an autographed James And The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.
I also know him for writing the screenplay for You Only Live Twice.
However, my personal favorites were the Mellops series,
as well as Crictor by the same author whose name I do not recall at the moment.
I have bought those for my friends children and read them to them
on many occasions as well as Ferdinand The Bull,
and the greatest book of all time: Pat The Bunny.
My friends had a bull named Tucker, so whenever we read Ferdinand,
we changed his name to Tucker and substituted local place names
for the ones in the book.
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The Day Of The Triffids was the first scary sci-fi book I remember. I was around 7 years old and my older brother would read aloud while I tried to follow along. He was great and creating the atmosphere and it scared the heck out of me…I loved it!
I wouldn't count high school as childhood. So I'm remembering early elementary school, up to about 5th grade.
Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons. As a parent I found out about Ransome's varied children's books and read them all to my kids.
Through the Looking-Glass and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Winnie the Pooh books.
L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time.
The Hardy Boys were a favorite in 3rd grade. I was reading the already very outdated ones from the 20s and 30s. Speaking of outdated, the many dog books by Albert Payson Terhune.
This thread reminded me of Jack London and Lofting's Dr Doolittle. Also Sherlock Holmes. I was a sucker for tales of Robin Hood and various folk/fairy tale collections, including Grimm and Andersen.
With my own kids I read aloud the Narnia books, much Roald Dahl, The Hobbit, and the whole Harry Potter opus as it came out. They all dove into fantasy, swords, and sorcery at young ages.
Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons. As a parent I found out about Ransome's varied children's books and read them all to my kids.
Through the Looking-Glass and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Winnie the Pooh books.
L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time.
The Hardy Boys were a favorite in 3rd grade. I was reading the already very outdated ones from the 20s and 30s. Speaking of outdated, the many dog books by Albert Payson Terhune.
This thread reminded me of Jack London and Lofting's Dr Doolittle. Also Sherlock Holmes. I was a sucker for tales of Robin Hood and various folk/fairy tale collections, including Grimm and Andersen.
With my own kids I read aloud the Narnia books, much Roald Dahl, The Hobbit, and the whole Harry Potter opus as it came out. They all dove into fantasy, swords, and sorcery at young ages.
Reading all of the books in order in The Chronicles of Narnia is a fantastic experience.
Understanding the origin of the White Witch, and how the lamp post came to be in the Narnian Forest!
