Childhood nostalgia poll

[rachelmanija]

Please reminisce, fondly or not, about any of these, or other books read in childhood, especially if they seem to have, deservedly or undeservedly, vanished from the shelves. I'd love to hear about non-US, non-British books, too.

[Poll #1720139]

Comments

[genarti]

Some that I haven't seen anyone mention yet: the Animorphs series, which I read and loved the first handful of. At which point I realized that the series was already at twenty-odd books (I don't even know how many it eventually got to), looked at my sparse pocket money, and decided that this was a series I'd best give up now. The Valdemar series, which I devoured like sparkly wish-fulfillment candy. Xanth (which I am terrified to ever reread; Piers Anthony's id is a scary sketchy place) and Pern (somewhat ditto, but with more redeeming parts). Tamora Pierce -- the Alanna books were what I read as a kid, but as I've grown up I've continued to read her others too.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

HOW HAS NO ONE MENTIONED ELIZABETH ENRIGHT? I cannot be the only one! Both the Melendy books and the Gone-Away Lake books are still among my favorite comfort reads ever.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Oh, one more I haven't seen anyone mention: Kate Seredy. She wrote a small series about a couple of pre-and-during-WWI-era Hungarian kids. (The Good Master & The Singing Tree.)

Also many other books, one of which was a mythologized retelling of the founding of Hungary (The White Stag), another of which was a horse-and-WWII-book. (The Chestry Oak, with an uncontrollable-except-by-the-protagonist horse. Also, he's a prince. The kid, not the horse.)

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

How could I have forgotten Ramona!? A bit younger than most of the books we've been talking about, I think, but I loved everything Beverly Cleary.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I am skipping two pages of comments because I must work! But probably these are mentioned therein, as other favorites even I had forgotten are mentioned in the first two:

I only ever found one Cherry Ames book, but I LOVED the Sue Barton books, also about a nurse, from student days to city nurse to rural nursing.

Mary Stolz! The Betsy-Tacy books. Leonora Mattingly Weber. I have no idea how well these have aged.

[fizzyblogic.livejournal.com]

My childhood was dominated by Enid Blyton — Secret Seven, Famous Five, Adventure series, Five Find-outers and Dog (Five Find-outers is a different series to Famous Five, I was confused to see them as one item on the poll) — and Roald Dahl and Narnia. I also loved The Worst Witch, and read some Sadler's Wells, and later in childhood became obsessed with Babysitters Club (which I still love, am currently re-reading #26 and having lots of feelings). There was also a series about a witch called Mogg; I don't remember much about it, except that I loved it fiercely for about three months when I was six.

[alumiere.livejournal.com]

Being an odd child my most treasured books were mythology and 'folklore' - Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Celtic, Norse, African, Arabic, etc. I didn't really get exposed to Native American or Aborigines mythology until college though.

As for series, I think the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys were Mom's books first; I was done with them by 2nd grade. I also read Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Tolkien, Stephen King, Dickens, Peter Straub, and a whole lot more before the end of elementary school. My teachers learned quickly that they had to pre-approve my book report choices as most of my classmates weren't allowed to read what I was.

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

Holy macaroni, this POST. ...I've read about half the books mentioned, and have added most of the other half to my reading list. O_O

(Danny Dunn! Three Investigators! Freddy the Pig! Swallows and Amazons! *flailyhands*)