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I’ve just watched the last in a 3 part series on BBC4 about children’s books and wondered which books other people loved when they were young….? my favourite books seem to be in three sections; ones that I actually read as a child [Black Beauty, Ghost Horse, Lad, a Dog, White Fang, The Call of the Wild, National Velvet]; ones that I read when I was much older [The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Tom’s Midnight Garden, ….err I did read grown up books as well, I hasten to add] and books that I read to my children [The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Charlottes Webb, the BFG]..I managed to get a copy of Ghost Horse through a book search and, even though I hadn’t seen the book for about 40 years I could still recite huge chunks of it and felt terribly emotional when I received it; had a letter from the book search people that said ‘don’t feel pathetic at the tears, we get regular emails of this type..those books that we read when young holda special place in our hearts’….
…oh they do Mo, but strangely perhaps I can’t recall reading too many,
although I did get through Tale of Two Cities, and Wuthering Heights, which I loved…other than that..not a lot.
I went to the pictures to watch that Lion, Witch and Wardrobe thingy…
nearly fell asleep shamed to say, so hope the book was more enjoyable for you and yours.As a child though, I did find Peter O’Sullevan’s column in the Daily Express a good read – does this count?
william books by richmal crompton were the best read when i was a child, and for a really great cry forget black beauty , the happy prince by oscar wilde is superb.
My favourite book when I was very young was about Spiky the Hedgehog. I have tried to find it since my son was born without any success however my Dad thinks he may still have it somewhere so I live in hope.
I used to really like the Famous Five books but my favourite read as a child must have been Swallows and Amazons and Tom Sawyer.
I used to really like the Fanous Five books
"I’ll wager the gypsies did it!"
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
My favourite book when I was very young was about Spiky the Hedgehog. I have tried to find it since my son was born without any success however my Dad thinks he may still have it somewhere so I live in hope.
Failing that, crack archive bookseller Abebooks has loads of copies;
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=spiky+the+hedgehog&x=0&y=0
HTH,
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Kids books are great,
The Famous Five books and HG Wells – Time Machine spring to mind as being my favourites.
My favourite book when I was very young was about Spiky the Hedgehog. I have tried to find it since my son was born without any success however my Dad thinks he may still have it somewhere so I live in hope.
Failing that, crack archive bookseller Abebooks has loads of copies;
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=spiky+the+hedgehog&x=0&y=0
HTH,
gc
GC
Many thanks for that, just seeing the cover brings the memories flooding back
No worries! Abebooks is absolutely priceless for this sort of thing – I’ve never yet failed to find an old kid’s book on there.
It’s not all that bad for old racing annuals either, by the looks of it!
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Alan Garner’s stories were favourites of mine: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Moon of Gomrath and The Owl Service
Spent a lot of time in Narnia too
Dr. Strange the cream of the comic strips
I must be in a dimension where time exists; I can feel my body ageing again
The Cops and the Robbers – great book, still remember peg leg Horris, fingers Morris and vilainous grandma Swag.
Also Stanley Bagshaw books
In Huddersgate [famed for it’s tramlines], up north where it’s boring and slow, Stanley Bagshaw resides with his Grandma at number 4 Prince Albert Row…
I remember reading the Foxbusters by dick king smith, the twits, james and the giant peach, the wolves of willougby chase, the old man and the sea, moonfleet, of mice and men, lord of the flies and a tale of two cities.
Generally I hated reading as a child, and over time I learnt that by reading a sentence, skipping five, then reading another, you could get the general gist of what was going on. Then I discovered that for most book in the curriculum, there was a summary book.
I remember reading the Foxbusters by dick king smith, the twits, james and the giant peach, the wolves of willougby chase, the old man and the sea, moonfleet, of mice and men, lord of the flies and a tale of two cities.
IMO A Tale of Two Cities is one of (if not the) greatest books ever written but bloody hell, if somebody had forced it upon me as a child I’d have used it to burn their classroom down.
Harsh but fair I think.
Never read more than a handful of books as a child but I do remember some folk of the faraway tree. In hindsight I would hazard a guess that the author had had a pretty wild 1960’s.
Lee
the old man and the sea, of mice and men,
Apart from the fact they’re short amd easy to read, I reckon those are stories for the all-aged rather than just juveniles Bulwark. Like you I first read them when in short trousers and have returned to them intermittently ever since.
Beautifully crafted prose and devastatingly touching
In Huddersgate [famed for it’s tramlines], up north where it’s boring and slow, Stanley Bagshaw resides with his Grandma at number 4 Prince Albert Row…
More info at http://www.stanleybagshaw.co.uk/
…including a disclaimer from Stanley’s creator Bob Wilson as to which other famous Bob Wilsons he isn’t – a nice touch!
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
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