Tonight Eric and I were in the kids section of Barnes & Noble, and I started whining about how I loved certain books as a kid, but never actually owned them. Like How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and most of all, The Giving Tree. The Giving Tree was my absolute favorite book as a kid and I still love it... it's so sad. :(

So, what was your favorite book as a kid?

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

Answers

Response to Your favorite books as a kid

The C. S. Lewis Narnia series. I read them over and over again.And I'm actually looking to buy them again. They're such a great read

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

Matilda by Roald Dahl, an instant classic!!!

Sadly I've never read The Narnia series, I really should, that and The Wizard of Oz...

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

Goodnight Moon.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

You know, I read the Narnia series when I was 11, and even back then I saw how sexist they were. I don't know any of Lewis's history or politics...does anyone else? Or maybe he just thought that way...

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

Anything Roald Dahl.

The Witches, Matilda, the BFG, Danny the Champion of the World, James and the Giant Peach, etc. etc. You name it, I have it.

I love him, i swear.

I also liked the Barenstein Bears series..and of course the Babysitters Club series.. heh.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

Roald Dalh does kick arse!

Bree: I understand that The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe had strong Christian undertones, some critics have even said that it's a retelling of the cruxification and resurrection of christ. Now assuming this be true (Like I said I've never read it, thus this is hearsay) that means that the book could quit possibly be sexist since most christian based religions are inherently sexist in nature.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

Well, Jon, C.S. Lewis was a rather Christian person, so that doesn't surprise me...

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

I've never read the Narnia books, either, but I always wanted to. I guess it was one of those things that I just never got around to. Aren't they supposed to be better if you read them when you're older? Like, you understand it more? That's what I heard, anyway. I may give them a whirl sometime.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

I understand that it a combination of reading them once when your young and then once when your older is one recommendation cause the perspectives are so different.

Jeremy: You think?

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

I was really into RL Stine and Christopher Pike books. I was an odd child.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

I was a weird kid. My favorite stuff then is the same now. Anything by Poe or Douglas Adams. Mix in a few comic books and I was happy. Then again I read a whole lot when I was younger.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

depends on my age..

When I was like, in 2nd or 3rd grade, I loved the Shel Silverstein books..[the two you mentioned]

Then in 4th grade, I started the Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High thing...

Then In 5th grade It was R.L. Stine

and 6th grade, Christopher Pike....

Oh, and somewhere along the line I LOVED my Lion King book. It had cool pictures in it.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

The entire Narnia series was sexist, imho. TLW&W was, yeah, but so was, for example, The Horse and his Boy....and the Silver Chair.....

Maybe it was because he was hardcore Christian....I dunno.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2000

babysitters club, mostly... roald dahl, r.l. stine, christopher pike...

oh, btw, a ton of roald dahl, shel silverstein and other kids books are on the banned books list... any one else think that this is absolutly ridiculous??

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

I wish I knew what people meant when they say that the Narnia books are sexist, but in a way I don't because I've kept my childhood associations with the books and that's good. No fourth grader is worried about political agendas in their reading material or somesuch. The stories are great, and even the religious overtones are good... I'm not Christian but I think the man had some good ideas. If nothing else, the Narnia books taught me what assonance means.

I have to go along with Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High. I was fanatical about the Slam Book thing, too. Loved Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, the Boxcar Children, Cynthia Voight, V.C. Andrews, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, Roald Dahl and so forth.

My absolute favorite two books when I was little were "Benji and the Power of Zingies" and "Soonie and the Dragon." Anyone ever heard of either of those? No? Just me? Moving on, then.

If you like Narnia and Harry Potter and that ilk, you should try to find the Soonie book. I don't know if it's out of print or what, but I read the hell out of it. It's still pretty cool.

Did anyone else think Mr. Wizard was THE coolest guy on earth?

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

The very hungry catpillar. I almost bought a copy last year cause they were only six bucks, but when i got to the bookstore they didnt have any. Hmph.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

Yes, The Chronicles of Narnia --- I loved 'em. Does anyone remember the BBC (I think it was BBC) tv adaptions? Do you know if all the books were made into movies? I remember The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe being made into one, as well as The Silver Chair, but I can't think of any others that were made into movies.

I read most of the Boxcar Children series too, even though I kept thinking that Benny got on my nerves since he seemed to be the one that always discovered clues to the mysteries and whatnot.

Also: Frog & Toad (1st books I remember reading), Babysitter's Club, anything and everything by Roald Dahl, The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, The Indian in the Cupboard series, stuff by Mary Downing Hahn or Zilpha Keatly Snyder (sp?). And then 6th grade saw the arrival of the Dean Koontz/Clive Barker/John Saul/Mary Higgins Clark/Terry Brooks phase. Oi.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

One last thing. OK. I remember reading 2 books officially classified as Young Adult novels; I can't remember the titles or authors for the life of me and I want to read them again.

The first one was by a William something, that I'm pretty sure. 2 main characters were a junior high girl and boy (his name started with an O); it was about discovering a 4th dimension. I think the title was started out with "The Boy Who..."

The second book was about a group of teenage kids who form a club ... this is where my memory gets really fuzzy... gets into some dangerous activity? Supernatural activity? I thought the author was a N--- Silverman or something, but Amazon wasn't pulling anything up. The same author wrote a book about a kid who could be in two places at once, and also one about a haunted shrine (based on some culture's mythology...).

Does anyone have any idea what the books are called? Not remembering is driving me nuts.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

Forgot to add. Brian Jacques' Redwall series. Yay. Going now, really.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

I used to read the Babysitter's Club, too. My question is, what the fuck is going on with those girls? They've been in 8th grade since 1986. Do we see a problem with the Stoneybrook education system?

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

haha...

they graduated two months ago. :`( i feel all guilty for quitting the series when i was a 3rd grader, thinking martin was perpetuating them forever... i wonder i missed

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

I loved the Anne of Green Gables books! And then again I liked RL Stien and the Babysitters Club. But they I got a copy of Lord of the Flies and Catcher in the Rye for Christmas. I swear I read those at least once a year. I'm in the middle of Catcher right now, even though I should be studing for my finals!!!

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

Okay, so while we're on the BSC, did anyone else think that Claudia was by far the absolute coolest a person could be? I actually used to hide candy in my room because of that, which didn't really work because my parents didn't care about candy eating.

Mallory balanced this out by being completely whiny and annoying all the time, though.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

YES, Mr Wizard! He was like my own tiny tv god when I was a kid. I watched him every single day. And Flipper. *shame*

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2000

I used to hide candy in my room because of that, too... but that also probably had something to do with the fact that I was kind of a fatass as a kid. My parents didn't care about candy, either, so it was all sort of pointless.

Mallory sucked serious ass... God, she would get on my nerves. I was never particularly fond of Jessi, either. They were both whiny little 6th-graders. Nyeh.

Did anyone else go through the entire friggin series thinking Mary Anne Spier's last name was pronounce "Spy-er?" I found out a few years ago that it's "Spear." What the fuck? Eh, she got on my nerves anyway.

Which BSC member do you think had the best chance of getting laid first? Mary Anne had her boytoy Logan, but there's no fucking way that bitch was giving anything up. I'd probably say Stacy, since she was a big-city girl, and all that shit...

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

Stacy or Dawn. Then again Mallory seemed like a lil perv.

OK AND MR WIZARD YES!!!!!!! He dated my boyfriend's best friend's grandma. Cuz Mr Wizard is from here. :D

I loved RL Stine, Christopher Pike, Sweet Valley, BSC, and whatever. But my favorite as a kid was "THe Mouse Ate the Cookie" or something like that, I can't even remember what it was called. And also Jillian-Jiggs because she had my name. Jillian, jillian, jillian- jiggs. Whatever.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

I'll prove myself an official Old Fart, I'm sure, when I mention the Laura Ingalls Wilder series...I also loved The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but never got beyond that first Narnia book...still can't get into fantasy series. I loved Watership Down; someone recently pointed out to me that the female rabbits in that book were serious airheads -- I never noticed. I was eleven, for chrissake.

BSC and SVH were after my time, thank God.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

Did you know that the guy who wrote/did artwork for The Very Hunger Catepillar (I'm very sorry I can't remember his name) couldn't find the colors he wanted to use to make the pictures, so he took tissue paper and painted it himself? Then he cut out the shapes he needed to make the pictures. Isn't that awesome?

I grew up on BSC mostly through 3rd grade and a bit into 4th. But then I discovered Christopher Pike (anybody for the Sati?), which was followed by L. J. Smith. And I still read all those authors and have kept all my books. The Pokey Little Puppy is the book that I learned to read from. Lois Lowry is the best recent author; she wrote The Giver and Gathering Blue.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

I was pretty big on Laura Ingalls Wilder for a few years, I guess when I was around 7 or so.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

BSC members getting laid: Okay, first of all you're 100% right about Mary Anne... she would definitely make Logan wait till they got married. God, she sucked. Her dad was big time creepy, too. I would say either Claudia or Stacy... although whenever Kristy grows out of the tomboy thing, she's gonna be a dominatrix for sure.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2000

Eric Carle did the The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Very Grouchy Ladybug, and so forth. :)
My favorite book as a kid was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I did own it once but then my little sister came along and left it outside in the rain. I've been begging my mom for a new once ever since. If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Pig a Pancake just never matched up.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

I loved "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" when I was very young. Between the ages 7 and 10 I read Enid Blyton (it's a British thing) and Roald Dahl; "Babysitters Club" from 11-14 (v. sad, I know) and Sweet Valley from 12-15 (even worse. Even today, I cannot read anything vaguely literary.) However, Lois Duncan was (and still is) one of my favourite writers from the age of 12 onwards.

BSC members losing their virginity: I'd say Stacey or Dawn. Claudia always seemed to have bad luck with boys - she always went for idiots or boring geens, so she probably won't meet anyone to suit her until she gets to uni. What do you reckon are the odds of one of the BSC turning out lesbian? Or as a paedophile...?

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2000

I always thought Mallory was a little on the lesbian side, myself. As for being a pedophile... I'd probably say Mallory as well.

Didn't they get like a new member later in the series (after I stopped reading)? Abby or something?

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2000

I remember the TV movies of the Narnia series!!! I loved them, they were great, and I loved reading the books, too. And The Hobbit- my mom read all those books to me when I was four, and I absolutely loved them. As I got older, I loved the Baby-sitters Club books and anything by R.L. Stine.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 2000

to Katie my favorite boof as a kid is The Witches I thouhgt it was the best book ever. I love Roald Dalh books i have my own collection i have James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, The Twits, The Amazing Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator so where do you shop for books?

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2001

THE BFG IS THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ! ITS FUNNY AND COOL! THANKS ROALD DALH FOR MAKING SUCH WONDERFUL BOOKS FOR US KIDS TO READ!

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001