Books or Series you have fond memories of from childhood

[Witty Username]

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I read it when I was around 7 or 8 years old and it was the first time I was sucked into a story so completely that when I put the book down I was surprised to see there was no snow outside. I can still remember the slightly dazed feeling of my world shifting sideways when I realised the cold and snow wasn't real.

[pdurrant]

I don't remember any series of books from when I was young. But there were some notable individual books. The first half-dozen to come to mind are:

Stig of the Dump by Clive King
The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (OK, and its sequels)
Way Station by Clifford D. Simak

And one short story sticks in my mind.
"Sally" by Isaac Asimov.

[drofgnal]

Probably the most memorable book for me was LoTR. I devoured that. I read what was required in school, but I wasn't an avid recreational reader growing up. Other things I remember reading growing up that weren't required and that I really enjoyed were Anne MacCaffery's Dragon Riders of Pern, Catcher in the Rye and the Good Earth. I also read a good amount of sports figure biographies as a child, Mickey Mantel, Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax etc. Those were the stars of my time. Another thing I read a lot as a child was the newspaper, usually cover to cover daily.

I guess one of the reasons I slip in a classic from time to time as an adult is I didn't do as much recreational reading as I'd have liked growing up.

[PeterT]

I still remember one of the first sci-fi books I read. Every Easter my parents would take the family to The University of Wales in Aberystwyth for the OSA (Old Students Association) reunion where they'd reconnect with friends.

We used to stay in the students Residences which if course had numerous common rooms with... BOOKS

I found Fahrenheit 451 and loved it, and I think that was where my love of SciFi came from.

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

[db105]

My first literary love as an independent reader was The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West, a series of children books about a family where the kids investigated mysteries. How I loved those books! When I got he first one as a Christmas book I remember being disappointed that it was all text (with a few illustrations), not picture books like the ones I was used to. When I started reading, however, I was immediately hooked.

Later I moved on to Enid Blyton. Mainly the Famous Five and also the Adventure series. I also liked Roald Dahl, The Neverending Story...

A bit later I discovered fantasy (LoTR) and SF (Asimov).

[Tarana]

I read a lot of books about greek, roman and egyptian mythology in my early teenaged years. At 15 or 16, read LOTR and then pretty much whatever murder mystery my parents had finished.

[haertig]

For series, I remember the "Tom Swift Jr." books.

For individual books, I remember "Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert Heinlein and "Here Abide Monsters" by Andre Norton.

Not that these were necessarily great books, but they are the ones that first popped into my head when "childhood books" was mentioned (I am assuming books I read as a pre-teen or early-teen).

[issybird]

I don’t suppose girls now read Louisa May Alcott and she was so important to me.

[jackm8]

Enid Blyton was very popular in my youth. I read everything that was available at least once. Besides that, whatever was in the school library, or I found at home or at my grandparents. Karl May, Swiss Family Robinson, a lot of Jules Verne, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie...

[issybird]

Did anyone ever read Edward Eager's magic books? They're available digitally. I think they hold up very well (atthough the earliest are better than the later ones) and wonderfully literary and witty. I can still snicker at the memory of referring to an edition of The Three Musketeers as the "excavated" version. Spot-on!

[Catlady]

My favorite series was Cherry Ames, followed by Vicki Barr--both by Helen Wells. The library had Helen Dore Boylston's Sue Barton series, and Dorothy Deming's nurse books. I loved a book called Nurses Who Led the Way--each chapter was about a real-life heroic nurse. (If you see a pattern here, it's because I wanted to be a nurse when I was a kid.)

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

My favorite series was Cherry Ames, followed by Vicki Barr--both by Helen Wells. The library had Helen Dore Boylston's Sue Barton series, and Dorothy Deming's nurse books. I loved a book called Nurses Who Led the Way--each chapter was about a real-life heroic nurse. (If you see a pattern here, it's because I wanted to be a nurse when I was a kid.)

I preferred Sue Barton to Cherry Ames. I also liked the Dorothy Deming books, but not as much. As for nonfiction, the one that sticks in my mind is Combat Nurses of World War II:



I never wanted to be a nurse, but I loved reading nonfiction about women and there wasn't much when I was a girl. Queens, first ladies, nurses... that was about it. I can still work up an interest in the Tudor ladies and Marie Antoinette!

.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

I preferred Sue Barton to Cherry Ames. I also liked the Dorothy Deming books, but not as much. As for nonfiction, the one that sticks in my mind is Combat Nurses of World War II:

Attachment 212155

I never wanted to be a nurse, but I loved reading nonfiction about women and there wasn't much when I was a girl. Queens, first ladies, nurses... that was about it. I can still work up an interest in the Tudor ladies and Marie Antoinette!

.

I have that book. Some years back I picked up every juvenile nurse book I could find on eBay, re-creating my childhood reading and discovering some new ones. I especially like the WWII-era nurse series--Cherry was the only one that lasted well beyond the war.

I think it was Cherry's independence that appealed to me, and I connected it with nursing. But that career choice didn't survive past elementary school.

As for nonfiction, I read bios of Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton and Edith Cavell, and of various saints. I don't recall caring much about queens or first ladies!

[crossi]

A little Princess by Burnett (I still read it today).
All the Andre Norton books.
The Black Stallion series by Farley (I was horse crazy).
A Long Way To Go by Deal
Don Quixote USA by Powell