Books or Series you have fond memories of from childhood

[PeterT]

I thought this might be an interesting topic for discussion and sharing.


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[Sirtel]

Too many to list.

Besides, lots of them were Estonian books, of which people here have never heard. Some were translations from different languages, including English.

[PeterT]

I was just browsing my news feed and this appeared

'Fascinating': Tove Jansson’s Moomins notes to be published for first time

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/...for-first-time

I have fond memories of reading the Moomin books as a child. Quite delightful.

Other series I loved (and still reread occasionally) include C S Lewis's Narnia, JRR Tolkien The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and of course Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons


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[Sirtel]

Yes, I liked the Moomin books too. Ditto for several Astrid Lindgren books.

[Scoob]

From probably preschool my dad started reading to me a children's series of classic books. I remember The Red Badge of Courage, The Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, The Time Machine, 20000 league's under the sea.

As I got better at reading by myself I devoured the Hardy Boys, a few Nancy Drew, Goosebumps of course and The Magic Tree House series of books.

After that came Stephen King and Dean Coontz which I got introduced to by my dad and then couldn't read them at school anymore. I got interested in Tolkien just as the movies were coming out so that was great I'd read the books then see the movies. I read the inheritance series by Christopher Paolini instead of Harry Potter so I was that weird kid. I have since started to read Harry Potter and I can understand why my friends were fans.

[Karellen]

From my childhood...

Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators
Hardy Boys
Doctor Who

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators

I'll second this one.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by Karellen

From my childhood...

Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators
Hardy Boys
Doctor Who

Doctor Who was still in it's initial broadcast on TV mode for me! think the only books might have been Annuals, and even that I'm not certain about.

[Dazrin]

When I was a kid (10-13???) I really liked the Sword of Shannara. After reading it again as an adult (15-ish years ago?) it no longer holds nearly the same place in my memory. I don't remember if I read it before or after I first read the LotR, but as a kid the parallels weren't nearly as important as they are to me now.

Oh well. I've heard the other books from the first trilogy hold up better (more original) but after the experience with the first one, I haven't wanted to read them again and I've never read anything beyond the first 3.

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I'll second this one.

Originally Posted by PeterT

Doctor Who was still in it's initial broadcast on TV mode for me! think the only books might have been Annuals, and even that I'm not certain about.

My paperback collection sitting in the cellar of my parents house. There's also a shelf full of Star Trek novels...

[WillAdams]

Some books which I specifically remember with fondness:

- Diver's Down: Adventure Beneath Hawaiian Seas --- available as an audiobook: https://www.sffaudio.com/uvula-audio...by-hal-gordon/

- Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper --- available from https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18137 and https://librivox.org/little-fuzzy-by-h-beam-piper/ --- be sure to also check out "Omnilingual" http://vrici.lojban.org/~cowan/omnilingual.html and _The Cosmic Computer_

- The Mad Scientists Club books --- long out of print, they have finally been reprinted: http://madscientistsclub.com/books.html (okay to skip the novels --- this works best in a short story format)

- Space Lash by Hal Clements --- not a children's book, but stories from the golden age which are okay for children --- I'd recommend starting at the back and working forward and bailing when things get too quaint: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16036040-space-lash

- Hit the Bike Trail --- doesn't seem to be reprinted or available electronically, short, obvious story about a kid whose bike is stole and who has to ride a women's 3-speed bicycle for an overnight trip w/ a friend

- Andre Norton's _Witch World_ books --- apparently a cousin of hers lived in the rural Virginia county I grew up in, and when gifted books by her donated them to the high school library.

- Susan Cooper's _The Dark is Rising Pentalogy_ --- this book makes the world a better place when folks read it and consider the ethical issues which it raises.

Most of the others are popular enough that most folks will already be likely to have read them: J.R.R. Tolkien's _The Hobbit_, Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea books, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H., &c.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Karellen

My paperback collection sitting in the cellar of my parents house. There's also a shelf full of Star Trek novels...

Thanks for the picture! It reminds me of a friend I had in middle school (almost 50 years ago). He had every Three Investigators book in hard cover, and was such a Star Trek fan that he had models of the space ships hanging in his bedroom. I was so jealous of his collections. Mostly the books because I loved the covers on those hardbacks. He was the one who turned me on to the Three Investigators series, and I thank him for that.

[John F]

I was a big Marvel fan, I probably read 90% of their catalog when I young. Other then that LOTR.

[rjwse@aol.com]

Enid Blyton! Over a thousand kid books, short stories, and especially series. 'Prolific' doesn't even come close. Mostly in England and Canada, hardly at all in the US.

[Graham44]

Enid Blyton for me as well, mainly Famous Five and secret seven, I remember devouring those books along with my mum (see story below).

I don't know whether I mentioned this before but when I was at Infant school (age 5-7 I think??) they never taught me to read or write so I started Junior school (7-11 years old) unable to read or write very well at all (I struggled to write my name and could only really read two or three letter words) My parents hired a private tutor (which they really couldn't afford, my mum was a shop worker my dad a self employed car mechanic) to help me with this and within a year I was reading Stephen King and devouring every book I could get hold of. I've literally had a book on the go ever since (some 30 odd years)

I remember at the time my junior school told my parents I had a problem thats why I couldn't read or write, my parents refused to believe this which is why they hired the tutor, turns out they were right the school was wrong - the teachers just weren't very good at their job.

Now if anyone ever says to me their child's school has identified some sort of 'learning difficulty' I always say are you sure the difficulty doesn't lay with the school? Get a second opinion.

Sorry that turned into a longer post/ rant more than I wanted it to!