Books you read as a kid

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(Various threads inspired o course) There's been refs to all the usual guff in many posts (Dahl, Blyton, Carrol, CS Lewis, etc) but what about the not so obvious stuff. What DID you read as a kid?

I was reminded recently of all the Swallows and Amazons stuff that i read. GOD WHY?! Dull dull adventures of middle-class kids on their hols, grazing knees. Like a realist Edin Blyton. ergh

Then there's the lovely imaginative stuff: Bottersnikes and Gumbles (top!), Greek Myths (Roger Lancelyn-Green, you diamond), lots of Dr Who (eek).

― Alan Trewartha, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

new "i remember when childish nostalgia wasn't naff" answers

― Alan Trewartha, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i loved Peanuts, enid blyton (naughtiest girl in the school!), roald dahl, anything to do with dinosaurs or astronomy, greek myths, Nancy Drew. the earliest things i remember reading were Mr Men, the Munch Bunch (and their rip-off counterparts, the Garden Gang), Kevin the Kitten (YAY)... sometimes i think that i have not progressed very much.

― katie, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mrs Pepperpot was very odd too.

― Alan Trewartha, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i luuuuuuurved me some adventures: tolkien, o'course; lloyd alexanders books; something called "the dark is rising" that i've never heard reference to agin (but to this 10 yr old [?] was GRATE.)

plenty o'crap media tie ins (robotech novels, etc.)

of course carroll, dahl, cs lewis, etc.

plus plenty of CHOOSE YER OWN ADVENTURE books. nizzice.

― jess, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dark Is Rising = very good indeed.

― RickyT, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

you know, ricky t, until the advent of amazon, i thought i might have imagined it. i am afraid to read it agin as an adult.

― jess, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Fresh from the Archives

― mark s, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's good in bits, sometimes very good - the CROW ATAK on the house in book 2 is really scary, for instance, as is the skeleton horse. There's another thread on kid-lit somewhere but you can't have too many.

― Tom, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ah those lovely archives. i was an infrequent lurker in THOSE heady days, so thanks for the link. would have guessed that mr carmody would have been in there like a shot.

― Alan Trewartha, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

As a kid, I loved John Wyndham's "Chocky" - I enjoyed the way he kept that ambiguity going throughout the whole novel - child is contacted by extra terrestrial that no-one else can see - is this a genuine encounter or is he a little loopy? Wyndham always presented the supernatural in a very matter-of-fact way that made it so believable.

The televised adaptation on ITV was pretty gripping too.

Actually, my grandfather told better stories than anything I read as a child. He'd spin the most imaginative yarns straight off the cuff. Me and my sister were both spellbound by them. Apparently Ted Hughes had a very similar talent, according to Plath's correspondence.

― Trevor, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

VC Andrews, anything with a horse in it, 101 Dalmatians. See other thread.

First book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Saw this in design-whore shop Magma across the road from my place so THAT particular aesthetic peccadillo started early.

― suzy, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Lots of Monica Dickens and Arthur Ransome. And Fungus the Bogeyman. Fond of Malory Towers. Still reading John Wyndham stuff.I have been trying to get my hands on the Dark is Rising sequence so I can read it again. Can I find it anywhere? Can someone lend it me? I want a proper copy really though.

― alix, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I bought an omnibus copy from Waterstone's in Kingston a while back. I might be going for a lunchtim book browse tomorrow lunchtime, so I'll have a look for you if you want.

― RickyT, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

this reminds me: RickyT i have a pressie for you which i have had for WEEKS and keep forgetting to give to you. remind me when i get in.

― katie, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ooh Yes Please. If it's there get it and I'll pay you back. In money. Incidentally, what do badgers eat? Is it worms and stuff?

― alix, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Small critters of all types, where small = anything up to ratsize.

― RickyT, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh, so they're quite bloodthirsty then. I might buy some rodents. I need a pet. Maybe a mouse. Maybe a hamster. No gerbils though.

― alix, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

do pork pies count as small critters?

― katie, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Maybe. Perhaps we should go and see if we can entice some badgers from their sets with some Melton Mowbrays.

― RickyT, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

would that not count as badger-baiting?

― katie, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Badgers eat fudge. Jeesh, everybody knows that.

― Jonnie, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I can sort you out with some pies. Where are the badger sets round here? Wimbledon Commmon? (please, don't say anything about Wombles)I need my dinner. No, I need root vegetable crisps from Marks and Sparks. Putney here I come...

― alix, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It might count as badger baiting. Though doesn't that have to involve violence to badger personages somewhere along the line? I can't see how offering one a pork pie as a friendly gift could be regarded as cruelty.

― RickyT, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i are biting my lip and not saying the obvious as pork pies = yuk = badger would end up feeling poisoned and rollingn around in pain.

― katie, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Did the All-Embracing Children's Literature thread not live up to its name?

― Madchen, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It depends how you 'offer' it. My mother once 'offered' her sister a butterdish, using the throw it at her face technique. They haven't spoken since 1989. Do badgers get violent? Protective clothing might be needed. And a flashlight. A flashlight which will be referred to as a 'flashlight', never just a 'torch'. No sir.

― alix, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Badgers can get violent. They have sharp teeth and are grumpy. This whole plan is beginning to look fraught with difficulty. There is the aforementioned dodgy legal position and now also the fear of badger violence to contend with. What if the badgers regard the giving of pies as a deadly insult and respond by biting into me as though I was a small vole?

― RickyT, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well, you are cute like a small vole RickyT so it would be understandable.

― chris, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

CURSE YOU CLARKE AND YOUR DAMN POLAROID CAMERA!

― RickyT, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

no badger cd refuse a saveloy: they scrunch and crunch, and cannot see well, so i think eyeballs and arseholes (= what's in a pork pie) wd be no problem also

piecrust i am less sure abt: but as they eat worms i think they are in no position to be sniffy

― mark s, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it is not fair attack someone with such bad WRIST HURT that i haf now! i am sure my typing speed MUST have exceeded NINE ZILLION WORDS PER SECOND by now ow ow ow not fair, you meanie boy of badgers. also dammit, i want a pork pie and the narnia chronicles especially VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

― Sarah, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

would they prefer a battered saveloy though, the batter could take the place of beetle carapace?

― chris, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

When young, when young...Hardy Boys, Paddington, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle...

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I read all those Robert Westall books about the war when I was younger. They were really good. I forget most of the other stuff.

― Ronan, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

'The Dark Is Rising' - would this be the book after 'Over Sea Under Stone' by any chance? I loved that book, it were ace. Like most kids I was an Enid Blyton fan, though with limits - I'd take the Secret Seven over the Famous Five any day. And, AND, I've never read anything that involved Narnia.

― DG, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I finally won an Ebay auction for an old (1930s) set of childrens books called My Book House that have *everything* in them - I used to have a slightly newer set (from my mom) when I was little, but they got ruined. I'm actually getting really, really excited to read them again - they should be getting here any day now.

― Kim, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Will anyone else concede to loving (or even having heard of) Philippa Pearce's "Minnow On The Say"?

There's got to be *someone* ...

― Robin Carmody, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I guess I was an avid Nancy Drew fan Waaay back then. I read a lot of mysteries and novels such as Little Women. Gale

― Gale Deslongchamps, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

geoff's favs = sweet dreams, choose yr own adventure and judy blume...

― Geoff, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Choose Yr Own Adventure = bluntest form of escapism and wish fulfillment ever. Surely books like 'You Are A Superstar!', 'You Are a Genius!' and 'You Are A Millionaire!' are not particularly good for child's development?

What about pre-novel books like the Grug series?

― Tim, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Best picture book for kids I've seen recently (Isabel works at a nursery so I see a fair few) is Mog In The Dark whereby cat is out at night and imagines terrible things (eg dog, giant vengeful mouse, bird w/huge teeth) in dark. Totally sentimental anthropomorphisation but it's wuvly and really imaginative and actually quite good on dream-logic (though attributing it to cat is perhaps a bit out of order - MUCH MUCH BETTER than that cat story in the Sandman anyway).

― Tom, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Did anyone else here read the Agaton Sax books, or am I alone?

If anyone wants to read children's books nowadays, Morris Gleitzman is my favourite author currently writing. His books are uber- Australian but incredibly warm and funny.

Also "Raspberries on the Yangtze" by Karen Wallace. A Catcher in the Rye for the 21st Century (he says lazily).

― Mark C, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

agaton sax read by kenneth williams on jackanory = ace

― Alan Trewartha, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The original grim fairy stories,secret garden,alice in wonderland,kim,jack london ,alot of the classics

― anthony, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The original grim fairy stories,secret garden,alice in wonderland,kim,jack london ,alot of the classics
I FORGOT H. RIDDER HAGGARD AND HORATIO ON THE BRIDGE)

― anthony, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Best picture books are Where the Wild Things Are and the book about the boy with the bucketful of dinosaurs. "Where are you triceratops?".

― Jonnie, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs to be exact.

― Jonnie, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Beano, Dandy, Beezer etc. Richmal Crompton, Jack London and lot's of history books mainly about wars (plus ca change).

― Billy Dods, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I attempted to read Tristam Shandy at age 10. Yow.

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Due to Peter O'Toole presenting a Joyce documentary on PBS when I was 12, I tried to read Finnegan's Wake. This meant waiting until everyone had gone out and declaiming long passages in a Drunk Irish Fool accent. Got to 125 which is pretty good going.

― suzy, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Didn't anyone else read The Bagthorpe Saga? Oh wait, we talked about that on the other thread, now I remember...

I was gonzo for mysteries when I was a kid. I read the entirety og the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, Trixie Belden, Three Investigators, and Baker Street Irregulars over the course of about four years. I think I read the Black Stallion books too because I knew my destiny was to ride off into the woods on a horse (not as outlandish as it might sound as my folks live out in the middle of the woods) and live by raiding the homes of the middle-class (pretty freaking outlandish, especially in Minnesota; anyone who lives without shelter in MN is MENTAL). I also developed an appreciation for Doctor Who which abides today, plus I read so much trashy science fiction and fantasy that I can't even remember it all. The Dark Is Rising series was classic, but so was the trilogy about the aliens in the gigantic mental hemispheres that walked around an three legs which were subjugating the human race, and so was _Flatland_, and so were the Witch Mountain books, and _The Girl With The Silver Eyes_, and the book about the kid with amnesia and psychic powers who was being hunted by the government, and the series that had _The Black Cauldron_ in it...

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ho ho skimming down the thread I thought Anthony was talking about the GIN FAIRY STORIES: methinks that would be a rather interesting Lemony Snicket series. NB: not read Lemony Snicket, worth it or please, I've already GOT the Basic 8?

― Sarah, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Three legged metal hemispheres = The Tripods

― RickyT, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Dark Is Rising series was classic

The one time I tried reading this I got bogged down early on and went on to other things. Given how I've got this love for Alan Garner now, though, perhaps I should give this another whirl?

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Asterix was the coolest thing you could read at my junior school.

― james, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ned: I think you should. But read Peter Dickinson's Changes trilogy first.

― Robin Carmody, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I own every Tintin adventure + 1 biography of Herge. Still read them.

― turner, Wednesday, 21 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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