It's time again for the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews.…
Saturday Seven — Seven Books I Loved as a Kid
Hosted by Long and Short Reviews
I’ve been reading nearly as long as I’ve been alive. Seriously. Here’s me at three:
Anyway, when I had my daughter, I couldn’t wait to share my favorite books with her. It all went well until she became a tween and decided she didn’t have the same taste in books! That’s okay, she’s currently the proud owner of about 300 print books, and uncountable eBooks, so I must have done something right.
Here are seven of my favorite childhood stories:
7. A Horse Called Bonny by Barbara Van Tuyl and Pat Johnson
After this book, I dreamed of finding my own champion Thoroughbred abandoned on some old farm somewhere. It never did happen…
6. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Really, I should say this entire series. I read them all. I still remember my teenaged heart going pitty-pat when I read The Black Stallion and the Girl. *sigh*
5. The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper
Love this series! The movie was pitifully bad, so if you’ve seen it, please don’t judge the series by the movie. The first book (“Over Sea, Under Stone”) is rather dull and a poor choice of start, but a necessary evil if you’re to really understand the rest. My favorite of all of them is “The Grey King” and I still quote from it now and then (Will had a poem to remember that gave him clues to a puzzle) like “On the day of the dead, when the year too dies, must the youngest open the oldest hills.” I wish they’d make a movie that did the series justice. Or a TV series. But, judging from most adaptations, maybe I should be glad they don’t try…
4. The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
I was so obessed with this series that I had a friend draw lifesized fire lizards and I have pictures of me holding mine like a pet. It was a brown. Hers was a green. 🙂 I’m both dreading and looking forward to the upcoming movie adaptation of this book, if only to know how to pronounce Mnementh…
3. The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
This still holds up today … even my kid liked this one! The Disney movie adaptation of “The Black Cauldron” was abysmal and should be stricken from all viewing, but I’d sure love to see a better one done ala Lord of the Rings.
2. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle
This book was one that really made me think. It was both entertaining and intelligent and another I’m hoping they’ll adapt well (I’m trying to get over the fact they’ve made Meg African-American and very young in the upcoming movie … she was neither of those things). The first time they tried, they failed miserably. It’s on my “must see” movie list this year. Here’s hoping! As a side note, I think the remainder of this series is rather unremarkable, sadly, though I do own it and have read it. This book was a lot to live up to!
1. Black Beauty
One of the only “depressing” books I’ve ever read and loved. When I was a tween, I got pretty sick and was in bed for a few days. For whatever reason, a read and re-read this book (fourteen times!) and even today I still love it.
What’s a book you loved as a kid?
I love the way you have laid out your Saturday Seven. Makes it really interesting.
You will probably not be surprised but…I read every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys book that existed WAY back then but I also loved Black Beauty and Little Women. When the librarian decided I could go to the Adult side (wow, times have changed huh) she gave me a Miss Silver Mystery by Patricia Wentworth. I thought I was SO grown up, teehee.
I loved Nancy Drew — and actually, my kid liked reading those for awhile. I actually never went to a public library as a child (only the school library — we lived in the boonies and the public library would have been about 45 miles away) so didn’t have the conundrum of adult vs. child section. Thanks for stopping by!
I never remember a time when I didn’t read and enjoy reading. One Christmas I received a boxed set of the Anne of Green Gables series. To this day, it’s still one of my all time favorite reads. I could so identify with Anne’s thoughts about “Ann with an e”… my middle name is Ann. My oldest daughter’s middle name? Anne. 🙂 I wanted to be Anne when I grew up (heck, I still do!!)
Will you still be my friend if I tell you I never read the “Anne” books? And only saw part of one movie. I never did get into those… I did, however, dream of being Ozma (from “Ozma of Oz) because who wouldn’t want a closetful of heads you could change out every day? I *still* want that!!
Oh, I was a huge fan of A Wrinkle in Time when I was a kid. It’s going to be exciting to see the movie based on it that’s coming out soon. I also read the Anne of Green Gables series over and over again. Anne of Avonlea was my favourite book in that series.
I’ll be interested to see what you think of the “Wrinkle” movie. From the previews, it’s looking like it holds a LOT closer to the book the one they did many years back. I have high hopes!
I taught English for mumblety-six years and was often dismayed that so many of my students didn’t like to read. My mom read to me and our house was filled with books. I love your book choices here and Good for you for this wonderful gift–the love of reading–you’ve given your daughter.
Oh … I lived in the school library as a kid (worked there when I was old enough). I can’t even imagine not reading — but my mom was a huge reader, too, and I think that matters.
I loved both the Pern novels and A Wrinkle in Time! Both helped stir a love of the fantastical in me. Probably my favorite books as a child though were the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Still love them, too!
Oh, and of my two girls? One shares kind of similar tastes and the other won’t read. *headdesk*
One won’t read? OMG. …
Out of your list, the ONLY series I devoured was the The Dragonriders of Pern. I gave all the books away about 8 years ago and now I wish I hadn’t. What an amazing imagination the author had!
I never read the Wrinkle in Time but my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Hannigan, read it to the class. It was my first taste of sci-fi fantasy and for a while after that, fed by Star Trek, Sci-Fi fantasy was the ONLY genre I read. Things sure have changed. Romance is now my thing. 😉
btw – you were an adorable 3 yr. old! 🙂
My Saturday Seven participation: https://msfavsthgz.blogspot.com/2018/01/7-authors-who-make-me-so.html
I read every Pern book there was until it started getting … odd. It was about the time she started co-writing with her son (and I absolutely understand why she did, since the series lives on after her death). But when they discovered the old space ship and things got more SciFi than fantasy, I started losing interest. Makes me sad.
Another Anne of Green Gables fan here; I discovered the first book in my grandmother’s basement and didn’t realize for years that it was part of series. Felt like finding treasure when I found the rest.
I also loved the Noel Streatfield books: Dancing Shoes, Theater Shoes, etc.
And, of course, Harriet the Spy.
Did anyone else ever come across the “Five Little Peppers” series? Or What Katy Did? They were probably written around the beginning of the 1900s, but I remember enjoying them a great deal when I was 9 or 10.
It’s good to see you posting again — best wishes to you & your family in the new year!
Anno! So glad to see you here 🙂 I’ve missed you (and so many others).
OH .. I read “The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew”! My mom gave me that book and I actually passed it on to my kid. The copy I have is from the 40s, I think. I haven’t heard of the others though… Hmm….
The only series I know I read was Encyclopedia Brown. I did read a variety of other books as a child, mostly from those Scholastic book sales.