I read voraciously as a kid. My mom jokes that if my head was in a book, I didn't even know what was going on around me (now my oldest son immerses himself in his reading the same way!). I loved my Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books, but I also read a lot of kid classics, like the Chronicles of Narnia series, A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels, Mary Poppins, Pippi Longstocking, The Wind in the Willows, The Little House books, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and even my mom's old copy of The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. I loved them all!
Other kid classics I've read more recently as an adult, including all the Winnie the Pooh stories, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland books.
So, to make this list, I referred to a List of Top 100 Children's Books that I posted last year here. Here are my picks of Books I Wish I'd Read as a Child:
- Anne of Green Gables (never read but keep hearing about it)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I only knew the movie version starring Gene Wilder as a kid - still a favorite flick)
- My Side of the Mountain
- Island of the Blue Dolphins
- Where the Red Fern Grows
- The original Wizard of Oz books by Frank L. Baum
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
- Watership Down
- Anything by Jules Verne
- The Cricket in Times Square
Want to join in the fun? What books do YOU wish you'd read as a kid?
5 comments:
I just finished reading The Rats of Nimh
for the first time and enjoyed it. Where the Red Fern Grows is amazing as is Island of the Blue Dolphin. All of which I came to as an adult and because I am a teacher. Did not however, like The Indian in the Cupboard. Good post!
+JMJ+
Island of the Blue Dolphins and From the Mixed-up Files . . . are two of the first chapter books I read as a child. I am so grateful that I didn't miss them!
On the other hand, if making my own list and reading those of others has taught me anything, it is that you win some and you lose some. ;-)
We have Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH in common, by the way. Gosh, I want to kick myself when I think of all the times I passed it over because of the dumb lurid cover it had when I was kid. =(
Thanks for joining in the fun this week. I think you have a fabulous list.
Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of NIHM is one of my favorites on your list. But I didn't read it until I was a mom. I also am a huge fan of where the Red Fern Grows, who isn't? My daughter, a fledgling teacher, reread it this year with her class which made me want to do the same.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Now for NEXT WEEK THE TOPIC IS: Top Ten Best Debut Books (of any year..just your favorite debut/"first from an author" books. If you want, you can focus on debuts of a specific year but it's open to debuts of any year).
Guess we'll have to put our thinking caps for that one. I don't pay attention often if a book is an author's first.
-Anne
Headfullofbooks
Jan-
You know, maybe I wouldn't have liked The Indian in the Cupboard so much if I HAD read it as a kid, but I read it aloud with my two young sons who both loved to play with little action figures (i.e. "guys") and the idea of one of them coming to life was just so cool!!
It's like I made this list! Because I didn't read most of those growing up (except The Cricket in Times Square, love that) and now I've only read Wizard of Oz from the rest. I need to rectify that.
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