Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    I don't know all the author's, but I'll try.
    
    I love:
    
    Dr. Seuss' "Fox in Sox"
    Almost anything by Tasha Tudor (Becky's Birthday, A Time To Keep)
    the ELOISE books (by someone-or-other and Hilary Knight)
    Burt Dow, Deep Water Man
    Blueberries for Sal (by Robert McCloskey? also wrote Make Way For
    	Ducklings?)
    James Thurbur's "The Thirteen Clocks" (A little older reading, but
    	not much!  ;)
    Goodnight Moon
    Pat The Bunny
    Pookie (about an outcast bunny with fairy wings)
    There's a story called WOLF STORY that I've been looking for a copy
    	of forever.  It's WONDERFUL.  It's way out of print, though.
    "The Happy Time" (about a French Canadian Family in Ottowa - 
    	charming, but slightly "older")
    Blaze and the Gray Spotted Pony
    Snip, Snap and Snurr and the Red Shoes (out of print)
    That Mean Man (also out of print)
    Babar's Picnic (so fanciful!  with Crustadel and the Gagottes!)_
    	(I think it was by Alex De Brunhoff?)
    ANY of the WINNIE THE POOH books, particularly the poetry ones
    
    
    I hear there are some lovely books by someone-or-other Pinkwater
    (Drinkwater?) that I should read.  Maybe we'll read to each other at
    the fifth anniversary party, on a quiet afternoon.
    
    -Jody
    

    A partial listing:
    
    Now We are Six [A.A.Milne]
    The Secret Garden 
    The Chronicles of Narnia [C.S.Lewis]
    Charlotte's Web
    Carmen of the Gold Coast [author long forgotten. long out of print]
    Madeleine [the whole series]
    Home is the Sailor; Little Plum [both by Rumer{sp} Godden]
    Ozma of Oz [L.F.Baum]
    
    and one not-exactly-children's book that I loved as a child:
    
    Green Mansions
    
    
      Annie

    Well, heck, I might as well throw in the later-childhood books I loved
    too.... (4-5-6 grade level) (I'm blanking on most of the authors)
    
    I, Trissy
    The Active-Enzyme Lemon-Freshened Junior-High-School Witch
    ANYTHING by Zylpha Keatley Snyder (particularly The Changeling)
    Go To The Room Of The Eyes
    The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
    The House of Dies Drear
    The Chronicles of Narnia
    Almost Anything by Roald Dahl
    
    
    -Jody
    

	Hi,

	The Boxcar Children
	A Wrinkle in Time

	Steve H

    That's Daniel Pinkwater!  Definitely recommended.
    
    The Commander Toad stories by Jane Yolen.  (What the heck.  Anything
    that Jane writes.)
    
    Anything by Diana Wynne Jones.  _Warlock_at_the_Wheel_ and _The_
    _Ogre_Upstairs_ for the younger set.  But to really get full enjoyment
    out of that latter book, you would have to read about Jason, so...
    
    _Tales_from_Greek_Mythology_ by Katherine Pyle.  (Bowdlerized, but
    still useful.)  It's probably out of print *sigh* but there should
    be equivalent books out there somewhere.
    
    The Heinlein juveniles, including _Rite_of_Passage_ by Alexei Panshin.
    (Trust me.  This works.)
    
    Anything by John Bellairs.
    
    Anything by Madelaine L'Engle.
    
    						Ann B.

    
    My set:
    
    Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories and Jungle Book (despite any intended
    or unintended racism)
    
    Felix Salten's Bambi (and I also love the movie)
    
    101 Dalmations (again, I like the book and the movie)
    
    Caldacott Award Winner - The Snowy Day (no words, beautiful pictures!)
    
    Kristin Hunter's Soul Brothers and Sister Lou (better once you've
    turned pre-teen)
    
    All of Babar
    
    AND BEST OF ALL - the huge enlarged print Book of Mythology with
    incredibly colorful illustrations of Hera and Aphrodite. I'll have to
    try to find the authors, it was a husband/wife team.

    The Phantom Toll Booth.
    
    Judy Bloom In general (Not Wifey though).
    
    But Most of all....
    
    Encyclopedia Brown Series.... I gobbled them up.
    
    Cindi

Annie -- _Green_Mansions_ -- yes!!  

The Boxcar Children mysteries are in print, my daughter is on to them and has a
l-o-n-g list at home of the titles in the series, with stars next to the ones
she hasn't read yet.  She does some things backwards :-)  They are offered in 
the monthly bookclub flyers she gets in school, and we have seen them at the 
Fletcher Library in Burlington.  Let your fingers do the walking, I'm sure you
will find them in your area.

Madeline L'Engle's _A_Wrinkle_In_Time_ -- and two more in the series, wonderful.

I have loved horses since before I can remember anything, so I liked the stories
by Marguerite Henry (_Misty_Of_Chincoteague_ et al), all the Black Stallion
books, etc.  Read everything about horses I could get my hands on.  Boy was I
puzzled by Steinbeck's _The_Red_Pony_ in 3rd grade!

We started our kids on _Pat_The_Bunny_ and _Pat_The_Cat_ at 6 months, each of
them went through 2 copies of each.

Crockett's _Harold_and_the_Purple_Crayon_ books are wonderful

Edith Hamilton's books on Greek mythology were a staple.

_The_Magic_Schoolbus_ (at the waterworks, at the center of the earth, in the
human body) are tons of fun.  I love Ms Frizzle's shoes.

_The_Polar_Express_ makes me misty-eyed.

All of the Trixie Beldon books! (I read some of them a half dozen
times.)

Kathy

If he (or she?) could, maybe we all can. (particularly in view of the past 
week's noting) 

i think i can i think i can i think i can

bruce

All of the following I enjoyed, and gave to my daughter as well.  In the
case of the fantasy/science fiction titles, I am eternally grateful to
Ms. Grace Shaiken, who was our school librarian:

Going back to early childhood (maybe this should be in true confessions?:-):
   The Pokey Little Puppy (mostly because I have such wonderful memories of
				my late mother reading it to me)
   The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess
   Horton Hears A Who by Dr. Suess (oh heck, anything by Dr. Suess)

Later on:
	The "Dragons of Blueland" series ,starting with "My Father's Dragon"
		(which actually came back in print in time for my 
			daughter to enjoy them)
	The "Space Cat" series

Even later on:
	Little Women et seq. by Louisa May Alcott
	Caddie Woodlawn (first Newberry award winner, I believe -- it was
				also my mother's favorite book at that age)
	Citizen of the Galaxy and Podkayne of Mars (both by Robert Heinlein)
	A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (I didn't know she had other
			books out until my daughter was old enough to read 
			them; then I got to do so too!)

After that, I jumped straight to the Adult Science Fiction section, and
haven't left :-)
   

    
    stuff that's already been mentioned, plus...
    _Harriet_the_Spy (I think I read it when I was in 6th grade).
    

    We didn't forget _Green Eggs and Ham_ did we?
    
    Teen--->Now  Ray Bradbury
    
    The Illustrated Man , especially
    
    Cindi

	I must have read Harriet The Spy several hundred times.
	My copy is tattered and worn, and I still read it once
	a year or so.  I even used to keep a notebook like hers!
    
	I delighted in all of the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books, The 
	Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew (should this be admitted in
	True Confessions?), and Judy Bloom's books as I became
	an adolescent.

	Great topic, Jody!

	Carla
		

    _The Sailor Dog_ by Margaret Wise Brown
    	             with wonderful illustrations by Garth Williams
    
    _Stuart Little_ by E.B. White
                    also illustrated by Garth Williams

    
    Garth Williams also illustrated the Miss Bianca series which I gobbled
    up until they got a new illustrator (Margery Sharp wrote them.)
    
    And of course, Little House on the Prarie series.
    
    And The Secret Name Day (I think. It looked like his illustrations!)

    Yes!  _Harriet_the_Spy_, _The_Long_Secret_, _Nobody's_Family_Is_
    _Going_to_Change_, and _Sport_.  It was one of the sad moments of
    my life to learn that _Sport_ was published posthumously.
    
    As it was to learn that John Bellairs died a few months ago.
    
    						Ann B.

    Go for it, Carla.  After all, Nancy was a plucky titian-haired beauty
    and smart to boot! <insert tongue-in-cheek face here> Although not
    _wildly_ liberated [no sh*t!] Nancy pulled old Nick's bacon out of the
    fire more often than he hers -- and she had a niftier car.
    
    a couple more:
    
     The Velveteen Rabbit
     The Little Prince [still love it!]
     

    
>    fire more often than he hers -- and she had a niftier car.
    
    that Daddy gave her, don't forget.
    

    What wonderful, wonderful memories this note evokes.  I spent most of
    my childhood curled up with a book.....
    
    Not yet mentioned --
    
    Wind in the Willows
    
    the Dr. Dolittle series
    
    the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, which I read in their entirety
    during 5th grade.
    
    Pippi Longstockings
    
    
    Alison

    All of the books by Louisa May Alcott (my mother had the complete
    set which she gave me).
    
    Most of the books mentioned previously
    
    The Great Brain Series
    
    The books about Taran (I call them the Taran wanderer books in my
    mind, The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron etc.)
    
    Paddington Bear
    
    A wonderful book whose name I no longer remember about a stuffed
    squirrel and another stuffed animal that come alive and have to
    learn to live in the woods.. it talks about eating skunk cabbage,
    spring peepers, and had a memorable phrase about the time of
    spring when the 'air is green around the trees'.
    
    Bonnie

As yet unmentioned:

  - The Butter Battle Book � � � � � � Dr. Suess explaining 'MAD'

  - The Hobbit � � � � � � � � � � � � J.R.R. Tolkien)
  - The LOTR trilogy

  - Watership Down � � � � � � � � � � Richard Adams

  - Are you My Mother  � � � � � � � � P.D. Eastman


Seconding, thirding, ... nth'ing:

  - The Magic Schoolbus series � � � � Joanna Cole
     including the as-yet unmentioned
    The Magic Schoolbus in Outer Space

  - The Little Prince  � � � � � � � � <I can't spell in French>

  - The Chronicles of Narnia � � � � � C.S. Lewis


And from our "True Confessions You Probably Could Have Guessed" department:

  - The Tom Swift (Jr.) series � � � � ???


                                   Atlant

Anybody remember a series of nature books called the "Mother Westwind" books.

I rembber reading those during 2-4 grade they were wonderful. each book was
about a particular animal "Reddy the Fox" , "Sammy(?) the Skunk", etc.

sorta wish I had them now :-(
Amos

    
    
    HELP!!!
    
    Back in first grade (that would be about 16-17 years ago, my teacher 
    read the class a book over our lunch period.  To this day, I can still
    remember the book - and I have been dying to know what the title/author
    is.
    
    It's a story about a boy who (I think) runs away from home.  He goes to
    the mountains (or woods?) and finds a huge hollow tree.  The
    story clearly describes how he makes it his home and learns to live in
    the wilderness.  It's all about his adventure away from home.
    
    If anyone out there has read this book, or heard of something like it,
    I would deeply appreciate a response.  I know this is a vague
    description and my chances are slim - but I thought I would at least
    try.
    
    
    Thanks,
    Nancy

    Amos
    
    They were by Thorton W. Burgess, my father learned to read
    on those stories when they were first published in his
    local newspaper about 73 years ago!
    
    There is a Thorton W. Burgess house down on the Cape that
    I took my kids to years ago, in the Sandwich area.
    
    Bonnie

    re.20 -< Nancy Drew - liberated?  I'm laughing >-
    
    yes, exactly my point. hardly liberated, but not a feeble wimp.
    
    [as to Daddy giving her the car -- I hardly think that's significant.
    She was a teenager of affluent family.  Such children, male and
    female, generally get their cars from Mother & Daddy, or maybe Grammy
    or Aunt Margaret...]
    
    more favs:
    
      The Velveteen Rabbit
      The Wind in the Willows
      Jemimia Puddleduck [OK, Beatrix Potter stuff]
      Gulliver's Travels
      20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
      Pippi Longstocking  

    .25
    
    My side of the Mountain I think ..... and I have a memory that
    it was some how involved as some of the inspiration for the
    tv series the Waltons.
    
    Bonnie

  While we're on children's books, could somebody please nail down
  for me which book contains  "Teseracts"  and which book contains
  "Chrono-Synclastic-Infundibulums"  ?

  I won't bias the jury by stating my suspicions.
 
                                   Atlant

    Re : .25 and .28-
    
    I know there was Mountain in the Title-
    My Side of the Mountain seems right.
    
    If you are talking about the one where the little boy even
    catches and makes a pet out of a Falcon.
    
    Cindi
    P.S. I think Disney might have also made a movie out of it (or 
    vice versa.) I see the kids picture (as from a movie) on the 
    cover in my minds eye.
    

    
    Bonnie - THAT'S IT!!!!!!!
    
    
    THANKS SOOOOOOO MUCH!  I have been trying to think of the name of this
    book for years.  And then, I put the note on the system, and within 15
    minutes, I have the answer.  
    
    THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    
    Nancy

    Re: .29
    
    The Phantom Toll Booth had a lot of things like that,
    but it is just a random arrow on my part.
    
    Cindi

    
    	Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard - Eleanor Farjeon
    	    (her retelling of Cinderella is also magical)
    	The Dark Is Rising Series - Susan Cooper
    	    (especially Greenwitch)
    	The Taran Series - Lloyd Alexander
       	    Book of Three, Castle of Llyr, etc.
    	The Secret Garden - Burnett	
    	The Little Princess - Burnett
    	Robin Hood - illustrations by N.C.Wyeth
    	Little Women - Alcott
    	Eight Cousins - Alcott
    	Rose in Bloom - Alcott
    	The Little Prince - Antoine Saint-Exupery
    	Thomasina - Paul Gallico
    
    My mother used to read aloud to me every night until I was 10 or
    so.  As a result I've always considered "Pride and Prejudice" to be
    my favorite bedtime story, followed by "Ivanhoe".
    
    clb				

    Atlant,
    
    Since tesseracts are perfectly ordinary, four-dimensional objects,
    they're undoubtedly found (well, are referred to) in multiple books.
    But I'd guess _A_Wind_in_the_Door_ by L'Engle, a sequel to _Wrinkle_.
    
    					Ann B.

Well,  my current favorites are:

Anything by Shel Silverstein especially Where the Sidewalks Ends and
the other one of poems.  Has classics like Backwards Bill, and Silvia
Stout Would Not Take The Garbage out.  Here's one I have in my head
called Prayer of the Selfish Child.

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
But if I should die before I wake
I pray the Lord my toys to break
So the other kids can't pray with them.

Amen

There's a Carrot in My Ear.  Funny stories about a silly Noodle
family.  I guees noddles were silly people in the Jewish tradition or
something like that according to the book.

Goodnight Moon.

The Waldo series is very popular right now.  Where's Waldo and the
rest.  On my "rounds" this week I was walking by a Nurses area and
there where three nurses trying to find Waldo!  I just smiled at them
and shook my head  and we all had a big laugh ;-)

Also, I'm reading some great Native American kids stories by Joseph
Bruchac.  I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Joe and listening to
him last weekend at a Native American conference in Sturbridge and he
is a special person and a great storyteller.

john

    'The Jungle Book' (not to be confused with the Disney abomination)
     and 'Just So Stories' by Rudyard Kipling. 

Dawn:

  Thanks!  That's exactly what I thought for C-S-I (well, I thought
  "generic Vonnegut"), but I wasn't sure.  With regard to teseracts,
  I'm pretty sure we're talking about "A Wrinkle In Time".

                                   Atlant

    
    
    re .23
    
    I'm not going out of my way to be critical or anything, but I'm not
    sure Watership Down was a children's book. In fact, I considered
    listing it and didn't. I read it in my late teens, and although I loved
    it, and the movie, I wonder whether most kids could handle something
    that long, or the concepts, which are actually very adult. And I'm
    guessing that you're older than I am, which means you weren't a child
    when you read it either, 'cause it ain't been out that long!!! :-)
    
    Has anyone out there read Watership Down to their children? Did the
    children enjoy it? Has anyone out there handed the book to a child? And
    if so, at what age?

Tesseract - it IS the "wrinkle in time" of the title; in the first book
of the series.

How about Esther Forbes' book, Johny Tremain?  All you New Englanders,
I'd a thought someone would have named it before now.  (Maybe I'm the
only one who likes it! ;-)

And I really enjoyed Where the Red Fern Grows, by Farley Mowatt I think.

And Old Yeller, and Brighty of the Grand Canyon.

DougO

    re.36
    
    ah, yes, Shel Silverstein ... 'the other one of peoms' [from which your
    prayer comes] is 'A Light in the Attic' ... love those pictures!
    [almost as much as my OmniBooth]
    
      Annie

    en francais:
    
    Le Petit Prince par Antoine de Saint-Exupery
    (The French version is better than the translations)
    
    and check out some new Nancy Drew books -- there's one
    (don't know title) where she has a handgun license and
    gun too.  Also, there's more "romance" than just eyelash-flutters
    and smiles.  :-) (this info was in a recent Sunday children's book
    review column)
    
    Thanks for starting this note!  it's fun to remember!
    usually-read-only-Pat
                                                        

What a great topic! 

My faves were/are

Anything by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Madeline books
The Bobbsy Twins do (anything)
Curious George ( I like the one where he dials the fire department) I had
  a great stuffed Monkey, just like curious George. Up until about 2 years 
  ago, I thought that our mailman had given it to me. I finally realized that
  my mother had mail-ordered it, and the mailman just *delivered* it. She 
  nearly died laughing when I told her where I thought it came from! 
Fairy tales in general, but my all time favorite is "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"

But my all time favorite-I'd do anything to get a copy of cause I lost mine in 
a flood in my parent's basement is:

The Little Mermaid (Not the Disney pablum, but the *real* one where she turns 
into sea foam in the end.) My copy of this book was way cool- it had these 
pages that were really thick and you could...kinda look into them like 3d, 
but better. It's hard to descibe, but I'd know it if I saw it again. I'd 
give anything for a new copy of that book (it has to be *that* version. 
Nothing else will do!)

dee

Oh! I almost forgot! A few years ago my SB (Sweet Baboo's) Mom gave us a book
he had when he was a kid, called "Uncle Wigley" The book is hysterical. I have
since bought another one for Mike, and sometimes we read each other Uncle
Wigley stories before bedtime. The books were written in about the 30's, and
I think the author was on serious drugs, but they are wonderful! In fact, for
Christmas, I drew Mike a picture of Uncle Wiggley that he has hanging in his
Office

    re.39 'ren
    
    I've read Watership Down to a few children [because they ask me to read
    it to them] and we talked about it.  Then one of them took my videotape
    of same home and his mother freaked.  He was 10, and liked the book
    better.
    
      Annie

    re:  .43
    
    Dee,
    
    Your list could very well have been written by me!!  My faves are
    almost EXACTLY the same as yours....in fact my first thought was "Uncle
    Wiggily"!!!  What a riot!!
    
    Thnx for reminding me about the Bobbsey Twins, too.
    
    -Dotti.

     re .44
    
    How long does it take to read WS out-loud? And why did Mom freak?
    
    Personally, I never recognized what the first "terror" was until I saw
    the movie and realized that a road was being built. But I tended to
    skim-read books, so I often missed a lot.
    
    In fact, I tried to skim-read a Tale of Two Cities in high-school and
    completely missed the two lines in which the two look-alike characters
    traded places!

re: .39

Well, 'ren, you know how "unusual" my daughter is...:-)

She chose to read Watership Down at the beginning of the year
(btw, she's 10 and in fifth grade) -- against her teacher's recommendations,
as the teacher didn't think she would want to finish it, nor that she
would finish it on time.  She did, and she did, and she got high marks
for the class work and homework she had to do around the book :-).  She
also enjoyed it immensely!
(now if only I could get her to recapture her love of math ... :-(

Bobbi "yes, I really have a deadline" Fox

'Ren:

  You're right -- I read "Watership Down" and Ajay (my six-year old
  son) and I have both watched the video several times.  Meanwhile...

 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  Reading aloud really isn't that time consuming.  So far, I've read
  to Ajay:

    o The entire Chronicles of Narnia,

    o The Phantom Tollbooth,

    o The Hobbit,

    o and we're nearly through "The Fellowship of the Ring".


  (Plus endless "little" books. :-) )

  The last Tolkien book is about 500 pages and we haven't been reading
  it for more than a month or two.  It's also a question of letting the
  kids show interest or lack thereof.  We has one false-start on the
  "Phantom Tollbooth" where he just didn't get into it, but on the sec-
  ond try liied it *VERY* much.  We've also had one false-start on "The
  Little Prince" but I expect to try that again soon.  (Well, after a
  thousand more pages of Tolkien.)

  If he wasn't so familiar with the "Watership Down" story, that book
  would be very high on my list of books to read to him.

                                   Atlant

As yet unmentioned:

  - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie � � � � � ???

                                   Atlant

    a few more
    
    Wee Gillis
    Ferdinand the Bull
    
    and (I loved the illustrations most in these)
    Harold and the Purple crayon
    A Very Special House
    Open House For Butterflies
    Where the Wild Things Are.
    
    Another fun one
    Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad day.
    
    -Jody
    

    re.46
    
    A couple summers ago, it took me about 3 weeks to read WSD sitting in
    my front yard after work until 'dinner-time.' So, I got in from 40 min.
    to an hour in every night -- with occasional interruptions for
    explanations and discussion [that the kids controlled].
    
    Mom freaked at the video because 'cartoon bunnies' aren't supposed to
    scratch each other. She got over it.
    
    The Pied Piper of Antrim Street misses her informal reading group
    -- they're all growing up on me <sniff> ...

I'm leaving out the underlines this time.

Oh! Were They Ever Happy! -- about a family of kids who paint the house for 
	their parents one Saturday

Abiyoyo -- from an African folk tale, sung (on Reading Rainbow) by Pete Seegar,
	and he also caused the story to be published

While we're at it, here's a plug for "Reading Rainbow".  Great opening song, and
lots of really great books.   You should hear Madeline Kahn read the story about
the kindergardener and her dad the ad exec who swicth places!

.24, Amos I know Bonnie already answered but I have to tell you, I have always
loved Thorton W. Burgess' "Old Mother West Wind" stories.  There's a museum for
him/his books in Hampden Conn, I think -- south of Springfield Mass?  I'm not
sure of that.

    Sara
    
    The museum I recall was in or near Sandwich Mass
    
    Bonnie

    I'm so glad others remember fondly Marguerite Henry. "King of the
    Wind" was my favorite, followed closely by Misty, and Brighty
    and all the rest.
    
    Walter Farley's Black Stallion and Island Stallion books
    also favorites.  I still have my Black Stallion Club pin!
    
    I went through all of these, and no one mentioned "The Witch
    of Blackbird Pond" which I still remember fondly.
    
    I wondered too about "Watership Down" being a children's book,
    but that's probably because I was 25 when I read it and was
    captivated by it. No reason that a child of any age wouldn't
    be...
    
    I read a lot of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries.  I
    guess they are still being written, but updated (they drive
    sports cars, not jalopies...).
    
    As a young adult, I devoured Agatha Christie's books. 
    Andre Norton is another author that appealed to me in
    my teens.  I remember "Moon of Three Rings" best.
    
    Richard
    

    When I was a kid I loved fairy tales the best, and my favorite was The
    Snow Queen.  I used to "make" my mother read it to me over and over
    again.
    
    Another favorite book was "Cat Stories" by Elizabeth Coatsworth.  It
    was a collection of stories about cats (who talked & lived in houses
    and drove cars, etc.) and my favorite was called "Bold John, The Cat
    Who Discovered the Night."  He was a black cat who lived in a house
    where there were already too many cats so he never got any attention or
    enough food, so he decided to find his own place in life and went out
    to discover the night.  Up til then, no cats had ever been in the habit
    of going out at night, or so the story went. :-)  (My mother must've
    read that story to me a million times.)
    
    I, also, loved Bambi, Little Women, Black Beauty and for awhile The
    Bobsy Twins (until I realized they were more capable at the age of 8
    yrs. than the average adult ever is).  Another favorite was The
    Adventures of Cuffy Bear, a book left over from my mother's childhood. 
    I was really into talking animals.
    
    As an adult I've enjoyed The Wind In The Willows, The Little House
    books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Watership Down and The Witch of
    Blackbird Pond.  Another really good book, that could be considered a
    child's book, that I read a few years ago was The Mouse and His Child.
    
    Laurie, in Little Women, was one of the first men I ever fell in love
    with.  :-)
    
    Lorna
    

    Anyone else remember The Borrowers?
    
    The Lady with the Lamp?  (Don't remember the author, but it was about
    settling the mid-western prairies, and went from the main character's
    childhood in the 1870's thru to her death sometime in the 1930's.)
    
    For nature stories, did anyone else ever read any of Sam Campbell's
    stuff, like The Seven Secrets of Somewhere Lake (a family of baby
    raccoons) or Rack and Ruin?
    
    Alison

More as yet unmentioned:

  The Giving Tree � � � � � � � � Shel Silverstein

  The Dot and the Line  � � � � � Norton Juster (of "Phantom Tollbooth" fame)

                                   Atlant

Wow! This  note  brings  back  fond memories! I've never contributed to this
conference  (I  don't think); I tend to be a read-only noter, but this topic
is great!

Some of my favorites:

The Oz  books - all of them! My neighbors had just about all of them in hard
cover  with all of the beautiful illustrations.  I believe that those lovely
books were first editions!

A Wrinkle  in  Time  -  I  cried at the end; it was so touching! I've got to
reread it and the others in the series!  A Newbury Award winner

Up a Road Slowly (I think that this is the name) - A Newbury Award winner, I
believe

Rabbit Hill - Another Newbury Award winner

Any of the Newbury Award winners which I've read

The Hobbit  - but I didn't read it until high school! I didn't read The Lord
of the Rings until I was in college!

"The Flight  of  the  Doves"  -  Has  anyone out there read this one? It's a
beautiful  story  about two children trying to make their way (in hiding) to
their  grandmother's  home  in  Ireland.  Their parents are dead and their
stepfather  is  neglectful.   They  run away from their stepfather's home in
England,  and  then...   I  don't  want  to  give any more of the plot away.
Apparently,  a movie was made of this book; if anyone knows where I can rent
it  or  whatever,  I'd  REALLY  appreciate  it.  This book was written by an
author  named Walter Macken who has written some novels for adults, as well.
He's from Ireland and his books are about Ireland.  They're very beautifully
written,  as  I  recall.   Walter  Macken  is (was?) an actor with the Royal
Dublin Theatre Company or something like that.

"Maya the  Bee" - I believe that this was the first "big" book I've ever read.
		A "novel" of over 100 pages.

Any Dr. Seuss book

"The Secret Garden"

The Winnie the Pooh books

Paddington books

Oh, definitely,  the  book  the  "101 Dalmations"! Much more detail than the
movie (but the movie is fun, too)

By the  way,  I first read "Le Petit Prince" in French in 11th grade; it was
wonderful in French and I did NOT cheat with the English version.

Oh, yes, I just saw someone mention "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"

Oh, the list goes on and on...  (I was/am an avid reader!  My mom used to yell
at me for reading at the breakfast/lunch/dinner table.  When she confiscated
my book, I'd read the cereal box at breakfast!)

-Mary Ann

    also Incredible Journey about 2 dogs and a cat crossing Canada to
    got home. Make me cry everytime I read it.
    
    and the Romona books by Beverly Cleary
    
    and anything by Ronald Dahl
    
    and, and and......

Re: 61

I still read when I eat.  In fact, I can hardly eat if I'm not reading.
I used to read the cereal boxes, too.  I also used to read when I was
walking home from the school bus.  It was a good thing the neighbors
looked out for me.

I don't think anyone's mentioned much non-fiction yet, but I gobbled
that up too.  Lot's of science books, biographies,...nothing stands
out now, but they were important then. Benj. Franklin's autobiography
was pretty influential in the fourth grade.


Re: a few back

My Great Aunt Esther used to read me Uncle Wiggley stories until she
got hoarse.  And if the caraway bread doesn't run away with the teapot,
the next story I tell will be about Uncle Wiggley and ...

    
    Help me, this note's jogged my memory but not all the way,
    some book about two kids who "ran away" from home and spent
    their time in a museum, something like "Mrs. Basilworth's
    Files" in the title.
    
    Also, S.E. Hinton's (?) books.
    

    re .64
    I was just about to write this when I saw your note - _From the
    Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_ is what you're thinking of
    - I just re-read it a month ago after finding it in the library. It IS
    a wonderful story of a girl and her brother who run away and live in a
    museum in NY City.
    

    
    re .65: Thanks!
    

    I liked most of Paul Zindel's books.
    
    The Pigman
    Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball
    ...
    
    (Isn't "The Secret Garden" the book by Nancy Friday? ;^)
    
    Jim

    This is a list of my favourite books as a youngster (which i still like
    to read on occasion) :-)
    
    	Little Women
    	The Water Babies
    	Freaky Friday
    	Lorna Doone
    	My collection of Ladybird books
    	The Arabian Knights
    	Snow Cloud Stallion
    	Gobolino the Witches Cat
    	The Kerry Caravan
    
    I could go on and on I loved - and still do - reading and re-reading my
    most favourite books.
    
    Tracy W

    
    	A brief tangent -
    
    	In Newsweek this week there is a review (excellent) of a new
    	Broadway musical - "The Secret Garden".  The review notes that
    	this may be the first Broadway musical with an all-women creative
    	team (producer, writers, music, directing...)
    
    	clb 

I did read some non-fiction and semi-non-fiction as a kid, also (4th, 5th, 6th
grade?  I'm guessing).

In particular, I remember a biography of Louisa May Alcott which I enjoyed, as
well as a biography of Paul Revere which was good, too.

Does anyone remember some humorous biographical (sort of) books of which there
several?  The two that come to mind are "Ben and Me" and "Mr. Revere and I" (I
think that those were the names).

"Ben and Me" was about Ben Franklin and a mouse who lived in his house (all told
from the mouse's point of view, and "Mr. Revere and I" was about Paul Revere and
his horse (the horse he rode on his famous ride, I assume - don't quite
remember) told from the horse's point of view.

-Mary Ann

    I think the author of "Ben and Me" etc. was Robert Lawson.  Yes, the
    horse in question (a mare named Scheherazade) was the one he rode on
    April 18-19, 1775.
    
    I loved those books!  I went through a Revolutionary War period during
    fourth and fifth grades, and read everything (fact or fiction) I could
    find on the subject.

    	Oh, thank you thank you thank you for some wonderful memories!!


    	So many of my favorites are here:  from Goodnight Moon and Pat
    the Bunny (I knew there was a reason we got along so well, Jody! 
    :^) ) to the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books,
    with Little House on the Prairie books and all the Lousia May
    Alcott books thrown in.  I remember Harriet the Spy, Encyclopedia
    Brown, the Borrowers and the Beverly Clearly books, and the Judy 
    Bloom books (Deenie was a bible for me when I gt my back brace!).  
    The JRR Tolkien books, Chronicles of Narnia (which I am in the 
    middle of re-reading right now, in fact!)... on and on.  The Anne 
    of Green Gables series was also mentioned, yes?  I used to devour
    books growing up...and I still proudly have some of my "kids
    books" on my bookshelf today!

    	I think the only one I haven't seen mentioned that I can
    think of at the moment is "The Yearling".

    	
    	amy

    Books I loved as a child?  Ah, now there's a list that's different
    from children's books and books I'd recommend to kids!
    
    "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" by Robert Browning and "A Visit from St.
    Nicholas"  My father read these to me over and over and over.
    
    _A_Connecticut_Yankee_in_King_Arthur's_Court_ by Mark Twain.  This
    was a second edition, so it wasn't valuable, but it still had these
    fantastic pen and ink drawings on just about every page.  His
    description of wearing armor is still one of the funniest passages
    in the English language.
    
    _What_Kinda_Cactus_Izzat?_ by Reg Manning (I think).  Anthropomorphic
    cartoons of cacti and other desert plants.  I can identify the
    different kinds to this day.
    
    _The_Brownies:_Their_Book_ and _The_Hole_Book_ were favorites of my
    parents, and then of me and my brother.  They both have been `recently'
    reprinted.  I have copies.  Terrific illustrations.
    
    (What I like best about the Marguerite Henry books were the *color*
    illistrations by Mumble Dennis.)
    
    There was a favorite book of my father's (and me), about a young boy
    and a night ride on a train that _The_Polar_Express_ reminded me of,
    very much.  I'll try to remember to ask.
    
    The Walter Farley books, of course, but they are practically unreadable
    for me now.  The Nancy Drew books (and she was a blonde! like me!,
    not a redhead (Titian anything, murfle, mrer)) and the Dana girl
    books, and the Ellery Queen Jr. books.
    
    _Swiss_Family_Robinson_.  Our library had two editions.  I was able to
    buy the one with the illustrations I liked better just this past year,
    for my older niece.
    
    _Frosty_Morning_.  This was not the same author as the one who wrote
    _Silver_Birch_, _Golden_Sovereign_, _Copper_Khan_, and _Blue_Smoke_,
    among others.  _Blue_Smoke_ was the best of those.
    
    *Both* volumes of _The_Jungle_Book_ by Rudyard Kipling.  I'm told
    there's another Mowgli story, but I've never read it.
    
    All the Sherlock Holmes stories, of course.
    
    						Ann B.

Wesley Dennis illustrated Marguerite Henry's books.  Recently saw a book about 
dogs (breeds & their uses) he did too.  Wonderful watercolors.

    Does anyone remember the book "All of a Kind Family" about 8(?) little
    girls and their parents... there was a series of books about them, and
    they'd buy little treats at the penny candy store and share them. Truly
    lovely stories.
    

    I read "all of a kind family" growing up!  Thanks for the memory!
    I loved each sister.  I learned alot about the Jewish traditions
    through those books. They were great!
    
    Another book I liked but see rarely is "I like you".  It really
    just a poem, but it's wonderful!  The book is tiny.   4 x 5".
    
    I read Anne of Green Gables as an adult. I thought it was great
    reading!  
    
    Kathy

    
    .7- i think my brother had that mythology book. but i can't remember 
    the names of the authors either. if you find out, could you let me/us
    know?
    
    other titles shaken from my memory: a series of books about dragons
    (i seem to recall them being candy-cane striped) and a ghost/story
    mystery (i remember something about a clue being hidden in an old tree
    and figuring out old riddles or letters or maps or some such).
    
    i'm surprised noone has mentioned the 'mushroom planet' books.
    
    great topic!
    
    

    
    Oh yeah...did anyone mention _Little_Women_, Louisa May Alcott?
    
    Another one I read in high school and loved was
    _A_Separate_Peace_ by John Knowles.
    

    Thanks Sara, for reminding me of Wesley Dennis, I can still
    picture his beautiful and distinctive illustrations of
    Marguerite Henry's books.
    
    I don't remember seeing Mary O'Hara's "My Friend Flicka"
    and "Thunderhead" mentioned.  Also, Felix Salten (author
    of "Bambi") wrote a book about a Lippizan stallion
    called "Florian."  I was into horse stories, can you tell?
    
    "Ring of Bright Water" is a wonderful book about a man
    who befriends a family of otters.
    
    Richard

    These are the things I had my mother read over to me time and time
    again:
    
    The Arkansas Bear  by Albert Bigelow Paine 
    
    Just So Stories:  The Elephant's Child
    		      the one about the Armadillo
    
    Golden Books:  Donald Duck's Toy Train
    		   Mickey Mouse's Picnic
    		   Mickey Mouse's Rocket Ship
    
    Child's Garden of Verses (the large beautifully illustrated Golden
    Book) and particularly the poem about Custard the Dragon who kept
    crying for a "nice safe cage".
    
    - Vick

    I learned to read off of a "Little Bear" book, but it probably won't
    come as a surprise that most of my childhood faves were rather morbid:
    Grimm, Anderson (especially "The Little Mermaid" -- brrrr!), "Peanuts",
    Christopher Lloyd, Lewis Carrol, Madeline L'Engle, lots of
    endangered-dogs-or-horses....  When I was in Germany, I remember a
    couple of fascinatingly ugly picture books about what happened to bad
    boys and girls.  
    
    I also remember finding a box with "The Little Leather Library" (: >,)
    in it, sort of a mouse-sized version of the Harvard Classics, from
    early in the 20th century, I guess.  It's packaging of "The Tempest"
    left me dazed and confused, but I liked the disturbing little stories
    by Isak Dinenson right off. 
    
    Another vote for the Heinlein juveniles, and Asimov's supposedly adult
    stuff, and the "Hitchcock" suspense anthologies.  And Walter De La
    Mare's poetry anthologies....
    
    I only became acquainted with E. Nesbit's books after I grew up, but
    they're great stuff, with a real Calvin & Hobbes attitude towards life!
    Noel Coward talks in his memoirs about how much they meant to him. 
    When he finally met the great woman, he confessed to having once swiped
    spare change to get one of her books -- he was shocked by her lack of
    concern regarding the crime.  (: >,)
    
    Ray

    
    More ratholing...
    
    When I was young (I'm 27), I was quite the reader, but already, I was
    surrounded by kids who would sit in front of the tube rather than pick
    up a book. Perhaps this list reflects how much older many noters are,
    in that there wasn't as much media entertainment available. But I also
    get the feeling that Womannotes harbors a lot of readers in general.
    
    BTW, some time over the weekend, I'll probably pull all of the notes
    off and make one big list. I'll post it seperately. Somebody else can
    then take on the job of updating it as the lite note continues.

several people have mentioned "The Little Mermaid". My daughter (at age 7) saw a
cartoon version of the original (not the Disney, tho that is fantastic) story
and cried herself to sleep that night.  It was her first exposure to a story
that did not have a happy ending.

My mother had previously found a 1940s vintage
copy of the story, which I had with-held because of the portrait of the mermaid
(wimp, give it all up for a man, self-sacrifice to the point of death for love
both unrecognized and unrequited).

She likes Ariel a lot more, and so do I.

Sara

�(wimp, give it all up for a man, self-sacrifice to the point of death for love
�both unrecognized and unrequited).
    
    No kidding about the nastiness of the mermaid's portrait -- heck,
    that's probably when I turned feminist!  ("There's GOTTA be better
    things for her to do with her life than THIS....")
    
    Thanks for remembering the mushroom planet, Joe!
    
    No Beatrix Potter yet?  Or did I just miss 'er?
    
    Ray

    re. 84 you missed it.
    
    I specifically mentioned Jemima Puddleduck, but qualified it with
    <something like> 'and Beatrix Potter in general'  ... possibly even in
    the same listing and Pippi Longstocking ...

    Whoops.  My apopopalexicopologies!
    
    Ray

Everyone Knows what a Dragon Looks Like
	(Be careful what you think you know and how you treat people!)

The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher
	(No words, wonderful story.)

Where the Wild Things are
	("I'll eat you up!" "Wild thing!" ... "and it was still warm.")

Don't bet on the Prince

Tatterhood, and other stories

Kintaro
	(Japanese "Jungle Book")

Momotaro
	("Peach Boy")

Issumboshi (sp?)
	("Little One-Inch")

[Various other Japanese "kid stories"]

Alice In Wonderland.
Through the Looking Glass.

	-- Charles

    Oooh, Charles, maybe you know:  What's a good version of the story
    of the hedgehog prince?  I read a one-page version of it, and said
    to myself, "This must be a very condensed version.  It looks quite
    promising."
    
    						Ann B.

I remember a book I really liked as a child.  It was called "Little Peach," I
think.  About some little girls and their Japanese dolls and dollhouses.

This one I still sing and recite (well, what I remember from it) from today.
It's a book which contains a poem/song (there were two sections: one was the
story/poem, the other was sheet music for the story/poem/song).
"I Know an Old Lady"  Maybe you remember it?  It goes:
	I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.
	I don't know why she swallowed a fly;  I guess she'll die.

	I know an old lady who swallowed a spider.
	She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
	But I don't know why she swallowed the fly;  I guess she'll die.

	...

	I know an old lady who swallowed a dog.
	She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
	She swallowed the cat to catch the mouse.
	...
	But I don't know why she swallowed the fly;  I guess she'll die.

	...

	I know an old lady who swallowed a horse.
	She's dead of course.

	The End

Sorry to have rambled on;  it's a fun book/poem/song.

Does anyone remember "What Good Luck, What Bad Luck!" ?

-Mary Ann

P.S.  "Oh, I don't know why she swallowed the fly;  I guess she'll die."
	I love that silly song. (In case you haven't noticed).

    Heaps and HEAPS o' fun!
    
    My all-time favorite as a kid was/were the "Jungle Books", but there
    were many close seconds, including a good many that have been mentioned
    already: lots of other Kipling stories, from the Just-So stories to
    Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and the really neat one about the seals (long before
    it was hip to complain about seal-bashing); The Secret Garden; A.A.
    Milne, both the Pooh stories and the poems ("James James Morrison's
    mother seems to have been mislaid"); grim fairy tales (whether by the
    Grimms or not - I especially liked the "Yellow Fairy Book," which
    included the one about the glass tower, where all the heroes who
    couldn't climb it fell to their deaths around the base, so by the time
    the Real Hero came along the glass mountain was surrounded by
    skeletons, and then the eagle attacked him and - oh, just the titles.
    OK.), the Mother West Wind series (wasn't that Chatterer a *card*?),
    all the usual horse-, dog-, and cat-stories (only why did so many of
    them feature *terrible* things being done to animals? See "Beautiful
    Joe," an especial favorite). I discovered Narnia, Tolkien, and Lloyd
    Alexander long after childhood, but would have loved 'em as a kid, too.
    
    And then there's the Encyclopaedia Brittanica (I'm serious; it was
    heavy, but fun),  and the Laura Ingles Wilder books, and lots of Dr.
    Suess - my favorite was "Bartholomew Cubbins and the Oobleck," but "500
    Hats" and "Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose" aren't far behind.
    
    Went through a "Nancy Drew" phase, too, but I liked the boys' series
    better - even the sidekicks seemed to have more fun than Nancy and her
    crew. Let's see, there was "Tom Swift, Jr." and "Ken Holt: Boy
    Reporter" (?) and another one whose name I forget...
    
    Then I got to junior high and discovered science fiction and ghost
    stories, and things got *really* out of hand. ;-)
    
    -b

    All of the OZ books.
    
                              Paul
    

    	Ooh... .89 reminded me of another book I loved - "James and
    the Giant Peach"!  

    	amy

    
    No one has mentioned Black Beauty?  By Anna Sewell?  I still have my
    childhood copy.  I wrote my name in it, spelled with a K (Kristine).
    I don't know how many times I read it.
    
    Dun, Dog of the Desert.  (Guess what color he was?)
    
    I loved a book of fairy tales I had, a collection; my favorites were
    The Green Snake (don't remember the author), Beauty and the Beast, and
    The Seven Swans.
    
    As an adult, I like a many of the books by William Steig; my favorites
    are Gorky Rising and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.  Also, Chris van
    Allsburg's The Garden of Abdul Gasazzi (sp?).  I just finished reading
    Crow and Weasel, a "novella length story" by Barry Lopez, illustrated
    beautifully by Tom Pohrt.
    
    I also read (and loved) the Thornton Burgess stories that were
    serialized in the Springfield, Mass. newspapers.  There's a Thornton
    Burgess "nature center" near Springfield that called Laughing Brook, I 
    think it might be in Hamden (Hampden?).  (Maybe that's the other place
    people were trying to remember...)
    
    CQ

    Earliest remembered:
    
    Mother Goose
    Uncle Wiggley
    Keeko
    The Little Red Hen
    Maximillian (a photo-book about rabbits)
    
    
    Loved and left:
    
    Nancy Drew
    horse books (including Misty and Black Stallion)
    Oz stories
    Robinson Crusoe
    Gulliver's Travels
    comic books, especially Superman and Little Lulu
    Edgar Rice Burroughs
    
    
    Still love:
    
    The Once and Future King
    The Water Babies
    The Wind in the Willows
    Pooh stories
    The Hobbit
    LOTR
    The Black Cauldron (and other Lloyd Alexander books in this series)
    Kidnapped
    Robin Hood
    Captains Courageous
    Treasure Island
    The Jungle Books
    Kim
    The Arabian Nights
    Heidi (don't care as much for the sequels, NOT written by Spyri)
    Brothers Grimm and Andersen
    The Face in the Frost (is Bellairs really dead?) (anyone know where can 
    	I buy this book?)
    Dickens
    Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
    books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
    books by Louisa May Alcott
    Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (and others by Kate Douglas Wiggins)
    books and short stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery
    Understood Betsy
    the Penrod books and Seventeen by Booth Tarkington
    Jane Eyre
    Black Beauty
    The Black Arrow
    Peter Pan
    Caddie Woodlawn
    Two are Better than One
    many Beverly Cleary books
    Charlotte's Web
    Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates
    King Arthur
    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (I like this better as an adult - a
    	common reaction, I'm told)
    The Boxcar Children (I thought this was a single, not one of a series?)
    101 Dalmations
    Old Yeller
    My Friend Flicka
    The Bird's Christmas Carol
    Twice Told Tales
    The Secret Garden
    A Little Princess
    The Rescuers
    
    Actually, I enjoy The Sword in the Stone and Peter Pan and The Jungle
    Book movies from Disney, but not as representative of the books.  I
    just enjoy them for what they are, simple fun.
    
    Can't think of any more just now, but there *are* more!  I like this
    topic, makes me want to go home and read and re-read.
    
    aq
    
    
    aq
    

    No one mentioned The Cat in The Hat!?
                  
    How about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn?
    
    Kate 

    
    Does anyone remember "Be Nice to Spiders"? Or "The Crows of
    Pearblossom"? Very thin, very young, very FAVE!

    Charlotte's Web by EB White.  I forgot I loved that one!
    Hurry Home Candy --- about a lost dog --- broke my heart.  

        A book about new letters of the alphabet that come after Z.
        I've been told since that it is called "On Beyond Zebra".
        
        Dan

    
    	Oh, yes.  I read this for the first time as a freshman in college.
    	My roommate gave it to me after the death of my grandmother.
    
    	Loverly book - loverly roommate.  Thank you, Julia, whereever you
    	may be!
    
    	clb

    
    
    I, too, have never contributed to this file, but I came upon this note
    and found it wonderful reading!
    
    My alltime favorites:
    
    Wolves of Willoughby Chase
    Black Hearts in Battersea
    Nightbirds on Nantucket     all by Joan Aiken 
    
    I still have the original tattered books 
    
    The All of a Kind Family Series   Sydney Taylor (some are out of print)
    
    Mrs. Pigglewiggle books
    Mother Westwind stories
    
    Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little
    
    I never read "Be Nice to Spiders" until I read it to my 5 year old -
    
    The Borrowers series
    Miss Bianca series
    Follow My Leader (when we used to order books through the schools - a
    wonderful book about a boy who is blinded and gets a seeing eye dog)
    
    Does anyone remember a series called The Saturdays of a family living
    in a huge old house?
    
    This brings back great memories.  I can even remember where I was when
    I was reading some of these - feelings are very strong!
    
    -dorothy
    
    p.s.  I, too kept a notebook like Harriet the Spy.  I felt so cool!
          

    The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, my seven year old son and I both
    cry when I read this to him.
    
    As a child I loved The Black Stallion books,
    Harriet the Spy
    Me and Caleb
    Misty of the Chincoteague
    The Five Little Peppers
    Runaway Pony, Runaway Dog
    Brer Rabbit stories
    
    millions more, these are a sampling
    
    Kim

Ah, what a wonderful topic.  I haven't read through all the replies
but I wanted to add mine...

From early childhood, my favorite books were "Horton Hears a Who" (Dr. Suess)
and the Dr. Suess dictionary, and a Golden Book about dolphins.  (I used
to fantasize about being a dolphin. Still do, I guess.)

Also: _Make_Way_For_Ducklings_ and the books about Madeline (the little French
girl in the ophanage).

-----------

I started reading YA (young adult) readers very early.  From that age range
(from about 8 till around 13) my favorite books were

_The_Phantom_Tollbooth_ (Norton Juster) - the perfect book, what more can I say?

_A_Wrinkle_In_Time_ (Madeline L'Engle) - actually the whole series

The Narnia Chronicles (CS Lewis)

the Black Stallion books (Walter Farley)

_A_Taste_of_Blackberries (???) - a story about a young boy whose best friend
dies, and how he deals

_Copper_Sunrise_ - a story of a young white boy who befriends a young
Native American boy while his village is at war with the other boy's tribe

*Anything* at all by Norma Klein, but especially "It's Okay if You Don't Love Me"

_From_the_Files_of_Mrs._Basil_E_Frankenweiler - about a boy and a girl who
run away and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

_The_White_Mountains_(and other books in the series) by John Christopher - the
first science fiction I ever read.  Changed my life!

-------------

Some children's books I didn't gain an adequate appreciation of till I was
older, including all the Winnie the Pooh books...

D!

	Hi,

	I just remembered The Jack Tales.  I first heard these
	recited by an ancient backwoods North Carolinian.  They
	are certainly the precursors of the "Jack and the Beanstalk"
	tale we all know.  I dimly recall a beanstalk-sorta tale
	in there....

	I found the book years later, as a grownup.

	The book is of particular interest as it's written in
	"dialect."  If you can come up with a good "Nawth Cahlina"
	accent, you can treat your child to the shivery pleasures
	of "Sop Doll", and other, preposterous stories....

	Steve H

How could I have forgotten...

The Collected Works of Hans Christain Anderson - a *huge* leatherbound book
that I got for my 8th birthday.  Read it cover to cover hundreds of times,
till it was falling apart. I wonder where that book is now.

Also Shel Silverstein's _Where_The_Sidewalk_Ends.

D!

    Oh, my, more I've forgotten...
    
    My copy of Heidi was tattered to death, I read it so many times.  
    
    Also - there was a wonderful book I had when I was very young that I
    read over and over and over and it was the most beautiful book - and
    now I can't remember the name or author/artist.  It might have been
    called "A Snowy Morning".  I don't even remember if it had words - it
    might have had a few.  But what was impressive was the pictures! 
    Beautiful colorful watercolors of snow and a little black boy who
    looked just like my brother!  The story is that it snows, and the
    little boy wakes up and looks outside, and see's how beautiful it is;
    he goes outside and plays in the snow, sliding down hills and making
    snow angels, etc; he makes a snowball and puts it in his pocket for
    later, and then goes inside and goes to bed; the next morning, all he
    finds is a wet pocket and he is sad; until he looks outside and finds
    that the world is again covered with snow!  Oh, I am getting all
    teary-eyed just thinking about it!
    
    ----------
    
    In general, the books I liked best were the ones that provided me with
    the best fantasies.
    
    My_Side_of_the_Mountain and From_the_Mixed-up_Files gave me
    "running away" fantasies and how I could live on my own.  _Heidi_ and
    _The_Secret_Garden_ and the Narnia Chronicles gave me fantasies about 
    having my own special, natural secret place.  
    
    I had a very active imagination when I was a kid, and I loved
    "imagination-fodder".  
    
    *sigh*  Where did it all go?
    
    ------------
    
    I had a book when I was about 10 of very funny poems about children who 
    didn't do what they were supposed to.  One was about a little girl who
    was overweight, and when her parents suggested that she diet, she threw
    a tantrum and said she'd never eat again, so she starved to death. 
    Another was about a boy who didn't listen to his mother when she said
    not to play with matches and he burned the house (and himself) down. 
    And there was the little boy wh owouldn't speak to anyone; a the little
    spoiled rich girl.  The illustrations were great.  :-)  Anyone know the
    name?
    
    -------------
    
    How could no one have mention _Charlie_and_the_Chocolate_Factory_ and
    it's sequel _The_Glass_Elevator_.  What a terrific book!
    
    D!

    .106 -
    The book you're talking about is called "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack
    Keats and it's one my children's favorite books.   The colorful
    pictures are actually done with fabric cutouts, the outfits on the
    little boy and his Mom and the bathroom floor when he's sitting in
    the tub with his little rubber duck.  In fact, the copy of the book
    they read is my book from when I was little.  I bought it through
    the Scholastic Book Services in the 3rd grade!  Does anybody remember
    buying books through your school?  In the Newton school system we
    bought paperbacks that way.  Talk about anticipation...waiting for
    the book boxes to arrive!
    
    -dorothy

Oh yes, buying books thought Scholastic Books...what anticipation!  I
loved it!  Unfortunately, my family couldn't afford many books but I would
always get as much as my father would let me (usually one book.)  (I was
in the Newton school system in 3rd grade, too - Burr Elementary - but I
don't remember the Scholastic Books from then, but from 4th and 5th grade
in Taos, NM.)

Did anyone else have RIF (Reading is Fun[damental]) days?  They would bring the 
"bookmobile" to the school and every kid in school would get to pick a
*free* *book*.  I thought it was the most amazing thing on earth!  A free
book all for myself that I didn't have to give back when I was done, like
at the library.  So exciting!  (i was easily pleased in those days.)  Is
RIF still around?

This is a great topic. I don't know about anyone else, but from the day I
learned to read (age 3) I had my nose in a book. Books literally saved my
life and in turn I lived to read.  In Junior High School I spend *every*
*single* *lunch-hour* in the library.  Normally kids had to get passes from
the principal to be allowed in the library at lunch, but I went everyday
and the librarian (Mrs. Martinez) knew me and I could go in without a pass.
In fact, my father now teaches at the school I went to JHS at, and he says
that Mrs. Martinez remembers me, and to this day still talks about me!

re: Watership Down - my father read it aloud to me when I was about 11.  (We
did a lot of reading aloud - the Hobbit and LoTR and the Chronicles of
Narnia and the Princess Bridge and...)  I didn't understand *all* of it
but I enjoyed it at a much deeper level than "a story about rabbits" even
at that age. In fact, I remember when I first read about "the evils of
communism" thinking "Oh, that sounds just like {what was the name of the
bad rabbit's warren?}"  (Boy was I disappointed years later when I reread
the story when I had a firmer grasp on gender and discovered that Hazel was
a BOY RABBIT!!)

D!
D!

	Re: 106

	The stories you mentioned about the not-so-good
	children and their grisly fates sounds rather like
	good ol' Edward Gorey.

	The Amphigorey books might seem like children's books
	at first glance...but whooo!  

	Steve H

>	The stories you mentioned about the not-so-good
>	children and their grisly fates sounds rather like
>	good ol' Edward Gorey.

Nope, nope, that's not him.  You're thinking of the Gashleycrumb Tinies.

D! is for...???

    - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
    - The Secret Garden
    - Are you My Mother?
    - Charlotte's Web
    - Stuart Little
    - Nancy Drew Books!

I've just thought of another one.

"The Littlest Angel,"  by ????.

Although some  might object to the religious aspect of it (it does deal with
Christmas,  and  the  birth  of  the Savior), the story is not as much about
the birth of Christ and Christianity as it is about love and sincerity.  The
Littlest  Angel's  gift is from the heart and is his most prized possessions
(kind of like "The Little Drummer Boy").

I had  a  beautiful  paperback copy of this book.  I know, it does not sound
appealing (a paperback?), but it was a large book (12 inches square?) and it
came boxed with some sort of cutouts or something.  I'll have to look for it
the next time I visit my parents.  (Then again, maybe it is not paperback).

The Hallmark  Hall  of Fame did a very nice production of this story back in
the  late  60's or early 70's.  It starred Johnny Whitaker (Huck Finn or Tom
Sawyer in Disney films, as well as the little nephew on "Family Affair") and
????  (Grr!  can't  think  of  his  name  -  played  Herman  Munster on "The
Munsters").

I   suppose   that   this   next   comment   belongs   in   the   Children's
Shows/Movies/Programs topic (#803), but I'll it seems appropriate due to the
last paragraph.

	Sure wish I could see some of those older Hallmark Hall of
	Fame productions.  Are they available for renting, etc.?

I guess I'll post that question in aforementioned topic.

-Mary Ann

    Remembered a couple more:
    
    Any of James Thurber's "juveys", including the immortal "The 13 Clocks"
    and also "The Wonderful O" and "The White Stag".
    
    Also any of John Gardner's kid stuff, including the short story books
    "Dragon, Dragon" and "Gudgekin the Thistle Girl".  They are humorous
    send-ups of classic-type fairy tales.  I think he also wrote "In the
    Suicide Mountains", another book my father read aloud to us when I was
    about 10 - great, funny stuff.
    
    D!

    I love this topic, here are some of mine, most of them have already
    been mentioned:
    
    	- A Fish Out of Water (my favorite)
    	- The Best Nest ( by the same author of "Are You My Mother"
                          I believe)
    	- Mike Mulligan & The Steam Shovel
    	- the Laura Ingalls Wilder series
    	- Anne of Green Gables series (I still read these)
    	- It's Not Easy Being a Bunny (P.J. Funnybunny series, I bought
          my son a stuffed P.J. and he didn't like it.  It's mine now...)
    
    Roberta
    

    Um, a note in another conference brought this one to mind: anybody
    remember (I hope I get the order of magnitude right) "Millions of
    Cats"? About a kindly old couple who acquire a few more cats than
    they'd had in mind, and how their problem gets resolved... The artwork
    in this one was memorable, and rather scary now that I come to think of
    it. 
    
    -b

    This is a note for me.
    
    I have read every single reply and boy, what wonderful memories came
    flooding back.  I love(d) to read.  Unfortunatly time does not always
    permit me to read as much as I like but, I still average 3-4 books a
    month.  
    
    I still have many of the books mentioned here stored in my closet.  My
    husband keeps asking me to get rid of them, but they are such a strong
    part of my childhood, I cannot let go.
    
    Some additonal books I enjoyed...Island of the Blue Dolphins
    				     Lost in the Barrens
    				     The railway Children
    				     Parent Trap
    				     Ramona The Pest
    				     Ellen Tibbets
    				     Henry Reed <--can't remember if that
    was the name of the book or just the character.
    
    Thanks for sharing....
    
    Roberta 

     re .116
    
    On the last one, at least one book was Henry Reed's Babysitting
    Service. (Its at home somewhere!). I know there was another one, but I
    do't remember the title.
    
    AWESOME book.

    Remember when he was into making donuts....
    
    I found this on video and rented it for my four year old, she loved it.
    
    Roberta

    An entry after my own heart.
    
    All Golden books, Saggy, Baggy Elephant and Poky Little Puppy to 
    name two.
    
    Jack London's books about dogs and wilderness
    
    Black Beauty
    Beautiful Joe
    Any/all horse and dog books.
    Nancy Drew, of course.  Used to get yelled at by my 8th grade
    teacher.  She felt I shouldn't be reading the same type of books.
    Bobbsy Twins
    Books on Greek mythology
    Any/all fairy tales
    A series similar to Trixie Belden, but main character's last
    name was Parker and she was in High School.  Anyone remember this?
    Aesop's Fables
    Swiss Family Robinson
    Disney stories
    Any book from school book club I could afford.  Oh for the days
    of 25 and 50 cent books!!  I still have them all.
    Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and others by same author
    Black Stallion
    Bambi and it's sequel
    All Thornton W. Burgess stories, especially Mother West Wind group
    Elias The Musical Gnu and His Kazoo
    Hoton Hears A Who (My only Seuss book)
    Christmas Stories Around the World (one of my faves.  Stories about
    how Christmas is celebrated in other countries)
    Jane Eyre
    
    RE: .57 The Lady With The Lamp was a biography about Florence
    Nightengale.  I read it.
    
    Linda
    Still Reading!!
    

    re .119
    
    Yes, the Burgess books were *wonderful*!  And Wind in the Willows.
    And all those Black Stallion books.  In fact, sounds like we read
    the same books....
    
    -ellie

    re .119
    
    Donna Parker
    
    Anything by Seuss - read out loud, as fast as you can.
    Nancy Drew
    Anne of Green Gables
    
    I wish I could remember more...I read so much couldn't even keep track
    of all the authors and titles...and when I finished the books I got out
    of the library, I would read the books my mother took out for
    herself...especially mysteries.  I loved romance novels as a preteen
    too.
    
    Phyliss (sp?) Whitney children's books
    Mary Stewart - ALL
    
    Zillions of others..
    
    Oh, does anyone else remember "A Fly Went By"?
    
    /Wendy               

RE: Oh, does anyone else remember "A Fly Went By"?
    
  Soitenly!  "A Fly Went By" by Mike McClintock, in the Dr. Suess
  "I can read it all by myself" series published by Random House.
  Our copy is ISBN 0-394-80003-6.

 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

RE: The Little Match Girl

  There's an edition in print right now with extraordinarily beautiful
  illustrations (IMO, of course) by Rachel Isadora.  It's published by
  G.P. Putnam's Sons of New York, ISBN 0-399-21336-8, US$14.95.  For
  anyone who likes this story, I'd urge you to look for this version.

                                   Atlant

    _Mary Jane's
    _Bobbsey Twins series
    _Trixie Beldon's
    _Cherry Ames (wanted to be a nurse until I found out I faint at blood)
    _Nancy Drews
    _Hardy Boys (used to sneak in & read my brothers')
    _Pepper Books (5 little Peppers)
    
    I'd much rather read than play.  There use to be another series similar
    to Trixie Beldon that took place in California , a girl named Robin ?
    & her twin Micheal. Does anyone remember these?
    
    Beth

    I don't think I have seen one reference to: ENID BLYTON.
    
    Do you have her books in America?  I have virtually the entire
    collection (literally hundreds).  Now they are regarded as rather
    suspect (classist, racist and very sexist but they didn't do me any
    harm - or did they?!!!)
    
    In Britain, I should think every child from 1950s to the late 1970s was
    brought up on them.  For myself and my friends these books were our
    staple reading diet.
    
    

    Evidence of sex typing -- so many Nancy Drews, so few Hardy Boys.... 
    (I read 'em both avidly, but found them kinda tedious.  How much
    respect can you have for people who continually solve crimes by getting
    knocked out by the villains?)
    
    I grew up with my nose in a book, so it's hard to remember them all.
    
    Marguerite Henry's horse books (not just the Chincoteague stuff)
    Lois Lenski (Strawberry Girl, etc.)
    a good mystery by Willo Davis Roberts, forget the title
    The Secret Garden, The Little Princess
    The Five Little Peppers books
    Sydney Taylor's Five of Kind Family (?) books
    The Little House series
    Alfred Hitchcock's Three Investigators

    Er,
    
    Here's a soon-to-be favorite of kids and their parents (I hope):
    
    "Shopping at the Ani-Mall" by myself and my mother.  It was a joint
    effort and just came out last month.  The publisher describes it as
    "Rollicking nonsense rhymes about alphabetical animals shopping for
    things they cannot use--with full color illustrations that will delight
    all ages."  It is published by Windwept House, Mt. Desert, Me. 04660,
    ISBN 0-932433-72-3, $9.95.
    
    My mom and me will be having a booksigning at Book Nooks and Krannies
    in Merrimack, NH from 1-3pm on July 13 if anyone wants to stop by.
    
    Jane

    Hi,
    
    	When I read .-1 saw it was from someone just down the hall, I had to
    go ask Jane about the book...I read it...very cute...
    
    	Good luck with it!...and I hope to see more...
    
    sandy

    Another recommendation for Rudyard Kipling - specifically the Jungle
    Book story "Dhole" or "Red Dog".  A good teaching tool, re: setting
    limits on what one simply won't allow others to do to oneself.  
    	[dale]

    re .124
    
    I was wondering whether anyone would mention Enid Blyton. I remember
    checking her books out of an Atlanta, Ga. public library - probably
    in the mid 50s. I only knew of 7 or 8.  I loved them. 
    Valley of Adventure...Mountain of Adventure... I remember their
    parrot Kiki who would make imitations of a train going through
    a tunnel or an airplane taking off at just the right moment to
    foil the villains. Lots of fun!
    
    reg

    re . 129
    
    I am glad that someone out there in America has read Enid Blyton.
    
    However, she wrote hundreds of books!  The Secret Seven Series (about
    20 different books) The Famous Five (my favourites - about 25) the
    Advenure books that .129 mentioned - don't forget Bill Smugs!!!!!
    
    Also there were The Adventurous Four, The Family at Redroofs.
    
    There were loads of books for younger readers - such as Noddy, Amelia
    Jane etc.etc.
    
    Then there were the school stories: Malory Towers, St. Clares and The
    Naughtiest Girl in the School series.
    
    Lastly, are the Mystery stories - e.g. The Rockingdown Mystery
    
    If you can get hold of these now, they are well worth reading.
    
    
    H.
    

    Dr. Suess, Black Beauty, The Bobbsey Twins, Hans Christien 
    Anderson, Misty Of Chinqetigue (sp), Any book about animals,
    like Bambi, The Incredible Journey, (any book Disney made
    a move out of),  Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys, The Wind in
    the Willows, Encyclopedia Brown, The Henry, Ramona & Beezus books,
    (I forget the author's name...), I think I read the whole
    childrens section from the public library.... :-)
    and my favorite was a 6 book set my mom purchased that had 
    childrens poems, i.e. Mary had a...., Humpty Dumpty, childrens 
    short stories, i.e. The Grasshopper and the Ant, The Goose that 
    laid the golden egg, Childrens songs, i.e. Itsy bitsy spider, etc.
                                   
    Lynne

    my two favorites...
    
    "The Paper Bag Princess" and "Heather Has Two Mommies"
    
    anybody out there know the authors?  the names escape me..
    
    \D/