I used to think I was the only one who'd read these books...then suddenly I've noticed them mentioned in a semi-plethora of OLJs.

What was your favorite childhood book[s]? Did you read classics *and* the cheesy series novels [Sue Barton, Bobbsey Twins, Trixie Belden, Cherry Ames, and our favorite crime-fighter Ms. Nancy Drew?]

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2000

Answers

I'm on a wonderful e-mail list about Lenora Mattingly Weber's books (Beany Malone and Katie Rose and Stacy Belford series). You can join it at http://onelist.com/group/weber-l if you're also a fan. We had our first in-person meeting last summer in Ann Arbor, and this July plan to meet up in Denver, for a tour of Lenora Mattingly Weber sites.

There's also a Maud Hart Lovelace list (she wrote the Betsy-Tacy-Tib books). I was on this one for years, but it's very high-volume and just got to be too much for me.

I also loved the Bobbseys as a kid, Trixie Belden, all the nurse books, the Happy Hollisters and more.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2000

Whoops, I forgot to say how much I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Rob and I just visited the site of her dugout home in Walnut Grove (on the banks of Plum Creek) this weekend. Lots of children's book sites to see in Minnesota, which was also home to Betsy, Tacy and Tib (Mankato).

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2000

Y'all are welcome to keep posting to this thread, but I thought I'd point out that we recently discussed the same issue on the book club forum. Lots of memories to be found there.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2000

"Harriet The Spy" and the followup, "The Long Secret," changed my whole life as a kid. I started carrying around notebooks, spying on people, and writing in my journal daily--unfortunately a habit I indulge in to this day. But it also started me on my career as a journalist. I was also a boob for Beverly Cleary's books, whether cheesy romances like "Jean & Johnny" or earlier, the whole Henry Huggins series, especially Ribsy the dog. I loved him.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Harriet the Spy.

What more can I say?

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Not only did I read the cheesy Nancy Drew series, I still have 40-50 of the books. Betsy-Tacy-Tib, yep; Little House, yep; Harriet the Spy, yep. I also loved all of the Melendy family books and anything Louisa May Alcott.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

let's see- i loved beverly cleary books (the ramona quimby series), a plethora of young children's books (harold and the purple crayon, etc...), and as i'm a child of the eighties, i was pathetically hooked on the baby-sitters club series, as well as sweet valley high (a must for daily doses of teenage soap opera intake..). i also loved novels like castle in the attic, indian in the cupboard, mrs. piggle- wiggle, and sooo much more. i was a lonely and only child- i read all of the time.

now that i'm in my twenties, i still love children's books. i especially adore j.k. rowling's ingenious harry potter books. i swear they weren't written for children. i think they most certainly appeal to the big kid in all of us.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

<deep breath>
The Fire Cat (and the related Cat Club books), Little Women, Little Men, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, Nancy Drew, Beverly Gray, the Three Investigators, Alvin Fernald, the Great Brain, All of a Kind Family, Scott Corbett's "Trick" books, Pippi Longstocking, Morris and Boris, Amelia Bedilia, Encyclopedia Brown, Choose Your Own Adventure... Narnia, Prydain, The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland, The Monster at the End of this Book, everything by Dr. Seuss, ditto Shel Silverstein, Beverly Cleary, Gordon Korman... Harriet the Spy, the Adventures of Hapless Harry, Suds, The Pigman... I'm undoubtably leaving out a few hundred others I oughta mention, but that'll do for now.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

because Beth's closed my italics tags so often herself.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

Before age 10:
Curious George and a book version of The Rescuers -- the first feature film I ever saw. (Ages 2-5) J.R.R. Tolkien, both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings My father began reading these to me when I was three or four -- I finished reading them myself

Laura Ingalls' Wilder's Little House books -- my mother started reading these to me just before Dad started on The Hobbit -- I also finished reading the series myself

Louisa May Alcott -- Little Women, Little Men and Jo's Boys, I also have copies of Eight Cousins Under the Lilacs and Rose in Bloom but my favorites are the "March trilogy"

L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and sequels -- the first three are my favorites.

Nancy Drew -- the first one I read, was in my grandmother's bookcase "The Clue in the Old Stagecoach." I read that one over and over again, until people started giving me new ones as gifts. Grandma used to bring a suitcase full of them over from America when she came to visit us in Europe on the holidays. C.S. Lewis' Narnia -- one of the first series of books I was ever given. I receieved a boxed set of them in paperback for Christmas, 1981. Today they are much battered, having been handed down to my brothers, and I recently purchased a boxed set of the hardcover edition to set up residence in my library. Several books by Judy Blume -- my favorite was Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great E.B. White Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan -- Swan and Stuart are my favorites Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden and A Little Princess Thursday's Child and the Shoes books by Noel Streatfield Enid Blyton's books about intrepid children -- I read this translated in French so I've no idea what they are called in English. M.M. Kaye's An Ordinary Princess -- this is a very slender volume, a sweet, short humorous fairy tale that was featured as a serial in Cricket, a magazine for children a few years ago. Speaking of Cricket -- I was subscribed from 1979 until 1984 and was introduced to the short story through its pages, as well as the works of ... Ages 11-13 ... Lloyd Alexander -- The Prydain Chronicles Joan Aiken -- Nightbirds on Nantucket and others Anything by Diana Wynne Jones Lois Lowry -- various books including the Anastasia Krupnik books Anne McCaffrey -- Pern books, though my favorites are Dragonsong and Dragonsinger Tamora Pierce -- Alanna and sequels Robin McKinley -- The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown Gosh .... I have too many favorites ....so I think I'll stop there ....

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

Favorite Books: Before age 10:
Curious George and a book version of The Rescuers -- the first feature film I ever saw. (Ages 2-5) J.R.R. Tolkien, both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings My father began reading these to me when I was three or four -- I finished reading them myself

Laura Ingalls' Wilder's Little House books -- my mother started reading these to me just before Dad started on The Hobbit -- I also finished reading the series myself

Louisa May Alcott -- Little Women, Little Men and Jo's Boys, I also have copies of Eight Cousins Under the Lilacs and Rose in Bloom but my favorites are the "March trilogy"

L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and sequels -- the first three are my favorites.

Nancy Drew -- the first one I read, was in my grandmother's bookcase "The Clue in the Old Stagecoach." I read that one over and over again, until people started giving me new ones as gifts. Grandma used to bring a suitcase full of them over from America when she came to visit us in Europe on the holidays. C.S. Lewis' Narnia -- one of the first series of books I was ever given. I receieved a boxed set of them in paperback for Christmas, 1981. Today they are much battered, having been handed down to my brothers, and I recently purchased a boxed set of the hardcover edition to set up residence in my library. Several books by Judy Blume -- my favorite was Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great E.B. White Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan -- Swan and Stuart are my favorites Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden and A Little Princess Thursday's Child and the Shoes books by Noel Streatfield Enid Blyton's books about intrepid children -- I read this translated in French so I've no idea what they are called in English. M.M. Kaye's An Ordinary Princess -- this is a very slender volume, a sweet, short humorous fairy tale that was featured as a serial in Cricket, a magazine for children a few years ago. Speaking of Cricket -- I was subscribed from 1979 until 1984 and was introduced to the short story through its pages, as well as the works of ... Ages 11-13 ... Lloyd Alexander -- The Prydain Chronicles Joan Aiken -- Nightbirds on Nantucket and others Anything by Diana Wynne Jones Lois Lowry -- various books including the Anastasia Krupnik books Anne McCaffrey -- Pern books, though my favorites are Dragonsong and Dragonsinger Tamora Pierce -- Alanna and sequels Robin McKinley -- The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown Gosh .... I have too many favorites ....so I think I'll stop there ....

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

Now that's odd .... it posted before I hit submit .... weird. Sorry about the double post, but honestly, I was still working on the post itself and was quite surprised to get a "message already posted" response.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000