The children’s book you remember best

That sounds vaguely familiar...

I was a precocious reader and read loads from a young age. I enjoyed the famous five and the five find outers. But the novel which stands out was 'When Marnie was there' by Joan Robinson. It was the first slightly spooky book I read and I was enthralled.

What Katy did (next, and at school, too)
The secret garden.
The famous 5 books.
The wickedest witch in the world.
Anything by Enid Blyton.
Books about Brer Rabbit and co.
Also a book about 3 children in Sweden who lived on a farm; Lars, Olaf, and Pip.

Down the Bright Stream, The Secret Garden, Royal Chase by Joan Selby Lowndes, The Great House by Cynthia Harnett. Still have them all. Never managed to interest my DDs in any of them.

Like many, the Little Grey Rabbit series were the first books I loved. As I began to read for myself, Malcolm Savages ‘Lone Pine Five’ series especially ‘Green Dolphin Adventure’, Noel Streatfield’s books ‘Ballet Shoes’ and others. The one I still read is, ‘Wind in the Willows’. So many were introduced to me through Children’s Hour on the radio. How I loved Anthony Buckley’s Jennings stories, I still have a copy.

Oh so many of these mentioned are lovely

My Mum wouldn't let us read Enid Blyton she was woke before it was even invented

The Wind in the Willows - I still read it occasionally

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis.

I absolutely loved it and can remember sitting outside my Nan's wardrobe for hours, in hope!
To be fair she did bring me a glass of milk and cheese sandwich.

Puck of Pook’s Hill by Rudyard Kipling. Already an old book when I was born. There was a copy in a pile of old books given to me during a prolonged absence from school due to illness. It’s a collection of stories at different periods in history. The story ‘On The Great Wall’ gave me a lifelong fascination with Romano British history.

Bodach

Dear Witzend,
I like your father's style!

Thank you, Bodach - he was a great reader of bedtime stories - all the different voices, etc. He also excelled at amateur dramatics, and was a wonderful singer, esp. much of G&S in the bathroom! Long gone now, RIP ❤️

‘Del Du’, the Welsh translation of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty which I remember my mother reading to us before bed, and before I learned to read.

Hated having to wait for the next chapter so learned to read myself in double quick time and have had my head stuck in a book ever since!

I also still have my original "Wind in the Willows" wished I had some of my other early ?

There are so many! My absolute number one would be "The Water Babies" Closely followed by both the Alice books. My earliest memory of being read to was "Little Grey Rabbit" and "The Magic Faraway Tree"

I make an exception for Blyton’s nature study books. It’s the fiction I couldn’t stand.

I may be unique - I didn’t like Enid Blyton. I found her characters boring and one-dimensional. Same with Arthur Ransome, though my brother loved Ransome.

‘The Silver Sword’ by Ian Serrallier. Was my absolute favourite for ages when young. I found a copy in an Oxfam bookshop several years ago and I treasure it.

Dear Witzend,
I like your father's style!

Like FannyCornforth, I can trace several books/authors which impacted me at different ages: starting with Alison Uttley's Little Grey Rabbits, followed by Edin Blyton's Faraway Trees. Aged 9, I was transfixed by Rosemary Sutcliff's 'The Eagle of the Ninth'. How I ached to be Marcus, the young Roman centurion heading into the wilds of Caledonia in search of the eponymous emblem of his father's Legion, which years previously had marched north of the Wall on an expedition against the 'painted people' there - and had never returned. As with Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in the Willows', I still read my original copy from time to time, and am transported into both narratives: that of the book, and that of my childhood.

I loved The Famous Five, then the What Katy Did series and Heidi.
As a mother I liked reading Stig of the Dump to my children.

I read so many books in my childhood but the one that I still occasionally read ( my children loved it too ) Is "Susan Pulls the Strings" by Jane Shaw. The children in it seemed so normal and I would love to have known them. Sure , the adventure was far fetched but definitely possible.

Gosh, far too many to list, but one of my loves was Rev. Awdry's series about the railway engines. I even had a crush on one of the engines, Gordon, I think . My father was a railway enthusiast so I expect the initial interest came from him...

All the books I read came from the local library as my family was in no position to buy many books (I've made up for that now, though)

I loved Little Grey Rabbit, too.

I loved Arthur Ransome , how brave the children ! But now I think , how daft the parents !

I’m another Little Grey Rabbit fan. Lovely, lovely books. Then when I was a bit older, What Katy Did was a great favourite, along with Ballet Shoes. I still reread those two books, although there’s no need really - I know them by heart, almost literally. Both have unforgettable characters who could just as well live today, though Katy was 1873, I think, and Ballet Shoes 1936.

luluaugust

Famous Five for me, oh the freedom!

We still have several Famous Five books, inc. the first, which I’m going to start reading at bedtime to Gdcs next time they stay. I dare say the elder, coming up to 7, will want to go on reading it herself.

I remember my father reading FF books to us at bedtime, but he really did not like Julian, so often, when Julian said something intelligent, to help solve whatever the mystery was, my DF would say in an aside, ‘Because Julian’s a clever bugger…’ ?

I liked Treasure Island too Parsley3. My daughter once received a black spot from a friend she'd had a falling out with but the bit that stays with me is Ben Gunn dreaming of toasted cheese!