The children’s book you remember best

Thank you, Wheniwasyourage, for reminding me of the Jennings and Darbishire books. They were excellent preparation for my going to boarding prep. school when I was ten.

aggie

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

I loved all the Arthur Ransome books too - I think I'd be the same about the parents now but at the time was very envious of the adventures as I lived in suburban Essex!

Grandmajean

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.

I loved all the Susan books by Jane Shaw.

One I remember from when I was very young was More Adventures of a Teddy Bear by Mrs H L Cradock. It was illustrated with black and white line drawings which I coloured in, not very skilfully, unfortunately.

There are so many, but the one that I remember having read to us at the end of each day by our teacher was Stig of the Dump. It was just brilliant!

I've just remembered 'My friend Flicka', about a horse. I loved the book but can't remember the author unfortunately.

As a young primary school aged child loved The Story of Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf. I have used it regularly as a teacher..excellent in PHSE, just a a great story as well useful in Philosophy for Children (P4C) lessons! The recent feature length animation film was a huge disappointment.

Wheniwasyourage our teacher used to read us ‘Little Black Sambo’ stories when I was at school. I’d forgotten all about them until I saw them mentioned on your thread.

Snow queen by Hans Christian Andersen

DannieRae, I loved the Jalna series, too - I was maybe 12-13. Yes, Renny was a main character of the Whiteoak family. The matriarch - Adeline? - is the other who sticks in my mind, and the granddaughter (?) - I think Renny’s daughter - who was named after her. There was also a Finch - IIRC one of the books was called Finch’s Fortune.

I once had several of the series, but they disappeared - my folks got rid of a lot of my books when the moved house and area during my first year at university,
I was very upset about some of those for ages, but a few have turned up in recent years courtesy of abebooks.co.uk- no such thing alas in the 60s!

The silver brumby series of books. Loved those horses. Getting the massive hardbacks from the library was a great thrill. I remember one called Return to Sula. I had to read it to my class.

Really enjoyed the House at one end street also was a big fan of Milly Molly Mandy . Despite very few books at our home!!

Famous Five were the best. Read to my children as well.

Oh, forgot to mention the Susan books by Jane Shaw, Noel Streatfeild's books and The White Riders.

My mother's copies of Angela Brazil's school stories.

Tom's Midnight Garden - I loved that book, and still do.

The Narnia books, particularly The Voyage of The Dawn Treader.

The Chalet School.

The Jennings and Darbishire books.

The 101 Dalmations.

The Story of Ferdinand and also Little Black Sambo (sorry, but it is a good story and the best man boy definitely wins) when I was younger.

SachaMac it is!!! Thank you so much for posting, I've been thinking about it for years!! I will get online and search for a copy. Marvellous

I only put one book in my original post, but remember so many that have now been mentioned.
I still have my copy of Black Beauty and Heidi in the bookcase, with colouring by me aged 7!
Zoejory your mention of Struwwelpeter, a truly horrific tale with equally horrific drawings reminded me that I found it hidden on the top shelf of my Mum’s wardrobe. I think my Swiss Godmother had given it to me as a ?9th birthday present and Mum, very sensibly, hid it away. Having googled it again now, I can see exactly why! I was never given it officially and could never let on I had seen it. I wonder if it was given to me as I used to bite my nails!
MaxiBialystock and DanniRae you jogged my memory about Jalna and Whiteoaks! I loved that series, I used to have the complete set, but long gone to a charity shop. I think Rennie was father, but probably wrong.

Lovely thread, bringing back lots of happy memories.
For me, favourite childhood books include:
Famous Five
Five Find outers and dog.
Mary Plain books
The 'Jill' books by Ruby Ferguson.
The White Riders & No mistaking Corker by Monica Edwards.
The Jolly Warreners by Joyce Stranger.
The 'Mr Twink' books, all about a cat and some of his animal friends.
I loved reading and was lucky enough to have parents who encouraged me to.
Jackanory was a wonderful programme for encouraging children to read.

Jills pony!

Anything to do with ponies . Bills pony was a favourite. Or boarding schools , especially Malory towers .

Nannee49 could it be The Miracle of Marcelino, that was about a little orphaned Spanish boy who lived in a monastery.

MaxiBialystock

Milly Mollie Mandy
The Growing Summer
What Katie Did (although I thought Cousin Helen was insufferably smug)
The Chalet School (ditto Jo and Mary Lou)
Mary Plain
And so many more
But my absolute favourite was Ballet Shoes. I even named our much loved cat after the monstrous Posy.

By the time I was 10 I was allowed to use the adult library. I remember reading the whole of the Jalna series by Mazo de la Roche during the six week holiday.

Oh Maxi you have just reminded me that the summer I left school (16) and we had just moved house I spent hours reading the Jalna series of books. I think my mum got them from a book club. I loved them. Was there a Rennie? That's all I can remember. Thanks for bringing that memory back for me!

I also loved the Cherry Ames nurse books which were American like Sue Barton.

Young Nurse Carter by Shirley Darbyshire gave a British view of nursing.

My fav Cherry Ames was Boarding School Nurse which was all about finding a secret parfumier’s stash. I was thrilled to find it second hand online and enjoyed it just as much reading it now.

The Magic Key, part of the Jolly books series was my absolute favourite, so much so that I bought it on Amazon recently and paid £40 for it. I'm not usually that extravagant, but I just had to have it.

Can any nans help me find the title of a 50's religious book (Roman Catholic) about a little orphan boy - possibly Italian or Spanish - who was very ill but was comforted, just before he died, by a talking statue of Jesus? I loved it but God knows what it did to my 8 year old psyche

I didn’t own many childrens books as a child but one that I read time and time again was Little Women . I loved it but when I watched the recent film I was disappointed as it didn’t seem to have any connection to the book x