If you were to ask me what are my favorite novels for children, I’d hem and haw. It’s a really, really hard one because there are so many wonderful books for this age group. People have written books just listing all of the great books. As an adult reader, I’m pretty stuck on this one. And if you had to ask me what were my favorite novels as a kid, that would be almost as hard since I read a lot, and fairly widely, from sci fi to high fantasy, from broad comedy to 19th century domestic comedies.
But if you were to ask what books I actually read several times. Well, then it becomes much easier. Because I don’t feel like racking my brain too hard this morning and I really should get some work done on my second revision of my WIP, I’ll tell you about two of my dog-eared novels.
In terms of fantasy, it would have to be A Wrinkle in Time. I gobbled that book up, and then went on the read everything that Madeleine L’Engle ever wrote. I loved the novel because I related to Meg–bright but low self-esteem. Someone who hadn’t yet learned to trust herself and her abilities, someone who hadn’t found her voice yet. Additionally, I loved the science fantasy aspect of it. In terms of a contemporary novel for this age, when I was ten, I also loved Are You there God? It’s Me, Margaret. When I read this book, I appreciated the frank discussions about periods, bra sizes, and musings over God. While I didn’t relate to Margret’s personality, I loved living vicariously through her experiences.
How about you? What are some of your dog-eared childhood books?
Yours,
Hillary
Charlotte’s Web, hands down. The page where Charlotte dies was covered with tear splotches from my and my three siblings’ many readings.
Now I have re-read Charlotte’s Web several times as an adult. And it’s a book, even though I only read it once as a kid, that stayed with me. I love that book!
I loved anything that Lee Wyndham or Catherin Woolley wrote. I gobblrf up their books like they were chocolate chip cookies. They are the authors who inspired me to write. Later I read Gone with the Wind and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn over and over again. I still do that. I never tire of those books even as an adult.
gobbled, not gobblrf.
Maralyn, I never read any of Wyndham’s fiction but I really enjoyed her writing for children’s guide. Sounds like I should check out her creative work!
My father read me the classics from his generation: Mark Twain, Great Expectations, The Yearling, etc. But Judy Blume’s books were mine. Through her I experienced the quintessential novel – the private world you enter in silence, shared with the writer.
Oh, I love the way you put that–“the private world you enter in silence, shared with the writer.” It sounds so intimate, like a secret. While Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing is a an excellent Dad or Mom read out-loud, Blume’s work for adolescents read aloud by a parent would be mortifying. I just think of the classic line from Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret–“We must, we must. We must increase our bust!.”