When I was a kid I always had my nose in a book. Most of the time you could find me in my room reading. Well, not exactly “find me” because I probably had the door locked. I was a quiet, self-contained, loner of a child.
As the only girl in my family I didn’t have to share a room and it was my sanctuary. I was about 6 or 7 when my dad built the house and my parents let me decide how to decorate it. I chose purple carpeting. Three of the walls were painted pale lavender and the wall with the window was wallpapered in a purple floral pattern. Over time I managed to collect a lot of plants. The room was small but it was all mine. If I wasn’t in school or playing dolls with my cousin next door, I was in my room reading.
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Favorite Children’s Books
I believe it was my third grade teacher who read “A Secret Garden” to our class. I was utterly captivated. I mean…a SECRET garden! I’ve always loved flowers about as much as books so this was right up my alley. I loved it so much that I found the book in the library and read it again myself.
I still vividly recall asking my mom to buy me the book, “A Little Princess“. I was never one to ask for things which is probably why she didn’t hesitate. I was barely into the book when it began to remind me of “A Secret Garden”. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but later on I realized they had the same author. I can’t begin to say how many times I’ve read this book. Even as an adult I re-read it every few years. If I had to pick a single favorite book from my childhood, this would be the one.
Another favorite was “Little Women“. I enjoyed this story of the four March girls and their sweet domesticity. Jo’s love of reading and writing certainly appealed to me but it was Meg I personally related to the most. As the eldest in my family, as well as amongst all the cousins who lived in our neighborhood, I was used to taking care of everyone, much as Meg did.
I was probably around 10 when I was given my grandmother’s old copy of “Heidi“, which I still have. Of all the books I read as a child, this is perhaps the one which painted the most vivid pictures in my head. The Alps covered in thick grass and wildflowers, the goats, the rustic cabin, the cheese and bread…I can still recall precisely how I envisioned each of these.
The first time I recall laughing out loud while reading was when I read “Cheaper By the Dozen“. I was reading it late at night and having a hard time keeping the giggles quiet so my parents wouldn’t know I wasn’t asleep. I went on to read other books by and about the Gilbreth family, all of which I enjoyed.
I don’t remember if it was at the same time I was given the copy of “Heidi” but my maternal grandmother also gave me another reading pleasure. She had a set of six books about Linda Lane, a series written by Josephine Lawrence and long out of print. These had been hers as a child. My cousin and I split the set, each taking three of the books. I quickly read my three and the next time we visited I swapped with my cousin so I could read the rest. I have no idea how many times I’ve read the three I have. My aunt has the other three at her house and on many occasions when we have visited her in California, I have read the others. I would love to locate copies to complete my set. They are kind of hard to find. I just looked up one and it was $125! I need to do a bit more scouting, though.
One of my regrets is that I didn’t have anyone in my life who took much of an interest in what I read. My mom didn’t do much reading herself and while my dad likes to read, those were busy years for him as a business owner working long hours. I was totally on my own and missed some real treasures. I didn’t read “Anne of Green Gables” until I was about 30 and I almost wept for what could have been. I know I would have spent many happy hours with Anne if I had known her back then.
I also didn’t discover “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” until I was a young adult, another tragic loss for my childhood. I loved Anne but in many ways I was Francie Nolan.
There were so many other books. For instance, when I was in 4th grade my teacher had a small library of books in the classroom closet that we were allowed to check out. There was a fairly large collection of biographies. I’m not sure if I read every single one but I do know I read all of the ones about women. I would check one out, read it as soon as I got home and return it the next day. Amelia Earhart, Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, Abigail Adams… I loved those books! And of course there were the Marguerite Henry books – Misty of Chincoteague, Stormy, King of the Wind, Brighty of the Grand Canyon, etc. I also enjoyed the Nancy Drew books and even read some of my brothers’ Hardy Boy mysteries.
So tell me, what were your favorite books as a child?
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Dee’s Favorite Children’s Books
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Cheaper By the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Earey
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
I wrote a post about “A Little Princess” a few years ago which you might want to read:
This post is linked up at:
I think I can safely say by your list of books that we are kindred spirits when it comes to reading choices! š Loved all of these growing up! The only one I haven’t read is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – saw the film, but apparently I need to read the book!
My grandmother gave me a beautiful hardbound copy – with some pencil illustrations – of three of the Anne books. I still have that in addition to the full series I purchased when I was older.
Other childhood favorites were the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, The Dana Girls books, the Trixie Belden series, The Borrowers, Beauty by Robin McKinley (a lovely retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story I must have checked out from the library a million times!), the Little House on The Prairie Books and more!
The first books I can remember reading when I was really young were The Bobbsey Twins!
I read a few of the Bobbsey Twins books and some Trixie Belden, too. I don’t recall much about those for some reason. I didn’t read the Little House books until I was an adult but used to watch the show with my grandmother. You really should read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The movie was pretty well done but there is so much more to the book, of course. If/when you read it, do come back and tell me what you thought. I love to talk about favorite books with people who share my love for them.
Have a beautiful day!
I can’t tell you my favorite book as a child because you just described them ALL! We should have known each other as children. Our lives are like mirror images. Thank you for stopping by my blog so I could find yours!
Yes, we should have! I would have loved to have a friend as crazy about books as I. Thanks so much for stopping by.:)
Isn’t it wonderful how the friends we make through books in our childhood stay with us all our lives? š
Love this post.
Oh, absolutely. I do feel as though some of those characters are friends. That is why I wish I had read the Anne books as a child.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a beautiful day. š
Thanks for sharing your faves Miss Deanna. It was like taking a walk down memory lane. I have read all of those books and enjoyed each one except A Tree Grows In Brooklyn which was nothing like the movie. Wishing you many days of continued happy reading!
Thank you, Aileen. š
That’s quite an impressive and familiar list, Deanna! I spent most of my childhood in my bedroom reading, writing and/or listening to records. Every month I ordered books from the school book club, you may remember this from Park View. I devoured collections of poems, nursery rhymes, short stories and fairy tales.
Heidi was always my go-to book when I stayed home from school sick, usually alone. I’d drink hot tea or 7-Up and read Heidi. It was the early Amelia Bedelia books that jumpstarted my love of puns and the confusion of the English language. I learned English in England, coming to America was like learning a second language. The Amelia Bedelia books stressed how easily English can be misinterpreted.
When I realized that most of my favorite movies were based on books, I enjoyed reading Pinocchio, Old Yeller, The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, etc. Iām glad I learned this at a young age – the difference between the book and the movie was startling to this kid!
I wish we had known one another better as children. Sounds like we had a lot in common. š Now I need to read Heidi again! In fact, you’ve given me an idea. Be sure to check out tomorrow’s blog post. š
Rosamunde Du Jardin, and Beverly Cleary. I was very much into soft romance when I was a child. I was introduced to Little House series in 6th grade. I read Jane Eyre (oh how I sobbed when Helen died!), and a whole lot of other Readers Digest Condensed books for children. Granny had just loads of those. My favorite Alcott books was An Old Fashioned Girl and Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom, altough I loved Little Women, too. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew was another old favored one that I read over and over. And Heidi and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm were other dearly loved. I didn’t discover Francis Hodgson Burnett nor Anne of Green Gables until I was grown. Still the charm of those books endure and endure.
I am not familiar with the Rosamunde Du Jardin books. Since we like a lot of the same things I will most definitely need to check into those. Sounds like a fun way to spend a summer afternoon. Thanks for sharing your book memories. š
Boxcar Children, Winnie the Pooh, Swallows and Amazons, and Little House on the Prairie.
OH and Ms Piggly Wiggly and Amelia Bedelia.
Those are fun books. š
I wish I had found the “Swallows and Amazons” books when I was a kid. I enjoyed reading them to you. š
I absolutely love “A Little Princess.” It’s the first chapter book I remember reading, and the first book that made me cry. I have a copy in waiting for my girl when she’s a little older. I too regret not meeting “Anne of Green Gables” til I was older – out of high school, but my daughter won’t have the same experience. I think I read every Nancy Drew ever written, and loved the “Little House on the Prairie” books. Fun post. Brought back memories. Visiting from LMM. š
Thank you for stopping by. Nice to “meet” another fan of “A Little Princess”. š
Wait… You mean there are other ways for a child to spend time besides reading? You mean writing? Because if I wasn’t doing one of those, chances are I was doing the other. š It’s one of the reasons my books are aimed at children; my dream would be for one of them to foster even some of the passion for books in a child that I had when I was one. Not that it’s lessened now… You’re still most likely to find me either reading or writing than doing absolutely anything else.
As for my favourite books…
My absolute all time favourite book is “A Little Princess” – I’ve re-read it loads of times, and it’s always the first one I mention when asked for my favourites. I don’t know what it is about that book. But I fell in love with it the first time I read it, and that hasn’t changed in the more than 20 years since I first read it.
“Matilda” by Roald Dahl is another I absolutely loved, and still do to this day. Matilda has always been a character I feel I can relate to, and Roald Dahl’s books are great reads in general, so it has both things going for it.
Plus, I’ve always loved Jill Murphy’s “Worst Witch” series, and Kaye Umansky’s “Pongwiffy” books, as well as two that appear on your own list… “Heidi” and “The Secret Garden” – all of which I could happily read over and over again.
Also, Beatrix Potter, Enid Blyton, Monica Dickens, Bonnie Bryant, and several others. I especially loved books about horses – fiction or non-fiction were both popular with me if horses were mentioned – or books that had talking animals in them.
Honestly, I could probably fill an entire book just with a list of my favourite books.
Like you, I was grown up before I read Anne Of Green Gables. Oh, how I would have loved to have had Anne to relate to as a child! Unlike you, however, I was also all grown up when I read “Little Women” (I read it a year or two ago).
Ah, another fan of “A Little Princess”. š I’ve never read “Matilda” but I think it sounds like I need to.
You really should… I think you’ll enjoy it.
You sound like me as a kid! I was an only child, and definitely the “lone reader.” I had a lot of the same favorites too! Thanks for sharing with the Literacy Musing Mondays Linkup!
Thank you for hosting the linkup. I love “reading about reading”. š
The Secret Garden is definitely at the top of my list. I still pull it out once and a while and read it. Great Expectations, though… that’s always been my absolute fave.
I’m trying to remember if I actually read Great Expectations or just excerpts in high school. In either case, it’s due for a read. š
I love all these you love plus the Gene Stratton Porter books… Girl of the Limberlost, etc… The Harvester… Worth finding.
I’ve heard of these but haven’t read them. Thanks for the recommendations. š