Quote:
Originally Posted by fresnelly
I really liked books by John Bellairs:
The House With The Clock In Its Walls, The Mummy The Will and The Crypt, The Curse Of The Blue Figurine...
A kids book I was happy to rediscover for my own kids was Harry The Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
|
Wow. Seems like almost no one has heard of those books anymore. I used to love 'em as a kid.
Also the Prydain series, the Wrinkle in Time series, The Three Investigators (shut up! they were fun!
), anything by Tolkien, and anything by Shel Silverstein.
Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books were good as well. Got a big surprise when talking to a friend of mine who's the parent of a 1st grader, and neither had ever heard of the Ramona books. Have they fallen in popularity, or is this gal living under a rock?
(edit)
I keep remembering more
Someone else mentioned the Phantom Tollbooth, which was excellent, as was the Devil's Storybook series by Natalie Babbitt. I still have the autographed books somewhere - she did a reading at the local library when I was in 3rd grade.
Also saw a mention of Jack Prelutsky. I'd forgotten about "The New Kid On the Block," but it was every bit as good as Silverstein's stuff.
The View from the Cherry Tree was my introduction to the thriller/mystery genre, and a good one it was, despite having to beg my folks to let me read it because they use the acronym "SOB" in there. . . The innocence of youth.
Sink or Swim was a good read, as was anything by Katherine Patterson.
I was a pretty lucky kid. Had 3 floor-to-ceiling bookcases full of books. My folks expected me to read a lot, and it's stuck with me to this day. It's both a blessing and a curse, because I go through 3 or 4 books a week, which gets expensive. The library here sucks.