Top Ten Childhood Faves

Tuesday, December 6, 2011


This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for our Top Ten childhood faves. I spent so much of my childhood up a tree with a book and so looking back at some of my favorites was so much fun. I became a lifelong reader as a kid and these are some of the books I read over and over again.

1) From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E.Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

2) Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic by Betty MacDonald

3) The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

4) The Mystery of the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

5) Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

6) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien

7) The Littles series by John Peterson

8) Sideways Stories from Wayside School and other Louis Sachar books

9) The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

10) Midnight in the Dollhouse by Marjorie Stover

Bonus: I also loved everything by Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl. There are just too many great books to list.

*Me as a kiddo, too young to read these books, but I was getting there.

20 comments:

Sandy Nawrot said...

That is a great list, but you know what? I didn't read any of them! I'd have to think long and hard about my list. I think I read alot of Beverly Cleary. (I love that picture of you...so cute!)

Kat @ NoPageLeftBehind said...

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh - I forgot about that wonderful book! I too had a difficult time limiting my list to 10 this week :)

Falaise said...

I gave Mrs Frisby and the Phantom Talbooth honourable mentions in my list. It's ever so difficult to keep this one down to ten!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Sandy - I read a lot of Beverly Cleary too. I definitely identified with Ramona.

Kat - I loved that book! I read the sequels, but they weren't quite as good.

Falaise - I know! I added a couple to the end too. There are just so manu great books.

IngridLola said...

Woah, I think I read every book on this list as a child, haha. Very nice. I loved Roald Dahl and Shel Silverstein too.

Come check out ours at The Blue Bookcase

Two Bibliomaniacs said...

For some reason I have very fond memories of The Rats of Nimh, but I don't remember much about the plot. I think it's time to try it on our 6 year old....

Sideway Stories is one of my favorites from childhood!

Allie said...

I can't believe I forgot Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!!! I LOVED those stories as a kid! I could also add Cricket in Times Square, Mystery of the Cupboard, and Sideways Stories from Wayside School.

Great choices! :)

And I love the picture.

Jeanne said...

I've never heard of Midnight in the Dollhouse...might have to look that one up next time I'm in the library. The Cricket in Times Square was one of my family's favorites, to the extent that when we took the kids to NYC, we were navigating the subway by what we remembered of the book.

Shannon (Giraffe Days) said...

Aw, look at you!! Aren't you just adorable!!

I just saw The Phantom Tollbooth on someone else's list and remarked at how familiar it sounds, but I'm pretty sure I've never read it.

I absolutely loved the movie of Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh - I think it was just called The Rats of Nimh? - I got the book a few years ago but I haven't read it yet. That story always terrified me but in a good way! I don't think I recognise the others but it's hard to say, it's so hard to remember what you read and loved back then unless you still have a copy. Oh I just remembered Flat Stanley! I used to love that book in grade 2!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

IngridLola - There are so many great kid books out there.

Two Bibliomaniacs - I don't have kids yet, but there are so many books I can't wait to share with them one day.

Allie - Mrs. Piggle Wiggle was so wonderful. She taught us life lessons while entertaining us. I have a really distinct memory of the story about her house flooding and all the kids looking for hidden money in it.

Jeanne - I've never found anyone else who has read Midnight in the Dollhouse, but I loved it when I was young. It's all about this girl who has an accident and is bedridden. Her family buys her a dollhouse and at night the dolls come alive.

Shannon - The NIHM book is even better than the movie! The mystical stuff is just in the movie, the book has a much better plot.

Kailana said...

Yay, The Littles! My mother used to buy those for my sister and then I would steal them and read them. :)

Jenners said...

Your first three would definitely be on my list too!! How I love Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and her upside down house!

B said...

Melissa that is such a cute photo of you reading!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Kailana - Ahh! Nobody ever talks about that series, I loved them.

Jenners - Me too. Those books were fantastic.

Brenna - I look like a homeless pioneer child.

Amanda said...

Have you fondled the new Annotated Phantom Tollbooth?

I went to see Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer a couple of months ago, and the room was FULL of fellows clutching their worn copies of TPT.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Amanda - You got to meet Norton Juster?!? I love it! I'm dying to get my hands on a copy of the new annotated version.

Jeanne said...

I found a copy of Midnight in the Dollhouse and read it last night. It was a pretty good girl's book, and of course I thought of you all the way through, because of the main character's name.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Jeanne - You read it!!! I do think the fact that the girl's name is Melissa probably made me love it even more. I just loved the different dolls and the whole story.

Jeanne said...

I liked the way they "beamed" their thoughts into the heads of children. Sweet in the book, but verging on creepy with the voodoo doll!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Jeanne - That is odd, but as a kid it just seems like magic!