kids' books

Naomi at The Rockstar Diaries (my favorite blog to read) is about to have a baby any day, and she asked her followers on Twitter to name their favorite kids' book. I've been reading the suggestions because the books I read as a kid are still my absolute favorite. Amidst my nostalgic haze, I noticed that some people were suggesting books for older kids (like elementary school age), and that got me really excited, because goodness, was I a reading nut back then! My family will attest to the fact that I not only read ridiculous numbers of books each week, but I also had (and have still, I guess) a penchant for rereading the same books over and over and over. I can't help it - I love what I love.

So I have been on a little trip down memory lane, and I thought I would post some of my favorite books back from when reading was still this new big adventure. I wish I could still find books that enthrall me as much as these did, but lately, I just can't seem to find many that I think are as great as these.

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Actually, almost the entire series (well, really, the first four). Speaking of books I reread - this one was the king. I can't say enough about it, from the characters (really, is there a better protagonist out there than Anne Shirley?), the setting (I would all but pack up and move right now to Prince Edward Island, and I've never even been there), and the plot (the mishaps! the hilarity! the heartwarming family moments!). This one is listed at number one for a reason.

2. The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and this time, I'm not sure there is one I like better. Scratch that - I always think there is one I like better, but then I think of a different one and get all worked up again. Little House in the Big Woods has that lovely log cabin, the snowy days, the maple candy! Little House on the Prairie is just plain classic with all its pioneering and adventure. And then On the Banks of Plum Creek, which I secretly think was the prettiest, and which made me long even more for my own little creek that ran past my house (I once even asked my dad to make one for me). And that dugout that the lived in! I've read all the other ones (Farmer Boy, The First Four Years, These Happy Golden Years, and even Little House on Rocky Ridge) and loved them, but those are the iconic ones, the ones that still give me a little pang of yearning to make a prairie dress when I see calico in the fabric store. If you love these and haven't read Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink, you must, you must, you must!

3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Mystery! Intrigue! Kind of dark and gloomy! As someone who has an affinity to rainy days, this is exactly the right type of book for me. It's ridiculously well written, and the story is beyond creative - the Harry Potter before he was even a twinkle in J.K. Rowling's eye. Last year, I had one of my classes write short stories in the style of their favorite stories; one of my students chose this book, and I cannot describe to you how I excited I was when I realized what she was doing. Thank goodness kids are still reading this.

4. The Eleventh Hour. Does anyone remember this? It was all the rage around third-ish grade? It's not exactly a chapter book (goodness,  do I miss using that phrase), but it is a mystery that the reader has to solve him/herself, and at the end? There is a sealed envelope with the answer! The build-up is just too much, and back when I was a kid, it was the coolest of the cool fads. Graeme Base, the author, wrote lots more like it, and now I desperately want to get my hands on the other ones.

5. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. Ruined when it was turned into a movie, but oh, is it glorious! It's one of the only kids' books I can think of that depicts its characters as flawed, and life in general as flawed but great nonetheless. The concept is incredible, and I am sure it had little girls spying on their neighbors for years.

6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. It took me a few tries to get through this one, but oh was it ever worth it. It's complex, cerebral, and utterly imaginative, the kind of book that sticks with you forever. I've never reread this one, but now I'm thinking it is about time.

7. Anything by Roald Dahl. Really, I can't choose just one, and I don't know anyone who would disagree with me. I spent probably years of my life reading The Witches, The Twits, Matilda (my cat is named after her), The BFG, George's Marvelous Medicine, James and the Giant Peach, and even Revolting Rhymes. Dahl was the utmost in creativity, and he wrote so accessibly for children. Quentin Blake's illustrations were marvelous and perfectly fitting to the books, and altogether they were just the prefect storm of children's literature.

8. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. Just a gorgeous fantasyland of gloriousness. It's every kid's dreamworld and the reason every English teacher secretly hopes kids will get hooked on allegory and epics. If you've never read it, think Alice in Wonderland meets The Odyssey.

9. Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E.L. Konigsburg. Do you remember book fairs? I used to get the catalogues about a week in advance so I could decide what I wanted to buy, even though they were ridiculously expensive and we usually ended up going to the library instead. This was the book I dreamed about and begged for the whole time leading up to the fair, and when we got there, I rushed in, feverishly searching so I could grab a copy before anyone else. Here we go again with the dark, gloomy feel, but this book fulfilled my dream to live vicariously through someone's experience of becoming magical.

10. I'm having a hard time deciding between Ramona and Anastasia here, so here we go with both. They are both series about delightfully scrappy and somewhat foolhardy girls. Both are fairly accident prone, and both get into enough mishaps that they make you feel like you can't possibly be more awkward. Both are incredibly relatable and comforting at the same time.

I'm not sure I can finish this list without feeling like I'm betraying all the other books I truly loved, and I know there are many that should rightfully be on this list. But how to choose?

What were your favorite childhood books?