favorite childhood books

When I saw Allison's post of her top ten childhood favorites, I had to join in and share my favorites. I love children's books. I remember so many books that I loved as a child and still love today. Narrowing the list down to ten may be a little difficult, but here are some of my favorites.

1. Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene. Around fourth to fifth grade I was obsessed with Nancy Drew. I think I have something like 30 of them on my book shelf at home. I wanted a blue mustang convertible just like Nancy. I recently learned that Carolyn Keene is a pseudonym and the books were actually written by lots of different people.

2. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (pseudonym). I loved this book growing up and I love it still. The popularity of this one at my house probably had to do with the fact that my brother was really into trains. I picked this one to give to Kelsey for her baby boy.

3. The Pain and The Great One by Judy Blume. This is a great book for big sisters with little brothers. I remember reading it when I was eight and my brother was six, the same ages of the brother and sister in the book. The story of The Great One is told by the little brother about his sister who says his sister things she is so great and the story of The Pain is told by the sister about how her little brother is such a pain, but there are some very sweet moments. I loved it.

4. Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson. This book is a must-have for all little girls. Princess stories are great and all, but they don't really send good messages. Cinder Edna is Cinderella's neighbor. She works hard and takes care of herself rather than moping around in the cinders. She doesn't wait around for a fairy godmother to solve her problems- she puts a dress on layaway and rides the bus to the ball. She ends up falling in love at the ball and having a lovely happy relationship with Prince Charming's younger brother. All this is in contrast to the boring, self-centered, and shallow relationship that we see with Cinderella and Prince Charming. This book is clever and fun with great pictures and a great story for little girls.

5. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. This is one of my favorite Christmas books. Lovely illustration, the ride to the North Pole, Santa, the bell from the reindeer that you can only hear as long as you believe. Beautiful, magical, wonderful.

6. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I bought this book in Hebrew when I was in Jerusalem because I just love it. It's a great bedtime book and I love the pictures. And the colors. It's sweet and simple.

7. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  by J.K. Rowling. I love all of the Harry Potter books, but the first one is probably still my favorite just because it was the first and the beginning of this new world. I don't remember how old I was when I first read this, but it was beautiful and I loved it. I was a seriously over-achieving child and I connected with Hermione from the second that I met her in this book. It's hard to describe the huge part that the Harry Potter books played in my childhood.

8. Anthem by Ayn Rand. Definitely not a children's book, but a part of my childhood, Anthem is still one of my favorite books. I read it for the first time in fourth grade and I have read it many times since. I just love it. It's only about 100 pages and I think it is really an interesting story with a great message about the value of individuals. Everyone should read it.

9. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I read these books with my dad growing up. I love the characters, the stories, and the allegory of Christ. C.S. Lewis is fabulous and I will definitely read these with my children. They have great imagination and teach good lessons through exciting stories.

10. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I read this book in my fifth grade language class and I think it may have been the first time a book made me cry. It may also be the source of my love for dogs. It's a sweet story about love and loss for this boy and his dogs.


Honorable Mentions:
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Alexander, and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
American Girl Addy books.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Basically anything by Dr. Seuss, especially Oh the Places You'll Go and Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book