By Shari Randall
I stumbled upon an article about celebrities and their favorite books from childhood and of course I gobbled it up. (Former children’s librarian here.) This question – What was your favorite book when you were a child? – had just popped up at a book club I attended last week, and it kicked off a terrific discussion.
There’s a meme floating around the internet that says if you see someone holding a book you love, it’s the book recommending the person. If you share a passion for the same children’s book, there’s an extra level of magic and joy in that recommendation.
There’s something about this question that opens a door into a person that is so revealing. It’s an introduction to the heart of the child they once were. If someone has the same favorite book, it forms an immediate bond. When one of the book club members said that her favorite book growing up was "any Nancy Drew," so many of us broke out into smiles and cries of “me, too!” The British readers at the meeting bonded immediately when they learned that they both loved the books of Enid Blyton. (I’m adding Enid’s books to my reading list.)
Whenever I visit a Facebook party, I ask this question and it always gets enthusiastic responses. Readers love to talk about books, and especially love to talk about the books that sparked their enthusiasm for reading and made them a lifelong reader.
At the same book club meeting one reader announced that she had kept a list of the books that changed her life over the years and that The Wizard of Oz was on that list. Everyone was immediately envious – why hadn’t we thought of keeping such a list over the years? My list would certainly have my favorites: Nancy Drew (of course), Charlotte’s Web, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Westing Game, Jane Eyre.
What was your favorite children’s book or author?
Here are some celebrity picks:
Kelly Clarkson: Matilda
Jackie Collins: Enid Blyton
Elizabeth Gilbert: The Wizard of Oz
Stephenie Meyer: Little Women
Roxanne Guy: Little House on the Prairie
Ethan Hawke: The Hobbit
Barack Obama: Where the Wild Things Are
Rob Lowe: The Mouse and the Motorcycle
JK Rowling: The Little White Horse
Shari Randall is the author of the Agatha Award-winning Lobster Shack Mystery series. Her latest book, FATAL FUDGE SWIRL, was written as Meri Allen. You can pick up a copy here.
A very that I usually mention are:
ReplyDeleteNate the Great (picture book detective story)
Little Pilgrim's Progress (I read this one over and over again for months)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (stopped reading a Hardy Boys book I was so hooked on this one)
The Trixie Belden series (I wanted to join the Bob-Whites)
What I would have given to be a Bob White! Great selection of books!
DeleteMy favorite books as a kid weren't mysteries. Go figure. I love, love, loved The Black Stallion and any of the rest of Walter Farley's books. To this day, if I find one at a yard sale, I buy it.
ReplyDeleteWonderful books! So perfect. Were the books the beginning of your (and Zoe's) love of horses or did you love horses first and then seek out the books?
DeleteI did have all of the Hardy Boys (and my daughter now has those books), but I also thoroughly enjoyed the "We Were There" series of historical novels in which kids my age-ish took part in some way in great moments in time.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of We Were There. I'll have to look them up.
DeleteMy favorite children's book is "Snow Treasure" by Marie Mcswigan. I didn't learn to read in school. An aunt sat me down one summer and taught a very reluctant me phonics. When we were assigned a book report on an "historic novel" I got that book from the school library. Since I had such trouble reading, I was terrified by the assignment. I picked up the book, and to my delight, I found I could read! It's been a favorite ever since.
ReplyDeleteSnow Treasure is such a terrific adventure! I'm so glad your aunt's method worked!
DeleteI love that quote! This is wonderful! I’ve not heard of Enid Blyton so that’s on my list, too. Little Women for me.
ReplyDeleteLittle Women is another title that so many people love.
DeleteNancy and her pals (Cherry Ames, Vicki Belton, Hardy Boys), Anne of Green Gables, and from my own children's shelves, THE GIVER and MRS BASIL E FRANKWEILER.
ReplyDeleteOoh, Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler! What an awesome book. Shari
DeleteI went from Bobbsey Twins to Cherry Ames, but also started reading older series like those by Janet Lambeth ... and of course Mad Magazine.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading the Penny Parish books by Janet Lambert. I bought the whole series in hard back out of my allowance and kept them for years. When my daughters weren’t interested in them, I gave them away. All those stories set at West Point.
DeleteGrace Topping
The books Dad and Mom read to us before bed - Explorers of the Dawn by Mazo de la Roche (Dad's dad read it to him when it came out in 1922), Robinson Crusoe, all the Oz books, A.A. Milne's Pooh books and his poetry books, Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goodge, and Seuss's McElligot's Pool. Ah, books.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to read about others' favorites -- brings back memories! My favorite books as a toddler were The Monster at the End of This Book and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. My favorite book in elementary school was Little Women. I read it over and over. The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was also a favorite -- it really stuck with me. Happy to see that on Margaret's list as well.
ReplyDeleteCaddie Woodlawn, Roller Skates, Year of Jubilo, Dana Girls & Trixie Belden & Judy Bolton, and I started on Agatha Christie & the earliest Cat Who books in junior high. Cathy Hernandez Smitha
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post, Shari. A favorite panel at last year'sMalice Domestic Conference was about the influence of Nancy Drew mysteries. The program committee is bringing it back this year for Malice Domestic 36. Let's re-read our influences and recommend the 2023 best children's mysteries. I've started without favorite series by Elizabeth C. Bunce as well as newer authors like Alysa Wishingrad and Lindsay Currie. Please share your favorites we can nominate.
ReplyDeleteBeth Schmelzer
I loved the Betsy/Tacy books, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Eight Cousins, Little Women, Secret Garden, A Little Princess.
ReplyDelete