Which childhood book made you look at life differently?

Books Books: Chat / Discussions
32

As a child I enjoyed reading , as an adult my happiest times were bedside reading with my kids , what should take 5 minutes to put the kids to bed would become an hour long affair of reading a book , any book , everyone taking turns at a page each and this thread brought those memories back

33

Same here. After reading my grandkids the same favourite story every time they stopped with us, they got to know it word for word and woe betide if you tried to miss a few paragraphs or pages. They knew, and made me go back and read the story properly. :smiley:

Happy days, sadly gone forever.

34

I loved Anna Sewell’s ‘Black Beauty’ when I was a kid.
Read it over and over.

I can still recall how it began . . “The first place I can well remember was a large meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Rushes and water lilies grew at the deep end.” :slight_smile:

35

Yes! Ain’t that the truth! :lol: I was always torn between oh bugga, I’m desperate to relax and trying to stifle giggles that she was so on the ball when I thought she was drifting off :mrgreen:

I admit I really enjoyed reading to The Child. Like you say, all sadly gone.

For myself, I used to read and read and go back to reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales even when I blossomed into adulthood. I’ve still got that book. SO well worn.

Now don’t laugh, but when I was really small I loved looking at one of the cookbooks - the icing on the cakes and intricacies of them and the colours - I thought were wonderful. Time and again I’d get that book out. Anyone would think I had an interesting in baking :surprised:

36

Same here with my Grandkids…Danny is 6 now and he loves David Walliams books.

Gangsta Granny is a favourite but at the moment working through Bad Dad he is so funny though when it comes to sad bits especially in Gangsta Granny which he has read several times he warns me and reminds me it’s just a story Grandma…so don’t get upset.

They are longer books and I have to negotiate how many chapters I read beforehand but he always renagues on the deal and insists on just one more chapter.:slight_smile:

37

My reading books as a child were many and varied; the usual Beano and Dandy annuals for Christmas, Black Beauty, Robinson Crusoe, one entitled The Kon-Tiki Expedition I recall was fascinating. The one that most sticks in my mind though was Aesop’s Fables, apparently there are over 700 of these fables. My grandfather had a copy of that book which I used to read whenever visiting, which was often.

http://www.taleswithmorals.com

I was once informed that I seem to have a very heightened sense of injustice and general morality, perhaps this book is where that trait originated? :wink: :slight_smile:

38

I can remember reading as a 4 year old. Peter Pan always stuck me as the first book I ever read. I also read Aesops fables.

39

Fun With Dick An Jane?

40

When I was quite young my grandmother had an obscure Victorian weepie called Froggy’s Little Brother by Brenda, the pseudonym for a minor member of the aristocracy, I believe. I must have read it several times and I reckon the utter injustice it described was what started me in a very Left of centre direction that has persisted to this day.

41

I was an avid reader as a child/Youth and read all the Enid Blyton stuff and I read the Hobbit at age 14 which made a big impression but the books that really stuck with me were Kes, Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mocking Bird…all books we studied at Secondary school.
Surpassing even those though were the truly brilliant Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn… Absolute classic reading for a young teenager.

42

I agree

I agree with3 of your choices Moscow

Of mice and men,. Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn, booksl also enjoyed
were,North West Passage & Islands in the stream,I’m sure they
influenced my perceptions of life.

 Best  Regards.   Donkeyman.
43

I read a lot as a child, Famous Five, Secret Seven, Just William and loved them all but I think the most inspirational book I read as a child was “Sailing alone around the world” by Joshua Slocum. Sadly not enough to make actually do it.

44

SO many new books for children now and I’m at a loss of which are the most rewarding for 9 yrs old girls.

I was never a great reader of story books myself, much preferred maps and history.

If anyone can suggest classic girls books that would keep the interest of 9yr olds , instead of such ones as the ‘Dairy of a Wimpy Kid’, or ‘David Walliams’

Are, e.g Black Beauty , Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, or The Secret Garden etc. all out of vogue now ?

45

I used to read the ‘Just William’ books, although I can’t remember the story line of any of them now. I do remember the village name of ‘Hadley’ and and of course the character of Violet Elizabeth Bott who would threaten to, “Scream and scream until I’m sick!” :slight_smile:

46

Similar choices

Almost  the  same  as  mine,Mick,  Hemingway  also had  a  big
influence  on  me.


  Best   Regards.    Donkeyman.
47

As a Child in the late forties my reading was the Dandy and the Beano, could not afford the Eagle

But also the books about Biggles which as a 7 year old went to the Library to read.

48

I liked the comic strip, Alf Tupper, The tough of the track.

49

I did a lot of reading in the library at that age too.
They used to be nice and quiet then :slight_smile:

50

My aunt gave me a copy of ‘Jane Eyre’ for my 12th birthday - my Mother said that I would never be able to read it, which was a good incentive for me to prove her wrong! It has been my favourite book ever since and has been read many, many times.

51

The Cat Who Wished To Be A Man, by Lloyd Alexander.