<p>Huge LIW fan here. Read them in 4th grade, and countless times since. S2 read Farmer Boy in first grade, which led him to the rest of the series (and other books) and a love of history.</p>
<p>I grew up in the midwest and those prairies were absolutely real to me. My mom and dad’s families were in Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas, so it was turf I knew well. My grandmother wrote an autobiography of her life up until she married in 1919 – they were clearly poor as church mice, but just as clearly did not feel poverty stricken.</p>
<p>Also liked Witch of Blackbird Pond, as well as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (and sequel). Nancy Drew was mind candy – read many of them, wasn’t emotionally attached.</p>
<p>S1 devoured Redwall, Tamora Pierce, Madeline d’Engel. We all devoured HP. When the guys were small we read a lot of Beatrix Potter, Roald Dahl and the original Thomas the Tank Engine stories (they were into Brit Lit). Surprise, surprise, S1 married a Brit who read the same books!</p>
<p>Does anyone else remember “Magic in the Alley” by Mary Calhoun? I loved that book so much as a kid and found an out-of-print copy later to keep. Of course, I grew up in suburbia so it wasn’t easy to find an alley to look for magic in!</p>
<p>I love Animal Cafe and the Piggins series, though they are really picture books, also Grandfather Twilight. Maybe picture books should be a separate thread.</p>
<p>The Betsy-Tacy books took place in fictional Deep Valley, Minnesota and reflect much of the author’s life in early 20th century America. Maud Hart Lovelace actually grew up in Mankato, Minnesota, and apparently Deep Valley is pretty much identical. </p>
<p>I really enjoyed these books, which like the Little House books, begin during the protagonist’s childhood and conclude after the early years of marriage.</p>
<p>My son and his friends loved the Mrs Piggle Wiggle books. Even when they were quite old, they liked to have me read them at bedtime at slumber parties.</p>
<p>I always thought it a shame that Disney got his hands on Pooh and made him a toddler story - he’s not at all. I still have very fond memories of a fifth grade teacher who read Pooh out loud to our class. She had different voices for all the animals. And she wasn’t one to baby us, she also read us Rachel Carson!</p>
<p>The Secret Garden is one of my favorite books. I liked Burnett’s other ones too *A Little Princess *and Little Lord Fauntleroy.</p>
<p>Nope, not The Railway Children. I’m pretty sure it was American.</p>
<p>Lois Lenski books–Strawberry Girl was a favorite and how about Blue Willow? As a child I learned something about rural poverty from these books.</p>
<p>My D’s and I were huge readers, carting stacks of books home from the library. We often incorporated reading into our family travels. My 2 D’s and I are huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fans so we went “in search of Laura Ingalls” on our family trip across the country from NY to California.We went to Plum Creek and through South Dakota to see many sites from the books. My husband thought we were crazy to pursue this but the memories are priceless. My favorite picture is one where my D is throwing a rock into Plum Creek. We also went to Missouri to see Tom Sawyer hangouts, to the Salinas River Valley where Steinbeck got his inspiration, to Chincotigue Island where the Misty books were written, to Prince Edward Island to see Anne of Green Gables, to Williamsburg to see where the American Girl Felicity books were written and to Forks to see… well you all know!</p>
<p>Bethievt- I still have a copy of Champion Dog Prince Tom. I used to read every dog book in the library over and over.</p>
<p>As a teen, I discovered Gerald Durrell and his books. The first one is very funny- My Family and Other Animals which is based on his family and the island of Corfu. Great book for animal lovers.</p>