<p>I love Chincoteague Island. We went there for a week each summer for four years when my kids were young. It’s a really nice place to vacation with younger kids, even if you don’t care about the ponies.</p>
<p>I can’t believe this thread is over 130 posts long, and this one is going to be unique:</p>
<p>While I dutifully read all of the Little House books to my kids, through The Long Winter, I really didn’t like them much. I thought they were poorly written and awfully preachy. I didn’t read them as a child – being a boy and all – and I never watched the TV series, so I didn’t have any pre-existing emotional attachment to them. In my mind, they suffered greatly by comparison to Caddie Woodlawn, which I thought was very well-written and compelling.</p>
<p>The series that really turned my daughter on – and I mean really really really – was the original Oz books. An abridged version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the very first “chapter book” I read to her, at two, and she liked it so much that the unabridged version was the second chapter book I read to her. I found a set of ten of the Baum-written books with Jno R. Neill illustrations at a used bookstore for $20, and read all of them to her at least twice over the next few years. Her favorites got read five or six times. She was Ozma maybe four Halloweens in a row.</p>
<p>Now Baum was a truly terrible writer. It’s doubtful that he ever revised a word he wrote. The books are full of internal inconsistencies, terrible grammar, and awkward phrasing. But the nutty imagination was undeniable. And a few of the books are pretty darn good. My favorite is The Patchwork Girl of Oz, which Baum maybe took a little more care with because he used it to re-introduce a series he had tried to kill three years earlier. It presents Princess Ozma, admiringly, as a proto-fascist, struggling to maintain order by keeping people in their places and strictly regulating the use of magic, has wonderful jurisprudential discussions of law vs. sympathy, and a couple of great new characters, the Patchwork Girl and the Glass Cat (who is inordinately proud of her visible organs, and never fails to remind people, “You can see 'em work!”).</p>
<p>Other series my kids loved:</p>
<p>-- The Edward Eager books, absolutely – Half-Magic, Magic By The Lake, Knight’s Castle. And through him we discovered E. Nesbit, especially Five Children And It.</p>
<p>-- Robin Moore’s two historical pioneer novels built on captive narratives: The Bread Sister Of Sinking Creek and Maggie Among The Seneca.</p>
<p>-- Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea trilogy (later tetralogy).</p>
<p>-- The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, duh.</p>
<p>-- Mrs. Frisby And The Rats of NIMH, and its two sequels written by a different author.</p>
<p>-- The three My Father’s Dragon books by Ruth Stiles Gannett. We met her daughter a few years ago in Calistoga. We were thrilled beyond belief.</p>
<p>-- The Dark Is Rising, probably the last set of books I read out loud to them.</p>
<p>-- The Betsy-Tacy books. My favorite part was the scene where Betsy, Tacy, and Tib discuss their religious differences. (One is a Lutheran, one a Methodist, and one, I believe, a Catholic. Luckily, they are able to achieve some level of mutual tolerance, unlikely though it might seem.)</p>
<p>-- A bunch of cheesy corporate exploitation series, especially The Babysitters’ Club, something called The A.I. Gang, and something else about kids who transformed into animals and back all the time.</p>
<p>-- My son loved the Redwall books, but thank heavens by then he could read them himself!</p>
<p>They continue to read series books – Harry Potter, of course, Twilight (which they both purported to hate, and read anyway), The Hunger Games, His Dark Materials, A Song Of Ice And Fire, The Hitchhiker’s Guide, Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. And, I don’t doubt, Fifty Shades Of Gray. My son has also read a whole bunch of series books by Orson Scott Card, Kage Baker, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett, as well as (with me, but a year behind) Arturo Perez-Reverte’s Capitan Alatriste series.</p>
<p>JHS–it’s ok to disagree. I’m sure I don’t like every book posted here. I was going to ask about the OZ books because I’ve never read any of them. have you seen the new movie?</p>
<p>I am truly thrilled to find so many other Edward Eager fans on this thread! It frustrated me throughout my childhood that I had no one to talk about them with. I’ve often thought they’d make wonderful films - animated, maybe, but now that computer graphics are so sophisticated, perhaps they’d be great live-action movies. In the right hands, of course, as with all books-into-movies. I can’t think of any of the characters looking other than the way N.M. Bodecker drew them, though.</p>
<p>We also read aloud and loved Natalie Babbitt’s books, especially Tuck Everlasting and The Search for Delicious.</p>
<p>-- Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea trilogy (later tetralogy).</p>
<p>The Wizard of Earthsea is my favorite book ever. I must have read it 50 times since I discovered it in 8th grade. I don’t like the later books all that much though.</p>
<p>I am a nuse and collect Cherry Ames books, loved the wrinkle in Time books, and several others mentioned here. My first" romance novel" was Up a Road slowly. I re read it recently. Awesome thread brings up many memories, and makes me understand my book hoarder problem. the love of books is so well explained here. can just feel the joy.</p>
<p>Anyone else remember the “Betsy books” by Carolyn Haywood? (“B is for Betsy,” “Back to School with Betsy,” etc.) I loved these when I was very young.</p>
<p>Always loved the Little House series as a child and parent. We’ve visited the sites in KS and in Mansfield, MO.
I have 4 daughters and unfortunately the younger ones are more into science fiction and fantasy.
Has anyone read the spin offs–the Martha years, the Charlotte years, the Caroline years, the Rose years-- about Laura’s great grandmother, grandmother, mother, and daughter?</p>
<p>We have a few of the others, but I really loved the Rose series by Roger Lea MacBride (who was an “adopted grandson” to Rose and her heir). Little House on Rocky Ridge, Little Farm in the Ozarks, Little Town in the Ozarks, are some of the titles. IMO he was a better writer than Laura.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes. However, most of us had no preconceived notions of the Little House Books when we first read them. As I noted, my first exposure came one day in 3rd grade when my teacher picked it up and just began reading. The TV show and other portrayals came along a lot later.</p>
<p>I disagree with your assessment, though there certainly were moral themes which ran through the books. What I loved about them most, however, were the wonderful descriptions of nature, the themes of home and family, and Laura’s spirit and longing for adventure in a world in which she was expected to be a “lady” always.</p>
<p>I think they were beautifully written, and like others here, found my world tremendously enriched by them.</p>
<p>I would love to visit some of the places to which Laura traveled, particularly Plum Creek, Rocky Ridge Farm, and of course, DeSmet. Maybe someday. I know DH would have no interest, so I’d have to go it alone or find a like minded friend.</p>
<p>The craziness of the Oz books really has to be experienced to be believed. The old movie covers about 2/3 of the original book (which does NOT include any kind of dream rationalization). The dominant figure of the series really doesn’t emerge until the second book, The Marvelous Land Of Oz: Princess Ozma, the transgendered ruler of Oz (with the guidance and assistance of Glinda and the Wizard, who becomes a real, live wizard early in the series). Dorothy travels back and forth between Kansas and Oz for a while, and of course becomes BFFs with Ozma, and she finally settles in Oz because Kansas, well, sucks. </p>
<p>No, I haven’t seen the new movie. Give me a break. I don’t have any six-year-old girls left at home. I don’t have to go see The Nutcracker anymore, either, at least not until there are grandchildren.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Love, love, love these books. I think I’ll reread them tonight. :)</p>
<p>I loved the Trixie Belden series.</p>
<p>My older D is a huge Wizard of Oz fan. She was in a play when she was little and knew every single word.She was in the Lullaby League! She also loved the Narnia books! </p>
<p>My D is quite appropriately a reading teacher and she is working on reader’s theatre with a group her 4th students (all boys) and they have chosen to act out a scene from their favorite books - the Lord of the Rings as a “treat” on a Friday. It is also one of her favorites. </p>
<p>Reminiscing about all of these wonderful books makes me glad that we saved so many of them. I hope that someday the next generation will appreciate the hard copy version as it will be a different era in reading.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh yes! Didn’t Ozma start out as a boy? I remember finding that so disturbing. When I was a child, my grandparents had all their kids’ childhood books from the 1940s up in the attic: the whole Oz series, all the original Nancy Drews, Hardy Boys, and Bobbsey Twins. I think Cherry Ames too. How I wish someone had kept them!</p>
<p>I remember reading some of the Oz books as a kid and finding them very creepy. There was one where someone could take off their head and replace it with a jack-o-lantern or something like that. I haven’t looked at them lately though.</p>
<p>I’m surprised to see so many old Trixie Belden fans! I loved them too but you don’t see them around anymore like you do the Nancy Drew books. If I ever have a little brother who is bitten by a copperhead, I’ll know exactly what to do.</p>
<p>JHS–fair enough, but does OZ have excellent BBQ and jazz? Chew on that.</p>
<p>I’d forgotten about the Betsey books. Did she have a baby sister who was born on Christmas and Betsey named her Star?</p>
<p>I loved the Betsey books! I wrote a fan letter to Carolyn Haywood when I was a child and she wrote back. I remember treasuring that letter for a very long time. Betsey’s friend Eddie was a title character in several books and “Eddie and Gardenia” made a very lasting impression on me. I have always wanted a goat ever since.</p>
<p>Yes, that book is Betsy’s Little Star. There are four of the Betsy books that have been reissued with new illustrations (but not Betsy’s Little Star). I liked those books as a child and, as a children’s librarian I used to recommend them for younger kids who were fluent readers. (Five or six-year-olds who wanted chapter books.)</p>
<p>I loved the Little House books, and read all of them (and all the Rose books, and at least some of the others about Laura’s mother and grandmother that came later) but I never thought to read the background. It’s so interesting to learn more about the family. I tried making fried apples and onions once when I was little, and it did not turn out so wonderful.</p>
<p>Other childhood books that I loved:
-Anne of Green Gables and that whole series
-Anything by Madeline L’Engle. One that I keep coming back to is actually “A Ring of Endless Light” but all of her books are so good
-Harriet the Spy
-Tamora Pierce’s books
-All the Ramona books. I just bought Ramona the Pest for my cousin’s six-year-old
-The Giver and all of Lois Lowry</p>
<p>I still love reading young adult books. I’ve actually recently gotten into John Green (I would highly recommend A Fault in Our Stars. I just loaned it to my mother and she loaned it to a friend of hers so it is really not strictly a young adult book) and Maggie Stievater. </p>
<p>I’m also going to make a bit more a case for the Giver. I see the sci-fi element of that book as being like the least important part. That whole series to me seems to be more about human emotion and connection and learning what that means and individual acts of heroism and sacrifice. I feel like reading that series (her very recent installment, Son, blew me away) makes me appreciate the people in my life who care about me and know it and admit it. She wrote the book after her son died – he was a pilot in the first Iraq war and crashed his plane after the war and he left a two-year-old son behind. Anyway, she’s one of my favorite authors. I also loved the Anastasia books, which are much lighter and completely hilarious.</p>
<p>Speaking of YA literature, has anyone read any of the Frost series yet? It’s by an independent author named Kate Avery Ellison, and is really great. </p>
<p>I think next I want to re-read the Giver and then read the rest of that series. I truly did not even know it WAS a series until recently!! I had only ever read the Giver and loved it.</p>
<p>I LOVED LIW - I got a covered wagon one year for Christmas just because I wanted to be so much like her! I’m actually thinking of naming a future daughter using her middle name (Elizabeth) simply because she has inspired me so much! I also liked Anne of Green Gables, but I could never get into LOTR or Narnia.</p>