The Laura Ingalls Wilder thread suggested this thread idea to me.
Anyone have any favorite books you first encountered as a child, prior to high school, and still reread frequently?
Here are mine:
I reread these once a year every year without exception:
The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien (first read The Hobbit in grade 5, and the trilogy in grade 7)
The Dark Is Rising series by Cooper (first read in grade 5)- whence came my CC name, “The Grey King”
The Little House series by Wilder (first read in grade 2)
Little Women by Alcott (first read in grade 2)
Watership Down (first read in grade 8)
I typically don’t reread books, but now that I’m in a book club focusing on Young Adult fiction, I have reread a few favorites from my childhood. These are Anne of Green Gables, A Wrinkle in Time, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Heidi. I reread The Little House series many times as a child, but not since then. I loved Watership Down when I read it as a teenager and would love to reread it–maybe I’ll suggest it the next time it’s my turn to pick a book!
Hmm. Some of those aren’t really considered children’s books… at least, LOTR, Watership Down, and maybe the Hobbit aren’t. But I know what you mean. I am an adult who was sorely disappointed when I moved to the adult section of the library. I don’t reread every year, but occasionally:
Enid Blyton (especially the “Adventure” series
Snow Treasure
The Green Knowe series
LIW books - I just reread The Long Winter & Farmer Boy, not the rest
Sylvia Engdahl’s “Enchantress From the Stars” and “Journey Between Worlds”
My Side of the Mountain
From the Mixed Up Files
Mrs Frisby & The Rats Of NIMH
I’m sure there are a few more. I read new YA and children’s chapter books occasionally, too. I actually wanted to be a children’s librarian when I was a kid. Haven’t totally let go of that!
These are not children’s books per se but I first read them when I was in junior high and had re-read them a few times when I am older, not every year maybe every decade. Lol.
Jane Eyre: loved the first time and still love it every time afterwards
The pride and prejudice: hated the first time then love it when I am older
The great Gatsby: didn’t feel much the first time around but start to appreciate it a lot more as I grew older.
There were some I was happy to reread as an adult, when my children were still at home, but generally I don’t reread books. Too many books, not enough time!
The Dark Is Rising series is one of my favorites. I also like The Gift of Magic by Lois Duncan. I didn’t care for Laura Ingalls Wilder but I liked James Fenimore Cooper and Jane Austen. I liked some of the Narnia series, but not all of them. I liked The Borrowers, Pippi Longstocking, and Runaway Ralph, but as I got older I preferred ghost stories, historical fiction, and biographies.
I don’t re-read them regularly, but the ones I have picked them up as an adult are
“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and “Up a Road Slowly”- my all time favorites. I read “A Wrinkle in Time” again as an adult but it has been years. I refused to see the movie as I still have clear images of how I envisioned the story in my head, and I do not want to ruin them.
I read The Lord of the Rings once a year from the time I was 12 till about 30. I still pick it up from time to time.
I like and own The Dark is Rising, but don’t feel particularly compelled to reread it.
The books I probably reread most often because they are such comfort reading are Arthur Ransome’s Swallow and Amazon books.
My younger son’s girlfriend went off to the camp in Vermont with all of Tamora Pierce’s Alana books, and I have to admit, it made me really want to reread them.
I’ve read K.M. Peyton’s series with Pennington and Ruth. (Horses and piano playing) many times.
I’ve also read Cynthia Voight’s books about Dicey more than once.
I recently reread A Wrinkle in Time and would love to reread the rest of the series along with all the Meet the Austins books and the various adult and YA books that have overlapping characters.
I really like Georgette Heyer, Ann McCaffrey, and Dorothy Gilmore. I’ve probably re-read their books more than most other authors. GH did a lot of research and used as authentic descriptions of the period she was writing about as possible.
I’m not big into re-reading books, but a childhood favorite that I one I loved re-reading with my kids was From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. And even better the book always led to a visit to the Met since we’re in a suburb of NYC.
@Himom–I read Georgette Heyer as a teenager, but as far as I know, those are adult books, not kid or even YA. Liked them at the time. Never reread.
@intparent —OMG, Snow Treasure!!! I loved that book; must have read it scores of times as a kid. Always wanted to be a member of a resistance (though I’m sure I was romanticizing heavily!)
Two I need to reread are Secret Garden and Black Beauty.
Arthur Ransome Swallows & Amazons through We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea. I thought the tales fell off after those seven. Those who like My Side of the Mountain should like the tales of these adventurous, competitive, pre-WWII English kids who are allowed to do things [mainly around the Lake District in the north of England] that would probably in a parent losing custody these days. Best to read in sequence, although We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea is my absolute favorite. I spent a bundle on an early hardback after my paperback fell apart on the umpteenth rereading. Hmmm, it’s been a few years. Thanks for the reminder @TheGreyKing
I’m just so happy so many people love The Dark is Rising. I think I’ve read those 40 times. I wrote Madeline L’Engle a fan letter after my mom gave me Wrinkle in Time, and she wrote back a very short thank you note.
Witch of Blackbird Pond, also. Llyod Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, and my Dad used to read to me – Tarzan, of all things, but I loved it.
I haven’t read Watership Down since I was in my 20s, but I really loved that book and read it many times as a child and as a young adult. I first read Jane Eyre aged 14 and have read it since then many times.
I read new YA and children’s chapter books occasionally, too. I actually wanted to be a children’s librarian when I was a kid. Haven’t totally let go of that!