TTT: Childhood Favourites

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

It has been a LONG time since I’ve done one of these, but I adore children’s books so I couldn’t resist writing this up (even though I was supposed to be posting my June wrap up today…whoops!).

Some of these are well-known and some of these are hidden gems, I’m really curious to see what people come up with this week.

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis

I think it’s safe to say that this has been a lot of readers’ first foray into fantasy, it definitely was mine. Although I read all of The Chronicles of Narnia, this was the only one I owned (and still do!) and I came back to it over and over again.

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2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling

I would be lying if I didn’t include Harry Potter on this list. The third book was the first one I read, I still have a copy of it and it has been read to death. All of the books in this series could make this list, but this is the book that allowed me to join the magical world of Harry Potter.

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3. The Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum

I’ve only read the original once, but I adore every iteration of this story. This (and the next book on my list) inspired me to write adventure stories about little girls discovering new worlds and I think what I love about it is how it feels like a modern fairy tale.

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4. Rebecca’s World – Terry Nation

Where Narnia was my gateway into fantasy, Rebecca’s World was my first step into sci-fi and I have never looked back. I adore this book, I want it to be adapted, I want it to be back in print, I want others to be able to appreciate it the way I have.

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5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

Anything by Roald Dahl really, but this one in particular speaks to my chocolate-loving soul. The songs in here are great, the twists are fab and I love how it flirts with being magical.

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6. The Wombles – Elizabeth Beresford

A very old series of books, The Wombles are underground creatures who clean up after all the rubbish that humans leave behind. They’re a very British invention and would probably be a hit today considering how environmentally conscious we are these days.

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7. A Series of Unfortunate Events – Lemony Snicket

These books were delightful to read despite the supposed grim tones; from Violet’s inventions, to Olaf’s evil plans to mystery of the VFD society. I love this series of books.

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8. The Sisters Grimm – Michael Buckley

I dedicated a whole Fairy Tale Friday on why these books are so good but here’s a quick summary: two young girls, descendants of the Brothers Grimm solving mysteries surrounding their town full of fairy tale characters. I loved this series!

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9. The Diamond of Drury Lane – Julia Golding

Set in 1790s London, this book is the first in a series following orphan Cat Royal on her adventures. From mysterious diamond theft to being involved with the French Revolution, this was definitely a lot of fun to read.

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10. Goosebumps – R.L. Stine

Last, but not least, who could forget the Goosebumps series? These were guaranteed to scare me as a child with gut wrenching twists. Special shout out to The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight and The Curse of Camp Cold Lake.

 

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This was a bit of a tough one because I read *SO* many fantastic books as a child (probably why I’ve gone for a lot of series as well as single books this week …).

Do we share any childhood favourites?

There are definitely books here that I want to reread – Narnia and Lemony Snicket for example – are there any childhood books you want to reread or still love to read?