What was your favorite children's book. Mine was The Velveteen Rabbit. I had a stuffed rabbit that went with the book.

[debm55]

[Permanut]

1. First book I ever owned, Tom Sawyer..

1957, I was eleven. I still have it

[debm55]

7. Thank you, Permanut. Somehow it got lost. As an adult I bought another book and stuffed rabbit.

[Ocelot II]

2. I still have my velveteen rabbit.

He’s a bit mangy now, but he’s still sitting on a chair in my bedroom next to my equally ratty Raggedy Ann doll. But my favorite book was the Kipling stories like The Elephant’s Child and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

[debm55]

10. Thank you Ocelot II , How nice to have the rabbit and the doll. I enjoyed Kipling's stories also.

[Wicked Blue]

3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

[debm55]

12. Thank you Wicked Blue. When I was teaching I read it to my class.

[cayugafalls]

4. Through the looking glass.

My grandmother used to read it while rocking me...

[debm55]

13. How sweet. thank you cayugafalls.

[Permanut]

26. The Walrus and the Carpenter..

My favorite poem. Had it memorized years ago; not sure I could recite it now.

[cayugafalls]

50. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee are the origin of the Walrus, according to Paul McCartney...lol

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings."

[debm55]

64. Thank you very much. cayugafalls.

[debm55]

63. Ty Permanut.

[debm55]

123. Thank you Permanut,

[yorkster]

5. Heidi, Black Beauty, and Child's Garden of Verses.

Couldn't choose between, loved them all.

[debm55]

14. Wonderful books. ty yorkster.

[CTyankee]

6. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Because she had dark hair like mine and I thought all princess should not always be a

a blonde with golden hair.

[debm55]

19. Ty CTyankee. Felt the same too.

[CTyankee]

27. Thanks. I feel ancient since a lot of this discussion is about fairy tale stuff after the creaton of the Internet. I had

books....just books. And movies of fairy tales, bless Disney, who weren't around when I was given fairy tale books.

[debm55]

65. TY CTyankee, I had the movies. but my first love were the actual books I could feel and smell. Also each steel mill town

along the river had an Andrew Carnegie Library were books could be taken for a week.

[tblue37]

8. "Heidi"

[tblue37]

11. I also loved all the Black Stallion books.

[debm55]

21. Ty tblue37. I remember reading the book a couple of times. Hope you get better.

[Harker]

9. "The Story of Ferdinand" and "Make Way for Ducklings" were my early favorites.

I still smile thinking of how they helped shape my personality.

[debm55]

22. Oh you must have been very young, I remember Ferdinand the bull and the little ducklings. Ty, Harker.

[Lunabell]

15. The Mrs. Pigglewiggle books.

Beverly Cleary books with Henry Huggins and Ramona. Then, later, all of the Little House on the Prairie books.

[debm55]

23. Ty Lunabell, I read the Little House on the Prairie books. The series on TV was not the same.

[Permanut]

24. Beverly Cleary has a K-4 school named after her in Portland, Oregon .

The setting for her Ramona Quimby books.

[debm55]

93. Thank you Permanut. Loved the author Beverly Cleary.

[Thunderbeast]

52. Henry Huggins was MY favorite book

Growing up in Portland, he was a kid I could relate to. The bronze statues of Henry, Ramona, and Beazus at US Grant Park are precious!

My wife was a school librarian at Alameda.... located on Klickitat Street.

[debm55]

99. Ty Thunderbeast. I remember that book.

[woodsprite]

16. Charlotte's Web.

To this day, "Charlottes" are the only kind of spider I'll tolerate, but they still have to be outside the house.

[mucifer]

17. Yeah, Charlotte influenced me. By the time I was 16 I was a vegetarian and at

46 yo I went vegan.

[debm55]

28. Ty woodsprite. I always felt sorry for Charlotte. I know about the spider thing. I was outside the other day and a

spider was on me. Freaked me out.

[woodsprite]

41. I actually saw some "ballooning" last summer.

It does give you the creeps!

[debm55]

94. Ty woodsprite. I have never seen them ballooning. It must have been great to watch.

[PJMcK]

59. I was 7 or 8 when I read it

I remember I cried when Charlotte died.

When my son was young, I read CW to him and I realized something. At the end of the book, Charlotte’s babies hatch shouting, “Salutations!” How did Charlotte’s eggs get fertilized? Hmm.

[AllaN01Bear]

18. courious george the monkey.

[debm55]

30. Thank you AllaNo1Bear. Did you have the stuffed animal that went with it?

[AllaN01Bear]

34. nope. dont think so. library books.

[surrealAmerican]

20. for picture books ...

... I remember loving Blueberries for Sal and On Beyond Zebra.

[debm55]

31. TY surrealAmerican. I really liked Blueberries for Sal.

[SKKY]

25. Charlotte's Web. It was also the first movie I ever saw in a theater....

...so it has sentimental value.

[debm55]

32. TY SKKY, I saw both movies that were made. You had a visual to go with the book.

[Different Drummer]

29. If I had to pick one, it would be "Go, Dog, Go" by P.D. Eastman.

I also liked all of the Dr. Seuss books, My Puppy and Me, and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.

[debm55]

33. Ty Different Drummer. Loved all of Dr, Seuss. books. Luckily as a child, we had a large Carnegie Library to get all the

books I wanted.

[Different Drummer]

38. One Dr. Seuss book that I was recently made aware of the existence of is...

On Beyond Zebra!. I heard a description of it and immediately wanted it as an e-book since those are the only kind I get now. However, it appears that it's only available as a paperback and a hardcover and the price of both is prohibitively high so, fortunately, I found a YouTube video of someone reading it.

[debm55]

39. TY I don't remember that one, I am going to look it up.

[electric_blue68]

78. I loved that!

[k55f5r]

35. The wind in the willows.

Can't get enough of that Toad.

[debm55]

40. Yes, the toad. Ty k55f5r,

[malthaussen]

110. Not sure what it says about my personality, but Mole was my favorite...

... I still choke up a little when he and Rat go back to Mole's old house.

-- Mal

[debm55]

112. HAHAHAH. TY malthaussen. That is funny.

[LastDemocratInSC]

36. "Scuppers the Sailor Dog" by Margaret Wise Brown

and anything by Richard Scarry.

[debm55]

42. ty LastDemocratinSC I really enjoyed Richard Scarry books.

[AllaN01Bear]

37. i read Charlotte's Web as an adult and the cartoon much later . im not a veggin but i have great respect

for where our food comes from.

[debm55]

43. Agree

[sinkingfeeling]

44. Loved "The Wind in the Willows".

[debm55]

100. Thank you sinkingfeeling. Agree here.

[3catwoman3]

45. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle.

I’ve not been able to make myself watch any of the movie versions because I know I’ll be disappointed. I have such vivid mental images from what my imagination decided the characters should look like and I’ve seen short clips - the actors cast look nothing like my mental renderings, and in many cases, nothing like the author’s descriptions.

[electric_blue68]

79. Loved that book!

[debm55]

96. Ty 3catwoman3, I didn't know that they made a movie of it. I enjoyed the book.

[Elessar Zappa]

46. The Mother Goose stories.

Can’t remember the exact title.

[debm55]

98. Thank you Elessar Zappa,

[Coventina]

47. Cars and Trucks and Things that GO!!!

[debm55]

102. Ty Coventina. I really enjoyed Richard Scarry's books. I see it was a Golden Book with the gold metallic binding

[Conjuay]

48. My aunt in England

Sent me, "Rupert" a book starring a bear/ child and his many adventures. It was sort of a cross between a comic book and a graphic novel. It contained beautiful water color prints.

[debm55]

104. Ty Conjuay. Sounds wonderful.

[yellowdogintexas]

49. I am SO old! Tom Sawyer was definitely one of my favorites

I read it every summer, along with Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates.

We had the Childcraft books and the poetry and fiction books were my favorite. I found a full set of them at Half Price when my daughter was in Kindergarten and got them for her. SHe loved them too and now she has them for her daughter. (my sister took mine for her daughter who is 8 years older than the rest of our kids)

However I was addicted to Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew, and these were the original ones, not the dumb downed ones. I loved Dr Seuss too.

I also had a a Brer Rabbit book, based on Song of the South!!! This was back in the 50s. It had the art used in the movie and all the stories which I guess were from the source material for the movie. I think it was called "Tales of Uncle Remus". It was a beautiful book and the stories were lots of fun. Of course now you couldn't find one outside of a yard sale, but 6 year old me would not have known the difference. It eventually fell apart.

Almost forgot Babar!!! I was so disappointed when my daughter did not really like Babar!!!

Did anyone ever have The Bumper Book? That was my favorite in my early learning to read years. Lots of stories, poetry. I would love to find a copy of it for my granddaughter. That is another on my sister absconded with. If you can find one it is atrociously expensive.

[debm55]

105. Ty yellowdogintexas, Wonderful choices. I hate to say it , but I didn't like Barbar either. For some reason it

frightened me.

[Raven123]

51. Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Wow. Your questions take me back debm55!

[debm55]

118. My class read this. I know they did a movie of the book, but nothing beats a book, so I didn't see it.

[Raven123]

127. Same here. Why see a movie when the magic is in the book!

[Arne]

53. My very first, See Spot Run.

[debm55]

120. Run Spot Run TY

[The Blue Flower]

54. Horton Hears a Who

"A person's a person no matter how small." That line got me at the age of seven.

[debm55]

122. Loved those books. About 15 years ago. Kohl's would have classic children's books with a stuffy. I have Horton Hears a

Who and the elephant stuffy for my grandchildren. My son is mentally challenged because of a car accident. So I wrapped them all up and donated to a Day Care .

[JoseBalow]

55. The Pushcart War

[debm55]

73. ty JoseBalow

[Niagara]

56. I still have or have replacements for some of the books I have listed.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery


The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain


A Horse Came Running by Meindert DeJong


The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder


Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls


There's a short story called Another Part of the House that's not exactly for children, but told through a child's eyes


I'm still guilty of reading Judy Blume books when I get the chance

[debm55]

71. Ty Great selection, PS I still read the Pooh books.

[Jilly_in_VA]

57. I'm old, so...

Little Women

The Secret Garden

ALL the Betsy-Tacy books (yes, I grew up in the midwest)

The Little House books (before the evangelicals got hold of them)

All the Anne of Green Gables Books

Jean and the Good Cat Jupie

[debm55]

70. Ty Jilly_in _Va Great selection. Some of them I read. too

[Emile]

58. Fun With Dick and Jane

[debm55]

69. HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAH "see Jane run. Run Jane run. See Spot run Run Spot run,-----Really a whole generation of kids

learned to read from them . Not all, but a majority of kids did.

[PJMcK]

60. The Boxcar Children

It was a series of adventures about some orphans who lived in an abandoned train car. I don’t remember anything else except that devoured them.

[debm55]

68. Ty PJMcK I remember them. As a classroom teacher Scholastic would a lot each teacher a selection. I picked the Boxcar

Children and it came in a boxcar storage box.

[canuckledragger]

61. Where the wild things are

Being the black sheep and whipping boy of my family, I identified with kid in the book being sent to his room just for being who he is, then taking the attitude of "If they're going to treat me like a wild thing, might as well be one!"

[debm55]

67. Oh, canuckledragger. you were not a wild thing. You were a child finding his way as all children must do to grow. I am

I was/ am the black sheep in my abusive family because I left at 18, never to return to a house of people who were jealous of my smarts and talents. We deserved better. Love, Debbie

[Jeebo]

62. The Black Stallion novels, by Walter Farley

When I was in ... oh, it must have been about the fifth grade, our teacher read the first Black Stallion novel to us in class, a chapter or two at a time. That was about 1960. All of the kids in the class really enjoyed it, and I am sure I was not the only kid who was reading more Black Stallion novels on my own after that. I think the teacher was doing that to get us kids into the reading habit, and that was certainly the effect it had on me. For a while I was reading every Black Stallion novel that came out, and I think Walter Farley was still writing them when I finally overdosed on them and started reading something else. That was one of the things that got me started reading. I also enjoyed that movie some years back with Terri Garr, Kelly Reno and Mickey Rooney.

-- Ron

[debm55]

66. Thank you Jeebo, During my teaching days, I read the first Black Stallion to my class. I had read the series as a child.

[Jeebo]

75. It's really interesting that you did that, too.

Was it something that the publisher was encouraging elementary school teachers to do? Or is it just a coincidence that you and my fifth grade (I think it was fifth grade) teacher also read that same novel to her class? Coincidences do happen sometimes in the real world ...

-- Ron

[Brother Buzz]

72. Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel

Steam engines were already gone in my childhood, but I still called road rollers steam rollers. Same with using steam shovels. I really liked the ending where Mary Anne got repurposed rather than getting relegated to the scrap heap.

[debm55]

140. Ty Brother Buzz, I remember getting the from the library. Have a great day.

[ailsagirl]

74. I read Grimm's and Andersen's fairy tales

[debm55]

97. TY ailsagirl; Great choices.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

76. I have 3

Glimpses into Pet land
Silver Pennies
The Phantom Tollbooth

If I added 3 more would be :
Pyewacket
Saturday the 12th of October
The Silent Mieow

Lastly
When Cats Were Green

[3catwoman3]

81. The Silent Miaow is one of the best books ever.

I first read it in my mid-twenties. A friend gave it to me as a gift.

I was captivated immediately by the story and the charming photographs, and have read it many, many times. It didn’t seem at all odd that the story was being told in the first person by a cat speaking English.

I even named a cat Cica after the main character kitty. Always had to explain that it was pronounced Tsi-tsa (Hungarian for “kitten,” IIRC).

[debm55]

90. Ty 2catwoman3 wonderful post.

[debm55]

91. TY I_UndergroundPanther. Freat choices. My 6th grade class had the Phantom Tollbooth as in a play version in their

Literature book and we acted it out. Fun.

[jmowreader]

77. The World Book Encyclopedia

Sorry, but that’s what we had. That and civil engineering texts.

[debm55]

89. TY jmowreader. We had the Encyclopedia you would buy weakly at the A&P they were full of pictures. Question for you --

did you go into engineering?

[jmowreader]

107. Before I graduated from high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer

Then I joined the Army and did Army things. Naturally, because I am a nerd I got into computers and became a computer nerd. When the Desktop Publishing revolution came around I thought that was cool and bought a copy of Letraset’s Ready, Set, Go! page layout software, a copy of Adobe Illustrator and a PostScript laser printer and “learned by doing” - there is SO much design in Berlin, so when I saw something cool in my journeys I’d go home and figure our how to do it myself. I knew sound so I joined the Brigade’s theater club as a sound designer and talked the makeup designer into teaching me to do makeup. I was already taking good pictures, I learned that on the high school paper and on annual staff.

I don’t get to invent the next big thing the teens are shoving in their pockets, but I’m doing okay.

[debm55]

116. Thank you jmomreader,

[electric_blue68]

80. Even perhaps before or concurrent w Dr Suess: Harold and The Purple Crayon!

Dr Suess - The Birthday Book

Have to think on a full blown book

But I do have a memory of looking in the (school?) Library for "Tip" (the dog), after the first Dick & Jane book.

[debm55]

88. Did you notice you could look at the illustrations for the Dick and Jane books. As the series went along, there was less

and less illustrations .

[Upthevibe]

82. debm55.....

Charlotte's Web...........

[debm55]

87. Thank you Upthevibe. I liked it but it was sad for me at the end.

[MIGuy]

83. Paddle to the Sea

The first full story I understood and remembered. The beautiful illustrations helped.

[debm55]

86. Thank you MIGuy. I remember the illustrations of books I read also. And they do help with understanding.

[Tree Lady]

84. Little House on the Prairie

(the Long Winter) I lived in a area of no snow and mild winter so reading about being snowed in for months and barely surviving was exciting as a kid.

I was always curious about living in the days of no electricity and other modern appliances.

[debm55]

85. Thank you Tree Lady.,

[justaprogressive]

92. Ferdinand (the Bull)

smart mom (of military background) made me a pacifist.

should be required reading in kindergarten...

[debm55]

95. I read that too, Agree with you. TY justaprogressive.

[elleng]

101. Black Beauty.

[debm55]

117. Thank you elleng A classic

[Mz Pip]

103. The Enormous Egg

when I was little. Nancy Drew and Black Stallion later on.

[debm55]

121. Ty Mz Pip

[MiHale]

106. Jerry Todd books...had the whole set including the Poppy Ott books...

Read them over and over.

[debm55]

119. TY MiHale. They must have been really good to reread. I still read "All Creatures Great and Small" series.

[Alliepoo]

108. The first fave book I can recall is

365 Bedtime Stories. It had a one page story for every day of the year. It took place on What-a-Jolly-Street and one of the main characters was a kindly older lady named Miss Apricot. The stories involved the kids and families that lived on the street. There was a map printed inside the cover that showed where everyone lived, the stores and shops and the school. My parents read this book to my sis and I every night. We loved it. When I got my first desktop computer I searched until I found a copy of this book and I bought it. I’ve been an avid reader all my life. I also loved the Arrow Book Club in grade school where we could order books through school. I found a couple of fondly remembered favorites and ordered those online, too!

[debm55]

114. Ty Alliepoo. Very interesting.

[malthaussen]

109. Wind in the Willows...

... with Tasha Tudor's watercolors.

-- Mal

[debm55]

115. Ty malthaussen . I always loved watercolor illlustrations. Very subtle.

[petronius]

111. The Wump World, by Bill Peet. (But I think the Veleveteen Rabbit was the first

book that made me cry...)

[debm55]

113. TY petrpnius. I agree.

[Aristus]

124. "At the far edge of town where the grickle-grass grows,

and the wind smells slow and sour when it blows/and no birds ever sing excepting old crows/is the Street of the Lifted Lorax…”

[debm55]

125. TY Aristus, Beautiful

[RazorbackExpat]

126. I had LOTS of them

Anything by Dr. Seuss, anything by A.A.Milne. the Boxcar Children series (especially The Lighthouse Mystery), Peanuts comic books, virtually anything my teachers read to us after lunch in elementary school (especially Brighty of the Grand Canyon), Golden Book Encyclopedia (published in 1960), Golden Book Geography series (also 1960), Book of presidential stickers (ended with Johnson), Children's Encyclopedia of US History (ended with the assassination of Martin Luther King). Golden Magazine, Boys' Life, The Search for Planet X (when Pluto was still a planet), Runaway Slave: The Story of Harriet Tubman, The History of Arkansas (school textbook, ended with the election of Governor Orville Faubus. no mention of Little Rock). That textbook was already 15 years out of date by the time I got it, but I really loved to read about the Caddo and Quapaw Indians, the legend of Petit Jean, the De Soto and De Tonti expeditions, Arkansas Post and the Brooks-Baxter War, and places that were outside of my sheltered world

[TomSlick]

128. Welcome to DU!

Your references to the Brooks-Baxter war and Petit Jean establish your bona fides as an Arkie.

[RazorbackExpat]

129. I also remember the 'Game of the Century"

Arkansas versus Texas, December 1969. Richard Nixon attended that game. Final score: Texas 15, Arkansas 14

[TomSlick]

130. I was present for the Miracle on Markham.

Battle of the Boot - 2002.

[RazorbackExpat]

131. Another 1 - point game

But this time in the Hogs' favor It must have been incredible, watching it live.

My favorite Hawg moment was listening to them win the NCAA tournament in 1994, then arriving at the Fayetteville airport later and seeing that championship banner

[RazorbackExpat]

133. I like your screen name

I was thinking about using "Super Chicken" as mine

[TomSlick]

141. I have been called Tom Slick for years - at least since the time of Slick Willie.

It's a bonus that I watched the cartoon as a kid.

[Laffy Kat]

132. The Phantom Tollbooth. nt

[dameatball]

134. From my elementary school library, "The Black Stone Knife"

About a Kiowa boy and his friends who journey to follow summer and have adventures. I bought a copy for my grandkids but I think only one of them read it.

[debm55]

137. Thank you dameatball. The book sounds interesting.

[electric_blue68]

135. Harold and The Purple Crayon! Dr Suess's Happy Birthday to You book!

That was after the whole Dick and Jane series! 😄 I have a memory of looking in a library for "Tip".

Black Beauty may have been one of my first long read books.

Then I discovered a SF novel my dad had when I was 10, and never looked back! 😁

[debm55]

136. TY electric_blue68 alot of classic there.

[OldBaldy1701E]

138. 'The Hardy Boys', 'The Three Investigators', and 'Tom Swift'.

Oh, and 'Jaws' (read at age ten), Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (age 9), 'Peter and Wendy' (age 8), The Star Trek novels by James Blish, 'Barsoom' and 'Tarzan' by E.G. Burroughs, as well as a massive assortment of horror/mystery/crime books.

I was a voracious reader when I was a child.

[debm55]

139. Ty OldBaldy1701E You have a great selection of books that you read.