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49. Trixie Belden Forever!

Tue Dec 19, 2017, 10:17 PM

Dec 2017

My cousin gave me "Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Emeralds" when I was nine. I was already a devoted reader, but that book introduced me to the word, "ennui" which I mispronounced in my head for decades.

I also remember "Beautiful Joe", a more obscure book called "Star Girl" and a collection of stories about a older gentleman babysitter.

Whenever he looked after the children, wonderous things would happen. Once, every faucet in the house produced a different flavor of soda pop. This was actually a lesson for the children, because they had been clamouring for soda earlier. Then, of course, they missed the simple pleasure of water.

In other stories, there were bushes that popped popcorn, and once it literally rained cats and dogs. If anyone out there has similar memories of these stories and can remember the name of the main character, I would love to hear from them.

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Highlight:

What book, as a child, hooked you forever on reading? [View all] kairos12 Dec 2017 OP

Charlotte's Web... cbreezen Dec 2017 #1

That was an early great one for me as well. kairos12 Dec 2017 #45

Black Beauty. procon Dec 2017 #2

I loved Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe as a child, but I think they might be too sad for me now. nt Still Blue in PDX Dec 2017 #13

I read Beautiful Joe too, and Lad, A Dog, great books that fostered my love of animals. nt procon Dec 2017 #27

Black Beauty is still my favorite children's book. femmocrat Dec 2017 #95

Roald Dahl books. PoorMonger Dec 2017 #3

I read all of the Dahl books SCantiGOP Dec 2017 #80

Hopefully, not all of them. :) sl8 Dec 2017 #122

Damn. Never heard of those SCantiGOP Dec 2017 #123

Ulysses pangaia Dec 2017 #4

Let me guess SCantiGOP Dec 2017 #81

Yup !!! pangaia Dec 2017 #83

The Secret Garden Madam Mossfern Dec 2017 #5

Same here! narnian60 Dec 2017 #128

Little Women mainstreetonce Dec 2017 #6

As a child, I read all the Hardy boys but I got hooked on literature age 12 GusBob Dec 2017 #7

I read my big brother's Hardy Boys books when I was little. Loved them! Still Blue in PDX Dec 2017 #16

Nothing in particular. I just wanted to read. Anything, anytime, anywhere. dhol82 Dec 2017 #8

Similar story here MrsMatt Dec 2017 #47

Me, too. silverweb Dec 2017 #50

Same here. DiverDave Dec 2017 #69

The Little House books. n/t ginnyinWI Dec 2017 #9

I really got into the Bobsey Twins mysteries LeftInTX Dec 2017 #10

I don't remember ever not reading, but "A Wrinkle in Time" holds a special place in my heart. Still Blue in PDX Dec 2017 #11

Kon Tiki Adsos Letter Dec 2017 #12

My mom read that to us. I would say Nancy Drew got me interested. applegrove Dec 2017 #21

Nancy Drew Adsos Letter Dec 2017 #24

I loved those books when I was very young. smirkymonkey Dec 2017 #108

I was an avid reader MuseRider Dec 2017 #14

Misty of Chincoteague demmiblue Dec 2017 #15

Yes! Bayard Dec 2017 #85

"Death of a President" by William Manchester gopiscrap Dec 2017 #17

Almost anything by Beverly Cleary jrandom421 Dec 2017 #18

The first 3 "Oz" books teenagebambam Dec 2017 #19

Treasure Island changed my life Cicada Dec 2017 #20

In the late 60s my sister was babysitting me when the TV went out.... MLAA Dec 2017 #22

The Monkeys Paw Adsos Letter Dec 2017 #25

Oh, my . . . I remember finding a book of his stories in my mom's nightstand. Great stuff! Still Blue in PDX Dec 2017 #37

Love that you kept those teachers on their toes! MLAA Dec 2017 #57

I think it was called "Tip and Mitten" sl8 Dec 2017 #23

Bambi Leith Dec 2017 #26

treasure at first base chaking53 Dec 2017 #28

Little Galoshes... radical noodle Dec 2017 #29

Wind in the Willows and ChazII Dec 2017 #30

LOTR shanny Dec 2017 #31

I didn't read LOTR hermetic Dec 2017 #100

There wasn't one. surrealAmerican Dec 2017 #32

Henry Higgins Series tazkcmo Dec 2017 #33

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes MFM008 Dec 2017 #34

I was able to 2naSalit Dec 2017 #35

Anything that was Zane Grey. Wellstone ruled Dec 2017 #36

Half Magic. Lived in that book. Squinch Dec 2017 #38

Oh wow! qwlauren35 Dec 2017 #88

Wasn't it GREAT?? Squinch Dec 2017 #89

OMG - I remember that book and loved it! dhol82 Dec 2017 #91

I was really hoping hermetic Dec 2017 #99

THE HALF TALKING CAT!!!! Squinch Dec 2017 #107

"Fun with Dick and Jane" FuzzyRabbit Dec 2017 #39

I was going to post the same thing! yardwork Dec 2017 #60

Stone Soup, also The 100 Dressrs Blindingly apparent Dec 2017 #40

I honestly don't remember. I grew up in a house stuffed and crammed with books. Glorfindel Dec 2017 #41

Your response is most wonderful! kairos12 Dec 2017 #42

I started with Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew.... CatMor Dec 2017 #43

Babysitter's Club crazycatlady Dec 2017 #44

Many of these above and also "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith stopwastingmymoney Dec 2017 #46

The bridge to Terabithia dewsgirl Dec 2017 #48

Trixie Belden Forever! Collimator Dec 2017 #49

Mr. Pudgins? sl8 Dec 2017 #53

Thanks sl8 Collimator Dec 2017 #84

I remember Trixie Belden dhol82 Dec 2017 #92

Spunky Trixie, indeed. Collimator Dec 2017 #117

:))))) dhol82 Dec 2017 #118

Hardy Boys. GeorgeGist Dec 2017 #51

The Boxcar Children AJT Dec 2017 #52

Old Man and the Sea. EOM physioex Dec 2017 #54

My first first grade reader. 50 Shades Of Blue Dec 2017 #55

Comic books. no_hypocrisy Dec 2017 #56

That was a big part for me as well exboyfil Dec 2017 #126

Same here. A Wrinkle In Time! Roland99 Dec 2017 #58

Great question, Mad Scientists' Club and The Three Investigators Saboburns Dec 2017 #59

The Dr Doolittle books... First Speaker Dec 2017 #61

The Good Earth Freedomofspeech Dec 2017 #62

Wrinkle in Time RainCaster Dec 2017 #63

I was hooked on reading before being given... 3catwoman3 Dec 2017 #64

I fear disappointment as well about the film. kairos12 Dec 2017 #68

No one single book. PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 2017 #65

Charlotte's Web and The Hardy Boys...n/t Upthevibe Dec 2017 #66

I totally agree hermetic Dec 2017 #97

"Tunnel In The Sky" bearssoapbox Dec 2017 #67

Not sure of the exact title TuxedoKat Dec 2017 #70

Star Wars comics Blue_Adept Dec 2017 #71

I saw the headline before coming to this thread Rustynaerduwell Dec 2017 #72

Space Cat PassingFair Dec 2017 #73

Watership Down. LanternWaste Dec 2017 #74

Loved this book so much hermetic Dec 2017 #101

Encyclopedia Brown. Texasgal Dec 2017 #75

Island of The Blue Dolphins. madaboutharry Dec 2017 #76

Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy gay texan Dec 2017 #77

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe n/t wryter2000 Dec 2017 #78

The first books I remember loving SCantiGOP Dec 2017 #79

All the Pippi Longstocking books. I loved them all. MaeScott Dec 2017 #82

I had four encyclopedias. Three in Spanish, one in English Xipe Totec Dec 2017 #86

Interesting. qwlauren35 Dec 2017 #87

Phantom Tollbooth! I said Half Magic up-thread, but Phantom Tollbooth is definitely on the list. Squinch Dec 2017 #90

Mister Poppers Penguins cagefreesoylentgreen Dec 2017 #93

Actually three books read in rapid succession....all by George R. Stewart Brother Buzz Dec 2017 #94

My mother reading "Miss Menerva and William Greenhill" to me when I was a pre-schooler. patricia92243 Dec 2017 #96

along with so much of what is listed here miyazaki Dec 2017 #98

Where the Red Fern Grows Thomas Hurt Dec 2017 #102

Actually it was a book for adults - Jaws in the 5th grade MrPurple Dec 2017 #103

We need a bigger book!! kairos12 Dec 2017 #104

Jane Eyre MaryMagdaline Dec 2017 #105

Doubleday had a series of books named Best in Childrens Books. lkinwi Dec 2017 #106

There were so many of them, but one book that really stuck with me was smirkymonkey Dec 2017 #109

Mistress Masham's Repose by T.H. White Demoiselle Dec 2017 #110

I had undiagnosed dyslexia so I hated reading Paula Sims Dec 2017 #111

That is so sad that you came to love reading so late. dhol82 Dec 2017 #119

As a child our house was full of books... hunter Dec 2017 #112

Mine was "Chip the Dam Builder". denbot Dec 2017 #113

All of them! raven mad Dec 2017 #114

DAVID AND THE PHOENIX trueblue2007 Dec 2017 #115

Up The Down Staircase. EOM WiffenPoof Dec 2017 #116

I always remember reading mythology Dec 2017 #120

At 12 I read Gone With the Wind, all 1200 pages. milestogo Dec 2017 #121

The first novel I recall HeiressofBickworth Dec 2017 #124

Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles." NNadir Dec 2017 #125

Newspaper comics, a book about Ilsa Dec 2017 #127

The Boxcar Children SCLumbeelady Dec 2017 #129

Alfred Hitchcock's "Stories that Scared Even Me" nuxvomica Dec 2017 #130

Story Telling and Other Poems, Childcraft #2, 1949. Greybnk48 Dec 2017 #131

Paddle-to-the-Sea... VOX Dec 2017 #132

Anne of Green Gables womanofthehills Dec 2017 #133