Over on my blog I’ve started a discussion about favourite childhood reads. I thought I’d bring the subject up here to see which books stick out as your favourites.
I was always a big reader when I was young, although I actually skipped out a lot of children’s books and went straight into Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and the like. It’s only now that I’ve started reading children’s fiction that I realise what I missed out on.
There was one book, though, that left a massive impression on me as a child. It was an enormous hardback that I found in my school library one day – by far the biggest book I’d ever attempted to read. It was called The Hounds Of The Morrigan
I have vivid memories of curling up and reading that book – either in bed or on the couch – and I still remember the feeling of sadness I felt when I reached the end and had to say goodbye to the two main characters, Pidge and Bridget. I was eight or nine, but I still remember actually whispering “goodbye” to them when I closed the back cover, that’s how profound an effect the book had on me. I did it quietly, obviously, so my big sister wouldn’t hear me and make fun of me for it. You had to be careful around my big sister.
I suppose if I look back that was the first book that ever made me want to be a writer. I borrowed that book from the library at least half a dozen times, and while I never again whispered my goodbyes when I finished it, I never stopped loving the story.
If you’ve never read the book then you’re missing out. Click the link in paragraph three above to be taken to the Amazon page where it’s available insanely cheaply for the size and quality of the book.
I’d love to hear what your favourite children’s book is. Post a comment letting us know the title and author – and we promise we won’t be offended if it’s not one of us! In fact, we positively encourage you to tell us about authors and books we might not have read yet ourselves.
07/03/2009 at 6:15 pm Permalink
Funnily enough my favourite book as a child fits in well with your plight – it was Where the Wild Things are! I loved the story and wanted to sail away myself to play with monsters and cause a rumpus. I’m sure at first I was also a little scared by the pictures but grew to love them as I got older. I once voted it ‘the book that changed my life’ because it was the first one I was really eager to be able to read myself and started my love affair with books that has led to me having the best job in the world – school librarian!
07/03/2009 at 6:52 pm Permalink
I also missed out on a lot of kids’ fiction and went straight to the adult stuff. When I did get into books written for children, it was usually adventure stories, such as Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or Secret Seven.
Then I discovered The Three Investigators – a series about a trio of crime-solving boys (Jupitor Jones, Bob Andrews and Pete Crenshaw) with patronage from none other than Alfred Hitchcock. From their HQ hidden under a mound of junk in a scrapheap, they deciphered clues, battled enemies and solved mysteries.
In fact, now I’ve written that, I’m off to scour the monsters’ shelves to see if I can pick up a couple of old copies and read them again…
07/03/2009 at 9:00 pm Permalink
Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake
I read it when I was about 14, having not been much of a reader up to that point. Strangely I never read the rest of the series, and I never got into fantasy, but I can still remember that one book very clearly.
07/03/2009 at 10:08 pm Permalink
I’ve had several favourites through the years. In my early reading days my favourites were mainly found among the Enid Blyton adventure stories, but stories for children have changed drastically over recent years. If I were to pick a favourite from my extensive reading during the past ten years it would have to be Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve.
08/03/2009 at 10:56 am Permalink
I’m with you on Mortal Engines, Mark. In fact, if I ever meet Philip Reeve I may have to kill him. That kind of competition is just too much…
Enid Blyton changed my life – might never have started really reading without Five Go To Smuggler’s Top. But Joan Aiken’s The Whispering Mountain is always up there in my top 3. You can still get it if you poke around on the net long enough.
08/03/2009 at 1:45 pm Permalink
Add me to the Mortal Engines fan club!
09/03/2009 at 4:50 pm Permalink
Someone asked me this question a couple of years back. Check this link to see what I wrote, if you like:
http://www.theblacktattoo.com/qanda.html#favourite