Hitting the Books

Top 10 Lists, that is.

Here’s my contribution to the unending supply of lists.

Children’s/YA Books that You Should Keep Reading as an Adult.

In no particular order:

(And before someone gets huffy, I’ll tell you that I’m purposely not putting Tolkien on this list because I don’t consider him a children’s/YA author.)

1. The Dark Is Rising Sequence, Susan Cooper. My college buddies and I loved this series so much that we based our only (pout) trip to the British Isles on the locations in these books (mainly Mevagissey/Trewissick and Cader Idris). And I bought a really cool all-in-one version in Oxford

2. Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read these probably once a year at least, and unlike the folks over here, I never thought Laura treated Almanzo badly. I just figured she didn’t have clue how to act. But Farmer Boy is definitely my favorite. Probably all that food.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis. No need for explanation. My dad read these to me long before I could read them myself–they’re probably the #1 reason I love fantasy so much.

4. The Princess and the Goblin/The Princess and Curdie, George MacDonald. Lewis considered MacDonald one of his biggest influences. I just think the stories are cute.

5. Watership Down, Richard Adams. Didn’t much care for Fiver, or Hazel really. But Bigwig is top bunny in my book

6. A Wrinkle in Time/A Wind in the Door/A Swiftly Tilting Planet/Many Waters, Madeline L’Engle. The first two mainly because I heart Calvin (I have a thing for red-headed heroes–comes from my Trixie Belden days), and I was so Meg growing up (minus the braces and the math–for me it was English and history). Waters is an interesting take on Noah and the Flood.

7. The Ordinary Princess, M.M. Kaye. Wonderful story, great illustrations. It was only recently that I realized Kaye was the same author who wrote The Far Pavillions and Shadow of the Moon (which is one of the most gruesome “romances” I’ve read)

8. Anything by Marguerite Henry. Especially The Album of Horses. I can remember checking and rechecking and rerechecking that one from my elementary school library. Found it at a library booksale last year. The Punkin likes looking at the “doggies” already

9. Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell. I love survival stories, and this is one of the best, though a sad one.

10. Ramona series, Beverly Cleary. I’m not real big into Beverly Cleary’s other books, but I can read and reread Ramona. Don’t know why. Perhaps it’s that imagination of hers that just won’t stop…

And because I just couldn’t leave it out…

1. Night of the Twisters, Ivy Ruckman. This one has an emotional attachment. The Sequoyah award is Oklahoma’s version of the Newbery. Because I read all 12ish books on the nominee list in ‘84-’85, I got to go see the winning author, Ivy Ruckman, and got an autographed copy of this book. Beyond that, it’s just a really good story.

So, which childhood favorites do you still read?