What was your favourite book as a child?

Question

Yonks ago, before the age of tv, I was an avid reader. I was brought up on Treasure Island, Black Beauty, and the like.
My personal favourites were Tom Sawyer - who I could relate to; and Charles Dickins' Great Expectations - which I still go back to every couple of years.
Do kids still read classics - or only when it is part of the school corriculum?

Answer 1

I suppose I must have been one of those 'odd' children who would rather spend time reading than watching TV. In fact as a kid I would go to the library every Saturday morning and check out around a dozen books, and then spend all my free time during the week reading. The only way my mom could punish me was to take away my books, and in her words, 'What kind of a mother stops her child from reading????" I believed I caused her some serious psychological pain.

Black Beauty was a favourite, as were the Wizard of Oz series, Nancy Drew and her ilk, Anne of Green Gables, the Ramona books, Secret Garden, James and the Giant Peach, Narnia.....the list is almost endless.

I asked my cousin this question (she's a grade school teacher) and she told me that in her classes one of the only times she gets the full attention of all the children is during story time. And often the children will ask her if they can take the books home to finish on their own. Apparently all hope is not lost, and kids still enjoy a good story.

Answer 2

Some kids read classics. I'm a children's librarian and once in a while they do ask for Black Beauty or Jules Verne... but not often. I think the main reason for this is that there are soooo many more books written especially for children, at many different levels. It makes the "classics" look much less attractive to kids, who really do want to be able to understand the words they're reading as well as relate to the characters. Also, people now own many more books, and booksales at schools and trips to the library are common events, so the old tomes on the bookshelf at home don't hold the same importance they once did.

My favorite, since you asked...if I had to pick just one, I'd say "Honestly, Katie John" by Mary Calhoun. It's an American book, written in the early 1960s, about a young girl whose parents have moved from California to Missouri in order to fix up a house they inherited before selling it. Instead, they fall in love with the old house and decide to stay. Katie John gets into all kinds of unintended mischief and is genuinely funny.

Answer 3

I first found my love of books around 7yrs old. The first book ever read was Milly Molly Mandy Stories. Then I progressed through all of the Enid Blytons. Charles Dickins..Oliver Twist and Great Expectations. Little Women. After that anything I could get my hands on. I still have a love of reading even tho I am now in my 70`s. No I don`t think the children are encouraged to read now, more`s the pity.

Answer 4

I loved the Borrowers when I was little, and the Little Princess, and the Secret Garden. I love reading, and I do mostly read modern books, but I like classics too. I read Frankenstein not long ago, for no reason other than I had a copy.

The thing is, not many kids like to read; I know a boy who said (he was 16 at the time) that the only books he'd ever read entirely were Harry Potter. We did English coursework on Great Expectations, but I've never read it all - we just got given printouts of the three chapters we were meant to write about. Sad, I know. My friend is doing AS level English Lit. She's reading Dracula, and she's the only one to choose that book. Everyone else picked this one called 'Enduring Love' which seems to be fairly recent. Also seems to be fairly rubbish, but at least I don't have to read it.

If you're given a book to read or write about for school, it instantly loses all appeal to most kids. I can understand that - my GCSE teacher managed to kill all enjoyment of Edward Scissorhands for my class. And that's a really popular film, so what could school do to a book? Most people I know just don't read out of school.

Answer 5

I was lucky enough to be born before TV too and my father introduced me to the classics through their simplified versions - that is the one thing I am the most grateful to him for - more than everything else he gave me - an abiding love for books - I know life is always bearable for me as long as I have a decent book to read.
My favorites were Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, Oliver Twist, Tale of Two Cities, never liked Great Expectations - didn't like Estella. Scarlet Pimpernel was another favorite. When I was old enough to discover books on my own I discovered Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew etc but read them always with a sneaking awareness that they didn't quite measure up to the old classics though I love Enid Blyton - then read the romantic classics - Rebecca, Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudic, Sense and Sensibility.
Thank you - you've reminded me of a time when life was wonderful!

Answer 6

When i was really young i loved the Topsy and Tim series and Beatrix Potter. I also liked Where The Wild Things Are.
My mum brought me the entire penguins classics series so i read those too.
Black Beauty, Treasure Island, The Railway Children ect. But my little cousins prefer computer games and playing out and being a nuisance. They only read in school or Harry Potter which is a new classic in it's own right.

Answer 7

My favourite book as a kid was The Hobbit, which I read when I was nine. I still love it and have re-read it lots since then!
Most kids now have a lower reading age now than they used to have. When I was younger, Charles Dickens would have been considered very much a senior high school book - 17 and 18 year olds - wheras I read his books many years before that.
I think it all comes down to the fact that kids would much rather watch the tv as it takes less effort, and they have simply forgotten how to enjoy reading. A shame, but welcome to 2007.

Answer 8

I remember my dad reading me the Noddy books at bedtime, and then when I was a little older he would read me one chapter a night of the Narnia books. I was recently bought a set of them by my partner, and loved them!

I used to love reading Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, all of those, but haven't read them for a while.

We read at least twice a day to my 3-year-old, and she loves going to the library - it's one of her 'special treats' for being a good girl. She's a bit young for the classics at the moment, but she's already put in requests for the Harry Potter series, so hopefully things will go from there. She'll quite often sit on the floor with her books making up stories around the pictures or remembering the stories we've read, and for her birthday my dad made her her own book, with a homewritten story and illustrations, which she absolutely loves. I've also made her a personal book as part of a course I took so hopefully the love is there and will continue to grow.

Answer 9

I had loads, the Great Ghost Rescue (which I still read every now and again), any Enid Blyton books, the Three Investigator books, Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn and Judy Blume books when I was a little older.

Answer 10

what's YOUR prominent youngster's e book? Make way for Ducklings- a classic solid for each age what's your youngster's prominent e book? the three 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous loves eco-friendly Eggs and Ham and the David books, the 5 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous likes the flowery Nancy books, and the 7 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous likes the Junie B Jones and the Fudge books. did you understand of a few extremely tremendous e book titles which have quite a number of meaning for the figure and the youngster? i imagine it extremely relies upon on anybody. i recognize the classics, yet my youngsters are not inspired via Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel very nearly as a lot as i grow to be.