Thursday 22 January 2009

Inner Child

I have been recently reading a blog called Dove Grey Reader Scribbles, who has been talking about providing reading books for her inner child. If you click on the blog name it will take you straight to the Inner Child post. She has been looking at books from her childhood and rereading them. She mentioned setting up a weekend once a month whereby you just read books from your childhood, revisting the comfort books you loved so much. I thought this was a fantastic idea.

So this morning I have been trying to think of the books that guided me through my childhood. The books that comforted me when school was such an effort. I think back to my school days now and I really don't think I enjoyed them as much as I should have. I always seemed to be getting into arguments because I would not just stand there and take anyone's abuse. I always stood up for myself, but often it would land me in more trouble. (The standing up for myself still gets me in trouble now, no wonder I read so much!) So I used to find comfort from books. To be lost in another world for a few blissful hours was heaven.

I want to compile a list of books that were important to me in my childhood and I would like you to help. I hear you say, you didn't know me in my childhood,so how would you know what was important to me. Well I don't just want a list of my books, I want to know what yours were as well. I want to see what you used to love reading as a child, especially from my American and Canadian readers, because your list should be totally different to mine.

Here is a list of my favourite books from childhood.

1) Ballet Shoes by Noel Straetfield
2) Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery
3) The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
4) Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
5) The Haunting of Cassie Palmer by Vivien Alcock
6) The Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
7) The Borrowers by Mary Norton
8) The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C.S Lewis
9) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
10) Worzel Gummidge by Barbara Euphan Todd
11) Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pierce
12) Dear Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

Over the last few months, I have been searching out these books to add to my collection, but some are very hard to come by now as they are no longer in print. Anyway please let me know the books that you enjoyed as a child, so I can look into reading them. Do pop over to Dove Grey Reader,as she writes so beautifully, it will transport you back in time to your childhood.

Thanks for stopping by.

6 comments:

  1. I love this post! You asked me about the books I loved as a child, and I've been thinking a lot about that the last couple of days. My dad sent me all of my books from America yrstd ago including the books I had as a child. I think maybe this weekend I'll try to find the time to rummage through them all and write a post about them. I love the idea of revisiting my childhood by reading some of them!

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  2. I liked Harriet the Spy, Little Women and the Borrowers - not sure I've read any of the others. I've always been a series addict and did a lot The Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High, etc. kinda thing.

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  3. This is such a great idea. I've been thinking about rereading my childhood favorites also.

    Little Women
    The Babysitters Club - Ann M. Martin
    Anne of Green Gables
    The Secret Garden
    Iggie's House - Judy Blume
    Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret - Judy Blume
    There's a boy in the girls' bathroom - Louis Sachar
    Daphne's Book - Mary Downing Hahn

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  4. I have a 1918 edition of The Tale of Daddy Longlegs that I picked up from a used bookstore last year.

    I bought it because I thought it was so interesting that the book actually had photo inserts from the silent film!

    I, very carefully, read the story for the first time and quite enjoyed it!

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  5. Ohh what a great idea. I like your list

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  6. what a great idea :) I used to read alot of books from the 'girls book club' when I was a tween. I still have a few of those old books.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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