Favourite books you read as a child

Favourite books you read as a child

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Discussion

JimmyConwayNW

Original Poster:

3,127 posts

132 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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I have been thinking a lot about books I read as a kid lately, Anyone remember the Willard Price adventure series books?

What were your favourites.

dundarach

5,373 posts

235 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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Still have this bad boy, still awesome, still love looking at his books!


Edited to add:


Edited by dundarach on Thursday 3rd November 14:44


Further edited to add, amazing that even Richard Scarry's books have been brought up to date...

Added a fella in the kitchen and a woman in the fields and a police officer.

I'm glad my copy still has the book burning middle page spread with the dancing fascist squirrels...

Edited by dundarach on Thursday 3rd November 14:48

akirk

5,618 posts

121 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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JimmyConwayNW said:
I have been thinking a lot about books I read as a kid lately, Anyone remember the Willard Price adventure series books?

What were your favourites.
yes, still have them
hard to show a favourite:
Hobbit & Lord of the rings
PG Wodehouse
Hardy boys
Just William
Enid Blyton
Count of Monte Cristo
Jennings
Noel Streatfeild
Swallows & Amazons
Phillipa Pearce (esp. Tom's midnight garden)
Philip Turner
Cynthia Harnett
Miss Read

and loads more - I read a lot!

generationx

7,512 posts

112 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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Read and reread The Chronicles of Narnia multiple times.

Avidly collected the Doctor Who novelisations, and as much Asterix as I could get hold of.

ZedLeg

12,278 posts

115 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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I think my favourite book as a kid was Jurassic Park, I didn't read many of the classics until I was older. Mostly read junk like Point Horrors and novels from franchises I liked.

Type R Tom

4,033 posts

156 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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Used to love Jennings, also had the audiobooks for the car read by Stephen Fry.

Natpen79

48 posts

25 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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Tootles the taxi.
Think it used to be my dads when he was little.
Still have it, sellotaped up in several places but I’ve read it to my kids too and they love it.

mikebradford

2,712 posts

152 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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I used to read the Fighting Fantasy books.
You had to roll dice to see what decisions you made, then turn to the corresponding page.

Read most of them and was lucky enough that school had a few in the libary.

Voldemort

6,586 posts

285 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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The Gratton Catalogue

JimmyConwayNW

Original Poster:

3,127 posts

132 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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I remember always getting goosebumps books from the Library.

All the famous 5 books aswell.
Trying to think of a few titles to get the 7 year old that lives with us interested in reading, a can't put it down sort of book. All the ones she brings home from school seem pretty dull at this point.

Desiderata

2,577 posts

61 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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JimmyConwayNW said:
I have been thinking a lot about books I read as a kid lately, Anyone remember the Willard Price adventure series books?

What were your favourites.
Yes, I remember the Willard Price "... Adventure" series. I recently tracked down and sent a set to my 10 year old nephew. He loved them though his woke Mum wasn't too happy, apparently he was a bit of a racist. I also loved Enid Blyton stories, I wore out my copy of "Shadow the Sheepdog" when I first learned to read.
Then "The Coral Island" by RM Ballantyne.
And "Treasure Island"
Then worked my way through Jack London's offerings.

Rather surprising that I didn't grow up to be a pirate or something equally glamorous.

Granadier

631 posts

34 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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I was always reading as a boy. Collected all the Asterix and Tintin comic books that were available in English then, plus various Usborne non-fiction books (espec anything about spies and detectives), The Three Investigators series, James Bond (too young to understand some of the adult stuff but never mind), Watership Down, and any books I could find about how cars/planes/spacecraft worked... most of these I can revisit now and still find worth re-reading.

blue_haddock

3,866 posts

74 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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The silver sword by Ian Serraillier

LankyFreak

713 posts

35 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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Where the Wild Things Are

geeks

9,737 posts

146 months

Thursday 3rd November 2022
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The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall

droopsnoot

12,660 posts

249 months

Friday 4th November 2022
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I recall reading some Enid Blyton, all the "Famous Five" series (but not the Secret Seven for some reason), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and "The Model Railway Men" series by Ray Pope.

There was another thread about this, wasn't there? I remember mentioning enjoying "The Magic Faraway Tree" and someone saying there was a film being made. That led on to some of the names that Enid Blyton used for characters being a bit suspect in retrospect - Mr Pink Whistle being a good example.

Edited by droopsnoot on Friday 4th November 08:38

extraT

1,827 posts

157 months

Friday 4th November 2022
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The Demon Headmaster

Granadier

631 posts

34 months

Friday 4th November 2022
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I've also just remembered a trilogy of novels by John Christopher - The Prince in Waiting, Beyond the Burning Lands, and The Sword of the Spirits. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where England and Wales have reverted to a medieval world of warring city states, it's boys' adventure/sci-fi stuff but surprisingly dark in the sense that the first-person hero is a deeply flawed and self-destructive character. Intriguing anyway.

Ronstein

1,441 posts

44 months

Friday 4th November 2022
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https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/the-d...

Cracking adventure, perfect for a young lad who was mad about cars!!

brman

1,233 posts

116 months

Friday 4th November 2022
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A question for the older generation - does anyone remember a series about some kids that lived in the era of horse drawn coaches?
One I remember was about the kids (who I think lived in an Coaching Inn) helping to capture a Highwayman using a revolutionary new coach that was lightweight and fast.
I remember they were originally my mother's so probably from the 30s or 40s?

Others I remember reading were stuff like...
- Oxus in Summer (and the rest of the series)
- Changes Trilogy, Peter Dickinson
- Biggles stuff from WE Johns
- Malcolm Saville Lone Pine series
- Lord Peter Wimsey and other stuff from Dorethy L Sayer
- Anything by Agatha Christie
- Conan Doyle
All older generation stuff as it all came from junk shops (couldn't afford new books).