Books from your childhood...

Rev Scapegoat · 23rd July 2009, 12:34am

I'm 31, so this might be slightly different from folk older or younger...

But every so often, I'll remember a favourite book from when I was young... If I'm lucky, I'll remember the title or be able to find it out.
If not, I'm left with just a plot.
Even worse is if it's a story from one of the many horror anthologies I used to get from my local library - But even if I do track it down, the prices of some ~'80s paperbacks is bloody atrocious!

I was looking for the "Mr Browser And The Brain Sharpeners" books online, and they go for about £60!

Or anthologies like "Nasty", "The Werewolf Mask", "There's Nothing To Be Afraid Of" or "We're Coming For You, Jonathan" - the main story of which has a kid get killed by his garden.
I think that that one has the story with the little girl who gets a skelf from a possessed pencil, and becomes possessed herself.
And maybe the story where a young boy suddenly "swaps awarenesses" with another kid stuck in a cell somewhere, but both their bodies are unchanged...

Anyone else got any favourites from their nipperage?
( Or better yet, got an old tatty reading-copy of any of these books they'd part with for less than Mint Condition Prices?

)

Eulonima · 23rd July 2009, 12:36am

i read R.L Stine all the time, and those short story horror compilations, fucking loved them,and goosebumps, i started on discworld pretty early too!

i wish i could remember what those short story horror compilations were, id pure want to read them again too

I'm Your God Now · 23rd July 2009, 12:36am

Horrible Histories hah.

Kenny Macca Doo · 23rd July 2009, 12:38am

I remember there being some kids book when I was younger where it was the adventures of some dog, BUT, the thing I loved about it was that in all the pictures showing the dogs adventures there was tons of wee fantasy people just going about there business in the background or the corners.

Some other book was like that as well that I had, but it was to do with trains or something.

Exit_W0unds · 23rd July 2009, 12:49am

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - The first book I have memory of and my fave book of around that age.
Where The Wild Things Are - My all time favourite book whilst I was a nipper, still have a mad fondness of it and was bought a copy some years back as a VERY well thought out gift.
The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe - Fab

MarkMono · 23rd July 2009, 12:56am

Norman Hunter's The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm. Found a pile of these in one of the spare rooms when we moved to the west end. Most west end kids book ever, Funny as though.

W. Heath Robinsons illustrations are burned into my mind to this day.

Eulonima · 23rd July 2009, 1:17am

i read the hardback of Michael Crichtons Congo in primary 6, get it ROON ye North Lanarkshire Education Board

wee scary burd · 23rd July 2009, 1:20am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exit_W0unds

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - The first book I have memory of and my fave book of around that age.
Where The Wild Things Are - My all time favourite book whilst I was a nipper, still have a mad fondness of it and was bought a copy some years back as a VERY well thought out gift.
The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe - Fab

The Magician's Nephew was the best book out the lot o'them!

Becca's Readin them now...and i give Keira a few years til she's in about them too.

poprock · 23rd July 2009, 7:41am

I mostly read old pulp sci-fi when I was a kid, from my Grandad’s collection. Wish I still had some of those. Asimov, Heinlein, Rice Burroughs, etc.

triggerhappy · 23rd July 2009, 8:33am

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkMono

Norman Hunter's The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm. Found a pile of these in one of the spare rooms when we moved to the west end. Most west end kids book ever, Funny as though.

W. Heath Robinsons illustrations are burned into my mind to this day.

Hah, I'd forgotten these!

*LesMTS* · 23rd July 2009, 8:49am

I recently had a flashback concerning a short story I must have read when I was pretty wee, involved a boy finding a frog in his breakfast. That's all I could remember.

Rev Scapegoat · 23rd July 2009, 9:30am

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkMono

Norman Hunter's The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm. Found a pile of these in one of the spare rooms when we moved to the west end. Most west end kids book ever, Funny as though.

W. Heath Robinsons illustrations are burned into my mind to this day.

Oddly enough, I was going to mention those as well - I still have a couple of them in storage somewhere.

Pier Angeli · 23rd July 2009, 9:41am

I was obsessed with Enid Blyton books, the first one I ever read was The Secret Mountain. My favourite in the Secrets Series was The Secret Island - I loved the descriptions of how they lived and what they ate!

Loved The Famous Five and the Secret Seven too, and the one where the kids ran away from their terrible relatives and lived in a tree, but I can't remember what that one's called.

sarabee · 23rd July 2009, 10:15am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pier Angeli

I was obsessed with Enid Blyton books, the first one I ever read was The Secret Mountain. My favourite in the Secrets Series was The Secret Island - I loved the descriptions of how they lived and what they ate!

Loved The Famous Five and the Secret Seven too, and the one where the kids ran away from their terrible relatives and lived in a tree, but I can't remember what that one's called.

The Faraway Tree?!

Pier Angeli · 23rd July 2009, 10:20am

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarabee

The Faraway Tree?!

I thought it might be that, but when I googled it the story didn't sound the same. I've probably rewritten it in my head over the years. Might dig it out when I go back to my parent's tonight.

Another favourite was "Phoenix Rising: Or How To Survive Your Life" by Cynthia D. Grant which was about a teenage girl losing her sister to leukaemia and the aftermath through reading her diaries. I must have read that book at least 50 times, I was a morbid child. Still one of the best books I've ever read though.