# Best book that you were given as a child?



## Mythic Scribes (Jun 7, 2011)

Were you ever given a book as a kid that you treasured?  What was it, and why did you love it?


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## TWErvin2 (Jun 7, 2011)

Mine was *The King, the Mice and the Cheese*.  I can remember as a kid, maybe 4-6 years old looking at the pictures and reading it over and over again. I thought the pictures were funny (the animals' and King and his wise men's expressions).

When I was older, I would say it was The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek. Hey, I really liked dinosaurs and this one caught my imagination, finding a live dinosaur out west.


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## Kelise (Jun 7, 2011)

_'Milly Molly Mandy'_ by Joyce Lankester Brisley, _'Somewhere Around the Corner'_ by Jackie French, and _'45 & 47 Stella Street and Everything that Happened'_ by Elizabeth Honey.

Can't really say why. They just utterly appealed to me. They could make any bad day awesome again.


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## Digital_Fey (Jun 9, 2011)

_The Collin's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes_ was a favorite - as a toddler I didn't go anywhere without that book and my woolen blanket


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## Black Dragon (Jun 9, 2011)

For me it was an illustrated, hardback edition of The Hobbit.  It was my first introduction to fantasy literature, and it changed the course of my life.


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## DreamSourceStudio (Jun 17, 2011)

I was given a lot of wonderful books when I was a kid, but unfortunately I don't think anyone here will recognize any of them. They are of Czechoslovak origin. I treasured all of them for different reasons, but there is one I still happen to own. I found it when I went back to visit my relatives. It is titled "Makovy Muzicek" which (roughly) means "Little Poppy Man". I loved the story and the illustrations as a kid. Something that surprised me when I picked it up again as an adult is that the illustrations were very simple and heavily stylized. To my 5 year old eyes they were great and colorful, but to the adult illustrator in me they were too simple. It made me realize that illustrations don't need to be anatomically perfect, detailed to the last hair on a character's head, they just have to capture a little bit of magic.  

To my big surprise you may view the illustrations here: kidpix: Josef Palecek. "Makovy muzicek"


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## Black Dragon (Jun 17, 2011)

DreamSourceStudio said:


> To my 5 year old eyes they were great and colorful, but to the adult illustrator in me they were too simple. It made me realize that illustrations don't need to be anatomically perfect, detailed to the last hair on a character's head, they just have to capture a little bit of magic.
> 
> To my big surprise you may view the illustrations here: kidpix: Josef Palecek. "Makovy muzicek"



Thank you for sharing the link.  I like those illustrations, as they remind me of the Slavic folk art that I've seen from Carpatho-Rusyn region of Slovakia.  They are simple yet touching.


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## Telcontar (Jun 18, 2011)

The Hobbit. That started my true love of reading and fantasy. I'd read some fantasy before that, but the Narnia books and Redwall books didn't have nearly the same effect on me.


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## DreamSourceStudio (Jun 18, 2011)

Black Dragon said:


> Thank you for sharing the link.  I like those illustrations, as they remind me of the Slavic folk art that I've seen from Carpatho-Rusyn region of Slovakia.  They are simple yet touching.



I'm glad you could appreciate them.


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## Raziel (Jun 21, 2011)

Telcontar said:


> The Hobbit. That started my true love of reading and fantasy. I'd read some fantasy before that, but the Narnia books and Redwall books didn't have nearly the same effect on me.




  I have yet to read The Hobbit or any of 'the Rings' books. I know, I know, ostracize me now; I'm a fallacy to the art of reading. Yet you must understand that I was turned off a bit when everyone started naming me billbobaggins..and never reading them wondering why.  I have read a slight bit of the books and must say : AMAZING AND HYPNOTIC, Tolkien has a way with words..description is amazing to say the least.  My whole point was really to answer the question that started it all. 

The book I treasured as a kid was _'Goodnight Moon'_ very good.  Imagery was good as a child but yes, hence we all grow up and see things differently not as good for what you remember it.  Some people capture the timelessness of things though and Tolkien was one of them (that I have not fully enjoyed) yet he is one that captured the 'essence' of storytelling.


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## Map the Dragon (Jun 22, 2011)

I was reading quite young; I think the first true novel I read and remembered was Treasure Island. My first fantasy novel was Fellowship when I was seven. I read the trilogy before I read The Hobbit. I grew up in a rough/poor way. The first person to give me a book was a member of my mother's church. It was The Sword of Shanara. I know that Terry Brooks gets a lot of crap for his 'story theft' of LOTR, but as I kid I loved it. I've read most of his stuff since.


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## Dante Sawyer (Jul 9, 2011)

Honestly, I didn't read much until I was about 15 or 16 years old... I'm 17.  That being said, when I did read, I loved the Deltora Series and the Redwall Books.  I suppose that's what started my love of fantasy literature.  Now I read King, Koontz, and Sanderson.  I also am in the process of reading Map the Dragon's book (props man, great read).  I suggest you all check Firesoul out.  Great!


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## Joe the Gnarled (Jul 10, 2011)

My first "adult level" book was "My Favorite Summer: 1956" by Mickey Mantle.  It is an autobiographical book by one of my baseball idols at the time.  I remember reading a lot of the "Fear Street" series by R.L. Stine in middle school (everyone in my school was reading them).  

I would have to say that my favorite and most treasured books from childhood where the Star Wars books.  I read dozens of them.  That is where I developed my love for Sci Fi.  As far as Fantasy I remember reading a series and I cannot recall the name of book or author.  They were books that you had to make a decision at the end of the chapter.  It went something like this:

If you choose to follow the old hag turn to page 125

If you choose to leave her in the street turn to page 76


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## Meg the Healer (Jul 12, 2011)

Joe the Gnarled said:


> My first "adult level" book was "My Favorite Summer: 1956" by Mickey Mantle.  It is an autobiographical book by one of my baseball idols at the time.  I remember reading a lot of the "Fear Street" series by R.L. Stine in middle school (everyone in my school was reading them).
> 
> I would have to say that my favorite and most treasured books from childhood where the Star Wars books.  I read dozens of them.  That is where I developed my love for Sci Fi.  As far as Fantasy I remember reading a series and I cannot recall the name of book or author.  They were books that you had to make a decision at the end of the chapter.  It went something like this:
> 
> ...



I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid and I remember reading a lot of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike in my junior high days as well. (I still have those books too, but I digress).

As a family we read books together like _The House with the Clock in its Walls_, _The Indian in the Cupboard_, _The Letter, The Witch, and The Ring_, and _Half Magic_ to name a few.

But I think the book that I was _given_ that I loved the most (and still read to this day) is _The Giver_ by Lois Lowry. It's a book that I am constantly recommending - even to adults. It shows what it means to be in a "uptopian-like" society, what happens when you feel like you have no choice, what you are willing to sacrifice, and if the sacrifice is worth it.


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## Caged Maiden (Jul 15, 2011)

I read the narnia books when I was 6, but honestly, it was just too much for a little kid, I think.  I really got into reading when I read "On the Banks of Plum Creek" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, when I was 8.  I saved my allowance forever to buy all of the books, and I still have them!
I think kids need a good introduction to reading, nothing too heavy for a child, because if they get confused and bored, it can turn them off forever.  My oldest is just starting to read now, he's 5, and I just think, oh my god, what was my dad thinking giving me the narnia books to read at 6? it's just too much for a kid to try to interpret on their own.  
The best way to get kids to read is to let them take the steering wheel.  I used to try to get my son to read, and he would get really frustrated, so I backed off completely.  He began asking me questions about space and why blood is in your body, you know, typical kid questions about everything he sees.... and I told him to read about it if he wanted to know. TA-DA he reads now!  
All right, he reads more often to play a video game, but I'll take it as a victory.


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## Dante Sawyer (Jul 15, 2011)

Meg the Healer said:


> But I think the book that I was _given_ that I loved the most (and still read to this day) is _The Giver_ by Lois Lowry. It's a book that I am constantly recommending - even to adults. It shows what it means to be in a "uptopian-like" society, what happens when you feel like you have no choice, what you are willing to sacrifice, and if the sacrifice is worth it.


I have heard people say this about The Giver time and time again (as well as many other glowing reviews). I did read it, but I was unimpressed. Meg, if you wouldn't mind, please why did you like this books so much? Especially the ending. Not good.

Also, as an aside, I'm one of the only people I know who HATED The Alchemist. It was repetative and the ending made me want to burn the book. If anyone would like to argue why The Alchemist is so good, please feel free.


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## Ravana (Jul 17, 2011)

_Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH_, _A Wrinkle in Time_, and the _Alice_ books come to mind. All of which I still find enjoyable to this day… which is probably the "why": they're books readable _by_ children, but they don't read as if they're _for_ children.

Then again, I was reading adult fiction before my age hit double digits (by "adult," I'm not talking about _The Hobbit_, either: I read _The Godfather_ in 4th grade…), so I may not be the best barometer.


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## Lavender (Jul 19, 2011)

When I was little, my Dad brought me home a book titled A Dinosaur called Minerva by Tessa Kraling. I can barely remember the plot but it's one of the books I had a child that's stuck in my memory.


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## kuraimorgan (Oct 3, 2011)

"Twelfth Night", weird right? It was something about the sword fighting and all that horse riding...I don't I still love it.


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## darthbuttchin (Oct 3, 2011)

Danny and the Champion of the World. I loved all Roald Dahl when I was little, but this particular one I must have read about 100 times. My copy is so read now that I cant touch it, it'll fall apart if I do. The story was just so magical and captivating that I couldnt put it down. I got it as a world book day thing back in '97, when I was 5.


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## Emeria (Oct 3, 2011)

Probably the Narnia books.  I received them when I was in early elementary school (first grade, I think) and I read through them all.  Even as an adult, I still enjoy coming back and re-reading them.  Another book that brings back fond childhood memories is "One Fish, Two Fish" by Dr. Seuss, especially since my sister would always insist on it being read before bedtime.


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## Metalfist (Oct 3, 2011)

My favorite gifts as a child were always the books. Christmas day would be winding down and I would nestle in a chair with my new treasure trove of stories. Most memorable? Easily the Hardy Boys book number one, The Tower Treasure. I am now an adult, and still have a hardcover copy of that book beside my bed.


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## Ghost (Oct 4, 2011)

When I was very little, my parents gave me a comic book version of Disney's The Little Mermaid. I loved it to bits and made my parents reread it so much I knew the passages by heart. In elementary school, my great-aunt gave my sister and me a box of books, and inside it was The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. That book was falling apart by the time I lost it. I think my favorite was the one about the Ugly Duckling:


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## Gryffin (Oct 4, 2011)

I didn't get interested in fantasy until I was older so my best childhood books aren't necessarily related. I guess I would say the best book I was given was Anne of Green Gables. It really influenced me as a child.


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## Aegle (Oct 4, 2011)

Stephen King's Eyes of the Dragon and the Hatchet. Even as a child, I preferred adult fantasy.


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## HÃ«radÃ¯n (Oct 6, 2011)

(lame) my favorite book as a child was Go Dogs Go... It wasn't until I was 19 that I began REALLY reading  since then I've read (counts books) 34 books all of them fantasy and I loved all but 3 or 4. and thats not counting the book I'm reading right now.


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## Sparkie (Dec 26, 2011)

The first novels I can remember reading are Call of the Wild and Treasure Island.  I don't remember them inspiring me to write, but they were the spark that ignited my love for literature.

As far as fantasy goes, the first stories I remember reading were some short stuff by Anne McCaffery in a school textbook.  I remember wishing I had an imagination like hers.  Sometimes I still do.  And then I dream up some goofy idea of my own.


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