# Favorite children's books



## Josiah (Feb 10, 2015)

This was one of my favorite books as a child. Does anyone remember it?


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## RadishRose (Feb 10, 2015)

No, Josiah... but I had a lot of Little Golden Books-


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## Josiah (Feb 10, 2015)

Here's an illustration from the book.


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## oakapple (Feb 13, 2015)

Never heard of this one Josiah. It's an American book  but that's all I can tell.My favourite childrens books were;
Wind In The Willows  by Kenneth Grahame,   The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson-Burnett and Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.


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## AZ Jim (Feb 13, 2015)

Great subject!  This was my very favorite.


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## SeaBreeze (Feb 13, 2015)

The book I remember reading is The Plump Pig, and I remembered liking it very much, don't know how old I was at the time, but I was pretty young. It made me happy and sad, can't really remember the story or how it ended. I haven't read it since, but I did look for it in the library once. Here's something online that mentioned it.

_

What A Mom Wants: The Plump Pig





From time to time I get bent out of shape because my mother refuses (Books! How boring can you get?) to read my "blob" as she calls it. Hmph. If she had a blog, I'd read it every day. Even if it was all about her QVC obsession or her potholder collection, I'd be right there, leaving sunny comments, posting links from my blog to hers and running up the stats on her "Visitors To My Blog" counter.

Looking on the bright side, sometimes this admittedly ultra-mild version of parental neglect comes in handy. I can write movingly about my rampant alcoholism and recent sex change and...oh wait -- I haven't done any of that. Well, I can drop a few f-bombs now and then and she's none the wiser. And what about now?! I can openly discuss her birthday gift with the world at large and she'll never know. Nyah, nyah!

A few nights ago, Mom and I were on the phone and somehow, we got on the subject of her favorite childhood book, *The Plump Pig*. This picture book was around the house while I was growing up, but neither of us have seen it in years. With all the moving over the years, we're guessing that it's lost forever.
"Do you think that maybe there's a new copy in a bookstore somewhere?" Mom asked. She was thinking of how her other childhood favorite, *The Boxcar Children* had had a resurgence of popularity.

"I've only ever heard of *The Plump Pig* because of you," I said, but while I was talking, my fingers were on the laptop keyboard, flying to Amazon. Bingo! It was there: *The Plump Pig* by Alf and Helen Evers. Several copies. No images were available, but the descriptions listed copyrights of 1938, 1942, 1944, 1956 and 1960.

"Well, 1938, that's got to be the same book," Mom said. "That's the year I was born, but I think I got my copy in 1942 for my birthday from my grandmother and grandfather. They were big on giving books for birthdays."
I checked out Abebooks and found a description that contained the first line: Although the Plump Pig was the youngest pig on the farm...
"That's IT!" we both screamed.
Since we still had no pictures, we argued about the cover and the plot: "Wasn't the cover green?" 
"No, it was white." 
"And the pig was there." 
"Yes, he was standing in flowers." 
"He was eating an apple." 
"Wasn't he running with the apple?" 
"How did he get from the skinny farmer's place to the fat farmer's place?" 
"They weren't farmers -- they were out for a ride and saw the Plump Pig and just had to have him." 
"They took him home and let him run around in their yard with the dog and cat." 
"No, they made a little garden for him and fed him delicious treats."

Mom sighed. "I'd love to read *The Plump Pig* again."
"Me too." As far as picture books went, *The Plump Pig* lacked the interpersonal conflict and drama of my own personal preschool favorite, *Nurse Nancy*, but it was pretty damn good.

You probably already know how this ends. I pulled out the plastic today and bought a first edition, very good condition of *The Plump Pig*. How much? Quite a bit more than the 1938 price of twenty-five cents, but you know how it is: It's a book. It's my mom. Check out the map of my psyche and you'll see that I'm at the four-way intersection of Sentiment, Obsession, Nostalgia and Compulsion. 
I can't wait to see this book. I can't wait to see my mom's face when she opens her package next month. Happy Birthday, Mom!




_


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## Ameriscot (Feb 13, 2015)

oakapple said:


> Never heard of this one Josiah. It's an American book  but that's all I can tell.My favourite childrens books were;
> Wind In The Willows  by Kenneth Grahame,   The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson-Burnett and Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.



I saw The Secret Garden as a free kindle book, so downloaded it.  Enjoyed it!  

I've got Wind and the Willows on my kindle as well but haven't read it yet.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 13, 2015)

I remember having a big book of classic fairy tales when I was 7 and loved it.  Can't remember the titles of any other favourites until Nancy Drew at age 12 or so.


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## AprilT (Feb 13, 2015)

RadishRose said:


> No, Josiah... but I had a lot of Little Golden Books-
> 
> View attachment 14240



One of my favs as well.


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## Pappy (Feb 13, 2015)

Somewhere around here, I have a book that mom use to read to me, once a year. The Night Before Christmas. I'll have to see if I can find it. Beautiful graphics in it.


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## SifuPhil (Feb 13, 2015)

Dr. Seuss was always my childhood favorite and set me on my path of lifelong learning ...


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## oakapple (Feb 13, 2015)

All great books Phil! Heartwarming stories with a moral [I especially liked The Cat In The Hat And Other Social Outcasts.]


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## Cookie (Feb 13, 2015)

Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales were favorite stories


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## Mrs. Robinson (Feb 13, 2015)

I can`t believe no one remembers "Make Way For Ducklings, Josiah!! That was a classic children`s book. Our Kindergarten teacher read it to us and my kids` teachers did as well


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## Mrs. Robinson (Feb 13, 2015)

This was my hubby`s favorite book as a child. He still has it. It`s cute-his mom wrote his name over where he tried to write it himself-backwards S and all.....


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## Cookie (Feb 13, 2015)

Here's another one I liked from my very early childhood:


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## Josiah (Feb 13, 2015)

In a different context Phil commented that he remembers the book well. 

It was published in 1941 so its hey day might be too early for many of our younger members. On the other had you're right Mrs. R. it is a classic and the book has never been out of print. The story is commemorated by a statue(s) in Boston Garden.



The book won the Caldecott Medal for best children's book illustration awarded in 1942 and the first printing is exceedingly rare. A nice copy with a dust jacket would command perhaps $40,000


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## Josiah (Feb 13, 2015)

My wife and I specialized in children's literature and as antiquarian booksellers we use to exhibit at about 25 antiquarian book fairs a year in cities from coast to coast. I can distinctly remember on at least two occasions seeing grown men break down in tears upon encountering a little golden book from their childhood. Early childhood memories of a favorite children's book are extremely powerful.


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## SifuPhil (Feb 13, 2015)

One of the more lasting visual memories I have of my early childhood was my bookcase stuffed with Little Golden Books and Dr. Seuss pieces. I remember the sense of - what? - completion, I suppose, upon finishing reading one of these books yet another time. 

When I began to graduate to comic books and primary-school textbooks I rarely had the same feelings. 

I suppose that's an age-dependent thing, that young children need that closure in their world and are not interested in going beyond their comfort zones as an older child would be ...


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## Kadee (Feb 13, 2015)

SifuPhil said:


> Dr. Seuss was always my childhood favorite and set me on my path of lifelong learning ...
> 
> View attachment 14380



I was in Victoria, just before Christmas and while in the library I picked up a information sheet with a list BANNED books and amongst the banned books was three Dr Seuss books one being black beauty,Fried green tomatoes.dont remember the other title, Where I was staying in Mildura. ( Victoria) they had a library and just happened to have the two books mentioned, I browered them and read them to try to work out WHY ??? I never seen any reason in the book to ban them?? Can anyone answer Why??


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## SifuPhil (Feb 13, 2015)

Book-banners aren't always the brightest bulbs in the chandelier. 

_Hop on Pop_ - last year in Toronto a patron of the library demanded that the book be banned because it encouraged children to perform violence on their parents, i.e. - hopping on Pop. :cower:

_The Lorax_ was banned in many locales because it concerned environmental matters. 

_Green Eggs and Ham_ was banned in China because it was too reminiscent of early Marxist theory. 

And it goes on and on ...


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## Kadee (Feb 13, 2015)

Well I guess it gives them a job looking at books and deciding which ones to ban, but what about children's cartoons on TV like bugs bunny?? And road runner ?? I like them but aren't they violent ?? And yet thay are still on TV 
We could go on and on .....


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## Josiah (Feb 14, 2015)

This was another childhood favorite.


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## oakapple (Feb 14, 2015)

Seeing an old children's book can bring back so many memories. What an interesting business you and your wife had Josiah,for anyone who loves books, it must have been marvellous.


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## SeaBreeze (Feb 14, 2015)

My sister used to read to me from a large hard cover book Grimm's Fairy Tales, with color illustrations.  I don't know if this was the book, it's from 1947, so it might have been.  It was a bit spooky to me at the time.


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## Josiah (Feb 14, 2015)

There are many hundreds of editions of Grimm's Fairy Tales illustrated countless different illustrators. I've known book collectors whose entire collection was just different editions of Grimm's Fairy Tales.


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## rkunsaw (Feb 14, 2015)

Here's a favorite from Hans Christian Anderson's Tales

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/hcanderson/bl-hcanderson-littleclaus.htm


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## SeaBreeze (Feb 14, 2015)

Yes, the book in the picture is small compared to the large book I remember at my home, so it's not likely to be the same one.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Feb 14, 2015)

This was one of my favorites-although I was a little older,5th or 6th grade.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twenty-One_Balloons


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## Josiah (Feb 14, 2015)

My favorite Hans Christian Anderson tale is "The Little Match Girl". I can remember crying when my mother read the story to me.


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## AprilT (Feb 14, 2015)

SeaBreeze said:


> My sister used to read to me from a large hard cover book Grimm's Fairy Tales, with color illustrations.  I don't know if this was the book, it's from 1947, so it might have been.  It was a bit spooky to me at the time.




I am a big fan of Grimm tales, as I've mentioned numerous times, My must see tv show is Grimm, which has had many episodes over the past few years based on some of the Grimm Fairy Tales.  Definitely, the lighter rewritten versions, were some of my favorites as a  child.


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## rkunsaw (Feb 15, 2015)

I like Anderson's and Grimm's tales. I chose the one in my previous post because I wonder how it survived the PC police. It has envy, deceit, murder, adultery, the whole works in it. It's also funny.


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 5, 2020)

I loved this book to the nth!

I had started reading it just prior to summer vacation, and it inspired me to dream a little bit more!


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## MarciKS (Jun 5, 2020)

Snow white


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## Ceege (Jun 5, 2020)

The first book I ever read that I just couldn't put down was _Half Magic_ by Edward Eager. I was eight years old and it was a book for my first school book report.  I took it with me everywhere.  I remember sitting in our car reading it while my parents were at a car dealership looking to buy a car.   It began a lifelong love of books.  I've wondered if I keep looking for another book that affected me the same as _Half Magic_ did.


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## Lewkat (Jun 5, 2020)

Christian Anderson's Fairy Tales and Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit were my favorites as a toddler.  I had Potter's Peter Rabbit china and cutlery sets as well which I passed on to my nieces.  I have a son and he was not interested.


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## fuzzybuddy (Jun 11, 2020)

My parents were modern 1950s parents. They stuck me in front of the TV. I never got kid's books. So the most important book was "Dick And Jane" in school.  I'm dyslexic, so I had a hard time.   I'm also Dick, so Dick read. Read, Dick, read. I love the color yellow, and I think it was Sally, well one of the kids had bright yellow hair. Run, Spot ,Run. Plot wasn't a big issue in the first grade.


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## Pepper (Jun 11, 2020)

I loved The Man Who Never Washed His Dishes and a series called All-of-a-Kind Family.  My sister was 5 years ahead of me in school, so as a very young kid my mother read to me Johnny Tremain.  My mother would read to me for hours till her voice cracked.  When I learned to read on my own I loved Nancy Drew Mysteries.


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## Gaer (Jun 11, 2020)

The whole series of  "Childcraft" books.  Anyone old enought to remember them?  
"Lil Toot"  and "The ugly duckling"


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## JustBonee (Jun 11, 2020)

I've been trying to get one of my granddaughters (13)  to sit down and read _ Little Women  _this  summer, but so far to no avail.  
It's a copy I've had around for many years.   I think she would enjoy it.


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## Treacle (Jun 11, 2020)

I love love love reading. No Kindle for me  I have to hold and feel the book in my hands. A favourite of mine is Aesop's fables but there are so many other books I would read as a child. Wish I could remember them all. I had Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Very interested to see some of the books that others have read. Have over 300 books on my shelves and some in the attic. Fiction, non-fiction, books when I was studying, books for children in German as I'm learning the language. The Secret Garden is in German thankfully I can remember some of the story in English . How fantastic. Oh to have had a book shop or visited fairs. I really hope others list some of their favourite books and provide pictures of covers from years back. So so interesting.  I just found The Little Grey Men by BB which I think was Bilbo Baggins - one of Tolkien's works. I also had a book by Enid Blyton but not sure that would be politically correct nowadays. Have Gulliver's Travels another one I enjoyed. You have inspired me to check the attic to see what books I have that I read as a child. Thank you.☺


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## Pepper (Jun 11, 2020)

@Treacle 
Thanks for reminding me of Black Beauty!  In third grade I read it over and over!  My teacher was Mrs. Furman.  She had to leave when she became pregnant before it showed.  Jeez.  Now teachers not only work till giving birth but are unmarried as well!    I did so love that book.


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## Treacle (Jun 11, 2020)

Does anyone remember the Janet and John books for young children? I guess in more recent days they were considered very stereotypical e.g  John helped father to wash the car and Janet helped mother in the kitchen and thus not representative of more modern times in many ways.  I read that they were based on Alice and Jerry in the USA? (Mabel O'Donnell) ??


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## Treacle (Jun 11, 2020)

Just looked at the response to this post before  Fantastic feedback (if that's the right word here).I cannot tell you how much pleasure it gives me to see pictures of covers on books I've never heard of, but also titles of books I've never heard of. Is there a word for someone who loves loves loves books?


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## Pepper (Jun 11, 2020)

Treacle said:


> Is there a word for someone who loves loves loves books?


Yes, Treacle.  Bibliophile & Bookworm.


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## Kaila (Jun 11, 2020)

Kadee46 said:


> read them to try to work out WHY ??? I never seen any reason in the book to ban them?? Can anyone answer Why??





Kadee46 said:


> amongst the banned books was three Dr Seuss books



I know that post of yours was years old, but just in case you still might wonder, it might be because the author had very controversial politics in his adult books, so perhaps....????


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## Kaila (Jun 11, 2020)

One of my many favorites was Charlotte's Web.


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## Treacle (Jun 12, 2020)

Pepper said:


> Yes, Treacle.  Bibliophile & Bookworm.


Thank you. Wasn't sure whether it was a word ending in .......bia


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## Pinky (Jun 12, 2020)

My daughter loved the (now controversial) Noddy books when she was little. The Babysitter's Club series was a favourite, as well as the Peter Rabbit series. We spent hours at libraries and bookstores. Her first book was a "soft book" that she would hold and look at while I changed her diapers. We had story-time while she nursed, and at bed-time, until she could read for herself. Goodnight Moon was a bedtime favourite for awhile, as she could pick out words from it .. those were memorable years, sitting in the rocking chair together, reading


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## treeguy64 (Jun 12, 2020)

My two, favorite books, when I was very young, and a budding paleontologist.


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## Kaila (Jun 12, 2020)

@Treacle   and @Pepper   and anyone else who enjoyed stories about horses....

Anyone remember the Marguerite Henry books about the wild horses?
I loved reading those and imagining being there....


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 14, 2020)

Here's one that I remember from my own childhood, and when I happened upon a copy of the book in a used book store when pregnant with my first, I wasted not a second in buying it.


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## jujube (Jun 14, 2020)

I loved the "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle" story books.


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## Pepper (Jun 14, 2020)

@Kaila 
No, I have never heard of Marguerite Henry so I Googled her and wish I did!  Thanks for the reference.


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## charry (Jun 14, 2020)

Lord of the flies.....William Golding


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## Ellen Marie (Jun 14, 2020)

I loved all the Little House books.... now they are considered racist.   I learned so much from them.


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## JaniceM (Jun 23, 2020)

When I was little, I really liked Little Golden Books, and then books from the Scholastic Book Club.  Grew out of them rather quickly, though, and never had an interest in "tween" books like Nancy Drew, Little House, etc.  I proceeded from children's books directly to adult-level books.

I also liked some of the "antique" school books passed down from my aunt and mother, and a couple of really old ones my grandmother had had.


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## Devi (Jun 23, 2020)

Loved Uncle Remus' _Brer Rabbit_ tales.
Also _David and the Phoenix_ -- a very clever book as well.


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