Childhood Faves
Today's Top Ten Tuesday Topic is Childhood Favorites. Honestly, when I was thinking about this topic, I could only think of 3. Then I did a little research and found some more. This list is quintessentially the list of an '80s child.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - This is the first book I thought of. My third grade teacher read it to us and I fell in love. My sister bought me a copy like the one pictured for my 10th birthday. I still have it. Plus many more editions.
It All Began with Jane Eyre by Sheila Greenwald - Following closely on the heels of the first, there was this overly dramatic and ridiculous thing that I loved for no discernable reason other than that it said Jane Eyre in the title. The main character spends her free time reading Jane Eyre in her closet until her parents make her go outside. She starts seeing drama everwhere and is certain her neighbor is having an affair and starts spying. Her parents are then sorry they made her go outside.
Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss - I am not sure that I loved this book, but I remember reading it a lot. I didn't get past the first story for many years, and I was too young to grasp the concept of starting anywhere in the book other than the beginning, so I read the first story a bunch of times.
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume - I read this a bunch of times, too. It was about a girl who was struggling after the death of her father in a convenience store holdup. I remember she forgot to eat and passed out at school in one scene. I felt very grown up reading this because it was about a high school girl and was about Very Important Things.
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - I often tried to read this series, but once again, couldn't start anywhere other than the beginning. I think I managed to read 3 of the books at most. Much like today, I wasn't very good at sticking with a series to the end. I get bored of the characters.
Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary - I'm pretty sure I read this entire series. I remember bits and pieces from the story, like Ramona trying to get her dad to quit smoking and she makes a sign for the house that said No Smoking, only it came out Nosmo King, and he made fun of it. I also remember her description of the fries at her favorite fast food restaurant: crunchy on the outside, mealy on the inside.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - I remember nothing about this book now, because I've got it confused in my head with the movies Murder by Death and Clue. But I remember enjoying it as a kid. It kicked off a small obsession with mysteries at the time.
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg - Another mystery, but this one is set in NYC which I remember being very confused by. I'd never lived in a city like that, with buses and fountains etc. Once the kids got out of the museum and into Mrs. Frankweiler's files, though, it started to make sense.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - I'm pretty sure I read this several times as a kid. When a cover gives you a visceral jolt, it must have had something going for it. I have no idea what it's about now.
Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal - This is another case of being entranced by high school girls when I was in elementary school. By the time I got to high school, I had discovered that these books were formulaic and ditzy. I read as many of these as I could get my hands on, even though my mom wouldn't buy them for me. My friends' moms were much less discerning.
So there are 10 books I remember liking from childhood. Do you know of any books I read and forgot about? What did you read as a child?