Dec 7, 2009

My Childhood Favorites

So many of y'all have posted on the in-law question regarding gifts.  This is my first year battling this- I'm not used to Christmas lists.  Since my brother and I are adult, we have not had big a Christmas in probably 15ish years or longer. Anyway, I had a slight Grinch freak out when I received my SIL's list of the gifts my new niece and nephew wanted (Wii games).  I tend to give books to children as gifts, so I was disappointed not to be spending hours in the children's section of the bookstore perusing old favorites and seeing awesome new books that I want to buy and read myself give to little friends in my life.  As a child, unsurprisingly, I was a super bookworm (not nerdy though- not sure how I dodged that bullet).  I started out with a Little House on the Prairie love, but quickly progressed to my girl, L.M. Montgomery-


I read every single one of L.M.'s books, but Anne is the best.  I have not read the prequel that came out in the past couple years, nor do I think I will.  I want Anne, Diana and heart throb Gilbert Blythe (definitely had a crush on him at 7) to remain exactly how they are, hanging out on Prince Edward Island.  (I recently rocked a question on PEI on Jeopardy due solely to my constant reading of AOGG as a child, boo-yeah Trebek).

Then there is the other gold standard- Louisa May Alcott's Little Women:


 Laurie was a definite contender with Gilbert Blythe for my elementary school love, (although I am not big on either of their names to be frank).  I loved Jo so much, but now I identify more with Amy, which is a bit terrifying.  Then there's the sequels- Little Men and Jo's Boys, and another series Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom.  Loved them all.

When I first met my now niece a couple years ago, I was so excited to give her Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild.  As an aspiring child actress I loved all of her tales of performing children in London-show biz and Brits- be still my beating childhood heart!  Theater Shoes was my favorite, as acting was my bag.


My niece was not so interested, as Hannah Montana does not play a role.  Nor do the stars of High School Musical.  However, Hermione Grainger herself is starring in a new movie adaptation of Ballet Shoes.


Maybe I will have to be waiting in line for days take my niece opening night.

So that's my favorite childhood girly fiction- I was also really into loads of others like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle- remember her?


And of course, Harriet the Spy and the Babysitters Club.  What were your favorite books?

12 comments:

  1. babysitters club, the box car children, and the little house on the prairie series. ahhhh... i loved laura ingles wilder.

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  2. I was *such* a Nancy Drew freak when I was a girl. I have every single original series book in hardback, all packed away. What am I going to do if I have a girl some day who doesn't like Nancy, Bess, and George?

    (ps: Team Jo!)

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  3. Little House series, all the Nancy Drews and Black Beauty were my favorites. And Incredible Journey. And all the Noel Streatfield books. And the Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

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  4. I think my favorites were a Wrinkle in Time and the BFG. And, of course Sweet Valley High! My love for trashy fiction started at a very young age!

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  5. Oh my goodness, you brought back such fun memories. I loved Anne of Green Gables too. The Emily of New Moon, etc. ones were good also, but like you said, not as good as the Anne series. I also liked the Ballet Shoes series, Little Women, Nancy Drew, and Nurse Ames (sp).

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  6. Oh, to pull a phrase from Anne, we are kindred spirits! I loved these books and watched the PBS specials starring Megan Follows over and over again. I also love "Little Women," and my 4-year-old actually loves watching the film version with Winona Ryder. (I've also seen the two older films with June Allison and Katherine Hepburn playing Jo - such classics.) I'm a huge proponent of books for kids at Christmas. It's good for the soul.

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  7. Ah! I loved Anne of Green Gables--well, "love" because I still do. And I had a gorgeous hardback copy of Little Women that my mom gave me when I was about 11. As I got older, I loved The Babysitters Club as well. I loved to read. I went to this charter type elementary school and each day we had an hour of 'free time' (which was relaly you pick math or reading)--I read every single book in our 'library' within my first year at the school. I hope I can instill a love for the written word in my children--goodness knows it's a dying trend, my half sister (who's 10) hasn't even heard of Anne or Jo or any of the classics. She has no desire to read--unless it's about Hannah Montana. This makes me sad. Granted, we have different mothers and I think it's clear to see where I got my love of reading from.

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  8. I LOVED Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I still have my copy from when I was little and still read it every couple of years. Give your niece and nephew books even though they are not on their lists or give them a book with the game.

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  9. i liked the creepy scary books. FEAR STREET.

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  10. LM Montgomery all the way. I love the movies too. When I was really little I liked the Angelina Ballerina series.

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  11. I loved all of those books, too, especially Baby-Sitter's Club. I also read the Sweet Valley books, and earlier on read Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume.

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  12. this may not be spelled right, but i loved it when my teachers read Amelia Bedilia!

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