The books I remember from childhood
There are lots of things from childhood I’ll never forget…
Sandboxes. Every child should be able to play in one for great lengths of time, even if it means sandy clothing later. It lets you be so creative – making fake pies, building caverns, finding potential in everything… My Dad build mine, but my friend had one of those turtle sandboxes.
Dollhouses. No matter what kind of dollhouse I was presented with, I was eager to explore it. I made clothing for the dolls, and was fascinated by dollhouse furniture. No surprise I grew up loving fashion and interior design.
Ice Cream Trucks. It was the only appointment on the daily planner for me at that young age.
Slushie Machines. More specifically the Snoopy Sno-Cone machine.
Fireflies. Cliche as it seems, these seem magical when you are a child. Probably because I thought these were fairies.
Toads. Catching toads made me feel connected to nature, even if it was gross when they peed in my hands.
Crawling under porches. They made the best hiding spots.
Books. Books. Books. And that’s why you’re here.
I’ve put together a huge resource of some of the most memorable books and movies in my life from ages 2-15. If you are a child of the 80′s, you can probably relate to a lot of this stuff. I recommend these for your children/preteens no matter when you were born – because a classic is a classic. No, no way was I able to incorporate every book and movie (I focused on books, by the way) because there were so many, and honestly some I can’t remember the names of to find them. (Which is sad, SIGH.)
I grew up to be a kid who was read to, who loved reading – and all of my reading helped me become a better writer. I’m sure you’ve heard it a million places, but if you have kids – please read to them. It’s an experience that does not go forgotten. And I’m about to show you the proof of how much I haven’t forgotten.
Books Your Children Should Read
The Best Children’s Books of All Time
(Estimated Reading Level: K-Grade 3)
Richard Scary books including Richard Scarry’s Best First Book and the Please and Thank You Book
The Monster at the End of this Book
The Saggy Baggy Elephant (Little Golden Books)
Dr. Seuss Books including Six by Sesuss with the Yertle the Turtle Story
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Lyle, Lyle the Crocodile and the first book of the Lyle series The House on East 88th Street
Little House on the Prarie
Beatrix Potter – everything
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane
Just Me and My Puppy (A Little Critter Book)
A Time to Keep: The Tashda Tudor Book of Holidays
A is for Anabelle
Best Young Adult Books
(Estimated Reading Level: Grades 4-8)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Red Fairy Book (and the 11 others)
Mary Poppins & Series of Mary Poppins Books
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Chronicles of Narnia
Gordon Korman Books especially the Bruno and Boots books that start with This Can’t Be Happening at McDonald Hall, and another super favorite of mine I Want to Go Home
All Lynne Reid Banks books including The Farthest Away Mountain, I Houdini, The Indian in the Cupboard,The Fairy Rebel, The Mystery of the Cupboard
A Wrinkle in Time and all Madeline L’Engle books especially ones about The Austen Family which starts with Meet the Austen’s
The Secret Garden and A Little Princess
American Girl Books, Especially Samantha and Felicity and Kirstin books
Photo Credits: Dollhouse, IceCream Truck, Firefly, Toad
May 28th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
As a children's librarian, I give you a thumbs up for your selections. Also, you (and your readers) will be happy to know that these books are still heavily requested. Seeing a child look for a Richard Scarry book darn near makes me tear up because I loved all his illustrations.
One of my favorite books as a kid was called Dandelion by Don Freeman (he did Corduroy), about a very fancily dressed lion (he has curls like nobody's business) and he was on his way to a party. He had bought a big bouquet of flowers as a gift for the hostess. But, he got caught in a sudden rainstorm. It sullied his clothes, ruined his hair and blew away the flowers. He was very sad. He hid under a porch until the rain was over, and found a handful of dandelions. Once it stopped raining, he apologized profusely for being wet, a mess and not having a nice gift. But the hostess loved dandelions!
And, I still have Tikki Tikki Tembo's name memorized
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