bhowells

I remember the Milligan book and completely forgot about the Herbert Von Tharl anthologies.

My brother had a pan paberback by Alfred Hitchcock,"Stories They Wouldnt Let Me Do On Tv."

bhowells

I remember visiting my Aunt in Newbury when I was eleven and purchasing two paperbacks one was the first Mary Poppins book and the other was Sword and The Stone." the first book I read but the latter remains unread thirty six years down the line, I ought to read itl

The reason I mention these two purchases was the fact that I remember the thrill of the sight and smell of freshly minted paperbacks

CaptainWaggett

The Sword in the Stone is a wonderful book. Anyone who has read The Once and Future King might want to check it out - the edition published separately was quite different.

Edward G

Ah, childhood books. Those were the days....
My favourites :
The Silver Sword - Eric Kastner.
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte.
Robinsoe Crusoe - Daniel Defoe.
The Return of the Native - Thomas Hardy...

I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!

BristolUK

Hereward the Wake
King Arthur
Robin Hood

Something about smugglers (not Moonfleet)

samkydd

I was fortunate enough to be able to read and write before I started at infants school. A classmate of mine could too and so we used to whizz through the Janet and John series of books whilst the teacher concentrated on bringing the non-readers up to a good level.

I won a national school competition for writing when I was about six and the prize was a hardback The Boy Who Wanted a Dog by Enid Blyton (a first edition is now worth about £30) with my name on a certificate pasted on the inside cover. I loved that book but what happened to it no-one knows!

I then started on Secret Seven and Famous Five plus the Mystery of Enid Blyton books (another bunch of children in search of adventure, and I think the leader was called Fatty).

Paul Brickhill's The Great Escape was a pockey money purchase having seen the film on TV (probably at Christmas). Afterwards I started on Chopper by Peter Cave plus follow-on Hell's Angel novels, also Skinhead and Suedehead and then on to Confessions of by Timmy Lea, and then Russ Tobin's sexual adventures. The Life and Death of Reginald Perrin was another good one, and my favourite the book of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads.

Not a very cultural selection but then we had all that crap at school; A Room With A View, The Illiad, Huckleberry Finn, The Moonstone, The Hobbit, The Silver Sword plus all the Shakespeare cobblers and of course that awful The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (mind you, not quite as bad as Geoffrey Archer).

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Rain

Jill's Gymkhana by Ruby Ferguson and all the other Jill books.

MB

I'm currently trying to find a decent 'Heidi' for my daughter - I loved that as a child.

I also loved all the Enid Blytons, particularly 'The Faraway Tree' stories.
Wind in the Willows (gorgeous - I'm reading it to my daughter at the moment and it really is quite funny.)

But my favourite are the 'Just William' stories..I picked them up again a few years ago for my son and they are genuinely hilarious..'William's father was used to getting stern letters from the neighbours concerning William, however...'

dremble wedge

The Nicholas series of books by Rene Goscinny about a mischievous French schoolboy and chums have recently been reprinted and are absolutely fantastic for the under 10s.

MB

The writer of 'Asterix'.

Oh, here they are..
Amazon.com: Nicholas: René Goscinny, Jean-Jacques Sempé: Books


Another writer I have taken an interest in lately - Edward Gorey (The Doubtful Guest.)

My daughter loves Lauren Child, for anyone who hasn't come across her yet - she really is the children's writer and illustrator of the moment - again,very funny.

smiffy

I read this book three times before taking it back to the library ,good choice
Other favourites
Enid Blyton , Shadow the sheepdog and mischief at St Rollos
The Just William books
Treasure Island
Black Beauty
The Three Musketeers
The weirdstone of Brasingamen ,Didn't realise It was a Lord of the Rings rip off until my Adult years (Still absolutely enjoyable though ,connected to local legend and Mythology )

I May be getting older ,but I refuse to grow up

knobbykins

When i was 10 i managed to con my Mum into buying me LEGION OF THE DAMNED by SVEN HASSEL....good job she never read war books!But as ther were about a dozen books in the series she did know what to get me for Christmas and birthdays.

When the king's off his arse nobody sleeps!

smiffy

I First read a sven hassell book when I was 15 ,can't remember the exact title but It was about the raid on Monte Cassino Not long after that I discovered A Western series about a man called Edge ,very bloodthirsty and action packed ( not unlike Sven Hassell )
Have you ever reread any Sven Hassel As an adult Knobbykins ? and If so did you enjoy them as much ?

I May be getting older ,but I refuse to grow up