Childhood Favourites
2 July 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Childhood Favourites, That Artsy Reader Girl, Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic is:
Childhood favourites
I’ve come up with a few here although I couldn’ t really speak to the accuracy of what age I was when I first picked them up. I’ve cut and paste some of the descriptions directly from Goodreads to give an idea about each book although I think they’re all very well known so it’s more than likely not needed – but, better to have it and not need it I suppose:
The Borrowers by Mary Norton – Beneath the kitchen floor is the world of the Borrowers — Pod and Homily Clock and their daughter, Arrietty. In their tiny home, matchboxes double as roomy dressers and postage stamps hang on the walls like paintings. Whatever the Clocks need they simply “borrow” from the “human beans” who live above them. It’s a comfortable life, but boring if you’re a kid. Only Pod is allowed to venture into the house above, because the danger of being seen by a human is too great. Borrowers who are seen by humans are never seen again. Yet Arrietty won’t listen. There is a human boy up there, and Arrietty is desperate for a friend.
Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum – When Dorothy and her little dog Toto are caught in a tornado, they and their Kansas farmhouse are suddenly transported to Oz, where Munchkins live, monkeys fly and Wicked Witches rule. Desperate to return home, and with the Wicked Witch of the West on their trail, Dorothy and Toto – together with new friends the Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow and cowardly Lion – embark on a fantastic quest along the Yellow Brick Road in search of the Emerald City. There they hope to meet the legendary, all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who alone may hold the power to grant their every wish.
The Famous Five by Enid Blyton – The very first Famous Five adventure, featuring Julian, Dick, Anne, not forgetting tomboy George and her beloved dog, Timmy! There’s a shipwreck off Kirrin Island! But where is the treasure? The Famous Five are on the trail – looking for clues – but they’re not alone! Someone else has got the same idea. Time is running out for the Famous Five, who will follow the clues and get to the treasure first?
Grimm’s Fairytales – For almost two centuries, the stories of magic and myth gathered by the Brothers Grimm have been part of the way children — and adults — learn about the vagaries of the real world.
The Hobbit by JRRTolkien – ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.’
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter – Peter and his sisters are told to go gather blackberries and not to go into MacGregor’s garden because Peter’s father was made into a pie by MacGregor after being found in the garden. Peter, who is wearing a new coat, promptly disobeys his mother, stuffs himself with vegetables, gets spotted by MacGregor, loses his coat and barely makes it out of the garden alive. When Peter gets home, he is given chamomile tea for dinner. Peter’s sisters, who listened to their mother and stayed out of the forbidden garden have a regular dinner.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame – Meet little Mole, willful Ratty, Badger the perennial bachelor, and petulant Toad. Over one hundred years since their first appearance in 1908, they’ve become emblematic archetypes of eccentricity, folly, and friendship. And their misadventures-in gypsy caravans, stolen sports cars, and their Wild Wood-continue to capture readers’ imaginations and warm their hearts long after they grow up. Begun as a series of letters from Kenneth Grahame to his son, The Wind in the Willows is a timeless tale of animal cunning and human camaraderie.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis – Narnia …. a land frozen in eternal winter … a country waiting to be set free.
Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia — a land enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change … and a great sacrifice.
My final book is a mystery and I literally mean I can’t remember the title or the author and yet it was a book that I loved – it was a book of about 8 or 9 stories. They were all quite unusual. One of the stories was a small child drawing figures in a book. At night the figures all came to life and were very unhappy with the little child for drawing them so badly. Like that one, the other stories were all very unusual – I only wish I could remember what the book was called.
???
And, I’ve left the tenth spot open for your suggestions.
I’ve never read The Borrowers, but after watching the Miyazaki version (titled The Secret World of Arrietty), I really want to! I’d throw in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH as a childhood classic I absolutely loved.
Oh Yes, The Rates of Nimh is so good – wish I’d thought of that.
Lynn 😀
I hate it when I can’t remember the name of a book or movie 😦 I have no idea what that one is tho so I can’t help! I hope someone knows it!
I doubt anyone will know it tbh – but worth a try.
Lynn 😀
This is such a good list! I also have fond memories of many of these, especially The Wind in the Willows.
I love the Wind in the Willows. It was an absolute no-brainer.
Lynn 😀
Classic! The Hobbit was a big one, of course – I still remember my fourth grade teacher reading that to us during story time, and then I read it again for sixth grade. There were a few more rereads over the years, and most recently I read it to my daughter.
It really is such a great classic – I guess classics are classics for a reason!
Lynn 😀
Such great childhood classics! I’ve read them all and seeing them on your list brought back happy remembrances. 🙂
Aww, that’s great – it’s so nice looking back at some of your early reads.
Lynn 😀
I think the only one of these I actually read when I was a child was Narnia. I was obsessed wtih Narnia. I…even wrote a Narnia fanfiction about Aslan in 3rd grade hahahah. 🙂 Great list!
Aww, that’s so lovely – fanfiction. Do you still have it?
I think I do somewhere! I rarely throw away those types of things. I guess I’m sentimental like that lol.
I used to be very much the same but have become much more ruthless with my books in recent years – mainly down to space.
Lynn 😀
Yeah, I think I’ll get to that point eventually. One of the things I plan to do while my husband is away next week is go through some things in the house and clear them out. There’s only two of us and yet this house is chock full of stuff. How does that happen? LOL
I know that feeling only too well – although I have become a lot better at not hoarding things and my husband is ridiculous – he’s always throwing things away, he’s a maniac, I go to the kitchen and start looking for something – a hand whisk for example – and it’s just gone. Why? Why would you throw that away?
Lynn 😀
I don’t know, that seems like a useful item!
😀
Oh Lynn, The Hobbit, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Peter Rabbit would definitely be some of my childhood favourites too. I think I would fill the tenth spot with Tom’s Midnight Garden. 🙂
You know, I don’t think I’ve read Tom’s Midnight Garden – was that adapted for tv?
Lynn 😀
I haven’t watched one but I am pretty sure there is a TV adaptation of it.