Top Ten Tuesday – A Trip Down Memory Lane to Revisit Favorite Books from My Childhood
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Favorite Childhood Books. This topic was somewhat challenging, but only because I did a similar one a couple of years ago where I shared favorites like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Chronicles of Narnia, Winnie the Pooh, etc. and didn’t want to just share the same books all over again. I do always enjoy trips down memory lane like this though, especially in this case because it’s fun to see how eclectic my reading tastes were even way back when.
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Top Ten Favorite Books from My Childhood
The Poky Little Puppy was always my favorite Little Golden Book,
but I had a whole shelf of these growing up that I read over and over until the covers started ripping off.
2, THE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE SERIES
This was another set of books that just brought me so much joy.
I remember re-reading them often, trying to see how many different versions of the story I could come up with.
Such a fun series! I loved these books when I was a kid and also loved sharing them with my son
once he was old enough to enjoy the antics of that silly little monkey.
4, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET by Judy Blume
Judy Blume was a staple of my childhood reading. I think I shared some of the Fudge books the last time I did a list like this,
but I also loved this book especially as I got closer to the preteen years.
5, THE CAT ATE MY GYMSUIT by Paula Danziger
I always loved the protagonist Marcy in this book. When I was a kid, I found her very relatable.
6. LITTLE HOUSE COLLECTION by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I was completely obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie books when I was a kid. I loved Laura and her family, especially Pa.
7. BEEZUS AND RAMONA by Beverly Cleary
My love for books that feature siblings, especially sisters, dates all the way back to when I first read the Beezus and Ramona books.
Beverly Cleary is one of the main authors who gave me my love of books and it all started right here.
8. ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS by Scott O’Dell
The dolphins always drew me to this story, but what I loved about it in the long run was that it was a survival story.
I think this was the first one I ever read and I’m still drawn to survival stories today.
9. CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG by Norman Bridwell
I’m pretty sure my love of large breed dogs comes from the Clifford series. I remember getting excited every time the book fair would come to my elementary school
because it meant there was a new Clifford book for me to read. I loved reading these with my son too and watching the TV show with him when he was a toddler.
10. SWEET VALLEY HIGH SERIES by Francine Pascal
As a preteen and even into my early teen years, I was obsessed with these books. I could not read them fast enough.
I remember reading them as a middle schooler and wanting to be like Elizabeth when I got to high school. Heck, these were such fun, if I saw a copy of one of these lying around somewhere today, I’d still probably pick it up and read it, lol.
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What are some of your favorite childhood reads? Do we share any favorites?
Hoo boy, how did I forget about Little Golden Books? I even posed with the LGB truck at BookCon a few years ago. Poky Litttle Puppy was the cutest, wish I still owned it. But I do own Curious George Goes to the Hospital from childhood and I recommend rereading as an adult-the illustrations are especially sweet and George is extra sympathy-inducing in it.
I agree with you about Curious George. I remember re-reading them to my son a few years ago and thinking the same thing. They really were sweet stories and so much fun.
Same for number 8! I’m surprised you’re the first I’ve seen mention it.
Yeah, I haven’t seen that one on any other lists either. Such a good book though.
I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins when I was a kid!
My TTT.
It really was a beautiful story.
I have never read: Are you There God, it’s me Margaret — and it’s one of those books that are constantly mentioned, but I just haven’t picked it up. Sweet Valley High! I may remember the show a bit more than the books, but I know the books are what made me sit down and give the show a go! Lovely list, Suzanne!
Oh gosh, I didn’t even know Sweet Valley had a show. I guess I had outgrown them by the time that came along.
They have tried to bring back Choose Your Own Adventure books and Sweet Valley books but neither of these have had the popularity with modern children that they once had. That’s too bad.
I wrote about French childhood favorites. I’d love to have you stop by.
Awww, that really is a shame. I loved them both so much.
I read the Clifford books so much as a small child.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
They were such cute stories. I loved the PBS cartoon too!
Yes to Choose Your Own Adventure books!! I used to try to skip around the book to make sure I got the best outcome. I only read a couple of the Sweet Valley High books, my sister and I were more into The Babysitter’s Club.
Oh yes, The Babysitter’s Club was a good one too!
I used to love the Choose Your Own Adventure Books! Sometimes I would read them straight through (which of course means the story makes no sense), but I was always worried I wouldn’t get to see all the possibilities. Babysitters Club was also my favorite as a kid.
Yes! I always wanted to know all of the possible outcomes. Glad I’m not the only one, lol.
Curious George was always a special book to me too, such a fun topic this week!
Right? I just adored that little monkey.
We do share a few favs! “Are you there God? It’s Me, Margaret” was so good. I’ve re-read it as an adult a few times. The Sweet Valley series was good. I also enjoyed the Babysitters Club. My favorite book when I was really young was “This Little House”. I liked The Hatchet Series. The survival aspect of it. I enjoyed most of the required reading in school, so all the classic books.
I loved The Babysitter’s Club too. Such fun reads!
Great list! I remember Clifford the Big Red Dog – my nephew used to watch the show when he was little. I never read any Judy Blume, but she’s clearly a well-loved author.
Judy Blume’s children’s books are the best. I loved them all.
Aw, I love Clifford. I really enjoyed the Little House books growing up too. I was also a big fan of the American Girl books.
-Lauren
I’ve seen the American Girl books on a few lists this week. I think I had sadly outgrown children’s books before those came along.
Oh I love seeing the Cave of Time there. 🙂 Those books were great- maybe not the best writing, but what an awesome concept! The reader chooses the ending! And a lot of the endings were bad ones as I recall haha! I remember dying a lot! I have so much nostalgia for those.
Island of the Blue Dolphins (because dolphins) always looked good to me too, I remember seeing it at bookfairs, but I never did get that one.
Lol, I remember dying a lot too!
If I had done more than 11 I would have definitely put Ramon ad Clifford on my list! I loved the TV show and the books.
I watched the Clifford series with my son when he was younger and thought it was really cute.
The Poky Little Puppy and Sweet Valley High made my list, too. I was also read a lot of Curious George.
They were all such fun reads. 🙂
I only had Little House on my list, but I grew up reading so many of these. Choose Your Own Adventure books were THE BEST. So much fun! Danziger, Cleary, and Blume were must read authors for me back when. Absolute classics as far as I am concerned. I wonder if that Are You There God? adaptation will ever happen.
I really hope we get that adaptation. It seems long overdue in my opinion.
I loved CYOA books! And I feel like I vaguely remember The Poky Little Puppy. At least, that title is familiar.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who loved the CYOA books. I thought they were so much fun.
So happy to see Jessica and Elizabeth popping up on so many lists today! Sweet Valley Twins was my go-to series when I was growing up; I wish I had kept those books, lol. And Little House was another childhood fave.
I really loved the Sweet Valley books. So much fun!
You have some great ones on this list! I remember reading Island of the Blue Dolphins and Pick your own story books <3
Thanks! 🙂
OMG! Clifford and Curious George–how could I forget?! I loved Clifford and always wished that I could have a big dog like him growing up lol Island of the Blue Dolphins also made it onto my list for this TTT! I loved doing this post, it was such a great walk down memory lane 🙂
Lol, I’m glad I’m not the only one who wanted a dog like Clifford! 🙂
So many readers have mentioned the Sweet Valley High books but I can’t remember them at all. Maybe they weren’t all that popular in Australia. I remember the Babysitter’s Club books and really enjoyed those when I was young but starting school, I loved Spot and Hairy Maclary books. I loved that little scruffy dog and as an adult, I bought all of them for when we finally start a family too. The series is by a new Zealand author so they were wildly popular here.
Might get them out on the weekend and have a cheeky read.
I’m not familiar with Spot and Hairy Maclary but they sound like cute reads. 🙂
Oh, the Choose Your Own Adventure Series!! That one brings back such good memories! I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins as a kid too. I actually read that one with my homeschool language arts class last year too.
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who loved Island of the Blue Dolphins. 🙂
I loved many of these same ones, too, Suzanne! I recently bought The Island of the Blue Dolphins because I only ever read that from the library and I was obsesssed with it! I’d also add Black Beauty and The Black Stallion along with the Misty of Chincoteaugue books. And Charlotte’s Web! ♥️
A huge yes to Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, and the Misty of Chincoteague books. I loved all of those.
I haven’t read any of these, but Island of the Blue Dolphins sounds like something kid-me would have LOVED! Also, those Choose Your Own Adventure books sound like so much fun.
The CYOA books really were a lot of fun and my parents of course loved them because I would re-read them often since it was almost like reading a different story each time, depending on the choices you made while reading.
I remember reading Clifford with my children. I loved it when they made the books into a TV series.
Me too. The TV series was so cute.
I had quite the collection of Little Golden Books as a very small child. Such good memories of my mom reading those to me. Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret was a total rite of passage. All the girls in school read it and passed it around. It was even that same cover. 🙂 I remember reading several by Paula Danziger, too.