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

 

1, LITTLE GOLDEN BOOKS

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.

 

3, CURIOUS GEORGE

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?

51 replies
  1. Jay @The Scented Library
    Jay @The Scented Library says:

    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.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      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.

  2. verushka
    verushka says:

    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!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Oh gosh, I didn’t even know Sweet Valley had a show. I guess I had outgrown them by the time that came along.

  3. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz
    Deb Nance at Readerbuzz says:

    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.

  4. Angela
    Angela says:

    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.

  5. Michele
    Michele says:

    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.

  6. Morgan
    Morgan says:

    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.

  7. Jess @ Jessticulates
    Jess @ Jessticulates says:

    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.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      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.

  8. Greg
    Greg says:

    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.

  9. Sam@wlabb
    Sam@wlabb says:

    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.

  10. Lee @ Rally the Readers
    Lee @ Rally the Readers says:

    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.

  11. Brittany
    Brittany says:

    You have some great ones on this list! I remember reading Island of the Blue Dolphins and Pick your own story books <3

  12. Dini @ Dinipandareads
    Dini @ Dinipandareads says:

    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 🙂

  13. Kelly
    Kelly says:

    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.

  14. Jennifer Tar Heel Reader
    Jennifer Tar Heel Reader says:

    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! ♥️

  15. Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads
    Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads says:

    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.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      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.

  16. Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books says:

    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.

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