Books you read as a child
 

Alex's Trip's thread reminded me of this book I read when I was younger, one that has for some reason remained far more prominent in my memory than most of the other books I read (and I was a serious book geek even as a kid).

I read "The Thief of Always" by Clive Barker when I was about ten or so, and to this day I am entranced by that book. It's fantastically entertaining, yet touches upon concepts far more complex than you'd find in any children's book.

Many of you have probably read it, so I won't give a tedious account. Essentially it's about this young boy who, bored one rainy day, wishes for some fun, and is magically escorted to another dimension of reality. He is taken to live, amongst two other children, in this magical 'holiday house' where each day encompasses all four seasons of the year, and he can have anything his heart desires. He then finds out (after discovering that age-old lesson of having too much of a good thing) that the power behind Holiday House is evil, and attempts to thwart it.

ANYWAY

I can read this book even now, and still be mesmerized by it. I'm not even sure there was anything THAT extraordinary about it; it just, for some inexplicable reason, will be burned into my memory for ages to come.

What books did you read as a child that particularly affected you?

the giving tree by silverstein

what a fucking depressing book, but yet i read it over and over and over again

rhoal dahl, judy blume, the diaries of adrian mole. thats about all i can remember oh that guy that they based the australian show 'round the twist,' on....

someone jennings

I don't know the Australian bit, nor have I ever read The Giving Tree (I can hardly believe it myself).

I LOVED the Adrian Mole diaries, I still read them now and again. Fucking hilarious.

Roald Dahl is an amazing writer. Another one of those that hide complexity within simply and colorfully packaged "children's" books.

Judy Blume was a pervert.

charlotte's web, the giver, a bunch of the boxcar children books, and when i was smaller a lot of dr. seuss -- i was reading dr. seuss's abc's before my 3rd birthday.

Showoff.

I'm going to call you Quentin, so I stop mistaking that "q" for an "a".

Goosebumps all the way.

animorphs

as a young child, this ruled my world:

my favourites were:

tintin
moomins
just william
roald dahl

my poison used to be the little prince

The book that made the biggest impression on me when I was a little kid is Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.

I was about 8 and I remember sitting by the electric wall heater in our living room and getting lost in the language and the story.

I was fucking dumb back then.

I was JUST about to say Shel. I read all his stuff, he was my fav.

quentin, huey, muhammed, xiang, odegwo, raul, jacques, giuseppe, punjab, vladimir, adolph, jan . . . all the same to me.

I read a lot as a kid. I remember liking "Encyclopedia Brown" books, and "The Chronicles of Narnia" (although admittedly I never finished the series), and a ton of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books.

did anyone else read the "dark forces" series?

I also liked some very sophisticated literature, like Captain Underpants.

I liked that first Harry Potter book, too. Little Critter was pretty good too, as was Clifford: The Big Red Dog.