(Updated and Revised 5/16/23)
I had another post almost ready to go this morning, but I didn’t much like it while I was writing it—and in the cold light of day, I liked it even less. It was for an MG book—the second of the two that I read last week—so I’m in this frame of mind. Why not dust off this post, give it a shine, and throw it up again? (I have tweaked each entry a tad, so I’m not being fully lazy). I’ll try the other post again tomorrow.
I was bemoaning how long my current read was the other day and how it was going to leave me without a post for today, and my ever-so-clever daughter suggested, “Why don’t you list the Top 10 Books from your childhood?” That sounded pretty fun, so I figured that I might as well. It turned out to have been better than I thought, so kudos to her.
Ranking them really would be impossible, but then 11 came to mind really without any effort, and I couldn’t axe one of them, so there’s a bonus entry to the list. All of these I read more than I can count—if they’re part of a series, these were the ones that I came back to most often. The links are to Goodreads pages because I can’t find good official pages for all the books/authors (a true sign of my age, I guess).
Enough of that, on with the trip down Amnesia Lane:
The Castle of Llyr
by Lloyd Alexander
The Chronicles of Prydain taught me most of what I needed to know about Fantasy (augmenting The Chronicles of Narnia‘s lessons). Fflewddur Fflam here is at his best, I think it’s here that I fell in love with Eilonwy (not that I didn’t enjoy her before…but if I had to name “book crushes”, this would be my first), Taran’s more of a real hero than before, and you get plenty of Gurgi (who I just have to mention because thinking of him makes me smile). There’s peril, the characters grow more than they have before, a hint of romance . . . it’s not the most important book in the series, but it’s pivotal.
Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint
by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams
I didn’t know until today that this was the first in the series, I always figured it was mid-series. It’s the only one of the series that I owned—thankfully, the public library had a few more (but not enough)—so it’s the one I read most. It was also my favorite—I just loved the stuff at the edge of our solar system and Prof. Bullfinch and Doctor Grimes making musical instruments from their hair—stupid as all get out, but it worked for me.
The Mystery of the Dead Man’s Riddle
by William Arden
While Encyclopedia Brown (see below) got me reading mysteries, it was The Three Investigators—Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews and Pete Crenshaw (btw, the only thing there I had to look up was Pete’s last name— not bad for a series I haven’t touched since the late 80s) got me hooked on reading detective series. The Dead Man’s Riddle was one of my favorites—and I think the first or second I read—something about the Cockney slang kept bringing me back to it. I read what I do today because of this series, really. It has occurred to me that a good deal of my wardrobe choices match Jupiter’s (at least in the illustrations, I don’t know if any of the books describe his clothing). I can’t say that he taught me how to dress…but I certainly can’t say he didn’t. I might as well embrace it.
Superfudge
by Judy Blume
I remember Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing being funnier, but this was a better story—the Fletchers leaving NYC, Peter maturing, Fudge being a real pain and not just a cute nuisance. I read this more than the other because of it. Blume taught me a lot about how to read non-genre books, I read Hornby, Tropper, Weiner, Rowell, Shane, and Hanover (etc.) because of these books.
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
by Julie Edwards
What a great world, what a great magic system . . . I’m not sure I can express what this book meant to me as a kid, and the copious warm-fuzzies the memory brings up. I remember that it was in the pages of this book about a magic kingdom that I first learned about DNA and RNA (and what those letters meant)— thanks, elementary school science classes. The creatures’ names in this are great (and, as an adult, I can “hear” Andrews saying them in my mind for an added layer of fun). There’s a great deal of whimsy here, a sense of play that permeates this—even when it gets silly. The kingdom’s motto, “peace, love, and a sense of fun” really sums up the spirit of the book. My now-little-used non-book blog took its name from that motto—the book clearly left an impression on me.
Me and My Little Brain
by John D. Fitzgerald, Mercer Mayer (illus.)
Sure, the series was supposedly about Tom, but J. D.’s the real hero of the books. He has a conscience, a better moral compass than his brother—and is probably just as smart. This is the book that lets him shine as he ought to have all along. All the books in the series had their strong points and were fun, but this ruled them all. There’s something about the art of Mayer that really sticks in my head, too. Or maybe it’s my heart.
The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster, Jules Feiffer (illus.)
Such wordplay! What a great, twisted way to teach how important words and ideas are. Seriously, just a wonderful book. The humor is so off-kilter, any appreciation I have for puns came from this book (and it set the standard that a pun must achieve for me not to groan). If you haven’t seen the documentary about it, The Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations, get on it. (I contributed to the Kickstarter for it, I should add, so you’re not really getting an unbiased recommendation there, but since when am I?).
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
by C. S. Lewis
I remember the bookstore where I bought this, the date and month that I bought it, and reading a good chunk of it before I got home. I read this one more than the rest of the series (Prince Caspian a close second). I just love this one—you get Reep at his bravest and funniest, some really odd creatures, an epic story, and Eustace’s redemption (back when I did crazy things like this, I almost got a tattoo of Eustace as Dragon). Who could ask for more?
Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars
by Daniel M. Pinkwater
Pinkwater has funnier and stranger books (both before and after this one), but there was heart, there was depth—there was length!—to this story about a kid who didn’t really fit in until he made a friend who didn’t want to fit in. This is another one where I can peg the place and time I bought it. Science Fiction-y in a real world (didn’t know you could do that!), comic book geeks as heroes, and real non-sanitized-for-kids emotions. There’s no way this wouldn’t be a favorite. More than the rest on this list, I’m thinking of finding my old copy and taking it out for another spin (because I just read the next one on this list a couple of years ago).
In the years since I first wrote this post, I’ve had the opportunity to re-read this, but I’ve chickened out. It can’t live up to my memory and I don’t want to tarnish anything.
The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin
If I had to pick one off this list (and I don’t), this would probably be my favorite. I re-read it two years ago, and it was one of my favorite experiences that year with a book. The characters are great, the story was so clever, the writing so crisp. There’s nothing wrong with this book at all.
I saw a hardcover reprinting of this on Monday, and had to fight to resist buying a new copy. I’m kind of regretting that now. [Note: I went back a couple of days after originally posting this and bought that hardcover. It looks very nice on my shelf] [Another Note: I’ve since bought a new paperback copy because I loved the cover so much. It also looks nice on the shelf.] [One more note: Yes, I’m aware I have a problem]
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
by Donald J. Sobol
It was the summer after second grade, we were on a forever-long road trip and I was bored, so I demanded my parents buy me something to read. I must’ve been a real snot about it, because at the next town, they did. I got two books, this one and Sugar Creek Gang Screams in the Night (not the best in the series, but it was good enough to read several times). This blew me away—I loved the puzzles, the characters, the idea. I wanted to be a P. I. This was my first mystery book, and it clearly set the stage for most of what I’ve read since (about a third of what I read).
Were you a fan of any of these as a kid? What were some of your faves? Have you read them lately?
WS_BOOKCLUB
Your childhood self had great taste!
Do you mind if I also do a list, crediting you of course?
HCNewton
By all means! Love to see what made you you (aside from Dragonlance)
allyson johnson
My younger son had his nephew and niece read from “The Phantom Tollbooth” at his wedding. He said when he saw a copy on his now-wife’s bookshelf on their first date, he knew they were soulmates.
You left off the Oz books, and Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series, and Albert Payson Terhune’s dog stories, and Elizabeth Enright’s Melendy family series. Maybe I’m even a generation older, but you can mostly still find these on library shelves.
Bob Germaux
I haven’t read any of the books you listed, H.C., but since I’m a good bit older than you, that’s no surprise. This post prompted me to think about my favorite books growing up. I loved the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, an early indication of my love of mysteries, and for a few years, I also was very much into a series of books by a guy named John R. Cooper (I just looked it up). The books combined two of my loves to this day: mysteries and baseball. The main character was a young boy (a pitcher, much like this young boy at the time) named Mel Harris. I honestly don’t remember the plots of any of those books, but they held my attention, and the titles were great: “First Base Jinx,” “The Southpaw’s Secret,” “The Phantom Homer” and “The Mystery at the Ball Park.” (Again, I had to Google some of that.) Thanks to you, I’m thinking about seeing if any of them are available today, so I can do a re-read. I’m sure there were other books I really enjoyed in my youth, but none jump to mind at the moment. My memory is nowhere near as good as yours, or maybe it’s just that my youth was a lot more years ago than yours was:)
HCNewton
It’s likely the distance between our youths and the present (also, I didn’t come up with my post off the top of my head.)
I have no idea how those Mel Harris books are, but with titles like that, how does a young man resist?
Bob Germaux
And I just realized that it was Mel Martin, not Mel Harris who was the pitcher in those books by John R. Cooper. Hey, I said I was old, right? (I think Mel Harris was an actress who starred in a TV series called “Thirty Something.”)
HCNewton
LOL…oops. I
Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes
I definitely want to check out The Phantom Tollbooth someday. Great list, dude! 🙂
HCNewton
Thanks! I think coming to the Tollbooth as an adult would be an interesting experience, you should give it a shot!