Laura,

I’m a few decades ahead of you, but my childhood favorites were The Teensy

Weensy People, The House That Jack Built, and later, Alice in Wonderland, its companion book

Through the Looking Glass, Little Women, The Bobsey Twins Series, and Hans Cristian

Anderson’s Fairy Tales. When I was eight, we spent several months at my great-grandma’s

house, and I curled up on a bench in her library and read Forever Amber and God’s Little Acre,

cover to cover. I also read Mickey Spillane and attempted my first crime book around then.

The latter were not exactly children’s books, but I always had an ecumenical mind

where it came to fiction. LOL

re-reading my childhood favorites. My new favorite “children’s books” are of course the Harry

Potter series, but the re-read classics from childhood are:

All seven of the C.S. Lewis

Narnia books (but the three with the Pevensie siblings and the prequel “The Magician’s Nephew”

with Professor Digory Kirk as a boy are my favorites).

Robert L. Heinlen’s sc-fi books

for kids: Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Red Planet, and Between Planets.

Hergé’s Tintin

“Graphic Novels” (I originally read these in their English translations, but now read them in

the original French to expand my knowledge of vocabulary and idiom).

The Wind in the

Willows.

And I too Laura find joy in your AboutFrench letters that come to my email box,

and find your French website absolutely essential in my quest to become a better French reader,

writer and speaker!

were definitely dear friends growing up. I can add that in French (though I read it for the

first time as an adult), I love the “Le Petit Nicolas” series. So charming and simple.

beautiful little tale.

Some other favorites:

The Church Mouse

(hilarious!)
Ferdinand
Amos, the Story of an Old Dog and His Couch
Charlotte’s Web

Miracle Worker and got a hankering to re-discover one of my childhood favs which I had thrown

away. It’s called Helen Kellers’ Teacher by Margaret Davidson. It had been so long since

I’d had it (bought used by my mother) that I was afraid it would be out of print. God bless

Amazon.com b/c a/f a little research there it was. It just bought back so many memories

especially of the one chapter I read over and over again where Annie and Helen have it out at

the breakfast table. I don’t know why that particular chapter fascinated me at such a young

age!

Other books, of course the Little House series, the Madeline series (I always

wanted to sleep in one of those 12 beds!), Charlotte’s Web, Bedtime for Frances et. al. And

when I was really really little the Little Golden Books, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and the

Princess and the Pea.
When I was a tad bit older Are You There God It’s Me Margaret. A

pre-teen classic. Lots of good memories reading those books!

Wardrobe and read it in French -L’armoire Magique. It is if anything even more delightful than

the English orginal, ( sorry C.S.Lewis) It is an excellent translation.

Other

books?

Wind in the Willows

Little Women

Witch of Blacbird

Pond

Roller Skates

Also when I was much younger, I loved the “William” books. My

elder brother had the series. Short funny stories about a naughty (English) eleven year old

boy, William Brown. By Richmal Crompton.

course The Little Prince!
Also, everything by Jan Brett (I just want to EAT some of the

illustrations!).
The Secret Garden, The Wind in the Willows, and an historic novel for

children about the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, Seaman (it’s about the dog who goes along, I

read it to my daughters, then twice to my 3rd & 4th grade students).
Old Turtle, and the

companion book, A million Visions of Peace.
Little Women (my favorite Aunt gave it to me for

my 10th bday, I still have it.)
Thanks for the blog! I love the French site, and always look

forward to seeing you in my mailbox!
Bonne chance!

and Eden with LM Montgomery. I also re-read “Little Women” every year as a kid, and “Little

House on the Prairie” series, and the “Trixie Belden” series. I see now that I read a lot, but

not a lot of different books. Can you believe, I only read “The Phantom Tollbooth” LAST

YEAR??!! I’m 34, and it’s my new favorite kid’s book. In fact, I’ve begun to read many of

the classics I never read as a child – “Peter and Wendy”, “The Wind in the Willows”, etc. I’m

trying to write a children’s book, so immersing myself into the genre seems to be a good

idea…hey, and bonne chance on moving to France. For me, it would be London:)!

because they last a lot longer than movies.

I’ll have to check out some of these

books – thanks!

series) and some of her other ones. Others that I still read (pretty much yearly) include:

anything by Gordon Korman:
Bruno & Boots series

(There’s Something Happening at MacDonald Hall, Go Jump in the Pool, Beware the Fish, The War

with Mr. Wizzle, etc.)
No Coins Please
I Want to

Go Home
Who Is Bugs Potter?, etc.
I was going to put a link in from

Amazon as you did, only to find out he’s written several more books that I didn’t know about.

I guess I’ve got some reading to do, eh?

also anything by Lucy Maud

Montgomery:
Anne of Green Gables (and the rest in the series)

Emily of New Moon (and the rest of the series)

Do you see a trend here?

Apparently, I don’t like my stories to end.