Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.
This week’s top ten topic is Childhood Favorites — a topic I featured back in 2013. And you know what? While I might be tempted to add another ten, there isn’t a single one of my original choices that I’d want to remove. So, once more with feeling… ten favorite books from my distant past that have absolutely influenced me as a reader…
1) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. In early readings, I wanted to be Beth (go ahead, psychoanalyze me based on that little fact!), then envied Amy her world travels, but finally came to appreciate Jo in all her prickly glory. Pop culture references to Little Women always make me happy — like when Joey read it on Friends. Classic, in so many ways.
2) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. It just never gets old. Me in 2013: I’m trying to convince my 10-year-old to read it, mostly so I’ll have a good excuse for rereading it myself. 2019 update: The 10-year-old is now 16, and still hasn’t read this book. But I’ve reread it myself, so all is well.
3) From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. Seriously, wouldn’t you love to run away to live in a museum? This books was responsible for my mad scribblings, throughout my youth, of a whole bunch of half-written stories involving running off to exotic locations and having crazy adventures.
9 of my top 10 childhood favorites — I can’t believe I still have all of these!
4) Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager. I read this book as a kid and loved it — but years later, all I could remember was that it was about kids entering into an imaginary world throught their toy castle in the playroom. I had no idea about the title or author and was never able to track it down, until my daughter came home with Half Magic by the same author, and something just clicked into place.
5) The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I just adored these books as a kid, and didn’t know enough at the time to be bothered by some of the problematic elements. I loved Laura and her family, the crazy struggles for survival in harsh circumstances, and of course, the love story between Laura and Almanzo. Whoa, those blizzards! I still get cold thinking about the kids trying to get home from school during a wild snow storm. Brrrrr.
Merry, Rose, and Christmas Tree June
6) Merry, Rose and Christmas Tree June by Doris Orgel. This story of a girl and her dolls just really stuck with me, and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I finally tracked down a copy. The fact that it’s illustrated by Edward Gorey just makes it even more of a win.
7) The All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor. My sister and I could not get enough of these books about a Jewish family living on the Lower East Side of New York in the 1920s. Inspiration for many a game of make-believe at our house — we even asked to take on dusting chores so we could play the button game. (If you’ve read the books, you’ll understand).
8) Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White. Oh, come on, admit it — you cried when you read this one, right?
9) Tall and Proud by Vian Smith. I went through a phase where I read everything I could get my hands on about horses.* The only thing better than a horse book was a book about a girl fighting a dreadful illness. So what could be better than this terrific book (out of print now, I believe) about a girl with polio who learns to walk again for the sake of her horse?
*I felt like I should only include one horse book on this list, but it was a close call — so here’s my special little shout-out to the books of Marguerite Henry, most especially, Misty of Chincoteague, Stormy: Misty’s Foal, and Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West.
Horse books!
10) Light a Single Candle by Beverly Butler. In the same spirit as #9, this book about a girl dealing with blindness really resonated with my tween-self’s love of fictional heroines bravely battling illness, disability, or some other dramatic/tragic life event.
It’s really hard to stop at ten (or 10-ish, since I included extra horse books!).**
**I realize that I excluded Judy Blume’s books, which should certainly be on this list — but since I did a whole post about Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret last year (actually 2012), I figure I’m covered already.
What are your favorite books from childhood? If you did a TTT post this week, please share your link!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
Great list! A Wrinkle in Time is one I’d really like to get to. 🙂
It’s worth it! Of course, reading it as an adult, I was somewhat sad to discover that parts that I thought were terrifying as a child weren’t quite so scary. 🙂 Someday, I need to read the follow-up books too.
OMG I totally forgot about Charlotte’s Web and Laura Ingalls Wilder! I loved Charlotte’s Web growing up, and even the movie broke my heart.
Charlotte’s Web is such a beautiful story. I think I’m due for a reread!
Me too!
I found it hard limiting mine to ten as well! And Jo was my favourite in Little Women too – it’s such a fantastic book! Great list 😊
My TTT: https://lifewithallthebooks.com/2019/07/02/top-ten-tuesday-childhood-favourites/
I’m excited for the new PBS version of Little Women coming up!
Ooh I’ll have to try and watch that somehow! 😊
Excellent Iist! may have said this before, but I had Tall and Proud but never sat down to read it–I was a weird kid, lol. Loved horses but not always horse books.
Oh, the sorrow of my childhood was never being able to convince my parents to get me riding lessons! I had to content myself with fake-galloping around a friend’s backyard. 🙂
Yes, same here. We had horses until I was about 7. But “real” riding lessons, with real riding clothes (I had the shirt)–never happened.
I reread Little Women so many times growing up. Good choice.
My TTT.
I read it bunches of times growing up too — then ended up reading it again in college as part of an amazing women’s lit class.
I like that you stuck by your previous favorite picks. That must mean all of them really are your favorites. I wish I was more of a reader when I was a child. Only a few years ago I finally got into reading. Better late then never I guess. In my TTT list I changed the topic to books I want to re-read with my future child 🙂
Reading with your future child is a great spin on the topic!
Thank you!
I love that you have them all still and were able to get a pic of your copies! I’m pretty sure all of mine are packed up in boxes at my mom’s place.
Some of the books I really kept all these years, some are copies I bought for my own kids or tracked down in used book stores — but I love that I have them and can go back to them whenever I want.
Big yes to Marguerite Henry, I was a big horse lover as a kid and loved her books😁
Oh wow, she was great, wasn’t she? Her books were absolute favorites in my house.
Awesome list! I have a couple of them on my list. And I love seeing the Marguerite Henry books as a shout out on your list too. I LOVED the Misty of Chincoteague books.
SO good! The mustang book was my absolute favorite, but I really enjoyed all of her books.
The Laura books were such comfort reads when I was a kid! And the TV series (except maybe the last couple of seasons) was amazing too.
I don’t think I watched the TV series all the way through, but I loved it too (and wanted to BE the girls)
Great post, Lisa! We just did a “Favorite Children’s Book” Staff Picks at the library. We all had such fun talking about our favorites!
Thinking back on childhood favorites is so much fun and so heart-warming!
I think I need to do this post meme although I’m a day late. Might tomorrow if I get time. I read hundreds of dog snd horse stories and every single Little House on the Prairie. Loved Little Women but I wanted to be Jo. Such a good topic. But how do you choose?!?! 🤠🐧
It’s so hard! I’m thinking I should do another of these, because there are so many more great books from my childhood that need their own special shout-out.
That goes for all genres. 🤣🤣🌹
I loved the Babysitters Club series as a child actually (wish I’d known about Little Women then! Didn’t discover it till my teens) – starting their own business, solving mysteries, social justice, with your best friends ever…
My daughter was completely hooked on the Babysitters Club!