As always, this feature is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!
When I was little, I read a lot. My parents were always supportive of my reading habits, supplying me with new reading material regularly. Living in the Philippines made acquiring new books a bit of a challenge back then, but we managed! Even though I always had new stories to indulge in, and new characters to meet, I always returned to a few favorites regularly and wanted to share some today!
(PS - You might want to check out a fun project that my friends Estelle & Hannah are doing. #SoRatherBeYoung is a joint feature where they both revisit books that were important parts of their childhood, and I'm loving their picks so far. You can learn more about it here.)
Beezus and Ramona (Beverly Cleary) || What I Remember: I was charmed by Ramona, but could relate to how Beezus felt. The way these sisters were portrayed is spot on.
Bridge to Terabithia (Katherine Paterson) || What I Remember: Just thinking about this story makes me feel incredibly emotional. It was one of the first friendship stories I ever fell in love with.
Charlotte's Web (E.B. White) || What I Remember: I wanted a pet pig named Wilbur afterwards. Also, I was less afraid of spiders. Again, yet another friendship story I loved.
A Dream of Sadler's Wells (Lorna Hill) || What I Remember: My brain screams "Ballet book!" whenever I think of this story. My ballerina dreams were kindled by this tale!
Hatchet (Gary Paulsen) || What I Remember: It was fascinating to learn how to survive in the wilderness. I felt confident I could take on any similarly dire circumstances with the right tools.
Island of the Blue Dolphins (Scott O'Dell) || What I Remember: I respected the bravery in this novel. I also really, really, really wanted a dolphin of my very own.
Just As Long As We're Together (Judy Blume) || What I Remember: I longed to find my own core group the way these three had each other! Friendship stories were my favorite.
The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) || What I Remember: It was such a charming story! I remember being struck by the image of the boa constrictor and the elephant most.
A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) || What I Remember: EVERYTHING. All of my love goes to Sara Crewe, her vivid imagination and her utter love for all things good.
Matilda (Roald Dahl) || What I Remember: EVERYTHING. I loved Matilda, and totally felt like she was my fictional BFF. I have vivid memories of reading this one over and over and over.
The little Princess <3 I remember everything too..a beautiful book, one of my favorites even know
ReplyDeleteI had completely forgotten about Roald Dahl - The BFG was my favourite :)
ReplyDeleteOhh Hatchet. I read that one and it was pretty scary if I remember correctly.
ReplyDeleteI love your picks - Matilda (and The Witches) was one of my favourite childhood reads, too!
And I remember binge-reading the ballet books - but I really wouldn't want to read them again because I suspect they aren't too good and it would ruin my memories :)
I love Charlotte's Web :)
ReplyDeleteSo many of these were a big part of my childhood, as well. Great list!
ReplyDeleteKate @ Ex Libris
So I'm kind of horrible and haven't read any one of these! I read mostly Animorphs and Sweet Valley High books back then, I think. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and JK's Harry Potter were the most memorable books I read in my childhood though. They were really my entry way to loving books the way I do now. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved The Animorphs & Sweet Valley too! They were a big part of my childhood reads as well (and I have the collection to prove it) ;)
DeleteConfession: I actually really liked CHARLOTTE'S WEB as akid. But I could never read it now...I can't even touch the book because I can't even touch a picture of a spider anymore. Superbig phobia!! A LITTLE PRINCESS is on my list, too! Oh, Matilda, I love Matilda! And Judy Blume and Scott O'Dell, oh! Great memories, Alexa!
ReplyDeleteI'm not overly fond of spiders either, to tell you the truth. But I will make an exception for Charlotte, because she's awesome!
DeleteMatilda! I just love that book. I read it as a kid, and quite a few times as an adult. I read The Little Prince when I was in high school, and to this day it's a favorite. So many wonderful thoughts in that one.
ReplyDeleteI've actually been thinking about rereading The Little Prince now, and seeing how my feelings about it have changed! It definitely reads differently every time, since it's always a different thing that will stand out.
DeleteGoorgeous post Alexa. <3 I haven't read any of these books, but they all look amazing :D Really wanting to read Bridge to Terabithia one day. <3 As I loved the movie. Sigh. And Matilda too; loved the movie :) ONE DAY. <3 I did not want to read as a kid :( sad face. But I'm making up for that now, hih ;p Thank you for sharing your amazing list. <3
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're into reading now, Carina! I highly encourage you to read Matilda. The movie is amazing, and one of my favorites, but I was incredibly obsessed with it as a child. I have fond memories of reading it!
DeleteI love that you chose Island of the Blue Dolphins! It's not a book that I see around the blogosphere too often, but I loved it too. We had to read it in Grade 4 and I remember all my classmates complaining about how boring it was and how much they hated reading it, but I took it home and read the whole thing in a day because I couldn't put it down!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I felt about it! I was so enchanted with the heroine, and her home, and the dolphins. In fact, I'm pretty dang sure that this was where my fascination with dolphins began!
DeleteYes yes yes! There's so much of this list that I loved (and forgot to add to my own list haha). We both had Bridge to Terabithia on ours. I'm still in love with that one, and I ADORE the movie. I don't know what it is about it, but it's one of the most magical books I've ever read. And ahhh Matilda. How could I forget that one?!? My copy is so well-loved. Great list, Alexa!
ReplyDeleteJust thinking about Bridge to Terabithia both makes me want to smile and want to cry. There's just something incredibly moving about that story, and even though I knew it would make me sad, I returned to it constantly as a kid. If that's not magical, I don't know what is!
DeleteHatchett and Island of the Blue Dolphin are both awesome reads!!
ReplyDeleteNice selection of books for this week's TTT post this week!!
Here's a link to my TTT post for this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/03/top-10-books-from-my-childhood-or-teen.html
Happy reading!!
Awesome list! I can't believe I forgot about Island of the Blue Dolphin! We have like 4 or 5 copies of it! I used to love reading about a girl surviving alone on a deserted island. =)
ReplyDeleteHere's my TT: http://betweenyabookends.blogspot.com/2015/03/top-10-books-from-my-childhood-or-teen.html
So much love for this list. I remember crying over Bridge To Terabithia as a kid. Such a beautiful book.
ReplyDeleteWow, I'd forgotten about Island of the Blue Dolphins. Good book. That was back in my elementary school library days. :P I love seeing Matilda there. I loved everything Roald Dahl.
ReplyDeleteC.J.
Sarcasm & Lemons
I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins! I totally wanted a dolphin too. :P
ReplyDeleteI swear, my dolphin obsession started with that book! Even though it's tempered now, I still love dolphins and want to swim with them!
Deletehehe that reminds me of a story. When I was younger my family hosted an exchange student who was pretty girly and prissy. She wanted to be a dolphin trainer at Sea World. One day my mom told her, "You know that the dolphins pee and poop in the tanks, right?" She had never thought of that before! So she stopped loving dolphins so much ;)
Delete!!!!! Island of the Blue Dolphins! I remember how much my older sister loved that book because dolphins! And who didn't want a dolphin of their own? ;)
ReplyDeleteI loved The Little Princess when I was younger. (That and the Secret Garden!)
I read The Little Princess and The Secret Garden until my copies were falling apart! I seriously remember what they looked like - pink cover for The Little Princess and a green one for The Secret Garden :)
DeleteOh man Alexa! You included so many books I thought about putting but didn't end up- Bridge to Terabithia, Hatchet, The Little Prince... and I was going to put the Fudge books by Judy Blume. I remember loving Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing!
ReplyDeleteI actually can't remember reading the Fudge books! I did love what books I remember reading from Judy Blume though.
DeleteWhat a wonderful list of nostalgic books. I loved Charlotte's Web and The Little Prince. We REALLY should reread these books shouldn't we?
ReplyDeleteYes, we absolutely should! I want to see if they're titles I'd still want my own kids to read :)
DeleteI didn't grow up reading. But I've read 3 from your list and liked them in varying bars. The closest to my heart, though, is The Little Prince. I can still recall how I read it on the day of my 20th birthday and it felt so magical and affecting. And I can see too why Matilda would appeal to you and feel like she's your BFF. She's amazing!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad you like to read now! And yes, The Little Prince is something else, isn't it? So different from anything I've ever read before.
DeleteI loved Matilda and all of Roald Dahl's other books - I can't choose a favourite! Sadly, I haven't read any of the other books you mentioned, but I plan to read A Little Princess and The Little Prince :-D
ReplyDeleteOH you have a lot of books on your list that I have also read, like Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Matilda, and Beverly Cleary! I have seen the movie of A Little Princess, but haven't got the time to read the book. ONE DAY. It's my favorite movie <3
ReplyDelete