Childhood Books Beloved of Authors

‘You are what you eat,’ it has commonly been said. But, I’d argue, you are also what you read. During our childhoods when we are discovering new worlds for the first time, we read with our entire bodies, minds and senses. We literally become those characters and live those experiences, our whole beings absorbed into the magical pages of those books we are drawn to as children.

According to the fabulous writer Maya Angelou, ‘You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there.’ In the same way, every book we have ever read becomes part of us; the stories live on inside us, even if we cannot remember them. An invisible force that is lodged in a small cavern of our memories guides us, influencing our actions, emotions and speech.

With this in mind, I decided to run a survey amongst writers to identify the most beloved of their childhood reads. I was staggered by the response – dozens replied to me, creating conversations and invoking memories of books long forgotten. The replies I received have also enabled me to look up books I have never heard of and discover some wonderful new literature for children that I would like to introduce to my own three.

Do reading tastes change as the years go by? Of course there are some incredible modern writers for children out there right now, but at the end of the day whether we are talking about a child sixty years ago or a child of today, they all want the same thing from a book: a terrific story, compellingly told. So thinking of the results of my survey, of course these favourite childhood books are dependent on the age of the writer, where they come from and the sex (most, but not all who took part were women). Far too many people responded to be able to include everything I’m afraid, but every book that was mentioned more than once you will see below. For many of these writers, these beloved childhood books have even been a driving force behind their current work. Perhaps it is the element of mystery, suspense, adventure, a particularly memorable character. Whatever it is, I know most writers would agree with me when I go so far as to say one of the reasons we became writers in the first place was because of the imprint impressionable books have left on our minds for years. There were also some surprises (for example, Roald Dahl only being mentioned twice and the extreme popularity of a certain writer cited below).

All these books do stand the test of time, they can and should be enjoyed today and many certainly are. So come on, let’s brush off those childhood favourites and let the children in our lives enjoy these classics. All without exception are readily available and just waiting to be discovered.

So, here we go…

The books mentioned twice

Mary Poppins by PL Travers

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Chalet School Series by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Asterix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe

The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy

Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dabb

Roald Dahl books

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

The books mentioned three times

I am David by Anne Holm

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Just William books by Richard Crompton

Hans Christian Andersen stories

The Books mentioned four times

Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne

The Books mentioned five times

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

The Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene

Little House on the Praries series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Book mentioned six times

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Books mentioned seven times

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge

The Books mentioned eight times

The Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery

The Books mentioned UMPTEENTH times!

Enid Blyton

The Wishing Chair

The Naughtiest Girl series

The St Clare’s Series

The Mallory Towers series

Noddy

Brer Rabbit

The Secret Seven series

The Famous Five series

The Magic Faraway Tree series

Oh my word. I knew that Enid Blyton has been popular through the generations, but I had never imagined quite how popular. Our friend Enid has been simultaneously celebrated and lambasted as being revoltingly un-PC and classist (not to mention completely incapable of relating to her own children.) Her books today still fly off the shelves and generations of school children the world over have dreamed of ginger beer, dogs called Timmy and changing lands at the top of magical trees. The most popular of the above list were Famous Five and The Magic Faraway Tree – they just came up again and again and again to the point of predictability.

It did get me thinking though – what is it about Enid Blyton that has both delighted children and incensed critics over the years? I’ve decided it will be fascinating to delve a little into the life of this enigmatic writer to find out more about her, what made her tick and how her life influenced her writing. I will be posting this blog next week so stay tuned…(Sign up for my blog updates to ensure you don’t miss it.) See you then!

ps Ooooh, I nearly forgot – I want to share MY favourite childhood book. As numerous writers found, this is SO, SO difficult, to pinpoint it to a single book But if I were forced to chose, it would have to be Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I wanted to be a spy just like Harriet – and in fact, did become one, sitting up trees and in cupboards for hours on end scribbling my observations on all the ‘strange’ goings on in my household and beyond.)