List of my 15 most important children's books even grown-ups enjoy

[yakalskovich]

As ganked from erastes. I'll try and be chronological.

1. Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne. My great-aunt read it to me in English when I was three and four years old. That's why my close relationship with the English language. I've had it for practically all my life.

2. Heidi, by Johanna Spyri. The traditional favourite book of the children in my family for generations.

3. Maya the Bee, by Waldemar Bonsels. For me, it was about cycles in nature, life and death, and the manifold small creatures humming in my grandmother's garden. As a kid that was stung by bees and the like a few times, it taught me to trust and respect nature.

4. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. It started my love for fantasy. I had no idea at that time LotR even existed, and promptly made up my own fantasy world.

5. The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Full of cute and sad and hidden wisdom.

6. The Brothers Lionheart, by Astrid Lindgren. It's about these two kids that die and have adventures in a land between life and death until in the end they die again, finally. OMG I bawled so very badly!

7. The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander. Started my love for all things Celtic.

8. The Railway Children, by Edith Nesbit

9. The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende

10. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

11. Winnetou I. - III., by Karl May. That is a German classic; you are not required to know it. Still, it's full of adventure, and OMG the slash!! The slash!!! It's totally the root of all slash, at least for me.

12. A Battle for Rome, by Felix Dahn. Not a children's book, but in my family, we read that in our early teens. This book needs no explanation for any of my online friends, otherwise. **grins**

now follow the children's books I only encountered after I'd grown up:

13. His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman

14. The Abhorsen Chronicles, by Garth Nix. I really love all the trope reversals to bits and gave it to my Little Lady for Christmas the year before last.

15. The Inkworld trilogy, by Cornelia Funke

Comments

[ceitfianna]

This is a wonderful list of books and I've read most of them too.

I never quite got into His Dark Materials, I read the first book but wasn't pulled into it. I also keep meaning to read Funke's books.

[yakalskovich]

I do bet you haven't read 3, 10 and 11, either... **grins**

[ceitfianna]

Actually I've read 10 but not 6 and I will read 12 at some point.

[yakalskovich]

I meant 11 and 12. It was apparently too early for me to read numbers straight when I posted that. **hangs head**

6 is a bit 'deep and meaningful', the way Astrid Lingren's later works tend to be. And I do hope you manage to read 12 one day.

[ceitfianna]

No worries, I had to double check the list as I looked at the numbers.

[idylchild.livejournal.com]

1. Narnian Chronicles (I've read them since I was six over and over and over agai)

2. Harry Potter

3. The Little Prince

4. Oscar Wilde fairy tales

5. Witch of Blackbird Pond

6. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

7. A Wrinkle in Time

8. The Wump World

9. The Owl and the Pussycat

10. My Family and Other Animals

11. The Princess Bride

12. Agatha Christie (I started reading these when I was 10 and never stopped)

13. James and the Giant Peach

14. Eloise (I can be in the worst mood and it still cracks me up)

15. Where the Wild Things Are

[yakalskovich]

I haven't seen Harry Potter on any of these lists; I guess that's considered a given. **grins**

[idylchild.livejournal.com]

Probably because just as many adults as children read HP.

Even my professorial aunt and uncle have read them all.