When pulling together my after-school book club lists, I made sure to include plenty of my childhood favorites. I thought it would be especially fun to share these classics with young readers starting to form their own opinions about literature. And the chance to discuss books that shaped my childhood with my own boy was too special to pass up.
This month, the third grade read HENRY AND RIBSY. Fourth and fifth-grade read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK. It has been such a delight to return to these books I read several times in childhood and again in college (while studying to become a teacher and beginning to toy with the idea of writing myself).
I loved reading again about the earnest hard work of Henry Huggins, his sweet relationship with his dog, and those silly Quimby neighbors. Beverly Cleary writes in a voice fully connected with childhood.
Those of you who’ve known me forever (or just since the beginning of this blog!) know I have a soft spot for the Ingalls family. I love the loyalty, hard work, love, hope, and gratitude that run through all the Little House books. All those difficult things their family experiences, and they still make it work somehow. As one of my book clubbers said, “They’re so nice. No matter what happens, they’re hopeful.”
I’ve coined a new phrase for those old titles we keep returning to: Comfort Books. What are yours?
This post is a part of Steady Mom’s 30-Minute Challenge.
Chronicles of Narnia, hands down 🙂
The Harry Potter series too (though they weren’t around when I was younger, but still…)
(Hi btw, I’m a new follower!)
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis. It’s my favorite out of all the Chronicles of Narnia.
I’m totally enjoying re-reading many of the Judy Blume books that I loved as a kid.
I love the name you have made for it… Comfort Books… Makes we want to go home and pull a few off the bookshelf.
I love Rohl Dahl books, I’ve read them over and over again and they are always ones I go back too!
Harry Potter series, they aren’t ancient books but I love them as well, they are a comfort book for sure!
I also love Sharon Shinns The Truth Tellers Tale, this book is fantastic, I love the elements that are all together in the book it was wonderful!
Ella Enchanted would be my last (before the movie of course) it is sweet and wonderful… I read it growing up and would read it again!
Gosh I never realized how many Comfort Books I do have, I suppose I will have to steal this idea from you and post it on my blog!!!
I so agree! One of my greatest disappointments is when I press one of my very most favorite books into my kid’s hands and they get three pages in and shove it aside with a shrug. My daughter loved Ramona but couldn’t get into Little House. Crushing. I guess she’s developing her own set of comfort books.
I don’t know that I have a particular title. It depends on my mood, and what I need. There are books I love just for the language, some for the way the story transports me, and some for the memories it stores.
As a kid I reread books ad nauseum… so much my mom had to bribe me to read new ones. Now my TBR list is so long I don’t go back and reread books very often. So sad.
Sara, welcome!
Connie, I loved THE SILVER CHAIR as a kid, but I think my adult favorite would be DAWN TREADER.
Jen, I’ve loved sharing Dahl with students. Always happy to hear they prefer the books over the movies.
Julie, We’ve taken Peter Hatcher books on our last few road trips and listened again and again.
Heidi,
My book clubs have given me the chance to pick up the goodies again…as my TBR pile keeps growing under the nightstand.
THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (Reepicheep!) has stuck with me. I also loved Shasta’s journey in A HORSE AND HIS BOY. I think THE HATCHET and THE GIVER are some of my favorites, too.
Jonathan, you are a kindred spirit. The name Reepicheep rolls so nicely off the tongue. Who can say this name without smiling??
And I love HATCHET and THE GIVER. Have you read all the Brian books and the Giver sequence? If not, go do it.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I appreciate what you said about emulating Charles and Caroline Ingalls. As a “new” parent, I am definitely noticing their characters more than I did as a child.
Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague, the Trixie Beldon series but my all time favorite was a little gem called The Black Whippet. I must have read that 500 times.
Piedmont Writer,
I’ve just Googled The Black Whippet, checked for it on my library’s site (don’t have it), and will ask my favorite local bookstore about it today. We’re getting a dog this summer, and a whippet is on the list. Another lovely dog book — FOLLOW MY LEADER.
I loved Trixie, too, but I have to confess I never connected with Misty (the only girl of my generation not to, I suppose).
Amanda, thanks for stopping by!
Comfort books…i like that. My son just turned 7 and has a greater capacity for read-aloud books, which has been lots of fun. We finished the entire Narnia series, which was awesome to read. And we just read The Box Car Children, which is totally delightful! Charlottes Web is great, The Giving Tree (sad, but sweet) and Winnie the Pooh are also ones we’ve enjoyed so far. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on more of these “comfort books” and sharing them with my kids. Great post!
p.s, just curious – do you think boys would enjoy the ingalls books? I just remember loving them as a girl, but I’m not sure if boys would enjoy them as much?
I was just reminiscing about the Little House books with my husband–I need to go back and reread those again. I found such new perspective on the later books, when she was courted by and married Almanzo, as an adult and fell in love all over again a few years ago!
Sara–I also adore the Narnia books. I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe every Christmas and, for some reason, adore reading Silver Chair in the midst of winter and Dawn Treader outdoors in the summer.
I would have to say-anything “Ingalls” gets me very excited! Although not so much the “Little House on the Prairie” series on tv. Just not the same.
I would have to say-anything “Ingalls” gets me very excited! Although not so much the “Little House on the Prairie” series on tv. Just not the same.
Leslie, I’m reading Little House with my boys now (the second time through for my eight-year-old). I think they should be required reading for every American child, but that’s the teacher/mother/reader side of me talking.
I included THE BOXCAR CHILDREN on my third-grade book club list. The kids loved it, and the story held the same charm it did for me years ago.
Also, as far as Little House and boys go, I remember my first year teaching one of my seventh graders, the star basketball player and a poplular kid with a big personality, fell in love with the Rose Wilder books. When I visited my students after moving away, he made a point to tell me he’d reread those books.
As for Pooh, I sobbed and sobbed when reading that last chapter of HOUSE AT POOH CORNER to my son. As a mother, that whole scene about growing up was very poignant.
Follow My Leader
The Princess and the Goblin
The Phantom Tollbooth
Riff, Remember (although I always cry)
I loved them! 🙂
Caroline, I should have told you the book is really old.
The Black Whippet c 1957 by Sybil Jacobsen published by The Viking Press.
Front cover says The Black Whippet by S. Sutton-Vane illustrated by Janet and Grahame-Johnstone
It was also published in Canada by the MacMillon Company
Carrie,
It thrills me that you have a special place in your heart for the Ingalls family. So do I…I still cherish the Monday evenings when we would read the books together and I still remember our inside jokes. It makes my heart smile! I also, still pick up the “Little House” books and read them over and over. I am so happy that we still share that!
Steph,
I’ll always remember how you kept me entertained reading LITTLE TOWN ON THE PRAIRIE when I was miserable with a cold. You’ll be happy to know my boys now enjoy Laura, too.
Shannon, we seem to love the same books. I’ll have to look up RIFF, REMEMBER.
I have an odd addiction to anything by Lenora Mattingly Weber when the going gets tough, especially A New and Different Summer. No idea why!
Childhood books that I still love to read include the Call of the Wild, The Secret Garden, and The Jungle Books. Laura Ingalls Wilder was one of my favorite authors as a child and Laura was my secret friend for what many adults thought was far too long!
Oooh a whole list of comfortable books!!! Love them… That’s a great post!!! Have a good reading week!!!
I have three boys; the only Little House book they liked was Farmer Boy.
Vonna! I talked about Laura like she was someone I knew personally.
Harry Potter for me now, even though I didn’t start reading them until I was about 22.
I remember loving the Ramona books when I was really young, although I don’t remember them that well… I do remember them eating cow tongue though haha.
I also loved The Little Princess and The Secret Garden. Another one I owned and re-read multiple times was “Behind the Attic Wall”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this on any list of best kids book, but I think it was fantastic.
And as a pre-teen I loved Judy Blume, of course.
I think I tried to read one Little House book when I was younger and never got into it. I might have been a little young for it though. Maybe I should read them again soon.
When I found out I was having a boy, that was one thing I was actually disappointed about – not being able to share all of my favorite books with him! lol