Saturday, February 11, 2006
Five, not three
Found here, originally from here, but I'm sticking with Sheila's modification to five choices instead of three. I had a hard enough time narrowing it down to five, and I keep thinking of more. I'm limiting this to books I first read as a kid.
Name five favorite children's series.
1. The Green-sky trilogy by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. I read the first of these, Below the Root, when I was in 4th or 5th grade and LOVED it. I wanted to live in Green-sky. I didn't realize it was the first of a trilogy until I went back to read it as an adult.
2. The Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery. It sounds so cliché to list these, and I do think the Emily books are better, but I have a soft spot for these ones. The first three are the best.
3. The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. These are such an integral part of my childhood memories! I loved Ramona and read all of these repeatedly.
4. The Chronicles of Narnia. Of course.
5. The Mortimer books by Joan Aiken. How can you not love books featuring a pet raven who croaks "Nevermore," AND illustrations by Quentin Blake? We had a library contest at school one year--a quiz about books--and I was part of a 3-way tie for first place. The tie-breaker task was to draw a few scenes from a favorite book, and I chose to draw Mortimer's adventures with the sword Excalibur.
Name five favorite non-series children's books.
1. Kate by Jean Little. There are other books that go along with this one, but Kate is my favorite. The characters and their friendship were (and are) so real to me. I used to wish I knew Kate and Emily.
2. The BFG or Matilda or Danny, the Champion of the World...oh, shoot, anything by Roald Dahl. Hands down, my favorite author when I was a kid.
3. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson. I still remember feeling incensed at the scene where Louise finds Caroline "slathering her hands with my Jergens." This book depicts Louise's emotions so perfectly.
4. You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye by Patricia Hermes. This book is so sad and so real and so awesome.
5. The Queen's Nose by Dick King-Smith. (He also wrote The Sheep-pig, which was butchered into the movie Babe. The movie is a travesty, I tell you! Do not argue with me on this one!) It's because of this book that I began carefully looking for 50 pence coins that looked like this. They might be magic! They might grant wishes!
Name five favorite children's book characters.
1. Ramona Quimby--So many things she said and thought and did were things I did as a kid. Who doesn't love Ramona?
2. Matilda Wormwood from Matilda--I totally identified with a girl who read all the books in the children's section of the library. I loved the ingenuity of the pranks she played on the people who were so hard on her.
3. Eeyore--Thanks for noticing me.
4. Kate Bloomfield from Kate--I always wanted a friend like Kate.
5. Ole Golly in Harriet the Spy--so wise, so wonderful. If every kid had an Ole Golly, the world would be better.
There are so many more I haven't listed...
Name five favorite children's series.
1. The Green-sky trilogy by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. I read the first of these, Below the Root, when I was in 4th or 5th grade and LOVED it. I wanted to live in Green-sky. I didn't realize it was the first of a trilogy until I went back to read it as an adult.
2. The Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery. It sounds so cliché to list these, and I do think the Emily books are better, but I have a soft spot for these ones. The first three are the best.
3. The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. These are such an integral part of my childhood memories! I loved Ramona and read all of these repeatedly.
4. The Chronicles of Narnia. Of course.
5. The Mortimer books by Joan Aiken. How can you not love books featuring a pet raven who croaks "Nevermore," AND illustrations by Quentin Blake? We had a library contest at school one year--a quiz about books--and I was part of a 3-way tie for first place. The tie-breaker task was to draw a few scenes from a favorite book, and I chose to draw Mortimer's adventures with the sword Excalibur.
Name five favorite non-series children's books.
1. Kate by Jean Little. There are other books that go along with this one, but Kate is my favorite. The characters and their friendship were (and are) so real to me. I used to wish I knew Kate and Emily.
2. The BFG or Matilda or Danny, the Champion of the World...oh, shoot, anything by Roald Dahl. Hands down, my favorite author when I was a kid.
3. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson. I still remember feeling incensed at the scene where Louise finds Caroline "slathering her hands with my Jergens." This book depicts Louise's emotions so perfectly.
4. You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye by Patricia Hermes. This book is so sad and so real and so awesome.
5. The Queen's Nose by Dick King-Smith. (He also wrote The Sheep-pig, which was butchered into the movie Babe. The movie is a travesty, I tell you! Do not argue with me on this one!) It's because of this book that I began carefully looking for 50 pence coins that looked like this. They might be magic! They might grant wishes!
Name five favorite children's book characters.
1. Ramona Quimby--So many things she said and thought and did were things I did as a kid. Who doesn't love Ramona?
2. Matilda Wormwood from Matilda--I totally identified with a girl who read all the books in the children's section of the library. I loved the ingenuity of the pranks she played on the people who were so hard on her.
3. Eeyore--Thanks for noticing me.
4. Kate Bloomfield from Kate--I always wanted a friend like Kate.
5. Ole Golly in Harriet the Spy--so wise, so wonderful. If every kid had an Ole Golly, the world would be better.
There are so many more I haven't listed...
Labels: reading
| posted by Barbara | 2:20 AM