Children’s Literature

This third installment of my “Favorite Books from Childhood” bookshelf, below, won’t resemble yours. It confirms I was certifiably horse-crazy. (Thanks to my daughter Liz for the new Black Stallion books at Christmas!) At 16 I finally had my temporary fill, at a tiny camp (17 girls, 12 horses) run by a retired British Cavalry captain. By the end of the summer some of us, including yours truly, were jumping a three-foot fence with no reins or stirrups. (PM me if you’re curious how that worked.) Horrible form, but I stayed on. Those were the days, because when I finally [...]

What fun yesterday was when I posted this on Facebook! Below is the second part of my “Favorite Books from Childhood” bookshelf, a real bookshelf I’m in the process of setting up, in case you missed the first post. I am SO enjoying rereading the books listed below! Little Black is still heartbreaking, and it was a shock to realize how un-P.C. the Bobbsey Twins books were. Haven’t gotten to Ellen Tebbetts yet, or Billy and Blaze. What books did you love, and maybe read over and over, ages 5-8? Early Elementary (K-3), ten favorites: Little Black, a Pony, by [...]

I am a writer, but before that, and all my life, I’ve been a reader. And over the past few frozen weeks, I’ve taken great pleasure in an unusual project: I’m assembling (and rereading!) all my favorite books from my childhood through high school, birth to age 18, on a single honored shelf. (If they fit.) No Kindles! They’re not all great literature, though many are classics. I’m going to share them by stages, and would love to hear your favorites as well. So here goes: Birth through Kindergarten, ten favorites. Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown Angus and the [...]