Those magical Unusual Books of childhood

[Perpetual Man]

After writing something in another thread it got me to thinking – about the books we read or had read to us as children which has lead me to a two pronged question.

Firstly what books stick in your mind from when you were a child and might have influenced your reading choices today?

In my case (although there were many from Rupert the Bear to the Bee Bee Bobby Bird and the Tale of Samuel Whiskers) Two that stand out were Alpha Centauri by Robert Siegel, a C S Lewis style fantasy about a girl who goes to a world populated by Centaurs. It’s a very vague memory or a book and one that has been hard to track down (but today managed to get one, waiting for it to arrive).

The other is an even stranger one called The Did Of Didn’t Think by Rev. H Escott Inman, a morality fairy tale about a thoughtless boy whose excuse for all his misdemeanours is that he didn’t think and is then transported to a magical land, where no one thinks (so much that their heads shrink) and it becomes his quest to free their imprisoned ruler The Did! Good solid fun with lots of weird characters and creatures, but apart from the battered old copy I have I’ve never seen another, and no one seems to have heard of it, very little online although I have found a mention or two of Inman and other books he wrote.

So the second question is has anyone else heard of the either of the two above?

[elvet]

Interesting topic!
The 2 most memorable books from my childhood are The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I don't think they are an unusual choice, but they definitely fit the bill of magical for me. Now that I think about it, both have the same theme - a secret place to get away that no one else knows about. I imagine had I read Narnia as a child, I would have liked it too. Of the 2, The Velvet Room made more of an impression. I could easily identify with Robin, even though the story was set in the '30s. I read this book over and over again, just to recaputure the sense of wonder at first seeing that hidden room.
In retrospect, there must be a connection between this idea of escapism and my enjoyment of 'fish out of water' stories where the person accesses a portal to another time or place. I always enjoyed the inclusion of secret passages, rooms, or doors as part of a story (my favorite part of the Nancy Drew books). They hold so much promise. I distinctly remember searching our house for my own secret getaway spot .

Tim, I am unfamiliar with your picks, but I was only exposed to a limited selection of childhood books. I grew up in a french speaking area of Montreal. Our local library only had 3 bookcases for English children's books. My other source of books was the Scholastic Book Services that came to the schools every month and gave us a list of books to purchase at a discount. Being an only child, I never had any children's books actually recommended to me by another child, so I picked what appealed to me. I'm sure I missed a lot of classics, like Narnia.

[steve12553]

Ah, the Scholastic Book Club. Those wonderful flyers that dreams were made of. From there I found the Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek, a light fantasy aboutchildhood, growing up and possible imaginary friends and Revolt on Alpha C, a Robert Silverberg YA title about recognizing right even if it defies what you've always known and being true too yourself. Both books included dinosaurs and one took place in outer space hence the trend of my life toward Science Fiction.

[mosaix]

The War of The Worlds and Journey to The Centre of The Earth. Read them both initially in comic form in Illustrated Classics but just I just had to get the books ASAP.

[elvet]

... the Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek ...

Oooh, I remember that one too!

[murphy]

The many Oz books started by Frank Baum and the Carson of Venus and Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Burroughs Mars books came later.

[Rosemary]

The Secret Garden was the first 'magical' book that I read as a child, mostly at night under the covers by the light of a torch...even way back then I was a book worm!

Narnia was the next book, probably when I was about 8 years old, although I was unable to finish it at the time. It wasn't until my son started Primary School that I was able to read it all.

[dwndrgn]

Never read a lot of children's and YA books, however, I can think of two books I read/had read to me early on that made a big impression. The first (as I've mentioned before on this forum) is Nor Crystal Tears an Alan Dean Foster book that made me want to keep reading. The second was The Phantom Tollbooth that was read to/by our class in third grade (did we take turns reading bits or did the teacher just read to us? Can't quite remember.). Anyway, The Phantom Tollbooth absolutely captured my imagination and I immediately ran out and borrowed my own copy to finish it before the snails pace at which our class was moving. Loved it and the library and have never left

[Cobolt]

The Little grey men go down the bright stream, an excellent fantasy book from my young years.

After that the next book I remember most vivid was Star Dog (can't remember the author but it was about a dog having an ectra set of legs!!! and I cannot forget to mention the brilliant Robert Heinlein's Have Space Suit, Will Travel.

[kyektulu]

I loved Enid Blyton's book 'The Magic Faraway Tree' when I was very young, then I moved on to the 'Point Fantasy' books.
At age 11 I began reading Dragonlance and never looked back.

[the smiling weirwood]

My favorite books of my childhood: The Phantom Tollbooth(the first real book I read myself), The Chronicles of Narnia, The Bridge to Terebithia, and The Hobbit(I didn't read LotR until later)

[Gladestrider]

I used to love the Encyclopedia Brown series, and read them all several times. The Oz books were great too, of course. I can't recall any other specific titles at the moment.

I first read The Hobbit and LotR when I was in 7th grade, so I was technically still a child. I've been reading fantasy ever since.

[nixie]

Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree also there was few others of hers think one was wa called, The Wishing Well.Then there was Pandora's Box,Mary Norton's Borrowers.Chronicles of Narina and of course Heidi and Black Beauty

[jackokent]

Did any every read any Susan Cooper (the dark is rising, Greenwitch, over sea under stone) or Alan Garner (Elidor, the owl service, the weird stone of Brislington, the moon of Gonwrath. I thought (still think) they are absolutely brilliant.

[the smiling weirwood]

oh, yes! Susan Cooper is awesome! I also read the Chrestomanci Chronicles by Diana Wynne Jones, who I absolutely adore.