"When you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way no other reading in your whole life does." (Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail)
I've done several top 5 and top 10 lists, but never a posted about favorite childhood books. These books made my list as "favorites" because years later after reading them they still impact me, and I still think of them.
The power of a great story is timeless. In no particular order here is my top 10 list. (Sorry, Mom I know I Can Fly isn't a classic per se, but it did make me fall in love with reading. Thank you for wearing out three copies of this book and reading it to me countless times!)
I Can Fly was a Little Golden book that my long-suffering parents wore out 3 copies of and I'd take it everywhere we went. It didn't matter what my mom was doing I always wanted her to read this book to me. I guess you could say I Can Fly was the book that started my love of reading.
Anne Shirley is probably one of the most well-known and beloved heroines in fiction 116 years later since her Anne of Green Gables publishing debut in 1908. Author L.M. Montgomery published a total of 8 Anne books. Readers have often been drawn red-headed Anne's spunky and optimistic nature. C.S. Lewis said, "No book is worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and far more often) worth reading at the age of fifty."
I first discovered The Blue Castle when I was 17 and have since read it 8 or 9 times. The Blue Castle has been one of those books I've read at various stages in my life and what I've come to appreciate over time is how the heroine Valancy is becoming who she was meant to be.
I remember junior year of high school staying up till 2 AM reading this story with a flashlight under the covers. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird was an instant success. Image that...publishing one book in your life and it's a bestseller and a renowned classic.
Keeper of the Bees is author and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter's last book written before her death. The author's love of nature shines through in Keeper of the Bees, but also it has kindness, wisdom and healing. I liked that the romance had a mysterious element to it with Jamie (the hero) not knowing who the "Storm Woman" was right away. If you're a fan of Stratton-Porter, I urge you to check out Keeper of the Bees.
The March sisters- Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. I think what I remember/am drawn to most in Little Women is the love of family. the bond of sisters had with one another and their mother Marmee's words of wisdom to her daughters.
Stepping Heavenward stuck with me as being a very wise and prudent book about a young women's journey in Christ through her journal. Page one of her journal is her sixteenth birthday, and she bemoans at how "dreadfully old" she's getting. You see her grow in maturity and grace.
The Princess is a modern-day arranged marriage between commoner Shelby Parker and widower Prince Nikolai Markham. Nikolai and Shelby's love story is magical, and you'll want to re-live it again and again.
As a bookworm who was reading Austen at age fourteen it's no surprise, I was an English major in college. Are you even a legitimate English major if you don't like Jane Austen? I feel like Emma is a regency era romantic comedy ahead of its time.
Dee Henderson's O'Malley series taught me that family isn't always blood. Sometimes it's the people you choose as your family. Siblings who chose one another and took on the last name O'Malley: Kate, Marcus, Lisa, Jack, Rachel, Stephen and Jennifer. I read and re-read their stories multiple times. Now I want to go back and re-read this whole series.
Did any of these books make your list of favorite childhood books? What were your favorite childhood books to read?
Reading is an adventure,
Emilee
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