I've never been able to make it to the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I always lose interest by the time Lucy brings the rest of her family in to meet Mr Tumnus. I much preferred The Magician's Nephew.

I have never, ever read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In fact, the first time I ever heard of it was when I read it on your blog, Keris.

I too was a Malory Towers girl, with St Clare's coming in a close second and then Famous Five. But have never read a Secret Seven book!

Posted by: Stella | February 22, 2008 4:39 PM

Ah, you see, I think the trick is to have read it as a kid... Crazily enough, I still remember the day I plucked it off the shelf of my elementary school library during "library period" - I was in the second grade! - and thinking 'huh... what's this?'. And then subsequently devouring it as as fast as a 7 year-old can devour a book, and then thinking this was the absolute best book in the world, and why hadn't anyone told me about it, and left my discovery of it totally up to chance?

A few years ago I cracked it open again to see if the magic would still be there, and I couldn't get through the first chapter.

That's why I'm in such awe of children's authors... exactly how do you channel that inner child that's mesmerized by books like The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe as an adult?

Posted by: Nadine D | February 22, 2008 4:43 PM

I agree, Nadine. I do wish I'd read it as a child because I'm sure I would have loved it.

And, Stella, you've never read The Very Hungry Caterpillar? It's great!

Posted by: Keris | February 22, 2008 4:46 PM

Nadine, I tried to read it over and over as a child and still, could never finish it. I may try to read it again with my son.

Posted by: Stella | February 22, 2008 6:56 PM

My favorite of the Narnia series was The Silver Chair. It was a more classic quest-type fantasy, and the characters were friends rather than brother and sister, which I liked. They were too young for a romance to develop, but I liked to imagine that they might end up together when they were older.

I'm not sure what my favorite book as a child was. I read so much and so widely, and I went through phases where I'd be utterly obsessed with a particular series, then after a while I'd move on to being utterly obsessed with something else. There was the Nancy Drew phase, the Tolkein phase (which, oddly, came before the Narnia mania), the Narnia phase, the Lloyd Alexander phase, etc. I also started reading adult books when I was nine, so my exclusively children's book phase was pretty short.

Posted by: Shanna Swendson | February 22, 2008 9:41 PM

Ah, I spent a few years walking into cupboards and hoping to find another world meself! I must admit, "winter but never Christmas" kind of appealed to me, then and now...

Love the Very Hungry Caterpillar, or Il Piccolo Bruco Maisazio, as I knew it in my childhood. ;)

And I too was a Malory Towers gal. :)

Posted by: Luisa | February 22, 2008 11:00 PM

Well you know I love The Famous Five - I would have put that at the top! But I am also a Malory Towers girl. And St. Clares. And the adventure series...and the ones with Kiki the parrot...

Posted by: Helen | February 23, 2008 11:20 AM