My Top 5 Favorite Books of Childhood
GIVEAWAY: win UNTIL WE FIND HOME and special gift!
January 18, 2018
Meg Ryan nailed it. In You've Got Mail, bookstore owner Kathleen Kelly
(Ryan) stands behind the counter of The Shop Around the Corner and insists,
"When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way
that no other reading in your whole life does." "Hear! Hear!" I remember books and their characters from my childhood as if they
were living, breathing folk—animals and humans alike. I could bump into them
today and know their names, understand their motivations, imagine the decisions
they'd make in a world or time outside their own. They were and are my friends—part of my fiber and being. I'm not sure if I
picked my favorite books because I'm like those characters and believe I could
comfortably slip into their shoes, or because those characters have influenced
my own thought processes and character growth. Either way, we're friends for life. Here are my favorites and why I love them:
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer—This story chronicles, tongue in Mark
Twain's cheek, a good-hearted, fun-loving, sometimes conscious-stricken,
creative boy magnetically drawn to trouble and adventure, who precariously walks
a knife's edge of danger. Through it all, he remains steadfast in friendship.
Dialogue rolls off his tongue like honey.
- Anne of Green Gables (series)—Great storytelling warms the heart in
this tale of a lonely orphan girl who longs to belong, lives through her
imagination, and achieves the stuff of dreams—which turns out to be teaching,
mentoring, and writing the book she was born to write. Though she nearly loses
everything by chasing her dreams, before the end of the series she discovers
love in her own backyard, and that home is the greatest treasure of all.
- Little Women—Josephine "Jo" March is a writer from childhood, an
actress and director at heart, happily penning thrilling stories in her attic by
candlelight while the family sleeps. She loves and sacrifices for family, and
longs for—and creates—adventure. Struggling through poverty, she finds love in
unexpected places, but in the end, like her author, "paddles her own canoe."
- A Child's Garden of Verses—Robert Louis Stevenson created lyrical
worlds from a Victorian child's imagination. I love the cadence, the rhythm, the
rhyme, the noticing and appreciation of things a "grown-up" would never see.
"Delight" is my takeaway from this book.
- The Secret Garden—A lonely orphan girl and chronically ill boy are
both renewed and made well by the strengthening forces of hope, community,
beauty, and nature. Love conquers depression and superstition.
These books embody so many things I love—faith, home, family, the desire to love
and be loved and to belong, strong characters and character growth, the thrill
of adventure, creativity, writing, imagination, loyalty, the beauties and
healing power of nature, the rhythm and cadence of words, and winsome dialogue
true to their genres and time periods. I've learned that by embodying elements I love and believe in a story, my novels
ring richer and true. Not surprisingly, I've poured elements from each of these
books into my latest novel, Until We Find Home. Perhaps more than any
book I've written, this story contains the thrill, the adventure and joy of my
childhood and young adulthood. There is a boy whose penchant for trouble matches
Tom Sawyer's. There's even a villain reminiscent of Injun Joe, and a scene
worthy of the night Tom and Becky were lost in the cave, pursued by that
knife-wielding fiend. Claire, the main character, longs to write like Jo March,
and a houseful of potential orphans long for a home and family, like Anne. One
of Robert Louis Stevenson's poems is remembered, and a secret garden brings
healing and restoration to many. UNTIL WE FIND HOME also
contains a number of my life's lessons, in fictionalized form. Writing is the opportunity to pour my heart onto paper, to share with readers
those things that have helped me, inspired me, made me question and challenge
myself and the status quo. Writing stories creates a means to do that and to
share joy and hope with others—a better means than any other I know. The debt I owe to books read in childhood can never be repaid—except by sharing
them with new readers . . . a gift that keeps on giving.
For American Claire Stewart, joining the French Resistance sounded as
romantic as the storylines she hopes will one day grace the novels she wants to
write. But when she finds herself stranded on English shores, with five French
Jewish children she smuggled across the channel before Nazis stormed Paris,
reality feels more akin to fear.
With nowhere to go, Claire throws herself on the mercy of an estranged aunt,
begging Lady Miranda Langford to take the children into her magnificent estate.
Heavily weighted with grief of her own, Miranda reluctantly agrees . . . if
Claire will stay to help. Though desperate to return to France and the man she
loves, Claire has few options. But her tumultuous upbringing— spent in the
refuge of novels with fictional friends—has ill-prepared her for the daily
dramas of raising children, or for the way David Campbell, a fellow American
boarder, challenges her notions of love. Nor could she foresee how the tentacles
of war will invade their quiet haven, threatening all who have come to call
Bluebell Wood home and risking the only family she’s ever known.
Set in England’s lush and storied Lake District in the early days of World
War II, and featuring cameos from beloved literary icons Beatrix Potter and C.
S. Lewis, Until We Find Home is an unforgettable portrait of life on the British
home front, challenging us to remember that bravery and family come in many
forms.
Women's Fiction
Historical [Tyndale House Publishers, On Sale:
January 9, 2018, Trade Size / e-Book, ISBN: 9781496410962 / eISBN:
9781496427670]
Three-time Christy and two-time Carol and INSPY Award–winning author Cathy
Gohlke writes novels steeped with inspirational lessons from history. Her
stories reveal how people break the chains that bind them and triumph over
adversity through faith. When not traveling to historic sites for research, she,
her husband, and their dog, Reilly, divide their time between northern Virginia
and the Jersey Shore, enjoying time with their grown children and grandchildren.
Win a copy of UNTIL WE FIND HOME and a special gift. What are your favorite childhood books? Tell us below.
Comments
32 comments posted.
Re: My Top 5 Favorite Books of Childhood
I loved several of the books you mentioned. Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. I also loved the Little House on the Prairie series. (Pam Howell 7:57am January 18, 2018)
I loved all of the books you have listed. Wow. And your book sounds like a true winner!!!! (Nancy Reynolds 9:51am January 18, 2018)
Your list is exactly what I had in my home and read when I was young. The books which are classics and I grew up appreciating and enjoying. Anne of Green Gables is my favorite and I read the entire series in hardcover in the 1950's borrowed from the public library in Mtl. where I lived at the time. This made an impression upon me and was meaningful since my late mother introduced me to this enchanting series. (Sharon Berger 11:40am January 18, 2018)
Many books that you mentioned were required reading in English classes that I attended during grade school. I think my love for reading comes from being able to imagine the characters in my minds' eye. (Diane McMahon 12:43pm January 18, 2018)
Great choices on your books, I also loved Misty of Chincoteague! Still hope to get there someday to see the wild horses! (Audrey Burke 12:55pm January 18, 2018)
Reading your list brought back happy memories. I would include some other Louisa May Alcott books: An Old Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom. I also loved Heidi and the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and Nancy Drew. (G. Bisbjerg 1:10pm January 18, 2018)
My favorite childhood books were the Bobbsey Twins series and the Nancy Drew series. I always loved Nancy's adventurous spirit. (Maryann Skaritka 4:17pm January 18, 2018)
When I was a child (and, oh this dates me....)I liked the Booth Tarkington books, that naughty Penrod much like Tom Sawyer! As an adult, I read the entire Anne of Green Gables series and wow, just wow. And, if anyone has never read, Mick Harte was here by Barbara Park (one of her lesser known books) please pick it up. You may just save a life. (Susan Coster 4:20pm January 18, 2018)
Growing up in a family of 7 kids, books were basically non-existent in our house. We took books out of the church and school libraries but my parents didn't have money to buy us books. The ones I remember most from my childhood were all gifts! Little House on the Prairie, Black Beauty and Bread and Jam for Frances. I read and reread those books. Other favourites were Nancy Drew and Boxcar Children. I remember when Janette Oke's Love comes Softly series first came out. A friend at church introduced me to those. Wow! I had arrived! (Arletta Boulton 6:49pm January 18, 2018)
I have just the right little girl to love this prize. She has just learned to read her first child's book. And I agree that early reading is so important for a child's future. (Gladys Paradowski 10:29pm January 18, 2018)
Love this! 3 out of yours were also my favorites. Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, and Little Women. I also loved Heidi and The Witch, the Lion and the Wardrobe. I didn't finish the series until much later. (Annie Jc 9:35am January 19, 2018)
One of my favorite books as a child was The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. Such a sweet story that I love! (Mary Lou Coughlin 11:21am January 19, 2018)
The Secret Garden and the Nancy Drew books. (Cheryl Castings 11:42am January 19, 2018)
Didn't have a lot of books at home, so it was mostly from the school library. A Lot of Nancy Drew, but I watched several of those movies.So our boys had lots of books, I worked in the local library and exposed them to a wide variety of books till they made their own choices. (Nancy Luebke 5:19pm January 19, 2018)
I still love Robert Lewis Stevenson's poems, and have my book from childhood, which was actually my mother's book. (Kay M 7:04pm January 19, 2018)
This looks like the kind of book you are talking about in your post. One that a young woman could read and have it stay with her throughout her life. One of my favorite authors when I was young was Mary Stewart and I still love her books to this day. (Mary Songer 7:20pm January 19, 2018)
Charlotte's Web, Cinderella, and The Berenstain Bears were some of my favorites growing up. (Sally Baldwin 8:22pm January 19, 2018)
Mine were the Judy Bolton books (Jeri Dickinson 8:42pm January 19, 2018)
The books that stand out in my mind the most from my childhood were "The Sweet Touch" and "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". I read everything I could get my hands on as a child but for some reason loved the idea of inanimate objects and weather becoming food. I used to love the pictures and imagine what I would eat. (Carrie Edmunds 1:28am January 20, 2018)
Fave book was a Children's Bible Story book, and I liked Bobbsey Twins, then Nancy Drew and biographies! I love how you include things from your life in your writing. Until We Find Home sounds like my fave type of reading. Eager to dive in. (Mary Kay Moody 6:09pm January 20, 2018)
My favorites were the Laura Ingalls and Nancy Drew books. I love to read!!!!!! (Teresa Ward 9:20pm January 20, 2018)
My favorites were the Narnia series. (Denise Malia 1:17am January 21, 2018)
Anne of Green Gables books, Little House books, Bobbsey Twins, Little Colonel books (Linda Harrison 12:20pm January 21, 2018)
Laura Ingalls (Julie Parrish 4:12pm January 21, 2018)
Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames (Sandy Haber 4:44pm January 21, 2018)
Loved all of those you mentioned. What great memories! Especially the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. (Phyllis LaCroix 9:06pm January 21, 2018)
I loved "Alice In Wonderland" and the Oz books and "Stuart Little"! (John Smith 9:58pm January 21, 2018)
Some of my favorites were Little Women, the Pollyanna series, Little House on the Prairie, Black Beauty, and Jane Eyre. My brother received the first book of the Tarzan series, but I'm the one who read it. (Anna Speed 12:26pm January 22, 2018)
Heidi was my favorite (Jean Benedict 2:42pm January 22, 2018)
I find that I must be honest. I haven't had the pleasure of reading any of your wonderfully sounding books. Yet, after taking the time to look over your page I find myself VERY interested in many of your works of art. The most wonderful sounding of all of them is your most recent book "Until We Find Home". I love the way you included so much of yourself in the story. I believe the richness of a story, in many cases, coincides with the authors' believability. When an author includes a little bit more of themselves in a story than normal the story almost always resides in a class saved for those filled with the highest wonderment and amazingness. Thank You for all the work you've done with your wonderfully described stories. ( I wish I could say just how wonderful they are but without having read any yet I can't) (Julie Lutz 3:37pm January 22, 2018)
The books I loved during my childhood are a large number of varied titles but a few of them are..... The Ramona Quimby books, The Box Car Children, Nancy Drew mysteries, Little Women, and unfortunately, I can't seem to recall any others at the moment but I'm sure those are enough to date my age hehe. (Julie Lutz 3:40pm January 22, 2018)
like it (Orna Soref 6:52pm January 22, 2018)
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