My Top 5 Favorite Books of Childhood

GIVEAWAY: win UNTIL WE FIND HOME and special gift!

January 18, 2018

• 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.

UNTIL WE FIND HOME by Cathy Gohlke

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]

Buy UNTIL WE FIND HOME: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell's Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Ripped Bodice | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR

About Cathy Gohlke

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.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK

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)

Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!