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#TopTenTuesday: Childhood Favorites

Dini @ dinipandareads29 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is: Childhood Favorites. Wowow. Did I love this walk down memory lane or did I love it? Writing this post was so much fun! Honestly, with my very terrible memory, I’ve pretty much forgotten the majority of what I used to read as a kid. But yay for Goodreads and Google because it really helped to jolt my memory. As a kid I would spend hours in the library; during play breaks and over lunch mostly to avoid bullies, and I’d beg mum to let me stay late after school so I could spend more time in there. It was my refuge and for always books have given me a sense of comfort and protection from the outside world. Here are some of the favorites that used to line my bookshelf at home.

Little Critter Series by Mercer Mayer.
I loved this little guy. The stories were so sweet and cute and just looking at these covers makes me wish that I still had copies of these books. I read all of them multiple times!

Arthur Adventure Series by Marc Brown.
Who doesn’t love Arthur, his friends, family and daily adventures?! I loved the TV series just as much as I did reading the books.

The Magic School Bus Series by Joanna Cole.
The magic school bus was magical and I learned so much through this series. I always wished science was as fun as this in real life and that my teacher would be as cool as Ms. Frizzle. On the Ocean Floor was absolutely my favorite. I had a real thing for the ocean when I was a kid. At one point one of my childhood dreams was to become a marine biologist.

Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
Do you remember the first book to ever make you cry? I’m pretty sure this book was the first one to make me bawl so hard. This was also the book that taught me that having dogs in books is not always a good thing because more often than not, your heart breaks at the end. I still remember how excited I was when I came home with this book–it was my treasure! Oh, the memories 🥰

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein.
Oh my goodness, Silverstein’s books were my absolute favorite. These were the books that made me love poetry and the magic of playing around with words and rhyming. I’m pretty sure I checked out this book and Where the Sidewalks Ends from the library dozens of times. I definitely want to add all of Shel Silverstein’s books to my shelves!

Goosebumps Seriesby R.L. Stine.
Anyone who knows me now would never believe that there was once a time I’d voluntarily read scary books. I’m pretty sure it was reading Goosebumps that turned me into the ultimate chicken because now I can’t stand the stuff—I’m just not made for it (sorry 🤷🏻‍♀️)! That said, my younger self used to love scaring the bejeezus out of myself because I had a whole load of these books. My favorites were the ones where you could “pick your own adventure” (basically a nightmare) and I’d go through the books again and again to read all the different endings. Fun times!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket #1) by Roald Dahl. My love for this book will never die. I remember being so blown away with the idea of this book — that there could be such magic in a factory full of choccies, sweets and all the wonderfully sweet (and unfairly forbidden) treats that I loved as a kid. This book and Charlie’s adventures in Willy Wonka’s factor was absolute magic to me and to this day, thinking about it still reminds me of how happy reading this story made me as a kid!

Animorphs Series by K.A. Applegate. OK, seriously, who remembers this crazy cool series!?Because I was legit obsessed with the Animorphs when I was in middle school. I loved the idea of shape shifting and generally kicking ass. I guess you could say this was my first foray into Sci-Fi. They were the best.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. Looking back now I realize how strong a character Karana is. I loved this story of survival and it was just a bonus that it was a story with the ocean and dolphins. I 100% would have perished on that island lol

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle.
I think this was the first book that I read in my early teens where I fell in love with romance in books. I was obviously already into boys and had loads of crushes, but this book made me want that summer love so bad! I was also part of the marine biology club in school at the time, so the fact that this story involves the ocean was even better. Funnily enough, every time I think about books I loved when I was younger, this cover is the first one that comes to mind, though I could (sadly) never remember the title, but bless Google. It’s amazing what you can find!

Did you read any of these as a child? What are some of your favorite childhood books? If you’ve done a Top Ten Tuesday post for today’s prompt, leave your link in the comments below and let’s chat 🙂

29 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: Childhood Favorites”

    • I had such a blast coming up with this list, but I have to admit that GR had to help me kickstart the memory flow 😂 I really wonder what it’d be like to reread these books now. I think I’d probably still love them — especially Shel Silverstein!

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  4. I never read the books (as far as I can remember), but I loved the Arthur and Magic School Bus T.V. shows! I did read and love Shiloh, Goosebumps, Roald Dahl books, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and maybe some Animorphs books (I know it, but I can’t remember if I read them – but I did read The Invasion recently!).

    My TTT

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    • What I really enjoyed about this book is that despite me growing up in Asia (although going to International/American schools), the book choices have (almost) been universally similar! 😃

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  6. This topic was really fun! and I agree- books can be (and were) such a great way to escape from the outside world for a while! And yes to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- I loved the book and just wanted to explore that mysterious, wonderful factory. 🙂

    I remember seeing Island of the Blue Dolphins at school book fairs and such, and thinking it looked good, but I never did get that one!

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    • OMG. I KNOW RIGHT!?!? Aaaaah, that book wrecked me. Hahaha I saw the cover and immediately had flashbacks to how much I was obsessed with that book. And yesss, Animorphs was probably my first series as a young adult? Haha thanks for stopping by 😃

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  9. Oh nice! I didn’t read the Critter books too much. I was more of a Berenstain Bears kind of girl! Lol! Though I did love Shel Sliverstein’s poems! Great picks here!

    Thanks for visiting my TTT post!

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  11. I had no idea the Magic School Bus was a book series.
    But now that I’ve looked at other lists I am remembering more books from Grade school that I loved. Mercer Meyer among them. I can’t believe I forgot about Shel Silverstein! Thanks for visiting my blog!
    Marie @ Pages to Explore

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    • Yes! They were books too and that’s how I remember them before the show came out and brought Miss Frizzle to life! Shel Silverstein is such a classic. Thanks for stopping by too 😄

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