Kid's books... a survey, sort of

[pat]

My son's class has just finished reading one of my all-time favorite books from childhood, "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." (I trace my love of art and art museums to wanting to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with the heroine...)

I love children's literature. I still occasionally reread "Little Women" and "Rose in Bloom" by Louisa May Alcott. I think Jon Scieszka is a genius: every intelligent adult I know who has read it falls into fits of laughter over "Math Curse". And "Clack Clack, Moo Moo: Cows that Type" by Doreen Cronin gives me a serious case of hysterical giggles.


So, my question is .... what are your favorite kids' books?

What books did you read as a child change your life?
What books were your favorite escapes?
What books did you discover as an adult which you wish you had known about when you were a kid? (A good friend in college, horrified that I had never read "The Phantom Tollbooth," once gave me a copy for my birthday. I loved it after the first five pages.)
What books do you recommend or buy for your children, nieces and nephews, or your friends' kids?

And any age range here... from "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Goodnight, Moon" to "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."

I'm interested in seeing what books affected people. Not to mention checking into ones I haven't read yet : >

Comments

[frankenboob.livejournal.com]

Phantom tollbooth; Chronicles of Narnia; Dune; Interview with a Vampire. Nancy Drew. Hardy Boys. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Mr. Wiggly. Charlotte's Web. Swiss Family Robinson. Little house on the prarie (the set). Anne of Green Gables (the series). Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. Curious George. Archie comics. Rikki-tikki-tavi. Any/all fairy tales/poems. Diary of Anne Frank. Beezus and Ramona. Encyclopedia Brown. Aesops fables. Call of the Wild. A cricket in times square. (pardon the on again off again capitalization.. it's late.) All the Wizard of Oz books. A Little Princess. The Little Prince. Secret Garden. Doctor Dolittle. Ferdinand. Madeline.

Hard to just name a few... I read everything. I still do. I'm one of those people who reads cereal boxes, and labels. Anything and everything. Except, of course, for textbooks. :) Those put me to sleep within 5 words.

My Grandmother's neighbor used to give me Harlequin romance novels (in elementary school). My sister gave me *The Story of O* when I was in jr. high. Maybe it was elementary school. About the time she explained to me what a blow job was. She did a lot of speed back then & provided me with way too much information.