What were your favourite childhood books and characters?

Cher_Alumni

Today, 2 March 2023, is World Book Day. A charity event held globally, that aims to celebrate the joy of books, and promote the increased life chances reading for pleasure brings. As children across the UK go to school dressed as their favourite book character, we’re asking what was your favourite book and character when you were a child?

This morning I dropped my little boy off at nursery, dressed up as Peter Rabbit himself. A fan of Beatrix Potter, it was either going to be that or The Gruffalo for my little pre-school book fan. Seeing his love of books grow (mainly ‘lift the flap’ ones) is such a delight to see and he already has a library card, in case he turns out to be a bookworm like his mum!

Over to you

As we join in celebrating World Book Day, now is an opportune time to take a look at Scope’s storybooks featuring disabled children. And ask, which books did you love to read when you were little, and what characters were your favourites? The Twits? Meg and Mog? You tell us in the comments below 😊

Hannah_Alumni

I loved Winnie The Witch books as a kid, I'd probably go dressed up as her, or her cat, Wilbur

Lou67

@Cher_Scope

Aww how sweet I can imagine how cute your little boy was at nursery.
My granddaughter went as Snow White and took one off her seven dwarfs cuddly toys with her ❤️

When I was at school a long time ago lol I loved The lion the witch and the wardrobe book.

anisty

Malory Towers without a doubt - I really did wish i could have gone to boarding school and read and re-read those books over and over.

Have been through them all again with my own girls.


I have worked with kids since i was late teens and read thousands of books over the years. My favourite young children's books are The Tiger that Came to Tea and Snip Snap.


For older children (7 plus) The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.

Anne of Green Gables is another fave.


Too many!!

Cher_Alumni

@Hannah_Scope Can just imagine you as a cat! And admission, I've never read those books.. eep.

@Lou67 Snow White, cute overload!! 

And @anisty - I love The tiger that came to tea! I try to read it to my toddler but he loses interest and I end up reading it by myself!

Some books just take you back don't they. Some of my favourite memories from being a child were in the local library with the sound of the cafe in the distance, discovering different stories and excitedly telling my mum about them. Such an innocent and lovely time!

anisty

Absolutely, @Cher_Scope. Funny thing is, I don't think I read The Tiger that came to Tea until I was adult (if i did, i don't remember)


And my daughter never, ever liked it!!! In fact, she banned me from reading it to her😂😂  She hid the book!!


What i love about that story is that i can remember how the world appeared to me as a child so i can see the story through my own child eyes - i definitely would have believed the water in a tap could run out, the idea of going to a cafe in my nightie in the dark would have been magically exciting. 


And the reassurance of Daddy appearing and all is right with the world (so dated now!!)

The whole concept of Dad taking the fact a tiger has been in the house in his stride like it's the most normal thing and it's just like "no problem, let's just go to the caff!!"


I didnt even have a good dad. And yet the idea of Dad appearing in the story still appeals to me. Probably because i am a child of that time where mums did the home and dads fixed things and kept the family safe. So those ideas seem very comforting to me.



I bet today's children see this story very differently. Still a classic though!

Cher_Alumni

@anisty absolutely! It's all very quaint isn't it and low key, the fact the tiger came in the house and drunk all the water in the tap and ate all the food is no big deal. Then, they go to the trouble of buying some tiger food.. and he never visits again. Gutted! The illustrations alongside it make it a special read.

@Teddybear12 Ahhh the Wind in the willows is a true classic! 

WelshBlue

Enid Blyton.  Especially the Magic Faraway Tree series.  I read them again a couple of years ago 

chiarieds

I liked Enid Blyton's 'Adventure' series (The Castle of Adventure, The Mountain of Adventure, The Sea of Adventure, etc), but I also read Richmal Crompton's 'William' books, Anthony Buckeridge's 'Jennings' books, W.E. Johns' 'Biggles' books, & Elinor Brent-Dyer's 'Chalet School' books.

My daughter loved the 'King Rollo' books when she was little, which I should have kept as they are now collectible!

I'd never had the Peter Rabbit books as a child, so made sure I had them for my children (my son has kept them all - I know as they're in my spare bedroom!)

They both loved Roald Dahl, & my son's favourite author was Brian Jacques with his 'Redwall' series (he eventually sold his first edition copies to another book dealer who was very keen to buy them) as well as Rudyard Kipling & he still has the lovely blue cloth with gilt lettering pocket editions as well as a complete collection of his poetry. I remember him coming home from primary school complaining that I hadn't told him that Kipling also wrote poetry!

As you might guess both my son & I are avid book collectors, tho sadly not my daughter, who has only read 3 books in her adult life; I don't know where we got her from.

I hope your son continues to enjoy books too & if he hasn't got 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' I hope he gets it soon as it has holes for a child to put their fingers through, & was probably the most popular small child's book we sold.

Sandy_123

Black beauty  was a good one and all the ladybird books 

JBS2022

I loved Roald Dahls The Witches terrified me as a kid but loved it anyway

Strawberry1

I remember reading Peter and Jane books . Ladybird books I remember liking .

ShirleyW

@chiarieds as a child I would stay up reading Enid Blyton books under the covers with a torch.  Mainly the Famous Five and The Secret Seven.  My daughter loved Brian Jacques and his 'Redwall' series.

I never had any Beatrix Potter books as a child but I bought them for my own children.  My son could read Peter Rabbit from front to back from being about 2 years old.  I say "read" but he had memorised it and used to hold the book upside down to read it to himself.  He reads more than me these days and studied English Literature at university.

@Sandy_123 I discovered Black Beauty as a child and loved it.  My daughter loves it too.

I loved The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge and still read it every now and again.  I also loved Heidi which I first read when I stayed with my Grandmother for a few weeks when I was about 9 years old.

I didn't really have many books as a child.  My Mother wasn't a book lover but my Father was.  I mainly used to go to the library to get books to read.  From being about 10 or 11 years old I used to read my Father's library books which were mainly Science Fiction ones.  Hence my love of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.  

chiarieds

We had some of the 'classics' at home, & I read all of the Charles Dicken's books we had. My first foray into an adult book was Walter Scott's 'Ivanhoe,' which I read when I was 9. My son jumped from children's books to Wilbur Smith when he was 10.

Like yourself @ShirleyW - every Saturday was library day. It was my Mum that read a lot rather than my Dad. I used to start reading books in the adult section about natural history whilst waiting for my parents after I'd chosen some children's books. My Mum used to find a couple of books that she would like & I could also safely read (I remember the ones by Jane Duncan). My Dad only every wanted a couple of books, so I got to borrow books on elephants & wild cats. My son is also very much into natural history, especially wild cats.

My son only started reading Sci-fi & Fantasy when he took over our bookshop in his 20s. He collects Joe Abercrombie, & also has some by Alastair Reynolds.

So many good books mentioned; I also loved the Heidi books & ladybird books; I remember ones about different countries, animals & birds.

I also read all of Arthur Ransome's books ('Swallows & Amazons,' etc). The Narnia books were also magical, my favourite being 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.'

ShirleyW

@chiarieds I forgot the Narnia books!  The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was my favourite. I enjoyed Swallows and Amazons too.  You had a bookshop?!  How wonderful!

No one ever took me to the library.   I went by myself from being 10 years old.  It was a five minute walk away but across a busy main road.  I would spend time there after school and every Saturday.   I would sit in the corner on the floor reading for hours until I was hungry.

It's funny though, I absolutely love reading but struggled with it at school until I was about 8 years old.  I can remember it just looking like squiggles on a page.  Then one day, all of a sudden the squiggles turned into words and I could see people and the things they were doing.  It's still a very vivid memory in my mind. 

Autism_at_40

When I was young, I loved the Saddleclub books (a;so being in horse riding too).  There were some teen books, but I can't remember the name now.

durhamjaide2001

Tracy Beaker 

UKDJ

My favourite author - as a very young child, the first 'series' of books I remember reading - was Enid Blyton (Famous Five/Secret Seven).

Hannah_Alumni

@UKDJ You know I don't think I have ever read a Famous Five book. I may have had one read to me as a kid. When I was at school it was Skip the dog and Biff and Chip Then of course, Harry Potter. I only had Winnie the Witch books as my aunt bought them for me

Albus_Scope

I loved (and still love) Frank Muir's What-a-mess character. I really saw myself in that scruffy, bumbling oaf of a dog, trying to find out who he was in this world.  I rebought some of the books last year. 

WhatThe

Ditto The Famous Five by Enid Blyton!

Not sure I read much else but annuals which I now know was down to my autism..

Sister was a bookworm, parents borrowed library books all their lives, daughter is a bookworm. There's no logic to my lack of interest/ability to read a book and skipping to the last page. 

Hermann Hesse and Gabriel Garcia Marquez are the only adult reads I've enjoyed and finished.