If someone were to ask me which chapter books I read as a child I could probably sit down make you a list of more than a hundred books, but if you were to ask me which ones were memorable, which ones sit in my memory still, the list would be much shorter.
With one exception I couldn't even tell you how I old I was when I first read these books, but they are the books I easily remember plot arcs or vivid moments without difficulty despite the fact that I have not re-read them as an adult (yet). All of these are now considered classics, even though several of them were more recent publications when I was a kid. [Update: I've read several of these books aloud to my boys, with much success!]
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Here are a few of them:
The Westing Game. If you think kids can't handle intricate and complex mystery plots, you are incredibly mistaken.
Anne of Green Gables. Thought not as complex a book as the above, it is hard to get past this book's lasting influence. I read this over and over as a kid.
The Secret Garden. I dreamed of having my own Secret Garden. But then, didn't we all?
The Phantom Tollbooth. When I learned that language was something to be loved. And made fun of.
Which chapter books from your childhood stayed with you? What books do you hope your kids will read?
MaryAnne K says
I loved several of these! "The Phantom Tollbooth", for whatever reason, never caught my interest. Maybe I'll appreciate it more as an adult?
Jennifer says
Bawling-eyes-out book: Where the Red Fern Grows. I recall how it wrecked me for the rest of the day.
Gina says
Ohhh, totally forgot about Where The Red Fern Grows! We read it in school and I couldn't stop crying either!
Mom and Kiddo says
I know I read Red Fern, and also I know everyone thinks it's terrific and terribly sad, but honestly I can not remember one thing about it, except something about dogs. And perhaps that is why it didn't stay with me.
Or maybe I'm just dead inside.
Steph says
Great list! I loved reading Bridge to Terabithia to my class. I also love Tuck Everlasting. And I was a bit older when I read it, maybe twelve, but To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the book from childhood that stayed with me the most.
Mom and Kiddo says
To Kill a Mockingbird is obviously one of the best books for kids, but I was in high school when I read it, so I didn't put it on this list.
Gina says
I agree with you...so many chapter books to enjoy as a child. Many of my students in 4th grade love a lot of the books on your list!
Even in Australia says
I am so with you on Anne and The Mixed-Up Files. I read Phantom Tollbooth and the Westing Game as adults - loved the first but not the second. I also loved the All-of-a-Kind Family books and Ramona.
Mom and Kiddo says
The only 2 things I remember about Ramona, even though I'm certain I read all the books is 1) the scene in which she takes a single bite of all the apples because "everyone knows the first bite is the best."; and 2) the dinner in which the mother makes and serves TONGUE!
Julie says
I just linked to this post -
http://commcentralcreatively.blogspot.com/2012/05/summer-reading-list.html
love your book reviews!
Raising a Happy Child says
Well, clearly my chapter books were different 🙂 From the authors that are known here I would name Astrid Lindgren, Milne and Jules Verne. I never read any of the books you mentioned in my childhood.
Fanny Harville says
My most memorable childhood chapter books include Anne of Green Gables, The Little Princess, The Railway Children, The Secret Garden, and all the Betsy-Tacy books.
Mom and Kiddo says
Oh, I just loved all the Betsy-Tacy books, too. And my mother was from Minnesota so I figured that was what her life must have been like. Ha Ha.
Fanny Harville says
You betcha, that's exactly what life is still like in Minnesota! I'm hoping to see Betsy's house when we go back to MN this summer.
Aadel says
I love your book lists! The one book that I missed as a child but read to my kids and fell in love with is "A Wrinkle in Time". Magical is the only word to describe it.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Yes! A wrinkle in time is definitely a book to remember. I love that one, too. I'm glad you enjoy our booklists. I post a new one (almost) every Monday.
Alanna Hector says
I primary (elementary) school - The Famous Five series. I read all 21 of them on a trip around Europe my parents took us on when I was 10. Hardly even glanced at a cathedral 🙂
And yes all the Pippi Longstockings and Anne books. And Little House books.
Thank god my mother had gone to Philadelphia to be educated - she had only lived in Brisbane her whole life - so she must have got exposed to American literature. (She is a Miltonologist - as in a world authority on "Paradise Lost" - so I got HEAPS of British kids' books and poetry and Shakespeare too, of course)
Erica MomandKiddo says
I love Pippi, too!
J Naughton says
Mrs Piggle Wiggle series, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Great Brain Series. Superfudge and Ramona Quimby. Agree with others on To Kill a Mockingbird, The Famous Five and All of a Kind Family.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Great books!
Mary Jane Villalovos says
I loved anything by Konigsburg and by Raskin. My all time favorite book was The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I mean Noel)!
Other favorites were The Great Brain series as well as Encyclopedia Brown.