A Younger Me Ate These Books Up

A Younger Me Ate These Books Up

• Jun 5, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a new topic/Top Ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. I'm so obsessed with lists!

This week's topic is a rewind, which means you get to pick any topic from the past list of topics. So, I decided to go with a trip down memory lane. I haven't read some of these in years, and I don't know if they're actually my ten "favorite" childhood books (but some of them certainly are). These are just the books that first came to mind. Also, my title was inspired by a childhood incident in which I actually ate the spine off a Spot book. My mom later found it in my diaper.

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

I honestly don't know if any children's book will ever come close to my love for this one. I had it memorized. And I still have the copy that I read as a little girl, plus the complete collection of all the Madeline stories. I love this little girl. She lives in Paris, she says poo poo to the tiger in the zoo, and she loses her appendix and has a wicked awesome scar. What more do you want?!

Corduroy by Don Freeman

This bear just wants to find a home! Why can't someone just love him? Actually, Lisa does... but her mom won't let her have him. He's convinced that it's because he's missing a button, so he goes on a search for the only thing he thinks he needs to be loved. I just adore his department store adventures.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

The kids at make fun of Chrysanthemum because of her name. She's teased, and she begins to doubt herself. I love how the support she finds from her family and how it all turns out. Plus, have you ever seen a cuter mouse?

 

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." This book basically wraps around your heart and won't let go. It's sweet, it will make you a little teary and you'll want to read it on repeat. Or at least I did.

Eloise by Kay Thompson

I have no idea when I discovered Eloise, but I pretty much loved her from the first moment I met her. She's spoiled. She's wild. She lives in the Plaza hotel. She has a pet pug and turtle. Her adventures are notorious, her nanny is hilarious, and she's basically all things awesome. 

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff 

If you don't love all these books, then I just don't know if I can love you. The mouse's desire for a cookie and the subsequent things the mouse just absolutely must have still crack me up. I also love how it comes full circle. 

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Why wouldn't you love a bull that would rather sit and smell flowers than fight like all the other bulls? I just loved the story of this little bull. He's not like the other bulls - and he just wants to be himself!

The Tale of Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt

I love this traditional folktale about three trees that have big hopes for their futures. They're cut down by woodcutters and turned into the manger that holds baby Jesus, the fishing boat that carries him and his followers, and the cross upon which he's crucified. It's a book that has stuck with me over the years.

Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I love this poem so very much. My Grammy used to read it to me, and I can still remember the opening lines. "By the shores of Gitche Gumee, / By the shining Big-Sea-Water, / Stood the wigwam of Nokomis, / Daughter of the moon, Nokomis." The story of this Native American boy just captivated me. I was captivated by the descriptions of their life, and it was probably one of my first experiences with poetry.

 

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton

I love this book for so many reasons. This simple story of Mike and his steam shovel, Mary Anne, was one of my very favorites growing up. Their friendship (yes, I know it's a man and his machine) was so touching. And I love the illustrations.