Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Had Read as a Child

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Child sitting on a roof and reading a bookMy list is a short one this week. One of the things my parents did marvellously when I was growing up was providing their kids with a wide range of reading material. I read just about everything I could get my hands on.

There are a few titles I wish I’d discovered as a child, though!

1.The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat

2. A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

What they all share in common is a strong sense of magic and wonder about the world. Yes, I could read them as an adult – and may well do that one of these days – but I think I would have adored them when I was a child.

Here’s hoping today’s children enjoy these stories and many more of them.

90 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Had Read as a Child

  1. I discovered The Children of the New Forest through the 1001 Children’s Books list. I discovered many books that way.

    I hope librarians today have broad collections, including good stories from the past.

  2. I kinda wish I’d read The Neverending Story too. I never even saw the movie, though I’ve seen occasional clips. I wonder if I would still enjoy it as an adult. Which makes me realize I’ve never actually let myself look up what the story is about…I’ve managed to retain my absolute bafflement with the bits I’ve seen and my childhood determination not to ruin the surprise before I read or watch it.

  3. It’s great that you had wonderful reading material as a kid! I enjoyed my reading picks from when I was young also — but there are many newer releases that I added to my list this week because they weren’t written early enough for me to read them when I was younger. 🙂

  4. I’ve tried to make sure my kids had books to read. It’s funny because my boy always wanted to read Minecraft books when he was really little, now he wants to read all the Lauren Magaziner books. He has a hard time trying new books. He only read The Young Elites because I read the first page of my fanfic and he thought it sounded really interesting. My dd was more adventurous.

  5. That’s awesome that your parents did that for you! In some ways, I wish mine did. I got books for presents and such, but mostly, I read whatever I could get from my school’s library. I had to have special permissions to take out extra books, because I read them so fast. xD

    Books about magic and wonder are great as adults, but they just don’t quite strike the same chord as they do when you’re young and innocent, do they?

  6. I adored The Neverending Story, so much better than the movie, and I had this really cool book where the print had different colors and the illustrations were beautiful. I definitely think that one feels different if you’re younger.

  7. Oh the Neverending Story is amazing but I don’t really like the second part of the book to be frank with you. I find it rather… unnecessary especially since the first part work fantastically

  8. The Neverending story! I forgot that was a book — and yeah, I agree, reading these as a kid would have been a whole different kind of wonder and excitment!

  9. As much as I adore the books by Michael Ende, The Never-ending Story has never really been one of them. I always had to drag myself through it and the more I think about it…I’m not even sure if I ever finished that book. But the other ones…god, I’m so glad I read them all as a kid. And I should probably read them again.

  10. I wish I had read The Neverending Story as a kid. I read it in college and loved it, but it would have been more meaningful as a child. 🙂

  11. Oh I never would have even thought to include The Neverending Story. I remember watching the first two films a lot as a kid, and I always loved them. I’ve owned the book for a few years, so I’m not sure why I still haven’t read it.

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