What were your favourite books or comics when you were a child?

Little Grey Rabbit, Mary Plain, Ballet Shoes and the rest of Noel Streatfeild, What Katy Did and What Katy Did at School. I didn’t discover Anne of Green Gables until later, but would have loved her when I was about ten. I still love her now.

I didn’t like Enid Blyton or Arthur Ransome - how boring those children were compared with the Noel Streatfeild ones!

I must add The Family from One End Street, and Hans Andersen. Jill’s Gymkhana during my horsey phase. Lorna Hill ballet books - Sebastian was the only male character I ever felt any sympathy with (apart from Just William, of course).

I wasn’t allowed comics, which didn’t bother me much, though I had a secret yearning for School Friend.

I did like the Enid Blyton. Secret Seven, Famous Five and I love The Mallory Towers ones.
Also I had The Bunty every week, but I was also fortunate that my older cousin gave me his old comics, which included The Marvel ones. How I wished I had held onto those!

Milly Molly Mandy
Little Grey Rabbit
Little Grey Men go down the bright stream
Enid Blyton - Adventure series and Famous Five
The Secret Garden
Joan Selby Lowndes, Royal Chase (still read this every year)
Cynthia Harnett, esp The Great House
Malcolm Saville
Monica Edwards, esp the Romney Marsh series
Biggles
Boys and girls of history

Can't remember transition to adult books. Neville Shute perhaps

I was reading Dennis Wheatley at 8 years old. My reading age was that of a fully grown adult and I found children's books boring so my mum gave me The Ka Of Giffard Hilary and that was that. I was soon onto James Herbert and Stephen King much to the dismay of my teachers who truly believed that I had stolen the books from my parents. When they asked my mum if I was meant to have them they were shocked when she replied 'yes I gave them to her'. I still love horror now.

I was always reading as a child . loved all the books mentioned already .Arthur Mee’s Children’s Encyclopedia was a set of ten volumes , invaluable . Anyone remember the Mary Mouse and Roundy books ? Which comic was Gobble Gobble Gertie in ?

Others have mentioned all the books I loved, but here are a couple more:
the theatre books by Pamela Brown about a group of young people who start a theatre in an old chapel, and
The Far-distant Oxus by teenage auhors Pamela Hull and Katherine Whitlock, The books are sort of Arthur Ransome but ponies on Exmoor.
Oh, and I forgot The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie, but I think it was really the illustrations that I loved.
Every fortnight, a mobile library would come to our village an absolute highlight. It was ever my ambition to be the driver of a mobile library.

Wind in the Willlows, The Just so Stories

My comics were Bunty and Judy but I also read my brothers Topper. Books were Little Women, Ballet Shoes, Heidi, Black Beauty, also the boarding school books by Enid Blyton. I've loved reading since I learned to read.

I loved the Famous Five book, as well as Heidi, What Katie did. At 8 our teacher read a book that was serialised in a magazine ' Children on the Oregon Trial' it was by a Dutch author, translated into English. It became my favourite book and many years later I bought a copy for my eldest grandchild.

Round about age 6, wall to wall Enid Blyton.

At age 10, an aunt set me off on Gerald Durrell and I was done with Enid.

How could I have forgotten sobbing my way through Black Beauty...over and over.

I remember Mary Mouse by Enid Blyton. Mary was a giant mouse who looked after Melia, Pip and baby Roundy. Strange stories.

Thankyou for this thread, so many happy memories - all my favourites have been mentioned!

Being a Tomboy I would get my brothers Biggles books & any others I could. Then was so happy to join the local library & get the books I wanted not the ‘girly’ books I was supposed to read according to my school teachers!

My favourite books were The Secret Seven and Famous Five by Enid Blyton. I used to buy Judy and Beano comics too.

I also read Bunty comic. Used to like the little gifts that came with these comics.

Bunty, the Railway Children and Children of the new forest among many others

Enid Blyton.

merrellina

I was always reading as a child . loved all the books mentioned already .Arthur Mee’s Children’s Encyclopedia was a set of ten volumes , invaluable . Anyone remember the Mary Mouse and Roundy books ? Which comic was Gobble Gobble Gertie in ?

Yes, the Arthur Mee encyclopedia was a huge favourite. I liked Volume 5 best, can’t remember why. I loved the Poetry section and Things to Make and Do. I never made or did any of the things, but I liked reading about them.

I remember Mary Mouse books, shaped like a cheque book.

Just William.

My favourite books when I was a child include a little set of Jenny Wren books featuring Disney characters: Cinderella, Mickey Mouse's Picnic, Donald Duck etc. Bear Country and Beaver Valley and the annuals of my favourite comics: Bunty, Judy, Princess and School Friend, anything relating to Ballet, Teddy Tail, What Katy Did, Grimms Fairy Tales, The Little Princesses by Marion Crawford, about the Queen and Princess Margaret written by their Nanny at the time.

We weren't a bookish family. Apart from the newspaper I can't remember my father reading anything. So I was never taken to the library. But as soon as I could, when I was older I joined the Boots' library. Does anyone remember that? As a child I was desperate to read and would await my birthday and Christmas as I knew an uncle of mine would send a book. My parents did have Anne of Green Gables and Little Women and Jo's boys which I read over and over. But my favourites were Enid Blyton and Noel Streatfield. I longed for the Dandy and Beano but they weren't suitable, so I had the Children's Newspaper which I found boring. Then I was allowed the Eagle, then Girl when that came out. My mother didn't believe in anthropormorphic books so we never had Beatrix Potter, but for some reason my sister was given Little Grey rabbit books! I loved Jump For Joy by Pat Smythe, but was really shocked at the age of 12 when I took one of her books to a book signing, as she had bright red nail varnish!! My first book was Smoke and Fluff, a Ladybird book. I can see the cover in my mind's eye now. Has anyone read Ameliaranne?

BeneathTheHowlingStars

I was reading Dennis Wheatley at 8 years old. My reading age was that of a fully grown adult and I found children's books boring so my mum gave me The Ka Of Giffard Hilary and that was that. I was soon onto James Herbert and Stephen King much to the dismay of my teachers who truly believed that I had stolen the books from my parents. When they asked my mum if I was meant to have them they were shocked when she replied 'yes I gave them to her'. I still love horror now.

Oh my goodness The Ka of Giffard Hilary, that takes me back, although I would certainly have been in my teens at least!