Thursday 7 March 2019

WORLD BOOK DAY BLOGHOP | TOP FIVE CHILDHOOD READS


Happy World Book Day! It's a day for bibliophiles of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate their love of reading. I've teamed up with some amazing bloggers to bring you a round-robin bloghop, in which we talk about books that have shaped us as readers. Please do check out the other posts in this series, and I hope you have a lovely WBD and have the chance to enjoy some reading yourself.

My post is coming between Vicky and Connie, so definitely go on over to their profiles for more World Book Day goodness!


You'll notice that Harry Potter is not on my childhood favourites list. This is partly because it's pretty much a given, and also because I have very much carried on my love of Harry Potter into adulthood, and wanted to feature instead books that belong very specifically in certain parts of my childhood. Without further ado, let me run through these battered, tatty old books that I adored as a kid.


A Series of Unfortunate Events (series) by Lemony Snicket
The first in this thirteen-book long series was published on my seventh birthday! Famously nihilistic and tragic, the series follows the three orphaned Baudelaire siblings as they attempt to escape the clutches of Count Olaf, a cunning actor desperate to get his hands on their inherited fortune. These books are definitely not cheery, and eight year old me had to adjust to the lack of happy endings. However, they are so imaginative and compelling, and Violet, Klaus and Sunny are brave and resourceful, and some of my favourite childhood heroes. 

Ally's World (series) by Karen McCombie 
I began reading Ally's World when I was about nine years old, and found them so much fun. This slice of life series centres around Ally, a girl living in a strange house with her father, siblings and a whole load of rescued animals. She deals with the friendship dramas, parent troubles, and boy-related confusion that any young teenager does, and the series does a great job of having characters look out for one another and come through in times of need.

Mimus by Lili Thall, Translated by John Brownjohn
I bought my copy of Mimus from a Borders (anyone else still get nostalgic for Borders?) with some of the first money that I had ever earned and could spend myself. In hindsight I was probably just a little bit young to be reading it at twelve, but it was a great introduction to darker themes and moral ambiguity in literature. The novel takes place in a medieval-style world, and follows a young prince captured by an enemy kingdom and forced to be an apprentice to the wily, vindictive court jester. This book paved the way for my love of fantasy, and gave me a real appreciation for how novels could start out feeling very black and white, and later have you questioning whether you're rooting for the right people...



Sunshine by Robin McKinley
I entered by teenage years surrounded, like everyone else, by Twilight. However unlike a lot of my peers I really didn't get on with the series. I didn't really notice the problematic characters and flimsy plot. What I did have a problem with was decidedly unscary vampires.
The vampires in Sunshine are literal living corpses that kill and eat people, and the danger our protagonist gets into feels very real and high stakes (pun intended). It's also not a story of infatuation and lust, but of two flawed people forming an uneasy alliance that becomes a strong bond. This was actually published before Twilight, which is strange because it feels so much like a deliberate answer to everything that is now generally considered to be wrong with Twilight.

Fruits Basket (series) by Natsuki Takaya
Last, but most certainly not least, was my first manga. Fruits Basket is a heartfelt story of an orphaned teenager called Tohru who is taken in by a wealthy family with a dark curse. The family members that she meets are wrapped up in guilt, shame, anger, and hurt, and, purely by being a kind and positive person, Tohru helps heal the wounds they all suffer with.
I loved Fruits Basket for all of that, but what I really really loved about it was all. the. boys. Those hyper-attractive angst ridden male characters each had a special place in my heart, and I would switch between which of them formed the basis of my hypothical, ideal-boyfriend from page to page. I never actually finished the series before TokyoPop went bust and stopped printing them, but now that Yen Press has released these beautiful collectors editions, I might finally go back and find out whether Tohru ever managed to lift the family curse and which boy she ended up with!!


So that's my top five childhood favourites. I had plenty of others including books by Jacqueline Wilson, Darren Shan, Meg Cabot, Celia Rees, and Terry Pratchett. However, for the sake of whittling it down I chose books that I still have copies of, because I could never quite get rid of them all. 

Let me know if we share any favourite childhood books, and whether you've kept any over the years. Again remember to check out Vicky and Connie, and to follow the bloghop round to see everybody's posts.

Thank you for reading!

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16 comments

  1. Ah, I loved this post!! Can’t wait to see everyone else’s!

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  2. I don't trust anyone who didn't like A Series of Unfortunate Events as a kid! Great picks! :)

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    1. Thank you! Same here, like - how can you not love them?? x

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  3. Girl, I looove that you posted about Fruits Basket!
    What an iconic manga/anime.

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    1. RIGHT? Honestly if I did a "the five books of my teenage sexual awakening" it would make that list too :') x

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  4. I've actually only read one of the books up there which is Ally's World and it also ended up on my list! :D

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  5. Ahh Fruits Basket - I totally agree about the boys too!
    Such a brilliant series too, the illustration was just gorgeous!

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    1. Definitely, and because it was so long you could really see Natsuki Takaya's art style develop over the years! x

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  6. Loved your selections, also you made me feel nostalgic for Borders all over again!

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  7. My 11 year old nephew is currently borrowing my A Series of Unfortunate Events books, he’s on book 5 at the moment and the other day he just stopped reading, turned to me and said ‘these kids really can’t catch a break can they?’ 😂

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  8. Ahh the only one I read is Darren Shan! I loved those books as a kid

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  9. of these asoue is the only i read but i do love the series so much!!

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  10. I only ever read the first A Series of Unfortunate Events book and that was after I watched the movie! I don’t think we ever had a Borders where I live but had two Waterstones stores instead!

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  11. I’m so happy to see Ally’s World on so many lists because I never thought many people knew about them! Also agree with A Series of Unfortunate Events, although I was a little older when I started appreciating those and I still haven’t read the whole series. The others, however, I haven’t heard of!

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