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Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share our top ten bookish wishes in honor of her birthday today. (Happy birthday, Jana!) Since my husband and I travel constantly with his job, I try not to buy books; I’ve chosen to post my top ten picture books from my childhood instead. I was born in 1978 so most of these will be from the early ’80s or earlier. Are you ready for a trip to the past? (Fun fact: I still own most of these.)
Little Mouse on the Prairie by Stephen Cosgrove, illustrated by Robin James–This creative team has written countless books in the Serendipity series but this was the first one I ever owned. I think I got it in a Scholastic book fair grab bag in kindergarten. These gentle, beautifully illustrated stories always end with an important lesson. I’m still collecting them to this day, more than 35 years later.
The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone, illustrated by Michael J. Smollin–We all love this book, right? Right? It’s the perfect read aloud. I’m sure many relatives read it to me but for some reason, I mostly remember my youngest aunt reading it with gusto!
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell, illustrated by Sergio Leone–It feels like Christmas when I bring this meaningful little book out.
Frog and Toad Are Friends, written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel–I had several of the Frog and Toad books and loved them all. My mom even got me a new, related poetry collection a few years ago, The Frogs and Toads All Sang.
Little Miss Splendid, written and illustrated by Roger Hargreaves–True story. You will never be friends with some people. Another little girl and I disliked each other from the moment we started school and that hasn’t changed yet. I thought she was a little “too big for her britches” as we say in the South. So I was complaining about her to my family one day and in a moment of brilliance, I called her Little Miss Splendid and the name has stuck! (I only used the nickname around my family.) This isn’t my favorite of the Mr. Men/Little Miss books but it’s definitely the one that made a lasting impression!
Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak–I don’t actually remember much about this one but I know I loved it.
The Unbouncing of Tigger by A. A. Milne, illustrated by the Walt Disney Company–I generally prefer Eeyore over Tigger but this book was a lot of fun to read as a kid.
The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen–Name a Little Golden Book published up until about 1988 and I probably loved it. This was one of my favorites though.
Crick-Ette by Stephen Cosgrove, illustrated by Charles Reasoner–More Stephen Cosgrove but he worked with a different illustrator for this series. This book is the only one from the Bugg series that I ever read but it’s well-worn now.
Say Hello, Vanessa by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, illustrated by Lillian Hoban–As a shy girl, I definitely related to Vanessa.
That’s my list! Have you read any of these? What were your favorite picture books as a child? Link up every Tuesday at That Artsy Reader Girl!
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
26 Comments
Little Miss Splendid was one of my faves as a kid! Love this spread.
Awww, Pooh is always such a delight to discover again. I grew up with those books and have very fond memories of those.
I believe this is the only Pooh book I’ve ever read, if you can believe it. I probably should have added that to my Classics Club list.
How fun! I’m a few years older than you, so I remember most of these books. The Grover one is one I definitely read over and over and over. I also really loved The Berenstain Bears as a kid. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I loved the Berenstain Bears too! Unfortunately, I must have lost my copies of those along the way.
It’s so interesting that you posted your favorite childhood books as just yesterday I was thinking about mine and the books my daughter loved. Frog and Toad and the Little Miss books were both on her list.
They’re fun books for sure!
This post was so cute. I def remember reading the Grover book as a kid. Here is my post-http://paigesofbook.blogspot.com/2021/06/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-wish-list.html.
The Grover book has to be a favorite of everyone, right?
Fun topic! I adore Winnie the Pooh!
Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
I can’t believe this is the only Winnie the Pooh book I’ve ever read!
Frog and Toad and Little Bear! Yes, these were among my favorite picture books, too! I also loved the Mousekin books by Edna Miller—especially Mousekin’s Golden House. I loved it so much that I (a childfree adult) bought a copy secondhand for my keeper shelf.
I haven’t even heard of Mousekin! I’ll have to look for them. There are shocking gaps in my childhood reading. Redwall, Dr. Seuss, Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows…. I’ve been a reader all my life but these must have always been checked out at my library or didn’t catch my attention for some reason.
I really love the Mousekin books! I’m not sure how I first heard of them, but they’re a childhood favorite for sure.
I don’t think I’ve read Wind in the Willows, either. And I remember deciding I was “too old” to read the Redwall books when I first heard of them. (Admittedly, I didn’t hear of them until I was in my early teens in the early 90’s.)
I think that was pretty much the case with Redwall for me too. One of my best friends is about five years younger and recently found out I’ve never read the Redwall series. She swears she’s buying them as gifts for me. Her husband isn’t a reader at all and even he was shocked!
I love your list! I was also born in 1978 and live in NC. I remember “Little Bear” and “Frog and Toad” from my childhood. My kids loved the Little Men and Little Miss series. Such cute books. My post is: https://cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com/2021/06/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-wishes.html
I also have a giveaway going so be sure and stick around and check it out :)!!!
Hi, fellow North Carolinian!
My 13yo LOVED the Little Miss/Mr. Men books when she was younger. I think we ended up with quite the collection as she was getting at least 3 for every holiday (birthday, Easter, Christmas). Sadly, she moved on from them and donated them.
Here’s my post: https://readbakecreate.com/?p=426
Way back in the day when you had to buy $25 worth of stuff from Amazon to get free shipping, I would buy myself new copies of the Little Miss and Mr. Men books to reach that benchmark. I know I used to have more of them when I was young but they’ve been lost to time. It was fun to revisit them when I bought them.
Way back in the day when you had to buy $25 worth of stuff from Amazon to get free shipping, I would buy myself new copies of the Little Miss and Mr. Men books to reach that benchmark. I know I used to have more of them when I was young but they’ve been lost to time. It was fun to revisit them when I bought them.
I remember asking teachers at school what their favorite childhood read was and, over and over, I heard The Monster at the End of the Book. It was completely new to me, as I was much older than they were.
It’s such a classic for my age group! I vividly remember my aunt reading it to me over and over. She did such a great job with it!
Great list! I used to love the Mr Men and Little Miss books. I remember having a particular fondness for Mr. Bump and Little Miss Tiny!
I remember those! My younger sister has always been short so I called her Little Miss Tiny fairly often! Man, I loved using these titles as nicknames, didn’t I? 😀
Little Bear Stories and Grover as the Monster at the End of the book are also personal favorites. My Bookish Wish
They’re such classics!