I read the Dr. Seuss Books, but the first books I really thought about was Johnny Tremaine, Dr. No and the Princess of Mars. I guess I had a weird childhood.

As a little girl, I loved The Little Red Hen, Golden Books' Mr. Dog, and Where the Wild Things Are (I still recite it from memory). As a slightly older little girl, I loved The Wind in the Willows, The Secret Graden, and all the Nancy Drew mysteries. I shouldn\'t use past tense: I still llove all those books!

As a little girl, it was Robert the Rose Horse and Santa Mouse, and in grade school, Charlotte's Web, the Little House on the Prairie series. Any story that celebrated the big things that one small person (or horse or mouse or pig) could do.

"Water Babies" and "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch"

Paddington Bear, the ever polite bear from deepest, darkest Peru that lived in London with the Brown family. How can you not love a bear with a tattered hat that loves marmalade sandwiches!? Then more recently as an adult Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young, a fable of public knowledge.

The Secret Garden. I loved the idea of retreating from the world into a mystical place that was created long ago. It's still a place I go in my mind when I need respite from the world.

My favorite story is "Wilfred Gordan McDonald Partridge" by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julie Vivas. It is a beautiful story of the gift of generations touching each other.

My favorite books both as a child and as a mom are always Shel Silverstein. My mom used to read to me from "A light in the Attic", from Too Many Kids in the Tub to Mrs. McTwitter the babysitter. I like to think his childish sense of writing led to my childish sense of humor, a gift I passed on to my children. "The Giving Tree" by Silverstein is a story I always read when I read to classrooms, and I leave a copy there when I am finished. It is a wonderful story about the selfless love of a parent for a child!

Hi everyone,

Wow! It's absolutely great to read all your comments, and to hear all the good memories about the books that filled our lives. In my office, I have long kept Sendak's book on my shelf, along with some other children's books, as a reminder of the kinds of sentiments you've expressed.

I hope more comments come today. And I hope maybe you'll look at some of the books our colleagues have suggested!

P.S. Margaret, I had the same experience with To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is a book I often return to. Thx.

I think a comment got lost....It's a great post.

As a Mom - Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst For myself: I loved the story of Heidi with her grandfather in the Alps, maybe because it surfaced my Swiss heritage. The first book I read cover to cover as an older child was To Kill a Mockingbird. I didn't move from my chair until I had finished it. It transformed me.

"Mice on Ice" and "Robert the Rose Horse". Both were 'good guys vs. bad guys' stories, and the heroes were character with flaws that turned into strengths. They were exciting stories to a little boy.

Thanks, Rich.

As a fifth grader, I read Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. It was a tough read given my age, but I doggedly stuck with it because the characters enthralled me so. They were individuals, but they were family too. Decades later when I was cleaning out my grandmother's attic after her passing, I found her copy of this same book. This tattered memento means the world to me.

Whatever book I was reading at the moment. But someone gave me a set of Childcraft, at birth I think, and I kept coming back to the folk tales volume which had all the great illustrators of the day. Another book I wore out was Silver Pennies, an anthology of magical poems. Another was The Wizard of OZ with the original W. W. Denslow illustrations that overlapped the text. I inherited those. Sendak was wonderful - I wish I had still been a child when he got started.

I couldn't entirely recall what my favorite books were as a child - so I used this blog as an excuse to ask my folks. The books they reminded me of brought back a flood of great memories.

I do remember loving Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. I love the sense of loyalty and affection from the parents, and the gentleness of the book.

My father helped jog my memory about other beloved stories:

"Two that immediately come to mind are Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (the book, not the movie) and Arabel's Raven (about the raven that eats everything in a British home including the staircase). Also, some other William Steig books like Dr. Desoto. When you were on your own, you liked Encyclopedia Brown."

My favorite book growing up was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which I read in the fourth grade. The creativity and imagination C.S. Lewis used to build the world of Narnia helped open my eyes to how exciting reading could be. Each of the four children in the book had a character flaw that I could relate to and learn from. Great memories!