Featured What Book Series Did You Grow Up Reading?

Personally I grew up reading the Hardy Boys & Boxcar Children book series when I was young like many kids in my age group. I still have my copies of those books today and I see them often at bookstores, thrift shops, and yard sales since they were almost continuously printed in massive numbers due to their long standing popularity.

My favorite series was the Three Investigator Series published by several authors from the 1960's through the late 80's. They were extremely well written with fairly complex plots, detailed settings, and interesting characters compared to other youth book series that felt a bit bland after you had read a few of them.

Today due to them being out of print for decades the Three Investigator series books are comparatively scarce and building a set takes patience or shelling out some $$$$ online. I personally have about 50% of the series in my collection and am hoping to stumble upon the titles I don't have without resorting to online sellers. Over time I hope to upgrade to hardcover copies in good condition but for now tracking them down is part of the thrill of collecting.

Which book series did you enjoy as a child and do you collect them today?

Your thoughts?

 

Another great question, Joe!

The books I read & re-read as a kid included Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series, as well as anything by Louisa May Alcott.

I read just about anything that was put in front of me, however, and I'm sure more old favorites will come to mind after I've had more coffee.

We had a huge library in our house in CT, where I kept all of my childhood books, but when we downsized (by a lot) and moved to NH a few years ago, I let go of almost all my books. The ones my kids wanted were passed down to them.

 

I too loved the Boxcar children series,as well as Little House,but my all time favorite was the Borrower series by Mary Norton. Wich Im sure sparked my love of miniatures and doll houses! I also very much loved the Gone Away Lake series by Elizabeth Enright. About a decade ago I reread the Borrower series and to my delight I still loved them as much as when I was a sprout. Many moons ago I bought my youngest nephew the whole series since he liked to read,but alas,he turned into a electronic junkie soon after and I doubt he even has them now.

 

Hi,
I grew up with the Hardy Boys and then went to Bomba, The jungle Boy. The next was in 3rd grade I had a new teacher who introduced me to the English classics and so I was surpassing even the 8th graders. Reading was one of the best things, since I could travel to far off lands. To this day I read as much as I can. I only read books, I tried using the electronic devices but to me holding a book is the only way to read.
greg

 

Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew and a slew of books about dogs (one favorite author was Jim Kjelgaard). Dogs, dogs and more dogs - LOL I have parted with my Nancy Drew books but still own the whole series of Anne books, plus L.M. Montgomery's journals & biography and probably most of the dog books.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, we did not have many toys or books.
But I remember loving "The Red Balloon" so much.
And I loved "Harold and the Purple Crayon" too because purple is my favorite color and it seemed like we could draw ourselves out of bad situations if need be.

And the one that terrified me was "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly".
I still don't understand why the thought of an exploding lady due to eating a horse is a good idea for a kids book. I had nightmares about that book for years.

 

My favorite book during 3rd and 4th grade was Thunderbolt House by Howard Pease. I must have read it at least 20 times.

Then moved on to Pippi Longstocking, Marguerite Henry's books starting with Misty of Chincoteague.

From there I went to Ellery Queen magazines.

And of course from as early as I can remember comic books.
Later specifically, "Superman" and "Archie".
Gosh I wish I still had that stack

 

I know I read Hardy Boys, and since I had sisters, some Nancy Drew as well. I honestly didn't think there was a lot to tell between them.

When we visited my grandparents, I would read the books left over from my father's childhood. I don't remember the names, but they were very much like Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew (with some notably outdated dialogue).

We mostly had anthologies. My father bought a set of children's classics that he would read to us every night. That's where I first heard Alice in Wonderland, and Treasure Island. It's how I first encountered illustrators like Greenaway, Crane, Parrish, Wyeth, Rackham.

Comic reading was strictly censored. No superheroes. And things like Weird Tales or Tales from the Crypt? Fuggedaboudit! (Fortunately my friends had stacks of the things.)

The first author I remember following was Andre Norton in my early teens. Bradbury. Heinlein. Asimov. Then I found Tolkien...

 

Me, too, Cluttered!

 

Oh yes, I forgot about comic books. I would buy them at the local luncheonette when I had some change. Loved Archie.
I would buy a Good Humor Chocolate Fudge Cake Pop (the best ever) in the summer and read the comic books. It was heaven on earth.

 

I had Disney's Lady and the Tramp comic book. I loved that one.

 

I still love to read books. I began reading very young, mom read every new paperback that came out and I would sneak them away as soon as she was done! I also read every Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew series book, along with The Bobsey Twins and some of the Hardy Boys books, all of which seemed bland to me at the time. I really enjoyed the Beverly Cleary series books, "Henry and the Paper Route" was my first.

I am not as voracious a reader nowadays, but have learned to appreciate both non-fiction and fiction books.

 

Me, too, Anti! I still have a hand-written, hand-signed letter from Beverly Cleary, written in response to a long-ago (1960's) "fan letter" from me!

I was always a HUGE fan of Henry, Ribsy, Ramona, and all. I read those books to my kids, as well, and they, too, loved them. (My daughter chose to keep my old Cleary books, which makes me very happy.)

 

Hoo. Too many to choose from. Moomins! And Rupert annuals. Chalet School. C S Lewis.

 

Batman.... & an assortment of others..

 

Oh, if we're talking comics, I was reading those before books, I think. Legion of Super Heroes was the best. And later TV21 and Penelope, for those Brits here.

 

Hmmm. No comic books ever allowed in my house, when I was growing up. I can honestly say that I've never read one, although my son has long been a huge fan.

 

........I guess that's not the worst thing......BUT...... I traveled the world with Batman.....saw many interesting countries.....& folks of all nations.
Christ the Redeemer...on top of Corcovado..... I learned that from a Batman comic !!

 

When it comes to comics, our neighbouring countries supplied those. Tintin ('Kuifje' in Flemish) from Belgium, and Astérix from France. I loved them, and have probably read them all.

 

The last time I moved, I had to divest myself of 6000+ books. It was, to put it mildly, TRAUMATIC! I have read almost all of the above-mentioned, plus all my Mother's books, plus some from my grandmother. (Oddly enough, was just talking about this with my brother the other night. We both remember The Swiss Family Robinson as having wonderful pictures, and tiny print. (TINY) Published in 187?.

But I had every book by LMA, ditto Lucy Maud Montgomery, Tom Swift, Horatio Alger, Gene Stratton Porter, Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton, Sue Barton, the Patty books, Honeybunch, Bunnie Brown and His Sister Sue, The Bobbsey Twins, the Blue Red Yellow Green Fairy books, the Outdoor Girls, Marjorie Dean books, everything by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz... There are more books in series, but i'll stop now.

Mind you, I kept all these, PLUS all the grown-up books I added.

Like Komokwa, I gleaned some odd facts that have stayed with me through years of Jeopardy: the meaning of frogs in Japan, how to cure a bad case of croup (sans modern medicine), etc., etc.

I'll stop now.