Favorite Children's Books

Most of the books that are near and dear to my heart are books I read as a child/young adult. I have wonderful memories of reading with my dad at bedtime and then exploring the bookshelves with zeal when I got older. I miss the wonderment and naivete I approached a new swashbuckling book in my youth. I guess when you are young the world is a very, very big place! I've been known to peruse the children's section at bookstores and hey, why not? The Harry Potter series is not the only literature out there suitable for all ages. Be a kid again and soar high in the clouds in a giant peach, fight a pirate or two and slay a dragon! Here are some of my favorites:

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Boxcar Children Series by Gertrude Warner

Oh, the places you'll go! by Dr. Seuss

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

Polar Express by Chris Allsburg

Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola

Little House Series by Laura Engall Wilder

Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

James and the Giant Peach, The Witches by Roald Dahl

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

My Side of the Mountain by Jean George

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Chronicles of Narnia as you can see is at the top of my list. I read it when I was little and then many years later I made a deal with my 8 year old rapscallion of a sister to read the chronicles in exchange for a steady supply of candy per chapter. Now the kid (ahem... I mean young lady) can't stop reading. Who says bribes don't work!?! I'm surprised her teeth are in such good shape.

Time to re-stock my bookshelves! What are your favorite children's books?