Top 5 Childhood Books

I read a lot as a kid, so this list was rather difficult. I actually remember my parents having to goad me into going outside to play (yes I am a nerd—and damn proud of it too!). It was really interesting putting this list together because it allowed me to see where my older reading interests—and interests in other media—came from. Since your list was comprised entirely of novels, I decided to limit mine to novels as well. Which leads me to believe that we should do a Top 5 Picture Books at some point in the future.

Honorable Mention: Soup Should be Seen and Not Heard by Beth Brainard and Sheila Behr
I know this seems like a weird entry, but I was seriously obsessed with this book, which probably explains why I'm so concerned about decorum and manners. Once I started studying sociology at school, I began to look back at my upbringing and pinpoint certain key moments of socialization. I think this book is certainly one of them.

5) The Bunnicula Series by James Howe
This series about a vampiric bunny who sucks the life juices out of vegetables combined my interests in the paranormal and adorable animals. Looking back on it, the series was kind of morbid given that the family cat Chester, convinced that Bunnicula may eventually be dangerous to humans, makes countless attempts to kill him. Also, major points for the great book title The Celery Stalks at Midnight.

4) Nancy Drew - My good friend, Wikipedia, informs me that Nancy Drew was written under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. This was probably my introduction to literary sleuthing and laid the foundation for a future interest in Patricia Cornwell's Dr. Kay Scarpetta books. Looking back on things, I'm glad that I had a kickass, independent-minded and intrepid fictional role model, even if Nancy was blonde, blue-eyed and affluent. Also, more paranormal stuff ... I think I see a pattern taking shape.


3) The Lewis Barnavelt books by John Bellairs and Brad Strickland - More paranormal stuff in these gothic horror novels for young adults. When Lewis Barnavelt's parents are suddenly killed in a car accident, he is sent to live with his uncle, Jonathan, who turns out to be a wizard and who lives next to a kindly witch. Together, Lews and Jonathan combat evil forces that are hellbent on destroying teh world. The covers for these dark books were appropriately illustrated by the macabre artist Edward Gorey. Clearly, my love of the horror genre was cultivated at an early age.

2) Anything by Roald Dahl but specifically The Witches (again with the paranormal!), James and Giant Peach and Boy, Dahl's autobiography. Like the rest of my list, most of Dahl's writings have a dark undercurrent to them, which is probably why I liked them. Dahl also wrote some really great, scandalous adult fiction which I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of his children's books.


1) The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle - I borrowed this book from the library constantly when I was a kid. Consequently, nostalgia has kept me from buying the book because I have been unable to locate an older edition similar to the one I used to check out (pictured). I do, however, own the cartoon movie which is done in the same style as the Hobbit animated feature (Beagle actually worked on that project as well). I learned on Wikipedia that The Last Unicorn is actually regarded as one of the best fantasy books ever written (or an avid fan of the book wrote the wiki post). As is the case with the rest of my list, this was a pretty dark read about a unicorn who sets out to find out what happened to the rest of her kind. On the way she runs into some pretty colorful characters as well as a sideshow that contained a scary harpy.