You know what I'm talking about. The rich stories that no one bothers to write anymore that we heard as kids but can still learn from as adults.

Some of my favorites:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll
Le petit prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster

(And has anyone picked up that sweet little book, Seuss-isms: Wise and Witty Prescriptions for Living from the Good Doctor? They're full of quotes from countless Dr. Suess books that I never realized were so inspirational!)

What are some of your favorite children's books?

The Cat and the Devil by James Joyce and Poor Little Stephen Girard(sp?) by Mark Twain are two of my favorites.  I have no idea if either one was actually intended for children, but I have them, and have had them forever, in tiny little child size hardbacks from a children's book publisher.

I loved them as a kid because they're entertaining stories, but I get them on a whole different level now that I'm grown.

Does the Harry Potter series count here?

I`d say so, as that`s the first thing that popped into my head reading this thread.

Personally, I`d say the whole Xanth series. However, I`ve yet to meet any others so far who were reading Xanth books at 8 years old.

What about the absolute worse child stories.....Mother Goose. Now that was some sick stuff.

Moved to Print & Art.

The Dark is Rising sequence....so very beautiful.  

I'm partial to the Dear Canada books...canadian historical fiction, *intended* for girls and written in journal format.  For my money, they're better at teaching canadian history than alot of the textbooks I used when I got my BA.    There's also an american history series.  

The Johnny series by Terry Pratchett.   there's humor there that anybody can appreciate.  


Also, I read Laura Ingalls Wilder when I'm feeling particularly feeble.

Totally. As the characters grew up, so did Rowling's writings.

Also, "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" was classic.  :wink:

YES to the Dark is Rising sequence. Gorgeous.

Roald Dahl, anyone? The children's stuff I mean.

One book I found you should NOT read once you're a dirty old grownup is JM Barrie's Peter Pan. yeegh.

Amen to that. Roald Dahl was one of my favourite authors as a child. I actually re-read Danny The Champion of the World a few months ago, being that that was one of my favourites of his.

I always liked how he didn't mince about... bad characters got what they deserved, none of this redemption stuff or pussying out at the last minute. The kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are a good example, or The Twits, or the aunts in James and the Giant Peach. He didn't write down to the kids, and so many adults probably find his children's books are probably quite macabre.

To be honest, I think Neil Gaiman as a current author does well what Roald Dahl also did... Coraline anyone? And his short story volume M is for Magic contains stories that he wrote that could also be read (and were collected for this reason) by kids or young adults. Quite a few stories there are a bit disturbing.

While I haven't read them, the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman seems to get billed as being something that kids and adults can enjoy.


Lilith

Roald Dahl was a fucked-up cat.  I read all of his childrens' books, and then at FAR too young an age went and sought out his non-childrens' fiction.  Wowzers.  Dahl is the Stephen King of childrens' authors.


I love him.

His Majesty's Starship by Jeapes
Philip Pullman
Garth Nix
Tolkien

I love Roald Dahl! Favorites:

George's Marvelous Medicine
The Twits
Charlie and the Glass Elevator
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Witches

My niece has a collection style book of some Roald Dahl stories including one about a little girl who used to slam doors constantly for fun, then one day a statue fell on her and she was squashed flat...

Roald Dahl, Revolting Rhymes.