17 October 2007

Ok. So people have opinions about Harry Potter. Who knew?

I’m curious to know what books impacted you growing up as a young person? Here are some of the books I remember.

Ramona Quimby (the whole set)
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Clifford
(I was really young)
Choose Your Own Adventure
Huck Finn

Which books shaped your mind as a young person? Here, I’m thinking of between the ages of 5-10.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Church Dogmatics
New Dictionary of Biblical Theology


Seriously:
Go Dog Go
Clifford
Sports page in the newspaper (I seriously learned to read by looking at the Astros box score)

-Josh Ross

Courtney Strahan said...

Thundercakes

Huck Finn (I checked this out of my school library every chance I got)

Boxcar Children series

an Atlas of Australia (no joke, it was my Bible. I used to know just about everything about the land Down Under).

Anonymous said...

The Encyclopedia Brown books were huge for me. I loved reading them and solving the mysteries. I also enjoyed reading the Book of Knowledge.
For those of you who did not already know, I am now out of the closet as a nerd. Yes, these are seriously the things I read at that age. (Not to mention I really enjoyed U.S. News and World Report.)
I am much less of a nerd now. ;-)

Josh Graves said...

Josh: Kara said you have a blog...where is it? You read Karl Barth when you were little, you are my here. Just kidding.

Courtney: I never read Boxcar...I might need to go back and do so.

Jason: Can many languages can you say "Mensa" in?

Josh Graves said...

"here" should read "hero"

Brenda said...

Dick and Jane series
Where the sidewalk ends
Little house on the prarie series

Kara Graves said...

Boxcar Children
Babysitters Club Series

Anonymous said...

I loved Encyclopedia Brown too. I want to get my kids hooked on it.

I also loved the "All-of-a-kind Family series - about a Jewish family in the early 1900s. I've gotten the book on CD - and my kids now love listening to the books any time we're in the car. The ride to Rochester has been much quieter lately! (Thank you Lord!)

We've listened to some Lemony Snickett - but they're a bit scary for McKeighla (6). Tim Curry reading them is a fantastic experience tho!

By the way Jason Steckel has an EXCELLENT blog! I read it every day - very thought provoking! (You owe me marketing fees J!) :-)

Anonymous said...

fyi - Jason's blog: http://www.jasonsteckel.net/

Anonymous said...

I was going to make some joke about how I didn't read at those ages because I was more interested in my bike and basketball but then I saw the reference to the Boxcar Children.

I loved the Boxcar Children books!

I must have read them when it was too dark to ride or shoot hoops.

Dana M. said...

I read everything I could get my hands on as a child.

The Boxcar Children (I wanted to run away and live in a train--I craved bread and milk for a week)
everything by Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary (I was addicted to "The Fourth Grade Nothing")
Chronicles of Narnia
Polar Express
Where the Wild Things Are
Strega Nona (I wrote to Tomie de Paula regularly)
Anne of Green Gables
A Wrinkle in Time (my 4th grade teacher read this out loud to us, and I wanted to go live with her because it was so enchanting)

Okay, I have to stop. These are the ones I remember reading over and over again the most.

Peggy N Texas said...

Little House on the Prairie was read to us while in grade school by a great teacher! I loved that story time.

Really, I don't know if I am too old to remember reading books or if I am so old I have just forgotten the books I read because I can't recall a particular book I read.

However, I do remember a little older reading a book that impacted me greatly. John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley". It was a great read!

Thanks for the Boxcar note because I will get those for my grand daughters as well as some of the others.

Josh Graves said...

Brenda: Now that we're over the Potter Dialog--thanks for the reflections :)


KG:ahh...you are the cutest.

Lynda: I posted on DJ Steck's blog. Good stuff.

bikegirl: I can relate to playing hoops until not being able to see my hand in front of my face.

Dana: you were a nerd like Steckel!

Peg: I only knew Little House from television...sorry!

Brenda said...

Josh! I almost said "Harry Potter" under my titles but not sure you would have laughed! ;o)

Naomi said...

I ate books for breakfast, lunch, and dinner when I was a kid, so it's hard to say which books formed me. What I can say is that the amount of reading I did formed me as a person. Period.

The whole Indian in the Cupboard series was pretty rockin'.
Boxcar Children
Babysitter's Club
Left Behind (HA! Just kidding...)
Chronicles of Narnia
The Redwall Series
Nancy Drew
Some random Colonial American History Christian Romance series that I never should have been allowed to know existed, none-the-less read...it was awful. But whatever.

Josh Graves said...

Confession. I also read Nancy Drew.

Anonymous said...

SWEET! No one said my all time favorite. Superfudge by Judy Bloom
Actually I celebrated the whole Fudge collection but not the whole Judy Bloom collection. I drew the line at Are you there God, it is me Margret.

Also where the sidewalk ends (any shel silverstein)

Hatchet or any of the other Newberry award winners

Note After review I realize that Dana already named Judy Bloom! DANG...Not first, but still a FAN!

Anonymous said...

My very favorite book through elementary school was Bridge to Terebithia. Harry Potter was at the very beginning of middle school, so I was a bit older... Ooh! Did anybody ever read the Goosebumps books as religiously as I did? Goosebumps and Encyclopedia Brown were my favorite book series.
I also read all of the Baby Sitter's Club books and all of the American Girl books (particularly Molly)...

I read everything about the Titanic I could lay my hands on (weird obsession for a second grader, I know), and I remember that when I was quite a bit younger, I actually read 'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom' so often that I had it memorized and actually recited it to myself to help me go to sleep.

Now who's a nerd? LOL

-Emily

Josh Graves said...

Emily: What is "Bridge to Terebithia" about? I've not heard of it.

Kyle...ah yes, Judy Bloom. How could I have forgotten?

Brenda: See, I knew what you were thinking. I must be a wizard in the making. I'll get my Hogwarts application in soon :)

Anonymous said...

GASP.

I'm buying you a copy of Bridge to Terebithia. You need to have a copy for your very own.

I'm in shock that you've never read it, but MORE in shock that I've known you for so long and have yet to sing you its praises.

-Em

Courtney Strahan said...

I read goosebumps! i forgot about those until you mentioned them, Emily.

Josh, you HAVE to read Bridge to Terabithia!

Anonymous said...

My grandma raised me right! She was the only one that encouraged me to read when I was younger, and the only one to listen to old gospel hymns, to which she would loudly sing to off key.

Boxcar Children (all of them!)
Goosebumps (all of them!)
Babysitter's Club
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Bunnucula, and his various adventures like The Celery Stalks and Midnight, etc.
The House on Mango Street (Which I got to read again in Watson's pluralism class a couple of semesters ago...)
I adored Number the Stars
Where the Wild Things Are
The Secret Garden
The Velveteen Rabbit was a HUGE influence
The Giving Tree, and Where the Sidewalk Ends. Giving Tree was better.
Oh, Where the Red Fern Grows! Oh, I read it so may times and always cried!
Through the Looking Glass
Lord of the Flies

and my absolute favorite:
Dinotopia! I used to know the writing and everything.

Oh, and Terebithia has been made into a film recently, too. Definetly check it out!

Anonymous said...

I'm kind of new to your blog and posting a bit late (I found your blog through your Father-in-law's), but here's the books I remember reading from around that time:

Chronicles of Narnia series
Little House on the Prairie series
The Book (Bible lessons for kids)
Huck Finn
A series of "classics" for children, which included titles such as Huck Finn, Count of Monte Christo, Treasure Island, Three Musketeers, Captain's Couragous, etc
Biographies of famous people (especially inventors and scientists, but also famous missionaries and other famous people)
Some of those probably spill over into the pre-teen years, as I can't remember exactly when I read them.