Books from Childhood

[netmouse]

Illustrated by Randolph Caldecott
Originally uploaded by netmouse.

These were two books illustrated by Ralph Caldecott that I had as a child.
To quote from a book review,

The Caldecott Medal, established in 1937 by the American Library Association, is awarded each year to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. While many people are familiar with this prestigious award, relatively few are acquainted with the English illustrator after whom it was named. Randolph Caldecott was one of the most popular book illustrators of the late nineteenth century. His picture books were issued two at a time every Christmas, from 1878 until his death in 1886. He chose the subjects on his own, drawing from a mix of age-old nursery rhymes, pieces by eighteenth-century writers, and nonsense he made up himself.

Once I was older, I progressed to paperbacks with few or no illustrations. Here are some favorites that I just brought home from my mom's:



The Secret of the Seven Crows, by Wylly Folk St. John

The Light Princess, by George MacDonald, with pictures by Maurice Sendak

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson

Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe

Danny, The Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl

No Coins, Please, by Gordon Korman

The Wednesday Witch, by Ruth Chew

The Rescuers, by Margery Sharp, illustrated by Garth Williams

The Girl with the Silver Eyes, by Willo Davis Roberts

What were your favorite books back when you were still reading books that came with some interior illustrations?

Comments

[coppervale.livejournal.com]

Oh dear God I think I love you and now owe you a huge karmic favor that's yours for the asking.

I've been looking for the title and/or author of THE WEDNESDAY WITCH for a YEAR. But I could never dredge it up.

You have made me very happy.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Glad I could help!

[delosd.livejournal.com]

Wish I could answer, actually, but I'm afraid my memorie's not that good that far back. I do remember though reading a few books that were still around from when my mother was a little girl, and that had some illustrations. They would be quite the curiosity today, one was titled "Buddy at Rainbow Lake" and the other was "Joyce of the Secret Squadron". The latter actually talked about the famous "flying wing" aircraft - and this in a book written in 1942! It was a spin-off from the "Captain Midnight radio series.

I'm afraid I just don't remember reading much of anything prior to that.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I remember Danny, The Champion Of The World - I was quite a Roald Dahl fan when I was a kid. My copy of Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator had illustrations, as I recall.

I think the Moomin books might have had interior illustrations as well - I rather enjoyed those, as well as the Matthew Looney books (I think my copy of Matthew Looney In The Outback might be in a box out in the solarium, in fact). Madeline L'Engle's "Time Quartet" books were also favourites.

Oh, and how could I forget - I had (and still do have!) 20 of the "bedtime story-books" by Thornton W. Burgess.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

OMG! I'm so glad I asked! I've been trying to remember the title and author of the Moomin books for years!

Tove Jansson did the most wonderful illustrations for her stories! I have many images in my head from Momminland Midwinter (http://www.amazon.com/Moominland-Midwinter-Moomintrolls-Tove-Jansson/dp/0374453039/ref=pd_sim_b_2_img/105-1458417-9614065?ie=UTF8&qid=1186051314&sr=8-1). Thank you so much for reminding me what they were called!

When I was young I had not yet picked up the habit of reading everything by an author I liked (unless I got the book at the library in the first place, then I'd read everything the library had). I've never read Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator. Was it good?

(I also see that Ruth Chew wrote a lot of other books in the fantasy genre and would like to check them out.)

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I could jog your memory. My favourite was Comet In Moominland. Perhaps not coincidentally, that was also the first book of the series that I read.

And your post actually served as a memory jog for me as well - it was while composing my response above that I went and looked up the Madeline L'Engle books, as I was having the same brain cramp. All I could remember was that one of the characters was named Charles Wallace, they did something called "kything" and he ended up reliving the life of someone named Madoc. Fortunately, that was enough for Google to give me the author and titles. I may have to pop over to the used bookstore near me on the weekend and see if they have copies. They have a rather large SF/fantasy section, so it's a distinct possibility that I will find them there - it's about half the second floor. (The other half seems to be comics, vinyl records and VHS tapes. :) )

As for Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator, it was a disappointment when compared to Charlie And The Chocolate Factory... but that was a hard act to follow. I do remember a memorable section with some very strange alien creatures chasing them around a hotel, but that's about all I can remember of the book.

[dr-memory.livejournal.com]

The Girl with the Silver Eyes, by Willo Davis Roberts

Holy crap, someone else read that.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I loved "Girl with the Silver Eyes" but couldn't remember the exact title or author until you jostled my memory. I might have to go back and re-read that!

[speedygeo.livejournal.com]

Me? I was four years old reading the Sears Christmas Wish Book. Or whatever was lying around. Including my mothers romance books.

Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew too.

[elizilla]

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, with illustrations by Tasha Tudor. When I was a kid I loved the idea of secret places.

[childe.livejournal.com]

I read a lot of the Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins, but I can't remember if they had illustrations. I know after that, I moved to the Hardy Boys series, which didn't have any illustrations. That was when I got my first library card.