I’ve been a book lover for as long as I can remember. While I didn’t become the constant reader that I am today until 6th grade, even as a child I loved to read and would delight in any chance to peruse books at the library, LifeWay, or Barnes and Noble. I cut my teeth, so to speak, on American Girl books and Nancy Drew mysteries and loved anything that would sweep me away into an adventure in my imagination.
During these early days, there were a few books that stood out more than others and remain favorites of mine even now as an adult. I can’t wait for the day I can share them with my own children! But in the meantime, I want to share them with you!
First, I must begin with my two favorite books from when I was little, little–ones that I loved for my mom to read to me at night.
The Turtle Saver
This children’s book shows how one little good deed can have far-reaching effects–and can even come back to bless us in return! All these years later, I still think about this book. I even saved a turtle on my way to work last year because I thought of this book when I saw him.
I had just pulled out of our driveway at our old house, which was on the outskirts of town and surrounded by woods (so there was lots of wildlife). I saw a pretty big turtle in the middle of the road, and I became worried that he would get hit by someone less observant, or someone who just didn’t care about a poor, helpless turtle trying to cross the street. So I put my car in park, grabbed some fast-food napkins out of my console, and gingerly picked up the surprisingly heavy turtle. He ducked inside his shell and shot water–or more likely, pee–all over the ground, and I screamed and dropped the poor guy upside down on the pavement. LOL! I apologized profusely, then turned him over and carried him to the ditch beside the road. Hopefully he is still living happily in the pond across the street from our old house.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Long before the movie (which, frankly, doesn’t do the book justice at all), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was my FAVORITE children’s book ever. LOL! My parents read it to me countless times, and then I read it to myself countless times after that. The idea of a place where food rains from the sky captured my imagination, and I loved the hilarious illustrations! When I find out I am having my first kid, this book will be one of my very first purchases. LOL!
As I got older, I, of course, began to read chapter books. One that stood out to me and has remained a favorite ever since is the award-winning…
Ella Enchanted
I saw the movie before I read the book, and I really enjoyed it. However, once I read the book, I realized how much the movie veres and away from the plot in the book. While I still enjoy watching the movie version of Ella Enchanted (who doesn’t love a fun fairytale movie, plus Prince Charmont is dreamy LOL), I much prefer the book! It’s 10x better, for sure! And according to my pre-teen memory, so sweet and romantic. I honestly would like to do a reread of this one in the near future, as I still have my worn-out copy. We’ll see if I get around to it!
Another early read, also written by Gail Carson Levine and subtly connected to Ella Enchanted, was…
Fairest
This story, which is similar to Snow White in a lot of ways, centers around Aza, a girl who is convinced she is ugly, but possesses the best voice out of anyone in her musically inclined kingdom. Her vocal abilities and heart of gold attract the eye of the handsome prince, but also the ire of the evil Queen Ivi. I loved this book as much or even more than Ella Enchanted! I read it several times, and made sure I kept my copy of it into adulthood. This is another one that is worth a reread even now!
And now… the piece de resistance…
The Chronicles of Narnia by the incomparable C. S. Lewis!
I fell in love with Narnia around the time of the release of “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” movie in 2005 thanks to my 2nd grade teacher. She would play the Focus on the Family audio drama versions of the books while we would do art projects, and we even watched “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” movie as a class. These fantastical stories captured my 7-8 year old imagination and I quickly became obsessed! I got a boxed set of the books that year for Christmas and they became some of my most beloved books ever. I still have them on my bookshelf at my house and will never get rid of them, no matter how pitifully tattered they look from reading them so many times!
I fell in love with the wonder and adventure of the books as a kid, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become increasingly aware of their spiritual and intellectual depth. These are more than just fairy tales for kids. They are stuffed with powerful and thought-provoking concepts. I often think back on quotes from the books in my everyday life, and I’ve even written a blog post inspired by one of those quotes. In fact, I have ideas for several more inspired by things I learned from Narnia. Maybe there should be a blog series of these in the future?
Also, now that I am a writer myself, I admire Lewis’ work even more. His writing is uniquely him, full of wit and humor, easy to relate to and yet breathtakingly profound. He certainly was a literary genius!
I CANNOT WAIT to read these books to my kids!!! Seriously, as soon as my kids are old enough to understand stories like this, I will be pulling out my well-worn, well-loved copies and reading them at bedtime, or if I get to homeschool my kids, during our class reading time. They WILL be Narnia fans, let me promise you that! LOL!
Ahhh… I could truly talk about Narnia for hours. But I won’t bore you with that, so I’ll just end with these last two notes. 1.) Fun fact: my Narnia books have always had this distinctive smell, and I absolutely love it! Even when they were new, they possessed this aged, musty scent that makes it seem like they are older than they are. It’s one of my favorite scents in the world! LOL! 2.) Did you know Netflix recently bought the movie/tv rights to the entire Narnia series? This is the first time a studio has owned the rights to all seven books, and they are planning to adapt all of them into movies and/or shows. I’m a little nervous to see what they do with them (hopefully that don’t make them all dark and evil, which Narnia definitely is NOT), but I’m really excited too.
After revisiting these books for this post, it makes we want to go reread them all! If I do, I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of them now that I’m in my twenties (though I’m sure they will still be as beloved as they were when I was a kid)!
What about you? Are there any books that you really loved as a kid that you still treasure today, or would want to reread? I’d love to hear about them!
Happy reading, friends!
