Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Top Ten Books I Wish I'd Read as a Kid

Ready...set...GO! 

The first ten that come to mind...

Stargirl
It's okay to be quirky.

Anne of Green Gables
It's okay to be quirky.
(You can't hear this often enough when you are thirteen.)

The Giver
A Utopia might not be Utopian. 

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
How different my life would have
been if my dad's family in the Deep South
had been born black.
The Hiding Place
Not all Christians
put on their Christianity
on Sunday morning and
take it off
after Sunday service.

Because of Winn-Dixie
Just the simple act of
loving people
can solve a lot of troubles.

Where the Red Fern Grows
This book was my initiation into
the Amazing Fun Boys Were Having
while we girls sat home and crocheted doilies.

The Phantom Tollbooth
Brilliant.
Clever.
Words can be delightful.

Tadpole's Promise by Jeanne Willis
(For those who do not know this story,
it's about a caterpillar who falls in love with a tadpole.
"Promise me you'll never change," Caterpillar whines to Tadpole.
See where this is going?)
A cute fellow is lovely,
but let's hope there's more to him
 than just a pretty face.

Zen and the Art
of Motorcycle Maintenance
There's more than one way
of seeing the world.


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

22 comments:

  1. Hmmm. Even though kids can't hear enough that it's okay to be quirky, NO ONE ever comes up and asks for books about quirky people. Okay, now all day I'll be asking myself "Was Anne quirky? Or just highly individualistic?"

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  2. Oh gosh, I feel the same about Star Girl. I generally do not like Spinneli at all. (I do keep reading his books and keep trying...) BUT Stargirl. Wow. A-mazing.

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  3. I should have added The Giver to my list, I only read it a month ago and I loved it :) Thanks for stopping by my blog

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  4. I only recognized 1 of the titles ... I must definitely read more :-)

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  5. What a great topic for a post! I did read Anne of Green Gables as a young girl and absolutely LOVED it. I read the Hiding Place as an adult and was amazed at such steadfast faith in the midst of such evil!

    I have not read - and rarely heard - of The Phantom Tollbooth - but your description has piqued my curiosity!

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  6. I also had Roll of Thunder and the Giver on my list! This one was fun to think about

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  7. Very inspiring list. I am especially fond of Because of Winn-Dixie. That book is really something special. I have Anne of Green Gables on my list and must, must, must set aside time....

    -Anne
    Headfullofbooks

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  8. When I read The Phantom Tollbooth a couple of years ago, I said to myself, "now there's a book I would have loved as a child". I wish I could find an Icelandic publisher willing to publish it, because I know several kids who would love it.

    Anne of Green Gables is still among my favourite books, and I have read somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand books since I first read it.

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  9. I have to admit some of the titles you mentioned I've never heard of before. That means: I need to do more reading!

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  10. I wish I had read Anne of Green Gables too.

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  11. Our teacher read to us the series of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry when we were in fourth grade. She read for an hour every day and had us draw a scene that stuck that struck us. That is one of my favorite reading memories. She would turn off the fluorescent lights and it was just such a calm, serene hour....

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  12. I love Anne of Green Gables. I want to go back and re-read it. I still have the copy I got when I was 11.

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  13. I adore Anne of Green Gables! And your right, it's a great message for any teenager.

    I did read The Giver as a kid and hated it. It wasn't until I was an adult that I could appreciate it.

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  14. What a delightful list. Of the books mentioned I've only read two, so I realize I may have to revisit some of my children's book lists and do some catching up!

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  15. I would never have thought of the Zen book as one to have read as a kid. Hmmmm. have to think about that some more.

    Here's my list: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/01/top-ten-tuesday-childrens-books.html

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  16. I read Anne of Green Gables (everything by Lucy Maud Montgomery, in fact) when I was a child and loved it. I "played" Anne all day long!

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  17. Nice concise list. You gave me some ideas for my own as well.

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  18. Anne and The Phantom Tollbooth are both on my list! Definitely wish I would have read those when I was younger.

    I hadn't thought about The Giver, but I wonder if I would have liked it then? If it would have changed the way I perceive things or if I would have hated having a teacher force it on me? Who knows? Either way, I'm glad I've read it since, and love it!

    Great choices!

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  19. By all means hook me up with the list/website for 1001 books to read as a kid. The task sound daunting, though. How far have you got?

    Thanks for pointing it out to me.

    Anne
    My Head is Full of Books

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  20. OMG read stargirl, anne of green gables, and because of winn-dixie! OMG totally forgot to read the Giver to my list! i soo wanna read that one. and btw thanx for dropping by my blog :D

    Rabiah @ Confessions of a Readaholic

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  21. +JMJ+

    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanance? Really?! LOL! I read it as an older teenager and am really glad I did, but I don't know what my younger self would have done with it.

    Nice list!

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  22. I read ZAMM when I was twenty. I wish I'd read it when I was in high school, taking philosophy class.

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