Under the Covers

Update:
Here's Red's list. Note to self: how on earth did you forget Madeline L'Engle?

And here's Emily's list. Again, I see another author - E.B. White - I totally overlooked.

The comments section in Red's post about weather somehow segued into a discussion of favorite childhood books, with the result that Red, Emily and I are all posting about our own particular favorites. Feel free to post about your own, if you're so inspired.

Anyway, the following titles are all books that I loved and read - and re-read - as a child, in many cases with a flashlight under the covers.

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling
I've written about this book before; I loved both the story (originally part of The Jungle Book) and the cartoon version. Both left me with a lifelong dislike of snakes.

Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard
What you have here is the story of a boy named Danny and his Irish Setter Big Red, that was devoured over and over again by a boy named Danny who desperately wanted a dog. Later - much later - when Molly and I would go hiking I realized I had fulfilled my childhood dream of a canine companion to roam the woods alongside me. Fortunately, we never ran into any Grizzly bears like Old Majesty. I still love this book; there is a copy sitting on my bookshelf and I've gone so far as to buy it for others.

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
If I remember correctly, my godmother sent me this book as a gift. While he's better known for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which I also read multiple times), this is my favorite Dahl book. Danny lives alone with his Dad, who teaches him the art of poaching. Yes - a subversive book - dad teaches son to break the law and thumb his nose at the evil English gentry.

Man O' War by Walter Farley
Historical fiction about a stableboy named Danny (are we seeing a pattern here?) who stays with the great racehorse through out his career. I first read this in the third grade, and was briefly inspired to become a jockey - until my mother told me I would be totoo big. I read most of Farley's works (The Black Stallion, The Island Stallion) available in the Ames Free Library, but I returned to this one over and over.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
One day in what I think was 1977, my Dad and I were browsing at bookstore. I saw a movie magazine on the stands promoting that horrible Bakshi film of The Lord of the Rings, and entranced by the cover with monsters and men with swords, asked him t to buy it for me. Dad declined, saying he'd "get me the real thing." Shortly thereafter, when I was laid low with the chicken pox, he returned from a trip to the library with a copy of The Hobbit for me.

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
I came across this book one summer while my family and I were visiting some 'Irish' cousins. The end result was that I spent the better part of the afternoon hidden away and racing through this book. Harriet's obsession with observing folks and writing about them may make her a sort of proto-blogger.

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
Before I had my own income and transportation, and thus instant access to reading material, a common complaint from me to my parents was 'I have nothing to read!' My mother handed me this book one day (she had a hardbound collection of Alcott's works) in what I believe must've been a desperate attempt to ward me off and shut me up. It worked - I retreated into the world of the boy's school run by Jo March and her husband, and left my poor mother alone - at least until I finished reading.

And oddly enough, my favorite character was the orphan boy - Danny.