Yesterday, a friend read to me The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. It was a really charming story, and I realized that I hadn't ever read anything nice like that when I was young..
I'm pretty sure all I read were generic, unmemorable stories by authors no one's heard of, since I don't remember much of anything I read when I was a kid. (The only story I can remember told about a time when people could reach up to the sky, grab a bit of it, and eat it. The sky tasted really good, but the people were really inconsiderate in the amount they ate, so the sky withdrew. If anyone knows what this story is, I'd love to find it again..)
I was wondering what other children's stories I missed out on when I was a kid. Any recommendations or favorites of yours that I should read? It feels like I have a void to fill, and I hope it's not too late!
My high school French teacher loved The Little Prince. Still haven't gotten around to reading it. Also, the story you mentioned sounds familiar to me, but I think it might be mythology...? Could be mistaken :)
One of my favorite books, even outside the 'children's' genre, has always been The Phantom Tollbooth, and I highly recommend. Great fun for fans of the English language, and even for those who aren't :)
I second the recommendation for The Phantom Tollbooth! I'd forgotten all about it until just now, but it's a lot of fun.
Also A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind at the Door, by Madeline L'Engle are fantastic. Roald Dahl also wrote good children's books, although they are sometimes a bit...gruesome. I'm having a hard time remembering specific children's books, I didn't stay in that genre long >.< Although I remember reading a lot of Magic Treehouse stories. Oh! Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar.
Phantom Tollbooth is great. I also back up the Roald Dahl recommendation.
if you're still interested....
Where the Red Fern Grows. Bridge to Terabithia. Tuck Everlasting. The Giver. Maniac Mcgee (sp?). Stargirl. Dragon of the Lost Sea (series). The Black Cauldron (series). Howl's Moving Castle. The Giving Tree. Incarnations of Immortality (series). Ender's Game. Little Women. Little House on the Prairie (series).
but what age range really were you thinking of....?
Though a little out of date, I'd cast votes for The Wind in the Willows, and everything written by E. Nesbit.
I'm most of the way through the Little House series right now, myself. I skipped reading it throughout my entire childhood and finally got around to starting to read it a couple of weeks ago.
It's all horribly politically incorrect, but then, a lot of the books that were in the classroom when I was in school were by today's standards. Like The Fan Man...
the great brain
and anything by john bellairs
I like En famille. This anime aired as "ペリーヌ物語" .
Did you read abridged Odessey when you were children?