The books that taught me to love to read

Forgive me if I've posted on this topic before, but I'm getting old and I just don't recall if this is a new topic or not. Besides, I'm triple booked for much of the day so I thought I'd write an easy post about something I know well, my favorite childhood books. These are some of the books that taught me to love reading. I read these in elementary school or they were read to me before I could read on my own. Here are some of stand outs:

James and the Giant Peach - (But with the original illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. Any other illustrations pale comparison.) Still great!

The Big Tidy Up - I used to check this out of the library regularly. I was obsessed with it. It's about a little girl forced to clean up her room one day. As a child I could relate completely.

One Morning in Maine - I have a signed copy from my Mom. She gave it to me the day I lost my first tooth. I still read it once in a blue moon and it still makes me happy. The illustrations are oh so familiar and I love that too.

The Little House on the Prairie series - I've mentioned the importance of this series many times. It's simply one of the most influential set of books I've ever read. I think about life on the prairie almost every day. Mostly I love these books because my Dad read the entire series to me.

Winnie the Pooh stories - My Dad used to read to me from a thick hardback book of Winnie the Pooh adventures. There were only a handful of colored plates in the book and I used to look forward to those illustrations while dad read aloud. My little twin bed was nestled in the corner of the master bedroom that I shared with my little brother. Dad and I used to sit with our backs against the wall while he read from that book. I can still feel the cold of the wall against my pajamaed (I just made up a word!) back. For this reason Pooh is still important to me.

Horton Hears a Who - Certainly the first book that made me think of worlds apart from ours. Still profound, in my opinion.

The Very Little Girl - This one takes me waaaay back. The handwritten date in my copy indicates that I received it on my second birthday. I used to love it. I can find no evidence of it online.

Mrs. Tibbet's Typewriter - All about writing and loving books.. *heaven* This one has great illustrations to boot. Again, I can't find evidence of this book online. :(

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books - When we moved, and I had to start at a new elementary school, I was so shy that I spent many a recess in the library with the librarian. She let me help her put those crinkly, clear book covers on the new books. She also introduced me to Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. These books were a great comfort to me in that time between being the new girl and finding my little group of friends.

The Monster at the End of This Book - As much as I loved having it read to me as a kid, I found it to be even more fun to read to my niece and nephew.

Are You There God? It's Me Margaret - (Or most anything by Judy Blume in the early 70's) Ahh, Judy Blume. Her books were read by pretty much every girl in my class. We had great taste. I loved everything Ms. Blume wrote.

I'll stop with Judy Blume because after her books I graduated to Young Adult books and that's a list for another day.

I'm sure there are more original books to list here, some of these being quite famous, but these are the books that touched me most. These are the book that I vividly remember.

I'd like to tag Shandon, Trooperdog and AbNorman to list the books they loved in and before elementary school.