what did you read growing up

[madhair60]

like what was it that got your attention. Got you reading. No judgment. I remember getting absorbed in the absolutely cunt awful Goosebumps books and obsessed with the much better Fighting Fantasy series. You can obviously do better though because you aren't a forsaken cunt like me.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Tintin
Dr Who
Asterix
Just William
Jennings
Billy Bunter
Animal Farm
Lord of the Flies

[bgmnts]

Horrible Histories. I don't think I read much as a kid, I remember reading and enjoying Indian in the Cupboard.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

Enid Blyton
Dr Seuss
Roald Dahl
Horrible Histories
Guinness Book of Records
Sonic the Comic

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Dr Seuss

I loved the Cat in the Hat's dictionary.

[Dr Rock]

Asterix, Danny Dunn books, Dr Who novels, Dr Seuss, books about ghosts and monsters and dinosaurs (all from the library).

Marvel Comics - whatever I could get. 70s UK reprints and imported US colour comics.

[buttgammon]

Famous Five, Roald Dahl, Judy Blume, Horrible Histories, lots of stuff about football too and then when I got older, George Orwell.

[Kankurette]

Asterix, Nancy Drew, Horrible Histories, Roald Dahl, Paul Jennings (I have Aussie relatives and they used to send me loads of Aussie kid lit books), the Chalet School books, various poetry books (Michael Rosen and Roger McGough were my faves and I'm happy that Rosen has become a meme).

JD Salinger was my favourite writer as a teenager.

[JaDanketies]

I read Junk by Melvin Burgess so much that it was all frayed, I even remember that it fitted nicely in my coat pocket. And I wrote my dissertation on Lord of the Flies, so familiar was I with it. Imagine having the time to read the same book more than once

Horrible Histories, Roald Dahl. Won't pretend like I wasn't enchanted by book one of the Harry Potter series. I remember the scales falling from my eyes when reading Goosebumps; I loved some Goosebumps until I gained a critical eye and then I hated them. And then I loved any other schlocky kid or teen horror books that didn't have ridiculously bad endings where everyone is a robot; Point Horror et al.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

I loved Fantastic Mr Fox by Dahl.  Boggis, Bunce, and Bean were a great trio of grotesques.

[bgmnts]

I really liked Bart Simpson's Guide to Life as a kid too, read that a fair few times I remember.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I really liked Bart Simpson's Guide to Life as a kid too, read that a fair few times I remember.

Still own this

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I could have sworn some of the goosebumps stories were sort of alright, at the time, but I've never gone back in case they were dogshit. Similarly: the tv show Eerie, Indiana. Downloaded it all but haven't tried watching it in case my nostalgia is misplaced.

[Rizla]

Other than Dahl, two books that massively stuck with me are Conrad's War by Andrew Davies, about a WW2 obsessed kid who travels back in time with his depressed playwright dad where they get captured by the bosch, and Sweets From A Stranger by Nicholas Fisk, a collection of dark sci-fi short stories for kids. Scarred for life etc.

[JaDanketies]

I've still got Bart Simpson's Guide to Life. In four or five years my son will be as old as I was when I got it! I hope I can pass it on and he loves it too.

[Mobbd]

My mum read The Hobbit to us when I was about 6. It's the only time I've ever experienced that story, never re-read it or seen the films yet I think I can remember most of it very well. It was a very important time to me, establishing a firm love of books and providing one of few memories I have of familial closeness.

I spoke to Mum about this on the phone recently to make sure she never chucks that copy of the book. It's got a blue spine and Smaug resting on her/his pile of gold on the cover. I think she's surprised I remember anything about this, let alone hold it up as such an important memory.

Personally, I read Roald Dahl a lot. I remember reading The Magic Finger very early on and then being surprised much later that it was the same guy who did The BFG etc.

I had a funny book called Little Monster's Alphabet with great illustrations.

A nice hardback Wind in the Willows.

Scary ghost stuff like The Ghosts of Creepy Castle and the sort of thing discussed now in Scarred for Life media.

A book called Stories for 7-year-olds.

28 years old, I was.

[Mobbd]

This sounds unlikely but I actually remember the moment I became able to read properly.

We kids would read out loud since we were still learning. I remember sitting in a "massive" armchair at home and realizing I could read silently, sounding the words out in my mind, like adults could. Everyone thought I was bullshitting.

28.

YEARS.

OLD.

[Mobbd]

I've still got Bart Simpson's Guide to Life. In four or five years my son will be as old as I was when I got it! I hope I can pass it on and he loves it too.

"Why are we yellow?"

[Mobbd]

What you had to read in school feels like a separate, parallel topic, so: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=101403.0

[letsgobrian]

There was a period in primary school where I think my mother despaired that the only (non-comic) thing I wanted to read was Dr Who Target Books.

It eventually expanded to include Moomin, Agaton Sax and Dick King Smith books.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

"Why are we yellow?"

To this day I find myself wanting to go "garçon, zis water is too cold" every time I'm in a restaurant. Rent free. Rent free.

[JaDanketies]

I used to read poetry when I was little. I've read poetry a few times as an adult but I have to be absolutely in the mood. But I've bought my kid some poetry books and I love these kids' poems, they're loads better than most adult poems tbh

Roger McGough, Spike Milligan and Wes Macgee would be some names I've deliberately sought out so I can revisit them. And Roald Dahl's poems of course. I remember seeking out and being disappointed by Edward Lear's limericks, so I must've been quite into nonsense poetry if I was deliberately looking for the deep cuts.

[Inspector Norse]

Absolutely loads. Grew up in a house with two parents who'd studied English and had gone on to become, respectively, an English teacher and (later) bookshop clerk, so our house was basically made of books.
Things that I remember as key favourites from my pre-teens:
Asterix and Tintin
Emil and the Detectives
Football books by Martin Waddell and Michael Hardcastle
Robin Jarvis Deptford books, and Redwall. Seems like the mid-90s were a peak for rodent fantasy
A couple of other fantasy series - the Lloyd Alexander ones were favourites too
Loads of dinosaur books. My key text was a dinosaur encyclopedia by Michael Benton, who it seems is now an OBE
I remember when I was about 7 staying up really late (about 8:30!) to finish The Animals of Farthing Wood.
Had quite a few Horrible Histories, as you did
Was for a short time obsessed with the DK Picture Atlas of the World
A few children's poetry things by Michael Rosen, Alan Ahlberg, people like that.

This is just a top of the head list, there are millions more things I could probably list if I looked at the old shelves in my parents' attic.

[jobotic]

"Why are we yellow?"

I've still got Bart Simpson's Guide to Life. In four or five years my son will be as old as I was when I got it! I hope I can pass it on and he loves it too.

IS that the one that mentions a record called "I Think You Need a Massage" by Try Me On For Thighs?

[Fambo Number Mive]

Read most of the Terry Pratchett books when I was a teenager. Loved Josh Kirby's illustrations.

Also Just William, Jennings (at one point was obsessed with collecting Jennings books with the posh red covers), Asterix, Tintin, Alice in Wonderland, Enid Blyton, the Wind in the Willows.

My favourite book of all that I read as a teenager (and still think is a good book) - Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall. I would like to make a television drama out of the book.

[Inspector Norse]

Oh yeah, read and regularly reread loads of Just William too. Browsed one when I was at my parents' last and still remember a lot of the stories and even specific little scenes and details.

[Pranet]

My favourite book of all that I read as a teenager (and still think is a good book) - Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall. I would like to make a television drama out of the book.

The first part of that, about the school has stuck with me and I think about it now and again. Can't remember much after that.

[Fambo Number Mive]

The school library had lots of Len Deighton books so I also read a load of them as a teenager.

[Pranet]

Someone I don't think has been mentioned, sorry if I have missed it- anyone read the stories about football, mainly, by Michael Hardcastle?

[surreal]

School books like the aforementioned Conrad's War, terrific little book about ghosts called "Dark and Haunted Places" which I bought from one of those scholastic book fair things.  As a smaller child I had Mouse Tales which I remember vividly and have actually considered re-buying as an adult.



One that I can remember vividly but cannot for the life of me find was a book about cavemen, stoneage family, kind of like a non-comedy version of the Flintstones.  I think the family was called the Stones (original!).  Their adventured ended with them building an aircraft and powering it with plutonium (I think) - pretty sure they called it Concorde too.  Would love to find this again and prove that I'm not making this shit up...