Books I Enjoyed as a Kid/I Wish I Read More as a Kid

I was trying to remember what books I loved as a child, until I realized...I didn't read as much as I wish I did as a kid. My zest for reading didn't come until middle school (I'll do a different blog post dedicated to books I loved as a young teen). But during elementary school I was busy just being a kid, writing stories in my notebook, watching movies...basically doing nothing but enjoying life (seriously I don't know what I did as a kid). But, there were books that I remember loving. I loved going to the library and checking out books (didn't mean I read them all, I just loved having them)--and here are the books that stood out to me that even now as a 20-going-on-21-year-old can remember.




Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. I read this in 4th grade, and I remember not paying attention to the teacher and just coming back to read some parts and my teacher totally called me out for it (but she was happy that I was enjoying the book). I don't know, but I loved Fudge and his antics and I loved the whole Fudge series. Judy Blume is boss!!!








The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. I love mysteries - I don't really remember what this one is about though, but I read it a lot as a kid.

Where the Sidewalk Ends & The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. If you didn't grow up with Shel Silverstein's rhymes, then I'm sorry but you've been deprived. The Giving Tree especially got me thinking hard as an 8 year old.

The New Adventures of Mary Kate & Ashley. I'll admit. I was a hugggeeeee fan of the Olsen twins growing up. Full House was my life. I remember reading a lot of books from this series, and I even have some of the books in my current collection.

Holes by Louis Sachar. Like most kids, I watched the movie first before diving into the book, but I remember reading this and actually feeling proud that I read a book with long chapters.

Bunnicula. I love animals, but I don't necessarily love reading about them for some reason. But this series I enjoyed a lot because it was funny, had a dash of scary-ness to it, and mystery.

 

Forever by Judy Blume. If you read this book, you're probably wondering why this is included in books I read as a child in elementary school. Well, because I DID read this in fifth grade and this book was in high circulation amongst everyone in my class (secretly) and we all giggled and gasped at the mere mention of the s-e-x word. Eventually, the teachers found out exactly why we were all of a sudden so interested in reading, and reading this book in particular, so I think they took it out of the library. But yeah, that book...

  

The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes. I only read these three books of this series but I liked it because I loved how she was sort of doing the things I wish I was doing. Like chores (but getting allowance for chores). As a kid, I loved reading books of what it was going to be like being a young adult. Little did I know, it's not all that it's perked up to be.

Amelia's Notebook. I love keeping journals, as you might already know, so I loovveed this series. I aimed to keep my journals like this, but thus--I don't know how to draw nor am I as witty as Amelia.







So, there you have it. The books that I enjoyed as a kid (that I can remember). To this day, I still try to keep tabs on children's literature b/c 1) I want to write books for children one day and 2) As a way to compensate for the lack of reading that I did as a kid. But, I'm glad that I read books for pleasure and looking back I realize that I love books with elements of mystery and humor. Books are awesome, and I don't want to limit myself off to just "adult" books because I'm an "adult" (term used very, very loosely) I don't care what people think when I still check out some children's books from time to time.