Favorite Books of Childhood

by Joanne Rock

My bookshelf from childhood-- with my hamster

I’ve started Christmas shopping this week and that means hitting the bookstore. Long before I sold my first book, I enjoyed giving books as gifts. So much so, I think friends come to expect that from me—I am the giver of books. It’s a pleasure to share that perfect story you think will really capture a friend’s heart or imagination.

That goes doubly so for kids. I remember so keenly how wonderful it was to discover the magic of reading independently as a child, and I always hope that giving the gift of a book will open that gateway for a child. Do you remember the first books that really made an impression on you as a child?

Here in no particular order, are some of the books that really had a strong impact for me as a kid:

1-     Black Beauty- this was the first time I recall sobbing while reading. And I had the experience of thinking- it’s crazy to realize I’m sitting safely in my bed, in my pjs, and crying so hard for the hurts of a fictional horse. That was really powerful for me, as I had my first taste of the way books teach us empathy.

2-     Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life- a book that spoofs the diva life and made me smile

3-     Nancy Drew- I owned about half of them and read all of them. I shared my collection with a friend down the street and vice versa. This series made me realize how much fun it is to share characters and story,lines. Books make for fun conversation.

4-     The Ghost of Windy Hill- this book kicked off my long love of ghost stories and the paranormal, even though this one isn’t particularly spooky. Very atmospheric!

5-      When We Were Very Young- this book of poetry by A.A. Milne was the first introduction to poems I read on my own—sweetly memorable.

6-     Stories from a Snowy Meadow – Anyone else remember Mole, Mouse, Shrew and Vole? I liked the emphasis on an older character, and the idea that storyteller Vole could be so important to the next generation. No surprise that I like a storyteller as hero!

7-     Snoopy and “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night” –Snoopy writes a book and has a book signing. I loved this book so much and have thought of it often over the years in my career as a writer, since Snoopy gets writer’s block, has big ideas, and even feels the pain of a book signing where no one shows up. The perfect book for a young writer.

My January 2018 McNeill story

What about you? Any memorable books from your youth? Or any books that your eager to buy for the young readers in your life? Share with me this week and I’ll give one random poster an advance copy of Claiming HisSecret Heir, my January 2018 Harlequin Desire! In the meantime, please be on the look out for His Pregnant Secretary, my December story, in stores December 5th.

Christina Hollis: Favourite Books From Childhood...

My New Release

Holidays are a time for families, memories, and curling up in the warm with a book. Ever since I was a child I’ve considered hard, book-shaped presents to be the best things to find under the tree.

My parents lost their home a few months before I was born, and had to move back in with my mum’s parents. My grandparents were elderly, and strict Methodists. You can read more about my early Christmases in an English country house here. 

Neighbours were few and far between, and most were extremely old single ladies or widows, who had lost their partners in the First World War. Our nearest neighbours were Plymouth Brethren, so while I always had to be very quiet, for the whole of Advent I had to be absolutely silent. 

Oh no—It's The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner again!

Books came to my rescue. My grandfather was a voracious reader, and knew a lot of poetry off by heart. When I was tiny, he used to sit in the playpen with me and read aloud (with housework and maintenance a continuous process in our house, it was the safest place for him). What he enjoyed wasn’t always suitable material for a child, even as I got older: Rider Haggard's She was one thing, but after some particularly vivid nightmares, The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner went onto the banned list—

“...slimy things did crawl with legs 

Upon the slimy sea.”

Once Grampy had taught me to read, I could escape to the public library. That’s why I’m so keen to see them safeguarded against the current rounds of spending cuts. Not everyone can afford to surf the net and read books on line. It’s vital to have somewhere information and real books are available to all.  

In the days before they became internet cafes and local hubs, public libraries had a strict rule of silence. That suited me: life at home was so quiet, I found ordinary, everyday activities outside the enclave painfully noisy. At first Enid Blyton was top of my reading list, as I had my own much-loved copy of her Nature Lover’s Book at home. Then I worked my way through the entire children’s section. Does anyone here remember BB’s Little Grey Men? 

At this time of year A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was a fireside favourite, but while John Masefield’s The Box Of Delights wasn't on the same scream-scale as The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, I found it far scarier than Dickens, and therefore (of course!) much more enjoyable.

My father read everything by H. E. Bates and Henry Williamson he could get his hands on. As I grew, he passed the books on to me. I still love the Larkins, and Tarka the Otter, but it’s taken me until this year to see otters in the wild. On several occasions they've come to fish in broad daylight in the river Wye, which runs through our village.

"...so then I knocked that Deadlock right out of the water..."

I devoured the whole Flambards series by K.M Peyton over the course of a week. There was also a book which meant a lot to me once, in which an unhappy girl found refuge in a yew tree. That story really spoke to me back then, but sadly I can’t recall much about it now. She was told each one of the multiple trunks of the tree held a different message, and one was “my arms protect you”, I think. Do you have any idea what book that could have been? I’d love to be reminded!


Wishing you all a happy holiday season, and remember: give a child sweets at Christmas and you feed their sugar habit for an hour. Give them a book, and you feed their imagination forever.

When she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping, Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women.  Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she’s sold nearly three million books worldwide. Her latest book, Heart Of A Hostage, was released on 4th December. You can catch up with Christina at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, and see a full list of her published books on her website.

Childhood Treasures!

by Anna Campbell

2014 is going to be a year of many changes for me, not least the fact that I'm putting the family home on the market and moving to something much smaller and much more central.

Please take note of those two words 'family home.' That means family junk reaching right back into childhood for my brother and I. So downsizing is a mammoth job.

So far I've tackled a lot of the easy stuff - books, papers, sheet music, CDs. Some of it in fact, has been really pleasurable to see again, especially the childhood books. This month on my website in My Favorite Things, I talk about some books from the 1930s that my mother won as academic prizes. Check them out!

Today, I'm talking about a real treasure that brought back so many memories. THE GIFT BOOK OF NURSERY RHYMES was my baby brother's book (his name is neatly inscribed inside in my father's lovely handwriting) but I placed dibs on it pretty much straight away. You can't see it in the picture above, but I wrote my name all over the cover - I was a possessive young wench!

The minute I opened this book I remembered my childhood fascination with the beautiful historical costumes in the illustrations. I really think this book may have in the end resulted in me writing historical romance!

The illustrations are the work of two English twin sisters, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, who were active in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s until Anne was tragically killed in a fire. You can read about their amazing partnership here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_and_Anne_Grahame_Johnstone

So I thought today, I'd share some of these beautiful illustrations with you. I think the costumes are just exquisite!

So did you have any books illustrated by the Grahame Johnstone sisters? Perhaps even this one? What was your favorite childhood book?