What books did you grow up on?

[Azhev]

I was looking through the various threads here, and I couldn't help but wonder what brought most of us to this point?  And by this point I mean readers of fantasy, sci-fi, non-fiction, and anything else we enjoy.  For me, I started off with the Hardy Boys mystery series (and I mean the old ones where they used words like "jalopy").  I loved those as a kid.  Couldn't get enough of them.  Then my mom introduced me to Susan Cooper and Anne McCaffrey (Harper Hall trilogy) and Lloyd Alexander.  I have been hooked on reading ever since.

I love reading.

 

[Shi]

I didn't really care for reading when I was really little, and as hard as it is for me to admit, what got me into it was Animorphs. How my brothers loved to make fun of me. Yes, the story of my life.

[Nessa]

If it had unicorns on the cover I read it. I read The Owlstone Crown, and still remember that book, it made quite an impression on my young mind. Then I moved on to Susan Cooper, Piers Anthony, Robin McKinley, Anne McCaffrey, and etc.

[Jhaeli]

My mom had an old, beaten up copy of Bulfinch's Mythology when I was a kid - I couldn't help myself, I began reading the Age of Fables and learning about Greek Mythology. That was around the age of ten or so. At school around the same time, they gave us The Book of Three, which is the first book in the Prydain Series by Lloyd Alexander. I love those books.

Combine that with have a library around the corner from my place; suffice to say, I got hooked to Fantasy very very early on and I've always been a bookworm. I was the type to run into my room and read after school rather than go outside with my friends.

[The Jade Knight]

I read a bit of this and that, but I really got hooked with the Hobbit.  I also read the Dark is Rising (starting with The Grey King, strangely enough) and enjoyed that.  I don't remember much else.

[Sigyn]

My older sister was really into fantasy and would read to me when I was little and then lend them to me when I was older.  She read me Howl's Moving Castle when I was five, and I gobbled up everything else by Diana Wynne Jones after that as well as Robin McKinley, Patricia McKillip, and Anne McCaffrey.  I thought it was great because the last three were always together at the library.

[Fellfrosch]

My dad read me The Hobbit when I was little, then moved on to the Lord of the Rings (when I was still too little to really appreciate it--I still thought it was cool, though). That prompted me to get into fantasy, which I did with Lloyd Alexander, Madeline L'Engle, Anne McCaffrey, and Robin McKinley (those seem to be a common theme here). When I was 12 I found Fred Saberhagen in the library, and he Sword series convinced me not only that I was a die hard fantasy fan, but that I was destined to be a writer.

[Azhev]

You know, I know a lot of people who's first foray in fantasy was the Hobbit.  Me, I'm glad it wasn't.  I never liked the Hobbit and Bilbo just annoyed me.  People always look surprise when I tell them that.  Can't figure out why. 

[charity]

When I was growing up I loved Black Beauty, I read it about a hundred times (my husband was a little surprised at how well I knew the storyline when he rented the movie) and Black Stallion. Another of my favorites, that I quite literally read until it fell apart (then I taped it back together with Duct Tape and I still have it) is The Case of the Vanishing Boy by Alexander Key.

Those are the three that come to mind. I didn't even become interested in Fantasy until about 3 years ago. (around the time that LOTR came out in the theatre)

[Jhaeli]

My older sister was really into fantasy and would read to me when I was little and then lend them to me when I was older. She read me Howl's Moving Castle when I was five, and I gobbled up everything else by Diana Wynne Jones after that as well as Robin McKinley, Patricia McKillip, and Anne McCaffrey. I thought it was great because the last three were always together at the library.

I'm not much an anime kind of person, but my little sister is and she made me watch the English version of Howl's Moving Castle. It's become my favourite movie and I am sorely tempted to actually read the book; the trick is finding it in a small town.

And one of the few books that my mom bought for me was the Black Stallion. I ended up reading the whole series and I used to tape the show on television after I discovered it.

Am I the only one thinking of raiding the kids' section at the library after reading this thread?

[pengwenn]

I had a hard time learning how to read.  I went to kindergarten in Colorado where they didn't believe in teaching how to read until 1st grade.  All you had to do to graduate kindergarten was write your letters and numbers.  We moved to WVC Utah and when I showed up to 1st grade they expected you to know how to read basic words and such.  My parents didn't agree with their method of teaching me to read (sight recognition) because I was behind but they didn't want to stigmatize me by putting me in a special class.  I learned to read but very slowly and painfully. 

By fourth grade the school implemented a policy that every student must read to a parent for 15 minutes every day (for younger students who didn't know how to read they had to be read to).  I picked the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books to read.  And bless my mother's heart because she sat there and listened while I read every single one of them.  By junior high I moved on to Agatha Christie books.  Read almost every one of those too before I got burned out on mysteries.

[charity]

Ooh and then there was the Indian in the Cupboard... I think I'll have to go find those ones again.

I was in the Library recently with my kids and ran across a little book I'd 'read' when I was probably 5 ish. Wow the nostalgia was like a tidal wave. I had to grab the wall for a second and thought, "Woah, I've read this before"

That was called "Mouse Tales" by Arnold Lobel
http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9780060239411

I have no clue how to link things on this site...

[Azhev]

I remember Indian in the Cupboard and its sequels.  Those were good reads too.

I also remember reading the Ralph S. Mouse books by Beverly Cleary.  I always wanted a mouse that could ride a motorcycle.  Santa never brought me one. 

[Skar]

Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Hardy Boys, Heinlein, Asimov, Tolkien, Tom Swift and Tom Corbett, Philip Jose Farmer.

[Loud_G]

I started with the Hardy Boys. I'd finish one in about an hour or so. Then I progressed on to Goosebumps (eventually). I also read whatever was required at school, not really liking or hating most of it.  I was finally introduced to the Fantasy genre in Middle School by a friend of mine and the books that REALLY got me going were the Belgariad by David Eddings and the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.