I saved the best for last! Reading has always been my thing, but when I was a kid, I read even more voraciously than I do now. Books were my friends. I have such a fondness for those books that I loved when I was a kid, and I can't wait to share them one day with my own children.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. I read the entire series (8 books) over and over growing up. I also own and love the movies with Megan Follows; the original two, not that third one they made that doesn't follow any of the books. Who doesn't like spirited, hilarious Anne with all of her adventures and misfortunes? Plus, she had red hair, so that was always a plus.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. My mom read all of the books in this series aloud to us. Since then I have read them over and over. My favorite is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, followed by The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I took a whole class on C.S. Lewis in college because of my love for this series.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Proper Meg, creative Jo, sweet Beth, impish Amy, and fun Laurie are characters that stick with you. I loved everything by Alcott, but this most famous book of hers was always my favorite.
The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This was another series that my parents read aloud to us. Laura's world was so different from mine, and it intrigued me.
Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene. I had to mention this series because it was a favorite of mine, despite the fact that all the stories were basically the same with a few minor differences to distinguish them. I've always enjoyed mysteries. I used to take two Nancy Drew books with me to bed on a Friday night, read one before I went to sleep, and wake up the next morning and read the second before I got out of bed.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. I must have read this book five times somewhere around middle school/early highschool. It's a fun and whimsical retelling of the Cinderella story, complete with a handsome Prince Charming, ogres, giants, and magical spells.
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. I loved this book set in first-century Judea at the time of Jesus. It had adventure and a little appropriate romance, and a great historical setting.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. My grandma used to read these aloud to us while we giggled at the pictures. Silverstein is a delightful children's poet. I still have some of the poems memorized and I even performed one in an English class one year.
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I don't know how many of these I read, but there were a lot. I always liked trying to solve the mystery along with the characters.
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is a lady living in an upside-down house and she has a magical cure for every child's bad habit. Each book is a collection of stories of how she cured bad habits, and the cures are whimsical and silly and funny. Be prepared to giggle.
Because I can only include 10 books, I am leaving a lot off the list, but these were some of my very favorites in elementary and middle school. These days, kids don't read as much, and that makes me very sad, because I want all little girls to fall in love with these books just like I did!
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