Since Ada is still busily re-reading, I’ve begun to wrack my brain for the books I re-read the most when I was a kid. I couldn’t come up with much besides The Wind in the Willows and several other picture books. Although I know there were plenty. One bunch of books I loved when I was about Ada’s age were these:
I loved them almost as much as I loved the Hardy Boys mysteries that ran on TV on Sunday nights—although I was always disappointed that the Nancy Drew episodes aired a lot less frequently. And no, I will not admit, even now, which Hardy Boy I had a crush on the the mid-’70s.
I never re-read these books for two reasons: one, there were LOTS of them and I could just plow my way through the series (and when I was done, move on to the bounty of Nancy Drew, then Agatha Christie). And two, they were WAY TOO SCARY. I remember sitting on the couch one evening before bed and getting so spooked by what I was reading that I slammed the book shut. “Just don’t read anymore,” my mother suggested. But that wasn’t an option. So I found my place and continued reading, with one eye shut against the terror on the page, as late into the night as my bedtime allowed.
What were some of your favorite books—especially spooky ones—when you were a kid? Write in and let me know!
Lela Nargi 
Says my mother-in-law: “Winnie the Pooh and Mother West Wind “When” Stories. And Bambi – what a tear jerker when his mother died! Nancy Drew and her roadster. Black Beauty. Heidi.”
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And my friend Ellen: “I loved the All-Of-A-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor.” One (or rather, four) of our family-favorites, too!
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Yet another friend writes: “The first Hardy Boys book I read was Hunting for Hidden Gold…..the first Nancy Drew one I read was the Curse of the Ivory Charm.” Now that’s a good memory!
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