Welcome back Beverly Cleary!
Reading to M has always been one of most enjoyable aspects of parenting, and now that he’s getting a little older, I’m getting the joy of revisiting some of my all-time favorites books. This past week involved the welcome return of Beverly Cleary with The Mouse and the Motorcycle. I had forgotten how wonderful her characters are, but it didn’t take long for me to get sucked into the tale. I’m honestly not sure who’s enjoying the story more! Now I’m curious to see how long before he starts going ‘ptt-bb-b-b-b’ when playing with our matchbox cars 
I adored reading as a kid, and sharing these happy memories with my little boy is one of the best things I’ve ever experienced. Even more than introducing Trish to Bunnicula a few years back. Other books I enjoyed back in the day are
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (the book that got me hooked on reading)
- The Littles
- Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (which I’ve always preferred to Superfudge)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- James and the Giant Peach
I’m sure I’m missing some good ones - what books did y’all enjoy back in the day?
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Oh, I LOVED Beverly Cleary, especially the Beezus and Ramona books. I also loved Stephen Kellogg, Judy Blume, E.L. Konigsberg and Maia Wojciechowska.
Arp, my favorites include practically all of Roald Dahl’s books, as well as Beverly Cleary, but the books that got me hooked on reading were C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. I revisit Narnia time and again, and it’s always a magical experience for me.
Oops, I forgot to mention Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. Those are two of my all-time favorites.
We’re Dahl fans here too! We’ve already read him Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Danny Champion of the World. I think Danny may approach being my favorite book ever.
M has watched the old Wizard of Oz movie, but I remember my father reading me this really nice illustrated and annotated version of it when I was young. I’ve got to check my mother’s attic to see if I can find it. I think he’d love it!
It’s strange, but I never got into Narnia. I dunno why, since I had no problem getting sucked into ‘The Hobbit’ later on. I also just remembered that I really enjoyed Poe & Jules Verne quite a bit as well.
It’s cool to watch the movie versions of the Dahl books, though of course, the books are way cooler. I think I’ve read Matilda at least a dozen times, and that’s not an exaggeration!
My other faves are The Witches and James and the Giant Peach. When my son was in elementary school, he read and enjoyed Dahl’s books too, and Lewis’s Narnia series. In middle school, he read the Lord of the Rings, and he says those are actually among his favorites. He’s in high school now, and he’s getting into classics and the mystery genre. I tell you, kids grow up too fast. Enjoy these years with your young ones, they will be teenagers before you know it!
I loved ‘Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’ so much as a kid that I actually hated the movie! It wasn’t until I met Trish that I gave the movie a chance and was able to appreciate it as a distinct version of the story. Now I think it would be cool if we were ever meandering through Central Park to see Gene Wilder and tell M that it was Mr. Wonka himself.
How about the recent adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - the one with Johnny Depp as Willie Wonka? Did you see that one? It’s very, very different from the first movie with Gene Wilder, and they took a lot of liberties with the story line as well. I was rather disappointed when I first saw it, but after watching it a couple more times, I was able to appreciate it.
I’ve seen it once, and I think it captures the spirit of the book a little better, but I couldn’t buy Johnny Depp’s character. There was something weird about him, and I think it may be the only time I haven’t liked Johnny Depp in a movie. I dug the Bollywood musical numbers quite a bit tho, but I was raised on Bollywood and think people should bust out in song all the time.