A drive-by post. I tried to think of ten, but no.
1. Black Beauty. I loved horses.
2. Frog, The Horse That Knew No Master. The horse always had fire in his eye. He bucked everyone off and attacked them with his hooves until the handsome lieutenant loved him. Boy, talk about transference.
3. The Phantom Tollbooth. This is nominally a children's book. Jumping to the Island of Conclusions? The disappearance of Princesses Rhyme and Reason? Very fun.
4. Ditto Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Of course.
5. LOTR/Hobbit. I think I read it as a teen. Total immersion.
6. The Lion, Witch, Wardrobe, and all sequels. One of my teachers read all these aloud to us. Magic.
7. The Enchanted Castle. E. Nesbit wrote this about a hundred years ago. It is still in print. Compelling when I stumbled across it in the middle school library, I ordered it from Amazon last month. Very fun story. Might be a touch scary for today's tender ears and eyes. We were built stronger back then.
Leucojum aestivum, summer snowflake, from the garden several weeks ago. Good green foliage that stays fresh, no pests, survives voles and deer. (I have not finished my morning tea, so sentence structure is elusive.) Snowdrops are a close relative.
I like the summer snowflake, I'll have to look for those. It wouldn't need to survive voles and deer here, just my usual lax gardening regime.
Posted by: Caroline M | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 06:22 AM
Ah, Black Beauty, National Velvet, anything to do with horses brings fond memories. Or maybe they're not so fond as I really wanted a horse. The Enchanted Castle is knew to me. I'm going to look for it. Nice list, we have many in common.
Posted by: margene | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 07:26 AM
James and the Giant Peach! Love the snowdrop relative.
Posted by: Manise | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 07:33 AM
No time to chit-chat. Must go find Frog. (I can't believe I hadn't read it! Obviously private school education can only go so far these days, eh?)
Posted by: Anne | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 07:45 AM
Just went and ordered Frog. As a horse crazy kid who haunted the library, I can't believe I missed it.
Posted by: Mary Lou | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 07:52 AM
I need to go find the Enchanted Castle, it's the only one on your list I haven't read.
Another of my favorite horse books was King of the Wind by Margueritte Henry.
Posted by: Rosemary | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 09:14 AM
I love those books on your list! And the flower is gorgeous and yes, very similar to snow drops.
Posted by: Carole | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 10:14 AM
Nothing wrong with being tougher! My kids and I loved the Enchanted Castle!
Posted by: Guinifer | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 12:44 PM
You are me, aren't you? You must be. You're the me who skis in my dreams.
Posted by: sarah | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 12:56 PM
I just re-read Phantom Tollbooth a couple weeks ago. Possibly my all time favorite book. =)
Posted by: Adrienne | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 01:33 PM
Black Beauty, of course. My grandpa brought me back several Anne of Green Gables books back from a trip to Canada and I adored those. Also loved that maple sugar candy that came with them!
Posted by: Marcia | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 01:36 PM
The Enchanted Castle... must go find that one!
Posted by: thea | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 01:53 PM
Lovely flowers and a list full of stuff I'm not familiar with. Fabulous.
Posted by: Hillary | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 04:32 PM
I missed Frog and the Enchanted Castle. Obviously my libraries were second-rate. I'll have to hunt them up now.
At some point in elementary school, I forsook horses for starships. Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke.
Posted by: gayle | Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 07:23 AM
I love all the E.Nesbit books. So did Edward Eager--read Half Magic and Seven-Day Magic for a start. And the Keith Robertson Henry Reed books (Henry Reed, Inc. is the first one) still make me laugh, as well as Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Here is a link where you can find It's Like This, Cat and more Newbery Medal winners by women:
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/writers.html
Posted by: Angie | Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 05:37 PM
Phantom Tollbooth!!!! Yes! I also have that on an old VHS tape that my kids watched over and over.. must see if it comes on DVD now. (number and word nerds unite!)
Posted by: Teyani | Friday, June 11, 2010 at 10:27 AM
We did it as a fifth grade play. I was the princess rhyme. A local musician played piano. Composed songs with lyrics about the story that I still hear in my mind.
Three cheers for Milo and a hip hooray our Rhyme and Reason are back to stay!
L
Posted by: Etherknitter | Friday, June 11, 2010 at 11:06 AM
Just what I need on a rainy day! Thanks for the book list.
Posted by: Melissa G | Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 03:14 PM
My perennial favourite: Alice in Wonderland. It gets funnier every year (and so I've read everything he wrote. Ever, as far as I know). And for really tender hilarity, Winnie The Pooh, and The House At Pooh Corner. The love in those books is palpable. Just because Disney did them (and by "did", I mean "in the Biblical sense", and no, not in a good way), people forget that the originals are utter delight. And how about The Little Prince (though I confess it has not had as lasting appeal for me)?
Posted by: Charlene | Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 08:00 AM
Dude, was Frog a military polo horse? Or similar? I think I read that......
Posted by: juno | Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 09:47 PM
Oh, I forgot The Enchanted Castle! It was a gift from an elderly relative (I wish I could remember which one), and I read it a hundred years ago. I wonder what became of the book.
Posted by: Lucia | Monday, June 14, 2010 at 05:09 PM
I loved the Phantom Tollbooth and completely forgot about it in my list...ohwell. ;o)
Posted by: JessaLu | Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 02:56 PM