First books...

[Broken_Hero]

The first book, that made an impact on me, was Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I read this book in the 6th grade, and I still remember quite a bit of it. The first series of books that really grabbed me was the Tripod trilogy by John Christopher, and this leads to my question.

Which book and/or series made a profound impact on you, when you first started down the road of literacy? Another honorable mention, is Goodnight Mr. Tom...the first book that ever made me cry...

[Ptah]

1. Horton hears a Who.

Really.

[Heidi]

2. My first book is still one of my favorites:

[Broken_Hero]

3. I remember these...:)

Its been awhile since I thought about this series...:)

[fizzgig]

6. oh hells yeah

one of the *best* books ever

but these two were equally as rad



and

[Heidi]

7. I don't know the first one, but I lovelovelove "Chicken Soup with Rice,"

_and_ the Carole King song of the same name. :thumbsup: :hi:

[fizzgig]

8. find a copy and read it

it is so much fun!

i got a copy for this last christmas year and i was so happy!!!

:hi:

[fizzgig]

4. i remember hatchet

the first book to make me cry was 'where the red fern grows.'

i've always love to read (my parents, bless 'em, read me my favorite books a million times over) but it was the ramona series that made reading for myself a joy



i was ecstatic when i found klickitat street in portland, oregon.

[Broken_Hero]

5. I'm actually pretty damn close

to where the Red Fern Grows story takes place...:) I never read it, but my wife has made me watch it quite a few times...:hi:

[LiberalHeart]

9. It wasn't one book; it was a set of books...

An encyclopedia called The Book of Knowledge. It had about 10-15 volumes, I think. Unlike typical encyclopedias, it did not cover topics alphabetically. It covered a wide range of topics that were informational (biography, science, humanities, etc.), but there were also poems, songs, how-to sections that described how to makes things (like Halloween costumes, for example), photos, and illustrations. Nothing was arranged in any kind of obvious pattern. The idea of the design was to encourage children to wander through the pages discovering things they didn't set out to learn.

[Broken_Hero]

10. damn, sounds like a very...

interesting, and useful set of books! Definately a lot more useful than Hatchet...:) But Hatchet also taught you some minor survival techniques as well...:)

[Broken_Hero]

11. The first medevil fantasy series/book I read

was The Black Cauldron. It was book, three I believe in a series of five novels by Lloyd Alexander. It was a great read as a 7th grader..I went from those to Terry Brooks, and read the Sword of Shannara and was mildy impressed with that, but then I went into the comic book cosmos after that for quite a while....:)

[Lex]

12. All of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books in her series

long before the TV show. 4th grade or so.

[Broken_Hero]

15. no way...

get out of town...my wife has all of those books...she got me into watching LHOTP, and has been BEGGING me to read the books...my wife and her parents even went to Laura Ingalls house when they lived in Missouri...btw, I have watched/own all 9 seasons of LHOTP...that surprises a lot of people, when I tell them that...:)

[Lex]

18. yes!

I'm glad I had read the series of books before the TV show came on. I felt the TV show was inferior to the books (no surprise, that usually happens with most books made to tv anyway).

I got the whole series of those books at Christmas in a thick cardboard holder that held them together like a book-end thing. I read them one by one, in order, enthralled.

Not having kids myself, I've saved the series, in the cardboard holder thing, for my niece--she's only 3 right now. I only hope she enjoys them as much as I did!

I'd *love* to see the actual Laura Ingalls Wilder house in Missouri. I've heard it has the actual cabinetry and shelves that Almanzo made by hand for their kitchen and pantry.

:hi:

[Broken_Hero]

21. I'm sure you and my wife

would get along well together...she is a HUGE fanatic...big time. She always tells me she would love to live that lifestyle...the only thing I have seen extra on LIW, was on...season 8 of the dvd set, there was quite a bit of extra documentaries on LIW and the progression of her family through a few states...I think, they even made it to South Dakota as well...

I enjoyed the show, actually...the first three seasons where...bleh, average...but when they went to the blind school, it took off, especially with the addition of Albert. And, to boot...Anderson, MO is about ten miles away from me, and is the home of Dabs Greer...I can't believe that old man is still kicking...

[Wetzelbill]

13. probably "Where The Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

Read it maybe around 4th, 5th grade.

I read a book about Abe Lincoln, another about JFK, both when I was, oh in third grade, I think. Those were profound to me as well.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

14. I read "Where The Red Fern Grows" in the 7th grade.

It really left a mark on me.

[Heidi]

26. I used to have an autographed copy.

My grandfather knew Mr. Rawls, and we kids loved that book when we were growing up.

[AlienGirl]

16. The Tripod trilogy scared the crap out of me!

The first book that really affected me emotionally was a good-night book set in a city, where the text was saying goodnight to all the city things. I used to sit and stare at the city with the sunset in the sky, and wonder what it was like to live in a place like that, and somehow I thought I needed to find "my" city. (I grew up in a small town in the woods, so cities were exotic to me.) That was when I was about three. The other one that "got" me at that age was about "Jingle, The Blue Parakeet."

Once I started in on longer books, I cried every time I read Where the Red Fern Grows. I loved Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time series. I thought H. Allen Smith was about the funniest writer ever. Then, in second or third grade, I discovered science fiction short-story anthologies. The story "Slips Take Over" fascinated me. "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" kept me up nights imagining the horror. The novella version of David R. Palmer's Emergence was also important, because it featured a big parrot as a main character.

Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain and other novels about how to survive in the woods were favorites, as was non-fition about the same topic, and how to survive nuclear war or asteroid impact or other disasters.

Tucker

[Broken_Hero]

17. The tripod trilogy

left me excited as can be...i cut through all of them in a week...it was page turning suspense for me...I'm still trying to find them in a used book store, havne't been successful in my search yet...but I'll find them someday. I do believe, the vey first book I read, ever was the Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss...but I thought it was lame.

[AlienGirl]

22. Alien Spawn has been reading the Tripod Trilogy!

I think they may have been re-released.

Tucker

[Broken_Hero]

27. I will probably have to go to Hastings, or

Barnes and Noble to find them...I am a big used book rat. I need to pick up some greek/norse mythology text too...

[reyd reid reed]

19. When I was in the 3rd grade

I read Misty of Chincoteague Island. Over and over and over and over and over and over...God, I loved that book. My dad still has it.

GWTW and War and Peace in the 6th grade made an impression, as did Little Women.

True Grit because the girl was just...impossible.

East of Eden when I was a sophomore in HS.

Lots and lots of them, actually...

[Broken_Hero]

20. ah, I do like women who read...:)

You were quite a reader while growing up...damn, I haven't read a single book you listed there...:)

[u4ic]

23. I remember Misty

and King of the Wind; though I loved the Billy and Blaze books the most.

I loved CW Anderson's books...I also remember a book of his on Man O'War that I read a gazillion times as a kid; Black Gold was another one.

Sam Savitt also had some great horse stories that I loved.

edit: another favourite - Midnight...the story of a bucking bronc that was never ridden for the time alloted. (I hate rodeo, btw. I was glad he bucked everyone off...lol)

[AlienGirl]

25. Oooh, I'd forgotten about the Chincoteague books!

I read all of them, and followed the stories about the Beebe family avidly!

Tucker

[Broken_Hero]

24. Anybody remember

The Phantom of the Toll Booth? That was another one, that I remember quite well...6th grade read for me...:) I will always remember subtraction soup...:)

[speedoo]

28. The Black Rose and The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain

I read these when I was maybe 10 years old and I still recall my wonderment and pleasure in reading them. They are historical adventure novels, very well researched and accurate in terms of the historical details. Also Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer and Treasure Island.