Books I Wish I’d Read As a Child

I was a voracious reader as a kid, but there were some notable books and series that somehow slipped by me – we couldn’t always afford new copies so my reading was limited to my school library and whatever we picked up at local yard sales (a surprisingly great source of books, and usually only 50 cents each at the time!). And so while I had a pretty wide variety of books under my belt, these were three that I never got around to reading and wish I had…

What a classic. I remember these books were always checked out at the library so I never got my hands on them, but even to this day, I still haven’t read them. I can’t explain it! Part of me thinks it’s because I loved the movies so much, and going back and reading the books would be a drag given Tolkien’s love of detail, not to mention I already know the story. But maybe one day I’ll finally sit down and start them.

I know I would’ve loved this book as a child. I was obsessed with the entire Redwall series, which is also about small woodland creatures (and still has some of the most mouthwatering food writing I’ve ever read), and Watership Down seems to have a similar world. I have a copy on the bookshelf in front of me as I type this so…maybe some future quarantine reading?

This first edition cover from 1911 is beautiful! Like Watership Down above, I read a similar book to this – in this case, Burnett’s other popular work, A Little Princess. I adored that book and reread it several times, so again, I can’t say why I never ventured to read The Secret Garden.

What books do you wish you’d read as a child? I’d love to hear.

(prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl, photo from Martyna Wojtkowska)