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Being a newbie on GR, just realised the issue - it is the first time I discuss children's books in a space, where most of the audience has a different background and, possibly, read very different books in a childhood.
I am Russian from Latvia (former USSR) and, for example, read The Very Hungry Caterpillar for the first time only a few years ago. Probably you all know it by heart from your toddler times.
That means, that when I want to mention a book in the discussion, I never know, if it is a "Must read" and everybody are in love (or bored) with this book for years and decades, or it doesn't ring a bell at all.
Do you have the same problem here? Where are you from?
I can start with my "Of-course-everybody-read-it" list of children's books in comments.

1. A. A. Milne. Winnie-the_pooh.
2. A.Lindgren. Pippi Longstocking, Karlson on the Roof, etc.
3. R.Kipling. Mouglie.
4. P.L. Travers. Mary Poppins
5. Gianni Rodari - the story of Cipollino, Adventures of the Blue Arrow.
6. A. Volkov - Wizard of the Emerald City (Apocryphal version of Wizards of Oz)
7. the same with Buratino - Apocryphal story of Pinocchio.

And more, more... Kind of a hard work to remember them all, it seems!

I'm originally from Germany, but I've lived in Canada since I was ten. I guess I would also say that there are some classical English language picture books (especially) and some classics that I only became aware of after having joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ (or that I read as an adult and not as younger child), but I am also rather unaware of some of the more recent trends in German children's literature (because I have been living in in Canada). I have very diverse tastes and likes and here is a list of personal favourites:

My List of Favourite Classics

1. Most books by Astrid Lindgren (but I have read all of these in German, not in English, and have kind of been disappointed after having read some of the English translations because there have been some rather unacceptable omissions by English translators)
2. L.M. Montgomery (probably my favourite author, only discovered after I moved to Canada, no German translations until 1986, and we moved in 1976)
3. Nesthäkchen series, by Else Ury (classic German series, my grandmother read me the originals and when I received the modern versions as a gift was disappointed because a lot of omissions and stuff, am reading the originals, but harder because written in Gothic font)
4. Anything by Michael Ende (German, have not read and likely will not read the English translations, except to compare)
5.Britta series by Lisbeth Pahnke (German translation of a Swedish pony series, was my favourite series when I was around nine years old, but series unknown in Canada or USA (and is seemingly more popular in Germany than in Sweden because I want to get hold of the originals in Swedish and perhaps learn how to read Swedish that way, but have not had any luck so far)
6. Judy Blume (discovered her after we moved to Canada, her books were quite popular when I was teenager and are still popular, great for tweens and teens, but also at times controversial, at least the Religious right in the USA has often tried to and still sometimes tries to get her books banned).

There are also American and British classics which I did not read until an adult because after we had moved, they were basically considered more books for younger children, so I never got to read them (and my parents would not have, of course, been aware of them either):

1. Bestsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart-Lovelace
2. books by E. Nebit
3. Tavers' Mary Poppins series
4. the Little House on the Prairies series by Laure Ingalls Wilder

and I know there are more.

I'm in a similar position. I grew up in South Africa and our home language was Afrikaans. As a small child all our books was in Afrikaans (or translations of English books). I have since found some like Make Way for Ducklings which I remember from my childhood, but in a translation.

Many of the books which everybody regards as "of course we all read that", is unfamiliar to me. In addition, South Africa is more exposed to British authors who are less well known to many US readers.

Thank you for this thread. I'm from the USA, so it's enlightening for me to think about the perspectives of all of you.

A popular British author that is not widely known in the US is Enid Blyton.

Most of Astrid Lindgren's non-Pippi books are obscure here, too.

Most books that have been made into Disney movies are no longer read here, I think. People say "Pinocchio? That was a book?!"

Thank you, Cheryl! It seems strange, but it never occured to me, that different books are known in UK and US.

Gundula, most of the books you mentioned I never heard of, absolutely! With the exception of Michael Ende (though not as a book, but as a "Neverending story" movie. Now they published and start to promote and discuss Momo, I think I will read it soon) and Pamela Travers.

Carolien, doesn't it influence your discussions here and in everyday life? I realised only here, that expecting that your opponents read the same books is so natural for me, that I don't notice it, yet is important. But I've heard it is a former USSR problem, too, that we had so small choice and eberybody read the same books, and considering it as a good thing is a sign of the... kind of lack of internal freedom.

Tanja wrote: "Thank you, Cheryl! It seems strange, but it never occured to me, that different books are known in UK and US.

Gundula, most of the books you mentioned I never heard of, absolutely! With the excep..."

Momo is great, but both it and The Neverending Story are wonderful. If you are looking for a good read-aloud Michael Ende (although I have to admit that I have not read the English translation of any of Michael Ende's works), try Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer, Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver).

Your daughter might also enjoy the Little House on the Prairie series, although the stories are dated and do have some rather problematic attitudes to Native Americans (but they were written in the 1930s about 19th century pioneers so some of that would and should be expected).

That's an interesting question Tanja. I sort of don't expect everybody to have read the same books that I have read for various reasons. The first being that there is a very wide choice of books in South Africa and a fairly small reading population so you seldom find people who read the same books (other than the widely popular stuff like Harry Potter or within specific genres like crime).

I've always enjoyed sharing books with family and friends, but I find that my taste in books is so wide that I share small parts with different people e.g. my mother enjoys English mysteries, but she hates fantasy. At the moment, I share my middle grade books with a colleague's 12 year old daughter, since she is the only one I can find who share that part of my book life.

I have also realised that certain Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ groups tend to be more focused or knowledgeable on the literature of certain countries. Since my background is Afrikaans/English (as in British) I understand that there is a gap if the group is more American focused. However, that has its own benefits. I therefore find loads of book recommendations which I have never encountered before.

I do find that sometimes there is a cultural gap. I recently read A Wrinkle in Time and although I enjoyed it, I didn't consider it a brilliant book. However, I think that is partly due to the fact that I am reading it nearly 50 years after it was published and as an adult. Most people who love it encountered it at a much younger age and in a different context. I think if I read it as a child, I would have appreciated it more.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Thank you for this thread. I'm from the USA, so it's enlightening for me to think about the perspectives of all of you.

A popular British author that is not widely known in the US is Enid Blyton...."

Enid Blyton is very popular in South Africa as well. I struggled to read English (Afrikaans is my mother tongue) and it was only when a teacher introduced me to her books that I finally started reading English books.

I also dislike some of the story books that Disney publish. They basically reproduce the movie script and leave huge gaps in the narrative in some cases just jumping from movie scene to movie scene in the book.

Carolien wrote: "Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Thank you for this thread. I'm from the USA, so it's enlightening for me to think about the perspectives of all of you.

A popular British author that is not widely known i..."

Enid Blyton, in translation of course, is also hugely popular in Germany. But in Germany, and this has really annoyed me ever since I became aware of it, they have not simply translated the books, they have for one thing, had some major changes put in (especially the boarding school stories) and furthermore, the publishers have also continued the series, using German "ghost writers" (so, while the St. Clare's series originally only had something like six stories, the German series has something like 30 or more now, both confusing and in my opinion, not honest either because the books list Enid Blyton as the author).

Apropos, A Wrinkle in Time, although this is the first of the series and the one which was awarded the Newbery Medal (and is considered a favourite by many), I actually found many of the sequels much better and more interesting, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and my personal favourite (although you might not like this if you have problems with either religion or Bible stories being rewritten) Many Waters, I have not yet read An Acceptable Time. So you might want to consider some of the sequels.

Gundula wrote: "Carolien wrote: "Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Thank you for this thread. I'm from the USA, so it's enlightening for me to think about the perspectives of all of you.

A popular British author that is n..."

I'll give them a try, Gundula.

There are so many factors that play into what books someone has read - age, nationality, location, economic status, and culture. I grew up in the U.S., but as an African-American, my mother wanted to make sure that I read books that featured African-American protagonists as well as Caucasian protagonists. She was also very selective about books and authors who she found to be racist or racially insensitive. I also grew up in a very religious home, so a lot of my reading was also Biblically-based. So, while I read a lot of books as a child, my "of-course-everybody-read-it" list can look very different in places.

What I think this discussion exemplifies is that maybe there isn't a list of books that everybody read. And I think that's great. We can see how who we are affects what we read (and maybe a little of what we read affected who we have become). I can certainly see how nationality would have the greatest impact, but I believe that list would vary significantly even for those of us who grew up in the same country.

I love learning about 'everybody knows it' books from other countries than the US. I've not yet tracked down any Enid Blyton, but I did read Karlson on the Roof and Lindgren's *Noisy Village" stories (in translation) and enjoyed them very much.

Any time any of you want to mention books that are familiar to you, please do so, whether or not you think others in the group have read them or not.

ReGina, I'd love to see a discussion of what you and your mother think are the best and worst books for African-American children. Would you be up to starting or participating on a separate thread?

Growing up in India, I read a lot of Enid Blyton. She was the most popular English writer for children those days. Her mysteries and school stories, and a series called The Five Find Outers saw me through Middle School.

I read somewhere that her books are now considered sexist and politically incorrect but I only remember them as an excellent mix of fun and suspense.

I know Enid Blyton only from English (as a foreign language) lessons at school - they were our homereading. And only one story (about the Famous Five).
The next time I heard about her was only now, when I read to my daughter.

Also we discussed with my husband, that even well-known authors have different books as the most famous in different countries - for example, our friends tried to find Astrid Lindgren's Karlson on the Roof (her the most popular book in Russia) in her museum in Stockholm and it wasn't there.
Probably, it is a question of publishers' success, existence/lack of tv-series or even (as in a case with Karlson in Russia) purely the matter of chance - Karlson was selected from a pile of untranslated and unknown Scandinavian books by a very good translator. She was excited while reading it and predicted "This writer is going to have a big future!", and only years later discovered that she already was very famous worldwide yet completely ignored in USSR.

That's funny, about the translator not realizing Lindgren was already famous.

I am British and my love of reading developed largely due to the fact that I found Enid Blyton. I absolutely devoured her books. The first I ever came across was 'The Wishing Chair'. I was agog as my teacher read it aloud to the class! Throughout my childhood, I read almost everything she wrote.

I duly kept my collection for my own children. They would be enthralled... wouldn't they? Actually, no. I re-read a few and found them dull, to be honest. They are very old-fashioned; Enid Blyton had a very privileged upbringing and so there is very little in her books that reflects the lives of most of today's children. I think her story ideas were good, but they have been poorly executed.

And, yes, she was sexist and racist!

Later, Roald Dahl became - and still is - a very popular writer with British children. He dared to visit a few dark places, but his writing was so innovative when it came out and I think it will have greater longevity than Enid Blyton.

I watched Pippi Longstocking on TV as a child and loved her life. At the time, it didn't occur to me that there was a book available.

I am enjoying hearing people's "must-reads" whether they are from the US or abroad!
I did enjoy Peter Pan, Bambi, and Mary Poppins with Peter Pan being my favorite of the three.

As far as a "must-read" for me, I feel Nancy Drew mysteries would fit the category. I read my mother's and sister's books and every one I could find at the library. Now my daughter has flown through all I had saved in the attic.

I think Dr. Seuss is another "must-read" here in the US. Many schools even celebrate his birthday with dressing up, eating green eggs and ham and readings, of course.

To Kill a Mockingbird and Dracula were books we read in middle school. Are we sticking to children's books or going as far as high school?

Thank you, Jenny,
yes, that's the question to what age we are sticking...
I also thought about it, but decided that to set the frames is like to pretend for a proper research - so just let's write what comes to mind first!

Jenny wrote: "I am enjoying hearing people's "must-reads" whether they are from the US or abroad!
I did enjoy Peter Pan, Bambi, and Mary Poppins with Peter Pan being my f..."

I can see reading To Kill a Mockingbird in middle school, but Dracula would have given me nightmares at that age (I read it during graduate school for a course on literature and media change and while I totally enjoyed the book when I read it, I would not have enjoyed it as a teenager, not at all). I think my favourite middle school, high school classroom reads were How Green Was My Valley, Two Solitudes, How I Spent My Summer Holidays, Cry, the Beloved Country and the Shakespeare plays we read each year from grade seven until grade twelve.

I guess this applies to me. I grew up in a different language zone and, while a voracious reader, didn’t read many American books growing up. When I started taking my kid to the library here in Southern California, almost all of the picture books and juvenile books available, even counting the older titles, were completely “foreign�, i.e. unfamiliar to me. It’s a bit hard to explain to friends that you’ve never read Charlotte’s Web, that you never heard of Frog and Toad, Corduroy, Goodnight Moon or Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel before, and that even Robert McCloskey and Ezra Jack Keats didn’t mean anything to you.

So, I grew up on a mixed diet of probably mostly Scandinavian, English and maybe a few German books. I also read a lot of fairy tales, mythology, folk stories, Aesop, Nasreddin, etc. Most beloved and most memorable would be
. Astrid Lindgren: I progressed from the Noisy Village books to the children of Troublemaker Street, the admirable Pippi, the creative Emil, the hilarious yet outrageous Karlson on the Roof, and ultimately the touching tales of Mio and The Brothers Lionheart.
. Hugo and Josephine, and Elvis Karlson by Maria Gripe (Swedish) were memorable characters, especially the neglected Elvis.
. Anne-Cath. Vestly is the Norwegian Astrid Lindgren. I read all the books about Aurora and her dad, Ole Aleksander, Knerten (a little wooden stick imaginary friend) and finally the Eight Children. It’s a shame this author's not more widely known, her books are very humorous and tender, realistic but so respectful of kids imagination.
. Ole Lund Kirkegaard, a Danish children's author who unfortunately passed away in his 30s, but left some hilarious, empowering literature, such as Gummi-Tarzan.
. The Moomin series by Tove Jansson. I liked some quite a bit more than others, especially Finn Family Moomintroll and Moominsummer Madness. When I reread the series in my 20s I realized that I had probably never fully appreciated/understood them as a child, they are quite deep and intriguing, almost adult fare in places.
. Richard Scarry was an endless favorite.
. The Franco-Belgian school of comic books gave me hours of fun: Tintin, Asterix, Lucky Luke, Alix by Jacques Martin, Spirou, Gaston, Les 4 As, ...

Oh, and I enjoyed some of the Erich Kästner books (German) and another odd little German book, The Robber Hotzenplotz, is probably one of my favorite books ever.

Oops, and I forgot of course Enid Blyton, her books sustained me for years. My favorites were The Naughtiest Girl series and the Five Find Outers, but I also revered the tomboy character from Adventure series and I read all of the Famous Five . And I knew Noddy before I could even read.

About Dr. Seuss, I'm sure Cat in the Hat has been widely translated, but so many of his books just don't translate, for ex. Wocket in My Pocket. And books like Hop on Pop or Green Eggs and Ham wouldn't make any sense in my language, where kids don't learn to read through sight words, but phonetically ...

¹óÂáó±ô²¹ wrote: "I guess this applies to me. I grew up in a different language zone and, while a voracious reader, didn’t read many American books growing up. When I started taking my kid to the library here in Sou..."

I love Erich Kästner and I too, really love Hotzenplotz (everything I have read by Preussler, I have liked, there are still a few I have not read, such as Krabat, The Satanic Mill).

Two French children's novels I love are Tistou les pouces verts (which I first read in German, Tistou mit den grünen Daumen, I have not read the English translation Tistou of the Green Thumbs) and Patapoufs et Filifers (Fattypuffs And Thinifers).

One of my favourite German fairy tales (Kunstmärchen) is Peterchens Mondfahrt (there is an English translation, Peter and Anneli's Journey to the Moon, which unfortunately seems really really hard to obtain).

Gita wrote: "Growing up in India, I read a lot of Enid Blyton. She was the most popular English writer for children those days. Her mysteries and school stories, and a series called The Five Find Outers saw me ..."

They are definitely dated, but then again, so are many classical series. The same holds true for many classical German series and even the Little House on the Prairie series is considered very dated and has some rather problematic attitudes towards Native Americans. But honestly, that should not mean not reading or rather not allowing one's children to read dated and even controversially dated books; it is a perfect opportunity to read and discuss these books with one's children or to read and discuss them in the classroom (although with discussion, I mean discussing these books as historical documents and the like, what unfortunately often happens with certain classic series that are perennial favourites is that parents and even teachers will not brook criticism of these books because they are considered favourites and will also sometimes not listen if students feel uncomfortable with certain racial stereotypes and bigoted attitudes shown).

¹óÂáó±ô²¹ wrote: "I guess this applies to me. I grew up in a different language zone and, while a voracious reader, didn’t read many American books growing up. When I started taking my kid to the library here in Sou..."

I love Asterix and Tintin, and Alix is great as well (although I don't think Alix has ever been translated into English). Reading my cousin's Alix books (in German) when visiting, made me not only totally interested in Roman and ancient European history, I was also intensely jealous when I realised that he was actually studying this in high school (except for British history, we really did not get much history at school).

Gundula wrote: "I love Asterix and Tintin, and Alix is great as well (although I don't think Alix has ever been translated into English). Reading my cousin's Alix books (in German) when visiting, made me not only totally interested in Roman and ancient European history ..."

Yeah, Tintin stands out. Beside them being so well researched, each adventure is compelling, the plots are pretty clever, the cast of characters is fantastic and the art is just so neat and unique.

I loved Alix, it definitely got me interested in antique history and civilizations, but I was probably also a little sweet on Alix himself, so brave and athletic. It's a mystery to me why these have not gained more distribution, why never translated into English?

When I went to live in France as an adult I developed a whole new appreciation for Asterix, once I understood a bit more of the French cultural, historical and political references it is so chock full off. Growing up on these, I have big respect for comic books.

¹óÂáó±ô²¹ wrote: "Gundula wrote: "I love Asterix and Tintin, and Alix is great as well (although I don't think Alix has ever been translated into English). Reading my cousin's Alix books (in German) when visiting, m..."

Reading Asterix in French is definitely a much more humorous experience than reading them in German or in English.

With the Tintin books, although I really enjoyed them as a child, rereading some of them as an adult, especially Tintin au Congo and Tintin en Amérique made me rather shudder at the paternalism and racial stereotypes described and presented.

I'm British and most of the books I read as a child were British ones (Enid Blyton, E. Nesbit, Nina Bawden, Roald Dahl, etc.), although I read a few American ones too (Beverly Cleary and Betsy Byars, for instance) - basically, whatever was in the library!

I grew up in Chicago and remember going through a lot of Nancy Drew, but thought the Hardy Boys had it better. However, when I went to Nebraska to stay with my cousin I discovered Trixie Belden and thought she had a lot more fun than Nancy. However, they didn't have them at the library in Chicago so I stuck to mostly animal stories, The Black Stallion, Big Red, Misty of Chincoteague, then I discovered Dragonsong and fell in love with fantasy.

June wrote: "I grew up in Chicago and remember going through a lot of Nancy Drew, but thought the Hardy Boys had it better. However, when I went to Nebraska to stay with my cousin I discovered Trixie Belden an..."

I read all those same books! Plus Dana Girls and Judy Bolton; both mystery series as well.

Beverly wrote: I read all those same books! Plus Dana Girls and Judy Bolton; both mystery series as well.

I missed both of those... Some of my favorite children's mysteries now are: The Case of the Missing Marquess and The Demon in the Teahouse

June wrote: "Beverly wrote: I read all those same books! Plus Dana Girls and Judy Bolton; both mystery series as well.

I missed both of those... Some of my favorite children's mysteries now are: [book:The C..."

I've read all of the Enola Holmes mysteries, but have not read the Hoobler books.

They are slightly older than the Enola and take place in Japan.