[#1]

Hi everyone!

We want ot know which book(s) inspired you as a child and why?

Also don't forget that we are still on the hunt to find young talent to enter the Wicked Young Writers' Award.

To find out more about entering the competition and for more info on the initiative follow the link: http://www.ivillage.co.uk/ivillagecouk-hunt-young-talent-enter-the-wicked-young-writers-award/146814

Stef x

[#2]

Hi everyone!

We want ot know which book(s) inspired you as a child and why?

Also don't forget that we are still on the hunt to find young talent to enter the Wicked Young Writers' Award.

To find out more about entering the competition and for more info on the initiative follow the link: http://www.ivillage.co.uk/ivillagecouk-hunt-young-talent-enter-the-wicked-young-writers-award/146814

Stef x

[#3]

I caught the reading bug very early - and remember loving Milly Molly Mandy!

The books that I really loved were the Just William ones by Richmal Compton. I loved how cheeky he was and how he was always upsetting his sister. great book!

Not sure if they inspired me - only in as much as they helped my love of reading!

[#4]

I taught myself to read, way before I went to school and devoured any sort of reading material I could get my hands on. Totally drove my father nuts as by the time I was 7 I would insist on reading the News of the World on a Sunday, asking awkward questions about the contents.

Not sure about "inspired" but books I loved were Enid Blyton, The William Books, anything and everything set in a boarding school for some reason (really odd given that I was bullied in school). Favourite books were Flower Fairies, The Borrowers and What Katy Did.

hugs and muffins

Tabbs

"been there, done that , got the t-shirt!"

[#5]

This is an easy one for me!! I loved all Enid Blyton as a child, especially the Secret Seven and the Naughtiest Girl series. But the books that inspired me most of all was the 'Carbonel' series by Barbara Sleigh. A little girl buys a black cat from an old woman in the market, and he turns out to be able to talk, and is the king of cats, cursed by a spell made by the old woman and the girl and her friend have to work out how to break the spell and restore him to his throne.

On the strength of this book I spent half my time pretending to be a cat and the other half looking after an invisible magic cat for about two years. I remember that one of the secrets in the book was that the huge red and green bottles that you used to get in pharmacy windows contained a secret magic potion and I can remember looking knowingly at the pharmacist every time we went in!

I must buy the books for my daughter, I wonder if she will love them as much as I did (but I'll probably read them first as it'll be like reliving a very happy and magical time!)

love

Teanna

xxx

[#6]

I was an Enid Bluton fan too. My nan used to buy them for me whenever she visited. My eldest two kids had no interest in books and didn't show any interest in Enid Blyton's. DD2's 5 though and loves books and reading. I can't wait to buy her Enud Blyton and see if she loves them as much as I did. She's got a couple of her DVDs which she enjoys.

[#7]

The books that stick in my mind from a child are the enid blyton ones too, the famous five and secret seven!!

Cant remember any other ones that i read although was at the library regularly as a child.

Jane

xx

[#8]

Mr Pinkwhistle and something called the enchanted tree.... also loved Fantastic Mr Fox xx

[#9]

I read a lot as a child 

My sister was given a Secret Seven book for her 7th birthday and became hooked. She built up quite an impressive library and so being 3 years younger than her I simply worked my way through her library as I got older!!

Enid Blyton books were a major staple and I remember looking all the books set on a farm and wishing I lived on a farm too!! 

As a teenager I discovered Tamora Pierce (again from my sister's library) and she still remains one of my favourite "go to" authors when I want some comfort reading.

But my favourite book of all time, the one I wish I had found as a child but didn't find until I was 21, was The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren (the same lady who wrote Pippi Longstocking). It is a beautiful book about two brothers who both die but find each other in a land they had dreamed about when alive. That makes it sound really depressing but it isn't, it is the most beautiful book I have ever read and covers courage, loyalty and friendship all in such a magical way. I'm definitely going to be reading it to my LO when he's a bit older 

[#10]

One of my strongest memories of stories from my childhood is not a book I read myself at that time but one that my mum read to us and that was Wind in the Willows.  She'd read us a chapter every night and I'm sure that we made her read it several times over as we (my brother & I, although probably mostly me!) loved it so much.

I loved reading Noel Streatfeild books and read every one of hers having originally discovered her by reading Ballet Shoes.  After reading that book I dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer, although as I'd already stopped attending my ballet classes that was never likely to happen!  I did maintain a passion for dance though and still dance in my 40's!

I read all of the Narnia books and loved those, although I was possibly in my early teens by then.

I also enjoyed Enid Blyton, in particular the Malory Towers & St Clare's books, although I did read all the Famous Five books too.  I'm not sure how they inspired me exactly, although I did go on to be head girl at my school