What is the very first book you remember reading? My mom bought me a whole bunch of adorable hardcover Disney books (CINDERELLA) is the one that stands out most to me in that set – here’s what it looked like! And there are a bunch more of ‘em pictured on that same page from my set… I had SO many of them and I miss them. Maybe I should buy a few of those vintage ones that I remember and rebuild my collection).
Those and and two HUGE heavy volumes of the Grimms Fairy Tales and Hans Christian Anderson (I’m still looking for my old original versions of those. Very majestic looking and a perfect set!) Illustrated beautifully, and certainly published with children in mind, but now that I think back to the stories, I gasp!! Some of ‘em were a little terrifying! I read them night after night, and stared at the gorgeous drawings and imagined them coming to life. Of course… only the fun ones. 
And then anything from Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume followed… and then onto the Sweet Valley High books. Interspersed with plenty of adult horror. LOL!!!
How about you guys? Maybe some of these might spark your memory of books long-forgotten but much loved (or much feared…? )
Kellie: Maryse! I had the same collection of Disney books as a child and that pic of CINDERELLA brought tears to my eyes! My first books ever and my mom used to read me one every night before bed, my favorite being The Haunted House (Disney’s Wonderful World of Reading)! It was so worn as my brother and I asked for that one every night! I’ve been a long time lurker of your blog but first time poster lol! Love getting my book recommendations from you and your crew!
Maryse: Kellie!! I’m so happy you had the same set, and I have no idea why, but it makes me feel like we’re long lost sisters. LOL! I wish SO badly I still had them… we moved a few times in my childhood, so I suspect they were lost or left behind or given away… *sigh*
Lisa: Aahhhh Kellie! I just love how we all lurked for a while before our book love got the better of us all and we HAD to comment. Welcome book lover. You’re amoungst friends.
MichelleS: No Flying in the House by Betty Brock. It was republished about ten years ago & someone in my family gave it to as a gift!! I adored this book when I was a kid. Probably why I love Faeries.
DanielleC: Judy Blume, Nancy Drew, and then I remember going to the “grown up section” in the public library in 4th grade and devouring the VC Andrews Books! Oh and Firestarter by Stephen King was the first book I ever remember reading by myself because at the time Drew Barrymore was on the cover.
Jojo: Flowers In The Attic, I think I was around 15 or 16 at the time. I felt so grown up!! 
JenC: Oooh I vividly remember reading “When the Wind Changed” by Ruth Park when I was 5 There was also another one about a girls 5th (I think) birthday and how she spent the day. Loved that book (especially the rainbow sponge birthday cake she had!). Besides that, Nancy Drew and the Baby-Sitters Club books!
Cristina: Mine was Sweet Valley High! I still remember how excited I was to get them in the mail! Back when snail mail was our only option! I remember The Boxcar Children as well, plus Nancy Drew and The Baby-Sitters Club.
Marion: First Term at Malory Towers Enid Blyton
Regina: The Velveteen Rabbit and The Secret Garden (Illustrated)
Lisa: My mum read Rudyard Kiplings The Jungle Books at bedtime. She told me Id never be lonely if I could enjoy a great book…..(and this was perfect advice as we were living in remote rural Australia hours away from other children at the time). She was right. The first book I read myself was Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton….then all the Katy Did books.
Julie: What Katy Did and What Katie did at school.
Ezzy: Mine was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
WOW!! Look at this vintage copy… THIS is the one I remember and read over and over and over and over again through my pre-teen years…
Jacqueline: “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” July Blume – all her books started my love for reading.
Stephanie: mine’s a poem about a girl they called Tag-Along Tooloo
Karen: Everything Enid Blyton!
Kim: Nancy Drew mysteries & Little House on the Prairie
Skye Warren: Nancy Drew! (Teri W says these were her first, too!)
Lisa: Heidi.
Ann-Theres: Heidi. And the books about the Silver Brumby…
Melissa: I remember reading Christopher Pike and The Baby-Sitters Club books. But the one I remember the most is The Thorn Birds.
Vicky: Enid Blyton!!
Gretchen: Gone with the Wind
Linda: The Boxcar Children Mysteries in first grade!
Jennifer: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.
Suanne: Little House on the Prairie
Celeste: Me too! I remember getting them one by one from my book orders Ava wondering why no one else was totally engrossed in them.
Ali: Shel Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Giving Tree I’m sure there were some before those 2, but I don’t remember them
Stacy: 1st non-childrens books. The Lord of the Rings: One Volume and War and Peace. I was 11
Sherry: I read a lot of John Saul books…..I loved scary stories
Clare: The Complete works of Hans Christian Anderson, a huge book translated from Danish from my Dad. He had high hopes, I had nightmares! Terrifying! I was 7!
Tanya: There are 2 I remember remembering. LOL The Red Badge of Courage and Dr. Faustus.
Harper: They Thirst by Robert McCammon
Scoti: Sweet Valley Twins…anyone else remember those?
Robyn: Forever . . . by Judy Blume
Rebecca: Yes!!! I read all of them too.
Joanna: Judy Blume into the deep end.
Marisa: Yes! And The Baby-Sitters Club too
Samantha: The Babysitters Club….read the whole series. Was a member of a book club so I got the new ones sent to me as they came out!
Giovana: my first book was from Mario Vargas llosa and Stephen King books
Jean: The Wind in the Willows
Marisa: Fudge-a-Mania by Judy Blume. I think I was in 2nd or 3rd grade.
Selena: Dog Called Kitty by Bill Wallace
Stephanie: Vampire Diaries and Vampire Academy
Tessa: The Kitten Book and The Poky Little Puppy when I was four (ish).
Sharon: The Pokey Little Puppy one the the Little Golden Books series.
Mia: Stephen Kings It. I was 11 and it was terrifying and thrilling at the same time.
Marie: I remember reading the Dick and Jane books lol
Yvonne: Alice in Wonderland
Jovanna: Danny and the Dinosaur (I Can Read Level 1). In Kindergarten. Loved that book.
Jessie: The Duchess (The Montgomery/Taggert Family Book 2). Jude deveraux
Samantha: The Baby-Sitters Club….read the whole series. Was a member of a book club so I got the new ones sent to me as they came out!
Krystal: Goosebumps !!! I was in 3rd or 4th grade and I still have most of them.
Nicole: Novel………..when I was a child/teen, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. Fave!
Jillian: The Wind in the Willows with my mom and sister at around 4-5 years old. We’d read a chapter a night!
Susan: All the Dr. Seuss books. And Dick and Jane.
Candace: The Bobbsey Twins
Christina: The Phantom Tollbooth!
I am happily addicted to reading but I need to expend my book energy (especially when one puts me in an emotional frenzy - SO fun!). So, I release my feelings about the stories, by writing them down here. It's my book therapy. 
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Forever by Judy Blume
The Kitten Book and Pokey Little Puppy when I was four (ish).
No Flying in the House, by Betty Brock. It was republished about ten years ago & someone in my family gave it to as a gift!! I adored this book when I was a kid. Probably why I love Faeries.
Nancy Drew!!
Judy Blume, Nancy Drew, and then I remember going to the “grown up section” in the public library in 4th grade and devouring the VC Andrews Books!
Oh and Firestarter by Stephen King was the first book I ever remember reading by myself because at the time Drew Barrymore was on the cover.
Oooh I vividly remember reading “When the Wind Changed” by Ruth Park when I was 5 There was also another one about a girls 5th (I think) birthday and how she spent the day. Loved that book (especially the rainbow sponge birthday cake she had!).
Besides that, Nancy Drew and the Baby-Sitters Club books!
Nancy Drew!
Mine was Sweet Valley High! I still remember how excited I was to get them in the mail! Back when snail mail was our only option! I remember the Boxcar children as well, plus Nancy Drew and the Baby-Sitters Club.
First Form in Malory Towers Enid Blyton
The Velveteen Rabbit and The Secret Garden
My mum read Rudyard Kiplings Jungle Book at bedtime. She told me Id never be lonely if I could enjoy a great book…..(and this was perfect advice as we were living in remote rural Australia hours away from other children at the time). She was right.
The first book I read myself was The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton….then all the Katy did books.
Maryse! I had the same collection of Disney books as a child and that pic of Cinderalla brought tears to my eyes! My first books ever and my mom used to read me one every night before bed, my favorite being Mickey’s Haunted House! It was so worn as my brother and I asked for that one every night! I’ve been a long time lurker of your blog but first time poster lol! Love getting my book recommendations from you and your crew!
Kellie!! I’m so happy you had the same set, and I have no idea why, but it makes me feel like we’re long lost sisters. LOL! I wish SO badly I still had them… we moved a few times in my childhood, so I suspect they were lost or left behind or given away… *sigh*
Aahhhh Kellie! I just love how we all lurked for a while before our book love got the better of us all and we HAD to comment. Welcome book lover. You’re amoungst friends.
Mine was Harry Potter and the Globet of Fire
*hugs Lisa and Kellie*
YES!! I love us!
“Are You There God It’s Me Margaret” July Blume – all her books started my love for reading.
I love this list! It’s funny how I literally can’t remember what I did last week or important moments over the last several years but things like this stick with me. I could go on forever with all the books I remember reading throughout my school years! But once I hit adulthood or maybe rather motherhood, everything since is literally a jumbled messy, mess. Seeing all those up there is great, it’s like reminiscing about the good old days, Lol!!
. I’ve read a bunch of them but here are some of my “firsts”…The Giving Tree (first book I ever read by myself in front of the whole class
And here’s some more: Oh, So Silly by Susan Alton Schmeltz and Maryann Cocca-Leffler. The Romona books by Beverly Cleary (First I remember of the chapter books). Jr high Downriver by Will Hobbs (fist exciting adventure book I remember) the Time Travelers Quartet by Caroline B. Cooney (first sigh worthy romance I remember), Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo (this book really fascinated me), Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging series by Louise Rennison. (First more “mature read if you will, I read this around the time puberty hits and all the fun stuff that goes with that
).
The NANCY Drew mysteries
I read every NANCY Drew book and the Hardy boys mysteries
The books I remember most:
P. S. I Love You (Sweet Dreams, #1) by Barbara Conklin (Love all the sweet dream books
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
All Judy Blume books
I remember reading about the porcupine when I was young. I forgot the author. Mom bought me the disney princesses stories as well.
Patricia Scanlen Apartment 3B, its still one of my all time favourites!