Anonymous wrote:Agree on all of the ones mentioned here. Lol to Charlie &, it did seem like it took forever. Re reading Matilda had kid and adult saying ick about how her family was

I think that's one of the main points of Matilda.

Agree with Anne of Green Gables. One of the few I loved as a child and maybe even more as a parent

I remember pretending to like A Wrinkle in Time as a bookish kid, but found it confusing in elementary school. I should try it again to see if I get it now.

One book that really did hold up when re-reading was "Blue Willow."

I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins when I read it again a couple of years ago. Also Hatchet.

We read the full Narnia series to our kids. I only remember reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe as a kid, so most of the series was new to me. Liked some better than others, but overall the series was worth reading.

Agree on all of the ones mentioned here. Lol to Charlie &, it did seem like it took forever. Re reading Matilda had kid and adult saying ick about how her family was

Anonymous wrote:I reread Island of the Blue Dolphins and was so bored. It didn't hold up. I was also disappointed by a reread of The Westing Game.

+1 exactly. re read it when kid read it in elementary school

Anne of Green Gables stood the test of time--was actually surprised at how well-written and funny it was reading as an adult. (Montgomery's other books, not so much...)

Agree that Wrinkle in Time was a bit dull (and my kids were also not at all into it). Similarly, when listening to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the family on audiobook, I was surprised at how loooong it took for Charlie to actually get to the factory--that was basically the only part I remember from my childhood read lol. I had to basically push the kids to make it to that point (and then DS at least really enjoyed it).

I personally enjoyed reading some of the original Winnie the Pooh books to my kids (again they were not particularly into it), but was struck by how much the writing did not really seem directed to kids--more to adults remembering childhood.

Anonymous wrote:I reread Island of the Blue Dolphins and was so bored. It didn't hold up. I was also disappointed by a reread of The Westing Game.

I loved that one. Good to know not to read it again.
I reread The Witch of Blackbird Pond not too long ago and it was still good.

I loved reading favorites to my kids. I really loved re-reading A Wrinkle in Time and felt it really held up. I loved that my daughter was riveted by it, even though it was a little old fashioned and slow by modern standards. My daughter - now 20 - will still sometimes reference the scene on Camazotz where the kids all had to bounce the ball exactly the same.

My favorite book was The Hobbit, and of course that still stands.

My second favorite from childhood is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series. I was surprised the books were so slender. My son found the second one (Prince Caspian) entirely boring and refused to listen to me read it.

Not a childhood favorite but I recently read Swiss Family Robinson to my kid and it was extremely dull.

But mostly we've really enjoyed reading our childhood favorites. Little Women, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, all the Ramona books, Charlotte's Web, The Little Princess, Secret Garden, Pippi Longstocking. Also it didn't come out when I was a kid but we really enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books even though we'd read them before. Getting to reread children's books to my kid is one of my favorite things about being a parent.

I do think with some of these older books, you have to read for a while to get into it. They are paced slower with more exposition which is not how books today are written. Like Little Women has a slow burn for a modern reader. But once you are into it and get used the the rhythm, it's a page turner!

Harriet The Spy. I loved that she spied on people, all the spy stuff. That's what made it my favorite. Reread it as an adult and I had no memory or interest in the friend drama storyline, of her diary being discovered.

I reread Island of the Blue Dolphins and was so bored. It didn't hold up. I was also disappointed by a reread of The Westing Game.

Confederacy of dunces wasn’t nearly as funny as when I was 15!

Anonymous wrote: I tried reading A Wrinkle In Time to my kid and we were both bored out of our minds!!

I think we tried that as a read-aloud as well, and decided that it was better read independently.

I saw a guy on a plane reading Catcher in the Rye and I said something about how much I loved that book, and he encouraged me to just love the memory and NOT re-read it. He said he was not at ALL enjoying it as an adult.

The classics thread made me think of some books I read over and over all through childhood and some even into college. (Little Women anyone?).

But, some really disappointed me when reading to my kids. I tried reading A Wrinkle In Time to my kid and we were both bored out of our minds!!

I was so disappointed. Anyone else have a favorite disappoint?