World Book Day; my top 5 childhood reads

In honour of World Book Day, a day where we celebrate books and a love of reading, I’m coming together with a group of bloggers to discuss our favourite childhood reads, to view all of our posts, search the hashtag #WBDwithUKYA on Twitter.

I’ve been tagged by The Tsundoku Chronicles to list my five favourite childhood reads and I’ll also be tagging Stagey Bookish to take part too. If you follow the thread of tagged accounts, you’ll see a new post taking place each hour of World Book Day.

I have always been a reader, it has been a part of me since I can remember and I am very thankful for that. I think the idea of World Book Day is such an important one, a way for us to come together and celebrate books together. There’s never going to be a wrong time to discover a good book, so if this day can encourage just one new reader into our community, then it’s worth it!

Here are my top five books/authors, in a no order, that I loved as a child.

• Jaqueline Wilson (every book ever)

If I was forced to pick one book by Jacqueline Wilson, it would be The Story of Tracy Beaker, because that is the one I remember the most. Her writing style was easy to read, but familiar and friendly. She wrote about a variety of characters, some I found relatable and some far from it, I liked the English setting and the colourfulness of both the books and their contents.

I was thrilled to be quoted in the ARC of the new release, My Mum Tracy Beaker, where I was asked what Tracy Beaker meant to me. She was a naughty character, a fun one for a child to read about, but she was also creative and stood up for what she thought was right.

• The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton is a superb author who combined homely familiarity with bizarre events in her books. The Magic Faraway Tree series opens the doors of impossibility to children, doors to magical lands with strange little characters and yummy foods. I loved immersing myself in these books as a kid and I’ve heard them since being read to my sister.

Every book Enid Blyton wrote felt unique and filled with her charm and funny style. It’s a shame to see some of her books being changed recently to be more child friendly. Certain characters have been removed, which is disappointing as I don’t think it ever did my generation and generations before us any harm.

• Harry Potter (all of them, don’t make me choose just one), J.K. Rowling

Could I write this post without mentioning the Potter books? I know this will be a common answer, but honestly, these books meant to so much to me as a child. I was very lucky to grow up as they were being released and it made me even more involved in a community of people who also shared that excitement.

To this day I still love this series, I recently wrote a post about 21 years of the boy who lived, in honour of the first books publication anniversary.

• Judy Moody, Megan McDonald

I loved these books, Judy was so funny and instantly relatable as a little girl growing up. I liked that this book series encouraged you to be open and honest about your emotions, I had the journal to go with it too which had a mood meter on the front that I could set accordingly.

I can’t remember too much about the contents of these books, but from what I can recall, it was about Judy and how she dealt with being a young girl and how she laughs through her bad moods. Relatable, fun and with some really cool illustrations.

• Malory Towers, Enid Blyton

Another nod to Enid Blyton, who wrote so many amazing books that I loved during my childhood. I really enjoyed books about children at school and I think fondly upon this series. Following a girl who is determined to settle in at boarding school, but has a bit of a temper about her, this series is so cute and quaint.

There are six books altogether and I remember feeling a real bond with the characters by the end. You have travelled with them through their years of school and I remember thinking it was very odd to leave them behind.

So those are my top five favourite childhood reads! What are yours? Let me know in the comments, or tag me in your own post!