Welcome, Hayley _
I enjoyed reading 'The Borrowers' too, but by the time that I posted on this thread so many other people had already mentioned books I'd liked in childhood that I decided to list only the ones that they hadn't named here yet.
Does anybody else here remember reading another book by the Borrowers' author, about (IIRC) "the littlest witch"? I can vaguely recall that it existed, but no details...

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"This was willed where what is willed... can get rather silly."

Kaz,

It was this cake here:
[www.geocities.com]

It's a sneaky cake I like to make for the 4th of July, which looks simple on the outside, but when cut, each piece has the American flag as a cross section (which looks rather spiffy when it's laid sideways on a plate).

The photos show what it looked like after the picinic I made it for (everyone there had a picece, but it was a small group). My mother took the remainder to work with her today, where I'm told her coworkers were suitably appreciative.

I tried to find that page, but the computer gave me a choice of six other sites that it said referred to this one (although the one that I checked didn't in fact do so...) instead! They were about a 'colonial farm park' in Virginia, tourist information for St Petersburg (the one in Russia), 'Utah Jazz', something or other in state of New York, ditto Florida, and (Oops! I've forgotten... but it didn't look very relevant, anyway). It isn't the first time that this has happened, and IIRC at least one of the other occasions was when I was looking for one of Magda's pages too. I'll try it on the computer at work (which I seem to recall was more cooperative in at least one of those other cases) sometime...

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"This was willed where what is willed... can get rather silly."

Ooh, that does look rather specky! Don't think I'll try it though. Too much icing for my taste. But it would be a talking point.

I started on Ant & Bee which had a certain charm (though now I'm not sure why) early on and then on to 'The little man dressed in red riding on a grey horse' which is the ultimate anarchist's handbook for any self-respecting 3 year old - doubt if anyone else has heard of it though! If you have, and can get me a copy, I'd be v grateful (my sister nicked mine!)

Then to Beatrix Potter, Winne the Pooh, Little Grey Rabbit, Narnia, Swallows & Amazons, Mistress Masham's Repose, Nicholas Stuart Grey (much too whimsical now), George Mackay Brown, RLStevenson, Buchan, Tolkein, Dickens, Alice in Wonderland (major favourite!), Borrowers (ditto), Mallory Towers (no other Blyton - my mum couldn't bear her!), Chalet School, the Chincoteague books, Molesworth, Just William, no Dr Zeuss, dunno why I didn't like him, Dick Francis, wallpaper, cornflake packets - you name it, I read it. Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tay... um. Think I've run out of children's books. Do books you read as a child count?

That's a coincidence, AlisonS - I used to read Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and Jospehine Tay as a child as well! For some reason I got interested in collecting green-backed Penguins as a teenager (probably because they could be found cheaply at flea-markets and jumble sales) and ended up with, oh, hundreds of the things. Freeman Wills Crofts was another favourite writer (still is, strangely enough).

I found out much later than there are subtle variations in the cover designs. Y'know how most of them have a solitary fat penguin stood at the bottom of the cover looking left (I think)? Some editions feature the penguin dancing apparently - and on at least one there's two penguins stood holding hands. I was told those occurred when there was a special event in the design office, like a party (dancing one) or a wedding or something (twin ones). Might be apocryphal but it's a lovely story all the same!

It's a great story - hope it's true, but like you I had a phase of collecting green penguins and I've never seen the wedding or the dancing one :(
- wonder which ones they were?

I'll have a look later and get back to you; I'm fairly certain I've still got copies of both somewhere. Apparently it's only on the first editions (makes sense really I suppose).

Sadly I don't think I've ever really grown out of that "phase", I still can't resist picking up one I've never seen before even now! Although to be honest it's not often I find one these days - either they've all been snapped up by genuine collectors or I've already got all the popular titles, since it seems to be the same ones cropping up over and over again (Perry Mason in the Case of the Vanishing Toothpaste or whatever)

I used to read Ngaio Marsh - I used to get them out the library and they were the yellow hardback ones. All the crime books seemed to be in yellow hardback form.



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Do something pretty while you can...

I love my 50's/60's pony books. They are almost always illustrated. The painted picture covers have so much more charm than the photos on the covers of the 70's editions. Mind you, the outfits worn on the covers of the 70's editions do have a certain appeal - "Gosh, look at those tank tops."

I used to read some old books of my mothers that were kinda like Girls Own sorta stuff. Had lots of plucky girls riding theirs bikes around the countryside and saying 'Well, I'm dashed!'.

Yes my mum had some too - 'spiffing' they keep saying, and they're all called Dulcie... and then there are the Victorian ones with embossed covers and full colour illustrations pasted on top... great!

Actually Ptolemy I still collect the green Penguins when I see them too *blushes* just think I've got too many books so I'm trying not to get any more! No chance of that though.

I'd love to know which they are if you can find then - thanks!

Oh, don't be silly, Alison. there's no such thing as 'too many books'. Despite what my husband says....

Yes I know that really - and you'd have to wrestle me to get them away from me - trouble is there's definitely such a thing as 'not enough room' - think I'm going to have to start building shelves on the roof!

I forgot to mention Stig of the Dump!

I liked the Anne of Green Gables series, as well as anything written by Alexander Key. Oh, as a "pre-teen" I loved Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret. I wore it out.

As a teen, I liked A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Stephen King books. It's hard to remembert... I read so many differnt books....

Archie and Mehitabel?

If you mean the Archie and Jughead comic books, I used to love them. I still sneak a look every so often in the newsagents.

Dunno about this Mehitabel character though....

The original novel of '101 Dalmations' and its sequel, are really charming with a dry humour and delightful illustrations.

gotta agree there. HHave the first but not the second. The only thing disney got right with the movie was making Cruella de Vil so over the top. I think she was better in the movie.