Favorites

Via Semicolon (and, yes, this is usually a meme-free zone, but I'm in a deadline crunch and the throes of some sort of coughing/cold bug; this is as much as I can offer right now).

Name three favorite children’s series.

1. Orson Scott Card's Ender books and the related Bean titles. This is more YA than children's, but it's my blog; I can fudge with the meme, if I want.

2. James Marshall's George and Martha books. Are they a "series"? In the strictest sense, probably not. Again, though, my blog, my rules.

3. Harry Potter. I have a receipt dated December 2, 1998, from Marshall Field's. On that date, I purchased $80.36 of books, one of which was the first Harry Potter title, pressed on me by one of the booksellers we knew and loved. Pre-hype, this was a magical reading experience, despite the writing flaws and the weaknesses of the later books.

Name three favorite non-series children’s books.

1. Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.

2. Roald Dahl's The Twits.

3. Norman Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth.

Name three favorite children’s book characters.

1. Grandma Dowdel (here and here).

2. Harriet.

3. Charlotte.

It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.