Tell me a story

We just did an exercize at work for a meeting that turned out really interesting. We went around and named which books were our favorites as small children and why. Though I love all things Dr. Suess because of their timelessness and relevance at every age (dreamy, wonderful images to small children, morality tales for older children, fables of societal impact for adults), I must confess that the book I had the hardest time giving away when the time came was The Adventures of Strawberry Shortcake and Her Friends, by Alexandra Wallner. With a start I realized that all my favorite little-girl heroes where empowered, DIY-type girls: Pippi Longstocking, Holly Hobbie, Strawberry Shortcake, Raggedy Ann.

Pippi lived without parents with a horse on the porch, had little formal education but a strong sense of justice and held no truck with fools. Holly Hobbie is an adventurous friend who is both humble and fearless; she keeps the right balance of passion for adventure and love of the simple life. Raggedy Ann got up to all kinds of bizarre mischief in the Deep, Dark Woods and Strawberry Shortcake had to shoulder a leadership role at a very young age and contend with the thieving Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak (okay, perhaps I'm reaching a little here).

This has stirred a wondrous sleeping beast and my love of books begins to spill over. Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Color Kittens, Where the Wild Things Are, modern beauties like Tuesday, by David Weisner (quickly sweeping the Caldecotts year after year, is Mr. Weisner) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, by Jon Scieszka. Richard Scarry's Busytown and Clifford the Big Red Dog, even The Little Engine That Could and Corduroy with his missing button; I remember all of these stories fondly.

What are your favorite childhood books? Does anything from when you were very small stand out? Or do older kid's books strike more of a chord for you?