Favorite children's book of all time -

My definitely, permanently, favorite is Edward Lear's A Book of Nonsense.

On my first date with my future husband, I read him 'The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World.' The children travel in a large boat and take with them only a small Cat, an elderly Quangle Wangle and a large kettle for making dinner. He thought I was batty. Yes, I'm definitely, permanently batty, and so was Edward Lear.

Top middle grade stories I read as a child -

* Roald Dahl's The Twits

* Enid Blyton's The Famous Five series

* Tove Jansson's Moominland Midwinter

* Norman Lindsay's The Magic Pudding

* C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia

Top middle grade stories I read as an adult -

* Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux

* Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass

* Astrid Lindgren's The Brothers Lionheart

* Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons

* Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

* Suzanne LaFleur's Love, Aubrey

* Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

* Eva Ibbotson's Island of the Aunts

* Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia

To be continued...