A previous post about Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, which apparently I am the only child to have ever read of, has made me curious about how obscure some of the other books were that I read growing up. I never read the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew series, which I’m pretty sure means my parents should have been arrested or at least fined.
So, which of the following have you read or heard of?
1. Danny Dunn series (such as Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint)1
2. The Great Brain series
3. The Boxcar Children series
That’s all I can think of for now in terms of series. Any other good suggestions?
1 terracinque and I have discussed this series in the past, and I believe she felt that this had been popular about a half-generation before me.
I read all of the Danny Dunn books.
How about ‘Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators,’ a Hardy Boys clone with a loose connection to the director of Psycho? I read a lot of those, but never read Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.
I read all of the Danny Dunn books.
There is not an ounce of surprise registering on my face.
I’ve not heard of the Hitchcock Boys. Good? Worth getting, you think?
The Three Investigators were kinda weird – they felt dated even when I first discovered them back in the mid-’70s. I still read them all, though. Then there were a whole series of Alfred Hitchcock “you-solve-it” mystery books that were really awful – like, bad enough to make you miss how elegant the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries were.
The Danny Dunn books ROCKED. And when “Honey, I Shrunk The Kids” came out, part of me was hoping that the author of “Danny Dunn and the Smallifying Machine” would sue.
I devoured all the Great Brain books, eventually including the two “grown-up” novels by the same author. I know there was a movie version made back in ’78 or ’79 with Jimmy Osmond, but it never went anywhere. Maybe people figured it was all just thinly disguised Mormon proselytizing- which, hell, it probably was – but I didn’t care.
My mom had a couple of vintage Bobbsey Twins books from the ’30s, which I read a couple of times just because they were so dated and bizarre.
You mean, there were two novels of The Great Brain all growed up?
I saw on Wikipedia that they released a new Great Brain in 1995 based on some loose notes the author left behind.
Yeah, in addition to the Great Brain books for kids, Fitzgerald wrote Papa Married A Mormon and Uncle Will and the Fitzgerald Curse, which both overlap to some extent with the Brain books but also follow the whole family into adulthood. They’re interesting reads, though not nearly as much wicked fun as the Great Brain books.
Oddly about the only “childen’s” books that I read were Hardy Boys. I went from them to non fiction (my parent’s college textbooks, mostly) then into science fiction/fantasy. I was an odd child, and seem to have become a somewhat odd adult.
“somewhat”?
Point taken.
Oh, and I can trace my SciFi interests to one particular book. One that I still have.
I would read this cover to cover, then start over from the beginning.
I’ve never heard of any of those, though the Great Brain rings a tiny little bell. I read the Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown. I had a couple of my dad’s Tom Swift books, too. Then moved on to Judy Blume (the boys books) and into fantasy/scifi (starting with The Dark Is Rising and Lord of the Rings).
Encyclopedia Brown! Of course! I can’t believe I forgot that one.
The Great Brain series took place in Utah around the turn of the century (the one before this most recent turn of the century, of course).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Brain
That tiny little bell must have been something else because I don’t recognize that at all. Maybe it was the toaster in the kitchen.
I think an angel was probably just getting it’s wings. Way to go, Clarence!
i read the great brain and the boxcar children practically until the bindings fell apart…. but by the late 4th grade i hae moved right on into john grisham novels… and i remain a whore for a good law story to this day.
A natural progression, I’m sure.
of what kind noody knows
I read the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books! I thought everyone had … interesting. I haven’t read any of the series you listed today, though I know my niece (13) was a big fan of the Boxcar Children. I also read Nancy Drew, though not the Hardy Boys … plus the Bobsey Twins and Cherry Ames.
It seems surprisingly few have read the Wiggle. Who knew?
Danny Dunn was playing at Caesar’s when I was in Vegas last week. That’s the first I’ve heard of him. The other two however, were staples in my house as were Hardy Boys and Tom Swift. Nancy Drew was for girls and you couldn’t convince my broithers or I otherwise.
You have to read Nancy to understand how the other half thinks. It’s like reading Cosmo today. It’s all about recon.
I’ve heard of The Boxcar Children. Maybe even a bit of The Great Brain series, too. Both were popular in the children’s section at Little Professor books at Forest Fair Mall, back in the mid 90’s.
I failed to mention earlier, that I have read most of the Nancy Drew series. I have one of my favorite ones sitting on my bookshelf. All of the others I had to borrow from the library.
I believe that in having to go and chose my books at the library, I became very picky at what I would read. If you chose a stinker you had to keep it a week until your mom or dad took you back.