Are you sitting comfortably? The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge does it for me every time. I only have to feel winter coming on, or think I might be coming down with something, and I want to curl up under my duvet with some of my favorite children’s books.

There will always be something magical about the stories we read as children. OK, it’s nice to pick up the latest dinner party read, but the minute I turn to one of my old favorites, it’s like having a loving hand pressed against my forehead. For the time I’m reading the book, all will be well.

It’s not just that I don’t have to work so hard to find out what’s happening because every time I’ve re-read one of my favorites, I see something different. I notice things about the characters, about the humor, and also about the plot. It’s a way of slowing down time too, and that always helps in times of stress.

Apart from The Little White Horse, here are a few of my favorites…

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I’m the only person I’ve met who used to want to be Amy, much to my embarrassment now!

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. The bit when Anne dyes her hair green by mistake still makes me laugh.

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White.

Absolutely anything by Enid Blyton.

The Moomintroll books by Tove Jansson. I still can’t think of a more glamorous fictional character than the Snork maiden!

What about you? What books from your childhood do you return to again and again?

Photo by: MShades