Most of what are now considered children's classics of fantasy - the Narnia books, the Curdy books, even Charlotte's Web, I did not read as a child. I blame it, to some extent, on being such a precocious reader. I taught myself to read before the age of three, and while my mother had done a lot of reading to me before that - age appropriate books like Babar and Madeleine - as soon as my mother realised I could read, she encouraged me to read for myself, and let me select the books I wanted to read. Without any guidance, for some reason I didn't find the fantasy classics. Instead, I spent several years reading lots of very fun books for young adults - none of which I regret reading - and then wandered into science fiction and didn't look back for a very long time.
I also think that in the 60s there may have been a shift away from fantasy in North America, which could partly explain why I didn't find all that much of it in libraries. Most of the non-sf young adult fiction I read between the ages of five and ten was historical fiction - Sutcliffe, Renault, and anyone else writing about younger people anywhere in time other than where I was. Although I did go through a period of reading both The Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew, contemporary children's adventure series extending to dozens and dozens of relatively formulaic books that may or may not have made any impact on your side of the ocean. I also read a great deal of non-fiction, particularly related to astronomy and other science - this was primarily triggered by the space race, I think, as was my early plunge into science fiction.
It was in university, when I was taking a class in children's literature, that I discovered the wonderful world of children's fantasy and since then I've been picking up the classics that I missed as a child whenever something brings one of them to my attention.
In the case of the L'Engle books, I saw a TV movie based on Wrinkle in Time not long ago, and it sparked my interest.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-12-26 09:31 pm (UTC)I also think that in the 60s there may have been a shift away from fantasy in North America, which could partly explain why I didn't find all that much of it in libraries. Most of the non-sf young adult fiction I read between the ages of five and ten was historical fiction - Sutcliffe, Renault, and anyone else writing about younger people anywhere in time other than where I was. Although I did go through a period of reading both The Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew, contemporary children's adventure series extending to dozens and dozens of relatively formulaic books that may or may not have made any impact on your side of the ocean. I also read a great deal of non-fiction, particularly related to astronomy and other science - this was primarily triggered by the space race, I think, as was my early plunge into science fiction.
It was in university, when I was taking a class in children's literature, that I discovered the wonderful world of children's fantasy and since then I've been picking up the classics that I missed as a child whenever something brings one of them to my attention.
In the case of the L'Engle books, I saw a TV movie based on Wrinkle in Time not long ago, and it sparked my interest.