The folks over at First Book polled their readers with the question, “What Book Got You Hooked?” They had 100,000 responses and used them to compile a list of the top 50 “first books.”
I don’t remember my actual first book, but one of the earliest books I remember is Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses. Some of his rhymes were so full of Britishisms that I didn’t quite get them, though of course I do now, others were just delightful on many levels: the back-and-forth rhythim of “The Swing” for example, or the mischievous tone of “The Shadow.”
The first five books on FirstBook’s list are:
- Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene
- Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
I can’t say I’m surprised by anything on that list – the Nancy Drew books were among my childhood favorites, and the Little House series and Alcott’s works grace my shelves even today, but I have to confess that I wish fewer people were introduced to reading by Dr. Seuss, but that’s my bias, because I’ve never been a fan of his sing-songy style.
For the rest of the top 50, go here.