Childhood books

[George 1978]

Re: Childhood books



I must have read this 50 times

That title rings a bell - wasn't there a song that went with it?

[DemetriusVVV]

I recall a story published under 3 different titles, but all essentially the same plot!
The original was called 'Fortunately', originally by Remy Charlot(sp?), in which 'good' and 'bad' things happen to a character on alternating pages, all described with 'Fortunately, something or other', and 'Unfortunately, such and such'.
Basically, a kid gets an invitation to a birthday party far away, flies an airplane to get there, it crashes, he ends up on a remote island, escapes tigers in a jungle, reaches a house, and when he enters, he sees all his friends are there...because it's his birthday party!
This was also published under the title 'What Good Luck! What Bad Luck!', which was otherwise the exact same story with new title/repeated phrases.

But I remember yet another version, called 'Lucky For Me', which I read in a long-forgotten elementary school textbook, around age 8.

In this version, the main character(also the narrator) is a girl, who is randomly picked up by some large bird, which drops her in the ocean. Reaching what appears to be a tiny island, she discovers it's a whale...which sends her, via waterspout, back home...stopping off at an amusement park to meet her friends, before finally going home.

The 'odd' detail I remembered all these years was that whoever illustrated the story drew the main character missing a shoe throughout the second half of the story(lost somewhere in the ocean,), but I remember thinking it odd for some reason that, as narrator, she (and her friends and family) didn't mention/notice it!
I've never had a clue which textbook I saw it in, or found any other version of 'Lucky For Me', so the 'missing shoe' remains a mystery! I got the whole collection of fairy tales so simply split the file to the pieces I needed via pdf.io

I guess that I have also read something similar I wanted to re-read it in my adulthood but didn't find

[BrianO]

I recall a story published under 3 different titles, but all essentially the same plot!
The original was called 'Fortunately', originally by Remy Charlot(sp?), in which 'good' and 'bad' things happen to a character on alternating pages, all described with 'Fortunately, something or other', and 'Unfortunately, such and such'.
Basically, a kid gets an invitation to a birthday party far away, flies an airplane to get there, it crashes, he ends up on a remote island, escapes tigers in a jungle, reaches a house, and when he enters, he sees all his friends are there...because it's his birthday party!
This was also published under the title 'What Good Luck! What Bad Luck!', which was otherwise the exact same story with new title/repeated phrases.

But I remember yet another version, called 'Lucky For Me', which I read in a long-forgotten elementary school textbook, around age 8.

In this version, the main character(also the narrator) is a girl, who is randomly picked up by some large bird, which drops her in the ocean. Reaching what appears to be a tiny island, she discovers it's a whale...which sends her, via waterspout, back home...stopping off at an amusement park to meet her friends, before finally going home.

The 'odd' detail I remembered all these years was that whoever illustrated the story drew the main character missing a shoe throughout the second half of the story(lost somewhere in the ocean,), but I remember thinking it odd for some reason that, as narrator, she (and her friends and family) didn't mention/notice it!
I've never had a clue which textbook I saw it in, or found any other version of 'Lucky For Me', so the 'missing shoe' remains a mystery!

[George 1978]

Re: Childhood books

Amazing that programmes like Words and Pictures were almost like "product placement" for children's books - I know that Pat Hutchins, Shirley Huighes and David McKee's books used to feature on there regularly.

One cannot beat Hughes' Dogger which was a lovely tale of a young boy almost losing his soft toy dog to his sister via a jumble sale - a copy of it was always in the classroom book corner at Infant School.

[zabadak]

Re: Childhood books

I used to read books about Orlando the cat. I remember liking them.

[George 1978]

Re: Childhood books

I must have read this 50 times

I am sure there was a song which complimented the book or the character at least.

[George 1978]

Re: Childhood books

PRETTY SURE I READ THIS ONE.

IVE MEMORIES OF READING ABOUT ABOUT FOXES BACK IN THE EIGHTIES AND IM NEAR SURE ITS THIS ONE.

There was someone at our school called Mr Fox and the kids used to say that it was about him.

[Danniella]

Re: Childhood books

I remember my parents buying me the pop up books, i loved then, the stories came alive with a pop up book.

[ericthecavalier]

Re: Childhood books



I must have read this 50 times

[zabadak]

Re: Childhood books

When you were a naughty boy

"Were"?

[amethyst]

Re: Childhood books

I remember trying to find the rude bits in books in our library...

When you were a naughty boy

[zabadak]

Re: Childhood books

I remember trying to find the rude bits in books in our library...

Re: Childhood books

when i was at primary school, they had a copy of goalkeepers revenge by bill naughton. really enjoyed that book. also, from a kestrel to a knave by barry hines.

[amethyst]

Re: Childhood books

The Famous five red hard cover books in school,then in WH Smiths you could buy the soft cover versions,which I had a good collection of

[Powdered toast man]

Re: Childhood books

I read a very good story at primary school. It was about a group of kids that hide on a seaside pier until after dark, when after it closes for the night, they start playing on the rides and games. If I can remember, a storm starts to batter the pier and part of it collapses into the sea. The kids have no way of getting back to the shore or calling for help and somehow, a fire breaks out. It's a story that's been stuck in mind ever since. Any ideas?