Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Could Have Read as a Child

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is Books I Wish I Had Read As a Child. There are a lot of books I wish I would have read as a child or at least earlier in my life. But there are also a ton of books that didn’t exist when I was a kid that I wished did so my younger self could have read them. I’ve split my list into two in order to spotlight both types of books.

Wished I had Read

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett: I finally read this a couple years ago after my mom told me to read it forever ago. There were aspects I appreciated, but a lot of it was boring and unrealistic. Also, Sarah might be super optimistic, but she was kind of annoying for being so perfect. If I had read this as a kid, I don’t think I would have noticed these things.

Guardians of Ga’Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky: I didn’t read some of the books in this series until the movie came out, but I thought they were fun. Of course, there’s so many of them that I don’t have the time or concentration for it. But as a kid, I would have gobbled these books up!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: This is another classic I wish I had read as a kid because I don’t think I would have noticed its imperfections as much. Instead, I would have just enjoyed the wonderful story.

How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell: Like Guardians of Ga’Hoole, I didn’t read any of the books until the movies came out and even then, I didn’t have the attention for 10+ book series of similar plots and humor.

Wished Existed

Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland: If this series had existed when I was a kid, it would have been amazing. I would have been obsessed!

Jackaby by William Ritter: I’m not sure if I would have read this as a kid because of the supernatural elements (too spooky?), but I know it would have been awesome to have great middle grade books like this one on the shelf as a kid.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden: Like with Jackaby, I might have been a wimp when it came to reading this scary story, but the writing is so great and it’s the perfect mix of weird and spooky for the audience.

Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger: While I am enjoying this series for the most part, I know I would have loved it if I had read these in middle school. All the aspects that make me roll my eyes would have been the “best thing ever!”

Rick Riordan Presents books: While I had Percy Jackson and Co. to take me on adventures, it would have been awesome to have more books by other authors about different mythologies. I would have been the kid at the library reading every single one of these.

To Best the Boys by Mary Weber: This isn’t a children’s or middle grade book, but I wish I could give to my younger self to read. The messages in this book about being true to yourself and that it’s okay if you walk to the beat of a different drum would have made such an impact on my younger self. (Heck, it made an impact on my adult self!)

What books do you wish you had read as a child or wish existed when you had been a kid? Don’t forget to join the link-up!

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