Nom de Plume

I think one of the reasons that Harry Potter is so popular with grownups is because it reminds us not only what we read when we were children, but how–the sense of wonder that kept us hunched under the covers with a flashlight, ears perked against wandering parents …

There are a lot of other great childrens’ series that invoke the wonder. Lately, I’ve found these a lot more interesting than anything else out there. Here’s an (admittedly incomplete) list of some of the standouts.

Philip Pullman.
His Dark Materials Trilogy: The Golden Compass - The Subtle Knife - The Amber Spyglass
Fabulous series. Like Harry Potter, only not. Much darker and more intellectual.

Garth Nix.
The Abhorsen Trilogy: Abhorsen - Lirael - Sabriel
What an imagination. Lirael was my favorite–kept me spellbound for hours.

Jenny Nimmo.
The Children of the Red King: Midnight for Charlie Bone - Charlie Bone and the Time Twister - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy
Although the cover of the last one is a blatant Harry Potter wannabe, this series is delightful.

Caroline Stevermer.
A College of Magic - A Scholar of Magic
In my mind, these two books are a little like Anne of Green Gables (once she’s grown up, but I can’t remember what those books were called) meets Gregory Maguire’s Wicked.

Madeleine L’Engle.
A Wrinkle in Time - A Wind in the Door - A Swiftly Tilted Planet - A Swiftly Tilted Planet
The classic. Loved them way back when, love them now. Also, the perfect place to start on the L’Engle journey, which then marches through YA novels to adult fiction and nonfiction.

Jonathan Stroud.
Bartimaeus Trilogy: The Amulet of Samarkand - The Golem’s Eye
Well, only two of the three written, and I’ve only read one of the two. But I appreciated the irreverent snarkiness.

Susan Cooper.
The Dark is Rising Sequence: Silver on the Tree - The Dark is Rising - Greenwitch - The Dark is Rising
I distinctly remember having this series when I was a kid, but when I went back to reread over Christmas, I couldn’t remember a whit of it. No matter, though; it’s a great series. The Dark is Rising is the best of the lot and perfect to read on Christmas afternoon, as I did.

Diane Duane.
The Young Wizards Series: So You Want to Be a Wizard - Deep Wizardry - High Wizardry - A Wizard Abroad - The Wizard’s Dilemma - A Wizard Alone - The Wizard’s Holiday - Wizards at War
Don’t let the lame titles put you off. This is one of the best series around: thrilling battle between good and evil, nice juxtaposition between the “real” world and the “wizarding” one, and strong but realistic characters.

Lloyd Alexander.
Chronicles of Prydain: The Book of Three - The Black Cauldron - Taran Wanderer - The Castle of Llyr
I can still see these tattered paperbacks from reading them over and over when I was an anklebiter. In particular, there was one battle scene I read over and over and over. I couldn’t find that particular scene–or at least my memory of it–on my reread of this series last week. But wow, it’s still great.