From Goosebumps to Harry Potter: 6 kids’ books we grew up with & love

Growing up as students, textbooks were often drier than the desert and ploughing through one often felt like a heavy trek across the Sahara while trying to keep one’s eyes open.

On the other hand, storybooks — with their adventurous worlds of make-believe and fantastical plot lines — offered safe refuge, a place to escape to.

So, for a healthy dose of nostalgia, here are six children’s book series that we grew up with.

1. Harry Potter

“Yer a wizard Harry!”

Who can forget this iconic line from the seven-part series about an orphaned boy who discovers the magical wizarding world.

The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, by J.K Rowling was published in 1997 and from then, we grew up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione through their adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, culminating in Potter’s last battle with Lord Voldemort.

The overwhelmingly popular series naturally spawned a whole Wizarding World movie franchise which has earned over US$9.2 billion (S$12.3 billion) at the global box office, making it the third highest-grossing film franchise of all time.

Other books have also been spun off from this series, demonstrating just how much Harry Potter content fans want — like this unofficial Harry Potter cookbook and a look into the making of the Potterverse.

If you’re interested in revisiting the Potterverse, Storytel has an amazing selection of Harry Potter audiobooks here.

2. The Chronicles of Narnia

We’d be lying if we said that we didn’t try walking through our own cupboards at home after reading C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Lewis’ fantastic world of Narnia was brilliantly constructed, and just like Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, we were entranced by the cute talking animals (remember brave Reepicheep?) and perhaps a little frightened by the White Witch.

If you want to re-experience the magic of Narnia, Storytel has the complete set of the seven audio books in the Narnia series — spanning nearly 34 hours of storytelling. Go knock yourself out.

3. Nancy Drew

Moving away from magical worlds, we come to the world of mystery.

Nancy Drew is arguably one of the world’s most recognisable characters — aside from Sherlock Holmes — when it comes to fictitious detectives.

Drew, has been described as a super girl of sorts:

“...was a fine painter, spoke French, and had frequently run motor boats. She was a skilled driver who at sixteen 'flashed into the garage with a skill born of long practice.' The prodigy was a sure shot, an excellent swimmer, skillful oarsman, expert seamstress, gourmet cook, and a fine bridge player. Nancy brilliantly played tennis and golf, and rode like a cowboy. Nancy danced like Ginger Rogers and could administer first aid like the Mayo brothers.”

Here’s a little known fact: The Nancy Drew series was not written by one writer alone. Created by American publisher Edward Stratemeyer, the Nancy Drew stories were written by ghostwriters who published under the collective pseudonym “Carolyn Keene”.

This is why over the years the character has changed from her first appearance in 1930, as cultural norms evolved, even as far as casting her as a non-white character at one point (although that reimagined TV series never saw the light of day).

Storytel has a range of Nancy Drew audiobooks if you wish to embark on another mystery adventure.

4. Goosebumps

We might be afraid of the things that crawl out from under our beds but we sure do enjoy reading about them and more, from haunted masks to talking dolls to even werewolves.

American author R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps is the second best-selling book series in the world, after J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter. It has sold over 400 million books worldwide since its debut in July 1992.

Stine has said before that his books are successful as a children’s series because they don’t contain drugs, depravity and violence. The characters are often put into surreal situations which aren’t too serious and they don’t encounter death.

But we guess that as children, those can be frightening enough.

If you want to relive the scares from your childhood, Storytel has many Goosebumps audiobooks to choose from.

5. Captain Underpants

Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants is probably the most irreverent and hilarious children’s illustrated series we have ever read.

The story revolves around two kids — George Beard and Harold Hutchins — who successfully hypnotise their cruel principal Benny Krupp. Whenever the boys snap their fingers, Krupp turns into their iconic book character: Captain Underpants.

The main series launched with The Adventures of Captain Underpants in 1997 and concluded with its twelfth book Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot in 2015.

Some audiobooks in this series are available on Storytel here.

6. Enid Blyton books

Enid Blyton is probably one of the most well known children’s book authors in the world, selling more than 600 million copies worldwide and translated into 90 languages.

Some of her more well-known series include the Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers, Adventures of the Wishing Chair, and The Enchanted Wood.

The Adventures of the Wishing Chair was Blyton’s first full-length novel, and tells the story of two kids who are transported by a chair with wings to a mysterious place called "Goodness-Knows-Where”.

Subsequent stories follow the kids and the flying chair on more adventures.

Another popular series by Blyton’s is the Famous Five, which follows four kids and a dog (Julian, Dick, Anne and Georgina, and Timmy the dog) as they solve mysteries involving criminals and lost treasure while they are hiking, camping, or holidaying some place.

If you would like to be whisked away on this nostalgic adventure, you can find Enid Blyton’s audiobooks on Storytel.

Today, Storytel offers many audiobooks and ebooks of stories that you grew up with and loved.

You might have outgrown them but you can still share these stories with your kids or young readers around you, and let them experience the magical world of stories that you once enjoyed.

Storytel is giving Mothership readers a 30-day free trial to let you try out its comprehensive database of 250,000 audiobooks and e-books.

Happy reading!

Thanks to this sponsored piece by Storytel, this writer could take a trip down memory lane.