I forgot Hardy Boys. I finished all of those (that I had), then turned to my step-mom's collection of Nancy Drew.

My folks split up when I was about eight, mom in San Diego, dad in Santa Barbara. I'd take the bus between the two for visitations and would get a lot of reading done there too. Treasure Island and Dr. Doolittle were a couple of good "Greyhound" books.

Treasure Island is still one of my favorite books. I go back to read it every year or so.

"Little Black Sambo"
Really.
Not a racist thing to a little boy. It was about an Indian kid. And tigers.
In India.
Damned tigers took his new clothes.
He outsmated them, though.
He ate a lot of pancakes at the end.

"Stand By"
Really old book (1930ish?) about a kid who learned about electricity and rudimentary electronics.
His knowlege helped him save a town during a disaster.

National Geographic.
You know, the ones with the titties.

I remember a restaurant in Santa Barbara in the late 60's called Little Black Sambo's. It had a mural of sorts inside depicting the story of Sambo, complete with the tiger turning into butter.

We had a Sambo's restaurant in Dallas when I was a kid. It was like IHOP or Denny's.

Not "little black Sambo's" but Sambo's,
Started by two guys, one named Sam and the other was Bo.
Sambo's.
Tried to change the name (in the 80's?) due to PC pressure.
Ended up closing all of them down.
Pretty much a nation-wide chain, as I recall.

I won a set of Encyclopedia Britannica when I was nine. Most was a bit over my head but read all the automotive and military sections. I was a big reader but the local library in a town of 900 had a limited selection. Any time I move the library is one of the first things I check out.
Jim

I read all the Tom Swift books and loved them. This led to a serious sci fi addiction. Heinlien was my favorite.

I forgot the Hardy Boys too. At one point I tried to read the entire series. I might have done it, but I think they kept churning them out faster than I could identify and lay my hands on them. There always seemed like one or two volumes out there that I hadn't read yet. I think I read something like 55 of those things. By now there are far more plus the new, watered down imitation series. I even read some Nancy Drew stories when I couldn't get any Hardy Boys that I hadn't read yet. Shaun Cassidy. Parker Stevenson. Was there anyone cooler in the late 70s?

Tom Swift.

Go Dog Go!

yeah baby.

Chronicles of Narnia, Dahl, Tolkein, a surprisingly large amount of Mark Twain's stuff(I grew up on a river too)

I was pretty well read for a kid. I remember when I was six at Fairytale Town(little amusement park type deal near the Zoo) getting a free hot dog because my dad bet the guy I could answer a current events question. He was impressed that I knew who the president, VP, secretary of state(Kissinger at the time) and the Governor.

i read everything clive cussler had written though the early nineties, but i was out of college, read 'em mostly then.

One of my first memories of reading books was Go Dog Go. I also remember reading Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.

When I was a bit older I had a favorite book about a Volkswagon Beetle. I can't remember what it was (not Herbie related).

Later my favorite was The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

Anything by Isaac Asimov. I also liked Alistair MacLean. My favorite by him was "A Way To Dusty Death," as it involved Formula One racing.

Climb that ladder to.........a dog party!

I have read that book to my son more times than I can count.

I forgot to add, my dad's car magazines, and my grandpa's flying magazines. Been reading those ever since I could make out the pictures.

All the "Encyclopedia Brown", "Henry Huggins", "Henry Reed" by Keith Robertson, "Old Man and the Boy" by Robert Ruark.

I also liked the classics, Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, etc.

I was into sci-fi for a while too. One story that sticks with me to this day is about a man who isn't sure which life is real. He's a middle-class average American citizen and he dreams every night about his life as the chief of some bronze-age tribe. Problem is, when he's in the dream as the chief he remembers dreaming about being an average American citizen. It's not clear what's the dream and what's reality.

What sticks with me is that as chief, he knows there are enemies within a day or two of sacking his village, but doesn't know what he can do about it. When he goes to sleep and wakes up in nowadays, he picks up some books from the library and learns how to make gunpowder to make rudimentary bombs. Once awake again, he puts this knowledge to work and defeats the invaders.

Anybody know this story? I'd like to re-read it if I can find it.

Not all of the Sambos. IIRC, the last time we vacationed in Santa Barbara Sambos was still open on Cabrillo. The guy who started the restaurants retired in SB and his grandson was running the store. Took my kids there for the novelty of it, and BTW - there nothing racist about the place!

still thinking young..i read the entire hardy boys series. when i got through with them, i liked short mysteries so much, i polished off nancy drew. :D