Reply #1: C.S. Lewis' books, obviously.

[crim son]

Even for somebody who despises the implicit Christian content, the books are all pretty amazing. My favorite: "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Wow.

Otherwise, I vote for the Fairie Tales of Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson though in their original form they are not politically correct and probably offensive to many a modern youngster.

I was a reading freak as a youngster/young girl/young woman and nothing surpassed either Lewis or the faerie tales. I've read the kids' stuff - the Tree House series, Goosebumps and other crap, but it doesn't begin to compare. I also loved Nancy Drew and even Trixie Beldon... not to mention Nurse Cherry (god, I remember that) but none were nearly so good as "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and the rest of Clive Staples Lewis' books.