While our lives are normally much too busy to allow us the time to get lost in a good novel, we’d love to revisit that childhood feeling of being swept away into a faraway land of romance and adventure.
We all had our favourite author when we were growing up, and below we have chosen ones we think many of you 80s kids will remember. So make yourself a nice cup of tea, put your feet up, and reacquaint yourself with 12 authors who will most definitely transport you back to your childhood.
12. Sue Townsend
An author who has also written plays and used to work as a journalist, Sue Townsend is best known for penning the Adrian Mole series of books.
Encompassing eight books that began with The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ in 1982, Adrian Mole was an extremely popular character with so many of us children of the 1980s.
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11. Richard Scarry
Even if you don’t recognise the name Richard Scarry, we bet you’ll take one look at his Busytown characters and instantly be transported back to the 1980s.
Scarry’s Busytown books were popular with children all over the world, selling an impressive 100 million copies.
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10. Enid Blyton
If you didn’t read at least one Enid Blyton book when you were a child, then what on earth were you doing with your time?
Whether you preferred The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, Malory Towers or The Naughtiest Girl in the School, Blyton wrote an impressive number of books that have been enjoyed by children for generations.
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9. Judy Blume
Judy Blume wrote a large number of books, many of which you may have come across as a young adult, including the brilliant Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Blume’s books have sold over 82 million copies and have been translated into 32 different languages.
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8. Roger Hargreaves
You might not know the name but you’ll definitely recognise the books, because Roger Hargreaves was responsible for writing and illustrating the Mr. Men and Little Miss series of books.
Whether your favourite was Mr. Strong, Mr. Bump, Mr. Tickle or Little Miss Naughty it didn’t matter, because every single one of Hargreaves’ books was an absolute treat.
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7. Roald Dahl
Possibly the author who impacted us the most as a child, Roald Dahl’s darkly comic books have sold a quite staggering 250 million copies worldwide.
From the BFG to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, from The Twits to James and the Giant Peach, Dahl has been called ‘one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century.’
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6. Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Janet and Allan Ahlberg were a married couple who wrote together for two decades until Janet sadly died of cancer in 1994.
The Ahlbergs’ most popular books include Peepo!, Please Mrs Butler, Funny Bones and Woof.
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5. Eric Carle
Eric Carle is most famous for writing The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated into over 66 different languages.
Carle went on to illustrate over 70 books, including Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
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4. A.A. Milne
An English author who penned the legendary Winnie-the-Pooh series of books, A.A. Milne also wrote poetry, as well as over 50 screen and stage plays.
Milne, who died in 1956 aged 74, joined the British Army in World War I and was a captain of the British Home Guard in World War II.
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3. Lewis Carroll
If we were to ask you which books Charles Lutwidge Dodgson wrote then you may be stuck, but if we went on to tell you that their pen name was Lewis Carroll, then you would surely know the answer right away!
Dodgson, who was also a photographer and mathematician, was of course best known for writing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Alice Through the Looking-Glass.
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2. C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis of course wrote the Chronicles of Narnia series of books, the first of which, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, was recently voted the second greatest children’s book of all time.
It may have lost out to EB White’s Charlotte’s Web in the eyes of one particular BBC poll, but if it had been up to us then it would most definitely be at number one.
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1. Shirley Hughes
The author of such classic children’s books as Alfie Gets In First, which was the first in a series of 10 books about little Alfie, Shirley Hughes was one of our very favourite authors.
Hughes also wrote Dogger, another personal favourite of ours, which saw a young boy lose his toy dog and have to buy it back at a school fair.
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