I loved Harriet the Spy too. I was a big fan of girl sleuths -- I think Harriet was a very modern one, and "dour" is definitely a good word for her. And though she was spying and not solving mysteries per se, I think she kind of fits the mold.

I loved the Trixie Belden series and The Three Investigators (though they could have used a girl in the group), with a good dash of my mom's old Dana Girls Mysteries thrown in for good measure. I read Nancy Drew, too, but she didn't grab my imagination the way the rest of them did -- my DD said Nancy Drew was too perfect, and I think that was it in a nutshell. While Trixie and Jupiter and Harriet and even Louise and Jean would all get into scrapes, Nancy was always very serious-minded and focused beyond her years.

I was never sure what egg creams were, either. From Wikipedia: An egg cream is a beverage consisting of chocolate syrup, milk, and soda water, probably dating from the late 19th century, and is especially associated with Brooklyn, home of its alleged inventor, candy store owner Louis Auster. It contains neither eggs, cream, nor ice cream.

Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce is one of my all-time favorites, children's book or no children's book. I recommend it to anyone of any age. Beautifully written, whopping fine story, wonderful characters, and an atmospheric quality that you won't forget.

Rumer Godden's The Kitchen Madonna and Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are are also prominently displayed on my shelves.

sheriz, thanks for the information on egg creams! I never looked it up and the phrase still turns my stomach because I think of raw eggs cracked in a cup of cream. siobhan, I also love "The Kitchen Madonna." I'm glad to see it is finally back in print although nothing can match the old hard copy version (which I have) with that beautiful icon on the blue cover. I read most of Godden's canon avidly as a young adult.
A fascinating site is the "Stump the Bookseller" at Loganberry books (you can do a google search for it with these phrases). I've found the titles/authors of several half-remembered children's books by typing in only a key word or two. For example, another favorite series of mine was the "Amy and Laura" books. I couldn't remember the author, title, or anything about the plot but did remember they were about rival sisters, with the older sister a reader who introduced me to the "color" fairy tale series: ie. "The Red Fairy Tale Book," etc. I just typed in "sisters" and eventually found a query that named this series. It is a fun site to peruse!

Egg creams are divine-sort of like bubbly chocolate milk. Very much a generational thing, I think-I haven't seen one on a menu for years and years.

I love The Kitchen Madonna as well-I finally own my own copy, as the library deaccessioned its copy-I think I was the only one who took it out, once a year around Christmas-although it is not a Christmas book per se, I always feel the pull to reread it in December.

I was and am an Alcott fan, having read and reread all of her "young women" books. Also The Anne of Green Gables and Emily series by L.M. Montgomery.

A series that I moved heaven and earth to acquire for my children to read (pre-internet used book search features):

The Elizabeth Enright Melendy series:
The Saturdays
The Four-Story Mistake
Then There Were Five
Spiderweb for Two

Now they are back in print and I have given the set as gifts to reader-children that I know.

What about Roald Dahl? Love that movie "The Witches" based on his book (I never read it). It was full of adventure and physical high-jinks; but also warmly touching. At the cinema as I left, I saw an older man, sitting alone, and quietly crying.

Every year at Xmas, some PBS-TV station used to show "The Story of Starfish Pie", a British production. My mom and I -- both grownups -- really liked that show ... watched it for a couple Xmases. I don't know if they show anymore. I would like to know the author of that book.