When I was last in a session where people were volunteering favorite books from their childhood, I noticed that most of the offerings were YA, so I went to the other end and picked picture books. I particularly fondly remembered those by P.D. Eastman, a colleague and contemporary of Dr. Seuss, who wrote Are You My Mother? and Go, Dog, Go.

If asked when I was 18, though, I'd probably have named The Hobbit, as the most influential book on my life.