From learning to read at bout the age of 4, I read all I could get my hands on. My early favourites were the Pippi Longstockings series. She's a role model for independence and questioning authority. I suppose I've outgrown her.
Another set of books were the picture books on Barna Hedenhös (the children "times immemorial"). The kids were named Sten (Stone) and Flisa (splinter; cf. Lisa), and there were lots of puns and pranks but yet in most of the books a well researched historical core. Still lots of fun to read and explain to youngsters, and I sometimes re-read them on my own.
The OP mentioned 5th grade. I think that I by then had read Kipling's Kim for the first time. I still, more than 50 years later, read it on average once a year. I loved it from the start. The exotic setting, the people, the plot. Some people blame Kipling for imperialistic views, being condescending towards natives etc. I read it the other way round, sympathising with the Indians and snickering at the stupid Anglos.
It must have been this book that has lead me to spend (until now) close to two academic years on Indian languages, and two trips to India totalling four months. The wonderful thing about the book is that I still often understand new things, like how to interpret Kipling's transcription of Indian words, which is very British and extemely misleading to a young Swede (e.g. Kipling's Hurree -> the modern linguist's Hari, Huneefa -> Hanifa; I think my earlier understanding of her name would sound something like Huh-neh-fah to you) and cultural references.
