As a children’s author, I often compare what is popular now to popular books from my youth. Amazingly, many themes that drew me in as a girl are ones that still appear in children’s literature today.

The Little House series introduces young Laura Ingalls to readers as she travels by covered wagon from the Big Woods of Wisconsin to Kansas and further west. In On the Banks of Plum Creek, she meets Nellie Oleson, the spoiled daughter of the mercantile owners in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. From the moment they meet, Laura and Nellie are rivals, and Nellie does nasty things to embarrass and irritate her.

Compare Laura and Nellie to Nikki Maxwell and Mackenzie Hollister from The Dork Diaries series. Like Nellie, Mackenzie is wealthier than Nikki and flaunts it in her face. Mackenzie and Nikki both like the same boy, just like Nellie enjoyed the company of Almanzo Wilder and tried moving in on Laura and Almanzo’s sleigh rides in These Happy Golden Years (though to be fair, Laura didn’t have a crush on Almanzo like Nikki has on Brandon).

Another one of my childhood favorites, Anne of Green Gables, also features a rivalry–that between Anne Shirley and Josie Pye. Again, there is a sort of love triangle between Josie who likes the older Gilbert Blythe, while Gilbert is enamored with Anne.

I would say another theme running through all these books is that the nice girl usually wins. Though things are far from easy for Laura, she gets the better of Nellie Oleson more often than not. Mackenzie’s nasty plots are often foiled. Though Anne’s impulsive behavior gets her into many scrapes, she often earns the admiration of many people in Avonlea. And in each case, the “nice” girl gets her man.

What do you think: do you see similar themes in current books that appeared in books of your youth? Do you believe this is why the Little House series and the Anne of Green Gables series continue to gain new fans? What other themes do you recall in books from your childhood that you also see in popular books today?