As a child I read a fair amount. I think many of the books I read at that time were very important in forming my imaginative world. When I was very young I remember The Berenstain Bears, Doctor Seuss, Maurice Sendak, Runaway Bunny, The Velveteen Rabbit, and especially the books of Bill Peet being huge influences. When I was a little older my father read to me from The Hobbit and that really set me off on a whole adventure into the world of fantasy: I ventured through all the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and the five-novel Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. Of course The Lord of the Rings, and the Carroll Alice books. A little later I got into more realistic fiction but in the early days I was all about fantasy.
James Franco on his early reading. Also see his favorite books illustrated, part of the fantastic Ideal Bookshelf project:
