I’m trying to hunt down a series of nonfiction young reader picture books from the 80s. My family had 12-15 of them when I was growing up, and I recall them all having the same pattern on their spines – muted stripes of yellow, green, red, and blue. I’m under the impression that each book in the series had a different author/illustrator. Unfortunately I can’t remember any specific names or titles, but there are certain books from the series that I’ve tried to pinpoint:
Book 1: An instructional book on how to make costumes for various magical creatures and characters. There are instructions on how to make fairy and pirate costumes, among others I can’t recall. Vignette illustrations of fairy cakes and mushrooms are placed throughout. In the last spread, all of the magical characters have a feast.
Book 2: Title something along the lines of “On the Go” or “On the Move”? A more cartoonishly illustrated book on the progression of vehicle technology. Double page spread of horses and wagons mired in mud, illustrating life before the invention of roads. Some very 80s illustrations of sports cars. An image of a very nervous man in a tiny sedan being sandwiched between two Mac trucks.
Book 3: An instructional book on caring for pets, including detailed illustrations on how to build aquaria for turtles.
That’s pretty much it! I hope something rings a bell for someone. Good luck, everyone!
My sister and I had those, but we and our parents can’t remember the name or authors, either. I recall there was a cookbook and one about careers where they used the word “sheepherder” instead of “shepherd”. Maybe one about going to school, and a kid gets hurt on the playground? I was born in ’83 and my younger sister (’86) remembers them, too. I’m going to leave my comment as a placeholder so I can update if I ever find it.
Childcraft?