My wife, born in 1963, remembers it from nursery school but we can’t find the book of any other references.
I’d buy the book on the spot if I knew it contained this phrase. It is sort of a grail quest at this point.
Category Archives: Picture Book
379E: Searching
I am looking for this book.
Frau the hare a children’s book from the 40′ in the story Frau is running from a fox. She is desperate to get back to her burrow and her babies.
Would love to access a copy . Thank you.
378X: Looking for lost book
378U: Boy finds buried treasure after encountering barracudas, porpoises & dolphins
This was a beautiful book I read a lot as a kid, so it definitely existed in 1984. The pictures were very colorful, perhaps made with colored pens or pencils & watercolors.
The story is about a boy with blonde hair who lives near a beach and he goes out snorkeling or swimming. It looks like Florida or the Caribbean. There are many gorgeous pictures of underwater scenes. He finds a pink conch shell containing a pearl that is part of the treasure search I think…..
At one point he encounters a school of barracuda fish and it’s full of tension. I believe he is threatened by a porpoise at one point, and a dolphin comes to his defense… or maybe the porpoise saved him from the barracuda? The fish don’t talk or anything, the only thing “fantasy” in nature is that the dolphin came to save him.
It’s hard to remember! But the final scene is he finds the treasure in what looks like a little tide pool in the sand and the gold & jewels are sparkling in the sun. Please help me find this so I can share it with my child! Thank you.
At one point in the story, They see a shipwreck and find a pearl (perhaps from the conch shell). Something scares them, maybe the shark – and they drop the pearl. But a little seahorse catches it in the curl of its tail.
378R: Surreal Nautical Quest for Strange Creature (Solved!)
I’m looking for the title of a picture book that I read as a child in the mid-1990s. I believe the book was written in the 1980s or 90s, though it could also be from the 70s. I don’t remember any part of the title. It was a large-format hardcover edition.
It features illustrations with a watercolor style and a brightly colored, somewhat flat, surreal aesthetic with greatly exaggerated proportions. Its protagonist is an explorer who is dressed in a blue 19th-century naval outfit and sailing a large (and very tall) ship by himself.
He is searching for a rare creature that has some giraffe-like features and eats bananas, and on every page you can see that this creature is following him just out of sight. During his exploration, the protagonist meets several huge, frightening monsters, one of which I seem to recall was named the “purple lumpy thumpet”.
When the explorer finally finds his creature, it is revealed that it has many babies, and also that the monsters he encountered earlier were all friendly. All characters then have a picnic together on an island.
As a young child I read this book over and over again, captivated by its unique blend of unsettling, dreamlike visuals and mischievous, lighthearted storytelling. I have now been searching for its title for nearly a decade with no luck, and just found out about this service.
378Q: My Last Hope
I’m looking for a children’s picture book, likely published circa 1950 but certainly before 1960. I have very little for you to go on but I know it was a reddish-orange hardcover, wider than tall, and illustrated in black, white, gray, and red. The illustrations included a boy with a pot on his head (it was not Johnny Appleseed), and stuffed inside a ball of string or spaghetti (not Eddie Spaghetti). It could have had to do with him trying to find a costume for a party or something of that nature. It’s long out of print and certainly not a Caldecott or other award winner, but likely a 32-pager, at best. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!!
378E: A Dragon who Loved Ice Cream
I’ve been looking for a childhood book that I loved from the 1960s or early 1970s, I think. I was about a prince who didn’t want to kill a dragon. The name of the prince may have been “Guy”. I think the dragon loved ice cream. The illustrations were only 2-color, maybe green and brown. Do you know what it was?
378D: Mid-century Modern Insect Homes (Solved!)
Alan Strickland, a_strickland@carolina.rr.com[/private role]
I’m trying to identify a book that my two children (one born in 1981, the other in 1983) remember from their childhoods. I’d like to make it part of my grandson’s library.
Below is my daughter’s description of the book. Thanks for the help!!…
70’s/80’s vibe. That memory might be because the main image I remember was a neat mid century modern home “split” so you could see the inside. That was the whole concept of the book. A look into the homes. The owner of this particular home was maybe a grasshopper? Or a caterpillar? The home was outfitted with modern furnishings, as if it were human. I think each image was the same in the fact that all of the interiors with their creatures featured modern living quarters versus realistic “homes.” This home was located on a cliff, lots of clean lines and overhangs. A cool place.
All of the images of the book were drawn with great attention to detail. A book someone of any age would enjoy to look at verses just a young kid.
We’re they all insects? Maybe. It wasn’t a story. It was more like each page was its own display. I’m sure there were some words or descriptions, but I don’t remember.
378C: The Friendly Monsters (Found!)
I’m looking for the title of a picture book that I read as a child in the mid-1990s. I believe the book was written in the 1980s or 90s, though it could also be from the 70s. I don’t remember any part of the title. It was a large-format hardcover edition.
It features illustrations with a watercolor style and a brightly colored, somewhat flat, surreal aesthetic with greatly exaggerated proportions. Its protagonist is an explorer who is dressed in a blue 19th-century naval outfit and sailing a large (and very tall) ship by himself.
He is searching for a rare creature that has some giraffe-like features and eats bananas, and on every page you can see that this creature is following him just out of sight. During his exploration, the protagonist meets several huge, frightening monsters, one of which I seem to recall was named the “purple lumpy thumpet”.
When the explorer finally finds his creature, it is revealed that it has many babies, and also that the monsters he encountered earlier were all friendly. All characters then have a picnic together on an island.
As a young child I read this book over and over again, captivated by its unique blend of unsettling, dreamlike visuals and mischievous, lighthearted storytelling. I have now been searching for its title for nearly a decade with no luck, and just found out about this service.
377Z: Watermelons fall out of truck, eaten by bees
Looking for a children’s board book published prior to 2000, with bright, whimsical illustrations. There was a pie cooling on a windowsill, attracting crows, and a truck going into town carrying watermelons, which fell out the back and were eaten by bees.


