Category Archives: MG (grades 2-6)

334V: Mystery series probably published 1940-1970

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I do not know the name of any of the books in the series, but I can describe at least one of the covers. Our library had 4 books but there may have been more. All of the books had a deep purple cover. One had a mansion or haunted house on top of a hill or cliff. For some reason murder mansion, Whispering Hill, sticks in my head. I believe there were 2 or 3 kids and one had an odd name. Definitely not the more prolific series, Three Investigators, Hardy Boys, etc. The books were hardcover and not very thick, 70-80 pages and meant for grades 3-6. I hope you can find the series I am looking for.

334I: Magical Animal Speak Decoder Ring

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I’m trying to remember a book I read around 1962 - 1965. It was about a boy and girl who somehow get a magic ring and when they put it on, they can understand what the animals around them are saying. I just loved it and took it out of the school library again and again until my teacher asked me “wouldn’t you like to read something different?” I’ve been doing engine searches for a long time now and I can’t seem to find it. I think it was called either The Magic Ring or The Golden Ring and it wasn’t a Raggedy Ann/Andy book. It was cloth-bound and green … I think.  I’m sure that last point is most valuable to you. If you could help me that would be wonderful.

333V: Limited series of choose your own ending books

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I am looking for (what I recall as a grade school kid in the early 90’s) a book series where you could choose your own ending. Similar to the popular “Choose Your Own Adventure” and “Which Way” series of books. I recall there being approximately 5-7 books with purple hardback covers. For some reason, I feel like I remember my school librarian telling me, after I read all the books and wanted more, that the authors didn’t make any more of the books and that there was only 1 volume.
I know this is a long shot! But I thought I’d try! Thanks so much!

333T: Boy Uses Light to De-Age Dog and Sister

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This is a middle grade book probably published before 2008. It's about a boy who likes science and has an old dog and a teenage sister. The family goes to visit their grandfather, who's dying, and while there the boy discovers a light or something in the attic/grandpa's office. The boy then uses the light to de-age his dog back into a puppy and his angsty sister back into a pre-teen. He then tries to convince the grandfather to de-age himself to be healthy again, but the grandfather tells him not to. I remember the scene where the sister got de-aged because she was really different and kind of confused, since she had drifted away from the friends she had at that age and was suddenly signing up for high school classes. She called up some old friends and kind of made up with them, I think. I also think the boy had a microscope and a fort in his bedroom that he hid the light in while trying to figure out how it worked. I can't remember the title of this book, who wrote it, or what it looks like. Please help!

333J: Victorian Mansion Cross Sections

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I’m looking for a children’s book I had back around 15-20 years ago. It was a large picture book of a Victorian mansion (or castle?). Each page was another cross-section of a wing of the mansion, and a brief description and clue of something specific to search for on that page before turning to the next. I remember one page involving a dance/ball, and another involving a pillow fight, and one involving a garden/outdoors. Each cross-section depicted multiple floors, and the top ones typically belonged to the wealthy family while the lower ones depicted the staff/maids/bulter’s quarters, etc. I believe the protagonist is a young female child, and I vaguely remember there being a pelican involved — not sure if that was a character or part of the title; perhaps a mascot who guides the girl through the book. The pictures were very artistic and detailed, somewhat sophisticated and very amusing, so likely a book for children over 8 years old.

332Y: The Figure In The Shadows (Solved!)

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So here’s what I have:  I have very few details about this book. Read in late 1970’s-1980 (no later than 1980, but believe to be earlier).  Book (paperback) was a gift so I think it could be earlier than 1970s.  Geared toward 10-12 year olds.  Category: suspense, supernatural or mystery.

In the beginning of the book a boy (think it’s a boy, could be girl) is walking down the street when a newspaper or flyer wraps around his leg.  He looks at it and reads the word veni in Latin (I come or I am coming) and smells wet ashes.  Later in the book the figure/ghost is beckoning him to jump in a well (?) or off a cliff – he’s saved by someone, but that’s all I remember.  Hope you can help.

Edit: The author of this post found the title of the book before I got around to posting their Stumper: The Figure in the Shadows!

332A: Children Turn Into Insects

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I am looking for a book that was read to my second or third grade class by a substitute teacher, and I believe this was around 1963 or 1964. Our regular teacher was ill and replaced by a young substitute, who craftily kept our attention by beginning each class reading one chapter of a book. She hooked us on her very first day, and we came to school each day craving another chapter like crack addicts needing a fix.
The story was essentially Franz Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ for children. Here’s what I remember of the story, and time may have dimmed the details a bit:
1. Three children are spending the summer in the country.
2. They are largely unattached and indifferent to the surroundings and ambivalent about their summer vacation.
3. Somehow, all three are transformed into insects: the older sister becomes a caterpillar, the youngest, from whose eyes we see the story, becomes an ant, and an older brother, I think becomes something else.
4. They encounter daring and frightening adventures, and at the end of the book, they are faced with the possibility of returning back into humans, but the sister, who by this time, has transformed into a butterfly, opts to remain an insect.
This is all I can remember, but what struct me the most about the story was an overarching feeling of melancholy versus a typical children’s book happy ending.