The German Woodcutter – all I recall is that he went into the forest to cut wood. I have a vague memory of black silhouettes at the beginning of the book or each chapter. Probably from the 1950’s to 1963.
373H: German Woodcutter
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Tag Archives: forest
371G: Alien takes a nature walk
An illustrated paperback children’s book that I read circa 1990 in California, a small alien-looking character walks in a lush green forest and maybe sees a quiet deer, a waterfall, and rainbow? The illustrations may be watercolor, jewel tones, and the main/ only character was dressed like a vintage teletubby. The title may have been “Nature Walk.”
370U: Little girl, fried egg sandwich and a dog, maybe lost in the woods
I have this vague memory of a book from my childhood, might be made up or even a dream or……
All I have to go is a little girl with a fried egg sandwich with her dog going on a picnic and maybe getting lost in the woods and them sharing the sandwich???
Good luck and thanks
369G: Father on Quest to Find Daughter’s Missing Doll
I am hoping you can help me find a picture book. I may have had a copy as a child (or borrowed it from the library), so it was available in the 1960s/70s.
The story was about a lost doll. A little girl loses her doll and her father goes out into the night in a storm/snowstorm to find it. The story is emotional and there is a sense of danger to his quest. The setting seemed to be an older time, turn of the century maybe. Russia or Eastern Europe?
The illustrations were beautiful, dark, and very impressionistic. When I see art by Edvard Munch, it reminds me of the book and I wish I remembered the title or author. My mother was a bookseller, so it bothers me even more that I can’t find it.
Here’s hoping someone remembers.
368L: Childrens illustrated book 80s or 90s small perspectives
Children’s book published I believe in the late 80s early to mid 90s. It was a large paperback picture book. The illustrations were incredibly complex and rich and painterly. It was based in the woods and the surrounding areas. And was I think, through the perspective of a little creature like a mouse. Everything was small but five perspective looked big if that makes sense. So like a little beetle would be the size of a dog kind of thing. There was a scene in a clearing in the woods. There was a little house on a tiny pond with a boat that went to it. And there was a scene in a meadow at night. Each scene would cover the entire two pages that you saw. And for every scene there would be a key off to the side with a list of all of the items that you were supposed to help the main character find. They would have magical properties but they were all things that existed in real nature like deadly nightshade, cobwebs ( not all like scary stuff but those are the two things I can’t remember).
illustrations were super intricate and all of the little items were hidden but not like hidden blueberry was a dogs eye or something, hidden in this really great way that seemed very real and also very hard to find the item so it was actually challenging to search which made it so fun. It was absolutely beautiful and so immersive for a little person’s imagination.
368E: The Witch’s Apprentice (Solved!)
I’m trying to recover an illustrated children’s book from before 2005 or so. It was hardback, with a green cover, I believe. The illustration style was quite unique and lovely, almost Celtic? Lots of green. The main crux of the book was an alchemist/witch and her apprentice who she sends into the woods to gather needed ingredients for a potion or spell. It took place primarily in the forest, and one of the ingredients I remember was a specific type of mushroom. Other tasks involved something in a marsh/swamp, and maybe something about flying creatures? But what I remember most was the alchemist/witch. She had long dark hair.
366N: Riding the Ponies Across the Moors (Solved!)
I was born 1968. Sometime around 1978 I read a story about some kids who set out on adventures on their “ponies” and they would stop and camp in the woods and eat “tinned“ food. I believe it had a very UK British feel. They would talk about riding on the “moors” and through forests.
It is possible they were trying to solve a mystery, or just narrating their experiences along the way as they traveled to an ultimate destination- like maybe a beach or shore as on a summer adventure.
I will stop here because I do not want to confuse this with another story in my head.
I think this book might have been a hard cover, about an inch thick, with black paper on the cover inside the dust jacket, and MIGHT have had gold lettering embossed “ONYX” on the cover. MIGHT CONTAIN “nebula” That description might also pertain to a different book but, that is why I am here. They seemed to make a big deal about calling the horses ponies and they all seemed very independent to be traveling without adults. Approx character age 10-15?
I read the story when I was about 10 years old, around 1978, so there’s no telling how much older the story actually is?
I’d really like to get another copy of the story of those children traveling with and riding their ponies, camping or resting while eating food from tins and parcels, and traveling across the moors and forests to get to…?
366C: Bear Gets Tail Caught, Loses Coat
A picture book, mid century American, 40s-60s possibly.
A man lives out in the woods, it’s winter. I believe there is something about pancakes. He has to go outside to do something, he takes out his winter coat which has been eaten by moths. At one point he runs into a bear, but his gun powder has gotten wet so it doesn’t work. He ends up tying the bears tail in a knot, which gets caught between trees and the bear is running so fast he jumps out of his skin. The man wears it as a coat and goes home to eat said pancakes.
365U: The Big Ball of String (Solved!)
Looking for a children’s book from late 60’s? About a girl with a big ball of string that helps find a boy lost in the woods. I thought it was entitled Maryellen and the Big Ball of String but can’t find a trace of it so I could be mistaken.
364U: Children’s chapter book about a witch
Details I remember – story is about a boy who goes into the woods and notices an abandoned cottage is now occupied. He meets a mischievous girl and they form a friendship, then finds out she’s a witch. At some point I believe she makes the mayor of his town dance around, and they go to a fair where she changes into a cat to accompany him undetected. At the ends she starts to lose her powers because she starts to care for him (so her nose grows warm, it had always been icy cold), so she leaves. The very end is the boy all grown up, now the mayor of his town, and he often looks to the forest hoping to see puffs of smoke from the little cottage.
The book had a lots of line drawings similar to Roald Dahl’s but smaller.