Author Archives: admin

338X: Secret Playhouse In The Woods

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Looking for an illustrated children’s book (perhaps 12″x”12 and ~48 pages) about a group of kids who discover and clean out an old abandoned cabin in the woods and fix it up, paint it in vibrant colors and decorate it. I read it at my public library in Vancouver, Canada in c1974 and remember it being full color on all pages so am guessing it was published in the early ’70s. I can’t recall the title or the author. That book was so magical because the kids had a secret playhouse in the woods that no one knew about. There was no adversity/bad in the book that I recall (other than overcoming the shed’s dilapidated condition) and I believe it ended with the kids hosting a party there?????


Thank you in advance for your efforts to figure out what the book was.

338V: Bedtime for African-American Babies

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I am looking for a baby book for African-American kids, starts with Sweet brown eyed baby sleepy one you're tired from a day of fun, come here baby rest your head it's time for you to go to bed. Read to babies in 1995. Not sure of author or book title, Maybe Bedtime for Baby. Thank you

338N: Book of Marys (Solved!)

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I am looking for a young adult book, dating back to the mid 1930s, with 12 chapters. Each chapter is devoted to a famous woman named Mary–Mary Queen of Scots, Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary), Mary Lyon and 9 others. The cloth bound volume was blue.

338M: YA fiction Ruby Cross of Acapulco (Solved!)

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I’ve been searching for this book for years. I read it in the 6th grade, twenty-one years ago. My old teacher didn’t remember it, and I don’t recall the title or author. It seems that it was an older book, possibly from the 50s or 60s. There were a couple black and white sketches in it.
I remember most of the plot. A girl named Samantha lived in Boston with her mother (father deceased), who then died, leaving her an orphan. Her mother’s dying words were something to the effect of keeping the family heirloom safe. A ruby cross stolen from Acapulco.
Samantha is sent to live with her relatives in Hawaii (during the life of Princess Liliuokalani – I think she even had tea with her, or met her in the story). She has a cousin her own age and she experiences lots of new things there, but trouble turns up as men seeking the ruby cross, which she hid in a cave. She ends up kidnapped and having to show them where it is, but is rescued my a family friend, Andrew. All ends well. She ends up marrying Andrew, and they return the cross to Acapulco at the end of the book.

 

338L: Boy in India Who Gathers Orchids to Buy Books

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Please help me find a book I read 30+ years ago. The plot is about a young, very poor boy in India (I believe) who gathers rare Orchids to sell to a rich white (I believe) woman. With the money he earns, he is able to buy books. The books are rare and precious treasures to him. Every time he finds a rare orchid she buys it and he hides his money under his sleeping mat until he has enough to buy a book. I will try to remember more if possible. Thank you, this is a book that has stayed in my memory and I wish to find and read it again.

337V: Society that enjoys watercress sandwiches (Solved!)

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I read this book in six grade in the mid-80s.  I think it was a fantasy type story.  This society had once been in contact with humans (or maybe just one human).  He may have come over the mountains on a hot air balloon.


They got a few things confused about humans.  For example, they had a painting of a tree and a diagram of a family tree (genealogy chart).  They called the genealogy chart a picture and the painting of the tree a family tree.  So everyone in this society had a very carefully tended “family tree” in their yard.  Unfortunately, I remember nothing about the actual plot.