Author Archives: admin
325Q: Forest Is A Friend
We are looking for a book I would read to my son. He was born in 1998. We think that maybe a child or animal got lost and the trees help them figure out where to go. The overall theme was a respect for how old the trees are and their value. The forest seemed to be alive and responding to the character. It was definitely night time. Definitely a children’s book that can be read in 5-8 minutes. And published prior to 2003. Thank you!!
325P: Cereus Cactus Blooms During Anschluss
I’m looking for a middle school book, what would be YA these days, but they didn’t have YA in the 60’s, when I most likely read this book. The protagonist is a girl, part of whose attention is focused on a night-blooming cereus cactus party that her family will hold on the night that the plant blooms. Surrounding this domestic detail are the events leading up to the Anschluss and the threat that the Anschluss presents.
325O: Picture book about boy growing up and his changing backyard
This book captivated my imagination with colorful illustrations (I believe they were mixed media/collage/claymation – something unusual). We see the boy growing up and the changes in his backyard/neighborhood. I believe it focuses on the growth of the plants and changing that reflects him growing up, but also urban development, possibly construction or a dump. There were themes of environmentalism perhaps regarding pollution. I read this book in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. I believe the boy was white with brown or blonde hair. I think most of it focused on him in the window and the view outside.
Thanks so much!
325N: Children’s book of holiday stories from 60’s/70’s?
I was born in the late 70’s and my mom would read to me a used children’s book of holiday stories with anthropomorphic characters. I remember an owl (or maybe a family of owls); a mouse that ate paste in the Valentine’s story; a Halloween story and a Christmas story. I seem to remember the cover was orange and the illustrations were in black & white with a dash of orange. The illustrations were definitely done in the unique style of the late ’60s/early ’70s. Any ideas? Thanks!
325M: Illustrated Stories Collection, Perhaps Golden Book?
I am hoping you can help me track down the following book:
- I am not sure of the title.
- I believe it was a collection of Golden Book stories, but I am not too sure. My grandmother read it to me frequently in the 1980’s. I believe it was a yellow, hard cover children’s book with a collection of illustrated short stories. Here are the stories I remember:
2a. A lion at a zoo has a cold. The kids would pick on him because he had lost his roar while sick.
2b. A young boy wants to play with the older kids, so he puts on many many layers of clothing and fools them. The story talks about how hot he is in the summer heat with all the clothes. As he runs around, the layers start to fall off, revealing his true self.
2c. Three sisters live in an apartment. One is fat, one is skinny. I think I remember the story takes place in summer and the fat sister was too hot and wanted the window open while the skinny sister was too cold and wanted it shut.
2d. I think there was a story about firetrucks or possibly a tug boat.
I wish I could remember more. I have been searching for this book for about 20 years …
325L: Ringmaster is a balloon who inflates himself! (Solved!)
This children’s picture book was always hanging around our vacation home, and in the mid-fifties it looked old, so I guess it was from the late thirties or forties. Definitely not after mid-fifties. It was a book about a balloon ringmaster who blew on his toe and inflated himself and then I believe he inflated the rest of the circus. It had some color in the pictures, I think, not many pages, hardbound. The ringmaster was round body, round head as you can imagine. Any ideas?
325K: Giant Baby Studied By Scientist In Warehouse
All I had was a memory of reading about a giant infant brought to a warehouse, where a man studied him. L158 “Large Child Playing With Real Cars” indicated the story was from a 1950’s or 1960’s elementary school reader, which seems right–the book was from the library back when I was 8 or 9 in the early 60’s. It mentions the warehouse, which I remember, the man, which I do recall must have been a scientist, but other than this I’m completely drawing a blank.
Thanks for any help you can give,
325J: Flipping Over Tails
325I: A witch, a crow, crochet, and the Pennsylvania Dutch
Looking for a children’s book that I think involved a witch. Somebody does a lot of crocheting, the Pennsylvania Dutch are mentioned several times (I presume the story takes place in Pennsylvania), there’s a mystery, and I remember an illustration of a large crow flying. That’s it, I’m afraid.