Author Archives: admin

307K: Berries in front of the fire

5 Replies

I had a book as a child that was about 10-12 inches long and about the size of normal tablet paper. It was hard back and rather thin with no more than 50-75 pages but probably much less. The outside cover was a light bluish color leaning toward the teal side of the blue spectrum. It had whimsical pictures with each short story and was about animals such as a Rabbit, Hedgehog/Porcupine and possibly a raccoon. There are a few stories I remember a little of. Most of what I remember are the illustrations and I have been searching near and far for many years. I was born in 77, so it had to have been published before then, right around then and or no later than very early 80's. One story, one of the animals takes his fathers boot and makes a flower pot out of it for his mom. Another story there is a rustic fireplace and a porcupine/hedgehog and another animal are eating berries in front of the fire. Another, there is a sort of party outside and the table was made from a tree with stumps as seats. This is not any of the classics like Peter rabbit, wind in the willows etc. Its very obscure in my opinion. I cannot remember the author or title but I will know instantly if its "the" book if I could just find one of the illustrations but I have been unsuccessful for so many years. I hope very much that you are able to help me.

307J: Children’s anthology with a very big toe

2 Replies

Children’s anthology, the edition I had in the 80s had a red cover, stories were all illustrated and included one about a king who couldn’t find shoes to wear because his Big toe was very long, eventually found a man that made him silk stockings with the toes done in black thread and shoes that had toes that curled up at the end so his long toe would fit. Another story was about a fairy that was sad because she couldn’t go to the fairy party (maybe a midsummer’s eve party) because her clothes were tattered. Her mice friends borrowed silk from the silk worms that they wove into a dress and dyed it blue with berries, then they found cornflowers for her to wear in her hair because her eyes were blue. Another story was about a little girl who lived in Holland and whose father was a tulip farmer. They grew every color tulip. Somehow her father created a bigger tulip bulb for her that grew into a larger tulip that was rainbow colored. There may have also been a story about an emperor and a nightingale, but I didn’t read that one as much as the other stories in the book. Thank you for your help!!

307I: Boy and Agoraphobic Sister Orphaned in NYC (Solved)

2 Replies

I am looking for a fiction book I read as a child, probably in the 1970s, about a brother and sister living in New York City (possibly Soho?).  They are left alone and their parents do not come home, so the brother learns to scrounge food on the streets.  His sister is afraid to go outside.  The boy meets a children’s book illustrator in another building, who begins using him in her drawings.  She takes him to the beach (the Rockaways?) in her convertible, and I believe she eventually adopts the boy and girl.

307H: Children’s book with moveable character on a string (Solved)

3 Replies
Last summer, I bought my son a new children’s book which contained several characters which dangled from the book on strings – the concept was that you could move the characters in between pages so they could give “hugs” to the other characters. I bought it because it reminded me so much of a book I loved as a child. When I brought the new book home, my sister had the same reaction: “this is making me think of a book from when we were growing up!”
The best clues I can come up with:
– I was born in 1984 and my sister in 1980 (we also have a younger brother born in 1987).
– Our grandma loved to give us vintage books, so it may have been even older, though I suspect it was from the 1980s.
– There was one character on a string, sturdier than a single sheet of paper but not as thick as a board book. The string–about 6 inches long–was glued into the binding of the book. The concept was to move the character from page to page and bring him throughout the story of the book. He was probably about 2 or 3 inches tall.
– The book had interactive elements – for example, I remember vividly that you could somehow insert him on a slide, and he could “ride” down the slide as you pushed the little character along the page.
– I think the character was an animal (a bear? A weasel? Something brown?) but my memory is so faint on this that it may very well have been a human.

307F: Half-Dragon General

2 Replies

In the 80’s (at around 10-13yrs old) I read a YA fantasy trilogy about a warring general who was half human half (lizard/reptile/dragon?) who’s skin is covered in (tiny blue) scales. He was looked down on for this deformity but his difference was part of his driving force. The trilogy follows a young girl who was captured or sold into the war party/entourage and follows her journey as the general conquers lands etc. I can’t remember much more but she eventually becomes his mistress or concubine type of slave maybe?

Paperback trilogy, Young adult section, fantasy fiction. It seemed new at the time but it could have been written in the mid to late seventies or early eighties? It seemed to be set in a slightly game of thrones non-era era? All three books were of average novel length. I partially remember the covers being full colour, maybe a central picture in a darker arched border?

307E: Pestering Child

Leave a reply

Looking for a book that I got for my kids around 40 years ago. I keep thinking that the title was something like Book Number 3, but I can’t find anything like that. It was very colorful and was about a little kid that kept pestering his/her parent. Example…the dad was in the bathroom and she kept pounding on the door and the dad said, “I’m in the kitchen…go look for me” and the kid would. The kid tells the dad that he’s in the bathroom pooping and peeing, which never failed to crack my kids up, and me, too. Anybody?


 

307D: A Poor Mountain Family

Leave a reply

I’m looking for a book that was probably published in the 1940s. It had the bluish grey print that I understand was used during WWII. Seems to me it was about a poor mountain family (maybe Appalachia) with, I believe, 12 or 13 kids and all of them had a pet except for the youngest. It was about that child’s wish for his or her own pet. Anybody remember that?


 

307C: Important Tree Stumps

Leave a reply

My daughter’s class was reading a book a few years ago — she was in 5th grade, at a school I lovingly referred to as ‘the school for super smart, socially challenged children,’ and they listened to a few chapters of this book that she would like to finish, but we have no clue regarding the title or author. She says the story involved two boys at the outset, a book that they refer to as ‘the book with a big B,” a talking bird, and she vaguely recalls tree stumps as being important. Any clue?

Thanks!!

307B: Two boys, surviving in the woods and foiling criminals

1 Reply

Hello, I have been trying to find a book for many years that my fifth grade teacher used to read to us. I’m guessing it was circa 1959. The basic plot is this: in a small town, two boys (perhaps boy scouts) went to the wealthiest man in tow (perhaps an old curmudgeon) to ask for a small portion of forest land to have for a scout camp. Apparently this man owned most of the land around. He declined, but challenged the boys to prove their worth by going out into the forest without clothes or any tools etc., and live off the land for a period of time (can’t recall). The story was about their adventures, which centered on their discovering a group of criminals (either bootleggers or thieves, not certain). They foil these criminals, survive and win over the old man, who then donates the land. Basically, that’s the best of my memories.

I’ve tried to locate this book through other web sites but have never been successful. I’d be thrilled if you could identify this book.