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300N: The mother who made Dough Soup

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I checked this book out from the library in 1st grade (2006-2007), and it involved the story of a poor mother with many children who couldn’t afford to feed her family. She got a job as a maid at a rich woman’s house, and rather than wash her hands after making dough, she would simply take the dough that was on her hands home and make doughs soup. Eventually she meets these people in a forest or something who give her a pot of gold, and give the mean lady she worked for a pot of snakes.

That’s all I can remember, but I would really appreciate the help.

300M: Footprints mar the beauty

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I remember a picture book story from when I was little – I was born 1975 – and was about 10 or so, not sure if the book was old or new at that time – I’d estimate being read the story somewhere around 1985

The story is about a young boy, maybe a prince, who wakes up after a fresh snowfall and looks outside to see a field of sparkle-y, glittery snow. He walks out to see the beauty of it all and realizes his footprints mess up the beauty. So he hires more men to carry him on a chair or table. I don’t remember the ending exactly but eventually all the men make the problem worse and so he ends up just walking himself – or something along those lines. Any clue as to the book title?

Thank you for your time!!

300L: Crystal Dawn (Solved)

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In the late 1970s or early 80s I bought what seemed to be a straight-to-paperback science fiction novel in a Safeway grocery store in Honolulu Hawaii. The events of the novel take place in a futuristic society, technologically advanced to the point where people can be reanimated from death but it is very expensive. The novel was about the seedy underbelly of the society, particularly the industry of prostitution wherein the john could murder the prostitute as long as he paid for her reanimation. The bad guy was one of these johns who was terribly sadistic and his evil nature was graphically shown.

It was ultimately a noirish exploitative nasty piece of torture porn complicated by the technologies of reanimation.

But it was also a mainstream Mass Market paperback about three quarters of an inch thick sold in a major grocery chain.

It may be a false memory but I feel like it was called Crystal Dawn or something like that and showed a recumbent nearly nude female with a giant circular crystal blooming behind her. I see the book is predominantly blue.

At the time I got the feeling the Crystal Dawn name and the picture were both somehow exploiting the popularity of the movie of Logan’s Run, which involved crystals in people’s hands.

It was a very good novel and I felt it was written pseudonominally by an accomplished perhaps even famous science-fiction writer who did not want to be associated with the highly transgressive plot and scenes. I have always wondered who the audience possibly could have been for this book and it was probably aimed at the Gor crowd but it was far too transgressive.

I am unsure of the exact time that I purchased the novel but I can say that The Empire Strikes Back was still in the theaters and it was summer.

I am a big collector of books that I read when I was young and this is the one book I can find no evidence that it even existed. Hopefully it was not a dream because if it was I am in need of therapy.

Good luck and thank you.

300K: Secret Garden with a fountain – but with animal friends, not humans

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I read this book about 30-35 years ago when I was 9-12, it was illustrated with cartoony yet cool pictures in color. I have no memory of the cover, I think it may have been paperback. It is the story of some animal friends, one of whom discovers a walled/gated garden that is completely overgrown. It has a fountain that doesn’t work, and while it once was beautiful, is basically unrecognizable because it was abandoned. I can’t remember what animal the main character was, but I think it was a kangaroo or a giraffe and for some reason I think the name was Geoffrey or Jeffrey. Not sure though.

He works in secret to completely restore the garden and fountain, while keeping the exterior appearing unchanged. His friend misses him and worries that they are growing distant since the main character is spending so much time working in the garden.

At the end, there is a birthday party and the protagonist rigs the hedges of the garden in sections and hands a string to their friend having the birthday to pull,  which they do, revealing the transformed garden and splashing fountain to the astonishment and delight of all. I think there is then a celebration with a very special cake, perhaps orange chiffon, perhaps I am making that up.

I read this book over and over and now want to read it to my kids but can’t remember title or author and none of my searches are working. Hope you can help!

300J: Asian Children’s stories

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The book I am looking for is a Chinese children’s book from the 1970s or early 1980s that had been translated into English, with illustrations in the style of PRC propaganda posters. My parents purchased it at a University book fair. 

The book was divided into several short stories. 

The first story was set in a kindergarten, and featured illustrations of the children working in the garden and growing tomatoes in the school garden. There were a few illustrations in which the children were wearing face masks, and were helping their teacher to spray fertilizer on the tomatoes.

A second story featured a little girl getting ready for school. On the radio, she hears that it will be very cold and rainy in the afternoon. She asks her mother to pack three sweaters, not just one. “Why three sweaters?” her mother asks. The girl replies that she knows that two of her friends have parents who are assigned to work far away from the village, and so will have left home early, before they have a chance to hear the weather report. The sweaters are so her friends won’t be cold.

A third story features children playing in a school room. There is one boy who is trying to horde some of the toy blocks, but he has so very few that he can build nothing with them. The other children convince him to pool all the blocks together, and they are then able to build a very big and impressive castle. 

A final story is set in Inner Mongolia, and tells the tale of a girl and a boy who train horses. They have picked their young horses and are training them to ride in the yearly race, a very important event which will be attended by party officials. During training, the boy is bucked off his horse and falls, breaking his leg. His friend helps nurse him to health, but he is still angry because he has lost his chance to enter the race. When he is allowed to take off his cast and walk, he steps outside and finds his friend waiting for him with his horse – she has spent months secretly training it for him so that he can achieve his dream of winning the race. 

On the day of the race, there are many, many horses. The starting gun is shot, and they’re off and running. Another racer’s horse is startled, and veers into the girl’s horse, knocking her off. The boy is in the lead, but when he looks back at his friend, he sees that she has fallen onto the field. Without hesitating, he turns his horse around and runs back into the oncoming racers in order to save her. And that’s why they’re called Chairman Mao’s little soldiers. 

300I: Something to do with a girl

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White-beveled thick hardback book.

Don’t remember the dusk jacket if any.

Received as 11th birthday gift from my grandmother in 1974.

Title was simple and had something to do with a girl.

Something with a somber feeling.

I never read it.

I kept it for almost 40 years and then gave it to a niece.

No one can place it.

My grandmother was fluent in French so after doing some research I decided it was Nobody’s Girl, the french translation, but in a google image search none come up with the same look that I recall.

The pages may have had gold tint on the edges, but maybe not.

That’s all I got.

Thank you.

300H: Best Friends

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The book is a juvenile chapter book from the ’70s or ’80s. Called something like _Best Friends_. It’s about a girl who loses her best friend to another girl. I remember that she eats Chinese food with a new friend at the friend’s restaurant. She also participates in a puppet show from Alice in Wonderland and she is the Red Queen. The former best friend comes crawling back after a fight with the new girl but she realizes that she likes having lots of friends vs. exclusive to one best friend.

300G: The Leprechauns used to be in heaven

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St. Patrick’s Day picture book where man is captured by leprechauns. I don’t remember much of it, but when I was in middle school (2010-2014) a teacher read us a book about a man whose horse/cow was stolen by leprechauns, so he follows them the next time they come and gets trapped in their home under a mountain until he can escape— which he eventually does and with his animal. The one thing I definitely remember is that the book mentioned that the Leprechauns used to be in heaven, but they were thrown out by Gabriel after the fall of Lucifer, forcing them to live on earth with humans.

300F: Children were not allowed to sleep

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Fiction.

I got it at a church bazaar in 1968.

It had a dark brown hard cover.

Paper quality was smooth, semi- shiny.

In the story, children were complaining to parents that they didn’t want to sleep, and play longer. In the night a witch/sorcerer/elf kidnapped them and took them to his land, where children were not allowed to sleep. When they were sleepy, he would not allow it. They had to stay awake.

A child escaped/ rescued by angel-type, and went to angel type area, where they were allowed to sleep. They became soldiers against the witch. They were strengthened by drinking milk.

300E: Sleep by day and live by night

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The book I am looking for is a series. I grew up in Australia and while I cannot be sure, I think the author was Australian (possibly even female). The story is about three children or young teenagers. They live in the future where the world is too hot by day for anyone to be active, so they now sleep by day and live by night. The children have to go beyond their village or camp for some reason and they end up crossing vast land in search of something. I believe there were three books in the series, although it may have been more. I remember thinking it was interesting that everyone lived by night, with the light of the fire. The elders were respected. It was almost as though humans had to resort to the way of life before modern civilization. I think they have found a lost city on their adventure.

I have been trying for a really long time to find this book series. Any help would be greatly appreciated.