Author Archives: admin

286E: Picture-only book with words next to items in several scenes

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This book was a children’s early reader book from 70s/80s with scenes from a park (which had a pond in it, I think, and possibly a duck in the pond), classroom, hospital room, etc. In the picture of the classroom, for instance, it said “paint” next to where the paints were, and “chair” next to the chair in the picture.  No plot, just labels for items in the pictures. It is *not* a Richard Scarry book (which sometime label individual items as well).

286D: Friendly purple creature has magic yellow umbrella (Solved)

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I’m thinking this book would have come out in the 70s or early 80s. The general plot, as I recall, was a friendly purple creature was friends with a young boy, and the creature had a seemingly magic yellow umbrella. The umbrella was used in a variety of helpful ways, culminating in the umbrella being used as a big swimming pool for all of the neighborhood children. Those are the primary details I remember; any help much appreciated!

285D: Boy and cat are best friends

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I am looking for a children’s book from around 1980.

I do not recall the title or author, and the book may have been published before 1980.  Let’s say anywhere between 1970 and 1982 or so.  This was a favorite book of mine when I was a kid, and I used to take it out of my local branch of the St. Louis Public Library pretty regularly.

The one thing I DO remember were the fantastic illustrations.  It was done in black and white, and the drawings looked as though they may have been pen and ink, or etchings, and they were very realistic.

Thematically, I remember a couple things about the story:  A boy and his cat used to sit on a hill under their (or maybe the cat’s) favorite tree.  At night, the cat would go have adventures on his own with his cat friends.  Toward the end of the story, the cat died, and the boy and his mom decided to bury him atop the hill under the beloved tree.  Then the boy would go there to remember the cat.

Specifically, I recall one page in the book that illustrated night time, when the cat would go with his cat friends.  There is a house (presumably the cat’s) in the background, as though he has just been let out for the evening.  In the foreground, you see the cat joining up with many, many neighborhood cats as they set off to roam around–a virtual cat army.

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing what you all come up with.

285C: Kafka-esque book for kids, 90s

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A young boy becomes a roach- literally all I remember. However, the side story I do remember. His sister is some kind of super genius who didn’t speak until she was five and when she did finally speak she created a board game. She spends her day in front of the tv counting the number of times the commercial for the board game plays and how much money she is making.

285B: 90s children book, cooking with bugs (Solved)

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Read this in January 1995. It is a Judy Blume or Louis Sachar-esque children’s chapter book. Some kids are doing some kind of report and/or competition to create outlandish dishes by new and inventive means.

The protagonist, a boy, decides to experiment by putting insects in the food. In one scene, he brings brownies to school that he’s put roaches in. (Particularly memorable because it just so happened I brought brownies to class for my birthday that day when we got to that chapter and everyone got a big laugh about the coincidence). He finds out that his chief rival is using the car to cook food; they come out of church or a PTA meeting to the smell of hamburgers because he put the patties on the hot engine. Thanks!

285A: Squeaker at the Zoo

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In 1962, my kindergarten class performed a play for children called Squeaker at the Zoo. The plot concerned a dog (Squeaker) who became lost at a zoo.  The little girl who owns Squeaker goes around to the various animals at the zoo and asks them if they have seen her dog.  Each group of animals answers, in turn, “No, no, no–we have not seen your dog.”  Finally Squeaker turns up.

According to a newspaper article, “Squeaker at the Zoo” is described as an “operetta” or “song story” that is taken from a Reading Readiness Program workbook entitled “Here We Come.”  The play seems to have been performed by many kindergarten classes across the country in 1963 and in the years after.

Can you find the play for children entitled, Squeaker at the Zoo?