Author Archives: admin

263B: Acrobat turned Food Taster

Leave a reply

A boy meets a mentor one day. They begin a journey together, leading to the emperor’s palace. On the way, they stop in a small village. The villagers feed them, but due to a rude remark the boy makes, they are placed in prison for seven days with no food, with the quote “Water you may have, though it be slightly brackish.”

Eventually, they are released and reach the palace, where the boy becomes an acrobat. In the palace, the boy meets the chef one day, who is crying that he cannot taste all the food. The boy willingly becomes the taster, though he discovers in dismay that he is gradually becoming too large to serve as an acrobat.

He and the mentor eventually aid the emperor with a problem, and it’s here my memory breaks up. Many thanks for the assistance.

263A: Old man with mustache tells grandson the story of how his hair turned white (Solved)

3 Replies

I would have read this book in the early to mid 90’s but I’m not sure if that’s when it was published. I remember that it was shelved with the Halloween books at my local library. An old man who has a white mustache is telling his grandson (may have been multiple grandchildren) about how his hair turned white. In his story he is pictured as a young boy but he still has the mustache, I remember thinking this was hilarious as a child. The gist of the story as far as I remember it is that when he was young he went into a haunted house or witch’s house on Halloween night and when he came out his hair had turned white. I have been wracking my brains for ages trying to remember the title of this book, I would love to read it again. 

262J: Heroes fight a green monster

Leave a reply

Trying to find the name of a kids picture book I used to read.  It was between 1985 to 1995; it was an action book bout a hero or heroes fighting against a green monster.  The only thing I remember about one of the books is the heroes chase the green monster, with two orange tentacles things from his mouth, into the water and the book said “to be continued.”

If you can find what those books are called I’d be so happy.

262H: Friendship and toy soldiers

2 Replies

I remember reading a book in elementary school (sometime around 1990 – 1995 or so) about a young boy who may or may not have had some kind of disability but had very few or no friends. I think it may have had to do with him making friends with a young girl that was more ‘normal’ but could understand his unique qualities.

The big part of the book that sticks out to me was that he kept having funerals for his imaginary friends and would bury them with a stone or something like that as a symbol of the imaginary friend.   I also think there was a tin box that he kept the stones or his toy soldiers in or something.

Also, it took place in summer (I almost want to think it was called The Summer of the ….. but I know there is a different book called The Summer of the Swans that I might be confusing part of it with), little toy soldiers were possibly a symbol or theme that occurred in the book. And I think the book concluded with the boy having some sort of personal growth and or discovery and no longer having funerals for his imaginary friends. (Maybe because he now can have real friends??)

I even have an image in my mind where the toy soldiers were part of the illustration on the cover of the book, but I am not sure about that.

One more thing, even though it contained a little bit of dark imagery (imaginary friend funerals) I remember the book just felt so atmospheric and beautiful and I was really moved at reading something that produced such subtle emotions in me.

I think there is a scene in the book where the girl is drawing ball point pen tattoos on someone (herself?) him? or I might be mixed up with another thing. Because when we were given a poetry assignment I recreated that scene in our back garden sitting on a stone and wrote a poem with the line ‘drawing ball point pen tattoos in the summer heat’ and my fifth grade teacher got all excited and told me my poetry was really good.

Every few years I have tried to find this book, and I have failed after exhausting attempts over and over again. If anyone can shed light on this and resolve my dilemma of many years, I would be very grateful and very interested in buying the book!

Thank you very much!!

262E: Welsh Coal Mine Ponies (Solved)

2 Replies

I loved this chapter book in the 1970s.  It took place during a much earlier era.   A coal mine in, I believe, Wales is closing which employs most of the people in the town.  The town children are afraid of what will happen to the ponies that work in the mine pulling the coal carts. They want to “retire” the ponies to a field.  The parents are worried about losing their jobs and don’t have the money to help the children save the ponies.  I believe the children make an appeal to the wealthy owner of the mine, who is sympathetic.  There may also be descriptions of the miners being sick, and of a canary dying from gas in the mine.  I remember this book having the same kind of feel to it as “The Wheel on the School.”  Thanks everyone for your help!

262D: 80’s book. Collection of Fairy Tales, Fables and Nursery Rhymes (Solved)

3 Replies

I can not remember if the book itself is from the 80’s or if it was a bit older. ( I was given it in the 80’s)   I’m not 100% sure if it had “Mother Goose” in title. It had all the classic fairy tales with illustrations. I know for sure it had Gustave Dore’s illlustration for Cinderella  as well as Walter Crane’s for Beauty and the Beast. These illustrations were the ones I remember being in the book.

pic1 pic2 pic3

 

262C: A girl fascinated by different lifestyles (Solved)

12 Replies

I’m looking for a short story I read years ago about a girl from a well-off family who snuck out while everyone in her house was napping. She walked around until she found some kids from a less well-off family playing in the street. She played with them and was entranced by the fact that they didn’t have adults following them every minute, and by their different language patterns and food. Eventually, the little girl’s nurse (nanny) showed up to take her home. The kids she was playing with were fascinated by the little girl referring to the nanny as her nurse. They asked if she was sick because she had a nurse, but she explained that the nurse just took care of her.