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353J: Historical Stories for Girls

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I loved a book as a child (would have been reading it in the early 1990s), an old fashioned one with a hard cover bound in blue linen and fairly thick. I think there might have been a bird cage with a bird in it on the spine. It also would have had a different slip cover when it was new. I think it was called something like ‘Book for Girls’ or ‘Stories/Tales for Girls’

It was aimed at older girls, and had a variety of short historical stories in it, with female protagonists. It was interspersed with full page black and white ink illustrations, but not many, maybe one or two for each short story.

I think there was an Ursula Le Guin story in it, but I could also be confusing that with other books.

I know for certain that there was a story about a woman whose castle was under siege and the people in it are starving. There was also a historical love story where a man jumped over a women’s wall and starts to court her, even though she is married. She almost runs away with him, but he is actually a criminal so she stays with her husband, who brings her roses he picked himself, even though he was cut by the thorns. There was also a Chinese love story that was a ghost story, where the love between two young people is forbidden by her family. In the end maybe one turns into a swan? Or they both die?

Any help really appreciated, I have been trying to find this book for 7 years!

353H: Young Singing Boy Dies As Old Man Under Tree

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I am trying to find a book I received as a child in the early 1980s.
The book had a white cover and was the story of a young boy who grew up with the talent of singing. It chronicles his life and then ends with him dying as an old man under a tree a believe…a place that is often referred to in the book I think.
The illustrations are all stick figures.
I believe the story was inspired by Elvis and their may have been a dedication to him or something in the book.
I would really love to find a copy and remember this book since I can’t find my copy.

353G: Non Fiction Alien Abduction

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I read a book around 15 years ago. The author interviewed many instances of abductions. He began to notice that some of the stories of a few of them were exactly the same, and asked for the abductees to meet in person. When they met, they realized that they knew each other. They had been abducted together, multiple times, since childhood. They lived on opposites sides of the country and had never met in person, but knew each other! One of these abductees was a political figure who asked to remain anonymous for fear of ridicule.

353F: Children Encounter Scary Creature in the Woods

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I am trying to find a book that I used to read when I was younger at the school library. It was a scary picture book. From what I can remember, the story goes like this: there are 2 siblings (boy and girl I believe) that live in a village/community in the forest. I want to say that it is a native American community but I’m not entirely sure. They wander out too far from safety and stumble upon a creature that, based on the drawings, gave me nightmares as a kid. It’s extremely tall, covered completely with brown hair, sharp white claws on the feet and hands (but not too long), sharp white teeth and red eyes. The children try to escape but the creature chases after them. I do remember vividly a page where the kids are climbing a cliff, while the creature climbs below them. Somehow the rest of the village comes to the rescue and saves the children. I tried researching as best as I can but I can’t find anything remotely close. I know it’s not a wendigo story, the closest thing I can find based on appearance that I remember is the Tennessee Wildman. And I want to say that the author had other books with the same style of drawing.

353E: Kid Adopts A Camel – Humorous Non-Fiction Children’s Book On Cassette!

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I'm looking for a humorous non-fiction children's book, with accompanying cassette, about camels. I read it sometime between 1987 and 1995, likely closer to the earlier range, and it was probably published no later than 1975: it felt "modern" at the time. I recall the book being slightly larger format, softcover, and fully illustrated in a semi-cartoony style - and that it also had an audio cassette version which I believe was just the narrated book, without music. The conceit of the books may have involved a kid secretly adopting a wild animal as a pet: it introduced animal facts to explain how the animal's adaptations could help the child keep it hidden from their parents. One specific detail I recall is a fact that camels can close their nostrils to keep from breathing in sand - "or your dad's cigars!" as they illustrated by showing an unfazed camel in a living room where a man in a green armchair was smoking heavily. I'm fairly sure the book was part of a series, including one about penguins (where the kid tried to fill the bathtub with ice for them,) but I don't recall any other books in the series.

353D: The Adventures of Thistle the Raccoon (Solved!)

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So my book is a children’s book.  It was mostly pictures but also some text and a little story to go along with the photos.  It is from the 70s/80s as the 80s were when I was taking the book out of the library.  It was about a raccoon named Thistle.  I am pretty sure of the name but it followed the story and pictures of a racoon with that name.  I hope that is enough to go on as I haven’t found it anywhere.  They were actual photographs and not drawings.  And I’m pretty sure there was a picture of Thistle on the cover.

353C: 1970s, Younger Female Teen Figure Skater, Moves with Family to Rural Part of State, Practices on Perfect Pond next to Burned-Down Mill (Solved!)

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I read this novel in the 1970s when I was in early-mid elementary school. The main character and her family live in a state in the upper Midwest; she’s wicked into competitive figure skating and has been training/competing for years. Because of her dad’s job (he might be a college professor), they move from a city to a more rural part of the state where there are no indoor skating facilities and no training. She checks out the lake where the other kids skate, but finds it unsatisfactory (perhaps the surface is always bumpy). She finds a perfect pond! Ice is always clear of snow and smooth. But the locals shun it. She’s happy to train there alone. Eventually, she learns the reason why the spot is shunned by locals. It was a tragedy. The family that owned the mill was holding a party there for their daughter (about the same age as the novel’s main character), there was a fire, and the girl was killed.

353A: Painting the Rainbow at the Flour Mill

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I’m looking for a book I had in my early childhood – I was born in 1984.
There is a flour mill with a grumpy Miller, and a group of children who go into the mill. While they’re in there a rainbow comes in through the window and ends up divided into a paint pot for each colour. The children take the paints and try to do good deeds – for example, painting someone’s door? sunshine yellow or someone’s window frames? cornflour blue. They paint something belonging to the Miller purple and it matches his angry face.