Author Archives: admin

341F: Human Sterilization for Health Care

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It's not a children's book. I probably read this book 20 years ago and it was not a new book then. I'm guessing it was written some time between the 40s and 60s, but that's just a guess. The book takes place in a society where there have been lots of treatments for genetic diseases, so people who used to die before child-bearing age weren't, passing the diseases along, and health of the population was therefore less robust. (Plus possibly the cost of treatment.) So people were only allowed to get medical treatments, vaccinations, etc. if they were sterilized. I seem to recall people living in a sort of health-care ghetto and many people being anti-health care.

341E: Colorful Knights Defend White And Gold King

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The book I’m looking for is a children’s fiction book that included knights or warriors who were identified by color: green, blue, purple, etc. For sure my son remembers there was a purple one that almost got thrown into a pit of lava. These knights or warriors were defending a kingdom with a king who might have been identified through white and gold clothing. And they were trying to defeat a “dark Lord“ which is probably just a villain in the story and not referred to necessarily by those words.

Any help would be appreciated!

341D: Early Reader Vocabulary Picture Book (Solved!)

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This English vocabulary learning book from the early 1990s (could be older though) featured the daily life of a family in beautiful large center pictures of various scenes, with the outer rims of the pages containing objects from that scene to be found and named.
My most poignant memories are of a night time scene of the children casting shadows with their hands onto the bedroom wall, and a scene with a cross section of a fantastically large tree house with multiple connected rooms.
Any help is appreciated!

341C: Spoiled siblings are reformed by fixing up an old house

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Probably written in the 60s or 70s, this is a YA book about a pair of spoiled siblings growing up in the city (I think the opening scene is of them terrorizing a babysitter). Their parents announce quite suddenly that they (the parents) are going away for the summer and that the kids will live with a relative (an aunt or a cousin) in the country. Their aunt has a husband or boyfriend who I think is Native American and the kids are both afraid of him and passionately unhappy, especially since they are expected to help fix up the big old house in which they are all living. Eventually they start working (I remember clearly a scene in which they scrape all the old paint off of tall pillars out front) and gradually are reformed so that their parents hardly recognize them when they return.

341B: Little Girl Reluctantly Learns Ballet

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I read this book many, many years ago in elementary school. It is about a girl whose parents sign her up for ballet lessons. She doesn’t like ballet and is not excited to attend her lessons. She has an older sister who has been taking lessons for a few years already, and isn’t necessarily happy that her little sister is also taking classes. I remember a certain part where the younger sister is in the locker room and is mortified by the disfigured feet of the older girls in the ballet school.

In the end, she learns to enjoy taking lessons. This is really all I can remember.

341A: Boy Lost In Fog

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I can’t remember much about “BOY LOST IN FOG” (not the actual title), but what I can remember (or what I think/believe I remember) is:
  • it is a children’s picture book, written in English, with black and white illustrations
  • I read, or the book was read to me between 1980 and 1988, no clue as to the publishing date
  • there is something in there about a small boy leaving home, perhaps on his own
  • there might be something about him being on or following the sidewalk
  • there is something about fog, or getting lost in thick fog temporarily – this is the main thing I remember
  • there might be something in there about encountering a stranger in the fog, or someone who helps or scares him
  • there might be something about a lighthouse

340Z: A bully/mean girl and a cupcake/birthday cake

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This is a children’s picture book I read in the 1980’s. The protagonist “despises” (I think she uses that word) a mean girl/bully. In the end I think she discovers that the bully doesn’t have any friends and is sad, and would like to be the protagonist’s friend. There is also a cupcake (it might have a candle on it). I think the bully gives it to the protagonist to try and make friends but the protagonist is suspicious of it and wonders if it’s poisoned. The bully wears a frilly dress. I think at one point she has a lollipop.

340Y: Children’s Stories from Around the World

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When I was little (5, 6?) I was given a lovely little red hardbound book with black embossed lettering and image which was I believe called “Children of the World” or “Children’s Stories of the World” et al. I suddenly remember that it was probably titled “Children from Around the World” or “Stories from Children Around the World” (or “Children’s Stories from Around the World”). I think the pages were double bound. Anyway, it was a birthday gift for me back in 73/74. It had some lovely short prose/stories for younger children. Larger print lettering and color illustrations. Also, it had a great story about a Japanese girl and her brother who celebrate girls and boys days and receive dolls. Thank you for helping me find this lovely and cherished book that was lost along the way in my parents’ global travels.

 

340X: Man Befriends Ghost At Haunted House

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I am looking for a picture book that I enjoyed when I was a child in the late 70s. It was hardbound and told the story of a man who had a long-nosed coupe and inherits/comes into a mansion and after a foggy drive there and inhabiting it discovers it is haunted. He discovers a secret tunnel underground (under a lake?) and ultimately makes friends with the ghost and I believe is led to a stash of treasure. I loved this story as I scared easily but was fascinated with ghosts, and in recollecting it reminded me slightly of Edward Gorey’s work. I think he might have been a bit Sherlockesque with a coat, hat and pipe. Had a very 60s/70s style and sensibility in the illustration. Would love to have a copy. Thank you for your sleuthing!

340W: A Children’s Book about Racism in a General Store

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This was a book used to discuss prejudices and racism in 5th grade classrooms in the late 90s. The characters in the book go to a general store and are treated poorly by others in the store. The N word is used many times throughout the book. I recall many Mildred D. Taylor books being used in this curriculum, so this could just be a specific chapter in one of her books, rather than the entire book? Perhaps The Friendship? I recall a specific young character in the book really wanting a piece of hard candy from the general store!