Category Archives: 1960s

375O: Children’s anthology of magical stories

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The book had maybe a dozen short stories, all with some magic involved. One of the stories, I think the first, had a father bringing home an ornamental Chinese horn (rhino?) that was rumored to have magical properties. The father’s son took the horn to bed with him, holding it tight, and just before going to sleep wished for a series of things to happen to people he know around him. The next day everything that he wished came true, including people hearing silver bells tinkling when a lady he liked started talking. Another story in the book involved a professor/researcher, maybe named Dexter, researching Roman history, and late one night he falls asleep and dreams he becomes a goose, and has a fight with another goose over a lady goose, and it turns out that all the squawklng ends up being the very thing that warns the Romans of an impending barbarian attack on one of their cities. So the researcher actually became part of Roman history in the dream. The book was probably published in the 50s or 60s, certainly no later than the early 1980’s. I remember reading it after my mom checked it out of the Mayfield Regional Library, near Mayfield High School.

375I: My South Poem

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A piece of a poem that I read in a book at the Dartmouth College Library in the late sixties contained these lines (or something close):

“I think there is a much more terrible thing. To be raised without one’s own consent In the cave of the mind. Like a faded fish. And to go as assuredly blind in the soul. As a Saint”
I think the poem was titled “My South”, I don’t remember the author.

354T: War Orphan Adopted by GI

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I’m looking for a book I read as a boy in the mid 1970s . It probably was written in the 1950s or 1960s.  My memory says it was titled the journey home or long journey home but having searched for that for years with no luck I’m prepared to believe my memory is incorrect.  It was about a war orphan making his away to America to be adopted or having been adopted by a GI.

354R: Fairies in the Forest

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Don’t remember the title but here’s what I recall:

This is a children’s book from the 1960s or even late 1950s with a narrow/slim size. I have attached a photo of a similar book that might even be from the same series.

It has a shiny light blue cover. The content is about signs of fairies in the forest/nature. It’s a series of photos with little text. It shows photos of dew, spider webs, etc. might have an illustration of a fairy on the front of the book.

374I: Vintage children’s book about two raccoon brothers

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The book was published sometime in the 1960s to 1970s. It had full-color illustrations and multiple stories presented like chapters about two raccoon brothers. The book was probably written for children between 4-7 years of age, or early readers. The only two chapters I remember were about not chewing with your mouth open and having a hard time falling asleep. In the first story, the older brother is annoyed by his younger brother chewing with his mouth open, making a noisy mess. The younger raccoon tries to chew with his mouth closed but has a hard time, even going so far as to tearfully pull his cheeks out so he doesn’t bite them. Eventually, the older brother relents and the younger brother happily resumes his messy, noisy eating. In the second story, the younger raccoon is struggling to fall asleep in his top bunk. The older brother, in the bed below, advises his brother to say goodnight to his body, part by part, starting with his toes. But by the time the young raccoon gets to his (knees, hips, stomach? can’t remember), his toes have “woken up” and he is sad. I don’t remember much more about this book other than I loved it very much as a young child in the 80s, and it was a gift from my beloved grandmother.

373U: Vintage Picture Book, Kitten cleans room to find rain gear so he can play in the rain with his friends

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Kitten wants to play in the rain with two friends, but he has to clean his room to find his rain gear, which includes, boots, hat, jacket. His friends check in on him and help him clean, they even find a sail boat that they can play with in the puddles. The book is NOT the obvious Three Kittens, Rainy-Day Kitten, etc. . . been searching for years now. I think it was published sometime between 1940s-1990s, And I want to say it had a beige/yellow/tan cover with a spot illustration.

373K: Supernatural spinning top

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I am trying to locate a favorite childhood book, probably published sometime in the mid sixties. I do not recall the title of the book, but it is in the “supernatural” category, geared for pre-teen or early teenage years. The main character is called Dorcas and she has a spinning top that allows her to access her supernatural power. I believe she is an orphan. There is also a young man that is her advocate. She acquires damaging information through her “gift” that implicates stalwart pillars of the community; they come after her as the book comes to a climax, with her being trapped in a cave by one of these perpetrators. She is rescued at the end of the book by her young protagonist who, at one point, had given her a red scarf. I always thought this book was called “The Spinning Top”, but any and all efforts to locate it by that title have been completely futile! I have been searching for this book for nearly 50 years and hope that, with your help, it can be found.