Category Archives: 1960s

292U: Mr. Down Stomps the Keystone (Solved)

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A children’s book from the 1970s or earlier. I am not sure of the title but it might be ‘Mr. Down’ or include the words ‘Mr. Down’. The setting is possibly medieval England. Townspeople are trying to build churches to pray in but every time they complete one, Mr. Down (a little troll-like guy or gremlin type character) comes in the night to stomp on the roof and destroy the church. They go through several designs all of which Mr. Down stomps on until they finally design an arch with a ‘keystone’ at the top. This is a classic Gothic style arch and no matter how much  Mr. Down stomps, it will not collapse. I used to check this book out of a small Methodist church library in North Carolina every single summer of my childhood.  It would mean the WORLD to me to find this book again.

 

292Q: Little girl moves and leaves doll behind

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I read/was read this book in the 60s.  It is the story of a little girl who leaves a doll behind when her family moves. I believe the doll is left on a shelf in the closet. I think they are moving from the city to a house in the suburbs, but the focus is on the loss of the doll. I don’t think she ever recovers it.

291Y: Father benignly deceives son

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I’m looking for a chapter book in which a father amazes his son by seeming to do a magic trick on a city block, involving a building which is either being built or torn down. The father doesn’t really do anything magical–he just has information that the son doesn’t, so he can frame it as something enchanted. The son totally believes the illusion and is in awe of his father. This episode, which extends over several weeks, is a plot point in a book that I don’t think was aimed at kids or YA but involved children. It was written, perhaps, in the 60s or 70s? I thought it was by William Goldman, but I haven’t been able to find it.

291U: It definitely wasn’t Harriet the Spy

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I’m looking for a book I read as a child in the 1960s. My clues are very vague (sorry!), but here goes:

The book was a middle-grade novel about two girls who play at being detectives. They follow people around and write in their notebooks. I thought the title was The Key House Mystery or The Key-House Mystery (with a hyphen), but I haven’t found it on sites I’ve tried.

Unfortunately, that’s all I remember.  I don’t know the color of the cover, whether there were illustrations, or when it was published.

The book definitely wasn’t Harriet the Spy.

291P: Suddenly No Men on Earth/No Women on Earth

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I read a science fiction book in high school (1969-1973) about some kind of catastrophe that resulted in the sexes living in separate worlds. In the “Women’s World,” planes fell out of the sky.  Maybe the women didn’t know how to operate heavy machinery?  In the “Men’s World,” other things happened because they were lonely…?

I found it totally mesmerizing at the time.  I thought it had a title like “Island of Vipers,” but I have never found that title.  All help appreciated!