Category Archives: 1960s

254G:Girl in Apartment look out her window and imagines life in the building across the street

A sick girl is home in her room in a building or high rise apartment. In order to pass the time she looks out at windows in the building across from her. Based on what she can see she (torn blind, potted plant) imagines what’s going on in the apartments.

One apartment has a plant family who walk around in dirt. One has a dog who sits at a typewriter all day.

This was a favorite book of mine as a child in the 70’s.

254F: Teens travel in time

I read a book when I was a young teen in the early 70’s and can’t recall the title or author. It centered around a group of kids who were friends. I think they were very young teens, like I was at the time. They could stop time and go to the world of mythology. I’m pretty sure it was Greek mythology. I recall them being bored in school and being able to do this several times in class. I think they were helping the Greek gods, or at least trying to. I also remember one boy earning a bowl from a god, and in it he could have whatever he wanted to eat by just imagining it. It was the most amazing book–and it obviously left its mark!

Thanks so much and good luck! I’ve been wanting to find this book for many, many years!

254C: A girl called Chan (Solved!)

Mid-1960’s chapter book for 3rd to 7th grade. Characters are twins Gregory (called Gory) and Marcus. Their sister is the main character and I believe her name was Chaneth (called Chan), whom I think was a blonde. The book may be a mystery and may be British. There were some illustrations featuring the girl and at least one of the boys. One twin was more gregarious than the other.

254B: Witch whose hair floats above shoulders and beds become boats (Solved)

I am looking for a children’s book, published in the 1970s or earlier (I was born in 1975, read this sometime between the ages of 7 and 12, and recall the book itself physically feeling “old” at the time). Most probably published in the 50s or 60s.

Two children were the main characters, I think they were a girl and a boy. I don’t remember any names of characters, unfortunately. They lived next door to a witch whose property included a walled and gated yard. When the witch did magic, her hair “floated above her shoulders” or something like that. I remember that rowan trees figured heavily in the story line; either they were searching for them or there was something about them the witch needed.

At the beginning of the adventure part of the story line, the children’s beds turned into boats and they were magically transported to a river or creek while they were asleep – one of the children wakes up because they become aware that their hand or the bed linens are trailing in the water.

I loved this book – hope someone can help me find it.

Thanks!

253E: The man who scented the flowers

This was a short story in a book of many. It was a book from the late 1960’s or early 1970’s and tells a story about an old bearded guy or a gnome type that would give the flowers their scent and color. He was carrying the bottles over a river as he walked across a log and slipped into the water and the fish tried to help him collect the bottles. There was also a girl or fairy who was in the story. The pictures were very colorful and fun.

 

251F: The witch asked for her eyebrows (Solved)

I’m also looking for a book probably written in the 50’s/60’s about a witch that would grant wishes but the children had to give something in payment. So one boy wanted to be able to talk to his dog, but because it was French poodle, it only spoke in French. Another girl wanted a wish granted and the witch asked for her eyebrows.

251A: A man takes in an orphan and gains a family

Hi, I am looking for a young adult novel, published sometime in the late 60s to mid-70s.

Plot details:
An older man, somewhat down on his luck, lives alone in an apartment in a big/bigger city. He sees young boy (orphaned? abandoned?) wandering the streets. He takes him in, even though the man doesn’t have much money himself. He buys the young boy new clothes (which he almost can’t afford). At Christmas they decorate a small tree with the silver foil from inside boxes of cigarettes. They become a family. Possible names: Teague and Me? Me and XXXXX?

250D: Two Brothers and a Flying Machine (Solved)

I read a junior fiction trilogy in middle school in the early 70s.

It was about two brothers who build a flying machine (NOT the Wright brothers – as virtually all my searches return).
I think it was set in either England or New England, possibly on a farm; likely at the turn of the 20th century. I think their mother is one of the characters. I remember specifically a description of cool linen sheets – of all things!

I think both brothers may have liked the same woman. (They might have been cousins but I don’t think so…)

One of the brothers was injured at some point – either in a crash, or maybe in war? Walked with a limp and a cane after that.

I remember rich detail in the writing.

Any thoughts or ideas would be welcomed. I’ve been hunting for years!