Category Archives: 1970s

342I: Children playing in a tree

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My brother and I have been searching for a picture book that we were particularly fond of as children. I don’t remember the title but it would have been published in the late 60’s or early 70’s. The story is about a boy (possibly named Keith) who has his father help him built a fort in a large tree in his back yard. Some neighbor children come by to play, and they end up adding their own structures to the tree. I remember one of the friends puts a big wash tub up in the tree and pretends to be an astronaut in a ship. Some girls bring their dolls up in the tree and make a tent with a blanket or some kind of hammock. There’s also a plank that they stand on that is supposed to be a raft? Maybe one of the kids was a pirate? Not sure, but before you know it, all the neighborhood children are playing in the tree. I can still see the illustrations in my mind’s eye and and would recognize it if I saw it. Thanks!

342D: Talking Clock Sends Boy to the Past

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My brother read a short children's book when he was a kid in the 1970s. The book was about a kid (boy) and a talking clock, the parents of the child are lost (died), the clock takes the boy back to happier moments in the past. At the end the boy is reunited with his parents. My brother said the book only had a few pages similar to Golden Books. If you know someone who could point us towards finding the book it would be appreciated.

341Z: UFO Light Causes Boy to Grow Third Arm

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As you might expect, I’m searching for a book.  I probably read it in the 1978 to 1980 time frame, so publishing occurred before that.  It is possible I read the book as late as 1982, but I don’t think so.
The book may have been a Scholastic publication, but they didn’t find anything matching the rest of the description.
The book was a short story collection.  I do not remember the title or author or authors or editor.  I think the version I read was a trade paperback, borrowed from the school library.  During 1978 to 1980 I was in 5th and 6th grade.  I suppose I could write to the librarians in those schools and ask if they still have books matching the descriptions.
The story I remember from the book had a boy in probably 5th or 6th grade walking alone in the woods one evening.  A UFO appeared through the trees (maybe he was in a clearing?) and shone a blue light through the center of his chest.  Not long afterwards a third arm started growing where the light struck the boy.  He was teased at school for being different, and he thought of having the arm surgically removed.  But the arm proved to be useful when the bullies in his school started a fight with him.  He elected to keep it.  He finished the story by saying other people around the world were getting struck by the same blue light and were growing arms as well.
I do not remember the remainder of the stories in the book.  I’m not sure I actually read them; I may have had to return the book to the library.

341Q: Children’s Sea Creature Book

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I am attempting to find a childhood favorite for my brother. We were both born in the mid 60s so I suspect his book is from the early 70s. I don’t remember the title but it was an illustrated book about sea creatures. It was very ‘Boys Life’ in its design: realistic illustrations and high drama. The only specific memory I have is an illustration of a fisherman stepping on a deadly stone fish and being supported and carried away by his fishing buddies. I know it’s not much to go on. Good luck!

341M: Chapter Book – Childrens’ House Floats Down River

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I am looking for a children's chapter book. The plot involves children whose house is able to float and they float down a river on it. This was a chapter book from the 1970’s or 1980’s. I don’t think it was a houseboat but rather their actual house was put on a raft, but my memory could be wrong. Thank you!!

341K: 70s-80s Book About Colors

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I don’t remember if there were characters or much of a plot, but what I do remember is that it had lushly illustrated two-page spreads where each spread was devoted to a single color. I think yellow was a picnic in a wheat field with buttered bread…I also think there was a spread that depicted the beach (not sure what color it might have represented). Also, I think in each spread there was a teaser color spot or object that represented the next color’s scene. I think the book ended with a scene of all the colors. I would have read this in the late 80s, but it might have been 70s etc. It was certainly bigger than a Golden Book or board book.

 

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.

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.