Category Archives: 1970s

306J: Funny Practical Retelling of Fairy Tales

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I am looking for a small hilariously funny book in which the author goes and analyses or re-tells several famous fairy tales using common sense and pointing out the truly ridiculous bits.

I remember in the pulling apart of “Little Red Riding Hood” he ponders why in the world everyone would name a kid after an article of clothing and wonders what if she had been “Little Dirty Tee Shirt” instead.

In “Snow White” he points out that the mirror is essentially creating the whole problem by maliciously or cluelessly making the queen wildly jealous. He also thinks that “Snow White living in the glen, with the seven little men” rather suggests they are getting up to something and is further evidence of the mirror’s troublemaking.

In Rapunzel he comments upon the whole idea of naming your child after a root vegetable and the wisdom of robbing witches.

In Rumpelstiltskin he thinks everyone is rather hard on the poor guy, and wonders why when she knows what his name is, and her baby is on the line, the queen decides it is funny to play around and wind him up by giving the wrong names at first.

The book was (I think) a half-sized hard back (half height but same length as a hardback book? Size of say an Edward Gorey single story like The Doubtful Guest.)  I think it had a black and white drawn illustration on the cover.

I know I gave my copy to a friend around 1983-1985 so it was in print before then. I am thinking it was probably published after 1972 as I think I would have been over 13 when I first received it. My vague memory is that my mother bought several copies as gifts and it was being sold fairly prominently one Christmas season in NYC possibly at Barnes and Noble.

I have tried searching for it but only ever get Fractured Fairy Tales back and that is not it.

I would really enjoy finding this book again!

 

306G: Anti-Jewish Demons

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Adult book. Was in paperback format in mid to late 70s. Book was about one of the 4 arch -demons (as in demons from Hell) who became known to members of the Jewish race. This particular demon held special hatred for the Jewish people and had been an SS officer during WW2 era.
They were able to capture the demon (who was in human form) by someone wearing the vest of Abraham. They imprisoned him in the crypt in China which is surrounded by the Terracotta warriors who actually were guarding the tomb to ensure none came close to open it. One follower of the demon tried and the terracotta warrior killed him with a bow. The crypt was actually a prison built specifically for him. Another prison was built for one of the other 3 arch-demons under the great salt lake in Utah prior to the prison being submerged thousands of years ago.

306A: 1960s/1970s anthology of women in history kids

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I’m looking for a book that I read many years ago – it would have been mid-1970’s or so. I’m not sure if the book was printed then or earlier (1960’s). It wasn’t a picture book, but rather, a chapter book (I had it in a hardcover edition). Although I was young when I read it, this wasn’t a typical children’s book. It might have been more along the lines of a young adult book.  It was an anthology of women in history and included chapters with summary bios on Clara Barton, Jane Addams (of Hull House), Florence Nightingale, Harriet Tubman, and Susan B. Anthony (I know these women were included). Amelia Earhart might be another. Abigail Adams or Dolley Madison might have also been included, but I may be wrong about them. I can’t remember much about it other than the subjects were all women and it was the first I had read of Jane Addams and Hull House.

 

305I: Using your imagination

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I am hopeful you can help me in my search for a book I had as a child.

Unfortunately I do not remember the title.

I believe it was about using your imagination and starred two children (boy and girl) and possibly their family.

The entire book had simplistic pen and ink illustrations in black and white with washes of pink and blue ink as the only colors in the book.

One of the main illustrations I remember was of the children eating clouds, they had plates of clouds and were eating them like spaghetti, wrapping them around forks and having a grand feast.

Date range: I had this book as a child between 1975-80, but the book could easily be from the 60’s-70’s.

If I remember correctly, the book was a paperback in horizontal format, approx 9 or 10” wide by 5 or 6” tall.

304U: The Pig Tree (Solved)

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Illustrated young children's book about a chef who buys a little bush, thinking he'll grow figs, but it turns out it's a Pig tree. After many shenanigans and difficulties, he replaces his bush with what he thinks is a proper fig tree bush. . . however it looks at the end like it's gonna be a frog tree! I was a child in the 1970s and guess the book dates from early 70s, but could be mid 70s, or possibly late 60s. The book was probably written for age range 4-7. My searches on Google/Amazon/eBay for "The Pig Tree" or "The Fig Tree" - the titles my memory has provided - haven't found the right book.

304M: British gang of dogs vs. rival cats

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I am trying to find a book or possibly a series that I read as a child in the mid 80’s. Must have been published 70’s or 80’s.  Definitely a British book, and very detailed illustrations. It’s about a group of dogs that go around a seaside town. The walk upright, wear clothes and talk (possibly some of them even smoke cigarettes?) There are different breeds and I think the leader is a black and white dog. At some point there is an altercation with a rival cat gang.  I can’t remember title or author.

303Z: Little Girl Searching For Golden Rule

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In elementary school, we read a book about a little girl with a Z name. I think it was Zelda. She was trying to figure out the Golden Rule. She searched the world. Of course any references online that I find always refer to The Legend of Zelda. Not what I’m looking for, obviously. This book may have been written in the 50s, 60s ,or 70s. No cover. The book itself was orange.

303F: 1970’s cement stream

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I’m looking for a book from 1970-74ish. I think it was in a city; there was a neighbor that the kids started to hang out with. It may have had a nature/environmental feel/message. They worked together to dig a stream bed in the guy’s front yard, which they lined with concrete and then painted rainbow colors. I remember my imagination soaring with this book!

Thank you!

 

303A: Animal friends eat sweets

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I’m looking for a children’s book I recall from the late 60’s to early 70’s. The character, possibly a bear, and his friends were surrounding a cake that was sitting on a log, if I remember correctly, on one of the pages.  Every time I see a Boston Cream Pie I think of the book because of the icing, I believe.  I think the cake got knocked to the ground and got sand or dirt on it. The character may have also tried to get too many cookies from the cookie jar and gotten his hand stuck, but that could be another book that just blends with the other memory. I received this book along with Hansel and Gretel as a child of maybe 4 or 5 years old. I’ve often wondered what it was. Any help would be appreciated.

302X: A crazy quilt in various shades of red

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Looking for a YA novel written in the 60’s or early (I read it in the mid-70’s) but it was set in the early 20th century in a rural area. A group of girls need to make a crazy quilt in various shades of red—I can’t remember why—so they had to beg, borrow and steal fabric to make it. One of the girls goes to the general store with her father who is color blind and convinces him to buy a bolt of a particularly lurid shade of scarlet for a dress for her mother who was far from pleased when she received it.