Category Archives: 1970s

290G: Hauntingly beautiful and rich watercolours

I’ve been trying to find this book for years! I read it as a kid in the 80s and it was about a little girl and, I think, her father moving to a new house that seems at first to be haunted and scary but turns out to be homey and cosy. What made this book stick in my mind was the illustrations: really hauntingly beautiful large, rich watercolours. The new house was drawn on a hill and somewhat isolated and the little girl had long dark straight hair, looking perhaps Spanish. At first the new home is drawn very dark and spooky, but by the last page it is lit up and warm and the little girl is hugging her father, having come to love their new home.

290E: In a churchyard with a yew tree

I’m looking for a small bright blue hardcover book, at the end there is an illustration of a boy in a churchyard with a yew tree. Printed before 1980. Not sure if it’s an ABC book for children but the yew tree illustration is definitely at the end of the book. It’s a book for young children; there are only a few lines of text on each page. The boy is standing in the yard with the yew and there is also an old man in the illustration. The boy may have been lost or looking for something. Maybe the book is British because of the mention of the yew tree?

290C: A shy girl at summer camp

I am looking for a book I read somewhere around 5th grade.  The year was 1977-78ish.  Everyone was reading Judy Blume.  The book I’m looking for was about a girl who went to summer camp.  I think the girl was overweight.  My recollection is that the girl was shy for some reason, or maybe that’s how I saw myself.  Maybe the girl just wasn’t happy with the way she looked.  Perhaps Judy Blume or another author popular at the same time?

289L: She discovers an antique China doll in the rags

The book I’m looking for is a chapter book. It was in my elementary school library in the late 1970s but it was an old book. The cover was purple. The story was a girl who had to stay with an uncle and aunt. She goes to an auction and buys a bundle of rags for a penny. When she gets home she discovers an antique China doll in the rags. She loves the doll but in the end returns it to the lady who owns it and gets another doll in exchange.

289K: Pandora the cat

Children’s book I read kindergarten, class 1971. I don’t not know title but I think the main characters name is pandora a cat. It is possible name is in title. My memory pictures a grey and yellow cover w cat and it’s magic collar. It tells the story of a cats nine lives which is actually 9 times to teleport. That way cats are suddenly in the room. I believe the collar was the way “pandora” traveled. When I was an older grade schooler I went back to class room to find it, that’s where my visual memories come from and cats name, but the storyline memory seems solid since that’s how I found it the first time.

289A: Girls and Boys and Boys and Girls

I am hoping you can help me with the name/author of a book that I loved as a kid in the 1970s – I think it was called “Girls and Boys and Boys and Girls” or something like that.  It was a color, picture book probably aimed at 5-7 year olds.

The format was basically “Lee A. (who was a boy) likes to color and Lee B. (who was a girl) likes basketball” and so on – I think all of the kids in the book had names that were gender neutral – Lee, Chris, Jo, etc.

288G: Mother and daughter flee from France to Canada

I am trying to locate an older book I read back in 5th grade elementary school, older than 1985 and possibly published before 1980. This is a small hardcover book (5 x 7?), children’s historical fiction. A mother and daughter have fallen from the graces (have disgraced or angered) the king and queen in France, maybe between 1600-1700 (did daughter say something to make the king mad?). They are being sent away (or flee) to New World, most likely Canada. I think the mother and daughter were seamstresses for the royalty and made their own clothes. Book is NOT Angelique, not The Frenchwoman either. Thank-you for trying to locate book, especially when I cannot remember title at all and am trying to find book over 30 years later!

287C: A tree in the forest with special powers

Looking for a children’s chapter book from the 1960s or early 70’s about a tree in the forest that has special powers. I recall that the vines were alive as was the tree – but I recall only a girl in the story could communicate with the tree and either visited or lived beneath the ground by the tree? For some reason I recall descriptions about being under the ground at times. I don’t think it was a scary tree. More like a friend and protector to the girl. Would love to track it down if possible.