Category Archives: 1970s

275E: Unfortunate Monsters in a Flood? (Solved)

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I was born in 1978 and remember a picture book full of bizarre creatures whose anatomy blended real-world objects, e.g. a monster with a “bird feeder mouth” into which rain was falling and on which birds were perched, and a forlorn-looking monster with a faucet for a nose or mouth, sitting on a rock. I think water was a theme in all the illustrations, and my brother seems to remember that the book was about “fantasy creatures that missed Noah’s Ark”. (I’ve ruled out “The Lost Zoo” by Cullen.) I recall the art style being painterly and/or airbrushed, with colorful graded shading that gave the creatures great depth. The facial features were detailed, not unlike what you see in a Google Images search for “antique sea monsters”.

275D: Bodysuits change colour

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This was a children’s novel about a advanced human society living separate to an abandoned post-disaster world.

The inhabitants now live in a peaceful and educated way, having somehow atoned for the previous mistakes. Everyone wears a bodysuit that changes colour dependant on the mood of the wearer. One scene describes a young girl’s family living room where the children ‘paint’ an image on a kind of computer screen that is displayed as an artwork.

In another, the children visit the old city, a chaotic abandoned world. My memories are sketchy but I think they find something there and the protagonist – I think it was the young girl – must walk through a super modern hall, a busy public area, with her bodysuit flashing colours wildly. The bodysuits glowed gently when the wearers were calm, and most were calm, so it was obvious to all when one was upset or aggressive.

Really quite incredibly prophetic as it must have been written before 1985. I borrowed it from a library in Australia in the early 1980’s.

 

275C: Crocodile grabs boy in river (Solved)

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This was a very short story that was read to me when I was a child in the early 80s.

The story was one of many in a collection in one book. My mother seems to think it came from Reader’s Digest.

I believe there are 2 or 3 black boys who are trying to cross a river in Africa when a crocodile came up through the water at one on them. The water was muddy so he couldn’t see it coming. The crocodile grabbed his leg then his arm. The croc had him in a death roll. I forget how he got out of it, but the boy survived to tell the tale.

This story had me on the edge of my bed when my mother read it to me.

275B: Story involved small men riding sparrows (Solved)

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I am looking for a UK children’s book from the 70s/80s. The book was a hard cover and had very detailed illustrations. Almost similar in style to “look and search book.”

The story involved small men (elves) riding sparrows and other woodland animals fighting equally small monsters who were wearing grey uniforms (similar to storm troopers/nazis uniforms) who rode on bats and rats.

 

Thank you,

274E: A horse goes exploring

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I’m looking for a children’s paperback picture book (ages 4-6 ish) about a horse that escapes his/her stables to explore for the day – particularly in fields of strawberry patches. It was accompanied by a cassette tape, and the woman reading on the tape had a British accent, similar to Haley Mills or Julie Andrews (though she definitely had an expressive quality more similar to Haley Mills). I read it/listened to it as a child in the 80’s, but the illustrations seemed reminiscent of the 60s or 70s – similar in both colors and style to this image: www.pinterest.com/pin/550987335638025397/ Or similar to the lines of the hair in these pictures: www.pinterest.com/pin/550987335638025364/ Or similar to the clouds and sun in these pictures: www.behance.net/gallery/Bella-Butterfly-Childrens-Book-Illustrations/3105177

Unfortunately I don’t have a clue as to the title of the book or the author. The above is the most I can remember. Thank you!

272I: A girl experiences a ghostly phenomenon

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This was a book my doctor had in his office when I was a kid in the 70s. It was a small paperback about a house that was haunted by children who used to live there–I think there may have been a murder committed that started the haunting, and a little girl who was either living in the house or had visited it who was experiencing the ghostly phenomenon.

272G: Orphaned teen keeps siblings together

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Looking for the titile and author of a young adult fiction book, paperback, published late 1970s or early 1980s, approx. 200 pages.  The book’s title could be similar to “Keeping It All Together.”  The story likely was set in the 1970s to early 1980s, England/United Kingdom or another country using pounds instead of dollars.  I read it around 1983-85.

After a 17 year old girl’s parents die in a auto accident, she toils to keep her orphaned younger siblings together, counting the days until her 18th birthday when she can become their legal guardian.  The story chronicles her struggles to survive with scarce funds and keep her siblings, their school work, home and run-down car from falling apart – all while avoiding the government social services inspector, who threatens to split the siblings up into separate foster homes.

The orphans secretly take care of themselves, while keeping up the appearance that an adult relative is helping them.  Some of the children’s names might be Maggie or Jenny and one of the brothers may have gotten into trouble.  The run-down car they use might be an old van, and the teen girl may have a befriended a young man who assists with auto repairs.

It’s possible the book’s cover art has a soft pastels/watercolor illustration of the family with a light yellow van parked outside their house on a residential street in England or Ireland.

272B: Magical gift inhibited by silver in braces

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I’m wondering if you might be able to help me track down a book that my SIL vaguely remembers from her childhood. The main character is surrounded by people who have magical gifts, but he (she?) apparently has no gifts. Then he/she gets his/her braces removed, and it turns out that the silver was inhibiting the magic, and he/she actually does have magical powers.

She read it in the mid-80s, and the fact that there were braces in it leads me to believe that it wasn’t written too much earlier than the 70s or 80s.