A little boy offers to help his neighbor take care of their houseplants while they’re away, and as each day passes the plants grow and grow, until they’ve filled up the house and are spilling out the windows and doors. I would have seen it as a child in school or at the library in the early 80s, but the book may be from earlier. I believe hardcover, with color illustrations ( I want to say ink and/or colored pencil?) I’ve always been fascinated by plants and this book was my favorite!
Category Archives: 1970s
227D: Girl embarrassed by weird family (Solved)
A book from the 1970s, I think. I read it in the late 80s or early 90s. It centers on a teenage girl whose name *might* have been Margaret or Marguerite – not quite sure though. Her parents were super weird, and I think her family was kind of weird too. Her dad I think was kind of bald on top but grew out his hair on the back and sides. I think there may have been very brief black and white sketches too. Weird things I can remember that they did: sing opera in the back yard, have mattresses for furniture instead of real furniture, they also did a backwards progressive dinner one night (where they ate desert first and worked backwards to the appetizers) and brought home some kind of shrimp appetizers for the kids to eat, which was great for the kids because they had accidentally burned the pizza they ordered in the oven because the left it in the cardboard box and almost started a fire. I think she eventually learned to accept the quirkiness. Also, I think her siblings were kind of weird too and that she considered herself the only “normal” one. I don’t think it’s “Mom, You’re Fired,” nor do I think it’s “Me and Fat Glenda.” Neither of those descriptions seem to match. Thanks!
226H: Short story collection
It was definitely published before 1994, possibly published in the 70s/80s.
It was a collection of short stories printed in paperback, my copy was missing the from and back and the first page that normally lists the title and publishing info.
Each story was like 5-10 pages with some detailed black and white drawings on occasional pages.
There were 5 or 6 short stories in it but it’s possible there were some from the front or back missing since I received the book used.
There’s two stories I remember.
One was about a girl who became obsessed with bubble gum trying to blow the biggest bubble ever and she blew one as big as herself and it popped and she got covered in gum.
The other one was about a boy who wished he was invisible so he could sneak out of the house and join the circus.
226D: Mystery with underwater tunnel
Read this in late 70s from school library, was old book. Paperback in landscape orientation, man looks for clues, crawls through tunnel under lake to island and lighthouse(?). Think it was a ghost?
226C: A story within a story (Solved)
When I was in grade school, late 1970s/early 1980s, I read a book in which a girl was in a mansion-type house that had a library. In that library was a window seat where she would sit and read a diary. The main story was the diary.
226B: Parade Delays Dinner With Friend
The book I am trying to find was one of my favorites in the mid 1980s – not sure when it was published. The entire book is illustrated in an interesting way – every page is sort of sepia/black and white. The plot: a boy who is invited over to his friend’s house for dinner, but when he arrives at her house, no one is home. He sits on her stoop feeling sure that the friend doesn’t like him anymore. Later, the friend and her mother come home, and the friend tells the boy an incredible story about why they were so delayed. She tells him they were stuck in a parade – and I seem to remember something about a truck spilling molasses or some other gooey substance all over the street at the parade. The boy thinks the friend is lying, but the next morning he realizes she was telling the truth because it’s in the newspaper. The girl’s name MIGHT be Emily and the boy’s name MIGHT be Horace (these names could be wrong).
226A: Picture book of toys
It is a children’s hard page book. I had it in 1987. The lines that I can remember are:
Look at all of baby’s toys!
Big ones and little ones
Shiny toys and cuddly toys
Some to push and some to pull
Toot Toot! Here comes the truck.
Choo choo! Here comes the train
Ok – that’s all I got. 🙂 I know this is a long shot. It was my daughter’s favorite book – and she just had my first granddaughter. It would be such a great treat if I could find this book!
Thank you!
225D: Girl experiences loss and self exploration in New England
Adolescent book from 1980s: Girl and her lovely sister move to New England; the sister gets cancer and dies. They meet and interact with all kinds of characters, including a pregnant couple they think is not really married and a photographer. At the end of the book, she goes to an exhibit called Faces of New England and sees her own face among the portraits submitted by the photographer friend, and sees herself in a new way. Beautifully written, a book that stayed with me a long time as a teenager.
Thanks for your help!
225B: Unicorn picture book, black and white drawings, no text (Solved)
Unicorn picture book, black and white drawings, no text
My kindergarten library had this book in 1985, and it did not look new. It was a red hardcover that was much thicker than other children’s books. I think the title included the word “horse” or “unicorn.” The story was about a little girl who finds and then hides a white long-legged foal that develops wings and a horn, but there was no text; the entire story was told in detail with lovely black and white pencil or charcoal illustrations. I remember it being relatively sad, with the unicorn flying away/escaping in the end.
I wish I remembered more! I’ve checked my kindergarten’s digital library catalog with no success, as well as other online catalogs, but there are so many unicorn and horse books out there!
Thank you!
224I: Cross country adventure
A book that my 6th grade teacher read to my class back in 1978-79. It was about a family – I think they were on vacation – and the kids were separated/lost their parents. The kids began a journey traveling across the country – the thing I remember the most is that they slept in stores/maybe shopping malls…
Thank you for your help – I have been looking for years!