Category Archives: 1980s

357P: Schizophrenic Lady M.D.

Book written in 1950’s, 60’s I think. But remotely possible published as late as 70’s, 80’s.  Autobiography (?) by woman (maybe named “Diane”, not sure…?) who suffered schizophrenia (I think, or some sort of mental illness) and became an M.D. despite this.

Probably a U.S. book, but not sure.  English language, anyway.

357G: The Little Old Lady (Solved!)

This might actually be in the title of the book. It may have been published in the 70s or before but definitely not later than the early 80s. I believe it was a book of children's poems about an old lady and one of them was "There was an old lady who wanted to ski, she wouldn't take lessons - it's easy said she! She tried and she tried but she just couldn't go. Nobody told her she had to have snow."

356S: Unicorn in Tapestry Comes to Life

I’m looking to find a book from my childhood, and have now been through hundreds of internet pages. Hoping you might have a lead! All I remember really is:

- illustrated color paperback picture book, probably c. Late ‘60s- late ‘90s

- story about a group of siblings moving into or visiting a castle? Maybe just an old house with a tower

- a unicorn from a tapestry comes to life, and he is white with a beard. The children bring him down out of the tapestry.

Things I’m not sure of but seem familiar:

-something about a yellow bedroom

- maybe an illustration with one of the children looking behind the tapestry

Thank you! The Magic Tree house has a story with some similar elements, but that’s not quite it.

356O: 80s Children’s picture book with animal protagonists and moral lessons including the danger of electricity and getting lost

I read a children’s picture book in the mid to late 80s in the US that was about moral lessons/behaving. Sorry, can’t remember what the cover looked like. There’s probably like 10 stories including: 1. A young hippo waits too long on a train to use the bathroom and poops his pants. An older animal tells him if he pays attention to his tummy and uses the toilet, the other animals will want to spend time with him. 2. A mother tells her young child (sorry, forget what type of animal it is) that electricity is dangerous and warns against putting things in the electrical outlets. A monkey encourages the child to stick a knife or fork in the socket and the child says no, so the monkey does it himself — book shows monkey getting electrocuted. 3. A panda or bear goes walking and ends up getting lost even though his mom warned him against it. The police end up getting involved. 4. There’s also a story about behaving for the babysitter when your parents go out and/or a story about how to behave when you get a new sibling. There’s no humans in the book and the illustrations are cartoony, not super realistic.

356K: Dead Bird Virus causes Zombie Like Creatures

I am looking for a book, possibly teen horror fiction that I read back between 1980-1983. The premise was a girl living with aunt/mom in a coastal town when a virus hits. She notices dead birds around the town and people start disappearing. The virus causes the infected to seek out the dark and they pass the virus by holding the person down and breathing into their mouth. Her family and friends become infected and she is left with a bunch of teen survivors who slowly get picked off. She ends up in an old house with a boy. I can’t remember the ending.