Category Archives: 1980s

354J: Children’s book about woman who thinks her daily routine doesn’t matter

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I used to read a book to the children I took care of and I believe it was their father’s book growing up, so I believe it’s at least 40 years old? Maybe older. It was about a woman who lived in an apartment alone and had the same routine every day. The only specific thing I can remember is that she let her tea kettle boil for 1 or 2 minutes before she took it off the stove. She also maybe listened to the radio and opened the window? She doesn’t think her life has any impact on anyone so one day she doesn’t do her routine and many people show up at her door to tell her how their day was thrown off because she didn’t do the things she normally did (ie a neighbour would wake up to the sound of her boiling kettle etc). I think the title of the book had the main character’s name in it?

354G: Children’s Book Featuring Cute Characters Including Green Monster

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I do not remember title but remember characters and some details from this book. It was a children’s book I loved reading when I was little and I was born in 1983.

I vividly remember what the characters looked like in illustrations - adorable soft illustrations. The characters had big eyes (not Precious Moments but similar in cuteness factor).

The book I want had a little girl with dark hair (black or brown) and had red poppies, plus a cute green monster that I think liked to eat cookies but I feel had a Loch Ness monster type feel and maybe lived in a lake.

I’ve done searches trying to find the cover of the book but haven’t seen what I’m looking for. Hope you guys can help me.

354D: YA mystery on a farmhouse/orchard? with a secret passage part of the underground railroad

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It may have been published in 1980s/early 1990s, maybe on a Scholastic list, set in the 1800s, a boy visits his ?aunt/uncle one summer, on a farm or apple orchard in New England (maybe Pennsylvania). There is a secret passage used for the underground railroad that is discovered by the boy in the house he is staying at, near the end of the book, when someone is hidden there. Someone may have gotten shot near the end of the book. Boy felt aunt/uncle he was staying with were strict and had a strained relationship with them until their aid to this person near the end of the book changes this. Can't recall the title, but it was long-ish. Cover may have had farmhouse/farm landscape.

354B: Crocus Walk

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This children’s book is about a mother and daughter who take a walk outside and look at different things on their walk. In particular, I remember that they looked at crocuses. The book was a large hardback book with a matte white cover. The illustrations were pastel colored, maybe using colored pencils. I remember that in at least one illustration the mother and daughter were holding hands. It was probably written around 1985 or a bit earlier, because I remember reading it with my mother when I was five or so. That’s all I can remember. Hopefully there are enough clues!

354A: Dog who can drive and lives in a mansion

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When I was young (likely about 5-9 in 1987-1991) my mom would often read me a hardcover kids book about a dog who wanted to live like a human. He could drive a car and he lived in a mansion.

The cover was a turquoise-shade and on the cover was the dog and the mansion he lived in. It was the size and shape of a Doctor Seuss book and about a similar number of pages.

Likely relevant: we lived in Nova Scotia, Canada and the book was in English.

353W: Hoaxes and Frauds Collection for Kids

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I am looking for a book I got in a school book order around 1978-1983, either Scholastic or the other one (Troll, was it?) It was a collection of short accounts of historical hoaxes, like the Piltdown Man, the Cardiff Giant, the War of the Worlds radio broadcast, the New York Sun reports of life on the moon — I think it even had Howard Hughes’s autobiography. I have searched library catalogs and Ebay for “Hoaxes and Frauds,” but I see a book that is far too recent for me to have bought it in elementary school.

353R: Paintings With Riddles (Solved!)

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Seeking an illustrated children's book (probably paintings) with a slew of riddles on one page and an accompanying painting containing the answers to those riddles. Likely published late 70s or 80s, no later. Somewhere in the book is a picture of a Raven and some thread. The last illustration features a horse. Not Animalia, but possibly inspired by it. Book is on the larger side, dimensionally. Thank you.

353P: YA Novel About Mysterious Man With the Circus

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The book I would love to find again is a young-adult novel about a mysterious man that comes to a town with a carnival or circus. I know it sounds like Something Wicked This Way Comes, but it’s not. It is actually so similar to that plot, that it’s pretty much a ripoff. I don’t remember anything else about the book except that the cover was creepy and dark, possibly with a chalk-like drawing on it. I read this one probably around 1987 or 1988. It was a hardcover book and pretty long, at least for me at the time.

353K: Satiric/ironic book on how to succeed in college (pub. in 1980s or 90s?)

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I am searching for a trade paperback that was published in the 1980s or ’90s (?), possibly written by university students, on how to succeed in college.
Somewhere in the book there may be a section or a chapter titled something like, “If I go to college, do I have to learn anything?” Also, there may be a line advising people to “Be yourself, but if no one likes who you are, I don’t know what to tell you.”
It’s possible that National Lampoon or another college humor society put the book out.

353H: Young Singing Boy Dies As Old Man Under Tree

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I am trying to find a book I received as a child in the early 1980s.
The book had a white cover and was the story of a young boy who grew up with the talent of singing. It chronicles his life and then ends with him dying as an old man under a tree a believe…a place that is often referred to in the book I think.
The illustrations are all stick figures.
I believe the story was inspired by Elvis and their may have been a dedication to him or something in the book.
I would really love to find a copy and remember this book since I can’t find my copy.