Category Archives: 1980s

345A: Geometric Mood Diary (Solved!)

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I have been searching for a book for a few years now without much success. I read it between the ages of 7-10 (I am 43), it was a chapter book in a diary format, the cover was black and white (maybe speckled?) and each diary entry had some sort of drawing — I want to say a geometric pattern to describe the mood of the entry. That is all i remember, besides the fact that I loved the book and continually checked it out from the 79th street public library in NYC.

344Y: Parable Book From the 70’s or 80’s

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I remember this book being popular (I think) in the 70s/80s. I think I read it or looked thru it when I was around 7/8 (1980/81). I think the main character was a boy who went on a journey to different towns.


I feel like it was a parable of some kind.
And I want to say Heidi was involved...or maybe that was just another parable book in my house.


Do you have any clue of what I am talking about?
It’s driving me crazy.

 

344S: Boy with a Magic Pencil?

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I recall a young adult chapter book from my youth (late 1970s-early 1980s) about a boy with a magic pencil. It is used like a regular pencil, but it might have been blue lead. Like a regular pencil, it needs to be sharpened, and gets slightly smaller each time. I can’t recall the things he made or did with it. Some dramatic emergency with the last bit of pencil.  Apologies but that’s all I remember.

344Q: Fruit and Vegetable Creations to Entice Reluctant Child

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I am looking for a children’s book from the 1980s/90s era about a young boy left at home with a babysitter. He hates eating anything healthy and complains about the sitter wanting him to eat apples, carrots, etc until she shows him that you can make it fun and create animals and other creatures with the fruits and veggies. The back of the book had photos and instructions for making your own creations.

344L: Brother and Sister Run Amuck Through Restaurant

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My book Stumper is a children’s book that I predict comes from the 90s (even 80s maybe). I had it read to me everyday when I was a kid (I’m 22 now).

I have no idea what it’s called, but the cover depicts night time (Navy blue) with a restaurant illustration! I remember the book being rather large and rectangle (long). To give you a visualization, it sort of resembles Van Gogh's “Cafe Terrace at Night” painting!

The book follows a brother and a sister who run amuck through the restaurant - they run through the chefs kitchen and hide under the tables. They also do a lot of magic tricks. I vividly remember a white rabbit in a hat and the extending handkerchiefs!

The girl has black hair in a short haircut, and I can’t remember what the brother looks like.

I suspect that it’s not a popular childrens book as I’ve looked at countless lists and it’s never been there!

If you can find this book, I will be beyond happy. I have literally been searching for it for YEARS!

343U: Foiled By a Tricky Sock

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A friend and I remember a book from childhood and cannot find it. We are both in our mid 30s.
The book illustration is the most memorable one. A character has a sock, and is using said sock to collect and hold bright primary colored marbles or candy, but there is an unraveling and/or hole near the toe of the sock and the things are trickling out along the way.

343L: Boyfriend Sleeps in Snow on Cold Night to Prove Love (Solved!)

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I have searching for this book for a while. It is something I read in middle school. I’m 36 years old. The book was about a high school girl that was dating her brother’s best friend. It takes place in a state in the US where it snows and some or all of the book takes place during winter. I remember there was a window seat where she drank hot chocolate and looked out and saw him in the front yard. There was also a scene where they got into a fight and to prove himself to her he built himself a place to sleep in the snow in her front yard. I remember the Mom remarking that it was cold out there. Unfortunately I don’t remember the title or author or names of the main characters but I remember the book being well written and very age appropriate for middle school and early high school. I hope you can figure it out!! I would love to grab a copy for my home library. Thank you!

343K: Jojo the Monkey

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I am trying to track down a children’s book I had growing up in the late 70s/early 80s. It was a hardcover book (I think it was green) and it was entitled something like “The Adventures of Jojo.” The book had a lot of illustrations and featured a little monkey called Jojo. i used to LOVE the book, but can’t seem to find any info anywhere. Please help.

343G: Rhyming Alphabet Book

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Searching for the alphabet book I had as a child in the late 80s/early 90s in Ohio. There’s no overarching theme for the entire book, other than alphabet. Each letter had a couplet as a sentence, so the book has a rhyming rhythm when read out loud. For example “C is for cookie, would you like a bite?” A few of the letters that I can recall are listed below. The book was printed in color.
A is for airplane, up in the sky
B is for bridge
C is for cookie, would you like a bite
E is for egret
J is for jumping bean
N is for nightingale
T is for taffy
Z is for zeppelin