I read this book in the 1980s. There were large pictures on every page. The art was reminiscent of Arthur Rackham or the 1980s movie "Flight of Dragons." The figures could be quite grotesque with pointy ears, grey skin, or warts. The main character is a young girl. At one point she has to cross a wide canyon or chasm on a very thin or invisible string. I believe there is an ogress, troll, or giant that she outwits. The layout of the book was landscape (not portrait) and the cover had a purple border. Any help you could provide finding this book would be greatly appreciated!
Category Archives: 1980s
343A: Fixing Up Old House Leads To A Change Of Mind
342X: Asian Inspired Dragon Picture Book
The dragons were mostly Asian-like in nature but there may have been some Western ones tacked on as well.
342O: 80s/90s book about Asian girl with poor dad
I read this book as a child it was a chapter/easy reader. It was about a Chinese/Japanese girl who lived with a poor (maybe blind) dad. Somehow dad got a bag of rice and she ended up living in the sea with a emperor or water dragon. Title, no clue.
342N: The Magic Pencil (Solved!)
I'm looking for a chapter book that I read when I was ~9 in the early 80s. It's about two kids (boy and girl) who find a magic pencil that changes things to whatever they write. I think they get it from a handyman that uses it to change the length of his ladder, the type of cookies in a box etc. They change their size to 4" and have adventures. I remember a chase with a cat and them visiting a cave of some sort.
342M: Children’s Book – Whale who changes color (Solved!)
I’m racking my brain to remember a favorite childhood book. The premise of the story is a whale who is traveling down a river in the jungle (I think it’s a jungle?) who meets other animals along the way and he is sad that he is not colorful like they are. The other animals help him become colorful by rubbing different colored plants on him. I vaguely recall the cover of the book, but I do remember that it was rectangular in shape. I was born in 1979 and I don’t think this book was published much before or after that. Maybe 1987 at the latest? Does anyone recall coming across this book?
342H: A Moon Boy’s Android Brother
341Z: UFO Light Causes Boy to Grow Third Arm
341T: Jokey the Dog
I'm looking for an elementary textbook from 80s or 90s that had a story about Jokey the Dog, another about a cat that goes to a spa, and small things falling from high places.
341R: Boy in future accidentally falls down garbage chute? (Solved!)
I am looking for a juvenile fiction book, written sometime in the 1980s. The premise is that people of privilege live indoors and never see the sun; the main character is a very haughty, arrogant teenager who lives indoors. A big deal is made about how pale and fat these people are. Somehow he accidentally ends up outside — I feel like he falls down a garbage chute — and ends up finding a village of families who live outside. After a while, he loses his arrogance and begins to enjoy his life outdoors. Eventually he makes his way back to his home, and I distinctly remember people shunning him because he has gotten muscles and a tan. I read it in the fifth or sixth grade, so it would have been aimed at children ages 10-12 or so.
The cover of the book shows the back of a pale bald boy, dressed in robes (they may be purple or blue?), running down a hallway. Thanks for the help!