Category Archives: 1980s

338T: Non-Traditional Stories of Kings (Solved!)

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I was born in 1984, and I’m guessing I had this book when I was 6-8 years old. It’s a book of collected tales, but most of them were non-traditional stories. The only traditional stories I remember inside is The Emperor and the Nightingale, and Sing a Song of Sixpence. One story was about a king who got tired of living in his castle and decided to search for another place to live, but eventually ends up back at his castle. Another story was about a king whose soldiers were an untidy and lazy lot, always waking up late and showing up dirty and messy. The princess makes bacon and eggs and tells them they can only have breakfast if they clean up.

338Q: Following the Mysterious Red Thread

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The book I want to find is a children’s book. I am guessing it was published between the 1980s and early 1990s. The plot of the story is that these two girls (likely sisters) that are princesses and they find this mysterious red thread in their kingdom or castle. They often repeat “What is it? What is it? What could it be?” as they follow this red thread. Eventually the story ends with them finding where this red thread originated from, it was a large cat playing with a giant roll of red yarn. All pictures are cartoon drawings. I think it was a small hardcover book bound by that gold or silver lining.

338J: A Day at the Beach

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I’m almost certain the title of the book was either “A Day at the Beach” or “Beach Day” or some such thing. It was a children’s picture book that looked like it was from the mid to late 1980s or early 1990s. It was about a group of dogs who spend a day at the beach. They drive a (red?) car to the beach with a beach umbrella, there’s sand in one of the dog’s sandwiches, a crab pinches one of their toes, and then they pack up, shake out the sand from the blanket, and head home. The colours were kind of muted, there weren’t a lot of words per page, but it wasn’t quite on the level  of “See Spot Run” or anything.
Any help or leads would be greatly appreciated!

338I: Kids trapped in house, chased by a mummy and Anubis

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I am looking for a children’s book I read between 1985-1988. Maybe a scholastic book. It had a dark yellow paper back cover. It was a mystery book. It was geared for the 3rd to 5th grade crowd.

It was about a boy and a girl (siblings maybe) that were trapped in a house.  There was a mummy and a statue of Anubis that came alive and chased them around the house. The whole book took place in one night

Please help me. I have been going crazy trying to remember!

338E: “I like Men and I like Dogs”

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I bought a collection of short stories over 20 years ago and lost the book.
Didn’t realize that book meant so much to me.  Was changed by every story.
I only remember the book was by a woman whose last name was Kennedy and it was an award winning collection—and what award I don’t remember.  The author was not a British author, the first name was not Cate and not Louise
SoftCover was electric blue with yellow text.  On the back of the book there was a quote from the opening line of one of the stories: “I like men and I like dogs.”
Have searched all over.
And lastly, this book was written by a direct, frank woman – nothing flowery,

338B: “If Pigs Could Fly”

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I am searching for a book from my childhood.  I believe it is titled “If Pigs Could Fly”, but may be titled “When Pigs Fly”.  It may have been a collection of stories or poems.  The most memorable thing about the book were the illustrations.  Intricate, stunning, and enchanting illustrations … almost magical.  On the cover, there is some sort of kingdom – maybe a castle in the background.  A young girl is riding a pig through the air, but she is only a small part of the cover illustration.
My Inside Self, which I believe is a poem by Rachel Field, is one of the poems I recall.  The illustration is of a little girl, short and portly, standing in front of her mirror dressed as a ballerina.  In her reflection in the mirror she sees a gorgeous, thin, delicate adult ballerina.
My mom thinks a British friend of hers gave us the book, so it’s possible it was a published in the UK (but not certain).
I would guess this book was published between 1987-1995.
I have searched many, many databases and haven’t had luck.  There are many other books with this title.  One even has “funny poems for kids”… the one I’m looking for was more about dreaming big and reaching for the stars — I think!

 

337V: Society that enjoys watercress sandwiches (Solved!)

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I read this book in six grade in the mid-80s.  I think it was a fantasy type story.  This society had once been in contact with humans (or maybe just one human).  He may have come over the mountains on a hot air balloon.


They got a few things confused about humans.  For example, they had a painting of a tree and a diagram of a family tree (genealogy chart).  They called the genealogy chart a picture and the painting of the tree a family tree.  So everyone in this society had a very carefully tended “family tree” in their yard.  Unfortunately, I remember nothing about the actual plot.