Category Archives: 1980s

327S: Snow sweep invited in from the cold for tea (?from Samova)

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This was a children’s picture book that I read in the late 1980s. I cannot recall the book title or story line but I can vividly recall one scene where a man (I think the protagonist) invites different people in for tea – from a Russian teapot I think (samova). Think he uses the line “Come in from the cold”. One of the people he invited in was either a snow sweep or street sweep. Any help would be much appreciated!

327R: Multiple Endings To Fairy Tale

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I’m looking for a multiple ending children’s book that I read in the late 80’s/early 90’s. The book looked new back then. You could make choices to impact the ending of the story, but it was definitely not a “Choose Your Own Adventure” branded book. The book was thin and about the size of a magazine. The illustrations were fairly simplistic. It may have been part of a series. The story was fairy tale-like I and recall a story line about saving a sick prince. I think there was a witch/sorceress who prepared a potion using a jar of blue flowers/petals as a story line choice. This may be a totally mistaken memory, but the book was owned by a cousin and I vaguely remember thinking he got it from another aunt/uncle who bought it/them from an educational toy catalog company like “Discovery Toys.” I have a vague (also possibly incorrect) memory of the catalog company being Canadian. We grew up in Ohio. Would love to locate this book!

327P: Bear Encounter and Romance in the Sierras

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In the 1980s, I read a book about a teen-ish girl whose best friend convinces her to go on a field trip hiking in what I believe were the Sierras. Her best friend backs out at the last minute, and she has to go alone. She is one of the slowest hikers followed by a set of twins, but one day, she is last and encounters a bear. A boy comes back to rescue her, and they end up lost in the mountains together. A little bit of romance ensues! Can anyone remember the title?

Thanks!

327H: Backwoods coming of age?

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I'm looking for a book that I remember from fifth or sixth grade. That means published 1981-83. It was about two kids in the backwoods, maybe the Smokey Mountain area. I think maybe the girl is staying with her grandmother and the boy lives there. He seems to teach her the ways of the back woods. I remember there was skinny-dipping in the book. I think maybe the boy's name was Rusty? And that the author's name was two initials and then a last name.

327E: Missing ice cream every morning, eventually found to be eaten in his sleep (1970s)

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I am looking for a children’s book that I read in the early 1980s. What I remember is that there was a man who lived above an ice-cream shop (I believe he owned the shop) and every morning he woke up to find one flavor (I think it was chocolate chip) completely missing from the store. This went on for a number of days, and somehow in the end it is discovered that the man himself has been walking downstairs in his sleep every night and eating the ice cream without realizing it!

327A: Collection of scary stories from the late 70s or early 80s (Solved!)

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I'm trying to track down a collection of short, scary stories that I read when I was young. I remember a story about a girl with a red cape (I believe her name was Lottie). There was also a story in the book about Sarah Winchester, the heir to the Winchester rifle fortune who continued building a mansion and never stopped construction because a medium told her she'd die if she stopped. I know it's a long shot, but I'd love to be able to find this book again.

326Z: Magical Land Emits Personalized Alluring Scents

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I read this book in middle school between 1998-2000 and checked the book out from my school library. It was probably published in the late 80’s or 90’s. It was from the fantasy genre and included a magical land that the young female main character found by following a trail that brought her to a waterfall with a hidden entrance. Once she was in the magical land, there was some kind of dangerous landmark that lured people by emitting a pleasant scent that specifically appealed to each individual. For the main character I think it was a warm scent like cinnamon/honey/nuts/vanilla. I think this book may have also featured a relationship between the main character and her grandmother. Please help!

326W: A Raven, A Boy And A Mosquito

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I am looking for a book that I believe is a children’s book, published in the 1970’s or 1980’s.  It has a dark green cover (pine color) and has a raven on the cover.  It has a God-centered theme.  Includes a boy and a mosquito.  The cover may also have red on it.  This is all according to my son who was born in 1980 and is recalling what details he can.

Thank you for your help.

326S: Book about a disabled girl who laughed but didn’t talk (Solved!)

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I read this book in the late 70’s or early 80s. It popped into my head today; I don’t know why, and now I feel driven to reread it, but again, I don’t know why. The cover was an outdoor scene — a grassy field with some blurred figures, hard to make out. The novel was about a girl who lived in a hospital or an institution. She was physically disabled (wheelchair) and also did not talk. However, she did laugh at least once, and it seemed that she may have had a sense of irony that others didn’t recognize. The point of view was, I think, from her brother, who was visiting her. There was something disturbing about the story, but I can’t remember what it was. The only other thing I remember is that she had a unique name. This may also have been the name of the book. It had a T and an I in it – Tig? Twig? Twich? THANK YOU!

 

326P: Mechanical Illustrations From The Future

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I was born in 1977, and remember a picture book with lots of detailed illustrations including cross sections of spaceships and people on conveyor belts being fed via mechanical arms from ceiling (I remember a woman tilting her head back to receive a giant claw full of salad). Also, a kind of altered lawn tractor that did everything, including cutting all the flowers off with a reciprocating hedge trimmer attachment. I thought I may be confusing this with “Little Monster Goes to Work”, which i also loved, but having recently looked through the latter, realized it is a different book. Please help!