Category Archives: 1980s

263E: Summer vacation with a young child’s family

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I can’t recall the title of the book and that’s my problem. It was a children’s novel that was about a summer vacation with a young child’s family. The details I recall is that the story centered around this young boy who was trying to make it to a baseball game in time during this vacation where free bats (or hats?) were given out at this game. He also carried around baseball cards in his back pocket. I know there are stops at hotels and things along the way. It’s from around 1987 to 1992. The cover of the book featured a hand drawn family where a boy was standing out in front of his family wearing a ball cap and tossing a baseball into the air with one hand. His family and their station wagon was featured slightly behind him in the background. If I can just get a title to this book, it would mean a lot.

263A: Old man with mustache tells grandson the story of how his hair turned white (Solved)

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I would have read this book in the early to mid 90’s but I’m not sure if that’s when it was published. I remember that it was shelved with the Halloween books at my local library. An old man who has a white mustache is telling his grandson (may have been multiple grandchildren) about how his hair turned white. In his story he is pictured as a young boy but he still has the mustache, I remember thinking this was hilarious as a child. The gist of the story as far as I remember it is that when he was young he went into a haunted house or witch’s house on Halloween night and when he came out his hair had turned white. I have been wracking my brains for ages trying to remember the title of this book, I would love to read it again. 

262J: Heroes fight a green monster

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Trying to find the name of a kids picture book I used to read.  It was between 1985 to 1995; it was an action book bout a hero or heroes fighting against a green monster.  The only thing I remember about one of the books is the heroes chase the green monster, with two orange tentacles things from his mouth, into the water and the book said “to be continued.”

If you can find what those books are called I’d be so happy.

262H: Friendship and toy soldiers

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I remember reading a book in elementary school (sometime around 1990 – 1995 or so) about a young boy who may or may not have had some kind of disability but had very few or no friends. I think it may have had to do with him making friends with a young girl that was more ‘normal’ but could understand his unique qualities.

The big part of the book that sticks out to me was that he kept having funerals for his imaginary friends and would bury them with a stone or something like that as a symbol of the imaginary friend.   I also think there was a tin box that he kept the stones or his toy soldiers in or something.

Also, it took place in summer (I almost want to think it was called The Summer of the ….. but I know there is a different book called The Summer of the Swans that I might be confusing part of it with), little toy soldiers were possibly a symbol or theme that occurred in the book. And I think the book concluded with the boy having some sort of personal growth and or discovery and no longer having funerals for his imaginary friends. (Maybe because he now can have real friends??)

I even have an image in my mind where the toy soldiers were part of the illustration on the cover of the book, but I am not sure about that.

One more thing, even though it contained a little bit of dark imagery (imaginary friend funerals) I remember the book just felt so atmospheric and beautiful and I was really moved at reading something that produced such subtle emotions in me.

I think there is a scene in the book where the girl is drawing ball point pen tattoos on someone (herself?) him? or I might be mixed up with another thing. Because when we were given a poetry assignment I recreated that scene in our back garden sitting on a stone and wrote a poem with the line ‘drawing ball point pen tattoos in the summer heat’ and my fifth grade teacher got all excited and told me my poetry was really good.

Every few years I have tried to find this book, and I have failed after exhausting attempts over and over again. If anyone can shed light on this and resolve my dilemma of many years, I would be very grateful and very interested in buying the book!

Thank you very much!!

262D: 80’s book. Collection of Fairy Tales, Fables and Nursery Rhymes (Solved)

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I can not remember if the book itself is from the 80’s or if it was a bit older. ( I was given it in the 80’s)   I’m not 100% sure if it had “Mother Goose” in title. It had all the classic fairy tales with illustrations. I know for sure it had Gustave Dore’s illlustration for Cinderella  as well as Walter Crane’s for Beauty and the Beast. These illustrations were the ones I remember being in the book.

pic1 pic2 pic3

 

260D: Brothers trapped by tides meet a dragon

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I am trying to remember the title of a children’s book i read in the early 1990s. It was a short paperback chapter book. The story was about 2 brothers (they may or may not have been truly biological brothers) and they were opposite and did not get along. One was very athletic and the other was nerdy and more brainy. They go on a summer vacation together (grudgingly) to the East coast. I want to say the Maritimes? Somewhere with very high tides. Anyway they go exploring some caves together, but time passes faster than they expected, the tide rises and they are trapped in this cave together. But they find some magical way into a fantasy world. And there are dragons and magic. And the nerdy brother is the one who is more clever and able in this world than the jock brother. And there is a part where i think they have a riddle contest with a Dragon and the nerdy brother outsmarts the dragon. The brothers become friends in the end.

259F: Girl Plants Magic Trees (Solved)

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A picture book that I checked out repeatedly from my elementary school library. No idea of title. I was checking it out 1986-1988ish, and I remember it being newer, so I’d guess printing would be late ’70s-early ’80s. The girl plants different things on one page, and then when you flip the page, the tree has grown from those “seeds.” I specifically remember her planting diamonds/gems and getting a tree covered in necklaces (I remember that tree as a shimmery blue-white). I feel like there was also a hat tree that grew. There were definitely several different ones. I also feel like there was an old man/grandfather character. I think the ending was some moral about planting love and getting a family, but I’m least certain about that.

 

Would love to get this book for my daughters. Many thanks for your help!

 

258F: The Servant’s Quarters

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I’m looking for a book that I read about 15 years ago that was already well aged at the time I read it, probably from the 70s or 80s. It was on a classroom bookshelf in my elementary school. It’s about a girl who I think moves… from the city to the country with her mother for sure, possibly her father has died. She isn’t too pleased about the move but eventually while exploring their new large country house she discovers the servants passage and a room where it appears an old lady used to live, I think. She also likes to play in the apple cellar, befriends someone at school, and there is a not well-liked older fellow who lives in a dark small house who I think may have lived in their house at one point? I may totally wrong on some of these things because I was young when I read it, but I think I’m right.

 

Thanks!