Category Archives: 1990s-

369M: Small Cloud Escapes Doom

I’m looking for a children’s teaching/therapy type book. It is a paperback with a blue cover. I’m guessing that it was printed in the 2000s, but I’m not sure.
The book is about a small cloud who is happy with his cloud mom until one day he wants to go exploring on his own. (I feel like the cloud was a boy but I’m not sure.) 
His mom says it’s okay so he goes off and soon runs into a group of cloud children. There’s a ringleader and the other clouds follow him/her and do what s/he says. He thinks they’re fun at first until they go higher and higher in the sky. He gets a funny/bad feeling in his tummy that tells him that this is wrong. He tries to break free from the group of clouds, who are being sucked together by the ringleader into one big dark cloud, but he finds that it’s difficult to get free. The other clouds are laughing at him. Then he draws on all of his strength, shouts “no!” (or something similar) at the clouds and he’s free.
He returns to his mom and tells her all about what happened. She responds by saying that she knew he was strong enough to do what was right (or something like that).
I’ve spent several hours entering different phrases into Google to try to find the book. I hope you have better luck that I’ve had.

369L: Series of animal stories

So there were many books in this series
-one was an animal stealing ribbons and the turtles wax for their bike without asking
-one was all the animals calling a little crow a monster because they thought he looked scary and they found out he was nice in the end
-one where two of the animals were trying to find treasure but get lost and stumble onto the old dogs fishing spot ( I think his name might have been old red or old blue) and he shows them that it’s under the plank because it was his old treasure
-one with a broken wagon
-one where they are playing baseball in the rain
-one where an animal thinks their birthday is forgotten but all the animals are throwing a surprise party
-and one where one of the animals is painting and their pet lady bug is stepping in the paint and making tracks

if i remember correctly each book also had a dvd.

369J: Two Sisters share room with secret alcove or passageway

My daughter is looking for a book that she checked out of the library in the early ’90s. This was probably a middle schoolers book. Two Sisters move with their parents a long drive away from where they previously lived. The first night they have to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. They both want the bedroom that has some sort of alcove or passageway that ( might) lead to the outside. They fight, and one sister climbs out the window (?) and falls and possibly breaks her arm (?) . The story is told from the POV of the younger sister. They possibly have moved to a small town and the house might be a Farmhouse type house or older home.

369H: Murder Mystery in London with clones

I have posted this query on Reddit and on Stack Exchange previously.
This would have been after 1996 – 2005 ish, and I’m pretty sure it was a newly published book.

It starts with a woman who has hallucinations, and runs into an alleyway where she finds a body that looks just like hers that has been murdered. Later on, she finds a beautiful man who says he’s from another parallel universe and seems to think he’s connected with Arthurian legends, i.e. he talks about Merlin, wizards, and so on.

It starts off looking very magical and predictable, with the woman and the handsome man trying to hunt down the murderer. Then it goes somewhere else entirely.

There were seven murders in total at various points around London — they thought that it might be Jack the Ripper based, but it turns out the murders occurred at ritually significant distances around the city, and that Jack the Ripper was actually the last time they tried this, to open a portal between the worlds.

They think that the slimy enemies from another dimension are responsible, and the handsome man calls to Merlyn, his boss, to help out and ensure the slimy enemies don’t get a foothold.

They succeed, but then the woman finds that the slimy enemies are not responsible for the murders.  The handsome stranger turns out to have murdered her clone himself as part of the ritual that would allow his reality to enter hers — she is actually the clone, and the original was murdered. Her confused memories and hallucinations are because she ran off before the stranger could finish creating a convincing replacement and so she still retains some memories of the original.

The handsome stranger is actually a useful idiot that is handsome and dumb precisely because he’s a facade that covers what the traders actually look like (they’re distinctly non-human and not nearly as affable).  He’s a construct.

And there’s the Handsome Stranger’s manager… who appears as a kindly wizard based on Merlin? Again, he turns out to have been orchestrating the entire thing, and the whole “help us save your reality against evil slimy things” turns out to have been a dispute over trading rights to Earth between two equally slimy organizations.

The book ends with humanity establishing trade and goods with the unbound reality and becoming less and less human — strange buildings, humans with gecko like arms and legs living on walls, etc. Very creepy, and very hard to forget.

369F: Nerdy Woman Finds Love on Plane

I’m certain I read this book in late 1999-early 2000. It’s about an erudite middle-aged woman who never had much romance in her life and never received much attention from men. I remember her explaining the one thing she has going for her is that she has stayed fit while other women her age gained weight. She never had a husband or kids. On the plane ride over she meets a man who is kind of bumbling and she doesn’t think would be a good fit for her. The book was probably set in the 90s. I think the man was a handyman. They fall in love when they’re both in London.  If my memory serves, I believe the man dies.

369E: The Naughty Frog (Solved!)

My wife and my mother in law remember a children’s book that they read together in the late 80s or early 90s, long since lost–and they have been searching for it for years to hopefully share with grandkids.
The book has illustrations only, no words, and has a similar illustration style to a “Frog and Toad” book.
The book features a little boy with a pet frog. The boy takes the pet frog out on a boat, and while out on the water to somehow another little frog joins the ride.
The first pet frog is secretly jealous of the newcomer and when the boy is not looking, the first frog kicks the other one off into the water, but then plays innocent.
These covert aggressions continue, and are apparently very funny. But the boy eventually figures it out and scolds the naughty frog.
I look forward to any help that you can give!

369B: Favorite Child Inherits

What I don’t know:
Title, author or any character names Possibly published 2013-2016
What I remember. It is a lot!!


Protagonist drives into a small town where she either grew up or visited her aunt in the summer. She pauses and looks at a house she was always fascinated by and notices that it looks vacant. She learns that the old man who owned it (I think he was either a shut in or a hermit) died and that the house is indeed vacant. She wants to buy it and transform it into a B&B. She learns that the town owns it now as it was taken for unpaid taxes. She tries to buy it and is told by someone at Town Hall that the house isn’t clear for them to sell, but they won’t tell her why,
The editor of the local newspaper has retired. She used to work for him at the paper. He lives at the top of a hill and now runs a wastewater recycling facility. She thinks it’s an odd occupation for him, but he likes it. She tells him about the house and that she snuck a peek at the record the town has about the house and that she learned it has something to do with the man’s will. The retired editor tells her to find the man’s lawyer. She asks how to do that, and he gives her a name and tells her that he is the only lawyer in town. She learns from the lawyer that the man’s will states that he has left behind something valuable that would pay the property taxes and leave an inheritance for only his favorite child. The will says that only his favorite child will know where to find it.
The MC (main character) uses her news reporter skills to track down the siblings. I think there were 4 or 5. As adults, the do not get along at all, but they do all come to the house to search. Each believes that they are the favorite child and will find valuable item. They search their own childhood rooms; they search each other’s rooms. They move paintings on the walls and portraits on the wall going up the stairs in search of a hidden safe. Eventually they search outside the house, maybe in a garage or a barn. They argue constantly. One of the men is a heavy drinker. He is also very mean.
Meanwhile, the MC is running the place like a B&B for the siblings with an older woman (I think her aunt) helping, but the aunt has a bad leg and often has to rest. There is a group of gypsies or nomads in town. They come each year. One of them, a young woman comes to the door looking for a cleaning job, but the aunt (?) tells the MC not to hire any of them because they are not trustworthy, and she can do all the work herself.
After the outdoor search the siblings (and some of them have brought spouses), agree that there is no hidden treasure. They have farewell drinks in the sitting room with the man who is the jerk pouring drinks. One woman passes out with her head hitting the table. The MC (who may have been hiding behind the sofa) thinks that the woman has been poisoned and calls an ambulance. Then she calls the police. The nasty man and the others all go in for questioning while the other woman is taken to the hospital. Eventually they learn that there was no poison, and that the woman had a medical condition. The family is free to leave, which they do.
The MC walks around the house looking for things that need to be cleaned or set right. The sitting room, where the drinks were served, looks tidy but something isn’t quite right. She finally spots it. The rug under the coffee table is askew. Suddenly everything fits into place. She races out of the house to where the gypsies or nomads are set up. Slightly apart from the group is an old van with a dutch door at the side. The door is open and the young woman who came to the house to offer to clean greets her. The MC had hired her to clean without telling her aunt. It comes out that the young woman knew where the valuable item was hidden and took it. She has given it to the gypsies/nomads (I don’t know why). The young woman is in fact the illegitimate daughter of the man who died, and her mother was the man’s doctor who made house calls. The MC runs to the gypsy/nomads’ tents to try to retrieve it as it is her only hope for being able to buy the house. However, the patriarch has died, and his body has already been removed to the crematorium. The remaining people don’t have the item.
The MC leaves a message for the detective who had investigated the possible poisoning and asks him to meet her at the crematorium ASAP as the ceremony is to start shortly. She changes her clothes and hopes that the clan won’t recognize dressed differently and perhaps with a hat on. The ceremony has just begun when she gets there and is happy to see the detective there. As the coffin starts down the conveyor belt it gets stuck. The coffin is oversized and wide as the deceased was obese. There are sparks and the drapery between the coffin and the ceremony area are lit on fire. The fire is quickly put out, but in the confusion the MC sees that one of the clan has recognized her and is trying to escape. The woman is caught and is found to have the treasure. It had been hidden in the coffin and this member of the family had been allowed to view the coffin alone and took it back.
In the end it comes to light (perhaps from a diary) that the man and his doctor had an affair, and the child was his favorite. Somehow all gets fixed, taxes are paid, and MC can buy the house.

368Y: Mouse in Old Lady’s House (Solved!)

Looking for a children’s book I read in the early 2000s. Hardcover story book with illustrations, possibly in watercolor. The book was tan with a dark brown spine, the lettering was gold. The story is about an old lady living her peaceful life, drinking her coffee/tea, eating a slice of spice?/chocolate? cake, and reading her book every night. One night she finds a mouse in her house, who I think ate her cake and chewed her book, which sends her to bed stressed. The next day, she buys a cat to get rid of the mouse, but the cat ends up being too lazy and sleeps all day. Then she gets a dog, but the dog just runs around and makes a mess. Then she gets an owl to hunt the mouse, but it keeps her up all night flying around. Then a snake, and so on. She keeps buying animals to solve the mouse problem until her house is in chaos, but the mouse is still there. The story ends with her getting rid of all the animals and eventually making friends with the mouse and serving it it’s own tiny cup of tea and it’s own tiny slice of cake every night with her and they live happily ever after. I have Googled things like “children’s book old lady mouse in house” and variation of that for hours with no luck. Send help!

368S: 90s Board Book, Mouse Birthday

I am in search of a board book I read in the early 90s, probably somewhere between 1991 and 1998. It was a board book, squarish (maybe 5″x5″?) and about 1-1.5” thick. It was probably intended for pre-K children. I believe the cover was a pale pastel yellow or pale pastel green. There was a vignette on the front with the mouse family I believe. The illustration style was not cartoonish, more similar to Brambly Hedge books, though it was not a Brambly Hedge book.
From what I can recall, in the book a little girl mouse in a white dress is sad because she believes her family has forgotten her birthday, however the family is busy readying a surprise for her. The mother has baked her favorite food, cheesecake, her sister (maybe called Sister Mouse?) has made her a card with a heart drawn on it, her favorite shape, I believe her father carves her a little wooden chair with a heart design in its back, and two other mice siblings are drawing a Happy Birthday banner? The main character mouse I recall as having a large pink nose. 
Other books that have been suggested but are not the book I’m looking for:

-It is not “Happy Birthday, Babymouse!” by Jennifer Holm (though I was certain this was the title of the book, I must be wrong) -It is not from the Angelina Ballerina, Brambly Hedge, or Beatrix Potter series. I am not aware of it being from any series, although it could possibly be a Golden Book? -It is not Happy Birthday, Mouse! by Kate Stone, Little Mouse’s Happy Birthday by Robin Spowart, Mouse’s Birthday by Jane Yolen, or Amanda Mouse and the Birthday Cake by Gyles Brandret.

I adored this book as a child and it was lost when a pipe burst in the basement of my childhood home. I didn’t think it would be difficult to find a copy of it, remembering so many details, but when I searched, “Happy birthday, Baby Mouse!” which I had been certain was the title, I came up with various books that are not the book I’m looking for. 
I would be so incredibly grateful to anyone who can help me find this book.