Category Archives: Early Reader

252D: : Children’s Book series from 1980’s

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I remember a series of children’s mystery books from when I was in 1st grade, which would’ve been 1987-1988. Each book in the series had the same color hard cover. The hard cover was thin and maybe glossy. I remember a series having an orange cover, but there was a different series from the same author or publisher that had a different color hard cover.

From my memory, I seem to remember there being a British-ness to the books. Some took place in a city, others in the country.

I remember liking the books and now that I have children, I’d like to read these books to them.

Thanks!
Augustus

248K: Boy and chauffeur search for lost cockatoo

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Standard 32 page color children’s book with illustrations. I believe the boy was sickly. One day his cockatoo (or parrot) flew (or was blown?) out the window, and he and his chauffeur or butler drove all around the country looking for the bird. As they went, parts of the body of their car kept falling off, and they kept having to replace the parts with colorful, non-matching parts. Eventually, I think they found the bird.

247C: A tiny dwarf/gnome who wears a gold ring as a belt (Solved!)

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My sister remembers this from our school library when she was little.  She would have seen this between ~1976-1986.  It was illustrated, a book intended for 10-and-under children.

She remembers there was a character who was very small, a dwarf of gnome-like creature who wore a gold ring intended for a human, as a a belt. I’d love to find it for her and her kids!

231F: Young girl jealous of friend

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This book is from the 1960’s or 1970’s. I remember it from the mid 1970’s. Written for preK-2nd grade. Was even read on Captain Kangaroo. It was illustrated in black and white drawings. The main character had a long ponytail. She was jealous of her best friend. Her best friend had short hair. The 2 girls went to school together, I would guess preschool or kindergarten. The main character’s mother babysat the best friend also. The main character always tried to do what her friend does but it never works out and she makes mistakes. The best friend seems to do everything “perfect.” One page I remember has the girls painting at easels. The best friend has a pretty picture and the main character has a sloppy mess. Can’t remember title or author. Have searched for this book for over 10 years.

231E: Growing Girl with Floral Clothing

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Hi,

I am so excited by the possibility of finding this book remembered so fondly from my childhood!
What I remember is a children’s book (maybe ages 3-7) about a little girl, maybe born as a baby, who grew and grew grew, so fast or so big, that no clothing would do. So (her mother?) dressed her in clothing made of vines and flowers which then grew with her as she grew. Covering her as she got taller and bigger, growing as she grew.

I remember the book being very colorfully illustrated. Flowers, vines, perhaps she had long hair. I think the illustrations may have filled the pages – not been small.

I THINK the book was horizontal, rectangular in shape.

I was a young child in the mid-late 70s.

227I: Told from a doll’s point of view

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I am looking for a children’s book that I read when I was in grade 3 in 1955 in Toronto. C. 1953? American?  It was a small short picture book/easy reader chapters 5.5″x5.5″, black and white illustrations and hardcover.

In the attic, in a trunk there is a doll (old) who wishes that a little girl will find her and play with her. Emily? is playing one day and wanders up to the attic of her house and discovers a small trunk.  I can still feel the hope and excitement of the doll (Henrietta?).  Emily opens the trunk to reveal a beautiful doll with a complete wardrobe of clothes and a parasol.

Thank you so much for searching for this book for me.

p.s. I named my daughter Emily after the little girl in this book!

226J: Robots in a new town

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Robot family moves to a human town – this picture book may be a metaphor for racism. The book is about a family of make-shift robots (I’m not sure if they were actually robots, but they were made out of metal parts and somebody’s arm may have been a broom). The family has a mom, dad, children, and maybe a pet. They move to a new town and are very excited at first, but then their human neighbors and classmates are hesitant to befriend them because they are different. Eventually, people begin to appreciate their unique qualities, and they make friends and settle in. I think this picture book is relatively new – it was the favorite book of a girl that I babysat around 2005. I think it’s appropriate for kids age 6-10, but I also loved it. It was somewhat large and may have had a pale yellow cover, but I forget. I’d really appreciate any help in finding it!

226B: Parade Delays Dinner With Friend

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The book I am trying to find was one of my favorites in the mid 1980s – not sure when it was published. The entire book is illustrated in an interesting way – every page is sort of sepia/black and white. The plot: a boy who is invited over to his friend’s house for dinner, but when he arrives at her house, no one is home. He sits on her stoop feeling sure that the friend doesn’t like him anymore. Later, the friend and her mother come home, and the friend tells the boy an incredible story about why they were so delayed. She tells him they were stuck in a parade – and I seem to remember something about a truck spilling molasses or some other gooey substance all over the street at the parade. The boy thinks the friend is lying, but the next morning he realizes she was telling the truth because it’s in the newspaper. The girl’s name MIGHT be Emily and the boy’s name MIGHT be Horace (these names could be wrong).

223A: Poem about girl eating her first peach (Solved)

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This was a book I had when I was very young. The illustrations had children dressed in early 1900 clothing and it may have been published in that time frame. It was a compilation of stories and poems. One poem was about a little girl eating her first peach. I do remember a line from that poem “I’ve eaten it cloth and all Mama but what shall I do with the bone?” She was referring to the peach pit. Another story in the book was about a little girl who was picking blackberries and could not reach the best ones high in the branches. A gentlemen offers to bend over leaning, on his walking stick and let her stand on his back to reach the berries and she refuses saying she would be to heavy etc. The young man remarks that it would be rude to refuse a kindness and the little girl accepts his offer. There was a picture of this scene in the book of the little girl standing on his back and picking the berries.