Category Archives: Fantasy

272D: Hero has to choose the true object from a room full of copies

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A black and white illustrated children’s book that I read in the 80’s. At one point the hero has to chose the real object hidden amongst a bunch of duplicates. The object may have been a small knight or castle figurine. The hero solves the riddle by asking the various craftsmen who made the copies which one they think is best. The one left over is the true object.  The craftsmen or makers may have been dwarves or some other type of fantasy creature like an elf.

I recall it being a fantasy type setting, possibly medieval and probably had a typical Hero’s Journey type structure to it. The illustrations seemed to be cross hatched or stippled and I’m pretty sure they were in black and white only. The illustrations were large enough to make me think this was a picture book. The book was probably a hardcover and likely in a landscape format.

 

Hope you can help!

272C: A quest to find trees

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A boy and girl find themselves in a town/city with beautiful windows. The residents ask them to go on a quest to find a type of tree so that they can help the town get rid of ghost/monsters that are only afraid of that certain kind of tree. All the trees around the town/city had been cut down for fuel to make glass windows etc. Only one quirky resident had a small piece of wood from that kind of tree so he was the only one who could “fight” off the ghosts/monsters by touching them with the wood. I think he wore a cape and a yellow/orange outfit… not definite though.  The monsters were formless so I’m not sure if they were called “ghosts.” I forgot why the ghosts/monsters were so troublesome, and when they came out, but there were more than just one of them.

The Children agree to go look for the trees, not sure if one of the children is a resident, and not sure how the protagonist found the town/city. At one point, the children encounter a wizard who squeezes the boy’s hand/foot turning them into gold or some kind of metal.  At another point, they reach a mountain range, but the mountains move like waves so if they sleep on the bottom, they wake at the peak. So at first they were very disheartened as they tried to cross the mountains by scrambling to reach the peaks before getting tired.

I don’t remember anymore plot points because the teacher didn’t finish the book. So I don’t know how it ends. It took her a few sittings (3-4?) to get through the plot points above, so I guess it’s quite a thick book.

I don’t quite remember the design of the book either, but I think it was hard back, with some watercolor drawings? I can’t remember if it was a picture book or a more text-based book because the teacher was the one reading it. I don’t think there was a drawing for every scene though.

272B: Magical gift inhibited by silver in braces

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I’m wondering if you might be able to help me track down a book that my SIL vaguely remembers from her childhood. The main character is surrounded by people who have magical gifts, but he (she?) apparently has no gifts. Then he/she gets his/her braces removed, and it turns out that the silver was inhibiting the magic, and he/she actually does have magical powers.

She read it in the mid-80s, and the fact that there were braces in it leads me to believe that it wasn’t written too much earlier than the 70s or 80s.

 

271B: Child meets magical friend from a family of wizards/magic in secret garden (Solved)

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I have been looking for this young adult’s book for some time without success. I can’t remember any words of the title, it was aimed at 10-12 year olds. I read it in around 1990-1995, but it may have been published in the 1970s or 1980s. I’m pretty sure it was a British author, but it may have been American/Canadian. It was a slim paperback and I seem to remember that it came in a boxed set with a 3 or four other books, not necessarily by the same writer, but similar fantasy/magic genre. The story followed a young boy or girl who was staying with a relative somewhere, perhaps on holiday, who one day crawled under a hedge in the neighbourhood and into the garden/grounds of a wealthy and mysterious family, who turn out to be magical (possibly wizards). S/he meets and befriends the young girl who lives there who shows her various magical things but they keep their friendship secret as the other wizards/magical relatives would be angry if they found out she had come in to the garden. The family lives in a large and beautiful house and there is a magical lake in the garden which the two children sail across to an island in the center. They are later placed in danger when someone finds out the child is in the magic garden. I remember this being a wonderful story and would so love to find it! It is not Tom’s Midnight Garden or Timothy and the Witch.

269E: Greek mythological mash-up

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This was a YA or middle-grade novel that I read in the late ’90s. It was a very loose Greek myth retelling that mashed together many familiar mythological elements into an original plot. Possible characters: Perseus, Medusa, Pan, Echo, Iphigenia. Some or all of it took place on an island which had a network of caves. One of the characters–maybe a plucky young girl–was stranded(?) on the island and encountered someone who became a friend/ally while exploring these caves. I also remember music magically wafting through the caves. Maybe that’s where Pan comes in?

The copy I had was paperback with some blue and purple on the cover. The physical book and style of writing didn’t strike me as “old-fashioned,” so I’m guessing it had been published in the ’80’s or ’90s…but I could be wrong about that.

I’m fairly certain the author was a woman.

Thanks so much for helping me solve this mystery! I remember absolutely loving this book.

264F: Seeking 1970s Dystopian Novella

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Read this in 1993. From what I remember of the paperback cover, it was likely published in the 1970s, but possibly 1980s. A futuristic society records their citizens’ dreams (through their pillows?) and if your number is announced that means your dream will be broadcast to the entire community the next morning. If your dream is somehow controversial or doesn’t fall in line with community standards and teachings, you may be sent for reeducation/punishment. An adolescent/young teenage girl is the narrator. She is super concerned her crush may be revealed in her dreams. It was less than 200 pages. Probably intended for a young adult audience, but couldn’t say for sure.

263F: He slept on a bed of milkweed

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Hi and thank you.  It is a children’s book that my mom read with me in the early 70s.  Its pages are full illustrations with a fair amount of text on each.  It is about an elf or fairy or pixie. . . my mom and I cannot recall anything else except that he goes to bed on a snowy night in a tree or nut on an amazing bed of milkweed.

Any help is appreciated.