Category Archives: MG (grades 2-6)

340W: A Children’s Book about Racism in a General Store

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This was a book used to discuss prejudices and racism in 5th grade classrooms in the late 90s. The characters in the book go to a general store and are treated poorly by others in the store. The N word is used many times throughout the book. I recall many Mildred D. Taylor books being used in this curriculum, so this could just be a specific chapter in one of her books, rather than the entire book? Perhaps The Friendship? I recall a specific young character in the book really wanting a piece of hard candy from the general store!

340Y: Hidden Paintings and Blueberries

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I am looking for a children’s mystery book about several siblings who are spending the summer in an old house and find several paintings hidden in the house by a deceased but famous painter. It seems as though their grandmother is with them and they spend time picking blueberries. I thought the name of the book was Blueberry Summer or The Blue Boy but these titles don’t match the book I remember. The book is about 50 -60 years old.

340X: Fun With A Doctor’s Mother And A Quaker Mother

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This book was written for young women, maybe 10 years old, and written in the late 50’s or maybe early 60’s.  For whatever reason, the words How Many Miles to Babylon has always been in my mind, but I know that book and this isn’t it.  The young girl has a doctor who is a hard-working doctor in a hospital, the mother is a “doctor’s wife” — very lively and fun and I think there is a sibling, maybe a little boy.  There is also the woman’s grandfather who I remember as a little stuffy and patrician.  The girl has a friend who is Quaker and has a mother who is a widow, I’m assuming.  They live alone together.  I remember wonderful details.  The Quaker mother makes lunch and asks the girls to set the table and they pick the blue dishes because they look so pretty against the raspberries.  The doctor’s wife mother picks her daughter up and says they are going on a road trip and I think that the sibling will stay with Granny.  Then they drive to the hospital and grab the husband because he needs a road trip!  The mother drives and the father and daughter laugh because she says rude things to the rest of the drivers.  She’s pretty hip.  I remember they stop at a roadside motel with cottages and the mother tells her to wear her bathing slippers in the shower because who knows!  The last thing I remember is lobster.  They have some kind of wonderful lobster.

I think they are in Philadelphia, or maybe Main Line suburban Philadelphia, but the only reason I think that is that the friend is Quaker.  That’s it!  The book I remember as illustrated but maybe it was just my imagination.  Thanks for anything you can find.

340S: Boy meets crows on a chessboard

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Seeking a children's/teen book I read in the 90's, the central character is a boy who went to a pond/lake when he was told not to and developed warts on his hands as a result. These are cured by a magician? in an early scene, a friend of his father maybe? I only remember two more scenes, one in which he remembers trying to pull a wart from his skin, and another in which he dreams? of a giant chessboard. The white pieces are standard king, queen, knights etc, but all of the black pieces are crows. Crows and chess pieces were a recurring image in the book, but I don't remember what purpose they served. Thanks to anyone who helps with this, it's stumped me for years!

340I: Girl Wakes Up Inside Dollhouse (Solved!)

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I read this book in 1995 from a middle school book fair. It was a children’s/young adult book. The cover had an evil doll with brown hair and looked like the doll was bursting through the cover. I remember the main character was a girl probably 10-12 years old. There was something about a dollhouse and waking up inside the dollhouse. Maybe she and her family had just moved to a new house? There was a part where the main character begins to realize she is inside the dollhouse because she finds a wide tooth comb and describes it as very large like someone would use if they had dreadlocks. Why I specifically remember that, no idea. I managed to lose the book over the years but it was a nostalgic favorite of mine. Hopefully you can help.

340H: Quakers, Spelling, and Psalm 46:4

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I have never actually read this book.  I’m looking for a book that my mom read as a child and could never find again.
 
She said it was in her school library, so to be generous, she probably read it sometime between 1964 and 1978.  She didn’t remember if it was new when she read it. 
 
She said it was children’s historical fiction which took place in Cromwell’s England, so 17th century. She was pretty sure it involved either Quakers or Puritans, but she leaned toward Quakers. A running theme through the book was Psalm 46:4, “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.”
 

The main characters were a boy and a girl. At one point they were on the street, although I’m not sure if they were homeless or on the run. My mom said she learned a lot about street children from that time period. The girl apparently was educated enough to know how words should be spelled, but the boy thought words should be spelled however made sense to that particular person.

Sorry, I know this is pretty vague. I hope it’s enough. If anyone has any idea of what the title and author of this book could be, I would appreciate it.

339R: Star Kids

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I’m looking for a book I read in my childhood surrounding a group of girls who each had individual powers/gifts relating to zodiac constellations. They may have been labelled as guardians.

I can remember a part of the book relating to one of the girls who had magic in correlation to the Leo constellation.

I can’t remember the title or cover of the book, I’m just hoping you can find it. I’m 22 and read it when I was roughly 7 or 8, so possibly 2006/7.

Thanks in advance.

339P: A Girl, An English Boy, And Plaits

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Looking for a children's/middle school age book from 1960s about a girl. A boy from England moves in next door. I think the setting is rural/farm community. She likes the way the boy says bath (baahth). For a special occasion she "plaits" her hair more loosely than usual so the plaits will lie flat when she wraps them around her head or pins them up. She leans over kettle/ pot of steam to create tendrils. That's all I can remember. My mom got it for me from the local public library in Chicago.

339K: Mr. Tell-Us-A-Story-Man

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There was a play–I suppose it was a children’s play and I don’t remember the name of it or the author–but the central character was named Mr. Tell-Us-A-Story-Man. I played that character in at least two different productions of the play–at school and at Sunday School when I was in the 3rd and 4th grades–so when I was 9 and 10 years old. I wish I could find that play–google-searching has been no help. I can see the text of the play in its published form, printed on cheap already yellowing paper.

339J: Children’s fantasy from 60s/70s with invisible magician/wizard/enchanter (Solved!)

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I borrowed this book from the library, probably during the 1970s, but it may have been published earlier. My vague memories include: two children, probably a boy and a girl, had magical adventures. There was a friendly witch or female magician and a good but scary male magician who was always invisible. This may have been by choice, and there was a backstory of a romantic relationship with the witch. One of the children was transported by the invisible magician and found it rather frightening but eventually trusted the magician. This was not the main plot!

The book was almost certainly British and would have been a chapter book (not a term used at that time).

Thank you!