Category Archives: Picture Book

364B: Big and Little Mother and Daughter Pair

I am looking for a children’s picture book which I read in the mid 1980s (not sure if it was new at the time) at a public library in Columbus OH.  The story has a mother and daughter that plays on the theme of big and little.
The title is something like ‘When you were little and I was big’ or ‘When I was big and you were little’  – I did find a book with a similar title, but it wasn’t the right one.

Some memorable lines include  – ‘When you were little and I was big I gave you a bath in a teaspoon, and one piece of spaghetti was your whole dinner, and I carried you to school in my pocket’

364A: The bird who got a job

I am looking for a children’s book about a bird/vulture/hornbill that is different than other birds and gets a job. Wears hat and briefcase in the book. I remember hornbill specifically but could be another type of bird. Pictures from the book are abstract kind of, moody/dark different from normal books. May be set in Africa? I think he’s also reading a book on another page.

363Z: Being creates world/people, comes to Earth to visit and forgets he created it all

I am looking for an illustrated children’s book about a being/person/creator/god/maybe child who creates the Earth and people (the people are each unique but also a part of him), he watches them and thinks it looks like fun so decides to come to Earth and join them but then he forgets he created it all. Purchased in the late 1980s, at a metaphysical book store, I believe it was considered a used children’s book. I loaned it out, it never got returned.

363O: A picture book about a house with too many books

I am searching for a picture book I really loved as a child, but neither my mother nor I remember the title. It was published, we think, around 1996 (it was given to me as a gift around then). It was about a house with so many books, they piled up to the ceiling, they used books as furniture, and so on. It is a little like the 1980s book TOO MANY BOOKS, but with a very different aesthetic. More pastel or oil painting style art, full color full page paintings, no white space. There were cats and, we think, two ladies (maybe librarians?) who live in the house. I remember being enchanted and a little creeped out, in terms of vibe. We think it was either 8×8″ or 8×10″. We hope you can find it, because we want to give it to a friend who is expecting a baby! 

363K: Tree Competition

I am looking for a children’s book, possibly from the 80’s, with beautiful illustrations of trees.  The trees are in competition to be king of the trees (?), with each tree arguing why it would be best.  May have an orange tree and an olive tree.  My adult son remembers liking this book and wants to find it now that he has a son. 

363I: Making Red Candles for Winter

I’m a librarian, and here’s how the patron described the book she remembers:
This would have been in the early to mid 90s. I recall a children’s book that described preparation for winter and the most vivid thing I remember was candle making with red berries. I think it was set in New England and possibly discussed pilgrims??
The candle making method was hand dipping these red candles for winter.
Very vivid pictures, deep saturated colors, simple illustrations, not too much detail, more landscape focused.

(Someone has suggested Tomie DePaola’s An Early American Christmas, but that’s not it.)

363E: Girl Cooks Jam With Grandma/Mother

I don’t remember many details, but when I was a child, I had a book about a girl and her mother or her grandma (can’t quite remember). I had the book around 1994 and it didn’t seem very old. It had some text but mostly pictures. The illustrations were very realistic (not cartoon type, etc). The art style reminds me of an old vintage “Pears” ad. The girl wore an old style dress and in parts, a pinny/apron. I think the story was about things the two of them did together, like cooking. On one page, I remember they made strawberry or raspberry jam and put it in jars and cover the top of the jars with cloth. It might have even included the recipe. And on another page, there is a heap of bubbles and within each bubble is a picture of the girl doing things she has done through the book; making the jam, etc.

Very vague. Not sure anyone out there will know what book I’m talking about with so little to go off but worth a try.

363A: Little Match Girl Gets Pennies From Heaven

I have been searching for a children’s book since I saw it in a catalog when I was expecting my second child in 1996.  The story is very similar to the Little Match Girl, but I loved it because instead of dying, pennies literally rain down on the girl and she does not die.  I ran into an employee of a book store several years later and she said she had the book as a child and it was titled “Pennies from Heaven”.  I have not been able to locate this book by the possible title or the description of the story.  Thanks for your help!

362P: Pets Hold Surprise Birthday Party for Woman (Solved!)

I have been looking for a book that was very important to me as a child that I lent to a friend and never was returned. It was about an older woman who lived alone with her pets , basically a picture book, the cover was a nighttime picture I believe of her house from a distance , as she was coming home to her animals , who had made her a birthday party to surprise her. It may have been called something like ‘the birthday party’, but I completely forget. I have been looking for many years for this book. No hits wherever I have searched, have tried all titles I could think of. Anyone? Probably 1950s.