Category Archives: Picture Book

314F: Sea Princess and Scuba Diver

I’m looking for help finding an old childhood book – I have a feeling the titled included the words “black monster” or “princess of the sea”), but I know the last I read it was in 1997. It was about a (red?) haired princess who lived by the sea (the cover featured her in a patterned dress standing by the water, with a castle on a cliff behind her). The kingdom is being threatened by a black monster/a sea creature. However after much determination and sleuthing, the princess discovers that it’s only a scuba diver come to visit. At the end, they become friends and she ditches the kingdom to go diving with him. The artwork was very beautiful and almost realistic, but heavily stylized and had so many nice patterns. I’m still depressed my mother donated the book years ago, and it’s been killing me that I still can’t find it! So any help would be appreciated!!

313W: An Old Easter Story

This book has an Easter theme or at least involved rabbits who produced these really ornate Easter eggs; some, or at least one of them, had another world inside it. I recall something about a Grand bunny or master rabbit or similar; but, there also seemed to be some kind of theme where a child escapes their current world into one of the eggs (like a pied piper kind of story).

 

313T: Vehicles of the Future

Early 1980s book I checked out of my local grade school library.  I left that school in 1986/1987 so it would have been published prior to that and it didn’t appear to be brand new when I checked it out.  What I recall:

1980s children’s picture book about future vehicles (in a similar style of Syd Mead). My primary focus of the book was the submarine image as I was obsessed with the ocean at the time.  The submarine appeared to have solar panels on the top of the hull and a raised platform (similar to the control portion of an aircraft carrier) that had the shape of a fin (like sports cars have on the rear) with two risers and a flattened, wing like top.  I believe (but could be mistaken) that there was a helicopter landing pad on the raised platform.

The submarine itself was massive and the front swept back like a manta ray or a shark’s pectoral fins.  The front “fins” had two, large engines (appeared to be similar to jet-intake engines like on a large plane) but obviously for aquatic propulsion.

I have attached a couple images: one is of a sports car tail-fin for reference and the other is a crude drawing of the submarine as I remember it.  Emphasis on the “crude”.

I have been trying in vain to find the book, or at least the image in the book of the submarine.  Hopefully, this will bring an end to my search!  Thank you!

313Q: Calico Cat and Her Kittens Live in a Candy Store

I’m looking for a children’s book that I had received in the early to mid 70s. It was a thin illustrated book about a calico cat that had kittens and lived in a candy store. Those are the details I’m completely sure about.

I’m relatively sure that one of the kittens was white or cream colored. It may have been discolored by dust or soot at one point. The kittens were adopted. I’m pretty sure an old man owned the store and he gave the dirty kitten to a sad little girl who loved him and cleaned off the dirt to discover its beautiful fur.

I’ve been looking for this book for decades.

313E: Pet Alligator’s Balcony Garden

In this children’s book, a pet alligator lives in a penthouse apartment. He wants a garden to be on his balcony. One day, he falls off of the balcony to either get at a plant or a balloon animal. (Somehow, balloon animals are involved. ) He gets stuck in a tree, and his owners frantically search for him. At the end, they buy plants to put on his balcony. Each page was full of intricate details when you examined them closely.

312O: Animals hard at work

Hi! I’m secretly trying to find this book for my husband. He had it as a child and always talks about it. It is a children’s picture book about jobs that people do at night. However, the characters in the book are animals. I think he said there’s a squirrel that’s a garbage man? I could be off, though. I can’t really remember anything more than that. It goes through a handful of night jobs and describes what each of them does. He can’t remember a title or author. Thanks so much for your help!

310B: The Sitting Down Disease

I have searched for an odd book I remember from childhood, with no luck.

I think it was called The Sitting Down Disease, but I am not sure. It was probably for 4 – 8 year olds, kind of silly. I recall a renter living in the attic of the family home and the kid or kids in the family got the sitting down disease, where one can only move about as if sitting in an invisible chair.
Has anyone heard of this? I don’t think I dreamt it…I would love to see it again.

309S: Miguel, The Dirty One

The book I am looking for is/was a children’s book that I loved as a child. I was born in 1955 so I am guessing the book was published in the 1940s or 1950s. I checked it out, with the help of my mother, from the Pittsburg, California Public Library. I think I remember that the cover of the book was red and the illustrations were in black and white.

It was about a little Hispanic boy, Mexican, I think,  who hated to take a bath. His family and village all must convince him to take a bath for some special celebration. I think the name of the book was the boy’s name, maybe Miguel, The Dirty One.