Category Archives: Picture Book

304Q: Rainbows and Dinosaurs

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The book was a children’s book from the 1980’s that had something to do with rainbows and dinosaurs. Each page had a different dinosaur of a different color. The text would be something like the “the green dinosaur play in the grass”. I’m not sure if that is an actual quote from the book but it gives an example. The only sentence I do remember is “the black dinosaur waits for the dawn.” I learned to read by memorizing this book and then later recognizing the words and letters. I would like to find this book for my toddler son. Please let me know if you can help.

304N: Christmas Toy Shop

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I’m having a hard time locating a picture book from my childhood (I was born in 1987.) I’m about to have my first child, and I’d love to have this book to share at the holidays.

The book takes place (I’m almost certain) at Christmas time in a toy shop. The shopkeeper closes the shop to take a holiday break and the toys come to life. They may or may not decorate the shop. I’m pretty sure that tin soldiers and gifts of candy are featured. I can’t remember if they are trying to do something nice for the shopkeeper (toy maker?) because he always fixes them when they are broken?

I don’t think Santa features in, nor do the toys make gifts for the less fortunate (as in one book I found.)

I grew up in Indiana, but spent some time when I was very young living in Australia, so there is a chance the book came from there. I don’t remember anything Australian about it, but thought it was worth mentioning.

Any ideas?

 

303M: Who Owns the Sun (not by Chbosky; much younger)

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In 1974, aged 4, I repeatedly traced the letters of the book which I recall was entitled Who Owns the Sun?

I have since looked for it and only ever found Chbosky’s Who Owns the Sun online; that is not the book I’m seeking.

In the book I remember, it was thin and paperback with color drawings. The illustrations may have been watercolors but my memory isn’t certain.

The storyline: a chick hatches from its egg on a farm. Once out of the egg, the chick goes from farm animal to farm animal asking “who owns the sun?”

Each farm animal’s response is somewhat unique but amounts to “I don’t know,” or “it isn’t known.” The chick does not learn who owns the sun by the end of the story.

303J: All For Nothing?

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They had this picture book at my preschool in the mid-’80s, though it may have been published earlier. It was about a boy who got into all sorts of trouble “for nothing,” as he described it. Escapades included putting water in the gas tank of the car and chopping down the family Christmas tree (“Sometimes they even spank me for nothing!”). The story ended with something like, “Oh well…in the end I guess it’s all ok.” The illustrations were large, simple, and goofy, almost like kids’ drawings; I remember the characters had big mitt-like hands and line-drawn smiles and frowns.

303H: Frogs in a bike race in France?

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This was a children’s book/ picture book I remember from my first grade teacher’s classroom in 1979. There was either a bike race happening, like the Tour de France, or the characters were using bikes in pursuit of or running away from something, and one of the characters was a tall and kind of lanky frog (wearing a beret or newsboy cap). He was dressed kind of like a Provencal country gentleman. He ended up going through underground tunnels (or sewers) either to escape or catch up. I remember artwork showing the frog climbing out through a manhole. This has bugged me for years and no one seems to have any idea of what I’m talking about.

303A: Animal friends eat sweets

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I’m looking for a children’s book I recall from the late 60’s to early 70’s. The character, possibly a bear, and his friends were surrounding a cake that was sitting on a log, if I remember correctly, on one of the pages.  Every time I see a Boston Cream Pie I think of the book because of the icing, I believe.  I think the cake got knocked to the ground and got sand or dirt on it. The character may have also tried to get too many cookies from the cookie jar and gotten his hand stuck, but that could be another book that just blends with the other memory. I received this book along with Hansel and Gretel as a child of maybe 4 or 5 years old. I’ve often wondered what it was. Any help would be appreciated.

302Z: A flower pot for a hat?

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Vintage children’s picture book about mixed up (hillbilly?) family that drives a crazy car, lives in a goofy house, wears funny clothing (a flower pot for a hat?), and paints their farm animals (pig? goat? cow? chicken?) funny colors. The son’s name is something like Oscar Idis Nooney and the other family members (father, mother, daughter) have similar names. It has to be vintage 40s or early 50s. No idea about the title but it was a favorite of my father’s. He was born in 1941.

 

302T: Hansel and Gretel accordion book

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Looking for a book we had when we were small, so no later than 1990.  Probably much older, though.  It was a Hansel and Gretel story, told in pictures, I believe.  I don’t think there were words.  It was an accordion book, so card stock or heavier.  It was pastel tones, I believe, probably watercolor.  I remember Hansel having crazy curly blonde hair that stuck out every which way, and them having plump cheeks. The book was probably about 3 inches square, very small. Hope you can help!