Category Archives: Picture Book

301P: A boy makes a “Dagwood” style sandwich (Solved)

1960s children’s picture book about a boy making a tall, stacked “Dagwood” style sandwich.  The text is minimal – “a little of this, a bit of that, and some bread”. There is a girl (sister?) watching him in amusement. The focus is on the entertaining parade of sandwich ingrediants. The pictures are not full color and are sketchy and “modern” in feel.  As a kid this book made me want to make sandwiches every time I read it!

301L: The Sun is Put to Bed

I’m looking for a beautifully illustrated English language children’s book published in the early eighties or possibly late seventies. It was an important part of my childhood that was sadly lost in a move and I just cannot remember its name (I was 8 when it was lost). We lived in England at the time so I’m guessing it was published there.

The illustration was old-fashioned and in full-colour. I think it was art nouveau or art deco style. The theme of the book was about how the sun is put to bed and the night-time gotten ready for. This was done by illustrating most elements using textile symbols. So, curtains were drawn across a sleepy sun, a backdrop of stars was pulled down, the moon was a button that (I think) was hoisted into position, there was scaffolding erected around the moon so it could be cleaned. A cow and a spoon jumped over the moon at one point.

The book was not long, definitely more of a picture book with most illustrations in blue and white colour ways. The text was poetic and may have rhymed. It was a bedtime story for young children. The paper was thick with a matte finish.

If you could help me find this book I would be so, so, so grateful. It was a childhood gift from my much-loved godmother and I think it about it often.

301K: White Bear a in Blue Dress Goes to a Ball

I’m looking for a children’s picture book that features a white bear – I think her name was Edwina but I am not positive. At some point in the story, she puts on a pale blue satin fancy dress and I think she goes to a ball. I owned this book but can’t find it. I would have purchased it between 1990 and 1993. My daughter (who is now 24) marks this book as one of her earliest memories. She was so enamored with this book that I sewed her a pale blue satin dress to match the one the bear wore in the book and she wore it all the time when she was two or three. I still have the dress but can’t find the book. Her birthday is in October and I’d love to find and purchase a copy of this book if I can find it. Thank you in advance for any help!

301I: Catching Fireflies in a Jar

Looking for a children’s picture book that I read sometime between 1969-1973. The story of a young girl and her brother, or sister, catching fireflies in a jar, on a summer night.

The children’s mother (or grandmother) finds an empty glass jar in the pantry and explains how to catch the magical fireflies (she may have caught fireflies herself, as a child).

I recall the beautiful illustrations for this story, which perfectly portrayed the inky, soft atmosphere of a summer evening, filled with hundreds of glowing fireflies. The night sky was created with dark blues and purples, perhaps in pastel chalk or watercolors.

The children’s hair may have looked silvery in the starlight.

I think the fireflies were only kept in the jar for a short time and then were released into the night air.

301A: The pups get into several cans of paint

Hello! I am so hoping you can help me find an old children's book. Unfortunately I don't have a title....so I know I'm asking a lot.

The description of the book is about two dogs – one big (brown?) dog and one a small (black/multicolored?) dog. The book cover is hardcover, white background with the two dogs on it and several cans of paint. The story is about these two pups getting into several cans of colorful paint, painting paw prints all over the walls (and themselves).

It was my favorite book – I read it over and over as a child. I thought I had saved it but have been unable to find it in my moving boxes from over the years.

Estimated date of the book would be early 1970’s.

300S: It was very geometric (Solved)

Hi there! I was born in 1987. When I was a kid (early nineties) I read this book and I LOVED the illustrations. I’m not sure if it was a modern book at the time or not.
It had lots of bright colors and I think very little white space. I remember lots of orange and pinks, and vividly recall one page where a character is walking up stairs, the stairs and the character are just black silhouettes. I think it was very geometric.
For some reason (and I don’t know if this is right at all) I have it in my head that it’s somehow related to a native people, like Aztec or something.
So, it’s definitely a children’s picture book, brightly colored with silhouettes, and geometric. Possibly to do with Aztec or some other native people.

300P: Travels the world while floating in a bubble

I don’t know the title, but I checked it out from a local library in McAllen, TX about 20 years ago. It is a children’s book with pictures on every page about a small animal (like a hamster or gerbil or mouse?) who travels the world while floating in a bubble. I think the cover was dark blue or purple, and I believe one of the places he went was Paris. I apologize if this isn’t enough detail, but its all I remember. I had it checked out the maximum amount of times and want to own it now for my own kids.

Thanks for your help.

300O: 1970s book about baby brother

I’m looking for a book I had in the 1970s. It was about a little girl who was, I think, called Amy.  She was upset her mother had a new baby brother until it ended up that she was the only one who could make him laugh.  The whole book was in orange and white. Pleas help me find it.  It could have been called something along the lines of

A Brother For Amy

Amy’s New Brother

Amy’s Baby Brother

 

Thank You,

300M: Footprints mar the beauty

I remember a picture book story from when I was little – I was born 1975 – and was about 10 or so, not sure if the book was old or new at that time – I’d estimate being read the story somewhere around 1985

The story is about a young boy, maybe a prince, who wakes up after a fresh snowfall and looks outside to see a field of sparkle-y, glittery snow. He walks out to see the beauty of it all and realizes his footprints mess up the beauty. So he hires more men to carry him on a chair or table. I don’t remember the ending exactly but eventually all the men make the problem worse and so he ends up just walking himself – or something along those lines. Any clue as to the book title?

Thank you for your time!!