Category Archives: Picture Book

372D: Going through a day in the city

Children’s picture book from 1960s\1970s Ink drawings (with possibly a pop of one color?) fully covering both pages. Very few words. The detailed drawings followed characters throughout their day in the city (similar to “In the Town All Year Round” by Rotraut Susanne Brener). I remember a girl’s birthday party, a barber shop, and an alligator coming out of a sewer. The book size is tall and thin, (approx 12x 10?). I think it had an orange fabric cover. The book was read in the US in the late 70s, and early 80s, but was likely a hand-me-down from older siblings. Thank you for any leads.

372C: The eye stalk monsters

 I have been looking for years for a book I read years ago.  
I can remember that it was mostly a picture book with lots of monsters that had eye stalks.  but they were all shapes and sizes.  I will include a picture of my badly remembered approximation of some of them.  Some had spots and tentacles. 
I can’t remember the year I read it in but it was around 2000. So it had to be published before then.  It was a comical book not scary, may have had jokes? I don’t remember reading too much, mostly visual.  There was one page where there was a factory and it was broken or not working right and it was oozing slime, or goo everywhere.
It was very colorful, and very unique art style once you see it you don’t forget it, I just wish I could figure out who the artist was
Thank you in advance!

371Z: Keywords: summer, swimming, towels, pink lemonade

I’m trying to remember an illustrated hardcover book probably under 30 pages. If I had to guess I would have read this around 1989 and I’m thinking it was already a few years old at this point but not sure. If I remember correctly it was the story about two boys during summer I would guess set in the 1960’s but don’t quote me on that, reminiscing about the things they did. I remember them drinking pink lemonade with one of the boys grandfathers and walking to either a pool or a beach with rolled up towels under their arms to go swimming. I’m not too sure but I feel like one of them had trouble swimming but can’t remember anymore that that. It was pretty colorful and had a nice art style.

371Y: The colorful mud people, and metallic foil birds

I’m looking for two books for my sister for Christmas. She was born in the mid 70s and they were books that she loved as a child but she doesn’t remember much about either.

1) mud golems or mud people who may be feel drab, and then find paint or color puddles and absorb the colors and become colorful? I’m so sorry I don’t have title or author, and it sounds vague.

2) the second one was a black glossy book for children about starlings? The unique thing about this particular book is it had metallic foil illustrations. She absolutely loved it. If she sends any more details about either book, I’ll pass them along but thank you for such a cool and quirky service.

371W: Doily cut out Valentine’s Day book

I don’t remember it being explicitly about Valentine’s Day, but it was always put out with the children’s books around Valentine’s Day. The art style was very distinct and was doily/paper cut outs. What I remember about the story is that it was about a set of sisters who were princesses. There may have been 12 sisters. I encountered it in the 1980’s in rural Ohio.esssister

371O: Children’s book about boy who writes poems outside on a typewriter

Looking for a children’s picture book we read at our local library about 2-3 years ago about boy (maybe called max) who sells/gives poems out on the sidewalk (maybe at a stand?). Kids pass him on the street and ask for poems. One is about buttons and repeats the word multiple times, like, buttons on your buttons buttons, one is about seashells after a friend is headed to the beach, one is about kittens because someone is giving them away and the last one is a gift for his sister whose birthday it is the next day.

371J: One Morning (Solved!)

I am looking for a children’s book, possibly called “One Morning” or something similar, that my parents read to me sometime between 1993-1997, although it could have been published earlier. I think it was about a businessman getting ready to go to work early in the morning. It had very few words, but I remember the illustration style being pretty distinct. I believe the illustrations were collages, although not as textured as, say, Eric Carle’s work. The page I (think!) I remember most clearly was from the perspective of a person on the street looking at a house very early in the morning, with a backlit window and a cat sitting on the windowsill, maybe peeping out from some venetian blinds or possibly just behind glass. My parents remember the book I’m thinking of and seem to think it had Japanese or Scandinavian roots, or at least design influences, but the book was at very least translated into English. The copy I remember holding was a relatively small, square white hardcover. The overall energy of the book was calm and cozy, but I really can’t remember anything else. Google searches for “one morning children’s book” always return the classic Robert McCloskey “One Morning in Maine,” another favorite but definitely not this mysterious and elusive title! I wish I had more to go on, and I so appreciate any leads!

371H: Girl Loses Doll on Bus Trip (Solved!)

I’m hoping someone can help me find the name, and maybe the author, of a children’s book. It wasn’t very thick, had illustrations, I believe it was published in the 1960s and was aimed at readers ages 6-10. I read it between 1969-1971. 
A young girl was allowed to take a bus trip by herself once school was done for the summer. She may have been visiting her grandmother. She took her doll along. I seem to remember the doll was made of cloth and wore a dress and pinafore. The bus stopped for a rest break, and the girl took the doll with her. She had a chocolate bar at one point and may have bought it during the stop. She got back on the bus but didn’t notice until after it left the rest stop that she left the doll behind. I don’t recall if she got the doll back.
I would appreciate any help finding this book as the memory of it has always stayed with me.

371G: Alien takes a nature walk

An illustrated paperback children’s book that I read circa 1990 in California, a small alien-looking character walks in a lush green forest and maybe sees a quiet deer, a waterfall, and rainbow? The illustrations may be watercolor, jewel tones, and the main/ only character was dressed like a vintage teletubby. The title may have been “Nature Walk.”