Category Archives: Picture Book

225C: A snail called Selina

Picture book. Featuring a snail called Selina (sp?). Was beloved by my grandpa when he was a child – he was born in the late 1930s. He recalls the illustrations as fantastic. Unsure of title or author. Possibly an Australian title. Google searches haven’t turned anything up. Look forward to hearing from you. Can contact me at moo_haha@hotmail.com.

Regards, Sharni

225B: Unicorn picture book, black and white drawings, no text (Solved)

Unicorn picture book, black and white drawings, no text
My kindergarten library had this book in 1985, and it did not look new. It was a red hardcover that was much thicker than other children’s books. I think the title included the word “horse” or “unicorn.” The story was about a little girl who finds and then hides a white long-legged foal that develops wings and a horn, but there was no text; the entire story was told in detail with lovely black and white pencil or charcoal illustrations. I remember it being relatively sad, with the unicorn flying away/escaping in the end.

I wish I remembered more! I’ve checked my kindergarten’s digital library catalog with no success, as well as other online catalogs, but there are so many unicorn and horse books out there!

Thank you!

224C: Sullen Hedgehog

I am trying to find a kids book I used to read to my kids when they were young (15 years ago.. omg). I can’t remember the title, or the author, and all my searching and asking has led me nowhere. So I will ask here just on the outside chance someone knows.

It is the story of a Hedgehog that has awoken in string and is in a bad mood, he goes around talking to all the forest animals before finally feeling better. The refrain he says is “I am a prickly hedgehog, i have just awoken from a long sleep. I am sullen, angry, mean, and moody. Woe betide those who cross my path”
Any help here?

223A: Poem about girl eating her first peach (Solved)

This was a book I had when I was very young. The illustrations had children dressed in early 1900 clothing and it may have been published in that time frame. It was a compilation of stories and poems. One poem was about a little girl eating her first peach. I do remember a line from that poem “I’ve eaten it cloth and all Mama but what shall I do with the bone?” She was referring to the peach pit. Another story in the book was about a little girl who was picking blackberries and could not reach the best ones high in the branches. A gentlemen offers to bend over leaning, on his walking stick and let her stand on his back to reach the berries and she refuses saying she would be to heavy etc. The young man remarks that it would be rude to refuse a kindness and the little girl accepts his offer. There was a picture of this scene in the book of the little girl standing on his back and picking the berries.

221C: Hyppo the Hippo

The book I am seeking was called Hyppo the Hippo. I’m not even sure how it was spelled. We pronounced it with a long I – Hypo?. It was a book very like the Barbar books in shape and had colored illustrations of hippos in human clothes. The baby hippo was left on a doorstep in a wicker wash basket. I imagine it was published in the 40’s

221A: “Solve this picture-mystery” collection of books

I’m not sure whether these were actually children’s/middle-readers books, but I loved them as a kid. Each two-page puzzle had a full black-and-white line-drawing illustration of a mystery on the left page, and a little exposition with leading questions on the right, to help the reader solve the mystery. The mysteries were things like “Who tampered with the paddles before the rowing competition?” and “How did the baby get downstairs in the elevator?” and “Who stole all the chickens from the coop?” I forget whether there were murders to solve too, but most of them were all-ages-friendly puzzles. Each book probably had 20 or 30 mysteries to solve, with answers in the back of the book. It was a series of largish paperback books–I’m pretty sure I had at least two or three of them–and I was reading them in the early-to-mid ’90s. Thank you!

220E: Lady Dragon Transforms into Princess (Solved)

This was a children’s illistrated book about a lady dragon who was in love with a knight but all he tried to do was vanquish her. She went to the wizard who made a potion (a raspberry fizz maybe?) that turned her into a human princess. I think there was a bit about how her scales turned into a carriage but I could very well be wrong. She met her prince but it turned out he was kinda lame and boastful and not what she imagined. However, it turned out that HE was actually a dragon too who was turned into a human and he was much better as a dragon so the wizard made the potion again and they all lived happily ever after as dragons. I think the last illustration was them drinking fizzy soda together through straws out of the same glass.