Category Archives: Status

372Q: 1940s classy children’s anthology

I’m trying to find a much-loved book given to a relative around 1948 (in England, so presumably a UK publisher).

It’s an anthology of stories and poems for children, clearly by someone who loved literature and didn’t want to look down on children or preach to them. It included things like Christina Rossetti’s poem “Goblin Market” and the Chinese folktale “Blue Rose”, and had illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley (obviously not done for the book as he was long dead).

The book is hardback with a leaf-green cover, and fairly large.

372P: Petey and Friends

As a child I would periodically visit my grandparents, in the mid 1960’s. They had a children’s book at their house that I still remember (as does my cousin). If I could find the name, I’d love to get us each a copy for the holidays. 

Children’s chapter book, green cover, we think, but aren’t 100% on that.

Published definitely prior to 1970, more likely in the 1950’s.   The story line was pretty didactic, and that would fit the era. Also, while folks had cars, the vegetable man had a cart.

Generally simple plot: family with several kids move to a new location. The youngest child is named Petey, and he is the main character.  Each chapter basically follows one event in Petey’s life. Chapters I can remember:

** Petey makes friends with the vegetable man who comes into town to sell his veggies. Petey and family are invited to go out into the country to visit the veggie man’s family.  There was some cross-cultural awareness, but I can’t remember what. 

**Christmas is approaching and all the townspeople ask Petey what he wants for Christmas. “Oh, just one of those little cars” (referring to Matchbox cars). Everyone is astounded he wants so little. In the end, everyone in town gets him a little car.

** Bad snowstorm keeps Petey and his siblings indoors. After complaint about nothing to do they all sit and start to create a quilt from leftover fabric. They work all day and succeed in creating quilt.

It wasn’t great literature, but it has sentimental value for us. ☺️

Thank you for any help you can provide! I have been searching for this book for over a decade! 

372O: Vintage children’s photo book – 1960s or earlier

Hello Book Heroes!  The very back of my brain has been tickling me about a book I had as a child, and I’m hoping you can find it for me. 

I don’t recall whether there was any text at all, but I think they were nursery rhymes – what I DO remember is that the illustrations were all photos of miniature items arranged in scenes, perhaps with live baby animals (chicks, kittens, puppies)?  If they weren’t live animals, they would have been perhaps plastic figures, maybe with flocking to make them look fuzzy.

372N: Mystery children’s book

I have been searching quite a long time for a book I remember from my early childhood. I was born in 1964, and I think the book was considered old back then. I believe the illustrations were black and white. The main character was a skinny boy who wore only a loincloth and turban, and there were many sea creature friends in the grotto. I remember the fishes’ eyes seemed rather human-like.

372M: Alliterated Named- Animals

Hi, I’m searching for the name of a series of children’s books I read in the 1960s and 1970s. I don’t remember much about them except that all the characters were animals
and they had alliterated names.  There was a firefly in the books. The coverwas very cute. These books gave me a lifelong love of reading. I was in grade 5 at the time, going to school in Hull, Quebec, Canada. The books were in English. Unfortunately that’s all I remember.

372L: Boy Beaver

The book I’m looking for I read in 1970 – 71.  A fourth grade teacher selected it from the school library for me.  It was a children’s chapter book about a boy who either dreamed or had a vision that he was was a beaver.  It had Native American motifs and all the other characters were also animals. I really don’t remember much more than that.

372K: The Signs Come Alive! (Solved!)

Seeking a short children’s chapter book, some black and white line drawings. Published by the early 1990’s, probably much earlier. Inn signs from around town come alive at night and hang out together. Definitely a rabbit, a mermaid, and either a lion or a tiger. Possibly a unicorn as well. They get stuck in the position they are at when the sun rises, so they must rush back to get to their signs in time. A child notices that they’ve been shifting positions.

372J: Stowaway Samurai

I read it in the late 90s, so it was written before then.  The person that lent the book to me called it a ‘cult classic’.  If I had to guess, I would estimate that it written in late 1960s.
I seem to recall that it involved a Japanese samurai, but he could have been a giant.  It also could have been from China.  They were a stowaway and travelled to USA.  I believe it was San Francisco.  It may have hidden in steamer trunk.
This was not YA.  More of a fantastical book for adults with nice meaning.
I’ve been wondering about this book for about twenty years.

372I: Preteen Thief Gets To Go On Pogo Stick

There’s a book I read around 2004, definitely before 2005. Man travels Europe with his rich girlfriend, they have no real jobs. Her preteen daughter is home from boarding school for the summer so is traveling with them. At the beginning of the book she uses yogurt to soothe a sunburn. Also, he wakes up to the child standing next to the bed asking him to take her on pogo sticks but he refuses. For some reason they have to go visit the child’s grandfather. The child helps the main character plan to steal some art while at the house. He is a little bit bumbling but succeeds at stealing the painting. While they are at the grandfather’s house he has to pretend to be a tutor for the child. There were other people also there, and one was a French (?) woman who flirted with him a lot. At the end of the book the man takes the child on pogo sticks.