Category Archives: Status

121E: Magic Carnival in the Sky

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I am looking for a book my Grandmother had when I was a child. It was a children’s chapter book published in the 80s or early 90s, and was likely something she got either through a book club or at a yard sale. It seemed like it was intended to be part of a series, though I don’t know if any other volumes were ever published. The book was about a pair of siblings (I believe it was a brother and sister, though it could have been two sisters), who were attending summer camp. They were either not getting along with each other, or not enjoying camp and were unhappy. In the middle of the night, another brother and sister appear and invite them to come with them to a magic carnival. They ride a canoe up a moonbeam to the carnival in the sky somewhere. There they see all sorts of incredible characters and shows. There is an octopus running a game booth. And at the end there is a dolphin race where the children ride the dolphins and one of the siblings wins (their earlier angst may have been a result of one of them losing a race at camp??). Over the course of their adventures, the siblings mend their differences and at the end are returned to camp ready to enjoy the rest of their summer. Something about the book, either a summary in the back or something on the back cover, implied that there would be other books where different kids who were having problems would be taken to the carnival to sort them out. I have been searching for info on this book for years and any help would be much appreciated!

 

121B: Boy Runs Away with Pig (solved)

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In the late 1980’s when I was in high school we were assigned to read this book, it’s possible that it was a few years earlier in middle school. There was a young Asian boy, I remember him being Chinese or Vietnamese but he may have been Japanese because I also remember him talking about wanting a lot of “yen”. I remember it because I don’t think I ever really heard of yen before that book. Another thing I first heard of in this book was rice paddies, I don’t remember if he was running away from work on a rice paddy or if he passed by some on his journey.

I’m not sure he was running away at all he may have been on a quest of some sort, it may be that he was wanting to sell something the get money for some reason because I seem to remember he had a destination in mind.

Also, I remember a pig. I thought he had a pig with him or met a pig along the way that followed him but my mother read the book also and she doesn’t remember a pig. She doesn’t remember any more than I do about the book, all she knows is that I liked it so much I gave it to her to read. I’ve thought about this book several times over the years trying to remember it and I’ve looked all over the internet for it and I’ve asked people about it with no luck. I’m hoping it was on a lot of high school or middle school reading list and you will be able to help me.

 

120A: Girl with Real Golden Hair (solved)

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In the early 1970s, as a kid, I came across an extraordinary cloth-bound picture book: The story of a girl from another planet–a girl whose hair is made of actual gold. She is befriended by a young Earth boy who learns her secret, and tries to help her get away from bad guys who want to lock her up and harvest her hair.
The illustrations were photographs (or else very photo-realistic drawings).
I was fascinated by this little sci-fi tale. Years later I went back looking for it, and it was long gone.
I suspect it was not a new book even in the early 70s. It had the wear and tear of something that had been in circulation for years.
I would be grateful and astonished if you can find a title and author for this book!

 

119C: Boy with ESP

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I am trying to find a book that I loved as a grade schooler.

It’s about a boy who lives in the country or on a farm.  He finds out he can read dog’s minds.  There is a big dog who communicates in black and white and a little dog who communicates in color.

I have part of the title, but not all

It’s      J. —–‘s ESP.

 

119B: Highway Wants a Vacation Too (solved)

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I am looking for one of my childhood favorites from the 80s possibly 90s. It’s a picture book about a highway that always takes a family to the city (I think) for their summer vacation. One summer the highway decides to take them to the beach because the highway wants a vacation. The pictures that stand out in my mind are of a road twisting and turning, bumping a family to the beach. The road ends up in the waves of the ocean at a crowded beach. I feel like the title is something like Highway 101 Goes to the Ocean.

 

119A: Time Traveling Children (solved)

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From the 80s/early 90s? This kid (cant remember of it was a boy or girl…possibly siblings) would somehow time travel back to when their parents were his/her age, the 1950s I think. They would wake up in a house where the owners were away so they could stay there while back in time.  It was winter.

 

118L: Ghost boy, lake setting, island playhouse (Solved!)

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I have been searching for this book for years.  It captured my imagination during childhood, and I must have read it at some point in the 1980’s – may well have been published well before that.  I am sure I have some details wrong, but the plot involves a child coming to visit a large home near a lake for the summer, with an older woman as the guardian for the summer.  This woman had years ago lost her own child, her son, who I believe drowned in the lake.  The details I remember more clearly involve a special lake island playhouse that she built especially for her son – the playhouse had its own furniture, dishes, silverware, etc.  This special playhouse and island was off limits now that the son was dead, and the woman did not want to talk about him.  I believe the dead son’s name could have been Trelawney, or something like that.  The child now visiting for the summer sneaks to explore the world of the island and the playhouse, and falls into some sort of danger.  The ghost boy (? Trelawney) helps save the day.  For some reason I am thinking the word “green” may be in the title, but that could be wrong.  Please help!!  Thank you!