Category Archives: Status

112H: a boy and girl held captive in a dark forest/cave

2 Replies

In our small-town library, sometime between 1956 and 1959, I becamse fascinated by a large-format story book with darkly forbidding (Gothic!!) illustrations (maybe engravings, or duo-tone illustrations). I believe the story was about a girl and boy (sister and brother?) who were either lost or held captive by ___?? in a forest or a cave or some outlandish place. They were obliged (I think) to do manual labor of some kind — carrying something (ore?) or digging for something. I recall that it was a book my grandmother would not let me take out of the library on her card! I was only a beginning (but precocious) reader at the time (age 7, approximately), so cannot recall the title or the names of the characters, etc. But the words “forbidden” “hidden” “forest” “treasure” “lost” all seem likely terms to be associated with this book. I would LOVE to find it, read it, and solve this mystery before I die!!!

112F: Children’s Outdoor How-To Book

1 Reply

Children’s Outdoor How-To Book

I remember a book about a boy (possibly with his brother) and a group of friends who built all sorts of outdoor things to defend their farm & woods against a rival group of neighborhood kids.  The book alternated between the story and very detailed instructions & plans how to build the items.  

The few items I remember they built were a tree platform, a sailboat & slingshots (I think). 

The ending culminated with an apple-throwing battle and boy and his friends being victorious from all the items they had built.  

Book was paperback with black and white illustrations.  It was a rather large book and I the copy I had (lost to time) was in the mid-to-late 70’s

112C: Time Traveling Door

1 Reply

The protagonist is a girl who finds a key. The key unlocks some sort of door that allows her to time travel. She uses this door to meet important historical figures, one of which being Henry the 8th.

I know it isn’t much to go by, but I have a possible lead on a book titled “Henry the Eighth’s Hat”.

112B: Girl Befriends Boy Who Is Ultimately Murdered

2 Replies

I must have read this book when I was in 3rd-5th grade, so it would have to be published prior to 1980. Parts of the plot I can recall is a young girl goes away from home, I think she goes to the south or was from the south, and she was probably 10-12 years old, meets a boy that is a little older than she is, and she befriends him, but he ultimately gets killed by some mean boys who drag him to his death with a car I believe. I think it takes place over the summer, because I don’t recall any school parts.

112A, solved: Girl’s father falls in love with witch, girl tries to prove/stop it

3 Replies

I read a paperback book from my junior high school library in 1989. It’s about a girl and her father meets a pretty woman who has a son or daughter too (can’t remember who moved into the area or how they meet). The youngsters become friends. The father falls in love with the woman, but the girl gets suspicious of her – she notices that the woman is a bit strange. She discovers photos of her looking exactly the same in past decades. She finds out the woman is a witch and does not age, the witch’s son or daughter doesn’t either.  The witch had been dating, marrying, and killing the husbands after a few years because they see that the woman and kid stay young. The girl tries to prove to her father that he is in danger and tries to stop him from marrying her. I think the book is set in either the south or in New England, I remember fog and time playing a role in the story.

111B: Princess and Peasant Girl Swap Places

4 Replies

A princess and a peasant girl swap places. The princess is lonely, and hates being made to embroider (she embroiders tiny frogs and snakes in a corner of the canvas) or to dress up and go and see the countess with her mother. The peasant girl comes from a large noisy family and rarely gets any attention or nice clothes. They meet and swap places. The peasant girl can embroider beautifully and asks if she may have a new dress and visit the countess much to her unknowing mother’s delight. The princess loves having dirt between her bare feet, finding frogs and sitting up to the table with a noisy family.
They end up staying in their new roles.

This book was probably produced around the 1989-1990.
It had beautiful whimsical illustrations and I think, a red cover.

111A: Honey Farm

4 Replies

Children’s picture book definitely pre-2000 and probably earlier. Young girl lives on a honey farm, possibly w/ her grandmother. Girl has to get honey from cellar but is scared by “monster” who is maybe a man w/ hat and trenchcoat. He may be chased by bees at the end. Soft, pastel-like illustrations.