Category Archives: Status

361R: Portal Fantasy Novel for Kids

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I’m trying to find a book that I read when I was in elementary school.  Unfortunately, I don’t recall many helpful details about the book—including its title and author—but I do remember loving the book and recommending it to a non-reading friend who also loved it.  I would very much like to find it so that I can buy it for my daughter.

The following is all I can remember about the book:

–It is a portal fantasy novel about a boy and possibly also a girl who somehow enter another world in order to help save a troubled kingdom or land (not very unique, I know).

–The plot involves a castle, mountains, wolves, and a race against time.  Magical/mystical talking(?) wolves play a role in the book, from what I remember.  I believe they were either the antagonists or the servants of the antagonist.

–From what I remember of the cover, it has a white border or partial border around it with a colorful collage of images from the book against a dark background.  I believe that a castle, mountains, and wolves were all present in this cover collage.

–I checked out the book from my elementary school library when I was in either third or fourth grade, but I believe the target audience of the book is late elementary readers (4th to 6th grade?).

–I read this book in the mid-1980s (between 1983 and 1985?), so it was published prior to that.

–I do not think that it was recent publication at that time, though it wasn’t a very old book either.  My guess is that it was published between 1950 and 1985—probably in the 1970s.

–It is a fairly long chapter book (perhaps 200 to 300 pgs?).

–The copy I checked out from my library had a small trim size, but was fairly thick with small type.

–It was written and published in English, probably either from the U.S. or England.

–It is a stand-alone novel, not part of a longer series.

–I do not believe it is a well-known or famous book.  I have not, for example, run across it on lists of best fantasy novels of the 20th century.

–The title is strange, or, at the very least, not particularly appealing to an elementary school reader because I remember telling my non-reading friend to read it despite the odd title.

–I think the title might have the words in it like “nowhere,” “other,” “land,” or “world.”

–The letter “O” also stands out in my memory as an important part of the title.

361Q: Pig Not as Knowledgeable About Human Objects as He Appears (Solved!)

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I’m looking for a book that I can’t remember the title, author, or illustrator of. I believe it was a collection of children’s stories with different contributors. I know for sure that one of the stories involved a group of animals finding a pencil. They’re all very confused by the pencil, so they take it to their friend the pig, who they believe is very knowledgeable about human matters because he wears a suit jacket and maybe a hat. But he puts the pencil on his snout, and is eventually corrected about the true use of the pencil by another animal who writes with it instead.
This collection or another in the series may have also involved two animal friends meeting for lunch, and one of the animals having a robot that serves them lunch. The robot malfunctions and keeps saying “More lunch!” and serving food that they can’t eat.
If I had to guess, I’d say it was published probably somewhere between 1980-2000.

361O: Underwater explorers meet advanced dolphin society (Solved!)

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This was a children’s fantasy book from the 1990s for older children about a group of human explorers on a submarine or other exploring vehicle who become wrecked in underwater caverns with lush vegetation and waterfalls which are inhabited by an advanced society of intelligent dolphin people with three fingered hands instead of flippers. In one memorable scene, a dolphin doctor works with octopi on his hands to perform a delicate medical procedure. It had a bit of a “Journey to the Center of the Earth” vibe and plotline. The cover of the book had an image of people and dolphins against a lush jungle and water backdrop, maybe with a submarine on it too.

This was a wide format, 30-50 page hardcover children’s fantasy book illustrated with full-page and full-color realistic style acrylic or oil paintings. The book was in the exact same dimensions, thickness, and rectangular format as the original hardcover Dinotopia books, and purchased around the same time in the 1990s. However, it does not appear to be by Dinotopia author James Gurney – instead someone else creating a book in the same style and perhaps for the original publisher, Turner Publishing?

Edit: Oh gosh, with a bit more sleuthing I actually solved this one myself! In case anyone else ever asks, the solution was The Secret Oceans by Betty Ballantine, as noted in the description “in the tradition of Dinotopia”

361K: Four Girls at the Beach

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Looking for a book about 4 girls spending summer at beach, they each have different color tote bags, one swims in the sound and I think almost drowns, one bakes muffins with granulated sugar on top. I think it was published between 2000-2010, it’s a middle school/YA book with chapters.
 
I have tried to find it everywhere. It’s not a Sarah Dessen novel, but I’m pretty sure the author is a woman. I want to say it’s between 150-200 pages, but I could be off. It’s been a while since I read it. I really appreciate your all’s help!

361J: Tree telephone pole book

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I have a children’s book I’d like to find. This is a story about a tree that gets cut down and shipped off and then reappropriated as a telephone pole. As it turns out, the tree still had some roots in it, so it ends up growing and flourishing again as a telephone pole. I had it read to me in the early 90s, but the actual book may be older than that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

361I: Colorful Girl Spooks Monsters in Haunted House

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I wonder if you can help me find a book!

Here’s what I can recall:
– A children’s book with a cover that, I believe, featured a pretty girl in a bright pink dress, cool 60’s cat-eye sunglasses, and perhaps a head scarf to cover her blond hair, driving a convertible into what looks like a dark tunnel in a mountain.
– I want to say the main character’s name is Lydia but I’m not certain
– She ends up in a dark, spooky house and freaks out the people? monsters? living there because of all of her bright colors
– She doesn’t seem scared of any of the spooky details, and she tries to turn their house into a nicer place with bright colors
– It’s not a spooky book, it’s silly and light, probably designed for readers in the 6-10 years age range?
– Based on the way she was dressed I’d say it was set in the late-60s but can’t be sure that that’s when it was written. The colors felt more 80s or 90s to me (lots of hot pinks and neon greens).