Category Archives: Status

361H: Children’s book about a magic carpet ride

I’m trying to remember the title of a children’s book I read in the mid-1960s (which I believe came out around that time, but I can’t be sure). It was about a little boy who rode a magic carpet around the world. He touched down in different countries and would learn a little bit about each place. It was a magical book for me as a child and wish I could remember more details!

361G: YA historical novel heroine Margaret Plantagenet of York, later Margaret Pole

Young Adult historical novel about the childhood/teenage years of Margaret Plantagenet of York, who later became Margaret Pole, and her brother Ned (Edward, Duke of Warwick), at the end of the War of the Roses and beginning of the Tudor period.  It starts in the court of her uncle, Edward IV, after her father (George, Duke of Clarence) has been executed for treason, and ends with her brother’s execution and her romance with Reginald Pole.  My memory is that the heroine is known as Meggy or Peggy. I probably read this in the early 60s, but it might have been written in the 30s, 40s or 50s. I thought the author might be Elizabeth Janet Gray, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Margaret C. Leighton, or Elizabeth George Speare but can’t find anything that seems to match this story among their titles.

361F: Was Magical Prudence Really There At All?

Looking for a young adult book involving a skinny girl with long dark hair named Prudence who is possibly befriended by main girl character. At first I thought they were sisters but not sure. She might have mysteriously moved in to empty town haunted house. Don’t remember her having mother or if did was absent or witch. Remember big hill and snow with kids being out of school – Prudence might have made it magically snow to get them as friends/stop picking on her. Then think she just up and left one day and it was wondered if she was actually ever there at all. Don’t know if she was school aged/ever went to school

361E: Boy lives in lighthouse, has AI companion, fights elemental monsters (Solved!)

This is a children’s series
Boy lives in lighthouse with an AI companion who designs all-terrain ships/vehicles. Boy uses advanced technology mods to fight elemental monsters. There was a secret base underneath, and the main character fights elemental monsters that occur beyond the borders of human habitation. the areas are separated into the prime elements such as water, earth, air and fire along with mixed elements such as mud and lava.
My son was reading this at school in 2010/2011 and waiting for new publications at this time. He has confirmed that it is not ’The Edge’ series or ‘Monsters of the Earth’.

361C: African folktales children’s book

I am looking for a book from my childhood and I’m hoping you can help me. It is a children’s book of short stories/folktales/fables, all of which were set in Africa. Each story was different and had different characters. It was written in English, but all of the characters had African names. I think there were around 20 different stories.

It was a large, hardcover book, maybe 15-18 inches tall by 8-10 inches wide. The cover definitely had orange on it. I think it also had brown and dark green. I also am pretty sure that there were vertical stripes on the cover. I think the book had around 80-100 pages, but that number could be way off.

My mom read it to me in the mid to late 1990s, and it was probably purchased from a Scholastic book fair, Barnes and Noble, or Borders.

361B: Trilogy With People That Absorb Magic Power (Solved!)

This is a high fantasy trilogy that I read in the early 90’s where the magic system had a very unique requirement that required a person that was sensitive to magic power, who would dedicate his life not to casting/making magic but only with the ability to absorb the magic power around him like a battery and then was able to give that power to an actual mage that could then use it to make magic.  The mage would be useless without having access to this other person who would feed them magic power.

Also by the third book the magical world gets invaded by a world/reality that has modern technology like tanks and guns.

361A: Amazing Looking Witch

I am looking for what I think was a weekly reader or Scholastic book from late 70s or 80s. It was a Halloween book with a witch. I actually can’t remember a ton about the story but the graphics were amazing. The witch would fly on her broom and there is a distinct image of her in front of the full moon about halfway through the book. I would love to share with my kids!

360Z: Elephant looking for a kite

I am looking for a children’s book that was a lift-a-flap book. I read it in the 80s. I think the main character was an elephant and he was looking for a his missing kite in his house. He sees small glimpses of things that look like the tail if the kite but when he looks under the flap it’s something different. He looks under a pink bed skirt and to find it was the tail of a toy wind up mouse. He opens a closet but it was a cord to a vacuum. I think I also remember a toy chest and behind a curtain where he looks. I believe there is another book with the same character and I remember a picnic basket full of colorful berries.

360Y: “Lead us to you Sarah!” or “Keep knocking Sarah!”

I read the book in the late ’90s? I had to have been in the 5th grade. I read a lot of paranormal books around that time! The book itself might have been a collection of ghost stories.  I don’t think it was “Stories to Tell in the Dark,” but I could be wrong.  All I know is that this particular story stuck with me for over twenty-five years.

A family moves into a house with their daughter. Could be just a single mom. The house was purchased after the woman who lived in it before passed. Soon after they move in the daughter starts having nightmares or is getting sick. She starts to talk about the ghost of a girl.

A medium is eventually called in and he holds a seance. The ghost’s name is Sarah (or Sara) and he asks that she knock to answer questions. Eventually, it is discovered that she is in on the property. With the knocks, she leads them to her resting place. “Keep Knocking Sarah!” or “Lead us to you Sarah!” is shouted by the medium. Her coffin is found behind the wall of the closet or the wall of the girl’s bedroom. Sarah is moved and buried next to her mother.