Category Archives: Status

342Q: Vintage Picture Book Featuring the Ocean

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Vintage Picture Book (from 50s, 60’s, or 70s), not very thick, stapled, maybe 10 – 12 pages, not a lot of printed text. Watercolor, realistic illustrations

What I remember about the story: A boy spends a lot of time snorkeling, he sees all kinds of fish and turtles, and he finds a shipwreck and a shark shows up (scary) but he escapes and finds a treasure.

I remember the following illustrations:

  1. Sea stars on a sandy ocean floor, the sunlight is shining through the water onto the ocean floor
  2. A sea turtle swims and again the sunlight coming through the water
  3. A two page illustration showing the boy on the left top looking down on the shipwreck, again the light plays through the water

The illustrations were realistic and what stood out was the light portrayed underwater.

 

342N: The Magic Pencil (Solved!)

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I'm looking for a chapter book that I read when I was ~9 in the early 80s. It's about two kids (boy and girl) who find a magic pencil that changes things to whatever they write. I think they get it from a handyman that uses it to change the length of his ladder, the type of cookies in a box etc. They change their size to 4" and have adventures. I remember a chase with a cat and them visiting a cave of some sort.

342M: Children’s Book – Whale who changes color (Solved!)

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I’m racking my brain to remember a favorite childhood book. The premise of the story is a whale who is traveling down a river in the jungle (I think it’s a jungle?) who meets other animals along the way and he is sad that he is not colorful like they are. The other animals help him become colorful by rubbing different colored plants on him. I vaguely recall the cover of the book, but I do remember that it was rectangular in shape. I was born in 1979 and I don’t think this book was published much before or after that. Maybe 1987 at the latest? Does anyone recall coming across this book?

 

342K: White Horse Turns Pink After Eating Strawberries (Solved!)

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As a child in the 1940’s I had a picture book about a white horse who loved strawberries but was allergic to them and turned pink when he ate them.  I do not remember the title or the author, but I do recollect a blue cover with a picture of a white (maybe pink horse).  I’d love to see that book again, or at least learn something about it.

342I: Children playing in a tree

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My brother and I have been searching for a picture book that we were particularly fond of as children. I don’t remember the title but it would have been published in the late 60’s or early 70’s. The story is about a boy (possibly named Keith) who has his father help him built a fort in a large tree in his back yard. Some neighbor children come by to play, and they end up adding their own structures to the tree. I remember one of the friends puts a big wash tub up in the tree and pretends to be an astronaut in a ship. Some girls bring their dolls up in the tree and make a tent with a blanket or some kind of hammock. There’s also a plank that they stand on that is supposed to be a raft? Maybe one of the kids was a pirate? Not sure, but before you know it, all the neighborhood children are playing in the tree. I can still see the illustrations in my mind’s eye and and would recognize it if I saw it. Thanks!

342H: A Moon Boy’s Android Brother

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I am hoping you can help me find a book from my childhood. I think it was from the early 80s to mid 90s. It was about a boy that gets an Android robot for a brother. I think they live on the moon in the future. I think one of them has red hair. I believe it was a kid’s series, I was between 10-14 when I read it. I could be totally wrong on how old it was. I think I read the book in 2000 so it could be 1990s too. But I remember the two kids are climbing a tree in it, and I think they were around 12, and lived in a dome on the moon. Again, not sure about this one. I think there were 2 or 3 books in the series.
Thanks for the help!