Category Archives: Solved

356C: Five Arabian mares and their boys (Solved!)

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This was a slim hardcover in my elementary school library, so it was likely published in the early 60s. It is a retelling of the Arabian breed origin story, Al Khamsa, which has five friends set out to capture and tame five wild mares. They become the five foundation lines of Arabians when they are the only mares to heed the battle trumpets. The story focuses on the boy who tames the chestnut mare, even though he desperately wanted the white mare. The chestnut ends up having a white foal.

355U: Metiek Survives Holocaust (Solved!)

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I don’t even remember how old I was when I read it. I’m thinking in the late 60’s or early 70’s. It was a paperback. A young boy nicknamed Metiek (I think) gets separated from his family during the Holocaust. I think, not completely sure, it was Warsaw Poland. He gets captured and thrown on a train to one of the concentration camps. He escapes the train and ends up back in Warsaw (?) on the streets and becomes very street wise. Later he is able to make it to New York City where some relatives are located, and ends up working in the garment district. He becomes successful, marries, she is an actress. They build a nice home, she goes on a vegetarian diet in order to get pregnant, is successful and they have several kids. They (wife and kids) die in a house fire. Metiek (don’t remember his real name) is alone. True Story, his biography. It had pictures in it.

355R: Sloth Smuggled Into Apartment Given Bath (Solved!)

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The book I’m looking for was one I read when I was about 10-12, in the late 1970s. It was about a girl who somehow ended up smuggling a sloth into her home (apartment in a city, I think?). The only scene I specifically remember is her giving it a bath and how filthy the tub was at the end of the process. It wasn’t a children’s picture book, that much I do know. And it’s possible it was a short story but I swear I remember it being a chapter book.
I hope you can help, as this has been driving me nuts for years!

355M: Messy kid, their stuff gets fed up and leaves (Solved!)

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I am looking for a children’s picture book I remember about a kid (can’t remember if male or female) who was so messy that all his stuff got up and left. I believe his toys left. His bed was tired of being unmade, so it walked out. I think eventually the whole house left. That’s about all I remember!

It was likely around in the 1980s or perhaps 1990s in the US. I hope you can help me, it’s driving me nuts! Thank you!

355H: YA book with puffins and an island (Solved!)

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I read a book in the late 70s or early 80s.  I think it was a 60s/early 70s book, but that’s little more than a guess.
A few years later a children’s section librarian helped me find the book again and she knew exactly what I was talking about.  Whether that speaks to the popularity of the book, or the quality of the librarian I don’t know.  🙂
The story is a number of children having adventures on an island while their parents are busy.  Researchers I think?
Puffins are involved somehow, and I THINK that is part of the name, although whether it’s the name of the book or the island I’m not sure.
They get to the island via seaplane and I think there was a seaplane on the cover.
There were at least 2 books, maybe more.
Not much, I know.  🙂
It’s funny how strong the memory of loving the book is, yet so few details remain.

355F: Looking for old children’s chapter book about a squirrel (Solved!)

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When I was a child, this would have been sometime between 1990-1995, I borrowed a fiction chapter book twice from my local library that I cannot remember the title of. At the time, the book was old, but I was a kid so it may not have been THAT old. I think it may have been written sometime around the 1950s-70s. It was a story about a boy who takes care of a squirrel. I think that there was a red squirrel on the cover, and the title of the book may have been the name of the squirrel but I’m not certain. I think the book had a bittersweet ending with the squirrel going back to live in the wild. I’ve not been able to find it on a google search so perhaps you can help!

355E: Young Boy Begins Broadcasting Career (Solved!)

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One of my favorite children’s books, from the late 1950’s or early 60’s.
I thought that the title was “T.V.Jones” … but the only thing I found was a 60’s cartoon by that name.
This was the story of a young boy who gets a job in a Television station … and his beginning a career in broadcasting.
Certainly not a big seller, and not really well written … but it spoke to me as a young boy,  and it started my interest in communications.

355C: Silly Goose Forgets to Invite Friends to Party (Solved!)

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I’m delighted by this site and have a book that I’d enjoy seeing again. When I was in kindergarten in 1955, my favorite story was of a goose who decides to have a party for her friends. She cleans her house, and cooks and bakes up a storm. But no one shows up! Then she hears her friends chattering outside at the bus stop and learns that she forgot to invite them. They come in and enjoy her feast, so all ends well.

Obviously, this was a long time ago, so I don’t remember the name. Any one have a clue?