Category Archives: Solved

275C: Crocodile grabs boy in river (Solved)

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This was a very short story that was read to me when I was a child in the early 80s.

The story was one of many in a collection in one book. My mother seems to think it came from Reader’s Digest.

I believe there are 2 or 3 black boys who are trying to cross a river in Africa when a crocodile came up through the water at one on them. The water was muddy so he couldn’t see it coming. The crocodile grabbed his leg then his arm. The croc had him in a death roll. I forget how he got out of it, but the boy survived to tell the tale.

This story had me on the edge of my bed when my mother read it to me.

275B: Story involved small men riding sparrows (Solved)

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I am looking for a UK children’s book from the 70s/80s. The book was a hard cover and had very detailed illustrations. Almost similar in style to “look and search book.”

The story involved small men (elves) riding sparrows and other woodland animals fighting equally small monsters who were wearing grey uniforms (similar to storm troopers/nazis uniforms) who rode on bats and rats.

 

Thank you,

275A: Using Thinking Cap to get to Imaginary Lands (Solved)

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Three? children are gifted (by a scientist /older man?) magical thinking caps, which increase their capacity to imagine. They use these hats to create/connect to and explore a magical world. I remember the antagonist wanting these hats so that they can free themselves and enter the other world. The children are careful to only go to the land together for safety. The antagonist has an agent that can move in between the worlds, a Slinky/Shadow/Sneaky Cat. This cat convinces the girl to come back alone with him to it’s yarn house. The other two? children go on a rescue mission with the scientist? who has his own hat, but because he is an adult is not able to use is as well as the children.

I read this book with my elementary school class around the time when we transitioned off of picture books to shorter novels, so I would expect this book to either be the latter, or one of those children’s novels with some pictures. It would have been published no later that 1998.

I appreciate any and all help! I will mail a check to you all tomorrow.

274D: Girl with Possible Shepherd (Solved)

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Here’s what I can tell you about the book: It was published in or before 1988; which was when I read it in paperback. It was intended for young adults or children. The story is about a girl who either moves in with a farmer/shepherd and his family or she goes to live with them for an extended period of time (possibly a summer). I think it may be her cousin and his family. While  there she gets into a great deal of mischief. She climbs into the rafters inside the house and is afraid to get down. She tastes fresh milk for the first time while it’s still warm. She learns to ride a horse and won’t get off when they tell her she should and then she’s so sore that she can neither sit nor stand comfortably. There is some sort of celebration she’s to attend – she goes into her room to see lots of colorful skirts laid out for her. She wonders which one she should wear and is told to wear all of the skirts.

 

I genuinely appreciate any help you can give me. My mother and I read this book together and laughed until we cried over parts of this story. I’d love to find it again. 

274C: Children’s Book About Pelicans (Solved)

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I am looking for a hardback book I read to my daughter in the early 90s.  It was about a family who visited a place and the child (boy, I believe) watched for a pelican.  I am fuzzy on the plot, but the most distinctive feature of the book is that every other page was a half sheet vertically, so that the illustration and text would change when turning the half page.  I would love to find this volume and purchase for my grandson.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

274A: Female character called “Thingy” (Solved)

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This is a fantasy book from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.  The story centers around a young girl who is raised as a servant by a witch.  The setting is the swampy area near a river.  Because the witch has told the girl she is ugly, when the girl comes in contact with other people (which is rarely), the girl wears a mask to hide her ugly face.  The witch calls the girl “Thingy.” In the story, the girl accompanies a stranger in a boat on the river.  She is escaping (?) the witch or acting as a guide(?) for the man.  During the journey, the girl learns her true identity and the truth about her appearance.

273A: A thrilling debut (Solved!)

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Looking for a book by a first time author, Harvard grad. Outstanding effort. I believe it was a political or medical thriller. A car (limo or cab) explodes in an assassination attempt but there’s no debris, just vapor or dust. That’s one scene, not sure it’s the actual plot. Late 1990s.

272E: Mr. Apple’s Family (Solved)

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Collection of children’s stories containing Mr. Apple’s Family and also a story about a little girl and a goat who live in a house with a roof made of grass. I think the goat gets into mischief? The edition we had was an orange hardcover.

Additional info:  This was a book at my grandmother’s house, and she is a big second-hand shopper, so I have no idea on original publication date, etc.  I was enjoying this book in 90s, and it was in relatively good condition at that time.  The illustrations were not very colorful, mostly black and white I think with a few splashes of color here and there.  The above stories are the only two I can remember for sure being included in the book, but there may have been one about pancakes(?), and maybe also some poetry.

271D: Scary children’s picture book (Solved!)

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Greetings!

Please help me remember the name of this book.

I guess it must be kind of obscure since I can’t seem to find it on Google. It is not a novel. It had big pages with big illustrations. It’s a children’s “horror” book but horror is a bit much. It more-so just has a creepy, dark tone. It has about one or two sentences per two-page spread. Maybe more. It is also a flip-book (meaning the pages have flaps that flip outward. When you unfold the flaps, the same setting and creatures are portrayed underneath, but this time, you see them without skin I think). It takes place in the wilderness, in some sort of forest. Every two-page spread depicts a new spot, as the book gets progressively deeper into the forest (not just a forest, caves, etc., all part of a bigger, creepy wilderness setting). The narrative describes the setting, and the creatures. There are no reoccurring characters or dialogue besides the minimal narrator. There were creatures in this book that were very odd, dark, small, animal-esque. The book climaxes on the last page where we find a character at the deepest part of this world. The creature is a combination of elements of all the settings we’ve seen. I think the flap reveals a heart inside this creature.

271B: Child meets magical friend from a family of wizards/magic in secret garden (Solved)

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I have been looking for this young adult’s book for some time without success. I can’t remember any words of the title, it was aimed at 10-12 year olds. I read it in around 1990-1995, but it may have been published in the 1970s or 1980s. I’m pretty sure it was a British author, but it may have been American/Canadian. It was a slim paperback and I seem to remember that it came in a boxed set with a 3 or four other books, not necessarily by the same writer, but similar fantasy/magic genre. The story followed a young boy or girl who was staying with a relative somewhere, perhaps on holiday, who one day crawled under a hedge in the neighbourhood and into the garden/grounds of a wealthy and mysterious family, who turn out to be magical (possibly wizards). S/he meets and befriends the young girl who lives there who shows her various magical things but they keep their friendship secret as the other wizards/magical relatives would be angry if they found out she had come in to the garden. The family lives in a large and beautiful house and there is a magical lake in the garden which the two children sail across to an island in the center. They are later placed in danger when someone finds out the child is in the magic garden. I remember this being a wonderful story and would so love to find it! It is not Tom’s Midnight Garden or Timothy and the Witch.