Category Archives: Solved

245E: A girl, a witch and a cat (Solved)

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I read this book in the 70s or 80s. It was titled something like “The girl, the witch, and the cat” or something. I really only remember that the title had a list of 2 or 3 things and said witch. It is not the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. I believe there were 3 books in the series. It was about a girl around 12? who befriends a kooky old lady who turns out to be a good witch. The 2 become very close, like family. I believe the girl is an only child. There may also be an old warlock who is friends with the old lady. One part i remember is there is an old friend of the lady who tries to kill or put a spell on her. This results in the girl having to drive the old lady’s car to help save her. When she looks in the rear-view mirror she sees glowing eyes in the backseat; knows this is the bad lady. Somehow it all turns out good. It seems there may also be magical items such as a bowl, a phoenix, the cat, etc. Though I may be mixing those up with another beloved lost story.

245B: Picture books – haunted house & ship that grows legs (Solved)

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“I’m looking for a series of picture books, at least I think it was a series, I know there were at least two. I read them both in the mid-late 90s. The first one was about a haunted house or hotel and each double page spread showed a cross-section of the building with the inhabitants of each room visible. As you moved through the book the story within each room progressed and the characters moved from room to room and the stories spilled into each other. By the very last double page spread I remember all hell had broken loose and the building was (I think) starting to collapse.
The second book was a similar concept except it was set on a steamboat carrying passengers on the sea. Again, you could see all the ship’s passengers. I remember that at some point a magic potion was accidentally spilled into the ship’s boiler and the ship grew legs and started to walk on land.
I think the books were wordless.
Any help is much appreciated.

244E: A family journeys home (Solved)

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I’m looking for a children’s book that was primarily illustrations, but had some text as well. I remember the title as “The Drive Home” or “The Journey Home” or something of the sort, but Google isn’t particularly helpful for those queries. The story was about a family traveling home after going some place – I don’t recall if they were visiting family or what, but they began in the countryside and gradually passed through the city as they got closer to their home.

I remember one of the scenes being them going past a wedding, and another where they passed a strawberry field. (One of the kids asks if they can pick strawberries and the parent says “Maybe another time.”) I believe they also passed a party or festival in the city at one point, and the story concludes with one of the parents saying something along the lines of “It’s been a good drive home.”

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

244D: Synesthesia girl defeats corrupt Dystopian government (Solved)

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Probably 10 years ago, I read a young adult book that I cannot remember the title or author of. I also cannot remember the names of the characters. However, I can recall nearly the whole plot.

The main character is a girl who lives in a community that has rebuilt after the devastating sound wars. To avoid another sound war, they no longer sing or make music. They also all wear masks that they receive as young adults, to stay unified. Before they get their masks, they color a coat according to their ability by humming into a machine. The girl, however, does not seem to have a talent. She can see sounds as colors, but does not realize this is a talent, she just assumes everyone can do it. The girl is told that she will have another year to find her talent, but then she gets in trouble for sneaking in to watch the masking ceremony. She ends up having to work as a maid because of this. Then she does something else wrong and, to keep from being punished, she ends up running away outside the walls of her community. She finds a group of people who live outside the walls, and they teach her the true history of how the sound wars happened. The girl realizes that the people who are controlling her old community were the bad guys. She returns to save everyone, has an epic battle, and ends up using her gift to eventually conquer the corrupt rulers and free her people.

244A: UK Children’s Mystery (Solved)

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Looking for a UK children’s mystery novel published 1960-1970. Plot revolves around policeman stumped by robberies in which getaway vehicle is Morris Minor/Mini that always disappears. Case solved when officer notices (autistic?) boy who copies down all vehicle registration plate numbers while sitting on overpass daily, and from lists finds that ambulance always goes past shortly after robbery. Turns out the Morris is small enough to fit into ambulance. Officer risks job by insisting on searching every ambulance in vicinity after next robbery, and finds getaway car inside ambulance. Black and white sketch illustrations; probably library binding. Originally found in elementary school library in Southern California before 1974.

243I: Isle of Capri (Solved)

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Children’s fantasy book from the 50s, 60s or 70s, something about “the Isle of Capri”. I think the cover was basic – black and white, or dark green and white. Perhaps there was a butler and a big house…there was some sort of magic going on, I think. The Isle of Capri might have been spelled “Capris.”  I remember that a child goes to a big house, a mansion, to live and there are mysteries and strange things going on. That’s all I can remember!

243F: A man, a boy, and a bag of blueberries (Solved)

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Probably from the 70’s, as I was born in ’79 and this is an early childhood memory. I have been trying to find for years:

Illustrated story about a boy and his father (or father figure). I think the father gives the boy a bag of something edible (blueberries?) to hold as they journey on foot. The boy walks behind the father, and as they go (through at town at one point?) the boy eats all of the contents of the bag. When the father finds out, the boy gets a mild scolding. The boy ends up with the empty bag over his head at one point, and I think fills the bag with air and pops it at the end. The story might start out with the father/son picking the (possibly) blueberries, or buying them…

Could be part of a collection, or rather short standalone book. In my mind, the illustrations remind me of Maurice Sendak.

243C: Busy Busy Port (Solved)

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I am looking for my son’s favorite book when he was a small child. He was born in 1982, and the book dates from early to mid eighties in publication. Its title is “Busy Busy Port”, but I have no idea of the author. It’s a picture book.

The book is essentially nonfiction; there is no plot, nor are there characters. It’s just a picture book close-up of all the activities and the boats, ships and navigational devices and trains that center on a big city port.

The book is a small book, maybe 10 x 8, and nothing like Richard Scarry-type books with lots of flashy colors

242I: Pumpkin patch family trip (Solved)

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From the 50s/60s. A family and the neighbor boy take their station wagon to a pumpkin farm. There are lots of pumpkin displays like a scary pumpkin witch and some horses made of pumpkins pulling a wagon. They head home with the back of the station wagon full of pumpkins, and the son and the neighbor boy carve jack-o-lanterns while the mom bakes two pumpkin pies and sends one home with the neighbor. The neighbor boy may or may not have been black.