Category Archives: Solved

247C: A tiny dwarf/gnome who wears a gold ring as a belt (Solved!)

My sister remembers this from our school library when she was little.  She would have seen this between ~1976-1986.  It was illustrated, a book intended for 10-and-under children.

She remembers there was a character who was very small, a dwarf of gnome-like creature who wore a gold ring intended for a human, as a a belt. I’d love to find it for her and her kids!

247A: Search for an ember and strange things happen (Solved)

I am looking for a children’s book that I read repeatedly at the public library back in the 60s. It was about 2 brothers that fought nonstop. One evening as they fought down a road into deep woods it started getting dark and cold. They decided to stop fighting long enough to start a fire to warm up to. Spying some “ember” up in a tree they climb the tree to “fetch” it and start the fire. Once they get up the tree they realize that it is an wild animal or monster. The remainder of the book is the brothers trying to get away from it. I always thought that the title was the Strange Thing. But I must be mistaken as I cannot find anything at all on that.

Thanks Again!

246H: Space, stars and a floating girl all in white (Solved)

It is a children’s book that I only remember the cover of. It had a blue/black background and believed to be out in space with stars. It features a group of people and one of the cartoon girls was really pretty and floating above the people was an all white girl essentially bending around them. One girl was not attractive wearing possibly a rainbow colored dress. The group of people may have been standing on a planet.

246C: A malicious forest (Solved)

I read this book in the 1980s and it was almost certainly a children’s book, but a real novel. It was set in Europe I believe.

Long ago a boy lost his parent in a nearby forest. The forest is malicious and very difficult to walk deep into. As you walk into the forest, the placement on trees you had to walk around would gradually turn you back so you exited. Several years after the lost parent the boy has grown up and is determined to enter deep into the forest. He hires an airplane to take overhead photos but winds blow it away. Eventually he does make it to the center and there’s some kind of mystery. I felt it was very well written, a thriller, and scary, too. It seemed to have been set in the 1950s. I hope that’s enough. I’d love to rediscover this book and was glad to pay the fee! Thank you! 🙂

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

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)


“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)

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)

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)

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)

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!