Category Archives: Solved

182A: “No School Tomorrow”? (solved)

2 Replies

This is a children’s book that I believe was written in the 1920’s or 1930’s. It is a chapter book about a little girl and her summer vacation. She would play in her backyard and make little houses out of twigs and leaves for fairies, and cook out in the backyard. Her father calls her by the nickname of “Louella Pouella”. She is having her bedroom redecorated, and her father asks her if she would like to have her bedroom painted “sky blue pink”. I believe the book was titled “No School Tomorrow” or “There is No School Tomorrow”, but I have no idea who the author was. I purchased this book in 1966 at my grade school book fair. Any help would be appreciated.

181C: Unknown Beastmaster (solved)

4 Replies

Unknown Beastmaster – not the series, but a single book, and this one has a young woman (perhaps a teen) as the main character. She somehow ends up in a gorgeous forest (definitely a fantasy book) where she can communicate with the ‘beasts’ and becomes the ‘master’ although the relationships are more friendly. I read this in the 70’s but have no idea when it was published. The cover had a picture of the young girl surrounded by vines and lush vegetation and of course animals. I always remembered the title as Beastmaster but it comes up in no searches, anywhere. Can anyone help? Thanks!

180G: African folk tale book (solved)

1 Reply

I am trying to remember an African folk tale book I had as a kid. It was illustrated along the same lines as “Anansi the spider” but it was about a boy in a village who traveled in a canoe for some reason… and along the way, all of his belongings started disappearing one by one??
I may be remembering this incorrectly.

But his mother was a character in the book and I think possibly he was grown when he returned to the village??

There was also a a wreath of fruit… ?

Any help is appreciated!

180F: Children sent to live with Aunt (solved)

3 Replies

. I don’t remember much about this book but it was two children from London who were sent to stay with their Aunt in the country (Maybe Ireland??) during the end of their mother’s pregnancy I think. They were pre-teens brother and sister and they thought she was a witch but she was just eccentric. I remember they followed her out one night to see what she was up to and she was just picking mushrooms. I have been looking for this book for years. Read as a child in 1988 and I don’t think it was new then.

180D: A Childrens Treasury of Stories and Poems? (solved)

4 Replies

Unsure of exact title. A large childrens book of nursery rhymes, poems and stories. Hard covered, may have been blue. Published in the 1950’s. Included;

Poems
-I saw a ship a sailing
-Mud(Polly Chase Boyden)
-The Goops
-Father Williams(Lewis Carroll)
-The Fairies(William Allingham)
-The Brownie Yearbook(Palmer Cox)
-Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod
– The naughty soap song

Stories
-The Little Match Girl
-The Tinderbox
-The Fisherman and his Wife
-The Emperors New Clothes
-Rumpelstiltskin
-Penrod
-Why the Bear has a Stumpy Tail
-Black Beauty
-Puss in Boots
-Henny Penny
– The Pied Piper
-Puss in Boots
-The Princess and the Pea
-The Bremmontown Musicians

These are a few of what I can remember. The book started with classic nursery rhymes (little boy blue, Hickory Dickory Dock, Humpty Dumpty, ect.) and then went to poems and then stories.

 

180C: Book containing stand-up comedy scripts. (solved)

2 Replies

This was a paperback book published (probably) in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s. It included stand-up comedy transcripts from many different famous comedians. I think a Bill Cosby routine may have been in there, and I’m pretty sure I recall the Smothers Brothers’ “Mom Liked You Best” as well. Other people in the book may have included George Carlin and Robert Klein, but I can’t remember precisely.

Any help locating this title would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

179E: All I can remember about it is that there were two really tall couples (solved)

1 Reply

Trying to identify a book I used to love as kid. All I can remember about it is that there were two really tall couples, two sisters who married two brothers I believe (but all were extremely tall and lanky). I want to say it was set in the Edwardian period (or thereabouts) as the men were dressed like Edwardian dandies and I think they had handlebar mustaches (a la Edward Gorey). I believe the women were dressed in Edwardian white lace dresses and may have been wearing those Edwardian straw boater hats. This is really all I can remember about it; while I doubt this will be enough to go on, I figured I’d give it a shot. Thanks

178G: magic old stamps (solved)

6 Replies

When I was a kid in the 1970s, I had book of wonderful/magical tales – the one short story that I loved (and have been looking for) is about a boy who finds these old, strange postage stamps in some box in his house – they have pictures on them that depict beautiful, exotic places that he’s never heard of.
He puts one on an envelope and it gets whisked away through the air, only to return a little while later, roughed up and postmarked. He puts a stamp on a package and it too gets whisked off – only to return, appearing well-travelled and postmarked. Then he puts his old pet cat in a box and puts stamps on it – the box is whisked away to this magical land, only to return with the cat seemingly younger and rejuvenated. I think it may have ended when he sent himself off on the same journey.
I don’t recall the name of the book or this particular story – but I suspect it had “stamps” in it.

178F: 90s ChickLit with carreer change plot: From working at bank (or offfice) to working at a zoo. (solved)

1 Reply

Female lead character gets the sack and turns to an agency to help her find a new job; ends up at zoo. Has to take care of vicious donkey (I think at petting zoo) and subsequently falls for oddball and fellow warden, caretaker for the penguins. There is a ‘Princess Leia Doll’ subplot, in which protagonist realizes she only ever started her job at office-setting to stick it to fellow graduate who mutilated her doll when they were children. Happily the oddball zookeeper is also a collector of star wars dolls.
Probably british author, was baught in ireland in 1999 or 1998 and, of course, lost.

It is not a book by sophie kinsella, m. keyes, c. ahern, fforde, j. mansell, r. sisman. I have been searching for the last couple of days without any luck and hope you can help me (because this is driving me crazy). Thank you very much in advance!

 

178C: Competing neighbour gardeners (solved)

3 Replies

Looking for a children’s book I had in the 1970s/80s about two neighbors who begin competing to have the best garden. It’s very beautifully illustrated and their gardens grow bigger and more elaborate until eventually I think they grow together. It is possible they are forced to become friends and cooperate at that point, but I don’t recall very well.