I’m looking for a series about a boy who I think solved mysteries after going to live with his grandparents or something. In one I remember him following some tiny grey spiders that led him to a solution, and I think there was a scene in that one or another where he went through a clock.
An inventor who lives in a technologically simple medieval land working on various inventions including crude gliders. After a young boy who has taken the glider out is mysteriously killed the man sets off find the culprit. across the sea only to find that the true culprits are a type of dragon.
I read these books during the late 90s/early 00s. I believe the title may have had something to do with the antagonist, the Sorcerer, but I’m not entirely sure. My school had the first book and one sequel, I don’t know if there were more.
The book was about a boy who I think had something that the evil Sorcerer wanted. The boy befriends a small dragon who I think was called Rose, she was pink in colour but was always sent into a rage and spit fire whenever someone referred to her as pink. The dragon also had a companion, a stone dog who I think was called Flint.
The Sorcerer has a minion, I can’t remember the name, it was described (and was illustrated in the books) as a large beast with matted black fur, and curved horns like a ram. He is able to kidnap the boy at some point and take him back to the cave that the Sorcerer lives in. The Sorcerer himself owned a magic book that refreshed itself every few days, he was waiting for a specific spell to come up that he needed the boy for. At some point in the story the boy manages to escape and take the book with him. He stays in the forest for a few nights, using spells in the book to shield himself, he writes some of the spells down on normal paper because they last longer than the magical book, but they still fade; he is unable to memorize them either.
A 70’s chapter book. Some children are staying in the Southwest US, or maybe California (I think) on a ranch (?) find an old diary/clue from a doomed explorer saying “gold in here”, meaning in a cave or underground cavern. Turns out be “cold” when the mystery is solved.
Looking to identify a story about a family of dolls that come to life one day each year (NOT on Christmas Eve). The dolls, which belong to a little girl, have their own house – outside of the girl’s house, I believe. The dolls have a maid, and one of their legs is inadvertently glued on backwards by the girl’s dad
This book is fiction, published in 1970s. Its about a young British male who captured and sold into slavery in Carthage. A Carthaginian noblewoman falls in love with him and keeps him alive (although she always has her sexual partners killed after one night!) but he falls in love with a Roman girl. Ends with Roman attack on Carthage and his escape with the Roman girl. The Carthaginian woman sacrifices herself for him.
I’ve been trying to find a book that I read in elementary school for a long time now and haven’t had any luck. I don’t know the author or title of the book, which I know presents a huge problem. What I do know is this:
I read the book around 1982 — I think I was a 3rd grader
The book that I read was a paperback.
The illustrations were black and white drawings, not photos.
The basic story was about two kids, a boy and a girl, that I think were siblings that went to a beach house for the summer. I think the beach house was owned by their grandparents or an older uncle, etc. The kids find out that there is a large diamond hidden somewhere around the property. They find various clues to the location of the diamond throughout the book and eventually discover that the diamond is a rough cut diamond that is tied on to a fishing net. The fishing net is hanging in plain sight above the fireplace in the house and the diamond appears to just be a weight attached to the net.
One illustration I remember near the end of the book was of the fishing net hanging above the fireplace.
Another illustration I remember is of sand dunes near the ocean with a fence and grass
I’m sorry that that isn’t much to go on, but if you could help me out I’d really appreciate it.
Illustrated Book on Tree Houses
This is a black and white illustrated book on tree houses of almost impossible designs, of a Rube Goldberg or Dr. Seuss complexity, full of multiple levels, ropes, block and tackles, ladders, wooden shingles, stove pipes, etc. I remember the illustrations looked like Erik Blegvad’s style of crosshatching, but it may not be him. Very fun book I got from the church library when I was ten, so it would date from the 1960’s.
Looking for a book about learning to care for different things. Each time the child is given a new object to care for (kitten, cheese, etc.), she cares for the new item as she was taught to care for the previous item thereby ruining it. This is a children’s book I remember from 50+ years ago.
In the 1970s I read 2 or 3 books from a series which were old books from my parents.
The main character was a boy (maybe Peter) whose father was part of a resistance movement. The father was captured, tried as a traitor and sent to jail.
The boy (who appeared to have no living mother) was taken to live with a senior person (count perhaps) who was important in the government or people the rebellion was against.
This “count” was seen by the boy as dark and evil and the grand house seemed like a prison to the boy.
The boy although very unhappy eventually made friends with the “count’s” very young daughter, went horse-riding, played etc. But he tried to get messages to the resistance movement and maybe even tried to get away. The “Count” found out, and there was some discussion about holding the father as a “hostage” to the boys good behavior or the boy to the father’s behavior.
The “Count” and the father were both really trying to work towards the same end, but the father was doing it by rebellion, and the “Count” from inside the system.
The boy ends up being treated well by the Count – but I never got to the end of the series (I think I read book 1 and 3 maybe).
I think one of the adult’s names was Sebastian and I got the feeling that it all happened in middle Europe, black forests and castles.
I would love to find out the author and the name of at least one of the books.