Category Archives: Unsolved

370J: Man Cleans House To Win Contest

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I had this paperback children’s book in 1970. It is probably from the 60s. It is an American book with words. The illustrations were line drawings.  
All I remember is that an old man lived possibly on a hill.  The town was having a cleaning contest, and he cleaned every bit of his house, and I distinctly remember he even cleaned the cobwebs out of the corners. The people came to judge his house and he won.  This may not be right, but my memory comes with the color yellow. Maybe the cover- or maybe the man wore yellow.  I’ve tried and tried to find this book. 

370E: The Fun Easter Bunny

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I’m looking for an Easter book from when my friend was a child (born in 1987 in Canada) from early 90s or before. She remembers a silly/mischievous bunny that says “quack quack” and something like “I flap my ears for fun.” The bunny also supposedly sings about calling out the days of the week. In the end she seems to remember that he turned into chocolate or candy.

370D: Good Clean Fun for Kids!

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The book was the size and style of a Dr Seuss book with an orange cover.  It contained fun things for kids to do ie: curly paper  book mark races ( something about Willy?) , rooting a sweet potato and making a newspaper tree.   I think it may have been the same illustrator as the Seuss books.  It would probably have been published in the 1960″s.

370C: Mexican beaches in a jalopy – early 1940s

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An American couple explores the beaches and coastal towns of the west coast of Mexico driving a jalopy. The story ends with the start of WWII, compelling them to return to the States. I read this as a kid in the mid-1960s. I’m not sure whether it was intended for young adults or grown-ups, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

370B: Girl is bored by being in a whale’s stomach

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I would like help finding a book from my childhood, please. I think I read it around 2004, but I often read older authors like Enid Blyton as a kid, so I don’t think this date narrows it down much. From what I remember, it was a book about a book. The characters were self aware, and had to relive the events of the book as it was being read. I recall a girl (possibly a princess) being bored as she was eaten by the same whale for the umpteenth time, and being unimpressed by her love interest. Outside this book, the lives of the readers went on. The book was read by a girl, and then left on a shelf until it was read by her granddaughter. The characters were aware of time passing, and missed the girl, and were surprised she had grown old. I’m sorry I can’t give more details.

369Y: Strange episodical book about young woman’s (sometimes erotic) experiences

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Hello, I am hoping you can help me to track down  a book that I read years ago, likely between 2000-2003, although I doubt it was a new book at that time. It was absolutely weird and wild and no one seems to have read or heard of it besides myself! I believe the cover was light pink with black script. The book itself is about a young girl’s life and sexual experiences, thoughts, fantasies, and imaginings, some very strange, including a party of men holding golden dicks on sticks that are used in a sort of ritual-like scene.I believe it was arranged episodically. 
 I distinctly remember a very strange passage where the girl goes into what may have been some sort of club, then up some stairs. I believe she is led up the stairs by a man. She ends up in a dark room with a lot of scantily clad or naked men who have all these golden penises on long rods and are sort of parading them around. At one point I think they all formed up around her while she laid on a bed. It was a very erotically charged scene and that’s why it stuck out to my young self, but the book itself was not erotica, I think, though it had some sexual themes. It was more about the girl’s thoughts and point-of-view rather than about the suggestive scenes.  I THINK the book also involves the girl talking about her mother and their relationship, maybe some men the mother dated as well? I feel like I remember a part where she was attracted to a man her mother was seeing, but that could be incorrect.
 I also feel like I remember a passage from the book where the girl was talking about a guy that I think liked her and perhaps wanted to get physical with her, but she couldn’t get over his pimples. She describes his face and the pimples in detail and how gross she thinks it is.
This is something that has been driving me WILD every time I think about it (it’s been many years forgotten) and I’d love it if anyone could help me figure it out!

369W: Illustrated Children’s Book with Child-snatching Witch

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It was a large hardback colour illustrated book. The story features a boy, a girl and a dog or cat, I think they have to stay inside because it’s raining. I think the girl is trying to scare the boy by telling a story about this witch that snatches children. The witch rides around on a vacuum cleaner like thing I think. I vividly remember the illustrations being the main focus, some taking up the entire page and I think some pages had special printing like glow in the dark patches. I think the girl was emphasising how she wasn’t scared of all these fantastical things going on and I definitely remember at the end of the book she is scared by a spider or mouse.

I read this book as a child, but I can say for certain when, I think the time frame for when the book was released is 1985-2005 though could be earlier. It was in the UK if that makes any difference.

It’s been bothering me a lot because every time I try to search it I end up getting the same results of Badjelly the Witch, Terry Pratchett’s The Witch’s Vacuum, Winnie the Witch, The Wednesday Witch, The Littlest Witch, etc – it isn’t any of these.

369V: After the Nuclear War

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Looking for a paperback book series that I read on base, in Honduras in 2001-2003. It is based after a nuclear war and the protagonist has a group of folks he scavenges with. . . I think he is like a Clint Eastwood type gun slinger. When he gets mad (?) his vision turns red and he enters like a berserker state. In 1 book, they visit Philadelphia(?) a nuke site that was turned to glass. Another book has them visiting a research bunker in Alaska(?), where the scientists are either holed up or coming out of a hibernetic chamber or something. . . any help is much appreciated!!