Category Archives: Unsolved

290G: Hauntingly beautiful and rich watercolours

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I’ve been trying to find this book for years! I read it as a kid in the 80s and it was about a little girl and, I think, her father moving to a new house that seems at first to be haunted and scary but turns out to be homey and cosy. What made this book stick in my mind was the illustrations: really hauntingly beautiful large, rich watercolours. The new house was drawn on a hill and somewhat isolated and the little girl had long dark straight hair, looking perhaps Spanish. At first the new home is drawn very dark and spooky, but by the last page it is lit up and warm and the little girl is hugging her father, having come to love their new home.

290E: In a churchyard with a yew tree

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I’m looking for a small bright blue hardcover book, at the end there is an illustration of a boy in a churchyard with a yew tree. Printed before 1980. Not sure if it’s an ABC book for children but the yew tree illustration is definitely at the end of the book. It’s a book for young children; there are only a few lines of text on each page. The boy is standing in the yard with the yew and there is also an old man in the illustration. The boy may have been lost or looking for something. Maybe the book is British because of the mention of the yew tree?

290D: A fairy for every color

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I am looking for a children’s book that I used to read in the late 1980’s – early 1990’s that includes multiple short stories. I remember that there was a short story near the end of the book that involved fairies and the aurora borealis. There was a fairy for every color and one dark/black fairy that would try to story the colors. Every night the color fairies would form the aurora borealis and the dark fairy would try to stop them. The story ends by saying that this repeats every night. The main focus was on the aurora borealis. Unfortunately, this is all that I remember. I do remember that the illustrations were very colorful.

I appreciate any information you might have!

290C: A shy girl at summer camp

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I am looking for a book I read somewhere around 5th grade.  The year was 1977-78ish.  Everyone was reading Judy Blume.  The book I’m looking for was about a girl who went to summer camp.  I think the girl was overweight.  My recollection is that the girl was shy for some reason, or maybe that’s how I saw myself.  Maybe the girl just wasn’t happy with the way she looked.  Perhaps Judy Blume or another author popular at the same time?

289N: A kitchen full of copper pots boiling strawberry jam

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Bethany, bethanyboster@yahoo.com

Seven years ago my (then) four year old daughter fell in love with a book from the library about colors.  She is now 11 and a budding artist. I would love to find this book for her. The details I remember are sparse but do make this book a standout:

gorgeous illustrations – no cartoon characters or paint blobs. One particular illustration stands out; on the pages that discuss red, they compare that color to a bright warm kitchen full of copper pots boiling strawberry jam.

text – the words were beautiful and evocative, not your run of the mill, “The tree is green.” With each color they created a detailed scene (both verbally and pictorially) to help the reader feel the color.

As I recall, they did all the colors of the rainbow, so words like “rainbow,” “prism” or “color” are likely candidates for the title.

289M: A collection of fairy tales and legends

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The book I am searching for is an anthology of stories that include fairy tales and legends such as Tales of Robin Hood which covers his death, The Waterbabies, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and Longshanks, Girth and Keen, I think even Aladdin, to name a few. It was at least 8×12 red and probably from the late 50’s or before, it had fallen apart by the 60’s. The collection was eclectic to be sure but it obsesses me. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

289L: She discovers an antique China doll in the rags

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The book I’m looking for is a chapter book. It was in my elementary school library in the late 1970s but it was an old book. The cover was purple. The story was a girl who had to stay with an uncle and aunt. She goes to an auction and buys a bundle of rags for a penny. When she gets home she discovers an antique China doll in the rags. She loves the doll but in the end returns it to the lady who owns it and gets another doll in exchange.

289K: Pandora the cat

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Children’s book I read kindergarten, class 1971. I don’t not know title but I think the main characters name is pandora a cat. It is possible name is in title. My memory pictures a grey and yellow cover w cat and it’s magic collar. It tells the story of a cats nine lives which is actually 9 times to teleport. That way cats are suddenly in the room. I believe the collar was the way “pandora” traveled. When I was an older grade schooler I went back to class room to find it, that’s where my visual memories come from and cats name, but the storyline memory seems solid since that’s how I found it the first time.

289I: Scientists with Mustaches

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I owned this book in the late 1980’s. It is a science book for children. Throughout the book, there are illustrations that include little cartoon scientists with mustaches (and glasses?). The only illustration I can actually remember is a microscope with the parts labeled and little mustachioed scientists climbing on it and looking at it. It was hardcover (no book jacket, just a glossy illustrated cover) and maybe about 1. 5 cm thick. The illustrations struck me as somewhat “European”.

289H: Not the traditional stories

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Hello! I’m trying to find a children’s book collection of chapter books from the early 1980’s. Probably 3rd/4th grade level. I recall at least 5 books in a boxed set, which I received in 1982.

Definitely fairy tales, but not the traditional stories that everyone knows.

There were a number of stories with different characters. Pixies, fairies, wood sprites, a Dodo bird, etc. There were some illustrations, but I think it was mostly at the beginning of each chapter.