Category Archives: Unsolved

243B: A Picture Book of Color Photographs

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When I was a boy growing up in Farmingdale, NY (Long Island), I attended a primary school (Parkway Oaks) from 1973-1976 and there was a picture book that I used to take out of the school library all the time.

It was full of color photographs of objects. I believe it was an object book or visual dictionary of some sort. However, I also vaguely remember that it was organized by color so that green objects were together, etc. I could be misremembering this, though.

It was not a very thin book; I think it was reasonably thick, chock-full of photos. It was smaller in dimensions (WxH – not an oversized book).

I remember the color being red, but I could be wrong, and that could simply be an artifact of edition. This book appeared to have the style of a book from the 50s or 60s. I cannot imagine a book from the 40s having this much color photography.

I remember being fascinated by all the color photographs (rather than illustrations, which were more common in the other children’s books), and I would love to find this book again.

Thanks!

242G: Hats!

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I’m looking for a book, could be from any time before 1975 or so.
It was a big picture book for young children which I think was primarily about different hats. The main thing I remember is that there was one spread with a woman wearing a fancy hat with netting on it, and there was a fish design in the netting such that the fish went right over her eyes.
My mom thinks it was called something like “My Aunt’s Hat” but isn’t sure. I haven’t had any luck googling that.
She remembers it as being about an older woman, sort of crazy, with “old lady tight curly hair”.
She remembers the image as being “big, falling off the page” and there may have been a tiny little fishing line on the page.

Pretty sure it is not:
Jennie’s Hat
Aunt Lucy Went to Buy a Hat
Aunt Flossie’s Hats
Caps for Sale
Cat in the Hat or any Dr. Seuss including Bartholomew Cubbins Old Hat, New Hat or any Berenstain books

Although if there is a spread with the fish hat in one of these, that’s probably it.

242C: Magic Carousel

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I read this book when I was around four or five, so it would have been 1969 or 1970. Two sisters were with their dad at Central Park in NYC and he took them to the carousel and to watch the ice skaters. They rode the carousel and the horses. The carousel and the horses became real and they rode them off the carousel and through central park, maybe this is when they rode past the ice skating rink. From my memory it was evening time. I remember the book as being in pinks, yellows and oranges and I think the illustrations may be similar to those of Alice and Martin Provensen. Here’s to hoping someone knows something about this book! I have never forgotten it.

242B: Caveman brings the first wheel to a birthday party

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A caveman is going to a party (I think a birthday party) and all the other guests bring typical cave man presents (bones, perhaps?). The protagonist brings a large round stone as a gift, and everyone makes fun of him. However, it turns out to be the first wheel and it proves useful in some way. This was from deep in my childhood, so it couldn’t have been published after 1990 or so. I believe the illustrations had line work and watercolor, though I’m not sure of that. They were definitely more cartoony than realistic, though. There is a possibility that this story was recorded on for video (I seem to remember an animated wheel rolling down a hill), but my friend who also remembers this story is convinced it is an actual book.

241F: Cliff Dwellers children’s book ca. 1950

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I owned this book around 1950 when I would have been 7 or 8. This was a thin book of a somewhat large format (8 x 10?), with dark blue cloth covers. The book was primarily text, with occasional full-page lithographed full color paintings. I am pretty sure the title contained the words “Cliff Dwellers”. It was about the “Anasazi” Indians of the Southwest (probably based on Mesa Verde), and was a fictional story involving two children (twins?) and their daily lives, finding water, helping harvest corn, and, what I most remember, negotiating the ladders to and from their cliff dwelling. I’ve searched the LOC on-line catalog, WorldCat, and Abebooks.com, with no success. Hope someone remembers this book.

241E: Scottish Boy and a Castle

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I don’t have a title for the book I’m looking for. I read it when I was in 8th grade around 1962. It was a historical novel about a Scottish boy and involved a castle with secret passages and an uncle (maybe grandfather) who was locked up in the dungeon without light for 10 years. Believe the boy gets him out. Hope you can help me find this book!!

241D: 1970s Children’s Book

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My sister had a favorite book when she was about 3–1970. The book was thin and tall with a green cover and we think it was titled “The Two Little Princes”. The story is about 2 little princes who have everything in the world, but won’t share and still want more. Their nurse/ nanny decides to take away all of their toys and leave them in an empty room by themselves. Finally she brings in a basket with a single train track, one blue train and one red train. The have to work together to make the track and then play together with the trains.
The drawings were simple without much color and the nurse wore a white hat with an apron.