Category Archives: Unsolved

353E: Kid Adopts A Camel – Humorous Non-Fiction Children’s Book On Cassette!

I'm looking for a humorous non-fiction children's book, with accompanying cassette, about camels. I read it sometime between 1987 and 1995, likely closer to the earlier range, and it was probably published no later than 1975: it felt "modern" at the time. I recall the book being slightly larger format, softcover, and fully illustrated in a semi-cartoony style - and that it also had an audio cassette version which I believe was just the narrated book, without music. The conceit of the books may have involved a kid secretly adopting a wild animal as a pet: it introduced animal facts to explain how the animal's adaptations could help the child keep it hidden from their parents. One specific detail I recall is a fact that camels can close their nostrils to keep from breathing in sand - "or your dad's cigars!" as they illustrated by showing an unfazed camel in a living room where a man in a green armchair was smoking heavily. I'm fairly sure the book was part of a series, including one about penguins (where the kid tried to fill the bathtub with ice for them,) but I don't recall any other books in the series.

353A: Painting the Rainbow at the Flour Mill

I’m looking for a book I had in my early childhood – I was born in 1984.
There is a flour mill with a grumpy Miller, and a group of children who go into the mill. While they’re in there a rainbow comes in through the window and ends up divided into a paint pot for each colour. The children take the paints and try to do good deeds – for example, painting someone’s door? sunshine yellow or someone’s window frames? cornflour blue. They paint something belonging to the Miller purple and it matches his angry face.

352X: Puppy Cat

For years, I’ve searched for this story. It is a children’s short story that came out of an old school reader that I had in first grade. I was in first grade in 1977 in Spruce Pine, NC, USA. I’m sure the readers were pretty old by then. The title of the story was Puppy Cat, I think. It was a dog who thought he was a cat. There are several newer stories that are similar, but I’ve been looking for this particular version. I’ve had no luck over the years!

352W: Late 50’s early 60’s space fiction

Late 50’s early 60’s space fiction about a boy on a planet (possibly mars) with his pet.  The boy needs to get to different city/friends home.  Walks via an old highway but the temperature dips extremely, causing the boy to find refuge in a giant cabbage like plant that closes at night, saving him.

Read this from the 5th grade 1961/62 Ellis Elementary School library in Sunnyvale California.

352V: Little Bit

I have been on the search for many years for a book I loved as a child.  I was born in 1959, it’s possible the book was written in the 60’s.
The title is “Little Bit”, about a young mouse and his family, having struggles in life for being so small.
Having Grandchildren I would very much like to find this as my copy has been lost in the shuffle throughout the years.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

352U: Beast Prince and Locked Door

It’s a children’s book from around the 1990’s. The main heroine travels to cure the curse of the Beast Prince. I think he had the head of a pig/boar. The plot is similar to East of the Sun, West of the Moon but that is not the book. Near the end the heroine must unlock a door but lost the key. She must cut off her finger and use it as the key instead.

352T: Sex Club Leads to Sticky Situations

Looking for MC story where H is forced to return to the club by his harsh, cruel prez, who is his father. He tries to keep the club life away from his wife. H instigated divorce proceedings from his wife. Wife decides to surprise H at clubhouse on his b-day & finds him getting oral from a club prostitute. Crazy prez has brother of H have sex with h while H watches. H owns a business in a nearby town. Pretty sure there are three books. 2nd book deals with best friend of H. BF is sent away by the H. BF gets to her house where she is ambushed by another club and beaten badly. I think H is called Blue.

352P: Old YA sailing adventure book

I don’t know the title of the book.

I believe it was published in the 1940s or 1950s, but I’m not certain of this.

The overall plot is a sailing voyage from the East Coast (Boston, I think) around the tip of South America to San Francisco.

It is definitely NOT the Richard Henry Dana book Two Years Before the Mast.

The main character is a young boy in his teens going to sea (as an apprentice deckhand or cabin boy or some such) for the first time on one of the new, fast clipper ships and he’s got to learn all about shipboard life and work, furling and unfurling sails, coiling ropes, tying knots, etc. He somehow makes an enemy of an older seaman who confronts him at the climax of the story, while a shipboard fire is raging, with the intent to kill him. The boy somehow escapes, but his injuries are extensive enough that he is unable to complete the voyage.

That’s about all I can tell you. I remember it being a ripping good yarn. I hope this description is enough.