Category Archives: Unsolved

341X: Boy Attends Cinderella’s Ball In A Dream

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The book I am searching for was a children’s chapter book that I read in the 1950s. 
 
The story was a retelling of the Cinderella story from the point of view of a young boy (Teddy?) who makes his way into the palace where they are getting ready for the ball.  He and the rather silly king get in the way of the queen. They go on to have an adventure that at one point involves a mound of butter and buttons (pictured in what I remember as a pen & ink illustration). At some point the boy unlocks the palace gate with a small key. I believe it is indicated at either the beginning or end that the story is the boy’s dream – perhaps he dozed off while reading the fairy tale?
 
It had, of course, the ubiquitous blue cover. I think it was a hardback about 6”x8” but memory may be failing me. 
 
My childhood copy was destroyed years ago and I would love to read the book again.

341V: Same Street (??)

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Looking for a children’s book about people who live on same street. Each one of them breaks the mold of their boring houses and the end of the street is a collection of fantastical and amazing houses.

Each time someone changes their house, someone says, “He’s popped his top!  He’s flipped his lid!”
That’s all I can remember other than loving the book.

341U: Similar to the princess and the frog

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When I was quite small, I remember having a favorite fantasy book along the lines of the princess and the frog, but I can never seem to remember more than a few details. I’ve tried really hard to find it, but no one in my family even remembers the book aside from me...

What I can remember is this:

- Two people are turned into frogs

- There’s a witch that captures them

- When they escape, they steal a vial of dragon's breath that is used later for a spell I mostly forget... I think it’s used to turn either them or the otter human again? Or to trade for something?

- There’s a magical bracelet which they both must put an arm in to be returned to being human

- There’s an otter, who once was human, who gets them the bracelet because the woman (possibly fairy?) that was keeping it was once his lover before he was turned by the same witch from before

- I believe at one point someone pretends to be a fairy, and that fairy finds out and gets offended?

And that’s mostly all I can remember, aside from the scenery I imagined along with the story as a kid. I’ve been searching for around 5 years now and would LOVE to get to read it again!!

341S: Kids’ Adventure-Wilderness book about two boys settling land while their father returns home

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I read this book in the fifth grade so it’s definitely at a lower reading level and published sometime before 2011ish, though it definitely feels like a classic. It reminds me of The Swiss Family Robinson and The Boxcar Children.
I remember the book pretty well so I’ll recount the plot as best I can.
Two brothers set off with their father to settle a piece of land they bought for cheap in Idaho (I think it’s that but I’m not sure). It’s focused less on their journey and more on what they do once they’re there. They cut down trees and begin clearing land for their house and farmland. They begin building the log cabin with their father but then he leaves to go back and bring their mother and sister. I vividly remember how they had to walk around their land to find the best place to put their house and what trees to cut down.
Little do they know, some of their family catches scarlet fever and they have to continue to settle the land and fend for themselves in their father’s absence. They make traps to catch rabbits, use spears to hunt for fish in the river, and when winter comes they even find ways to preserve food for the winter by burying it deep in the snow. They also have to finish construction on the cabin by filling the gaps with mud so they don’t freeze. They learn many skills and assume their father isn’t coming back.
It’s a happy ending when he returns with their mother and sisters almost a whole year later. That’s where the story ends.
Every once in a while I’ll think of the story and try and find it but I haven’t had any luck yet. I remember it really well because when I was a kid I loved the books where characters had to build their own houses and find solutions to fend for themselves.
Please tell me I’m not just making this up!

 

341Q: Children’s Sea Creature Book

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I am attempting to find a childhood favorite for my brother. We were both born in the mid 60s so I suspect his book is from the early 70s. I don’t remember the title but it was an illustrated book about sea creatures. It was very ‘Boys Life’ in its design: realistic illustrations and high drama. The only specific memory I have is an illustration of a fisherman stepping on a deadly stone fish and being supported and carried away by his fishing buddies. I know it’s not much to go on. Good luck!

341O: Illustration of giant, dog and boy

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As a child in the mid sixties I was looking through a children’s book and all I can remember is one illustration and I have been looking for this book for years.
The illustration was not a full page, the page included the story.  The illustration was of a giant holding out his ring and a little black dog was jumping through the ring.  The giant had dark hair and beard, kind of reminded me to Brutus from the Popeye cartoons.He was laughing with delight.   There was also a boy in the picture.  I believe the dog belonged to the boy.  It looked like it was sketched with a pencil.

341N: 80s/90s dance book: poor teenage girl (Sal?) at local dance school

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I am looking for a book I read years ago, probably in the mid-nineties. It was about a teenager who went to a dance school and I think her name was Sal. Her family was quite poor so they often worried about money. I think she stayed at home with her parents for a while but they lived quite a long way from the school so she had to move closer, and they had an argument about that. Her parents weren’t keen on her going to the school anyway: maybe they wanted her to get a 'sensible job'.
The dance style was contemporary or ballet. I don't know about the location except that it was the UK or USA.  It was set in the present day when it was written, but that would have been in the 80s or 90s.

I remember very little of the story. At one point she realised she wasn't as supple as some of the other students so she stayed behind to do extra training. At the very end there is a show by the students and she was doing a solo. She got on stage and decided to abandon the dance she'd planned and just improvise with how the music make her feel. At the end she felt it hadn't gone very well but then got loads of applause.

I think there was a romance element as well with another music student, although it wasn't just a romance tale. I've searched through heaps of lists of young adult dance books and on Google Books but I can't seem to find it.

‘Say Goodnight, Gracie’ by Julie Reece Deaver was suggested on another forum, but it’s not that. The dance aspect is central to the story I’m looking for, whereas it’s just a supporting story in ‘Say Goodnight, Gracie’.

Jean Ure as an author was suggested as well, but most of her books seem to be for slightly younger readers.

I don't think this was amazing literary writing or anything, but for some reason I remember this book and would love to find it again.