Category Archives: Unsolved

340P: Trying To Befriend A Rude Companion

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Looking for a children’s book from the late 70s/early 80s. I believe the main characters were Timothy, Clyde, and Violet. They were anthropomorphic - one was maybe a fox(?). One of the characters (Timothy or Clyde) was trying to make friends with the other - he’d say things like “hey, you’re wearing the same shirt as me!” and the other one would rudely respond, “no, YOU’RE wearing the same shirt as ME.” My late father used to read it to me and I’d love to find it.

340N: Fairy Tale Anthology, Blue Cloth Cover, 12 Dancing Princesses

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I had a collection of fairytales in 1990-1995, though it may have been published prior to that (c. 1980-90).  It had a royal/dark blue cloth cover with a small, embossed-gold pegasus in the center of the cover (possibly with children riding the pegasus).

The collection was rather thick (perhaps a half inch) and contained at least 20 stories.  Each story was illustrated with at least one color illustration on each page (some small alongside the text and some full page). There were different illustrators throughout.  The text was regular-sized font.

I specifically remember these stories, though there were more (I’ve listed the more rare first):

  • The Twelve Dancing Princesses (I specifically remember the exquisite illustrations of the prince breaking off a branch of the silver tree)
  • The Snow Queen (illustrations of Kay and Gerta with the penny on the window, the snow queen in her carriage driving away, the garden of flowers Gerta visits, and her red shoes)
  • The Water Babies
  • The Little Match Girl
  • Cinderella
  • Rapunzel (an incredible full-page illustration of the witch’s garden)
  • The Sleeping Beauty (illustrations of thickets of thorns, sleeping kitchen maids)
  • Rumpelstiltskin
  • The Frog Prince
  • Hansel and Gretel
  • Jack and the Beanstalk
  • There may have been some Aesop’s fables as well, but there my memory gets hazy.
Thank you for your assistance in finding this book!

340K: Separates

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Looking for a book from about 1960 about a young teen girl. Her mom makes all her dresses, but she wants to babysit for extra money so she can buy “separates.” She babysits children who come down with diphtheria and she must work hard to save them while in quarantine. Good luck!

340J: Young Man from South Africa Travels to Botswana to Escape Apartheid

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A few years ago I read a book about a young man from South Africa during apartheid who would risk his life to travel back and forth over the northern border to Botswana.

He travels to Botswana and becomes a gardener for a woman who lives alone.  He is black and she is white.

I read the book within the last 10 years and it has stayed with me.  I don’t remember the name or the author, but I think this would be a good book for my book group to read.

340H: Quakers, Spelling, and Psalm 46:4

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I have never actually read this book.  I’m looking for a book that my mom read as a child and could never find again.
 
She said it was in her school library, so to be generous, she probably read it sometime between 1964 and 1978.  She didn’t remember if it was new when she read it. 
 
She said it was children’s historical fiction which took place in Cromwell’s England, so 17th century. She was pretty sure it involved either Quakers or Puritans, but she leaned toward Quakers. A running theme through the book was Psalm 46:4, “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.”
 

The main characters were a boy and a girl. At one point they were on the street, although I’m not sure if they were homeless or on the run. My mom said she learned a lot about street children from that time period. The girl apparently was educated enough to know how words should be spelled, but the boy thought words should be spelled however made sense to that particular person.

Sorry, I know this is pretty vague. I hope it’s enough. If anyone has any idea of what the title and author of this book could be, I would appreciate it.

340G: 1970s book, set in California, the story of a man and his wife, their relationship, divorce, his subsequent wife, Orange Julius

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I read this book in the late 1980s, and really enjoyed it, despite finding his wife slightly infuriating.
The story started in the 1960s, and went through to the 1970s. On his first date at a diner with his (red headed? maybe?) girlfriend whom he marries, she tells him the salt and pepper shakers like him and she likes him. Their meeting when they decide to divorce is also in a diner, where she tells him that the salt and pepper shakers love him and he’s breaking their hearts. He leaves her for another woman, whom he marries.
I think that most of the story takes place in California, and during the summer they drink Orange Julius. He may have met his wife at uni.
It’s a quite funny novel, as I recall, and I really enjoyed it. I just cannot find it, even with all my powers of Googlefu.
I have no idea of the name, or when it was written, though I suspect it’s late 1970s or early 1980s, and I think it’s written by a man. The novel is first person from the man’s POV.
If you can find it for me, I will be eternally grateful. I know it isn’t much to go on.

340F: Outdoor Toys and Playsets

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I am hoping you can help find a book for me. It is a book about outdoor toys and playsets. It is a large size book with a couple of pictures on the book cover. The main picture I remember is of a young boy sitting in a wooden old time looking brass era car on the left side of the cover.The body was green and the hood was made of a galvanized steel trash can, maybe chrome. In the background, I believe there was a yellow covered sandbox with a couple of kids playing in it. In the foreground on the right, there was a kid on a pair of tin can stilts. The title was above. The background was white with a red border, maybe green. Most of the book cover I believe was green with the white background main pic on the front. The contents of the book involved plans for and pictures of various outdoor toys and playsets. I believe it may have been published by Better Homes and Garden, but it could have also been published by Popular Mechanics, Home Mechanix, Mechanics Illustrated, Readers Digest, Southern Living, Blizzard’s or any sort of DIY or home repair/decorating magazine or book series. I believe the book was published in the 80’s. It was a pretty good size book, maybe 14 inches tall, 9 inches wide and decent number of pages but not super thick. Probably less than 200 pages. I am including a rough drawing of what I remember it looking like. Thank you for any and all help.

340C: Old Children’s Storybook: Hot Water Williams, Over-Fishing Fishermen, and More

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When I was a child we had this big storybook with a red cover that must have been published sometime between 1960-1990. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere on the Internet by searching details that I remember and I can’t remember the title. The first story I remember was about an old grumpy man whose bathtub begins to overflow because the bathtub knob gets stuck and he needs the help of the whole community to turn the knob. Everyone comes together to help him even though he is so grumpy and mean. I believe this story was called Hot Water Williams, but again this search phrase pulls up nothing for me on Google. The other story I remember is about a boat of fishermen who overfish and their boat starts to sink. The illustrations were very 70s-style. There were several stories but these are the only two I remember. If anyone can help me find it I would be so happy because it was one of my favorite books ever. I’ve been trying to find it for years.