Category Archives: Unsolved

338Y: Infant alone on an island

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An infant survives a shipwreck and ends up on an island where he lives alone for a few years. Not certain what age he is when some people (grandfather maybe) come searching for him, but not being accustomed to people, he hides from them. The book makes a point of mentioning that the boy’s hair is very blond to almost white. I remember this was a very tiny book size-wise; smaller than the average book at the time.  It was a library book from the young adult/children’s section and I read it in the late 60’s early 70’s.

338X: Secret Playhouse In The Woods

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Looking for an illustrated children’s book (perhaps 12″x”12 and ~48 pages) about a group of kids who discover and clean out an old abandoned cabin in the woods and fix it up, paint it in vibrant colors and decorate it. I read it at my public library in Vancouver, Canada in c1974 and remember it being full color on all pages so am guessing it was published in the early ’70s. I can’t recall the title or the author. That book was so magical because the kids had a secret playhouse in the woods that no one knew about. There was no adversity/bad in the book that I recall (other than overcoming the shed’s dilapidated condition) and I believe it ended with the kids hosting a party there?????


Thank you in advance for your efforts to figure out what the book was.

338V: Bedtime for African-American Babies

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I am looking for a baby book for African-American kids, starts with Sweet brown eyed baby sleepy one you're tired from a day of fun, come here baby rest your head it's time for you to go to bed. Read to babies in 1995. Not sure of author or book title, Maybe Bedtime for Baby. Thank you

338U: Civil War Fiction From My Childhood

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I found this book in the used bookstore when I was in middle school (1984).

It was already older (published in the 50s or 60s, I suspect). It had a orange/rust colored cover with a very impressionistic sketch of a military scene.
The story follows an orphan who runs away to join the army.  He is befriended by a soldier (the name Mr. Putnam stands out) who protects him in camp and on the battlefield. Either the boy or the soldier is wounded (fairly certain it is the man).
Of all the details I remember,  there are young girls who makes silk beads that supposed to help quench the soldier’s thirst if they run out of water.

338S: Chad’s Quest to Find Home

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A book was read aloud to my second grade class in 1955.   The book was as I recall about a boy named CHAD ???   who was lost and was on a quest with the help of others along the way to find his home (I think he was from a wealthy or royal family). After a series of adventures he did indeed make it home.  The only adventure I think that I remember (60 years ago) he and his pals came upon a remote steep canyon the floor of which  was littered with precious stones. They threw raw meat into the canyon and buzzards picked up the meat – they ate the meat on the ground level and left the stones for Chad and his pals .  I know this is vague and may not be very reliable but perhaps you can find the book title. It is funny the things that dwell in the memories of childhood. The story was a great adventure for the class of 2nd graders.

338R: Young adult, San Francisco, Russian cosmonaut

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I am looking for a young adult (probably actually middle grade) book I read when I was younger. I just remember bits and pieces–it was about a girl who lived in San Francisco, and she was interested in the first female astronaut,. She uses her whole name: Valentina Vladimirovna Nikolaeva Tereshkova (which is why I know it by heart even 20ish years later). The only other thing I really remember is the protagonist wasn’t Asian but would go to a little Chinese cafe or bakery after school to get a snack. The book would sprinkle in a few Spanish and Chinese words (it’s where I learned what shumai were) and would translate them in a footnote.
I remember the cover being bright and busy–orange and pink, with a lot of design on it, and I think the book was fairly thick, probably 200 pages. Does this ring any bells?

338Q: Following the Mysterious Red Thread

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The book I want to find is a children’s book. I am guessing it was published between the 1980s and early 1990s. The plot of the story is that these two girls (likely sisters) that are princesses and they find this mysterious red thread in their kingdom or castle. They often repeat “What is it? What is it? What could it be?” as they follow this red thread. Eventually the story ends with them finding where this red thread originated from, it was a large cat playing with a giant roll of red yarn. All pictures are cartoon drawings. I think it was a small hardcover book bound by that gold or silver lining.

338P: Eggs, Eggs, Everywhere

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I’m looking for a book I had as a child in the late 70s, early 80s.

It wasn’t a children’s book.  It was a weird small paperback coffee table book doodle book.  I think it was called “Eggs!” or “Yolks!”  It was white, and 5 inches tall, and 8.5 inches wide.  The cover had drawings of anthropomorphised eggs.  Basically the whole book was just drawings of eggs or egg yolks caricatured into people.  So two yolks would be walking a yolk dog, with a yolk sun, and yolk egg people walking around.  The artist drew the yolks in such a way as to make the yolks pointy into the shape of a nose, with little black line eyes.  The entire book was only black ink with yellow ink, on white pages.  I can’t find it anywhere.  One drawing had an egg yolk carrying an umbrella, and the umbrella was made out of a runny egg, with of course a yolk.
All of it was ridiculous, but I want to find a copy, so I don’t feel like I’m crazy, and just imagined a segment of my childhood.  I need to find this book so I don’t think I have a whole set of made up memories.  I’ve tried countless Google searches, and I am stumped for terms to look up runny yolk art?  It’s definitely not Gudetama.  It’s much older and outdated.  Thank you for your help.

338L: Boy in India Who Gathers Orchids to Buy Books

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Please help me find a book I read 30+ years ago. The plot is about a young, very poor boy in India (I believe) who gathers rare Orchids to sell to a rich white (I believe) woman. With the money he earns, he is able to buy books. The books are rare and precious treasures to him. Every time he finds a rare orchid she buys it and he hides his money under his sleeping mat until he has enough to buy a book. I will try to remember more if possible. Thank you, this is a book that has stayed in my memory and I wish to find and read it again.