Tag Archives: cave

349M: The Empty Valley Mystery


All I remember about this book is that a group of kids (who were maybe related. There were two brothers?) ended up in this absolutely empty valley - there was a plane involved. And they explore this valley - find a cave to live in. And at some point they solve a mystery - a chicken is involved - and they find gold. And then get rescued. This was is the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew genre. All I remember about the cover is that it had a numeral of sorts on it. Also, in another book in the same series one of the brothers finds a rare bird - a great auk or something.

346O: Man-Hating Girl With Two Horses Named Prince and Swan

Can’t remember the title of a book. I read it about 10-12 years ago as a child. It had an orange cover I think, and I remember the words swan, golden, or road were maybe part of the title? It’s about a young girl who lives in some sort of Middle Eastern/Asian/Russian country I believe? And she always has suitors but she rejects them in a man-hating sort of way. The most memorable part is I think she has a horse called Prince and maybe a white horse called Swan. At one point she is locked in a cave/tomb with only a jug of water and a jug of oil for lighting a candle for days on end. After that she grabs on one of the horse’s tail to pull/drag her out? I read a query on the NYPL website which may be this book, but it has not been answered. I’ll include a copy paste of the person’s query below. Thank you for taking the time to read this and search.

The NYPL Query:
I’m looking for this book,it’s a historical romance.I remember it was about a very wild girl who had sent all her suitors away by being wild.Her father decided to take matters into his own hands and summoned her ‘betrothed’ .It however turns out that there was no betrothal and the man he sent for was the son of his late best friend who is yet to be married.Her father lies to both his daughter and the guy who was incredibly handsome that the betrothal had been signed by the dead best friend leaving them no choice but to wed.It’s a very hilarious book with the girl doing so many things to try and and make the guy bow out. However both of them hilx honour above everything and none can break the promise each made to their parents to push through with the wedding.They eventually fall in love and get married at the end but the journey is very hilarious.oh!The girl has a very big love for hoses and considers their Cossacks as her brothers.And the guy goes all the way to collect her from their home.She rans away before they get married because she is pregnant and tries to find a husband for herself because she believes the guy doesn’t want her I think her favourite horse was called Prince somefhing .please help mW find it.

326K: Young Kid And Travelers On Mission In Dark Cave

1) Looking for an illustrated CHILDREN’s book from the 1970’s or possibly from the 1960’s.  (I was born in 1971 and had the book when I was 4-6 years old)
2) Themes:
    1) Dark Underground cavern / cave system or Dark Mountains
    2) Group of travelers on some sort of mission
    3) A young person was a central character
    4) 8 1/2  by 11 inches approximately  (i.e. larger size)
    5) Thin sort of book…..perhaps 20-25 pages?
  It almost seemed like it could be a Hobbit theme but I don’t think that was it….
Thanks!

315Z: Boy falls off a raft in a cave, discovers the outside world

This was a book that an elementary school teacher read aloud to us (mid 90s), and she deliberately kept the title a secret so that we would have to come up with one on our own. What I remember of the book is that the boy lived with his community (family, friends) on rafts on a river that is entirely in a cave system. Importantly, they never leave the caves (I think the boy hypothesizes at one point that the people used to go into the caves for the winter, but lost their way out and have forgotten the exterior world over time?). The boy falls off the raft one night while everyone else is sleeping and loses his family because the rafts keep floating down the river. He eventually finds a hole to climb out of the cave and is stunned by the sunshine. After that, I don't remember any more of the story.

264D: Children’s picture book about creatures in a cave

I am looking for a children’s picture book  that I am 90% sure was published before 1990. It follows a group of explorers through a cave. Page after page there are different looking creatures staring at them from behind rocks and on the stalagmites on the ceiling as they pass through the cavern. Some of the creatures sort of look like the ones from Where the Wild Things Are, or in the same spirit of Mercer mayor’s monsters. I have looked at both their respective catalogs and can’t kind a book that fits this description. I am pretty sure it is a rectangular shaped book. This one has stumped me for years and I really want to find it. Appreciate the help