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Looking for a Childhood Book? Here’s How.

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kYmberli corprue
kYmberli corprue
July 11, 2021 10:20 am

Hi everyone! I am so excited to post here. I’m also glad I’m not alone in trying to find books from my childhood. I am looking for 3 books that were very special to me as a kid. The first was about a pig and a cat called Piggy and Kitty and they were trying to figure out what to do with their day. Very tiny book from what I can remember. Probably for first time readers. The second book I think was about a pig doing a bunch of errands for a party? I specifically remember there was a scene where she had to go to the market to buy pickles and she had to dig around in a barrel of pickles. The 3rd book had a bunch of short stories in it and fun facts like french fries aren’t french, but the process used to make them is called frenching. It was a colorful cover with an owl on it. I think there was a lot of blue on the cover too and I think there owl had colors all around its eyes. I was born in 1991 if that helps anyone. Thank you in advance for your sleuthing!

pattyb
pattyb
July 11, 2021 8:31 am

I’m looking for a book I read as a child, about 1966. It may have been a Little Golden Book, or maybe some other type. One scene had some animals flying in a hot air balloon. I remember them looking down at the streets of the town below. Another scene had one of the animals eating, carving up some food on a plate.

catlynnh
catlynnh
July 11, 2021 2:15 am

Looking for a purple hardcover book that I read in the late 1960’s – it’s about a little girl who is a princess. She is having a birthday party but she loses her shoe and has to be carried home. There are a lot of yellow illustrations – the little girl’s dress and shoes are yellow. Probably written for 4-8 year olds.

julie howard
julie howard
July 11, 2021 1:25 am

I’m trying to remember a book that was likely written before 1969, I read it in elementary school. It was a chapter book about an English girl who sent to live with relatives (like an old aunt or something) she was spellbound by a painting of a young girl in the cottage she was staying at. At night the spirit of the girl in the painting possessed her and she walked around and came home to awaken with sand on her feet. So the cottage must have been near the beach.

Steve
Steve
July 11, 2021 1:24 am

I’m looking for a Bible story book I had back in the 60s. All the illustrations were realistic and done in black and white, perhaps pen and ink. Almost like a comic book set up if I remember right.

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 10, 2021 11:35 pm

Try this one: On My Own, by Lynette Long, published by Acropolis Books, 1984.

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 10, 2021 9:44 pm

A Rose for Mr. Bloom, by Bernard Waber.

Karen
Karen
July 10, 2021 9:33 am

I’m trying to remember the name of a book that I read in the 80s that may have been a story with recipes in, or perhaps it just had this one recipe in, but the girl in the book makes ‘pain perdu’ and talks about how it means ‘lost bread’. I’d completely forgotten about it but I just saw pain perdu on a menu and had the biggest flashback! Now I can’t stop wondering what the book was!

bonniejeanne
bonniejeanne
July 10, 2021 12:15 am

You’re welcome. I still have mine.

michelle sargent
michelle sargent
July 9, 2021 10:06 pm

I’m searching for a children’s book, from the 70’s or earlier, about a man who grows a rose out of his ear. If this rings a bell for anyone, let me know. Much appreciated!!

Kiley Young
Kiley Young
July 9, 2021 8:51 pm

This is a strange request: I’m looking for a book I read in the 1990s (I likely read it between 1993 and 1995, and my best guess is that it was published within 10 years of that based on the content) in the US. It was a non-fiction safety reference written for children to stay home alone or maybe to babysit. The book went topic by topic through everything that could possibly go wrong (fire, first aid, If someone offers you a ride, inappropriate touching, etc) in a short how-to format. Each section had full color illustrations. I remember it being a larger book (maybe 10×10?), square, having a green cover, and the copy I had was definitely hardcover. I feel like the title was something like “what to do when you’re home on your own” or something, but I’ve googled unsuccessfully.

Pretty sure this book was a huge contributing factor to my anxiety as a kid, and I’d love to be able to find it to re-evaluate it as an adult/therapist.

Melissa 🔥 🌊
Melissa 🔥 🌊
July 9, 2021 8:07 pm

I’m looking for a children’s book that I read as a child, circa 1978-1980. The strongest memory I have specifically about it is that it had a young girl protagonist, possibly about a family moving west on the prairie via covered wagon, and once they were settled in a new town, the girl was appalled that people used cow pies (cow poop) to cook and heat their homes, and once witnessed a new neighbor pick up a cow pie, toss it in the oven, and go back to cooking without washing her hands! I hope someone remembers this book, and I apologize for the distasteful memory (see what I did there? 😆). Please and thank you!

dear jill
dear jill
July 9, 2021 1:09 pm

I’m looking for a children’s book from before 1970, family goes sailing for a day with many young kids and one falls out and floats, I feel like they were French names, it was a hardcover-perhaps navy blue cloth like, thank you!

Bekah
Bekah
July 9, 2021 5:36 am

When i was a little kid i read this one book… All i remember is it had a kid and a mean neighbor girl with a pet reptile of some kind that had to spend the night cos her grandma was taken away in an ambulance¿?¿?¿? Does anyone know what book this was. It was illustrated. Was this a fever dream i had as a child that haunts me to this day?!?!?! HELP

chanda
chanda
Reply to  Bekah
July 9, 2021 7:01 pm

This isn’t a total match (no ambulance, and it’s the main girl, not the mean neighbor with the exotic pets) – but it might be worth taking a look at Bootsie Barker Bites by Barbara Bottner.

“It’s the worst when Bootsie Barker comes to my house. Bootsie’s the one who pulls my hair and tears my books. She hates Charlene, my pet salamander. She says that I’m a turtle and she’s a turtle-eating dinosaur.”

“Bootsie Barker Bites is about a mean young girl who is forced to be friends with another little girl because their mothers are friends. Bootsie is mean to her friend. She pulls hair, covers her mouth, forces her to play dangerous games, and does not appreciate any of her friends efforts to make connections. One night, Bootsie was asked to stay at her friend’s house overnight while her parents were out of town. Well, Bootsie was in for a rude awakening when the other little girl stood up for herself and invented a new game. Bootsie refused to stay the night and left with her parents. The other little girl was relieved.”

“A beleaguered small girl recounts her troubles with the daughter of her mother’s best friend, who terrorizes her on her frequent visits. Sent to the timid narrator’s room to play, Bootsie proclaims herself a dinosaur who will devour the child in whatever form she takes. Finally driven to confide in her mother, the child sensibly translates typical adult advice (“Tell Bootsie you don’t want to play that game”) into something Bootsie understands (“I am a PALEONTOLOGIST!…They hunt for DINOSAUR bones”).

Danielle Mac
Danielle Mac
July 9, 2021 3:22 am

Could someone help me find a title for a picture book from my childhood ? I’ve tried Google but to no avail.

It’s an illustrated children’s book about two girl best friends (or maybe cousins?) they meet up in the summer at a ?cottage on the shore and do all this fun stuff together like eating watermelon and putting seaweed on their head and pretending they’re mermaids. Also there might be jellyfish in there

The illustration is more folk-art like. It is a old-ish book at least 20 years old.

Thanks in advance if you have any suggestions.

chanda
chanda
July 9, 2021 12:28 am

If it might have been a short story in a collection of stories, possibly The Magic Spectacles and Other Easy-to-Read Stories by Lilian Moore, illustrated by Arnold Lobel.

The title story is about an owl called Little Hoot who tries to stand in for his grandfather, the wise old owl, by wearing his grandfather’s spectacles – but they don’t help him to answer the other animals’ questions.

“Those spectacles must be magic! Because wise old Grandfather Owl wore them and he just knew so much! So Little Hoot waited until his grandfather was asleep and borrowed the magic glasses. And, boy, did Little Hoot get wise!”
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LJV
LJV
Reply to  chanda
July 11, 2021 7:08 am

Thank you very much for trying. It was a single volume with a watercolour painting on the cover of a tree beside a river with an owl in the tree. I think it nay have been my grandmother’s book when she was a child so it may date back to 1910 or so and she was born in England.

chanda
chanda
July 9, 2021 12:06 am

Possibly My Numbers Books: My First Steps to Math by Jane Belk Moncure.

They’ve been reprinted multiple times, with different covers.
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chanda
chanda
July 8, 2021 11:55 pm

Jasmine by Randy Houk.

“Jasmine’s true story always brings a tear – but as all our stories tell of courage and kind people, you just know she’s going to be rescued. Abandoned in a locked apartment. Jasmine survives on a big bag of birdseed and a leaky faucet.”

“When Jasmine the cat’s family moves, they leave her behind! Jasmine heroically survives on birdseed and water from a leaky faucet for four months before the landlord discovers her. Jasmine is rushed to a local animal shelter where she receives veterinary treatment, some much needed food and water, and is eventually adopted into a happy home.”

Anna Morgan
Anna Morgan
July 8, 2021 9:09 pm

Hello, I’m looking forward a children’s book that I read as a child. It was from the early 2000s or 90s. I remember it was a scholastic book that had a young girl on the cover. It was a historical book. I remember it began with the main girl character leaving her boarding school to return home to her family. They were very wealthy. I also remember she befriended an African American boy named Sean, and I think he was several years older than her. I also think he worked fir her father, but I could be wrong. I remember she lived in a sea town that had a port. The main plot of the story is that pirates are going to attack her town. She discovers this and had to help save the town along with Sean. I’m pretty sure that no one believed her that pirates were planning to attack the town, including her family, but I could be wrong about that detail.

Melissa
Melissa
July 8, 2021 8:11 pm

If it could have been an orange instead of a potato, there is ‘The runaway orange’ an Usborne easy reading book by Felicity Brooks (1999).
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Kourtney Hernandez
Kourtney Hernandez
July 8, 2021 5:18 pm

Hello,
I’m looking for a book about a cat that was left alone in his house. Either his owner died or moved out and left him, I can’t remember. But, he had to eat bird seed and drink from the leaking faucet. He was eventually found and rescued, and I think it was a true story? It was a children’s picture book, not very long. TIA!

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 8, 2021 4:02 pm

Girls’ Adventure Stories of Long Ago contains these stories:

Sign of the hawk / by Renée Frazer —
The wreckers / by Elizabeth Sheppard-Jones —
Jehane of the forest / by Joan Aiken —
A lamp for Elizabeth / by Kathleen O’Farrell —
Highland escape —
by Judy Thomas —
The girl who helped the highwayman / by Enid Meridith —
Votes for women / by Evelyn Day.

Mike
Mike
July 8, 2021 1:54 pm

Hello,

I am looking for an old picture book that I read when I was in fourth grade (2006). From what I remember it was about a potato (I am fairly certain) that had fallen off a basket or a stand and ended up rolling through town. The cover was blue and there weren’t too many words on each page it was most definitely a picture book. This has been racking my brain for a long time now, please help! Thank you!

Loretta Jordan-Vieira
Loretta Jordan-Vieira
July 8, 2021 1:00 pm

Hello everyone, when i was a child back in the early 1970’s my grandmother read me a book about a little owl. I thought his name was Little Hoot. It was a very old hard cover back then so may have been published in the 19050’s-1960’s? Thank you in advance! I have googled for hours!

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
Reply to  Loretta Jordan-Vieira
July 15, 2021 11:08 pm

Maybe this: Mr. Hoot and the Firefly, by Betty Tomlinson Douglas.

Hannah
Hannah
July 8, 2021 12:09 pm

Okay so, this might be a long shot. I’m trying to remember a box set of books that I had around the late 90s/ early 2000s (could be earlier as I have older siblings) that included a book about each number from 1-10. Ive googled everything I can think of and I’ve had no luck. Also I’m from the UK if that helps. Thanks

chanda
chanda
Reply to  Hannah
July 9, 2021 1:25 am

Just as a follow-up, the My First Steps to Math books were frequently sold with the My First Steps to Reading books, also by Jane Belk Moncure, which included a book for every letter of the alphabet.
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Jennifer Simmonds
Jennifer Simmonds
July 8, 2021 10:25 am

Sign of the Hawk. Hi, I’m looking for a book which I’m sure has a story in it with various other stories there in, of a girl who has a cousin who looks very like herself when is English and one is French, and the French girl is put in jail for being an Aristocrat in The French Revolution, and somehow they trade places so that the French girl is shipped back to England and safe and the English girl now in jail in France is saved because she is English and cannot be guillotined. I am sure that the name of the story was the sign of the hawk but I am unable to find the book it was in. Thank you so much I hope you can help me

James
James
July 8, 2021 8:27 am

I’m looking for a book from the 1970s possibly early 80’s. The story is about a mouse with a bug friend roasting a sausage on a stick over a campfire. The bug suggests he buy a plate and fork which he does. As the book goes on he buys more and more things, each purchase leading to another, to make his life better like a stove and ends up needing a cart to carry everything around. He spends all his time running around doing chores as the appliances yell “Clean me!” “Feed me!”. At the end of the book he gives up all the material things and goes back to roasting a sausage on a stick over a campfire.
It was a short book, all illustrations, with a very rough art style.

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
Reply to  James
July 8, 2021 4:24 pm

Theodore, or, The Mouse Who Wanted to Own a Frying Pan, by William Papas.

Rebekah
Rebekah
July 8, 2021 3:17 am

Hi, I’m looking for a childhood book. I can’t remember the main characters name. But he lived with his dad in a tree by a lake/river. They’re kind of like fairies/sparrowmen in size. Some dark “sickness” is taking over the world and somehow his dad disappears. He goes on a quest to find his dad. He meets friends along the way, but I don’t remember their names. I remember a character living up in the canopy in a tree. There were kobolds in the book. At the end of the story he goes into a lake, under the water where a siren/mermaid enchantress lives and has his dad captured. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

bonniejeanne
bonniejeanne
July 8, 2021 2:58 am
bonniejeanne
bonniejeanne
July 8, 2021 2:46 am
EAHJr
EAHJr
Reply to  bonniejeanne
July 8, 2021 5:12 pm

This is it! The children lived on What-a-Jolly Street. Thank you for the great lead!

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 8, 2021 1:14 am

The Cinnamon Bear?

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 7, 2021 9:31 pm

Motel of the Mysteries, by David Macaulay.

Stephanie
Stephanie
July 7, 2021 9:18 pm

My adult sons are looking for a book they had when they were little. It was promoted as “The worlds longest book” . They remember a sea monster and a boat and that the pages folded out. They had to be very careful folding it back into the cover. because it was so long. We think it was called “The Krollsnock”. Thanks so much

chanda
chanda
Reply to  Stephanie
July 8, 2021 3:38 am

The Escape of the Krollsnork by Witold Generowicz.

“Destined for life in a circus, the krollsnork escapes from the train.”

“A chase through an amazing fantasy land that unfolds into one of the longest books in the world”
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Another “world longest” fold-out book by Witold Generowicz is The Train.
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Holly Hauzar
Holly Hauzar
July 7, 2021 8:11 pm

You’re a star Melissa!!!! That’s the very book. I’m so grateful – it was such fun to read. Thank you

Melissa
Melissa
July 7, 2021 8:01 pm

Try ‘A summer in the south’ by James Marshall. (Houghton Mifflin, 1977) There is a series of strange happenings in a small hotel on a lovely beach, and one of the hotel guests is responsible. Vacationing detective Eleanor Owl is determined to find out who it is. Could it be . . . the hotelkeeper (a turkey who loves his hotel); Foster Pig (a cantankerous porcine fellow); Don Coyote (a dapper gentleman of delicate health); The Squirrel Twins (who appreciate a racket and a good “furry dipping”); Miss Marietta Chicken (a fowl lady, though more serene than most chickens); or the mysterious Cootie family from Puddle Rapids? Beginning readers are sure to have great fun and more than a few laughs sleuthing out the mysterious culprit

Dee
Dee
July 7, 2021 7:36 pm

I am looking for a children’s book about a boy who was sent to live on a farm over the summer. There was a girl his age with short hair and her older sister who had blond hair and would dance. I don’t remember much but at one point the father screamed fire! fire! to get everyone’s attention because they didn’t hear him calling individually. My siblings tell me they think the word apple was in the title if that helps.

Holly Hauzar
Holly Hauzar
July 7, 2021 7:02 pm

Hi – I’m trying to remember the name of a children’s book from the late 70s or early 80s. It was about a group of animals staying in a hotel, and a wise owl detective trying to solve a crime. I recall suspicious gorillas and a criminal chicken, plus great illustrations. I think the title was something like “A place in the sun” but I’m struggling to find it. Can anyone help me remember. Thanks

Rachel Coleman
Rachel Coleman
July 7, 2021 5:24 pm

Hello, I’m looking for a children’s book that was about aliens or a future civilization conducting an archaeology dig of Earth and trying to come up with explanations for things like toilets and malls. I originally saw it around 1993. I don’t know the year it was published.

chanda
chanda
Reply to  Rachel Coleman
July 7, 2021 9:31 pm

Motel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay.

“It is the year 4022; all of the ancient country of Usa has been buried under many feet of detritus from a catastrophe that occurred back in 1985. Imagine, then, the excitement that Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist at best, experienced when in crossing the perimeter of an abandoned excavation site he felt the ground give way beneath him and found himself at the bottom of a shaft, which, judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from an archaic doorknob, was clearly the entrance to a still-sealed burial chamber. Carson’s incredible discoveries, including the remains of two bodies, one of then on a ceremonial bed facing an altar that appeared to be a means of communicating with the Gods and the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in the Inner Chamber, permitted him to piece together the whole fabric of that extraordinary civilization.”

“Macaulay’s Motel of the Mysteries is a classic, hilarious send-up of archaeological investigation and interpretation, in which anything we don’t understand is interpreted as having had religious significance. Written in the same style as old National Geographic articles (especially the classic coverage of Howard Carter’s opening of Tutankhamen’s tomb), it presents a comically garbled interpretation of a 20th Century motel that is excavated centuries later, only to be mis-interpreted as a tomb complex. The misunderstanding of toilet seats and sanitation tags (a la old Holiday Inns), complete with impressive but ridiculous artistic recreations of their ancient ceremonial use, is especially funny. Anyone who has ever studied archaeology should be able to appreciate (and be cautioned by) Macaulay’s story.”

Shannon Herring
Shannon Herring
July 7, 2021 3:54 pm

I’m looking for a children’s book about a girl and her family. They end up moving to a farm. The mother and the girl do not have a good relationship. The girl finds a dog and the mother is angry but lets her keep him. The girl makes a new friend (Rosie?), but the mother finds out and gets angry. Toward the end of the book, the girl has an accident and thinks “she hears the voice of her mother say “I love you.” I think I remember the book having a moon on the cover?

EAHJr
EAHJr
July 7, 2021 3:47 pm

I am searching for a book from which my mother read stories to me back in the 60s. It was a large book and contained a number of short stories. The stories were all about children who lived in a neighborhood and the adventures they shared. I remember one story about a girl who put together a bouquet for her mother and the story told the meaning of each flower. The book became one of the first that I read myself.

Arthur
Arthur
July 7, 2021 2:11 pm

I’m look for a story where cartoon bunny rabbits live in Mushrooms.

Harley Baker
Harley Baker
July 7, 2021 8:31 am

So I’m looking for a book series about animals. Maybe they were carousel animals? Not sure. But for some reason they were looking for these magic keys. And they travels to different weird locations or maybe magic places to find them. I was like 8 when I read them, so around 2006-2008. I’ve been searching for years and no luck

chanda
chanda
Reply to  Harley Baker
July 8, 2021 8:43 am

I’m not sure if there’s anything about magic keys, but it might be worth taking a look at the Magic Carousel Pony series.

“Each book has a special adventure with a special pony from the Magic Pony Carousel. My daughter and I enjoyed each adventure. A child is selected for a specific pony on the carousel, the pony comes to life while the child is riding the pony, sent on a special mission in a different place and time, and does not return until the mission has been completed. When the child and pony returns, the pony returns to its fake state and no time has lapsed in real life. Only the owner of the carousel, the pony, and the child know what happens.”

Magic Pony Carousel # 1 – Sparkle, the Circus Pony: The Magic Pony Carousel has come to town! Megan loves ponies. When she sees Sparkle, a beautiful circus pony with a pink headdress, she knows he’s meant for her. Then she climbs onto Sparkle and the carousel magically carries them to a real circus, where the performers need Megan’s help with their grand finale. Can Megan and Sparkle save the circus?

Magic Pony Carousel #4 – Jewel the Midnight Pony: “The Magic Pony Carousel is in town! Sophie is excited to ride Jewel, a jet black pony with a beautiful diamond-shaped white patch on his forehead. As soon as Sophie settles into Jewel’s saddle, they are whisked back in time on a magical adventure. Together, Sophie and Jewel must capture a villain, return a stolen locket, and rescue their new friend, Lucy!”

Maggie Muller
Maggie Muller
July 7, 2021 5:13 am

hi! i’m looking for a kids book where a little girl asks her grandpa if all her friends can come for dinner or a sleepover or something, and she says they won’t be any trouble, but they all have a favourite dinner. and he makes them all but then the friends are all her stuffed toys? thanks!

Sausagedog
Sausagedog
July 7, 2021 4:21 am

I remember painting the whole class painted a map dedicated to the story, it had some sort of root beer ocean and some kids on a boat going somewhere. Older story as it was also had a cassette read along. Roughly 2007-2008 of when I heard of this. I’ve been thinking about it for years but can’t seem to remember what it easy pls help

Azra Wise
Azra Wise
July 7, 2021 3:02 am

Hi. I’m looking for a book that I had when I was little so it was made in either the early 90s or 2000s. It was a children’s novel but wasn’t too long, most likely for older kids as the pictures weren’t very cartoonish. The plot was a rabbit/bunny who was in a forest and at one point tried to steal a crocodile/alligators eggs out of its best. There was also a character that I remember called “old granny turtle”?? I have seriously been losing my mind for about 6+ years trying to figure out the name of this book lol! Please somebody help

Gali Silva
Gali Silva
July 7, 2021 1:01 am

Hi. I’m looking for a children’s book (possibly a picture book) about a white seal that lives with some kids and teaches them things like how to tell time. I think the cover is of a white seal poking its head through a red circle. It’s probably from the late 90’s or the early 20’s. Thanks.

chanda
chanda
July 7, 2021 12:42 am

If it isn’t My Friend Mac, another possibility might be Peter’s Moose by Hughie Call.

“Peter makes a real pet of the orphaned baby moose he and his father, a forest ranger, find. It is only after the grown moose rescues him from a blizzard that Peter realizes the animal is safest in his own world of the wilderness.”
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chanda
chanda
July 6, 2021 11:46 pm

Possibly My Friend Mac: The Story of Little Baptiste and the Moose by May McNeer?

“The story of a lonely only child who desperately wants someone to play with him. When he gets lost in the woods, he cuddles down with a baby moose until his dad finds him. The calf follows him home. My children laughed and laughed over the illustrations of the adventures of the moose who would not become a well-behaved pet.”

“Baptiste, the protagonist, eager to have a friend of his own and fueled by his father’s stories of a best friend named Mac, wanders far into the forest and adopts a moose calf.

Any sensible parent at this point in to plot would either tell young Baptiste that he can’t have a moose as a pet or if they did say yes (as these parents do), set some ground rules for how the moose should be cared for. These parents don’t; instead they the moose grow up in the house causing havoc with everything until ultimately the moose becomes an adult bull and leaves of his own accord to find more of his kind.

It’s only after the bull Mac nearly kills Baptiste that the parents start to listen to the real reason behind their son’s desire for a moose friend. Baptiste is lonely and bored living with his parents out in the middle of no where. So in the end, Baptiste gets to go to school and finds a human friend named Mac.”
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Sandra Hartzell
Sandra Hartzell
Reply to  chanda
July 7, 2021 1:08 am

This is awesome! I wonder if Peter’s Moose is somehow related to My Friend Mac? Thank you ever so much.

jennifer
jennifer
July 6, 2021 11:17 pm

im looking for a children’s book from late 70’s. i believe it was called my day. it was typical 70’s coloring, orange, red and green. the begining page was, “first I get up.” i think the next page was “then i get dressed.” and on it went with the morning routine. it was the book i learned to read with, and i loved it.

Caleb Zimmerman
Caleb Zimmerman
July 6, 2021 10:31 pm

I’m trying to find a book I believed to be entitled “Kiowa” which was the name of the main character’s horse, but I can’t find it anywhere, maybe the title is wrong. A boy goes out west with his horse and joins an Indian tribe. The Indians called him “He Who Talks With Horses”? The plot is very vague to me, I dont remember if the boy ran away from home or what; I keep getting it mixed up with “Moccasin Trail”, another book that I liked to read growing up…

Sandra Hartzell
Sandra Hartzell
July 6, 2021 10:25 pm

I’m looking for a chapter book that I read in the 60s. There is a young brother and sister whose parents are murdered by a marauding army (possibly Vikings). The leader takes the 2 children with him to his castle. The young girl is determined to kill the leader. Eventually she realizes that he isn’t a monster and she forgives him.

Sandra Hartzell
Sandra Hartzell
July 6, 2021 10:22 pm

Actually I figured it out. Mac and Me

Suzanne Price
Reply to  Sandra Hartzell
July 7, 2021 7:37 pm

Thanks for writing back with the answer. Suzanne

farid alan schntzius
farid alan schntzius
July 6, 2021 9:22 pm

I am looking for a book about a house that had a border through the middle of it. the family in the house was pulled by appeals from both sides to be on their side.
Any thoughts ?

Sivanified
Sivanified
July 6, 2021 9:14 pm

Children’s Novel About a Cat’s Life as He Goes Through Multiple Owners

I read a novel for a book report in elementary school and I can’t remember the name. Not sure of when the book was originally published (1960s sticks in my mind but I think that’s wrong) but I first read it in 1998 or 1999.

The story is about a kitten born to a barn cat. The kitten has no name and I believe it was being taught how to survive/its purpose as a cat by its mother but one day it is taken away by humans and given its first name. The cat goes through many owners in the novel, including a little girl, and has its name changed many times. Each person who owns it wants a different purpose for the cat who questions his identity/role/existence and yearns to get back to his mother. I believe the cat goes through about 4 owners and names, needing to relearn his purpose each time someone else takes him. By the end of the novel the kitten, now a cat, finds its way back to the barn it was born in.

The ending was really the only part of the novel that stuck with me, which is why I am trying to remember what it was called. The now-cat finds his mother and she does not remember him. She tells him that maybe he was one of her kittens a long time ago but that she has had many kittens in her life and doesn’t remember or need him any more. She basically rejects him and he has to accept that he no longer needs her as he is now a grown cat who has had many identities in his life due to the different humans who owned him.

The book had chapters, no pictures I can remember, and I think the cat in the book was black.

Sandra Hartzell
Sandra Hartzell
July 6, 2021 7:30 pm

I’m looking for a children’s book about a boy that took care of a baby moose and they were friends It grew up and left but later came back to him.

chanda
chanda
July 6, 2021 6:27 pm

A Fish Story by Keith Faulkner.

“A tiny gray fish is taken home in a jar by a young fisherman. Soon the gray fish grows bigger and bigger! Too big for the jar, then much too huge for the fish tank–then so immense, he can’t even fit in the tub! So the boy sets his pal free in the ocean where he can be happy. Ingenious lift-flaps grow larger as the fish gets bigger, so in the end the book becomes a double gatefold to show a giant whale.”

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 6, 2021 5:21 pm
Alison Morgan
Alison Morgan
July 6, 2021 4:57 pm

Hello! I’m trying to find a short story that was in a collection used in a middle school in the early 1980s. The themes are loyalty, love, wanderlust. Man leaves his love behind to travel the world only to return to her and proclaim, “I realized everything I needed was right here,” paraphrased. To which she replies something like “Loyalty means you figure that out without leaving,” paraphrased. Does anyone recognize this? Thank you!

Suzanne Price
July 6, 2021 4:46 pm

This forum is for ID only, not any financial transactions…. but Jake Kelly REALLY wants to find this book!

Disqus
Disqus
July 6, 2021 11:44 am

Toby- I am looking for a child’s story book – A little boy catch’s a fish and brings it home and puts the fish into a bowl, the fish outgrows the bowl and the next bigger bowl / tank. The fish is then put into the bathtub and when the fish out grows the bathtub the fish is released back into the ocean. The fish is a Whale.

Jake Kelly
Jake Kelly
July 6, 2021 7:56 am

Hello, I’m looking for a children’s book that I read sometime in the early or mid 2000’s. It’s a collection folk tales/ myths from different cultures and I can only remember 2 of them specifically. One is the african/nigerian story that has also been retold by Aaron Shepherd in his children’s book Master Man, essentially about a boastful man who is humbled when he runs into a giant and has to run to another giant for help (I would describe it in greater detail but from what I can tell Shepherd’s version is almost identical to the one found in the book I’m trying to find). The other story I remember far less of, but I believe it is about a group of fisherman brothers who catch some sort of monster or giant fish that eventually turns them into black birds. If I can remember correctly I believe this tale originated in Asia. I have not been able to locate the base myth for this one however, so the details may be off. I’ve been searching for a long time and (paraphrase by Suzanne: and am very anxious to find it)

Shari Greenspan
Shari Greenspan
July 6, 2021 6:57 am

Looking for a chapter book I read, probably in the late 60s or very early 70s. Girl and her family need to save grandma’s (or aunt’s?) farm from foreclosure. Just as they’re leaving the farm, the girl finally understands that the money is hidden in the quilt. The farm is saved. I believe the cover showed the girl, the farmhouse in the background, and a quilt on a clothesline.

Adriana
Adriana
July 6, 2021 3:47 am

Im looking for a book I read as a young child (I was born in 86) about an anthropomorphic banana couple. Each task the couple performed in their day was a pun. For example the wife said “hunny, leave the door ajar” so the husband left a vase near the door, etc. Any help would be much appreciated!

chanda
chanda
Reply to  Adriana
July 6, 2021 6:40 pm

Mr. Bananahead At Home by Mike Thaler.

“Mr. Bananahead carefully performs the chores on Mrs. Bananahead’s list with humorous results.”
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Lia Kamitsis
Lia Kamitsis
July 6, 2021 2:01 am

Hi, I’m looking for a picture book probably published in the 80s or earlier where this group of people stitches the blanket of night and hangs the stars one by one to transition the day into night. I can’t remember the title and Google searches have come up empty so far. Thanks!

Rebekah Ratliff
Rebekah Ratliff
July 6, 2021 12:58 am

Looking for another book, also most likely an out of print, from the same old small school library my other post was from. Can’t really remember the cover (maybe red, it was that older fabric style), but think the images were just small infrequent 1/4 page/in the space at the end of a chapter or a paragraph break. Pretty sure in black and white or sparse color. A chapter book but not more than 2 inches thick. About a boy and maybe his grandfather or father and swallows (birds) that came to their town. The grandfather or someone made swallows on sticks (this always reminded me of Mr Roger’s and King Friday). Most likely older than the 70s. Originally read 1995-1999. Thanks again.

Rebekah Ratliff
Rebekah Ratliff
July 6, 2021 12:50 am

Looking for what I’m sure is an out of print children’s book. The copy I read was hardback in that older fabric style and about twin sisters during summer. I feel like it was them with their vacation at a summer house with their parents. One at least had short cropped hair (gives me Parent Trap Hayley Mills hair vibes). The other sister may have just had a bob. I believe they were depicted blonde, but even with the age of the book I don’t think the print was very colorful, more line drawing and white space though there were colors.. At one point they ate strawberries/went berry picking and there may have been swimming. Believe there is at least one point them lounging in their beds before going to sleep and another looking out their window. Approx time I read it was 1995-1999. I am guessing it was at least older than the 1960s but have a random guess it was from the 40s. Paper was worn and had an aged patina. It was pretty thin and had larger print, was not a chapter book, but was not overly simplistic like a picture book. Thanks.

ClarieceBooty
ClarieceBooty
July 5, 2021 11:59 pm

Hi! I’m looking for a book I read in the late 90’s (think Rowan of Rin era) with small pink fluffy round character with huge eyes. Unfortunately the description of the character is all I know of the contents of the book. The main character saw this very fluffy round ball, pretty sure it was pink but could have been red, and then all of a sudden it’s eyes opened and was like 70% percent of its body. I remember the cover being very busy, the fluffy character was on the back in amongst a jungle type scene, if I remember rightly. I wish I could remember anything else but that’s honestly all I’ve ever remembered for years. Really hope it’ll spark someone’s memory.

unity
unity
July 5, 2021 6:23 pm

Looking for a book, ilistrated childrens book about a girl in paris or france. the ilistration is dark (in colour). At one point in the story it rains cats(only cats no dogs). The girls name might have been babbet. Also it was deffinitaly published before 1985

chanda
chanda
July 5, 2021 7:06 am

Montessori does use a “Colors Book Set” by Melanie Mitchell (published in 2003), but they’re illustrated with real photographs.
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Brianna
Brianna
July 5, 2021 4:49 am

Hi! I’m looking for a book I read in maybe 2013/2014. All I remember is that it was about a girl who befriended what I think was a blob like creature that I think was able to shape shift and help the girl. It was availiable to me as a cassette to listen to as well as a book

Jennifer_622
July 5, 2021 2:52 am

Okay this is a book my girlfriend has been looking for. She’s 24 so early 2000s, it was a book series for learning colors. Not 100% sure but thinks it was a hardcover with paper pages. There was one for each color, she remembers red, green, yellow and blue- can’t remember if there was orange and purple.
Not real pictures but not simple cartoons, each book was only using that color. She went to a Montessori daycare so I’ve been wondering if it was Montessori specific but I don’t think so. Have been searching all week and running out of ideas

Cynthia
Cynthia
July 5, 2021 12:35 am

Hi, I’m looking for a children book from the 90s which was about a child who’s mom is going to have a baby soon and she has to move to a new bedroom, and in her new room is a special hiding hole in the wall which she can sit in.

chanda
chanda
July 4, 2021 11:44 pm

Possibly Masquerade by Kit Willams?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_(book)

Brando Glick
Brando Glick
Reply to  chanda
July 17, 2021 4:20 am

Thanks for the response but that is not it.

chanda
chanda
July 4, 2021 11:37 pm

That sounds like The Odd Pet by Julia Donaldson.

A little girl named Viv has an odd pet called a Zog. It is red with ten legs. It eventually lays eggs which hatch out into baby zogs. Once the babies are old enough, Viv gives some of them to her friends – and keeps the rest for herself.
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You can read it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqoVDHFkYHE

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 4, 2021 9:34 pm

Lily and the Present, by Christine Ross.

goodgretna
goodgretna
Reply to  MamaSquirrel
July 23, 2021 9:05 am

thank you!!

chanda
chanda
July 4, 2021 6:33 pm

A long shot, but possibly Gertrude Kloppenberg (Private) by Ruth Hooker? I don’t know if there’s a candy store or not – but it does have a mother and daughter, and the daughter gets pneumonia.

“Gertrude and her mother live on the top story of a two family house. The lower level is occupied by the five Murphy boys and their parents. Gertrude purchases a black and white speckled notebook and starts her diary on Monday, March 25th. She signs some entries “Yours truly, Trudy.” On March 28th, Gertrude admires a garden through a knothole in a fence while walking home from school. On that same day, Gertrude’s mother goes shopping with her friend, Miss Rice (the head of housewares), and buys her daughter a plaid dress with a white collar “just like pictures of school girls in magazines.” Gertrude meets Mrs. Blonski, the owner of the garden, on April 11, and her son, Carl, on April 23rd. Thanks to the kind Mrs. Blonski, the shy and unsure Trudy learns to jump rope, befriends the children at her school, gains the favorable attention of her teacher, stands up to the rambunctious Murphy boys, and becomes best friends with Sandra, the most popular girl at school. At the end of the book, Trudy nearly succumbs to undiagnosed pneumonia, but is saved by Carl (who is studying medicine) and Mrs. Blonski, who take her to the hospital where she is put in an oxygen tent.”
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bonniejeanne
bonniejeanne
July 4, 2021 6:32 pm

Found this one, but it doesn’t give a description:

https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Next-Door-Jenifer-Wayne/dp/043497191X

Crowey
Crowey
Reply to  bonniejeanne
July 4, 2021 8:48 pm

Hahaha That’s just bizarre! I’d searched that very same title and found nothing! Thank you. I think this may be it…

chanda
chanda
July 4, 2021 6:15 pm

Possibly Animals on the Farm: A Children’s Rhyming Picture Book by Julie Richmond.

From online reviews:

“My kids really loved this book. They enjoyed all of the cute pictures, but their favorite part was finding the hidden chick on every page.”

“Pictures are really cute. Short sentences keep younger kids from losing interest. Extra bonus is the hide and seek “game” with the chick on each page.”
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nyx
nyx
July 4, 2021 5:52 pm

Trying to find a children’s book with a red animal ( almost like a llama) which had around 10 legs and also towards the end of the book had children. rather obscure but my brain is itching to find it

LizzieD
LizzieD
July 4, 2021 5:04 pm

Hello. I’m looking for a book I read as a child in the 90’s. The book was probably older than that but I’m not sure how old. It was about a young black child. I believe he had a few brothers. And they had all outgrown their suits and it was a special, rare outing to go buy each of the boys a new suit if the hand me downs were too worn out. I don’t think the family had much money so it was special to get something new. And the boy desperately wanted this amazing, beautiful blue suit but he was too scared to speak up and tell his mother. And he was worried he’d end up with an ugly color he didn’t like. But somehow the mother knew exactly what each one wanted and they were all happy with their new suits. I’d love to read it again if I can find it!

Lisa
Lisa
July 4, 2021 3:20 pm

I’m trying to track down a book from 70s or 80s. It was set out like a dictionary with a page devoted to each letter. Each page was themed e.g. travelling on an aeroplane, watching a school play and featured a family which included twin girls called Katie and Rebecca.

goodgretna
goodgretna
July 4, 2021 1:13 pm

I’m looking for a picture book from the 80s/early 90s about a girl who wants to buy a big, bold and beautiful present for a baby sibling. She buys a series of extravagant things including an alligator handbag, always telling the sales assistants to charge it. She can’t carry all her purchases and gets stuck on the escalator. In the end she realises the ideal present is a balloon from a clown in the entrance of the mall.

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 4, 2021 11:47 am

Toy Tales, by Helen Cooper. “Daredevil Duck is speedy and quick. . . but not very careful! Poor Bear is worried that nobody loves him, now that he’s old and scruffy. Proud Pig has lots of money in his tummy, but an accident is about to happen. . . Floppy old Frog is stuffed with rice. . . One night he gets nibbled by hungry mice!”

MamaSquirrel
MamaSquirrel
July 4, 2021 11:40 am

The author is Tony Kerins (sometimes listed as Anthony Kerins),

Kat
Kat
July 4, 2021 10:28 am

It sounds like it but the problem is that the whole book is a fully visual picture book all throughout.. Its possible that it could be a remake of the story you mentioned simplified since its super similar. What I could describe the book to look like is almost a city-like atmosphere at night. So its modern but around the 2000s.

chanda
chanda
July 4, 2021 7:30 am

That sounds like the plot of Disney’s Tangled (an adaptation of the Rapunzel story). There are multiple book versions of the story.

“A drop of pure, magical sunlight falls to earth and sprouts a flower with healing properties. An aging Mother Gothel hides the flower and uses it to stay young for centuries, until royal soldiers from a nearby kingdom find and uproot it to save their ailing Queen. Shortly thereafter, the Queen gives birth to a baby girl with golden hair. Gothel discovers the hair has the same powers as the flower, but turns brown and becomes useless when cut. She abducts the infant, names her Rapunzel, and raises her in a hidden tower, using her hair to stay immortal.”

Lisa Crocker Engel
Lisa Crocker Engel
July 4, 2021 6:30 am

I’m looking for a book I read in the 1970s, possibly a Scholastic book. It was about a young girl and her father, who was a blacksmith/tinker of some type. They traveled about in probably the bronze or Iron Age? The cover was light pink or peach and there was a masked horseman on the cover. The plot involves her missing brother who turns out to be the masked horseman. I think there was “king” in the title? Or mountain? Driving me nuts. Have used every search engine I can find. Would have been 1973-1977

Brando Glick
Brando Glick
July 4, 2021 6:03 am

Looking for a book that was a big puzzle. Each page had hidden objects. You had to figure out what the objects were by figuring out the missing letters in the border of the page(s). Once you figure out the letters then you had to figure out what it spelled and then find it. I feel like the whole book led to you finding someone that you were looking for. I remember having it in the early 90’s. We bought it from a family that sold books for a company not sure which.

chanda
chanda
July 4, 2021 6:00 am

Any chance the girl was a cat rather than a human girl? Take a look at The Cat who Wore a Pot on Her Head by Jan Slepian (previously published as Bendemolena).

“When Bendemolena wears a tin pot on her head what she hears gets so mixed up that she and her brothers and sisters iron the meat, nail the chairs to the wall, and invite in a bear and a horse.”

“Put the boop on the beep? Mup the moop on the deep? Oh! She must have said to iron the meat!” And so goes the story of Bendemolena, which is now called The Cat Who Wore a Pot on her Head. We all need laughter in our lives right now, especially children, and this book has yet to fail to provoke loud laughter from my students when I read it out loud to them. When her mother goes to care for a sick friend for the day, Bendemolena goes along to take messages back and forth to her nine little brothers and sisters of the chores they need to do for the day. Having put the pot on her ears to find some quiet in her noisy house, Bendemolena doesn’t always get her mother’s directions quite right, but somehow in the end, everything works out.”
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chanda
chanda
July 4, 2021 5:55 am

Possibly The Shadowmaker by Ron Hansen?

“The Shadow Maker replace old shadows with new ones, plump shadows with lean ones, shabby shadows with spiffy ones,” the Shadowmaker tells the townspeople. Soon everyone is parading around with brand-new shadows — everyone, that is, except Drizzle and her grouchy brother, Soot, who can’t afford them. Then Drizzle decides to do a little investigating to learn the Shadowmaker’s secrets. But the Shadowmaker is a wily old magician, and his shadows aren’t exactly what he promised. Drizzle must use a little magic of her own to set things right again.”

“Once upon a time, in a place you’ve never been,” a little man rides into town and opens a shop with shadows for sale. Then an orphaned brother and sister named Drizzle and Soot discover the truth: that he’s a mean, incompetent wizard whose shadows don’t work.”
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Simone
Simone
July 4, 2021 5:25 am

Good day, I really hope you can help me. My mother read me a story when I was a little girl, she has passed away and all I can remember about the book is that was about twin boys (possibly Chinese) one dies and grows up in heaven the other grows up on earth. I would love to read this to my children, but I can’t seem to find it. I’ve been searching for years. Book was read to me in the mid 1990’s. Thanks to anyone for reading this!

casscaded
casscaded
July 4, 2021 4:38 am

Hi there I’m looking for an old book where there’s a princess with super long hair. Then there was an evil queen who tried to hunt her down to cut her hair because it kept her young. This book is probably from the 2000s. Any ideas?

Leora Carrillo
Leora Carrillo
July 4, 2021 3:31 am

Hi there, I’m looking for a series of books from the 1990s involving a girl who writes a travel journal as she travels the world with her parents. She writes in diary/journal style and draws images and notes of interesting things she finds. The front cover is very bright and colorful. One particular book she travels to South America and discovers the gum trees. Thanks for any help!

Casey Smith
Casey Smith
July 4, 2021 3:00 am

hi, i’m looking for a book (not sure when it was published but i think before 2000) that has black and white illustrations but is not a picture book. it’s about this dog who’s owner gets attacked by wolves and so the dog runs away, finds a hunting shack to stay in, gets shot at and runs away from that, then befriends a goose and in the end saves the goose from getting shot during hunting season. i’ve tried googling different descriptions a million times and have never been able to find anything. thanks 🙂

Jennifer Harrington
Jennifer Harrington
July 4, 2021 12:40 am

I am looking for a book I had as a child. I feel like it was called, “The Heifer.” When I Google that, nothing comes up though. It was about 2 friends in Japan or China, can’t remember which, and they are traveling back to their village from the market and both decide they want the same heifer, and they proceed to try to trick each other out of it all the way home, and neither of them ends upwith it inthe end. Any ideas?

Kim Krech
Kim Krech
July 3, 2021 10:18 pm

Hi I am looking for a book from the 70s / 80s about a girl that got a pot stuck.on her head and how she muddled up all the words and meanings whilst the pot was on her head.

Hilary
Hilary
July 3, 2021 7:10 pm

I know someone who is looking for a book that matches this description:

A picture book about two girls (siblings). Their mother dies, and one goes to live with an aunt while one stays with their father. Also, the older sibling writes a book to the younger.

That’s all I have to go on! Thanks for any help!

Christine Aubrey
Christine Aubrey
July 3, 2021 2:39 pm

I’m looking for a collection of fairytales hard cover from the 70s-80s (Canada although not sure if the book was)

It was beautifully illustrated and had a darker tone… beautiful but kinda creepy! The last story of the book was The Little Mermaid and it was so sad and scary. Other stories: Little Match Girl, Frau Holle (under a different name probably), the Princess and the Forg, Rumpelstiltskin, Jack and the Beanstalk, the ugly Duckling and many more I don’t remember.

It was a large book and I believe the cover had grey undertones… kinda gothic. It was uncensored so for example the little mermaid was nude vs wearing seashells and the characters were quite mean/scary but it was still for children.

Sue Pitkethly
Sue Pitkethly
July 3, 2021 2:30 pm

Hi, I’m looking for a book that I used to read to my children in the early 1990’s. It was called ‘LOST’ and was about a little girl called Callie who went to a beach with her grandma and wandered off, only to get lost. It had a happy ending. I cannot remember the name of the author

Liz
Liz
July 3, 2021 1:52 pm

I am looking for a 1950’s/1960’s children’s book about a little girl and her family plan a picnic. It rains and she is so sad. The family ends up having the picnic in the attic.

chanda
chanda
Reply to  Liz
July 4, 2021 6:24 am

Possibly Fun With Decals (a Little Golden Book, by Elsa Ruth Nast, illustrated by Corrine Malvern).

“There was a picture book I remember from the 50’s about a family being at a lake and planning a picnic. However, it rains and the children have a grand time playing and having the picnic indoors. Before they know it, the sun is out and they can go swimming.”
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