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Looking for a children’s/young teen chapter book about a young girl in a wheelchair who wants to win a local contest that one of the town’s stores is hosting where they release red balloons into the air and they have prize slips inside the balloons. She dreams about winning the canopy bed. I read it in the 90s but not sure when it was first published.
Looking for old children’s story book with “Teeny Tiny Woman” story in it among others. All I remember is that story was in it and it had a mottled beige cover with bears or something on the cover?? Any help is appreciated!
I’m looking for a kids novel possibly written in the 1960 about a boy who I think maybe was a genius or who had telepathic skill. I wish I could remember more. It turns out guys from the government are after him to use his skills and he has to flee with his parents. I think it was maybe made into a move later. I wish I could remember more details. I read it when I was 10 or 12. Thanks so much.
Middle-grade kids’ realistic fiction chapter book, set in modern times, about a boy who is sent to help out an elderly monk/friar/priest, possibly as a punishment. Read in mid-90s at age 10.
One of the few details I remember is that the boy was assigned to mow the lawn with an old-fashioned push reel lawn mower. He found it too difficult so he tried using a motorized mower instead, and was reprimanded because that was too loud.
I also think there’s a part where the monk/friar/priest/whatever gives him some ancient honey from the abbey/monastery/whatever. Sorry I don’t remember the exact wording that was used in the book.
It wouldn’t have been published any later than 1996. I was assigned to read it in 4th or 5th grade.
My memory of the cover art is very fuzzy so take this part with a grain of salt… but I think the cover showed an outdoor scene; possibly grass, flowers, a brick wall and/or a church-type building. Possibly a boy. The cover art was hand-drawn or painted, as opposed to a photograph.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Children/Young teen book about a mysterious monster in a lake, the young girl/protagonist visits her grandmother (or perhaps aunt) during the summer and her favorite breakfast was chocolate chip pancakes.
I’m looking for a children’s chapter book a friend of mine read in 5th grade in the 90’s. All she remembers is it’s about a girl who had to move to a farm. She can’t remember if the girl is orphaned or not; but the girl thought the people on the farm were weird and they had a bathtub outside. Once night she was outside taking a bath and a man was outside who scared her (who was maybe walking back to his house/farm). She grabs her robe and soaking wet she goes into her house yelling “There’s a man outside”. And they say something like “Oh that’s (so-and-so). He’s a neighbor”….or maybe that man worked as a farmhand.
Looking for a book where a kid/teenager buys a pony at an auction or maybe sees an ad in the paper about it- just remember that he (or she) buys it for super cheap, as they could not afford any of the other horses being sold that day, or had been outbid. I’m 99% sure it was a chestnut pony and it was small but I remember a scene where it maybe jumped over a tree trunk? been searching for hours with no luck. Thanks in advance!
Could it be one of the Misty of Chincoteague books?
I’m looking for a children’s book about an elephant who runs a hospital to care for sick animals. On the cover I remember her lying in a hammock. In the book, the animals get better but she doesn’t want them to leave her and they end up escaping.
I’m also looking for another children’s book that was black and white pen and ink illustrations. It’s about a group of children running away from home. I remember in the book they stayed at a few different places, at one time they slept on a big rock, another time in a treehouse. In the beginning of the book I remember one of the children had drawn on the wall at her home.
If anyone recognizes these books please let me know!! Thank you!
The second one could be We Were Tired of Living in a House by Liesel Moak Skorpen. illus by Doris Burn.
This is it!! Thank you 🙂 Also in case anyone else was looking for the other book I mentioned, I found it, it’s called Gumbrella by Barry Root
Thanks for replying and IDing the book you found. I’ll list the other one again in case it gets lost in the Forum!
Gumbrella by Barry Root —- I’m looking for a children’s book about an elephant who runs a hospital to care for sick animals. On the cover I remember her lying in a hammock. In the book, the animals get better but she doesn’t want them to leave her and they end up escaping.
I’m looking for a book that was for young people….not necessarily young children. It had different stories and one I remember was about Gulliver’s Travels because I remember the illustrations of the Lilliputians tying him down. I think the book had a plain green cover with only the title and it had lots of stories. I read it over and over again. I would have read it in the late 60″s or early 70’s….most likely the 70’s but the book could have been published before that time.
Beyond the Pawpaw Trees, by Palmer Brown.
It all began on a lavender blue day. The kind of day, Anna Lavinia knows, when anything can happen. It was on such a day that Anna Lavinia’s father saw a double rainbow, and went chasing after it. And it is on such a day that she and her cat Strawberry set off on their journey beyond the walled garden where the Pawpaw trees grow, to a place where the buttercups bloom pink and the laws of gravity don’t always apply. Here she will test her mother’s advice, “Never believe what you see,” against her father’s wise words, “Believe only what you see.” And just maybe she will get to finally use her father’s mysterious silver key.
That sounds like Beyond the Pawpaw Trees by Palmer Brown. There is also a sequel: The Silver Nutmeg.
“Anna Lavinia was trying to thread a needle when she looked out her window and noticed that it was a lavender blue day.”
“It all began on a lavender blue day—the kind of day when anything can happen. It was on such a day that Anna Lavinia’s father saw a double rainbow and went chasing after it. And it is on such a day that she and her cat, Strawberry, set off on their journey beyond the walled garden where the pawpaw trees grow, to a place where the buttercups bloom pink and the laws of gravity don’t always apply. Here Anna Lavinia will test her mother’s advice “Never believe what you see,” against her father’s wise words “Believe only what you see,” and just maybe she’ll finally be able to use the mysterious silver key her father left behind when he went chasing after rainbows.”
After Anna Lavinia departs on her adventure, she discovers that her cat, Strawberry, has stowed away in her blue carpet bag. She starts out on a train, but after she reaches the end of the line – where the train tracks come together – she must continue on her own. Along the way, she is given the strange pet – a thobby. “The thobby was a pretty sort of stump-tailed lizard, very plump, about a foot long and covered in fur, mostly pink, but with round white spots.” She later carries the thobby in her carpet bag. She does eventually find his father and bring him home – along with the pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Hello, I’m looking for a children’s book that my dad used to read to me when I was younger. I would like to mention that I only remember bits and pieces of it. It was a collection of short stories (with lots of illustrations!!!) about anthropomorphic animals living, usually the main character was a mouse. I don’t think that all the short stories were related, but they all took place in the same sort of world.
Story 1. The story I remember the most was about a mice who’s mouse girlfriend got kidnapped by an evil rat named Attila the Rat who frequently kidnapped people from their village to take them back to his castle. Wanting to rescue his girlfriend, the mouse goes to Attila’s castle looking for her. He makes a friend with a lion that has a swiss army knife (I remember this specifically because there was a picture/ diagram of it on a page.) The lion also had a motor bike with a side car and that’s how the mouse and the lion got to his castle.
They reach the castle and his girlfriend is cooking meals for Attila. After rescuing her, they go under his castle and find all the missing townsfolk that he’d kidnapped working in an emerald mine for Attila. They rescue everyone and they escape. The end.
Story 2. I vaguely remember a story where there’s a little raft/ boat house that an animal made (I think it might have been a frog but I’m not sure) that they live on. there were two mouse brothers that thought it was really cool and they would sometimes go underwater into a bottle that had sunken to the ground so they could breath and look at the fish swim by.
there are a couple other bits and pieces I can remember, but this post has gotten a bit long. I’ve spent hours searching for this book, but clearly haven’t had any luck. It’s really nostalgic to me and I would love to find it. Thank you! 🙂
Im looking for the name of a children’s book about fairies. It has really detailed illustrations. I had it in the early 2000s. It is about how all the different fairies arrive (are born). The few I remember are the rain fairies, whose babies arrive clinging onto falling rain drops. The sunshine fairies, who arrive sliding on sun rays. The rainbow fairies, who have different coloured hair to match the colour of the rainbow stripe they slide down on (fairy with purple hair slides down the purple part of the rainbow). Each page covers a different type of fairy and shows the young ones arriving by their special method. The pages have coordinating colour themes, and the fairies are dressed monochrome (aside from rainbow ones). There may have been other kinds, but these are the ones I can recall. One of the baby fairies (I forget if it was a sunshine or rainbow) was sliding too fast and tore his wings. He was really sad, seeing how big and beautiful the adult fairies wings were. I believe one of the adult fairies fixed his wings? Hope someone recognizes this description!
Could it be the Rainbow Magic series and Weather Fairies? There are seven books, each with a different fairy and color. https://www.scholastic.com/rainbowmagic/books.htm
Looking for a book i read in the mid 1960s, around 1964-1967 from my school library in Washington County Indiana. The story was about a young girl who decides to take an adventure to look for her father who chases rainbows. I remember a scene where she is trying to trying to thread a needle on a cloudy day but gives up. Also she takes a blue carpet bag with red roses or a red carpet bag with blue roses and also a little per but not a dog or cat – sort of a guinea pig like creature that loves to eat nasturtiums. She travels on a train until the tracks meet in the horizon. There she gets off – she does find her father and he found the end of a rainbow and is rich.
Hi, I’m looking for a book I read in the 70’s or 80’s. It was a supernatural book that involved a green giant and wraith like tall skinny badies. It was set in England.
Thanks
That sounds like the McBroom’s Farm books by Sid Fleischman. The kids’ names are “WillJillHesterChesterPeterPollyTimTomMaryLarryandlittleClarinda.”
The first book in the series is McBroom’s Wonderful One-Acre Farm: “When Josh McBroom learns that the eighty acres of Iowa farmland he’s purchased are all stacked up on top of each other at the bottom of a muddy little pond, he thinks he’s been bamboozled. But McBroom knows he’s got the better of the bargain when the pond dries up to reveal an acre of soil so rich that seeds spring up into full-grown plants in no time and even nickels grow into quarters.”
In the book McBroom’s Ghost, the winter got so cold that the smoke froze in the chimney, sunlight froze on the ground, the teeth in the comb were chattering, and the red barns all turned blue. The McBroom family is plagued by a ghost that mimics them, their rooster (Sillabub), a pack of howling wolves, and even the sounds of John Philip Sousa’s marching band. They later discover that there is no ghost – but the winter had been so cold that even the sounds had frozen. Every time they heard the “ghost” was when the weather warmed up a bit and the sounds started thawing out. The sounds of the marching band were those of the records that McBroom played on his “talking machine” (a Victrola).
Other books in this series of tall tales include McBroom Tells a Lie, McBroom Tells the Truth, McBroom’s Ghost, McBroom’s Zoo, Here Comes McBroom, McBroom and the Big Wind, and McBroom the Rainmaker.
Yes, that is it!! Thank you so much! I will look it up and see if I can find it.
You’re welcome! Glad I could help. You shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a copy.
Children’s book about a farmer who has a lot of kids (12 or 13) and he rattles off their names when calling them in for dinner, or for the night. He talks about playing music on his Victrola in the book too. I though it was something like “Farmer Brown…” but I can’t seem to find it. I have seen books about Farmer Brown, just not the one I’m looking for.
looking for a children’s book from halloween time where the young boy “climbs a fence and rips his britches”. That is the only line I can recall from the book. My daughter used to take it out of the school library every week (until the librarian finally said she had to leave it for someone else to have a turn to read it, lol)
Another suggestion: The Ticky-Tacky Doll, by Cynthia Rylant.
THATS IT!! I don’t think I can ever express how much it means to have found the book, Thank you for that, Thank you so so much
You’re welcome! Thanks for posting back. (Making the second doll is part of the Fanny book, so if you read both you might have remembered that.)
You can read more about Fanny here:
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/3910866
Maybe the Holly Hobbie book Fanny?
Hello, I’m looking for a children’s book my Grandma remembers reading to her kids and her description is below. I’m estimating the book would have been from the 60s.
The two characters are woodland animals — a moose and a bear, I think, but it could have been a beaver and a bunny or a duck and a fox for all I remember. Anyway, one visits the other. The host’s kitchen, whatever species he is, is certifiably messy. After the friends enjoy scrumptious sticky buns, the guest starts looking around. “Bear,” he says, “there is honey all over your counter!” “Yes,” agrees the bear (or whatever he is). “And there is flour all over the floor!” “I see it,” says the host. “And those bowls are dripping batter!” Well this goes on for several pages, detailing the awful mess in the kitchen. Finally the host draws himself up to his full height, looks his guest in the eye, and says righteously, “Today is the day I bake sticky buns. Today is NOT the day I clean kitchens!”
Thank you!
Hello, I am trying to find a children’s book I remember reading when I was young, but I can’t seem to remember the name. It was a picture book about a cat that wanted to hatch an egg, but gets into mishaps in his attempts at doing so, which includes getting coated in egg and the owners had to wash him off with cold water. The cover illustration showed the cat getting chased by a chicken, and all I can remember is that the title of the story had the name of the cat. Is anyone familiar with that?
I am looking for a book from the late 80’s early 90’s about a pig who has a sleepover. I want to say the pigs name was Hannah, but that could be wrong.
Amanda Pig and her best friend Lollipop
by:Van Leeuwen, Jean
Amanda and Lollipop love playing make-believe at Amanda’s house, but Amanda would rather go over to Lollipop’s. Except when Amanda finally gets to sleep over at her best friend’s house, she realizes that maybe she really does like her own home best.
That was a fun book! My daughters read a lot of the Oliver and Amanda series. Good for learning to read.
Hello!
I’m looking for a children’s book of ghost stories I read in the late 90s/early 2000s in Australia. One notable story is about a little girl that befriends ghosts that reside in a bus stop. There’s a drawing at the end of the story of ghostly silhouettes behind the bus stop glass. From what I remember the cover was purple and white and had several small pictures surrounding the title. The only one i remember is a little blonde girl putting her hands over her ears.
I am looking for a book from 50s of 60s about a man who lives alone, possibly in a lighthouse, and who lives a very simple life, he eats the same food every day, washes his bowl and even washes his newspaper so he can re-read it. I am pretty sure the book was illustrated and may have been a collection of stories. For some reason I always remembered the main character’s name as Mr. Whistle but it is not the Enid Blyton collection, so perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me 🙂
Possibly this one?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/457304.The_Mouse_Butcher
I don’t think it’s The Mouse Butcher. Although I have limited information about my book, the tone and storyline seems wrong. But I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks for replying.
I’m looking for a book I used to read as a 90s kid. It was cats (I think) that were always fighting each other and doing things like putting buckets of water over the door so it pours on the other cat that walks in.
hi I am looking for a book that is about a shop that sells items of sadness(lonliness?unhappiness?despair?) it is a childrens poetry book that is illustrated in oils and has an old man as the shopkeeper, the book is about the various partrons buying things from this shop of sadness, it is told in rhyme, my friend read it in vancouver canada in elementary school around the year 2009, but he says it predates 2005. thank you
Hi! I’m looking for a children’s book about a fabric strip doll and a tiny fabric strip doll, I’m pretty sure in the book it had a part where the person who owned the dolls made the tiny one so the first one wouldn’t be lonely, but I could be wrong. I also vaguely remember that the theme was about mother’s love. I read it when I was 5, so it was probably made pre- 2006 and made a fabric strip doll in a workshop because I think I read it in class. The cover had both fabric strip dolls and they had long fabric strip hair, I think they were very colorful.
hi, im looking for a childrens book. its about a little kingdom which is in a box. there are 2 friends, one of whom is a princess in the kingdom. her mother is the queen and i think that her best friend was to get married in the little kingdom. on the cover the 2 bestfriends are riding a bee from the kingdom. they also ride bees while theyre in the little kingdom.
thanks
Hi everyone! Two books I’m actually trying to find, both around in the early 2000s.
1. Early reader, part of one of those mass produced “learn to read’ short story/picture books series – I remember it being VERY similar to the Cocky’s Circle Little Books, but google tells me it wasn’t one of those specifically.
Family with two kids move to a village with a boarded over well, youngest child is in a room with scenes from nursery rhymes all over the walls. She becomes catatonic and starts reciting rhymes but with a twisted ended – eg the spider in Miss Muffet started to bite her and killed her. The pictures on the walls would change to reflect the new scene. Eventually she said: “Ding dong bell, pussy’s in the well. Who put her in? Little Johnny Flynn. Who pulled her out? No one, poor pussy”. This led to everyone removing the boards from the wishing well and finding the remains of a child who had gone missing years earlier.
2. Older reader book with a silver cover, VERY similar to that PBS show Cyberchase – several kids are sucked into a digital cyber space world and given discs/orbs/CDs of different colours that have different powers, they use them one by one to methodically eliminate several villains, and then when they get to the last “big bad” all their orbs regenerate and they use all of them at once to defeat him. One villain was a woman with sharp nails and/or stiletto heels, one of them was a man named Seedy Rom.
An illustrated short novel I read in early/mid 80’s, reading age 7 or so. It was about a cat that lived in a small, [probably] European-style town that was also a floating island. Thanks.
I am looking for a children’s story book about a young girl who has 3 imaginary friends, one being a bear. Her fiends and her start out having a tea party. Each one has a problem that she solves. I think the book was written in the ‘60s. The name of the girl was hard to pronounce and I think it was a German name.
Found this one:
The blackbird post
Date: 1989
By Dunlop, Beverley., Costeloe, Brenda.
Identifier: ISBN 0705514714 (pbk.)
Series: Highgate collection
Notes: Children’s picture story book.
The description I found has the author’s first name instead of Jenny. But couldn’t find any other description.
One day when Beverley goes to the mailbox, she finds a blackbird nest in the box instead of mail.
I’m looking for a children’s book from the 80s or 90s. It had different baby animals getting ready for bed. Beavers were brushing teeth, ducks were in a bathtub, and I think rabbits were getting powder and pajamas on.
Bogwoppit, by Ursula Moray Williams.
I’m looking for a book from years ago but I don’t really remember it well. I read it between 2003 and 2012, at least I think so. It’s about a girl who is probably orphaned and she has unnatural abilities. I’m not surę what they were but it was either something with elements OR dragons… She also has a boy friend with similar power but she meets him during the book. She is trained by a guy that adopted or something her. He is searching for more kids with such abilities, hence the boy. I’m sorry I can’t provide any certain details. There was also something about a lake near their house. I think it might be a book series and I have something about crystals or stones at back of my head.
The Hot Day, by Sheila Greenwald.
https://biography.jrank.org/pages/71/Green-Sheila-Ellen-1934-Sheila-Greenwald-Sidelights.html
hi, i’m looking for a children’s book I loved in the late 90’s/maybe very early 2000s. It was about a blackbird (i think) that had made its nest in the mailbox of a little girl called Jenny. I don’t really remember the plot at all but i think jenny might have visited the birds every day.
i think the cover had the mailbox on it with jenny standing next to it
Are you thinking of the animals that club together to go to Bremen? They are all too old to work anymore, and, to avoid being put in the cooking pot, form a kind of orchestra that scares away thay the robbers.
Hello all! I’m now a scientist who works with ground beetles (carabidae) amongst much younger peers. I can remember loving a book which I would have read about 1979-1982 in which some underground gremliny-things demand a ransom of “1,000 black beetles”. Can anyone remember what it was, so I can show my colleagues? Best wishes.
Help! I’m looking for a picture book from when I was little, probably the late 90s- early 2000s. I can’t remember much about it, but I know it was about a creepy monster family. The characters of the family were introduced with pictures in the beginning of the book. I think the children were running around trying to collect things for a potion that a frog was making? And the frog maybe hurt his toe? Oh lord, I really have no clue if any of that is even right but if someone has any clue what I’m talking about please let me know!!
I’m looking for a picture book from the 70s about siblings left alone while their parents go out. It is a hot summer and they all line up in front of a fan. One of them sprinkles talcum powder and the parents think the kids are ghosts when they return. Illustations look turn of the century. any ideas?
Hello, I’m looking for a series of children’s books from the 80s/90s. A little girl cried because her family moved and the girl had to leave behind her beloved garden. Her tears became jewels some of the flowers and created magic little flower sprites. There was a rose, a daffodil, and maybe an iris (among others).
There are many books in the series–can you remember,anything specific about this one? Other characters? Was it based in Marcella’s house or in some magic world?
Yes!! This is it! I remembered some of it incorrectly but you did such a good job, thank you so much for finding it!! How a Native American story managed to make its way to a tiny scottish town idk but I’m so glad it did <3
You’re welcome! Glad I was able to help. Thank you for posting back!
In about 1983 I had a series of used picture books, perhaps a dozen, all with similar bindings and I believe numbers instead of titles. The characters were animals in clothing and the illustrations were soft pastel colors, maybe drawn in colored pencil. The one I would like to find again was about a little animal who went out to play, met another little creature and brought the new friend home for lunch. As I recall the second little animal was a porcupine in blue overalls. I know there are probably a thousand kids’ books with the same plot, but does this ring a bell with anyone?
You’re welcome. There are a few sites that I frequent to search for books. I just put in a few keywords and those two came up. Hope it’s the right one.
I am looking for the title of a Raggedy Ann and Andy book. it was a large thick hardcover book of their adventures . I remember it from my childhood in the 70s.
Almost all the Raggedy Ann books were published in volumes of single stories, but I found this collection published in 1975. Could this be it? https://www.ebay.com/itm/274112235424
That sounds like The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye.
It concerns Princess Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne of Phantasmorania—Amy for short—who has been given the “gift” of ordinariness.
Like the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty, the story begins with the birth of a princess and the arrival of fairies—invited against the king’s better judgment, for the sake of tradition—to give her gifts. The fairy godmother Crustacea, however, tells her, “You shall be Ordinary!” Unlike her six older sisters, Amy grows up with mousy hair, freckled, and plain, preferring playing in the woods to wearing fine clothes.
When she finds out that her parents want to hire a dragon so that a foreign prince can “rescue” her from it and thereby “win her hand in marriage”, she climbs down the wisteria vine outside her window, runs away to live in the Forest of Faraway, and makes animal friends, Peter Aurelious the crow and Mr. Pemberthy the squirrel.
Realizing that her clothes have grown shabby and told by a fairy godmother that to buy new clothes she needs money and to get money she needs a job, she becomes fourteenth assistant kitchen-maid in the castle of the King of Ambergeldar, where she meets Peregrine, a man-of-all-work. They become friends; he eventually finds out that she is a princess, and she finds out that he is King Algernon of Ambergeldar, who, like her, hates his given name, and they marry.
Kaye has stated that “The Birches,” the house Amy and Peregrine build together in the book, was based on a house that she and her sister Bets built in the Wilmcote Hill woods.
OMG! I’m in tears right now. Yes! it is the one I have been looking for for years. Thank you so much!!!
You’re welcome – glad I could help! And thank you for posting back!
Possibly the Jewel Kingdom Book Series by Jahnna Malcolm: https://www.goodreads.com/series/69110-jewel-kingdom
The first book in the series is The Ruby Princess Runs Away: In the Jewel Kingdom, four girls rule: Roxanne is the Ruby Princess, Sabrina is the Sapphire Princess, Emily is the Emerald Princess, and Demetra is the Diamond Princess.But soon-to-be Ruby Princess, Roxanne, is not so sure she’s ready to be royalty. She decides to run away! But before she can get very far, she learns of a plot to take over the Jewel Kingdom. Another girl is pretending to be her. If Roxanne doesn’t act fast, the Jewel Kingdom might be lost forever!
There are a number of books with this sort of plot. Here are a couple of possibilities:
What Kind Of Bird It That? by Mirra Ginsburg: A goose trades with other birds and gets Crow’s wings, Crane’s legs, Peacock’s tail, Rooster’s comb & wattle, Pelican’s beak, and Swan’s neck. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to eat, swim, and get away from the fox. After his geese friends rescue him, he trades back with the other birds, and “He became a goose like all other geese, but now he was wise and kind and never envied anyone again.”
Lord Rex, The Lion Who Wished by David McKee: “The story of a lion who wished he had wings like a butterfly, a trunk like an elephant, a parrot’s tail, a kangaroo’s hind legs and a giraffe’s neck – and acquired them all. Lord Rex’s appearance becomes more ludicrous on every page until on the last page, after a final look at his hybrid self in the pool, he wishes himself back to lionhood.
I’m trying to remember the title/author of a children’s book my daughter used to take out of the library every week about 28 years ago. It was a picture book with text (like a Young Puffin). It was about a young monkey who went out into the jungle and brought back fruit as a present for its mother. The language was rich, with the names of the native fruits and berries. I think the title might have been the exotic name of the monkey but I’m not sure. Can anyone help?
Trying to remember a children’s book I owned around the early 90s. I remember the cover being Orange and in a animated style (judy blume) rather than the realistic image style (babysitter’s club). There was a girl on it and I remember it had to do with an article of clothing that I believe was either a blue bow with white polka dots or she was in a dress that was blue with white polka dots. If I remember correctly it took place in a hotel and I want to say the bow was lost and she was trying to find it. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the book I just remember it was one of my favorites when I was younger. I remember getting it at either a book fair in school or a scholastic magazine and I really feel like it was a dell young yearling book though I could be wrong. Any help would be very much appreciated.
A young adult mystery/suspense book form the late 80s/early 90s (I read it in sixth grade, in the advanced reading class). Was about a boy, or young teen, who is sent to live with a great aunt or grandmother, and suspects she may be a ghost.
Starts with him pulling up to the house and seeing her looking out of an upstairs window, and he gets creeped out. He is uncomfortable around her the entire time he is there. Then he finds her grace in the woods one day, and (I think) tries to tell someone. But then she ‘dies’ right after that. His parents come, there is a public funeral, and everything is settled. Then, as he is leaving with is family, he sees her looking out of the same upstairs window.
Really enjoyed that book when I was twelve (30 years ago, to help place the time, since I think it was a recent book at the time). And I would like to read it again, but I have never been able to remember the title, or the author, or anything else about it.
I would love if someone knew what book I am talking about.
Book about a magic cat maybe set in US/UK then Australia – two children go to see an old lady upstairs in an apartment who gives the girl a brooch, the children’s parents aren’t around but they might be going to see them on a cruise ship later. So, the brooch has a cat on and the cat from the brooch turns into a real cat and then helps them, first in a museum where the cat turns into a cat from a painting and and helps the girl and boy. They then end up on some sort of long crossing on a liner to somewhere and the cat helps them onboard too, but as soon as someone’s coming the cat morphs into the brooch or the environment. When they get where they’re going (I’m thinking Australia) there’s a forest fire and the cat helps them to flood the gutters to keep the house wet, though I could be confusing this with another story but don’t think so, please assist! 🙂
Wolfie, by Janet Chenery.
That’s the one. Thank you so much.
I’m trying to remember the title of a book from many years ago…it’s about either an animal or a bird (sorry, cannot remember) who is very jealous of what other creatures have that he doesn’t & it seems to me that he becomes heavily burdened with all the things he changes about himself to be like the others. Not sure if this is enough to go on, but, I’m hopeful.
Looking for a children’s book that was about a bunch of barnyard animals that leave the barn in the wintertime in search of something (can’t remember). Main characters were a very colorful rooster and a black cat. I was a child in the 80s but I am guessing the book was from the 40s-50s-60s from my memory of the illustration.
Hello, there’s a book that I like to read again but I can’t remember the title
The story begins with the Princess named Ruby, sheia the youngest of the gem sisters, the oldest is named Diamond, Sapphire and Emerald. Ruby go into adventure, I think and the far I remember is there is a lake, and a castle underneath it
Ummm, that’s it all I can remember. Thank you in advance!
Looking for a book where a boy called Jimmy gets a new tricycle for his birthday
Should have been published before 1989.
Hi all! I’m trying to remember the name of a children’s book that featured a mom and a little boy. The illustrations were beautiful and included the boy playing in a garden and the mom looking out from the kitchen through a Dutch door. There was also a part where she’s teaching him to wash his face. Ring any bells?
Looking for a fantasy young adult novel from early 1990s. A young girl who’s father is a ferryman (?) is kidnapped. Also kidnapped is a young man. They are sold as slaves in a city, where she is bought by a potter (?). They eventually escape. The young man reveals himself to be a prince and takes her to his kingdom, where his mother persuades the girl that she is not suitable as a princess. The girl flees and goes to live in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, where she brings up their daughter. I think the author was a woman. The U.K. paperback edition had a blue spine and may have been published by Scholastic. The book was subtitled something like ‘Book One of the Chronicles of the Silver (?) Mountains’. Thank you!
Ok…I’m sure no one will find this one but it’s worth a try. When I was younger I got a toy set that included a horse, a light blue barn and a little girl wearing a pink shirt and blue overalls. A little book came with this toy and I cant remember the name of it. It’s about a horse who’s name I think is Star and it’s rider who go for a picnic one afternoon and get caught in a big storm. Eventually they make it back to the barn where Star suddenly begins to talk because of the power of their friendship. It’s only about 10 pages long and the cover is bright blue sky with the horse on it (brown and white horse). If anyone has any idea PLEASE HELP. It’s been driving me crazy for the last few weeks. I believe I had they toy around 2006-2009.
Hi Everyone! This might be a long but I’m looking for a children’s prayer book that had prayers for different seasons: autumn, winter, spring, summer, during sickness, play, etc. I don’t remember the name or author but it was hardcover and also had lovely pictures. I assume it was published in the 80s. Thank you!
Hello, I have been looking for the title of a children’s book that includes short stories about a mouse, koala, penguin, and possibly a bear/elephant. There is a moral for each story, and I’m positive that the beginning or end of the book includes a page that has all the animals in a marching band playing trumpets. I think that they say shout for joy on that page, and this is a Christian book.
I found two involving cheese and dreams.
“Cheesemares” by Ross Collins; Originally published: 2013.
Hal is convinced there is a connection between his well-loved cheesy snacks and the horrible nightmares he keeps having. Hal sets off on a mission to solve his cheesemares once and for all, but will he ever escape from the horror he faces in The Evil House of Cheese? Why does cheese give Hal such bad dreams? Hal and his fat dog Rufus must take on the most evil cows on earth to find out. Moo ha ha! Mooo ha ha ha ha! Moooooo ha ha ha ha ha ha!
“The Magic Cheese”
Eric Houghton, Charles Fuge: (07 May 1992)
A bite of special cheese brings Tom’s dreams to life and he meets the Bogglepuss, the Wongler and the Flutterlump – and also the fearsome Grakkensplott.
The Magic Cheese sounds like it could be it! Thank you so much! Though I’m curious, how did you find it? I can find almost no information about it online – not even a photo.
Hi all! a book about a princess that was born different than her sister. she has black and straight hair while her sisters have fluffy blonde hair with blue eyes. she was considered not beautiful and her parents thought she might not be married in her life. later on the princess feel like she doesn’t belong so she ran away into the woods. there she met with a witch ( i can’t remember what’s happening there) and she walk further to find another palace and become a servant (cleaning, cooking, washing). and one night she met a guy while she was stealing the food left over from a party in that palace. it turned out he was a prince. sometimes later the princess went back home and the prince came to proposed to her. they got married and leave in a little house in the forest. happy ending. The book should be published around 10 – 15 years ago.
Looking for the title of a book about a little girl who catches a wolf spider and then shoots flies with rubber bands to stun them and feed her spider.
Hiii! I have been on the hunt for a children’s book about a fairytale from the far north. The girl ends up on a journey through ice, turns into a goose, before being dropped into her bed. I remember this book being beautifully illustrated. I was able to pick up “The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese” and confirm that wasn’t it as the book, while beautiful, isn’t fully illustrated and is a collection.
Looking for a picture book about a boy who finds that if he eats cheese before bed he has a dream involving a monster – or a fantastical dream of some kind. Each different type of cheese produces a different dream I think. In the end the scariest monster somehow manifests itself in real life. I remember it looking like a tiger of some kind, but might be wrong. I remember the art being quite detailed and semi-realistic. Thank you!
Hi all, I am looking for a short story, I believe part of a collection or anthology, about an animal (possibly a fox) who wants to dance with a star. The star refuses as it could break the fox but the fox insists and they dance until the fox shatters into pieces. The fox leaves to put itself together again and then returns to dance with the star again, who refuses at first and then agrees, as they are dancing the fox experiences more and more pain until it shatters into even tinier pieces. I can’t recall the ending although I remember it not being a ‘happily ever after’. The setting was some sort of dessert/plain and the story was illustrated. I always thought it was part of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories but I now can’t find it, I possibly read it at the same time (late 90s/early 00s) but I remember it having similar narrative qualities.
That sounds like an adaptation of a Native American story of Coyote and the star(s), so perhaps the book was an anthology of Native American stories. There are multiple versions of the basic story, from different tribes/peoples.
See, for example, Coyote Dances With a Star (Cheyenne): https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/CoyoteDancesWithAStar-Cheyenne.html
Coyote Dances With the Stars: http://www.alishaw.co.uk/drawingsold/drawings-for-fairy-stories/coyote-dances-with-the-stars/
Coyote and the Star (Klamath): https://www.sps186.org/downloads/basic/512221/Pourquoi_coyoteandstar.pdf
That’s it! Thank you very much for identifying the book and author. You then went above and beyond with a brief and your great insights.
Glad I could help! Afraid I can’t take credit for any insights, though – the descriptions are just copy/pasted from reviews of the book.
Is there a way for me to follow up on this, like to know if it’s just still unknown with the information provided or the message wasn’t seen? Thanks.
It is my understanding that if you are registered with Disqus they will email you if there is an answer but I only see the Admin side so I don’t know.
Would somebody answer this question?
We do read every post, but some books are harder to ID than others. Thanks,
Wow it would be wonderful to solve this one!
Four siblings, 2 boys and 2 girls I believe ages 10-16?
They survive a train crash and shelter in an old deserted mansion.
Set in winter and heavy snow. They defeat some thieves and Santa comes to visit. Candles figure heavily and canned food. Wish I had more.
Possibly A Little Old Man by Natalie Norton (1959)?
“Once there was a little old man who lived in a little house on a little island in the middle of a great big ocean.” He keeps busy on his island and goes fishing in his rowboat, but he sometimes gets sad and lonely because he has no-one to talk to. He thinks he would be happy if he had a cat, but has no way of getting one on his island. One day, there’s a terrible storm that blows away his house – but then he discovers that a vacant boat has washed ashore. It is bigger than his house and comes complete with a little rowboat, a fully stocked kitchen – and out from under the stove comes a cat, followed by four kittens! He is very happy living on the boat with his cats. No one ever comes looking for the boat, and the old man is never sad or lonely again.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PnT6fOkhWyg/TVLuPfHMYeI/AAAAAAAAE7g/5wX2hlKDYkg/s640/Scan+83.jpeg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PnT6fOkhWyg/TVLskfK3w1I/AAAAAAAAE6c/gEq9CS9mAB4/s640/Scan+100.jpeg
A long shot (and no bears) – but when I think of houses being painted in a variety of colors, the first two books that come to mind are Mr. Pine’s Purple House by Leonard Kessler (1965) and The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater (1977). In both of these books, after one person paints his house a different color (or colors), the neighbors are eventually inspired to follow suit, resulting in very colorful towns.
Another possibility (also without bears) is Oh, Were They Ever Happy! by Peter Spier (1978), in which three children decide to surprise their parents by painting the house while the parents are away for they day – and the babysitter doesn’t show up. They use all the half-empty cans of paint from the garage and in the basement, so they end up with a rainbow-colored house (and fence garage and driveway…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB_Zge9VVPc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiTkZUlpQQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvJ-o-2gp0o
That sounds like Nobody’s Mother is in Second Grade by Robin Pulver.
“Cassandra’s mother enjoyed second grade, and would like to join Cassandra’s class. She could go disguised as a plant, Cassandra suggests, and—after an evening preparing a costume- -that’s what she does. The “plant” joins in many of the class activities: climbing during recess, she’s as adept as a polebean, and she acts as Jack’s beanstalk when it’s time for dramatics; meanwhile, a good many other characteristics of plants (some of them amusingly shared by mothers) have been good-naturedly introduced. By day’s end, Cassandra’s classmates realize what the teacher has suspected all along and Cassandra’s mother is invited to come again. Cassandra demurs: “…nobody’s mother is in second grade. That would be ridiculous.”
That is the book! Thank you so much!!!
Glad I could help! Thanks for posting back!
Looking for a book set in the late 1800s or perhaps early 1900s, about two girls who move with their mother to live near a wealthy woman who has a beautiful doll from her childhood. She sews a new dress for the doll each Christmas. When she is sick, the girls sew the doll a new dress, striving to design and sew a beautiful dress by hand.
I’m not sure if it was ever published separately, but I believe this a chapter from Magical Melons by Carol Ryrie Brink, the sequel to Caddie Woodlawn. Henrietta befriends the wife of the local doctor, who had received a beautiful doll as a child and who made a new outfit for it every Christmas. I think it’s the woman’s father who falls ill and, as she is too busy caring for him to sew, Henrietta and her sister Minnie set about to make a Christmas outfit for the doll Adelaide.
Looking for a children’s picture book about a boy who stays the night in his grandparent’s house. It is a creepy Victorian style mansion and there’s a grandfather clock that’s ticking, I believe someone may be carrying a candle at some point. The child may have a sibling.
Hi, I am looking for a children’s book about a mom that dresses up as a plant to go with her daughter on her first day of school.
Looking for a children’s picture book from the late 90s/early 2000s centered on young girls. One girl is well-off and won’t let the other girl play with her because she is poor. The poor girl’s mother (or father?) is dead. Drawn in abstract style similar to Betty spaghetti dolls.
I believe it was a British book (with words like mum, colour, etc.)
Hi, im looking for an older childrens book. We got the book in tbe 70s. Its either about a group of painters or a family of bears that paints their whole city like a rainbow color. Its a really sentimental kids book i lost a while ago. Sorry the details are vague but there isnt much else i can remember
A picture book about fear and wolf coming closer each night to family home in the
woods.
That sounds like The Wolf by Margaret Barbalet.
“Barbalet’s first children’s book is a contemporary gothic parable about confronting fear. Her brisk text describes the mounting terror of three children and their mother whose tranquil life is shattered when a wolf begins to howl outside their house. As it draws closer, the family members become virtual prisoners in their home, barricading themselves inside in an attempt to stave off the ever-present menace. “You can’t make it go away,” the mother tells Tal, her oldest child; gradually the boy marshals the courage to unbar the door and admit the wolf.”
“Tal awakens to his brother’s terrified screams when sounds come from outside. “The howling went on and on. He knew it was the wolf coming closer. It was worse than he could have imagined.” And so the unseen wolf in this contemporary Australian moral tale takes on surreal proportions not seen in children’s books since Van Allsburg’s Jumanji. Heard nightly, the wolf changes the texture of the family’s life. They grow tense, board windows, bolt doors. They learn of others who lived in similar fear for a year. Then, Tal’s mother admits to looking at the wolf; one night Tal lets him in. At last, the family is free. The lesson is clear: confront fears and they dissolve. However, the moral is subtly interwoven and never intrudes.”
I am looking for a childhood book for my MIL, she would have read it in the 60s but I was bought for her by her grandmother so could be older. It was about a little old man who lives alone on an island in a small cottage and goes out fishing in his little fishing boat. It was all hand illustrated, coloured by ordinary crayons. The cover was mainly blue. It would be lovely to find it for her.
Hello,
I am looking for a children’s book about the sky. The sky is its own person in this book, and is kind of taking a “tour of the world” – the sky seems to be genderless, I think, but is kind of blobby and wavy around the edges, with very watercolor esque coloring. Lots of pinks and oranges and some blue. I distinctly remember one page where the sky comes across a billboard and gets angry and wants to tear it down.
The illustrations were incredibly beautiful. I have no idea when it was published, unfortunately, or any other information.
Children’s book about a kid having a birthday party so he decides to make chocolate. The chocolates are filled with gross things though. I think the book itself was modeled after a box of chocolate.
Thank you so much!
You’re welcome!
The Quarreling Book by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Arnold Lobel.
“Gruffness and anger is passed along from person to person until a little dog starts a chain of happiness that reverses the trend.”
“The Quarreling book is a simple little story that packs a powerful message for children and adults. The story begins with a gray rainy day and Mr. James, because of his gray mood, forgetting to kiss Mrs. James goodbye. This sets off a chain reaction that spreads the gray mood and quarreling to the other family members and friends. There seems to be no way to stop it until a surprising character turns it all around by meeting unkindness with playful cheerfulness.”
Thank you so very much! I work in a public library, and the customer seeking this item is going to be thrilled when she finds it waiting for her on the hold shelf. This is such a great site. Thanks to all for your help.
Try this one: The Quarreling Book, by Charlotte Zolotow.
The Penguins of Penguin Town, by Gaby Baldner.
That’s it! Thank you so much! As soon as I saw the cover of it…my childhood came flooding back. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Great! Thanks for posting back.
The White Bunny and his Magic Nose, by Lily Duplaix.
OMG YES!!!!!!!@ HOW?!?!?!? YES!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! This has been tormenting me for DECADES!!!!!!! Im crying!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH
You’re welcome! I’m glad I was able to help. Thank you for posting back!
Picture book about a dad who has a mean boss and takes out his frustrations on the mom, who then takes it out on the kids, who then kick the dog. Then the dog does something nice, and the chain goes the other direction, improving everyone’s day.
Hi I am looking for children’s book. It’s not large. It’s about a bear that can see shapes in the dark and it scares him. Its told by rhyme, one is
It’s too dark, and I am scared
Someone’s looking down on me
Someone’s sitting in my chair.
I read this book to my son nearly 50yrs ago and it’s a discussion about its title. We both remember different things.
The little bear is looking at a cushion with squares in it, when the light goes out it looks like a person sitting in his chair. Another page is he think someone is in his wardrobe as there are wellington boots outside or they are under his bed. Hope you can help
I’m looking for a book I read with my son in the 1990s about tree dwelling woodland creatures on a quest with an evil spider as the bad character
Trying to find an old children’s book circa mid 1960s. It wasn’t an “Easy Reader”, but about that level. It was about a penguin that opened a fish shop. Then another penguin built another store on top of that. A third penguin built a third store on top of that, and so on until it was a tower of shops. Eventually the shops all fell over because they added so many. I believe in the end the original penguin opened his fish shop again. If anyone can drop any clues, I’d greatly appreciate it!
I read a story something like that called Magic Elizabeth….but I don’t remember sand on her feet. If that’s not it, then it’s a similar story.
Looking for hard cover childrens book from mid 1960s about a stressed out bunny whos body color changes to pink and then to blue, etc. Artwork was lovely and colorful, rand mcnally style. Thank you.