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It will take Google a few weeks to connect with this new site since Disqus hasn’t functioned well since December. We welcome your comments now, but feel free to repost later in March. Suzanne
Hi I’m looking for two books from the 80s or earlier.
1. A children’s picture book, published in the 80s or earlier about animals who have a picnic on a raft. There are flies for the frog, acorns for the pig, and there is also maybe a squirrel and a bear?
The art had a more serious subdued tone in my memory. Dark colors and detailed scenery
2. Another children’s picture book about a young girl’s visit to the dr. I think she imagines what she would do if she were the doctor and the doctor was the patient? This soft cover paperback was red and a horizontal rectangle. This one is more simple cartoonish drawings with bright block colors surrounded by lots of white space
The doctor gave her a plastic lizard (or maybe she gave him one)
She has black hair?
I’m looking for a big light blue book with different stories and rhymes on each page and one of them was “everything grows, everyone knows, that’s how it goes” and there is a girl with long long long blonde hair and someone is behind her cutting it with a lawnmower. Been looking for years, worth a shot here!
Hello! I am looking for a book I read when I was a child. It is a Children’s Picture book with Teal and White pictures. It is about a Boy looking for God. They give different examples of how God is in the sky, the sea, the beauty on Earth… I cannot remember the title but it is a question.. like “Where are you God?” or “Can you see me?” It is a book that addressed God indirectly.
It was a spiritual book with no religious connotations. Just general. Thank you so much in advance for your help and advice! This book left a big impression on me and I believe my family donated it.
i’ve been looking for a book for YEARS but i just can’t seem to picture enough in my head. it’s a girly book, maybe pink or purple cover, and the theme was maybe tea party or picnic?? but the thing that stood out the most was on one of the pages there was a picnic basket which was actually a pocket filled with plates, food, cups, etc. made of paper. i got this at a book store in the clearance bin. thank you for your help!!
I am looking for a book- well, a series of illustrated books, of which I had only the first two or three. Here is what I remember about them:
It starred a probably orange cat orange cat, which used to be a ship’s cat. In the first book, there was a storm. The ship’s captain and some crew mates discuss life jackets, and how they won’t stop you from getting hypothermia if you get in the water. The boat is wrecked in the storm, and the cat is stranded on the coast of Alaska. He hides in a tree, and rescues two kids from a bear somehow. The kids take him home. I forgot what happens next, but in the next book, they move to Japan or something, and take the cat there. I didn’t have any of the other books after this point.
Im looking for a book about a little boy who doesn’t want his mom to leave, so he hides and she comes looking for him in different places around the house. It goes something like “he tried to hide behind the curtain… but out popped his toes.” “He tried to hide in the (insert hiding spot), but out popped his belly button” and everywhere he tried to hide, some body part is sticking out. I believe the book was called “Where’s Tommy?” But I could be mistaken. It was my favorite book as a kid and I have absolutely no idea where/how to find it.
Hello! I’m looking for a children’s book, a picture book with very distinctive illustrations about a girl(?) with glasses and dark hair diving to the bottom of an ocean or lake, and meeting various strange and wonderful fish on the way. I think I remember the book ending with the ominous dark tentacles of an octopus. The book had to have been published before the early/mid 90s, since that’s the time I was a kid being read to. Thanks for any help, I’ve been googling like crazy with no results!
I’m looking for a children’s book from the 70’s to early 80’s. It had a few stories in it but I can only remember three of them: One about a boy who used a chocolate chip cookie to catch a monster (the illustration showed a boy breaking apart a cookie and making a trail of crumbs through his house). One story about how the toucan got it’s colored beak (and it had an illustration of the toucan painting its beak and splashing paint everywhere). The very last story was about how some children came upon a secret meeting of fairies in a tree house (this has very beautiful and bright illustrations – one showing the fairies together in the treehouse – each fairy was a different color – one entirely orange, one green, one red, one blue, etc. The other illustration was from outside the treehouse showing the bright lights of the fairies as they flew out of the treehouse – it was the last illustration in the book). I do not remember the title, author(s) or illustrator(s) of this book but it was a childhood favorite and I’ve been searching for it for years.
Hi there. I have been searching for a book for years, it’s beautifully illustrated. It’s about two sisters, I think they are princesses. The golden haired one (deemed the most beautiful) gets sick or captured, and the raven haired one ends up saving her. I recall there is a page when the raven haired one rides on her black horse and has a navy cape, detailed with stars, where I prince sees her. Any help would be appreciated, it’s the illustrations I remember being so fantastic.
Im looking for a book that was about a mysterious man who lived alone in a cottage or a lighthouse on a cliff by the sea. He was an outcast and scared the local children, and I think the only way to access his house was by boat. When a child or group of children eventually decided to explore where his house was they found lots and lots of wooden birds.
Im looking for a children’s book (about 10yrs as reading age) which is about a brother and sister who go on a boring holiday with their parents. The find a tree with a hole in it and when they adventure into it they find a network of troll/goblin tunnels. They end up getting lost and one of them rescues the other. The cover was mostly green but I cant remember anymore details! The book has been out over 10 years.
looking for book,read to my kids 1987-1988. toys lost in the city, journeying to another toy store, lead by a bear with eyepatch. not oddkins.think the author was a woman.
Hi, I am trying to find an old Children’s story, possibly a short story in a compendium. The story was a child had a teddy bear through his Childhood, but one day the Child grew up and put the teddy bear in the active, where it stayed until eventually the now adult finds it again and gives it to his child.
Anyone happen to know what this might be? I see to recall it had illustrations as well.
Just a quick follow-up – you can read Ghost Hotel online at Open Library: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL23247047M/Ghost_hotel
You are absolutely amazing!!! This has made my day. This was my favorite book as a child and I can’t wait to read it again!
I’m glad I could help! And thank you for taking the time to post back.
Ghost Hotel by Larry Weinberg. There are also two sequels: Return to Ghost Hotel and Escape From Ghost Hotel.
“Anna, an adopted child, has always wondered who her real parents are. When Anna and her family check into a strange old hotel, Anna meets the ghostly Colonel and Mrs. Terwilliger. Her resemblance to the couple’s missing daughter is eerie – especially since the young girl disappeared over one hundred and forty years ago! Unable to resist the lure of the past, Anna is drawn back in time to the danger-filled days of the Underground Railroad, which helped runaway slaves to freedom. Here Anna discovers the mystery of her childhood – a mystery that must be solved if Anna is ever to find her way home again.”
It starts off with the family driving through a remote area in Indiana in a rainstorm. The windshield wipers had stopped working and they were lost. Anna feels a strange sense of recognition – then sees a familiar house or perhaps a hotel – in a flash of lightning. (Nobody else sees the lightning – just Anna.) They enter the Terwilliger Inn, thinking everyone else is asleep and the power is out because of the storm. When Anna wakes up in the morning, she encounters the ghosts of her parents – and is taken back in time. The rest of the family awake to find the the Inn has been closed for decades and is now a museum – and Anna is missing.
The only difference from your recollection is that Anna could always talk – but when she was found and adopted she could not walk. Doctors could find nothing wrong with her and thought it must be a psychological reaction to whatever trauma she experienced before she was found. She was in a wheelchair at the start of the book. After the trip to the past – where she successfully rescued the slave Rafe and brought him back to the present with her – she was able to walk again.
You’re welcome. 🙂
Maybe: The Salamander Room, by Anne Mazer.
I am looking for a book about a group of children, siblings I think. What I remember best about it is they come upon a rundown house or building of some kind inside of which is another child. This child convinces the siblings that various things are what they are not, like the run down house is a castle and empty tea cups hold tea and rags are actually fine robes by telling them that only those with a horrible secret can’t see these magical things so none of the children speaks up for fear they actually have a horrible secret that will be exposed. Thank you for any help
I am looking for a book which I read in the 1990’s. It was about a girl who was found at an abandoned strip mall. She would not talk to anyone but did get adopted by a family. They were going on a trip and ended up in a thunderstorm at night. The adopted girl saw a house in the lightening strike and the family stopped for the night. They thought it was a bed and breakfast and everyone was asleep. When they woke up, they realized it was a museum as the house had been part of the Underground Railroad. Turns out it was the house this adopted girl grew up in. Somehow she had traveled through time while trying to help people escape slavery. The story describes her going to great lengths as a child to help free slaves. This trip back in time does help her to start talking again. I know this is a vague description but any help would be greatly appreciated.
Looking for a book I remember reading in the 90s, two children in their bedroom, nature starts to grow in said bedroom? I remember a tree, salamanders, the artwork was soft but detailed, the vibe was, to me, very beautiful. Googling the details turns up jack-diddly, if anyone can help, of be very appreciative! Cannot for the life of me temper a title at all.
Hello! I was a child in the 70s. I remember someone reading a children’s book about a little girl. She had a doll and I remember her exploring. She would talk to her doll and I remember her saying something along the lines of “Let’s try Sara tops.” I wish I had more to go on…. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Nancy de Angelis, Camembert.
Hi MamaSquirrel. Thank you so very, very much for responding to my post way back in January. As soon as I opened my email and saw the reply, I started freaking out. I immediately started searching for the book, found one on eBay. My coworker was next to me, opened her phone, and immediately bought it for me. As soon as it arrived, we made plans to deliver it to my friend Steven.
Steven is the person who remembered this book from when he was a child, and he’s sure it’s what made him want to be a painter. What drove me to want to get this book for him is that he has cancer, and I wanted to find it for him (we’re both librarians and he has tried for years to find it). He cried when my coworker and I gave it to him, and said he thought he made it up.
He was able to read it with his dad, who remembered the book, and he has it in his living room. I’m so incredibly grateful for you knowing this book because shortly after I got this book to him, his cancer got to the point where he decided to stop treatments. He is luckily able to do hospice at home, and when I visited him, I saw the book on a shelf where he likes to sit.
Thank you is too little to express what you were able to give him, and me. I’m sorry it has taken this long to write back, and I wish my story has a happier ending.
“Camembert” by:Nancy Carolyn Angelo
Camembert Roquefort Gorgonzola spent his summers in the linen closet of
L’Hôtel du Cheval Blanc, in the resort town of Honfleur, France. While
he was very comfortable there, Camembert waited until the last summer
guest had left, then quickly moved his bags to beautiful Room 11.
Camembert greatly preferred the high ceilings, four-poster bed, and
magnificent view of the harbor. But one September, after the hotel was
closed for the winter, an unexpected guest, an artist, arrived and was
put in Room 11. Camembert was outraged, but devised a scheme to drive
the interloper away.
Hi Bonniejeanne.. Thank you so very, very much for responding to my post way back in January. As soon as I opened my email and saw the reply, I started freaking out. I immediately started searching for the book, found one on eBay. My coworker was next to me, opened her phone, and immediately bought it for me. As soon as it arrived, we made plans to deliver it to my friend Steven.
Steven is the person who remembered this book from when he was a child, and he’s sure it’s what made him want to be a painter. What drove me to want to get this book for him is that he has cancer, and I wanted to find it for him (we’re both librarians and he has tried for years to find it). He cried when my coworker and I gave it to him, and said he thought he made it up.
He was able to read it with his dad, who remembered the book, and he has it in his living room. I’m so incredibly grateful for you knowing this book because shortly after I got this book to him, his cancer got to the point where he decided to stop treatments. He is luckily able to do hospice at home, and when I visited him, I saw the book on a shelf where he likes to sit.
Thank you is too little to express what you were able to give him, and me. I’m sorry it has taken this long to write back, and I wish my story has a happier ending.
You’re welcome. Sorry to hear about your friend. Glad I could help him.
Found it:
The hungry sea monster” by:Hobbs, Barbara
Editions:1 Date:1959
Marta and Montgomery, a brother and a sister, find, one day on the beach,
an ectoplasmic creature which they recognize to be a sea monster. He is
a large, likable creature with a substantial appetite, but Marta and
Montgomery are perplexed as to exactly what it is he likes to eat. When
it becomes evident–from observing his behavior with certain
natives–that the monster is particularly fond of snacking on human
beings, they wisely ship him off to New York City where he will have a
plentiful supply of nutritious tidbits.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/barbara-hobbs/the-hungry-sea-monster/
Fantastic! Thanks very much!
One of the experts here is sure to find it! I just spent a few minutes..
Quite a story! We’re mostly here to help narrow down the titles and authors of children’s books and I didn’t see this looking quickly. (Seamonster?) Once you have the title/author abebooks, amazon, and google make a book easy to find, if possible.
I am only asking because I cannot find hide nor hair of it in any search, Google or otherwise, but I am certain that it exists. And I’m pretty sure that I have the title more or less correct.
I’m looking for a book that I believe is titled Martha and the Sea Monster. Martha and her brother are at the sea shore. A knobby head pokes out of the water. It is a sea monster. Martha, being older, tells her brother not to pet it, but he does. She then takes him by the hand and drags him off, but the sea monster follows. She has no idea what sea monsters eat, so she asks people. Among them is a fellow who runs a burger joint. He says they should turn it into monster burgers. “We’ll be rich!” She says, “No, my brother likes it.” She drags her brother away by the hand, and doesn’t see the sea monster eat the burger chef, but her brother does. They also go to a librarian (I think) who doesn’t believe in sea monsters and is eaten, some museum or circus impresario who wants to display it for profit who is also eaten. She never witnesses this, but her brother does. Finally, she tells her brother that she is defeated, she has no idea what to feed it. He says that he does: It eats people! So, they box it up and send it to New York City where there are lots of people to eat.
If you know where I can get a copy, please let me know.
Hello! I’m looking for a book that my beloved friend remembers reading as a child. He was born in 1958. This is what he remembers: there was a mouse who lived in a hotel room. He thinks it took place in the French Riviera. An artist moves into the room and starts painting. The mouse gets upset and begins painting on the artist’s canvases. The artist wants to know who is doing the painting so he waits to find out, and sees it’s the mouse. The two become a team and collaborate on paintings together. He thinks the mouse’s name was Camembert. The book is not Anatole by Eve Titus, but he said the illustrations were a similar style. Any ideas? Thanks so much!!
I am looking for a children’s story ‘Teddy’s New Coat’. (I thought that it might have been ‘Teddy’s Old Coat’ ??) It was read to my sister in the early 60’s and was about a teddy bear who refused to change his coat. It was patched and patched and he was very stubborn.
I wonder if it might be the story by Susan Crosby (ca. 1991) ipc ? but I am not certain. This (unsurprisingly) is not currently available via Amazon.
Any information/direction or sourcing appreciated as my sister loved that story and would insist my father read it again and again and again…
I am looking for a book about a unicorn that gets cursed by Medusa and turned into
an ugly statue. The curse can only be broken if someone “loves” the statue, but
since it’s so ugly it gets passed through many hands. Eventually it gets into the hands of pirates and they bury the ugly unicorn statue in a treasure chest.
One day a girl and her brother are playing out in the woods and one of them trip over the chest. They dig it up and the brother takes a pirate sword from it and the little girl takes the unicorn statue. They rush home to show their caretakers before heading off to bed. There the little girl puts the statue on her night stand and wishes it “Goodnight” and that she “loved” it. Suddenly the curse is broken and the statue reverts back to the magical, beautiful, living unicorn that the girl rides into the night.
I am looking for a book about 1930-1940.short stories one was about going outside every day to stay healthy. Every story had a picture
Maybe June Bug?
The Treasure Tree
I am looking for a peculiar children’s book, huge, like 1m tall made of cardboard and just a handful of pages with illustrations only, representing human like animals in frilly clothing going to the circus or working in it. No plot, no writing, just drawings. Might be from the 70s or so.
Any help would be extremely appreciated since I can’t get it out of my head.
I’m looking for a book I must have read in middle school, in the 90’s. It was about a teenager who worked on the family ranch. I believe there was only a ranch hand and his father. If I recall correctly, the father was injured or something caused him to be unable to stay with the cattle over the summer. They relocate the cattle into the mountainside or something, and have to camp out for a couple months? I do remember the teenager was alone for it, and even had to tough out a storm. It was a coming of age tale.
January’s Child?
I am looking for a children’s book from the late 1990’s to the early 2000.
It is about a boy that lives near a forest where all the fairytale characters live. On this particular day it’s his birthday so he goes to see them. When he comes to their house it is empty (if I remember correct the first house is the three bears). Then on the next page another house etc etc. The last house in my memory is the castle from sleeping beauty. When he exits this he sees all of the fairy tale characters waiting for him for a surprise birthday party.
The one phrase from the book I remember is him saying ‘how strange whatever next we’re/I am sure quite perplexed’ after he found the house empty
I’ve been looking for this book for a while now but I can’t remember enough about it to find it. It’s a picture book but from memory it was quite long and I’m pretty sure it had chapters. It was about four animals, one of which I’m sure was a lion. They were on a journey to somewhere and they had to overcome all these obstacles to get there and each animal had a strength that allowed them to get through each obstacle. The lion represented the physical strength I think. There was one particular part of the book where they go through a forest where all the trees grow cream pies. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Glad to help.
Hi I am looking for the name of a children’s books from the mid to late 90s/early 00s. It was a ram that was very vain and rude and had a really big beautiful thick fleece that it would preen on a prickly hedge. And it speaks to another animal (it might have been a piglet but not sure) always saying that being beautiful is the most important thing and then sets it a challenge to cross a river or to fetch it a present can’t remember this exact detail and the animal ends up getting cold and nearly drowning so the ram then sacrifices its fleece by running through the hedge and then collects it all and covers it in the animal (like I say I think it might have been a piglet but can’t remember) to keep it warm. Please does anyone know what this is called? Or have anymore details! Driving me utterly bonkers! Thank you
I had a book as a kid that is probably from the 90s or 00s. It was about a father and daughter who lived in a van and did little odd jobs on a road trip. I specifically remember they went to a cookie factory and pretended to be cookie inspectors. Any ideas?
I work at a library, and I am trying to find a couple of books for my patrons. The first has been described as a book that takes place probably in the early to mid-1900’s. It is about three children, two girls and a boy, and one of the girls falls down a well. She survives, but a man is eventually shot because they thought he threw her down there. Come to find out, the man was innocent due to an operator’s overhearing a telephone conversation between the other girl and the boy.
The next book is a series that has been described as a series that discusses conspiracy theories about historical events. The patron kept mentioning that the Titanic was a part of this series.
Any and all help would be appreciated!
Found this one, but can’t find anything about it.
Mr. Nobody by:Sisson, Rosemary Anne
Editions:6 Date:1956 – 1958 Type:Juvenile Genre(s):Juvenile works
I found a description of Sisson’s Mr. Nobody: he has “red hair and blue eyes and a squeaky voice and a very nice nature.” So maybe not the same one.
I keep thinking of the poem/song about the household who blame everything (who left the door open etc.) on “Nobody.” But I don’t know if it existed as a book that far back.
“The Rory Story” by Bill Binzen
A puppy describes his daily activities.
The Judge: An Untrue Tale, by Harve Zemach.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1166045.The_Judge
I am looking for a book that was in my elementary school library. It would be before 1980. It was about a dog. It had black and white pictures. I believe it was called The Rory Story but my searches are coming up empty. I do remember the dog fell down a hill and hurt his paw. Thank you
I’ve been getting frustrated because I can’t recall the title of this book from my childhood. If anyone could help I’d be very appreciative. Its a childrens story book, i think it had “100 bedtime stories” or something similar on it. It was light blue, thick yet small. It had 2 kids on the front i think, maybe sitting on their beds? I believe it to be from the ball park of 2004 onwards? It had loads of stories i dont know if this will help but…
There was a story about a male vet, a farm,mermaids,dragons,monsters and princesses from what I can recall.
Many thanks for helping!
I am looking for a book that I remember reading to my children in the 1980’s. I distinctly remember the repetitive phrase- Here comes the judge, you all better pray. Can you help me find a copy? Thank you
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
I am looking for a book that has many short Christmas stories in it. One story involves a boy walking by a prison and the man in the cell convinces him to bring him paint. The man tricks the guards into leaving his cell open, so that he can escape, by painting the bars the color of the sky. After he escapes he steals food and gives it to hungry people. Another story in the book is about the Shoemaker who is helped by the elves. There is also a story about an old lady who lives alone in a small cabin in the woods. I don’t know how old the book was but I read it when I was young (we owned a copy) in the late 1980’s.
Mindy’s Mysterious Miniature, also titled The Mysterious Shrinking House, also titled The Housenapper, by Jane Louise Curry.
https://bellaonbooks.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/old-favorite-mindys-mysterious-miniature/
Oh my goodness!:I think u might be right….thank u so much….this has been a niggle at the back of my mind for years….I was maybe 10 when my mum bought this as a Christmas present….so looking forward to rereading a moment from my childhood ⚘
The baby brother at the end reminds me of All-of-a-Kind Family, although the other details don’t all match.
The first one sounds like the Pop-up Whodunit book series by Iain Smyth:
Mystery of the Russian Ruby by Iain Smyth (1994): Horrors! “The largest ruby in the world” has been purloined from the safe at Wilby Court, home to the Countess Wilby-and site of this book’s mise en scene, a snowbound weekend party. In the best Agatha Christie tradition, Smyth introduces the requisite motley crew: an assortment of staff and guests each possessed of motive and opportunity to commit the foul deed. The paper engineering, not the cast, takes center stage here: “Top Secret” dossiers on each character can be slid out of the pages, while various flaps and pull-tabs reveal hidden architectural passages, concealed weaponry, and contraband lurking in various valises-each of the six spreads yields enough clues, in fact, to delight Holmes himself. And that master of 221B Baker St. would appreciate the conclusion as well, which features three possible solutions accessed on a revolving wheel.
The Eye of the Pharoah by Iain Smyth (1995): “This is a very cool mystery book. You arrive at the pyramids in Egypt to try to find out who stole the famous “Eye of the Pharoah” jewel from the Pharoh’s tomb. There are 7 likely suspects. On each page there are pull slides, lift-the-flaps, and elaborate pop-ups to give you clues. The book is humorous yet makes you think. You spin the wheel for the final clue so you can solve the mystery. There are several different endings, so you can read it over and over!
Pirate Plunder’s Treasure Hunt by Iain Smyth (1996): “Ian Smyth, creator of The Mystery of the Russian Ruby and The Eye of the Pharoah, has dunit again with his third amazing feat of paper engineering. Puzzle-solving landlubbers will quickly get their sea legs as they join six suspicious characters on a high-speed hunt for treasure through this pop-up adventure.” Also has three different possible endings.
Hi – i am looking for a book my mum bought me iwhen i was a child in the 1970s in Australia – it was about a girl who is given a dolls house – she loves playing with and one day touches the front door handle, hears a ringing and is suddenly inside the dolls house – there are other figures there – mixture of dolls and people (i think) and then the house is stolen by a man and he [laces it in a museum (again i think)…..have seached a lot online with synopsis but no joy….thanks for any help 🙂
I’m looking for a book from the 1960’s about a Mr. Nobody who was who was naughtier than 10 children!
I’m looking for a book about a girl who is sick and dreams about a land where everything (or trees specifically?) is silver and gold. When she recovers, her mother shows her the trees in winter as a real life version of her silver land, and possibly something similar with trees in fall for her land of gold. Does this ring any bells?? It had really beautiful illustrations.
This might be vague… but there’s these books, I read them all the time in 2nd grade I can’t remember if any of them actually had a plot, but in the back of the book, there’s a lot of kids on the back page, and a castle or something, I remember the brand of the book had something to do with castle, every book always had the same thing on the back, I think at the beginning too. Oh yeah, early 2000s btw, possibly 90s or 80s??
I see exactly what you mean! This one’s a little more little girl like, hope it works. Can’t seem to get it by itself, but the girl with the bicycle. Suzanne
https://twitter.com/killdbykill/status/1346645065280708610/photo/1
The second book A Necklace of Raindrops by Joan Aiken (and other stories)
Hi! I’m trying to remember a book about a couple sisters (maybe 3 girls under 12) growing up in the city during the depression. They live with their parents in an apartment, the ice truck delivers ice, their dad works in some textile factory and they get have a baby brother at the end. I read this in the mid 90s but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t new.
Hello!
I remember a book from when I was a child or maybe I even have two put into one but I’m hoping someone might know what I’m talking about.
It’s possibly from the 90s or earlier. It was a girl and maybe a man made out of mud? Or maybe he was made out of honey and it was really hot in the book and the man was melting. I think she ends up eating him? (Wow this sounds awful).. I also remember magpies for some reason…?? Please help
I’m looking for a picture/chapter book, the only plot I can remember from it is that two girls get sucked into a doll house, the pictures in it are like real pictures of two girls in a dollhouse looking setting, but they are edited with big heads (think Steve Maddens old commercials from the 90s I’ve included reference pictures). The style of the dollhouse is also very late 90s/early 2000s
Hello I’m looking for 2 books from my childhood, both read in the 90’s. One was a detective/murder mystery book where you could turn a wheel or something which would change the images in the book so who did it changed.
The other was a book about a girl with a necklace of raindrops who would get a power with each raindrop she had.
I want to get them both for my children but Google has not found them for me
Thanks!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your help!
I’m looking for a book from the 90’s about an armchair that grants wishes when you compliment its comfiness. A family of rabbits, I believe, are given the chair by an old woman who has gone when they try to return the chair. It’s not related to the wishing chair by Enid Blyton.
Omg!!!! That’s it!!!! Thank you so much!!!!
You’re welcome! Glad I could help – and thanks for posting back!
This was such a cute story to read.
The Man Who Wanted to Live Forever by Selina Hastings
“Once upon a time there was a man called Bodkin who wanted to live forever because he enjoyed everything about his life. So he went to see the Wise Woman who sends him to the Old Man of the Forest. That old man tells him he will live until all the trees are cut, but Bodkin realizes that will happen one day and he wants to live forever. So he goes to the Old Man of the Lake who will live until he drinks the whole lake — which is an endpoint. Then to the Old Man of the Mountain who will live until the mountain stands no more. Bodkin is satisfied with that and stays… for several hundred years. But then he feels a longing for his old village and wants to go back. The old man warns him it will be changed and whatever happens he must not leave the saddle of his horse. Bodkin agrees. His old village is definitely gone — in its place is a modern city with skyscrapers and traffic lights. On his way back he comes across an old man with a broken-down wagon and dozens of pairs of old shoes scattered across the road. The old man begs for help. Bodkin hesitates, then dismounts to pick up the shoes. He then asks who the old man is why he carries so many worn-out shoes. “The old man smiled, and his eyes glistened greedily as he laid a soft hand on Bodkin’s arm. ‘I am Death,’ he whispered. ‘And these are the shoes I have worn out running after you.'”
That’s a helpful way to go about finding the story, thanks… but AndersEn (because Danish)
Hi,
I’m looking for a childrens picture book that may have come out in the 90’s(possibly earlier) about a man who looked like a serf from the medieval era who basically tried to out run death and eventually goes to live in a castle with an old man (long beard robe) and after many years (he doens’t age by the way) he decided he want to leave the castle, maybe to see family or friends (I can’t remember). And he find the world has completely moderized through the ages. So he’s on his horse on a path and he run is to an old man (maybe woman) with a wooden cart full of worn out shoes. He asks if he can help and the person is like “I’ve been running through the ages trying to find you”. Then it’s implied its death and he/she/it takes him down the road. So it’s a little like Rip Van Winkle but also not. Any help would be great, as mentioned it is a childrens picture book, the illustrations remind me a little of Tomie DePaolo books. Thanks in advance!
Hey,
I am looking for an older book (available by 1950) about a cat/kitten who desperately wants a piano; I think she cries for it and in the end gets a piano. Thanks
Hi Xanda,
I think what you’re looking for might be Hans Christian Anderson. However, there are fables, nursery rhymes and fairytales and different editions published, that have different stories. Maybe try googling his name and the stories you are searching with the year? That might narrow it down where you can then search the images and research it from there. I hope this helps. 🙂
The story itself is an old Fairy Tale of The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
The version where they’re all portrayed as ducks is The Twelve Princesses by Gordon Fitchett.
“A “just ducky” retelling of the traditional Brothers Grimm tale follows the king’s twelve daughters who wear out their shoes every night while they are supposedly sleeping in their locked bedrooms.”
“An all-duck cast gives a campy spin to a Brothers Grimm classic in Fitchett’s first children’s book. While the text is relatively faithful to the original, the art replaces romance with an abundance of quirkily comic details. The nocturnal dancing siblings, for example, sport an amusing spectrum of hair styles, from a golden spiked ‘do to a pink beehive, and their array of multicolored platform shoes and spike heels would turn Imelda Marcos green with envy. Bedecked in jewels and a range of outrageous fashions, with lipstick meticulously applied to the edges of their beaks, the vain duckling sisters sneak out to meet dashing, equally garishly clad duck princes who whisk them off in an eclectic fleet of rowboats to a stylized, mid-lake castle.”
hey, i’m looking for a book that i remember from school, basically what happens is that a king (?) has been noticing that the shoes of his many daughters need repairs nearly weekly so he assigns a male character to follow them while invisible, they lead him to a place where they party all night all but one of the daughters seem to notice that the male character is there, but doesn’t think much of it, at the end he presents evidence to the king about what’s happening and is allowed to marry the youngest (?) of the daughters, and all the characters are portrayed by pond birds, ducks or swans or something
Looking for a book about a girl that drops a tear on a path, a boy picks the tear up and takes it home and freezes the tear on a frying pan, and then carves it into a heart and gives it back to the girl
Hi! Looking for a book my husband read as a child in the 80’s about a bear and a mouse on Christmas and the mouse knits the bear mittens but the mittens are too small and the bear uses them as earmuffs. Thank you for any help! We’ve been looking for years so our kids can have the same book he loved as a boy.
A fairly thin book from the early-mid 1960s possibly (no later). A girl tries to capture sunlight in a matchbox in her garden. On opening the matchbox later (?in the evening) light does indeed shine from it – but she finds out that she had accidentally captured a glow-worm in the matchbox.
Hi, I’m looking for a book I read when I was in 5th grade. It was around the early 2000s time (I’m 22 now). I vaguely remember some bits and pieces of it. I know it’s a series. The cover of one of the books was like a rusty red, brown edges. It was a hardback book. There was a castle far off in the background and the foreground I think was like a deserted wasteland. The plot involves two siblings that are forced to escape their home due to an attack or war? (I might be wrong it has been so long) I remember it was like a fantasy, adventure, survival type book. I remember there was a scene where one of the siblings, a girl I think, was in a wooden tower and attacked an ogre or some giant that was near her with a dagger or some type of weapon.
Thanks so much! My mom doesn’t think this is it but I’m gonna buy a copy just to make sure. I appreciate your help!
You’re welcome. Hope it’s the correct one.
Looking for a book I used to read to my children some 40 years ago. A small book that started: I like big trees with high up swings, and little tickly furry things like rabbit’s ears … Would love to find it again.
I’m looking for a children’s party book arranged by months. It gave a party idea with invitations, food, and games. I remember August was the dog days of summer and October was Halloween. It was probably written in the 60’s. It had a party idea for each month. It could have been YA book. Thank you.
Alexander’s Midnight Snack?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1535406.Alexander_s_Midnight_Snack
Hello, I’ve been searching for a book that my siblings and I had when we were younger and have had no luck so far. I Remember reading the book in the 1990s, can’t remember if it was older.
It is a picture book with no narration or dialogue for story. I believe the story starts with an anthropomorphic pig (walks on 2 legs, wearing pajamas/ clothes, etc.) who wakes up during the night because they are hungry. They go down to the kitchen to make a sandwich. The story goes on showing all the seemingly unrelated ingredients being added to the elaborate and messy sandwich. The kitchen grows messier and messier as more keeps getting added. Finally the pig eats the sandwich and makes their way back to bed. I remember the last page showed the crosssection of the house with the pig fast asleep in bed with the rest of the housemates (different animals) shocked and left with the mess to clean up in the kitchen on main floor. And i believe it was morning. I believe our version had a plain red back cover. I remember the illustrations vividly and will be able to confirm if I see images of it. Thank you for your help.
Looking for a 90s children’s book about a cat or kitten who cannot find her bowl of milk. She goes outside, I think on a farm, and ask other animals if they have seen her milk. They all reply no but offer her some of their food but she refuses and keep searching. At the end of the book she goes back inside into the kitchen and finds a bowl of milk right where it was supposed to be. I think the owners were painting or rearranging the kitchen.
The only similar thing I can find is this one:
“The Silver Button” by Helen Diehl Olds (1958)
Stevie is afraid to go alone to the first grade in school but a special silver button and a little girl help him get over his fear.
That’s the one thank you so much!
You’re welcome! Thanks for posting back.
Crabtree, by Jon Nichols.
yup that’s it! thank you
You’re welcome.
Hello, I am hoping to.find an old book my nan used to read to me when I was little around 8-10 I am now 22. I remember it had a couple of different stories in and my favourite story was an elf that thought the moon was a balloon, at the and of the story you see him skipping away holding a red balloon . I also believe 12 days of chrimas could have also been in the book. Thanks guys !
Hey, everyone! My mom is looking for a book and I was hoping y’all could help out. This is how she described it:
“ In 1961 my mom gave me a book about a little girl who was shy and had trouble making friends. In the book the mom gave the little girla “magic” button. Mom said if you rub the button and smile when you got on the bus you would make a friend on the bus. If you did it again before going into your classroom or lunchroom the magic button would bring you lots of friends. Of course it was the smile all along.”
Thanks in advance for any help! Glad to be here.
Hi. I am looking for a vintage nursery rhyme book that my grandmother bought in the 1960s. It included a tale about clothes hanging on a clothes line that came alive with the wind. It also had a version of Cinderella and her evil stepsisters in it. There were also quite a few other stories/fairy tales. It was a green hardcover book. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hi Molly, I remember reading that book as a child, back in the 70’s and 80’s. It was a Nursery Rhyme book, possibly Hans Christian Fables? It included the nursery rhyme, “Sing A Song Of Sixpence”, I also remember the Princess and the Pea, The Ballerina and the Nutcracker, A Mermaid and a Man, and I also remember the illustrations, they were vintage! Oh man, I am also looking for that book. It was a hardcover, with a shiny green cover.
Hi everyone. This book I am looking for is from the 90’s, it has a purple, shiny covet and gold lines pages, it contains a collection of stories. My nan gave me it when I was little and when I left my ex partner it’s the only thing I wanted to collect but he wouldn’t let me and I’d love to find another copy!! If anyone could help me I’d be forever grateful!!
I read a book to my son and then returned it to the library…now he wants to hear it again and we don’t know the title/author. The library doesn’t have our check-out history available to find it. Its a concept picture book with a few double fold-out pages mixed in. There’s a protagonist first person narrator who has lots of disorganized stuff and he is trying to find his false teeth. He tries to organize all the stuff all into categories. Hats, tools, portraits, etc. Every page and the cover show all of the objects laid out across each page with labels next to each of them. Some of it is silly. The protagonist mentions a mean sister named Irma in a couple of parts. Eventually he does find the false teeth, and he wants to go on vacation. He puts the objects into boxes and they get put on a ship for him to take on vacation.
The Girl Who Changed the World by Delia Ephron
“Sick and tired of her older brother’s antics, Violet Sparks organizes the younger siblings of the neighborhood into an army, and the group declares an hilarious war on the olders.”
“It’s war—the younger sibs, fed to the teeth with the hazing they’ve gotten for as long as they can remember, organize a rebellion led by Violet Sparks, whose particularly obnoxious brother Simon (first seen swatting a juicy fly into Violet’s hair while she’s performing at a piano recital) becomes hostage and target for revenge: trapped at the Youngers hideout, he’s read a list of gruesome deaths before being subjected to several stages of “Death by Tickling.”
Thank you!
That’s the one!
You’re welcome! Glad I could help – and thanks for posting back!
The Little Countess by Frances Cowen
“Fish (Felicity Imogen Stanley-Holme) and her big sister Roberta have inherited the Fairholme Castle, Roberta being the new Countess, since their father, the Heir, and his wife died in a motor smash when they were little. So, Roberta and Fish go to live in the castle.”
Oh goodness! Thank you so much – yes that must be it. Hope I can find it still and finally get to know the ending. xx
You’re welcome!
This does not appear to be a terribly common book – but there are currently two copies listed for sale on AbeBooks. Click the link at the top of this page and enter the author and title in the search fields.
My Book of Colors and Shapes by Lynne Bradbury, illustrated by Terry Burton (Ladybird Books).
“Mickey and Max are painters.
They are going to paint this house.
What a mess it is!
Mickey gets a long ladder.
Max gets the brushes.
Now for the paint.
First they get a can of red.
Next they get some blue, and then yellow.
“We’ll paint each shape a different color,” says Mickey.
“What’s a shape?” asks Max.
“All these round windows are circle shapes,” says Mickey.
“Paint them red please.”
I absolutely cannot thank you enough my Mum is gonna be crying floods thank you so so much!!
You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help. Thanks for posting back!
Hi , I’m looking for a book about a little boy who runs away upset and finds himself sitting on a tree looking out onto water crying then his mum comes and takes him home , this is a book from the early 2000s
Here’s a picture of the tears flooding the town:
Perhaps this one?
“The stranger” by:Ringi, Kjell
A king and his people live peacefully until an enormous stranger appears.
Date:1968
That looks like it. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome. Glad to be of help. Thanks for replying back.
A book I read when I was a young teenager; problem was the last few pages were missing. I read it several times in the hope the ending would magically appear. Possibly written in 1950’s or even earlier. Probably for a young teen about a girl called Felicity (nickname Fish) who inherits a house; adventures ensue. I think there was a stable boy she made friends with. Set in England, a creepy house near the coast.
A children’s book.
It’s about a girl who can’t stand her older brother and decides to declare a war against all the older siblings in her neighbourhood. It’s been a long time since I read it but I remember a few details:
1. There’s an only child who is younger than the main character and decides to partake in the sibling war, she ends up devastated when her mother announces she’ll be a big sister.
2. The main character kidnaps her brother and throws him in a pit and tries to tickle him to death. He doesn’t die however and they reconcile at the end.