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Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead.
Thanks so very much! <3
You’re welcome!
Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead by William Pène du Bois – loved that book!
Hello! So glad I found you all 🙂 I’ve been able to solve someone else’s mystery and I’m hoping someone can solve mine.
I’m looking for a book that I checked out at the library in about 1982 or 1983 that was all about different fun ways of writing letters and sending mail. I remember it had ideas on how to make your own envelopes and talked about objects you could send by simply putting postage and an address on them. It was like a DIY or craft book all about snail mail. Thanks!
Reminds me of one of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
Thanks. I loves loved all those books too
Yes! I read that book as a kid too. I searched for it for a long time before learning what it was… Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead
by William Pène du Bois
Hello, All! I’m looking for a children’s book that my son recalls reading in the mid-late ’80s. The story was of a boy, a Rube Goldbergian-type machine that would get him dressed, brush his teeth, etc. every morning. One day the machine malfunctioned and it turned him upside down, brushing his feet instead of his teeth, etc. At night he would have to crawl back up the long stairs to his room to start all over the next day. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated – thanks!
Hello, I would greatly appreciate any help or direction anyone could give me as to what this book I remember having as a child is. I am an early 00s baby but the book may be from the 90s.
All that I remember is that the book was very richly illustrated, and that its main focus was on a family (of which I remember a mother, son and daughter) who lived in a beautiful house and neighborhood that went through the seasons over the course of the book. the house was central in nearly every illustration if I remember correctly. I just remember little changes such as their neighbor having to put on her storm shutters and that the family was often outside on the pictures, etc. I think the cover would be either a deep orange or burgundy but its been a long time.
If anyone can help me I will be eternally grateful! I’ve been looking for this book for years.
Hi,
This would be a huge help if this rings a bell to anyone. I remember my mom reading this book (may have been a series), all I remember is the illustrations..there were two characters, a tiny guy with tiny arms snd legs with a mustache and fits for eyes and I think glasses. The other character I remember is this baby (I think) that he used to explore with/get into shenanigans. That is all I remember. I was around 5 years old and I read it in the early to mid 90s. One of the last conversations I had with my mom was about this book and she had told me the author, but I forgot. I would appreciate immensely any ideas or if this rings any bells to anyone.
Thank you
Hi I’ve searched for hours but can’t seem to find a picture book I read as a child in the mid 90s that was of the rainforest and the last page showed a bay where the rainforest used to be with a development of a house in its place. All I remember was the illustrations were very unique and it possibly seemed like a much older book. Sorry that’s all I can remember (other than I loved it!). Bless anyone who can help me find the name!!!
Hi! I am looking for a book that my mother cherished as a little girl. It was a picture book about a family of Scottish Terriers. The one detail that always stuck with her is the father dog wore a black top hat. I have searched for the book for several years but I have no idea of the name or author of the book. Can anyone help me to find more information on this book? Thank you so much!
I’m looking for a childrens book I had in the early 2000’s but not sure the publishing date.
I remember it was about a family going to visit an older female relative in the city and it was about how much she likes colors and she was trying to pick colors for her walls that matched each person.
I remember it saying things like maybe the mother liked lemon or vermillion or raspberry
And they all have a room color they really like.
Does anyone remember the title?
Hello all,
I am looking for a children’s picture book my mother used to read me when I was younger. It would of been early nineties.
The book, I believe, was about a little boy whose teddy bear grew to be very big and they went on adventures as he was falling asleep.
I believe there was a scene where the bear was sailing a boat in a storm, wearing a sailors hat, but I am a bit fuzzy.
I think the book ends with the boys father carrying him to bed, but again not sure. I’ve been looking forever for this so if anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it
Cheers!
Hi I’m looking for a book about the rainforest I read as a child in the early 90s. I vividly remember it was a beautiful picture book of the rainforest and the last page was the rainforest from previous pages that had been clear cut and a resort had been built. It’s not the Great Kapok or anything like that (don’t think it had many people in it) and it had a different style of illustration. That’s all I can remember (and maybe the book spine and frame is black?). It’s driving me crazy thank you!!
My sister and I had a book in the 90s with a pull tab / pop up type mechanism and the only page we can remember is “and mom flipped her lid”.. does this sound familiar to anyone!? We can’t remember the story line or title but want to find it!
hi! I’m looking for a book I read as a young child — it’s a series, I think, or at least a collection of a few books. They’re about a monkey(?) discovering things about the world, like that a hedgehog has quills (the monkey gets pricked), or that there are these yummy plush, soft fruits that he can eat. That’s all I can really remember, they were for super small kids. Thanks! 🙂
Yes!!! I still have this book – Taily-po was terrifying, as was the cover art, but I absolutely loved this book. It’s called The Scariest Stories You’ve Ever Heard by Mark Mills
I am looking for those “scary stories” to tell in the dark type books that was sold at book fairs, not by Alvin Schwartz though.
These were a compilation of scary stories. The two stories I remember specifically are about a Tailypo and the other story is about a young woman who was engaged to a poor man who went off to fight in the civil(?) war. Before he left for battle, he gave her an engagement ring and made her promise never to take it off and to never marry anyone else. When she receives word that her beloved died in battle, she gets engaged to a rich man. On the day of her wedding, her first fiance comes back from the dead and carries her to the cemetary where he is buried.
Does this ring a bell for anyone?
This series is from the ’80s, but figured I’d post it anyway.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1036025.Vera_Dresses_Up
Thank you, gorgeous illustrations in these books, but its not the book I’m looking for. The mouse in my book sews elaborate many layered dresses that are Victorian or Regency style. I don’t recall her having baby mice either . Thank you!
Hello! I am trying to locate a children’s book that my grandmother read to me in the early 80s; I have older cousins that she read to as well, so it may have been published in the 70s. I cannot remember the title or the author, but I know some things about the plot – the main character was a boy and he was untidy and didn’t take care of his things. His entire bedroom ran away one day in protest. The only thing that remained was his pillow if I recall, who explained to him why his things left him and how to get them to come back. I specifically remember the bed, soap, bath towel and toothbrush running away – the boy’s belongings had facial features, at least eyes and mouths, but I don’t recall them being too whimsically drawn. I have periodically thought about this book from time to time over the years and have never been able to find the correct one! Triggering anyone’s memory??
Hi, I’m still looking for clues about a childrens picture book from the 1950 to 1970’s and probably English.I I read it as a child in NZ) It is about a mouse who sews amazing Victorian or regency style dresses. The style of the drawings was a bit like the Bramby hedge series.
I am looking for the title of the stories in a cassette I used to listen to when I was a kid, around 2007. I’m not sure if this counts as a book, but the stories were like an audio book and I hold them near to my heart. The main story I remember from the tape was of a kid who got socks for a present. The kid was disappointed about the socks and threw a fit. He went to bed and like all the kids in these stories he was swept away on a dream and I remember them describing this sweeping like an ocean. In the dream the kid was at a restaurant but the sign said no shirt no shoes no socks no service. The kid realized how grateful they should have been for their socks. I really hope you are able to help me out. A basic google search using summary terms of what I described above has gotten me nowhere. Please help me find these stories.
Hi all! I’m looking for a nonfiction childrens’ book that I used to read in the 90’s or early 2000’s. It was about the natural world, and I distinctly remember a page with an illustration of Galapagos finches and a page with a bob cat sitting on a cactus. I think it was a Where’s Waldo type book where you had to search for smaller images hidden inside the illustration. Hope someone can help! Thanks!
Bit of a long shot, but there’s partial overlap with Betty Brock’s “No Flying in the House” (1970).
Can’t rule out Else Holmelund Minarik’s “Little Bear,” which has a story about making soup for Little Bear’s birthday.
My mom read it to me mid 1990’s, so it could have been published then or sometime late 80’s I’m guessing. It was about candy. I recall being able to choose a “door,” and when you flipped the page, there were shelves of large clear glasses canisters full of candy. Peppermin n t sticks, lollipops, gum drops, etc…almost like a closet full of candy on shelves. Any help would be awesome!
Australian Aliphabet. Here are the pictures; it seems early for your great uncle’s book. Sydney: Consolidated Press, nd (lithos signed Hal Missingham) Houghton, Mifflin 1942. (ours sold in 2009)
There’s a slight chance it might be Bear Party by du Bois, but I don’t know about the soup and don’t have one in stock. See if these pictures seem familiar. http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/2009/11/bear-party.html
I am looking for a book my
Grandfather used to read my mom in the late 1950s early 1960s. It was about bears who live in the woods and make some sort of
Soup with leaves and sticks and rocks. This is not much to go on so I appreciate any help!
That sounds like the sort of book Ruth Chew wrote. I don’t recognize the details, though.
No, it was sold years ago, but I have pictures of the cover and illustrations. I’ll post them when I figure out how people do it. Meanwhile the best way to search this is through the publisher.
A 1970s book (though may be 50s/60s) about a 10-12 y.o. girl who finds a jewelry box inside an antique store. Inside there are various items, including a bird’s egg, and each one gives her a special power. What book is it??
Here’s one published in ’69.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Wheeler.html?id=tuGFOwAACAAJ&source=kp_book_description
Hello. I’m looking for a story, not sure if it’s one storybook or in a book of multiple stories. The story is about a family of crocodiles or alligators who go to the seashore at some point. I remember great illustrations. The one part that stands out to me is they are on the beach and the son has gone swimming and the salt water makes him ill. He has to be rinsed off with mineral water from a bottle. I just loved reading that story when I was a child in the 60s.
I’m looking for a book that I read as a child in the 60’s about the friendship between two girls, one of whom was called Frances. The other girl went to the Netherlands and bought her a delft cow (known as the flowery cow) and Frances was trying to plant her own bulb field.
Hi All,
I am looking for a book I used to read to my brothers, 2000s… 2005, 2007. It was a rhyming/song type book about a bug or bugs. There was one page where the bug was on a leaf using it as a boat in water. I think there was a Celia or Cecilia cicada. There might have also been a ladybug. I can’t remember everything sadly. I want to say there was a like like splash went the rain drop or something. Ideas?? Or am I crazy lol, I remember bits and pieces, sadly not everything. They don’t have the book anymore so I can’t look for it.
Paige
Hi, all! I’m looking for a kids’ book from when I was young (the 80s? 90s?) that featured a young girl who *somehow* gets in trouble with vegetables. They plant and eat her (dark, I know), as some sort of lesson? I put a question mark, because I don’t recall that much of the story. Please help! Oh, and I think she wore a blue and white dress. Thanks!
Is it Jingle Bell Jack?
https://www.etsy.com/market/jingle_bell_jack
I am looking for an easy reader, probably published in the 50’s or 60’s about a little boy who whizzes around on his tricycle. B&W illustrations
I am looking for a book read by my son in the 80’s, probably an early reader about a little boy who whizzes around on his tricycle. Illustrations are black and white, the humor is very gentle. I would guess it was written in the 50’s or 60’s. Sorry my memory is fond but vague.
You’re welcome!
A good resource for storybooks is Here’s another page that might be helpful if you recognize the cover
http://w1.loganberrybooks.com/books/authors/anthologies.htm
Maybe something will look familiar.
Hello, I’m looking for a book that featured this clown character. Or the creation of this. I can’t quite remember! Does this look familiar to anyone? I’m sure it was a book I read when I was under 10 (I was born in 1970). Thank you!
When I was learning to read in 1st grade back in the early-to-mid 80s, they had books with two pandas in them. I know one time they went to the circus or were part of the circus. Very colorful and seemingly part of a series since these pandas were in each one.
Nobody knows? Dx
Hi, I’m looking for a book I read as a kid. It was already old then and that was in the early 2000s. About a girl who has a doll? or maybe an imaginary friend and she takes her to another world or dimension and they go to some sort of high tea party. I think the girl couldn’t eat or drink anything because then she’d be under their influence? Something about dancing until she passed out. I remember the cover being all green but it didn’t have a title or an author on it. I also think there was one page that had a drawing of the doll or the world or something but that could be wrong. Anything would help, thanks in advance!
I remember the story, but not the name of the book. Great story.
I found it! It’s called “Make Way for the Thruway”. However, this is a standalone book. I remember it as a big book with a collection of short stories. Any help is still appreciated.
This sounds like “Edith and the Bears,” by Dare Wright. That was one of my favorites as a child.
I read a delightful rhyming book to my kids about a British man who takes a vacation to the beach he keeps losing things along the way. One of the lines is, “Oh, well, what’s done is done. I think I’ll picnic in the sun.”It was published in the 1980s, I think.
CAN ANYONE TELL ME THE NAME OF THAT WONDERFUL BOOK?
Hi! A favourite book with my son, when he was little, was of a mouse couple who thought they could find a better home elsewhere. There was a little finger puppet mouse, which was in a plastic bubble in the front cover, which you could poke through holes in the pages. They went through leaves in the trees and gaps in rocks, but found their old house to be the best one. It was hard back and I think the title was the surname of the mouse couple. Maybe Brambles, or something like that?
Thanks in advance!
Jusy My Dad and Me, by Leah Komaiko. “When the entire family insists on accompanying a girl and her dad on a boating trip, she swims to the bottom to escape them all. Despite the best efforts of the fish, she realizes life underwater would be a lonely one, and she swims to the surface into her dad’s waiting arms.”
Thank you!!!!! No wonder my daughter remembered it so fondly and wants to have a copy.
If there could also be an ostrich in the mix it could be this one from Hugh Gardner. First published as two volumes in the late 40s in the UK and published in 1969 as one volume in the US (and it looks Suzanne has a copy for sale on this site).
Tales from the Marble Mountain. Part 1: Beyond the marble mountain. Part 2: Back to the marble mountain
The adventures of four animal friends–Bear, Ostrich, Owl, and Goat–as they seek their fortune, ride trains, fly planes, and build houses
Thank you!
Thanks Melissa. In the early 90s, I primarily sold to independent school libraries and I have about a thousand inexpensive books left from that time. Good titles actually, like this one.
Hi, I am looking for the name and author of an old children’s picture book. I believe it would be from the 1970’s. The book was a about a little girl who was looking at a painting and then she and her teddy bear went into the painting. I believe they were in a boat on a river as part of the plot.
Thanks 🙂
The Baobab Car, by Jacqueline Held and Arnaud Laval.
I’m looking for a book I ready my daughter when she was little born 1997 so maybe in 2000? Possibly scholastic. A little girl swims in the ocean through a sunken ship, her parents sing rags for sale … who wants to buy one rags for sale girl while swinging her by arms and legs. And at the end she says I need air I need sun I need my family. I remember a lot but not the title or author
Hi , I am looking for a book which I think was called, The Man Who Never Washed His Car.
I was given a copy in the ’80s for our kids who just loved it and now our son wants to find it for his son.
The story is of a man with three dogs who ride with him in his car which he never washes. It is so dirty that when the seed of a baobaub tree blows into the car, it sprouts and takes root and soon a baobab tree is growing in the back if the car. Soon the car no longer fits in the garage so the man removes the roof because a car must have a garage. The dogs love the tree and the small one climbs it
Does this ring any bells?
Thanks in advance!
Gyo Fujikawa, A to Z Picture Book.
I don’t know you but I love you and I thank you. You brought a months quest to an end!
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was the right one.
I am looking for a children’s book circa 1970 addressing the ‘adventures of bear, owl, and goat.’ Ring any bells?
I’m looking for a book about a cat who lives with her owner, a lady, in Bath, England. The cat gets lost in the city, goes on an adventure of some sort that I cannot recall, but finds her way home in the end.
Hi! I’m trying to find a book that was an ABCs book I was read as a child. All I can remember was there were little drawn children on each page corresponding to the letter. I was I believe an orange cover? I just remember one page in particular said D is for dreams and it showed kids dreaming of ice cream and of a scary monster.
I’m looking for a book from the early to mid 80s. The book was from my school library (1rst or 2nd grade) & had white pages with purple & black illustrations. I remember the storyline involved a lady whose earring was either stolen or lost at a party & the investigation that followed. Naturally, she gets her earring back though I don’t remember how.
You’re welcome! And thanks for posting back.
Tou’re welcome!
Hi! I’m looking for a childrens book I used to read my children in the 90’s. I only remember it was a little boy and a dolphin. I think the opening was, “A Sunny Day A Bright Blue Sky… Baby Dolphin waves Bye Bye
The Happy Birthday Present, by Joan Heilbroner. “Two little boys with limited funds shop for a birthday present for their mother. The kindhearted store keepers give them a flower pot, some paper clips, and a conch shell. Davy, the youngest boy, adds his green sucker and his pinwheel, and together they create a birthday tree for her.”
Omg thank you
How about this one? The Mysterious Shrinking house (originally published in 1970 as Mindy’s Mysterious Miniature and also published as The Housenapper) by Jane Louise Curry Mindy found the miniature house hidden in the attic of the old barn. It was so perfect it looked like a real house — that had somehow shrunk.
But she never guessed its terrible secret — or that she herself would be trapped inside
I’m looking for the book where I learned to read. It was in the 1990s but the book was surely older. I feel like it was about a kid getting presents for his mom and I remember a lollipop that was green?
There’s one other even more obscure book that I’m trying to recall that my mother read to me as a child in the 60s I believe. It was about dinosaur like creatures or lizard like creatures that lived on another planet. At night time, the temperature dropped, and all of the creatures froze in place wherever they were.
I’m sorry that’s such limited information. I remember the illustrations were wonderful and the creatures were very funny to look at. It was not a serious book by any means!
Greetings. I’m looking for a book I read as a child maybe 40 years ago. I feel like it shouldn’t be that hard but I can’t recall the title or the author. On the cover was possibly the perspective through a dollhouse window with little people inside and a giant squirrel or chipmunk on the outside. I thought perhaps “the borrowers”, or “the Littles”. But I can’t find it. Does anybody recall this book? Thank you so much
I am looking for a childrens picture book my mom read to me around 1965 about a little girl sad to go to school for the first time. As a surprise, Her mother hides a different color crayon in her pocket everyday until she has all the colors. Simpler timesfor sure.
The book I’m searching for is described to me as being large format, hardcover, richly illustrated, photorealistic art style possibly in oil.
Main character is a dwarf, has a companion that is a green domestic cat described as a “warrior cat(?)”. In one memorable scene the dwarf plays chess with a spider woman creature.
This would have been available in the late 80’s early 90’s.
Ruth Ainsworth, The Talking Rock. “Lonely because he cannot join his parents in Nigeria until he is out of quarantine with the measles, young Jakes builds a sandboy, with shells, seaweed, and sand, who mysteriously comes to life “
Thank you!!
Hello, I’m looking for a book I read to my kids in the 80s. It’s about a boy who has to stay with an old couple (Grandma?) in a seaside cottage in England for awhile. He’s lonely and bored. He makes an outline of a boy in the sand, using shells and beach finds to fill in details. He’s named “Sand Boy” when he comes alive each day after he’s remade. SB becomes a friend and adventurous playmate.
I can’t remember the author’s name or book title, but author’s name begins with A. I’d say the book was written anytime between late 60s to 80s. Thanks for your help!
Hi – I’m trying to find a book I read as a kid in the late 90s, which I think was also published in the 90s. It was about a trickster or “wise fool” figure along the lines of Nasreddin Hodja, based on folktales from… I can’t remember where. I want to say sub-Saharan Africa, but that could be wrong. I thought the character’s name was something like “Jahu” or “Jehu,” but nothing comes up when I search for that. The dimensions of the book were a bit bigger than an 8.5×11″ sheet of paper, with sort of parchment-colored pages and a full illustration on every other page. My recollection of the illustrations is that they looked sort of like dense, dark jungle thickets, with various animals peeking out.
Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks in advance!
Looking for a Babar the elephant book I read in the early 80s where Babar is in a swim race. I think the bad guy (who may be an elephant or a rhino or hippo) loses the race (and possibly his swim trunks in the process).
Hello I’m looking for my favorite childhood book. It was about a little
Boy named Terry and he was afraid to go to bed, he would scream for his daddy and mistaken a tree branch outside for a witch, his baseball glove as a monster on there floor and he calmed down by eating sugar toast talking with his dad. Anyone have an idea of what I am talking about? Lol
Probably not your book, but it’s the closest thing I can find:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2655203-three-buckets-of-daylight
Looking for a children’s book. Read it often in early 90s, not sure on the year published. From what I remember, its about 3 boys who stumble upon an old woman who turns out to be a witch. She asks them to bring her a perfect apple. The first two boys bring her an apple and she turns them into animals (one a frog maybe?). The third boy brings her an average apple and she gifts him her broomstick (?) I remember beautiful illustrations in black and red. I’ve been looking for this book for about 10 years now and no success. Any help would be extremely appreciated!
Hello,
I’ve been trying to find a children’s book about either a green lizard or dinosaur who is given magical dust to make a wish and grows pink wings. I’m sorry for the sparse details. It might not have been a very popular or well known book as I remember meeting the author at my elementary school in Georgia sometime in the late 90s.
I am embarrassed to have so few details of a book I read in the 70’s but was much older, maybe from the 40’s or earlier. A girl in grade school hopes to become the “winter queen” at the school winter festival. A new girl arrives in school, who is very pretty and bratty and who ends up as the aforementioned winter queen. I recall the last sentences of the book where the new girls says “I the winter queen!” and our heroine says “I and I wouldn’t trade places with your for anything in the world!”
Hello. I’m looking for a book I had when I was about 7, in 1966. It was called THE ISLAND (I think) and was a hard backed novel with black and white illustrations, drawings of the characters who were mystical creatures living on an island. I think there was a horse, a half man half goat, that’s all I can remember. It wasn’t by a popular author I don’t think but I’d love to find out more and hopeful find a copy one day. Any help would be much appreciated. Joan.
Looking for an old book of short stories. It’s a pretty thick hardcover book that had a red cover I think. One of the stories was about a construction site building a new road and they come up upon a tiny cottage with an old woman who wouldn’t move. They had to call all the boss men up the chain to negotiate but she wouldn’t budge. Eventually the built the road around her little cottage. I was born in 1986 and I’m pretty sure it’s way older than me. Thanks in advance!
Yes, I have already found out how scarce it is! There is a copy for sale, but definitely at “collector’s price”. Thanks for info re the re-issue, “Secret of the….” . I’ll try and get the original as that is what she remembers and loved. I am so grateful for your help.
Dear Chanda, thank you so VERY much! I am absolutely certain that this is the right book because it links up my friend’s two separate memories into one book. She will be so delighted when I tell her, and then I shall search for it: I have until Christmas!
I’m so grateful to you. With kind regards, Elizabeth
You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help. What a thoughtful Christmas gift! I’m sure she will love it!
I wish you luck in your search. Copies of the original title (Child of the Wesern Isles) may be hard to come by, but reprints under Secret of the Roan Mor Skerry appear to be readily available – and still feature Rosalie Fry’s original illustrations. Copies printed under The Secret of Roan Innish may be slightly different. The cover art on those appears to be from the movie adaptation, but I don’t know if the illustrations are still the same or if they’ve made any changes to the original story.
Maybe Child of the Western Isles (also published as The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry and The Secret of Roan Innish) by Rosalie K. Fry, first published in 1957.
Jamie (the little boy) sails away in his cradle, not in a walnut shell – but the cradle/boat is shaped similarly to a half walnut shell.
Fiona McConville is a child of the Western Isles whose family left the fishing life and their home on the small islet of Ron Mor for the Scottish mainland when Fiona was six. But city life doesn’t suit Fiona so at age ten she is sent back to her beloved isles to live with her grandparents. There she learns more about her mother’s strange ways with the seals and seabirds; she hears stories of the selkies, mythological creatures that are half seal and half human; and she wonders about her baby brother, Jamie, who disappeared during the island evacuation but whom fishermen claim to have seen. Fiona determines to find Jamie and strikes up a friendship with her older cousin Rory to enlist his help. When her grandparents are suddenly threatened with eviction, Fiona and Rory put their plans into action.
I’m searching for a monster/supernatural-focused children’s book from the early 80s (possibly 70s). I remember a few specifics, like a “diagram” on how to tell if someone was a werewolf (showed a unibrow, ring finger longer than other fingers, etc.). There was an “activity” where you would stare at a green drawing of a devil for a certain amount of time, and then look at a white wall or sheet of paper and see the same image in red. Pretty vague, I know; can’t remember a cover, or if I am combining multiple books in my memory. It is almost like it was full of anecdotes and small activities. Thanks in advance for any help!
I am looking for abook adout a kid who refuses to eat his greens and shrinks.
The Shrinking of Treehorn?
Hello again, I am thrilled to be re-reading Chowry, after sixty years! Now I have a couple of other queries, perhaps easier to untangle this time. I was visiting a friend recently and told her my happy story of the help I received to find Chowry. She had a similar feeling about a book she’d read around 1954, she’d have been about 6 or 7. The one thing she recalls strongly is a small boy sailing away in a half walnut shell.
Whilst writing – has anyone heard of a book of the 1950s called “Jamie of the Western Isles”, or similar? These two might be somehow linked or might be entirely separate.
Thanks for reading this! Elizabeth
That sounds like an excellent idea, maybe I can keep the restored questions all to this thread as they get answered and they won’t “flood” the forum?
If you have already answered some of these, please answer them again here. Craig had these all organized and we seem to have run into a Disqus glitch and the answers can’t be accessed. Thanks, Suzanne.
My attempts to repost them as you suggested are apparently being removed. Can you please help? Thanks, Craig
AMAZING! I think that’s it! Thank you so much Melissa.
Maybe this one? Pink and orange so the colours fit. ‘Not here and never was’ Virginia Smith (1968) A dragon and a dinosaur meet and visit their long lost worlds–the country of the Past and the land of the Imagination
The next issue is trying to find a copy. Published in 1968. Most old books I’ve been able to find for sale on line but this one seems pretty rare.
Looking for a book I read in the early 80s of a dragon and a dinosaur that were friends. They maybe went on adventures together. Seem to remember one of them appeared to be a hill or a mountain when they were sleeping. They were possibly bright garish colours like pink or orange perhaps?
I’m looking for a picture book last seen around the 1990s. It’s about a jack in the box or clown that makes shapes out of popcorn balls. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Thanks!
Seems like I remember this one vaguely–was there one candy with springs inside it, or am I just thinking of Monty Python?
Thank you for your response. I do not remember a spring but it’s possible! Lol I don’t remember much of the story, just that there was a child who was somewhat of a trouble maker.
So there was a bit of a plot to it, not just a novelty book with pictures of yucky candy?
Hello, I am looking for a book I read as a kid sometime between 1996 and 2001. It’s was shaped like a box of chocolates or candy. If I recall correctly it had flaps you could lift and inside the candy were disgusting things like toothpaste and crickets. I would like to find it so I can read it to my children now, thank you for your help.
Yes, the title was along similar lines to these titles but I was a teenager by the 90s and definitely not purchasing/ reading such books.
There are two books like this I can think of. One is funny. The Return of the Giant Hogstalk (1974 US ed) by Felice Holman, the plant escapes from the Royal Botanical Gardens. “The hogstalk plant grows and grows until it begins to escape from the Royal Botanical Gardens; can it be stopped? Hilarious.”
The other is more serious, Bongleweed by Helen Cresswell (1973 true 1st) “The enormous Bongleweed grew in Pew Gardens from some mysterious seeds tossed on a compost heap. How could Becky and her father, the gardener, bear to hurt it! “it had … thrown out its prodigal gifts of flower and greenery to make things new again.”
You’re welcome! Glad you found it… Thanks for writing back
Close! This is Karlsson-on-the -roof by Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking). You probably had the American edition illustrated by Jan Pyk, as he is stumpier .
“A marvelously funny story about a fat little man with a sort of helicopter attachment on his back who lives on Eric’s roof in Stockholm and states unequivocally that he is real. (He is.) Illustrated with heavier line than the first English edition.”
Here are some pictures: https://www.oldchildrensbooks.com/pages/books/20105/astrid-lindgren/karlsson-on-the-roof-eric-and-karlsson-on-the-roof
This is a collectible copy, I’m sure you could get it for much less.
That is it!!! My goodness seeing that cover brings a smile to my face. Thank you so much!