Children's Books discussion
what's the name of this book??
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What Obscure but Beloved Book from Your Childhood Have You Spent a Good Part of Your Adult Life Trying to Find Again?
THE LONELY DOLL by Dare Wright! It was first published in 1957 and I had an old beat up copy. I loved that book so much and finally found it at a thrift store when I was in my 20's.
I had a couple of books that I remember having when I was young. One I asked about in the WTNOTB, and I think it was Cheryl that lead me to The Spider Plant. I have yet to get that book. The other was about a mystery in a canyon. All I remembered was the canyon part and it was about a girl and her horse. I found it and it was Linda Craig and the Mystery of Horseshoe Canyon (I bought that book long ago at a garage sale for 20 cents--wish I had that book).
Shreya (message 49), I wish I'd seen your post earlier, but I think this might be an English translation of the book you're trying to remember: Doctor Ouch.
The "What's the name of that book" group is AMAZING. I'd been looking for YEARS for a book that I remembered from my childhood, that had been my mother's when she was a child. I had asked at antiquarian booksellers. I'd checked databases online. I didn't have a title or an author or much of anything to go on. And I posted here about it, and someone here told me to check with WTNOTB. I did, and had the title and author the same day -- Whitie the Bunny Whose Wish Came True -- and found it on eBay the next day, and now have my very own copy that is in pristine condition. I was *so* happy to have found it.
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The Spider Plant by Yetta Speevack for the link to Chris's book (but I don't think I can take credit, I identify very few books for ppl).
Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burn is one I've never heard of before... but I love the title, and will have to investigate!
I absolutely LOVED Put Me In The Zoo as a child! I found a copy shortly after my son was born and have read it to him many times since then.
I received Put Me in the Zoo along with Dr. Seuss books for beginning readers back in the early 60s. I haven't seen any copies anywhere since.
When I was in third grade (which was, I'm afraid, nearly 50 years ago now), I got a book of poetry from the Scholastic book club, or whatever the equivalent was -- I ordered the book at school. The book included "Secret song" by Margaret Wise Brown (The poem begins, "Who saw the petals drop from the rose? I said the spider, but nobody knows.") I don't remember what the other poems in the book were, but I loved them all, and I'm sure I read the book until it fell apart.
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Hm. There are 14 editions listed here, including Kindle and a board book, and 8 copies in my library system, and it's still in print, and used copies are going for 1 cent plus postage... :shrug:
I have a couple of stories about children's books that were read to me when I was little and of which I then lost track. The first is not just about a book but about a certain read-aloud of it. I actually heard it read on public radio, it was read in the morning, probably five minutes every day, and I was about 3 1/2 or 4 years old. The story was Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren. Captivated by the reading, in my head I always imagined the man who read the book to be the King, Mio's real father in the story. Since I never had the book itself in hand and could therefore not go by that I was probably 10-11 by the time I identified the story and located the book to read it again.
But, the reader of this "audio version" really stayed with me, in fact his voice still resonates in my head to this day. So much, that when I was in my 20s, one time at a party I heard a voice that sent shivers to my spine. Curious about the voice I went to find the guy it belonged to and ended up talking with him for a long time that night, only to find out in due time that his father (the same voice, you see) had translated Mio, My Son into my language and read it on public radio (before its publication). One day I was invited to his father's house, and when his father (who'd read me Mio twenty years earlier) came to greet me, his voice made my knees so limp I almost collapsed.
I rediscovered another book I had spent many years searching for because it was on the list of 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. My babysitter often read to me when I was little from a book about a lady who lived in an upside-down house and who befriended children in her neighborhood. The book was probably a rather obscure title at the time, and it could have been one read to my babysitter when she was a child. And again, it was a translation so in my language the name of the main character "Sigga Vigga" was different from the original name. I ended up stumbling upon a battered copy of this book at my library one time before I was 12 and enjoyed reading it, but this long out-of-print book eventually disappeared from the library system. It then wasn't until about 3 years ago that I figured out that the book was Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I now need to read it to my kid.
Oh, Fjóla, I loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I hadn't thought of that book in a very long time. I'm going to have to find it again! Thank you!
I searched for Old Black Witch by Wende and Harry Devlin. It was out of print for awhile. It is fun. A boy and his mother move into a haunted house and turn it into a tea room. They become friends with the witch who lives there. She makes good blueberry pancakes and the recipe is in the book. This book first came out in the 1960's. I read it often as a child. Then found it by accident in a garage sale about 10 years ago. I have read it to my daughter often. It isn't scary, but fun.
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I love the Cranberryport stories (and recipes) by the Devlins; I'll have to wishlist Old Black Witch! (Wende Devlin). Def. obscure.
I love Astrid Lindgren picture books and short readers, such as Lotta's Bike and The Children of Noisy Village. In the US, these are definitely obscure... despite the popularity of Pippi Longstocking. I will have to put Mio, My Son on my wishlist.
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Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "I haven't heard or or read any Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle but the book blurb made me think she's a combination of Pippi Longstocking and Mary Poppins! "Since the last time I read her I was about 11-12, I can't vouch for how to stand up to adult reading. But I really fantasized about living in an upside-down house like hers, and I thought about how I would lay it out, where I would place the furniture or what the kitchen would look like. I was also really impressed with all the magical remedies she came up with, although there is a moralizing side to it as she would have fixes for kids' bad habits. So, not too much like Pippi who indulged in the bad habits for sure!
Cheryl wrote: "I love Astrid Lindgren picture books and short readers, such as Lotta's Bike and The Children of Noisy Village. In the US, these are definitely obscure... despite the popularity of Pippi Longstocking. I will have to put Mio, My Son on my wishlist."Mio, My Son is a fantasy in the same spirit as The Brothers Lionheart, but I think it was intended for the youngest readers, i.e. the kids that are reading for instance The Children of Noisy Village. So, it is simpler, and more naive. I noticed this even when I reread it in my tweens and I initially concluded that it probably didn't hold up as well as the Lionheart Brothers, but now I think it just differs because it was meant for really young children. And thankfully thus it has none of the absolute heartbreak of The Brothers Lionheart that I don't think my son would be ready for yet, as much as I love that book.
Gundula wrote: "Cheryl, one book I have always loved by Astrid Lindgren is Seacrow Island (about an artist and his family and their adventures and misadventures on a Swedish island). However, I hav..."I never read the Seacrow Island books (we didn't have them), but we had the series on TV, and I can only describe those as amazingly healthy, happy, feel-good, and that Malin was just too cute. They so conveyed the magic and insouciance of a summer in the Stockholm archipelago (where I'm assuming they take place). Makes me want to go there and be a kid forever.
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I have not seen the series, but I love Malin in the book!! She really does have to put up with a lot from both her father and her brothers (and she is basically at age 19 the head of the household and much more responsible than Melchior, her father, can ever be).
Charlotte wrote: "Oh, Fjóla, I loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I hadn't thought of that book in a very long time. I'm going to have to find it again! Thank you!"Did someone says Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle? Oh, I loved those books! I remember one in which Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle made a kid grow some kind of vegetables under his or her fingernails to teach them to keep their nails clean. Was it radishes?
There was a book about Crispins Crispian (or something like that), the dog who belonged to himself. I never hear anyone talk about that anymore. It was sure a big deal in my house when I was a kid.
Cheryl wrote: "Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself?"I think so, but I don't recall that being the title.
The comments indicate that people think it's a weird book. I don't remember much about it. I think I just liked the sound of the words.
Paula wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself?"I think so, but I don't recall that being the title.
The comments indicate that people think it's a weird book. I don'..."
Mister Dog was a Little Golden Book by Margaret Wise Brown -- so no wonder you remember the language! Illustrations by Garth Williams. It's included in one of their collections you can still buy, Animal Tales:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375...
Both of my children love it. I think because Mister Dog is so self-sufficient, and then the boy joins him and fits right into his routine. And, like you said, the language.
Robin wrote: "Paula wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself?"I think so, but I don't recall that being the title.
The comments indicate that people think it's a weir..."
Thanks, Robin! Now I must really check the book out again. :)
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So that might mean that the original translation was lacking. I wish I could read Swedish so that I could read Astrid Lindgren and many other superb Swedish children's authors in the original.
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I often wonder what subtleties or nuances I miss out on in a translated work."
so do I, always ...
I had my grandmothers copy of GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST which I treasured. This book and author greatly inspired me. Then I loaned it to a friend. Never got it back. Then many years later I was able to get the ebook. Just not the the same as my grandmother's book.
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Paula wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "Oh, Fjóla, I loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I hadn't thought of that book in a very long time. I'm going to have to find it again! Thank you!"Did someone says Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle? Oh,..."
Hi! Coming late to this but yes, it was radishes! I think it was on a boy's arm, tho' bec he wouldn't bathe.
The books are available from Amazon.
One book that I wish I could find is by Elisabeth Kyle.
I've found a few of her books but this particular one, about a boy in Edinburgh, is out of my reach. One illustration, of the boy in his Scottish cap eating a TOMATO as though it was an apple, made me think, "Eiuw!" but over 50 years later, I still remember it. Wish I could find it again.
As a child I enjoyed reading Charlotte's Web. It found it amazing and I loved the talking animals. Of course it was full of emotions. However being 1 of 7 kids the books usually got passed around and when it came back to me I would enjoy it again. I do not know where it is now but my son as a new edition of it, but it is not the same. Feels different
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Wasn't for me. Fruit -- apples, peaches, pears -- but not tomatoes.She gives a luscious description of how juicy the tomato was and how it dripped down his hand. I have a number of her books, but without the title, I've been lost. Every time I see one of hers, I frantically page through to see if that illustration is there. Maybe I should join the "Find This Book" group on Goodreads :-)
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I'm looking for a book which my partner remembers from his childhood. He has noidea of the author but thinks it might have been called something like "over the bridge" or "across the bridge" (but might be something entirely diffferent). He thinks it might have been set in Australia and it features a young boy taking a (bus?) trip across the bridge.Any help would be appreciated.
I was recently asked by a friend of a friend (who heard i volunteered at the library) if i knew the title of a book and proceeded to describe it thus..." like wall-e but just before they leave earth. There are these dogs or moose and they live in this field then people come along and build on it and throw their rubbish anywhere and then when there is nothing green left they all get on spaceships and fly off and the moose or dog is left behind but on the last page you see this flower or something growing and you know its going to be ok. It was written in the sixties or seventies I've been trying to tell my kids about it but they reckoned i dreamed it because no-one was fussed about pollution then"
I didn't have the heart to tell him that library's rarely stock children's books from the 80's or earlier unless the author was uber famous like dr. sues.
I really didn't expect to find it but i thought id google anti pollution books in 60/70's and there it was Wump World.
I've been trying to get a hold of the german & french equivalents of "see jane run" my daughter is a polyglot and wants to learnt to read in her many languages but her fathers french books are adult philosiphy (Dante and that guy who does existential stuf) while i do have kids books in german she is no where near ready for "kleine eis bar". Does anyone know where and what sort of titles i should be googleing?
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So, you're looking for primers (btw, for the longest time I didn't know this is pronounced 'primmers') in German and French? I don't know offhand, but when Gundula (an active member, currently at an overseas conference) gets back she can probably let us know about some. Interesting query....
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https://networks.h-net.org/node/7842/...
CFP: "After the War, A New Beginning? A Comparative Examination of Reading Primers Published and Used in 1945 in Europe" (Germany) WORKSHOP, Nov. 2015
When I was very little my sister and I had a favorite picture book but we can't remember the title and only vaguely remember the plot! I think there were two main characters. One was telling this imaginative story and the other kept saying "Tell me more!" We thought that was the title of the book, but we can't seem to find anything under that title. I seem to remember them ending up at a library but I could be mixing it up with another story haha=) If anyone knows what the book might be we would be SO happy!
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..." like wall-e but just before they leave ear..."
When we were little, we had a Richard Scarry Book that was a multi language picture dictionary (English, French, German, I think). I do not remember the title, but I do remember that it really helped us with learning both English and French when we immigrated from Germany to Canada in the 70s. You should perhaps check Richard Scarry books both on Amazon and on second hand book sites such as ABE Books; I wish I remembered the title, but I do remember that it was by Richard Scarry.
Dana wrote: "Loved "A fish out of water" - A Dr Seuss Book?? Have not seen it in any retail bookshop for years. Would love to get a copy again."Dana--this was the first book I read alone. It's by Helen Palmer & P.D. Eastman You can find it on Amazon. I still repeat, "or something may happen, you never know what."
I read "So Far From the Bamboo Grove" in fourth grade and scenes from the book have always stayed with me, but not the title. later, trying to find it I kept coming up with "The Year of Impossible Goodbyes," close but not the same. Finally, one day in a used bookshop I saw the cover and solved the mystery.
There's a story I half remember which I have a feeling was part of a larger collection but I liked particularly because it was a morality tale that didn't have a happy ending. I came across it in primary school. At 9 I had read all the books in our tiny school library so started on a thesaurus. When our reading aptitude test came round I had a reading age score of a 20 year old! My mum was very proud and the school sent out an appeal for "difficult" books for me and another boy in a similar position. We were inundated with books many of which were rejected as Shaun and I read them for containing inappropriate content (largely smut that went straight over our heads at the time). This book sadly also went out the window because it glorified hunting.
It starts with two spoilt brats whose father nips out to India for a hunting trip, they insist they shan't love him unless he brings back a baby elephant. When daddy comes home he brings with him various bits of dead animal including an elephants foot. Needless to say the brats aren't grateful and wont listen to reason. The foot gets used as a umbrella stand I think. Until one rainy day the brats complain once to often about the ugly foot and they hear the trumpeting of an elephant. Sure enough the 3 legged ghost of the baby elephant came charging at them rolls them down the stairs and the children and the foot vanish. (or possibly the foot vanishes and the children are left paralysed... not sure there.)
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I read The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall when I was in Primary School. I did find an old copy on ebay to read to my own kids when they were small but then it was reprinted in 2000. Always loved the story :-)
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I spent twenty-five years looking for my sweetheart's favorite childhood book. He loved a book called Cowboy Andy. I finally found it for him two years ago, and gave it to him for Christmas. His eyes filled with tears at the memories, and he couldn't believe that I had looked (on and off) throughout our marriage. This may have been my favorite gift I've ever given!