ABANDONED. Fantasy/Children's story from 80s/90s - gods create a boy/prince to name things in the world/Earth

[Mike]

First off, thank you for this resource - this is fantastic. The book in question is one I remember from childhood in the mid 90s that I cannot seem to recall. I have scoured my entire house for it and have had no luck. Actually, going through every part of my house that had books, I think I literally found every book I read as a kid EXCEPT this one. Entering descriptions online with keywords yields no results. You all are my last option! I will try to recount all of the details that I can remember. Some details may be off, but if you know a title that sounds similar that might be it.

So, to begin, there are these gods in the universe that fight/argue with each other because nothing was named yet, either because the universe or the world was just created. So they create a boy/prince or assign a boy the task of naming everything in the universe/world. So the boy goes on an adventures - traveling to many places with a method of travel I cannot seem to recall - assigning names to everything. It is similar to Le Petit Prince (Little Prince) in the fact that the boy does a lot of traveling to distant places (from what I remember). However, I know for sure it was NOT the Little Prince!

I'm pretty sure the boy had a name, the writer could have had influence from foreign stories/myths/legends (Indian/Arabic/possibly Greek?), so the names might have been unusual/unique. Or, there could have been no foreign influence and the names were just general fantasy-influenced. That part I'm not entirely sure, but it's just one other factor to throw out there just in case.

The copy I had was a hardback *may* have been a dustjacket, but it was offwhite and thick, (roughly 5/5.5 x 8" dimensions, about .5" thick). On the cover featured an image of the boy looking down on a cloud, with stars and the moon I think. Unfortunately, that's all I can remember. If any title comes to mind please post it I will be incredibly thankful.

Thank you once again.

[Cheryl]

So, a chapter book, lots of words, few if any pictures?

[Mike]

Ah, yes - well the closest I can say is it was a chapter book, very few pictures - (if any they were in black and white). Much more text than pictures.

[Michele]

bumping this because it sounds interesting.

[Kaion]

Sounds slightly similar to The Neverending Story?

[Mike]

I can see the similarities with Neverending Story, but its not that either.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Mike, are you still looking for this?

[Mike]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Mike, are you still looking for this?"

Thanks for reply Lobstergirl. Yes, I'm still looking. I am in the process of emailing every public library in the United States, but it takes awhile. So far, I've emailed 7/50.

[Kris]

Mike, to you remember the first things that were named (e.g., animals)? Or other important things that were named?

Was there any conflict or problem that arose in the story?

Did the boy/prince have a companion?
Did he meet other people in his travels?

[Sophie]

there are way more than 50 public libraries in the US.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

I admire Mike's energy tho.

[Mike]

Sophie wrote: "there are way more than 50 public libraries in the US."

No, not libraries, states. I've sent out inquires to all of the public libraries in 7 out of the 50 states so far, which has added up to hundreds of emails.

[Mike]

Kris wrote: "Mike, to you remember the first things that were named (e.g., animals)? Or other important things that were named?

Was there any conflict or problem that arose in the story?

Did the boy/prince ha..."

The main conflict was in the beginning, when the gods were fighting amongst each other that nothing was given a name yet.

I think animals were definitely first on that list, real animals that exist.

It's too far in time to say whether he did or did not have a companion. I'm not going to rule it out completely.

BTW, I've drawn up an image of the cover from memory for anyone who's interested in giving it a look
http://i.stack.imgur.com/VMHLh.jpg

It may not be 100% but I know for sure the boy had black hair and was featured on the cover. The gods may have been elemental gods (god of wind, thunder, etc), so you will notice lightning, wind, and little details to represent the elements. Backdrop is celestial, featuring the moon, stars, etc.

One librarian in Santa Cruz, CA suggested the story may have been first in an anthology of stories.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Still looking now?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Still looking now?"

No response in 2 years. Moving to Abandoned.