What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
The Boy Who Saved the Stars
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. Picture book: Boy and flying horse, crystal, shell [s]
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still no ideas? :-(
Mod
Yes, the drawings were brightly colored. I remember them being line drawings. Not terribly realistic, but 70's/80's fantasy cartoon style.
I'm guessing it was some sort of vanity publication...so unusual for no one to remember it.
Mod
Sadly, no, but thank you...I am pretty sure the protagonist is a young boy, and the setting is not Earth.
Anyone else? Still looking...
I read something that sounds a bit like this, but the hero was definitely grown up, not a kid.
Unfortunately I now can't find it on my shelves! But the one I was thinking of was, I believe, by a fairly well known illustrator like Hyman or Dillon so it probably wasn't the one you have in mind.
Shoshanna, do you remember why he was searching for a shell and crystal?Do you remember the color of the horse? Anything about the cover?
Sadly, no...I was six or seven and it was almost thirty years ago. The cover may have been white with a full color picture, but I'm just guessing now.
Probably not it; the main character is a girl and the illustrations are paintings, but Moonhorse
? Maybe something about the book will trigger a memory about yours.
No, not that...The illustrations were more brightly colored.
Too new, but I must check that book out...It looks awesome.
Mod
Shoshanna wrote: "Too new, but I must check that book out...It looks awesome."It really is stunning. One of the few wordless books that can make me cry.
I found Awake and Dreaming by Harve Zemach I can't find any interior pictures, but if you Google the title and author, you can see the cover. It was illustrated by Margot Zemach; you can see if her work looks familiar.I found this description of the book on Kirkus Reviews:
In a new lyrical mode, the Zemachs have fashioned a ringing fantasy. Tints of twilight and dawn bespeak the shades of despair of the young man empowered to claim what he will from his bad dreams, but once relieved of them (after he has taken the sword, the horse and the gold of the King of the Land of Dreams), forbidden to take anything from his good dreams on penalty of the nightmares' return. Tormented by his love for the beautiful lady who appears to him nightly and the warning against claiming her, he seeks out the witch who first helped him and drinks the inky potion that, in putting him forever asleep, will make her forever his.
Getting very close...but it's not either of those! Wow, that description sounds a lot like it.
This is a very long shot, but the story sounds like something that could've been written by Nicholas Stuart Gray. I don't know if any of his stories are available as separate illustrated books. (I had them in a collection)
sadly, it's not him...
Was the cover dark, and the illustrations kind-of dark, with lots of greys and silvers? I recall reading a book when I was young (late 70's/early 80's) about a boy who rides a pegasus type thing up into the stars, but darned if I can remember what it was called. A few years ago, I was looking for something else, and a thumbnail with the cover (which I can vividly see) came up, and I thought "I remember that!!" but I've yet to encounter it again.
Maybe...what does the cover have on it? Composition, subjects? Maybe the description will help jog someone else's memory...Also, do you remember what you were searching for when it came up?
Keeping in mind, my vivid memory has failed me prior:The book was a little larger than your average book. It was hardback and had a dust jacket that I am fairly sure had one of those medal stickers that our librarian would put on (a search of Caldecot award winners turned up empty). I remember the book had an "old" feel to it - like the illustrations were old, like maybe art deco type stuff - lots of silvers and greys, and I recall many of the backgrounds being black. I am almost 100% sure the cover was black, and had a closeup of the horse's head. I don't remember it being thin, but not as thick as The Silver Pony (which was similar). A look at similar books to the Silver Pony didn't turn anything up that I recognized.
However, just because it had an old "feel" doesn't mean it was old - The Silver Pony was from 1973, and that was the year I was born, and I don't think I'm old. :)
I recall seeing it on top of the shelf in the library on one of those book stands they'd use to feature books. I had to grab a book for a report and I cuoldn't make up my mind and just grabbed that one. I recall the librarian saying "Isn't this a little young for you?" (I would have been in 4th or 5th grade). The teacher scowled when I brought it back - I didn't know it didn't have words. But I thought I wrote a good report using my imagination. The teacher didn't think so, and I got a crappy grade. My mom wasn't happy with me either.
DUH - I missed a line in your original post that said the drawings were colorful. The one I read the drawings were not colorful.Back to the drawing board. Sorry.
Could it be
?The illustrations are by Gino D'Achille. From his web page - http://www.ginodachille.com/gallery/c... - he appears to use a lot of bright colors.
Mod
Is there very little text or long paragraphs beside each picture?
I think it is a picture book or very early level. I believe there were 2-4 sentences per page.
The boy who saved the stars by Doris Vallejo is a stretch as the boy rides a bird. But, the illustrations have that colorful 70s feel. Here is a link to some of the pics in the book
http://70sscifiart.tumblr.com/search/...
Make sure to click the "next" button at the bottom of the Tumblr page. There are more images.
If you Google the book, you can see that the book is wider than it is tall.
This is it!!!! OMG, thank you! I thought I'd never find it...and it's REALLY rare. I can't believe you figured it out. It's funny how I completely remembered some details, but not others...like I somehow edited the phoenix-butterfly thing into a flying horse. :-)
Yay! I typed in "crystal, shell, cave, witch" (without the quotation marks) in Google Books. And, it popped up on the second page.
Tab wrote: "Yay! I typed in "crystal, shell, cave, witch" (without the quotation marks) in Google Books. And, it popped up on the second page."
Wow, the searching skills! :-)
Mod
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
The Boy Who Saved the Stars (other topics)Pony Bird (other topics)
Ludo and the Star Horse (other topics)
Awake and Dreaming (other topics)
Mio, My Son (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Doris Vallejo (other topics)Harve Zemach (other topics)
Margaret Holland (other topics)
I remember that there was a boy (maybe a prince?) who rode a flying horse out among the stars. He was looking for a crystal and a shell, and at one point visited a witch who lived in a cave.
I also remember highly colored illustrations, and remember the book having an unusual size and shape (longer than it was tall.)