Can You
Help?
These are books that, alas! Aunt Book has been
unable to identify. If you believe that you know the title or the
author, or if you remember anything more about the book, please Tell
Aunt Book.
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Cowboys (only for Pigs)
"It's a picture book, probably in the 4-8 year
old category, and it's a cowboy theme, only instead of rustling up
cattle, they rustle up pigs! I believe the story starts with the
cowboys (pigboys?) around a camp fire and 'Cookie' is asked to retell a
story." Tell Aunt Book
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New Girl with a Barn
"First, there was a book about a girl who
moved with her family into a new neighborhood. She met a neighbor
girl who was overweight and they began to play together in the new
girl's barn in back of the house. The overweight girl began to be
jealous of the new girl and at one point she took some possession of
the new girl's, I think a painting, and hid it in the barn. Later
the barn caught on fire and the overweight girl risked her life to go
into the barn and save the new girl's painting and she ended up burning
her hands in the process. In the end, the girls came to a new
understanding and the book ended with their being friends." Tell Aunt Book
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Rain Cloud Follows Man
"There was a story in one of my elementary
school reading books about a man who had a rain cloud that followed him
everywhere he went. No matter where he went or what he did, the
cloud rained on him. This made him sad all the time.
Finally, he came to the realization that his cloud could be
useful. He traveled in a helicopter to all the drought-stricken
areas of the world and used his cloud to give the people much-needed
water." Tell Aunt
Book
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Emerald Green Ballet Slipper
"An orphan girl wants to be a dancer, is
adopted by a kind couple who help her become a ballerina, is given an
emerald green ballet slipper by a prima ballerina as a 'good luck
charm,' and at some point ends up throwing it into the wings behind the
stage for some reason or another. I've been looking through all
the 'ballet' books I know of and have never run across it again." Tell Aunt Book
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Mystery Puzzles Book
"It was a collection of short mysteries a la
Encyclopedia Brown, only there were some puzzles and more
illustrations. One puzzle was a drawing where you had to find a
female suspect wearing a white hat and a dress with black spots, and
carying a black umbrella, in a sea of women wearing similar
outfits. Another was a quick story about a bank robbery where a
teller was kidnapped by the robbers. She typed a message in code
before being taken. It turned out that she simply hit to the left
of each key." Tell
Aunt Book
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Little Boy With Flying Donkey
"I can’t remember an author or title. but this
is an Arabian Nights type fantasy children’s book which I read in the
mid-1970s. The main character is a small boy called Little
Shireen or Shirin. He has an old, bad-tempered flying donkey
called Zanti or Xanti who has to run in circles to take flight and
makes breathless ‘blooh blah’ noises as he does so. " Tell Aunt Book
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Boy in Germany During World War II
"I read a book about 20 years ago where the
main character was a boy who was living in Germany during World War
II. He survived in the wreckage of a building that was near the
wall. It told of how he kept alive during the cold, managed to
eat with the use of a hot plate and went ice skating with a girl on the
other side of the wall. When they went skating, they drilled
holes into their shoes to attach the skates." Tell Aunt Book
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Bear, Alligator, Chess
"It's a book that features a bear and an
alligator playing chess." Tell
Aunt Book
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Young Children on Maple Street
"I remember a book about 40-45 years ago about
some young kids who lived on Maple Street and in the end the house
burns down. If I remember correctly, the kids were about 8-9, and
the house was in a small city, and one story. It might have been
called Big House on Maple Street. I can remember the last chapter
talking about the pink hue of the sky, sunset (or maybe it was the
fire)." Tell Aunt Book
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Shipwrecked on the Northern Coast of
Australia
"I read the book in the 1950's. It was
about a young man who was shipwrecked on a northern tropical coast in
Australia. It might have been called The Coral Strand or
something similar. It was a Robinson Crusoe-type survival
story." Tell Aunt Book
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Rabbit Who Misses a Trip to his
Grandparents' Because He Gets Sidetracked
"I am looking for a children's story that
involved a rabbit that was always too busy playing and missed an
anticipated journey to his grandparents' home. As I recall, he
was told several times when and where to be ready for the family outing
but got sidetracked playing and missed the event completely. He
was very distraught for having been left behind because of his own
doings and resolved to be more aware the next time. I remember
this story having made a big impression on me as a child not to be such
a slow poke and mindful of time and responsibility. I probably
read it in the '60's but don't recall how old a book it was. I
believe it is not a "Peter Rabbit" story."
Aunt Book thought this might be Hurry Up, Slowpoke, by
Crosby Newell, but the animal in that book is a mouse and it is not the
correct book. Can you help? Tell Aunt Book
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Grumpy Hedgehog Poet
"Author: Sadly Unknown
"Characters: Main protagonist, a
grumpy hedgehog; sheep; a farmer (maybe, I can’t remember); other
spring forest animals
"Plot: Our protagonist awakens from his
winter sleep and seeing the beautiful spring day decides to write some
poetry. However, he needs a quiet place to find his muse. Queue the
normal noises of a spring day in the forest and all the problems he has
trying to find a place. Eventually he comes across a sheep field where
the sheep have left some of their wool (handily) caught on a fence. The
hedgehog gathers up enough wool and stuffs his ears blocking out all
sound. However with the silence (and the handy woollen pillows) the
urge to write was overtaken by the urge to sleep. When he
wakes he goes (angrily) again on his search for his perfect spot. On
the way he spots some bluebells which he decides to smell; hah, not so
easy! One gets stuck to his nose! That is all I can
remember (and bear in mind that the memories are almost 20 years old,
so a little hazy) although he does find the perfect, quiet and
beautiful spot in the end.
"Illustration: This is what I really
remember about this story, the illustration was beautiful! Comic-style
characters but definitely drawn by a loving hand. They have stuck with
me for two decades as the perfect cartoon woodland animals.)
"There were other books in this series but I
do not remember any details. " Can you help? Tell Aunt Book
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Disobedient Duckling Who Finds That
Home's the Place for Him
"This was my favorite book as a child but I
cannot remember the title or author. It was a Little Golden Book
about a duckling that disobeys mother and heads down the stream out of
the home pond. He has scary adventures and is finally helped back
to the pond by a swan, I think. The last page says something
like, 'This great big world is a wonderful place, but home's the
place for me!' That about sums up my life and I would love to
find a copy of that book." Tell
Aunt Book
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Maureen the Mink, who is not a Muppet
"I hope someone can tell me the name of the
book that has a character named Maureen the Mink. Apparently
there was also a character by that name on a Muppet Show episode or
movie, but I heard about the book prior to that." Tell Aunt Book
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Penguin Stowaway
"The book was read by my daughter in the early
1980's. It came from a school library and was a picture
book. The story was about a penguin from the South Pole who
steals aboard a ship; a stowaway. He is discovered later and made
to swab the deck. I think he is found in a broom closet.
The word "swab" was a new word for my daughter, as I
recall. The book is not Mr. Popper's Penguins.
Tell Aunt Book
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Which Pocketbook Should She Carry?
"The book starts out with a girl deciding on
what outfit to wear and specifically what pocketbook she is going to
carry on the first day of school. It is not The Luckiest Girl, but I
believe it is a teen romance of some type. Tell Aunt Book
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American Politician's Son and Daughter
of an Asian Prime Minister Explore America
"I am trying to find a young adult novel from
the early '80's, perhaps even the late '70's. The story is about
a young man in Washington D.C. who is the son of a politician and is
all rebellious and Kerouac-y. He meets the daughter of an Asian
president or Prime Minister. I think she is from China, but it
could be
Korea. Anyway, they go on the road to see the "real
America". They take a cab out of town and try to pay for the fare
with her designer dress and there is a little aside about how the
cabbie's wife was mad becuase it was obviouly too small for her.
Anyway - of course they have all kind of adventures in poverty and fall
in love but in the end she goes back to her country and he stays in
his... for now. It is Roman Holiday meets Sullivan's
Travels. The book came out in 1984 or before. The Smithtown
Public Library had it in
the young adult section. The author's last name was probably near
the end of the alphabet because it was in the last bookcase of the
section. It had, if memory serves, a red cover. And the
title was two words and it was political sounding like 'Domestic
Affairs' or 'Cultural Detente' but not those..." Tell Aunt Book
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Mother Bear Delivering Sticky Buns
"I am looking desperately for a book I had
when I was a child, perhaps published between 1984 and 1990.
I have no idea of the title, but here's a quick synopsis:
It's about a mother bear (possibly) who bakes some sticky buns and puts
them in a basket on her back. She has to walk through the forest to
deliver them and stops half way for a rest and falls asleep. While
she's sleeping a cheeky bear eats all of her sticky buns and climbs
into the basket himself. The mother wakes up and struggles on her
journey, not realising it's a bear in her basket and not sticky buns.
The only other thing I remember is it being illustrated in brown and
orangey colours, a little like the 'Rosie's walk' picture
books. If you can shed any light on this I would be so
grateful, I'm driving myself mad trying to remember!" Tell Aunt Book
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Little Boy With an Imaginary Friend
"I have been trying to find this book for about 10
years now. It's not the most pleasant book to describe, but it
was really a good scare.
"It is about a little boy who has an imaginary
friend. This friend starts to be very protective of the boy and
starts to hurt and kill people for him. The friend is kind of
living - in the sense that he is always in the shadows - the boy's
mother thinks she sees the shadows moving? I want to say that the
'imaginary friend' maybe had a pet dog as well?" Tell Aunt Book
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Gray Cat That Eats Lasagna
"...a book about a gray cat who would eat
lasagna. His owner gets sick." Tell Aunt Book
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Bear Who Lights Street Lamps
"I think it was from the 1980's. Book is about a bear that lights
street lamps at night. I remember he was also flying a kite in
the book and in bed dreaming at the end of the book. It was about
a day in the life of this bear. The main part I remember is the
lighting of the street lamps. Tell Aunt Book
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Decorating a Mother's Hat
"It is a children's book about decorating a mother's hat, possibly for
Easter Sunday, and it becomes a collection of lace, photographs,
flowers, etc., possibly delivered by birds. Tell Aunt Book
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Count On Ants?
"Scholastic children's book from the
mid-'60's. Yellow paperback cover with a number of enlarged ants,
realistic but not scientifically so. This was not a science book,
but rather has a plot about ants. It might be a counting
book." Recognize it? Tell
Aunt Book
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Neilsen-like TV Family
"Scholastic children's book from the
mid-'60's. The book is about the children in a family that is
like the Neilsen TV ratings family but the company has a different
name." Can you help? Tell
Aunt Book
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Adventures of a Camel
"This book had an orange cover with a drawing
of a camel. It told the adventures of a camel in desert
country." Tell Aunt Book
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Origins of Phrases
"This book was published by Pocket
Books. It was a paperback with 9-12 squares of different
colors. It was written by a rabbi in simple language, and
explained the origins of language items; for example, why 13 is
unlucky, etc." Tell Aunt
Book
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Garage Monkey
"The title of this book is something like
Grease Monkey, or Monkey Shines. It tells about a boy who is
hired to work in a car garage. Tell Aunt Book
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Horse on a Ranch
"The author's name is something like
Gates. The story is about a horse on a ranch, and the title is
something like Stallion at Green Gates Ranch." Tell Aunt Book
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Colonial (Probably) Girl, Rich Old
Man, Scarf or Cord
"The book was published before 1995. I'm
pretty sure it was set in colonial America, but not 100%. The
main character was a girl. I think she started out pretty young,
but by the end was old enough to engage in a romance. The girl
was quite clumsy. I think the book started off with her in bed
because she'd hurt herself and then she tried to get up to do something
and ended up breaking the rod that held the cooking pot. And I
seem to remember a goose around this part.
"The girl lived with her mother and they
boarded the male school teacher.
"There was a boy. He was an
outcast. I don't remember if it was because he was part Native
American or had been raised by Native Americans, or if it was because
his parents were dead or some combination of all three or something
else altogether.
"Boy and Girl were friends. Boy went
away (I think for a long time). When he came back, Girl fed him
blueberries.
"At one point, Girl is running through a storm
and falls, hurting her knee. She is saved or helped by a rich old
man of whom she is terrified, because when he was young he killed or
accidentally killed another girl. But he turns out not to be a
bad guy, and Girl starts going to see him and helping him. The
old man's punishment had been deferred until he was older, and the
night that it was supposed to be carried out, Girl is with him,
waiting. When the appointed time passes and no one comes for the
old man, they both realize that everybody had forgotten. Girl
takes from around his neck the silk scarf or cord that the old man has
worn in remembrance of his crime and punishment, and takes to wearing
it in her hair.
"I'm pretty sure that at the end of the book
Girl and Boy become involved, but not 100% sure." Does this sound
familiar? Tell Aunt Book
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The King Family Takes a Trailer Trip
(Social Studies Book)
"When I was in third grade (I'm pretty sure it
was third grade), in 1970-71, the social studies textbook was about a
family named King. The father was an engineer or something like
that, and he was going to build something like a dam on the west
coast. So the whole family traveled west in a trailer, and on the
way they (and the students who read the book) studied the geography and
history of the places they visited. I can't remember the title of
the book, or the publisher." Does someone out there know which
textbook this is? Tell
Aunt Book
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Alien with Talk Stalks Who Ate Mottos
"I need the title for a science fiction book
read in the 1960's. It might be for older juveniles or possibly
young adults. It told the story of an alien from another planet
who decided to give up his alien ways to live like a human on
earth. He had antennae called "talk stalks" and ate little
squares that had sayings on them, called "mottos." One of the
characters was called Twylip, or something close to that." Tell Aunt Book
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Little Girl In an Old Schoolhouse
"The main character was a little girl and,
from what I remember, most of the activity in the book involved her
school and her classmates. The book binding was red cloth and I
think it had a black drawing of the little schoolhouse and the children
playing outside. I'm not sure, but it seems like the picture of
the children playing was sort of like the painting called "Crack the
Whip." The time frame of the story was late 1800's to early
1900's; maybe a little later than that, but no later than the
1940's. Oh, I do wish I could remember more about the book.
The only thing I can remember is that it's about a little girl who goes
to a very small school somewhere in the long-ago USA. It seems
that there was a bad little boy who caused some sort of mischief in the
school, but that's all I can remember. Tell Aunt Book
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Dreamlike Book, Water
"The cover was dark blue and had some sort of
white flower on it, I think. The girl was poor and her name was short
and weird like Abel or something. It was really dreamy-like and there
was some sort of water, I think a flood, and she floated past a
house and her mom or something. I think she was underwater
at some point, too." Recognize it? Tell Aunt Book
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World That Doesn't Spin But Has
Vampires
"The story is about a world that has stopped
spinning and there is one side that is always light and the other is
always dark. On the dark side live vampires and on the light side live
normal people and every solar eclipse the vampires come attack the
humans and take them to the dark side." Sound familiar? Tell Aunt Book
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Lotty Wants To Run Away
"I'm trying to find a children's book that I used to
take out of the library as a child (in Hertfordshire, UK). I was
probably 6-7. I'm 26 now. The book itself may have been
from the 1960's or 1970's. The cover was yellow, and it was a
paperback. It had some illustrations but I think they were
just sketches; they were not coloured in. I think the central
character was called Lotty - the book may have been called Lotty but I can't be certain.
It was about a little girl who, I think, wanted to run away.
I remember a part where there is a wicker basket being lowered out of a
window (but I have absolutely no idea why!); there was a sketch
for this. I think she may have had a cat. Also, I think she
lived with her grandmother. In one of the pictures she is
getting dressed wearing a vest and pants, and putting on her
socks." Can you help? Tell Aunt Book
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Avoiding a Nursing Home
This book is about an elderly man or woman who doesn't want to go to
the nursing home so he buys a house and takes in the
elderly. Tell Aunt
Book
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Man Riding Pegasus
"This is going to be rather vague since I can't
remember much about the book because I read it a long time ago. I
think it was the last(?) book in a series. The cover was blue,
and on it there was a Pegasus with a man on its back, and the man was
holding something. I think the plot had something to do with
finding pieces of something, and I read it in Australia. Tell Aunt Book
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Fantasy and Horror Short Stories
Compilation
"Over 30 years ago, I read a book which was a
compilation of fantasy / horror short stories (it could be classified
under juvenile fiction) wherein these tales were told:
"1) a story about a woman very proud of her 'green
thumb.' One day she accidentally cuts off the tip of her thumb
and on a whim decides to plant it in her garden. Result: it grows
into a clone and, I believe, kills her...or at least, the story led the
reader to believe that the clone did this.
"2) a story about an antique mirror, given to a
young girl. The girl sees several scenes in this mirror involving
another young girl from long ago. The scenes play out to the
eventual murder of the historical young girl (by her father), and the
modern young girl is inextricably drawn in.
"3) a story about a young girl vacationing at a lake
with her family. One night she walks to the lake and discovers
lights flickering beneath the surface. There was once a town
which was flooded, and the ghosts still haunt the lake. The young
girl interacts with a ghostly young man and eventually decides to join
him beneath the lake. I remember quite vividly how the writer
described the young girl entering the water and becoming colder and
colder, even as her family called out for her in vain.
"4) a story about a boy who finds a strange
mummified bird-like creature, and decides to bring it home. I
don't recall much about this one other than the creature comes back to
life and eats the boy's puppy.
"5) a story about a witch cat (grey, I
think?). I believe a fisherman was involved; somehow he killed
the cat and then discovered that it was a witch (his wife, perhaps?) -
sorry, I'm very vague on this one." Tell Aunt Book
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Two Boys Living in a NY Apartment
Building
"I am looking for a book from my wife's childhood
about 25 years ago. It was the first book she ever read. In
the story, there are two little boys living in a NY apartment
building. I know that one of them is named Jamie and he has a
sister named Aurora. She was named Aurora because she was born at
dawn." Tell Aunt Book
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Flower Story, Possibly by Poe
"Once I read a short story about a flower falling in
to a river and floating under a bridge. I believe it was written
by Edgar Allan Poe but it might have been by someone associated with
him." Tell Aunt Book
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Colorful, Sparkly, Musical Mushrooms
"It's a book that I read when I was very
young. All I can remember about it is that it was about a group
of bright, colorful, and sparkly mushrooms who would play intruments,
and when the evil witch would come about they would bring out their
mushroom tops and cover themselves. Also, I think they found a
land that was covered in a crystal dome to protect them forever.
This could be incorrect but I am also thinking that they might be
called kindles, or kendalls, or something of that sort. I think
the cover of the book was yellow." Tell Aunt Book
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Girl in the Scottish Isles, Americans
Set Up Camp
"I'm looking for a book I read in maybe the 5th or
6th grade (about 13 years ago) in California. It takes place in
the Scottish Isles, or the Western
Hebrides, or Outer Hebrides. There's a girl that lives in a
village. Americans (I think) set up camp on the other side of the
island. She can see them from a cliff. I think she has a brother,
also. That's about all I can remember. I believe there was
a war going on? I'm not sure." Tell Aunt Book
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Unidentified books
page 2 page 3 page 4
Return to Aunt Book's
parlor
Ask Aunt Book
Read the list of
books Aunt Book has
identified
Aunt Book's recommendations
Aunt Book expresses outrage