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Eleanor Cameron


Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet

Mr. Bass' Planetoid

Time and Mr. Bass
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(1912-1996)  Eleanor Cameron is a distinguished author and critic, best known for her juvenile fantasy Mushroom Planet Series.  She won the National Book Award for The Court of the Stone Children.

LOGANBERRY LEGACY
Here's a popular science-fiction series, with a couple recently back in print, and the rest of  them elusive and difficult to find....  Ah what a teaser, why don't they just reprint the whole series?  But they haven't, and so the demand for the ones which remain out-of-print continues.

Mushroom Planet BIBLIOGRAPHY (in sequence)
the new paperback cover* designates a title still in print
*The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. Illustrated by Robert Henneberger.  Little, Brown, 1954, 1988. 
*Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet. Illustrated by Robert Henneberger.  Little, Brown, 1956, 1988.
Mr. Bass's Planetoid.  Illustrated by Louis Darling.  Little, Brown,  1958.
A Mystery for Mr. Bass.  Illustrated by Leonard Shortall. Little, Brown, 1960.
Time and Mr. Bass.  Illustrated by Fred Meise.  Little, Brown, 1967.

Julia Redfern BIBLIOGRAPHY (in sequence)
A Room Made of Windows.  Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Little, Brown, 1971.
Julia and the Hand of God.  Illustrated by Gail Owens  EP Dutton, 1977.
That Julia Redfern.  Illustrated by Gail Owens.  EP Dutton, 1982.
Julia's Magic.  Illustrated by Gail Owens  EP Dutton, New York, 1984.
The Private World of Julia Redfern.  Illustrated by Gail Owens.  EP Dutton, 1989.

Other Children's books BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Beast with the Magical Horn.  Illustrated by Joe and Beth Krush.  Little, Brown and Company, 1963.
Beyond Silence.  Dell, 1980.
*The Court of the Stone Children. EP Dutton,  1973, 1990.
The Mysterious Christmas Shell.  Little, Brown 1961
*A Spell is Cast.  Illustrated by Joe and Beth Krush.  Little, Brown, 1964 and Peter Smith, 1991.
The Terrible Churnadryne.  Illustrated by Joe and Beth Krush.  Little Brown, 1959.
To the Green Mountains.  Illustrated by James Barkley.  EP Dutton, 1975.

Grown-up BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Green and Burning Tree.  On the Writing and Enjoyment of Children's Books.  1969.
The Seed and the Vision. On the Writing and Appreciation of Children's Books.  1993.
The Unheard Music.  A novel. 1950.


 
Now Available for Sale
 Condition
Grades
Used Books 

Mr. Bass's Planetoid.  Illustrated by Louis Darling.  Little, Brown,  1958.  Ex-school library in library binding, corners bumped, but interior clean.  G.  <SOLD>

Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet.  Scholastic, 1956, 5th printing.  Paperback, as new.  $12.50

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. Illustrated by Robert Henneberger.  Little, Brown, 1954, 18th printing.  Ex-library hardback copy in library binding with usual marks.  G. <SOLD>

A Spell is Cast.  Illustrated by Joe and Beth Krush.  Little, Brown, 1964.  Ex-library edition with taped spine and corners, cocked spine, usual marks.  <SOLD>

buy!
New Books

The Court of the Stone Children. EP Dutton,  1973, 1990.  New paperback, $7

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. Illustrated by Robert Henneberger.  Little, Brown, 1954, 1988. New paperback, $7.95

buy!
Hey, where's my favorite title?

Out-of-print books are harder to stock than new books, and some are hard to find, period.  If the title you are seeking is not listed for sale above, that probably means that I am currently out of stock.  However, I am always on the lookout for books, and will gladly quote you when I do find your coveted book. To add your name to my Wants Files, simply fill out a Book Request Form and I will e-mail you when I have a copy in stock.  Thanks.

Book Request Form


 


SELECTED STUMPERS & REQUESTS
Looking for other books in the Mushroom Planet series, but especially Time for Mr. Bass.

I am looking for the entire series (except book I) for my 8 year old son.

I am searching for these old books for my husband. He has some that are still in print (Stowaway, Wonderful Flight). Please let me know if you come across any other books in the series no matter what condition. Thank you for your help.

Interested in hardbacks of all mushroom planet cycle titles. Thanks!

I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive copy of Eleanor Cameron's A Mystery for Mr. Bass for my son's library. Condition is basically unimportant as long as the book is in one piece and readable.  Ex-library, even obviously ex-library, is just fine. Can you help me?

I am extremely interested in purchasing the Mushroom Planet series by Eleanor Cameron for my kids. I have the first book of the series and the rest are apparently out of print. Somewhere on your site you indicated that you found one of those books for someone and sold it to them. I hope you can perform similar miracles for me.

Hi. I saw the comments on Cameron's books on your site. I read the books in the Mushroom Planet series by Eleanor Cameron in their Spanish translation when I was 9 or 10 in my home country, Argentina. I still remember what a deep impression they caused on me, and how much I enjoyed them. I live now in the US (Ohio) and would have loved to meet the author of such wonderfully imaginative books. Unfortunately I read that Eleanor Cameron passed away in 1996? I think I still have the Spanish translations back at home in Argentina... Just wanted to share these comments with you. Thanks.

Just a correction--Ms. Cameron died in 2000. I remember clipping out the wire-service obit.

I remember reading this juvenile science fiction series (3-5 books (?) ) in the late '50's. It was about several boys who built a spaceship under the direction of a little man named Tycho who turned out to be a stranded alien from the Mushroom Planet.

I'm aware that Eleanor Cameron passed away in 1995, but I was wondering if there was any way to find out who currently owns the copyright to her books. I'm interested in writing a screenplay adapted from her Mushroom planet series and I've had little luck tracking down whomever I need to write to get permission and make arrangments. Any help you can give me would be so appreciated.

I love your site, I have been reading the stumpers, and the solved mysteries, and can really identify with the joy which people feel when you or others help them to find those elusive magical books that have shaped our minds. I thought that you might like to add this information to you page on Eleanor Cameron, who is one of my childhood favorites. There is another book in the series which is very rarely mentioned. I have sending you an image of the cover. It is called:  Jewels from the Moon, and The Meteor that Couldn't Stay.  The book was published in 1964 by the American Book Company, it is 64 pages. If is designed as a school reading book, and each story has several questions after it.  The stories themselves are gems, and add more detail about  David, Chuck, Mr. Bass, Mr. Brumblydge, etc. I can't thank you enough for developing this site. I will continue to explore it, and will order books from it when I can.  You might consider adding a donation button to help support your work. It would be easy to send a contribution via paypal. In fact, if you take paypal payments, I will send one now.

WOW!!! I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE READ THESE BOOKS WHEN I WAS A KID BUT FIND OUT THAT THEY MADE A VERY BIG IMPACT ON SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE. NOW I AM TRYING TO FIND THE BOOKS FOR MY KIDS TO READ JUST LIKE SO MANY OTHERS.THANK YOU SO MUCH ELEANOR CAMERON FOR WHAT YOU DID FOR ALL OF US.

Oru Oriyon dies

December 10, 2001 Basidiumite Sun Times
The critically aclaimed two time Oscar winning Basidiumite Actor, Oru Oriyon, died peacefully in his sleep last night at Lennox Hill Hospital after a long illness. He died of cell deterioration. He was 200 years old.  Oriyon was best known as King Ta in the motion picture "The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet." He was the first extraterrestrial ever to win an Oscar. 

"Churnadryne" is the Zeta Reticulan word for "dinosaur." A "Morinbend" is a dog. "Ta" is short for "Ta Nown." "Mebe" was based on a real person who died on June 18, 1952 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. His code name was "Ebe."

The query regarding the book with a girl who had a
fascination with words is definitely A room made of windows by eleanor Graham - see review.

I read the book when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. It could have been a scholastics book.   The story plot revolves around around a couple of  young boys who befriend a rather small man who has moved into their neighborhood. The man is pleasant enough, but does seem to have an almost green tint to his skin. The man is very knowledgable and proceeds to ask the boys to collect and bring him various items, mostly junk, for a project he is working on. The boys agree in the hopes that they will learn what the project is. As their collecting continues thier curiosity grows. near the stories end it is reveald the man is a visitor from another planet who is building a spaceship to return him to his home. Notes: I am not sure when the book was published. I read the book between 1967-1970. I do not know the title. I do not know if the characters name in the book is Mr. Green.
Eleanor Cameron, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
The man with the green skin was Mr. Bass, and he was building a spaceship so he could return to Basidium, his home planet.  See the section here on Most Requested Books.
This sounds like Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet.  The man's name is Mr. Bass and there are several others in the series.
This must be The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. The mysterious man's name is Mr. Bass and he enlists the help of David and Chuck to build a space ship. It was originally published in 1954, but I read it in the late 60s/early 70s also. It's a pretty easy book to find.
Maybe one of Eleanor Cameron's Mushroom Planet books?  It seems like either that or a Ray Bradbury story.
This sounds like The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet.  The green man's name is Tyco Bass and the boys build him a spaceship and go to his planet to help his people.  There are other books in this series.
Could be Louis Slobokdin, The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree, 1952.
Eleanor Cameron, Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, 1956. Your green man sounds like Mr. Bass from this book.  Originally published in 1956, this was out of print for a while but the series has recently been reissued. This series also includes Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet, Time and Mr. Bass, Mr. Bass's Planetoid and Mystery for Mr. Bass.
Cameron, Eleanor, Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet,  Little, Brown 1954.  Probably a dozen other people will suggest this, but a green-tinted man who gets two boys to build him a spaceship does seem to match this often-remembered book.

For stump the bookseller: the phrase is "the terrible churn-a-dryne", from a children's book about (?) a dinosaur. Probably a scholastic or arrow book club selection from the period of 1964-1967. Thanks.

That does sound familiar... Oh darn it all, now I'll be up all night...
Hi! This is the first time I've looked at your site, and it's a lot of fun! I definitely remembered some of the books on your nostalgia list. So, I decided to check out your "stump" list. I believe The Terrible Churnadryne is by Eleanor Cameron. (She also wrote the Mushroom Planet series, including a great book called A Spell is Cast).
Well then, now that the mystery is solved, here is a copy of the book:
Cameron, Eleanor. The Terrible Churnadryne. Little Brown, 1959. First edition. Illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush. Ex-library copy in library binding. G+. <SOLD>
YES YES YES. Please hold the book, I will send a check tonite.

I didn't realize it was such a common phenomenon: people trying to rediscover books they'd read in childhood. Very cool site! I recently described to a children's librarian the plotline of a story I remembered reading when I was a kid. It was kind of embarrassing at first, hemming and hawing about men on the moon, looking at my feet and tracing circles on the ground. She immediately replied, "Oh yeah, that's the Mushroom Planet Series!" Amazing! Why is the series no longer in print? Of course, Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet is still in print, but in an unillustrated form. Is Eleanor Cameron still alive? Why doesn't somebody re-issue the series? Can't we call her up and harrass her about this? 

Scientist invents a telescope and can look htrough the clouds to another planet.   maybe Eleanor Cameron or someone similar, 1950's.

Doubtless several other people will answer this - in The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, by Eleanor Cameron, published Little, Brown 1954, chapter 7 The Marvelous Filter describes the "stroboscopic polaroid filter" invented by Mr. Bass, which "not only makes certain heavenly bodies visible, even in the daytime, which have never been visible before, but also enables our vision to penetrate whatever heavy atmospher or vapors may surround them." HOWEVER, in another of the Mushroom Planet series, another Earthbound Basidiumite appears, who also invents a very similar filter, to which he gives a different name. And of course I don't remember the title - it may be Time and Mr. Bass.
It's described in Mr. Bass's Planetoid, which I coincidentally reread last night.

I can only remember one or two little details about this book that I would have read in the early 70's.  One was that the main character was a teenage girl who felt like a misfit (don't they all) and she loved to read and loved the sound of certain exotic words, like lapis lazuli.  This doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the book, but it's the only detail I can clearly remember.  It seems like she also had a older brother who was brainy and sort of a science geek.  It's not A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  It might be something by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, because I read a lot of her books in the late 60's and early 70's.  I know this isn't much to go on, so I'll be thrilled if someone remembers it.
Lapis Lazuli--This sounds like Zilpha to me, too, with The Egypt Game and  The Truth About Stone Hollow being the most likely, Changeling and The  Witches of Worm being less likely, and all others extremely unlikely.
Eleanor Cameron, A Room Made of Windows.  I remember that this and other ''Julia Redfern'' books featured a girl with a fascination for words, who had a somewhat geeky older brother. I can't remember if ''lapis lazuli'' actually appeared.
L45  Of the dozen or so Zilpha S. books I have, this  is the one that sounds the most like a possibility - based only on my choice of subject headings, and if she is righ abt the author. I could go look at the book and read it.  Maybe customer would remember if it took place in the Sierras:  Snyder, Zilpha KeatleyA fabulous creature    jacket by Ronald Himler Atheneum    1981
Eleanor Cameron, A Room Made of Windows (and/or others in Julia Redfern series) I am not at all sure about this. I don't remember 'lapis lazuli' specifically but the books are about a somewhat eccentric adolescent girl who is fascinated by words and has a rather 'geeky' older brother.
Eleanor Cameron, A Room Made of Windows,1970.  The main character in this book keeps a journal of her favorite words. She has a very brainy older brother who loves Egyptian history.
Cameron, Eleanor, A Room Made of Windows, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.Boston, Little, Brown 1971.  I'd agree with the red poster. Julia Redfern wants to be a writer and keeps a notebook called Book of Strangenesses, which includes a list of "most beautiful and most detested words." The beautiful words include "Mediterranean", "quiver", "lapis lazuli" and "empyrean". Her older brother Greg is eccentric and wants to be an Egyptologist. There's also a reclusive neighbour, Rhiannon Moore (whose son is a famous pianist), Julia's friend Addie and her unhappy family, old Daddy Chandler writing a book he'll never finish, and "Uncle Phil" courting Julia's widowed mother.
Madeleine L'Engle, Meet the Austins? or The Moon by Night? c. 1960  I'm not sure about this, (I don't remember lapis lazuli specifically) but another of L'Engle's series -- not Wrinkle --  concerns the Austin family, John (pre-med high-school age), Vicky, Suzy & Rob.  Vicky did love words and reading, and was trying to adjust to adolescence.  Titles above are the first two books. They may still be in print, and are often in libraries.

I think it is really weird that a person named Lance Bass
wanted to ride on a Russian space ship. It reminds me of a mushroom person like Tyco Bass.

jewels from the moon and the meteor that couldn't stay
I would dearly love to read this book or better yet, buy a used copy.  Can anyone please help me out?

Wow!! I didn't realize there still is a fan base for the David, Chuck and Mr. Tyco Bass.  While listening to my 8yr old daughter read, I told her of my favorite book, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet.  Afterwards I came on line to see if the book was still out there, and here I am.  Loving it but hating it that Eleanor has passed as well as her series.  Are all five copies available anywhere??

Hi, I wanted to know if Eleanor Cameron was still alive.  I'm 33 and my mother introduced me to the Mushroom Planet series when I was a young girl.  I loved reading through all the "notes" and fond remembrances of other folks.  What a fun website.  I'll be back.  Thanks! 
I believe she died in 2000.  thanks for the fanmail...

Eleanor Cameron, The Wonderful Flight To Mushroom Planet.  Cleaning out the attic, I came across a reply written to me ( 1970) by Ms. Cameron. The class had to write a letter to our favorite author and although I cannot rememeber this book, now I am sure to look for it and read it again!

Eleanor Cameron, The Mushroom Planet Series.  I just accidentally discovered this site - it's fabulous!!  I somehow hit on one of the searches and started looking through all the books, it's amazing how many of these I read and loved and haven't thought of in 30+ years.  I was just wondering if anyone could find a series I read WAY back, but I didn't think I could remember enough details to even look.  Then I clicked on the Favorites page and there it was!  Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, etc - just looking at the covers made memories come flooding back.  I'm buying as many titles as there are in stock for my granddaughter (when I'm done with them) and bookmarking this page right now.  Loganberry, I don't know who you are but thank you - I anticipate browsing here for hours.  A Room Made of Windows - wasn't there a butterfly collector in there somewhere?  And 'lepidopterist' - jeez I read that book years later and would never have guessed it was the same author.  I'm going to have to buy everything of hers I can find.

 


 
 
 
Web Resources

A bookseller's essay about Cameron's works

An Annotated Booklist of Scottish Children's Books

Scottish Clan Cameron

 

 
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11/11/06
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