Category Archives: Unsolved

373O: Primer featuring a little fairy/brownie

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I am looking for a copy of the first book I ever read (I have been looking for it since 1995 without success). What I remember is:
– I was born in 1960 and started reading in 1963. We were poor and the only books we had were from my father (born in 1940) so the book would have been 1920-1940s for when he went to school in 1945.
– I remember the color of the book had a dark sandy brown cover and had the words “first primer” or “young reader” on the cover. Primer figured prominently on the cover and/or title page but I cannot remember the exact wording. I think there was a square illustration on the cover but am not sure.
– There were stories, poems, and I think a musical score at the center of the book. The main story involved a little brownie (fairy/sprite) with a red cap, with squirrels for friends/neighbors. The illustrations were only two to three colors, red and brown primarily.
– I have been looking for this book for approximately 30 years. off and on, without success. Other books in the similar time frames come close but they are not the one. The closest ones in style, illustration, and structure are The Work-Play Books Make and Make Believe by Gates and Huber and The Children’s Own Readers Book Two by Ginn and Co. circa 1920s.
I grew up in Norwalk, CT in the 60’s if that helps in any way.

373M: Children’s book about a man in the moon

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I’m looking for an illustrated children’s book, most likely published in the 90s although it could have been earlier. Definitely before 2000. There is a man who lives in the moon. He is illustrated as a man, not a face on the moon. There is a woman or girl he cares about who is below in a house. I think she comes outside to see him or communicate with him. I can’t recall if he has a ladder and can get to her or he can’t reach her. He maybe has a job to do taking care of the moon or lighting it up.

373L: Don’t remember but going with “Dog Learns Colors”

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I was born in 1997, and this is a book meant for preschool to kindergarten kids. I’m guessing it’s a late 90s (maybe earlier) or early 2000s book.
I can’t remember the cover well but I believe the dog was like a terrier, mostly whitish with maybe a spot or some brown fur. In the short picture book, each page is dedicated to a color and the dog then wears clothes matching and does an activity matching as well. I remember for yellow he wore a yellow raincoat and for purple I think there was some purple grape jam involved. I want to say for the color black the dog appeared as a mime maybe? I remember black and white stripes. I believe the plot involved trying to decide what his favorite color was.
The style used for the illustrations was unique, the pictures were simple and used minimal detail. I want to say they were a type of watercolor, the children’s book “Where’s Your Creativity?” is drawn in a similar style but it’s not quite it. I included a picture. Wishing you luck, thanks!

373K: Supernatural spinning top

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I am trying to locate a favorite childhood book, probably published sometime in the mid sixties. I do not recall the title of the book, but it is in the “supernatural” category, geared for pre-teen or early teenage years. The main character is called Dorcas and she has a spinning top that allows her to access her supernatural power. I believe she is an orphan. There is also a young man that is her advocate. She acquires damaging information through her “gift” that implicates stalwart pillars of the community; they come after her as the book comes to a climax, with her being trapped in a cave by one of these perpetrators. She is rescued at the end of the book by her young protagonist who, at one point, had given her a red scarf. I always thought this book was called “The Spinning Top”, but any and all efforts to locate it by that title have been completely futile! I have been searching for this book for nearly 50 years and hope that, with your help, it can be found.

373G: The House Made Out of Cheese

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Former Clevelander here. I’ve been wracking my brain about this book for months – it’s a children’s book about a humongous block of cheese being delivered on a flatbed truck, and then people carved a house out of it. 
ChatGPT says it’s “The Big Block of Cheese” by Jack Prelutsky and their description sounds right, but I cannot find record of this being an actual book anywhere??

373F: Horse and Sugar Bowl

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I am so thrilled to hear of your service!!   For the last day of school of my second grade, the teacher let us read books from the small classroom library. This was in 1962.  (Yes, I’ve been hunting for this book for over sixty years.). After lunch she made us pass up the books. She would not let me finish it. I watched as she packed all the books in cardboard boxes. The box with my book was likely shipped to the school district warehouse since it was so old.  And it wasn’t on the shelves when I snuck into the second grade classroom the beginning of my third grade.
What I remember, which is hardly anything, is that it was a larger format cloth cover.  The corners were worn and soft. (Maybe ten x fifteen? It was a thin book, perhaps green.) It looked “old fashioned” and I would guess it was published in the 1940’s.  The images were a type of collage with cut outs of real objects (like the sugar bowl) and a drawing of a horse cut and posed.  Then the scene was photographed in color.  That’s it :   a horse romping on a kitchen table and a sugar bowl.
It vaguely had the feel of a “Gumby” cartoon.   Hmmm….I never thought to hunt down the creater of Gumby.
I realize this is a long shot, but it would enable me to strike off one of the few items on my bucket list.