Category Archives: Early Reader

309T: Poems, myths, legends, fables, bios and much more

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I am looking for an anthology of children’s literature that I received as a new book in the late 60’s or very early 70’s. It was a single volume and quite thick. It was divided by genre similar to, but not exactly like, THE CHILDREN’S HOUR 16 volume collection. It was also on a similar reading level. There were poems, myths, legends, fables, bios and much more. I remember those categories because they were my favorites. I specifically remember Pandora’s Box, Arachne, The Oak and the Linden. Any tips or information would be greatly appreciated.

309S: Miguel, The Dirty One

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The book I am looking for is/was a children’s book that I loved as a child. I was born in 1955 so I am guessing the book was published in the 1940s or 1950s. I checked it out, with the help of my mother, from the Pittsburg, California Public Library. I think I remember that the cover of the book was red and the illustrations were in black and white.

It was about a little Hispanic boy, Mexican, I think,  who hated to take a bath. His family and village all must convince him to take a bath for some special celebration. I think the name of the book was the boy’s name, maybe Miguel, The Dirty One.

 

309Q: The lonely star

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I remember this book from when I was little. I can’t remember, author, title, country of origin, date published, etc. But I know it exists because recently I saw a sign for a paint store in Mexico that had the main character of the book as the logo. So of course now I’m on a mission to find it.
The book had a color scheme of only black, white and red, similar to ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon’, but red instead of purple. The main character was in the shape of a star. Could’ve been a ghost? It lived in a big lonely mansion. It discovers a paintbrush and a can of red paint. It begins painting red spirals. First on the walls, the curtains, the furniture and then on animals and trees. So it gives a deer longer spiral red horns and a bird longer spiral red feathers. It gives trees longer spiral red branches and flowers more petals. I was born in 1982 and I must’ve come across it when I was about 8-10 years old, at the time I lived in Mexico, but I believe it was in English.
I appreciate your help and hopefully this helps shed more light on the mystery.

309L: How human beings “diversified”

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I am hoping to find a book that my father read to me when I was about 5 years old. After that, I remember reading it myself for years. This was a very long time ago…probably 1948 or so. No, I don’t remember the name of the book or the author but I can still visualize the black and white line drawings. The book told the story of how human beings “diversified” and the different races and ethnic groups evolved as they traveled across the Earth over centuries. The groups of people were called by various nonsense names….as I recall, there were names like Goopledops but that’s about as close as I can get. I know it was a hardcover book. I wonder if anyone remembers it. Thank you.

308T: A boy and a whale (Solved)

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Here is the book I am looking for from my childhood. I was born in 1981 for reference.

Book is about a whale and boy. They travel down a river and as they go the whale changes colors from the surrounding areas. I know one page is a jungle with monkeys.  The last page of the book is the whale with the boy on top of him swimming out to sea. All the colors have been washed off of him and the water behind him is colored like a rainbow but the whale is white/gray.

308L: Mole in the hole (Solved)

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A mole is asleep in a hole but a bear (I think) thinks that he fell in and is hurt. He tries to get help but has to bargain with other animals e.g. horse has a rope but he wants a brush to swap, so bear goes to squirrel to get a brush but he wants nuts (I think) … eventually bear gets back to mole to find out he was only asleep

308I: The Cat with Amber Eyes

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The title somewhat resembles: The Cat with Amber Eyes or The Cat with Green Eyes

(In all honesty I’m not sure myself.)

Some of the details I remember from the book are that the cat had multiple brothers and sister that had (if the main cat had amber eyes) green eyes, or (if the main cat had green eyes) amber eyes. I remember the flowy and descriptive language describing how the cat would move from the trees to the ground.

It was (from the small fragments I remember) a book about a cat who felt like an outcast since his eyes didn’t match his siblings. Sorry that wasn’t much.

I don’t remember when it was published, nor by who, but I believe the cover had an illustration of a black cat with either green or amber eyes. (Another detail, I’m also sure the cat was all black).

I remember the book to be like a short novel a second grader can read, with large font; hardcover.

I’m sorry I don’t remember much, but I do hope you can find it with the little information I’ve given you.

Thank you very much,

308E: Girl Slides Amber Necklace Beads for Time Travel

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A young girl slides amber (or precious stone) beads along a necklace (possibly belonging to her grandmother or found in an old house or bestowed upon her?) to travel to different periods in her own life and maybe throughout history, with a specific goal. She sees herself as a young woman, a grandmother. Her siblings are involved somehow, particularly a younger brother. At some point a knife or bloody knife portends something about how her younger brother is doing back in the present day (much like in many fairy tales). Her name was simple and classic like Jane or Anna or Annie. This book must have been published pre-1987, when my school librarian suggested it to me. It seemed already old at the time (which may just have been kid perception) so could possibly have a publish date anywhere from 1940s through early 80s.

It was a chapter book. Though it may have had a few line drawing illustrations throughout the text, it was not a picture book.