Here's another book question for you!

July 6, 2012 10:51 AM

Please help me identify this book!

When I was a kid (late seventies, early eighties), I had a children's almanac. It had a yellow cover, and one section I remember quite distinctly was a speculative story about what people would wear in the future. I would really love to get that book again.

posted by msali to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

This is the first thing that came to mind for me - Big Blue Marble Atlas

I loved that book.
posted by pupdog at 11:44 AM on July 6, 2012

Can you give any more details? Like what's a children's almanac? And where was this --- the US? Australia? Any more details about the story? Particular outfits that you remember them talking about?
posted by Diablevert at 11:46 AM on July 6, 2012

Response by poster: I had the book in the US. The book was divided into sections, including historical figures, human anatomy, and even the aforementioned futurism piece. There were also illustrations. I wish I could remember more.
posted by msali at 12:04 PM on July 6, 2012

Could it be the Childcraft series? They have different brightly colored covers. Each book is filled with illustrated articles, stories, and activities about a particular topic, like "The Green Kingdom" and "How We Get Things." I think it was published in the 70s and 80s. The covers are different depending on the year. It's out of print now, but you can find a set on eBay.
posted by chickenmagazine at 12:17 PM on July 6, 2012

Was it a book in the Tell Me Why series? According to this previous question, there was a series in the 60s, then it was revived in the 90s.

I only mention this because I'm pretty sure I had a Tell Me Why book in the early 80s with a yellow cover. But google image searches only seem come up with the more recent editions. You can find some more editions in Google books, including one with a yellow-ish cover from 1972. But that's not the same edition I had as a kid.
posted by mcmile at 12:29 PM on July 6, 2012

I thought of the Childcraft series as well. Was it a golden yellow or a brighter yellow? Our Childcraft Dictionary was golden yellow and I don't remember any of the books being bright yellow. Most of the books are about 3/4 of an inch thick, but the distionary was more like 1.5 inches.
Any recollection of what the illustrations looked like? Childcraft books have a mix of photos and drawings. Hardcover or paperback? Do you remember what the approximate size was?
posted by soelo at 1:08 PM on July 6, 2012

Response by poster: Hardcover, not the Childcraft books. I had those as well. This book was much thicker (2 1/2 to 3'' thick). No photographs, just illustrations.
posted by msali at 1:11 PM on July 6, 2012

This is a long shot, but: Everyday Things and How They Work? Listed on Amazon as published in 1992, but I remember a similar book from the 80s, so perhaps it was originally released earlier.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 2:55 PM on July 11, 2012