Help me remember a strange children's book?

October 2, 2006 10:23 AM

Children's book filter - When I was about five or six (call it the late 80s/early 90s), there was a children's book that we adored about a little Australian girl who vividly dreams about spending time in an Asian (Chinese/Japanese) world with a small boy about the same age. Now, at 22, I have no idea what this book was called, or who the author was.

More about the book - fairly long, about 60 pages or so, large format, about 14" by 12".
I do remember that there were the most amazing pictures, including the small boy's mother crossing a bridge with a very slimy dragon, that the little girl had polio/some other degenerating disease and wore leg braces and that they find a crazy uncle who tells her that she needs Evening Primrose Oil or something equally challenging to obtain.
I'm reluctant to put any 'names' of the characters in, because I can't rightly recall anything, the little boy may have been somethingMoto, which makes it really challenging.
I'm also something of a researcher and have been scouring the public libraries, various children's librarians and references in an attempt to find this book, and thus far, it's proved unsuccessful.
MeFi, you're my only hope!

posted by lilithim to writing & language (4 comments total)

Was it Thrump-o-moto?
posted by obliquicity at 11:30 AM on October 2, 2006

Thrump-o-moto, by James Clavell

This one was hard, but I think this may be it...?
posted by routergirl at 11:30 AM on October 2, 2006

Crumb, beat by a second. :)
posted by routergirl at 11:31 AM on October 2, 2006

Amazing. May the wonders of MeFi never cease in their usefulness.
posted by lilithim at 4:06 PM on October 2, 2006