Can't Remember this Children's Book - Help

December 31, 2006 10:48 PM

Looking for the title to/author of a series of children's books. I can only remember a few details about these books. Help!

Here's what I remember...

- there are more than one book (thinking a trilogy, but could be wrong)

- books were written about a family, I think they were written from the point of view of one of the children (but one of the children is DEFINITELY the protagonist).

- Plots were a combination of humor and adventure (see plot points below)

- my memory tells me that the setting of the book is in the 'old west,' but it may be more recent than that (see plot point 1, below). But the setting has a 'Little House on the Prairie' feel to it - small town, etc...

- the main character has siblings - definitely a young, toddler or infant-aged sibling, and probably one or two more...

Plot Point 1: The father of the main character is the first person in the town to purchase an indoor toilet. The main character is mortified, thinking that the house will smell all the time and that the family will have to issue clothespins to guests (to put on their noses). He is relieved when the father explains that the house will not stink.

Plot Point 2: Some or all of the family is taken hostage (or held for ransom) by bad guys. I think that they are held in the barn. Either while rescuing them or trying to escape, the main character remembers a lantern hanging on a pole (think this was mentioned earlier in the book), and the shadows it casts. He uses this vision in his escape/rescue.

That's it - I am trying to re-read a lot of the books I read while growing up, and this one series has been a bear to work out... Thanks.

posted by dyerfr to sports, hobbies, & recreation (7 comments total)

The Great Brain
posted by booksandlibretti at 11:17 PM on December 31, 2006

I believe you're looking for The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald.

This description matches your second plot point:
The Great Brain
By John D. Fitzgerald; Illustrated By Mercer Mayer

Folks of Adenville in 1896 think Papa has gone plumb loco when he installs the first indoor toilet in town. Tom, the great brain himself, seizes the opportunity to make a little cash by charging admission to see the "water closet that doesn't stink." The goings on of a too-smart-for-his-own-good 10-year-old con artist are told from the point of view of his younger brother, who often gets caught in the hilarious schemes. Life is fun with a brother like Tom but sometimes hard when you are a kid growing up at the turn of the century in Utah. If you find that you love this book as much as we do, you'll be happy to know that six more Great Brain adventures follow in one of the best children's series of all time.
posted by icontemplate at 11:25 PM on December 31, 2006

Doh!
posted by icontemplate at 11:25 PM on December 31, 2006

The hostage situation is from Me and My Little Brain, still my favorite from that series.
posted by Clay201 at 1:19 PM on January 1, 2007

My favorite would be The Great Brain at the Academy
posted by The Confessor at 1:42 PM on January 1, 2007

If you dug The Great Brain books, I recommend Papa Married A Mormon, an autobiography by the same author.
posted by eustacescrubb at 5:51 PM on January 1, 2007

Thank-you, thank-you!!!!

This very question was nagging at me just before Christmas when I was trying to find some books for my kids!!!
posted by jkaczor at 5:05 PM on January 2, 2007