Identifying a book from years ago.

March 23, 2007 5:52 PM

I'm trying to remember a kid's book from the late 70's. Nerdy child explorer who gave you interesting facts from around the world. Cartoonish. Remember him discovering a bilbao tree. Hope me.

I'm thinking Harold the explorer or something like that... god knows, but it's really bugging me. I am sure he wore a safari hat, had freckles and wore glasses.

posted by Frasermoo to writing & language (7 comments total)

The Little Prince features baobab trees, but I've never heard of a bilboa tree.
posted by Brian B. at 6:10 PM on March 23, 2007

you might be right. baobab tree. it was a long time ago.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:27 PM on March 23, 2007

Apparently there is such a thing as a bilbao tree. And for some reason, the story description rings a very faint bell but I can't put my finger on it.
posted by JaredSeth at 7:49 PM on March 23, 2007

Apparently there is such a thing as a bilbao tree.

There are some pictures of "bilbao" trees on the internet, but labeled by tourists. The 177 Google hits for "bilbao tree" are mostly referring to ginko bilbao explicitly, maybe a typo or something. Regardless, the bilbao tree pictures resemble mohogany trees in Africa. Although this "bilbao" tree would seem to be enormous.

I'm curious if there are local names for this African tree that don't refer to the Spanish city of Bilbao.
posted by Brian B. at 8:31 PM on March 23, 2007

Was it Encyclopedia Brown?
posted by joannemerriam at 9:20 PM on March 23, 2007

Could it be related to the Magic School Bus? There was a nerdy, freckly, bespectacled boy who often wore a safari hat named Arnold.
posted by magacid at 9:41 AM on March 27, 2007

I think that you are looking for Henry the Explorer by Mark Taylor, first published in 1966. The kid on the cover doesn't quite fit your description, but there are three other books in the series, including Henry Explores the Jungle (in a safari hat, though still no glasses).

(Sorry for the ebay links; the books are all out of print and look a little hard to find.)
posted by Siobhan at 1:17 PM on April 9, 2007