Comments on: Help me find an old children's book.

Question: Help me find an old children's book.

kittens for breakfast — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:12:36 -0800

Help me find an old children's book.

I don't know the date of publication, although it's at least thirty years old. I think it was called either Chico or Chino, and it was about a Mexican (I...think?) kid who was friends with a little guy who was some kind of Mayan statuette come to life. Maybe he was an Inca statuette? I expect it wasn't originally published in English, though I know there was an English language version. I know this isn't much to go on, but I figure if you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about. Thanks...

By: iconomy

iconomy — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:16:18 -0800

Can you remember anything else? Were there illustrations? Did the cover have a drawing of the boy on it?

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:38:45 -0800

Yeah, the cover had a picture of the kid shaking hands (I think) with the little figurine guy.

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:40:01 -0800

And I'm almost certain that the book was illustrated.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:44:34 -0800

The first two I linked have covers with a boy that's holding something. Is the statuette supposed to be of a human? The others just have the word Chico in the title.

Big Horse Little Horse
...And Juan
Chico
Chico the Street Boy
Chico of the Andes
Chico of the + Up Ranch

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:03:40 -0800

Hurm. Yeah, it doesn't seem to be any of those (thank you, though!). The statuette is definitely humanoid -- he's kind of like a gingerbread man, I guess, only...you know...made of rock.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:04:02 -0800

Argh. I'll look some more. If it's any consolation, I love your AskMe questions, even though no one ever seems to be able to answer them! You have such a vivid way of describing your memories. I'm always on the lookout for the movie with the pencil sharpener nose guy.

I've tried using the term statue, statuette, figure, figurine, sculpture and doll with no results yet.

By: fidelity

fidelity — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:14:27 -0800

It's probably not The Tomb of the Mayan King or Secret of the Andes.

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:28:32 -0800

Heh heh -- thanks, Iconomy! Um...some of my questions get answered...(sometimes...)

And no, fidelity, I'm pretty sure it's not either of those, although I kind of want to read Secret of the Andes now.