Childhook book with a witch, an egg, a bluebird, and creepy illustrations

January 1, 2005 1:03 PM

Another childhood (let's say, oh, 1980) book memory: there's a bevy of creatures (fairies? woodland animals?); one of them (a bluebird?) lays an egg which gets stolen (by a witch?); the egg hatches at the end having contained someone (something?) wonderful and magical. Illustrations were in a realistic style and quite creepy. Anybody?
posted by skryche to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

The Phoenix & the Carpet by E Nesbit?
posted by the cuban at 1:17 PM on January 1, 2005

Someone needs to make an Ask.Mefi Listmania list of Books from Childhood.
posted by bkdelong at 1:30 PM on January 1, 2005

My guess would be Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak. Although if it is, that's a great mis-memory.
posted by drumcorpse at 2:09 PM on January 1, 2005

I have a book called something like Fletcher and the Egg (don't have access to it at the moment to get the exact name) that has a similar plot to that you describe, if that rings any bells.
posted by rushmc at 2:52 PM on January 1, 2005

I'm thinking Jan Brett.... maybe this one?
posted by Doohickie at 3:22 PM on January 1, 2005

Everytime I see one of these posts and try to figure it out it's as if i'm waking up from a dream and trying to recapture some of the images. I make all these mental pictures of strange little japanese boys floating down rivers with woodland sprites and black labrador retrievers whose grandmothers are crying. It's like a daily exercise in surreality.
posted by redsparkler at 4:09 PM on January 1, 2005

Sounds like RatsMagic by Wayne Anderson - my favorite childhood book!
posted by belladonna at 8:21 PM on January 1, 2005

Response by poster: belladonna, you ROCK!
posted by skryche at 5:41 AM on January 2, 2005