Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with children's

Not Prince Michael. Prince who, though?

samsarah — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:36:44 -0800

Looking for an out of print children's book entitled Prince _________, about a dog. Help? A friend is getting married, and for her wedding gift, I'd like to buy her a set of books she remembers from her childhood. Unfortunately, I forget the most important part of the name. Things I do know:

-She read them in the mid-80's.
-There was a series of books, all about the adventures of a dog. (He was possibly a detective?)
-The word Prince was in the title. I believe it was part of the dog's name.
-I for some reason think the second part of the dog's name began with the letter M.

Suggestions for good rare or out of print book dealers also welcome. Thank you!

How do you open a childproof zipper?

TurkeyMustard — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:14:37 -0800

How do you open a childproof zipper on an Ikea children's mattress cover? We want to take off the cloth mattress cover on my son's Ikea mattress. It has a zipper on one end that appears to be childproof. See photos. But we'll be jiggered if we can figure out how to release it. I've tried pulling it with needle-nose pliers, I've tried twisting, prying, bending, pushing, bumping, jerking, snapping, wrenching, and doing the Mashed Potato. You can see the marks in the photo where my needle-nosed pliers have soiled it a bit. I've tried a paper clip. I've also googled this question to great frustration, with this story about a product from a different company sounding tantalizingly close but still insufficient to solving our problem.

Can you help? How do we release that zipper without simply destroying it?

Children's lit again...

anonymous78 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:06:11 -0800

I'm looking for the title of an action/adventure short story collection that I read in middle school (early 90s). It included The Most Dangerous Game and Leningen Versus the Ants. There were a number of other stories, but I can only remember the plots of two of them:

The first was about two men trapped under a tree in the woods. The come from rival families but as they wait for help to arrive, they grow friendly and each assures the other that if his family comes first, he will help the other. It ends with them seeing movement in the woods but to their dismay, it's a pack of wolves.

The second was about a man who falls into a pit of some kind and can't get out. He's stuck in it for several days and every night, it fills up with large, furry spiders. It ends with a rainstorm that kills the spiders and allows him to escape.

Time travel to New Amsterdam - for kids!

suzeQ — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:12:07 -0800

Going bonkers trying to remember the title of a favorite children's book that I read growing up in the late 1960s. The story takes place in NYC and the main characters are 2 children, a boy and a girl. The children stand in the first car of a subway train and as the train moves faster and faster through a Bowery tunnel, the children travel back in time to NY when it was New Amsterdam. They meet Peter Stuyvesant and other characters in Manhattan when it was a Dutch colony. Sound familiar to anyone?

Long lost children’s book search

goml — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:21:56 -0800

I am looking for a young child's easy reader book from the late 1960s/early 1970s about a bear and his bus. I am 99.999% certain the title is Bumper Bear’s Bus. It had a light blue hardcover that was kind of watercolory in tone and if I remember correctly the cover has a picture of a very cute and fuzzy brown bear and a bus. He may have been wearing a yellow smock/vest/bus driver’s jacket.

I am more than 100% without a doubt positively certain the bear’s name is Bumper (because I had such a difficult time saying BumpeR, instead of BumpeW and I remember my Mom helping me with my “R’s” to say BumpeR, so I am absolutely positively certain without one iota of doubt in my mind that the bear’s name is Bumper).

Bumper Bear drove the bus around town, and I believe the story was about the people Bumper bear picked up for rides on the bus or where they were going on the bus, or things they saw along the way – you get the idea...

Places I've already looked: I’ve asked every member of my family, people around my age (40), I’ve checked used bookstores in person, searched every book finder web site I can think of, looked on google, ebay, half, random sites – NOTHING - Not one mention anywhere, but I KNOW this book existed because I once owned a copy.

Please let my first ever askme question help me find the first book I ever read!

Name of Children's Book

Lorna — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:26:57 -0800

I'm trying to remember the name of a series of preschooler picture books. They were written a few years back and the main characters are two animals that look like bunnies but aren't. One is white and one is black. I can't remember their names, hence my dilemma since their names are also the title of the series. I think one name is odd and starts with a B and the other is ordinary, maybe Maggie? Anyway, they are wonderful oddball characters who mange to find their way in and out of trouble. Their charm lies in being different. What are their names?

or is it a child's half-remembered, lunatic dream?

Allee Katze — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:25:42 -0800

In the early 70's there aired a kid's after school program. Simple to identify, right? Course not, this is where you come in. This show aired on Mexican TV, specifically in Acapulco. It was a dubbed, 30 minute, Asian children's program involving live action/animation; a chubby little boy, his nanny/aunt/housekeeper/caretaker and a cartoon sorcerer. The nanny-ish person possessed magical powers and was often at odds with the sorcerer. There may have been another girl/boy involved but I'm not so sure. The particular episode that stuck with me was sticks and leaves and dirt and such transformed by glamour to appear as a delicious banquet for the children.

I've tried Googling but can't pin down the search terms enough, or maybe I dreamed the whole non-existent thing. Either way, please identify this program so I can finally put it to rest ... I'm spending way too much time picking away at my memories of this!

Searching for information on writing children's television. What resources am I missing?

UMDirector — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:05:14 -0800

Searching for information on writing children's television. What resources am I missing? I know nothing about the children's television market and info seems hard to come by. I don't even know if the formatting is different or not.

Does anyone know where I might be able to locate script for actual children's show? I know many of the animated shows are storyboarded but they must start as something...or someone must still make some live action shows.

Anyone know of anywhere to find any tips on writing for the children's market? Do they have a pilot season like regular television or is it a totally different market?

Farmer Brown has a Problem...

dreamphone — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:11:09 -0800

Please share your short list of best children's books ever! After checking out some of the books from this question, I’ve gone head-over-heels for Click, Clack, Moo – Cows that Type; the Ernest and Celestine titles, William's Doll, and Zen Shorts. I also love Hoban's Frances series. Would love to know what your absolute favorite kids books are (on ANY subject), especially for the wee ones (ages 0-4) but wouldn’t mind having some recommendations for older kids too. In general, I prefer books that are dryly funny yet also thoughtfully written and portray generally kind people. Either vintage (think the Country Bunny and the Gold Shoes) or otherwise is fine. Can provide more details if that would be helpful.

I’ve checked out many of the award-based book lists, but frankly found the mefi recommendations for the link above far, far better and more on-target. Thanks in advance!

Help me build a library of lefty kids books

RajahKing — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:55:08 -0800

Do you know any good left wing propoganda for toddlers? Please help me identify some lefty / liberal children's books appropriate for a 3 year old (and up as I have noticed she tends to get older every day).

I have a 3 year old daughter, we read a lot of books together. Her mom and I are committed to progressive political action and would like to introduce some cool, fun, lefty books to the collection. We have a handful, but I'd like to expand. I am thinking about books that discuss race, class, struggle, civil rights, gender issues, environmentalism, etc. We are well to the left of the American mainstream, but we'll take liberalish stuff too.

One request - please no political critique, I promise I'll still read her stories from a variety of perspectives. We let her watch Wonder Pets and Dora, so don't worry.

Farmer Junco story

Blackwatch — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:40:00 -0800

Seeking Richard Scarry book containing 'Farmer Junco' story. As a child, my wife loved the story of 'Farmer Junco' which was in a collection of stories by Richard Scarry.

Now that we have a child of our own, I'd love to track down a copy of the book.

Can anyone tell me which book contains the Farmer Junco story?

(This follows an earlier question: http://ask.metafilter.com/118732/Desperately-seeking-Farmer-Junkle
which was posted before a discovered the story was written by Richard Scarry.)

Many thanks.

Who was this greatest man?

Zaire — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:20:18 -0800

I had a book (not a picture book) as a kid that was titled something like 'The Greatest Man in the World' or 'The Greatest Man that Ever Lived', and it was a collection of stories that were like fairy tales, or fables. I remember little about it except for one story where the characters were trying to ride their horses up a glass mountain, and for some reason the 'greatest man's' horse was the only horse able to climb the mountain.

There was a magical nature to the stories. I lost the book in a fire and have never been able to forget it. I would be so grateful if someone knew this book and I could track it down.

Cheers!

Picture Books For A Super-Smart Kid

yankeefog — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:34:58 -0800

What are the cleverest, wittiest picture books you know? I'm looking for something you might recommend to a very smart kid who is still young enough to prefer picture books to chapter books. Another way of putting is, I'm looking for the picture book equivalent of McSweeney's. (I should mention that I know that McSweeney's actually does publishe some kids' books -- those are already on my list!)

Desperately seeking 'Farmer Junkle'.

Blackwatch — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:16:35 -0800

Please help me find a 1970s children's book called something like 'Farmer Junkle'. My wife has fond memories of a favourite kids' book her father read to her in the mid-1970s.

She recalls it was entitled 'Farmer Junkle' but, despite endless google searches (including spelling variations such as Junkell, Juncle, etc) I can't find any trace of it.

Did this book ever exist and, if so, where can I buy a copy?

We're just about to have our first child and I'd love to track a copy down to surprise her.

Thanks a lot.

The Kingdom of Spaghetti

shii — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:44:48 -0800

Name this young adult book from my youth. It involved a land of pasta... ...and it wasn't Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was relatively text-heavy (although I'm almost certain it had illustrations), and also involved some angry-looking marble busts that talked to the main character. Yes, I'd place this firmly in the "magic realism" realm of children's books, along the lines of The Phantom Tollbooth.

If I'm actually recalling a dream, I may have to doubt my own sanity...

Name this children's book and TV series from the 80's

ticktockdoc — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:18:49 -0800

Name this children's book and TV series from the 80's...? It's Lord of the Flies meets Follyfoot. Kinda. Plot: Three (?) children [definitely two boys, maybe a girl too...] are living in their grandfather's/stepfather's/some dude's(?) massive house and estate/lands. For some reason(?) they decide to run away, but instead of actually going anywhere, they instead hide out in the land/forrest of the estate. They manage to hide out there for YEARS, within sight of the massive house all the while. They evade many search parties [something about a hollow tree...?] and it becomes rather Lord of the Flies, with them making clothes out of animals and eventually their escapade ending with one of the boys [dark-haired one] returning home to the big house [can't recall if he rats out the other two]. Maybe the dark-haired kid got sick, so that's why he had to go back...?

This was a book , but was also a TV series shown in the UK in the late 80's with similar production values as 'Famous Five' and 'Follyfoot'. I remember it being full of awesome. The closest I can come to remembering the actual title is: 'The Boys of Brendan Green'. But fruitless Googling and Amazon-ing(?) prove useless.

Help me find a book from my youth.

prk14 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:58:35 -0800

Obscure book filter (and I mean really obscure)! Here are the few items that I remember about it:

- I read it while going to a Belgian grade school, it is a children's book.

- I read the book in French, not sure if it was originally in French or was a translation.

- I cant remember what grade I was in but I read it sometime in between 1990 and 1993.

- The protagonist was a young boy, it was some sort of police thriller. At one point a tracking device was put in his shoe that allowed his protectors to find and save him.

- I believe the antagonist was named "Mr Palis" I remember that he met his demise falling out a window onto a palisade which I remember thinking was a ridiculous play on words.

- Part of this final show down took place in a school chemistry lab and someone flung acid or something at someone else.

That's all I've got. I know its not much to go on but if anyone can figure out what book I'm thinking about you'll earn lots of "cool" points!

First chapter book a child reads?

sevenstars — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:50:40 -0800

I was asked in France what's the first chapter book an American child reads on his or her own, and I didn't know whether there is one such book. Do you know of one or have any idea of the most likely titles?

Non-annoying Traditional Kids CD's

Pater Aletheias — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:17:14 -0800

I'm looking for a recording of good traditional (American) children's songs. You know, stuff like "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and "Five Little Ducks." My definition of "good" is that my two-year-old can enjoy it and learn the songs, but it won't drive me crazy to listen to. No silly sound effects, just decent music. Do you know any anything that might fit the bill?

Help me find two books I read as a kid

Caduceus — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:41:47 -0800

WhatWereThoseBooksFilter: I'm looking for several unrelated books, or possibly series of books, that I read as a kid. The first involved a family of magic users living in what was the time the modern world. It was probably written in the 80s or early 90s, and I read it in the early to mid 90s (I have the least complete childhood memories of any non-tramautized twenty something I know, so bear with me). If I'm not conflating multiple books, the book was about a family of wizards/magic users who lived in secret in the modern world. I believe it was a YA book, and it focused on the children, though the parents could use magic as well.

I remember that one kid in particular had the gift of throwing small, relatively harmless fireballs, and would get in trouble by using this on his or her siblings. I don't recall if each family member could only do one particular magic act, or if they could all use magic in general and each was just particularly gifted with a single ability. I believe that the kids somehow awoke or pissed off a dragon, and that the family had to band together and fight it. It may have been a series, as well, but I don't remember any details that could have been from other books in the series.

The second book was about trolls. Again, I think it was a YA novel. I remember even less of this one. What I most remember is that they would play this game that I recall as being vaguely like horseshoes, only it would involve throwing what I believe were rocks with etchings filled with copper, silver, or gold in them. The winners would be able to take the losers' rocks. These trolls were fairly Scandinavian, in that they turned to stone in the sunlight, but they were the protagonists of the book.

Children's Book Filter - What was this book?

finitejest — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:25:58 -0800

Children's Book Filter: Help me find a book from when I was a kid. Of course, only limited details remembered... I'm looking to find the title of a children's book that was given to my when I was a child by my aunt. I don't know the age of the book, but I'm in my late 20s, so maybe that helps date it.

Here's what I remember:

The book was about or involved a black dog who, at the beginning of the book, either ran out of or away from the house. It was a softback book (at least the one that I had was) and the most striking thing to me was the illustration style...

I think it looked as if it had been screen printed - only a couple of colors were used. I remember black being a predominate color, with reds or oranges being secondary. Very block-colored illustrations with limited shading.

Ring any bells with anyone?

owen is stuck in a cave, his survival depends on you

phoeniciansailor — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:17:05 -0800

the child otto falls down a hill, sprains his ankle, and then the situation gets worse. help me remember what children's book this scene is from? i must have been in the, like, 2nd grade when i first read this book. or rather, had it read to me. i immediately had my parents take me to the b. dalton bookseller (remember those?) to special order a copy. i believe the main character of the story was a young girl, who for some reason winds up traveling through the (forest/mountains?) where she meets a young boy (otto/owen?) also traveling alone. they set off to (find help?) together, which leads to the pivotal scene (in my memory), which was of the boy falling down into a (ravine/gully/crevasse?) where he hurts his (anke/foot/leg?). the girl thinks she knows how to help, but confuses applying a cold compress with applying a hot compress, and winds up making matters worse. they may have been in a cave at this point. anyhow, the girl goes off to find help and there my memory fades even more. the book was important to me as a kid -- this would have been the late 70's or early 80's -- and i'd like to get a copy. and also find out what happens to otto/owen. poor little guy!

Recommend a Swing Set

spitbull — Sat, 03 May 2008 07:16:51 -0800

Children's backyard play structure filter: recommendations wanted. I am looking for a backyard playset/play structure for kids aged 7-10; let's say I have up to $2500 to spend. Requirements: wood, not plastic; slide, 2 swings, deck structure; durability and safety are key considerations. I can assemble (up to light carpentry). Backyard is pretty level already.

Mostly I'm looking for comments from people who have bought one of these things which they either like or hate, with reasons.

I've written 2 children's books, now I'm looking for an illustrator.

allelopath — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:54:38 -0800

I've written 2 children's books, now I'm looking for an illustrator. I am an unpublished author of 2 children's books and I am now looking for an illustrator. I will probably publish using Lulu.com. Any suggestions on how to go about finding an illustrator?

I see this site for example. I've looked through the entire site and found a few that might work, e.g.
Fanterosa Lele
mamewo
jessicadietrich
I'm not sure of the approach I should take when contacting these artists (or others) because I don't want to send the ms all over the internets.

Also, I have to consider how I would pay an illustrator. e.g. a flat fee, or a percentage of sales.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Help me find a creepy book from my childhood.

svolix — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:46:36 -0800

When I was in third grade, there was a book at the library that I would go and find every couple of months. Having since, you know, grown old, I can't remember what it was called. I remember surprisingly little about the book except how it made me feel (a little creeped out by the weirdness, but in a good way - a feeling I have pursued all my life since then). Here's what I do know:

- It was a large book (it seemed huge when I was a kid), but thin.
- The front and back covers both had a title on them, and they were different titles, and both were very long. I wish I could remember what one of them was. They were weird, nonsensical titles something in the vein of "The Magic Mixed-Up Upside-Down Dollhouse Army Nature Spaceship Book." Neither cover had pictures, just the titles in a blocky, retro font.
- Half of the pages inside the book were right side up. Half were upside down. Just like the covers.
- Every page had its own title. Each was a separate feature.
- I can't believe I remember so little about this book - I think it was so weird to me as a kid, so different from any other book, that I didn't know what to make of it. But mostly it was full of delightful, clever lies for children. There was one page where there was a picture of a moth, and the book insisted that moths could talk. They just don't want to. The book said that if you didn't believe it, you should go ask a moth if it could talk. It won't answer - thereby proving that they can but don't want to.

One hundred svolix points to anyone who knows what it is. Yes, you read that right. (They're redeemable for appreciation and good vibes from a stranger on the Internet.)