Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with childrensbooks

Did she imagine this book?

BusyBusyBusy — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:44:18 -0800

[Obscure book filter] Anyone remember a book about a grandfather hired to make a notebook to teach someone's daughter about the world, but he secretly makes two copies? My sister remembers a book from her childhood. A grandfather is hired to make a notebook or book or computer (she can't remember) for a little girl to teach her about the world. He makes an extra copy to give to his granddaughter.

I know this is vague, but we've tried looking on Google and can't find anything. She insists it exists.

Any ideas?

Franco-Russian psychedelia?

palindromic — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:50:48 -0800

Is there a name for this late 60s through early 70s aesthetic that was very common in (sort for for) children books and films? And if so, any recommendations beyond what is listed... Books especially include those of Jay Williams and Friso Henstra:
Petronella
Forgetful Fred
Stupid Marco

Probably the most famous example of this style in movies is The Beatles' Yellow Submarine but it can also be seen in Fantastic Planet.

It seems also very similar to some of the animations done by Soyuzmultfilm back in the day (like this (semi-horrifying) Winnie the Pooh, and I think Walter Moers does a sort of modern homage to this style in his Zamonia books.

It kind of looks to me like a psychedelic take on eastern European folk art, but what do I know? I'm an epidemiology student, not an art historian!

What other books, movies and print artists use this style? Is there a name for this style? Did my parents do me a terrible disservice by hooking me on an outdated style of illustration? So many questions!

Oldschool kids' history.

cmyk — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:34:14 -0800

Long-lost childhood books: a history book printed after one of the World Wars. I don't know the title or author, but I'll tell you everything I remember. Hivemind, please help me find it! The book was six or eight inches tall, about two inches thick. It was a red canvas hardcover. It probably had a dustjacket originally, but mine had long since lost that. I think the page edges were also dyed red, but I'm not sure. No bookmark-ribbon, that I recall.

It was a Eurocentric and kid-friendly view of world history, starting with cavemen and going all the way up to one, if not both, of the World Wars. It spent time in the Fertile Crescent, went through Greece and Rome, Dark Ages, Renaissance, discovery of the Americas, the Hundred Years' War, all of that. It wasn't a textbook, it was just a sort of historical... reader, or primer. It was made to be read for fun.

Each chapter covered a specific event, or period in time. They started and/or ended with little rhyming couplets and bits of doggerel that were about the events in the chapter. There were also little black-and-white line drawings (not plates, just printed into the body text) of a man in each chapter. He had a name, I think, and as you read through history, you'd see the little cartoon guy in different clothes, or in important places, things like that.

The last chapter focused on what sorts of things might be found in the future. It was well before the 1950s space obsession, so it wasn't going on about hovercars and jet backpacks.

One distinct thing I do remember: towards the end of the book, when it got into "recent" history, it made mention of some kind of vaccination scar - polio, I think, or maybe smallpox - that, "if you look on your arm, you'll see it." I remember this because I didn't have one, but my grandmother did, just like the book described it.

I realize this is a longshot, but any clues would help. I've been wondering about this for years.

Inspiring works of non-fiction for children

kmennie — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:38:42 -0800

I am looking for outstanding non-fiction books for younger children. Maybe you remember a volume that really sparked your interest in a topic? Is there an Art (etc) '101' book you enjoy paging through with your kid? I am trying to avoid the jumbled stock photography and pandering, sometimes inaccurate text that seems to pervade the genre. There must be some inspirational stuff out there, but sorting through the chaff is difficult...

I am particularly eager to find good books on art and music with enough illustrations to be engaging for a preschooler, but I am also looking to build a solid library for my daughter and want to track down the best intro-to-X or Children's X or Illustrated X books out there. I want something you'd want to read over and over and which would send you to the library for more on the topic, not something you'd bin after the book report.

Tips on books not necessarily for children but which would work well for same welcomed, too.

(I read the Childcraft encyclopedia thread with interest, and am interested in encyclopedia commentary as well)

ancient 1980s secret, huh?

roger ackroyd — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:07:39 -0800

Another lost-childhood-book-filter. Time period: late 80s. This chapter book aimed at middle readers was a collection of Asian (Chinese or Japanese) folk tales centering on a wise man who served in the court of the emperor. The one story I remember involved the emperor receiving a gift of a priceless vase which he loved far too much; the wise man ultimately threw the vase to the ground, cracking it, so that the emperor would get over himself. The illustrations were done in a style similar to Usagi Yojimbo. I believe the wise man was an actual historical figure, but it wasn't Confucius. Possibly Zhuangzi.

Ring any bells?

I'm hunting for monsters...

Kabanos — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:31:25 -0800

Help me find the title of this children's book about a boy building a cage/trap for a monster. I'm trying to find an illustrated children's book that I enjoyed in the early '80s. I don't know if it was published in the US, or only in Canada.

It's about a young boy who sets out into the woods to catch a monster (or dragon?). His friend, or brother, tags along. They start by building a small wooden cage (trap?) for the monster, but keep adding larger and larger extensions onto it as they discuss the probable size of the monster's legs, neck, wings, horns, etc. The resulting wooden cage is enormous – the size of a house. In the end, however, they only catch a rabbit.

Help me out!

What does it take to author and illustrate kids books?

filthy light thief — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:10:58 -0800

My wife and I are interested in writing and illustrating kids books and getting them published. I realize there are plenty of neat books great illustrations, so what's the best way to find out what we'd be getting into if we were to pursue this as a hobby, or even as a main source of income?

A pop-up comic using fold-in technology

Shepherd — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:03:01 -0800

How can I fold a comic book page to make a story more interesting and still legible when unfolded? I'm working on an idea for a comic book -- pitched pretty young -- that focuses on parts of the comic where the reader interacts with the comic to move the story forward. (Totally unrelated to this comic book project, still in development).

As a f'rinstance: characters have to cross a bridge over a chasm, but the bridge has collapsed in the middle. A character implores the reader to fold the page, Jaffee style, to eliminate the gap in the bridge. The reader can then turn the page, the characters are on the other side of the bridge, and the story continues. If the second page (the crossed-the-bridge page) is then unfolded, the gap in the bridge is still there, or maybe another character has figured out a way to cross (using yarn or a tree branch) in the middle of the page.

I'm trying to think of other ways to engage young readers by manipulating the comic itself. Reversed text and holding it up to a mirror is a possibility, so is folding over the last third of a nine-panel grid page (with another nine-panel grid on the back) to alter a story in progress.

Paul Grist does brilliant fourth-wall stuff with Jack Staff, but this is going to be for a much younger audience, so I can't get too clever. I also don't want to do anything destructive (so no cutting, tearing, or punching holes). Gatefold pages and die cuts might be a possibility, but I don't know if the publisher would be enthused about the additional expense.

In essence, I'm trying to cheapjack a pop-up book in comic-book format: something that will give children that fun, hands-on interactive quality, but only using folds and trickery (turn the book upside down, look at it in a mirror, fold a corner, etc.). I've got a few ideas, but I'd like to see what the hive mind has up its sleeve, especially since I know we have a lot of smart papercrafters in here that will have better ideas than me on this.

Name That Bunny Book

hermitosis — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:43:40 -0800

Another children's book identification thread, this time about a baby bunny and a scary fox. I've tried Googling, but there are just too many popular children's books featuring bunnies.

Here's what I remember:

The baby bunny gets separated from its mother and is suddenly ambushed by a big scary fox. The fox chases it until finally the bunny runs through a briar patch, and when the fox follows he is totally wounded by the thorns and gives up.

I remember the illustrations being more naturalistic than in other bunny books, especially the really scary fox. I read this in the early 1980's, but it was at my grandmother's house so it could have been a much older book for all I know.

Thanks!

Forgotten picture book about the transformation of a neighborhood

mojohand — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:38:33 -0800

A question from the Mojodaughter regarding a forgotten children's picture book : "The book begins with a with a street full of houses that all look the same, until one day a bird drops a can of paint onto the roof of a man's house... "... This inspires him to paint his house in many vibrant colors, invoking the wrath of his neighbors who want to keep the calm monotony of the street with houses all the same. One by one, however, the owners of the houses on the street paint/re-design their houses into something that represents their favorite things/dreams (I think one had something to do with a sea/a boat)."

Have you seen this book?

dogrose — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:10:20 -0800

Another lost children's book: This one was published no later than the ‘60's. It was a large hardcover, green with black line drawing, with B&W drawings inside. The story is about a boy who wishes desperately for a dog, then falls asleep and dreams about a giant sheepdog (?). The dog and the boy embark on some challenging adventures, including climbing a seemingly endless staircase in the sky. Perhaps at one point the dog tells the boy he must continue on his own. It’s all very dream-like but not a happy dream. At the end of the book, the boy wakes up--to his new puppy, jumping up on his bed and into his arms. Some of the illustrations are creepy but not Gorey-like, and the whole book feels vaguely eerie.

And now I want to find it again! Does this ring any bells among the MeFi Olds?

Good books for the infant?

skepticallypleased — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:47:31 -0800

Good books to read to the infant child? People state you need to read early to your kids. Ours is less than a year and he pretty much wants to eat most of the books we try to read to him. Any recommendations on books that a really teeny one might actually like and that might help their development and help our interactions together? Thanks!

What is this book?

kumonoi — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:28:54 -0800

Please help me identify this comical children's adventure story book from the 80s... From what I remember, the plot featured 2 boys who leave their house through the bedroom window and travel in baskets on some kind of pulley system to a sort of fantasy world (or at least to somewhere that they've never heard of before). When they leave they are wearing dressing gowns and wellington boots into which they have stuffed sausage rolls, which they use as bait to distract some birds which attack them as they're travelling in the baskets. IIRC the birds are called Scissor Birds or Razor Birds or something.

The only other details I can recall are even more vague. Possibly the boys are searching for a golden cactus (or maybe just a cactus or maybe no cactus at all, but i'm pretty certain one features in the plot somewhere).
I think they meet a character from either legend (e.g. Robin Hood) or from another children's book (Captain Hook rings some bells), but it might just be they meet a characrter like that, rather than the character themselves. Either they get captured and escape using a key that they made by making a mold for it out of chewing gum, or they steal something (maybe the cactus) using that key.

Finally, I think the title may contain the word(s) "Adventure"/"Adventures" and/or "Captain". It was published in the 1980s I reckon. I think it may have been published by Corgi, the cover was white with a coloured, cartoonish picture on the front which I think featured some people trying to jump over a crocodile. I have it stuck in my head that the author's surname was Bushell, pretty certain it was a male author and I would have said that he was from the UK or maybe Australia. It seemed like the book might be part of a series but I never actually read any others if they were published.

I know this is a long shot but this has been bugging me for years!

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!)

Name this children's book.

Tin Man — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:55:13 -0800

What is the name of this children's novel that includes time travel, Ben Franklin, some kids and a professor, and two versions of the same character, one of which is from several days in the future? I'm dying to track down this novel I read as a kid. If I remember correctly, a few kids/teenagers and a professor were in a house where Benjamin Frankling used to live, and they went back in time and met him. There was a character named (I think) Joe, and there was also a character nicknamed Joe Thursday (or something like that), because before going back in time the characters traveled a few days into the future and picked up future Joe. The time machine was either a secret compartment in the house or maybe an elevator.

I feel like this book was part of a running series, something along the lines of the Three Investigators, but I'm not sure.

I speak one. She'll speak two.

azure_swing — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:19:21 -0800

I'm looking for bilingual children's book recommendations for a toddler being raised to speak English and Italian.

Reincarnation for Kiddos

grapefruitmoon — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:36:04 -0800

Books from Childhood Filter: What was the name of the book about reincarnation that I had as a kid? (Yes, I had hippie parents and was raised as a Buddhist. No, I am not hallucinating the existence of this book.)

Details I remember: The main character in the story (picture book) was a child who chose his parents and then grew up, died, and chose a new life as a girl at the end of the book. The child/ren liked kites. The art was really beautiful. That's about it, pretty vague, I know - but I figure there can't be *too many* books focusing on reincarnation marketed for Western children.

BookFilter: Children's book about Imperial Roman agent in Iron Age Scotland?

seasparrow — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:16:08 -0800

Trying to find the name of a book I read as a kid. A Roman Legion soldier was sent north past Hadrian's Wall into the wilds of Scotland on an espionage mission to pacify the local Celtic/Pictish(?) tribes. He was mistaken for a figure from legend, and ended up having great influence over the tribes. Spoiler for the ending after the jump. I think this was a "Young Adult" type book, but the story stays with me. It keeps resurfacing in my mind, and I need some help tracking this title down so I can read it again. The soldier ended up sacrificing his own life in a way that satisfied both the Celtic shamans and the Roman Legions and prevented a devastating war. Any help is always appreciated from the great AskMefi community!

Is there a name for this style of art?

johnofjack — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:16:29 -0800

Is there a name for Satoshi Kitamura's art style in Creepy Crawly Song Book? Recently I found the Creepy Crawly Song Book at the library and really like the artwork (cover, page inside) : simple, deliberately crude with distorted angles, thick lines, and bold colors.

It reminds me a bit of Eric Carle's work (especially The Very Hungry Caterpillar), except Carle is less interested in strong black lines and much more interested in blending colors.

Is there a formal name for this style of artwork? I find people online calling it folksy, naive, bold, etc. but I'd like to know if there's actually a recognized movement it would be put into (with, naturally, similar artists to look into).

German Children's Books and World War II

drezdn — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:51:06 -0800

Is this true, and if so where can I find information about it? German Children's Books and World War II A friend of mine in college told me that someone had researched the children's books German leaders were most likely to have been exposed to as kids and that the books were heavily concerned with power. Does such research exist and if so, is any of it available online?

Sci-Fi easy readers?

Janta — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:46:32 -0800

Book-rec-filter time! Looking for sci-fi themed books for a young child. Can you suggest any? My son, who is not quite 5, is hugely interested in space, rockets, the planets, robots, etc. He's also just becoming comfortable with reading to himself. I'm looking for picture books and/or easy readers that have a scientific or sci-fi feel to them; do any of you have recommendations to share? Fiction or non-fiction -- he loves both.

Know of a book that deals with continuity and change through 1-2 family generations?

HotPatatta — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:56:25 -0800

Lotsa book recommendations please. Know of any good children's books (2nd grade level) that deal with family history? I'm also looking for books that compare and/or contrast daily life today with how a child's parent or grandparent lived. I'm teaching a social studies unit to second graders and I'd like to read them some books and bring some for them to read.

Are there books such about a grandparent or parent telling their kid about what life was like in the good old days? Or how the family came to live here (immigration, internal migration, etc.)? Or where the family name came from? What about a parent or grandparent sitting down with the child and going through old family keepsakes and photos to tell the family story?

If you can give the title and a short description that would be great.

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...

Children's books for boys?

pipti — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:59:10 -0800

What are some great classic children's books geared toward boys? (Excluding sci-fi). I'm working on a project for which I need a long list of children's books for both boys and girls. Being a gal myself, I've got that covered; the boys' list is harder.

Children's book about a flying ship?

drycleanonly — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 19:56:59 -0800

Does anyone know of a kid's book about Admiral Benbow and a flying ship? My boyfriend is trying sleuth-out the title of a children's book vaguely remembered from the early- to mid- eighties (though it could have been written before then). What he remembers:

- It was centered around the character of an Admiral Benbow, who got very red or purple when he was angry
- There was a flying ship
- It was probably 200-300 pages long
- There may have been something about chewing gum, or possibly a pipe that someone chewed on
- "Flying" may have been somewhere in the title

Any ideas? I'm googled-out.