Searching for Children's book about a yellow goggle sporting bird
October 23, 2014 5:04 PM Subscribe
In my twitter feed this afternoon, I happened upon a heartbreaking tweet about a new dad who has stage 4 lung cancer and only weeks to live is desperate to find a book that he remembers from his childhood to leave to his infant daughter. All he can recall is that it is about a yellow bird that wears goggles and wants to fly, but all attempts fail.
He thinks that it was published in the UK in the 1980s (apparently he lives somewhere in the UK, but was in the US as a child, so personally, I wouldn't focus so much on that part, but it's one of the few possible details about the book that's been listed on twitter.
For awhile they thought that the book had been identified--Frankie Flies seemed to fit the bill--but after receiving more details, it wasn't the correct book. There are already librarians and people who work in publishing trying to help out on twitter, but thus far everyone is coming up empty handed. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to post the question here in the hopes that someone might remember this book. The friend who is tweeting about this was pretty gutted when it turned out that Frankie Flies wasn't the right book after all.
He thinks that it was published in the UK in the 1980s (apparently he lives somewhere in the UK, but was in the US as a child, so personally, I wouldn't focus so much on that part, but it's one of the few possible details about the book that's been listed on twitter.
For awhile they thought that the book had been identified--Frankie Flies seemed to fit the bill--but after receiving more details, it wasn't the correct book. There are already librarians and people who work in publishing trying to help out on twitter, but thus far everyone is coming up empty handed. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to post the question here in the hopes that someone might remember this book. The friend who is tweeting about this was pretty gutted when it turned out that Frankie Flies wasn't the right book after all.
Best answer: I did some digging when I first saw this and I'd suggest this Stump The Bookseller page if AskMe doesn't work out.
posted by jessamyn at 7:18 PM on October 23, 2014
posted by jessamyn at 7:18 PM on October 23, 2014
I wonder if the "yellow" detail is wrong. It seems likely that a bird who wanted to fly might be a penguin (or an ostrich). There are multiple books currently in print about penguins wanting to fly. Maybe check some of Lay Off The Books's sources for out of print ones?
posted by freezer cake at 9:39 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by freezer cake at 9:39 AM on October 24, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks all. I was away for the weekend, but either checked or forwarded your suggestions to the appropriate person. As of today, she thinks that she may have found it, but is still waiting for confirmation. It's called Fly Away Frankie and was part of the I Can Read series.
posted by kaybdc at 2:15 PM on October 27, 2014
posted by kaybdc at 2:15 PM on October 27, 2014
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It's very kind of you to post this, I hope the search is successful.
posted by Lay Off The Books at 5:11 PM on October 23, 2014