posted
All of these are chapter books, the first two of which have a younger intended audience than the third, I think. I can't remember either the titles or the authors of any of them, but they're all three stories that I loved as a kid, and would like to take a look at as an adult.
The first involved a boy who was given a potion which caused him to sprout big, angel-type wings when a droplet of the fluid was placed on each shoulder blade.
The second involved a boy who fed his pet seal (I think) some breakfast cereal that caused the seal to grow to mammoth proportions. I believe that the breakfast cereal contained some chemical that caused the seal to grow, and that the amount of the chemical in that batch of cereal was a mistake on the manufacturer's part. The seal required the cereal to survive, and the boy bought up all of the tainted batch that he could. Eventually he ran out, and the seal died.
The third involved a girl who was the daughter of an archaeologist in Britian. She took a grail from a barrow her father was excavating, and drank from it, I believe. As a result of this, an expanding circle of death began expanding, with the barrow as its center. I remember the grass dying as the circle expanded, but not much else.
Anybody else ever read any of these? If you can remember the titles or authors' names, I'd love to hear them.
posted
I don't remember him having brothers, but that doesn't mean anything--my memory of the book is pretty sketchy. My main memory of it is him trying to apply the potion to his shoulder blades after it had all but run out, and his only generating a single feather when he did so.
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posted
Hm. Maybe we're thinking of different books. What I remember is a kid going up to his roof, wanting to fly, somebody (brothers, kids in neighborhood) making fun of him, but then he gets wings at some point and flies away.
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posted
I have a vague memory of something that may or may not be the third book. Maybe when I get back home for Christmas I'll poke around in the library and try to find it. I'll probably look for it anyway, but do you have a time limit on when you need to know?
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posted
All of those sound just bizzare enough to be Roald Dahl stories. Have you checked through his stuff?
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At least, not in any of his short stories (I have the entire collection ) and not through any of the books I have read - which, I think, are all of them.
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posted
At first I thought the second one might be George's Marvelous Medicine, but I discarded that when I read the rest of the synopsis. I'm also pretty sure they're not Dahl.
I'm sorry Noemon, I can't help!
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posted
You could try posting to rec.arts.sf.written, on Usenet. The folks there are really good at stuff like this. If you don't do Usenet, I could ask for you.
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posted
I remember the first one too, but I can't think of a single detail beyond what you said.
My mom was a reading teacher for years; I'll call her in a few hours when she wakes up and she'll probably remember.
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Lisa, that would be great if you'd do that (although obviously you don't need to ask about the first one, now).
Blacwolve, there's no timetable, really--it's more just idle curiosity on my part than anything else.
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posted
Ah, I should have known--Black and Blue Magic is by Zilpha Keatly Snyder. I used to love her stuff when I was little. When I was at my parents' house over Thanksgiving I found my old copy of The Headless Cupid and read it, which is probably what got me thinking about these other three books.
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posted
Loganberry Books has a "stump the bookseller" section. I've found several children's books I was trying to remember there. If you're not having any luck with the questions that have already been answered, I think it costs $.50 [EDIT: $2, actually] to ask your own question. If they have the book in stock or run across it later, that fee can be applied to the purchas price of the book.
I will warn you that the last time I looked there, the site's search function was pretty bad, because it searches entire pages, not individual questions. Still, it's a useful tool.
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Actually I have my own question I was going to post, maybe I'll do it here.
When I was a kid, there was this sad Christmas cartoon I loved. I must have seen it on TV two or three years in a row in the 1970s, then it disappeared. It was about a cute lil tree who had a lot of forest friends and a little girl came by too. But the little girl got sick and couldn't come out anymore, so the tree made the ultimate sacrifice and had his friends chop him down and put him outside her window and got decorated for her to admire. I THINK that's how the story went. I did some big searches for it last year and found several cute tree stories, but none of them matched my memory. Anyone know this one?
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posted
I just wanted everyone to know how great Loganberry Books is. I would've posted it if CW didn't beat me to it. Best $2 I've ever spent. I gave them a two line description of my favorite childhood book (which I really messed up) and someone still knew which one I was talking about.
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quote:Hm. Maybe we're thinking of different books. What I remember is a kid going up to his roof, wanting to fly, somebody (brothers, kids in neighborhood) making fun of him, but then he gets wings at some point and flies away.
This is, I think, the book "Lifter", which I have read. I haven't read the one Noemon mentioned.
EDIT:
quote:expanding circle of death began expanding
Oh no! The expanding circle of death! It's... it's expanding!
It's just so unpredictable! I mean, who'd have thought that the expanding circle of death would expand?
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posted
Theaca, I've seen that cartoon, too, but I have NO idea what it was called or where I might have seen it. Sorry.
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quote:Originally posted by Theaca: It was about a cute lil tree who had a lot of forest friends and a little girl came by too. But the little girl got sick and couldn't come out anymore, so the tree made the ultimate sacrifice and had his friends chop him down and put him outside her window and got decorated for her to admire.
Hmmm...altruistic deforestation. Was it perhaps sponsored by the logging industry?
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posted
No luck so far Theca--my mother only had a vague recollection of the cartoon. My Brother is travelling, and my soon-to-be-sister-in-law said:
quote:This is actually the kind of show my parents would have tried to steer me from, because as morbid little kid I would have never let them throw the Christmas tree out, and as a tiny pyromaniac also would have eventually used tree to set the entire house on fire.
posted
Kind of on the subject, my mom just called to say she bought me the complete Chronicles of Narnia (all volumes in one big softback, in the order Lewis wanted them read).
posted
Are you saying that Lewis wanted Magician's Nephew read first? Or is there actually a set with LW&W first any more?
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quote: THE LAST GRAIL KEEPER by Pamela Smith Hill Holiday House ISBN: 0823415740 Ages 11-up 288 pages
Felicity is sure her summer is going to be dull when she accompanies her archaeologist mom on a dig in England. But when a fascinating piece of history (and magic?) is discovered at the site --- the Grail, the cup that gives eternal life --- all bets are off. Felicity learns she has a mysterious connection to the Grail and her summer ---- and life --- are changed forever.
quote:Originally posted by Jaiden: ummm... The Giving Tree has a story about a tree giving himself up for a boy... is that the story you're thinking of? http://www.banned-width.com/shel/works/giving.html
<shudder> That is such a horrid story. Check out The Healthy Giving Tree for a version without the selfish boy and the suicidal tree.
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posted
Val, for a second I had my hopes up, but I don't think that that's the book, as it looks like that one's first edition was in 2001, and the one I'm talking about would have have to have been written earlier than 1980 (and probably a bit earlier than that. I can't quite remember when I read it, but I'm thinking it was early grade school rather than late. I have no idea whether it was a new book when I read it.).
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posted
I agree, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the cartoon to any kids, unless the ending is less sad than I remember. And I DID have trouble throwing toys and things away because I didn't want them to be hurt. The Velveteen Rabbit might have played a role there, though.
I never understood The Little Matchstick Girl story and why people love to show it to kids. I liked it anyway.
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) and not through any of the books I have read - which, I think, are all of them.
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