# What were your favorite OBSCURE(?) children's books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684 "2008-01-16T00:56:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/41 "2008-01-16T17:00:33Z")
For me, I loved [**Shadow Castle**](http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Castle-Expanded-Marian-Cockrell/dp/0595092969/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200502631&sr=8-1) and [**The Westing Game**](http://www.amazon.com/Westing-Game-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/014240120X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200502710&sr=8-1). After a long search, I was able to get both books for my children to read. It’s like finding a long-lost friend again! ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/42 "2008-01-16T17:10:37Z")
[Chippy Chipmunk’s Vacation](http://www.amazon.com/Chippy-Chipmunks-Vacation-Woodland-Frolics/dp/B000KE0NXK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200503070&sr=1-2) (volume 5 of the Woodland Frolics Series). Chippy goes on an adventure and learns, through a series of mythological tales, such things as how the buffalo got their humped backs, how the Painted Canyon got painted, why aspens tremble, and so forth. I read and re-read that book to death when I was a kid. I also loved loved loved the subject specific Golden Guides (like [Reptiles and Amphibians](http://www.amazon.com/Reptiles-Amphibians-Revised-Updated-Martins/dp/1582381313/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200503259&sr=1-1) and [Geology](http://www.amazon.com/Geology-Golden-Guide-Martins-Press/dp/1582381437/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200503259&sr=1-4)). I had dozens of them, on all kinds of subjects (they were all science-related in my day; I don’t know if they still are). I don’t think those are very obscure, though. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/43 "2008-01-16T17:10:39Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] [**The Westing Game**](http://www.amazon.com/Westing-Game-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/014240120X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200502710&sr=8-1). [/QUOTE] Ooh! I loved the Westing Game. Completely forgot about that. [The movie](http://imdb.com/title/tt0120495/) sucked, though. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/44 "2008-01-16T17:57:44Z")
[QUOTE=3acresandatruck] The Golden Book Encyclopedias, as seen in [this eBay auction](http://cgi.ebay.com/Golden-Book-Encyclopedia-16-Volume-Set-1959-Mint-bonus_W0QQitemZ160198682046QQihZ006QQcategoryZ29223QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). If I did eBay, I’d buy this set - ours were severely worn. My Mom bought them, one each week, at our local Kroger grocery store when I was about 5. It was the first thing to make my parents think I was ‘a scary-wierd kid’, when they realized I was reading the volumes cover-to-cover, in sequence. They never tried to discourage me, though…when I finished the set, they bought the Golden Home and High School Encyclopedias; by the time I was in 8th grade, they bought the Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia. [/QUOTE] If it weren’t for your location and the reference to Kroger’s, I’d be asking if you were my brother. We had that same set (bought by my parents at the local A&P), and I read them cover to cover as well. That cover in the EBay auction took me right back, I’ll tell you. And then my folks bought us a set of Funk & Wagnalls’ encyclopedias, although ours was bought used and was a bit dated by the time I used it. My username here is taken from an obscure [children’s book](http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/16731), although one I didn’t read until I was an adult. I’m a huge fan of Theodore Sturgeon, and this was one of his favorite children’s books. [QUOTE=ivylass] For me, I loved [**Shadow Castle**](http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Castle-Expanded-Marian-Cockrell/dp/0595092969/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200502631&sr=8-1) and [**The Westing Game**](http://www.amazon.com/Westing-Game-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/014240120X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200502710&sr=8-1). [/QUOTE] I just bought Shadow Castle before Christmas, but haven’t had a chance to read it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/45 "2008-01-16T17:58:36Z")
**The King, the Mice and the Cheese** by Nancy and Eric Gurney. It’s about solutions that wind up being worse than the problems they were intended to solve, and really resonated with me later in life. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/46 "2008-01-16T18:01:54Z")
[QUOTE=Plynck] I just bought Shadow Castle before Christmas, but haven’t had a chance to read it yet. [/QUOTE] It’s very charming. I loved the imagery. Just make sure you hide the butter. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/47 "2008-01-16T18:05:04Z")
_Cinnabar, The One O’clock Fox_ _The Wonderful Adventures of Nils_, about a boy who flys off on the back of a large goose ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/48 "2008-01-16T18:13:55Z")
[QUOTE=Sailboat] _The Thirteen Clocks_ by James Thurber. [/QUOTE] Okay, that is tragic, _tragic_, that that book should be considered obscure. Hmm … I always loved **The Ship that Flew** by Hilda Lewis. It was very hard to find a copy again after I grewed up, but it was worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/49 "2008-01-16T19:03:38Z")
[QUOTE=Veuve\_ClicquotNJ] Collier’s Junior Classics. Picture: [http://livinghigher.com/ColliersClassicsII.jpg](http://livinghigher.com/ColliersClassicsII.jpg) They were an adjunct of the Collier’s Encyclopedia. I read them continuously when I was a kid. My brother ended up with them & they were lost in a storage unit fire. I found a mint set in a bookstore in Bethlehem, PA - still in the original box with the packing slip intact. The nanosecond I opened the first one, I was 8 years old again. They even _smelled_ like I remembered. They are one of my most treasured possessions. VCNJ~ [/QUOTE] YAY! I had the whole set growing up, along with the big red encyclopedias (I “studied” art in my teens in spare time from those very volumes - no, not for dirty reasons, I really adored art - it inspired a lifelong love and appreciation for it). I loved those children’s books, and read them all inside and out until eventually, one by one, they were all lost or damaged. Two years ago, I purchased the entire set off of eBay, and I read them over and over again. They are like long, long lost friends. Some of them inspired me to hunt down a few of the stories they only provided “teasers” for - like _Miss Hickory_. I love that book! My favourite of all the stories in that massive collection, even today, is _Mischief In Fez_. Whenever my husband and I go to the zoo, I have to go see the fennec. I’ve named him Baha. 😉 The only thing truly missing from my new collection? A big jam stain on the pages of the story of _The Three Bears_ in _A B C Go_!. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/50 "2008-01-16T19:13:37Z")
The Talking Parcel/Battle for Cockatrice Castle (it was renamed from The Talking Parcel :rolleyes: ) by Gerald Durrell. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/51 "2008-01-16T19:32:56Z")
_No Flying in the House_ was the first book I ever read to my brother (I was 11, he was 5. We read together for years). I found a copy later at a library sale. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/52 "2008-01-16T19:38:11Z")
I’ve mentioned this one before, but “Sinbad and Me” by Kin Platt. Funny, incredibly convoluted plot involving, I dunno, hidden treasure, thugs, mysterious pasts, and architecture. It’s apparently long out of print – on Amazon, the paperback is selling for somewhere between $80.00 and $200.00. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/53 "2008-01-16T19:50:21Z")
Oh My God! Mischief In Fez! That one illustration with the big one-eyed djinn! Hahaha!!! The other one that was always vivid was the Chinese fable where they open the trunk and all those hairy monsters come out - that illustration will be with me till I die! Aren’t they the best books? So many memorable stories - I love Kiki the Ballerina, and the kids who open the store down by the road & sell sugar cookies and lemonade! VCNJ~ [QUOTE=Anastasaeon] YAY! I had the whole set growing up, along with the big red encyclopedias (I “studied” art in my teens in spare time from those very volumes - no, not for dirty reasons, I really adored art - it inspired a lifelong love and appreciation for it). I loved those children’s books, and read them all inside and out until eventually, one by one, they were all lost or damaged. Two years ago, I purchased the entire set off of eBay, and I read them over and over again. They are like long, long lost friends. Some of them inspired me to hunt down a few of the stories they only provided “teasers” for - like _Miss Hickory_. I love that book! My favourite of all the stories in that massive collection, even today, is _Mischief In Fez_. Whenever my husband and I go to the zoo, I have to go see the fennec. I’ve named him Baha. 😉 The only thing truly missing from my new collection? A big jam stain on the pages of the story of _The Three Bears_ in _A B C Go_!. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/54 "2008-01-16T21:32:15Z")
Can I mention myself again in this thread? Are my books obscure? Alas, I fear they are. That other pig with the arachnid friend kind of crowded me out. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/55 "2008-01-17T00:06:49Z")
[The Perilous Gard](http://www.amazon.com/Perilous-Gard-Newbery-Library-Puffin/dp/014034912X) won a Newbery Honor award in 1975, but I never see it on anyone’s “favorites” list, so I’m counting it as obscure. I’m also counting it as my favorite book **everrrr** and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read it since I first found it at age 11. Dozens and dozens of times. I still can recite passages from memory and still use phrases and bits of dialogue I picked up from it in casual conversation. I’ve never met anyone who’s read it, but I’m sure that if I did, we’d be instant kindred spirits. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/56 "2008-01-17T00:33:15Z")
**gallows fodder** , I’ve read it! I recognised it instantly because I remember it was the first time I’d seen the name Jeffrey spelled “Geoffrey” and when I was reading my book report out loud in class I pronounced it “gee-off-ree” and lo, the class laffed and laffed. Does this mean you love me a little? ---
**Author:** ![bytheway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bytheway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bytheway)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/57 "2008-01-17T00:39:20Z")
**Twenty One Balloons** by William Pene Dubois **Mr. Revere and I** by Robert Lawson …and many more I can’t think of just now. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/58 "2008-01-17T00:47:36Z")
[QUOTE=Scarlett67] Ohhhhhh, I want a copy of this. 😃 [/QUOTE] I am astonished to find that it’s [back in print](http://www.amazon.com/Space-Childs-Mother-Goose/dp/1930900074). Maybe it’s not as obscure as I thought it was! ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/59 "2008-01-17T03:18:43Z")
[QUOTE=anu-la1979] **gallows fodder** , I’ve read it! I recognised it instantly because I remember it was the first time I’d seen the name Jeffrey spelled “Geoffrey” and when I was reading my book report out loud in class I pronounced it “gee-off-ree” and lo, the class laffed and laffed. Does this mean you love me a little? [/QUOTE] Yes! 🙂 Especially since you wrote a book report on it! ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684/60 "2008-01-17T03:42:13Z")
As a very small child, [Ant and Bee](http://www.apathyhouse.com/antnbee/books.html). And I’m not sure whether they’re obscure or not, but I loved the Zilpha Keatley Snyder [Below the Root](http://www.angelfire.com/sk/greensky/gsframe.html) series. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-obscure-childrens-books/433684.md?page=4)