Looking for books I read as a kid...

[DanielH]

Hi all, I'm trying to remember the names of several books I read as a kid/young adult, that i don't remember the name of and haven't been able to google (probably meaning that they are out of print...), but left impressions on my from my youth and would like to find again:

Book 1. This story was about some kids who find a turnstile in the woods. When they go through it all the metal they have gets really hot and they end up in a fantasy world. There is a flying "flat" snake I believe that everyone can ride on, and a bad guy who zaps people with magic and collects their skulls (definitely YA, not kids book!).

Book 2. This book told the story of a few kids. They find a pillow with an elaborate design on each side. When one of them sleeps on it face up he/she has a dream about how to get through a garden labyrinth to a place where she has goo dadventures. When the other kids sleeps on the pillow with it turned the other way up, he/she dreams of another way through the labyrinth and ends up in a place where there are bad things.

Book 3. A story about two kids- one girl and one boy- who start to learn magic. one makes a wand out of a tree branch, and one makes a wand out of a car antenna (which relates to the kinds of magic they can do).

Book 4. Another book where two kids learn magic- i think they read a book? First they learned how to control their principal through the PA system, then things progressively get more complicated as you read the book (a nice evolution of style). I think that ultimately they saved the world from aliens or invading demons or something.

"Book" 5. This is actually a (very young) kids series suitable for those just learning to read, but I'll post it anyway since I'm on a roll . It's a series of many books, each one has a main character of a different animal species. They books come in sets of where they are located (within the same world): the farm, the fields, the great woods, the babbling river (or something like those). I'm pretty certain these are way out of print...

Thanks for taking the time to read this... hopefully some of these very poor descriptions will trigger a memory, and a book name!

Thanks,
Dan

[DanielH]

Please move to "Book Search". Thanks, and sorry .

[the smiling weirwood]

Originally Posted by DanielH

Book 3. A story about two kids- one girl and one boy- who start to learn magic. one makes a wand out of a tree branch, and one makes a wand out of a car antenna (which relates to the kinds of magic they can do).

That would be "So You Want To Be a Wizard?" by Diane Duane. There's an entire series that follows it which I would highly recommend to anyone, regardless of age.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by DanielH

Please move to "Book Search". Thanks, and sorry .

Now moved as requested and welcome to Chronicles DanielH

[DanielH]

Originally Posted by the smiling weirwood

That would be "So You Want To Be a Wizard?" by Diane Duane. There's an entire series that follows it which I would highly recommend to anyone, regardless of age.

The descriotion on Amazon *could* be it, and the writing style is mature enough to not think that kids are dumb which is about what i recall, but the publication date listed is 2003. I read this Way Back in The Day (okay, only mid-80s). however, i also see that it has "(digest)" as part of the title, so maybe this is a reprint?

With 4.5 stars i may check it out, regardless. Thanks for the help!

[Update]I found that the original was published in 1983. That would be just the right time for me to read it, and then not realize that there were any sequels. This is very likely it. Thanks again!

[DanielH]

Hmm... I wonder why I can't edit my first message?

I remembered some more stuff about the "very young kids" series of books I am looking for:

The books focused one at a time on different animals. When it focused on "Rabbit" I believe it retold some of the Ananse/Uncle Remus folktales, in particular the one about Brer Rabbit tricking Brer Fox into throwing him into the bramble patch. I don't recall it retelling the Tar Baby story, but if it did that might be why I can't find the series anywhere anymore since that tale is now, to put it mildly, problamatic.

There were at least 10-12 more books I believe that had nothing to do with the rabbit, so I don't think that would have happened? It's likely just waaaay out of print.

[mhral7]

Much older than 2003, but here books are popular and often reprited