To ask you help me find this 80’s kids’s book

[Eeksteek]

I have very poor recollection of it, but it bugs the hell out of me!

Boy and a girl. Herefordshire or Welsh borders. Go out looking for mushrooms in the early morning and find patterns on the frost leading to….. something supernatural. In order to prevent discovery by persons un-remembered (presumably evil) they go out with hot towels and melt the frost to hide the pattern. The girl may have been called Jane, and there may have been dragons, but honestly any of it could be suspect after all this time, so hit me with anything close. I probably read it late eighties, so it’s likely a late seventies/early eighties release, as I only read library books.

Why it made such an impression when I remember so little if it, I don’t know. It pops into my head every couple of months, despite the fact that I can’t remember where I put my bank card on the regular! (It’s driving me crackers in a repetitive, low key sort of way, and I’m overwhelmed and having a shit time in real life, so escaping onto kids books is about as good as it gets just now!).

The snow spider rang bells for me too @Eeksteek nit sure why.

here’s one, A gang of neighbourhood dogs all different breeds, one of whom was named Bobo. It was the 80s when I had it on a tape read by that man who I feel read all the books on tape in the 80s, whose voice I can hear in my head clearly. He also read Gobblino stories. These dogs all talked to each other, but I don’t have much more than that!

@Playplayaway I too thought honor Arundel 's Emma series- perhaps the Terrible Temptation?

The twilight barking? Sequel to 101 Dalmatians?

Yes! Thank you! And it's by Dorothy Edwards who wrote My Naughty Little Sister (which was illustrated by Shirley Hughes and another favourite of mine), though Emmie and the Purple Paint has a different illustrator.

@OooPourUsACupLove the Ivory Anvil by Sylvia Fair

I may of had a similar book late 70's! Was the cover a stone circle with a girl blonde hair?

Mists of time? Circle of time?
Margret j Anderson

Ghost on the water. Super scary!

That's it! Thank you.

Following love this thread

Could it be The Weird Stone of Brisingamen? It has Boy, girl, magic, frost. Can't remember it all but absolutely loved this book when I was young.

@OooPourUsACupLove The Ivory Anvil

Following to see if anyone can trace your original request OP, it sounds right up mine and my daughter's streets!

Is it The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy by Penelope Lively?

Can anyone else remember one about the plague in Eyam? I think there was an element of time travel / ghost type action. Late 80s / early 90s? Very sketchy but I remember it scaring the crap out of me for months and insisting the dog slept in my room so I wasn't alone 😂

@Insertdeadcatsnamehere are you thinking of 'A Parcel of Patterns'?

I remember Eyam in the 80s-90s. It's now much more cosy and interpreted, but it could be quite bleak and evocative at times, before that.

Can anyone else remember one about the plague in Eyam? I think there was an element of time travel / ghost type action. Late 80s / early 90s? Very sketchy but I remember it scaring the crap out of me for months and insisting the dog slept in my room so I wasn't alone 😂

Children of Winter by Berlie Doherty? Think it's roughly mid 80s.

Could that be Astercote?

penelopelively.co.uk/books/childrens-books/astercote/

There's a girl called Jan in Red Shift by Alan Garner. Really can't remember much about it though - there was an axe, and some romans but not in a time travelling sense? Also some quite adult themes. I'd describe it as a YA novel before that was a thing - I definitely read it too young.

No mushrooms that I recall though.

@Insertdeadcatsnamehere I think it's Parcel of Patterns by Jill Walsh but it's next to 'a pattern of Roses' by KM Peyton on my shelf. A ghost time travel thing, reprint 1982, probably bought from a primary school book club at about the same time.

@minipie Possibly yours is The Sea Egg by Lucy M Boston.

Thank you for mentioning the Snow Spider as I'd been trying to find it for years. I have a number of books I'm trying to find.

1. A story about a family that move in to a haunted Abbey type building. It was L shaped and had a moth with a skull on a dark blue / purple cover.

1. A book about three siblings, two sisters and a brother. They mentioned rhododendrons a lot and made jam.

1. A story about two girls who were obsessed with a popstar that wore pink facepain ala Kiss and they ended up being kidnapped.

1. A story of a young girl that moves abroad (Malaysia perhaps) and makes friends with a local girl. They lived in an apartment.

Many thanks.

@Bllueblazerblack

A story about a family that move in to a haunted Abbey type building. It was L shaped and had a moth with a skull on a dark blue / purple cover.

Ghost Abbey by Robert Westall?

I've now spent ages researching Fisk's short stories. No luck so far.

This is infuriating! I am determined to find it one day.

I was about to suggest this too.

Love this book!!

@TheHideAndSeekingHill over the years I have wondered to myself if it was a version of the 12 Dancing Princesses. It's definitely the closest match I've found and some elements are very similar. I can't remember any dancing though, or boat rides, or there being 12 princesses - we are talking over 20 years ago though so my memory is obviously rusty 😂 while doing my 'research' I've found some absolutely beautiful illustrations of the 12 Dancing Princesses, just lovely.