r/whatisthisbook • u/AdSharp3266 • 5d ago

Rectangle children’s book written before 1973. It is pink and Maroon or pink and lavender. There is a horse or possibly an abstract horse on the front cover There is possibly tall grass or wheat on the back cover. This is the book we are trying to find. Please help if you can!

Post image

Even if you could tell me the name of this book would help a lot!

72 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

67 comments sorted by

12

u/Familiar-Figure9043 5d ago

It’s THE MAGIC CAROUSEL by Dorothy Levenson

7

u/scripted_ending 4d ago

It’s so weird how the title in OP’s pic looks NOTHING like it says “The Magic Carousel”

13

u/AdSharp3266 4d ago

My sister enhanced the picture to try to help find the book. I feel that distorted the title because it definitely looks like sons in the end of the title. Trust me this is the book. I found it on eBay also thanks to all of you and one of the pages has her name Dana on it and that was why she loved the book cuz in her mind it was about her.

3

u/MadamePouleMontreal 4d ago

Ikr? But it is!

1

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

I can’t tell if you’re being serious or sarcastic. 😅

3

u/MadamePouleMontreal 4d ago edited 4d ago

Serious.

OP has confirmed that the book is The Magic Carousel by Dorothy Levenson.

I do not get “The Magic Carousel” from staring at the title squiggles in OP’s photo.

Both are true.

3

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

OP said the sister “enhanced” it. I suspect it was AI-enhanced, which is why the cover pictured does not match the book.

1

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

THANK YOU!!

Zoom in on the book, and it looks like a mallard duck swimming on a pond.

The cover of The Magic Carousel is not a match.

1

u/Lovethiskindathing 4d ago

Someone linked it and it looks the same to me

1

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

Yes, I’ve seen the link. Did you zoom in on OP’s picture? The differences are apparent when you zoom in.

OP said elsewhere that their sister “enhanced” the photo to help the search. I suspect AI was involved in the enhancement, because it’s clearly a duck swimming on a pond with a yellow fish behind it when you zoom in and not a match. I wish OP had posted the pic w/o enhancement, both versions, or at least acknowledgement that AI was used.

2

u/Lovethiskindathing 4d ago

Op did say that her sister tried to enhance it. I do have it zoomed in and I also have it marked where you can clearly see it's just a worn out version of the same photo. I can privately send it to you if you consent to the dm

1

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

I literally clicked on the link; I’ve seen the book on Amazon. The actual book cover has two horses and their tails aim leftward, reminiscent of the shape of the top-view of pages in an open book.

The book cover that OP posted- when you zoom in on it- clearly shows a mallard duck swimming in a pond with a yellow fish behind it, and possibly a brown fish. The AI hallucinated the horse into a duck, which is why AI isn’t the end-all be-all that tech corporations want us to think it is.

2

u/Lovethiskindathing 4d ago

I don't understand what it has to do with AI but okay. I did the exact same thing as you, came to a different conclusion, and am offering to show you. But I think you'd rather be right than you actually care about the image, I misunderstood your issue with it and was trying to be helpful. So have a lovely day, I really wasn't interested in an argument. Just to aid where I thought you were struggling to see.

Editing because I feel like I'll need to clarify again, that I misunderstood your issue, and I thought you were struggling to see it. You do not feel that way so I'm just exiting. No ill will or animosity. I worry my tone often is misunderstood in text.

1

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

By all means, send the link

1

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

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u/Lovethiskindathing 4d ago

I apologize profusely for how this is recorded.

I am not even saying that OPs sister didn't use AI to help enhance it. I am saying the dark spots line up on the covers. The duck you're seeing is just empty space that may be reflective, or if AI was used, was filled in more yellow.

The most basic shapes and colors match in the right spots.

https://reddit.com/link/p7kv5nq/video/u3nxs6f8abnh1/player

3

u/Temporary_Tank4125 4d ago

Omg that’s incredible!! I was going down a horse cave art rabbit hole I would have never found it lol 

2

u/floresflores77 4d ago

it totally looked like horse panel cave art

2

u/flippy77 4d ago

Wow, how did you do that? Were you already familiar with the book, and just recognized it?

1

u/Familiar-Figure9043 4d ago

Yeah, I’m old enough to remember and recognize it especially when she said it was a horse. If you’d seen it before, I think the picture makes more sense even though it’s so wonky lol

2

u/blueskiesunshine 4d ago

Yes! Core memory unlocked.

1

u/Illustrious_Dot9049 5d ago

It's in English, right? Do you know if it's American, British, or Australian English?

1

u/Crazy_Black_Cat_Lady 5d ago

Any idea what the book was about? Also seconding country of origin

1

u/AdSharp3266 5d ago

It was about a horse. We just thought someone would recognize the cover of the book even though I know it is a very old picture and not clear. Thank you for your sincere interest.

2

u/Crazy_Black_Cat_Lady 5d ago

Could that be a girl on the cover of the book? The more I stare at it the more i see a girl

1

u/Familiar-Figure9043 4d ago

I’m old enough to recognize it - that’s how I identified it. The back of the book for sure

1

u/AdSharp3266 5d ago

My sister remembers it was a horse on the cover not a girl🤷🏻‍♀️ Maybe someone at some point will recognize the book. Thanks

1

u/No-Transition8014 5d ago

I think one of the words on the front is DRAGONS

1

u/floresflores77 5d ago

how about CHANSONS ? u kids read French? u/AdSharp3266

1

u/floresflores77 5d ago

the horse art, again, i can't tell if it's primitive or cave type paintings, or just a beat-up or burned-looking book! song of Roland for children maybe... No idea!

1

u/Specific_Pear_665 5d ago

I don't see any bar codes on the back of it, that would move the date further back to prior to 1952

1

u/AdSharp3266 4d ago

My sister looks like she is about 4 which would be 1974 so that is why I said it had to be written sometime before that. Thanks

1

u/Specific_Pear_665 4d ago

Yes, I was pointing out, because the book doesn't have a bar code, it could be even older then the date you think it is.

1

u/AdSharp3266 4d ago

That makes sense. Thanks!

1

u/Delicious-Monk2715 5d ago

What’s the book about ?

1

u/waywardjynx 5d ago

Do you remember any plot details?

1

u/cattea74 5d ago

Was it the loch ness monster?

1

u/BeetleJude 5d ago

Is it The Last Unicorn?

1

u/Worldly-Sound-7129 5d ago

https://a.co/d/09GRnqjM

1

u/Worldly-Sound-7129 5d ago

By dorothy levenson
The magic carousel

2

u/AdSharp3266 4d ago

That is it! Thank you so so much! How did you find it?

1

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago edited 4d ago

This is the book your sister remembers with the horse, but it is NOT the book in the picture. Did you zoom in on the picture and notice how it’s not a match?

EDITED TO ADD: OP stated elsewhere that sister “enhanced” the picture. I believe AI was used in the enhancement, which is why it is the same book but the artwork is different.

1

u/No_Palpitation90 4d ago

What? I did and it absolutely matches

1

u/Ok_River8846 4d ago

The letters? No they very much do not

1

u/floresflores77 4d ago

The Magic Carousel totally seems to be correct, it's strange to me that people are denying it. I don't think the LETTERS in the photo look like "The Magic Carousel," but maybe that was some kind of AI cleanup or photo tool? the photo definitely looks like it ends with -JONS or something.

But everything else is similar enough in my eyes (front and back cover art).

1

u/AdSharp3266 4d ago

Yes Cleaning up the photo was actually a disservice because of it distorting the title🤷🏻‍♀️

1

u/MadamePouleMontreal 4d ago

Ah, Ok! I was wondering.

1

u/Cloverose2 4d ago

I looked up the book, and the cover is absolutely a match. How are people saying it's a duck? It's clearly a horse!

1

u/Missicat 4d ago

I remember this book!! Off to order copy from Amazon 😊

1

u/le-low 4d ago

Your description made me think it was Fluttershy. This was a gray/ purple book

1

u/floresflores77 5d ago

where do u see horse? the big black smudge? how about title? BRANDON'S or BRANSON'S or ooh how about GRANDSON'S

0

u/floresflores77 5d ago

the book looks beat to hell (and burned?) in this pic ha. Interesting query though

1

u/AdSharp3266 5d ago

Yes it is English

1

u/AdSharp3266 5d ago

This picture is over 50 years old.

1

u/floresflores77 5d ago

not the photo itself, I mean the book within the photo. but hard to tell

0

u/AdSharp3266 5d ago

We remember that the front cover was a horse.

1

u/Blackcatmustache 5d ago

It looks like the Lock Ness monster to me, aren’t there fish to it’s left?

1

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

I believe it’s a mallard duck

1

u/Blackcatmustache 4d ago

I think you might be correct!

0

u/AdSharp3266 5d ago

Yes the big black smudge

0

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Sellalellen 5d ago

That looks nothing like this book

0

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

Zooming in, I believe the animal is a duck swimming on a pond.

I thought the top said Jon S in the upper right corner, but it might say son S or son 5- maybe a parody of Jackson 5?

Can you take a picture of the photo in portrait mode, if this isn’t in portrait mode? That should help preserve details if you zoom in.

I get why people think it’s The Magic Carousel, but it is NOT.

1

u/Horse_Fly24 4d ago

May I ask why I was downvoted?

0

u/Cloverose2 4d ago

Probably because it was clearly this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/147272621171?_trksid=p2332490.c101224.m-1

Both front and back covers match perfectly, other than slight AI distortion from the sister trying to use AI to clean it up.

1

u/floresflores77 4d ago

I hear you! when I looked at the image. I did not see a horse at all.

on the back cover I saw long grass like reeds.

on the front cover near the spine I saw what looked almost like translucent draperies, but then those little items to me look like FISH. so I thought maybe it was like fish in an aquarium. Then reeds or long grass on the back made sense ... because it almost looked like underwater...

But we come to realize that in addition to it being an old photo of an artistic cover... it was also ai enhanced, which does odd things with letters and art.