I am looking for a childrens' book, probably (possibly?) from an
English publisher, probably circa. 1960-1980; title, author and
publisher unknown. It concerns the events in a (fictitious) Santa
Marg(h)arita del Banana, presided over by the statue (and probably the
person) of "Ug the Indescribable", and details the activities of some
marauding "banana-bending crows" out to cause trouble with the banana
crop. If possible, identifiy availability of second-hand copy. Thank
you - this has been troubling us for some time.

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Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 15 Oct 2002 17:38 PDT

Hi,	

I did a search for Santa Margarita de Banana and this book came up.
“The Bunch From Bananas” by David Pownall, New York Macmillan
Publishing Co Inc 1980 Illustrated by Frank Fitzgerald

Description:
 "Join the bunch from Bananas in their off-the-wall battle to bring
peace, prosperity & some degree of sanity to a bizarre banana
republic."

I also found a short synopsis of the book:
 
“Crime and catastrophe are thwarted in the town of Santa Margarita del
Banana by young Bernard who has taken up crime fighting and heroism as
hobbies.”

A review of the book:

“This book was about a kid who found he was great at solving crime, in
the small town of Santa Margarita del Banana. This book was funny. If
you are looking for a light book I suggest you read this book.”

Could this be the book you’re looking for?
 
Thanks
--Bobbie7-ga

This is one of those goofy books that kids and adults can both enjoy.
Many years ago, my young goddaughter used to carry this book around
with her so that if she had to wait somewhere, and got bored, she
would have something funny to occupy her attention. The only other
book she did this with was "Harriet the Spy," by Louise Fitzhugh. For
some reason, the term "Banana Republic" seemed totally hilarious to my
goddaughter. Perhaps she was exposed to a Carmen Miranda movie when
she was very young.

"The Bunch from Bananas," written by David Pownall and illustrated by
Frank Fitzgerald, was originally published in the UK by Victor
Gollancz, Ltd. (1980), and later in the US by MacMillan (1981).

Used copies of the book are plentiful, ranging in price from $2.50 up
(some of the London first editions are rather expensive.)

You can order a copy from these sources:

Alibris
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=851095&matches=9&qsort=r

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0027750906/qid%3D1034736653/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-5687074-1828653

Bookfinder
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=O.5Fq1HMWAq.vxktyxR7m6ao6A0_1403841489_2:10:36

Half/Ebay
http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=3464752&domain_id=1856&meta_id=1

I hope this information will enable you to revisit Santa Margarita del
Banana! If anything in my answer is unclear, or if any of the links do
not function, please do not hesitate to ask for clarification.

Best wishes,
pinkfreud

Thank you, pinkfreud; this must be the correct identification as you
obviously remembered the book so clearly (and with much pleasure!). I
have ordered decent copies of both the UK and US editions as they
appear to have different illustrators. (For your information, one of
the useful links you kindly provided - from Bookfinder.com - times out
after an hour.) Thank you also for the reference to "Harriet the Spy,"
by Louise Fitzhugh which I will also look out for. I have for some
time been searching for the banana book for my
Primary-School-Headmaster brother-in-law who only part-remembered it
but has clear memories of how the children all fell about when he read
it to them; you will soon have helped make him very happy. (This is
the first time I have tried Google Answers and it will not be the
last. And I look on my $25 as very well spent.) Regards and best
wishes   Animalcule