A A Milne, A Gallery of Children,
I found the title and author, now I just need the book!
Carole Kendall, The Gammage Cup.
The Gamage Cup (Harcourt, 1959) "A handful of Minnipins, a sober and sedate people, rise up against the Periods, the leading family of an isolated mountain valley, and are exiled to a mountain where they discover that the ancient enemies of their people are preparing to attack." Major characters= Fooley (balloonist), Gummy (writer), Curley Green (painter).
M41 Moon path -- The Garden Behind
by Howard Pyle? Plot description from the Parabola
lonely young boy discovers the secret of walking the
glimmering path across
the ocean waves to the moon, where he then learns of the
garden behind the moon"
M41 moon path: more on the suggested Garden Behind the Moon, a Real Story of the Moon Angel, by Howard Pyle, copyright 1895, reprinted 1988 by Parabola. "David, a lonely young boy who's ridiculed as a "moon-calf" by the other children in his seaside village, one night learns the secret of walking the glimmering path on the ocean, where he discovers the beautiful, happy garden behind the moon. Passing behind the Moon Angel, he also passes into manhood and starts on a hero's journey to bring lost treasures back to earth, riding a winged horse and fighting a giant along the way and winning the hand of a princess in the end... Howard Pyle wrote this book following the death of his young son. It is a touching and tender allegory."
George Selden, The Garden Under the Sea, 1957. "Humorous juvenile fiction, where talking starfish and crabs and lobsters make an underwater garden of the things people leave behind on the beach, like people do when finding rocks and shells and glass from the sea."
I believe that's Louisa May Alcott. Originally
Sound like a cross between Mary Chase's Harvey (the
foot rabbit) and the comic strip by Crockett Johnson
I10 I just bought this book at a thrift shop. Gary and the Very Terrible Monster by Barbara Williams, illustrated by Lois Axeman, Watertower, 1973. "When Gary was five, he had a pet monster, a very terrible monster. His name was Mr. Green Nose." Mr. Green Nose makes a terrible noise "a noise like a little boy burping" Because only Gary can see Mr. Green Nose, other people think it's Gary who throws the rock through Mr. Mudd's window into his goldfish bowl, ties cans to Mrs. Fitt's fat cat and puts a fly in Debbie White's milk.
I10 imaginary friend monster: Gary and the Very Terrible Monster sounds like a good match - Gary is close to Harry, and the fly in the milk episode sounds pretty distinctive.
I'm hoping you can help find a cherished
from my childhood. It was one of my favorites, but I
believe my little
brother destroyed it, (he was a book shredder in his toddler
I read your Stumper page and believe it may be the same book
for under P4? Two pigs, a brother & sister, I believe
were Francine & Francois traveled to Paris, they
rode a train
& a cruise ship & were locked in a barn to be fattened
They escaped & returned home. I believe the book was
it was read to me, some 30 years ago. Would love to have
to relive childhood memories.
appreciate any help your site can offer. Thanks!
I think I remember the same book. I've been looking for it on the Internet. I think it's a Little Golden Book called Gaston and Josephine (I remember that when I read references to "Alphonse & Gaston" I thought they were talking about my book.) I remember something about the two little pigs go into the dining car but they don't have any money for their food, and the
little boy pig wears a navy blue sailor suit and sort of a blue tam with a white pom-pom.
P-4 Gaston and Josephine! Yes! Those were the pigs. How could I ever forget those names...
Yes, indeed. It's Little Golden Book #65 by Georges Duplaix and illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky in 1949. And hard to find, of course!
I'm pretty sure that the book is The
Ronald Welch. Oxford U. Press, date unknown. I can check
at home if you like.
See also the listing under Danny Dunn: Invisible Boy.
Description from Four to Fourteen: a library of books for children compiled by K.M. Lines, 2d ed. 1956:
Welch, Ronald, The Gauntlet illustrated by T.R. Freeman, Oxford Univ Press, 1951 "The finding of an armoured gauntlet takes schoolboy Peter back into the past and through his experiences the reader shares life in a castle on the Welsh Border in the fourteenth century."
|Welch, Ronald. The Gauntlet. Illustrated by T.R. Freeman. Oxford University Press, 1952. VG/VG. <SOLD>|
Genevieve Goes to Bed Early (title of story within book). This was a story within a collection of short stories not a separate book. I can't remember the title, author or any of the other stories, but I do remember that this was the title of the story. I read it as a child in England in around 1966/1967. So not really a solution, but a little additional info.
hee, hee, I love it when I know the answer! George
by James Marshall. There were several in the series,
simple drawings of very funny (and big) hippoes. I don't
these books aren't better known, they're classic! Maurice
for one, spares no praise for the "judicious, humane, witty,
clever head of James Marshall."
The original books are hard to find, but these are new and in stock:
Marshall, James. George and Martha. Houghton Mifflin, 1972. New hardcover edition, $16
Marshall, James. George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends. With a foreword by Maurice Sendak. Houghton Mifflin, 1972-1988, 1997. New hardcover edition, $25
James. George and Martha: The Complete
Stories of Two Best Friends.
Maurice Sendak. Houghton Mifflin, 1997. New
Marshall, James. George and Martha. Houghton Mifflin, 1972. New hardback, $16 New paperback, $7
Marshall, James. George and Martha Encore. Houghton Mifflin, 1973. New paperback, $7
Marshall, James. George and Martha Rise and Shine. Houghton Mifflin, 1976. New paperback, $7
Marshall, James. George and Martha One Fine Day. Houghton Mifflin, 1978. New hardback, $16. New paperback, $7
Marshall, James. George and Martha Tons of Fun. Houghton Mifflin, 1980 New hardback, $16. New book. $16
Marshall, James. George and Martha Back in Town. Houghton Mifflin, 1984. New hardback, $16. New paperback, $7
Marshall, James. George and Martha Round and Round. Houghton Mifflin, 1988. New hardback, $16. New paperback, $7
This sounds familiar - could it be Georgie
the Robbers, a smallish paperback I believe
probably from the 70's?
Robert Bright, Georgie and the Robbers. This is definetely Georgie and the Robbers It is still in print.
Thanks for your message. We have two copies of Geraldine
Belinda in stock...
Hi, I just want to be sure it is the book I am looking for. I thought it was called Geraline Belinda Mabel Scott. What is the picture on the cover of the book. Thank you.
It's the right book. The dj shows a little girl flouncing across the cover with hands in a muff and braids trailing behind. The first page talks about Geraldine Belinda Marybel Scott.
I am delighted that you have the book. Please reserve one for me.
Ever heard of a book called Geraldine Belinda Marybell Scott - a childhood favorite of mine. Would love to get copy for grandchildren.
Yes, and I have a beautiful copy of Geraldine Belinda for you.
Marguerite. Geraldine Belinda. Illustrated
by Gladys Rourke
Blackwood. Platt & Munk, 1942. Glossy folded pages with softly
illustrated plates. Red cloth with pictorial paste-on and dust jacket
with only minor chips. VG/VG. <SOLD>
S11 may very well be Richard Peck's The Ghost Belonged to Me, about Alexander Armstrong and Blossom Culp ("the spidery-legged little spook") who Alexander continually refers to as a spider. It was made into a Disney TV movie in the 76-77 timespan. I am having fun with these, and I'm suggesting the site to others!
I have no idea if this was a book or not. I saw this
on TV when I was young (mid to late 70s), so it was probably a
Sunday night movie for kids. It was about a boy in the
who discovers the ghost of a little girl.
asks for his help in solving her murder. I think she was thrown
a well. Maybe by an uncle. I think it was antebellum
I've tried Disney sites and haven't had any luck, so I thought I
G10: The Disney movie is Child of Glass. It is based on the book The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck.
|Peck, Richard. The Ghost Belonged to Me. Puffin paperback reprint, 1997. New. $5||
Yes! I know this one and I have the book
in front of me!! The book the reader is looking for under
Ghost Next Door by Wylly Folk St. John.
THE GHOST NEXT DOOR by Wylly Folk St. John, 1971
I have been looking for a book that I
as a child. I've received several responses in the past
like this one, but none of them have been the right one.
that the "ghost" in the story is named Miranda--she drowned as
The two children who are staying at the house find her diary
and a ceramic
owl that she made. They are trying to solve some sort of
surrounding here. Anyone have a clue? Thanks!
The Ghost Next Door, by Wylly Folk St. John, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, published Harper 1971, 178 pages. "Miranda Alston was deeply loved by her aunt Judith. After her parents' divorce, Miranda and her father came to live in Georgetown with her aunt, and Miss Judith became mother and friend to the lonely little girl. Together they made roses turn blue, had a secret place in which they left small notes to each other, and created a cement owl 'with love in its eyes'. Then in a pond at the back of the property, Miranda was accidentally drowned. Miss Judith was shattered, and Dr. Alston, unable to restrain his grief, left the family home and tried to bury the memory of his daughter in his work. Consequently, when he returned to Georgetown - for the first time since the tragedy - with his second wife and their 10 year old daughter Sherry, all mention of Miranda was carefully avoided. And then Sherry developed a mysterious playmate - one who could not be put to rest until both she and her half-sister were once again lovingly recognized by their family. The plot, which is narrated by the budding-adolescent-next-door, Lindsey Morrow, is punctuated with seances, pregnant rabbits, and infamous psychics." (HB Apr/72 p.148)
I think that person is looking for The Ghost of Dibble Hollow by May Nickerson Wallace.
|Wallace, Mary Nickerson. The Ghost of Dibble Hollow. Illustrated by Orin Kincade, cover by Dom Lupo. NY: Scholastic Book Services, 1965, 4th printing, 1967. Paperback with creases on front cover. G+. Hard to find! $45||
N10 is Thomasina, the cat
she was God, by Paul Gallico, Doubleday, 1957.
The Disney movie was based on the book Thomasina by Paul Gallico.
N10 - I am wondering if the could be The Ghost of Opalina by Peggy Bacon. Opalina is a cat and the book recounts her nine lives among generations of a family. I think there is a hidden treasure.
This couldn't be Finnegan II: His Nine Lives, by Carolyn Bailey, could it? My sister and I *adored* this book growing up in the mid 1960's.
It's got to be Thomasina by Paul Gallico.
I think The Ghost of Opalina is definitely the book I'm looking for. I must have seen the Disney movie about the same time and blended them together in my memory. I have reserved it through the library's loan service. It's a children's book and I remember as being on the first shelf of the library(A-B
authors). The full title is The Ghost of Opalina or Nine Lives and I'm certain the cat was female. Thank-you very much for the great leads.
Children (a brother & sister) are playing in the attic while visiting their grandmother for thanksgiving. They discover that grandmother's cat (a tabby) can talk because, in the ninth life of a cat, they acquire the ability to speak.The cat tells stories to the children of all of it's previous eight lives living in that house. Since the cat has lived a very long time, the stories are dramatic and date back to days of kings & queens. I think the book was written for sixth or seventh grade levels. I originally checked this book out from the Cedar Rapids Public Library. I've looked for it there but had no luck. I would like to purchase this book if we find it. Thank you!
Peggy Bacon, The Ghost of Opalina or
Lives, 1967. This
is the all-time
favorite book of anyone who's ever read it. Maybe that's a bit
but probably not. Searching the web for succinct synopses (to be
Very Important Presence Opalina tells three children of her
from the 1700s to the modern day), I came across this 'net post
some reason brought tears to my eyes: "We who have loved Opalina
to think of her still in her velvet chair in the paneled room.
very special cat and couldn't possibly be limited to nine
Bacon, Peggy, The Ghost of Opalina or Nine Lives. Little, Brown, 1967. "A ghost cat tells three children, the latest inhabitants of an old house, all about the people who passed through and the events which took place in the house during her previous eight lives."
C159 This might be THE GHOST OF OPALINA; OR NINE LIVES by Peggy Bacon, 1967 ~from a librarian
|Bacon, Peggy. The Ghost of Opalina, or, Nine Lives. Illustrated by Peggy Bacon. Little, Brown, and Company, 1967, 4th printing. Ex-library copy, quite edgeworn, cocked spine, usual library markings including label on dust jacket spine. Hard to find. G-/G+. <SOLD>|
THE GHOST OF GRAVESTONE HEARTH
I think this is The Ghost of the Gravstone Hearth by Betsy Haynes ('77)
WOW!!! That's it and I can't tell you how impressed I am! Next time I'm in Cleveland, I'll swing on by. Thanks and have a great weekend!
To me, #S56, "Sadie's Grave," sounds like a
of the same book as #W29, Witch's Garden, which
as Ghost Garden.
S56 Sadie's Grave: Sounds like the same answer for W29 - The Ghost Garden by Hila Feil, 1976.
I hope you can help me with this request, I have been searching for this book for at least 15 years. I think the title was The Witches Garden but I am not sure. It was not by Ruth Chew but is possibly an American book. The story was about a 12 year old girl who goes to stay with her Aunt? while her parents are overseas. The Aunt runs a big boarding house/inn/hotel. I think the girls name was Sarah she becomes friends with a girl named Christine? who is described as being very pale - hair, eyes, skin. Christine is fascinated by the local graveyard where a 12 year old girl named Sadie was buried many years before. The girls discover that Sarah is living in Sadie's old house and they find her room behind layers of wallpaper. It still contains her furniture and toys. The girls say a spell at midnight on Sadie's grave in the hope that they will see her ghost but it doesn't work. Then Christine dies, she leaves Sarah some seeds which she eventually plants on her grave, I think they are sunflowers. The rest of the book tells of Sarah learning to accept change. And thats all I can remember.I hope you can help as I would love a copy of it. Thanks in anticipation
Could this be A Witch's Garden
No thats not it! Thanks for trying though. If only I could remember the title correctly!!!
W29: Witch's garden: I have this book, although it is in my old room in my parent's house. There is a scene where the girls spread gold dust in a "ceremony" to talk to the ghost. I'm fairly sure the title is The Ghost Garden by Hila Feil, but I'll give them a call and confirm it if I can. **Later...Hello again, I talked with my mom who confirmed the title and author. Hope this helps the person who was looking for it!
Thank you for your help and yes that is the book!!! I have just received my own copy from a bookshop in the US and am very happy!!!
More on the suggested title - Ghost Garden by Hilda Feil, published New York, Atheneum 1975, 236 pages. "A story of childhood friendship, set against a real and vividly drawn backcloth, that of Cape Cod. Into this setting comes Jessica, whose father went butterfly hunting long ago and shows no sign of returning, whose mother has embraced transcendental meditation and a new boyfriend. For the holidays Jessica has been wished on a scatty aunt who lives in a commune in Wellfleet, in a sagging house which reminds Jessica of "one of the old horses that pull the carriages in Central Park". It is anyone's dream of a haunted house and certainly Jessica senses a strange presence in it. Truro churchyard too seems to be haunted, but the pale elusive figure hiding among the graves is no ghost but Christina, another ten-year-old of an unhappy home. The two little girls make an ideal partnership in many holiday activities, notably ghost-hunting and witchery. At the end of the holiday they conduct an eerie seance in the churchyard at midnight, but the reflection which Jessica sees is not that of the ghost but of Christina. Christina, who has always seemed to exquisite to be quite real, dies. Jessica is left to keep her part of the pact which they had made, in blood, at the end of the holiday." (Junior Bookshelf Aug/77 p.233)
I don't have the title, but just a few more
about it. The ghost, Felicia, is really obnoxious.
a swing a lot. The copy I read in 5th grade was hardback
a jacket--the cover had an actual picture, though; it wasn't
The Ghost in the Swing, by Janet Patton Smith, publ. by Steck-Vaughn Co., 1973.
G28 ghost felicia: plot description from the LC catalogue for the suggested title The Ghost in the Swing: "A twelve-year-old girl visits her aunt and makes friends with a ghost inhabiting the house." which is a reasonable match.
St. John, Wylly Folk, The Ghost Next
illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, NY Harper 1971.
Probably not the
only one to suggest this - mystery about the ghost of a young
Miranda, clues include a cement owl made by her and her aunt.
It's on the
Solved List with more detail.
Wylly Folk St. John, The Ghost Next Door, 1971. This is definitely the book. It has all the details the poster mentioned. From the back: "Sherry Aston had never been told about her dead half sister Miranda. So when Sherry came to visit her Aunt Judith, no one could explain the odd things that started to happen. Who was the elusive friend Sherry said she saw in the garden? Was she an imaginary playmate-or could she be the ghost of Miranda who had drowned in the pond years ago? Uncanny reminders of Miranda began to turn up- a blue rose a lost riding whip..." The main part of the plot is Sherry looking for the "owl with love in its eyes".
It must be THE GHOST NEXT DOOR by Wylly Folk St. John, 1971. More info is available on the Solved Stumpers page. ~from a librarian
A Gift of Magic (Laurel-Leaf Books) by Lois Duncan
You'll probably get a slew of responses to #O24--Owl with Love in its eyes. It's The Ghost Next Door, by Wylly Folk St. John, and appears on your "Solved Mysteries" page.
Wylly F. St. John, The Ghost Next Door. This was one of my favorite books too. I remember reading it many times. My copy is in storage, but I am certain of the title - not sure about the spelling of the author's name.
This is a Wylly Folk St. John book - it is either The Mystery of the Ghost Next Door or The Mystery of the
Girl Next Door. The main character is visiting her (grandmother?) and discovers that there was a little girl who had died, she and the grandmother died roses blue, made the owl in question, etc. She drowned in a pond in the backyard after hiding the owl for the grandmother's birthday and the grandmother hadn't been able to find it. The children, along the way, expose a "psychic"'s fraud when he claims to have found the owl buried by the pond.
Wylly Folk St. John, The Ghost Next Door, 1971. This seems to be a popular book. It's been asked about a few times.
Regarding my stumper, O24: Owl with love in its eyes, I just wanted to thank everyone who wrote in and solved this 25-year-old mystery for me. Now I can share this book with my daughter when she is old enough. Thank you! Thank you! This service is terrific!
N5--The Ghost of Five Owl Farm
has a similar storyline. I probably first read this in '70 or
This could be Me and Caleb by Franklyn Meyer. It is about brothers who live in a small Missouri town. There is a lengthy description of Halloween activities including greased doorknobs, stuck car horns and a "garbage-launcher." . There was a sequel, Me and Caleb Again.
More on The Ghost of Five Owl Farm by Wilson Gage, illustrated by Paul Galdone, published Cleveland, World 1966 "Surprised by the visit of two cousins during a vacation, Ted decides to frighten them with ghost stories about an old barn on their property. They all too soon discover that there really are goings-on as they are led through a series of hair-raising experiences. Ages 9-12." (Horn Book Feb/66 publ.ad. p.105)
Clyde Robert Bulla, The Ghost of
I remember excitedly snapping this up from the Bookmobile!
Clyde Robert Bulla, The Ghost of Windy Hill, 1968. I believe this is the book. Its about a girl named Lorna and her brother Jamie. They are housesitting with their parents for the summer because the owners of the house think it is haunted. The children meet some strange people, including a crippled boy and and eccentric old woman. Plus they solve the mystery of the 'haunted' house. My copy of the book is a dark blue hard back with a silhouette of a house in a darker blue, with one window lit.
I am the original poster. Thank you so much for responding to my request. Yes, I believe this is the book. I have been trying to remember this for years and am very excited about this website. This is so cool. I have called my local library and will check this out this week. Will let you all know if this was it. THANKS!!!
This one is solved. Thank you to the responder, the title The Ghost of Windy Hill is correct. I NEVER would have remembered this... THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
The Ghosts by Antonia
1969, 1993. Great book!
I just wanted to thank you for your help! I saw the information added to the e-mail I sent you and I'm going to find the book mentioned there. What are the odds that someone else would know the story I was trying to describe and with so little to go on! I really appreciate it!!
"The Amazing Mr. Blunden" was the name of a movie adaptation of this book. It's apparently not currently available on video.
Hi Harriett! I feel like a real goof---just after I submitted my stumper on the teenage car crash ghost story, I solved it. It's called Ghosts of Departure Point and is by Eve Bunting. Go ahead and put it up on solved mysteries if you want---maybe someone else is looking for it too! If you get a copy of it, let me know!
C134 This drove me crazy because I know I
it and I knew we had it in our library. It's THE GHOSTS
MANOR BY Reby Edmond MacDonald. Donald
inherits a dollhouse
that is a model of the ancestral home. There is a curse on the
family, and the sisters and brother end up experiencing the past
the dollhouse. Don's friend Charlie has a scar that marks him as
who carry out the curse, and Charlie ends up in a car accident.
Reby Edmond MacDonald, The Ghosts of Austwick Manor, 1982, reprint. Ten-year old, Hillary and 8-year old Heather MacDonald are excited when their 15-year old brother, Don, inherits a dollhouse made to look like the family's old home in England. Their parents discover 4 sets of dolls in a drawer with a "do not touch" note attached but put one set in the dollhouse anyway. The children then find that on certain nights they can enter the dollhouse. There is also a curse on the family that places Don in danger. A book review on the net reads: "I think the best part is when the kids visit the Tudor House in the 1700's during a robbery. Donald with his fighting skills saves the day, or so you think! This book isn't scary until you get to the end, it turns out that Don & friends get into a car crash. Was Don supposed to be in the car and die that day? Or was it just a coincidence?"
Hello! My post C135 is solved! It is The Ghosts of Austwick Manor. Thanks very much! I appreciate your help, and the two folks who helped solve my stumper!
#M131--Mortimer: If this is the one I
it is, Ghosts Who Went to School, by Judith
it was until recently or still is in print, a classic not to be
Spearing, Judith, Ghosts Who Went to School
The Giant Jam Sandwich by
Lord, 1972 - it's told in rhyme. Check out his article "Creating
the Giant Jam Sandwich."
Yes, that is the book! Thank you for the information.
Giant John is definately the book you seek.
a copy here and read it to confirm, cute book!
Lobel, Arnold. Giant John. Harper & Row, 1964. Pictorial boards. Excellent condition. VG+. $18 plus $3 shipping.
I located the book several months ago, my sister found it on ebay. My son loves it as much as I did or still do. I can't believe it is out of print-it's such a wonderful story.
I remember a book from the early 60's and I
across your site by doing some random web searching. The name of
may be George the Gentle Giant. Can you tell me anything
book that might help me identify whether or not it is the book
for and also do you have a copy available. The book I remember
great, fun illustrations of a giant that wandered around
- country, small towns, etc.
I'm not sure about the plot of George the Gentle Giant, but I can tell you about Giant John by Arnold Lobel,
which sounds much alike in name and plot (and might help you distinguish between the two titles): Giant John's mother is very poor and sends John out to find work. He finds work at a nearby castle, holding an umbrella over them during rain and shading them in sunshine. A group of fairies comes by and begin to sing, causing John to dance uncontrollably. He tries to stop, but can't, and winds up stepping on the dog and knocking over the castle. When the fairies do stop, John rebuilds the castle, and although it is not the same, the people are happy, and John goes home with his pay and invites the fairies to join him and his mother for dinner.
|Lobel, Arnold. Giant John. Harper & Row, 1964. Weekly Reader Children's Book Club edition. F. $18||
William Pene du Bois wrote a couple books featuring a huge
dog named Otto. They're hard to find, but I do have Otto
Sea (1936) presently. Sounds like you want the
first of the
series though, Giant Otto. I'll keep my eyes peeled for you.
duBois, William Pene. Giant Otto. Viking Press, 1936.
Thank you very much. I had assumed it was from the 50's because that's when I read it. Looks like it was something my mother saved from her childhood. Hey, I'm just thrilled to know it wasn't a figment of my imagination.
|duBois, William Pene. Otto at Sea. Viking, 1936. First edition. Worn at edges, and especially at the spine. Brilliant color. Rare. G+ $95||
G99: Sounds like Jolly
Roger Bradfield, GIANTS COME IN DIFFERENT SIZES,
evil wizard and hamburger trees.
I think this may be A Book of Fairy
published by Dean & Son and illustrated by Janet and
Johnstone. My edition was published in 1977 and has
all the stories
you mention. Some of the other stories are Little Red
Hop O' My Thumb, The White Cat, Blockhead Hans, and
cover is grayish blue with Mother Goose and some of the story
waving to her. There is no castle. It states it was
as Janet and Anne Grahame-Johnstone Gift Book of Fairy
Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, Gift Book of Fairy Tales, and
White Cat. I don't know if that means the book
had four previous
different titles or the other four books were combined to make
The edition suggested was reprinted in the 80s under the title Dean's Book of Famous Fairy Tales: Stories After Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Janet & Anne Grahame-Johnstone, published London: Dean, 1984, Pictorial Cover.
could be Treasury of Hans Christian Andersen translated by Erik Christian Haugaard, published Garden City NY, Nelson Doubleday 1974 - book club edition - hard cover - 528 pages, 72 tales includes classics like: Ugly Duckling, Emperor's New Clothes, Red Shoes, Snow Queen, Little Mermaid, Little Match Girl, Tinderbox, Steadfast Tin Soldier, and many others. Deluxe edition has dark blue cover with gilt decoration, no information on cover of book club edition.
Dean's A Book of Fairy Tales, 1977. This is def. the book you're looking for. You can see the book under
Loganberry's Most Requested Books, but the cover is a different edition, probably an older one. I looked for this book for years without a title of good idea of the cover until I found it though Harriett's Book Stumper. I'm sure this is the book by your description. If Harriett doesn't have any in her store then you an probably find a copy on ebay. Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone are the illustrators.
Ruth Stiles Gannett, My Father's
(in Three Tales of My Father's Dragon, 1997,
story of the little boy who gives gum to the tigers is from My
Dragon. The other parts of the story are not
Phyllis R. Fenner, Giggle Box, 1950. I was the one who originally requested this, so you can know that the solution was found! By looking up the Ruth Stiles Gannett book, and knowing The Mudhen and Homer Price was in it, I found it in my local public library. Phyllis R. Fenner put out a similar book in 1953 called Fun, Fun, Fun. Now I want to buy My Father's Dragon!
P. L. Travers, One of the Mary
I think I remember this scene in one of the Mary Poppins books,
I'm not 100% sure. I don't remember which one, though.
Oh yeah! I'll bet it's the Little Golden Book version of the Mary Poppins chapter: The Gingerbread Shop illustrated by Gertrude Elliott, LGB# 126, 1952.
P110b: Sounds like the Mrs. Corry(?) chapter of Mary Poppins - except it's Mary Poppins who swipes the
kids' gold stars left over from the gingerbread and then she and Mrs. Corry, the shopkeeper, paste them on the sky as the kids watch unseen from their window. Mrs. Corry also has fingers made of candy which she can break off and make grow again - though in Reading For the Love of It, Michele Landsberg gets this fact wrong and uses it as one excuse to hate the MP series in general! For those who know only the movie, be aware that the kids in the book love MP not because she's magical and sweet, but because she's both magical and a no-nonsense tyrant who never gives hugs. The fact that she was an imperfect grown-up while the kids are somewhat more fair-minded made the series a novelty (in the 1930s) in kids' literature.
#P110b--Pasting stars in the sky: Oddly, this is the one scene from Mary Poppins, by P. L. Travers, that readers seem to remember best, and one that didn't make it into the movie!
Travers, P L, Mary Poppins...Sounds like the chapter in one of the Mary Poppins books where the children visit Mrs. Corry's shop and eat gingerbread with paper stars pasted on it.
This episode is very similar to one that occurs in P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins series. I can't remember the exact book in the series.
Travis, P. L., Mary Poppins.This sounds like the Mrs. Cory chapter from Mary Poppins. They children collect the stars from the Gingerbread and Mary Poppins sneaks them away and with Mrs. Cory and her two daughter climbs ladders and pastes them into the sky.
Regarding the comments about P110b (Gingerbread Shop). Someone found it odd that this scene didn"t make it into the movie. I found that the movie took a lot of liberties with the original and wonderful book. The charm of the bok was Mary Poppins' outward gruffness and grouchiness (yet she secretly did wonderful things for the children. Julie Andrews' Mary Poppins was sickeningly icky-sweet. The time period was changed from the World War II era to about 1910, and Mrs. Banks was a suffragette! Really bizarre. And what happened to John, Barbara and Annabel? I'll bet you can guess that I'm no fan of the Disneyized version of one of the all time greatest children's series.
P.L. The Gingerbread Shop: A
Story from Mary Poppins. Illustrated
by Gertrude Elliott. NY: Simon & Schuster,
1952, first Little
Golden Book edition (LGB #126). Edges worn, rear
otherwise VG. <SOLD>
Travers, P.L. Mr. Wigg's Birthday Party: A Story from Mary Poppins. Illustrated by Gertrude Elliott. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1952, first Little Golden Book edition (LGB #140). Fine copy. <SOLD>
For G2--in the 60's Scholastic Books had a
called Ginny and the---it was "and the New
or "the Mysterious Strangers" or some such and was
a girl named Ginny who met American Indians and ate a soup they
Could this be Julie Campbell's Ginny Gordon series? I think there were 4 or 5 books in the series. Ginny solved mysteries while setting up business concerns in her town.
I had emailed you a week or two ago about the above stumper. I thought it was the Ginny Gordon series written by Julie Campbell. I checked one of the books at home, and she did live on Maple. Hope this helps.
You have a request for information about the "Ginnie" series on your website. The Ginnie books, written by Catherine Woolley, were my absolute favorites. I have been collecting them for my daughters, who are now enjoying the stories as well. Titles include Ginnie and Geneva, Ginnie Joins In, Ginnie and the New Girl, Ginnie and Her Juniors (later reprinted as Ginnie's Babysitting Business), Ginnie and the Cooking Contest, Ginnie and the Mystery Cat, Ginnie and the Mystery Doll, Ginnie and the Mystery Light. I am still seeking a copy of Ginnie and the Wedding Bells to add to my collection.
I remember that book too!!! Ran to my bookshelf in the attic and found it. Woolley, Catherine. Ginnie and Geneva. Illus. by Iris Beatty Johnson. New York, W. Morrow, 1948.
Funny you should wonder about the Ginnie books. Two weeks ago I was going through my childhood books and came across Ginny and the Mystery Doll. I am reading a chapter a night to my own 8 year old daughter now and we are both loving it!
There are two books I want desperately,
titles I cannot remember: Book One--a little girl loses her
The book traces the doll over the next 50+ years until the
girl (now an
old woman) is reunited with it.
D3 This is just a guess, but the answer might be the ever-popular Magic Elizabeth by Norma Kassirer. After all, even though the old woman isn't the focus of the story, it is her doll that Sally recovers after all those years.
Actually I have recently learned that it is Ginnie and the Mystery Doll by Catherine Woolley. I think I got a few of the details wrong. I now have a copy and am so excited. By the way, just a day or two ago I found a paperback copy of Magic Elizabeth. Can you believe I never read it as a child, but I keep hearing other people say it was one of their favorites, so I just had to have it. Will keep looking for a hardback copy. Love your website. It has solved a couple of mysteries for me and I am most appreciative. I have more to submit later on, but do not want to be piggy.
Received the book and was thrilled at the condition. I was expecting something really dirty and yucky based on your description, so was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. Began reading it last night with my little girl, who I had to force it on, I think because it looked old and not so beautiful.I thought I remembered this story, but so far it is all fresh to me, although I recognize enough to know it is definitely the right book! Anyway, my little girl is loving it as much as I did as a little girl. So - to the point of this e-mail - can you locate other books in this series
for me? I recall there are several.
this sounds good - Ginny and Custard, by Frances Clarke Sayers, illustrated by Eileen Evans, published New York, Viking 1951. "A charming story of a little New York girl's happy year in Los Angeles with an understanding father and mother to enjoy exploring with her all sorts of new and exciting things - the famous Farmer's Market; the wonderful fields of wild flowers; Olvera Street where they took Ginny's much-loved cat, Custard, for the Easter Saturday Festival; and many, many more. I enjoyed the story of Ginny; and the book left me with a feeling of really having had a happy time myself in Los Angeles, so well does Mrs. Sayers picture the city." (Horn Book Sept/51 p.331)
Paul Goble, The Girl Who Loved Wild
Is this The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses? befriends
eventually becomes a horse herself. the stringy,
#I28--Indian and her horse: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, by Paul Goble, won the 1979 Caldecott medal.
Goble, Paul, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, 1978. Could this be the book you're looking for? The girl ends up leaving her tribe to live with the wild horse. Each year she brings a colt back to the tribe, but one year she doesn't return and the tribe believe that the girl turned into a beautiful mare. Paul Goble won the Caldecott Medal for this book.
Possibly The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, written and illustrated by Paul Goble, published New York, Macmillan 1978, reprinted several times, 32 pages. "There was a girl in the village who loved horses... She led the horses to drink at the river. She spoke softly and they followed. People noticed that she understood horses in a special way." And so begins the story of a young Native American girl devoted to the care of her tribe's horses. With simple text and brilliant illustrations. Paul Goble tells how she eventually becomes one of them to forever run free." "A young American Indian girl has an unusual rapport with wild horses and during a storm she runs off with
them and joins a herd led by a beautiful spotted stallion."
Marguerite De Angeli, The Goose
Doubleday 1964. I am afraid I don't know the old school
which you refer but I did come across a reference to The
Marguerite De Angeli. (Doubleday, 1964) Perhaps that was the one
in the reader.It might prove a key to help track down the
The Little Girl Who Sat In The Ashes... When I was a child, I had a bunch of discarded school readers and lately I've been thinking often of a story in one of them, and I'd like very much to find it again. The story was a version of Cinderella. The young lady in the story was a gooseherd. Everyday she went through the village and rounded up the geese and took them to pond and pasture and watched over them. One day, she heard that a party was being held for the prince and all eligible young women were invited to go. But she only had one old grey dress. The geese seemed to understand her plight, and at the end of each day, they raised thier wings and flapped thier wings until feathers (down) flew like snow. She gathered up and saved all the small downy feathers. She sat and sewed all the feathers on her old grey dress. There was a color illustration of her standing on a rock, holding her long golden hair piled on top of her head, wearing the white fluffy feathered dress and gazing at her reflection in the pond while the geese watched. She went to the ball and the prince fell in love with her. Her dress of goose feathers rivaled expensive gowns of richer women, her bare feet were as pretty and dainty as the finest slipper, her flowing locks as lovely as elaborately arranged hairstyles, and her face shining with happiness... This is quite definitely "The Little Girl Who Sat In the Ashes" one of my favorite children's books ever. It's a LOVELY version of the Cinderella story. I had to BEG and make a major donation to a local library to get first dibs on mine...I waited a decade till it was finally knocked off the shelf and into the discard section! LOL
This must be Girl with the Silver
by Willo Davis Roberts.
Hey! I was right and actually had a copy in stock.
|Roberts, Willo Davis. The Girl With the Silver Eyes. Scholastic, 1980. Paperback. G. $8||
I'm not sure, but I know there's a story by
Aiken called "Jehane of the Forest" in a book
Adventure Stories of Long Ago.
Not a solution, but C97 and W76 appear to be the same book. [W76? wrong number...]
Thank you for posting my stumper! I was so excited to see a response so soon. I think the contributor is onto something, I think my books WERE called "Girl"'s Adventures...". Hope now springs very strong!
C97 collection for girls: more on the suggested - Girls' Adventure Stories of Long Ago, published London, Hamlyn 1968, reprinted 1971, 1979 and 1984, illustrated by Will Nickless. Contents: Sign of the Hawk, by Renée Frazer; The Wreckers, By Elizabeth Sheppard-Jones; Jehane of the Forest, by Joan Aiken; A Lamp for Elizabeth, by Kathleen O'Farrell; Highland Escape, by Judy Thomas. The cover is either blue cloth or laminated pictured boards, though.
The tree story certainly sounds like The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (1964). I have a nice copy with dust jacket for $10. Can't think of an anthology that contains it, but I'm sure there is one.
|Silverstein, Shel. The Giving Tree. Harper Collins, 1964. New hardback, $16.||
Check out the comments under Blowing Wand on the Solved
Mysteries page to see if any of these suggestions are
Maria Gripe, Glassblower's children. That is the right title, I found it listed in several libraries online. It does look to be hard to find.
Maria Gripe, Glassblower's Children, 1960s? Originally published in Sweden (?or Denmark) but certainly the title is right and I think I have the correct spelling of the author's name. It's a long time since I read it, but the story sounds right, too.
?, Go Tell Aunt Rhodie.
is a song we used to sing in school as a child. Here's what I
of it: "Go tell Aunt Rhodie, go tell Aunt Rhodie Go tell Aunt
old gray goose is dead. The one she'd been saving, the one
been saving, The one she'd been saving, to make a feather
died in the mill pond, she died in the mill pond, She died in
pond, standing on her head."
Aliki, Go Tell Aunt Rhody, 1974, 1986. If it's not this particular book, it's gotta be this folk song.
Would this possibly be a version of the old song, "Go Tell Aunt Rhody"? "Go tell Aunt Rhody, go tell Aunt Rhody, go tell Aunt Rhody, the old grey goose is dead. The one she's been saving (3x) to make a feather bed. The goslings are crying (3x) because their mother's dead." I believe it's sometimes called "Go Tell Aunt Patsy" also.
"Go Tell Aunt Nancy." This is a traditional song: "Go tell Aunt Nancy (repeated twice)/ Her old grey goose is dead. The one that she'd been saving (x3)/ To make a feather bed. She died in the duckpond (x3) Standing on her head. Old gander's weeping (x3) Because his wife is dead. Goslings are weeping (x3) Because their mother's dead. Go tell Aunt Nancy (x3) The old grey goose is dead." There are several versions of this some feature "Aunt Rhody" rather than "Aunt Nancy".
I don't know the title of it, but doesn't this refer to the song "Go tell Aunt Rosie/the Old Gray Goose is dead"? I know there are many verses to it. The original poster is a little younger than me and I know we used to sing it all the time.
Well, I did think of this folk song when I posted this, but how wonderful to receive so many different answers! I'd forgotten about the Aliki book. Here it is (see below--)
Go Tell Aunt Rhody: When the Weavers sang this in concert, they had the audience sing the song as each person originally learned it. When they reached the name they got a mix of Sally, Polly, just about every possible two-syllable female name.
|Go Tell Aunt Rhody. Illustrated by Aliki. Macmillan, 1974. First edition thus. Ex-library edition in well-read shape: pages are worn and several have small tears. Ready for another read though, and the dust jacket is well preserved. P/VG- $10||
W67 witches cat doesn't fit in: Would suggest Gobbolino the Witches Cat, written and illustrated by Ursula Moray Williams, published 1942, reprinted Puffin 1973 "The trouble with Gobbolino was that he had blue eyes and one white paw, so he didn't want to be a witch's cat. He wanted to be a kitchen cat, and sit by the fire and sing like the kettle on the hob, to keep down the mice and mind the baby, and sit in his mistress's lap. His mother Grimalkin didn't like him because he wasn't wicked, but all the other homes he went to mistrusted him..."
C37 probably is a Carl Burke book.
are several copies of God is Real, Man,
listed on bookfinder.com
and the description is quite similar. 128 pages published
Ack, I started this a few days ago-- better send it now, before
I got the book and yes, it certainly seems right - the actual name is God is for Real, Man. The feast is the wedding at Cana. It includes a slang glossary - it's amusing to remember that in 1966, "long-hairs" used to mean not hippies so much as classical music-lovers!
Referring to A-36, I am sitting here
copy of what I think may be the correct book. It is called
Bedtime Stories, from Whitman Publishing Company,
The cover does indeed have mostly blue, and shows two young
up on pillows in a canopy bed, one reading to the other.
the book in the cover picture is plain navy blue, no pictures on
I am not certain. Perhaps there was a later edition, but
to be the earliest. The story for January 6 is called Twelfth
Night, and is about Tommy and Billy finding a
special "bean" in
a cake. Hope this information will be of some help.
A36- I have a 365 Bedtime Stories by Nan Gilbert that was published by Whitman in 1955 and 1970. The cover is blue and shows two children in bed being read to by their mother, who is holding a blue book. The story for january sixth is about 12th day. A Mrs. Apricot is telling the children about how they used to celebrate 12th day.
I hope this will help A36. I have The Golden Book of 365 Stories, pictures by Richard Scarry, copyright 1955. This book has a blue cover with a little boy and girl reading a book with a picture of a little boy and girl reading a book --they are surrounded by a group of animals. the story on January 6th is about alittle boy that recieves a pitcher from his grandmother in Italy and he doesn't like,but his mother puts it on the table every day and in time he comes to love it.
A36: I believe you are definitely looking for the 1944 edition of 365 Bedtime Stories which had several different covers from 1944 through the early 1950's. Some of the stories do have poems, and there are Bead Buddies
stories throughout the book (if that rings a bell). Each page has a black and white, or a color picture at the top of the page. If you browse the auctions for this book on EBay you may very well recognize the cover from the book you had.
A36 anthology: from the description of the cover, would suggest The Golden Book of 365 Bedtime Stories: a Story for Every Day of the Year, illustrated by Richard Scarry, published Golden 1955, 235 pages. The blue cover shows 2 children, in 2 beds pushed together, surrounded by animals who are apparently being read to. The children hold a blue book with the same cover. NOTE! There is another edition? of this same title, the stories credited to Kathryn Jackson, also illustrated by Scarry, possibly a 1983 reprint, which has a very similar cover, but the children in the beds have been replaced by a bear in a chair, holding a book with a cover of a bear in a chair.
Elsa Jane Werner, The Golden Book of Nursery Tales. 1948. This book indeed is illustrated by Tibor Gergely. I have a copy sitting in front of me and it was published in 1948 by Simon and Schuster. It has 127 pp in all and you are missing the beggining and the last two stories.
I stink at anthologies. But I know the goblin line is from
Whitcomb Rilley's Orphant Annie. Do you remember the
Jane Werner (ed.), The Golden Book of Poetry, c1947, 1949, reprint 1971. Subtitled "85 Childhood Favorites," this book contains all the poems mentioned, including "Little Orphant Annie." Charmingly illustrated by Gertrude Elliot. I had a copy as a child in the 50s.
Ritchie, Rita, The Golden Hawks of
Khan, illustrated by
NY Dutton 1958. The first one could be this, here's a plot
has been told from infancy that Mongols slew his father
Darien, the greatest
hawker in the Empire, and stole the Golden Hawks-a spectacular
hunting bird Darien had perfected. Since then, the Mongols
relentlessly for the son of the slain hawker." Can't ID
any of the
others yet, but The Year of the Horse, same
illus, Dutton 1957, is "about the nomads of Mongolia".
We are thrilled and amazed. Yes, we're pretty sure this is the book! We are horrified at the going price for this book on ebay and the online book resellers but now we're on a mission to find it at a reasonable price!! Armed with the actual AUTHOR's name and the TITLE we're sure to succeed! This is just so GREAT. We gave you an obscure shot in the dark, and you came back with what we consider a small miracle. In barely two weeks !! LOL Thanks so much. Well worth the $2 !!!
F69 falconry genghis khan: Golden Hawks of Genghis Khan, by Rita Ritchie, NY Dutton 1958. More on the other titles wanted - some possibles: The Year of the Horse, by Ritchie, NY Dutton 1957, "Story of a Mongol boy in the year 1211 - The Year of the Horse. Botokai's father had been an honoured officer in the army of Genghis Khan, until his conviction as a traitor. Although his father had died in disgrace, the young boy was
determined to prove his father's innocence and restore his family honour." "Botokai's restoring of a weak colt provides him with a swift, half-Mongol half-Persian horse to help in his search for clues to right that wrong." Secret Beyond the Mountains, by Ritchie, NY Dutton 1960, 240 pages, "story of the days of Genghis Khan ... description of the great Mongol hunt. Because Taikal had violated the law by slaying a mysterious black-and-white monster to save the life of his superior officer, he lost his command. Taikal and his friend Yarkut journeyed to Lhasa, and in discovering the secret of the beast they also uncovered a plot to overthrow the empire of Genghis Khan."
Jennie Lindquist , The Golden Name
is a really long shot, but the cover does have the main
standing in her frilly dress with fireflies around her. Nancy
to live with her Swedish grandparents because her mother is ill.
about many Swedish customs, including name days. Since her name
she doesn't have a name day and feels left out. She meets a
and learns Polish-Americans celebrate name-days and that there
is a day
for her middle name--Wanda. There is also a quite a bit on how
her cousins decorate their rooms. Nancy chooses yellow rose
editions of this book have a pattern of yellow roses on the
Jennie Dorothea Lindquist, The Golden Name Day, 1955.
Wow, now I remember the Name Day stuff that everyone is talking about, but I wouldn't have made the connection with this book! This is so great! I didn't think this one would be solved so quickly. I looove this web site!
The book is probably The Golden
by Catherine Clarke. I think it was published by Clarke
if you need the details let me know as I have a copy at home.
The Golden Pine Cone, by Catharine Anthony Clark, illustrated by Clare Bice, published Toronto, Macmillan 1950, 182 pages. Bren and Lucy live with their parents in a log cabin in the woods. After Lucy finds a gold pine cone on its broken chain, and the wise dog Ooshka comes to live with them, they learn that they have entered Tekontha's kingdom, and can see the Spirit People and understand the speech of animals. Nasookin the giant hunter is after the pine cone, because it holds some of Tekontha's magic, and the children have to flee. To get the Pine Cone Earring back to Tekontha and to free Ooshka from the Spirit People, the children go underwater and fight the Lake Snake, fly with the Canada geese (who carry them in a net), are captured by Nasookin and escape, meet old Bill Buffer who made the gold pine cones, ride with the reindeer, and escape from the Ice Witch on mammoth-back.
This sounds like Rutherford Montgomery's Golden Stallion series
||See what I have for sale on the Horse Catalog Page.|
Mr Leakey, 1944.
I don't know if the searcher is looking for the anthology or the
but if it's the latter this might help. I recently bought
Puffin copy of My Friend Mr.Leakey by JBS
which contains 6 stories including the one mentioned: Rats; The snake with the golden teeth; A meal with a magician; A day in the life of a magician; Mr Leakey's party; and My magic collar stud. The book was first published in 1937 and then was published in 1944 as one of the earliest 'Puffin' books.
Untermeyer, Bryna & Louis, Golden treasury of Children's Literature: Volume 6: Unfamiliar Marvels. 1962, copyright. I posted the stumper originally. I found a copy of the anthology with the Leakey extract. It didn't have any Tolkein, so I guess I was thinking of another book for that. The book store also had 2 copies of the Puffin edition of the entire Leakey book, although I already had a much earlier edition.
No doubt you're referring to Jane Werner's Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies illustrated by Garth Williams. It was originally published in 1951, reprinted in 1999, and out-of-print again. It's a high demand item. See Most Requested Books for more.
This may be Joanna Cole, Golly Gump
a Fly. Parent's Magazine Press, '82.
Could this be Shel Silverstein, Uncle Shelby's Zoo: Don't Bump the Glump and other Fantasies? It has drawings and poems of creatures like the "Glub-Toothed Sline" and the "One-Legged Zantz" ("consider his feelings, don't ask him to dance"). 1964. Out of print.
Real long shot here - Romper the Rabbit 1948, illustrated picture book by Ann Falconer. "This picture book has both the story and the music. Romper is a little bunny who lives with his family in a hollow tree. He hops through the pages with his sisters and brother. But while the other family members all go hoppity-hop, Romper goes ga-lump, ga-lump! During Romper's busy day he meets Fannie Field Mouse, Dickie Duck, Pookey Pig, and Uncle Puff and tries to find someone else who goes ga-lump, ga-lump!"
This is Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth
Enright. There's a sequel called Return to Gone
The children don't travel back in time--they go to stay with
in the country and while exploring discover a community of old,
summer homes. An elderly brother and sister live in two of the
and wear the old clothes they've found there. The children
with the old people, who tell them stories of their childhood,
would spend their summers in the now-deserted summer community.
I just have to tell you that I stumbled on your website completely by accident. I had been thinking about a book I read as a child. All I could remember was that it was about a girl on summer vacation and she came across a lake with old houses, and elderly people lived there still. I believe they had been forgotten. So I decided to go on my search engine and punch in the words 'childrens book girl summer lake elderly'. Much to my surprise up came your website. Someone else had been looking for Gone Away Lake too! I was thrilled to find the name! I just wanted to tell you that you made someone's day without even knowing it! Thank you very much.
this book is readily available. It is one of the choices on the Accelerated Reading Program on the middle school level and can be found in any school library or any bookstore which stocks books for required reading in schools.
children's mystery which I read around 1959. I think it was a new book and possibley an award winner. It concerns two children who meet two elderly people in a victorian house deep in a forest. The plot somehow involves the search for ginseng roots also referred to as "sang" in the book.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away
1957. Almost certainly this book. Cousins Portia and
an elderly brother and sister living in old abandoned houses on
of a dried-up lake. I don't remember ginseng but "Aunt
Minnehaha" had a
garden in the swamp. They both dressed in old Victorian
and "Uncle Pin" drove an ancient automobile. In the sequel, Return
Gone-Away (1961), Portia's family buys a house at
Lake and moves there.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone Away Lake. 1957. This was, indeed, a Newbery Award winner.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone Away Lake. Brother and sister on vacation in country find elderly brother and sister living in a set of abandoned summer homes by the edge of what was a lake at the turn of the century and is now a marsh. The elderly gentleman collects and sells botanicals including ginseng.
The Lost Lake????? 1960/61 When I was in the sixth grade, living in Philadelphia, I checked a book out of the school library (it was a brand new book). It was about two children (brother & sister?) who spend the summer with relatives ( Grandparents?) at a lakeside home. Only the lake has disappeared, it has dried up or is drying up. All of these beautiful old victorian mansions lining a disappearing lake and the children try to solve the mystery of where the water has gone.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away Lake,
1957. Newbery Honor Book.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone-away Lake. Same as C194
Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away Lake
Gone-Away Lake. This one sure shows up a lot!
|Enright, Elizabeth. Gone-Away Lake. Scholastic, Inc., 1985. Softcover, VG-. <SOLD>||
(GREAT SERVICE!! One of my favorite
I believe the story you are talking about is in an early 60's
volume of folk tales. The name of the story in this collection
is Gone. The husband puts the cow on the roof to eat
to make soup. He ends up with a disastrous mess. I
Look it up : )
Hi, I was searching for information on another book on the Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University website, and came across this book title and description. I think it might be what you're looking for. The title is Gone is Gone; or, The story of a man who wanted to do housework. The description reads: "A man wishes to trade a day's work with his wife who does 'nothing' all day. He soon learns he was wrong." Retold and illustrated by Wanda Gág New York, Coward-McCann, inc. [c1935]
Oh, Wanda Gag (of Millions of Cats fame)! Of course!
What a wonderful site! I am looking for a story about a husband and wife who swap places for the day. The husband stays at home and has to do all the household chores etc.. I don't remember the title, but it was in a collection of stories. I used to make my father read it to me every night before bed. One thing I remember most is that the husband ties the cow to the roof of the house to graze. Any thoughts??
|Gag, Wanda. Gone is Gone, or, The Story of a Man Who Wanted to Do Housework. Coward McCann, 1935. Library bound and worn. Scarce. G. <SOLD>||
W15: The Good American Witch by Peggy Bacon.
|Bacon, Peggy. The Good American Witch. Franklin Watts, 1957. First edition. Corners bumped, otherwise VG. <SOLD>|
This is probably the reading series known as The Good-Companion Books, by Arthur I. Gates, Franklin T. Baker and Celeste Peardon; illustrated by Florence McAnelly. New York: Macmillan, 1930's. There were at least four volumes: Nick and Dick, Fun with Nick and Dick, The story book of Nick and Dick, and The Caravan of Nick and Dick. Probably just as hard to find as Dick and Jane!
no plot, but maybe this one? Though '63
late for blocks of ice: Rutherford, Bonnie and Bill. A
Good Morning (A Tip Top Tales Book) Racine: Whitman
boards, gorgeous color illustrations, This title is
closer, but it's
a boy character: Polgreen, John and Cathleen. Good
Mr Sun (A Little Owl Book) NY Holt, Rinehart and
illustrated boards, "story about sun, shadows and a little boy"
#G11--Good Morning, Sun: I thought of A Good, Good Morning too. It does indeed feature a little blond girl, but looking through my copy I see it takes place in summer--so no school books and certainly no ice trucks!
Thanks. This book IS called A Good, Good Morning. I have been looking for it for years. Thank you for your contributions!
This book may have been "Grimms
Check it out, and compare the stories in it to the ones you
know "Puss and Boots" and "The Frog Prince" are in the copy I
the 1960's, although my copy is a green hardback, not a gray
A16 is NOT Child's World gray series.
Well, if I knew when the seeker was young (70s? 80s?) it would help. However, it has to be an anthology not limited to Grimm or Andersen, so possible are: Opie, Iona and Peter A NURSERY COMPANION Oxford University Press, 1980. Gray Cloth, Folio 400 color illustrations, a collection of the old fairy tales and children's stories beautifully illustrated. THE ARTHUR RACKHAM FAIRY BOOK A Book Of Old Favourites With New Illustrations Philadelphia, Lippincott c.1950 8vo 286 pp. Gray cloth, maroon stamping, 8 full-color plates and over 50 black & white illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
The Good Housekeeping Best Book of Bedtime Stories, edited by Pauline Rush Evans (1957) has a gray cover. It is a thick volume with 384 pages. It is not lavishly illustrated, rather there is one black and white picture per story. The tales you mentioned are here as well as a smattering of many other stories: Androcles and the Lion, The Brownie of Blednock, Winnie the Pooh, The Lost Merbaby, Sudden Mary: many stories are excerpted from larger stories. There are some poems as well.
Sounds like it could be the same book as A15. Dean's Gift Book of Fairy Tales.
You are right in thinking that this is a Little Golden Book. It was written in 1951 by Esther Wilkin and illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.
As a child (1970's)I remember reading a book about a good little girl and a bad little girl. I think it was a Golden Book, but it may not have been. At the end of the book the two girls turn out to be the same little girl. I remember a couple of illustrations where the girl is having a tea party outdoors, and one where she is standing on a fence. I do not know the actual title or the author. Any ideas?
G41 could possibly by , What the
What the Sun Sees by Nancy Tafuri. It
within the last several years.
this book is a flip flop book i think thats what it is called. any help in locating this one or even the title would sure be a great help
[related message] Around 1913, Rand McNally published The Goody-Naughty Book by Sarah Cory Rippey, illustrated by Branchel Fisher Wright. On one side are the goody stories -- featuring Rose-Red, Polly, Teddy & Betty -- on the other side the naughty stories -- with Willie, Molly, Jean & P'rapsy. It was reprinted several times through 1935. Originally published in tan, there are also (at least) green and light blue covers. They also published by the same author The Sunny-Sulky Book. Rand McNally also published another book called The Goody Naughty Book. It was a tip-top elf book, published 1956 by Mabel Watts, illustrated by Helen Prickett. It also has a "Goody Side" and a "Naughty Side". The "Goody" cover shown in Santi's collectors' guide has a broadly smiling boy and a demonically smirking -- er, smiling little girl in pigtails.
thanks though that is not the book it's an up-side down book about a girl and boy i remember how the girl gets to take a bubbly bath and the boy has a plain bath. one side was all yellow andthe other was blue with stars and the title thanks again. this book would have come out beofre 1970 since im 30 now thanks
On the Good Morning, Good Night book, there is a Little Golden Book of that title by Jane Werner, illustrated by Eloise Wilkin, 1948. Not a flipover book, but seems to fit the description in other ways.
This sounds possible: Luther, Frank, Good Morning and Good Night: a Two-in-One Wonder Book Wonder Books 1952, illustrated by Beatrice Derwinski "Read a story then turn upside down for another story. Tells about two children, what they do when they wake up and what they do when they go to bed." color illustratrions.
thanks so much that is the book and i was able to find it and now a have a copy of it again!!!!! thank you for all your help this is a great site and i hope to use it again!!!!!
Betty Ren Wright, Good Morning Farm,
c. 1965. Published by Golden Press.
Betty Ren Wright, Good Morning, Farm, 1964. Illustrated by Fred Weinman. Seems a likely candidate, mixing drawings and photos. May be a few different printings: 1964 Whitman giant tell-a-tale book. 1971, 1974 Golden
S220 Wright, Betty Ren. Good morning, farm. illus by Fred Weinman, Whitman c1964. collie? sheltie? dog goes around the farm saying "Good morning" to all the animals. photos mixed with colored art. 11 1/2 x 14; glossy boards, Giant Tell-a-Tale.
R27 - I have the vaguest memory of
read this, too. I don't remember the name of it, but are
it was a separate book? I almost think it was one of the
in a larger collection.
R27 ratty and mousie: this seems very likely - Good Neighbors, written and illustrated in color by Diane Redfield Massie, published McGraw Hill Weekly Readers 1972, 32 pages. "An enchanting exploration of neighborliness, and how two friends, Mouse and Ratty, learn its true meaning and application. Ages 4-8." (HB Oct/72 p.504 pub ad) "Story of a pocket mouse that lives in the desert in a nice cozy little home underground. Then a packrat moves in next door & imposes himself."
I think I remember seeing this in two
- at any rate, you can also read it in Goops and How to
Them (1900, Gelett Burgess). They were Better Homes and Gardens Storybook, Vol 1 (1950s) and The
Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature (1970s?). The second one, when you removed the dust jacket, had a pale blue cover with tiny reproductions of the drawings of Alice, Humpty Dumpty, Toad and maybe another famous character, all repeated constantly over the cover.
G36: Goops Try GHASTLIES, GOOPS & PINCUSHIONS; NONSENSE VERSE by X.J. Kennedy
G36 - I'm sure you'll get numerous answers for this one. Has to be one of the Goops books by Gelett Burgess (e.g., The Goops and How To Be Them).
This is an old traditional book that is still in print in paperback & audio cassette. The title is (yes, all of this if you want to include the subtitle): Goops and How to Be Them: A Manual of Manners for Polite Children Inculcating Many Juvenile Virtues Both By Precept and Example. To add to all of that, there was also a sequel that's also in print & with a similarly long title: More Goops and How Not to Be Them: A Manual of Manners for Impolite Infants, Depicting the Characteristics of Many Naughty and Thoughtless Children. Note that the 1st title says HOW TO BE THEM while the sequel says HOW NOT TO BE THEM. Both are by Gelett Burgess.
The Goops is a poem about a messy family.... I remember this, as does my fiance, and we're pretty sure that it was an entire book, not just a single poem. It had as its goal demonstrating to youngsters how gross and rude it was to do nasty things like pick one's nose or burp. My fiance's in his late thirties, I'm in my early thirties, so it has to at least be a 1950 or 1960 publication. I seem to remember it as something that might have been read to my father, as I recall reading it at my grandmother's house. Hope this helps. If I can find it, I'll send more info.
The Goops give some good book advice too: I have a notion / The Books on the shelves / Are just as much persons / As we are, Ourselves. // When you are older, / You'll find this is true; / You'd better be careful / To make Books like you!
This is one of the grimmer Grimm tales
Not exactly an intuitive title, as everyone who reads the story
Falada's head nailed to the wall. The deliciously nasty
involves the princess and her maid traveling to a new household,
the trip, the princess's maid assumes the princess's
a copy? We have a number of cool Grimm's
Thank you for your help in solving the mystery! I re-read it and it was therapeutic -- for some reason, I was horrified at the thought of passing a dead horse's head (not to mention having it speak to me) when I was little.
There are at least three! Patty Cake by Elizabeth Moody, 80 pp., published 1974. Gorilla Baby: the Story of Patty Cake by Pearl Wolf, 32 pp., published 1974. Gentle Gorilla: the Story of Patty Cake by Susan Kohn Green, 303 pp., published 1978. The book by Wolf says it is illustrated with black and white photographs.
Could be The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise
by Leonard Weisgard. A Big Golden Book, 1947.
No, it's not The Golden Egg Book - that one is about a little bunny who was all alone, and found an egg. He wondered what was inside the egg. Then it cracked, and out popped a baby chick. And they lived happily ever after.
Grandpa Bunny (Walt Disney Golden Book), 1951.
I must be getting confused in my old age (or with all these stumpers!): yes, it's definately Grandpa Bunny Bunny. There's both a Little Golden Book and a Big Golden Book version of it. Check out the Most Requested Page.
My "Stumper" is a children's book (I think it was a Golden Book) about bunny rabbits who were Easter Bunnies. One of the characters was Grandpa Bunny Bunny. It had pictures of the bunnies coloring beautiful easter eggs. Then one of the bunnies, a girl bunny, delivered the eggs. Can you help me? It was a book I read to my little brother and then to my kids in the 60's. I would like to read the story to my grandchildren but I lost the book.
I think you're confusing two books, actually. Your keyword,
Bunny magic shoes, refers to Dubois
Country Bunny and The Little Gold Shoes.
But the description you write is definately for Grandpa
Bunny Bunny. Both have more info on other
pages, follow the links for each.
C91 The book is GRANDPA'S FARM
and illustrated by James Flora, 1965. Grandpa tells tall
his farm. One of them is "The Terrible Winter '36". There is
indeed a picture
of a man, his gun, his bullet and a bear all being frozen in
~from a librarian
There are several 'tall tales' about cold days in the mountains, including the frozen bullet and frozen shout stories. I believe I've seen a children's book similar to the one described, but I'm not sure if it was a single story or collection of tall tales. It might be this one - McBroom's Ghost, by Sid Fleischman, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg, published New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1971 Weekly Reader, unpaginated, "The ghost comes
a-haunting when an "uncommon cold winter" sets in, though it is "not so cold that an honest man would tell fibs about it." That being said, farmer Josh McBroom does have a tendency to stretch the truth quite a bit. He, his
wife and eleven children are amusing characters."
Grandpa's Farm, written and illustrated by James Flora, published Harcourt 1965, 32 pages. "Grandpa, the farmer, is almost as tall as a tree, but not quite so tall as the wildly preposterous tales he spins for little boys. He tells of the great wind of '34 that blew him a fine blue barn; of Grandma's cow salve that could make anything grow, from cows' tails to cornstalks; of the miraculous productions of Little Hatchy Hen; and of the terrible winter when conversation froze in the air and remained unheard until summer." (Horn Book Oct/65 p.498)
Philip Turner, The Grange at High
Colonel Sheperton's Clock.
Philip Turner wrote these and possibly others, published by
Press. I think they may be the ones
You might try CHORISTER'S CAKE and A SWARM IN MAY by William Mayne. I haven't read them for a long time, but they definitely take place in a choristers' school.
Philip Turner, Colonel Sheperton's Clock, The Grange at High Force, Sea Peril, War on the Darnel, Skull Island. The series referred to is definitely by Philip Turner. It is called Darnley Mills. Details can be found on the web by using a search engine and typing in "Philip Turner Darnley Mills". There are 9 books in all
I sent in the query about choirboys and their adventures. As soon as I saw the note that they were The Grange at High Force and Colonel Sheperton's Clock by Philip Turner I knew that was the answer (somebody has suggested another alternative as well). Thanks again, it's a great idea and service! And my colleague tells me you will be featured on NPR tomorrow morning, so I hope it goes well and you enjoy the experience.
V9: Easy as pie. It's The Story of
by Frances Browne from her book Granny's
Wonderful Chair (1857).
You can read the whole book online, and the Fairyfoot
story. Prince Fairyfoot is made an outcast because of his
he falls in with the fairies and discovers a princess from
who is burdened with magically overgrown feet. They both
discover the magic
as to how to change back and forth according to which country
I know it well because I have the My Book House
Olive Beaupre Miller) and the story is in vol. 2 or 3 - at least
particular edition. They kept changing. Very beautifully
though not with a lot of color in the illustrations - they
it that much.
Finaly, V9 - This story is actually by Frances Hodgson Burnett, not Frances Browne and is available in The Racketty-Packetty House and Other Stories.
Re the last entry - I didn't read Racketty-Packetty House, but Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in 1849
and the above link will tell you that Granny's Wonderful Chair was written in 1857, and My Book House also claims the Fairyfoot story comes from GWC. (Frances Browne died in 1879.) What this says about RPH, I don't know - maybe Burnett wrote some of it and helped pick the rest of the stories?
V9: Mystery solved. In the preface to RPH, it says: "Fairyfoot came from a story Mrs. Burnett read and
loved as a child, in a book called Granny's Wonderful Chair, written by a blind Irishwoman, Frances Browne, in 1856. Being unable to find a copy she rewrote it from memory, adding many delightful touches of her own". So far, I've only skimmed the Burnett - but I think the original is better, IMHO.
Thank you, very much! It has been such a relief to put a name to that story.
This may be it: Ruth Reuther, Gray
Circus Horse (Houghton Mifflin, 1970)
I finally got a copy of Gray C: Circus Horse by Ruth Reuther off the web (question C61) and you nailed it on the head! Thanks so much! I've been trying to remember that one and get a copy for years! Thank again!
I'd forgotten all about this book until I
the query, but this sounds like one I read when I was
probably Scholastic Book Service, and it had three friends or siblings. They turned into animals, and their quests
made them face their worst fears. One of the girls turned into a cat, and I remember she found a magic ring and had to carry it in her mouth because she had no hands. I think it was called STONE MAGIC. Aha! It was Gray Magic by Andre Norton (and on the cover it said, original title Steel Magic). And here I never knew I had read Andre Norton!
Margaret Lovett, The Great and
a wonderful story that I've kept since my childhood. The
starts: "Silver hidden in the gold, young man hidden in the
lord with weeping eyes"--a few lines of this mysterious
verse and a
golden ring are the only cludes the boy and the old man have as
out on the great and terrible quest in a moving and suspenseful
the finest tradition of fantasy. There are various copies
online, and to my surprise they are mostly very expensive!
must treasure this book too! Enjoy. Now I'll read my
for the umpteenth time. <g>
LOVETT Margaret, Great and terrible quest. Complete rhyme is - Silver hidden in the gold/ Young man hidden in the old/ Laughing lord with weeping eyes/ Bring king and ring before sunrise.
S131 silver hidden in gold: could this be The Great and Terrible Quest, by Margaret Lovett? (See R36 for details) It is set in a medievaloid world and features a lost heir and a mysterious verse that provides clues.
I can't remember the title, author, etc. I used to borrow it from the library and I know the alphabetical section I got it from meant the author was between G and L in the alphabet... It was about a boy who went on some kind of journey to find a ring which had to be matched with another ring, the whereabouts of which he didn't know, but in the end turned out to be hidden in the inlay of the musical instrument (lute?) which he carried with him. I seem to remember some of the decoration on the lute (?) was an ivory rose. The setting was kind of mediaeval, I think. The book must have been written before the mid-70s, was hardback and I have the vague remembrance of the cover being pale in colour, with a dustjacket, and a musical instrument as its illustration, just a line drawing, maybe.
Not 100% sure because I'm just going with
book summary, but maybe the title or details will ring a bell. THE
& TERRIBLE QUEST by Margaret Lovett,
pages. Summary reads that a young boy mistreated by his
off on a quest with a man who has lost his memory. All they have
to help them are a ring and a verse.
A slightly different summary of the Lovett book: "Set in the middle ages, a quick-witted orphan, abused by his grandfather, risks his life to care for a wounded knight who is on a quest but can't remember what he is searching
I saw the cover of Great and Terrible Quest on Ebay, and it is a sketchy drawing of a lute, in white, on a brown background, which does seem to match the description.
More info on the suggested title The Great and Terrible Quest, by Margaret Lovett, published Faber 1967, 170 pages. "A boy of ten, abusively treated by a robber-baronish grandfather and his band of hired killers, manages to escape with a dog and an injured knight, and all make their way to the City. The reader gradually realises, long before young Trad, that the boy is the true heir to the throne which must be claimed by entering the City gates between sunset and sunrise within a week of the old king's death. He is a nice child and his adventures should hold young readers, being a sort of endurance test of gruelling marches, climbs, struggles to keep the wounded man going and ending with a grand fight near the close. Lighter moments are provided by the fearful juggler the pair pick up while disguised as a minstrel and his granddaughter. The ingredients are familiar: wicked Lords Regent, a kind Wise Woman, an unfinished verse which provides a clue to those seeking the heir, a lost
ring - but they are well handled." (JB Apr/67 p.125)
Margaret Lovett, The Great and Terrible Quest. I concur with the other "answerers." This book is a favorite of mine, which I have read and re-read. The boy is named Trad, and early on he finds the ring and fits it into the inlay in an old lute he's found and repaired. The significance of both ring and lute become apparent toward the end of the story.
#F55--Frontier brothers' adventures:
suggest a look at Magical Melons, the sequel to Caddie
Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink. Set in
the 1860s, some of the adventures do concentrate on Caddie's two
Warren and Tom, and it's a wonderful book written at the same
time as the
House series and very much in that vein.
John D. Fitzgerald, The Great Brain, Me and My Little Brain, etc. 1967 - 1974, reprinted early 1980's as Dell paperbacks. Could the poster be thinking of the "Great Brain" series? They were set in frontier Utah in the 1890's, and although there were actually 3 brothers in the family (plus one adopted), the main characters were the narrator, John or "J.D." and his brother Tom. (Their older brother was away at school.) They had a lot of
adventurous episodes in each book. I think some public libraries still have these around.
No chance this is L. Frank Baum's A
Santa Claus (1904), is there? I never
actually read it,
can't compare the storylines.
I don't think I've read A Kidnapped Santa Claus either but I don't think that's it because I remember the book I'm looking for being reasonably modern - cars, escalators, etc etc. Thanks anyway!
Jean Van Leeuwen,The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper, 1975. I don't believe I've read this since circa the time it was first published, but it's still on my shelf next to its precursor, The Great Cheese Conspiracy, and still prominent enough in my psyche for me to instantaneously know exactly to what the inquiry was referring! Here's the blurb for The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper (my edition, incidentally, spells it Kidnaping, which is apparently a valid variant): "Settled in a toy department dollhouse for the winter, Marvin the Magnificent and his gang of mice, Fats and Raymond, make friends with the store's Santa Claus. The months ahead promise to be cozy and plentiful for the three mice--until one morning Santa disappears. Marvin suspects foul play, and he's right! In the rollicking tale that follows, he and his gang undertake the dangerous mission of solving the great Christmas kidnapping. Whether they're collecting clues, setting booby traps or embarking on zany rescue missions, Marvin, Fats and Raymond are a hilarious trio." Now I'm going to have to reread this! Fantastic website, by the way! I'm not being hyperbolic in saying it's an invaluable service to humankind. These books helped form us, and finding them again is to rediscover a long-lost part of ourselves.
Fabulous - that definitely sounds like it! I found one copy for $150 (Australian) so if you can find something cheaper that would be nice! Thanks a lot.
This may be Harold Goodwin, Top
Alligators (NY:Bradbury Press, 1975). My favorite
this urban legend is in Pynchon's V.
I was wrong in guessing that this is Top Secret: Alligators; it's probably Peter Lipman's The Great Escape or the Sewer Story (NY: Golden, '73), which is notably tall (12-15"). But I still say Pynchon's V has the best NYC alligators. (And I'm a NYC native.)
Wonderful! Thank you for your help. I did a quick web search on the titles that you suggested and found a site with a picture of the cover. The book is Peter Lipman's The Great Escape or the Sewer Story (NY: Golden, '73). Next logical question, do you have one or know where I can get one and at what cost?
Top Secret: Alligators! written and illustrated by Harold Goodwin, published Bradury Press 1974. "A comic escape story with the most unlikely heroes and heroines - the fabled alligators that live in the city sewers!
Beneath the warm humor is a lightly handled plea for all wild creaturs in these polluted times. Black and white illustrations. Ages 7-10." (HB Oct/74 p.17 pub ad)
This poster is describing Great
Fairy Tales illustrated by John Bauer. The
book was translated
by Holger Lundbergh and the tales were compiled by Elsa
It was published in 1973 by Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence.
Ha, the trolls should have tipped me off. (Not to mention the gloomy mood of the stories.) Maybe the moose (actually an elk) misguided me since I read it in Maine and thought maybe it had been written there! I see I was way off from the original dates - John Bauer died in 1918!
A6 - I guess it's always hard to find a specific anthology, but not so hard to find individual stories. The writer is looking for Leiningen Versus the Ants, a thriller that I remember anthologized in a high school collection. My local library has it in a collection called Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, ed by H.A Wise and Phyllis Fraser. The author is listed as Carol Stephenson. Thank you for a delightful website.
S53 Shark headed boy
This sounds like it could be THE GREAT WHITE MAN-EATING SHARK: A CAUTIONARY TALE by Margaret Mahy, 1990 The boy wants the cove to himself so he pretends to be a shark, but then a female shark comes along...
Thank you for thinking of me! I'm not certain this is the book, as I recall the boy didn't want to be a
shark, but his head was shaped like a shark. I'm going to try to interlibrary loan it to see if it is the one. Thank you so much for giving me this title.
The Great White Man Eating Shark: a Cautionary Tale by Margaret Mahy, published Scholastic, "Norvin is a boy who looks like a shark. When he straps a homemade dorsal fin to his back, all the other swimmers run for the beach. He loves having the water to himself - until a real man eating shark comes along!"
it would be too easy for G7 to be Go
Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley. A color
book with cut outs and the monster that appears and disappears
Thanks for your response...I might not have been too specific with my request. Green-eyed Monster is about a young girl working at a fish cannery for a summer (assuming Pacific Northwest) and some of her adventures. I also seem to remember she is helping care for some younger children, and they come down with diptheria, and how she nurses them back to health! (This part I'm not to sure of, could be confusing it with another story!) I loved this story...I'm sure when I got it, as most of my favorite
books from my youth, the book fair from Weekly Reader! (also where I found Magic Elizabeth, The Velvet Room, and On Your Toes Suzy!) And you can still by reprints in paperback of Magic Elizabeth. Once again, your website is a real treasure! I thank you for trying to help me restore memories of a very happy childhood, made complete by these wonderful stories! There is a special place in heaven's library for you!
This has to be Green Eyes by Jean Nielsen. It is about a high school senior in the Pacific Northwest who wants to be a journalist. She works for the town paper, babysits for kids, and nurses one through diphtheria. There wasn't a fish cannery in the story, but her dad did work at a logging camp. The green eyes in the title did refer to jealousy. It is a good book and did come out in a Scholastic paperback or one of those other paperback series.
That sounds like the story...any ideas where I can find it?
If the poster is looking for the other book she might have confused with Green Eyes, it could be A Girl Called Chris by Marg Nelson, in which Chris spends her summer working at a fish cannery. This was a book-fair paperback of the same era.
Change the green egg to a green ring, and
sounds very much like The Magician's Nephew by CS
R8 is definetely The Magician's Nephew. This book isn't remotely like The Magician's Nephew.
Green Egg may be The Green Futures of Tycho by William Sleator, E.P. Dutton, 1981. In this book, Tycho Tithonus finds a silver egg in his garden that transports him through time, where he meets his frightening future self.
I just wanted to write to you and tell you how much I appreciate your site of Solved Mysteries. Normally, I don't send emails to webmasters unless I have problems with their page, but I am just so ecstatic about finding the
title and author of a book I have been searching the internet for hours trying to locate. Apparently I have been searching for the book the Green Futures of Tycho by William Sleator. I have spent roughly 5 hours each week for the last two weeks looking for this book I was really getting frustrated and depressed about not finding a book I knew I had read in grade school. I finally happened to type in the right phrase on NorthernLight.com and up popped your website (I tried the same phrase on Yahoo later and it didn't come up there, so I am glad I was on NL.com). Also, I have done a little research and discovered I have read 3 or 4 more of his books and remember enjoying them greatly too. Thanks so much for the help! Very soon I'll be off to the bookstore to see if I can buy these books.
I am looking for an older child book featuring a character named Tycko. He was named after a famous scientist and has several siblings named Ludwig and other famous names. Does this sound familiar?
This is William Sleator's Green
of Tycho (NY:Dutton,1981). Sleator's son, Tycho,
grew up to be
Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Green Sky
1971, 1976, 1977. It's just a _different_ fine children's
:) Below the Root: "When
is surprisingly chosen to join the priestly class of Ol-zhaan
uses his telepathic abilities to discover some dangerous secrets
the governing body to the land of Green-sky" And
"When her father asks her to give up her pet laban for food,
of the Erdlings who live underground, flees, falling into the
the Ol'zhaan, who take her to the world above
the Celebration: "Resistant to their forced union,
the Kindar of
Green-sky and the Erdlings are shocked when their disappointment
is capped off by the disappearance of the Holy Children, Pomma
Sounds like Below the Root by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. The people lived in a magic land underground and were able to fly from tree to tree. Very beautiful and surreal. I believe there may be more than one in the series.
#F106--Flying people living in trees: Below the Root, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Sequels are And All Between and Until the Celebration.
G35 is definitely The Green Ginger
Clara Ingram Judson wrote The Green Ginger Jar, a mystery set in Chicago's Chinatown concerning the contents of a ginger jar. I haven't read it, but if you can't find a copy I do have one and can look to see if it's anything like the story described.
There is a book The Green Ginger Jar, A Chinatown Mystery by Clara Judson, Houghton Mifflin, 1949. I was thinking of a Phylis Whitney, but this might be the one.
How about The Green Ginger Jar by Clara Ingram Judson, illustrated by Paul Brown, published Houghton Mifflin, 1949, 210 pages. "A story of modern Chinatown in Chicago. Ai-Mei and her brother, Lu Chen, feel themselves to be Americans first and Chinese second. In their conflicts with the older members of the family (particularly their grandmother), the reader gets a good picture of the traditional Chinese way of living ..." (cited in Good Books for Children, 1946-61 Eakins, 1962)
I have an answer to G8 in your Stump the
page. The book *is* titled Green Smoke and is by
Manning. Originally published by Constable in 1957. My
a Puffin published in England in 1967 and reprinted at least 4
flyleaf also mentions "Dragon in Danger" and "The Dragon's
I assume are part of the series.
Could this be Rosemary Manning's Green Smoke (c1957)? It's listed in an online library catalogue with the subject headings "Dragons" and "England--Fiction".
I remember this book quite vividly from my childhood. It is indeed called Green Smoke. It was written by Elizabeth Manning, and has a copyright date of 1957.
A39 sound like the version of the Grimm
tales I had in the 50s
A39 (again!) the Grimm story about the old woman who lives at the bottom of the well and shakes out her eiderdown to make it snow is 'Mother Holly' (or 'Frau Holle'). Two sisters (or possibly half or step-sisters) visit the well, the good one is kind and does everything right and comes back dropping gold coind every time she speaks or combs her hair, the bad sister is sent by her mother to get rich too and is rude and lazy and when she comes back nasty things come out of her hair or mouth (some aspects of this are similar to 'Diamonds and Toads' another Grimm tale with slightly different begining but ending with the 2 sisters speaking diamonds and other jewels (the good one, of course!) or toads and other nasty creatures.
The following GRIPS plays
translated into English, according to the London
All in Stitches (Heile, heile Segen). Tr. Roy Kift; Alles Plastik Von Volker Ludwig and Detlef Michel; Banana By Rainer Hachfeld and Reiner Lücker. Tr. Jack Zipes; Bizzy, Dizzy, Daffy and Arthur(Balle, Malle, Hupe und Artur); Boy oh Boy (Mannomann) By Volker Ludwig; Don't Be Daft (Mensch Mädchen) Tr. Roy Kift; Don't Lump It (Mannomann) Tr. Peter Gilbert; Herbie and the Broken Robot (Trummi kaputt) Tr. and adapted by Baerbel and Ken Rugg; Julie, What is Wrong? (Jule was ist los?) By Jörg Friedrich and Thomas Ahrens. Tr. Peter Gilbert; Line One (Linie eins) The Magic Grandad(Kannst du zaubern, Opa?) by Stefan Reisner and Rainer Hachfeld. Tr. Roy Kift; Man oh Man (Mannomann); Mister Robinson's Party (Ein Fest bei Papadakis) By Volker Ludwig and Christian Sorge. Tr. Roy Kift. Mugnog (Mugnog-Kinder); The Mugnog Kids (Mugnog-Kinder) By Rainer Hachfeld. Tr. Roy Kift. Operation Pollpoppa Tr. Roy Kift; Papadakis Throws a Party(Ein Fest bei Papadakis) Tr. Gerhard Fischer and Olav Reinhardt. Shtockerlock and Millipilli (Stokkerlok und Millipilli) By Rainer Hachfeld and Volker Ludwig. Tr. Helen Mayer-Hajek; Stronger than Superman(Stärker als Supermann) By Roy Kift; Things That Go Bump in the Night. Tr. Roy Kift. Trummi Kaput; What Can Be Done(Mannomann) By Volker Ludwig. Tr. Norbert J. Mayer and Chris Westwood.
G29 sounds as if it is Nicholas Fisk
- fairly sure Grinny is an alien 'nanny'
G29 I've got Grinny by Nicholas Fisk (London, Heinemann, 1973) at my desk here. It's written in diary format. Grinny is Great Aunt Emma, who smiles all the time. She comes to stay with the family without warning. Grinny
avoids electricity. Beth sees her break a wrist, revealing steel bones and skin that heals over while she watches. They see a UFO and find Grinny lying in bed with open eyes, grinning and glowing. Eventually they discover
that she is an alien "wearing" an artificial human body, come to prepare for an invasion. Couldn't find a scene where she takes off her face, though her whole body is disassembled right at the end. She does purposely break a finger to show the narrator how she heals.
Finally I was able to get this book through our inter library loan system and it is the right one, Thank you very much!!! My friend was really excited.
Burke, Anne Parks, A Groovy Guide to
Your Room, Signet/NAL,
My copy is a paperback cover shows a girl in bell-bottoms
on a ladder putting up some type of rectangular pattern (shape
to a door) over flowered wallpaper. Interior has line
First section discusses four types of rooms -- "way out,"
feminine" (four-poster with flowered spread and curtains, a
over a circular table, even a hanging wicker seat with flowered
a studio (black-and-white stripes and designs, including zebra
or "vivaciously Victorian." Various sections of the book tell
how to make
pillows, stencils, wall plaques, etc. Illustrator is Luciana.
possibly Lone Hunter's Gray Pony
by Donald Worcester, New York, Oxford University Press
Fort Worth, Texas Christian University Press 1985, Illustrated
Pauley. 8vo., "Lone Hunter's pony is stolen by Kiowas. Risking
Lone Eagle stalks the Kiowas to their camp and reclaims his
and as he flees home he is able to warn his people of an
about another boy, but in one of the sequels "Lone Hunter and
"After capture Lone Hunter and friend Buffalo Boy escape and
way home, being confronted by a grizzly and many hardships."
#B75--Brave, his pony and his friend: Lone Hunter's Gray Pony, by Donald Worcester (1956) does include a stolen horse, but not so sure about any of the other plot elements. Definitely not Indian Two Feet and His Horse, by Margaret Friskey, to save you the trouble of even trying that one.
#B75--Brave, his pony, and his friend: Sanderson, William E. Horses are for Warriors. Caldwell, ID: Caxton, 1954. 1st. The dustwrapper art, pictorial endpapers, full color frontispiece & 15 black & white interiors are by Pers Crowell. A tale of the Shoshone & the Nez Perce before the arrival of Lewis & Clark. This portrait of the horse-oriented plains culture is one of the best. This is the story of a Nez Perce boy living in the Wallowa Valley (now Oregon) concerned that his horse would be stolen by Shoshones. Since the above url (see camera icon above) shows the dustwrapper, it could be useful in determining if this is NOT the book you seek.
Another possibility is Groundhog's Horse, by Joyce Rockwood, drawings by Victor Kalin, published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1978, 114 pages. From dustjacket: Joyce Rockwood has written vividly and beautifully about the Cherokees before. This warm, amusing novel, which takes place in 1750, shows the same brilliance, but with a lighter touch. It is about Groundhog, a young Cherokee boy, and his horse, Midnight. Midnight is a most unusual horse, so Groundhog tells everyone. But since Midnight is neither a fast runner nor seems remarkable in any way, everyone in Frogtown laughs at him. One day, Midnight is stolen by the Creeks in a raid on Frogtown. No one thinks Midnight is worth rescuing so Groundhog decides to find him by himself. This is the story of Groundhog's adventures as he makes his way to and from Rabbit-town over enemy terrain and Dismal Places... Joyce Rockwood is from Georgia and is married to an anthropologist (she studied anthropology as well). She and her husband have immersed themselves in the culture and history of the Indians of the South. Her previous novels about Cherokees - Long Man's Song and To Spoil the Sun, won acclaim. The latter was an ALA Notable book of 1976 and an International Reading Association honor book.
A little more information on the 1978 title Groundhog's Horse, by J.Rockwood, illustrated by V. Kalin, 116 pages. "Groundhog is a Cherokee Indian who has to try to rescue his own horse from the Creek Indians when it is stolen because everyone else refuses to do so. Groundhog is greatly helped in his attempt by Duck, another Cherokee, who has been stolen from his tribe and adopted by a Creek family. Against great odds they finally win through and are re-united with their families." (Junior Bookshelf Dec/80 p.297)
The Growing Summer, Noel
May 1994, reprint. Did a simple search on Google and found
is the Synopsis: The Gareth children are shipped off to Great
who lives wild in an extraordinary half-ruin in Ireland. Here
not only expected to look after themselves, they also discover
have company - a mysterious boy who announces that he is on the
children hide him from his pursuers - but who are they? And who
boy? The children are determined to find out...
Streatfeild, Noel, Magic Summer
That is the title itself!. It is very
to find, but I have had it before. The text is in green
Coffin, Patricia. Gruesome Green Witch. Illustrated by Peter Parnall.
hi, i've been trying to find a book that i read in 6th grade. my friend and i can only remember a few things, we dont know the author or the title but this is what we do know. the characters went thru a closet, there was a witch in this forest and if the characters looked at her back they would turn into
something and the last thing we remember is that the book was printed in green. i know this is not alot to go on but i would appreciate any ideas you may have.
Wow, I think of several different books with the closet and witch
but the only one I know printed in green is Patricia Coffin's
More on The Gruesome Green Witch, by Patricia Coffin, illustrated by Peter Parnall, published by Walker 1969, 85 pages, text printed in green ink, illustrations in black, white and green. "Two schoolgirls, Puffin and Mole, discover a magic land entered through a closet. They have various adventures, do their homework in Merlin's concentration cave, where answers are caught as they bounce off walls, attend an undersea party presided over by Neptune, with Cinderella, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy among the revellers, then Puffin incurs the wrath of the villainous, gruesome green witch (who turns her enemies into statues) by seeing her back, and Puffin's brother is captured when the girls bring him into the land so he can profit from the concentration cave. But eventually the witch is conquered by a magic brew which Puffin slips into her tea, and melts down into a pile of green rags." (School Library Journal Book Review 1969-70 p.49) This does seem to match what's recalled.
S188 Spencer, Louise Reid. Guerrilla
pictorial endpapers of couple in jungle, People's Book Club,
Philippines - guerrillas; World War 2 - Pacific; WW2
The book this person is thinking of is THE
GUNNIWOLF retold by Willhelmina Harper and
Wiesner, 1967. It is out of print. (Just in case the
person is interested,
another version THE GUNNYWOLF [note the spelling
in title] retold and illustrated by A. Delaney, 1988 is
in print. The little girl doesn't sing the "kumquat" song, but
sings the alphabet.) ~from a librarian
Wilhelmina Harper, Gunniwolf, 1967.
That's an easy one for me; I liked it as a kid too. In
the wind gets strong here and blows open the door open, I
"Hello, Gus." Although sometimes I say "Hello,
a series of them:
Gus and the Baby Ghost, by Jane Thayer. Illustratedby Seymour Fleishman. Morrow, 1972.
Gus Loved his Happy Home, Jane Thayer ; Illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Linnet Books, 1989.
Gus was a Christmas Ghost, by Jane Thayer. Illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Morrow, 1969.
Gus was a Friendly Ghost, by Jane Thayer. Illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Morrow, 1962.
Gus was a Gorgeous Ghost, by Jane Thayer. Illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Morrow, 1978.
Gus was a Mexican Ghost, by Jane Thayer. Illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Morrow, 1974.
Gus was a Real Dumb Ghost, by Jane Thayer. Illustrated by Joyce Audy dos Santos. Morrow, 1982.
What's a ghost going to do! by Jane Thayer. Illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Morrow, 1966.
Jane. Gus Goes to School.
Illustrated by Joyce Audy dos Santos. Original
title: Gus Was
a Real Dumb Ghost. NY: William Morrow, 1982. A
Weekly Reader Book
Club edition. VG. $10
Thayer, Jane. What's a Ghost Going to Do? Illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Morrow, 1966. A Weekly Reader Book Club edition. VG. $10
Hello! I have a copy of it right here.
Sherman, Nancy. Gwendolyn the Miracle Hen.Illustrated by Edward Sorel. Golden Press, 1961. It's an ex-library copy, in library binding, with one ripped and taped page, but otherwise just as you remember it.
Possibly Once There Was a Kitten,
by Janet Konkle, published Chicago, Children's Press
1951, 28 pages,
illustrated with photographs. LC plot description is "Little
tries to be a young lady but keeps ending up
I recently saw a copy of Once There Was a Kitten. It is not the book I remember. (There are so many cat books!)
C77 cat story: The Silent Miaow: a manual for strays, translated from the Feline by Paul Gallico, photographs by Suzanne Szasz, published Crown 1964, 159 pages, has a similar feature. Alongside the regular text of advice to cats, there is a series of photographs of a kitten exploring and learning, with captions like 'these must be for me to play with' and so on. Might be worth having a look at.
I just discovered the book I had in mind.It is Gypsy,wriiten and illustrated by Kate Seredy,copywright 1951.I feel great because I just happened to be browsing among old books-and actually saw the book I was looking for!
C W Anderson, Afraid to Ride.
I read this as a child don't remember any of the names of
but the plot sounds right.
Sharon Wagner, Gypsy From Nowhere,1960. Girl named Wendy, short for Gwendolyn, Gets hit by a car while horseback riding. Is sent to her Uncle Art's ranch to recover and finds a filly who she names Gypsy.
It was solved, but it isn't Afraid to Ride, it's Gypsy from Nowhere by Sharon Wagner (the 2nd entry on the page). Do you have that one?
Possibly Natalie Savage Carlson's The
(A 12-year-old girl looks forward to a summer filled with many
especially showing her half-sisters, arriving from boarding
grown up she is) and Luvvy and the Girls (12-year-old Luvvy is
that she is at last old enough to accompany her older half
sisters to boarding
Natalie Savage Carlson, The Half Sisters, Luvvy and the Girls. Here's the plot of The Half Sisters: "The story takes place in the years around 1915 on a farm near Frederick, Maryland. Luvvy, Maudie, and Marylou's mother remarries a man who has 3 older daughters. Luvvy (Luvena) is almost 12 and thinks that she should be one of the older girls now and not have to have 7 year old Maudie hanging around her all the time or have to take care of little 4 year old Mary Lou. During the year Luvvy grows up quite a bit and learns that sometimes it's nice just to be a child and not to want to grow up too fast."
Natalie Savage Carlson, The Half Sisters, sequel: Luvvy and the Girls
His name is Hamilton. I get lots of requests for this one, and only recently got my hands on a copy.
|Peck, Robert Newton. Hamilton. Illustrated by Laura Lydecker. Little, Brown, 1976. Hard to find! This copy is unfortunately musty, and the boards are a bit warped. I try not to have musty books, but it was the first time I'd ever found it! Aside from that, it looks good. Poor. $30||
M13: Hangin' Out With Cici
by Francine Pascal (And there was an ABC Afterschool
on it. It was called My Mother Was Never A Kid).
It looks like my stumper has been solved--now I know the name of the book. Wouldn't you know, it is out of print! I would be very interested in purchasing a good reading copy (it doesn't have to be in collectable condition), if you have one. Thanks!
The stumper identified as "Hangin' Out With Cici" is - *I* think, Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers. Still in print. :)
Hangin' Out With Cici - I'm going to agree on this ID and disagree with the suggestion of Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers, published Harper 1972. Freaky Friday takes place in the 70s, there is no time travel, and Annabel and her mother switch bodies, rather than being girls together.
|Pascal, Francine. Hangin' Out with Cici. Archway, 1978. Paperback. G+. <SOLD>|
The answer to H30 is HANNIBAL'S ELEPHANTS by Alfred Powers; NY, 1944. The 13 year old boy is named Agenor. The book is 272 pages and is illustrated by James Reid.
caffrey, nancy, Hanover's Wishing Star
The Thumbelina refrain sparked these
lyrics (probably not exact): "Thumbelina, Thumbelina, tiny
Thumbelina dance, Thumbelina sing,/ What's the difference,
what's the difference,
if you're very small?/ For when your heart is full of love,
feet tall." My guess is these come from a Disney recording,
what my siblings and I listened to (over and over) as
don't remember a book, though.
T-10 If it helps at all, I remember Danny Kaye told a version of Thumbelina where the song went: "Thumbelina, Thumbelina, tiny little thing. Thumbelina dance, Thumbelina sing. Thumbelina, what's the worry, though you're very small, when your heart is full of love, you're ten feet tall."
T10- I think I have the record you are talking about. It was my favorite and I have passed it down to my children. However,I don't remember it as a book. The record is Tina the Ballerina and it came out in the mid 1950's. It is a 45 R.P.M. PeterPan record. Tina always wanted to dance and when she the prima ballerina couldn't go on, she got her chance. The refrain:Tina, the ballerina, the belle of gay Paris; dancing, dancing on her toes, round and round and round she goes... Hope thishelps.
The song is one from Hans Christian Andersen: the musical.
B123 birthday plant: perhaps worth looking at The Happy Birthday Present, by Joan Heilbroner, illustrated by Mary Chalmers, published Harper 1962, Weekly Reader I Can Read Book, 63 pages. "Charming tale of little Davy and how he makes the perfect gift for mother's birthday. Two young brothers, Peter and Davy, search all over town for a birthday present for their mother with a dime. At the end, they have a 'happy birthday tree.'"
Jerry West, The Happy Hollisters,
1953-1970. Could it be this series?
#F84--Family series: At least two different authors wrote series about families named the Tuckers, Virginia Baker in the 1940s and Jo Mendel in the early 1960s. The Tuckers in Baker's books appear to be English and the American editions were published in Chicago by Moody Press. Mendel's Tuckers appear to be American. Her books were published by Whitman in Racine, Wisconsin, meaning they were those flimsy cardboard hardcovers printed on cheap, quickly-yellowing paper, which wouldn't last long in a library, but many copies can still be found.
Regarding my request F84, I think someone solved it. I went to my local library and checked out several Happy Hollisters books to verify. Although my memory is sketchy, this must be the series I was searching for; all the pieces fit. In less than one week, a personal mystery has been solved. Thanks for your service!
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Harrison
1961. Classic SF story. From Kurt Vonnegut's
"Welcome to the
Kurt Vonnegut, Welcome to the Monkey House, 1970. This sounds like the short story Harrison Bergeron from the book Welcome to the Monkey House.
Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Burgeron. This science fiction short story was originally published in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine in 1961. It has since been anthologized widely, often for student use. The following link leads to text online.
Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron, short story.
This sounds an awful lot like Harry
the Terrible Whatz-It but I can't seem to locate my
copy of the
book, so I am not sure of the date, author, or even quite sure
how to spell
Harry and the Terrible Whatzit is by Dick Gackenbach (Clarion, 1977.) The pictures are done in red, brown, and black. Harry's mom didn't come back up from the cellar so he went downstairs, armed with a broom, to save her from the double-headed, three-clawed, six-toed, long-horned Whatzit that lives behind the furnace. When Harry attacked it with his
broom, the Whatzit got smaller and smaller because Harry wasn't afraid of it anymore. When it was the size of a peanut, Harry sent it to live in the cellar next door because "Sheldon Parker's afraid of everything."
m64 I'm pretty sure that that
are describing Harvey's Hideout, by Russell
See description for H14
Yes!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!! (Now if only someone remembers my tall ships book stumper .....)
It had a main character (small furry animal) like Frances (of Bread and Jam...), but it is not one of the Frances books in print now. The main character runs away with a hobo pack (stick with a handkerchief tied on the end). She then makes a house in the dirt and eventually finds another animal is living in a den next to hers. They have some sort of hole in the dirt between them like a window. It had black and white illustrations much like Lillian Hobans. I tried to look in the Library of Congress index, but there were not subject descriptions on a lot of the Hoban books. Any ideas?
In A Baby Sister for Frances, jealous Frances
hobo stick and runs away... underneath the dining room
table. I don't
think she even got outside.
Hoban, Harvey's Hideout. Brother and sister muskrats aren't getting along they each have a secret hideout and it turns out their places are right next door to each other (brother accidentally tunnels into sister's place).
I wonder if this could be Harvey's Hideout again. They certainly end up with two burrows close to each other, and ultimately make just one hideout. The illustrations are Hoban, but I don't know about the hobo stick as I don't have the book any longer. The submitter might want to read the solved listing as well as the stumper listed as H14 with lots of plot details to see if it sounds familiar.
I am looking for a book that I have described to all my siblings and several bookstore clerks, but no one seems to remember. I can see the illustrations in my mind so I really don't think I'm making this book up. I think I read it in the early 1960s when I was a little girl. The illustrations are very similar to Bread and Jam for Frances. So the illustrator must be LILLIAN HOBAN or maybe Russell Hoban. The story is about two muskrat/otter/beaver/badger siblings--a brother and a sister. They are not getting along well. They both tell each other that they are going to their own private, secret clubhouses and Nya-nya-nya who needs you anyway?! The mother calmly packs them each a lunch IN A PLASTIC BAG and they swim across a river WITH THEIR PLASTIC LUNCH BAGS IN THEIR MOUTHS. As it turns out there is no one else at the brother's underground clubhouse but him. I remember a CALENDAR hanging on the clubhouse wall with a picture of an INDIAN muskrat/badger/otter/beaver on it. The boy feels sad. Next door there is no one else at the sister's underground clubhouse either. She has some girly things in there, maybe a muskrat/beaver/otter dolly, some flowers, and a tea set. She is lonesome and begins to cry. They didn't realize that their clubhouses were right next door to each other. I think the brother hears the sister begin to cry. They tear down the adjoining wall and make one big clubhouse and are happy to play together in their new secret club. This book reminds me of my younger brother and me, the two youngest of five children. I would love to find it. My parents have died and we did not come across this mysterious book as we sorted through their estate.
H14 is HARVEY'S HIDEOUT
Hoban It was was my little brother's favorite
book. I don't
know why, I was a very nice big sister.
This sounds like Harvey's Hideout again. Check H14 for description in Stump the Bookseller and in solved mysteries.
This was a title I read in 1970's. It was about a family of beavers or muskrats??? There was a brother and sister and I remember the sister was going to a party so she had to put her dress in a plastic bag so she could go to the party. I think this is an illustration I remember. I don't recall the plot.
B83 sounds like Harvey's Hideout,
by Russell Hoban. There is a better description
in Stump the Bookseller.
Harvey's Hideout.This is definitely Harvey's Hideout. Another one of my favorite books! I remember the part about his sister going to a party and putting her dress in a plastic bag and carrying it in her mouth when she swam accross the stream. Other plot points: Harvey doesn't get along with his sister and finds an old hole in the
ground which he makes into his "hideout". He cooks there, I think bacon and eggs. She eventually finds out about it. They become friends in the end. Hope this helps!
I am 35 years old and enjoyed this picture book as a child. I believe the cover is primarily dark blue. The story is about a brother beaver and sister beaver (named Mildred??). At least I think they were beavers. The brother builds a raft. The sister has a tea party in a cave and wears a fancy dress. No one comes to her party. Her brother shows up and they quarrel. He throws dirt at her, messes up her dress and makes her cry. At around the same time period I was also enjoying the books "Miss Suzy" and "Never Tease a Weasel". I just cannot remember the name of this book or its author. Can you help?
Sounds like Harvey's Hideout by Russell and
Hoban. See more on Solved Mysteries.
I found mention that the story "Good
Herr Muller" could be found in Chassidic
Tales of the Holocaust
by Yaffa Eliach, but could find no further information.
J37: Yaffa Eliach, Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust, 1982 (pb reprint 1988). Alternate spelling: Chassidic Tales of the Holocaust
There was a famous Nip and Tuck book in the 30's... look on
Solved Mysteries page under Nip and Tuck to see if
N37 Hadn't thot of it for yrs, but it was always one of my favorite books from 75 years ago. By Caroline Emerson, Oh, I
DO have it here behind me on my daughter's old bookshelves. A hat-tub tale. Dutton c1928 1st ed 1928 Sorry to make you
drool I see 3 requests for it on ABE's want list. Does customer live anywhere near central WA state - to come read it -
or to photocopy it?
The Haunted Spy by Barbara
Byfield, 1969 A spy retires to a castle in the
to discover it is haunted by a ghost (in one picture he is shown
in a small boat with the ghost to get to the treasure)
Hi, I came across your site and just had to read some of the stumpers. See, I'm a children's librarian and stumpers are my favorite (although they can drive me insane at times!) I had to send you the answers to some of your posted stumpers- The stumper about the castle, crypt, spy, ghost, dog: It's THE HAUNTED SPY by Barbara Ninde Byfield (1969). And your customer might be interested to know there were sequels (THE HAUNTED TOWER, THE HAUNTED GHOST, THE HAUNTED CHURCHBELL) although I myself think THE HAUNTED SPY is the best one.
F5 - This has some similarities to Jean
Going to Buy You a Mockingbird where it is a boy who
has to come
to terms with his father's cancer and death, and a girl who
wears odd clothes
that help him do so.
F5--Just wanted to say "Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird" is a novel which would have been published quite some time after this short story.
Not too sure, but - THE HAUNTING OF JULIE UNGER by Valerie Lutters, NY, Atheneum 1977, 193 pgs, cloth. "Julie finds she is living in Maine with the ghost of her beloved father, a ghost she has built out of love & guilt. The wild geese, an old neighbor & a boy with a dog help her back into life with the living." Julie isn't exactly an unusual name though, so I'm not too certain about this.
Farjeon, Eleanor, Faithful Jenny
reprinted 1950s. This was the title story in a short story
E F - it may well have been anthologised separately - girl ghost
in the lane where she promised
to meet lover who has gone away, and meets another ghost instead.
Hi! I wanted to let you know how thankful I am for your site. I posted a stumper to your website a long while back & someone finally replied that one of the stories in my stumper was "Faithful Jenny Dove" by Elanor Farjeon. I had to let you know how imensely it helped. I got my local library to search for anthologies w/H.G. Well's "The Magic Shop" and "Faithful Jenny Dove" in them & they found my long lost anthology! It is titled Haunting Tales edited by Barbara Ireson and published in 1973 and even has illustrations by Freda Woolf. If you ever have a reasonable copy in your shop, you have a customer!
Dorothy Evelyn Smith, He Went for a
1954. Not sure but the title ties in perfectly with the
and the fact that you can't find the book. It's somewhat
Dorothy Evelyn Smith, He Went for a Walk, 1954. Sounds like a plausible title, though I haven't read it. Other possibilities include Lost Hill, O the Brave Music, Beyond the Gates, Huffley Fair, Proud Citadel, Brief Flower, or My Lamp is Bright.
I could only find 3 books that Smith wrote in the 40's - O, the Brave Music (1943), Proud Citadel (1947), and My Lamp is Bright (1949). Her other books were written in the 50's & 60's.
Dorothy Evelyn Smith, He Went for a Walk, 1954. This sounds like it might be the book I'm looking for. The other Smith book , O,The Brave Music is definitely not the one--it is my favorite book and I still own it, and the others don't sound right. So I hope He Went for a Walk is correct. I'm ordering it anyway. Thanks again.
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. The Headless
When Amanda comes to live with her new stepfamily she creates
quite a stir
with her interest in the occult, her weird hairdos and clothes
triangle on her forehead. This book is the first of a
series of adventures
of the Stanley family.
Amanda with a mirror triangle in forehead: The Headless Cupid, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. At least three sequels don't quite live up to the original, but are fun to read.
Zilpha Keatly Snyder, The Headless Cupid. 1975, approximate. Amanda is very unhappy about her mother''s divorce and subsequent remarriage, so she wraps herself up in occult studies and even invents a poltergeist with which to frighten her new family. She wears a little mirrored triangle on her forhead and calls it her "third eye". She also wears her hair in many tiny braids and wears witchy looking clothes. There is a mystery involving a headless cupid in the story.
I'll add my voice to the likely chorus - probably The Headless Cupid, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, published Atheneum 1971, where proto-goth Amanda joins the Stanley family and tries to make herself special by conducting seances, claiming to be psychic, etc. "When the four Stanley children meet Amanda, their new step-sister, they're amazed to learn that she studies witchcraft. They're stunned to see her dressed in a strange costume, carrying a pet crow, and surrounded by a pile of books about the supernatural. It's not long before Amanda promises to give witchcraft lessons to David, Janie, and the twins. But that's when strange things start happening in their old house. David suspects Amanda of causing mischief, until they learn that the hosue really was haunted a long time ago. Legend has it that a ghost cut the head off a wooden cupid on the stairway. Has the ghost returned to strike?"
a Newberry Honor Book, 1972.
Zilpha Keatley. Headless Cupid.
Illustrated by Alton Raible.
Dell Publishing: a Yearling paperback, 1971.
by Snyder on a sticker placed on front
free endpaper: "From
one author to another." Corner tab of front free
endpaper is clipped.
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. Headless Cupid. Illustrated by Alton Raible. NY: Atheneum, 1971. Hardback early edition. Slight stain on title page and ex-library copy with usual marks. G/G. $10
??, Heads Up! (at least in
edition), c. 1960. I'm 99% certain of the title on this,
but my copy's
been in storage for 10 years and inaccessible at the
moment. It *may*
have had a different title originally (I seem to remember one of
notices in parentheses on the cover.) I do recall it was
one of the
Scholastic Book Services paperbacks I bought in elementary
The girl's name was Peg or Peggy, and either the family or
their son (or both) were called Tuck, short for Tucker. I think the horses were referred to as "Liberty" horses -- one of the tricks may have involved standing on the horse's back posing as the Statue of Liberty. Good luck -- hope this helps.
Patsey Gray, Heads Up!, 1961. This is definitely the book. A summary I found online told about the story exactly as I remembered. Thanks to the person who wrote in with the title so that Iwas able to look it up.
O19 orphan rodeo: more on the suggested, Heads Up, by Patsey (Patricia) Gray, illustrated by Leonard Shortall, published Coward-McCann 1956, reprinted Scholastic 1961, 191 pages. "a girl and a horse have their problems but amidst a setting of California State Fairs and horse shows, they are straightened out with a healthy realism" ... "story of little-known life behind the scenes of horse shows and fairs and the sensible handling of a warm family relationship" ... "seems improbable that a girl of ten would be allowed by the authorities to sleep by herself in a stable". None of which really confirms anything, though.
Martha Reben, The Healing Woods,
"Author chose to return to nature and the woods as a last resort
back her health. The story of how she found peace and health in
of the Adirondack mountains and the friendliness of the
like it's right on the money.
A136 Reben, Martha. The healing woods. illus by Fred Collins. Crowell, 1952. Saranac Lake; New York State.
S76 Squeak and S83 Shakespearean treasure
sound similar (can you say that 5 times fast?)
This is Hearts in Trim by Lavinia R. Davis.
Davis, Lavinia R Hearts in Trim New York, Doubleday 1954, "Serena Bruce, commonly known as Squeak, learns that old Mrs. Frostgate has left her a legacy. They begin to organize the books for selling and try to unravel the mystery of a glamorous actress who had settled in the village." "Serena and Cliff find themselves in hot water when they set about making the most of an unexpected legacy. Ages 12-16."
Davis, Lavinia R. Hearts in Trim New York. Doubleday 1954, "Serena Bruce, commonly known as Squeak learns that old Mrs. Frostgate has left her a legacy. They begin to organize the books for selling and try to unravel the mystery of a glamorous actress who had settled in the village." "Serena and Cliff find themselves in hot water when they set about making the best of an unexpected legacy."
HECKEDY PEG! I solved my stumper, shortly after I
oops! oh well..I'm glad I found it! I think Heckedy peg was
but it didnt ring a bell when I read it, I know remember, yes
all had different names of the week. I found it through the
congress, all I did was enter, "mother child witch" under
I found it! yippee!!
Iona and Peter Opie, Childrens Games in Street and Playground, 1969. This is unlikely to be the actual book that you read but it does describe the story as a traditional British folkstory/ acting game. It is described under the heading "Mother, the Cake is Burning" (pp. 317-329 see especially pp. 323-325).
H78 Long shot, but may be worth checking.
it be one of the books about HENRY REED by Keith
He started writing them in the late 50s. ~from a librarian
Henry Reed's dad is in the diplomatic service overseas. Henry Reed Inc., Henry Reed's Big Show, etc. take place during Henry's summer visits with his aunt and uncle in Grover's Corner, New Jersey. So these wouldn't be the books you're looking for.
There's a series, including Henry Reed, Inc (1958), Henry Reed¹s baby-sitting service (1966), Henry Reed's big Show (1970), Henry Reed¹s journey (1963).
Keith Robertson, Henry Reed's Journey, 1963. This is a definite answer to this stumper!! This is one of my all time favorite children's books!! There are four Henry Reed books this is the second in the series. Henry has lived overseas his whole life and come to spend the summers with his aunt and uncle in New Jersey. He travels across the U.S. with his friend Midge Glass and parents in order to experience the U.S.
H44 is definitely Henry's Awful
by Robert Quackenbush
H44 It's HENRY'S AWFUL MISTAKE by Robert Quackenbush, published by Parents Magazine Press in 1980. ~from a librarian
H44 Henry and the ant: This is one of the suggested answers to A56 ant and flood: Henry's Awful Mistake, by Robert Quackenbush, published Parents Magazine Press 1980 "Henry the Duck attempts to chase an ant from his kitchen and ends up sinking his house!"
A56 ant and flood: Suggesting also Andy Ant, written & illustrated by Pops Winky, published Pacific Publishing House 1977, 34 pages. It's a picture book with bright detailed illustrations of ants working. "Firdale was the
largest ant town in the forest. The town gate, a big old ant hill, stood among the trees not far from the crossroad ... Through many trials and tribulations, Andy Ant finds his worth and value in the working world."
There was a book that I used to read every time I went to the dentist, but they moved offices and the book was lost in the move. I was very little when I read it, and all I can remember is that it was a story about an ant and a flood. The pictures were so vivid and I always wanted to be part of the story. I would say it was printed in the seventies, maybe early 80's. I know that's not a lot of information, but if you have any ideas, I'd appreciate it so much. Thank you!
Could this possibly be Mona Minim
Smell of the Sun by Janet Frame? Mona
is a house ant
who meets and spends the summer with a field ant and has outdoor
My sister and I had it in the early 70's, and made our
it over and over. Ours was a somewhat oversized hardback
and, I think, a yellow cover, and the illustrations were big and
The ants traveled down the stairs, a big undertaking, and Mona
had a "stair
game" involving things like a spider swing. Near the end,
gave birth. I didn't find out the book was by a famous
quite recently- remembered the title but not the
had a magical, evocative mood, with what I recognized even then
well, maybe - Quackenbush, Robert Henry's Awful Mistake Parents Magazine Press 1980 "Henry the Duck attempts to chase an ant from his kitchen and ends up sinking his house!" Nothing mentioned about the illos though.
Another ant story, no mention of flood, and a bit early - Nimblefoot the Ant, her Adventures, by Vytas Tamulaitis, illustrated by Pranas Lape, published New York, Manyland Books 1965 hardcover octavo. "Author won the Lithuanian Red Cross Literature for Juveniles Award. Story of a black ant captured by red ants and her escape home. Illustrations are delicate line drawings."
Gene Stratton Porter, Her Father's Daughter
Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine
by Jay Williams and Ray Abrashkin?
Maybe Hazel Wilson's Herbert series? Titles include Herbert's Homework (1960) and Herbert's Space Trip (1965). All illustrated by Kurt Werth, published by Knopf.
More on a suggested title - Herbert's Space Trip, by Hazel Wilson, illustrated by Kurt Werth, published New York, Knopf, 1965 "the fifth fabulously funny tale about that fabulously funny boy, takes him to a planet run by canny canines. Ages 8-12" (Horn Book Oct/65 p.544 pub ad) A picture of the cover (from another source) shows a boy crawling out of a barrel-like spaceship section? watched by a hound dog, with two other boys standing behind.
Alice Low, Herbert's Treasure,
1971. Just coincidence that my little boy checked this book out
library last time we were there! Wonderful story my boys
had me read
over and over again. Pictures are by Victoria de Larrea.
H47 herbert's treasures: more on the suggested Herbert's Treasure, by Alice Low, pictures by Victoria de Larrea, published Putnam 1971 "To Herbert, his room was his castle-a castle filled with exciting treasure. To his mother, his room was a total mess bulging with useless junk." Sounds like a good match.
Albert & Arabella (raccoons) are Lillian
Hoban characters, featured in Here Come Raccoons
Rinhart, & Winston, '77) & The Case of the Two
(Harper & Row, '86).
Thank you so much. I had myself found them through a library search site and have obtained The Case of the Masked Robbers. It was even incredibly cheap! So, if you could find Here Come Raccoons for cheap that would rock! Otherwise, I'll have to wait until I have a more disposable income. Thank you so much though, what a great site!
I think this poster is referring to the Strawberry
Shortcake series of the early 80's. They were
as Lemon Meringue, Blueberry Muffin, Apple Pie, and Starwberry
They were all dressed in different
colors. There were books and cartoons as well.
The Charmkins, 1980s. I'm not sure, but I think the previous poster may be wrong about this being a Strawberry Shortcake book. The female villain in that was called Sour Grapes, IIRC. The only one I'm familiar with that fits that description is Charmkins. The villainess was named Poison Ivy. It was primarily a toy/cartoon line, but there were also some books: The Charmkins and The Charmkins Discover Big World by Edith Adams and The Charmkins' Sniffy Adventure by Denise Fleming. There's also a Charmkins web page.
Herself the Elf, 1983. I'm pretty sure that was Herself The Elf. I still have a cartoon on video from the 1980s.
I don't know the book, but I'm almost 100% sure that's Herself the Elf. The other characters were named after flowers: Snowdrop, Willow Song, Wood Pink, and Meadow Morn (probably the green & yellow one). The villainess was Creeping Ivy, who could make Ivy grow out of her hands, I think, and there was some other minor
villainess named Vendetta who was all green. Also, there was a boy wood sprite with a 'wooly-worm'-type caterpillar for a hat.
M52 Sounds very much like a Ruth Chew
Could M52 be The Hidden Cave, by Ruth Chew. Two children Tom and Alice go through a hidden drainpipe-cave and come out on the other side and find the enchanted tree that Merlin was trapped in. They let Merlin out and bring him to places like the library and the zoo. Merlin also enchants the wading pool in the backyard so it is like and enormous lake for the children. He then goes back in time to help Arthur.
I remember a book from the 70s about a brother and sister (sister older) who turned their backyard wading pool into a lagoon by tossing in some magic herbs. The summer is spent swimming in the ocean and eventually tangling with pirates. I seem to remember a visual of the kids sneaking out of a ship's cabin, leaving behind fluffed bed linens and locks of their hair as decoys. They somehow acquire doubloons, and end up telling their father they 'found them in the back yard'. Of course the dad proceeds to dig up the yard....and that's all I remember. Does this ring a bell with anyone?
Chew, Ruth, The Hidden Cave,
1973. Tom and Alice go through Hidden Cave and find
They have a few
adventures. The last half of book Merlin gave them special herb that turns wading pool into ocean with pirate and gold coins, Etc.
Edward Eager, Magic By The Lake.
This isn't Magic by the Lake. That has four kids, features a magic turtle, and is lacking many of the details described in the stumper.
Could this be Susan Cooper's "Over
And I second the suggestion of Over Sea, Under Stone for H9. It's the first book in Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising series.
This isn't by chance The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Gardner?
I checked your website last week and saw the reference to Susan Cooper's book. I put a hold on it at my library this week and just got it last night. I haven't had a chance to read it yet though... I will let you know. I think this website is a wonderful thing...I located another lost favorite, others had asked and id'd it.
H9 - sounds more like Alan Garner's Elidor
H9 - I've been looking again at Alan Garner's Elidor and am now not so sure about it as an answer to this query. Plot summary - 4 children get into a Manchester (England) church scheduled for demolition which is one of the doors to the world of Elidor. They escape into their own world with 4 'treasures' of Elidor a lance, a stone, a sword and a grail-type bowl. These are disguised as rubbishy items in this world but send out electrical signals to give the people of Elidor a 'fix' so they can find them. Eventually a unicorn comes through to Manchester and is killed by the 2 'treasure seekers' from Elidor. It's dying song fulfils a prophecy and Elidor is saved. By contrast Susan Cooper's Over Sea Under Stone has 3 children going on holiday to Cornwall and working out, with the aid of an old map, where the Grail had been hidden for safety 'over sea, under stone' - in fact on a ledge in a cave only accessible at low tide. Their 'Great Uncle Merry' - an avatar of Merlin - helps them, and various people on the side of the Dark try to hinder and get the Grail for themselves. Eventually they succeed and the Grail gets put in the British Museum.
Eleanor Jewitt, Hidden Treasure of Glaston, 1948. Alan Garner is too recent. Crippled boy named Hugh is left at abbey by Crusader father. Has been reprinted recently.
I'm fairly confident of H9, but it's a common theme, so could be something else. Here's more detail, if that helps.
Eleanore Jewitt, Hidden Treasure of Glaston, 1948. Crippled boy named Hugh is left at abbey by Crusader
father. Together with another boy, he explores old tunnels and caves beneath the abbey, has a vision of the death
of King Arthur, and sees the Grail which cures him of lameness. More details here.
The Hidden Treasure of Glaston, by Eleanore M. Jewett, illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman, published Viking 1946, 307 pages. "A story laid at the famouse Abbey of Glastonbury whose association with the cherished memory of King Arthur is even yet aglow. It was a crippled boy named Hugh, left by his father at the Abbey on a stormy night, set to do scriptorium work, who with his friend Dickon discovered lost pages of a precious book about the Holy Grail. ... background involving the underground chambers of a great Abbey, the monastery life with its library and reverence for old parchments, the retreat of a mad hermit, the manor castle of the King. The illustrations happily combine the actual and the visionary." (Horn Book Nov/46 p.472)
N23 noonday rocket: would suggest High-Noon Rocket, by Charles Paul May, illustated by Brinton Turkle, published Holiday House 1966, 34 pages. "Wilson Watson Wooster got a present from his Aunt Alice. It was a small balloon basket with rocket attached for him to fly to visit her in the West. He rescues a lady off the roof of her apartment building when she got locked out. He rescues a farmer who has gotten caught on his water windmill. He finally rescues his aunt who has climbed up on a tall pole with pigeon houses on top. Each time he is invited for lunch since it was 12 o'clock noon. He learns about time zones and has an adventure too."
This sounds like a slightly garbled version
Breck's High Trail. The girl is 17, the guys are
19-20 (in college).
The girl's father breaks a leg while fishing; she makes him
promises to hike out the long but safe way, but changes her mind
tries to make it over Foreter Pass, & runs into a storm. She
charming one of the guys; the book ends with them going off for
climbing date. I always thought the guy was based on David
definitely High Trail by Vivian Breck.
Breck, Vivian. Hoofbeats on the Trail. Illustrated by Hubert Buel. Doubleday, 1950. First edition. Dust jacket missing an inch from top of spine and worn at edges. VG+/G. $20
See also the Horse Book Catalog.
I don't know the plot, but Elinor Lyon
wrote a book entitled Hilary's Island in 1949.
Watts, Mabel, Hildy's Hideaway, 1961. This is the only "hideaway cat" I could find: WATTS, MABEL, Illustrated by Winship, Florence Sarah Hildy's Hideaway. Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing, 1961 Pictorial Cover. Tip Top Tales. Sweetest light brown kitty on the cover. Hildy's hidaway in the attic is a perrrfect place to have kittens!
|Watts, Mabel. Hildy's Hideaway. Illustrated by Florence Sarah Winship. Whitman, 1961. Tip Top Tale #2473. Quite worn at edges and spine, otherwise VG-. $10||
Alas, I don't have a copy...
Your description sounds like Hill's End. I think the author's name is Strasser. I'm sure it's not Lois Lenski. I remember having this book. I must have gotten it from the Scholastic Book club back in the late 60s or early 70s.
#F42--Flood Friday? I do happen to have a copy of this extremely rare Lois Lenski book, which I haven't read. It is the true story of a flood which struck in Connecticut on August 19, 1955. Most of it seems to involve
children taken to a schoolhouse, not as a punishment, but as a safe place until they can be released. There is another famous story, Hills End, by Ivan Southall, about how seven Australian children survive after their town
is wiped out by a storm.
Southall, Ivan, Hill's End. Hi. I just wanted to correct myself. I previously sent in a solution to this book. This title is correct, but the author is a different Australian writer. The correct author is Ivan Southall, I believe.
Ivan Southall, Hills End,1968. Here's the back cover blurb for this book: "The remote logging town of
Hills End is deserted. All its inhabitants have set off on their annual picnic. Left behind are seven chidlren who, with their schoolteacher, are exploring nearby caves in search of Stone Age drawings. Suddenly without warning, a violent storm breaks -- When it is over, six of the children find themselves cut off from all adult help and from the outside world. Isolated by wild mountains, forest country and a flooded river, with their homes in ruins, they must face urgent problems and perils: How will they handle the enraged bull set free by the storm? Can they find their missing schoolteacher and one of their schoolmates? What are they going to do about food and shelter?"
Another one I may have read in middle school (1971-1973). I remember the plot quite well, because I owned and read it over and over. It took place in England, in small town. Everybody in town went on a picnic in the country, and a group of 7-10 children of varying ages were exploring a cave or something, when a severe storm with high winds and flash flooding hit. The group of children were somehow able to get back to town, but nobody else was. So they had to survive on their own. They had to figure out what they would use for shelter, and find food, and repair (?) an electic generator and then started a clean-up process. The most memorable character was a mentally-challenged boy, who was wearing dress shoes on the picnic and suffered a lot of blistering and foot pain before the storm hit, and then had to be nursed or taken care of during the rest of the story. He also had a memorable incident in which he found the sausage making machine, and tried to make sausage (having watched the butcher do it before), but with his adenoid problem, or whatever, his very poor sense of smell prevented him from realizing that the meat was rotten.
#C103--Children disaster a flood
Check out Hills' End on the "Solved Mysteries"
Southall, Ivan, Hills End, 1968. You remember many details correctly, except for one important one: The story takes place in Australia, not England.
Southall, Ivan, Hill's End, 1962. I was looking for this book earlier and a helpful person pointed it out to me. It takes place in Australia, but the rest of this story is correct, down to the little boy whose nose doesn't work right and can't tell the meat is bad when he makes strings of lovely sausages.
Ivan. Hills End. NY:
St. Martin's Press, 1962, 1963. A very
clean ex-library copy with nice dust jacket. VG-/VG. $15
Ivan. Josh. NY:
St. Macmillan, 1971. Very clean ex-library
H3 was my request after about 3 years of independent searching. Tonight after I looked at your page, I went to the LOC and just started reading book titles that have begun w/ the word "Hippo." I feel certain that I have found "my" book at last: Hippo, Potta, and Muss by Barbara Lovely, illustrated by Tony Veale. I have requested a copy from a dealer and am eager to see if it's as good as I remember! Thank you for the service you provide!
I think the book from your March 1997 doll
inquiry might be: Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by
Field. It might have won a Newberry Award. I seem to
a lot of students studying to be schoolteachers had to read it.
Well now, I have that!
Field, Rachel. Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. Illus by Dorothy Lathrop with 3 color plates and many black & white plates. NY: Macmillan, 1929. Newbery Award winner.
Copy 1: 1933 edition. Front free endpaper clipped. Larger format. VG-. $36ppd.
Copy 2: 1941 edition. Dust jacket is worn and has small chips. Smaller format. VG/G. $38ppd.
Hitty even has her own homepage and photos of the original doll and her traveling clothes!
The person who posted that may actually
thinking about another book, called (I'm *pretty* sure) The
in Miranda's Closet. I had this book as a girl - I
think it came
through Scholastic. It was about a sort of frumpy girl with a
mother who was proud of the fact that her daughter "hated"
one day, said daughter found a beautiful old china doll with a
clothes in the attic of a friend of her mother's (?) and was
"adopt" it. At first, Miranda has these huge plans for the doll
- to build
a house for it in secret in the closet and all. I also remember
scene with an antique dealer who tries to rook her out of her
the end, her mother discovers the secret, and the doll seems to
less special to Miranda - she doesn't build the fabulous
all. I thought it was sort of a depressing ending, personally. I
remember the author, but I'm pretty sure of the title.
You had another reader who was looking for a book title about a china doll with a trunk of clothes you and another reader said the book must be Hitty but that can't be right. Hitty was carved out of mountain ash by a peddler who stayed the winter at the Preble farm. She had a dress and a little chemise that had her name crossed stiched and that was all, no trunck, no china head. I was an avid reader when I was young and have kept almost all of my books, Hitty is just one of them.
Readers sent in the Hitty titles, but there's another book called The Wonderful Fashion Doll by Laura Bannon. It's about a girl who finds a trunk with a china doll with a beautiful and exceptionally detailed wardrobe. I remember something about the girl learning that the doll was used to advertise the latest fashions before fashion mags became popular.
I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS BOOK FOR A LONG TIME!! I'm only 13 years old and my mother used to read it to me when I was about 5. The story is about a wooden doll, and she comes to life. In the beggining she is all dusty and old. I remember the story being very majestic and on the cover there is a picture of the wooden doll looking out her window. I think the writer was a female... but I'm not sure? LOL - sorry for the lack of information
#S46--Sandalwood: this sounds like Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, by Rachel Field. Even if it isn't, read it anyway; it's great.
|Field, Rachel Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. Illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop. Newbery winner. Macmillan, 1929. 31st printing, 1964. Wear to corners, otherwise VG/VG. <SOLD>||
#T138--Tirpy or Terpy (dogname): This
a story in one of my Beacon Readers, most of which I finally
The paperbacks I have were published in 1957 and reprinted in
In this version, Book 4, "Careful Hans," contains the story "The
in which the hero is a black dog, "little dog Turpie." The
Beacon Readers were copyrighted 1922 and some dated as early as
The author is James H. Fassett. The older
up quite often while the paperbacks tend to be extremely rare
The trick would be in knowing which of the many original volumes
this story! The 1916 collection "Animal Folk Tales" may
T138: Well, if it is The Hobyahs, here's Joseph Jacobs' version, with illustrations.
Kathleen McLaine, Jean at St.
I cannot find a summary of the book other than that it is about
who plays field hockey. Does this title sound familiar?
Scott Corbett, The Hockey Girls, 1976. Think this might be the one - it's about the introduction of compulsory
sports at Wagstaff High. No-one was keen except a 9th grader, Irma Tuttle, who used to walk along whacking crabapples with a crooked stick she called Old Faithful. A coach spotted her and she joined the team so her friends did too.
C112 crabapple girl: more on the suggested - The Hockey Girls, by Scott Corbett, published Dutton, 1976, 104 pages. "While Irma Tuttle walked alone whacking crabapples with a crooked stick she called Old Faithful, she was observed and recruited by the hockey coach and her life changed dramatically." "Irma's only solace was whacking and dribbling crab apples on her way home with a crooked stick -- Talent-scouted by Miss Tingley, the wizened but spry field hockey coach". This sounds like a good match. My first thought was one of the multitudinous English girls' school stories, but those girls are always already playing compulsory games, so thankfully that was out.
Mildred Hark and Noel McQueen, A
Penny, 1959. This
book has a
scene in it that matches the desciption. Penny lives in a
home with lots of other children and really wants a family of
At one point, Penny is carefully drawing a picture of what her
look like if she had one. While she's drawing the red
on the "mother's" apron, Penny gets distracted and her crayon
She draws a line that looks like a tail instead of a polka
the end of the book, Penny does not have a new family, and she
that her picture looks like Mrs. Brown, the director of the
Fairweather, Jessie. Home,
MacElroy and Mary,
answer to this one appears under stumper #T116. Fairweather,
illustrated by I.E. Robinson, Matilda, MacElroy and Mary.
Whitman Tell-a-Tale 1950.
Fairweather, Jessie Home, Matilda, MacElroy and Mary. It's a Whitman Tell-A-Tale book from 1950.
#H61--The House of Mrs. Mouse: The solution of this was one of several recently offered as possible solutions for another stumper, I don't know was solved. If not solved, it should still be under "Stump the Bookseller," perhaps the Ms--something about three mice with names beginning with M.
This is the inimitable Homer Price,
by Robert McCloskey (NY,'43). Always in print. With
L48: Honestly, Katie John!
by Mary Calhoun. Simply has to be. Third(?) of the Katie
series. There were at least four. I should re-read it, because
I remember, she had quite the identity crisis - first she's
boys and their ways, but when the girls start acting
girly-girly, she rebels
and becomes a "vulgar" tomboy (as one girl put it - I, myself,
it in the late 1970's, couldn't grasp why Katie would wear a
skirt to school
during that phase) because she can't bear the idea that her idea
feminine maturity isn't the norm. Or that she can't make the
to it. (Writer Deborah Tannen would have a field day with that!)
books" are part of the story, and there's a boy with whom she
has a long
rift before they're friends again. Mary Calhoun truly knew how
and was almost certainly ahead of her time in her creation of
L48 (lipstick eating outsider girl) is most definitely, without a question, positively Honestly, Katie John! by (I think) Mary Calhoun. The girl that calls everyone "sugar" is Priscilla, and Katie and her friend Sue go to a fair in the first chapter. Katie finds an old book about female etiquette and tries being "a lady" briefly, then tries being the complete opposite to protest the "girly" behavior of her classmates, especially towards boys. She eats Priscilla's lipstick before a school concert. Her antics cause the other girls to ostracize her for a time.
Mary Calhoun, Honestly, Katie John! I'm pretty sure this is the book. There is a series of Katie John books, and in this one, the 'tomboyish' Katie John becomes something of an outsider when her classmates become preoccupied with boys and make-up, etc. The lipstick episode is an example. Priscilla is the popular girl who calls everyone 'sugar' but she hasn't just moved to town - I think that must be something from another book.
Wow, I remember reading this same book. I don't know when the first book in the "Alice" series was published, but I have a feeling it might be that one (the series is by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor). I think there's a description of how grossed out the girl is when she bites into the greasy lipstick.
Honestly, Katie John! I can't believe it! This is the book I have been looking for for absolutely ages and here it is a week later and it's been solved. Thank you all so much! I can't wait to read this again.
The one that is driving me to gnash my
B61. I actually own this book and thought I knew exactly
was. Went home to check the title and can't find the
It was my mother's when she was little so is probably from the
30's. I think it is called Honey Bear or
similar. It is told in verse...a little baby toddles away
house in the forest. Mother and father are frantic. Baby
by a friendly bear who gives her honey to keep her happy.
find her, safe and sound, covered in honey...and the poem ends
something about that is why all babies are now called
honey...it's an adorable
book with darling illustrations and as soon as I find my copy, I
the title and author if no-one else yet has done so.
Yes! I know this one now-- it's illustrated by Frank Lloyd Wright's sister, Maginel Wright Barney, and published by one of the greats of American children's book publishing, Volland. Very art deco. I hear, also, that this was a favorite of Dare Wright when she was growing up. Here's a beautiful copy for sale:
Willson, Dixie. Honey Bear. Illustrated by Maginel Wright Barney. P.F. Volland, 1923. 12th edition. A Sunny Book. Excellent color illustrations. Spine paper worn off in places, wear to corner, otherwise VG. A scarce title. <SOLD>
I noticed Honey Bear illustrated by Maginel Wright! She is the mother of Elizabeth Enright!! I only recently found all these family connections. I knew the author of Gone-Away Lake was no mere mortal!
B72 Could these be the Honey
and Norman books?
B72 Bobbsey Twins not quite -- Could this be Howard Garis's Cherries series (published c.1924)? One is
called Two Wild Cherries at the Seashore. The same author wrote the Curlytops series including The Curlytops at Sunset Beach (1921). He also wrote the Bunny series mentioned. Another possible, though I think less likely, is Elizabeth Gordon's Dolly and Molly books, which include Dolly and Molly at the Seashore.
Ran across this description while looking for something else: Margaret Kent The Twins at the Seaside Harrap 1949, 96 pages "Prudence Penelope Inglis and Christopher Malcolm Inglis aka Sugar and Spice."
Helen Louise Thorndyke, Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to the Seashore, 1924. One of many Honey Bunch books!
P4.5 pig and otter: it sounds awfully Richard
Scarry, and the time is right for his books - with all the
out there, can't someone recognise it? (I don't like his books,
Carla Stevens, Hooray for pig! 1974.
P4.5 pig and otter: okay, right after I suggested Richard Scarry, I ran across this - Hooray for Pig! by Carla Stevens, illustrated by Rainey Bennett, published Seabury and Scholastic 1974, Weekly Reader, 48 pages. "Pig is very fond of picnics. His idea of bliss is a picnic with loads of peanut-butter sandwiches. He would really love to swim, but doesn't feel brave enough to try. So while all his friends - Raccoon, Otter, Beaver and Muskrat - wallow and splash in the cool water, he endures a few hot, lonely summer days." (Children's Book Review 1976 p.13) "Easy to read text matched with illustrations in relaxed cartoo-line decked with brown or green wash, describing the traumas and accidents that occur because Pig allows Raccoon and Otter to teach him to swim." (Growing Point Sept/76 p.2934) So there's a pig, an otter, and peanut-butter ...
About G31, that is the same book I am
for! My entry is T81.
"The Shadow" by Goldsmith is in HORROR TALES: SPIRITS, SPELLS, AND THE UNKNOWN ed. Roger Elwood (Rand McNally, 1974), which as I recall is indeed a "slightly oversized hardback" (and the date fits). But Mendoza's "The Devil's Pocket" is not in that book--it is in THE CRACK IN THE WALL AND OTHER WEIRD TALES (Dial, 1968) by Mendoza and in the Lee Bennett Hopkins (ed) 1977 anthology MONSTERS, GHOULIES AND CREEPY CREATURES. Possibles, anyway.
This isn't much help, but there is a story called Tom and moT, by Max Trull, published 1930, 178 pages, about a little boy (the nursery rhyme one who threw pussy in the well) looking down the well and seeing his own
reflection, which changes places with him. He then has to live moT's life in the topsy-turvy underworld. He finally reaches home, much improved by his experiences. If this is the same story, it must have just been a chapter excerpted for the collection.
Roger Elwood, editor, Horror Tales: Spirits Spells and the Unknown. 1974-75 Mystery solved! The book I first described is indeed Horror Tales edited by Roger Elwood! THANK YOU! By the way, the story with the children and the echo is not The Devil's Pocket it is called something about El Dorado. And the Tom-Mot story is different too.
I am trying to find some very beloved books from my elementary school days in the '70s. The first is a collection of somewhat gruesome scary short stories. I think it was at least slightly oversized, hardback with illustrations. I only remember three stories - one was about a tree that cast evil shadows inside a bedroom, one was about a boy who called things into an echo canyon and the words that came back to him were very different from the ones he had called and the third one I remember the most vividly. A boy and a girl discover a formula to turn things into gold - unfortunately (inevitably!), something goes wrong and the girl is turned into a fly - the cat smushes the fly, and the story ends with the boy running up the stairs screaming because the fly is turning back into the girl...and she's smushed. Yech. (see what I mean about gruesome?!)
I don't have the exact book - but I can
two of the short stories' titles and authors, and this might
search. The echo story may be The Devil's Pocket
Mendoza. Two brothers are playing in a
quarry nicknamed the devil's pocket. One throws a penny in, and the quarry echoes back his voice as he calls out. But when he finds a penny, his brother insists it's not the same one because it's too shiny. The one insists "IT'S MY PENNY" and the quarry doesn't echo back his voice. And then when the brother whispers "better not take it", the quarry echoes his voice, getting louder. The boys take the penny, but during the night they both have the same nightmare that the quarry is calling, and in the morning, the penny is gone. It's a creepy story. The tree casting an evil shadow sounds like The Shadow by Howard Goldsmith. The tree, planted over the body of a hanged witch, casts it's shadow into the boy's room.
The Devil's Pocket is anthologized in The Haunted House and Other Stories edited by Vic Crume. Tthe cover featured a haunted house with a psychedelic aura. Probably not what you're looking for, but very creepy.
About G31, that is the same book I am looking for! My entry is T81.
"The Shadow" by Goldsmith is in HORROR TALES: SPIRITS, SPELLS, AND THE UNKNOWN ed. Roger Elwood (Rand McNally, 1974), which as I recall is indeed a "slightly oversized hardback" (and the date fits). But Mendoza's "The Devil's Pocket" is not in that book--it is in THE CRACK IN THE WALL AND OTHER WEIRD TALES (Dial, 1968) by Mendoza and in the Lee Bennett Hopkins (ed) 1977 anthology MONSTERS, GHOULIES AND CREEPY CREATURES. Possibles, anyway.
T81 & G31: Laughing Shadow - Eldorado. Hope this info helps, I recall both stories mentioned as one's I read in grade-school... The story with the shadow - about a boy moving to a new town, house has a tree in backyard, supposed to have a witch buried under it (former owner), warned not to disturb tree (he does) and the shadow-witch is let loose. I loved this story and I believe the book was The laughing shadow and other tales (or stories) - searching this title alwasy pulls the 3 investigators title of the alfred hitchcock series - not an easy find. The story about the boy and the canyon of echoes, is not the devil's pocket, but was called El Dorado, and the setting was in California (I remember wanting to go find this place after reading the story) A boy hiking gets lost and or a storm comes up, he takes shelter in an old ghost town, and during the night he hears crying and calls for help from a nearby ravine, it turns out to be the ghosts or "echoes" of a boy and a girl. "we are only echoes, echoes echoes... waiting...." pretty creepy!! Hope this Helps
The book is Hoppie the Hopper by Albert Baller, illustrations by Eleanor Corwin, published in 1951 by Rand McNally. It was part of a series called InAction books. I know because it was one of my favorite childhood books and I'm lucky enough to still have it.
This sounds like Anne Digby, A
Thank you Harriett! That sounds exactly right! Now to find a copy of the book...
Possibly Found: One Orange-Brown
by Patricia Lauber, author of Clarence the TV Dog.
The book is in fact illustrated by Shortall, I think!
#H21: The one I'm thinking of was like Found: One Orange-Brown Horse but can't be the same book as I have that one and the one I'm thinking of I never had.
Nancy Caffrey, illus. by Paul Brown, Horse Haven, 1950's. The exact scene you describe is in this book.
B130a boy sky green: a story at least similar is A Horse of Another Color, by Nathan Kravetz, illustrated by Susan Perl, published Little, Brown 1962, 58 pages. "In this all-so-true-to-life story about Henry who loves to paint horses, the author, an elementary school principal, reveals a concern for the independent and imaginative child. As a non-conformist in the use of color, Henry fills the school authorities with anxiety, although he seems to be happily normal in every other respect. It takes the College exhibit, to which Henry's horses in blue and green are sent by mistake, to bring down the worried eyebrows, for a time at least. Cartoonish drawings have the right kind of humor." (HB Oct/62 p.478)
The book is The Horsemasters,
he who also wrote Red Car. It was made into a Disney
move starring Annette Funicello, and was about the English
Program. The old horse mentioned was Cornish Pastie, who was
and a phenomenal hunter.
Thank you!! Yes! Please! The book IS The Horsemasters by Don Stanford. If you cd try to locate a copy for me at a good price, that wd be great! (eBay has a copy, but I'd prefer to support your great service if I can afford it!) Let me know.
The book I'm looking for was about a girl going to a special school where she learned about horse care and riding. She got a really ugly horse but then ended up loving him and doing well. That's about all I remember! Please let me know
if this works!
G113 Stanford, Don, The
See Solved Mysteries
Don Stanford., The Horsemasters, 1970s. Puffin book. Would seem like one possibility.
Don Stanford, The Horsemasters. This stumper sounds like The Horsemasters, about a girl named Dinah who goes to a
riding school in England where she is assigned to a homely horse named Corny (short for Cornish Pastie). She dislikes him at first, but eventually grows to respect him.
G113 This must be a darned good story to have even Scholastic copies so expensive! Stanford, Don; foreword by Sheila
Willcox The horsemasters. dust jacket by Doremus. Funk & Wagnalls c1957 American girl learns firsthand about training by the British Horse Society for a Preliminary Instructor¹s Certificate; horsemastership course
Regarding question M15 "Morel Mushroom", the book is Hothouse by Brian Aldiss; the novel is out-of-print, but still excellent in its descriptions of the carnivorous plants, flymen, etc.
Duvoisin, Roger, The House of Four Seasons, 1956. "When a family buys a new house, each member has a different idea of what color to paint it." Maybe?
Have you looked at Enid Blyton?
Enid Blyton, The Enchanted Castle. This stumper does sound very close to the plot of The Enchanted Castle.
Nina Bawden, The House of Secrets/The Secret Passage (UK title), 1963. Worth a look? John, Mary, and Ben Mallory go to England to live with Aunt Mabel, who keeps a boardinghouse. Young Ben meets the eccentric , elderly boarder Miss Pin, who tells stories of her fabulous treasure, and of the secret passage in the cellar. The passage leads to the big house next door, where the children meet a mysterious girl who has run away from school.
William Sleator, The House of Stairs
William Sleator, House of Stairs. One of my favorite books-- my daughter just read it too, and loved it.
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1974. I have read many of William Sleator's books, and enjoyed most of them.
C102 HOUSE OF STAIRS by William sleator, 1974 (make sure it's by that author. There's another book with a similar title) ~from a librarian
Sleator, William, House of Stairs, 1974.
After thinking about it some more, it's possible that the main
was an alligator not a dinosaur.
Norma Klein, Dinosaur's Housewarming Party.
Bernard Waber. I wonder if this could be one of the Lyle Crocodile books, particularly Lyle and the Birthday Party?
The colors and visual style sound like Sendak's Alligators All Around, from Nutshell Library. It's actually an alphabet book, but the main character, a little alligator, wears a decorative cap throughout the book (and has balloons on the B page), which may leave the impression there was a party. No bathtub, though.
Bernard Waber, The House on East 88th Street, 1962. I believe the book you are thinking of may be this one. There are a couple of pages with Lyle the crocodile in the bathtub. Apparently lazing in the tub is one of his favorite activities. There is also a lot of green in the illustrations.
King, P.E., The house that had
A Big Little Golden Book. I have a copy which was passed to us
adopted my son. He is not tremendously attached to it, so if the
who posted the query would like our copy, she may have it.
Maybe this one? The House That
by Jean Strathdee & Jessica Wallace, 1979. 32 pages
colorful illustrations. "This English book is a story of a big
living in a giant house. They decide to buy a plot of land and
giant communal house, but they can only build a little bit at a
house just grows and GROWS! Vintage English commune hippy
story!" Or this
one? Mrs. Caliper's House by Muriel
Cooke and Headley
& Anne Harper, illustrated by Sherman Cooke, NY Knopf
pages. "Nonsense picture story book about Mrs. Caliper, who was
friendly that she invited everyone who came along to live in her
Rooms were added for the farmer, the milkmaid, the small boy
at last for the old lighthouse keeper. Finally rooms had to be
top of the house, which made it possible to expand almost
Though I'm wondering if it isn't one of the Peterkin
by L. Hale?
This is in answer to F40. I believe it is called The House the Pecks Built, by Helen and Alf Evers. They start out with one room, and keep adding rooms on until the house is so huge they need a train to get from one end of it to the other. They tear all the additions down, and at the very end of the story one of them says something about needing more room...
F40 full circle house: more on the last suggested - The House the Pecks Built, by the Evers, (reprinted Jan 2001) "As Mr.Peck, a poor carpenter, grows prosperous he begins to add one room after another to the family's one-room house until it covers so much territory that he and his family must take the train to the next town just to get from the living room to the dining room." Providing a prescient vision of suburban sprawl, The House the Pecks Built by Helen and Alf Evers is as relevant today as when it was first published in 1940. Not content with their one-room house, the newly monied Pecks keep adding on. Soon, it's so large that tourists come to visit the "Biggest House in the World" and dinner guests travel "from the living room to the dining room by train." Three-color artwork adds nostalgic charm." (Publishers Weekly)
How Sam Adam's Pipe Became a
I found info on two editions of this book. There are
copies of this
in only four colleges/universities in the US, so I don't know how easy it will be to find a copy for yourself. Don't know if this will help you, but for what it's worth here's what I found: How Sam Adam's Pipe Became a Pig! by John William Kirton (1831-1892), illus. George Cruikshank, pub. by S.W. Partridge (London) 1864. First separate edition -- orig. published 1857 in the British workman. How Sam Adam's Pipe Became a Pig! by John William Kirton, illus. George Cruikshank, pub. by S.W. Partridge (London), 1869 (date approximate). Series - Illustrated penny readings, 15pg., 2 illus (woodcuts).
Oh thank goodness, one I know. I needed that.
I don't have one in stock, and they're hard to come by! But
get an ex-library copy for around $40.
Kraus, Robert. How Spider Saved Christmas. Windmill, 1970.
First Nations fable, How the
Her Stripes. This
is a long
shot, but...there are similar lines in a Native American fable
the Chipmunk Got Her Stripes." There is a bear who sings
"I am big
and strong and this is my bear song. I am smart and I am
I am never wrong."
Hmm... I don't remember Mr. Mole from The Wind in the Willows
getting into any traffic jams...
A mole in a traffic jam sounds more like Richard Scarry than Kenneth Grahame to me- although I thought it was usually a pig or a cat behind the wheel in his drawings.
I stumbled across your site while sending a query out for a children's book my brothers and I have been searching for over many years. The M16 query in your data base looks like it might be the same book. I don't have a
solution, just more details. We believe the book was Czech in origin, translated into English. The car was a pink car, much smaller than regular cars - the mole was able to drive underneath other cars. We lived in England
at the time - we're talking about the early 1960's. It wasn't a long book, but it was richly illustrated with colour drawings. The book was also in a fairly large format. I have no idea if these details will help, but the fact
that someone else is looking for the same book is already encouraging! Thanks for an interesting web site!
Eduard Petiska, How the Mole Got His Car, 1960. This is definitely the book. It was printed in Czechoslovakia for Spring Books of London and was illustrated by Zdenek Miler. A mole becomes fascinated by cars visits a junkyard and tries to build one himself using nuts for tires, etc. is unhappy when this doesn't work, but then notices a tire rolling down the street locates the source -- a windup car that a boy has smashed with a hammer puts the tires around his neck and carries the car to a repair shop, where it's fixed and then drives it home. The last picture is of the mole sleeping happily and clutching the key.
Just to complete the story of the Mole and His Car (M16) that was solved under the title How the Mole Got His Car, I recently came across a website for European books in translation that lists the book, along with several others in the same series about the same character. This delightful set of books is illustrated by the same person, Zdenek Miler, but each book is written by a different writer, with Eduard Petiska as the author of the "Little Mole and His Toy Car" book, as indicated by the person who submitted the solution. The books are available online at this site I bought the set - they are all delightful.
Huckleberry, by Marks,
Klar; Illustrated by Irma Wilde. Is this the
Possibly Mickey Klar Marks, Hucklebones (Whitman, '49)?
H22 hucklebones: more on the suggested title, Hucklebones, by Mickey Klar Marks, illustrated by Irma Wilde, published Whitman 1949. "A Cozy Corner Book. A story of a small horse named Hucklebones who is invited to the Steeplechase Ball and he doesn't know how to dance. Cover illustrated with horse, flowers, and sky." Sounds like a good match.
William Saroyan, The Human Comedy, 1943, 1971. It takes place in California in WWII. "...Fourteen-year-old Homer, determined to become the fastest telegraph messenger in the West, finds himself caught between reality and illusion as delivering his messages of wartime death, love, and money brings him face-to-face with human emotion at its most naked and raw." There was a movie made with Mickey Rooney in 1943.
Lorna Balian, Humbug Rabbit, 1974.
What a great book! My children love it too. This author has
other stories, all seeming to have a seasonal or holiday theme.
The children's book that I'm looking for was available in the late 1970s. It was a lovely picture book that showed a grandmother above ground preparing for her grandkids to come for Easter. Meanwhile, a grandmother rabbit below ground was also preparing for her grandkids to come for Easter. The two were shown doing the preparations on each page with an above ground and a below ground view.
Balian, Lorna, Humbug Rabbit,
Abingdon 1974. "Father Rabbit's reply of "Humbug" to the
he is the Easter Rabbit doesn't spoil Easter for his children or
grandchildren. Two stories go on at the same time. One above at
house, one below in a rabbit's burrow. All are related and are
approaching Easter holiday. See how the two stories merge into
plausible and the date is right.
Sounds like it could be HUMBUG RABBIT by Lorna Balian, except it's a grandmother above ground and a father rabbit below. The rabbit children think their father may be the Easter rabbit, and he just scoffs at this.
Meanwhile, above ground, the cat is stealing the hen's eggs, which might ruin the Easter celebrations for the grandmother and her granchildren. I've forgotten how, but somehow the father rabbit saves the day (maybe the cat pushed the eggs into his burrow?) ~from a librarian
H2: Could the humming hamster be Sylvester
a collection called Sylvester and other stories?
book, picture of Sylvester with, I think, the mandolin he rides
could you tell me more about this book? I'm hoping it's the one! Thank you!
I remember that he plays an instrument, maybe a guitar. I remember something about Sylvester with the musical ear, and I think I also remember a tail, which means he isn't a hamster. Is this possible?
No, unfortunately I don't think that's the book, but I appreciate your efforts.
How about a humming possum? Harold Berson, Henry Possum (Crown,'73) -- or is this too recent to be the book you recall? (Instead of playing possum, i.e., playing dead, he keps humming & looking around.)
Unfortunately it doesn't sound like the book. But I certainly appreciate your continued efforts and the forwarding of possible matches.
The unsolved mystery listed on your page as "H2: Humming Hamster" sounds suspiciously like a book I recently "rediscovered." The animal was a mouse, and he loved music. He lived in a guitar in a guitar shop, and every night
he would play when the shop was closed. I believe the name "Sylvester" is correct. I know the time frame is right (my aunt read this to me in the early 70's). It was, as the first post suggests, an orange book that's a collection of
stories. As my children's book collection is at my Mom & Dad's house, 8 hours away, I can't put my finger on it. But I'll check while I'm home at Thanksgiveing. Good Luck Hunting!!
H2 Humm the Singing Hamster by Catherine Bing, 1961, a Whitman Top Top Tales book
I think that is the book!!!!!!!! Do you have it? Can you find it? Why is that listing posted with no
additional info? Did someone enter that info as a possible answer to my search? The date is right on, and the title sounds like THAT IS IT! Please let me know if you can get this book!!! Oh I'm so happy my long long search may be over!!!
I've gotten hold of a copy, and it's a small book with picture of a happy hamster on the blue cover. It's about a
classroom hamster who was very special, because he could hum--but after lunch one day, he disappeared! The
kids look for him everywhere and finally find him having a Hummburger.
Oh I am SO EXCITED!!! It's my book!!!! Oh, how soon can I get it? I AM SO THRILLED!!!
Score! Another book and reader reunited.
Oh Audrey, thank you so much -- for getting the book out, for posting the thank you in the solved "section" - and for your friendly and warm personality. It has been a truly rewarding experience -not just finding my book, but dealing with people like you. Many blessings to you in the new year.
I have Good-by, Gray Lady by
M. Greene published in 1964. The cover is purple
with a large
house with columns and railings in the background and a large
children in the front. The main characters, however, are
Richard Gilbert who are 12 and 10. The family ghost, Gray
whenever the family home is in danger. I believe it is set
Carolinas and the children have adventure in the swamp. I
if this is the one you are looking for or not.
I don't believe this is it. The characters were a little older and not brother and sister. There was more of a sinister feel to it. The girl had come to visit or live with an aunt or grandmother, some female relative. Thanks for checking. I'll keep trying to remember!
Could this be a Mary Stewart one? I seem to remember one--the heroine (Dorcas) has always been able to
communicate telepathically with a distant (male) cousin, but never knew which cousin. She has to choose (romantically) between her two cousins, I think, and she knows the other one is dangerous to her...there's also a question of an inheritance. "Cat" may have been in the title...The Grey Cat? If this isn't the right one, but anyone recognises it, I'd like to know--I really enjoyed it!
The Mary Stewart book the blue poster asks about is Touch Not the Cat published 1976 "When Bryony's father is killed in a mysterious automobile accident, ownership of Ashley Court passes by legal trust to her cousin Emory." Bryony has the second sight. The title refers to the family motto and a Roman mosaic with a cat. I doubt this is the book wanted.
well, maybe The Humming Top, by Dorothy Spicer, published Phillips 1969. "Throughout Dorcas Gray's solitary childhood, in and out of orphanages, she holds onto one treasure - a humming top. One spin of the plaything envelops the girl in a misty other-world, making her witness to events secret and sometimes terrible. When Dorcas' powers of precognition are publicized, evil conspirators recruit the innocent seer for their evil purposes. The villains and their villainies in the ESP thriller are exaggerated, but the heroine, country-hewn and candid, is original." (HB Apr/69 p.195) The book is apparently in print, and a review on Amazon.com mentions that Dorcas is befriended by an elderly woman who wants help finding her missing grandson Steven, and that she is aided by Michael, another relative.
Eleanor Farjeon, Hummingbird. Yes, sure this is Farjeon's Hummingbird - Dauphin 'hidden' in Watteau fan & eventually finds true love years (?centuries) later...
THE HUNGRY THING by Jan
and Ann Seidler, illustrated by Richard E. Martin, 1967
1988?) There are also some sequels.
Thanks for solving the mystery. THE HUNGRY THING was the book that I was thinking of!
Barbara Hobbs, The Hungry Sea Monster, 1959. I finally found of copy of the book that I've been looking for through an online search of books with "sea monster" in the title. The book is "The Hungry Sea Monster" by Barbara Hobbs, copyright 1959, Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston. The story involves Marta (a girl with remarkable common sense), and her little brother Montgomery, who find the hungry sea monster on the beach. Through trial and error they determine that the monster's diet consists of people, so they pack it up in a crate and ship it to New York City. It's an interesting and amusing story.
D75 is NOT Denan, Corinne,
retold by. Dragon and monster tales
by Jennie Williams. Troll, 1980.
Nicholas Stuart Gray, The Hunting of the Dragon, 1965. This is a short story which appears in the collection Mainly in Moonlight.
I'd forgotten this book until I read this
but I loved it too, and I'm almost certain it was called Hurray
More on the suggested title - Hurray for Captain Jane! by Sam Reavin, illustrated by Emily McCully, published Parents' Magazine Press, 1971. "Story line centers on girl in bathtub with a wax paper sailor's hat playing with a bar of soap. Suddently the tub water becomes ocean, and Jane becomes the captain of a ship in her imagination." "Jane came home from a party with 3 prizes; a box of jelly beans, a sailor's hat, & a bar of soap that floats"
I seem to remember a book called Hurry
Simon with a similar plot. Couldn't find anything
under that title,
though. Might have been Don't Dawdle, Simon (man,
ever an unhelpful memory).
I think the book was called Hurry Up, Slowpoke. The sister's name was Lucy.
Well then, it's probably - Hurry Up, Slowpoke, by Crosby Newell, published by Wonder Books, Easy Reader 1961, 61 pages. Two little mouse children set off to visit Grandma, but 'slowpoke' dawdles. The cover is yellow and shows the little boy mouse in a red sailor suit, and far off in the distance the grandmother in a long blue dress with white apron, and the little girl mouse in a red dress beside her.
Sara Teasdale, Flame and Shadow,
1920. The title of the poem itself is "I Remembered."
There never was a mood of mine, / Gay or heart-broken, luminous or dull, / But you could ease me of its fever / And give it back to me more beautiful. / In many another soul I broke the bread, / And drank the wine and played the happy guest, / But I was lonely, I remembered you // The heart belongs to him who knew it best.
Arnold Lobel, Ice-cream Cone Coot
Rare Birds, 1971.
this is a Parents Magazine Press book. "All the birds inside
are very strange and rare. And if you travel to the zoo, you
will not find
them there. Don't look for them in nature books, in parks or pet
and thus it goes. a very entertaining children's book with
I immediately thought of The Ice-Cream Coot, And Other Rare Birds by Arnold Lobel (Parents' Magazine Press, 1971) but we no longer own the book so I couldn't check to be sure. Here's the summary: "Describes in verse such unusual birds as the shuttercluck, the milkbottle midge, the waterglass goose, and the highbutton bobolink."
Ice-Cream Cone Coot & Other Rare Birds. This was a Parent's Magazine Press book from the 60's or 70's.
Unfortunately, they don't reprint any of their books so you can only find it used.
Lobel, Arnold, The Ice Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds, Parents Magazine 1971. "All the birds listed are very strange and rare, and if you travel to the zoo you will not find them there." Sounds like a good bet.
My book had fanciful color illustrations of birds that I believe were all in the shape of different types of ice cream cones but my memory may be faulty on that (it was sort of Dr. Seussian but not not quite). I loved this book and would appreciate any help figuring out my mystery! Thank you.
I know this one. Of course, I don't have it (not right now
sold a copy last month), but if you want me to search for it, just
me know (I can get one for around $24). It's a fabulous,
funny book. Lobel, Arnold. The Ice-Cream Cone
Other Rare Birds. Parents' Magazine Press,
I remember that poem. I did some searching for it and came
with the following:
Thomas Gale Joan. If Jesus Came to My House. London: Mowbray A. R., 1958. Cloth / Hardcover, Very Good, 32mo - over 4" - 5" tall 25th edition, theboards are mildly soiled, Two tone color illustrations, red
and black. <SOLD>
Check out D'Aulaire's Greek Myths: it's a
book with stylized 1930's illustrations, and decent history.
again, maybe it was more focused on the Trojan War?
I have not seen any of these books so I cannot check out illustrations but some possible tltles: Iliad of Homer by Barbara Picard (1966) Tales of Ancient Greece by Enid Blyton (1953) The Wooden Horse and the Fall of Troy by I.M.Richardson (1984) (too late?!) Faber Book of Greek Legends by Kathleen Liner (1973) Tales of Troy and Greece by Andrew Lang (1962).
Two more possiblities: Padraid Colum's Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy, (1918) illustrated by Willy Pogogy Or Tale of Troy retold from the Ancient Authors (1935?) by Roger Lancelyn Green, illustrated by Betty Middleton-Sanford. Hope this helps!
In a second hand store today I pulled down a large volume from a high shelf and when I saw what it was I thought -Eureka, maybe! It is The Iliad and The Odyssey (surprise!)-the heroic story of the Trojan War, The fabulous adventures of Odysseus adapted from the Greek classics of Homer by Jane Werner Watson.(1956) Simon and Schuster (The Golden Library) Pictures by Alice and Martin Provensen--and what pictures they ARE! They dominate the book, sometimes having the look of wood cuts. The illustrations fill each page: along borders, sometimes along the lower half,sometimes the upper half- sometimes they fill a whole page and flow onto the text page opposite! Figures: soldiers, gods and godesses are large, sometimes 10 or 11 inches high- solid, dramatic! The colors are mostly muted, somber earth tones-browns, tans, slate gray-greens, terracottas, and blacks. It is a gorgeous book. I sure hope this is it! The bold dramatic pictures resemble those featured in the other Provenson book The Golden Treasury of Myths and Legends found under Anthology Finder at this site!
I believe R42 is Katia by E.M.
Almedingen, in which a motherless little girl in tsarist
sent to live with wealthy relations. (In my library, it
with the biographies.)
More on the suggested title - Katia(UK title Little Katia) by E.M. Almedingen, illustrated by Victor Ambrus, published Farrar 1967, 207 pages. Based on the author's great-aunt Catherine's memoirs (published 1874),
describes Katia's life when as a child of five she went, after the death of her mother, to live with various relatives in the Ukraine and St. Petersburg.
Mara Kaye, In Place of Katia. 1960's. I think you may be looking for In Place of Katia. This was a favorite of mine back in the '60's when I was in elementary school. It took place in Russia during the Revolution and the part that I always remembered was the exciting escape when the girl was hidden in labyrinth. I searched high and low for this book so that my girls could read it. Finally found it at a library on the Central Coast of California (Santa Maria?). Received it through library loan and the kids enjoyed it. I know the book is out of print. Mara Kaye wrote other books of children in Russia, so if this isn't it, maybe it is one of her others.
This 1946 Caldecott Honor winner comes to mind: Marie
the Forest. "Join the fun! There is a
parade and a
party in the forest." It's been in print almost since its
I was thrilled to find out the name of the book I had you post.
Marie Hall. In the Forest.
Viking, 1944. Caldecott Honor Book.
new paperback, $6
I think you'll get plenty of responses to
It's In the Keep of Time by Margaret J.
The story is based on a real Scottish keep called Smailholm
youngest, a 5-year-old girl (Ollie), actually falls into a misty
the keep near the beginning and when they rush to find her,
into another entical-looking girl (Mae)and they're back in 1460,
King James drives out the English - and the kids are English, so
they have to keep quiet about it. After the battle, they manage to get home and they take Ollie-Mae with them, but she is still Mae and they have to train her to be Ollie and adjust to the 20th century. They learn to cooperate as a loving family as a result, but they still can't get her to remember her life as Ollie. They (all four) go into the tower again, into the future, and find an old blind woman, Vianah(sp?) whose tribe has not yet returned and she needs them to get food from Kelso. They see her in daylight finally and she looks just like the old aunt (Grace) they're vacationing with. When they get back to Grace's home in Scotland, Ollie apparently remembers some of her modern life in London but won't answer questions. They find the same thing happened decades ago to Grace that happened to Ollie, so they both have a stronger and more abstract understanding of "family" than they did
before. What is also fascinating but somewhat secondary is how Anderson subtly paints how "primitive" societies can be patriarchal or matriarchal and how each system can learn from the other. (Elinor wants nothing but to run back to the 20th century in the first half - especially since the women have nothing to do but hide and wait for days to hear if their loved ones have been killed or not - and Andrew's shocked and horrifed to find the 22nd century to be anything but high-tech and needs Elinor's methods to prevent him from getting completely lost at
one point.) Beautiful and thought-provoking. There's a sequel of sorts, with mostly different characters and
some chilling remarks about guns and bombs being common in the 20th century. They were both written before the mid-80s, I think.
Sounds like it might be IN THE KEEP OF TIME by Margaret J. Anderson, 1972 4 children slip back and forth in time in an ancient Scottish tower. There were two other books with the same kids.
YES, YES, YES!!!!! I am so excited. If you can find a copy that would be great. The girl's name (Ollie) was the thing that did it, because I remember thinking that was an odd name. Phew!!
So excited...I got the book today!!! Could you keep your eyes peeled for the others in the series? Thanks!!! (I'll see if I can solve some more stumpers for you).
I16 - Is called Indian Bunny
is by Ruth Bornstein. My daughter got a copy from
in first grade. Cute little book.
I16 indian bunny: More on the suggested title Indian Bunny, written and illustrated by Ruth Bornstein, published Scholastic 1973. "One day a bunny said, "Good-by, I'm going to be an Indian."
I just recently purchased a lot of horse
on eBay, and I think one of them is this book.....copyright is
this printing is a paperback from 1960. Story is of the
son of an
Indian chief who tames his horse, son of a mare his father gives
runs away, he follows the horse and spends a year taming him,
ends when Little Falcon rides "Shadow" back into his camp.
is a paint....Sure sounds like this would be the correct book!!
You were right in thinking it was a Little Golden Book, for here is exactly the story you seek:
Zolotow, Charlotte. Indian Indian. Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. Simon & Schuster, 1952. Little Golden Book #149. First Edition. Worn at top and bottom of spine, otherwise VG. $12 <SOLD>
I received the book today and am thrilled beyond belief. I had forgotten parts of the story but it essentially was the same as I recalled. Being 53 now, it is so interesting to see how a book had such an impact on me. I am now a pet sitter and a local columnist on pet issues. Even then, animal connections were important to me. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have this one sitting on my bookshelf right now. The title is Inside Out, and it is indeed by Ann M. Martin.
William Sleator, Into The Dream
William Sleator, Into the Dream, 2000, reprint. I loved this book too! I remembered the title and looked up the author using the ubiquitous Amazon. Hope this helps!
Pamela Stearns, Into the Painted
Mark this one solved - I love this book. The boy crawls
under a table
in a toy shop (marked "Bear Lair"), and finds himself in another
he befriends Sir Rosemary ( a female knight) and a bear, they go
on a quest,
etc. Houghton Mifflin.
Stearns, Pamela and Strugnell, Ann. Into the Painted Bear Lair. Houghton Mifflin, 1976. "Entering another world through a toy store, Gregory joins Sir Rosemary and a gourmet named Bear on a journey involving princesses, magic spells, and hidden passages."
Pamela Stearns, Into the Painted Bear Lair, 1976. '"Entering another world through a toy store, Gregory joins Sir Rosemary and a gourmet named Bear on a journey involving princesses, magic spells and hidden passages."
Harriett apparently needs this book herself...
Sean Morrison, Is That a Happy
This looks like quite a likely prospect for this book.
is a large thumping, the question is asked who is it and various
are expected, until the end!"
M157: Richard Scarry, 1964, Is This the House of Mistress Mouse? (Yes, that's the whole title.)
Silver, Jody, Isadora. Doubleday, 1981. "A lady donkey who buys a red feather boa instead of a toaster comes to terms with her sense of frivolity."
Thomas Baum, It looks alive to me!, 1976. "The exhibits at the Museum of Natural History come alive as a young boy searches during the night for the stolen moon rock."
B65 could be Down a Dark Hall by
Could this be Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan? In that book, a rather sinister woman enrolls 4 girls with "psychic" abilities in a boarding school. Somehow, the woman is able to use the girl to channel historical figures--one girl is able to play the piano like Schumann, one girl is able to paint, one does mathematics. The woman's plan was to take the art or songs produced by the girls and pass them off as "lost compositions" or "lost masterpieces." It was my favorite Lois Duncan book--very creepy.
B65 my first thought was the Macdonald Hall books by Gordon Korman, but those seem to have been published in the 80s.
I reread Down a Dark Hall and it is a great book but not the one I was looking for this time. I remember it being a boys' boarding school and one of the mishaps was someone breaking their leg (which I believe was the pic on the cover of the hb). The other guess isn't it either, written too early and this was more of a mystery book.
How about It's Murder st St. Basket's (1972) by James Lincoln Collier. The setting is an ancient London boarding school and involves three new friends: an American ,Christopher Quincy, an English student, Leslie Plainfield, and David Choudhry, a Pakistani." A truly macabre and dangerous situation is building up" at this seemingly traditional educational institution.
James Lincoln Collier, It's Murder at St. Basket's. This book is about 3 friends in an English boarding school, one of whom gets his leg broken by a teacher with a hockey stick. The picture on the cover of the book shows 2 boys, one of whom has an injured leg.
I believe this is J.T. written by Jane Wagner,
(of Lily Tomlin's In Search for Signs of Intelligent Life
Universe fame), with photographs by Gordon Parks.
Neville, Emily, It's Like This, Cat. I see there's a solution up for this, and I can't be sure of my answer either, but it could be worth a look.
#B125--Boy finds cat: This is definitely NOT It's Like This, Cat, by Emily Cheney Neville. That boy did live in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of New York, but he was white. The cat was given him by a neighbor, not found, and he kept it at home. His father wasn't thrilled about the arrangement, but the cat was never evicted or kept outside anyplace. There was one scene when the cat got out and the boy was teased by bullies while carrying it home, but the cat was never killed or seriously harmed. I forgot to mention it is also not illustrated with photographs.
This might be Leo Mero, Jack &
Visit the Zoo (Whitman Publishing,'40). Die cut
How Amazing! Talk about Cast Bread . . . . I am sure that is right. It would have been in stock after a few years in the war and my mother gave me some other Whitman books too. My Goodness ,want want want. I had given up on it. Please let it not be the case that AlephBet books buy this kind because the price will be out of this world. At very worst I may be able to get a colour xerox of it from somewhere. Or have you got a copy? I will look at my list and put some more up I think! Many thanks for letting me know!
Well, I finally got a xerox of Jack
and Jill visit the Zoo.
I wasn't sure, the cover was not as I had recalled it, the
cage bars had
become a kind of lattice work at the zoo entrance. No gorilla,
was the giraffe house with the peaked roof and bellpull and
bags and the monkeys at the end, though not with the
it looked so 1930ish, I kept wondering whether I was just
to be it. Then I looked at the elephant and I knew the
was right. Up welled the old feeling of shock that the
eating his food off the FLOOR and, my goodness, the keeper was
of the elephant's carrots. I hope he washed it.
Yup, that is
the book. Well done, only about half my clues were
I read this book to my daughter just the
night. It is James the Jaguar by Mary
illustrated by Cyndy Szekeres. Published by G.P. Putnam's
Copyright 1972. LC # 76-187562. It is also
identified as coming
from The Weekly Reader's Book Club. I bought my copy at a garage
library book sale. I did a search, and it doesn't seem to
be in print.
D6 dress-up baby brother: more on the suggested - James the Jaguar, by Mary Lystad, published New York, Putnam's 1972, Weekly Reader, 24 pages. "Charming color illustrations by Cyndy Szekeres on every page highlight this story that tells of young James who is constantly picked on by his older sisters. When his uncle sends him a jaguar suit, James is transformed into a strong willed jaguar who sets his sisters straight."
S60 Supernatural Thriller with Female Teen
think this must be JANE-EMILY by Patricia
The female teen goes with her young niece stay with a family in
In the garden, there is a reflecting ball. The ghost of a
girl is trapped in the reflecting ball.
S60 sounds like Jane-Emily published in 1969 by Patricia Clapp. Louisa, the main character, is 18 and is sent to accompany her niece Jane to her grandmother's house, where Jane becomes possessed by her dead aunt Emily. Emily had a reflecting ball in the garden.
Thank you a ton for this service!! The responses to S60 (my request) were right. I have spent a year trying to figure this out without success asking everyone I know. I absolutely am addicted to your site now. Only wishing your store was in my town!
Thank you so much! I have been looking for this book for so long and I am so thrilled. Your website is a life-saver!!
T-9 This story appeared in Cricket
Magazine. I remember it. I believe her
name was Janet,
and she lived in Ireland with her two brothers and grandma and
Their farm was called "Faraway Farm" or something
similar, and she
had another adventure where her brother George told her not to
the well or she'd see a horrible creature I can't remember the
Thank you for this response from Cyberspace. Did the story appear in Cricket Magazine recently? If not, do you remember roughly when? Years ago, or months ago? I will contact them. I'm so thrilled that someone actually remembers this story!
It was Janet of Reachfar, I remember now. It appeared in Cricket magazine in the late 70's, maybe 78 or 79. Gosh, I hope I'm remembering right! If it's not the right series, then it's terribly similar. I still remember the pictures of the girl leading the cow past the stones.
Janet of Reachfar - There was a whole series of about 20 books by Jane Duncan called My Friend ... written for adults but with the main character Janet Sandison whose childhood had been spent at the family
croft/smallholding called Reachfar in north-eastern Scotland (not Ireland). Three stories of Janet's childhood were
rewritten for children and published as picture books with illustrations by Mairie Hedderwick. They were: Janet
Reachfar and Chickabird, Janet Reachfar and the Kelpie and Herself and Janet Reachfar. In that part of Scotland people were often called after their property rather than having their surname used when people spoke of them. Jane Duncan wrote a kind of autobiography, Letter From Reachfar in which she indicates which bits of the My Friend and Janet Reachfar books are autobiographical and which imaginary.
Janice in Tomorrow-land by Emory
Holloway published in 1936 by the American Book Company.
WOW! Thank you! Another grateful book lover applauds you! Do you know of anyone currently having Janice in stock? Many thanks!
B117 boy in outer space: I just picked this
at a consignment store - Jed's Junior Space Patrol: a
Easy-to-read, by Jean and Claudio Marzollo,
David S. Rose, published Dial Press 1982, 56 pages. In chapter
Jed and his parents land on Planet X5. Jed hears a call for help
a cave. "He saw a strange animal lying under a rock. He could
it was hurt. It talked without moving its mouth. "Please," said
"Take care of my babies." The animal died before it could say
babies are 'cogs' something like cats and something like dogs.
the animals to the ship, but a Planet X5 patrolman takes them
away to study
at Headquarters. Jed's parents give him a "teddy robot computer.
to take care of you and to be your friend." The robot is a large
bear, about the same height as Jed but wider, with wheels on its
antennae. A printout comes out of Teddy's nose (I'm not making
telling Jed how to find the cogs at Headquarters, and boy and
on a rescue mission. I think this is it.
I love that little rhyme myself. I
it appears in Eloise Wilkins' Good Little Bad Little
Little Golden Book), but it must appear in other places
too. I think
it's one of those common-domain old-as-the-hills kinds of rhyme
lost its authorial roots, but I could be wrong about that...
Not a solution to this request... but here is the rhyme that the person is referencing: There was a little girl, who had a little curl, Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good, And when she was bad, she was horrid.
N29: This, according to Louis Untermeyer in The Golden Treasury of Poetry (easily the best poetry book for children as they grow) may have been written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow! See the poem here. See an additional verse here.
And Longfellow apparently named this little girl Jemima.
I think this rhyme appears in a Junior Elf book called Humpty Dumpty and other Mother Goose Rhymes.
I'm still looking for it too... don't despair... here's another request:
I'm looking for a book called A Gift for Jennifer. The book was set during the late 1890's or early 1900's. It had a rural feeling. Jennifer seemed to be attending school in a one-room school building. It was Christmas time and there was something about gifts (for the teacher? for the other children?). I don't remember much about it besides the title and I may be wrong about that, but it made such a great impression on me that I named my second daughter for the Jennifer in the book. I do vaguely recall the art work on the cover: it seems to me that there was a picture of the heroine dressed in winter clothing - coat, hat, mittens, etc. - and that she was smiling and waving. As I said, I may be wrong about all of this, but after nearly fifty years, I would love to see this book again and determine whether it was as wonderful as I remember it.
Well I certainly hope it is that wonderful, and you're not the
one who remembers it! It must be the same series as the previous
request here, and now if I can figure out who wrote the gem, I
find copies for both of you.
News from the field--there are four books about Jennifer: The Jennifer Prize, Jennifer Dances, The Jennifer Wish, and The Jennifer Gift. They were published in the late 40's and early 50's by author/illustrator Eunice Young Smith.
At last! Now the trap is set! . . .
Not only have I discovered the author of your long lost memory, but I found a copy of the book!
Smith, Eunice Young. The Jennifer Wish. Bobbs-Merrill, 1949. Green cloth, ex-library, bottom of cover worn. Binding tight and pages clean. G+. <SOLD>
Would you believe the first requester called me from
thank me?!?! And here's another thanks:
My book arrived yesterday - so exciting to see it after all these years! All very familiar (except I could have sworn the cover was blue, not green...! ) Oh well, the memory plays tricks. Thank you very much for all your help! I can't tell you how many book searches I've tried for this one.
Regarding the "Jennifer" series of books by Eunice Young Smith, your stump the bookseller page states that there are 4 books in the series, actually there are 6. You missedJennifer is Eleven and High Heels for Jennifer. I have been collecting this series for years, and I have all but The Jennifer Gift. Let me know if you have a copy! Thanks!
My second search is for The Jennifer Wish, by Eunice Young Smith. It is the first of a series of several books
about Jennifer who visits a country home and makes a wish that her family might some day live there. Over the
years, I have often looked in used bookstores and even in libraries for the first 2 books in the series, and I found
the second book, The Jennifer Gift, on eBay a few months ago. Now I am even more eager to find the first.
Perhaps you can help??
Yep, that's the story all right! Got my hands on a copy of the Jennifer Wish, and would also like a copy of the Jennifer Gift. If I could obtain that, it would be wonderful.
It's about a girl named Jenny, I think, and it takes place around 1890-1900. I don't remember much about the story with the exception of a couple of things: The story seems to center around a pond in the woods. And the main character used two slang terms throughout the book. One was "spiffy," and the other was "spondelux (sp?)." I would love to find this one...have no idea of the title or author.
J9 is possibly Jennifer Wish,
Young Smith. Jennifer and her family move out to a
house in the
country for the summer. The pond in the story is her
where she goes to wish that they could live there forever and
not go back
to the city. I don't have this book in front of me but I
the Jennifer Gift, a sequel, and they do use the
I think there are other descriptions of these books in solved
The Jennifer Wish, illustrated and written by Eunice Young Smith, published Bobbs-Merrill 1949. This is the
first story in the JENNIFER series. "And that was how the wonderful summer of 1908 began. For the four Hill children, living on the farm was like a dream come true. They explored the woods, the creek, the barn and the
pastures. What a perfect place to spend a summer! The creek was shallow enough in spots for wading, deep enough elsewhere for swimming, fishing, sailing a raft. The boys could have a menagerie. The girls could have a
playhouse. The barn would hold all the pets they could accumulate, and cat, kittens, pigs and chickens were
soon added to the family. There sere no neighbors to complain about noisy games--the children were as free as the air for two whole months!"
J9 jenny: there's no Jenny, but some other similarities, so perhaps The Lost Pond, by Marguerite Fellows Melcher, published Viking 1956, 190 pages. "A New Hampshire village in the 1890s is the setting for this story of Pauline Franklin's 15th summer in the beautiful old house to which the Winn sisters brought their families every year. There are exploring trips in the woods, a reception and dance for an older cousin, a County Fair, and various family activities; but the story centers around Pauline's growing up, ... She knows that Lost Pond, so deeply hidden in the mountains that it is almost impossible to find, has a special secret meaning for all who do come upon it, and at the end of this last summer of her childhood she herself finds it ..." (HB Dec/56 p.460)
Eunice Young Smith, The Jennifer Wish, 1949. After decades of searching, I have finally obtained all of Ms. Young Smith's "Jennifer" books and can say with certainty that the book referenced in Query J9 is indeed "The Jennifer Wish".
#J14: Jenny becomes a cat--Several
sent this same inquiry into the message board at Alibris, and
none of them
were quite clear on it either. One was sure it was about a
by a car, who, while in a coma, becomes a dog named Jenny.
was sure it was a cat. Finally they came to the consensus
book was Jenny by Paul Gallico.
Jenny was the
name of the cat the boy temporarily became.
thanks so much. i knew the book was called Jenny. by all means, please search for it
thanks but i live in canada
Jenny by Paul Gallico, About a little boy who loves cats but is not allowed pets. He is knocked down by a car while running across the street to see a cat, and goes into a coma. During this time he 'becomes' a young male kitten, mentored by the street cat, whose name is Jenny. She teaches him how to act like a cat, including the invaluable advice "when in doubt, wash". They have many adventures. By the end of the book Peter is almost a grown cat.
A longshot: Jenny and the Insects
(New York: American Sunday School Union, 1857), 298 p."A
written from the perspective of a girl conversing with insects.
7 handcolored plates of butterlies, ant eater, moths, etc."
Thanks! I'll follow up and see if I can find out more about it. I didn't think it was that old, but, it may have been reprinted in the edition I read. It sounds very similar, though, and the right length for the book.
Just another possibility, and a later publication: The Journey to the Garden Gate by Ralph Townsend, published by Houghton, 1920s "Prudence-Anne goes down through the small end of the telescope, and finds herself a companionable size with Bluebottle Fly, Bee, Wasp, and the other creatures encountered in one's garden. Naturally the journey from the house to the garden gate becomes a series of adventures. Entertaining, well-written nonsense for those who like "
Another more recent book in a similar theme is People With Six Legs, by M. Bosanquet, illustrated by R. Reckitt, published Faber 1953, 92 pages. "Belinda, like the immortal Alice, becomes small and goes into a strange world. Here it is her own garden, and the people she meets are insects. Ants, bees, dragonflies and beetles go about their daily tasks and show the little girl how they live. Belinda's visits only occur now and again, as she has her ordinary life at home as well - in fact, when she has been talking to the old Professor who lives nearby, we wonder whether the magic has happened at all, or whether all the adventures have taken place in her imagination only. It is a pity that the woodcuts are for the most part unpleasing and even frightening for a small child." (JB Oct/53 p.176)
I DO remember seeing on another booksite a
entitled : Jenny Lind's Cat, or Jenny Lind
cat. I will try to remember which site it
Now I remember!! The book is called Jenny Lind and her Listening Cat by Frances Cavanah. Thanks to you and everyone who reads your site for continued assistance in recapturing a bit of childhood long gone !
Eugenie, Jenny's Surprise Summer,
1981. This book is definitely the one being looked for in
This book has been reprinted and retitled Kittens for
It is considered a Beginning Reader. It is the same book as Jenny's
Summer, but larger and in hard cover with no
binding. Inside it says adapted from the Little Golden books.
I asked my famous friend Scott, who sees
knows all, in the world of animation, and here is his
only do I know the information, but I worked as a designer on
at Hanna-Barbera in 1993, when it was produced. The
special was called
"The Town That Santa Forgot". It was based on the story "Jeremy
by Charmaine Severson, and written for television by Glenn
entire special was spoken in verse, and
narrated by Dick Van Dyke. Hope that info helps! Scott. Fascinating, the people you can meet online!
That at least answers my question! I'm sure that is the right book (Though I would still love to be able to find it.) Thank you so much for your help, you run a great web site!
I'll put World Travels of Jeremy Mouse on my wants
and see what happens!
Hi! I saw the question about Jeremy, the traveling mouse and came up with the following title and author: The Travels of Jeremy Jukes by Bernard Odell. I don't know if it's the right book as I never read it but just thought I'd throw the information your way. Maybe you could find a copy of the Odell book and see what it's about or something like that.
Actually, I did some homework and found out that it's this:
Scarry, Patricia M. The Jeremy Mouse Book. Illustrated by Hilary Knight. American Heritage Press, 1969. Large format, 11" x 10". Ex-library copy, edges worn and well-read, but ready for another run down memory lane (in small red convertible, of course). G. $18 postpaid.
Philip Ressner, Jerome,
1967. Illustrated by Jerome Snyder. A frog must do three
deeds in order to prove to the townspeople that he really is a
I really don't think this is it. Jerome is a sweet frog who just wants to play in his own puddle. It was published by Parents Magazine Press, I believe, and has funny, happy cartoonish drawings. I don't think there are any dragons or scary art.
F76 frog prince: Jerome might match after all. The plot descriptions I've found say that Jerome is a frog told by a witch that she has turned him into a prince (she has actually done nothing, he is still a frog), he goes to the townspeople and they give him 3 tasks to do, which he succeeds in - the crows stop eating the crops, the dragon burns garbage, and the wizard becomes young again. So there is a dragon, and the illos are pretty colourful & rich.
J10--Jessamy by Barbara
#J10, #J11, and #K15 are all descriptions of the same book, which someone identified as Jessamy, by Barbara Sleigh.
This is the book. I would love to own a copy. I assume if you find one, I can decide whether to purchase based on its price. Thanks--I'm very excited to be able to read again this book.
I remember a book I use to take out of the library round 1977. This book is about a young girl (Jamie?)who goes to stay with relatives (couple of old Aunts?). While exploring the house, she enters the old nursery with faded wallpaper. Opening the cupboard, she sees markings on the wall where children were measured their heights. She is then transported back in time to when the nursery was filled with children of which one of them is named Kit. Could you help me with the name/author/finding a copy? Thanks
J11 sounds like the same search as J10. But
book is Jessamy
I'm looking for a children's book in which a girl goes into a closet in an old house and is transported back in time (~100 years). She makes friends with a boy, Kit, and later in her own time, meets him as an old man.
Check out Tomorrow's Children
the Solved Mysteries page.
Thanks for the prompt response. None of these sound right. My book wasn't science fiction. Still looking?
K15 looks like J10 and J11
Thank you so much. Yes, I would love to have a copy of the book. Could you tell me what it would cost to find it?
Jessamy by Barbara Sleigh, illustrated by Philip Gough, published London, Collins 1967 "Evocative story of lonely child stepping into family (which, unknowingly, she is linked with) two generations back. Jessamy, a little orphaned schoolgirl, is sent in an emergency to stay with the elderly caretaker of a long-empty country mansion, Posset Place. ("I daresay you won't mind being treated like a grown-up person. I don't know any other way.") A cupboard in the old nursery - the magic link between present and past - takes her back half a century to 1914, and to a family of lively children. From her double time-position she not only learns of her relationship to them, but is able to solve a mystery at last - what became of the Book of Hours when scapegrace Harry went off to the wars." (Best Children's Books of 1967)
T85 train through fictional places: the
I've found so far is The Train to Yesterday, by Paul
illustrated by Patricia Casey, published Harrap 1975, 72 pages.
hot summer's day four children, or is it three, for one is a
boy who does not belong, are transported back into the
Victorian age by
means of an old steam train. There they meet a sick boy whom,
on a subsequent
trip, they are able to help." (Children's Book Review,
A similar plot is in The Old Powder Line, by Richard
published Weekly Reader, Nelson 1971, 143 pages, "Fifteen-year-old
discovers a railway line that was never there before, that can
passengers over the frontiers of time. Ages 12 to 16." "Brian
a ride on a mysterious steam train that takes him back into
"Story of a train that takes 3 people into the regions of
their own past,
but danger surrounds such adventures and a change in the
return trip threatens
disaster." There's an old book by Cornelia Meigs,
Wonderful Locomotive, illustrated by Bertha and
published Macmillan 1928 (reprinted 1955), 104 pages, but it may
old, and the plot is not so much magical as about magically fast
across the continent in four days and nights.
I browsed through your book stumpers "just for fun", and I think, T85 "Train thru fictional places" might be Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivfuehrer by Michael Ende (first published in Germany 1960) or the continuation "Jim Knopf und die wilde 13" (first published 1962). The books were published in English as "Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver" and "Jim Button and the Wild 13" The story is about the boy Jim Knopf and his friend Luke, who live in a very small country called "Lummerland" - an island with two mountains. Together with the engine "Emma" they have the most phantastic adventures with half dragons, emperors, pirates and other phantastic creatures in just as phantastic countries. These books are very popular here in Germany; "Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivfuehrer" won the German prize for children's literature in 1961, and there is a very popular adaption by the "Augsburger Puppenkiste" (a puppet theatre), which was shown on TV. I first hesitated to write to you, because in Germany every librarian for children's books would know Jim Knopf, so I thought that can't be a "mystery". But of course, he may be not as well-known in the USA.
#V19--Vanishing Lessons: "Jimmy
Vanishing Lessons," by Walter R. Brooks, Knopf,
1950, has been
published as a book by itself, as well as in anthologies,
Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons by Walter R. Brooks is in Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful, Random House, 1961.
Walter R. Brooks, Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons
I think this is actually "Jimmy takes vanishing lessons," which is a short story by Walter R. Brooks. It has been included in many ghost story anthologies, including Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful in 1961. It was also published separately under its title.
I have the answer to the C7 stumper: Jingle
Jack by Miss Frances (Dr. Frances R.
Norwich) who was
host of the 1950s TV show "Ding Dong School". It is a Ding
Book (similar to a Little Golden Book). Illustrated by
Copyright 1955. Golden Press. The little red-haired girl's name
I believe there's a typo in the response to C7: the last name of "Miss Frances" is Horwich. I hope this helps locate the book.
Yes, this is the book! I loved this book so much when I was growing up. I hope that I can find it somewhere. Thank you for all your help.
A possibility: there is a short story entitled Jinx, the Alaskan Husky, in the book "The Hairy brown angel and other animal tails" by Grace Fox Anderson. It was published in 1977. Description: Twenty-two short stories featuring animals in a religious setting.
I think this could be a book called, SCAT,
SCAT by Sally R. Francis. I have this
book and it
is filled with colored pictures and large colored print and
little girl named "Rosy Runabout." The cat gets chased
a broom, but the woman is sweeping the sidewalk. There is
woman that chases the cat away later in the book that has her
hair up in
a bun because the cat was causing trouble. The line throughout
is, "Scat, scat" go away little cat!" Good Luck!
Is there any way to ask the "answer person" more details. Is there a Negro woman in the book? Scat Scat Little Cat does not sound familiar. I don't think this is the answer.
We'll keep looking!
Relating to J-4, but not an answer, since they already stated that this was not the right story, I remember the story that goes "scat, scat, you old street cat, go away and never come back" or something like that. It was in a collection of short stories and poetry that included a story about a tiny old lady and a fly that stole her omlette off the windowsill, a man who adopted stray dogs, A little polar bear who swam to an iceberg but I don't remember why, and the poem "the spider and the fly". It was a hardcover book, probably about a foot to 16 inches tall, not
very thick......I would love to find it. I had it when I was 4-5 years old, about.....early 80s but I think the book was published much earlier, judging by condition and style.
I saw the cover of Scat Scat and it's illustrated by coloured drawings, not by photographs. The kitten is white and sheltering under some leaves. possibles: Janet Konkle Once There Was a Kitten Chicago: Children's Press, 1951, illustrated by photographs Blyton, Enid The Laughing Kitten London, Harvill Press, 1954, Black &
white photographs by Paul Kaye
would suggest Joan Wanted a Kitty, by Jane Brown Gemmill, illustrated by Marguerite De Angeli, published Hale 1937, 150 pages. It's illustrated by line drawings and colour plates rather than photographs, but the kitten is found in the rain, and there is an "Aunt Jemima" type black woman who is the housekeeper or cook and 'boss of the house'.
Gemmill, Jane Brown, Joan Wanted a Kitty, illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli, Hale 1937. Okay, now that I have a copy to hand, I think this may be the book. It is NOT illustrated by photos, though. There is a black cook, named Maggie, who looks quite Jemima-ish, and a little girl named Joan who desperately wants a kitty. Mother says "And Maggie would not want a kitty under foot in the kitchen. She says 'Scat' to every cat she sees." Below this is a picture of a woman's feet, long skirt, and a broom shooing a cat away. Joan tries to talk Maggie around, but she says she will have to leave if a cat comes to the house. Joan eventually finds a kitten in the rain, with a hurt paw, and Maggie cleans it up, bandages its paw, and agrees to let it stay. Joan names it Fluff. Any of
this ring a bell?
Nothing on this end. Can you get a bit more info on this
guy? I found an evolutionary biologists's autobiography, but
something like "Reflections on the Life Cycle." Let me know.
That's all I could find-plus some fellow from San Francisco who is the wrong one. If you find something, let me know.
Bunnell, Paul, Thunder over New England, 1988. The story of a New England tory family during the Revolution and their settlement in Canada after the war. I know this isn't right on, but the similarity in the author's name made me wonder if this could be
Pulse, Charles K., John Bonwell : a novel of the Ohio River Valley, 1818-1862, 1952. Could this possibly be the book?
Pulse, Charles K., John Bonwell: a novel of the Ohio River Valley, 1818-1862. NY, Farrar, 1952. After some fruitless yahoo and LC searches for a possible author named John Bonner (or something similar), followed by a search through listings for books on the early history of Chillicothe and Ross County, Ohio, I tossed in a partial title search and this came up. It is 436 pages, and the LC subject listings are: Frontier and pioneer life, Fiction and Ohio River Valley, Fiction. It seems worth checking out, since memories can be faulty, and the search for the author John Bonner is going nowhere. Would be nice to know whether the book was fiction or nonfiction to start with ...
I've only been able to find one reference to this book, and it
a book; it's a record (and expensive at that). Here's the
Disney's Story of Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet Western
Inc. 1970, softcover book with 33-1/3 Long Playing Record, 24
Do you think that's it, or do you remember a book? There might have been a book....
Johnny Go Round is a Whitman Tell-a-Tale book from 1960 (#2525) by Richard Walz and illustrated by Betty Ren Wright featuring a smiling cat on the cover.
I wrote to you a few weeks back searching for information
"Dragon from Kell" story. I received a call today from the Santa
Library Research Service. Someone on their listserv had
mystery! Since it has taken me two years to find
I thought you might like to know it as well. Apparently
is Jonathan and the Dragon
Shapiro. It was first published in 1962 by
Western Press and
then in 1969 by Golden Press. It is no longer in
you have this book or a way of obtaining it? If it
to obtain it, can you give me an idea of how long it might take
much it might cost?
I think this is Gladys Malvern, Jonica's
Island (NY: J Messner, 1945)
Thank you so much. Jonica's Island is the right book and I just received it from used book dealer. What a great site this is!
The only place I had ever come across the name Jonica was in one of Gladys Malvern's historical novels for young people, Jonica's Island. But I thought of it again when I was expecting our first daughter. We liked the sound of names like Jennifer and Jessica, but with the family name Smith, we thought we should choose a first name less frequently used. (It was several years later that we found out that in the Netherlands, where the name is quite common, it is pronounced with the initial sound as "y" rather than "j.")
In Anne Pence Davis' book, Mimi
Camp the children found a crow and I believe
attempted to teach
it to talk. But "Mimi" is from the 20s, not the 50s so I don't
it's the one you want.
Is the book you want called Jo-Jo the Talking Crow. Houghton Mifflin, 1958
t65 - Talking Crow - This may not be correct, but Wylly Folk St. John's The Secret of The Seven Crows has a young girl (Gale) who has a crow that talks (Dracula). Another character tries throughout the book to tame a crow of his own ...
Bannon, Laura. Jo-Jo the Talking Crow. Houghton Mifflin, 1958. "...an amusing and attractively illustrated story of a tame crow whose personality and endearing traits made him the children's favorite pet."
Grimm Brothers, Jorinda and
This sounds very much like the Grimm fairy tale of Jorinda and
"The favorite fairy tale about a witch who turns maidens into
#B110--Bagnold the doll: My
on the fire. Most likely this book is The Journey of
Putt, based on the history of a famous early
American doll, but
for your sake I hope not, as this is exceedingly rare and
So I hope your parents were insured if you wish to replace it.
The Journey of Bangwell Putt was written by Mariana, published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1965. Same author as the Miss Flora McFlimsey books. Description from the jacket flap: "Hand-lettered and hand-colored, this rare little book was first published in a limited, signed edition of a few hundred copies. Still hand-lettered, and still evoking its inimitable atmosphere of long ago, it tells the tale of an old and authentic museum doll. She is followed on her journey by some other tiny characters who also live in museums and who appear and reappear on the pages like a toy orchestra accompaniment to the beguiling tale."
Journey Outside, Mary Q. Steele,
1969. The Raft People live in darkness and travel a
underground river. One boy finds his way outside and tries to learn as much as possible so he can ultimately lead his people there to the Better Place. This was a Newbery Honor book for 1970.
Mary Q. Steele, Journey Outside, 1969. Might be this one -- it's a Newberry Award book, hence likely to have been read in a classroom, and it fits the time frame. The only different detail is that it's a boy and not a girl. Publisher Comments: "Grandfather said they were headed for the Better Place, but Dilar suspected they were headed nowhere, simply following the dark underground river blindly. And so one night he leaped onto a shelf of rock and watched the flotilla of the Raft People disappear. And from there he found his way Outside, into a world so beautiful and strange he could only suppose he had died-a world of day, and sun, of trees and sky." Synopsis:
"The Raft People live in darkness and travel a circular journey on an underground river. One boy finds his way outside and tries to learn as much as possible so he can ultimately lead his people to the Better Place."
H40 hungarian refugee: Could be
With a Secret, by Showell Styles, published
142 pages. "Two young teenagers spending a half-term hiking
are caught up in a hardly credible adventure of blackmail and
a mysterious Hungarian girl stumbles into their camp. ...
Though they know
the girl is hiding from the police as a suspected murderess,
no qualms at being alone with her in the remotest placest; and
the least surprise when all the baddies turn out to be
goodies, and the
goodies baddies in the end. Nevertheless, the pace and
excitement one expects
of this author is maintained." (Junior Bookshelf Dec/68
S-13 might be Joyride by Betty
Cavanna though some of the details mentioned by the writer
to match. In Joyride the main character is a girl
who has polio, but I don't know about the rest of what the
I forgot to say that Joyride does take place in the 1920's, so it seems to be more than a coincidence: girl named Susan; polio, 1920's.
|Cavanna, Betty. WANTED: A Girl for the Horses. William Morrow, 1984, second printing. Ex-library copy with stamps on brown endpapers, otherwise very bright and clean. VG/F. $8||
I think I know the answer to C80: Joy Sparton of Parsonage Hill It mentions on the back: "and the Vacation Mix-up, and the Money Mix-up, And her problem twin." By Ruth I Johnson, 1958, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Christian, twins, pastor's kids... I think this is it.
Looks like your title is right-on. Cross, Genevieve, Illustrated by Ruhman, Ruth. Judy, Junior Nurse. Garden City, New York: Cross Publications, 1951.
J. Jackson, Julie's Secret Sloth.
I emailed you two days ago about a book
which I didn't know the author or illustrator. The more I
it, the more I wonder if Paul
was the illustrator? So I looked him up in the Library
search, and saw that he illustrated a book called Jump-shy
that be it? If so, can you locate it for me? She apparently also did two ther books-- Horseshow Hurdles and Crofton Meadows-- if they are part of a sequel, I'd also like you to find them for me.
My children had this book, many years ago.
title is probably Victoria and the Magic Feather
and the Golden Feather or Victoria and the
It is a picture geography book in which a little girl rides on
of a magical, golden bird and sees the world's countries beneath
drawings are beautifully colored and rather fantastic.--on a
I seem to remember.
G15 Pauline Baynes (as in Narnia books) did a book called Victoria and the Golden Bird. Her drawings have a Persian look to them. It was published in London, but I don't have a date for it.
G15 Golden Feather -- Probably not right, but "The Bird of the Golden Feather" is a collection of 8 Arabic folktales, retold and illustrated by Gertrude Mittelmann, published by Roy in 1969, 125 pages. The illustrations are b/w line drawings and the book is 21 cm, regular octavo size, so that doesn't fit. Stories include "The Rogue from Cairo and the Rogue from Damascus" and "The Talking Nightingale". The review in School Library Journal Book Review says 'there are several quest tales, including the title story ... the exchanging of royal babies with animals ... humor ...'
I don't believe it was Victoria-anything. I believe it had a young *boy* in the book -- who rode the flying water buffalo or ox. The golden feather or necklace was around the animal's neck?
Evans, Ruth, The Jungle of Tonza Mara, 1963. A possibility? Dust jacket of a small boy riding a water buffalo through the sky. Eight tales about Dekdek, a little Southeast Asian boy, and his water buffalo. Illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith.
G15 golden feather: it does sound like a good bet - The Jungle of Tonza Mara, by Ruth Evans, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith, published Macmillan 1963 "Real and impossible, fun and frightening - this is jungle
fantasy at its best. Not only are the magical adventures exciting and humorous, but the Asiatic setting makes them even more appealing." "Eight amusing and amazing tales about Dekdek a little Southeast Asian boy, and his water buffalo Loy." The cover does show Dekdek on Loy's back flying through the sky, and there seems to be something long and golden around his neck, which could be the golden feather.
Benson, Sally, Junior Miss, 1941.
L49 is most definitely Junior Miss by Sally
The girl's name is Judy and she is too chunky to wear the
she fell in love with in an ad. Her sister makes snippy
but she is the one who comes up with the solution--alterations!!
That's it! Thanks for the quick solution to a mystery that's been bothering me for almost 20 years!
|Benson, Sally. Junior Miss. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1937, 1941. Ex-library copy in library binding with usual marks and pocket on front free endpaper. G. $9||
Yes, that's the title all right. Junket Is Nice is by Dorothy Kunhardt, 1933, and it's a landmark in American children's publishing for its use of script and child-like humor. It's highly sought after by collectors; I've had one copy in 8 years. See more on the Most Requested page.
S54 is almost definitely Just Like
by Elizabeth-Ann Sachs - red headed Janie and blond
sharing a hospital room while they wait for surgery and casts
T54--Just Like Always by Elizabeth Ann-Sachs. The second book is something like I Love You Cow Patty.
Sounds like the Treehorn books illustrated by Edward Gorey,
I don't remember any about a kid-turned-into-a-sheep. Hmm...
I had that book when I was little, & I'm pretty sure it was illustrated & probably written by Robert Kraus.I believe he also did a book called Mr. Meebles (Also Whose Mouse Are You? & Leo the Latebloomer). I think the title may even have been Just John. Hope this helps, if you haven't already found it.
The book where "John eats from a jar of jellybeans and turns into a sheep" is one of my favorites! It's called Just Only John by Jack Kent. We bought it in the 60's from the Parents Magazine Book Club.
Beim, Lorraine, Just Plain Maggie, 1950. I solved my own stumper! I checked it out of a library just recently and loved it!
This is definitely not Grandpa's
I just had a copy of this and sold it, but have no idea what it
This will bug me to no end, so I'll be working on it!
Just Right by Lilian Moore, illustrated by Aldren A. Watson, Parent's Magazine Press, 1968. In the end the grandson, Tommy shows up with the parents in tow. Robbie, the son, decides to buy the farm he wants his son to grow up just as he had-" to fish in the pond and play in the meadow"
Lifton, Betty Jean, Kap the Kappa. NY Morrow 1960. No plot description, but the title is close. Kappas are a Japanese water-spirit, looking like children but with a depression in the top of the head which holds water. If the water spills out they are weakened.
Just in case, check out Paulus
the Acornemn. It's Dutch, Paulus is teeny
tiny, the illustrations
are fabulous, and he can fly, at least if he rides on the back of
Aside from that, no match....
Strong possibility: Astrid Lindgren, Karlson on the Roof illustrated by Ilon Wikland, published London, Methuen 1975, 120 pages, also published Oxford UP 1958 as Eric and Karlsson-on-the-Roof. "He is a small and very stout and determined gentleman, and he can fly. Karlson has only to turn a knob which is just about in the middle of his stomach and - whoops! - a tiny engine which he has on his back starts up. Karlson stands still for a moment while the engine warms up. And then - when the propeller has got up enough speed - Karlson rises in the air and glides away, as dignified as a bank manager, if you can imagine a bank manager with a propellor on his back." He has a little house on the roof, behind a chimney stack, and says "Heysan hoppsan!" a lot.
This one I'm pretty sure of: Karius
Baktus by Thorbjorn Egner. Published in
English twice, first
in 1962 by Bobbs-Merrill, then a different translation in 1993
The 1962 blurb is "Karius and Baktus are Dental Trolls who
live in the
mouth of a small boy named Jimmy." The later version says
names derived from tooth 'caries' and 'bacteria', these
rascals make life miserable for Erik, in whose mouth Karius
have made their home." It was first published in Norwegian
M95 mud bath: Let's try this one - Karoleena,
written and illustrated by Charlotte Steiner, published
1957. "Karoleena has good intentions, but she always seems
to get into
trouble - like giving someone's lap dog a mud bath, and making
with a goat who eats her hat. 2-color illustrations. Ages
Oct/57 p.345 pub.ad)
H9 This sounds very familiar.
you be thinking of the Katie John books by Mary
I think the first three (Katie John; Depend on Katie John;
Katie John!) were all written in the 1960s. I
know I read
about the hot potato episode somewhere, and I read the first
so maybe it's in one of them. There was a later book
John and Heathcliff), but I didn't read that one and
when it was published.
Isn't that question referring to the Katie John books by Mary Calhoun? I seem to recall there being a chapter about the potatoes...If so, there were four of them--Katie John, For Love of Katie John, Honestly, Katie John!, and Katie John and Heathcliff.
We love your web site. What a great service. My wife is looking for a series of adventure story books she read in the late 1950's or early 1960's featuring a girl named Karen. They were sold through her school when she was in the fourth grade or so. Sorry, but that's the only information I have. Any help would be appreciated.
Two wonderful books, written by Karen's
Killilea. Marie and her husband Jim started the United
Foundation. The books are titled Karen, and With
I would have to disagree; the Karen books focus on Karen and her family and how they cope with her cerebral palsy. They are wonderful books, though.
Tizz series, 1970s. Could this be the Tizz series, about a girl and her horse? (My sister's name is Karen, and I vaguely remember that she loved this series for that reason.) I don't remember the author, but the last name
probably began in the C - F range...
Bialk, Elisa. Tizz & Company. Childrens Press, 1958.
Mary Calhoun, Katie John series. I sent you this stumper a while back. We've found the books my wife was looking for - the Katie John series by Mary Calhoun, the first three books of which were published between 1960 and 1963. I guess memory plays tricks, since the main character's name was unfortunately not precisely Karen.
So far I've found only two really worth checking: De Angeli,
Hannah! Doubleday, 1940. Although this
concerns a Quaker
girl, it seems to me I was going to look at it as a possibility
"Amish Sleepover" unknown, but never got hold of a copy to see
if the pictures
and story looked familiar. If someone who has it could
look to see
if there's an incident where Hannah goes on a visit and isn't
used to running
water and so on it could either make or eliminate this as a
Later, regarding Thee, Hannah!: I found this book online and it's definitely NOT the "Amish sleepover," as it's set in the pre-Civil War era. The book I'm thinking of took place in modern times, at least in the 1920s or whenever "city folk" had electric lights and running water as a regular rule.
Could be Plain Girl by Virginia Sorenson, illustrated by Charles Geer, Harcourt Brace 1955, 151 pages (grade 4-6 reading level) "A sensitive, sympathetically told story of a young Amish girl's growing understanding of her people and their religion. Esther faced her first days at school with mingled curiosity and dread." (Good Books for Children 1948-61 Eakin, 1962) It may be at a higher reading level than the reader described, though, and no mention of visiting the city.
#A46--I'm pretty sure I've seen "Plain Girl" and it is not the book I'm looking for.
For a reversal of this, there's Wonderful Nice! by Irma Selz, published Lothrop 1960 "Alison, who lives in a tall apartment house in New York City, speds a day with Katy Zook on an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, discovers that riches are not just a matter of money - and friends are 'wonderful nice!' Ages 4-8." (Horn Book Jun/60 p.183 pub ad)
let's try Katy, Be Good, written and Illustrated by Irma Selz, published Lothrop 1962. "The story of an Amish child who goes to spend an overnight visit with her friend who lives in the big city. Told in rhyme. Text uses the Amish speaking syntax and words like ferhoodled, schnoopduf and schwitz.
#A46--Amish Sleepover: as "Katy, Be Good" is rather rare, I've been unable to look at the book so far, but the plot and an example of the artwork online convinced me, so for now I am assuming this is the story I'm after.
Any chance this is Mystery in the
by Elizabeth Honess? There are twins in the story
doll that is being restored has sapphire eyes. The doll
a old neighbor whose father was a ship's captain
and he gave the doll to a man on his ship for safekeeping. Unfortunately, the man was a jewel thief and hid gems
in the doll. He was put in jail without recovering the jewels, died, and told someone else the story. That man got
out of jail and tried to recover the gems.
hi. thanks for your response. Your synopsis of that book doesn't ring any bells, but it sounds like a great book. Again thanks for responding.
#D38: If it's the one I am thinking of, this was one of my all-time favorites. Amy's Doll, by Barbara Brenner, published in the '60s, illustrated with black-and-white photographs of Amy, her brother, and the doll. Unfortunately scarce. I'd love a copy!
D38 - doll hospital - might be Laura Bannon's Katy Comes Next, a favorite of mine, too. A library catalogue synopsizes it as "Ruth's mother and father own a doll hospital where they are so busy repairing other children's dolls, they never seem to have time to mend daughter Ruth's toy" (but eventually Katy does get a complete makeover).
Katy Comes Next works for time period, here's more info: Bannon, Laura Katy Comes Next Chicago, Whitman 1959 hardcover, "Story ofa little girl whose doll, Katy, needs fixing and her father runs a doll hospital. Beautiful delicate illustrations."
this sounds like it. if you can find a copy ok
I'm actually looking for two books and I don't have very much info. The first was a book about a doll hospital. It described the dolls, their clothes, and the family who fixed them.
the doll hospital book sounds like Katy Comes Next, listed on the Solved Mysteries page.
You and your website are BRILLIANT! Thanks much.
Story about a woman and her little girl. The Motherhad a little shop where she made and repaired dolls for a living. One day she locked the door of the doll shop and worked on repairing her daughter's doll that had become very worn and broken. It was a small book with a navy blue cover (it may have been rebound as it was a library book) with pen and ink drawings scattered throughout of the Mother, the daughter, the broken doll, and the repaired doll. It was an old book and had an old-fashioned format/feeling at the time we read it in the "60's or 70's". Fiction.
Sounds like Laura Bannon's Katy
from the Solved Mysteries page.
Possibly - Katy Comes Next by Laura Bannon, A. Whitman, 1959. "Ruth's mother and father own a doll hospital where they are so busy repairing other children's dolls, they never seem to have time to mend daughter Ruth's doll."
This is just a guess, but it sounds like it
be Katie John (or one of the sequels) by Mary
Could be Katy Rose Is Mad by Carol Nicklaus published by Platt and Munk in 1975.
I remeber this story. It was my favorite when I was 4 years old. I do not know the author or title but I think the girls name was Katie Rose. I remember how mad Katie Rose would get when her mischief would backfire.
Nicklaus, Carol, Katy Rose is Mad, 1975. Katy Rose is so mad that she threatens to hold her breath until she turns blue. I found this info at the library of congress site. I would like to thank the person who figured out the correct title and author- posted in blue on your site.
Katie Rose is Mad or Katie Rose Wants to Play, 1976? I think this is the same book listed as k22 under book stumpers. I remember the little girl as being Katie Rose. Katie Rose gets so mad each time she does something destructive and it backfires. She throws blankets off her bed, drinks the last cup of milk that was supposed to go in a cake, and picks all the her mothers flowers growing in the flower box just to be praised for being so good.
The Katie Rose books are by Lenora Mattingly
Requested Books). Mary Calhoun wrote a
John, both in the 60's.
Could be Katy Rose Is Mad by Carol Nicklaus published by Platt and Munk in 1975.
It is about a girl (with freckles) who is trying to get across how mad she is by saying several times that she is going to hold her breath until she turns blue. I'm sorry I don't remember much more than that! It is very cute and I used to love saying along with her in the book "I'm going to hold my breath until I turn blue!"
G111 Judy Blume, Tales of a
Nothing, 1972. Did freckle-faced Sheila Tubman
starred in her own Blume book, Otherwise Known as Sheila
badger the eponymous Peter with this threat?
I thought that the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was a chapter book (?), this one wasn't. The character was talking to her parents (whom you never see). Does this still sound like that book?
Carol Nicklaus, Katy Rose is mad, 1975. Is this it? "Katy Rose is so mad that she threatens to hold her breath until she turns blue."
That sounds right. I tried to find it online to confirm, but I can't find it anywhere. I'm going to keep an eye out for it. Thanks!
There were two books about Keeko that I had
a child. The one I still have is Chee-Chee and
by Charles Thorson published by Follett in 1952.
one was just Keeko or maybe Keeko the
Yes, this does help, Harriett....I've found several copies of his old Keeko books on the 'net! Thanks!
Keeko, little indian boy and his forest friends, including an eagle that he tried to take a feather from.
S117 isn't a short story, but a book -- Monica
Keeper of the Isis Light, still in print.
Monica Hughes, Peddlar of Isis and two other books, 1980's? I am sure the book is by Monica Hughes. She wrote three books about the planet of Isis, and this girl with the mutated skin wasthe main character. Hughes resides in Canada, and has written many great books.
Follow up to my e-mail yesterday. I had a chance to check our library catalogue, and the title in question is Keeper of the Isis Light. There are two sequels.
S117 This is THE KEEPER OF THE ISIS LIGHT by Monica Hughes. A great sci-fi read. This was one of my own personal stumpers that took me ages to find. Luckily, it was republished in 2000. ~from a librarian
Monica Hughes, Keeper of the Isis Light, 1980. This has to be the one - down to the scaly UV protective skin her robot companion gives her - only trouble is it's a full-length novel - though not a long one! Unless it was published in an abridged version as part of an anthology of SF stories?
S117 THE KEEPER OF THE ISIS LIGHT by Monica Hughes 1980, 2000 ~from a librarian
Parrish, Peggy, Key to the Treasure.
One of my absolute favorites! Three children go to stay
Grandparents in the summer. Above the mantle is a picture
key an indian headpiece and a pot. Each of these things in
holds a clue of how to find the treasure. The "key" in the
opens an old stone in a part of the house.
Sounds like KEY TO THE TREASURE by Peggy Parish, 1966. Siblings Liza, Bill and Jed stay with their grandparents. When their grandfather tells him of a treasure hunt that his grandfather set up and that was never solved, they set out to solve it. I believe one of the clues was found in a secret compartment in a porch column, I think one was found when a feather from a Native American headress was pulled out, and the treasure itself was found hidden in a space under a stone in the old well. I forget what the treasure was though! I'll have to check my copy. And good news - it's still in print. ~from a librarian
Key to the Treasure, by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Paul Frame, published Macmillan 1966, 154 pages. "Liza, Bill, and Jed, spending the summer at their grandparents' farm, are determined to solve the puzzle of an often-told family legend of authentic Indian relics which, a hundred years before, vanished without a trace. Young readers will be immediately involved when the children accidentally stumble upon the first of the coded clues." (HB Dec/66 p.706)
|Parish, Peggy. Key to the Treasure. Illustrated by Paul Frame. MacMillan, 1966. Weekly Reader edition. Sturdy hardcover. G+. $7||
Kid Sister, 1958, by Margaret
Embry. This book works like a karate chop on stereotypes
period. Not only is Zibby brazenly atypical as a fictional
but so is her elderly aunt. On top of that, Zibby's more
sisters are nasty and have far less maturity and appeal.
The kidnapping of the coffee pot
/ story by Kaye Saari ; pictures by Henri
Galeron. [New York]:
Harlin Quist, 1975. A coffee pot, a lawn mower, and
of old shoes live happily together in the city dump until the
K9 kidnapping of the coffee pot: The suggested author and publisher are correct, and there can't be two books with this title!
Hi, I have C75. It's called The Kids' Kitchen Takeover and the author is Sara Bonnett Stein. It was published in 1975 and includes all the recipes and activities mentioned, including many more!
Make it a teenager and this could be My
of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.
T42: Sounds like Lloyd Alexander's Wizard in the Tree. The wizard is actually sucked into the tree and
kept a prisoner until an orphaned girl servant lets him out, and she still has to help him until he finds out how to get home. Not as much fun as the Prydain Chronicles, but the message is the same - that magic ultimately isn't what matters in life and that happiness and respect are found through work and acceptance of moral responsibilities, not luck or daydreaming.
Might also be Kildee House by Rutherford Montgomery. The tree forms the back of a man's house in the woods. He actually has families of animals living with him.
Kildee House by Rutherford Montgomery, Doubleday 1950 sounds the most likely, "When old Jerome Kildee went to live in his redwood grove, he meant to be a hermit. His odd little dwelling, backed by a giant tree, was set in the midst of his hundred California acres ... a big raccoon thought he owned the tree, and presently a pair of skunks set up housekeeping under the floor ... Emma Lou discovered it and then came Donald Roger ..."
Janet Gillespie, A kind of Summer
1971. Abridged from A Joyful Noise The
family has an
old Dodge called 'The Artful Dodger', and in the first chapter
reminisces about loading (or overloading) the
car. Her father is a chaplain at Princeton, her grandmother teaches her botany, and her cousin Tink is developmentally disabled. I think that this is the book!
Oops! Tink is her grandmother's son.
Janet Gillespie, A Kind of Summer Love, 1971. Abridged from A Joyful Noise. I sent this in once before, I'm certain that this is the book as I've since reread it. All the details match.
Yes. King and the Princess by Jack O'Brien, illustrated by Robert Doremus. Whitman, 1938, 1949. A Cozy Corner Book. Look, I even have a copy!
|O'Brien, Jack. King and the Princess. Illustrated by Robert Doremus. Whitman, 1938, 1949. A Cozy Corner Book. Spine paper tattered and corners worn, otherwise VG-. <SOLD>|
Not 100% sure, but take a look at THE
WITH SIX FRIENDS by Jay Williams, 1968.
The previous suggestion was exactly right. I have a copy of The King with Six Friends by Jay Williams, illustrated by Imero Gobbato. This copy is parents' magazine press, 1968. It's about a good king who loses his kingdom, so he's "out of work" and goes to find a kingdom looking for a king. He comes across an axe, an elephant, a fire, a snake, a tree, and a swarm of bees, all of which turn out to be men.
This will probably be impossible to find but in elementary school in the early 1970s I read a children's book about a young boy on a quest. Along the way he encountered a number of strange individuals who were misfits and outcasts. Among their number was a chubby man that could transform into a swarm of bees, a red-haired man that could turn into living flame, a darkly elegant man who could morph into a large serpent and a tall gentleman who could become an enormous tree. Through the boy's courage and encouragement they overcame their insecurities and helped the boy in his quest. But of course I do not recall the title, author, publisher, or illustrator. And it's driving me crazy! Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Jay Williams, King with Six Friends, 1968.
by Imero Gobbato - I loved this one, too, and my copy is somewhere
but you can visit Eric's
books read page.
I recall this book from the early seventies. It was a variation on the five Chinese brothers story, but set in 19th century Europe, with colorful, painterly illustrations. Five men were enlisted to traverse a mountain pass, a river, etc, and each of them turned out along the way to have a special skill...the man with bright red hair could turn into fire, the man with a large George Washington-like nose could turn into an axe to cut wood. I seem to recall one man in blue who could turn to ice and/or water. That's about all I remember. Any ideas?
Jay Williams, The King with Six
1968. This was a Parents Magazine Press book, one of a
could order by mail. King Zar loses his kingdom, meets six
men who can turn into things like fire and axes, and then has to
tests to win a princess.
Jay Williams, The King With Six Friends,1968. This sounds like The King With Six Friends to me. I am sitting here looking at the book in front of me and one friend does turn into a fire, another into an ax. It is about King Zar, the king with no kingdom going on a "quest" to find one...he is kind to the odd people he meets along the way, and they end up helping him in the end.
The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. Maybe?
Jay Williams, The King With Six Friends. I'm not sure that this is the title you are looking for, but it sounds like what you are describing. I am a retired elementary schl librarian and had this in my former library. If more info is needed, I could try contacting that source.
Your memory is right on. Here it is:
|Farjeon, Eleanor and Herbert. Kings and Queens. Illustrated with 38 coloured plates by Rosalind Thornycroft. London: Victor Gollancz. NY: E.P. Dutton, 1932. This early American edition goes up to King George V. Wonderful color plates. Inscription on front free endpaper. Dust jacket torn at top edge and missing a couple chunks from bottom edge, now secure in a plastic dj protector. VG/P. $48||
Benjamin Elkin, The King's Wish and
K39: I love this one, it's so clever for its age level. Benjamin Elkin, Illustrated by Leonard Shortall. The King's Wish and Other Stories. Beginner Books, 1960.
Nina. with illustrator Feodor
Kittens Surprise, 1950s. A Little Golden
reprinted as The Little Lost Kitten. May possibly
Little Lost Kitten, 1950 - 1962. I have a Whitman Tiny Tales book entitled Little Lost Kitten. It's a 3"x 4" cardboard book with no author or copyright information. The number 2952 is printed above the price tag (5 cents) on the upper right hand corner of the cover. I was born in 1961, and have had this book as long as I can remember, it may have even belonged to my mother or aunt. Brother and sister twins, Pat and Prue, go to Grandma Winkies house for a visit. Prue does find the kitten hiding under the sofa. However, Prue is blonde the kitten is a tabby and the sofa is blue with pink throw pillows.
Nina The kitten's surprise Feodor Rojankovsky Little Golden Book, 1951
"Nina", The Kittens Surprise. Little Golden Book, illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsy, first published in 1951. Later re-published as The Little Lost Kitten. Not sure it's the one, but seems likely.
Are K7 and K5 the same book?
#K7--Kittens, dirty: In one of these stories, the mother cat holds the protesting kitten down by the ear to clean it. Anyone recognize this?
Louise P. Woodcock, ill by Adele Werber and Doris Laslo, The Kittens Who Hid From Their Mother, 1950. I have a copy if the searching party is interested...
Hello! I am answering my own question! About a month ago I sent you a "stump the bookseller" question about a group of children who have time-travelling adventures involving, among others, Ivanhoe, and the herb Thyme. Thanks to a lucky break on eBay, I have discovered the book. It is Knight's Castle by Edward Eager, and he wrote 6 more books all on the same theme. I now have a list of all the titles. In the meantime could you search for any of his books for me?
Well, if the memories are a bit garbled and
Parents' Magazine instead of Weekly Reader, it could be: Devlin,
and Harry THE KNOBBY BOYS TO THE RESCUE
Press, 1965, 38 Pages. "Bright full page colorful
this book about Raccon, Fox and Crow [so self deemed as the
'cause they liked the name] who meet Baby Brown Bear [complete
bonnet] who has no mother. Mom was captured by the gypsies.
How the Knobby
Boys save the bear for a happy ending makes for great
Knobby Boys to the Rescue: I think is the book they are looking for.
See the Devlin Tribute page for more on these famous authors.
I believe these books are indeed published by Ladybird.
books, mostly common domain stories, with a ladybug on the cover
I do get them from time to time, and will let you know when I have
Ladybird published a great number of different series in the same format of small hardcover books. The fairytale series referred to was called Well-Loved Tales, and was graded by reading difficulty into grades 1, 2 and 3. Grade 1 included The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Boy, Chicken Licken, The Enormous Turnip, The Big Pancake, etc. Grade 2 included Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, etc. Grade 3 included Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White and Rose Red, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Princess and the Frog, etc. The two remembered are from the Grade 3 level.
About two months ago, I sent in a stumper
a family who sailed around the world in a Chinese junk - my
remember much else about the books, just that they were a
I have since discovered that the books were written by Janet
are about the Campbell family. So, if anyone else ever asks you
here's the answer! Meanwhile, we have found some of the books,
and I think
my friend wants to just search out the rest on her own. Thanks!
I am looking for a young adult's book (maybe geared to about 5th grade?), probably part of a series, that was set on the East Coast (New York?) on an army (or other) base in the 1930s or 1940s. It described the lives of he girls in a military family who lived on base. One girl's name was Carol and she ended up marrying David, either in that book or a follow-up (if it is a series). I remember descriptions of bicycling in pedal pushers, making fudge, going for bridemaid dress fittings, etc. (definitely a girl's book!). I read this in the 1960s.
Janet Lambert, Introducing Parri,
Summer, Wedding Bells, The Stars Hang High,
These books are about the Parrish family and were written by Janet Lambert the details you mention are correct. They took place in New York and had a lot to do with West Point. I've read most of them and they were all wonderful. Still have my copy of Introducing Parri, "...the 14-year-old daughter of famous actress Penny Parrish. Her trip into New York for a 'sensible' coat ended with a tryout for a Broadway play...and began a whole new life of fun and dating!"
I have a copy of this story The
in a big red book, The Classic Volland Edition GREAT
illustrated by Frederick Richardson and published by Rand
McNally. It is
not a small book, instead it has 17 traditional tales.
L2: This story appears in a skinny British paperback collection of stories called Rom Pom Pom that I have at home. Will send more details when I have access to the book.
Hi . . . I just wanted to write and say that I had a book as a child called Lambykins. It was a Tell-a-Tale book, and the story was as the person that wrote the e-mail described. (The lamb fooled everyone and rolled away in a drum). Hope this helps.
I am looking for a children's book (like a Golden Book , but not one of theirs) which is called The Lambkin or The Little Lambkin. It was one of my favorites, and now that I am expecting a baby I would like to include it in his "library." Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Albert J. Harris & May Knight Clark,
of Pleasure, 1965.
my first grade reader, too, and I have a copy of it. The exact
naming Zipper the cocker spaniel is in here. The twin boys are
and Jack Jones.
L3 I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Sally Watson, who wrote Lark in 1964 and wrote several other books in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Some other titles include Jade and Linnet, Watson's books feature young girls in different adventures and are set in various times and countries.
There's something called The Last Out by Jerry
but that's certainly not it!
Wilfred McCormick, The last put-out : a Bronc Burnett story, 1960. Possibly? I'm not familiar with this series, but this is a kid's fiction book about baseball.
How about The Last Put-Out: A Bronc Burnett Story, Wilfred McCormick, Grosset & Dunlap, 1960. Sorry, no description other than the subjects Baseball and Juvenile fiction.
I solved my own stumper - H13's Humpty
story is actually called Lauraby
Binette Schroeder. I happened to be in the Strand
Bookstore in NYC
and I was so shocked when I saw it!
There is an old English fairy tale with
called Lazy Jack that I have read in several
but it is usually a princess that doesn't smile. In the
have in front of me Jack loses his penny and his mother scolds
says he should have carried in his pocket. The next day he
jar of milk and puts it in his pocket, so his mother said he
carried it on his head and next he gets cheese and puts it on
and so on and so on until he ends up carrying a donkey on his
and the princess laughs and Jack marries her. I also have
version where several people and animals are all stuck together
in front of the castle causing the unhappy person (princess?) to
Another possibility is The Frowning Prince, by Crockett Johnson, published by Harper 1959 The prince's frown has the power to break glass and wilt plants. "What happens when a prince with an immovable frown meets a princess with an irresistable smile. Ages 4-8." (Horn Book Apr/59 p.92 pub ad) This does at least have a prince who doesn't smile, rather than a princess. In the usual form of the Lazy Jack story, the (marriageable age) princess smiles because she sees a ridiculous sight, while the (very young?) prince in the questioner's story smiles perhaps because he is given a golden toy instead of golden treasures that he can't play with.
Lazy Jack: I think this may be - The King Who Learned to Smile, by Seymour Reit, illustrated by Gordon Laite, a Golden Book Beginning Reader, published Western 1960. "approximately a 2nd grade level, the story of a young king who had gold everything, but who wasn't very happy. This story tells what made him happy enough to finally smile." "A young king named Harold has all the gold objects you can imagine - shells and bells, skates and plates, even a gold toothbrush. But Harold is still unhappy." The cover shows the young king lying on the grass with animals around him, smiling at one who is wearing his golden crown.
It's way too simple to think this might be
Bradbury's short story "The Veldt," right?
Could H11 by Lazy Tommy Pumkinhead by William Pene du Bois a picture book in which machines do everything for the boy including getting dressed.
Most likely "Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead" by Willem Pene du Bois. Very funny. This was supposed to have been part of a "Seven Deadly Sins" series, another being "Call Me Bandicoot" (about avarice) but the series was never completed.
Thank you very much. Your stumper answer sounds right! Now I want to get the book. I looked for it at amazon.com. holy cow, the lowest price was $180 used !!! Unfortunately, my upper limit is around $30. if you see the book cheaper (but in decent condition), please let me know. Thanks.
story about a boy who lives in a mechanical house that pours him out of bed and into the shower machine, dressing machine, he's got mechanisms for making breakfast etc.
L28: Same as B79 - Lazy Tommy
by William Pene du Bois. Part of a Seven Deadly Sins
is the best, IMHO, of the four actually written - the second
best is Call
Help! I am looking for a children's book that I read as a child (late 60's early 70"s) about a little boy who doesn't like to do things so he invents machines that will do the tasks for him (i.e. brush his teeth, etc). At first the machines work fine but then start to malfunction, i.e. brush his toes instead of his teeth. Have you heard of it? I would love to get it for my son. Thanks so much.
Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966)
Pene du Bois, I believe. Very funny. Check it out in the
page. The only other books in that series I heard of were
Pretty Peggy Moffitt (1968),
Porko von Popbutton (1969), and Call Me Bandicoot (1970).
#L28--Lazy boy: Several stories contain these elements. The introduction to William Pene du Bois'sThe Twenty-One Balloons notes its similarities to F. Scott Fitzgerald's story "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." I started to read the Fitzgerald story, but it's not nearly as good as "The Twenty-One Balloons." In "The Twenty-One Balloons," these magical devices are the work of industrious Americans rich on a huge diamond supply, while in "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" the diamond discoverers rely on slave labor. When I got to the part about how the whole scheme wouldn't have worked except that the slaves placed absolute trust and complete belief in their masters, *poof,* that was it for my suspension of disbelief! William Pene du Bois said some of the similarities were obvious but he couldn't account for how he and F. Scott Fitzgerald would choose to spend their money in identical ways! The other story that has some of these elements is "The Veldt," the most famous of a number of stories Ray Bradbury wrote on the theme of what did not then exist but are now known as "smart houses." In "The Veldt," Peter, the boy, complains to his father, "I didn't like it when you took out the picture painter." "I want you to learn to paint your own pictures," father replies. At last father disconnects one too many "lazy" devices and plans to take the children off to "rough it," which the children put to an end through rather violent means. (If what you read was this--or any other Bradbury story--you'd probably never forget the ending.) His other famous "smart house" story, "There Will Come Soft Rains," involves no people, but rather a "smart" house which goes on working even though all its occupants have been killed in a nuclear holocaust.
L28 Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead -more info. appears on your Solved Mysteries page ~from a librarian
I loved this story! It was about a lazy boy who didn't want to do anything for himself (either that, or he was an inventor boy). He made this contraption that did everything for him (got him out of bed, got him dressed, made him toast & eggs, etc.). I believe that the contraption may backfire in the end of the story. I think it's a picturebook. Definitely from the mid-seventies. Thanks!
Seeking a child's book about a lazy boy who is fed and dressed by machines - machines break during a storm
Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966) by William Pene
See more on Solved Mysteries.
This is William Wise, The Lazy
of Dundee (Rand McNally, '70), ill. Barbara
I'm happy to offer a copy of The Lazy Duke of Dundee:
Wise, William. The Lazy Young Duke of Dundee. Illustrated by Barbara Cooney. Rand McNally, 1970, 1st printing. Some light soiling and edgewear, VG. <SOLD>
There is a book called Ride with the Sun: Folk Tales and
from all Countries of the United Nations, compiled by
Women's Guild in1955. I have a copy right here (F/F, $12)
but I can't
find the two stories you mentioned listed (unless they have
of course). Then again, there could be another volume....
Thanks so much for your reply. Unfortunately I've seen this book in libraries and it's not the one I remember. Your website is wonderful, with some of the most reasonable prices I've seen for old books; I'm having so much fun sharing the memories and trying to help solve the stumpers. I'm sure I'll think of more I'd like to find. Thanks again!
Perhaps Legends of the United Nations edited by Frances Mary Frost, published by McGraw 1943, 323 pages? 47 stories from Britain, Poland, China, Norway etc. Contents list includes "Blue rose" and "Ys and her
bells". Hm, think we have a match.
Oh my goodness, I think that's it! "Frost" rings a bell. Thank you!
E19: Most likely the Trick
by Scott Corbett! The first one, I think, is The
Trick, where he gets the chemistry set from Mrs.
also wrote a couple of pleasantly scary books (1st or 2nd grade)
a boy, a dog and Merlin - Dr. Merlin's Magic Shop
Great Custard Pie Panic. I WISH they were in print!
These are the "trick" books by Scott Corbett. Mrs. Graymalkin gives Kerby and Fenton her son Felix's old chemistry set which seems to have a touch of magic and the boys have many adventures. There are at least ten
books in the series published from 1960 to 1977. The first one is The Lemonade Trick. The Mailbox Trick is my favorite.
More on the suggested series - Lemonade Trick, by Scott Corbett, illustrated by Paul Galdone, published Atlantic-Little 1960, 103 pages "Kerby delights to receive a magic chemistry set from Mrs. Graymalkin (who might be a witch?). Ordinarily he faces household chores and choir duties in the manner of any real boy we'd know; how he handles them after a few drops of her magic fluid, which makes him feel 'good', will also be believed because Mr. Corbett has built up so real a personality and situation for his very down-to-earth hero." (Horn Book Apr/60 p.128)
Kathryn Jackson's The Santa Claus Book? A
Book, 1952. It's big, but also nicely illustrated.
Here I am again. Looking up books when I should be working. Could S19 possibly be the LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS by L. Frank Baum.of Wizard of OZ fame.
Tolkien wrote a book about how Saint Nicholas got to be Saint Nicholas, but I can't remember the title.
Oh, this is fun! I'll bet your listing number S-19 (a book regarding Santa Claus) was a childhood favorite of mine. The title is The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Julie Lane, illustrated by someone named simply Hokie. It was originally published by The Santa Claus Publishing Company of Boston, Massachusetts in 1932, and was re-published by University Microfilms, A Xerox Company located in Ann Arbor Michigan in 1967. The total pages of this book, however, number 144. The book describes how Nicholas, a fisherman's son, is orphaned by a terrible storm. He is temporarily adopted by the individual families of the fishing village. They each agree to take him for a year and then he will move onto the next family. Nicholas begins giving toys to the children of the families as a gift on the day that he leaves them -- Christmas Day and continues it throughout his young life. It goes on to describe how during his eighteenth year he goes to live with a bitter old woodcarver, but through his good nature changes the old man's life and becomes a skilled woodcarver himself over the years. After the old man goes to live with his sons, Nicholas maintains his affection for the children of the village and continues to carve toys for them. The book goes on to describe how he gets his red suit (sewn by a lady who created it thinking of the size of his heart, not his slender figure) and how he eats to fill it out so her feelings won't be hurt. It describes how Holly is named for a little girl who conquers her fears to bring him the bright beautiful berries from the dark woods because she had been ill and could not bring him flowers. It describes how he acquires his reindeer and shiny red sleigh and why he began using a chimney to deliver his gifts. It covers how children began to hang stockings for him to fill and how the first Christmas trees came to exist for the gypsy children who were spending their Christmas in a forest. It covers his entire life until our beloved Nicholas, now a very old man, dies sending the village into grief. However, as reward for the faith of a young boy named Stephen, Nicholas continues to bring joy to the children of the world even after death on Christmas morning. It even covers how one of the village children, too young to refer to his as Saint Nicholas as the older people do, manages to stammer out "Sant' Claus".
Hello! Once I was one your site looking at all the wonderful books people are looking for, when I found one that I had had about st Nicholas. The story was very loosely based on St Nicholas, it was mostly fiction. It started at boyhood. THe illustrations were done in green ink. He found a little girl named Holly who got lost in the woods. Anyways, it was a solved mystery and I thought I would remember it but now I cannot find it on your site. Can you help??? Thanks!
Lane, Julie, The Life and Adventures
There is a long
description of this book on the Solved Mysteries pages.
S144: This IS in Solved Mysteries, it's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Julie Lane, NOT to be confused with the book by L. Frank Baum! It's not an accurate picture of St. Nicholas, which they admit, but there are links to his life in it.
George Dawson and Richard Glaubman, Life
So Good, 2000.
description, I'm almost sure the book you're looking for is
is So Good." It was written by George Dawson and co-authored by
Glaubman. The copyright date is 2000 and it was published by
George Dawson and Richard Glaubman, Life Is So Good (ISBN 0-375-50396-X) 2000.Richard Glaubman and George Dawson's tutor were featured speakers at our agency's fundraiser. Dawnson's story is very interesting and inspiring. He passed away at the age of 103 in July of 2001, I think.
George Dawson, Life is so good.2001, approximately.
George Dawson, Life is so Good, 2000 (Random House).
George Dawson, Life is so good, 2001. I wouldn't really consider this a children's book, although it is a very
uplifting story and a quick read.
P147: This is almost certainly The
Princess by George MacDonald, 1864. Here's
a link. It's described briefly in M154. The prince
from drowning in the end and the princess cries non-stop when he
his eyes - plus, the rain also pours non-stop till the lake is
Maurice Sendak did indeed illustrate one edition of it! Arthur
the first, but I prefer William Pene du Bois' edition - the
are humorous in just the right fashion and it's also necessarily
MacDonald was seldom this funny! Lots of puns and Freudian
link for Princess & the Goblin
of gorgeous illustrations.
George MacDonald, The Light Princess,1864. I strongly suspect this is the story, though some details are different I have no idea what edition, though, since it was written in the 19th century (though it looks like it was illustrated in one edition by Maurice Sendak -- those might be your haunting black and whites). "It is the tale of a princess who is cursed by a mean, jealous, witch so that she has no gravity, both weightlessness, and lack of gravity in her character.In the way of things, a Prince appears, falls in love with the Princess, and thwarts the curse by the selfless behavior, which results in the Princess recovering her gravity: not an unmixed blessing, but one which her new maturity allows her to realize is best in the long run." The Prince is the one who puts himself in the situation to be drowned in order to save the Princess.
The book in L-3 is Lightning
Twice by Marguerite Dickson.
Hi, I wrote looking for Lightning Never Strikes or a book title similar to that. I bought it in a used bookstore the other day. It was called Lightning Strikes Twice and was by Marguerite Dickson. It was from 1946 and was close to what I remembered. Thanks so much.
Cooper, Susan, Over Sea, Under
One of the Dark is Rising Series. The three Drew, Jane,
Simon, children are on vacation in Cornwall, at the old
their Uncle Merry (not an actual relation). At first all is
well. But while
searching for adventure, the children stumble into a crumbling
- a map dating back to King Arthur's time. But this map is not
antique curio - but the key to finding a mystical grail...
This could be Linnets and Valerians, by Elizabeth Goudge. (The book by her about one girl is probably The Little White Horse.) It's four children, rather than three, but they do arive at their uncle's house in a pony-cart, and the uncle is a magician.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians. This is indeed by Elizabeth Goudge, just not the one you're thinking of (it's _not_ Over Sea, Under Stone). Probably the best book she ever wrote, IMHO, and one of the easiest to get hold of.
There's no way this is Over Sea, Under Stone---the children arrive by train and there's no beekeeping. Their uncle is kind of a wizard and the only owl association in the story is that the enemies hoot like an owl to communicate danger to each other.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians. Four children sent to live with their nasty grandmother run away and hitch a ride in a cart drawn by a pony to an old man's house. This happens to be their great Uncle Ambrose. He is a minister and former teacher who lives with a servant, Ezra, and has a pet owl. He agrees to take the children in a raise them since their father is in the army. The children get involved in a mystery concerning an old
lady, Lady Alicia, and her missing husband and son. They also run into another old village woman, Emma, who is reputed to be a witch. While Uncle Ambrose is not a wizard, there is reference to magic in the book because Ezra believes that the bees in the beehives in the backyard should be paid respect. One of the children also finds notebooks containing magical spells and a voodoo doll. Ezra makes his own good magic voodoo dolls to protect the children.
Perhaps - The Lion's Bed, by
Redfield Massie, published Weekly Reader, 1974 "All the
unite to outwit the lion who is coming to their neighborhood.
him a soft bed, but coconuts fall on him, ants crawl over him,
play tag over him. He decides that to get a good night's sleep
This same query was posted on the Alibris board, and I contacted the seeker by email to ask about The Lion's Bed. She confirmed that it was the correct title and that her husband had posted the stumper here.
I'd suggest Lisa and the Grompet,
written and illustrated by Patricia Coombs, published
Lothrop 1970. "Tired of being told what to do, Lisa runs
away from home.
When she stops to rest and 'think about things' she encounters
This tiny, furry, winged thing longs for what Lisa abhors -
boss him around. Lisa appoints herself master and takes him
they presumably live happily ever after. Softly modeled
black and white with pink and brown overtones - Lisa changes
to sad to happy while remaining delightfully untidy; the
grompet is a cute,
cuddly creature." (SLJ Book Review 1969-70 p.4)
Thank you! This is indeed the book I have been searching for for over 20 years! Thank you!!!
Doing a search of the web, I found this
Holl, Adelaide Lothrop, Lisette, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (NY: See & Shephard, 1962). 30pp. Lisette comes to the USA aiming for immediate movie stardom; instead, gets lost in New York City. Sounds very similar to what was described in L1 (though the publisher should probably be Lee & Shepard).
I believe my grandmother still has my story about the poodle who got lost. I’ll check with her next time I’m out her way, and let you know. I know it was from the ‘60s.
I may have solved my own stumper I sent
After some more Web searching, I think the series I remember
is the Little
Animal series by Karen Gunthorp.
The book I recall most vividly is Spring Comes to the
by Attilio Cassinelli. Do you know if the whole series
Animal books was illustrated by Cassinelli?
Looks like most of them are illustrated by Cassinelli!
George Mitchell, Little Babs, 1919.
This is one of the beautifully illustrated books done by the
I have my mother's copy of it.
Eureka! Someone knew the book! My stumper is already solved. I am thrilled! Can I buy a copy of this book as well, if you can get a copy? Author: George Mitchell, Title: Little Babs, published: 1919? While I am in
the process of collecting old well loved children's books, how many of author William Steig's books can you sell me? Thank you for all your help. I loved your site I know I'll be back again and again.
My parents have this book. We grew up with
The title is Little Ballerina but I do not know
as it is sitting in my parents' house over 100 miles from
am. It is an oversized picture type book. We do own another one
series, Little Swimmers, for I recognize the illustrator--Dorothy
Grider. The publisher is Rand McNally and Company and it
has "A Rand
McNally Giant Book " on the front cover. The main character is
and her legs are weak, perhaps from an illness so ballet lessons
by the family doctor. My sisters and I all loved this book and I
it to my 8 yo ballet loving daughter when I visit my parents.
Sorry I do
not know the author.
Right you are. Here's the full book description:
Dorothy Grider. Little Ballerina. Rand McNally, 1959. 4to, unpaginated.
I'm looking for a book I loved in the early
The main character is a little girl who is not strong. Her
recommends to her mother to put her into ballet class. The
helps sew the costumes. The children have a ballet recital
book, with a little boy as Jack Frost.
I've been looking for a book for years, but can't remember the name. I'ts about ballarina's, I just remember seeing little girls in different colored tu tu's. I thought it was a little golden book, illustrated by Eloise Winken, but not sure. It's was from the late 50's or early 60's.
B24 could be Little Ballerina, a Rand McNally Elf book
I am looking for a book that I read when I was about 7 or 8, so it would have been published late 50's or early 60's. It was a book about ballet and the illustrations were beautiful. There was one page with all of the little ballet dancers dressed up in dresses resembling flowers and they had matching hats...pink, yellow, green, purple and blue. There are other pages with the ballet dancers practicing. Would love to find it.
B82 ballet dancers as flowers: a picture
like this appears in Dorothy Grider's Little Ballerina,
Rand McNally 1959, unpaginated. There are also pictures of the
Grider, Dorothy, Little Ballerina. Rand McNally Elf, 1959. The girls in the ballet class dress as flowers in pink, purple and yellow, with little green 'stem' caps. One boy is dressed in green with a 'stem' cap, and another is dressed in brown with a segmented front, perhaps a beetle?
Golden Book, 1958-1963. Large picture book about a girl who had an illness that weakened her legs.
Doctor recommends ballet lessons. Book shows her painful efforts to become good enough to dance in
Dorothy Grider. Little Ballerina. Rand McNally, 1959. See more on the Solved Mysteries page.
|Grider, Dorothy. Little Ballerina. Rand McNally, 1958. A paperback Elf Book. VG-. <SOLD>|
Elsa(?) Minarik, Little Bear Visits
Illustrated by Maurice Sendak, there were several titles in the
Another possibility is - Teddy Bear of Bumpkin Hollow, over in the Solved list. Written by Sharon Boucher, illustrated by Dean Bryant, published Rand McNally Elf Books 1948. The little bear misses out on a visit to grandma because he is always late, then is consoled by having her visit him and make giant cookies for him.
Minarik, Else Holmelund, Little Bear's Visit, 1961. Many in this series - currently in print (and animated
series, available on video)
This is a wonderful old Golden Book called,
believe, Little Benny Who Wanted a Pony.
printing had a mask with a big downward frown bound into it.
It is indeed. The correct title is Little Benny Wanted a Pony written by Olive O'Connor Barrett and illustrated by the great Richard Scarry in 1950. It was issued with a mask in the back of the book.
Peggy Usher, Little Bitty Raindrop. 1948. Illustrations by Marguerite Hanson. I don't know for sure if this is the one, but the date is right, and the cover is blue.
This has *got* to be Little Boy from Shickshinny by Frank Anders. It's out of print, but some copies turn up
Almost certainly The Little
1971 - it's Mary Stewart's first children's book! Mary
ten, stuck miserably at her great-aunt's house in Shropshire (England) with no one to play with, gets swept off to Endor College on an enchanted broomstick with a mysterious cat named Tib. She enjoys playing along as a student for a while, but soon realizes that the place is evil. She gets home only to find that Tib has been taken prisoner for transformation experiments and she has to go back to rescue him in the dead of night. In doing so, she liberates all sorts of beautiful woods creatures from their ugly transformations, plus Tib's brother Gib! She's chased by Madame Mumblechook and Dr. Dee, discovers a new friend, and together they manage to escape. In doing so, Mary has to forsake magic forever. One might callthis the flip side of "Harry Potter" - or, more simply, that the story is about learning how to succeed and become happy through your own efforts, not through any sinister "magic". I remember thinking, as a kid, that Stewart's writing style was just the way I would write if I could!
W57 witch sets free the animals: yes, this is most likely The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart, illustrated by Shirley Hughes, published Brockhampton 1971. The story is about Mary, staying at Great-Aunt Charlotte's house, bored until she meets the black cat Tib and finds the purple flower fly-by-night that makes the little broomstick fly. In chapter 10 'gay go up and gay go down' Mary hides in Endor College, the witch school, after hours and finds Tib transformed into a frog (Madame Mumblechook had taken him from her as her entry fee). She recites the Master Spell to release him. "It was a simple, gay little rhyme, and it ended on a phrase that might have been (but wasn't) 'the dancing ring of days'. With a clicking and cracking like a million billion nuts popping under the feet of a hundred elephants, the locks of the cages - all the cages - flew open. And out of every cage the creatures jumped, flapped, crept, shuffled, clawed their way, till they swarmed all round Mary's feet on the ground. Under Mary's eyes a lame hedgehog stretched and grew and became a young deer, dappled and big-eyed and supple as willow; a shuffling pangolin swept into the air with the knife-wings and scarlet throat of a swallow; the glass frog, rolling to her feet, melted into the steely velvet of a beautiful smoke-grey cat; then all round her were wings and the joyous cries of birds, and the light-flecked coats and tossing antlers of deer. And from the little metal cage with its burst lock leaped Tib, eyes wide and brilliant, and landed on Mary's left shoulder, as the grey cat swarmed up her other arm to anchor every claw in the collar of her coat. ... Then she shouted: 'Run, everyone! This way!' And tore out through the strong-room door and across the lab."
|Stewart, Mary. The Little Broomstick. William Morrow & Company, 1972. Ex-library copy with usual markings. G+/G+. $25||
Sand and gravel porridge just doesn't taste good. Then one day Baby Brute found a little wandering lost good feeling in a field of daisies, and he caught it in his paw and put it in his tiny pocket. And he felt so good that he laughed and said, "How lovely." Thank goodness for daisies. And reprinted classics.
|Hoban, Russel. The Little Brute Family. Illustrated by Lillian Hoban. Macmillan, 1966. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, a Sunburst Book, 2002. New paperback, $5.95||
I vaguely remember this book, too -- but
I remember making my own yarn balls with trinkets inside!
a Little Golden Book called Surprise for Sally by
Crowninshield, illustrated by Corinne Malvern, 1950, but I
any plot summaries. The cover shows a girl running,
holding a puppy
in her arms, which doesn't look familiar to me....
#Y2--Yarn and Grandma: Definitely not Surprise for Sally, a book which has become rare and expensive!
Annie Fellowes Johnston, The Little Colonel's Hero, 1903. In this book in the series, the ball of yarn is used as a plot device, and alludes to another (German) story, "Marguerite's Wonderball." The citation: "...It was a green and gold volume of short stories, one that she had read many times before, but she never grew tired of them. The one she liked best was "Marguerite's Wonderball'' and she turned to that first, because it was the story of a happy birthday. Marguerite was a little German girl, learning to knit, and to help her in her task her family wound for her a mammoth ball of yarn as full of surprise packages as a plum cake is of plums Day by day, as her patient knitting unwound the yarn, some gift dropped out into her lap. They were simple things, nearly all of them. A knife, a ribbon, a thimble, a pencil, and here and there a bonbon, but they were magnified by the charm of the surprise, and they turned the tedious task into a pleasant pastime. Not until her birthday was the knitting finished, and as she took the last stitches a little velvet-covered jewel-box fell out. In the jewel-box was a string of pears that had belonged to Marguerite's great-great-grandmother. It was a precious family heirloom, and although Marguerite could not wear the necklace until she was old enough to go to her first great court ball, it made her very proud and happy to think that, of all the grandchildren in the family, she had been chosen as the one to wear her great-great-grandmother's name that means pearl, and had inherited on that account the beautiful Von Behren necklace."
Hi. I have the answer to F-3.
a short story titled Little Foxes Sleep Warm by Waldo
Wright. It was copyrighted in 1971. It can be
in "Alfred Hitchcock: Stories To Be Read With the Door
in his anthology series.
And I have it! Your story Little Foxes Sleep Warm is in Alfred Hitchcock's Stories to be Read with the Door Locked, nice shape with dj. <SOLD>
Is the story about a man and his wife. They are so poor that he decides to freeze her and put her in the barn for the winter to save on food? And during this time a fox has babies and they end up living on her to survive?
I think I've solved the doll in the
stumper. Today I got a book at the library (an anthology of doll
called The Silent Playmate, ed. Naomi Lewis) that has a
at the back with references to other books about dolls. This is
first one mentioned, under "Picture Books": The
and the Tiny Doll (Longmans, 1966) by Aingelda
Edward Ardizzone: "A perfect doll tale set in a
Doll, abandoned in deep freeze section, hopefully waits. Nice
perceives, plans rescue, 3 to 7 year olds."
I can not BELIEVE someone has solved my stumper!!!!! I'm almost POSITIVE that this is the book I have been searching for. Years and years of asking Children's Librarians have turned up NADA. Everyone looked at me as if I were crazy Harriett, your site is a little piece of heaven for people like me!!! :-) If you can find a copy for me and it's not outrageously expensive, I would love to purchase the book. Thanks so much!!!!!
Good morning- I have been trying to remember the name of a book I used to love when I was a child. The story was about a tiny little girl who lived in the frozen food section at a grocery store. Unfortunately, all I can recall about this book is a crudely drawn picture of the little girl in the freezer near frozen peas, and that at the end of the story she is taken home by a real little girl who finds her while food shopping with her mother! The book must be fairly old, and was a favorite of mine when I was 5 years old. If there is anything you can tell me about this one, I would be extremely grateful!
You are amazing! Thank you so much for your prompt reply and assistance!
In this children's book, a tiny little girl is in the grocery store, and she plays tennis with frozen baby peas.
L31 LGB holidays: okay, now that I have the reg number, suggesting The Little Golden Holiday Book, by Marion Conger, artist is Eloise Wilkin, published 1951, Little Golden Library 109, "a beautiful story of a child's view of holidays, and precious drawings of childhood innocence, an extremely rare book with a wonderful story and beautiful drawings. The holidays covered are Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. The Halloween drawings are reminiscent of the Halloween segment of the movie Meet Me in St. Louis starring Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien."
This is The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, a real classic. I have a brand new hardback edition for $15 plus $3 postage (book rate).
W9--This sounds similar to Black and
Magic by Zilpha Keatly Snyder...or maybe Magic
the Alley by Mary Calhoun?
Just so nobody gets off on the wrong track; W9 is definately not Black and Blue Magic by Snyder.
#W9--Wood Nymphs: this description is not VAGUELY like Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder or Alley Magic by Mary Calhoun, fercryinoutloud! It is at least vaguely like Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley, but that kid was a chimney sweep, not a factory worker.
My first thought is someone like Frank Stockton or Robert W. Chambers, but none of theirs seem to quite fit. The best I've found through keyword search has been The Enchanted by Elizabeth Coatsworth, published by Pantheon in 1951, illustrated by Robert Winthrop White "Story of a young man's strange romance in the Enchanted, an actual and magical region in the Northern Maine Woods." A further search described the young man as a farmer, though, so not so likely.
barely possible: Garrott, Hal Snythergen New York, McBride 1923 "The magical adventures of the boy who went to the forest to live as a tree and learn about nature and the important things of life. Beautifully illustrated with 4 color plates and in black & white throughout by Dugald Walker."
At 157 pages not likely (too short), but because the author seems possible: Stockton, Frank R. The Lost Dryad Riverside, Hillacre Book House 1912 28 pp. "Published posthumously. This charming story about a tree spirit whose kiss could remove ten years from a person's life was dictated as a unique gift for the author's friend, Mrs. Florence Gotthold in 1901."
B143 boy ran away into forest sounds close to W9 wood nymphs. The possible publication date is similar, and both begin with a boy working in a factory who escapes into a forest setting where magical things happen.
I have been looking for this book too and was beginning to believe it was all in my imagination! It was a wonderful book and the author should be thanked, whoever she/he is. It got me through a very difficult childhood. I lived in this book for years. To add more to the story: each night the fire in the fireplace turned into a beautiful lady and covered the orphan boy with a warm blanket. They fed him warm cream & berrys and roasted chestnuts. But the book ended sadly. He woke one morning to discover it was all a dream. He was back in the factory, looking out a window, daydreaming of living in the forest with his friends.
Ethel Cook Eliot, Little House in the Fairy Wood, 1918. I think this is it!!! The author also wrote Wind Boy and many others. I found it on ebay!!
Ethel Eliot, The Little House in the Fairy Wood. It is Not Black and Blue Magic!! This book is The Little House in the Fairy Wood by Ethel Eliot. A great old book.
Can you please help? I would like to find an old favorite. I read it in the 60`s as a little girl but do not remember the author or publication. It`s about a young, poor boy who worked hard in a factory all day. One day he ran away into a nearby forest (I think the wind beckoned him to follow it) and found a safe place, a small cabin or house. The animals of the forest took care of him and became his friends. I think there were faries and maybe elves that lived in the forest and also took care of and played with him. They had chestnut parties. Each night the fire in the hearth would turn into a beautiful lady and covered him with a warm blanket. At the end of the story he woke and it was all just a dream to escape from his unhappy life. He was back in the factory looking out of a window (at the forest) wishing he was back there. Thank you so much for your help in hopefully finding this old book for me to buy.
B143 boy ran away into forest sounds close
W9 wood nymphs. The possible publication date is similar, and
with a boy working in a factory who escapes into a forest
magical things happen.
YES!!! I think it's the same book! I'm so desperate to find this book that I'm willing to put up a reward (plus the cost of the book) to any one to who finds it. Would that be too tacky? This book means a lot to me, it got me through a very abusive childhood (a way to escape). I didn't want to mention that but I want you to know why this book is so important. Thank you.
Ethel Cook Eliot, Little House in the Fairy Wood. 1918.
The Little House in the Fairy Wood, by Mrs. Ethel Augusta Eliot, published New York, Stokes, Toronto, Butterworth, c.1918, 121 pages, colored frontispiece, colored plates. 22 cm. "An unusual and beautiful fairy story
in which a little Earth Child has wonderful adventures with Snow Witches, Star People, and in particular with little Ivra who is 'part fairy'." The author also wrote Wind Boy, (Doubleday 1923) "unusually lovely tale of fancy ... two little war refugees in America, whose only playmate was the Wind Boy." That was reprinted in 1996 by Raven Rocks Press - maybe they'd be interested in reprinting this one as well?
W39: Sounds like Little Leftover
(1960) by Florence Laughlin. Her name is Felina, but she
to stay with the Doon family and changes her name to Mary Lucinda George Doon, I believe. Because of the
way the story develops, one might say this falls less into the category of witch stories than, say, adoption/adjustment stories.
I don't have a copy to doublecheck the witch's name, but I'm pretty sure the person is thinking of THE LITTLE LEFTOVER WITCH by Florence Laughlin. The little witch crashes into a tree and breaks her broomstick, stranding herself until the next Halloween when the witches return. She stays with the Doon family. The witch is very naughty at first, but eventually, with their patience and love, she becomes kinder. She may even choose to stay with them when Halloween returns.
this sounds an awful lot like Little Leftover Witch by Florence Laughlin, only the witch is named Felina. Happy Anniversary!
This story is The Little Leftover Witch, and the author's name is Laughlin.
Thanks so much for everyone's help with solving my mystery. After years of searching, I have found a copy of The Little Leftover Witch and am waiting on its arrival. I cannot wait to share it with my niece and perhaps my one day, my own daughter. This site is truly wonderful!! Thank you again!!!
The other one I read about 1972 or 73. It's about a child witch who was adopted by a non witch family and gave her a birthday of 10/31. *later* After I sent this email I looked through your Solved Mysteries and one of my mysteries was solved. The witch book I am looking for is Little Leftover Witch.
Not the Chareles Tazewell classic, eh?
regarding L5-Littlest Angel; this is definitely 'Little Lost Angel' by Janet Field Heath (her name isn't on the cover though), it was a "Rand McNally Tip-Top Elf Book" (1963). Best of luck finding a copy, it's a wonderful book, the only childrens book I've constantly kept with me, but incredibly sad too,especially when the angel gives her wings to the lame shepherd so he can walk and then winds up permanently lame herself. Best Regards from Australia (this is a great website - reading your Solved Section cleared up a number of books I've been wondering about for years - Thank You!)
Help! I have longed to find a book from my chilhood I'm 31, I was referred here and it is my first glimmer of hope. This was a red, material covered hardcover (missing the dust jacket when I had it) children's bedtime stories. I believe there were 4 stories 2 I remeber. One is about an angel, you do not know she is and angel at first I believe the story begins she is in a field of lambs sleeping she
goes to a house with a light on, the strangers care for her feet which are cut & bruised from walking on the ground. You find out she has given her gifts away such as her wings to a lame boy, her harp to an older person I think?
Little Lost Angel
Janet Field Heath, Little Lost Angel, 1953. I think this would be the angel book. The little angel comes with the angels on christmas eve to announce the birth of Jesus. But she gets tired and falls asleep in the field. When she awakes the angels are gone. As she looks for them she gives away her harp to a sad man, her crown to angry woman, her wings to a lame boy. She follows a light looking for heaven but finds a home instead with a couple who had been praying for a child. The people to whom she gave her treasures went on to become good and kind people. This was/is one of my favorite stories. It is a Rand McNally Tip Top Elf Book. number 8680.
Janet Field Heath, Little Lost Angel, 1953. Don't know about the whole collection, but the angel story is Little Lost Angel, for sure. Nice color illustrations by Janet Laura Scott. Still makes me weepy when I read it at Christmas.
|Heath, Janet Field. Little Lost Angel. Illustrated by Janet Laura Scott. Rand McNally, 1953. Junior Elf Book. VG. <ON HOLD>||
Alice T. Curtis' 1950's Little Maid series.... includes A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia, A Little Maid of Ticonderoga, A Little Maid of Massachuetts Bay Colony, A Little Maid of Provincetown, A Little Maid of Connecticutt, A Little Maid of New England, A Little Maid of Narragansett Bay, A Little Maid of Old New York, A Little Maid of Maryland, A Little Maid of Virginia, A Little Maid of Mohawk Valley, etc.
It's actually a Rand McNally Elf Book: The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane by Ian Munn and illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe, 1952.
Roger Hargreaves, Mr Men and Litte
series, 1971. This sounds like Roger Hargreaves' 1970s
of "Mr Men" and "Little Miss" children’s books. The characters
anthropomorphized happy faces each named for his or her cardinal
Mr. Nosey, Mr. Messy, Little Miss Chatterbox, Little Miss
Fate usually dispensed some sort of mild but ironic retribution
behavior. In that way it was kind of like Struwwelpeter but with
death and dismemberment.
If the person remembers the book being small, with kind of round abstract-looking characters, then it could be one of the "Little Miss" series by Roger Hargreaves. It could be LITTLE MISS BUSY. ~from a librarian
Edith Thacher Hurd, Hurry, Hurry, 1961. One of the "I Can Read" series.
Sharon Kane, Little Mommy, 1967.
was a Golden Book called Little Mommy. I
Bibliofind, which gives the author/illustrator as Sharon Kane and the date as 1967, and says it's "very hard to find." I remember reading it at my grandmother's around 1970, and loved it because they miniaturized the household tasks.
Maybe the Little Golden Book Little Mommy by Sharon Kane, illustrated by Esther Wilkin? The cover shows a little girl sitting in a chair holding three dolls, which could be the three children named.
No idea on author; illustrated by Eloise Wilken, c. 1965. I cannot recall the title of this Golden Book but it started with "This is my house and I am the mommy. These are my children Annabelle, Betsy, and Bonnie." It most likely was published in the 1960's.
Sharon Kane, Little Mommy.
I taught my little sister to read with this book. It is hard to
Mercer Mayer, Professor
Search for the Zipperump-A-Zoo. Not exactly
what you're looking
for, but maybe this Zipperump-A-Zoo story is the basis for the
looking for. The Professor collects creatures, and has a
specimen of all
animals from A-Y. He's missing the Z-A-Zoo. He travels all over
in his quest, but is unsuccessful. Of course, at the end of the
goes home in defeat and goes to bed, and a whole gang of
out and play in his house. A great story.
This book is about one of Mercer's little monster who is having a bad day. On every page there is a whimsical spider. At the end of the book the mother monster is tucking in the little monster and she tells him not to let the "zipperumpazoos" bite. I beleive this series of books came out before the Little Critter series, although the little critter series still has the little spider in some of the stories. I am desparately lookin for this book!
Mercer Mayer, Little Monster's Bedtime Book, 1978. I enjoyed reading this one to my son- very funny, especially the little asides, like the character who keeps saying "my mama never told me 'bout this stuff..."
Are you waiting for the original poster to confirm an ID? I am 100% sure of this solution that I posted a while back: Z2 is Mercer Mayer, Little Monster's Bedtime Book, 1978.
This is a children's book, possibly by Mercer Mayer. The last lines of the book, as the mom monster is putting the little monster to bed, are "Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the zipperumpazoos bite" I believe that in the same book, they refer to yippyucks that bite toes and ride along on feet, holding on to the person's leg. <then again, that could be another one--I read hundreds during the kids' early years!> Please help me find the zipperumpazoos!
Sure sounds like Mercer Mayer. There's Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo, Golden Press, 1976. But this one is surely Little Monster's Bedtime Book, 1978. See Solved Mysteries for more.
Ha! Hemingway for kids!!
Not much to go on, but maybe Grandfather Todd of Old Cape Cod, by Joseph E.Hanson, illustrated by Jean Porter, published New York, McKay 1959 "Seven stories as fresh as a Cape Cod breeze - about a most "magical" grandfather and his two young charges (Kate and Gregg) who spent an enchanted summer exploring Cape Cod. Ages 7-10" (Horn Book Apr/59 pub ad p.160) There's a line drawing showing a man with a long white beard and captain's hat, carrying a basket, walking with two children wearing striped shirts and shorts, one with a fishing rod, the other with a sack. No mention of cats.
Might this be Wanda Gag's Millions of Cats? The very old man goes to find a cat to keep company with his very old woman. He roams far and wide, and brings home every beautiful cat he finds, in short, "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats." It's more about the cats of course, but the image of the old man with the long white beard made me think of it. A classic, in print almost continuously since its publication in 1928.
Natalie Norton, A Little Old Man by the Sea, 1959. [Thank you for helping me find the author to Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!]
It was around 1972 in VA. I read an illustrated book about an old man on a little island with a cat. He lived in a little house, or boat up on stilts. He seemed to be preparing for a flood (a little like Noah's Ark). Towards the end of the book it did flood and he and his cat/s were safe and snug in their boat. It was probably published around the 60's? Don't remember the title or author. Help! Thanks.
#B177--Boat: This was solved. I
your comment was "Hemingway for kids?" but that phrase didn't
turn up with
a Google search, and, of course, I can't remember the title.
From the Solved Mysteries page: A Little Old Man by the Sea, by Natalie Norton.
P97 percis rides a turtle into forest: Is 1959 too recent, or could this be The Little One, by Dare Wright, published Doubleday 1959? "Persis was a dusty doll in an old house until Nice Bear and Cross Bear showed her the fun of the bright outdoors. Ages 2 to 6." (HB Dec/59 p.448 pub.ad) The cover pic shows the little doll talking to a turtle or tortoise, but don't know if she rides on him.
O5-Orphan Annie: This is hard to
because of spelling. The poem is Orphant Annie
Whitcomb Riley. Dover Publications puts out an
titled: Little Orphant Annie and Other Poems
Whitcomb Riley. It is a Dover Thrift Edition - -
In response to O 5, the poem Little Orphant Annie was written by James Whitcomb Riley and appears in many anthologies of his writings.
Little Orphant Annie is written by James Whitcomb Riley, and is probably in a number of classic poetry books, though I have it in a book called This Singing World, by Louis Untermeyer (a collection of poems for young adults).
As a child in the 50's (book may also be early 60's) I read a children's book of poems and stories with one poem in it about Orphan Annie. I remember the illustration which showed a large fireplace and hearth area with goblins dancing around in a circle in front of it. (Annie may have also been in the picture, seated in a chair by the hearth). I think the last line of the poem was, "...the goblins will get you if you don't watch out". The theme was about being good. It seems that the entire book contained both poems AND stories, but it is possible that it was only poems. I seem to recall that the book was somewhat oversized.
Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley. See more on the Solved Mysteries page.
A Little Oven by Eleanor Estes.
Dorothy Kunhardt, Little Peewee Or,
Open the Box,
1948. A Little
Golden Book #52. "Peewee is a Dalmatian dog the size of a mouse
to the size of an elephant."
See more on Kunhardt on the Most Requested pages.
Dorothy Kunhardt, Little Peewee, the circus dog, 1948. Also known as Little Peewee, or, Now open the box. I found a picture of the cover. It is a Little Golden Book.
Godden, Rumer, Little Plum. Viking Press/1962, Scholastic/1963. "The new girl who moves into the mansion next door is a mystery to her eight- and nine-year-old neighbors who plot to become her friends when they learn she too owns a Japanese doll."
Rumer Godden, Little Plum.
I think the person who suggested Rumer Godden is thinking of Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, which certainly fits some details.
Rumer Godden, Little Plum, 1987, reprint. This book is either Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, or the sequel Little Plum. The first is about an orphaned girl who learns to create a home for herself by caring for her Japanese dolls. (Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are joined by Little Peach at the end of the book.) The second is about a war that erupts between neighbors, when a new girl moves in and neglects her Japanese doll, Little Plum.
Rumer Godden, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. England is the last place Nona Fells wants to be. No one asked her if she wanted to leave sunny India to live in a chilly English village with her aunt's family -- and her cousin, Belinda, just hates her! But when two dainty Japanese dolls arrive at Nona's doorstep, everything begins to change. Like Nona, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are lonely and homesick, so Nona decides to build them their own traditional Japanese house. Over time, not only does Nona create a home for the dolls, but one for herself as well. There is a sequel, Little Plum. In the sequel, Belinda is trying to make friends with a new girl who has moved in next door. The new girl also has a Japanese doll. The good news is that Miss Happiness and Miss Flower has been reprinted.
Rumer Godden, Little Plum? Sounds like it could maybe be Little Plum...a lot of the details fit well, but some don't. Worth checking out though.
Possibles - The Pond, by Carol
Donald Carrick, published Macmillan 1970 "Children's story
animals living in or at the pond." - The Animals at Small
by Phoebe Erickson, published Grosset 1960, "A lovely
for early readers, illustrated with line drawings." - The
Pond by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger
by Lothrop 1970, 34 pages "The story of the life cycle of a pond
creatures it creates and sustains."
Muriel Ward, Little Pond in the Woods, 1948. I'm pretty sure this is the book. It's a Little Golden Book (Simon and Schuster) and was illustrated by Tibor Gergely. Several animals -- a duck, a bird, a bee, a bear, a butterfly, a deer, a rabbit, a squirrel, and a grumpy frog -- all live in and around a pond. A drought dries up the pond and forces them to travel to a lake, led by the duck. Eventually the rains come, and they all travel back to
Muriel Ward, Little Pond in the Woods, 1948. Little Golden Books (Simon and Schuster), illustrated by Tibor Gergely. I put in this solution a few days ago and neglected to include the clincher: the first line of the book is, indeed, as set forth in the request. The book begins, "Deep in the woods was a little pond. Its water was blue -- blue when the sky was blue. The sun made yellow paths on it -- bright sparkling yellow paths that danced up and down when the breeze ran past."
Patsy Scarry, Little Richard. Ill. Cyndy Szekeres. (McGraw, '70)
published 1935 Little
Mandy and Tommy Whiskers author Helen R. Van
I am not sure, but maybe it is the one - maybe she can identify
the title ?
I found another one I know about. Number T1, about Tommy Whiskers, definitely refers to the Little Sallie Mandystories, of which there were several. I can't recall the author's name.
THE LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER by
P. Miller. I went crazy trying to find this book myself. I
there are two versions - one illustrated by John Lawrence, 1961
other illustrated by Lisl Weil, 1973.
That sounds like it.. I haven't been able to find any mention or copies of that book on the net, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. ;)
I was referred to you by some librarian friends. I am trying to find a book for a friend. Here is her description of it: I have no clue about the author or title, but Captain Kangaroo used to read it on his show (in the 60s). It's about a man who ran an ice cream shop, and for some reason his son (?) had to take over for him, but he didn't make the cones the same way - the father put in a little bit of ice cream first so there would be ice cream all the way to the bottom of the cone. thank you for any help you can provide.
I13: Ice Cream Business: Wow! I grew
on this book (the Lisl Weil illustrated version) and never knew
any connection to Captain Kangeroo. Since this book was
with two different sets of illustrations, I'm curious which one
Kangeroo used. I sent in the answer when someone else asked for
- it's now on your solved mysteries page under LITTLE
STORE ON THE
CORNER (by Alice P. Miller). And I am 100%
sure of this
- I own both illustrated versions (no, not willing to sell
This is fabulous! thank you so much, I passed it on to my friend and she was thrilled. She has family in Cleveland and said she will definitely stop by your store. I've left it up to her to find herself a copy. Thanks again. I think there should be a book which lists all the books that were read by Captain Kangaroo. I just bought Caps for Sale today for my daughter.
I am a Librarian (Virginia Beach Public Library) and I've tried any number of sources and search tactics to find this book - for years. I just used one of your "Solveds" to end a years long search by one of my customers (it was the Little Store on the Corner). And on behalf of a staff of nearly 30 and one very happy customer, I must say: "Thank You. Very much."
G32 and G44 Goudge, Elizabeth, Little
Horse, 1946. I'm pretty sure this is G44 - and
may well be
G32. The beautiful illustrations are by C. Walter Hodges. The
about Maria Merryweather, a spirited orphan who travels from
her governess Miss Heliotrope and King Charles spaniel Wiggins)
home of her uncle in the valley of Moonacre. There she is helped
by a (once
supposed imaginary) boy named Robin to right the wrongs of her
and restore peace to the valley. The little white horse of the
actually a unicorn, symbol for the "moon Merryweathers", who
how to companion the lion or "sun erryweathers" (yup,
beasts) so harmony reigns. The gnome or dwarf with geraniums is
Scarlet, her uncle's cook, who has kept them in secret after the
generation's moon and sun representatives (Maria's uncle and
quarreled and parted. The geraniums play a key role in mending
Yes, the story is a bit twee, but I read it when very young, so
rather fond of it! :) My copy is the fifth impression, dated
by the University of London Press.
Elizabeth Gouge, The little white horse,1946. University of London Press,-reprinted 1948 (released in Canada thru CLARKE, IRWIN & CO LTD,480-486, University Avenue, Toronto, no address for US. Bound in Mid-blue with gold impression of unicorn on bottom right corner. Inside in flyleaf there is a colour plate of "Maria's Own Room" in the tower, complete with star in centre of ceiling. Excellent book, I recently re-read it. A little sad for a 29yo. Just want a little bit of childhood back.
G44 geraniums in windowboxes: my friend who asked this stumper says "I finally found and re-read Goudge's Little White Horse, which was just what I would have fainted and died for at age 9 and was charming enough
even now. I can see how I compounded various elements into the vivid mental picture I still have, but that picture/scene never actually happened in that book." So I think we can move that to Solved.
I am looking for a book that I read in the time period of 1965-1969. I do not think the book was written durnig that time. I seem to recall an old looking hardback book. The book main character was a girl, who either lived in a house near the woods or visited someone there. The house had salmon pink geraniums on the steps and maybe in the windows. There was also a unicorn in the woods/forest. I would like to find this book for my daughter to read.
Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White
The little white horse turns out to be a unicorn, and geraniums
the story in several places.
Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse. Would it be this one, by any chance?
To the person from July 1997 looking for a
of the little girl with a mean witch mother, and the girl does
make a fairy appear (using colored powders), then it turns out
mother IS a fairy under the spell of the mean old witch: It's Little
by Anna Elizabeth Bennett original copyright
The copy I have is a Scholastic version illustrated by Lisl Weil
new copyright by Scholastic of 1961. I also lost my first
then found this one at a garage sale a few years ago! Hope you
a copy for your client; it is one of my all time favorite books!
Thanks for the tip, here's a copy I have for sale:
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth. Little Witch. Illus. by Helen Stone. NY: Lippincott, 1953. Twelfth printing, ex-library. Pictorial boards, clean and tight. VG-. <SOLD>
[more requests for the same book!]
I am trying to find a book I loved as a child. I read it around 1974. It is about a girl who is a witch's daughter. What I remember about the story is that she befriends a woman who is a beautiful fairy with a beautiful daughter and she wishes this fairy was her mother. The little witch's mother often goes out at night, dresses her in ratty clothes and treats her poorly. I also remember the little witch admiring the hair ribbons the fairy's daughter wears. At the end of the book, the fairy does turn out to be her mother. Somehow the girl was kidnapped when she was a baby. I have done numerous searches and I believe the book is out of print. I would appreciate any help I can in finding this beloved story. Thanks so much!
You are a miracle worker! Yes, I am going to buy the book! I am truly amazed you were able to find it since all the search vehicles I used online turned up nothing. I am recommending you to all my friends who are interested in finding their own little piece of nostalgia. Thanks again!
Your site is the greatest discovery I have made so far in this new millenium. I have often wondered how I would be able to find this book. I only new the name of the book and what it was about. I had bought the book for 10 cents, when I was in second grade, at an old resale shop called " The Attic ". I am now 29 and would like to once again read about Miniken (Minx). Thank You.
I have been trying to remember the name one one of my favorite children's book since it "disappered" from the school's library may moons ago. It was about a little girl who was being raised by a very mean witch. She meets some regular kids and together that start messing around with the witch's magic powders when she leaves every day. Wonderful and strande things happen as they stir up different potions from the magical powders. One day they conjur up a fairy who tells the little girl that SHE is really her mother and the witch has imorisioned her and stolen her (the little girl). I cannot remember the exact title, but I thought it had "witch's daughter" or something similiar in the title. Can you help me? I highly doubt that it is still in print anyway, but...
cannot thank you enough! I so-o-o-o-o-o love the interent for its information exchange cabilities. I NEVER expected to find the name of that long lost favorite Little Witch. I have searced through the children's section of every library I've been in for over 25 years, hoping I'd recognize a cover or picture... I almost cried when I read the "Mysteries Solved" secton of your web site because yes, this IS the book I've been searching for! Thank you! Thank you!
My daughter is 7 and I am starting to rebuild my library of books I remember and never should have gotten rid of. Can you believe I just found a copy of Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. She loved it!!
This book involved a small girl that saw a beautiful princess in the mirror whenever she brushed her hair. The girl was being held captive by an evil witch who at some point threw the brush at the mirror, shattering the mirror, and setting the princess free -- who turned out to be the mother of the small girl.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.1953.
The story about the little girl who sees her mother's reflection
mirror could be Little Witch.
M150: Little Witch? Except no one throws a brush at the mirror and it's only the spell that gets broken, not the mirror itself.
M150 Sounds like LITTLE WITCH by Anna Elizabeth Bennet (appears on Solved Mysteries page) ~from a librarian
This sounds like Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. The witch had raised the little girl as her own daughter, but the fairy in the mirror was really her mother.
This was actually answered by W-84 which is the same story. The girl with the colored powders is the daughter of the princess in the mirror. What sets the princess free is the evil witch throwing a hairbrush at the mirror because that is where the little girl witch always sees the princess.
Hi~ I am looking for a book about a witch-I cannot remember the name or author. It is a book I loved as a child, I read it in the early to mid 1970's. The main thing that I remember is that the neighbor is a witch who has many jars of colored powders for spells. I wish I could remember more as I did love it so--any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch,
1953 and 1961. This may not be the same book that the
poster is thinking
of at all, but the colored powders part sounds like a scene out
Witch. Nine year old Minx is a witch's child, but not a
She is forced to do horrible things she doesn't want to do, such
Black Spell Brew. Her evil "mother" witch has "jars of
and liquids on the shelves. There were hundreds of them,
colors". This is just a tiny detail in the book, but it
was a detail
I always enjoyed, because I wanted to have hundreds of different
magic powders, too. Anyway, Minx later discovers that her
Mother is a fairy who has been bewitched by the evil witch.
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch, 1953. This is definately it.
This could be Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett - a very popular book. It wasn't a neighbor who had magic powders, but Minikin's (the daughter) own "mother" who actually isn't. She uses different colored powders to try to make a beautiful fairy appear, but it takes a few tries.
The colored powders mentioned in W84 might refer to Little Witch.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1963. This one is on the Solved Mystery page.Sounds just like this book--my favorite part was always when they experimented with the colored powders!!
Sounds like Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, 1953. It's in Solved Mysteries. Wonderful, clever and very original for its time (especially Frances' grandma, I think), but try to get the edition with the more sophisticated drawings.
This sounds like Little Witch. There's a lot more to this story but the little witch, Minikin Snickasnee, uses the colored powders to cast a spell to help the enchanted lady she sees in the mirror.
Coombs, Patricia, Dorrie and the Blue Witch, 1964. Could be any one of the "Dorrie the Witch" stories. I loved them so as a child in the 60-70's.
If I remember correctly, this was a fantastic book for children, a slim paperback that may have had short chapters with a few black and white ink drawings for illustrations. It was about a little girl named Lavinia (I'm about 90% sure of that). I believe that Lavinia's mother had been a good witch, but either died or disappeared into another dimension. Lavinia either lives with or visits the old house, where her two evil aunts still live. I think Lavinia has to find her mother's old spellbook, and at some point she or the aunts make a potion. In the end I think it turns out that Lavinia herself possesses some power for good, and she may make the aunts disappear into another dimension. But of one thing I am almost certain: her name was Lavinia!
#L59--Lavinia, little witch girl?: In
ways sounds like Little Witch, by Anna
I have just a vague recollection of this book, but what I remember is still quite vivid in my mind. It was a children's book that involved a witch whose "pantry" was filled with magic potions of all sorts of different colors, maybe pastels? My memory is that the potions were like chalk and kept in bottles -- something like the tempera paints that we used to have in elementary school. The children have some sort of an adventure where they possibly have to mix the potions together for some unremembered purpose. I am 51 years old, so my elementary school years would have been early 1960s. I went to grade school both in Long Island, New York and Abilene Texas.
Anna Elizabeth Barrett, Little Witch,
1953. Maybe this book, which appears in the "Solved
bennett, Little Witch. The witch "daughter" and her friends mix together powders and conjure up several creatures trying to find a fairy.
This might be it: Little Witch Anna Elizabeth Bennett,1953. "Minx hates being a witch's daughter, and sneaks off to school to make friends. But her wicked mother threatens to spoil everything, until a beautiful face in a mirror reveals who Minx really is." As I recall, there was quite a deal about her mixing powders of different colors to find some solution to her problems as well.
Anna Elizabeth. Little Witch.
Illustrated by Helen Stone. Trumpet Club,
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth. Little Witch. Illustrated by Lisl Weil. Scholastic, 1963. Paperback. VG. <SOLD>
I'm pretty sure this is The Little
Doll by Margery Williams Bianco. Plot
summary: "A charming
story about a wooden doll that had been left in the attic for
and although the mice were her friends, she wished to be loved
by a child.
How the animals help her to find someone who cares for her is
D74 doll in attic: I think The Little Wooden Doll, by Margery Williams Bianco, published first in 1925 and frequently reprinted, had an edition come out with a wooden doll to match the character. Perhaps the 1961 or
I loved this book when I was a child (pre-1950). A carved wooden doll was unwanted because she was too sharp (I'm not 100% sure of the title). Through her experiences over time, her features became softer and she finally found a good home with someone who loved her.
Could be The Little Wooden Doll,
by Margery Bianco, illustrated by her daughter Pamela
Macmillan 1925, reprinted several times. It's about a wooden
doll who isn't
very pretty, and is left in the attic
with spiders for her friends.
Another possible is Nobody's Doll, by Adele DeLeeuw, illustrated by Anne Vaughan, published Little Brown 1946 and 1955, 85 pages. "The curious adventures of a wooden-headed doll and Mr. McHugh, a Scottie." "An
old-fashioned doll encounters mishaps aplenty until Mr. McHugh, a dour Scotty dog, befriends her."
D67 doll too sharp: this actually looks like a better bet - Victoria Josephine, by Margaret Baker, pictures by Mary Baker, published Dodd, Mead 1936. Victoria Josephine is "an old wooden doll dressed in a strange
looking gown of white muslin" sent to Diana by her great grand-aunt Jessica. Diana is a rough little girl who doesn't want "an ugly old doll" so the puppy takes Victoria Josephine out to the woods to see the world
instead. She is almost eaten by a cow and a baby, is swept up by a crossing-sweeper and tossed into a rose arbor, found and remade into a sailor doll with a new nose. Then she is 'lost at sea', floats past cows
and fishing children and finally comes to shore where Diana is picnicking. Diana is very happy with a sailor doll and ready to "take him home and love him because he was nearly drowned." The illustrations are silhouettes,
which might help confirm or disqualify this possibility.
This is a book about a doll who is abandoned by a little girl. She throws it out a window where it lies in the grass. Eventually it is pitied by Fairies maybe, or birds, etc. who dress it in spiders webs and foxgloves and beautiful flowers. I think the book is pre-1950's. In the 1970's it was reissued in a box with a doll included. Anyone know this book?
Vaguely reminiscient of Dare
Me Home or The Little One, but I don't
abandoned dolls ever get dressed.
Margery Williams Bianco, Little Wooden Doll, 1925. I submitted the query "Abandoned Doll". Going through your submissions I found Little Wooden Doll which had a photo accompanying it..and Viola! it was my book. I got a lot of the info wrong--memories aren't always that good. Thank you for your web sit.
Book Stumper S58 about Susie and ballet
be On Your Toes Susie by Lee Wyndham.
really remember the story but the title sounds right on.
The cover blurb for On your toes, Susie! makes me think it isn't the right one. Susie has waited three years and finally gets pink toe shoes, but now has to compete against the new girl, Mimi. And then Susie sprains her ankle just before the big recital (oh, no!). However, there is "A note to parents" by the author at the end of this book that indicates this is part of a series, which began with A Dance for Susie, in which she received pre-ballet training at age six. Other books in the series are Susie and the dancing cat and Susie and the ballet family.
Other details that might help tell if this is the right series: Susie's surname is Peters the school is Miss Mara's School of Ballet. Miss Mara has a French poodle named Coco. the city is Ferndale.
this sounds like a good bet - The Littlest Star, by Sally Jackson, illustrated by Dick Martin, published Chicago, Reilly & Lee 1961, 32 pages. "An Easy-to-Read Picture Story. Each and every year thousands of little girls enter the enchanting, magical world of ballet dancing. Susie is one of those little girls who, clutching her leotard and slippers, knows how it feels to be on the sidelines while she watches the older children succeed. Readers of all ages will rejoice as stubborn Susie finds her first success. Here is a book which any first grader can really read alone. Ages 4-8, 8 1/2 x 11" (HB Feb/61 p.101 pub ad) The illustration shown is a line drawing of a little girl wearing a rabbit-eared cap and wide frothy tutu, her hair in two braids, curtseying. One of her slippers is undone.
S58 susie and ballet: more on one suggested - A Dance for Susie, by Lee Wyndham, illustrated by Jane Miller, published Dodd 1953, 56 pages. "Susie, younger than the other girls in her neighborhood, was left out of
everything and had begun to think there was nothing a six-year-old could do. Then one day she saw in a magazine a picture of ballerinas just her age. How she entered a dancing class, studied hard and surprised her friends at the school talent show makes a happy story." (HB Aug/53 p.275) However, I'd put more money on The Littlest Star, by Sally Jackson, after seeing pages shown on EBay. It's an early-reader level story, and Susie is in class with her older sister, when she is offered the part of a bunny in the performance (they need a small child). Susie is told she will only need to hop, and says she can hop and she can dance too.
Winifred Watson and Julius M. Nolte, A
1938. I don't
know the poem (I learnt a different one at school), but I typed
line into Google, and got two hits. One
was this site. About half-way down is a review
of "A Living
Grammar". It quotes the first few lines of the first
happen to include the first few lines of the poem. I
expect the book
itself contains the whole poem.
Yes! This has to be where the poem comes from. Thank you so very much. Another mystery solved.
Living in AMERICA Today and YESTERDAY by Prudence Cutright and John Jarolimek (editors) Macmillan Co.(1969) The town is Kingston and when the old fashioned ice cream freezer is delivered to the King's trailer the man also brings a large box of ICE!! Through the character of Old Timer a great deal of history, especially history of Native Americans, is explained in detail. The book does a wonderful job showing how a community slowly evolves and with it the need for schools, fire department, police, TAXES etc. This is the book!
S7 Liza Lou & the Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer, 1976 A little black girl has to go through the Yeller Belly Swamp to run errands for her mother, but there are dangerous creatures lurking there - including the swamp monster that the girl talks to while standing on a wooden bridge.
The Lost Doll by Pegg
Random House, 1972, 54pg., illus. Could this be the book?
help of a number of city officials, Emily finds her very special
Adelberg, Doris, Lizzie's Twins, 1964. I think this is the one -- I still have my childhood copy at home (liberally scribbled-in, unfortunately), since it was my favorite preschool book. I haven'\''t looked at it in years, but I recall the main character lost her prized doll, and it had a line illustration of the lost doll similar to the one described. Lizzie ends up with two dolls -- her "twins" -- since her parents buy her another one in an attempt to console her. She'd forgotten her doll because she'd started playing with a friend or something. If I recall correctly, she finds the lost doll herself after a whole season or so has passed -- upside down in a tree stump. If this is the right book, e-mail me and I can actually dig the book out, verify my fuzzy memories, and give you any info you need.
This makes me think of the "Galldora" stories, which are British. The name is an anagram of "A Rag Doll." There may be more than one book - I read some of the stories in the British kids' magazine "Treasure" from the 1960's or early 1970's. The doll, who can think and talk, is always getting lost, which leads her into adventures (even though she can't actually move on her own, IIRC).
I think the second guess posted on the site is probably as close as I'm going to get ... the person who responded offered to look up the book if I thought it might be the one ... since I can't find "Lizzie's Twins" by Doris Adelberg or Doris Orgel, I'd like to ask the person is s/he would be able to post a photo from the book or something ... or even if s/he can confirm the title/author (since I'm finding NOTHING).
D86 doll lost: here's more info if that helps - Lizzie's Twins, by Doris Adelberg and N.M. Bodecker, published NY Dial 1964. "Unexpected events befall Lizzie's doll Beatrice, told in gay verse and captivating pictures." If the illustrations are by Bodecker, who did several of Edward Eager's books, they should be fairly distinctive line drawings. Does the seeker remember whether the story rhymed?
Russell Hoban, London men and English men, 1962. Three children, playing at being London men, English men, and Madame Rose Mary Rose, travel across the sea to hunt whales, play golf, and have tea, before leaving on another journey--to school.
Malcolm Saville, Lone Pine Series,
1950s. Could this be one of Malcolm Saville's mystery
series - Lone
Pine or Witchend?
I reckon the books your correspondent is searching for is the series about The Cherrys by Will Scott (I think that was the author's name). They were excellent mysteries as I remember. There was a whole series, the first being The Cherrys of River House. Hope this helps
B101 Blyton-like series: The Malcolm Saville books seem more likely, being about young friends who solve mysteries, rather than a family as the Cherry books are. They're also a very easy read, similar in style to Blyton's
Famous Five and Adventure series.
Malcolm Saville. I thought some more info might help decide if this query is in fact the lone pine series. The lone piners were:David, Richard (dickie), Mary, Petronella (peter), Tom, Jenny, Jonathon and Penny. They were accompanied by Macbeth - black scottie dog. Some of the books were mystery at witchend, seven white gates, gay dolphin adventure, lone pine five, secret of grey walls, lone pine london. There were lots more and he wrote several other series as well.
Maybe the Enid Blyton type story is A Young Warrender by Ivy L Wallace, characters - Di & Derry, Christopher & Caroline (both sets of twins) & Belinda (Binkie).
L8 -- This one I'm almost certain of: Hill,
Weldon, Lonesome Traveler. 320 pages.
McKay, 1970, LC
75-114740 "Clem Marlow, on his way from Eastern Oklahoma to
tubercular mother in New Mexico, isn't a very lonesome
traveler. He has
the constant, splendid company of Duke, his dog, and Pedro,
besides the almost daily meeting of new people: Gaylord the
who turns up several times and shares Clem's most unpleasant
of the trip; Ken Whittle, the truck driver who drops mail,
news from back home; Dixie, with whom he falls in love; and
Though a boy on his own trip is no new idea, Clem Marlow has
personality, and his story is fun to read." (School
Book Review, 1969-70)
L8 lonesome traveller: the suggested title seems like a very close match by title and plot. The only differences are Oklahoma instead of Oregon and burro instead of pony.
I think the title of this book is The
Journey Home or The Long Way Home.
And I think
the author is Borden Deal. I have this book on my
home and I'm certain it's the same one; they collect a dog,
goose and mule
along the way. The kids' names are Ashley, Brett and
Shane, and their
journey starts out somewhere in the Florida Keys. **Later...
OK, I have the book in front of me now, and I was close. It is indeed by Borden Deal, entitled A Long Way To Go. My paperback copy was printed in 1967 by Avon Books, copyright is 1965 by the author and originally
published by Doubleday.
Also J6 is not Journey For Three. Journey for Three is about a determined young girl whose parents were missionaries in foreign countries. Her parents died of a jungle disease. She has two younger 'brothers' that her parents picked up in thier travels, one a little boy from India who dresses like a Native American, carries a blanket, has read the Golden Bough and prides himself on acting very grown-up, and a blonde toddler who went by the nickname 'Fat Buttery' who doesn't like to wear clothes. They were sent back to the United States and she is trying to keep them all together as a family. They show up at her adult cousin's house hoping for a place to stay. He doesn't want to take them in because he's a writer and bachelor who values his solitude and privacy.
J6 journeying kids: the Borden Deal book sounds like an awfully close match, has the original poster ever responded?
I am trying to find the name of a book.. the synopsis is: 3 children are on vacation with parents on coast of fla. kids are left with hotel babysitter. parents are involved in accident and have nothing on them to indicate where they are staying. hotel is about to turn kids over to social workers but kids hear and decide to walk home to ga. (about 500 miles). story is about adventures along their journey home. it's a great book on self reliance.
Borden Deal, A Long Way To Go,
1965? This is on the solved pages under Long Way To
but I'm pretty sure the correct title is A Long Way To Go.
loved this when I was little, and I can't find it now on the
for under $80 or so. I seem to remember that the little
her duck Mr. Man or something like that, but I can't remember
I'd love to find a copy to read again that doesn't cost a
Dorothy Canfield, Understood
1916. The poster's description varies somewhat from this
the basic plot is similar. Betsy lived with her great-aunt
cousin in the city since she was a baby. When her aunt
ill, she ends up with her great-aunt and uncle and adult cousin
other side of the family in the country. While she
dislikes it at
first, this family doesn't coddle her her and she learns to be
and starts to love it there. Her kitten is Eleanor and she
staying on the farm when the original cousin gets married.
Dorothy Canfield, Understood Betsy. No, sorry, that's not it. There weren't any older relatives, just the young girl and the youngish (early 30's?) aunt. Thanks for trying though.
I'd put a small amount of money on this: The Long White Month by Dean Marshall, illustrations by Theresa Kalab / Published by E.P. Dutton 1942 "Little Priscilla Newell lives with her aunt Millicent in a well-staffed
apartment in uptown New York. She is loved and well cared for and managed to the point where she is not sure of anything, except that for just once she would love to have an unplanned day, rely upon herself occasionally, and not worry about taking cold. Then, one day, Aunt Millicent is obliged to go to California for a rest and Cousin Susan takes over… Now Cousin Susan lives in a log cabin in the woods of Connecticut, and she and Uncle Roger, Priscilla's guardian, are good friends. Uncle Roger takes Priscilla out and buys her sweaters and snow suits and all the things she has always longed for. (Aunt Millicent preferred smocks from Liberty's.) Then, in the midst of a thorough-going blizzard Cousin Susan and Priscilla set out in Susan's car, for the little house up in the woods. Priscilla is to remain there for a month while further "plans" for her future are being made. What a month it is for the city child who has dreamed of just such an adventure, but has never experienced it! The bird lore alone in this delightful book is enough to recommend it to any young reader. Priscilla learns to build fires, to cook, to darn stockings, and sew on buttons. She makes friends with the many birds who flock about the little house in the snow, and when Uncle Roger brings her a book of bird pictures she learns to identify each. The pleasant Prescott family, up the road , are an added attraction, and the 'long white month' passes all too quickly. At last there are signs of Spring, and now again 'plans' must be made. Priscilla is desolated for she wants to stay with Cousin Susan. It develops that she may for Cousin Susan and Uncle Roger are to be married when spring comes and live in the big farmhouse across the road from the Prescotts'. The little house in the forest will always be there to use for week-ends, so the story has the happy ending all little girls demand." (from the dust jacket)
THAT'S IT! I've been trying to remember the name of this book for about ten years! How do you do it?! Anyway, I'm thrilled just to know it actually exists because I was starting to think there was no such book, but just out of curiosity, you don't have a copy, do you?
The Long White Winter, 1946? Aunt Millicent, who was the guardian of Priscilla, became ill and Priscilla had to apend the winter with her cousin(?) in the Maine woods. For the first time, the seamstress did not come in to make Priscilla smocked dresses for school, but her cousin took her to a department store and they got all sorts of warm clothes. The winter describes the birds at the feeder, making snow ice cream and all that neat stuff to a kid from Hawaii. The last time I read the book was from the Eugene OR public library in 1972! I have been unable to find it at abebooks or alibris under the name above.
I believe you have the title correct, but I couldn't find it
Written by Marshall? Something like that?
Or Walter Dean Myers? Not that I can find this anywhere...
Dean Marshall?, The Long White Month? Is this any relation to The Long White Month in your Solved section? I don't know either book, but they sound similar.
A-ha! Yes! That's what I was thinking of! It is hard to find, but at least I know it exists. Illustrated by Theresa Kalab, published by Dutton, 1942.
Dean Marshall, The Long White Month, 1942.
P107: Look Out For Pirates!
Vinton, 1961. A Beginner Book that's quite entertaining.
There is a childrens Pirate book that i read in 1971 that I've been going crazy over trying to locate for over 20 years. The cover and the pages were the same stock as the Dr. Suess books. i believe it was called "Pirates Gold;" maybe. There is a deserted island and the pirates send a diver to the bottom for their treasure with an old time diving helmet and an airhose. The cover of the book has yellows and blues in it and the pirates are on a tropical beach. I heard about you guys on NPR here in Los Angeles and thought the service was TERRIFIC!!! Thankyou
There is a 1961 Random House Beginner Book called Look Out for Pirates! by Iris Vinton.
|Vinton, Iris. Look Out for Pirates! Illustrated by H.B. Vestal. Random House Beginners Books, 1961. First edition, glossy pictorial boards, chid's writing on dedication page. VG. $10||
m47 is The Looking Glass Factor
by Judith Goldberger.
I'd just like to add that I saw a page from this book illustrated on EBay and yes, it shows a girl and some human-sized cats 'merging' into a wall or something similar. Looks interesting!
Christine Noble Govan and Emmy West, Lookout
is definately the series you are looking for. It features
of kids living in Lookout Mountain, Tennesee, who call
the Lookouts. The older kids had a group called the
they're getting older and not as active in the club
not sure of the specific title you are looking for in the
Here is the list I have:
Mystery at Shingle Rock (1955), Mystery at the Mountain Face (1956), Mystery at the Shuttered Hotel (1956), Mystery at Moccasin Bend (1957), Mystery at the Indian Hide-Out (1957), Mystery at the Deserted Mill, Mystery at Ghost Lodge, Mystery at the Echoing Cave, Mystery of the Dancing Skeleton, Mystery of the Vanishing Stamp (1962), Mystery at the Haunted House, Mystery at Plum Nelly, Mystery of the Fearsome Lake (1960), Mystery at Rock City, Mystery of the Snowed-In Cabin (1961), Mystery at the Shuttered Hotel, Mystery at the Weird Ruins.
Thank you for solving my stumper. I am most interested in Mystery at Rock City, but would like to collect entire Lookout Club series. Please let me know if you have any copies or when you get one. Thanks!
Christine Noble and Emmy West. The Mystery
at Shingle Rock. Illustrated
by Frederick T. Chapman. Sterling, 1955, 5th
Ex-library copy in library binding with usual markings. G. <SOLD>
I e-mailed you yesterday about a book that I was looking for. I
sure that I have discovered the title. Lost In the Barrens
by Farley Mowat. I haven't picked up a copy yet, but I am
sure that is the book that I was trying to recollect. Sorry I
you a little too soon, but thank you for your service and I will
your website from time to time and see if I can help with anyone
The book concerns two teenage boys, one white, one Native, who follow an expedition in northern Canada. They become separated from the main group and end up spending a winter in the Canadian Arctic. It's a survival story.
Mowat, Farley, Lost in the Barrens,
1957. I think that L67 and Y12 might be the same book.
Farley Mowat, Lost in the Barrens.
#L67--lost on Canadian tundra: Lost in the Barrens, by Farley Mowat, paperback title Two Against the North. This and possibly its sequel, The Curse of the Viking Grave, have been filmed. Don't remember titles of the films but the actor who played one of the boys, I think the native, Akavak, had the last name of Shields. A search at Internet Movie Database for
Shields or for Farley Mowat would probably find these movies.
The book is about a boy on an adventure in Canada's wilderness. I remember the city The Pas, in Manitoba, Canada was in the story. The spelling Pas is correct. I read the book in the late 1950s.
Mowat, Farley, Lost in the Barrens, 1957. I think that Y12 and L67 might be the same book.
Miriam Cohen, Lost in the Museum
THANK YOU , THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I'll start searching immediatly!! If I find it, I'll be sure and let you know. At least I have somewhere to start now. You are TOO kind! THANK YOU!!!
Have you checked out Julie of the Wolves by Jean
George? It's not as early as what you describe, the
rest of the
It doesn't sound familiar but I'll check it out. Thanks for getting back to me!
#Y3--Yukon: Sorry, but though similar in plot, Julie of the Wolves was published in 1972--WAY too late to be this book. James Oliver Curwood was a writer of many titles about Alaska, after Jack London, before Walt Morey and Jean Craighead George, and WELL before Gary Paulsen! He is worth a try as the author.
Perhaps - Lost Island by Nora Burglon, illustrated by James Reid, published Winston 1939, 261 pages. "A story of Alaska for older girls. Solvig Salstrom is left on her own after her father fails to return from the hunt for a lost Arctic flyer. Solvig manages a team of outlaw dogs, is shipwrecked on a lonely island, and finally succeeds in finding her father." (Children's Catalog 1956)
I'm the one who submitted the inquiry about the girl lost in the Yukon with her team of sled dogs (listed as Y3), and I want to thank whoever it was that suggested I try Lost Islandby Nora Burglon, illustrated by James Reid. The description sounds just like what I'm looking for. Haven't had a chance to track the book down, but I'm willing to bet this is it!!! Thank you, thank you. I can't tell you how many friends and librarians I've pestered with my questions on this one!
O3--The Lost Race of Mars.
a boy who lives in a colony on Mars. I got this from a
order in '68 or '69.
Harriett, Hello and THANKS A MILLION for your reply! I would be SO happy if I could get this book for my brother! Do you have any suggestions as to what I can do to purchase it? Also, how can I thank the person who posted the info. on my "stumper"? Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond and for ALL your help!
Wondering about this, because the Silverberg book is a 'chapter book' and the book described sounds more like a picture book or early reader. My guess would be either the Wonder Book Tom Corbett a Trip to the Moon 1953, by Marcia Martin, which has dark-haired Tom, a redheaded boy and blonde girl in space suits, or Peter and the Two-hour Moon 1962, by Hazel Corson, where a boy visits a space station, or You Will go to the Moon 1959, by the Freemans, which has a brown-haired boy in a space-suit.
I have in my hands here Lots of Stories, by Rowena Bennett, illustrated by Sally de Frehn, published Racine, Whitman 1946, 382 pages, 74 stories and poems, including (in stumper order): A Golf Ball Goes to School p.366 - Mary and Jill find two golf balls on the way to school. Mary takes the battered one and unravels it in school while the schoolmaster MacFadden, called "Mister Mac" teaches all the classes in the one-room school. Suddenly there is an explosion, because Mary has jabbed the core of the ball with her pen-knife and the compressed air escaped. Mister Mac thinks one of the boys has brought a gun in and asks each of them, but not the girls. Mary confesses and Mister Mac "laughed so long and so hard that sometimes I hear his laughter in my dreams even now." Lucy and the Leprechaun p.259; The Little Red Goblin p.294; Big Ruth and Little Ruth p.211; Rob Roy (and Katherine Kalahan) p.227 (Rob Roy is also in The Rhyming Cat p.151); Peter and the Pumpkin p.287; There is no story about an Old Roadster, but The Roadster's Secret p.146 is about a new blue roadster with a rumble seat. Miss Hintamaster and Miss Toothpick are paper doll "old maids" cut from advertisements on How to Get Thin and How to Get Fat, and they appear in the story Mother's Game p.76; Down the Chipmunk Hole (Estelle the French doll rescued by chipmunks) p.97; Grandma's Story (redheaded Jane learns to like her hair and name when Bonnie Lynn admires them and stops others teasing) p.116. The book measures roughly 7.5" x 10.5", board cover is grey, with the title in yellow letters. The head and shoulders of a boy are shown emerging from a black circle. He has a book lying open in front of him and a bowl of bubble-mix, floating above are big bubbles showing characters from the stories, including an elf, a dog with a ball, a bunny with eggs, a boy skiiing. More bubbles are shown on the back cover, containing a rainbow, a jester with a lute, a frost elf, and a kite with a clown face. The edges of the pages are a bright pinky-red, so that opened the book does look pink. (I'd almost suggest it for H32 hot pink pages, but that book was new in 1965-72 and had a white cover) also T73 tree unhappy with self: the poem described, called The Unhappy Fir Tree, appears on p.352 "A fairy walked in the forest/ She heard a fir tree whine/ The other trees don't have to wear/ sharp needles such as mine." "I wish that I had golden leaves/ That glittered in the light/ The fairy waved her wand and changed/ The fir tree overnight." The golden leaves are stolen, the glass leaves broken, and the green leaves eaten by a goat, so the tree asks for its needles back. "And thank you for your magic gifts/ You merry woodland elf/ You've taught me that it's best for me/ Always to be myself." This may be the same poem appearing in Children's Stories Selected by the Child Study Association, also published by Whitman, 1950.
The short story is called Love Is a
It can be found in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
I'm so excited! I have looked for this for years, but with neither title nor author, I got no 'forrader.' Thanks to your terrific service, I now have both title and author, and using that information was able to find the short story I particularly remembered online- within days of asking my book stumper. You have an unbeatable concept with this page. Thanks so much!
Definitely sounds like THE LUCKIEST
by Beverly Cleary. ~from a librarian
Cleary, Beverly, The luckiest girl. The girl came from Seattle and was teased for her "webbed feet." Publisher New York, Morrow [c1958] Summary A young girl leaves her home and friends in Oregon to spend her exciting senior year in a California high school I love your site - boy this one brought back immediate memories!
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl
I remember this book as well... I read it in 1969, I think. I believe the setting was the 1950s, and the raincoat the girl's mother got for her was a pink one with a velvet collar. The girl made a list of things she would do when she became a mother herself in order to "improve" on her mother's "shortcomings." I believe the list changed
at the end of the book as the girl achieves a higher level of insight and understanding. I think I remember that she had a crush on a boy named Philip at the new school who had a sunburned nose (he turns out not to be such a nice boy after all). Sorry this isn't the title and author, but I thought perhaps someone else out there whose memory might be jogged if they saw more details.
This is definitely Beverly Cleary's The Luckiest Girl. I remember reading this when I was in high school and still have a copy buried in my dad's attic along with the rest of my children's books (3 cartons full)!!!
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl I haven't read this book in a million years, but I'm pretty sure it's right. I think she wanted a pink rain slicker.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl, 2001, reprint. One of my favorites, and will probably be in reprint forever. I especially enjoyed how Shelly blossomed once she was out from under her mother's thumb. I found this book long, long ago when I was a rebellious teen and I cheered!
Beverly Cleary, Lucky Chuck. The
boy in this book is Chuck, not Doug, but it sounds like the
This is one of Beverly Cleary's lesser-known books but it's a
lot of fun
while teaching a lot about motorcycles. There's a great review
I remember this, but of course not the
I do remember that the book quoted a song or poem: "Flow gently
That might jog someone's memory...
Audrey Brixner, Lucy and the Merman. Maybe this is the one?
S72 seagull drops: more on the suggested - Lucy and the Merman, by Audrey Brixner, illustrated by Joan Berg Victor, published Scholastic 1977, 112 pages. I have been trying to find a plot description, but no luck so far.
Audrey Brixner, Lucy and the Merman, 1977. I saw your listing on Lucy and the Merman and thought I would write and pass on some information to you as the listing said you were looking for a plot but couldn't find it. I have this book, and it was one of my favorites from childhood. It's about a girl named Lucy who is lonely because her best friend is away on a trip and she has nothing to do without her. A merman named Triton lands in her treehouse one day, dropped by a seagull that captured him. Triton and his wife Thetis had been searching for their daughter Sabrina, a mermaid who disappeared along the California coast while pretending to be a siren. Lucy returns Triton to the nearby lake, and after finding a way back to the sea and his people he invites her to join them for a day to be a mermaid herself. The majority of the book is Lucy's journey with the merpeople, and at the end she returns home with the hope of seeing them again on the next full moon. The line you mentioned is from a long poem printed at the end of the book, called The Forsaken Merman by Matthew Arnold. Thanks for the great trip down memory lane. I was thinking of this book and did a search for it on the internet and found your site. As someone who works in children's publishing and was a children's bookseller for a long time, it's so wonderful to see mention of these forgotten favorites again!
I believe you are looking for the book Lyle Lyle The Crocodile. I do not know the author, but my first grade granddaughter tells me this is the story you wrote about. It is a book that may still be in some schools as she has read it recently. Hope this will help you in your search.
Well, I took this advice and found the following:
Waber, Bernard. Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. 1973. $12 plus $3 shipping.
I don't know if you add comments to the solved mystery section or not, but you answered the stumper about the crocodile as Lyle, Lyle the Crocodile by Bernard Waber. That was not the first book about Lyle. The original was The House on East 88th Street. There may have even been a third book but I don't recall its title.
M94 (Magic stove dial invisible siblings)
FOR MISCHIEF by Richard Parker, ill. by
Charles Greer 1966.
I read this book over and over and am lucky enough to still own
copy, so I am pretty positive this is the one. ~from a
More on the suggested title M for Mischief by Richard Parker, illustrated by Charles Geer, published by Duell 1966, 90 pages "Three children, two girls and a boy, who have just moved into an unexciting old house, find an ancient rusty stove, complete with its own baffling cookbook, hidden away in a long-neglected summerhouse. Two settings on a dial - O for "Ordinary" and M for "Mischief" take the place of the usual oven gauge. Life grows hilariously complicated for everyone in the family when the children experiment with the recipe for boiled eggs which will render the eater invisible. But the magic really casts them into ludicrous predicaments when they bake cupcakes "for changing someone into a harmless domestic animal"; for while they manage to turn a thoroughly unpleasant neighbor into a lovely brown donkey, they also inadvertently transform their mother into a speckled hen." (Horn Book Jun/66 p.307)
This is a book about I think four children who move to a new neighborhood into a little house that they describe as looking like a shoe box. Their mother sends them from the house on the moving day complaining that she is allergic to dust and they find this shed in their new back yard with a stove in it. I believe it is missing a dial, and a strange man comes and brings them a dial with a setting on it that says something like 'magic' on it. They cook recipes which become magical when they use this setting. The only magic I remember is that one or all of the
children become invisible. I can't remember what the conclusion is except that I think the man comes back and takes away the dial. Please help me find this!!
Primers featuring Jeff, Mary, and Mike
appear under the heading "Macmillan Reading Program
The three books definitely in the Jeff, Mary, and Mike series
Books, A Magic Box, and Things You See,
all by Mae
Clark and all published by Macmillan in 1965 in softcover,
and in 1970
possibly in hardcover. These three are all classified as
Another, Lands of Pleasure, is classified as a
but I don't know if it also features the same characters or is a
textbook with poems and stories, as are some of the other ten
books I found
listed under this author and publisher. One book of Mae
would be interested in which is not Jeff, Mary, and Mike is Worlds
Wonder. It seems to be Book #1 in the
Series." You might make another heading for "California
School Readers" and list Worlds of Wonder, Book 1(?), Much
Book 4, First Splendor, Book 5, and Wider Than the
6, and maybe someone will know what Books 2 and 3 are and I can
The entry under Macmillan Reading Program in your "solved" section seems to indicate that someone would like more information about these books. When I started teaching first grade in 1968 we used this series of readers. Opening Books was preprimer1, A Magic Box was preprimer2, and Things You See was preprimer3. The next book in the series was Worlds of Wonder and it was called the primer. That book was followed by Lands of Pleasure which was the first reader. Children who did well in school would be expected to go through all of these books in first grade. I have the second grade books from this series also; one of them is called Enchanted Gates. There were 2 books for second grade (teachers referred to them as the 2-1 and 2-2 books). There were also 2 books for third grade. There was just one book each for fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. One thing i liked about these books was that each title was a phrase from a poem about books and reading; the poem would be printed before the title page of the book.
Sounds like Bertrand Brinley's The
Club from the early 1960s. It was followed by The
Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club and, in the 1970s, The Big Kerplop - which is a prequel written in
novel form. (That one is not so terrific.) The illustrator was perfectly chosen. The Club is made up of 7 boys aged 12 to 15 or so, and they get involved in all sorts of hijinks with the help of all sorts of WWII surplus electronic equipment that they collect. (Examples: gas balloon race, long-lost fortune, "high-tech" prank at the mayor's speech, night rescue of a downed pilot, a cleverly "haunted" house, bank robbers, submarine, "flying saucer", rainmaking, and kidnappings by the rival club.) They are all out of print, but the reviews at you-know-what dot com are many and passionate - the first two books ARE very funny and you may have to read them first so you won't burst out laughing with every other page when reading to your kids! While somewhat socially dated, as you
might expect, they are very much worth it and a fascinating look at what kids could (sometimes) really do even before the computer age (though Henry does, in the first story of NAotMSC, reveal that he has a homemade computer!) I often wonder just where it's supposed to be - it's very rural and you know from one story that they're in a Yankee state, but my guess is it's not in New England, anyway.
Probably the Mad Scientists' Club or the New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club by Betrand R. Brinley. I know there is a fake monster in the lake chapter in one of those two books.
yes, I'd love to get all three of the Mad Scientist Club books. Just let me know.
This looks like the same book as M 68: The
B by Irene Haas. It's recently been
and is an adorable book.
I'm the author of G48 and am pleased to say that, yes indeed, The Maggie B. (same as M68) was indeed the book I was looking for! I checked it out of the library and have shared it with my daughter and she loves it too! As a matter of fact I've read it with all my mom friends as well and have told them about this wonderful site. Thank you very much for solving my querry!
I read the book to my kids in the late seventies, early eighties.It was a paperback and belonged to my younger brother. It was a picture book story about a little girl, Maggie and her baby brother, who she cared for on their little boat. Actually, I think that "The Maggie B." may have been the name of their boat. She kept a goat, a little garden and fised from her boat. A sweet book. Can you help me find it, or more info. about who wrote it, etc.? Thanks for your help.
I was just browsing through your website,
I came across this "unsolved mystery": "M61: Maggie B."
I think I know the title of the book -- it's simply called The Maggie B. by Irene Haas; it was recently reprinted (Aladdin Picture Books). Hope this helps!
M61 is The Maggie B by Irene Haas. A *great* book.
This does sound like The Maggie B, by Irene Haas (on Solved list) published New York, Atheneum 1975, reprinted various times, 32 pages. "Before sleep one night, Margaret Barnstable wishes for a ship named for herself. The next morning she awakes on the Maggie B. and the adventure begins! The ship has a garden growing on it, and she cooks and cares for herself and baby brother James. Full color paintings loaded with detail."
See also G48 Girl on boat
Mary Grannan, Maggie Muggins.
Several others in series e.g. More Maggie Muggins, Maggie
and Benny Bear, The Wonderful World of Maggie Muggins,
Maggie Muggins in
the Meadow, etc.
Mary Grannan, Maggie Muggins series. Maggie Muggins and Her Animal Friends (1959), Maggie Muggins Again (1949), Maggie Muggins and Benny Bear (1962), Maggie Muggins and the Cottontail (1960), Maggie Muggins in the Meadow (1956), More Maggie Muggins (1959), New Maggie Muggins Stories (1947), Maggie Muggins and the Fieldmouse (1959), Maggie Muggins by the Sea (1959).
M71 - could this be Nicholas Stuart
Applestone ? Some similarities.
I have to say, the only similarity with The Apple Stone is the size of the item. Gray's book contains no aliens, no force-fields, no blue. Instead, the Apple Stone is golden and speaks for itself, instructing the group of children how to use it. This book sounds more American than English, and more science fiction than fantasy.
Maybe Carl Biemiller's Magic Ball from Mars New York, Morrow, 1953?
M83 and M71 seem to be asking about the same book. Not that that helps either searcher much.
M71 and M83: Carl Biemiller, The Magic Ball from Mars
I remember this book from the mid fifties. It was an adventure story about a boy who finds a marble that turns out to be magic. Not sure about title, author. What a fun site to reminisce about the books we loved. Another favorite of mine was The Book of Live Dolls.
Magic Ball from Mars, by Carl L. Biemiller, illustrated by Kathleen Voute, published Morrow 1953, 127 pages. "An amusing bit of science fiction about Johnny Jenks' adventures with a mysteriously glowing ball of 'marsquartz' given him by a kindly man from 'Out There' who comes to Earth in a flying saucer. Johnny's visit to the Pentagon to show the ball to the authorities and his subsequent kidnapping are lively enough adventures." (HB Oct/53 p.360)
Maurice Dolbier, The magic bus, 1948. The story of what was an ordinary bus until a little boy discovered the gold button on its dashboard...and then the most exciting things happened!
C42- The Magic Clown
A little more on the suggested title: Sutton, Felix Magic Clown (A Treasure Book) NY Treasure Books, 1954, 8vo; color illustrations by James Schucker, 28 pages. "Join that famous TV show character Magic Clown and his puppet Laffy"
Could it be Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by
But there's only one doll...
The second book must be Magic Elizabeth by - oh darn, the book is upstairs right now, so I can't check the author - it is actually only one doll, but has two main girl characters - one in modern day and one in the past - the modern day girl has to stay with her aunt and while in the attic discovers a diary about a girl in the past with a doll named Elizabeth who gets lost one Christmas Eve and isn't ever found. The modern girl dresses up in the old clothes from the chest and, with the help of an old mirror, is transported back in time to the life of the other girl where she relives the entire experience of having and then losing her doll Elizabeth - the modern day girl's goal becomes finding lost Elizabeth.
Kassirer, Norma. Magic Elizabeth. Scholastic, Inc., 1966. Young Sally while staying in creepy old house with her Aunt Sarah, tries to find an old doll named Elizabeth. B&W Illustrations by Joe Krush.
Love your site! I'm looking for a book about a girl (around 12) who is sent to live with her stern maiden aunt for a summer. I think the aunt's name is Sarah, and she's incredibly stuffy. This girl starts rooting around in the attic and finds a diary, some clothing, a doll, etc. of a girl named Sally and eventually comes to believe either that she *is* Sally reincarnated, or haunted by her ghost. In the end it turns out that Aunt Sarah was Sally. Any help would surely be appreciated.
S64 is Magic Elizabeth by Norma
Kassirer. My copy has the title page torn out, so I
the year, but it's a pretty common Scholastic Book Services
is the doll's name.
S64 Stern Aunt Sarah: This is MAGIC ELIZABETH by Norma Kassirer, and it is listed on your solved
stumpers page and may appear on most requested page too. It was recently republished.
The book you're thinking of is called "Magic Elizabeth". I don't know the author, but I know it had wonderful illustrations by Beth and Joe Krush. The story was of Sally, who went to stay at an elderly aunt's house and finds in the bedroom allotted to her a portrait of a little girl her age who looks just like her, holding a wonderful doll. Aunt Sarah tells Sally that the doll's name was Elizabeth and the girl's name was Sally also. Through the book, Sally gets to know and love old Aunt Sarah and her black cat Shadow and has dreams in which she experiences going back in time to be the other Sally. She wants to find Elizabeth, whom Aunt Sarah says disappeared a long time ago. Finally Shadow finds the doll and Sally finds out that the other Sally was her Aunt Sarah and the doll was hers. A favorite book of mine and of my daughter's, who I believe has it now which is why I can't put my hands on the author's name.
S64 has got to be Magic Elizabeth, by Norma Kassirer "A grumpy aunt, a black cat, a spooky old house, and a doll named Magic Elizabeth," says the front cover. The aunt is named Sarah, and the little girl is named Sally.
Thanks for the answer! I'm thinking about this book as a gift for a neighbor girl for her birthday later in the year. If I can't find it locally, I'll turn right to you. I appreciate the service you provide. Your website is a lot of fun and brings back tons of good memories!
i read a book when i was a child in about 5th grade. that would be around 1969, a young girl spends the summer with her cranky, aged aunt who hates children. while there, the young girl goes into the attic and finds some victorian clothing just right for a girl her age. she puts on the clothing and eventually falls asleep. in her dreams she goes back in time to become her aunt as a child and is able to locate the beloved lost doll her aunt had lost as a child when she finally wakes up out of her time travel dream, for it is the same house her aunt lived in as a child. i dont know the title of this book but i would love to read it again. i have been all over the net looking to find it. thank you.
I think this one is Magic Elizabeth
by Norma Kassirer. The little girl goes to stay with her
not an aunt, but otherwise the details seem to match.
I think both G66 and T101 are thinking of Magic Elizabeth by Norma Kassirer. It appears on your Solved Stumpers page, and it was recently republished. ~from a librarian
Sounds like Magic Elizabeth to me!
Someone has asked me to help identify a story with a secret garden with a character in it named Elspeth. The person has read the Burnett Secret Garden and that is not it.
I have a suggested book for your stumper, Mandy,
by Julie Edwards, published in 1971. The
it an "enchanting bestseller in the tradition of The Secret
Ten-year-old Mandy lived in a lovely orphanage where the kind
looked after her well. The good houskeeper, Ellie,
slipped her special
treats from the kitchen. Mandy was happy, but nothing Mandy
had was hers
alone. Until that magical day when she climbed the stone
the bottom of the orchard, followed a little path through the
found the most beautiful deserted, small cottage, sitting in
as if it were smiling at her." I only read this
once, years ago.
I don't know if Ellie was ever referred to as Elspeth, but it's
look if the date is right.
Not too likely, but there's Nobody's Garden by Cordelia Jones, illustrated by Victor Ambrus, published NY Scribner 1966, 190 pages. Outgoing Hilary Toft decides to make friends with sullen, withdrawn Bridget, whose parents were killed in WWII. They find a common interest in their love for "The Secret Garden" and in recovering the garden of a deserted, bombed-out house, which becomes their own 'secret garden'. No mention of an Elspeth character.
Perhaps ... My Horse Says, by Mary Schroeder, illustrated by P. Stone, published London, Chatto & Windus 1963, 170 pages. "An imaginative story about three children and their widowed mother who have been given notice to quit their home. They start on the difficult search to find another house to rent and Elizabeth (the youngest), who is visited by a make-believe horse when she is alone, insists that they follow the instructions given to her by the horse. These lead eventually to an old deserted house in a walled garden. This was once the home of the squire, but it holds so many sad memories for him that he will not live in it himself or let it to anyone else. The children find an ally in the squire's sister and they are allowed to restore the garden to its former beauty. In time they get their wish and the house is theirs." (Junior Bookshelf Jan/63 p.26) The latter part of the plot is similar to The Secret Garden and Elizabeth is a similar name to Elspeth ...
Perhaps, it is Elizabeth and her German Garden, the first book by Marie Annette Beauchamp--known all her life as "Elizabeth", originally published in 1898. It starts like a diary. It is freely downloadable.
Hi - don't know how much this will help (or how old the question is!) but I think I know the answer to the above stumper. The book sounds like Ginnie and the Mystery Doll. There is a secondary character named Elspeth, whom Ginnie befriends while staying at her crabby elderly auntie's house. Together Ginnie and Elspeth try to discover the whereabouts of a lost doll mentioned in an old diary.
Hi there - I made a mistake earlier! The book in questions is, I believe, Magic Elizabeth, by Norma Kassirer, as referenced in your #T101. I had the general plot right, but the wrong book. It's even still in print. Here's a short summary: Eight-year-old Sally faces an entire summer trapped in a creepy old house with no one for company but her spooky Aunt Sarah and a black cat named Shadow. But soon Sally uncovers a mystery about a beautiful old doll in a portrait -- and a little girl who looks just like Sally herself! In search of clues, Sally is drawn toward the attic and the old mirror that sits there. And when she looks into it, something magical happens....
P-43 is, I think, another Ruth Chew
It MIGHT be Earthstar Magic, but I'm not sure.
P43 Pigeons Who Were Once Children: The other person who answered that it was a Ruth Chew book was right on track, but the title is MAGIC IN THE PARK, 1972.
Just wanted to confirm that P43 is definitely Magic in the Park by Ruth Chew. Plot summary: "Jenny and her friend Mike discover a magic tree and an old man who feeds the birds in the park. They discover that the tree moves around and that they can go underground and become birds with the help of the magic beech tree."
B113---sure this isn't The Sign of
B113 boy in wilderness: I don't think this is it, but in The Magic Forest, by Stewart White (first published 1920s, reprinted many times) young Jimmy sleepwalks from a stalled train into the forest, wearing only pajamas and slippers. He is found at the river's edge by canoing Indians who give him native clothes to wear because his are wet through from the snow.
#T105--Two siblings travel with
in some ways this sounds like Mr. Mysterious and Company
by Sid Fleischman, only in that book the children were
so there would be nothing about picking up or leaving
Hi, my book stumper is #T105, "Two Siblings Travel With Magician," and I am just writing to let you know that the book I'm looking for is definitely NOT Mr. Mysterious and Company -- I checked it out. The details I listed are all very accurate -- I remember the plot clearly, but unfortunately I just blanked on the title. I hope someone is able to figure this one out, as I would love to get my hands on a copy of this great book!! Thanks for all your help.
Good news! I went back to my "childhood" library this weekend and they still have the book - it's called The Magic Hat of Mortimer Wintergreen. Now I just need to locate a copy of it that I can keep (I tried bribing the librarian but to no avail!) Thanks.
On the talking raven or crow, I *think*
was such a creature in Alley Magic, by Mary
but as I never finished the book I have no idea if it gave up
This is really a long shot, but could this be Magic in the Alley by Mary Calhoun? The main character is a girl, with a friend who's a boy, and she reanimates a stuffed crow with magic, which can then talk. At the end of
the book she must decide whether to use her last magic to turn the crow into a real non-magic crow, who will lose the ability to talk. As I said, really a longshot.
I looked this up and found only one expensive ex-library copy, but here's the info:
Calhoun, Mary: Magic in the Alley. New York: Atheneum, 1970.
Oh My! It could be-- as I said all I remember are very vague things. I just remember being really affected by the choice that had to be made... I will now go out looking for this book. Was Mary Calhoun the author of the Katie John books?? I loved them too & could have read this because of that.
Thank you so much for your help. I love poring over your site & hope to be able to help someone the way you have helped me!
Mady Lee Chastain, Magic Island,1964. Every detail matches. It's an interesting cultural artifact, and a book that couldn't be written today. Set in the early 1850s, Barbados is depicted as a beautiful, idyllic place, with the dark shadow of slavery lying upon it nearly unnoticed - although the protagonist, Angel, has relationships with some of the slaves! My copy is a withdrawn library copy with the usual defects, but no story pages missing.
K1: this book was called The
Fit Fairyland I read it in first grade and we used
it for a school
play. I too thought it was a Little Golden Book.
Well, I looked it up and there is no LGB, Wonder or Elf title exactly like that.
There was another series of books in the 1950's that was similar to Little Golden Books called Jolly Books. One of the Jolly Book titles is The Magic Key - perhaps this is the book.
I too had a 20 year search for this book after giving our copy to a doctors office when I was a child. My sister (born in 1949) always held me responsible for losing "her book" so we had a 20 year quest along the east coast to find it. My first bit of luck was finding the cover in an antique shop (near home), the shop owner thought it was cute and that someone might want to frame it. It was a bargain at 5 cents. It gave us a starting point. The book is The Magic Key by Mary Francis, illustrated by Sylvia Holland it was published by Jolly Books NY , Avon
Publishing, with a copyright of 1952. I called my sister in VA for the storyline (since after locating it from a book dealer, I gave it to her for Christmas in 1998). The storyline is, Tommy and his sister are walking through the woods when they find a key on the ground, They look around and notice a hole in a large rock or boulder and when they put the key in, they are transported to a new place. In this place the toadstools seem to grow (or are they getting smaller?) and as they explore they come across fairies and elves building tables and benches. They meet the head elf, Gruffy who asks them how they got there and if they know the magic words. Tommy tells him the only magic words he knows are "by hickory and by dickory" (which happen to be some of "the magic words of the elves" ) and Gruffy takes them off to the Queen Fairy to decide what should be done with them. They go to the biggest tree in the forest and a door opens for them to enter. Once inside they meet the queen and it is decided that the children will have to stay till after the Queen's party. The children get to see the fairy party dresses and Tommy gets to sail in an Oak leaf boat.(about 3 pages from the end of the book is a full page illustration of Tommy in the boat.) Whoever was asking about this book had a pretty good recollection to remember the boat part. For me it was the fairy party, the toadstools and the Big rock with the keyhole.
Hi - hope someone can help me find the titles/authors/sources of 2 stories I dimly remember from many years ago. ... The other had a child, boy I think, finding a mysterious key which opens a door in an old stone wall - I think a horse and a crow or raven also appear in there somewhere. Anybody out there ever read anything that sounds like these beginnings? I can't remember anything more than that, and would like to know how the stories finished!
The second story ounds like stumper S69
wall holds key to mystery
Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden, 1911. Regarding the second part of this request: There are two main boy characters in this story, and a girl- she finds a key to a locked garden, and helps her cousin to discover the real world, after being bed-ridden all his life. They make friends with Dickon- a boy from the moors or dales, who has a pony and a crow or some other bird.
I think I missed the second part of this one previously. Also check out The Magic Key on the Solved Mysteries page, that's one that eluded me for a long time since it sounded much like The Secret Garden, but clearly wasn't.
1955. This was an illustrated story of a brother and sister who found a gold key in the woods. It opened a tiny door at the base of a large tree, and that led them into fairyland. My memory tells me the illustrations of fairies were wonderful.
The Magic Key by Mary Francis, illustrated by Sylvia Holland, Jolly Books, 1952. It's on Solved Mysteries.
Took me a moment, but here it is: Elizabeth Koda-Callan, The Magic Locket. Workman Publishing, 1988.
Koda-Callan, The Magic Locket.
1988. Used copy, VG but lacking locket. $6
Elizabeth Koda-Callan, The Magic Locket. Workman Publishing, 1988. New copy. $12.95
#H24--Hucka Pucka: Man, I JUST saw
in a local thrift store! Was looking at it just before the
to the "Pot called Peep" stumper was posted. Looking in
just now, I couldn't find it, meaning it was probably sold,
around there do have a funny way of disappearing and
Anyhow, it was called something like The Imp in the Pot
was about an imp that took the form of one of those large black
cooking pots. It was one of those small cheap hardcover
which appeared in profusion in the '60s. The pot kept
and the imp popping up shouting, "Hucka pucka!" Seriously
Junior Bookshelf review again: Patricia Coombs "The Magic Pot" published by World's Work, 1979, 32 pages "The demon who turns into a black iron pot with a 'Hucka-pucka' and robs the rich to feed the appreciative poor, hucka-puckaing off with the rich man in a fine mystery ending ... enchanting two-colour crayon illustrations in fine red frames ..."
It is The Magic Pot! Thank you so much for finding these, your site is priceless!!
Could this be David Cory, The
Soap Bubble (N: Grosset & Dunlap, '22), part of
a series, Little
Journeys to Happyland, in which Ned journeys to Happyland,
the moon? There is a voyage to the moon in Bobbie
(Chicago:RAnd McNally,1916), but this is a longer book, with
b&w & color illustrations
Could this be Lilian Moore, The
Spectacles & Other Easy-to-Read Stories , ill. Arnold
Lobel (Parents' Magazine Press,'65)?
I have often wondered the same myself. Grandfather Owl wears spectacles and answers questions and solves arguments for all the other animals in the woods. Little Toot aspires to be as knowledgable and attributes this knowledge to Grandfather's Spectacles. One day he gets to try them, but alas, they tell him nothing. Grandfather Owl explains "Spectacles are for seeing and not for knowing. Knowing comes with growing and growing." Not exactly the same as the stumper, but in case the story became confused over the years, I do have a copy for sale!
Moore, Lilian. The Magic Spectacles and Other Easy-to-Read Stoies. Illustrated by Arnold Lobel. Parents' Magazine Press, 1965. Cover slightly soiled and binding worn, otherwise G. $10
Just another possibility, if it was the grandmother instead, but probably too recent: Beattie, Ann Spectacles New York, Ariel Books, 1985 "When Alison puts on Great Grandmother's glasses, they become magical and enable her to understand some of her grandmother's frustrations and unfulfilled aspirations."
Later: This was probably set
second World War and involved about 4 children, siblings I
were sent to the country to stay with an elderly
relative. The only
good clue I can give you is that the one of the children's
cats was named
Ozymandias. I tried looking under Noel,
Streatfield and Ozymandias but no luck. I have read a lot of the titles, hoping to recognize my description, but no luck. I did find references to lots of other books I read as a child tho!
I have this book. It is called The Magic Summer by Noel Streatfeild. The children stay with an aged great aunt who is extremely eccentric, to say the least.
Hi-I found the Noel Streatfield book I was looking for about the children and a cat named Ozymandias -it's the Magic Summer. I hope you can find a copy cheaper than $121, which was what was offered on amazon.com. I don't know why this book has become so important for me, but I am getting the strong desire to own the books that were important to me as a kid, and I hope I can find them here. I can think of no more rewarding collection that the pursuit of books one has loved.
Thank you so much for your info!! Magic Summer is out of print and it would be great if you could find a copy for me.
|Streatfield, Noel. The Magic Summer. Illustrated by Edward Ardizzone. Random House, 1967. First edition. Ex-library copy with usual markings. G/G. <ON HOLD>||
I may have the answer to stumper A20-
multiethnic It may be MAGIC TALES retold by Frances
Elisabeth Harner, Wilhemine Mohme, Stella M. Rudy and Eugene
by Arthur Griffith, helen Osborn and Phoebe Flory. Published by
E. Merrill Company, 1946, 1950. The stories included are The
Was Really a Troll; The Fisherman and His Wife; Little
Daughter and the
Lion; The Ugly Duckling; The Lost Axe; Rapunzel; The Bear and
The Prince of Engalien; The Silver River; East O' the Sun and
West O' the
Moon; The Rabbit and the Monkey; Snow White and the Seven
The Straw Ox; The Green Monkey; The Flying Ship; Blunder; The
New Clothes. I did not find one about a magic fruit tree
and a tortoise.
However, The Straw Ox matches the description. The
Rapunzel in this
book does kill the witch by cutting her hair at the right
moment. And a
troll (who turns himself into a pig) does kidnap three sisters
separate occasions) and the one sister saves them by making the
sacks of wood to the mother, but instead of putting wood in the
sister goes in instead. Illustartions are black and white. The
wants this book should try to get it through his/her local
to make sure it is the right one. At the very least, the person
names of two of the stories- The Straw Ox; The Pig That Was
Thanks, I'll assume it is Magic Tales. Now does anyone know how to find the story about the tree and the tortoise? Another detail: the other animals keep trying to find out the magic word but they all forget it on the way home, but the tortoise is more diligent and simply keeps repeating it as he returns.
THE MAGIC TOUCH by Peggy
The standard musical adaptation is John
-- lots of song & dance, but I don't think it's the play you
Thre is a musical by Patricia Clapp called
The Magic Toyshop,
but I don't know anything more than the title. She's been
the early '70s.
Thanks for your e-mail. The reply certainly sounds promising and I am keen to find more information about "The Magic Toy Shop" as it could well be the play that I recall. A search on the internet
uncovered a play by Patricia Clapp called something like "The Toys That Took Over Christmas" about some toys in a toy shop that were brought to life, but was advertised as being a 10th anniversary performance, which dates it to 1990. Perhaps Patricia Clapp has written several plays along similiar lines -- the play I recall was performed by us as seven or eight year olds in about 1975 or 1976. As well as groups of toys having their own songs, I seem to recall a toy train taking all the toys to a location outside the toy shop. Pinocchio had a leading role, but I am pretty sure that this was not a musical adaptation of the Pinocchio story. Hopefully someone might have details about "The Magic Toy Shop". Thank You! [And later...]
Thanks to everyone who thought about the possible answer to my stumper.I have actually found out the answer, which is quite different from what I expected it to be. Eventually I managed to find an e-mail address for my old primary school of 25 years ago, and wrote to ask about the play I remembered. After making various enquiries, the Principal wrote me and said that the play I recall was written by a group of teachers after they had gathered ideas from the children, and incorporated various popular songs. They called it The Magic Toybox, but it is no longer known if a script exists or ever did exist. It's great to have an answer after wondering about this for so long.
I just picked this one up for the store. It's called The Magic Tunnel by Caroline Emerson, and it's $8. Shipping is an additional $3 within the U.S. for a total of $11...and you have a $2 credit from the stumper, so if you want our copy the amount due would be $9. It's a Scholastic paperback in G condition (well-loved but the title is not that common), copyright 1966. Sticker removal mark from spine and homemade? card pocket taped to inside back cover. Interested?
S192: The Magic Tunnel by Caroline
Emerson, 1940. See Solved Mysteries for details the book
Caroline Dwight Emerson, The Magic Tunnel
Caroline Dwight Emerson, The magic tunnel,1964. Two children enter the New York subway and suddenly find themselves in a time tunnel that takes them back three hundred years to New Amsterdam where they watch history in the making and compare colonial and modern ways of life.
Emerson, Caroline Dwight, The Magic Tunnel. Illus by Jerry Robinson, Four Winds Press, 1968, c1964. "Two children enter the New York subway and suddenly find themselves in a time tunnel that takes them back three hundred years to New Amsterdam where they watch history in the making and compare colonial and medern ways of life."
Caroline Emerson, The Magic Tunnel, 1940s. This is on the Solved Mysteries page.
Caroline Emerson, The Magic Tunnel. "Juvenile time travel adventure of two kids who take a subway ride, but it doesn't
let them off at the zoo."
This sounds like The Magician's
which is part of the Chronicles of Narnia series. The two
in it enter other worlds through a doorway in the attic which
their houses, and one of the worlds has a red, dying sun.
R8 is definetely The Magician's Nephew. The book G5 isn't remotely like The Magician's Nephew.
I know the book being refererred to in R-8. It's The Magician's Nephew, the first book in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in the series.
I was reading through the "Stump the Bookseller" page on your website, and I think the book the reader is looking for under "R8: Red Sun" is The Magician's Nephew also by C.S.Lewis, and is part of the Narnia series. I actually loved these books as a child and recently re-read them, and the plot described in R8 is the same as in The Magician's Nephew. All the Narnia books are worth a second look.
C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia. Macmillan,
1955. Complete series of seven books. Book
Club hardback editions
from the sixties (see image). VG/VG
--- New paperbacks, in box, $49
Inez Irwin, Maida's Little Shop. It's the first in one of those Startemeyer series Maida is a rich girl who opens a shop in a poor area of Boston. She makes friends in the nieghborhood, one of whom turns out to be her nanny's grandson from Ireland. Only I think the diamond was in a necklace...
H5: I don't know if this is the right
but it's worth a check Hay-Foot, Straw-Foot by Erick
I saw the inquiry about a book with the saying "hay foot, straw foot, left foot, right foot." This comes from a Wonder Book titled the Make-Believe Parade published in 1949. The author is Jan Margo.
All I remember about this book is a little
who would march around with a paper hat on his head and chant
strawfoot" as he marched.
One I read around 1968 about a little boy who would march around with a paper hat singing "Hayfoot, Strawfoot."
For interest's sake - my father long ago told me the joke this comes from, about a country boy who joins the army and can't learn to march because he doesn't know left from right. His sergeant, also a country fellow, asks him
if he can tell hay from straw. Of course he can, any durn fool can do that! So Sarge ties a wisp of hay to one foot and straw to the other, and drills him by calling 'hay-foot, straw-foot' instead of 'left, right, left'.
A possible from online search: Krasilovsky,
Phyllis The Man who Cooked for Himself NY,
Press, 1981. First Edition, Hardcover "A man who lives at
the edge of
the woods discovers that he need not rely on the store for a
good things to eat." Color Illustrations by Mamoru Funai.
F53 food on trees sounds like H6 hungry walk.
H6 hunger walk: a bit more on the suggested story by Krasilovksy - "A story about a man and his cat who live at the edge of the woods and buy everything to eat from the store. When his friends goes on vacation and he runs out of food, he finds he can live on the garden food he finds in the woods." Which does fit. The cover of the book is white, though, not yellow, with a picture of a plump balding man with a hat and apron, flipping pancakes while his cat looks on.
Sounds close to THE MAN WHO DIDN'T
HIS DISHES by Phyllis Krasilovsky, the man
does load his
dishes in a truck and the rain washes them, but he doesn't hang
the line to dry, and there is no little boy in the story. ~from
Krasilovsky, Phyllis, The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes. I'm not 100% sure, there could be another book where someone washed dishes outside, but I do remember this story.
A bachelor/widower decides one day to leave the dishes for the next day; after a while they fill his whole house. He's saved and learns his lesson though when it rains and he puts everything outside to get clean at once. (What a great site... thanks for The Furious Flycycle!)
The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes by
Krasilovsky. See more on Solved Mysteries.
It's THE MAN WHO LOST HIS HEAD
Huchet Bishop and illustrated by Robert McCloskey,
A man wakes up one day without his head. He carves out
vegetables - I remember a parsnip and perhaps a pumpkin. But
so he rejects the vegetables. He carves a head out of wood, and
better, but he still wants his head back. So a young boy, who is
a ball out of tightly wound rags says he can get the head back.
the man with the ball, and the man wakes up with his head back.
Can't remember title. Story is about a man who wakes up without his head, tries a bunch of things as substitutes (including a parsnip, which for whatever reason is etched in my memory). 1970's? Possibly published by Bobbs-Merrill, since my dad used to work for them and get books through them.
Claire Huchet Bishop, The Man Who
Head, 1970. More
on the Solved
Clare Huchet Bishop, The Man Who Lost His Head
Paul Gallico, The Man who was Magic,
1966. The title isn't "Adam", but the protagonist's name
the plot fits. Searching on Google will get you several
Paul Gallico, The Man Who was Magic. I'm pretty sure about this one. Adam appears in the heroine's life and goes to a magicians' convention (or similar). He scrambles and unscrambles an egg, and makes a wooden staff burst into bloom (white roses). The other magicians turn him away ... he changes the child heroine's life for the better, but leaves in the end.
Hal Dresner, The Man Who Wrote Dirty Books. About a writer who's being sued because of the similarity of one of his characters to a woman named Bibbsy Dibbs. It's written in the form of letters.
Julie Edwards, Mandy. Could
this be Mandy? It sound a lot like it.
I'm sure you'll get several other responses to this one, but O20 definitely sounds like Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards.
Edwards, Julie Andrews, Mandy, 1971, reprinted 1983. plot description from amazon.com: "For an orphan child whose life is filled with comfortable, predictable sameness, with no particular hardships, life is, well, all right. Really, what does Mandy have to worry about? So it comes as a surprise even to Mandy when a small restlessness begins to grow in her. This lonely ache sets her to wandering farther afield, and leads her to a startling and wonderful discovery over the orphanage wall--a very old, very small, seemingly abandoned cottage. Embarking on a clandestine domestic fantasy involving gardening tools and soap flakes, Mandy finds herself being less than honest about where and how she's spending her days. Holding her secret closer and closer to her heart, this imaginative dreamer inadvertently endangers her reputation--and her life."
Could the solution to O20 be, plain and simple, The Secret Garden? There isn't a cottage, but she does get into an off-limits garden and lovingly fixes it up. And she is orphaned.
Julie Andrews (may be under Julie Edwards), Mandy. The story is similar to that of "The Secret Garden" but without so much death. I haven't looked at it lately, but it was a favorite of both mine and my sister's. Her 10 year-old daughter also loved it.
Julie Edwards, aka Julie Andrews, Mandy. 1971. Wow, a stumper I actually know, and a book I love! You're describing Julie Andrews's first book for children. Hope you enjoy it now as much as you did as a child.
This reminds me of a book that I have been looking for too. Is there some kind of windowseat with old curtains that she curls up in and reads while she looks out over the delapidated yard?
Mandy by Julie Edwards (Andrews)--Lots about gardeniing--I think she gets adopted in the end...
Edwards, Julie, Mandy. This book was written by Julie (Andrews) Edwards, the wife of director Blake Edwards. I think she wrote it for her daughter. I just unpacked my copy from childhood books.
Julie Edwards, Mandy, 1971. This is a wonderful book, written by the actress Julie Andrews writing under her real name Edwards (husband is Blake Edwards). Mandy the orphan finds a deserted cottage in the woods with one room covered in seashells all over the walls and ceiling. She fixes up the house and restores the neglected garden, and ultimately is adopted by the family who owns the land and cottage. It's a wonderful story. Julie Andrews/Edwards also wrote one other children's book, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.
Julie Edwards (better known as the actress Julie Andrews), Mandy, 1971, 1989. This fits the description, but I seem to recall from another stumper (here or elsewhere) that there was another book with a similiar theme. Worth taking a look at Mandy, though. ~from a librarian
This has to be Mandy by Julie Edwards, aka Julie Andrews, the actress. Mandy is rescued from her cottage when she falls ill, and eventually is adopted by the family whose estate it's on.
Mandy by Julie Andrews, Harper & Row c. 1971 This sounds like the book she's looking for. From the flyleaf: "For ten-year-old Mandy, the old stone orphanage on the outskirts of the pretty village was the only home she remembered....Then one day, when Mandy climbed over the high orphanage wall to explore, there it was--a tiny deserted cottage in a clearing in the woods. Here at last was her very own, very secret home. She would tidy it up and plant a garden. All through the spring, summer and fall, Mandy worked for--and sometimes "borrowed"--the little things she needed for it. And to guard her secret, she even lied..."
Julie Andrews Edwards, MANDY
My teacher read this book out-loud in Grade 5 or 6. A girl goes exploring and finds an abandoned cottage. She cuts overgrown folliage back and starts tending to the garden. She steals some soap to clean the dusty place. The fireplace or maybe all the walls in one room are decorated with shells.
G108 Sounds like it might be MANDY
by Julie Edwards. ~from a librarian
Andrews, July, Mandy. See Solved Mysteries.
Dandelion Cottage. This is a book about a little girl who fixes up an old house. Don't know if it's the same one or not.
Sounds like Mandy by Julie Edwards (Julie Andrews)
Elizabeth Enright, Goneaway Lake. I am not positive that this is the right book, but the part about the deserted cottage is correct, and I believe I remember a room lined with shells.
Julie Edwards (aka actress Julie Andrews), Mandy. This is of course Mandy, by the actress Julie Andrews writing under
her pen name. It's on the Solved pages with more descriptions. A great book.
Julie Edwards (Andrews), Mandy, 1960s. My favorite book of all time! Mandy climbs over the wall of the orphanage and
finds this cottage. Lucky for her, it is owned by a wonderfully nice rich couple who discover her one stormy night when
she is tending to her cottage but falls very ill. They take her in and eventually (surprise!) adopt her. This one is also a previously solved stumper that i noticed a few days ago.
Julie Edwards, Mandy. This could be the book Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards. Mandy is a girl who lives in an
orphanage. She goes exploring on the property next door and finds an abandoned cottage. I believe it has been reissued.
Julie (Andrews) Edwards, Mandy. I have the book on tape read by Julie Andrews Edwards. I believe the book was published in 1971.
Julie Andrews Edwards, Mandy
Julie Andrews, Mandy
A Secret Garden??
Julie Edwards, Mandy. See entry in Solved Mysteries page.
Julie Andrew. Mandy.
Illustrated by Judith Gwyn Brown. Harper Collins,
1971, 1989, 2001.
30th Anniversary edition. New paperback, $5.95
Edwards, Julie Andrew. Mandy. Illustrated by Judith Gwyn Brown. Harper & Row, 1971. Original hardback edition. Ex-library with usual marks and shelfwear. G+/VG-. $10
Try Munro Leaf's Manners Can Be Fun, 1936.
Sesyle Joslin/ Maurice Sedak, What Do You Say, Dear? Another suggestion, though the Munro Leaf seems more likely.
P81 - Think this is Paul Gallico's
- potter makes a mouse without a tail by mistake, which comes to
Gallico, Paul, Manxmouse. 1960s/70s. Potter overtired (and possibly drunk) makes mouse with large ears but not enough clay for tale - somehow comes to life and has adventures.
Thankyou so much for the reply, you truly are a genius! If you do happen to find a copy I'd definitely be interested.
Could this be Patricia B. Ardley, Mr.
Mrs. Hedgehog (London,1936) ?
I haven't had any luck tracking down info on Mr. & Mrs. Hedgehog, but appreciate the tip.
Lifton, Betty Jean, illus. by Yasuo Segawa, The Many Lives of Chio and Goro. NY Norton 196. This fits for date and is an Asian folktale. The plot is similar, except it is foxes. Perhaps there is another version with hedgehogs, or badgers? "The Japanese folktale of the old farmer Goro and his forgetful wife Chio who decide to be foxes in their next life when they die. However, Chio forgets what animal to be and chooses a chicken instead. Goro, the fox, goes to catch a chicken to eat but is mesmerized by the chant that Chio always said, and he leaves her alone. He cannot live with himself as a failure fox so he dies and becomes a rooster to take the chicken for his wife. They are happy and again pass on to become people again and live happily ever after, until the next life. 60 pps."
H10 hedgehog love: it's not hedgehogs, but it is reincarnation gone wrong and based on an Asian folktale - The Many Lives of Chio and Goro, by Betty Jean Lifton, illustrated by Yasuo Segawa, published NY Norton 1968 "Japanese folktale of an old farmer and his wife who decide to be foxes in their next life. Instead several things go wrong and they end up as a rooster and a chicken."
I would like to thank the person who responded to my now very old stumper with The Many Lives of Chio & Goro, even when I gave the wrong details. I haven't checked in for a while and was thrilled to see a new response. This may very well be the answer. I may have confused that story with Grimms' Hare and Hedgehog tale. (I suspect I was eavesdropping, not participating, in the storytelling session!) The wife becoming easily confused strikes a familiar note.
James Thurber, Many Moons, Harcourt Brace 1943.
#B64--Big Imagination Boy: No
but I have a lead: someone at the Alibris Boards is
looking for a
copy of an obscure Dr. Seuss story titled "Marco Comes
they have a typed copy of it, I'll get back to you as to
whether it's the
Marco is the name of the boy in a number of Dr. Seuss stories, including his first book, And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street! I KNEW the one I was looking for was like And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street! only in reverse, as that is about a boy coming FROM school and this is about a boy going TO school. "Marco Comes Late" is a narrative poem which appeared in the collections Treat Shop and More Read to Yourself Stories, but seems to have never been published as a book by itself. Didn't find the whole poem online, but enough so that I'm sure it's the one I'm after.
Dorothy Haas, Maria, Everybody Has a
I still have my copy of this book!!! Saved it for my son. It was
BIG Tell-a-Tale" book. Illustrated by David K. Stone.
Story was about
a kindergarten type class. Jonny was was one of about 5
All the kids were trying to help Maria start talking. Eventually
on a field trip & Mr Elephantopoulous was finally able to
into saying at least her name . . .!!!
I'm looking for a book (could be a golden book--I think it was that standard size anyway) about a girl named Maria that couldn't talk. She finally spoke aloud while visiting a market with her classmates. It might be called, "Maria can talk"--but I'm not sure. Thanks!
M77 is Maria, Everybody has a Name
by Dorathy Haas A whitman Big tell a tale book.
M77 maria can talk: this sounds like Maria, Everybody has a Name, already listed on the Solved list. The class is visiting Mr Elephantopoulos' fruit market when he gets Maria to speak.
This sounds like a book whose name I of
cannot remember; it was made into a movie (marketed as horror,
This book was also published under the title, The Magic Drawing Pencil.
C34 is Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. It's a good, but very creepy book. At one point she draws rocks with eyes around the house.
"Paperhouse" is based on the book Marianne Dreams.
I don't know this book or movie, but according to Robert Ebert's review, the movie "Paperhouse" was based on a novel by Catherine Storr called Marianne Dreams.
I have an answer for one of the stumpers...C34 is Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. Marianne is recuperating from a long illness and finds a magic pencil in her mother's mending basket. What she draws with the pencil during the day, she dreams about that night. She draws a house and a boy in that house and then learns that the woman who is tutoring her through her recovery is also tutoring the boy Marianne has been dreaming. It's a wonderfully eerie book. There is a sequel entitled Marianne and Mark.
Hi. I am looking for a book that I read over and over in my teens in the early 70's. It was a paperback book that was about either a boy or a girl who is sick and confined to bed and every night dreams about the mountains or something of the like that are outside the house or maybe just in the dream. the person gets scared as they get closer and closer in the dream or in real life. a child friend helps this boy or girl. I remember the sick child has to do drawings and whatever the sick child draws also occurs in the dream. I cannot remember what happens in the end. sorry to be so vague. Hope u can help.
M49: Sounds like Marianne Dreams,
which was turned into the very good 1980s low-key horror movie
"Paperhouse". She's ill and delirious, and she can't drive away her nightmares, but through her drawings, she can influence them.
M49 Definitely sounds like Marianne Dreams. It was written by Catherine Storr and she wrote a sequel as well, called Mark and Marianne.
Thank you so much!! I have been looking for this book for years. It was one of my favourites from my early teen years. i am also very interested to hear that it was made into a movie. what a wonderful service!! i cannot thank you enough.
Do you have any information regarding the television series based on the book Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. I can find plenty of information about the movies "Paperhouse" but it is the television show I remember vividly.
The Magic Drawing Pencil, or The Magic Pencil. This book is about a little girl who gets sick with scarlet fever or smallpox. She is quarantined at home and put to bed...then she is given a sketch book and a new drawing pencil -- one that is not too scratchy and not too light, but just right. She draws some pictures of a house, trees etc., places some large rocks outside of it. Soon she drifts to sleep and finds herself in her drawings -- not everything she has drawn is kind, either. The book details her adventures as she adds to her drawings while awake, and returns to the magical land when asleep. I remember enjoying it very much when I read it, some 30-odd years ago, and wish I could locate a copy to purchase for my kids.
I'm a friend of Catherine Storr. Marianne Dreams was reprinted a while ago in England. I've been using the
paperback in my Fantasy class (U of Illinois--I recently retired).
First of all, thanks for a great website. I found it entirely by accident, and have been perusing it all afternoon. I'm sure you hear this all the time, but having recently had a daughter, I am trying to accumulate many of the books I remember from childhood, and the most infuriating are those where I can't remember the title. On your site, I found reminders of several great books I had forgotten, AND the answer to MY number two stumper -- Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr -- incredible!
I'm interested in a book I read when I was about 11. It is about a girl who goes off to stay in a house (maybe a lighthouse?) by the sea. There are big rocks all around the house that she perceives as strangely threatening. Gradually she becomes ill, and starts having strange dreams about the rocks. She battles back, and ultimately triumphs over them. I recall the stones at the end shouting "Not the light, not the light!!" That's what makes me think it might have been a lighthouse she was in. It was very spooky and I loved it. Any idea what it was?
The book you're looking for is Marianne
Dreams by Catherine Storr. It was
in 1958 but has been reprinted many times. The back cover
"Soon after Marianne found the pencil in the old workbox, she
have strange dreams of an old house, with a boy in the upstairs
Then the amazing truth dawned on her: it was she who had
the house and the boy because whenever she drew something during
that night she would dream about it." Marianne drew the
rocks that watch the house and become more menacing each time
The lighthouse she drew as a place of refuge its light
rocks as she and the boy make their escape. It's a mesmerizing
one of my favorites.
MARIANNE DREAMS by Catherine Storr. First published in 1958, Catherine Storr's deservedly popular children's story has been through numerous reprints. It also became a movie titled "Paperhouse." It is now available from Lutterworth Publishing.
Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams, c.1965. This is in the solved mystery section!
S156 sounds like Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr to me. It was also made into a movie called "Paperhouse" in the late 80s.
Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams. A sick girl has strange dreams about the things that she draws, including
some evil-looking stones.
|Storr, Catherine. Marianne Dreams. Illustrated by Marjorie-Ann Watts. Puffin Books, 1958, 1964. Paperback. VG <SOLD>|