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S27 is Earth Abides, by George
R. Stewart. Not really a children's book, though I
read it as a child. I believe it's currently in print as a
mass market paperback.
This is EARTH ABIDES by George
R.
Stewart. It is one of the most famous
post-apocalypse science fiction novels, and you should have no
trouble finding it: it's still in print as a mass-market
paperback from Fawcett.
The ISBN is 0-44-921301-3.
---
Sci-Fi - man survives world-wide virus because he was
recovering from a snake bite at the time. Uses telephone book to
locate other survivors and organizes a group to start
civilization again. First women he finds becomes his wife &
eventually dies of cancer. 70's?
#C163--civilization organizes again after
virus: This is Earth Abides, by George
R. Stewart, one of the first post-apocalyptic novels of
the atomic age and a classic.
George R. Stewart, Earth Abides, 1959. This is "Earth Abides" by
George Stewart. "A disease of unparalleled destructive
force has sprung up almost simultaneously in every corner of the
globe, all but destroying the human race. One survivor,
strangely immune to the effects of the epidemic, ventures
forward to experience a world without man. What he ultimately
discovers will prove far more astonishing than anything he'd
either dreaded or hoped for." Oh yeah, and he survives
because of snakebite and marries the first woman he meets... :)
I recognise the description but can't
recall the title. I think there were three species, those who
could fly, tose who lived in tunnels and those who lived on the
surface. They all belived the others to be 'animals' rather than
sentients. I think they were all originally the same species and
the licking/modelling was a part of the reproctive cycle.
I think the story is by either Ursula Le Guin or
Orsan Scott Card, if that helps.
Snyder, Zilpah keatley, Below the
root. this is a
long shot - but it is about two races one who live in the
branches of the trees - and who glide- and the others who live
in the roots on the ground. Is the first in a trilogy
Orson Scott Card, Earthborn. I agree with the previous answer: probably Earthborn,
one of The Homecoming series by Orson Scott
Card.
ORSON SCOTT CARD, EARTHFALL. 1990s. Since posting my previosu
solution I've been trying to track down the correct book - I'm
pretty sure it's Earthfall (part 4 of the Homecoming
series)
Orson Scott Card, Homecoming series,1992-1995.This
is
definitely
from
the
"Homecoming"
series.
The
creatures
are mentioned in dreams in the first book as angels as demons,
later come to be known as angels/skymeat (flying batlike
creatures) and diggers/devils (underground large rat creatures).
The angels sculpt clay on the riverbank and the diggers steal
the sculptures, licking them as a form of worship. The humans
from planet Harmony return to Earth to discover this new culture
and try to figure out why the angels and diggers are so linked.
Great series. Starts with The Memory of Earth, then The
Call of Earth, The Ships of Earth, Earthfall,
and finally Earthborn. Diggers and angels are mainly in
"Earthfall", and their descendents in "Earthborn". Series is
mostly about Nafai (youngest son of Volemak the Wetchik) and the
Oversoul of Harmony (a computer trying to keep mankind from
destroying itself)
This sounds like a Robert Heinlein
teen SF novel from the 1950s/1960s.
I don't think it's a Heinlein novel, I
checked the summaries of all his books. One of them is
similar, but not the one I was looking for.
Pamela Sargent, Earthseed, 1987.
mystery solved, thanks so much :)
Have you looked on the Anthology
Finder to see if any look familiar? Of course, you
might not recognize your father's memory...
I found a few collections that have the
story "How The Sea Became Salt". Once Upon A Time
Tales by Wallace Wadsworth, illus. by
Margaret Evans Price, c. 1944, was reissued in 1995 by Barnes
& Noble. Contents: The cock, the mouse and the little
red hen -- The seven wonderful cats -- Puss in Boots --
Bob-White and the farmer man -- Bluebeard -- Tom Thumb -- The
three little pigs -- The goose girl -- Henny Penny -- The three
bears -- Jack and the beanstalk -- How the Sea became salt --
Peter Rabbit -- The gingerbread man -- The little red hen -- The
Pied Piper -- Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar.
The Real Story Book (c1927,
1939, 1947) is also by Wadsworth and contains these same
stories, so it may have been the original book. Do any of
the other stories sound familiar to your dad?
Olive Beaupre Miller, editor, My
Book
House, volume 5 - Over the Hills,
1920-1971. These books have been in print long enough to
be included among your father's childhood favorites.
Volume 5 features a story entitled "Why the Sea is Salt."
Why the Sea is Salt is an old
story that has been included in many fairy tale books. The
"coffee grinder" in the story is often called a quern.
Why the sea is salty is the subject of many
cultures' folk tales and mythologies. The one your father is
remembering has a Scandinavian basis of which many versions have
been told. A poor man receives the boon of a mill that grinds
requested food with magical directions. Another man, usually
rich and greedy, steals the mill, but only learns how to start
it. When at sea he decides to have the mill make salt to sell to
the fishermen, he cannot stop it. Hence, boats sinks and the
mill is still under the sea "grinding away still." Published in
a number of older anthologies for children.
P214 I wonder if it really was in a poetry
collection. I put "Why sea salt" into Google and found this from
The
Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
THANKS to all who helped me solve this mystery! "Why The
Sea is Salt" is DEFINITELY the poem my father remembered!
I am going to try to find a couple different collections that
have it and surprise him with one and keep one for myself - such
nostalgia! Have a wonderful day and happy searching!
You just put up my stumper today and someone wrote to see if I
checked the anthologies - maybe it was you - anyway, check this
out! Look at the last listing!! Do you have this
book???? Could it be the poem????? East o'
the Sun and West o' the Moon by Peter Christen Asbjornsen
translated by Gudrun Thorne-Thomsen Gudrun NY, Harper
& Row, 1946
I think things are getting confused here
because of the original comment that the story may have appeared
in a "poetry collection." "Why the Sea is Salt" is (in
any version I've heard it) a story, not a poem. East of
the Sun and West of the Moon, which has been
translated by different people, is a book of Norwegian folk
tales, and it does include that story. But not in poem
form.
Under the heading east of the sun,
west of the moon, there is a question about "Why
the Sea is Salt." This is an old Norwegian folk
tale, originally published in 1844 by the greats Asbjørnsen
& Moe. It was translated under that English
title by George Webbe Dasent, and can be currently found in the
Dover publication Popular Tales from Norse Mythology.
Adrienne Adams, The Easter Egg Artists, 1976.
I've solved my own stumper before it was even posted!
Since you cleverly solved this yourself,
I'll add a bit more to it. There are two more wonderful books by
Adrienne Adams about the Easter Egg Artists family. One is The
Great Valentine's Day Balloon Race and The
Christmas Party.
Dover books might have it or something
similar.
Ed Emberley, Ed Emberley's Drawing
Book of Animals.
This sounds like Ed Emberley. He has a number of great how-to
drawing books. Most are in that long horizontal format.
Emberley, Ed, Ed Emberley's Drawing
Book of Animals,
1970. It starts out with ant, ants, worm,
snake,.....mouse, bird, pelican.... fox, wolf... horse, shark,
whale... and ends with giraffe, alligator, and
dragon. He also adds variations for some of the
animals such as turtel sleeping, turtle dancing, and turtle
skating in the rain.
Ed Emberley, Ed Emberley's Drawing
Book of Animals,
1970. I'm sitting here looking at my copy that I ordered
from a Scholastic book order in school in the 70s, which my son
now uses and loves.
Ed Emberley had a series of these oblong
drawing books. This one sounds like ED EMBERLEY'S DRAWING
BOOK OF ANIMALS, 1970 and republished since~from a
librarian
Ed Emberley's big orange drawing book,
1980. Ed Emberley's drawing book of animals,
1970. Ed Emberley's picture pie; a circle drawing book, 1984.
Condition Grades |
Emberley, Ed, Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals, Little Brown, 1970, 4th printing. Ex-library with some marks, but overall VG/VG. $8 |
|
This could be one of the Ed Emberley drawing books.
There are so many, it's hard to say which one. Maybe Ed
Emberley's Drawing Book: Make a World.
Ed
Emberley, Ed Emberley's
Drawing Book of Faces. Sounds like one of Ed Emberley's
books. From your description, I'm guessing it's his Faces
book. This may be one of Ed Emberley's books perhaps "Ed
Emberley's Drawing Book of Faces."
Emberley Ed, Sounds like
one of Ed Emberley's drawing books. There were lots!~from a
librarian
Ed Emberley, Drawing book series.
Emberley has a number of these - they'\''ve been reprinted, so I
don'\''t have the original publication dates, but I know my
brothers had them in the early 70s.
Ed
Emberley, Ed Emberleys
Drawing Book of Faces. Ed Emberley has a huge series of these drawing book,
but your description made me think of this one. You can see a
cover image and some sample pages here.
that's it! solved. thank you!
I collect the Eddie books by
Carolyn Haywood. They are Little
Eddie '47, Eddie and the Fire Engine '49, Eddie and
Gardenia '51, Eddie's Paydirt '53, Eddie and His
Big Deals '55, Eddie Makes Music '57, Eddie and
Louella '59, Annie Pat and Eddie '60, Eddie's
Green Thumb '64, Eddie the Dog Holder '66,
Ever-Ready Eddie '68, Eddie's Happenings '71, Eddie's
Valuable Property '75, Eddie's Menagerie '78, Merry
X-mas From Eddie '86. They are still fairly
available, with varying prices, not too steep compared to some
other series books.
Eddie and Gardenia / written
and illustrated by Carolyn Haywood. New York: Morrow,
c1951. Also Eddie and His Big Deals, 1955, Eddie and Louella
1959, Eddie and the Fire Engine, 1949, Eddie Makes Music,
1957, Eddie's Friend Boodles, Eddie's Green Thumb, Eddie's
Happenings, Eddie's Menagerie, Eddie's Pay Dirt, Eddie's
Valuable Property, Ever-Ready Eddie.... don't know how
many, but they go on for years, so how many this person
remembers may depend on how many had been written at that point!
Yes, this is the series.
I too was looking for the Eddie
collection by Carolyn Haywood for my son. I was
able to find the entire collection of books on E-Bay. My 9
year old has read all of them and enjoyed them as much as I did.
Hurrah! I have the answer to one of your stumpers. S2: The title is AN EDGE OF THE FOREST by Agnes Smith illustrated by Roberta Moynihan Published 1959. The description of the story is the same. Lamb, leopardess, shepherd. Lovely.
B41 is definitely THE EDGE OF TIME
by Loula Grace Erdman, Dodd, Mead and Co. 1950 I
have the book in front of me.
B41 Bethany and Wade from a contemporary
review: Erdman, Loula Grace The Edge of Time
Dodd, 1950, 275 pages "A novel of the Texas Panhandle in 1885
and of a brave young couple who started their married life as
homesteaders in that lonely country" "Bethany and Wade are such
nice people - you'll like them."
B41 bethany and wade: the suggested title Edge
of Time seems likely, with the characters' names
Bethany and Wade and the homesteading setting. The original
dustjacket shows young homesteaders in a covered wagon.
There is a book my sister has written in
the 60's or 70's called TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE EDIE.
The author is E.C. Spykman. She has other siblings
and is always getting into trouble. Hope this is the one.
No, this doesn't sound like the one
because the girl I'm thinking about was an only child, and I
don't remember anything about her getting into trouble.
Thanks for the help!
Hello! I had this book as a child, and
still do! It's called Edie changes her mind
by Johanna Johnston, Illustrated by Paul Galdone.
G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1964. No ISBN, but Library
of Congress Catalog Card Number 64-10419.
More on the suggested book - apparently it's
hard to find: Johnston, Johanna Edie Changes her Mind
NY Putnam 1964 blue and orange pictorial hardcover, 8x10 "Lively,
whimsical
illustrations
by Paul Galdone.
Every time Edie has to go to bed, she
lets out a terrible yell!. Find out why Edie decides she wants
her bed back after all!"
---
book about a little girl named Edie who hates going to bed. Her
parents decide she never has to go to bed again and they
take her bed apart and remove it from her room. After staying up
half the night and finding it is not fun Edie wants her bed back
and gladly goes to sleep.
Johanna Johnston, Edie Changes Her
Mind, 1964. See
the Solved Mysteries page.
Probably (from the Solved List) Edie
Changes Her Mind, by Johanna Johnston,
illustrated by Paul Galdone, published New York, Putnam 1964. "A
charming story about a little girl who every night refuses to
go to bed...until her parents come up with the perfect plan.
Every time Edie has to go to bed, she lets out a terrible
yell!. Find out why Edie decides she wants her bed back after
all!"
Dare Wright. Not sure which title,
but this sounds like one of the bear books by Dare Wright --
maybe Edith and Big Bad Bill or The Little
One.
Dare Wright, Edith and Big Bad Bill, 1968.
Thanks
so
much!
This
is
absolutely
the
one
I remember!
Must be The Education of Little Tree by Forrest
Carter. It's the kind of book that would have been
read in English classes in the 80's, before the scandal of
disovering that Carter was not Native American...
This is a very long shot, but these MIGHT
be the Educator Classic Library, a series of
children's classic literature published mostly in the late
'60's. The titles included 20, 000 Leagues
Under the Sea, Swiss Family
Robinson, Treasure Island etc.
They
are large-format books (about the size of a legal pad...9" x
12"?), and they are *annotated*, with definitions of unusual
words, small b & w drawing of various items, etc, in
the (wide)
margins of almost every page.
I have to say, the Educator Classic
Library sounds like a very close match in content,
format and date - not a long shot at all!
Could you have been reading a biography of
The Duke of Windsor? When he was Prince of
Wales and King Edward VIII he gave those exact orders to his
staff at Fort Belvedere, his hideaway near Windsor Castle.
Frances Donaldson, Edward VIII, 1978.
Thank
you for solving this. I misremembered a few details, but your
answer led me back to the book (and "soap" was in the index,
so I didn't have to reread the book to find this story).
Elizabeth Enright, The
Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were
Five, 1942 and 1944. Sounds like the 2nd and 3rd
books of the much-loved Melendy series. In The
Four-Story Mistake, the 4 Melendy kids move from
Manhattan to a huge old house in the country. The setting
is forest-like. The kids are Mona, Rush, Miranda and
Oliver. Then There Were Five introduces the
orphan Mark who the family later adopts.
Hi. Thank you for the suggestion, but I
can confidently assert that the book is not one of the Melendy
series as they were childhood favourites of mine. I can see
why you would have thought that, though.
Borchard, Ruth, Children of the Old
House. This is a long
shot but you might try looking at the description of this book
in the Solved Stumpers section. It involves five children
but their names aren't all M names- apparently they are Ruth,
Michael, Peter, Inga, and the baby. They move to a new
house and have many adventures.
Your description is making me think of Miracles
on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen. Marly-
10 years old- and her family move to a farm near grandparents.
The area is very rural and wooded.
Children of the Old House: I have
read the description in the Solved section and also hunted it
down on the wider web, but none of the descritions chimes any
memory-bells I''m afraid. I am wondering if this stumper may
simply be too obscure...
---
Miracles on Maple Hill. I am
certain this is not the book. Its setting is too American, and
the plot rings no bells. I think the book I am remembering was
for younger readers than this. (I suspect that Abbey View
Library in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, may have had the only
copy in existence!) Thank you all very much for your
suggestions though. Please keep trying, this i like an itch I
can't scratch...
Anne-Cath. Vestly, Eight Children in Winter, 1975, copyright. By a series of coincidences too long to relate, I finally stumbled upon this by myself. I wasn't absolutely sure until I ordered a copy and on the first page the children's names were listed: Mary, Martin, Martha, Mark, Mona, Milly, Maggie and Little Matt. They live with Mother, Father and Grandma in a house in the wood a little way outside the big town. The book was translated from Norwegian by Patricia Crompton and is the third in a series which starts with the family living in a cramped flat in the town, then follows their move to the woods. I'm so relieved to have tracked this book down, that itch has finally been scratched and wonderful it is!
#A41: Louisa May Alcott's house
is a museum. Not a National Park Service Site, but it's in
Concord, Massachusetts, its name is Orchard House, and you
should be able to find out at least a snail mail and maybe an
e-mail address from an online search. Someone there knows
all about Louisa May Alcott or they'll know who will.
(Don't forget an SASE! As they're not NHS they won't have
free government postage!)
This one sounds like a book published under
two names depending on the edition. Aunt Hill or
Eight Cousins
is about a girl named Rose who is orphaned
and sent to live with her Uncle.
I'm pretty sure this Alcott book is
An Old Fashioned Girl. The heroine is a
country girl sent to live with her rich cousins in the
city. She has a snobbish girl cousin and a nicer boy
cousin and many trials learning to live in their more
sophisticated home.
I looked for this trans. in some library
databases, but no luck. French translations of Alcott's work
seem to work in Docteur March to the title whenever possible (or
not) and this does not seem to match any of the actual March
family stories. Old Fashioned Girl sounds closer
than Eight Cousins. Old Fashioned Girl
is about Polly, who visits her friend Fanny Shaw for several
months. Polly Milton is from a poor and simple family (like the
Marches) and the Shaws are well-off and fashionable. The
children are Fanny, her brother Tom, and spoiled little sister
Maude. There is conflict between virtue and homely values as
represented by Polly and old grandmother Shaw, and vanity and
worldliness as represented by the selfish invalid Mrs. Shaw and
Fanny's snobbish friend Trix. Eight Cousins is
about orphan Rose, who comes to live with her uncle, six aunts
and seven boy cousins. The focus of the book is on her
education, which is debated by the aunts and settled by the
uncle, whose scheme is very close to Bronson Alcott's ideas.
Later - there's a French trans of Aunt Hill, and it's called Rose
et ses sept cousins.
The main characters in An old
Fashioned Girl are Polly, Tom and Fanny. It wasn't
Lizabeth.
I checked a book report on it that I did
which had a few more clues: The main girl`s name is Lizbeth,
she visits a family in the city where the sister and brother
are called Fanny and Tom, respectively. Eventually, this
rich family goes bankrupt.
I just checked the solutions to the
stumpers that I had submitted. They sound like the
correct solutions to me! Thank you so much for helping me
solve these mysteries that have been with me since I was a
child.
The answer to Alcott story about a
goddaughter says OLD FASHIONED GIRL, but actually
it's EIGHT COUSINS. Rose is orphaned and her
godfather is her uncle. The sequel to the book is ROSE IN
BLOOM. OLD FASHIONED GIRL is about country girl
Polly, who frequently visits her city friend Fanny, until she
grows up and moves to the same city.
Alcott, An Old Fashioned Girl.If this is about a goddaughter, are you sure the
book is not Eight Cousins?
Perhaps Selina and the Bear Paw
Quilt, by Barbara Smucker?
I'm watching your website once a week, hoping someone
recognizes the book about quilts. It was probably a
paperback, published around 1992. My intuition is telling
me maybe the title included "four Hands" somewhere. I
associate counting and hands with the title. Hopefully
these adidtional hints will trigger somebody's memory.
Thanks so much for this wonderful effort at answering our need
to identify books from memory so that we can enjoy those books
in hand, not just mind, again.
Ann W. Paul, Eight Hands Round:
A Patchwork Alphabet.
Condition Grades |
Paul, Ann Whitford. Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet. Illustrated by Jeanette Winter. HarperCollins, 1991, 4th printing. F/F $18 |
|
E20 Not sure this is the right book, but
there is a book entitled EIGHTEEN COUSINS by Carol
G. Hogan, illustrated by Beverly Komode. It's 36 pages
long, and was published in 1968 by Parents Magazine Press
E20 eighteen cousins: more on the suggested
Eighteen Cousins, by Carol G. Hogan,
illustrated by Beverly Komoda, published Parents' Magazine 1968.
"A story in verse form about a city child who visits the
country for the first time. Ages 4-8, grades K-3." (HB
Jun/68 p.361 pub ad) So it looks like a good match.
---
C8: This web site is just what I have
been looking for. The book I am searching for is about a
brother and sister who go to visit
a relative in the country. They
play in a stream, see a frog and a bird house. It is a color
picture book for the 4-8 year old range. I was born in 1975,
so I'm assuming it was published sometime between 1970 and
1985. That's just a guess. Unfortunately, that's all I
remember. Any help would be appreciated.
a couple of possibles, the first sounds
good but likely too long: Hope, Laura Lee, Bunny
Brown and his Sister Sue on Grandpa's Farm NY
Grosset & Dunlap, 1916, 246 pages, octavo. Illustrated with
drawings by Florence England Nosworthy. Light green cloth with
pictorial cover label, without dust jacket. Blegvad, Lenore..
Moon-watch Summer Illustrated by Erik Blegvad. NY
Harcourt 1972, 63 pgs, cloth. "Line drawings of children
& cats complement this brief story of a brother's &
sister's summer visit to their grandmother living in the
country."
C8 country visit: it's two boys, not girl
and boy, but perhaps Summer is Fun, by Lavinia
R. Davis, illustrated by Hildegarde Woodward, published
Doubleday 1952, 48 pages. "This is a beautiful book to look
at, with a
story in which the twins, Gil and Tippy,
really come to life as sturdy, highly individual small boys,
spending a summer on Grandpa's farm. A lost Indian trace, a
housewarming party and a present for their lame friend Kenny,
provide lively interest both in the text and in the fine
three-color pictures." (HB Feb/52 p.26)
Carol G. Hogan, Eighteen Cousins,
1968. Your description
reminds me of a book my family loved, called Eighteen
Cousins. It only involves one boy who visits his
cousins in the country. It is done in rhyme, and mentions seeing
a brook and a frog. Sample verse: "I nibbled a carrot, I nibbled
a pea, I nibbled a green leaf...but what did I see?
EIGHTEEN COUSINS a-nibbling like me!" Illustrated by
Beverly Komoda
Eighteen Cousins is a baby
boomer favorite published by Parents Magazine Press in
1968. The dates certainly match.
Elfrida Vipont, The Elephant and the
Bad Baby, 1969.
"One day, an elephant offers a bad baby a ride through the town,
and so begins an adventure and a chase. But when the elephant
realizes that the bad baby has forgotten his manners, the chase
ends with a bump and tea for everyone." I had forgotten
all about this book till you described it and am going to look
for a copy for myself now!
Elfrida Vipont, The Elephant and the
Bad Baby, circa
1965. I'm making a guess at the book's publication year,
but I'm 100% sure this is the solution.
Vipont, Elfrida, The Elephant and the
Bad Baby, 1969.
Just used this classic in a storytime last month! "...and
they went rumpeta, rumpeta, rumpeta all down the road."
Elfrida Vipont, The Elephant and the
Bad Baby
Elfrida Vipont. illustrated by
Raymond Briggs, The Elephant and the Bad Baby,
1969. This is definitely the book. The elephant
offers the ride to the baby and after the baby takes everything
from the various merchants without saying please, they are
chased "rumpeta rumpeta rumpeta" all through the town.
This was one of the favourite "on the mat" stories from my early
school days. There are various covers around as it has been
reprinted many times.
Elfrida Vipont, The Elephans and the
Bad Baby, 1986,
approximate
Elfrida Vipont & Raymond Briggs, Elephant
and the Bad Baby, c.1969.
It had a glowing mention in a _Horn Book_ article on books for
the under-3 crowd, which also quoted part of the refrain ("And
they went rumpeta rumpeta rumpeta, all down the road, with the
______ running after")
Elfrida Vipont, illustrated by
Raymond Briggs, The Elephant and the Bad Baby,
1971.
The Elephant and the Bad Baby
by Elfrida Vipont, illustrated by Raymond Briggs, 1969.
I loved it as a kid - though one amateur reviewer pointed out
recently that it's silly - if not downright annoying - that the
baby gets labelled bad just for not saying please, while the
elephant shoplifts but doesn't get called bad for that. Or maybe
the idea is that even human children know stealing is wrong and
animals don't.
Vipont, Elfrida, illustrated by
Raymond Briggs, The Elephant and the Bad Baby.
London, Hamilton 1969. This one is in print again. "One
day an elephant met a bad baby and asked him if he would like a
ride on his back. They went on a wild and glorious chase through
the town until the elephant decided that the bad baby had
forgotten his manners."
Elfrida Vipont, illustrated by
Raymond Briggs, The Elephant and the Bad Baby.
My children (8 and 6) still enjoy this story, which was a
favourite at their pre-school. Still in print in the UK at
least, published by Puffin
Well, I love learning something new from this site; I didn't know
this book before! Reprinted in paperback in 1971 and 1981 in the
UK, but not here. Not hard to find, but not cheap, either.
B313 and B314. Both the gizmo and elephant books (rumpeta
rumpeta!) are spot on. Thanks Harriet, and everyone!
Really neat book! One of Cattermole's
100 Best Books of the 20th Century!
It is so nice to see that someone else remembers and loves this book also!! I have two children who also love the book, Plus I have 19 nieces and Nephews and one great niece. I have found this book used many times for most of the younger ones and they all love it too!! I think they can all relate to the story.
Condition Grades |
Vipont, Elfrida. The Elephant and the Bad Baby. Illustrated by Raymond Briggs. London: Penguin Books, 1969, 1971 paperback. F. $20 |
|
this sounds rather like one that came up on
the Alibris list, so let's try - Elephant for Rent,
by Lucille Chaplan,
illustrated by Don Sibley, published
Little, Brown, 1959, 164 pages, ages 8-12 'Rex, a baby elephant,
was Jimmy McLean's birthday present, sent to him from Africa by
his father. Jimmy discovers that the Mudges, in whose care his
father left him, plan to aid a cruel animal trainer to steal
Rex. He and the elephant run away.' (BRD 1959)
Jean Stafford, Elephi, the Cat with
the High IQ. I
think this is the book you're looking for. The volkswagen
beettle is left outside in a snowstorm. The cat manages to
get it brought inside his New York apartment building via the
freight elevator.
Jean Stafford, Elephi the Cat with
the High IQ,
1962. So bizarre! I just read this book! I have a trade
Dell yearling copy, don't know if there is a hardback edition.
Yes, the cat does save a car, it's a little Fiat named Whitey.
C303 Stafford, Jean. Elephi,
the
cat with the high IQ. illus by Eric
Blegvad. Dell Yearling c 1962. cat saves
Whitey, a Fiat car, from snow
Base, Graeme, The Eleventh
Hour: A curious mystery,1988. Most definitely
the book -Someone has eaten the feast that was prepared for
elephant's 11th birthday. One of the guests is the culprit
and the reader must solve the clues hidden in the pictures to
find out who.
Graeme Base, The Eleventh
Hour. Sounds like it could be The Eleventh
Hour. Horace the Elephant has a party for his
eleventh birthday, but which of his guests ate the feast? The
clues are hidden in the pictures and the borders to the
pictures.
Kit Williams, Masquerade,1979. It seems from the description that this
could be Masquerade by Kit Wiliams.
It was quite a bif phenomenon in England in the late 70s/early
80s! It was a picture book puzzle to find a golden hare that was
buried somewhere in the English countryside. Each page was a
full colour pucture with letters around the edge, finding the
correct letters would give you clues to where the treasure
was.This wiki page will tell you more here:
Graeme Base, The Eleventh Hour. This is absolutely the book you are looking for:
good news, it' easy to find cheap used copies online!
Base, Graeme, The Eleventh
Hour, A Curious Mystery, 1988. Summary from the Lib
of Congress Cataloging Data: An elephant's eleventh birthday
party is marked by eleven games preceding the banquet to be
eaten at the eleventh hour, but when the time to eat arrives,
the birthday feast has disappeared. The reader is invited
to guess the thief.
Paul Adshead, Puzzle Island. The
book you describe does definitely sound like The Eleventh
Hour, but I thought I'd throw this one out there as well--Puzzle
Island has full page illustrations and a mystery to
be solved with an alphabet with letters missing around each
illustration, which describe animals hidden in the picture--the
names of all those animals are your key to unlocking the cipher
at the end to solve the mystery.
Is this possibly Elizabeth
by Liesel Moak Skorpen?
---
This is the story of a little girl who
gets a doll for Christmas, names her Elizabeth, has a rotten
cousin who gets a fancier doll but doesn't really love
it....Elizabeth is "lost" and eventually found. The book was
small, and we got it from the library several times but never
found it in a bookstore. It would make a lovely
graduation gift for my Elizabeth, who loved it!
The answer to the ELIZABETH stumper might
be Elizabeth by Liesel Skorpen, ill. by Martha
Alexander, 1970. It is 32 pages long, and 18 cm.
E5 elizabeth doll: more on the suggested
title Elizabeth, by Liesel Moak Skorpen,
illustrated by Martha Alexander, published Harper 1970,
32 pages, 5x7" approx. "Kate wanted a doll for Christmas - a
golden-haired walking, talking doll. But under the tree she
found instead a 'soft cloth doll with warm brown eyes and
thick brown braids' like hers. 'What does it do?' asked Kate.
'Everything a doll's supposed to do.' her mother said. Kate
was bitterly disappointed, especially when her priggish cousin
Agnes came with her stiffly curled, dressy new doll. After the
holiday, Kate gave her nameless doll to James the collie to
chew; then smitten with remorse she quickly retrieved her and
in a flash of sudden love named her Elizabeth. Now the doll
became her silent, perfect companion - understanding, patient,
faithful. 'Elizabeth could do everything.'" (HB Dec/70
p.605)
Thanks for the comments, folks. I have been trying to remember
about this book for decades, having read it in a library as a
child and having never seen it since. Seems to be the
collector's item now.
Reminds me of the plot of ELIZABETH,
ELIZABETH by Eileen Dunlop, 1975, 1977. The
aunt is doing research at an old Scottish castle, and the niece
time travels to become another person. And in case the title
doesn't ring a bell, it was originally published as ROBINSHEUGH
in England.~from a librarian
Robinsheugh, or Elizabeth, Elizabeth, is
the book I have been looking for. I have been finding books I
loved as a kid for my children to read so now I can share this
one. Many thanks!
Jenkins, Elizabeth, Elizabeth the
Great. 1964, Time
Inc. book xv in the Time Reading Program Special
Edition series. Introduction by A.L. Rowse.
P28 - could be Elizabite - a
picture book about a man who grows a carnivorous plant - can't
remember the author - 1960s or 70s I think
H.A. Rey. Elizabite: Adventures of a Carnivorous
Plant. Harper & Row, 1942. A wonderful
story introducing young children to carnivorous plants. The text
is amusing and young children will giggle in delight ..."She's
caught me-Ouch!" cries Doctor White, "I did not know this plant
could bite!"
Carmela and Steven D'Amico, Ella
the Elegant Elephant (series).
Frieda Friedman, Ellen and
the Gang, 1963. Twelve-year old Ellen is
disappointed about not going away to camp and having to stay in
the city for the summer. While her friends are away, she
falls in with two teenage boys and a girl who use her as a decoy
when they shoplift from the neighborhood stores. I think
this was the last of the author's wonderfully evocative books
written in the Forties through Sixties about New York City kids.
The solution posted is indeed the right
book! Thanks so much for whoever solved this for me--I've been
trying to remember this title and author forever!
Ellen Tebbits
I'm looking for a children's book about a
young girl whose grandmother knit her a sweater out of itchy
wool. She hated it and even cut a hole out of the center
of it so she wouldn't have to wear it. But that's all I
remember. I read it in the 1960s. I know that's
not much to go on, but I appreciate anything you can do.
Thank you.
S48 sounds like one of the Beverly
Cleary books like Ramona, Otis Spofford, or
Ellen Tebbetts. I remember reading a book when
I was young about an itchy sweater, and I think it was in one of
the Beverly Cleary books.
#S48--Sweater made of itchy wool: I
know of two "itchy wool" episodes. In Ellen Tebbits,
by Beverly Cleary, her mother makes her wear a union
suit. She is furious when found out by another girl
(Audrey?) but then finds Audrey was hiding in the same
bathroom/cloakroom/broom closet because her mother made her wear
a union suit, so they become best friends. In Roller
Skates, by Ruth Sawyer, Lucinda promises to
wear a similar undergarment all winter, but simply can't
coordinate it with her stockings, etc. Reasoning that she
didn't promise in what condition she'd wear it, she decided to
follow the little woman in the song and "cut it round about."
She cut the legs off and just wore the shorts part of it.
The sequel to Roller Skates is Year of
Jubilo. It took me fifteen years to find a
paperback of Year of Jubilo and I never have seen
it in hardcover.
---
Someone will surely recognize this since I think it was some
kind of series. The main girl is American (cant remember her
name though) and she goes to this ballet class with a new girl
from France who is very snobby. All the French girl can talk
about is "gay, gay Paree" and how awful America is after Paris.
Of course she is simply homesick and the American girl finally
realizes this and makes friends with her. Our American girl is a
klutz and has to keep clutching her long underwear under her
ballet costume. Her mother made her wear it and she is
mortified. Jump and clutch, jump and clutch...is all she can do
till the teacher scolds her for being so jerky. I wish I could
remember more but that's it. Anyone know this?
Perhaps this person is mis-remembering the
detail about France. In the book ELLEN TEBBITS by
Beverly Cleary, 1951, Austine Allen has just moved from
California and talks about it constantly. She is in ballet class
with Ellen Tebbits and Ellen's woolen underwear keeps slipping,
making her "leap clutch". Ellen and Austine become friends by
pairing up against Otis Spofford, and Ellen discovers that
Austine's mom makes her wear woolen underwear too. ~from a
librarian
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits. Pretty sure about this one---not really a
series, but of course Cleary wrote many books in the same vein
including the Ramona series.
The long underwear, jump and clutch scene is
definitely from Ellen Tebbits, but the homesick
French girl part is from one of Lee Wyndham's Susie
books. I think it may be from On Your Toes, Susie.
Yes, I figured that I might have mixed up two stories as one in
my head. I think I'd better go back and read all the Beverly
Cleary books again! I'll check out the Lynn Wyndham books, too,
because I distinctly remember the "gay Paree" part. Thanks
to everyone, and sorry that it was a relatively simple stumper!
---
I am looking for the name of a book which
had a chapter entitled "The Perennial Beet" (I distinctly
remember asking my mother to define 'perennial'). I checked
this book out of the school library when I was in the third
grade, so 1963-64. The story centered on the friendship of two
little girls (perhaps one new to the neighborhood and of
lesser means?). The mother of one of the girls sewed them
matching outfits from fabric (yellow?) printed with monkeys.
There were simple illustrations at the beginning of each
chapter. I realize this is precious little information to go
by, but maybe there is someone my age who remembers this book.
Thank you for any ideas.
Ellen Tebbits, Beverly Cleary.
1955, approximate. It was a biennial beet, but
everything else in this story matches
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits. 1951.
This is definitely Ellen Tebbits by Beverly Cleary. Both
the enormous beet and the monkey-fabric dresses are there.
Cleary, Beverly, Ellen Tebbitts. 1951.
The making of the monkey print dresses is a major part
of the story line of Ellen Tebbitts. It practically ruins
the two girls' friendship. Also, if I remember correctly,
it was a turnip plant that had a flower on it, not a beet, that
Ellen pulls out of the ground.
This is the one you're looking for, Ellen's
class is talking about perennials and she remembers that there's
a huge beet growing nearby her school so she goes out to pull it
and bring it in to show her class. And she and her best friend
have identical dresses made with monkey fabric.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits, 1951.
More than enough info to identify this classic.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits.
Definitely the one--both the beet and the dresses.
This book is Ellen Tebbits by
Beverly Cleary.
Beverly Clearly, Ellen Tebbits. How many millions of people will send in
solutions to this one!?'
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits. 1951.
'I love it when I know these without a doubt! I''m sure I'm not
the only to come up with solution for this clue--classic Beverly
Cleary.'
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits'. 1951.
Chapter Two of this lesser known Beverly Cleary book is entitled
"The Biennial Beet." Ellen'\''s third grade class is
dicussing different types of plants, including perennials and
biennials, and her teacher mentions that it is rare to see a
biennial plant in flower because they are usually harvested too
soon. Ellen finds a large (biennial) beet plant in a
vacant lot and wants to take it to her teacher. She is
late to school and gets very muddy because she has such trouble
pulling it up. Austine Allen is her kind new friend who helps
her. Chapter Five is called, "The Twins" and describes the
matching dresses Ellen and Austine have made out of red and
white fabric with monkeys and palm trees. Ellen'\''s dress
turns out much better than Austine'\''s because Ellen'\''s
mother is an expert seamstress and Austine'\''s is not. I
am sure this is your book. I hope you get to read it
again. It is such a great picture of all the social
struggles of grade school!'
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits, 1951.Definitely
the
one
you're
looking
for,
only
the
chapter
is titled "The Biennial Beet." Ellen's class is learning about
annual, perennial, and biennial plants. In an effort to impress
her teacher, Ellen pulls a huge beet plant that has gone to seed
in a vacant lot, getting herself thoroughly rain-soaked, muddy,
stained with beet juice, and tearing her dress in the
process. The matching dresses in the monkey-print fabric
are in the chapter called "The Twins." The girls (Ellen and
Austine) want matching dresses, and pick out the pattern and
fabric together, but Ellen's mother is an excellent seamstress,
while Austine's mother is not. The dresses don'\''t quite match
(Austine'\''s looks sloppy and has no sash, while Ellen's is
very attractive), which precipitates a fight between the two
girls.
Cleary, Beveryly, Ellen Tebbits.
Pretty sure this is an Ellen Tebbits chapter title. As I
recall, Ellen's class is learning about plants and plant
life-cycles in class. Ellen sees a huge beet in an empty
lot on her way to school, and decides to bring it in as an
example for the teacher, whom she is very fond of, and wants to
impress. She pulls the beet out, falling over and muddying
herself in the process. Only now that I think about it,
I'm almost positive she wanted to bring he beet in as an example
of a BIENNIAL plant, since those are more unusual than annuals
and perennials.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits, 1951.
I believe the book you remember is "Ellen Tebbits", which is
still in print. Ellen makes a friend in a new girl named
Maxine at the start of the book, because they are both wearing
wool underwear at ballet class. I remember a search for a
beet at some point. Also, she and Maxine pick out fabric
with monkeys for matching dresses. The only thing is that
instead of one mother making both dresses, each girl's mother
makes a dress. Ellen's mother is a good sewer but Maxine's
isnt, so the dresses are not at all alike and the girls end up
quarreling.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits, 1951. This
is
definitely
Ellen
Tebbits
by
Beverly
Cleary.
It's
the story of third-grade best friends Ellen and Austine, who is
new to the neighborhood at the beginning of the book.
Chapter 2 is called "The Biennial Beet," not "The Perennial
Beet." There is a scene where the girls go fabric shopping for
matching new dresses, and they choose a material with "red palm
trees...printed on a white background. From each tree a small
red monkey hung by its tail."'
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits.
'I read this when I was a kid, and remember Ellen and her friend
wearing dresses made out of material with monkeys on it.
Unfortunately, the friend's mother couldn't sew very well and
the dress didn't look nearly as nice as Ellen's.
Cleary, Beverly, Ellen Tebbits, 1951.
This is definitely Ellen Tebbits, one of my favorite
books while growing up! Ellen lives in Oregon and
befriends Austine Allen, who has just moved there from
California. The two become best friends, and at one point,
they ask their mothers to sew them identical dresses from
material printed with monkeys. Austine''s mother isn't
much of a seamstress, and the unfortunate results lead the
friends to quarrel...Ellen also pulls a flowering beet from a
vacant lot to bring to school for show and tell---her class is
studying annuals and perennials. (Thanks to Austine, Ellen
also learns that geraniums, which are annuals in Oregon, are
perennials in California.) A great book! Followed by
a sequel, Otis Spofford (1953), also highly recommended, as it
is very funny and Ellen and Austine play a prominent role.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits.
I'm sure you'll get this answer over and over again, but this
one is definitely Ellen Tebbits by Beverly Cleary, one of my
favorite books as a child.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits. The
chapter
you are thinking of is called "The Biennial Beet," and in a
later chapter Ellen's mother and her best friend's mother make
them matching dresses out of yellow fabric with monkeys on them,
only the dresses don't quite match...An all-time classic!'
That was fast! I guess I'm the only
person in the world who didn't know the title/author of this
book. haha! Thanks everyone!
---
I think this is a
book from the 40's or 50's, about two little girls who are good
friends with each other. At some point they decide to
dress like twins so each asks her mother to make her a dress out
of the same material - a print of monkeys swinging from palm
trees - but while one mother is a good seamstress, the other one
isn't and her dress looks terrible. The girls get into a
fight and the one with the terrible dress rips the pocket of the
one with the good dress. They make up later.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits.
details match exactly.
Cleary, Beverly, Ellen Tebbits, 1955, approximate. This is it without a
doubt. I'm sure you'll get a lot of comments on this
one.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen
Tebbits, Morrow, 1951, copyright.
This is definitely the book you're looking for. Ellen lives
in Portland, Oregon, the only child of a single mom who is a
Donna Reed, 50s tv-mom type, everything perfect. She has no
close friends until Austine Allen moves to Portland from
California. The girls become very close and want to do
everything together, including start the fourth grade
looking like (fraternal) twins, and that's what leads to the
episode you remember. Austine's mother can't sew and Ellen's
mom of course makes a picture-perfect dress so Austine gets
jealous. There is another book solely about Otis, the
Dennis-the-Menace / Penrod-like boy who teases the girls.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits,
1951, copyright. Lots of details about this book can
be found in the "solved pages", including this part about
the matching dresses of Ellen and her best friend Austine.
This book is a classic and you will have lots of
responses, I'm sure.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits,
1951, copyright. Definitely the book. The
monkey-patterned dresses seems to be a very strong
memory for readers of this book. Look in Solved
Stumpers.
Cleary, Beverly, Ellen Tebbits,
1951, copyright. This is from Ellen Tebbits -
Ellen and Austine want to wear the same dress for the
first day of school, but Austine's mum can't sew as
well as Ellen's. Austine and Ellen fall out
because Austine keeps tugging at the sash on Ellen's
dress. The ripping incident doesn't happen until
a later moment in the book -when Ellen rips Austine's
sash when they are dusting erasers together. The
incident leads to them restoring their friendship.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits.
You'll
get a lot of responses to this one - everyone
remembers those monkey dresses! See solved
mysteries for more descriptions.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits.
This
is definitely the book. It's in Solved
Mysteries, too.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits.
I remember this scene so well because I longed
to have a mom who sewed, but sympathized more
with the girl whose mother couldn't sew her
dress properly! The book includes illustrations
of the print the girls used for their dresses,
complete with monkeys swinging from palm trees.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits,
1951, copyright. Definitely this one!
Look under Solved Mysteries for additional
details.
Beverly Cleary,
Ellen
Tebbits, 1951,
approximate. I'm sure this one is Ellen Tebbits--my favorite
Cleary book. The friend is Austine Allen and
they meet over the shared dilemma of long
underwear at dance class. I still own my
paperback copy from 35 years ago. Thank
goodness for the Scholastic Book Club!
---
Author guess: Neta Frazier?
1940-1960, juvenile. Story of the new girl in school. She
makes friends with another girl, one of their mothers makes them
matching dresses. The new girl is teased (because she is from
Canada?), the other kids call her Pea soup & johnny cake ,
and Canuk(sp). There is a falling out with her friend, but they
make up in the end.
The part about the new
girl and matching dresses sounds like Beverly
Cleary's Ellen Tebbits; but the new girl in that story
is from California, not Canada.
Beverly Cleary, Ellen
Tebbits. Thanks so much! I bought this book
to see if you were right & IT IS the one I was thinking
of. I loved it so much as a girl...and loved reading it
again. Now I have to figure out what book has "pea soup
& johnny cake" in it! Book stumper is a GREAT
idea...keep up the good work.
Unless that's you,
stumper G489 is looking for the same book. "Kid Sister"
is in solved-K if you want to check & see if it sounds
right -- she had a rat named Rosemary.
----------------------------
I am looking for a book about a
young girl in elementary school. The girls in her class take
turns/get picked to clap out the chalkboard erasers outside, and
it is something they all like to do. The teacher in the story
giving out little candies that come in a small round tin, like
Cavendish&Harvey.
Beverly
Cleary, Ellen Tebbits,
1951. Maybe this
one? Ellen and her good friend have a falling out, but at the
end of the book they make up when their teacher sends them both
outside to clap erasers (a special treat).
SOLVED: Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits. This is the
book! I didn't see anything about the candies, so I might
have been confused. But it is the right setting and story.
Thank you so much!
Condition Grades |
Cleary, Beverly. Ellen Tebbits. Illustrated by Louis Darling. Dell Yearling, 1951, 1979. Used paperback. G. $4. |
|
Eleanor Farjeon, Martin Pippin in
the Daisy Field.
This book contains the story , "Elsie Piddock Skips in Her
Sleep", which may be the story you're looking for.
Eleanor Farjeon, Elsie Piddock Skips
in her Sleep.
This is only one story by Eleanor Farjeon. One of the
books it was printed in was Martin Pippin in the Daisy
Field we have it in Eleanor Farjeon's
Book: Stories, Verses, Plays.
Eleanor Farjeon, Elsie Piddock Skips
in Her Sleep,
c.1937. This sounds very like the Elsie Piddock story -
which first appeared as one of the 'Martin Pippin in the Daisy
Field' stories in 1937 but was also/later published separately.
Elsie Piddock is a little girl in Sussex, England, who has
skipping lessons in her sleep/dreams from the fairies' own
skipping master Andy-Spandy (Farjeon took his name from a
skipping rhyme 'Andy Spandy Sugardy Candy, French Almond Rock!
Breadandbutterforyoursupper'sallyoumother'sGOT!') and got a
special skipping rope from the fairies with candy handles.
(Which she let her friends suck). At the end of the story she is
a little old lady who has shrunk to the size she can use the
fairy skipping ropes again and saves an area of open land from
development.
Eleanor Farjeon, Elsie Piddock Skips
in Her Sleep, 1937. I was the one who originally
asked about this, so you can now know the stumper has been
solved! I found Martin Pippin in the Daisy Field
at the local library, and it is not the book I read. It
still might be the story collection mentioned here, but the
library didn't have that one. Since I only wanted the
one story I remembered, I am totally satisfied.
Your reader found the story but not the
collection. Might it have been The Little Bookroom
by Eleanor Farjeon? I think it had some black- and-white
illustrations. Another of the stories was called West-something,
about a prince who seeks his bride in lands named for the four
directions. The northerners were too cold, the southerners too
slothful, the easterns too brisk. He had been forbidden to go
into WestWOOD (aha!) but he did anyway, and there he found his
true love, who had been his maid all along. There might have
been another tale, too, about a princess who is bored with the
color of her room. She commands her fairy godmother to give her
a pink room and is instructed to lie on her bed and kick her
toes at the ceiling--voila! pink walls, pink bed, pink floor.
Soon she's bored again and commands another color change. This
happens several more times until finally, she wants a black
room. After lying on her bed and kicking her toes at the
ceiling, the walls fall away, the roof comes off, and she gets
her wish for a black room. I don't remember the dust jacket, but
the book was smallish and had a light russet woven cloth cover I
vaguely remember.
Sometimes other book requests help solve the stumpers I already
have. Heres one:
author=
title=Elson Grammer School Reader
publisher=
date=1930
comments=Has Baby Ray as the main
character.
The only thing I remember about this book from my childhood in
the '50s is a little rooster who cried, "Cockadoodle-doo,
I want my mommy!" My dad thinks it may have been in a
reading primer with stories about Little
Ray??? Little Ray had one puppy, two kittens,
three ducks and four chickens??? My memory is old and his is
older so this is the best we can come up with.
could the reference to "Little Ray"
match B6 - the Elson Grammar School Reader featuring Baby Ray?
---
this story is about the big dipper or the
little dipper it seems to me more about the big dipper. it is
about a sick mother who sent her daughter out one night to get
some water.she had a cup for the water. she got the water and
on her way back home she encountered some people wo
wanted some water.she gave each on e a drink. she encountered
a dog and also gave it a drink. he barked twice for thank you.
when she got home with the water the cup went out of her hands
to the sky and it made the big dipper or the little dipper. i
was read this story by my mother when i was a child. it was
either in a book with other stories or it was by it self.this
was either late 1940's or early 1950's. now i am 59yrs old and
my mother has long since passed away. thanks ,i hope
this will help find the book.
This story is in one of the old childrens'
readers I collect. I found it in The Elson Reader Book
Two, copyright 1920, 1927, published by Scott,
Foreman and Company. Inside the front cover is stamped "Tulsa
City Schools." The story is tittled "The Star Dipper" and
the origin is listed as "old tale." The girl and her mother live
near a big woods. One night her mother was sick and very
thirsty. The daughter took an old tin dipper and went to the
well but discovered it was dry. Since she didn't want to return
without water for mother she summoned her courage to go into the
dark woods and find a spring. After filling the dipper with
water, she first encountered the thirsty dog, and then a thirsty
old man. After giving both water the dipper turned to gold like
the shining sun. At last she reached home with plenty of water
to spare for her mother, who called her "my good little girl,"
and told her she felt better. Then the golden dipper turned to
sparkling diamonds and went up into the sky, becoming seven
bright stars. The story ends with "That was a long, long time
ago, but the star dipper is still in the sky. It shows how brave
a kind-hearted little girl can be."
Ah... the infamous Golden Books Treasury of Elves and
Fairies by Jane Werner and illustrated by Garth
Williams. See more on the Most
Requested Page.
---
I am wanting to find a book that my
step-mother gave to me when I was little (1970ish). It
was not new then, but I don't know how old it was. It was
oversized (18"?) and beutiful! It was a collection of
stories and poems about fairies and wee folk. There was
a story about a fisherman finding a mermaid baby and taking it
home to his wife while the mermaids try to find their baby, a
story about a boy who finds fairies while picking berries with
his grandmother, a poem called "When There's a Ring around the
Moon", a story about a boy who kidnaps a fairy-type creature
(it has a picture of him on a horse with the creature wrapped
up in a blanket), a story about a fairy bear who gets a job in
a fish cannery, a story about a brother & sister (?) who
find a fairy town under a tree, and a long poem illustrated
with wee folk climbing rocks and eating by a stream with a
woman sleeping/dead underwater. I loved this book!
My step-mother finally made me get rid of it when I went into
high school. I would love to get a copy of it, but I
don't even know the name!
jane werner garth williams illust.,
elves and fairies
well, in that case, check out the Most
Requested Books page!
This may not help much, but I remember the
fairy bear in the cannery story from an anthology series, The
Children's Hour. I don't have any volumes
available but, all the books were in red covers with full-color
endpapers illustrated with story charactes. Each volume was
dedicated to a different theme, eg Sports SO, MAYBE, the
volume with that story was dedicated to fairy stories? Good
luck.
I just checked my copy of Elves and Fairies.
Absolutely.
This is David Palmer's Emergence. A detail that might ring a bell -- the protagonist, Candy, keeps referring to her parrot as "retarded baby brother", and it takes a while to realize that it's a parrot. Definitely worth finding and re-reading! It's SF, which might be why it's been hard to find. There's a review here.
Yes!
Smith, Emma. Emily. Illus. Katherine
Wigglesworth. McDowell, Obolensky, c. 1959. Ex-library copy,
removed pocket, some smudging, one of the eight color plates
missing. Overall, G/G with dust jacket. <SOLD>
A great big YEA! I'll put a check in the
mail. My sister came up for a visit last month - though we talk
all the time we hadn't seen one another in a year - to find Emily's
Voyage [the first book I found for this customer]
propped on her guestroom pillow. She was dumbstruck and then
teary-eyed, saying the book brings back cozy memories of the
days of Grandma and molasses cookies. I can't believe you
actually found the original. We used to joke that if one of us
ever located a copy the world as we know it would probably come
to an end. Guess it's time to stock up on batteries and potable
water. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!
Greetings. My gal is looking for a book. The
title as she remembers it is Emily's Journey.
Much searching of the Internet has failed to turn up any book by
this title published ever. However, it is looking like Emily
or Emily the travelling Guinea Pig by Emma
Smith may be the book she's thinking of. The book she
remembers is about a small furry animal, she thought it was a
hedgehog, named Emily, who must travel through parts of England
on some kind of journey. Can you help?
Condition Grades |
Smith, Emma. Emily, the Traveling Guinea Pig. Illustrated by Katherine Wigglesworth. NY: McDowell, An Astor Book, 1959. 8 color plates and lots of black and white illustrations. Red cloth, edgeworn, small tear to cloth at bottom of spine. Pages clean and bright, charming. G. $24 |
|
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Emily
of New Moon,1923. It's actually the mother of one of
Emily's friends who was assumed to have run off and is found at
the bottom of the well (Emily's mother died when she was born,
and Emily was sent to live with her aunts after her father's
death), but the other details are correct.
L. M. Montgomery, Emily of New
Moon. This sounds like the lesser known Emily
series by the author of Anne of Green Gables.
L.M. Montgomery, Emily of New
Moon. It is Emily's friend Ilse's mother who had
disappeared. Emily dreams of the mother falling down an old well
and that's where her body is found.
Montgomery, Emily of New Moon. the story sounds like a mixed-up version of
Emily of New Moon. Emily lives with her two aunts - one
strict one kindly. The mother in the well story is
actually about her best friend Ilsa. But Emily dreams the
solution while she has a fever. She tells the family to
search the well, but she is only comforted when Aunt Elizabeth
(the strict one) agrees to search the well - because she knows
the Aunt Elizabeth will keep her word.
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Emily of New
Moon, 1923. Emily Starr is the girl who is raised by two
aunts (Aunt Elizabeth-strict and Aunt Laura-sweet), falls into a
fever and dreams of her best friend Ilse's mother, who has long
been assumed to have deserted Ilse as a baby. Emily dreams that
the mother fell into a well and died. This is discovered to be
the case, and Ilse's father, formerly a gruff, bitter man, falls
to his knees beside the (now recovered) Emily's bed in
gratitude. Brilliant series that includes Emily Climbs
and Emily's Quest.
L. M. Montgomery, Emily of New
Moon,1923. Remember lonely little Emily keeping a
daily journel in her jimmy-book? It's a little blank
notebook given to her by her child-like Uncle Jimmy and she
keeps it hidden from her mean Aunt Elizabeth and sweet Aunt
Laura. But both aunts are good, really. It is the
mother of Emily's best friend Ilse who has disappeared.
Emily is sick and has a feverish dream that, her friend's
long-lost mother is in an old well - and she is. I loved
this book - there are 2 more in the series - Emily Climbs,
and Emily's Quest. L.M. Montgomery also
wrote the Anne of Green Gables books.
L.M. Montgomery, Emily of New
Moon. I think this sounds like the Emily of
New Moon trilogy. Emily is sent to live with
her two aunts and cousin Jimmy, I believe. One is stricter
than the other. I know there is a mother who was believed
to have run off, but had actually fallen in the well - but I
can't remember if it was Emily's mother or a friend's
mother. Emily wants to be a writer, and her cousin Jimmy
encourages her and gives her notebooks that she calls Jimmy
Books. The books are Emily of New Moon, Emily
Climbs, and Emily's Quest.
LM Montgomery, Emily of New
Moon. 'It is Emily's friend, Ilse, whose mother is
believed to have run away and whose father, the doctor, turns
bitter and neglectful of his daughter. Emily gets a
virulent case of the measles and the doctor tells Emily's aunts
to humor her whims since she seems to be in great
distress. Emily has a vision of Ilse's mother falling in
the well and her aunt promises to have the well checked.
Emily is relieved since she knows her Aunt Elizabeth is hard but
never lies. Ilse's mother is found and the doctor's faith
is restored.
You've probably already received a ton of
answers for this one -- sounds like Emily of New Moon,
by L.M. Montgomery. Emily is orphaned and goes to live
with her Aunt Laura and Aunt Elizabeth at New Moon. The dream
about the woman in the well relates to her best friend's mother,
who had disappeared some years before in mysterious
circumstances.
L.M. Montgomery, Emily of New
Moon. This is almost certainly the Emily series.
The girl whose mother fell down the well is Emily's best friend,
Ilse, but Emily is an orphan who must live with her strict aunts
after the death of her father, and she does have a dream that
locates Ilse's mother while she is feverish.
LM Montgomery, Emily of New Moon. This
is
definitely
the
book
-
thanks
to
all
who wrote in!
Beverly Cleary, A girl from Yamhill. I'm almost certain that this is Beverly
Cleary's autobiography.
Beverly Cleary, The Girl from Yamhill. Just a wild guess. I've never read this
book but I know it is an autobiographical look at her girlhood
by Beverly Cleary. From all accounts she had a somewhat
lonely childhood. Suggested it only because of "Yamhill"
but it might be worth a look.
Cleary, Beverly, A girl from Yamhill:
a memoir. (1988) This
is definitely the book. It is the story of Cleary's early
years (a second book, 'My Own Two Feet' continues the story
through her early work as a librarian and the publishing of her
first book). You remember the detail about the bathtub
correctly - "the first fine house in Yamhill, with the second
bathtub in Yamhill County"
Beverly Cleary, Emily's Runaway Imagination.
(1960) 'I believe this is the book you are looking for.
Beverly Cleary, A Girl From Yamhill
County. (1988)
Definitely this autobiography from the beloved children's book
writer.
Beverly Cleary, Emily's Runaway
Imagination.
This
book definitely has several of the episodes you've remembered
and several other humorous scrapes Emily gets into because of
her wandering mind, including: forgetting to lock the pigpen so
the pigs get into the rotten apples and get drunk, the
not-so-dressed up party, baking a pie with the crust upside
down, bleaching a horse white to impress her city cousin, and
scaring herself at a sleepover party. (Beverly Cleary was a
native of Yamhill County - she also wrote a memoire that might
have some similar stories...The Girl From Yamhill County)
According to Google, this is Beverly
ClearyEmily's runaway imagination
Beverly Cleary, Emily's Runaway
Imagination.
(1961) Absolutely the book you're looking for.
Although the bathtub detail may be the same,
this is not "A Girl From Yamhill", but rather "Emily's
Runaway Imagination", which contains every one of
the details listed, as well as the bathtub one. It seems
that Beverly Cleary used a lot of details in this book
that were from her own life.
Beverly Cleary, Emily's Runaway Imagination. This
is it. I actually had thought it might be a Cleary book
that I was looking for, but when I went to a Cleary website, I
saw "Girl From Yamhill" and read a description, and knew that
was NOT it, so I assumed the "Yamhill" think was just a
confusing coincidence. I think I also mixed up "Emily's
Runaway Imagination" with the "Ellen Tebbits" series - when I
saw the "Emily" book listed under Cleary, I thought it was the
stories I remembered from Ellen Tebbits, and I never bothered to
investigate the "Emily" book further. I finally realize
that if I had just read the summary of the "Emily" book, I would
have recognized it as the one I was thinking of!
Madye Lee Chastain, Emmy Keeps a
Promise
---
The books I am looking for are part of a series. The
first book was about a Girl and her Older Sister. Their
parents weren't living. The sisters lived with their
wealthy grandfather in New York around 1830-1850. The
grandfather owned a shipping line. The Older Sister
was being courted by the young Captain of one of her
grandfather's ships. In the second book the Ship Captain and the
Older Sister married and took the Girl with them for an
adventure on the seas in his ship. The third book was a
little different. It was about a poor cartographer (map
maker) and his sister, a poor seamstress. Eventually the
cartographer got a job with the wealthy grandfather and the
seamstress sewed dresses for the girl and her older sister of
the first books saving the brother and sister from destitute
poverty. An incident from the first book is when the
seamstress came to sew new clothes for the girl. The
seamstress had a history of trying to give the girl the opposite
of whatever she wanted. If the girl wanted a certain style
of dress, the seamstress would convince the adult present that
another style was much more suitable. The girl noticed the
seamstress held pins in her mouth while she was pinning
fabrics. The girl thought the seamstress had probably
swallowed too many pins and that was why the seamstress was so
mean. The girl tricked the seamstress into giving her a
dress that buttoned up the front by telling the seamstress she
wanted the buttons down the back. The seamstress turned to
the adult in charge and assured her that buttons in the back
were totally out of style and the latest style was buttons in
the front. The girl held back a smile so the seamstress
wouldn't know she was giving the girl the exact style of dress
that she really wanted. The third book with the cartographer and
his seamstress sister used some unusual expressions. The
sister would say something was "too dear" when she meant "too
expensive". I have often thought of this series....
Madye Lee Chastain, Emmy Keeps a
Promise, 1956.
The first book this poster describes sounds like it may be
Emmy Keeps a Promise by Madye Lee Chastain.
I don't remember it well enough to know if the details with the
seamstress fit, but the historical setting and the older
sister's romance sound right. I'm not aware if this book
had a sequel, so can't help with the second book mentioned, but
the third one does sound like it might be Plippen's
Palace, by the same author.
Chaplain, Madye Lee, Emmy Keeps a Promise, Plippen's Palace.
I
have
looked
for
these
books
for
years
without being able to recall the title or author. Thank you! It
is so exciting to now know both! You have ended a thirty
year search!
Chastain, Madye Lee, Dark Treasure,
1954. Thanks to your help I was
able to find the third book in this same series! Dark
Treasure also by Madye Lee Chastain, had the
incident with the seamstress. Thank you so much, I never thought
I would have the pleasure of re-reading these books!
Not much information, but maybe - Windwagon
Smith by Ennis Rees, illustrated by Peter
P. Plasencia, published by Prentice-Hall 1966 "The lyrical
legend of Windwagon Smith, who used a sail and rudder to steer
his prairie schooner into the midst of rollicking adventure.
Ages 6-10." (Horn Book Apr/66 p.146 pub ad)
Possibly - High Wind for Kansas,
by Mary Calhoun, illustrated by W.T. Mars, published New
York, Morrow 1965 "Based on an authentic frontier incident,
this colorful story tells of a man who invented a windwagon
and of its subsequent fate. Ages 4-8" "An actual pioneer
incident inspired this lusty tale of how Windwagon Jones (the
author calls it a fictional name) turned a prairie schooner
into a land-sailing craft. The details here of the launching
and trial voyage make a tale excellent for telling. The
line-and-wash pictures have the proper gusto for the story's
boisterous action." (Horn Book Jun/65 p.272, 121)
S25 sailboat on wheels: possibly How
Space Rockets Began, written and illustrated by
LeGrand (author of the Augustus books), published by
Abingdon 1960. "Windwagon Smith was a sailor looking for a
home. This is the story of what happened as he looked for a
place to live in Europe, Australia and in the Great West. A
rollicking tall tale. Ages 7-11." (HB Feb/60 p.92 pub ad)
No apparent connection with the Windwagon Smith of the Rees
book.
Robert Nathan, The Enchanted Voyage. I read this quite a while ago but it fits the
description.
Nathan, Robert, The Enchanted Voyage.NY Knopf 1936. More on this suggested
solution, and it seems to be correct.
Mr. Hector Pecket is a carpenter who lives
in the Bronx, and has built himself a sailboat, called the Sarah
Pecket after his wife. It sits in his yard, and he putters with
it. He is not very succesful as a carpenter, and his wife wants
him to sell the boat to the butcher, Mr. Schultz, "for use as a
hamburger, coffee, and frankfurter stand." But it is Mrs. Pecket
who puts wagon wheels on the boat, so that it can be moved to
the Schultz's. Mr. Pecket decides to sleep on the ship for its
last night. While he is dreaming of the great ships of the past,
a storm comes up and the Sarah starts to keel over, and then is
pushed away by the wind. Mr. Pecket steers with the wagon-tongue
(added when the wheels were put on) and heads off down the
street, on the way to the Caribbean. Soon he meets Mary Kelly, a
waitress, and she decides to go with him as far as Florida. They
knock down a young man with a pushcart, who grinds knives and
fills teeth, and because his pushcart wheel is broken, he joins
them as well. It does not appear to be the beginning of a
series, because at the end Pecket runs the Sarah into an actual
river and it sinks. However it is quite episodic.
D'Aulaire's perhaps?
Margaret Evans Price, Enchantment
Tales for Children, 1926.
I have a Rand McNally edition, a 1927 reprint, of a
collection of Greek myths "retold and
pictured by" Margaret Evans Price. The binding is navy blue and
there is a large color plate on the front cover of Phrixus and
Helle riding on a flying ram. The book contains 14 color
plates in addition to other illustrations. I never
wondered about the children on the ram, but I was terrified by
the picture of Medusa...and loved the picture of a beautiful
Nausicaa standing her ground as her handmaidens fled in fear of
Ulysses.
Could this be This Place Has No
Atmosphere by Paula Danziger?
Nope. Actually, I just found out
that the book I was thinking of is Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia
Louise Engdahl. I hadn't realized
that it was a very popular award winner. Thanks, though.
I see you have my book ENCHANTRESS
FROM THE STARS listed on your "Solved Mysteries"
page. Since it has been out of print for a long time, you
might like to add that a new hardcover edition is being
published in April by Walker & Co. Full information
about it is at my website, www.sylviaengdahl.com.
Sylvia
Engdahl
I was reading through your site and noticed
this entry. I know this is going to be hard to believe,
but I'm sure that the poster who said that this was the book she
was thinking of was incorrect. The reason is that I have
read the book, and there is no scene where Elana (the heroine)
is "in a space capsule type thing doing psychic training".
However, Ms. Engdahl wrote a sequel, "The Far Side of Evil", in
which Elana does exactly this. She was captured by bad
guys and locked into a sensory deprivation tank as a form of
torture to break her will and make her confess. She used
the sensory deprivation effect to concentrate on her psychic
abilities and boost them enough to call for help. One of
the chapter heading pictures is of Elana, wearing a wetsuit and
suspended in the tank, which may be why the poster remembers it
so clearly. It's possible that the poster read both books
and condensed the memories together. You might email the poster
and tell them about the sequel so they can check it out.
Leonard Wibberly, Encounter Near Venus, 1967. A favorite of mine as well. Seems to be long out of print. The glowing balls of lights were called "lumens."
R17--This sounds sort of like Through
the
Hidden
Door by Rosemary Wells (the door of the
title is in the middle of a cave wall) but it's copyright date
is in the early '80s.
Thank you to the person who responded to my request for the
title of the book about the re-discovered
underground Roman city. Unfortunately, Through the Hidden
Door by Rosemary Wells is not the one!
I have been looking for the same book -- I'm
sure of it. I can supply further plot details. When
the children entered the cave, they soon came upon a pile of old
coins, which told them that they were at the bottom of the local
wishing well. They went further and found a subterranean
river, which led them to an underground city that still
maintained ancient Roman culture. The city was celebrating
Saturnalia at the time. They had various adventures and
eventually escaped from the city on a boat. One of the
boys set his luminous wristwatch to midnight, because they
didn't know what time it was and wanted to determine how far it
took to get from the city back to the mouth of the cave.
Can't remember how it all came out. This has been driving
me crazy for some time now.
In response to Question R17, I do know of a
book called The Green Bronze Mirror by Lynne
Ellison which is set in Britain and was published in
1966. Some children find a green bronze mirror on
the beach and are transported back to Roman times. I've
been looking out for this book for a long time but haven't
actually read it myself so not at all sure if this could be the
one but sending it anyway.
This one I am almost certain of, from Junior
Bookshelf July 1959 p.139: Capon, Paul The Cave
of Cornelius, illustrated by G. Whittam, 208 pages,
published by Heinemann, 1959 "Four children searching for a
lost treasure of the Romans which they believe to lie
somewhere in a cave near their home, stumble upon and into a
secret world beneath the earth which is inhabited by
descendants of the very Romans whose treasure they have been
seeking. These people, with their debased Latin and their
partly archaic and partly modern appurtenances, guard their
secret and their habitat rigorously from the upper earth.
Fortunately the children make contact with a contemporary who
has long been a prisoner and who has the aid of a "native"
girl. All escape by a complicated water and cave route which
brings them out eventually in Paris - via the catacombs - with
treasure and fame, leaving the secret of Sutteranea behind for
good."
THE CAVE OF CORNELIUS is
indeed the book. That was its original British title, and copies
of it are scarce indeed. WorldCat lists only the Library of
Congress as a holder in the US. It was reissued in 1969 by
Bobbs Merrill in the United States, and retitled THE END
OF THE TUNNEL, which is the title under which I
remember reading it. You should put this into the "solved
mysteries" category. THE CAVE OF CORNELIUS
is indeed the book. WorldCat lists 25
US libraries as holding this one.
Sounds like THE ENDLESS PAVEMENT
by Jacqueline Jackson and William Perlmutter, 1973.
Everyone moves around in "rollabouts" ~from a librarian
Jackson, Jacqueline, The Endless
Pavement, 1973.
"It's the future, the whole world is paved, everything is on
wheels and people are under the rule of the Great
Computermobile, until Josette with an apple take things into her
own hands." "Living in a time when people are the servants
of automobiles and ruled by the master auto of the planet,
Josette longs to leave her rollabout and try her legs."
Glasgow, The Endless Pavement, 1973. "It's the future, the whole world
is paved, everything is on wheels and people are under the rule
of the Great Computermobile, until Josette with an apple take
things into her own hands." "Living in a time when people
are the servants of automobiles and ruled by the master auto of
the planet, Josette longs to leave her rollabout and try her
legs."
Probably Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery, published London Longmans 1943, 313 pages "tells movingly f the reeducation of a Nazi trained boy as he learns the values of England's democratic way of life." "brings into a large and vivacious family a young boy who has been brought up in Nazi Germany, a member of the Hitler Youth. Max believes himself to be wholly German and goes through a bitter struggle to remain so. Little by little, helped by the family, especially by a wise older brother, an airman, he grows conscious of the higher plane of principle of a free people."
Condition Grades |
Savery, Constance. Enemy Brothers: A Story of World War II. Bethlehem Books, (1943), 2001. Re-issue trade paperback. New. $14 |
|
You're close, although proper spelling may not help you pronounce
it any better: Epaminondas. As far as I know,
there is no relation to the Helen Bannerman's India-inspired Little
Black Sambo, although it receives similar criticism for its
racist stereotypes and illustrations. Epaminondas
is a Southern folk tale with many versions and variations,
particularly in the oral tradition. There are several
printed versions, including authors Sara Cone Bryant, Constance
Egan, Eve Merriam, Mary Claire Pinckney and Cathy East Dubowski
dating from 1906, and often told in rebus or Gullah. I believe the
original published version is Sara Cone Bryant's Epaminondas
and His Auntie,1926, illustrated by Inez Hogan.
I've
got a paperback reissue from Buccaneer Books from 1976.
Sara Cone Bryant, Epaminondas and his
Auntie. The Sara
Cone Bryant version is online.
Condition Grades |
Bryant, Sara Cone. Epaminondas and His Auntie. Buccaneer Books, 1976. As new, paperback reissue. $15 |
|
Jan de Hartog, The Little Ark. This is a Dutch story about a flood, and
I do remember children being up in the belfry of a church.
Rumer Godden, An Episode of Sparrows, 1955. It could be this book. "In
post-war London, two street-tough children attempt to build a
hidden garden, an act that awakens hidden courage in the
children and profoundly disrupts the neighborhood." There's
something about a bombed-out church in it. I think that the copy
I had, a paperback published by Penguin around 1989, may have
had a cover similar to what you described. The cover of the most
recent edition isn't similar.
Rumer Godden, An Episode of Sparrows,
1955. I received the copy of the book I ordered from
you. The submitter was correct. This is the book I have
been looking for. I would still like a copy with the
illustrations as mentioned by the other submitter. Thank
you - your website is the greatest.
Condition Grades |
Godden, Rumer. An Episode of Sparrows. Viking, 1955, 1st printing. Blue and tan cloth, touches of soil; pages very good; no dj. G+ [WQ30345] <SOLD> |
|
More information - I now think that this book may be called Eric's
Girls and it is by Gladys Malvern. Anyone recognize
it or know where I could find it?
New Stumper: This book is set in New Amsterdam under Gov. Peter Stuyvesant, just before the British take over. Its the story of two English sisters, age 17 & 16, and their father. I forget how they end up there but they start a bakery and sell crumpets. The older sister falls in love with a British captain, while the younger one falls for the son of their Dutch landlady. At the end of the story, the British invade/lay siege and the colony becomes New York. I can't remember the names of any characters or the title. I thought it was written by Gladys Malvern but I can't find it in any list of her books. It had black and white illustrations. Thanks for your help!
N55 If it is Malvern it is prob Jonica's
Island. Another New Amsterdam onethat doesn't
sound right is: Leetch, Dorothy Lyman [Mrs.
Langford Wheaton Smith] Anneje and her family; the
story of a little girl of New Amsterdam
illus by L J Bridgman, Lothrop 1926. Dutch family in
New Amsterdam, New York - juvenile fiction
Thanks for the comments! I don't think it Jonica's
Island, as I believe that is about the founding of New
Amsterdam. Also Jonica is Dutch and the main characters in
the book I'm thinking of are definitely British and
teen-agers. Any other suggestions for possible authors,
who wrote juvenile historical fiction like Malvern?
SOLVED: Malvern, Gladys, Eric's Girls, 1949. I finally answered my own stumper! I searched lists of Gladys Malvern's books but never found this one til now, thanks to E-bay!
W70 ww2 pig: Well, it's not The Peppermint Pig, by Nina Bawden. It might be worth looking at Ernestine, the Pig in the Potting Shed, by Pauline Innis, illustrated by Tim Evans, published Washington, Luce 1963, 121 pages. "True story of a remarkable pig in Great Britain during WWII. While still a piglet, Ernestine was taken into the bosom of an all-female household." "Story of heroic British pig raised as part of the WW II war effort."
Ian Serrallier, Escape from Warsaw, 1966. Three Polish children whose
parents have been taken by the Nazis meet a boy named Jan in
bombed-out Warsaw. Together they try to survive and eventually
leave the city to search for the parents. Jan keeps everything
he owns in a small wooden box, including a sword-shaped paper
cutter he somehow acquired from the children's father. I think
the original title of the book was The Silver Sword.
P232 Serraillier, Ian
Escape from Warsaw [orig title: The silver
sword] illus by Erwin Hoffmann
Scholastic T385
Ian Serrallier, The Silver Sword. This has to be the one. My copy is from
Weekly Reader in the 60's. It has been issued under another
title. When you check this one out, be advised that there
are other 'Silver Sword' books, so make sure you check for the
author.
---
poland wartime 3 siblings (two girls, 1
boy), parents were taken away. Father was teacher. Daughter
set up school in basement, boy scavenges. There might be a
solder who leaves things for them. was read a young child by
person now 40 or so years old. Thank you for your help
Ian S????, Escape from
Warsaw. Early 1960s.Perhaps a Scholastic book club
book with a primarily red cover? Also known as the Silver
Sword?
Ian Serrallier, The Silver
Sword (aka Escape From Warsaw). The
Silver Sword was the original title of the book, but
it is now found under the other name. The three children meet a
boy who carries a silver paperweight in the shape of a sword
that had belonged to their father. Through it they are able to
trace their parents.
Serraillier, Ian, Escape from
Warsaw (aka The Silver Sword). I'm
sure you're remembering this wonderful book. Siblings
Ruth, Edek and Bronia are left alone in Warsaw as the Nazis
fight over the city. They meet a boy named Jan who has a
small silver sword-letter opener from their father. The
children survive in the rubble of Warsaw for a time - while Ruth
runs a small school - and then all four head across country for
Switzerland hoping to find their parents. This book has
been around forever, but it really stands the test of time.
Ian Serraillier, Escape from
Warsaw, 1968. Originally published at The Silver
Sword in 1959. This has to be the book being sought. Two sisters
and their brother escape when their parents are arrested over
the rooftops. They survive the war and take in a second
boy, named Ian. The brother disappears. The girls and Ian
end up in a refuge camp after the war is over, because Ian
trusts a soldier who is trying to make friend. At the refuge
camp, they manage to find their brother, who was in a
concentration camp. I think they end up finding their
father as well.
Household, Geoffrey, Escape Into
Daylight, 1976. I
only mention this because of the similarity of the title.
The details are a little different, though. According to one
review I saw, there are two children (Mike and Carrie) drugged
and kidnapped and are being held in an abandoned abbey.
They escape through an underground labyrinth, and there is
something about an underground river. Hope that helps.
Household, Geoffrey, Escape into
Daylight, 1976.
Taking a guess at this one - I did a few online searches. "In
danger of losing their lives, two kidnapped youngsters being
held in a ruined abbey make several desperate attempts to
escape." One reviewer wrote "The tension builds from the first
chapter and doesn't let up until the end, with the country lad
using his knowledge of nature to help them escape." It's two
children, not one, but they are underground and it is a British
author. The title was too similar not to at least mention it.
i posted this one, and i am so excited to have a response
already! i have ordered a copy of the book "escape into
daylight" and am waiting anxiously for it to get here to see if
it is indeed the book. you can't even guess at how many
different ways i tried doing a search for this book over the
years - i have no idea how i never found this book title since i
was so close to the right title! maybe when i searched for
"light" it wasnt pulling "daylight" - who knows! anyway, thanks
for the suggestion, it sounds promising, and i will let you know
as soon as i get it! :-)
Geoffrey Household, Escape Into Daylight. Thank
you so very much!! This is the book - I finally received my copy
- had to order it all the way to NY from Australia!! I can't
thank you all enough - this is a wonderful website. Thank you,
thank you!!!!!
Ethel Morton at Rose House
Written probably in 1910-1930 - with 1910-1920-ish probably being
the most likely in terms of style, setting, etc. (It was one of my
Mom's books (born 1923), but probably was a used book belonging to
older family member.) It could be one of those syndicate series
girls books of that era where they use some fake female name as
author.
Blank, Clair,
Adventure Girls series, 1920-1930, approximate.This might be an
Adventure Girl book. My mother had
one from her girlhood she gave me. The
girls had lots different adventures.
Mabell Shippie Clarke Smith, Ethel Morton at Rose House.
The whole book is available on Google Books, so it should be
quite easy to check. Furniture
making, Black Hand all fit--not sure about the illustrations
though.
Ethel Morton at Rose House. I sent this in previously as
an answer to I 157 but don't see it up--just wanted to make sure
it didn''t get lost!
Solved:
Mabell Shippie Clarke Smith,
Ethel Morton at Rose House, 1915. It's definitely
"Ethel Morton at Rose House" - thank you *so* much, whoever
solved this for me Black Hand, immigrant ladies, settlement
house, and United Service Club. It got a little complicated to
determine, because the public domain copy they *think* they have
at google books is mis-labeled it's *actually* a copy of
"Ethel Morton at Sweetbrier Lodge". (And sadly, they didn't
switch them they just have two copies of "Sweetbrier
Lodge." I reported it to them.) I located it at Project
Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15550/15550-h/15550-h.htm), although the copy they have up
does *not* have the original & copious furniture-making
illustrations of the version I had. However, I can be sure that
there *is* such a version out there somewhere - the other Ethel
Morton books I found at google do have the exact kindof thing I
had in mind. (In the style of many early books, I can't find an
illustrator credit.) Nonetheless, though I didn't get the
*instant* gratification of seeing the book w/ its many
illustrations, I can
read it now, and look for a good used copy online. Again, many
thanks to The Solver, and the folks at Loganberry. You are ace
book sleuths and providers
This sounds like E-TOOKA-SHOO,
THE COLD LITTLE ESKIMO BOY by Richard
Wilt.
More on the suggested title: Wilt,
RichardE-Tooka-Shoo, the Cold Little Eskimo Boy NY
Julian Messner
1941 unpaginated "Everyone knows that a
little Eskimo boy ought not be cold; but E-Tooka-Shoo was
cold. This story tells what he did about his problem. A funny,
original story with wonderful full-page blue & white
illustrations by the author."
Ivarson, Everyday Story Book. This is the book you're looking
for! There's the "Rainy Day Parade," "Mumpsy Goes to
Kindergarten," and the other stories. The dog hides the
little girl's dress-up shoes so she can't go to church, another
puppy goes into a vacant house and gets locked in for at least a
week, a kitten falls into a pond and gets rescued by the family
dog, and so on. Charming illustrations.
---
children's book....50's? Stories of children some with dog,
Jiggs, or Jiggsy dog hides shoe to keep little girl home from
Sunday School, pictures in soft colors, little girls socks match
their dresses (I think)
Ivarson, Everyday Story Book. This storybook has beautiful, soft-colored
illustrations. All of the stories feature little
animals. In one story, Jiggs the dog hides the little
girl's Sunday shoes so she can't go to church. Her socks
matched her dress.
---
I had a green book back in the
sixties with a bunch of short stories. One was about a
family going on a picnic then it rains, so they hike around the
house and end up in the attic. another was a dog that got
locked in a house and when he got out he licked the snow.
Ivarson, Signe, Everyday Story Book, 1948, copyright. This is
the book! The cover is a lightish-green with images of
children and pets and flowers going around in a circle.
The stories mentioned in the Stumper are "The
Make-Believe Picnic," and "Jiggers." Each story
is about a child, or children, and a pet kitten or puppy.
The other stories in the book are "Sally's Lost Shoe," "A New
Pet," "Teddy's Sailboat," "The Lost Teddy Bear," and "Mumpsy
Goes to Kindergarten."
This is the book exactly! I looked it up on the
web and I remember the cover. Thank you so much for
the information.
T11: This sounds unlikely, but on the
off chance: could this be a poem from an anthology called Silver
Pennies? It definitely had the line drawings,
and one of the poems goes, "Under a toadstool crept a wee elf, /
Out of the rain to shelter himself." The elf finally pulls
up the toadstool and flies off....: "and that's how
umbrellas first were invented".
Might it be Everything Under a
Mushroom, by Ruth Krauss? The
illustrations are plain, and mainly sepia and white. The
text is simple: Little one, Little two, Little cow, little
moo." That page shows two little children under a
mushroom, one pretending to be a cow. The rest of the book
is about the little children pretending to be all sorts of
things, under the mushroom.
#S148: Sci Fi Short Story
question--by neither Bradbury nor Asimov, this is "Examination
Day" by Henry Slesar. This question just
appeared on the Ray Bradbury board. One helpful poster
even sent in a link to anthologies containing the story, which
can be viewed at "Message Boards" under "Favorite Book/Story" at
www.raybradbury.com. Unfortunately, none of the books
containing it seem to be in print. So many "non-Bradbury"
inquiries have come in that I've been threatening to edit an
anthology of "Stories Mistakenly Attributed to Ray Bradbury."
With help from someone at a website, I
have located this
website listing anthols which have the Slesar
story Examination Day: 1.
The Playboy Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy,
Anonymous, 1966, Chicago, Illinois: Playboy Press, $0.95, hc, 2.
School and Society Through Science Fiction, Joseph D.
Olander+Martin H. Greenberg+Patricia S. Warrick, 1974, McNally,
tp 3. Inside Information, Abbe Mowshowitz,
1977, Addison-Wesley, LCC# 76-54429. 4. 100
Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories, Isaac
Asimov+Martin H. Greenberg+Joseph D. Olander, 1978, Doubleday,
hc
Exiles of Colsec
Read a book 12 or 13 years ago in
jr high. started out with a Scottish boy being woken up by the
computer because there was a problem and their pod wouldnt break
off the main ship. they crashed it, only a few prisoners
escaped, him, a girl with esp, and a crazy military guy, maybe
others. multiple books
Hill,
Douglas, Exiles of ColSec,
1986. I love this
trilogy, too! In the future, Earth is ruled by a repressive
government. Criminals and dissidents are exiled from Earth to
distant planets to form colonies, gathering resources that can
be exploited by Earth's government. One such group crashes on
the planet they are supposed to colonize, killing about half the
group. The surviving dissident teenagers, led by a young
Highlander, Cord MaKiy, struggle to survive. They learn that by
putting aside their differences and working together, they can
not only survive but thrive without help from the government.
They join with a group of colonists from other planets who have
a plan to gain their independence from Earth. The other
books in the series are The Caves of Klydor and ColSec Rebellion.
SOLVED: Douglas Hill, Exiles of Colsec.Thats the
one, thank you so much!!!
Ben Bova, The Exiles Trilogy. I was going to add more information about the books but the second comment came before I had a chance to. My grade 5 teacher read these books(except the first one) in 1982 so the publication dates and descriptions provided made me think that indeed these were the books but I wasn't 100% sure so I searched these titles for more description but haven't found much more detail. I have been trying to figure out the name of this trilogy for awhile and am thankful to the person who solved my stumper. This is an awesome website! I am looking forward to reading these books again.
Arthur C. Clarke, "History Lesson",
1953. This is the story. It has been widely anthologized,
and is included in Clarke's
story collection Expedition to Earth.
The story was written well before The Love Bug. I've
always thought it was probably a Mickey Mouse cartoon.
Arthur C. Clarke, Expedition To Earth, c. 1954. "Expedition To Earth" is a
short story available in an old Clarke anthology also called Expedition
To Earth. "Millions of times in the ages to
come those last few words would flash across the screen, and
none could ever guess their meaning: A Walt Disney Production."
Yes, it is History Lesson by Arthur C. Clarke.
Thank you! That story has haunted me for decades.
Now if we could only figure out what movie it was that they were
watching....
#S132--Shrinking boy rides seagull:
This is The Fabulous Flight, written and
illustrated by Robert Lawson, who I believe was the ONLY
person ever to win both the Newbery and Caldecott awards!
Robert Lawson, The Fabulous Flight,
1949. Well, I don't know how often this happens here, but I
actually solved my own mystery -- with a nudge in the right
direction from Karen Gold, a respondent on another forum. She
suggested that it sounded like a Robert Lawson story - which I
initially doubted. However, I went to the Library of Congress
online catalog and looked at the entries for him ... and there
it was! A quick story about this search. At one point, in
desperation I thought, "Well if I couldn't find it I
will have to write one like it for my grandkids." I wondered,
"What will I name the boy?" and came up with "Pepper" or
"Peter" but thought - "No - too common, been used." As
it turns out the boy in the found book is named Peter Peabody
Pepperell. Funny how memory works - even when you don't know
it.
Robert Lawson, The Fabulous Flight, 1949. Thanks to whomever sent the first
response - I didn't know that about Lawson but do remember some
other classic books & illustrations by him - Rabbit
Hill, Ben & Me, Ferdinand (another of my
favorites) and Pilgrims Progress.
---
a line drawing illustrated book about a boy the size of tom
thumb who flies on the back of bird with living quater straped
to the back of the bird. The book would have been printed some
where in the 1940s and 1950s. The books thickness was about an
inch or more. It was hard cover. One of the illustrations show a
man who cut his finger on a machine lathe.
Robert Lawson, The Fabulous Flight, 1949. This description sounds remarkably
like The Fabulous Flight a book I first read
years ago and just rediscovered in my library recently.
I also remember One of the inventions
the boy finds in the lab is a space flight sumulator
helmet. He puts on the helmet
and it's as if he's rocketing through
space. Also the bikers wore service caps. I think
the story starts out with the boy
proud of his new bicycle which has rear-view
mirrors. The only bicycle in town that is fancier is the
icecream cart.
I found two stories involving ice cream
carts. The Space Ship In The Park by Louis
Slobodkin, 167 pgs., Macmillan, 1972. "Two boys
blast off in a space ship disguised as an ice cream cart to help
their friend from the planet Martinea search for a new souce of
Secret Power Z." Also, The Wonderful Ice Cream Cart
by Alice Rogers Hager, 149 pgs., Macmillan, 1955 -
sorry, no description.
This sounds like it might be a Danny
Dunn book--have you checked that series?
Here's a description for The
Wonderful Ice Cream Cart: "Adventure of Jerry
and Jean Pierre set in Brussells, Belgium where they try to help
their Papa Goncourt who is ill, work his ice cream business from
a cart pulled by Bobo, the little horse."
THE SPACE SHIP IN THE PARK would be too new. I Know
Danny Dunn and it's not him. The WONDERFUL ICE CREAM CART comes
from the right decade.
It cannot be The Wonderful Ice Cream
Cart. I own a copy and there aren't any
motorcycle gangs. Also, Papa Goncourt is not an inventor.
Glen Dines, The Fabulous
Flying Bicycle Is this the one where the ice
cream man (I remember the scene where the kids notice he's
coasting uphill) looks a lot like Lincoln, and has invented a
very strong invisible material? The two boys build a ramp
out of it and do a "flying bicycle" act. There was
something about "amazing/fabulous/incredible? flying bicycle" in
the title, and a Bibliofind search on this turned up the Dines
book.
Glen Dines, The Fabulous Flying
Bicycle. I
think you've found it ! Your description brings back
memories.
Elisabeth Ogilvie, Fabulous
Year,1958. I believe this is the book you are
looking for "It is the sequel to Blueberry Summer, and
describes Cass Phillips' senior year in highschool: what happens
after her summer of self-discovery and the realization of her
potential. The Fabulous Year addresses issues we all dealt with
at that age: self-esteem, peer pressure, the desire to be "in
with the in crowd", loyalty in friendship and romance (yes, Adam
Ross is in this book, too!) and some other, more unusual topics.
Cass is neither rebel nor goody-goody, but makes her own
decisions by being true to her values: a victory sometimes
hard-won."
Elisabeth Ogilvie, The Fabulous Year.
1958. I'm sure that is the one! This is a GREAT website.
It is amazing that the books can be located with so little
infomration. How Cool! I enjoy reading what others say about
the books I loved so much when I was a child.
Hoke, Helen, Factory Kitty, 1949. This was also anthologized in the
Best in Children's Books series, Volume 23, 1959.
Jonathan Miller and David Pelham, The
Facts
Of
Life, 1984. Six
accurately detailed, movable three-dimensional models and dozens
of instructive drawings accompany a text that explains the
process of human reproduction from the moment of conception
through birth.
Thank you so much! This is definitely the
book. I recommend it to everyone. It might be weird, but I
remember loving to look through the book as a child.
Elizabeth Janet Gray, The Fair
Adventure.
Definitely this book. The character is Serena Page
MacNeil.
Elizabeth Janet Gray, The Fair
Adventure, 1940s.
Serena Page Macneil is the youngest of the MacNeils. She's
always outdone by her older siblings. She graduates the day her
sister returns from Panama she's in a play the day of her
sister's marriage.
I found the book on your site last night; it is Fair Bay
by Eleanor Frances Lattimore. I am so thrilled to have
found it and I ordered it online last night. I have been
looking for this book for YEARS. Thank you so much!
Eleanor Frances Lattimore, Fair Bay, 1958. Shivers down my spine...I'm not
*sure* it's the same book, but the description is very similar
to a story that haunted my childhood, but which I've never
found, except very expensively online. Here's a brief
description from a Google search: "A little girl goes to
visit her great-aunt on the South Carolina coast and one
morning, when she goes for an early horseback ride, she
discovers that the island, a summer home before a disastrous
hurricane, is just as it was sixty years ago." What I
remember is that she (I believe her name is Christine, like her
great-aunt who had been on the island during the hurricane)
basically goes back in time, and there is some mystery about a
lost music box that had belonged to the aunt as a girl (? and
was lost in the hurricane, but this girl finds it?). I also seem
to remember the houses being "on stilts", i.e., built up one
story the way homes are still often built on the Carolina coast,
in case of flooding. Good hunting!
Thank you! Yes! Fair Bay is certainly the book I am
looking for--though I didn't say so in my orginal post, I was
pretty certain the book had a Southern setting, which increased
my affinity for it as a child. Yes, there was something very
haunting about Fair Bay the feeling exists to this
day even though it's been 40 years since I read it. This is a
fabulous website--thanks for solving my mystery!!!
THE FAIRLY SCARY ADVENTURE BOOK
by William Attwood, 1969. Wonderful fun, short
cliffhanger chapters. There's the toothless tiger (lost his
teeth trying to eat an iron lawn-ornament deer). The witch is
out to get them, at one point they go through a village in which
the villagers can only see purple (they have to ditch purple
sneakers, the girl has to close her purple eyes, and they are
detected when the monkey sticks out his purple tongue!) Very
hard to find though.
Wow! That's absolutely the one! Thank you so much!
Now I guess the trick is actually finding the book itself!
---
All I remember is a girl and a boy on an airplane. They
are looking for the bathroom and fall (?) out of the airplane
where they end up in a magic forest, meet up with many strange
creatures and eventually defeat some wicked witch (?) and go
home. The details I remember most vividly is that they
make friends with a tiger without any teeth (they make dentures
for him out of shards of broken china) and they encounter a
village where the inhabitants can only see the color purple, so
everyone is invisible except the girl, who has purple eyes and
has to keep her eyes closed. Any help you can give me on
tracking down this book would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
A103: I knew this sounded familiar though
I'd never read it - in the Solved Mysteries, it's listed as the
Fairly Scary Adventure Book by William Atwood,
1969!
A103 I answered this one for you before and
so it's on your solved stumpers page. It was a title that
stumped me
back in 1994, and I had a hard time tracking
it down. It's the FAIRLY SCARY ADVENTURE BOOK. At
the time when I first posted the answer, it was hard to find (I
had a book search service look for it for a year with no luck,
and one day I walked into a used bookstore and found a like-new
copy. Serendipity!) But it might not be so hard to find a copy
on the internet today. ~from a librarian
Hello, I sent in to book stumper the
query below and I believe the correct answer is Elizabeth
(found it on your site under keywords "Elizabeth" &
"doll"). Can you tell me who the author is and if I can
purchase it from you? I'd be so grateful if you can help
me out; I've been wanting to read that story again for 30
years now.
aren't you speedy and resourceful? Looks like the Solved
Mysteries identifies this as Elizabeth by Liesel
Skorpen, ill. by Martha Alexander, 1970. I'll
ask Rebecca to search for a copy for you and see what she can
find...
Rumer Godden, The Fairy Doll. The original description sure sounds exactly
like The Fairy Doll- down to the sister named
Josie and the multiplication tables. If Elizabeth
doesn't turn out to be the book the poster is looking for I
suggest she check out The Fairy Doll. It
was the answer for another recent stumper as well.
Godden, Rumer(author), Adrienne
Adams (illustrator), The Fairy Doll,
1956. I'm afraid that Elizabeth by Liesel Skorpen may not
be the book you're searching for. May I suggest The
Fairy Doll by Rumer Godden instead?
Here's an online synopsis: "THE FAIRY DOLL had been with the
family for a very long time. It was Great grandmothers idea to
give her to Elizabeth, the youngest child, who was always in
trouble for being naughty or clumsy. Elizabeth was always late,
always untidy, she couldn't ride a bicycle or remember a
shopping list, and the other children teased her and ignored
her. But with the Fairy Doll to help, she found that gradually
she could do all these things, and more. Could it be
magic?" See Stumper F214 for more information.
Rumer Godden, The Fairy Doll. You have E84 solved as "Elizabeth",
but unless that's an alternative title, it sounds more like The
Fairy Doll to me, especially the part about having
trouble with multiplication tables.
Wow, you stumper magicians are something else. I wondered if
Elizabeth was correct, but I figured if the
requester was so certain, then it must be! However, closer
examination is indeed in order, and I agree with contention that
this is The Fairy Doll. Thanks for your
diligence and attention.
A313 is NOT animal parade by
Gates and Brown - if that's any help
Animal Story Parade 1951 This
may be the one you're thinking of. Did the cover have a
fawn on it?
Enid Blyton, The Fairy Kitten. You might try looking at Enid Blyton's
books. She has a story called "The Fairy Kitten" about a
pussy willow that turns into a little grey kitten. She also has
a story called "Pippi the Little Panther," though I'm not sure
if that involves the panther being trapped in a house by some
boys. I don't know if she has any stories about a Pekingese, but
she did write a lot of stories about dogs (and other
animals). There are many collections of her stories
available. Hope this helps.
Fairy Kittens by Jack or John
Ernest Bechdolt and Decie Merwin, Oxford University
Press(1947). Here's a description from unsolved stumper
P11: "Girl buys pussywillows from a man in the park, who tells
her they're "fairy kittens." During the night they turn into
tiny little kittens that are rather naughty." Not a common
title for sale, so you might try obtaining it through
interlibrary loan to ascertain whether this is the story
sought. It may have been printed in an anthology at some
point, but I've had no luck searching for one.
#A54--Anthology of Fairy Tales: The
story about the girl with the three dresses sounds like Perrault's
Donkey Skin. It is much rarer and harder to
find than the other tales mentioned, and may serve as a good
clue to identifying the book.
tr. Marie Ponsot, ill. Adrienne
Segur, The Fairy Tale Book, 1958. I'm
almost sure this is the book referred to. You identified it
yourself in your answer to A27 - the giveaway is the rich,
beatifully detailed illustrations. Story number 3 in the book is
Donkey Skin. The three dresses are a sun-coloured dress,
a moon-coloured dress, and a weather-coloured dress. Your page
is the best thing on the internet -- I feel like I've died and
gone to heaven!
I must say I have many requests for this
one, and it's very difficult to find. I do know it's a
large Golden Book
---
The book I remember was a tall hardcover
with beautiful illustrations of fairytales. I'm not sure
of the stories, maybe "Puss in Boots." There were
several different fairytales, but I remember the illustrations
the most, there were a lot of pictures of birds in the woods
and wearing jewels and crowns the artwork was very richly
colored and detailed. I remember a child's face with
birds around him/her in the snow. This book was probably
published before 1960. I remember it from 1965 to
1970. Then it got sold in a yard sale. I know it's
not much to go on but if you have suggestions they'd be most
welcome.
I think this book may just be called The
Fairy Tale Book-my copy is pub. 1966 but is 7th ed.
A larger thin hardback with beautiful illustrations by Adrienne
Segur. Pub was Golden in New York City. Lots of great
fairy tales including Puss in boots.
---
This is a fairy tale book I owned as a
child (back in the late '50's), and haven't seen in
decades. It include two stories I haven't been able to
find anywhere -- "Donkeyskin" and "Green Snake". Can you
tell me the title -- and how about how to find a copy?
Thanks!
At the risk of dragging this book out every
time someone mentions fairy tales, could this too be The
Fairy Tale Book illustrated by Adrienne Segur?
It contains both Donkey Skin and Green Snake.
Published by Golden Press, translated by Marie Ponsot.
translated by Marie Ponsot, The
Golden
Book of fairy tales illustrated by Adrienne
Segur.I also had this book as a child - its recently been
re-printed. List of stories: The sleeping
beauty, The frog princess, Donkey-skin, Kuzma and
the fox, Puss in boots, Thumbelina, Green snake,
The tinder box, Cinderella, Kip the enchanted cat, Grace and
Derek, Urashima and the turtle, Thumbkin, The wild swans, Hans
and the striped cat, Little Red Riding Hood, The white
deer, Beauty and the beast, Silvershod, Queen cat, Cowlick
Ricky, The seven crow princes, Bluecrest, The royal ram,
Bright Deardeer and Kit, Dawn the golden haired, Finn the keen
falcon, Fairies.
---
I am looking for a children's book with a purple cover...
it was about 9 inches by 11 inches with a shiny cover. it
is a compilation of fairytales that I received as a gift in the
late 1950's-early 1960's. One of the stories was Puss n'
Boots. The illustrations in the book were large
page-size, very colorful and beautifully drawn.
I have the correct book, I believe. The
title is The Fairy Tale Book: A Selection of
Twenty-Eight Traditional Stories from the French, German,
Danish, Russian, and Japanese by Hans Christian Anderson, The
Brothers Grimm, Madame d'Aulnoy, Madame Leprince de Beaumont,
Madame la Comtesse de Segur and Charles Perrault.
Translated by Marie Ponsot. Illustrations by Adrienne
Segur. New York: Golden Press, Copyright
1958 by Writers and Artists Press, Inc. and Simon And Schuster,
Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. by Western Printing and Lithographing
Company. The book has a purple cover with the illustration
from the tale of The Seven Crow Princes on the front. A blond,
blue-eyed girl is looking over a root into a tea party of crows
wearing crowns with a dwarf and a squirrel. The book is oversize
originally with a shiny cover. mine is peeling off. The cover
also says A DELUXE GOLDEN BOOK. Puss n' Boots is indeed included
with a beautiful illustration. The best news is that this
book was reprinted in the last 10 years and I purchased two
copies at Barnes and Noble. They are at school, so I can't give
you their copy info yet. I grew up getting this book out
of the public library, whose Bookmobile made a stop at our small
school. We would fight over who got to have it next. The
illustrations are extraordinary, especially for books of that
time. When I look at them, I connect to the child I was reveling
in them. First I found a battered garage sale copy from a friend
years ago (the one I'm using to give the above info) and then
bought those new copies a few years back. I kept badgering
Children's Press representatives to keep an eye out for it over
the years. One day, I walked into a bookstore and magically
there it was! My child self was delighted!
Yes, it is back in print. What a
relief.
Condition Grades |
Ponsot, Marie, trans. The Golden Book of Fairy Tales. Illustrated by Adrienne Segur. NY: Golden Books, 1958, 1999. New hardback edition, $19.99 |
|
Just in case this is useful, here are two stories featuring giant
turnips: Morey Sheena. The Old Man and the Turnip.
Illustrated by Dorothea Mathieu. John Martin's House, 1948. Parkinson,
Kathy. The Enormous Turnip. Albert Whitman
& Co., 1986. First edition. A Russian folktale retold
featuring Grandfather Ivan and his enormous turnip that took
Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, Olga, puppy, kitten, mouse and
beetle to tug out of the ground. There is also a story called "The
Turnip" included in Fairy Tales and Fables,
Edited by Eve Morel, Illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa,
NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 1970. See the Anthology Finder for an image
of this book (could be the one!).
That's not it but thanks for trying to help. :)
This actually has an ORANGE cover and a
WHITE spine, but it's worth checking out - THE FAIRY TALE
TREASURY
SELECTED BY VIRGINIA HAVILAND,
ILLUSTRATED BY RAYMOND BRIGGS. PUBLISHED BY HAMISH
HAMILTON, 1972. Puss-in-Boots dominates the cover and I
definitely remember the turnip story. There are two or three
stories in it that, chances are, most of us
never heard of, such as a (Russian?) story about a boy kidnapped
by a fox and a tar-baby story where Brer Fox is an elephant.
Other stories (there are 32 in all) are Cinderella, Tom Thumb,
Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, & Little Red Riding
Hood. (Check out Briggs' illustrations of Goldilocks - those who
have
accused him of misogyny in his books may be
right, but in her case the pictures make sense!)
Ding! Ding! Ding! Bells rang as soon as I
read "Raymond Briggs". Found a picture of the cover and that's
the one. Thank-you so much!
illus Jessie Wilcox Smith, A
Child's Book of Stories, reprinted 1986.
This book has 86 stories and most of the ones you listed are in
it. Some of the more unusual stories that might jog your
memory are: Hercules and the wagoner, History of little
golden hood, I don't care, Little thumb, Little Totty, Mr.
Miacca Nose, Six comrades, Snowdrop, So-so, Story of Mr.
Vinegar, Selfish sparrow and the houseless crows, Tired of
being a girl, Tom Tit Tat, Unseen giant, White cat, Why?, Why
the bear is stumpy-tailed, and Yellow dwarf.
Terry Jones, Fairy Tales, 1981.
Bridget Hadaway (retold), Fairy Tales,
1974/1982/1985/1987. This is the book! Memory a
little foggy, but this is it and it has aladdin on the cover
with his genie coming out of the lamp, it's approx 304pp and has
28 stories.
---
I have an old book of fairy and folk tales that is
missing its cover and first few pages. I would like to get a
nicer copy but I dont know the title, editor or illustrators.
It is 12 inches tall and 8.5 inches wide, is 304pp long and had
beige linen style covers, the back cover has a picture of
Dorothy and the Scarecrow (from Oz) in brown. It has
beautiful watercolor (I think) illustrations on every page. Some
of the stories include: Jack and the Beanstalk; Little Red
Riding Hood; Hansel & Gretel; Ali Baba; The Magic
Kettle, Cinderella, snow White; The Goosegirl; Puss in boots;
The Wonderful Tarbaby; The Little mermaid; The Firebird;
and many others. (Fifty in all I think.) If anyone can help me
figure this out I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!
I am looking for the SAME book! I
just subnitted in a bookstumper. The cover was blue/purple
with a fairy on it with glitter trail behind her. My book
fell apart too and all I have left are a couple of
stories. The book also had "the red shoes" "the coal the
straw and the bean" the fisherman's wife, bluebeard,
rumplestiltzskin, the elves and the shoemaker, and the little
match girl, the princess and the pea, and probably some
more! I know there was a story about a pig and a pancake.
Bridget Hadaway (retold), Fairy
Tales. 1982/1985/1987. This is
DEFINATELY the book we are looking for! I just found it
today, the day I found this request! funny, huh? I
ordered the book, but the guy described it to me and it's
exactly what you are describing. Your description actually
helped me to find it. They have a bunch with different
publication dates, but all the same book. I got the
publication of 1987, although I am pretty sure the 1985 one is
the one I had. Well see when it gets here. I hope
this helps, I know there are a million fairy tale books out
there and it's almost impossible to find something without an
author or illustrator! the Cover of this book has aladdin
and his lamp with the Genie coming out, with a trail behind him,
does that sound familiar? the book is purple and blue and
the back inside cover has the wizard of Oz characters (so the
seller told me) which just may be a different edition than the
one you have. I hope this helps!
Hadaway, Fairy Tales. I am so pleased that
someone figured out my stumper! It has been a year since I
submitted it and hadn't checked it in months. What a surprise
when I couldn't find it on the unsolved pages! I must have the
1974 edition because the back cover that I have is definitely
NOT purple :). I can't wait to get a better copy for my
daughters. Thank you so much!
---
This book is a large hardback collection
of fairy tales that I had as a child in the late 1970's. I
don't know much about the book other than that it may have
been a collection of Hans Christian Andersen tales because it
was lavishly illustrated and I remember in particular the
illustrations from The Little Mermaid. I seem to recall the
paper cover on the text was a purple color and had an
illustration of a young girl and old woman on it (reminiscent
of Cinderella) although Andersen didn't write that tale, so
that is what has me confused. The book was about 1 inch thick
or so, and had very detailed color illustrations throughout. I
would imagine the copyright was in the 1970's because my mom
wouldn't have had the money to buy a book that was out of
print at the time she bought it for me. I would appreciate any
suggestion anyone can give me to help me find this book!
Hadaway, Bridget, Fairy Tales, 1974. This sounds a lot like the stumper I
submitted a while ago. My solution turned out to be Fairy
Tales by Hadaway. My copy has a dust jacket that has
a lot of purple, showing a young girl seated while an older
woman with a wand is standing behind her. It is an illustration
used for Cinderella later in the book. The poster can check the
solved mysteries page (under "Fairy Tales") for more details.
It IS the Bridget Hadaway book!! I confirmed this because
someone is selling it on ebay right now and has pictures of the
1974 edition (don't tell anyone; I hope to be the high
bidder!) I just want to thank you so much for your site.
What an invaluable service you provide!! I plan to be a regular
visitor to the site, and I've already told others about it as
well.
---
collected edition of fairy tales: off white cover hard
back had several stories the ones that i remember are tar
baby, emperor's new clothes and rapunzel. it
was done by the same people that made the childrens bible of
that same year. i wish i could tell you more but i have racked
my brain! it seems like it had a longer title than the one
above.
This might be the 70's version of The
Better Homes and Garden Story Book.
A29: I am thinking this might be Young
Years, Best Loved Stories and Poems for Little
Children. The cover is off white with a lot of fairy
tale characters on the front and back. The book does
include the three stories
mentioned. The reason I bought it is
it has the REAL Billy Goats Gruff story where the Big Billy Goat
Gruff tells the troll, "I'll poke your eyeballs out your
ears!" And the story ends with "Snip, snap, snout.
This tale's told out." This book was published by Parents'
Magazine Press, Copyright MCMLX. [1960.]
Bridget Hadaway (retold), Fairy
Tales, 1982/1985/1987. This book sounds like
what you are looking for, a collection of 50 fairy tales, all
color illustrations, wizard of oz characters on back cover,
aladdin on the front cover with lamp and genie.
304pp. editions printed by cathaway publishing (82)
crescent publishing (85) and gallery books (87).
published by Parents Magazine Enterprises
for Playmore, Inc. NY NY, Best Loved Fairy Tales,
including Mother Goose Selections, 1963. The title of this
one is deceptive as I dont think there is anything of Mother
Goose in it. My copy is the 1974 edition and it says
that it was originally published as Vol. 3 - Young Years
Library, Copyright MCMLXIII. The cover is red cloth
with a color picture on paper glued to it from front to
back. The picture on the cover is overshadowed by a
gray-toned swirl which is, I believe, Aladdins genie, and the
picture appears to be projected from a book held by a boy.
The stories included are: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp ~
Cinderella, or the Glass Slipper ~ Beauty and the Beast ~
Sleeping Beauty ~ Rumpelstiltskin ~ Puss In Boots ~ Whittington
and his Cat ~ The Real Princess [a.k.a. Princess and the Pea] ~
The Tinderbox ~ Jack and the Beanstalk ~ The Shoemaker and the
Elves ~ The Elves and the Changeling ~ The Servant Maid and the
Elves ~ The Wonderful Tar Baby Story ~ The History of Tom Thumb
~ Jack the Giant Killer [a.k.a. The Little Tailor] ~ The Husband
Who Was to Mind the House ~ The Emperors New Clothes ~ Bremen
Town Musicians ~ Hansel and Gretel ~ Snow White ~ Ugly Duckling
~ Steadfast Tin Soldier ~ Rapunzel ~ Why the Sea Is Salt ~ The
Alligator and the Jackal ~ How the Raven Helped Men ~ The Frog
Prince ~ Pinocchios First Adventures ~ A Mad Tea Party [excerpt
from Alice In Wonderland] ~ The Little Gnome [a poem] So, I
would have to concur with the second contributor except I don't
think the Billy Goats Gruff made it into my edition. The
stories do appear to be very real/true to the original
version some are darkly humorous and the book is peppered
with a great deal of archaic language. (See also C101)
This could be The Golden Treasury of
Children's Literature-71 stories edited and selected
by Bryna and Louis Untermeyer. Copyright dates starting
in 1947-my copy is 1966. Your three stories are in this large
volume.
retold by Bridget Hadaway
Illustrated by Jean Atcheson, Fairy Tales.
This book had all the stories you mentioned. The
writer/illustrator had a children's bible at the same time.
Bridget Hadaway, Fairy Tales. This sounds like the Hadaway book, see solved
mystery pages for more details. I looked for this one for years
too, the illustrations are marvelous.
Bridget Hadaway, Fairy Tales, 1974. Thankyou so
much! It was Bridget Hadaway, I was able to see a copy that had
been sold on ebay and it was the same cover I remember as a
child. Thankyou! I have ordered a copy and can't wait to get it.
What a great service!
----------------------------------------------
Looking for hardback anthology
of bedtime/fairy, late 70s to 80s. I think it had a blue cover,
maybe with a princess on the front. It included Rumpelstiltskin,
The Red Shoes, The Emperor's New Clothes, Bluebeard, The Tinder
Box & Little Match Girl. Beautiful colour illustrations.
Help!
Hadaway, Bridget, Fairy
Tales. This
may be the book. It has all the stories listed and is full of
illustrations. There is more information on the solved mystery
pages.
Hans
Christian Andersen, Andersen's
Fairy Tales, 1945. This blue colored book of fairy tales
has beautiful illustrations by Arthur Szyk including a cover
picture of the Emperor. The first of a set of two books, the
other being a red colored book of Grimm's Fairy Tales,
illustrated by Fritz Kredel. Hope this is it. A favorite
childhood book of mine.
SOLVED: Bridget
Hadaway, Fairy Tales.
Yes, it's the Hadaway book! Thank you so much.
Lynne Reid Banks, The Fairy Rebel,1985, copyright. Bindi is the girl with blue in
her hair, but she's actually the daughter of the main character
and isn't born until the second half of the book. Every
year she gets magic birthday presents from a fairy.
Lynne Reid Banks, The Fairy
Rebel,1988. A fairy disobeys the Queen's rules about
contact with humans to help a couple have a baby. The baby girl
has a small streak of blue hair due to some confusion on how she
should look. Each year the fairy sends the girl a special
birthday present, until she is ten years old. Then the fairy
Queen finds out and sends a present that gets her into trouble.
Lynne Reid Banks, The Fairy
Rebel. Definitely what you are looking for- has the
fairy, the patch of colored hair, the return on birthdays, and
so on.
Lynn Reid Banks, The Fairy
Rebel,1995."A rebellious fairy named Tiki, already
in trouble for breaking the rule against wearing jeans, risks
the further wrath of the Fairy Queen by trying to fulfill a
human's special request for help." The human child that results
from Tiki's friendship has blue hair and a yearly wish...
Lynne Reid Banks, The Fairy
Rebel. This is what you're looking for.
Kincaid, Kincaids book of Witches,
Goblins, Ogres and Fantasy, 1980. This story is similar to one in this
collections of fairy tales that I have. The theme is the same,
but the circumstances are a little different. The name of the
story as it appears in my book is The Giant Stones,
and there are 3 main characters, a poor shepherd boy, a greedy
wizard, and a furry eared fairy-child. Perhaps you can do some
reasearch based on the title to find the copy you are looking
for.
Barbara Ker Wilson, Fairy Tales of France. The
poster who suggested I search "Giant Stones" inadvertently led
me to the correct book, which had a story with the word "giant"
and a story with the word "stones" in the title! The
"Stones" story is the one I remember. This one has finally
been solved.
F29 - A Fairy to Stay - Irene
Mossop - 1930s I think
A Fairy to Stay by Margaret
Beatrice
Lodge, illustrated by A.H. Watson, Oxford University
Press, 1929 8vo, illustrated with one color plate, plus 8
full-page plates in brown line on cream background, and with
pictorial
endpapers in the style of Rackham.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am looking for a book that I read at my
aunt's house in the mid-1950's. She told me it had been
hers when she was a child, and so it probably dates from
the 1920's, if not earlier (I had not then learned to look for
edition information). The story concerned a lonely girl
(orphaned? temporarily left?) living with some unsympathetic
female relatives (I think, two aunts). The girl is befriended
by a fairy that lives in the garden. The two go on some
magical adventures, but the scene I remember most is when the
fairy shows the girl that "magic" can also be a point of
view. To illustrate, the fairy points out that a flower
is as big to her as a tree is to the girl, and so the girl can
do just as the fairy does, in her own, human, world. The
book was a narrative, perhaps 200 pages, with a few color
plates. One of these showed a strikingly beautiful,
dark-haired queen or sorceress (my memory tells me she was not
nice), clothed in flames. It was a disturbing, swirling,
art-nouveau-ish picture in red and orange. I realize
that this is very little to go on, but I am hopeful that you
or some of your readers can help me find a book that has been
eluding me for half a century! By the way, it is neither
Joan in Flowerland, nor Alcott's Flower Fables.
Margaret Beatrice Lodge, A Fairy To Stay, 1928 Oxford University Press. I sent in the original query, and finally found the book -- the old-fashioned way, in a used book store! All is as I remembered (it was two unpleasant aunts), except no color plates. Illustrations (by A.H. Watson) in sepia only. Perhaps my memory imported the color illustrations from a different story?
_____
There is a book titled The Fairy Who Wouldn't Fly by Pixie O'Harris published by Marchant in 1952. I have no idea if this is the book in question, but the title and time are right.
Faith and Freedom Readers.
These
Faith and Freedom Readers were for grades 1 and up with titles
like This is Our Town, This is Our Valley, These are Our
Neighbors etc. They start out with David and
Ann and family. The higher level books also feature other
stories.
Faith and Freedom Readers,
1950s. Just based on web research (Catholic homeschool
sites) and eBay browsing, I would
suggest looking at the Faith & Freedom
Readers series. In particular, the pre-primer (Here
We Come, This is Our Home, Here We Are Again) and
primers (This is Our Family This Are Our Friends).
The
Seton Home Study School website has samples (reprints, I
believe) online under "Curriculum/Grade 1 Booklist" (although
they don't identify them by series
name--look under the individual
titles). The originals (?) seem to turn up pretty
frequently on eBay try searching "Faith and Freedom" and
any combination of "Ann" "David" "Catholic" "readers" "primers"
etc. (These works are a different series than the
Cathedral Editions of Scott Foresman's classic Dick, Jane, and
Sally, in which the characters are John, Jean, and Judy.)
C171 Sister Mary M Marguerite; Sister M
Bernarda. This is our family. Illus by Hazel
Hoecker; Catherine Scholz; Ralph Shepherd. Ginn, 1961.
revised edition. Cover picture is family raking leaves.
Faith and Freedom Basic Readers.
Fallen Dragon
Book a boy who meets girl and he
falls for her. He discovers his father had hired girl to
be his girlfriend. In a rage, he enlists in
military. Something to do with software he has been able
to attain - maybe encryption. At the end, he travels back
in time to be with girl again.
Anabel Johnson, The Danger Quotient, 1974. This could be The Danger
Quotient or A Memory of Dragons, both by Johnson. Neither is
a perfect fit, but both are kind of close.
SOLVED: Peter F.
Hamilton, Fallen Dragon,
2002. Found it!
Thanks - great site.
Stein, Sara Bonnett, A Family
Dollhouse, 1979.
I loved this book too! It was distinct from most of the
other dollhouse books because it focused on plans for a
dollhouse that you could really play with - not one with
delicate, breakable furniture that was mostly for display.
It includes instructions for making dolls out of chamois,
building the house and furniture out of sturdy materials, making
textiles, and so on. For the photos of the "secret" room,
the author has posed two toy frogs playing checkers. My
local library still has a copy - I hope yours does, too!
Stein, Sara Bonnett, A Family Dollhouse. I want
to thank you with all my heart whoever solved this for me...I
have NO doubt this is the book...that is exactly it- the frogs
playing checkers!!! Thank you for letting me know it should
still be in libraries and I will be going to check it out- this
means so much to me!! Lots of memories...I got tears in my eyes
reading your description...thank you for your time!!!!!!
This is a wonderful site!
"Maggie in Boston" vaguely reminded me of a
book I'd read, which I learned of during the 20th anniversary
year of "The Mickey Mouse Club," when the shows were rerun (over
30 YEARS ago--WOW!). I read several of the books on which
some of the serials were based. Margaret, by Janette
Sebring Lowrey, was the basis of the "Annette"
serial. I found a good summary online: "Even after
Margaret was settled in Uncle Archies home in Ashford, her
thoughts kept taking her back to Nichols Station--to Bonnie, to
P. A., and Michael--to the little Texas town in which she was
sure she would find again all that she knew and loved. She
realized she was supposed to be happy that shed finally been
discovered by her relatives, after the many years of
orphanhood--but it seemed to her that Bonnie and P.A. had been
all the folks she needed, and although it had been a dull and
simple existence, it had been a safe one. In the lazy
little village she had been reasonably sure what to expect of
each day. But here in Ashford, where a complicated pattern
of social activities set her dizzy with its busy pace, each day
was a new occasion for fear. For when you are an awkward
country girl, your voice and your shyness give you away even if
you do have beautiful new clothes and an Uncle Archie who is one
of the most highly respected men in the town. Or so it
seemed to Margaret. This is the story of Margarets life
in Ashford--of her struggle to gain poise and confidence in
herself, even when a jealous person like the pretty flirt, Laura
Rogan, tried to make her appear a thief. The popular Laura
was no easy opponent for a quiet country girl, but fear of
disappointing her new friends--and especially her Uncle
Archie--made Margaret stand by her convictions, helped her to
outgrow her feelings of insecurity, and, after bitter lessons
learned in the terrifying atmosphere of the sophisticated town,
showed her beyond any doubt that her real home was in
Ashford." And the Internet Movie
Database listing for the serial: "Annette stars as a
simple orphan coming from a small country farm to the
upper-class suburbs so she can live with an aunt and uncle she
hasn't seen in years. At first, she's excited to finally
have a solid home. Her aunt takes her shopping and gives
her a new look, while her uncle makes her school plans ready,
and the house maid babies her no end. But it's the other
kids in town that at last give Annette something to worry
about. Some are snobs, some are obnoxious, and the ones
she does get along with are the sort of people her aunt believes
are beneath her. With a new crush on the popular boy in
school, Annette becomes the target of his jealous
girlfriend. Her life may never be simple again."
That doesn't sound quite right. I'm
almost positive this book was set somewhere in the Northeast
and there definitely was a scene on an ice skating pond.
I just read this one!! A Family
for Sarah Ann by Polly Curran. It takes
place on Beacon Hill- at one point they ride the swan boats. All
your elements are here.Cute story!
A Family for Sarah Ann was a
match.
Margaret Trist, Morning in
Queensland. I
have not read the book, but I know that the author is
Australian, that the book was for young people, that one of the
characters was called Tansy, and that there was at least one
sequel. So perhaps a possibility.
Anne de Roo, Scrub Fire, etc. Another possibility that comes to
mind. She was an Australian author, whose books tended to be set
in the countryside, and one of her books was called Cinnamon
and Nutmeg - I am not sure whether these were names
of people or animals, but could suggest a 'herbal' naming
tendency!
It is not Morning in Queensland, and the only book I
could find by Anne De Roo was Scrub Fire, which is not
old enough.
I think this is Barbara Ker Wilson A
family likeness. The 4 girls are Celandine, Tansy,
Sorrell and Vervain. It's not exactly timeslip, but story of a
modern girl - Debbie - alternating with the story of her
ancestors - the 4 girls, who emigrated from Sunderland, UK to
Sydney (with father mother and brother Bertie - name was Pratt).
She finds a box of family photos, and their mother sees a family
likeness between Debbie and Sorrell, and Jane (Debbie's elder
sister) and Celandine. The dust cover of the copy I've just
borrowed from the library is mostly pinky- beige with a picture
of the Pratt family.
I believe A Family Likeness is
correct. Thank you so much!
maybe it is The family name
by Jan Washbum. A story about a young girl who
wants to live up to her good family name, but an accident in her
senior year in high school challenges her to begin to learn to
live again.
That is it! In fact, my sister found the
book for me, I'm not sure how, and gave it to me as a gift
last year. It's a great story for young girls (and older
girls who like to remember being young!). Thanks for
remembering.
---
It was a book about a girl who made cheerleader, had three
successful sisters who over-shadowed her, had an accident while
water-skiing. I think her name was Ryndy (short for
Catherine or Katherine) Drews/or Drews
This sounds like The Family Name
by Jan Washburn, Whitman 1971, again (in Solved).
Is this The Family Name, by Jan
Washburn, published Whitman 1971? "A story about a
young girl who wants to live up to her good family name, but
an accident in her senior year in highschool challenges her to
begin to learn to live again."
Wow, Im amazed. I would love to get
a copy of it, please let me know if you can find one.
Thank so much
The book I
am looking for is about a teenage girl in high school who
has three older sisters who are all successful in a
particular way and showed that success while in high
school. As the book starts the youngest of the three
has just left for college and now the main character feels
she can shine on her own out of the shadow of her older
sisters. I remember the sisters names but not the
main character's: Oldest, Virginia, called Ginny, the family
brain, described as regal (I remember having to ask my dad
what that meant); Second was Victoria, called Vicky, the
family beauty, and last Valerie, called Val the "personality
kid" who was star cheerleader. The main plot is
that the main character (maybe her name starts with a
"V" like the others?) decides, not being able to be a super
brain or super beauty like the oldest two, she will follow
in Val's footsteps and become a cheerleader. While
that dream is just starting to come true she goes
waterskiing with a friend and the boat gets loose and runs
over her causing her to break both legs and she ends up in
traction for months. Coming out of traction and hoping
to get her strength back in her legs, it is recommended that
she take up swimming for rehabilitation. WhiIe
swimming she sees someone diving hit his or her head on
the board which no one else sees and even though she
has trouble since she still cant walk, she swims super fast
to save the person and the coach is so impressed he
recommends she go out for the swim team.
Somewhere in the story she meets a boy named Pieter who is
in the hospital and depressed and will only talk with her
when she uses a puppet. I read this book in the late
70's, early 80's but it had a feel of being written in the
60's or so. For some reason I always felt that it was
published by the same company that did the "Meg Mysteries"
which I believe was Whitman Publishing (this could be
because it had the same hard back cover, covered over with
paper and I purchased it in the same place,the local
Pic'N'Save along with "The Three Matildas" (another mystery
book I loved along with the Meg books)) but I have never
been able to find it looking under Whitman (although that
could be because I couldn't remember the main character's
name or the title).
Jan Washburn, The Family Name, 1971.
This one is in the Solved Mysteries section - apparently a
popular request. "A story about a young girl who wants to live
up to her good family name, but an accident in her senior year
in high school challenges her to begin to learn to live again."
Solved: The Family Name, 1971. This is definitely the book!
Knew it as soon as I saw the title but would never have
remembered it, the author's name, and especially the main
character's name, Ryndy. That makes 4 for 4 you and your
readers have found for me! Thank you so much!
Helen Doss, The Family Nobody
Wanted, 1975. I'm just sure this is it. An
oldie, but a goodie.
Helen Doss, The Family Nobody
Wanted, 1954. This sounds very much like The
Family Nobody Wanted. It is a memoir written
by Helen Doss, a Methodist pastor's wife. They
adopted 12 children of various nationalities although none were
disabled. This was available from Scholastic Books in the
1970's and my sister and I read it to pieces. I found a
used copy a few years ago and my daughter and her best friend
have also read it many times.
Doss, Helen, The Family Nobody
Wanted,1945. Helen Doss and her minister
husband adopt twelve children of various ethnic backgrounds. It
was originally published in 1945, but was recently reprinted.
Doss, Helen, The Family That
Nobody Wanted, 1956. A minister and his wife adopt
twelve multi-racial children.
etc.
Pauline Rush Evans (editor), Family Treasury of Children's Stories, 1956. We've had this three-volume set around for forty years, and I'm pretty sure it's what you're looking for. The third volume does have excerpts from Kon Tiki and Gulliver's Travels.
Is this Heidi?
It is marvelous to scroll down your pages of
solved and unsolved book queries! The description of G21 rung a
bell - could it be a boy and not a girl and could it be Frances
Burnett? The secret garden? Little Lord Fontleroy
(or whatever it is spelled)?
Come to think of it, G21 reminds me of
Storey's YA book called The Family Tree. Girl
goes to live with
either her grandfather or great-uncle or
many-removed cousin, and he is very curt and abrupt with her,
making her feel unwanted. He has a dog and commands her to never
close the door in any rooms but she accidentally does and the
dog scratches long grooves in the door. Then she finds a huge
assortment of old photos, and has them spread out on the floor,
trying to sort out who is who in the family, and the dog walks
all over them and she gets yelled at for making a mess, but then
he sees what she was trying to do and they bond by creating the
family tree and seeing just how they are related. Good book.
not much to go on, but perhaps Grandpa's
Maria, by Hans-Eric Hellberg, translated
from the Swedish by Patricia Crampton, illustrated by Joan
Sandin, published Morrow 1974 "An award-winning author
tells this sensitive, funny story of a seven-year-old girl left
in the care of her grandfather." (HB Oct/74 p.204 pub ad)
G21 girl & grouchy grandpa: there's Maid's
Ribbon, by Mary Treadgold, published Nelson
1967 "A resourceful and responsible girl finally wins the trust
of her suspicious old grandfather." but that's all the plot
description I have.
Storey, Margaret, The family tree, c.1973. When I read this, I recognized
the story as being from The family tree by
Margaret Storey. I checked in my copy, and found the incident
with Kate sorting out pictures in front of the fire is on pages
81-89. Kate is an orphan who has lived with her Aunt Millicent,
a reluctant guardian at best. Aunt Millicent decides that its
time someone on her father's side of the family takes care of
her, but the only reaining relative is elderly cousin Lawrence,
who lived in the house where her father had grown up. Its a geat
story. Hope this helps. I love the stumpers, by the way and
always find them interesting
Famous Fairy Tales
A collection of fairytales
printed < 1985 (probably > 1975). I found an anime dvd
called "The World's Greatest Fairy Tales" that has the same
illustrations, but can't find the book (other than the 44 page
book that comes with the dvd). An example is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4bu4553YaQ
Fred Ladd,
Famous Fairy Tales, 1978. ISBN 0448147289. I think
this is your book.
SOLVED: Fred
Ladd, Famous Fairy Tales,
1978. That's
it! That's it!
I'm so excited! Thank you!
Enid Blyton, Five on a Treasure Island, circa 1942. First published in 1942. The Famous Five, Julian, Dick, George (Georgina), Anne and Timmy the dog. On Kirrin Island the Famous Five find themselves involved in their first adventure - a desperate treasure hunt concerning an ancient wreck and a ruined castle. First of the Famous Five series, it is easily available on ebay.
Alice Chase, Famous Paintings: An Introduction to Art for Young People.
Edna Ferber, Fanny Herself, 1917. The main character starts a
special catalog for cheap baby clothes that brings business to
the company. One of her co-workers comes on to her (he is
married) and she punches him. Her love interest is a writer who
teaches her the 'uppercut'.
Ferber, Edna, Fanny
Herself 1917 YES!! That's
IT! I try not to covet instant gratification, but I love
it when it happens. I don't even have to check
Interlibrary Loan first. I KNOW this is the right
one. Thank You, Thank You. (Now, dear Harriet, can
you find me a copy????)
F26 fiona the beautiful: could be Fanona
the Beautiful, written and illustrated by Jessica
Ross, published Holt, Rinehart 1972, 32 pages.
"Fanona learns that being friendly is more important than being
beautiful."
Fantastic Toys
I think the cover was red, or had
a red border, and all I remember was that there were playground
toys, like a swing set and maybe people holding a jump rope,
things like that, that were made of people. They were nicely
illustrated and larger than real life people, but kids played
on/with them.
Monika Beisner, Fantastic
Toys,
1973 (Germany), 1975 (US). A beautifully illustrated imaginary
catalog of fantastic toys, including some larger-than-life-size
wind up dolls that swing jump ropes, a giant inflatable flower
to climb, spring shoes and bird wings to be worn for high
jumping, a sled in the shape of a sheep, animal umbrellas, and a
huge balloon that can be painted with jungle scenes, among
others. The cover does have a red border and features several of
the toys, including the skipping machine.
SOLVED: Monika Beisner,
Fantastic Toys. Thank you so much, this is
definitely the book I'\''ve been looking for for the last 30
years! I really appreciate your being able to solve this mystery
for me. You have no idea how satisfying it is to finally know
the name of it after all these years. I'\''d love to purchase it
from you, if that'\''s possible and if you can tell me how to do
so. Thanks again for everything!
Wonderful news! Loganberry Books will contact you.
Sylvia Engdahl, The Far Side of Evil. G325 is definitely Engahl's The Far Side
of Evil, which is the sequel to her truly wonderful Enchantress
from the Stars. There are recent re-issues of both of
these, and the new edition of The Far Side of Evil apparently
has some changes to it. Be aware that it is pretty dark --
Enchantress from the Stars is meant for a younger audience and
is much lighter.
Solved: Yes!!! I recognize the titles. Thank you so
much! I beleive that you are right about the protagonist
of G325 being a boy rather than a girl. Many thanks!
Pamela Hull & Katherine Whitlock, The
Far-Distant Oxus, Escape to Persia, Oxus in Summer, 1930's. The name Maurice brought back the
title...I've only read two of the 3 books, but they were
great. Here's a plot summary I found on the Web: "The main
characters are three children spending their summer vacation at
a farm on the moors, where they each get to choose a pony to use
as their own for the summer. Their parents are elsewhere, and
they soon meet two local children (also with ponies), and the
mysterious boy Maurice. They build a hut, sneak out to ride at
night, trek downriver to the seaside, hold horse races, and
always wonder who Maurice really is, and where he comes from."
Katherine Hull and Pamela Whitlock, The
Far
Distant Oxus. Sounds
like the one; there were a couple of sequels, I think.
Oh. I have a really beautiful edition of this.
Condition Grades |
Hull, Katherine and Pamela Whitlock,The Far-Distant Oxus. Abridged edition, with an afterword by Arthur Ransome. Macmillan, 1938, 1969. First thus. 279 pages. F/F <SOLD> |
Katherine Hull and Pamela Whitlock, The
Far
Distant Oxus,
1937. This sounds like The Far Distant Oxus,
written by two schoolgirls, Katherine Hull and Pamela Whitlock.
There are two sequels as well, Escape to Persia
(1938) and Oxus in Summer (1939).
almost forgot to add, the famous author who the girls sent the
book to, who wrote the introduction, is Arthur Ransome.
Hull & Whitlock, The Far- Distant Oxus. Yes,
this is the book I was looking for! What an incredible site -- I
can't believe people could so easily identify the book I wanted
from my very sketchy memories of the forward (which actually
turns out to be the afterword, in fact) and nothing else! Thanks
so much!
Jane Flory, The Liberation of
Clementine Tipton,
1974. "Philadelphia's centennial celebration in 1876 and
the activities of a growing women's movement bring excitement
and some new ideas to the life of young Clementine Tipton."
Flory also wrote Peddler's Summer, Mist on the Mountain,
and One Hundred and Eight Bells.
Flory, Jane. Don't know which
book it might be but this author wrote Peddler's Summer
and a book One Hundred and Eight Bells which
might be the others she was talking about. * Peddler's Summer,
1960. * A Tune for the Towpath,
1962. * One Hundred and Eight Bells,
1963. * Clancy's Glorious Fourth,
1964. * Mist on the Mountain,
1966. * Faraway Dream, 1968.
* Ramshackle Roost, 1972. * We'll Have a
Friend for Lunch, illustrated by Carolyn Croll,
1974. * The Liberation of Clementine Tipton,
1974. * The Golden Venture,
1976. * The Unexpected Grandchildren,
illustrated by Croll, 1977. * The Lost and
Found Princess, 1979. * It Was a Pretty Good
Year, 1979. * The Bear on the Doorstop,
illustrated by Croll, 1980. * The Great
Bamboozlement, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1982.
Jane Flory, Faraway dream, 1968. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Story of Maggie Mulligan an orphan who lived at Seafarer's Safe
Harbor, home for seamen's orphans. maggie has a temper.
Taken on as a milliner's apprentice she must learn to control
her temper and become a lady. Other books the poster
remembers are One hundred and ten bells (1963)about
Setsuko's dream of becoming an artist and how it doesn't fit
with what is expected of a good Japanese girl. Peddler's
Summer (1960 A story about Amanda Scoville and her
seven sisters. Sequel to Peddler's Summer is Mist on the
Mountain (1966)When Pa died of fever, the eight
Scoville girls stayed on at the farm, despite the difficulties
of working it.
I wanted to write and thank you so VERY
much. All three of the books I sent in as stumpers have been
solved. It was so fun to go to your website and check for
results - a little like waiting for Christmas. Your
service is wonderful, and I thank you a hundred times
over. The books you found for me were: O67 - "Orphan
girl" which was Faraway Dream I71 - "Indian
boy," which was Komantcia And G236 "German boy," which
was The Quest.
Harry Behn, The Faraway Lurs, 1963. I'm pretty sure this is the
one. "A fascinating love story about a boy and a girl
who lived a very long time ago in the early
Bronze Age. Lurs are great bronze trumpets of the Sun People who
live near to the Forest People." This is one that haunted
me for a long time too, but luckily, I found my copy!
---
When I was in junior high (1982) I read a chapter book with a
Romeo and Juliet plotline. Two teenagers in prehistoric times
fell in love but their tribes would not let them marry. The
girl, I think, killed herself and was embalmed in a tree. Her
tribe worshipped trees. Her lover, of the Sun-worshipping tribe,
discovered her, and I think died himself.
#E50--Embalming, sun people, tree people: The
Faraway Lurs, by Harry Behn, World, 1963, on
the Solved Mysteries page.
oops - repeat of E41 entry. at least it's solved!
---
Dead Cavegirl is found in pristine
condition and her life is revisited. Read in 1970, Old Book,
Novel, Hardback, no Pictures. The words "green valley"
come to mind, I dont think that is part of the title, probably
the intro. Wonderful writing of her life. Good nature story.
At the end, I believe she is sacrificed. Her body decomposes
after her story is revealed. No it is not morbid!! Good
Nature Book!!! Thanks!!!
This sounds a bit like The Faraway
Lurs by Harry Behn, although that one deals
with early Bronze Age tribespeople rather than cavedwellers.
Perkins, Lucy Fitch. The Cave
Twins. I found
out that the book is apparently as close to historical accuracy
as one can get - that is, in northern Europe, boats were
invented in about 8,000 B.C., which is about the same time
animals (specifically, rabbits, in the book) began to be
domesticated - and the mammoth and saber-toothed tiger were
still living, but barely! (Theoretically, since they were
living, the story could not take place later than I listed.)
Behn, Harry, The Faraway Lurs, 1963.
Behn, Harry, The Faraway Lurs. (UK title The Distant Lurs).
Cleveland, World 1964. Could be this one. "A haunting tale
of love and adventure set during early Bronze Age Denmark. Story
of a prehistoric girl in Denmark whose name was not known but
author called her Heather Goodshade because her village lay
between low sandy hills covered with heather & a great oak
forest deep with shade." "the young heroine of the story, caught
between the upper and lower millstones of opposing cultures,
consents to be sacrificed for her people. Behn was influenced by
the discovery of Tollund Man, who had been ritually strangled in
perhaps just such a crisis."
You solved my stumper!! I am a
happy woman!! I really didn't have much hope of finding
this book on my own. I had searched and searched but did
not remember enough information to do an adequate
search. Then I got really lucky and stumbled across your
site. I submitted immediately. I was thrilled to have 4
hits when I checked Monday. I then searched for the book
by Title and Author and found enough information that I
remembered to verify that THIS IS THE BOOK I WAS LOOKING
FOR!! I would have never found this on my own. I
am so grateful to you for helping me find a treasure from my
childhood! I will check back often to try and help
others, as others helped me. There is no way I can thank them
personally, but maybe I can pay them back by helping someone
else. {only a great lover of books will understand
the joy I will feel when I have that book in my hands after 35
years of missing it. I have read enough of your listings to
know many, many people feel the same way. You do such
good and worthwhile work here and I am so grateful!!
Thank you, thank you!!}
---
I read this book in junior high school back in the mid
seventies. It was about the body of a young viking(?) girl found
buried in I believe a peat bog as a sacrifice. The body was
found with a gold necklace. The book then goes way back in time,
and tells the story of her life up until that point. She met a
young man from a different "tribe" and was beginning to fall in
love with him. There was also a girl friend, perhaps a slave
that she confided in. I know the description sounds rather
depressing, but it really was a very good book!
The Faraway Lurs. A
classic "Romeo-and-Juliet", prehistoric star-crossed lovers from
different tribes find love and tragedy. Wonderful
story. Check Solved Mysteries for particulars.
You'll love it!
Harry Behn, The Faraway Lurs. A Romeo and Juliet story set in the
Bronze Age. Often asked about in book search forums!
This is another longshot, but it might be
worth looking at the books by Madeleine Polland. I can't
find any summaries, but from (distant!) memories, Beorn the
Proud has a similar storyline, as does Deirdre. Her books
were published in the late 60s/early 70s.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I think that this may be the
book I was looking for....(for thirty years!)
I just finished reading this a couple weeks
ago! It's The Farthest Away Mountain by Lynne
Reid Banks.
F40 is the same as M76.
Maybe BONHOMME by Laurent
de Brunhoff, translated by Richard Howard, Pantheon Books,
1965. "When little girl Emilie looks at a mountain through a
telescopes, spots a funny little man sitting beside a tree &
goes traveling up the mountain to find out why he stays up there
all alone." "The adventures of a little creature named Bonhomme
and his playmate Emilie. Wonderful full page color illustrations
by De Brunhoff and a charming fantasy." There's a sequel: Bonhomme
and the Huge Beast Pantheon Books, 1974. "Emilie and
Bonhomme have some adventures with such unusual acquaintances as
a stone horse, a huge frog, and Randolph, the most enormous
beast of all." The two books together have several of the
features (girl, mountain, quest, gnome, frog) but not quite in
the same order. There's also Lynne Reid Banks' The
Farthest-Away Mountain Illustrated by Victor Ambrus,
New York, Doubleday 1977 "The snow on the peak of the farthest
away mountain changed colors - from red to bright blue, to
green, or pink, or yellow - but no one ever knew why. No one had
ever been there, because no matter how long anyone traveled, it
always stayed in the distance. One day the mountain beckons to a
girl who lives in the valley at its foot. Dakin finds herself
drawn by irresistible forces toward its slopes, and then up to
the very top. Along her way, there are terrifying dangers to be
overcome - she must bathe in the Lithy Pool and cross the sea of
spikes, she must get past the guardian gargoyles on the craggy
ledges and escape from the talons of the winged monster, Graw.
She must face the snow witch and outwit the ogre Drackamag in
his lair beneath the peak before she can release the mountain
from the evil magic which has imprisoned it for two hundred
years."
---
Hi! I've been looking for a book I
read in elementary school for a long time now. I don't
remember much about it, but it's about a girl who climbs up a
mountain, and i think the mountain keeps getting farther away
as she walks towards it. As she's climbing the mountain
she meets these gargoyles. One warms her hands with its
breath and another warms her toes. That's really all I
remember. I thought it was called something like The
Faraway Mountain, or Up, Up the Mountain, but
I've looked under these titles and haven't found it.
Hope you can help!
F40 is the same as M76.
There is a book by Lynne Reid Banks
called The Farthest Away Mountain
Lynne Reid Banks, The Farthest-Away
Mountain, in print from
Avon Camelot.
Hi. I sent in a stumper--F40--and I
think that it just may be The Farthest Away Mountain!
I'll
have
to look it up, but the description sounds right. Thanks to
whoever sent it in!
---
A girl goes on a journey with many trials (reminds me of The
Snow
Queen). At one portion of her journey she must cross an
area of razor sharp stones and her feet are bare. She begins to
cry as she starts to cross, and as her tears fall on the rocks
they become smooth. She is too overwhelmed to notice. She
continues until her strenth gives out and she falls, too
exhausted to cry more. However, as she falls she has come to the
end of the rocks and she lands on grass. I believe she may have
had companions. In the begining she is in a meadow and there is
pond with a frog in a well or underground catching flies with
its tongue. The frog may or may not speak. Any ideas would be
greatly appreciated!
This sounds like a variation of East
of the Sun, West of the Moon. As it is a story
widely retold and anthologized, some more details about the
variation or style of illustration might help to track down the
book.
Sounds close to The Farthest-Away
Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks, where the girl
defeats an evil witch after traveling through an area with stone
spikes and one with colored snow. The talking frog turned out to
be a schoolteacher and not a prince...
Lynne Reid Banks, The Farthest-Away
Mountian,1976.
Definitely, the spike scene matches perfectly. The frog
does talk and there was another character who was a prince.
---
I'm looking for a book I read at about 1986, It was about a
girl who was either travelling to or running from a witch. She
climbs a mountain, meets a gargoyle who if I remember correctly
shelters her from a storm as she sleeps. She has one piece of
choclate left, this is all she has to eat, but she gives it
away. She finds witch's cottage and sees coloured lights or
smoke coming from chimney. I'm afraid this is all I can
remember. Hoping you can help.
Thankfully however scrolling through your archives I have
found the answer to my stumper, a book I've been trying to
remember the title of for years. The farthest away mountain,
by Lynne Reid Banks.
Lynne Reid Banks, The Farthest Away
Mountains. This
could be the one- it certainly has gargoyles and a witch in
it. It also has a talking frog that turns into a man at
the end. A young girl, Dakin, goes on a quest to the
Farthest Away Mountains and saves the community (and some
gargoyles) from an evil witch.
---
In this book a girl has to go on a quest
for some reason to these mysterious mountains. I don't
remember much but one scene stands out distinctly: She's
walking over a path of sharp rocks and its so frustrating that
she starts to cry. Her tears fall on the rocks and smooth them
out as she walks. So then she has to think about things that
make her cry as she goes. There is also a wizard involved
somehow. I seem to think the word wizard and/or mountains is
in the title.
it turns out I found the title while
reading through the other stumpers and solved mysteries. It's
The Farthest Away Mountain. I knew it was a good book,
several people had already asked about it. I'm happy
though, I wouldn't have found it without your site anyway!
C38 is Fat Cat by Jack
Kent. I love to use this one for storytime. I ate
the gruel and the pot and the old woman too, I ate
Skohotentot,Skolinkenlot, five birds in a flock, seven girls
dancing, a lady with a pink , a parson with a crooked staff
and now I am going to eat YOU. Then the woodman
takes his ax and opens up the cat, everyone walks away and the
last pictures is of the cat now shrunk back to size with a
bandage on his stomach.
The Fat Cat;a Danish Folktale
by Jack Kent, 1971. Parents Press Magazine and Scholatic
both published it.
Not only has your book stumper been solved,
but I have a copy, and it's in time for Christmas!!
Kent, Jack. Fat Cat. Scholastic, 1971. Paperback copy,
oblong. VG. <SOLD>
Thank you for having such a great
site!!! I wish that I had known that you had a
copy of it sooner, because I checked on bibliofind and found
one copy out of 20 million books, so I ordered it and ended up
spending 30 bucks! If your copy is in pretty good
condition to read to my kids I may go ahead and get it from
you. Thanks for all of your great work and help,
it's greatly appreciated!
---
I had this book when I was a child in the
1970s, the characters were Skohootnitoot and Skolininglot. I
cannot remember the plot or anything else about the book
except for the characters. Maybe they were brothers.
Kent, Jack, Fat Cat. Fat Cat is so hungry that he eats everything in
sight. Including: Old woman and her pot, Skohotintot,
Skolinkinlot, eight birds in a flock, seven girls dancing and
the parson with the crooked staff. Finally the woodcutter with
an axe cuts him open and everyone walks off. Final scene
is the cat with a bandage on stomach.
THAT'S THE BOOK! THANK YOU.
Condition Grades |
Kent, Jack. The Fat Cat. Scholastic, 1971. Ex-library softcover copy with usual library markings and pocket removal marks. Interior is clean. VG-. <SOLD> |
|
#F89--fatapoofs and thinifers, and some
fairies, I think: English title is Fattypuffs and
Thinifers, author is André Maurois, first
published as Patapoufs et Filifers in 1930 in
France.
This is the book Fattypuffs and
Thinifers by Andre Maurois. It is
out-of-print and difficult to find.
André Maurois, translated by Rosemary
Benét , Fatapoufs & Thinifers, 1940.
This has to be Fattypuffs and
Thinifers by Andre Maurois.
Andre Maurois, Fattypuffs and
Thinifers, 1940.
It's about two brothers (fat & thin) Terry & Edmund who
discover a land where the Fattypuffs are at war with the
Thinifers and they are expected to take sides against each
other. The book has, I now realise, a mild anti war theme and is
a "let's value difference and get on together" type tale but is
still a brill read and has some of the funniest drawings outside
of anything by Quetin Blake. The descriptions are great,
"Fattypuffs are as fat as balloons. Thinifers are as thin as
string beans", even how they sit and what they eat dictates
their heritage "Lazy and amiable, Fattypuffs like overstuffed
chairs and large squashy pastries. Thinifers on the other hand,
are a lean and energetic bunch who prefer to skip unnecessary
meals-like lunch to save as much time as possible."
---
Boy falls (crawls?) between two stones or a hole between two
stones and comes across a world with very thin or very fat
people (i think the groups hate each other) and the thin people
eat thin food like spagetti? It feels very Roald Dahl-ish, or
Phantom Tollbooth-ish, in my mind but I don't recall whether he
was the author (nothing on the list of his titles feels right)
and maybe the boy was called george. Or maybe I've mixed about
three stories in there...Any suggestions? I would have read it
around 20 years ago (I'm 30) but no idea how old it would be.
Andre Maurois, Fattipuffs
& Thinnifers. Could
this be it? I no longer have my coy but seem to remember a boy
(possibly 2, one ending up on each side) getting caught up in a
war between the Fat fattipuffs and the Thin Thiniffers. I think
that they may have had battled with food... I'm in my early
thirties and remember we had this as a child so it must have
been in print around the right time
Maurois, Andre, Fattypuffs and
Thinifers 1941,
transl. from the French. I'm sure this is the book you are
after. Two brothers, Edmund (who is fat) and Terry (who is
thin) discover an underground world consisting of a country of
Fattypuffs - rotund people who enjoy an hourly snack and nap and
Thinifers - industrious workers. The brothers soon find
themselves taking sides in a battle between the two
groups. You are totally right about the Dahl type
feeling. An excellent book.
I haven't read either of these, so these are
just guesses. Fattypuffs & Thinifers by Andre
Maurois, illustrated by Fritz Wegner (1940).
"Edmund was fat and loved food - just like his mother. His
brother Terry was thin - just like his father. The boys were
amazed when they found themselves on opposite sides in a battle
between the warring nations of the Fattypuffs and Thinifers."In
the Land of the Thinsies by Dorothy Ann Lovell,
illustrated by Nicolas Bentley (1944). "Two
children slip through the crack at the bottom of an escalator,
and end up in the "land of the thinsies" - a parallel world in
which everyone is thin (though I think there are also fat people
in another area of it)
Andre Maurois, Fattypuffs and
Thinifers 1930, Two boys from our world rather than
one, but otherwise it sounds like you're recalling Andre
Maurois' FATTYPUFFS AND THINIFERS See this long
description at Wikipedia:
Andre Maurois, Fattypuffs and
Thinifers1968,
approximate Must be! Great book. (And I associate it
with the Phantom Tollbooth too, though I'm not sure why.)
There are two brothers, Edmund, who's quite fat, and Terry,
who's quite thin. They find a passage down between two
rocks, and it leads them to the world of the Fattypuffs and the
Thinifers. Edmund is sent off to join the Fattypuffs and
Terry to join the Thinifers. The two groups do indeed hate
each other, to the extent that they go to war. All is of
course resolved by the end. There's been a fairly recent
reprint in the UK.
André Maurois, Fattypuffs and
Thinifers 1930,
approximate Originally in French, was translated to english at
least 40 years ago when I read it. Still in print.
See the Wikipedia
article.
THANK YOU!!!! That's definately it. As
soon as I read "fattypuffs...." in the comments I remembered
the book. Thanks to you and all who posted comments! It was
absolutely killing me trying to remember, now I can buy a copy
to put in our growing home library for when our kids are old
enough to read our old favourites!!!! Excellent service, worth
more than the $2 charge!
Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, "How Ice Cream
Came". This is the ice cream story. Its in
Favorite Stories Old and New, selected by Sidonie
Matsner Gruenberg, 1942, 1955 Doubleday. It has one
nice line drawing of the boy. I checked the book for the
story about the dolls coming to life, but didn't see anything
that fit.
Harriet: I'm thrilled! Carolyn Sherwin Bailey found my
ice cream story in a book that I remember: Favorite
Stories Old and New selected by Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg.
Ms. Gruenberg was a patient of my father's in New York and she
must have given him copies of her books to take home to his
family. I remember that her name was a real tongue twister
for a beginning reader. And I remember even better a book she
wrote called The Wonderful Story of How You Were Born.
Please thank Carolyn for me.
I believe Carolyn Sherwin Bailey is actually the author of
the story "How Ice Cream Came". Ms. Gruenberg was
the
editor of the anthology in which it appeared. It probably
appears in one of Bailey's own compilations, but I don't know
which one (see the Most Requested
pages for more on Bailey). Looks likeFavorite
Stories Old and New is the anthology you're looking
for, though.
Harriet: I think I've also found the other story I've
been seeking. Josephine Scribner Gates is the author of The
Live Doll Series, a set of a dozen or so stories that
began with "The story of live dolls; being an account by
Josephine Scribner Gates of how, on a certain June morning, all
of the dolls in the village of Cloverdale came alive; with many
pictures made at the time by Virginia Keep" (Indianapolis, The
Bowen-Merrill Company, 1901); an omnibus version of the series
was also published: The book of live dolls, an omnibus for
children, by Josephine Scribner Gates (Indianapolis, New
York, The Bobbs-Merrill company, 1945). I think that a short
version was excerpted in the Better Homes and Gardens Story
Book, Selected by Betty OConnor (Des Moines and New York:
Meredith Press, 1950). What a day! I can now forgive my
brother for throwing the books out after I left home!
R.L. Stine, The Fear Street Saga: The Betrayal, The Secret and The Burning, 1993. The cover has the talisman you talked about. In the story the girl dies not the parents but it does include the family fued between the Fier family and the Goode family. I'm pretty sure this is it especially with the time frame you gave. See book cover here.
Helen Clare, Merlin's Magic, 1953. Maybe? It's listed in the Solved
Mysteries.
Streatfeild, Noel, The fearless
treasure. Are you sure
this isn't Noel Streatfeild's The fearless treasure?
I have just re-read it and it fits your description completely -
six children picked out from various places in England, travel
by themselves to London and are driven to the mysterious Mr
Fosse's house. They experience ages in history from pre-Roman
and Roman Bath to Industrial Revolution and each child takes
part in a different age.
Yes! I think it must be The Fearless Treasure!
Thank
you so very much!! I've been hoping to find this for
years. (It was Streatfeild's The Magic Summer
which did not match--I didn't recall The Fearless Treasure,
obviously). I will try requesting the book--hopefully
they'll have it.
there were a couple of books I read back in
the late 60's, early 70's that sound like the answer to this
post. They were about a family named Callendar. The
father's name was Augustus and the mother's name was January (or
something close to that). They decided to continue the
tradition and named the first daughter February, and the first
son Friday. After that they gave the other children
unusual names. The two books were called February's
Road and Friday's tunnel. I
don't remember the author's first name, but his last name is Verney.
This is most likely the Callendar family
series by John Verney (see Seven Sunflower Seeds
in Solved list). Augustus Callendar and his wife are the parents
of a somewhat eccentric English family, and started off naming
their children Friday and February, then gave up and named the
others Gail, Beryl, Chrysophrase, etc. There's usually a
thriller element to each plot as well as humour and family
adventure. The titles I know of are Friday's Tunnel
(new super-metal) 1960, February's Road (new
motorway and land speculation) 1961 Ismo (art
forgery) 1964 and Seven Sunflower Seeds (mystery
around Vita-mix breakfast food) 1968.
Just to confirm the previous solution -
author Verney's first name is John.
Hi, I was searching the web for more info on
Mr. Verney and came upon your site. What great reading! Thanks
for keeping it up. Under FEBRUARY'S ROAD and SEVEN
SUNFLOWER SEEDS you have some information on the Verney books
about the Callendar family. If you think folks might be
interested in a bit more information about them here it
is: The Callendars live on the South Downs of England
(Sussex) near Chichester; their home in three of the five books
is a converted farmhouse called Marsh Manor near the town of
Querbury (in ismo they are on their way to Italy for a year and
in the final book they have moved into town). The father is
Augustus Callendar, who is a journalist, works for a paper
called the Messenger; mother is a former artist named Jan (short
for January). The children are: Friday (eldest), then
February--the calendar joke
is dropped for the remainder of the
children, who are Gail (Abigail), Berry (Beryllium), Chrys
(Chrysogon), Des Desdemona), and Hildebrand (the only boy;
Jan is pregnant with him in the first book, Friday's Tunnel).
There are actually five books, which I didn't know about until a
few years ago; I found the last book by luck via a web search.
The books in order are: Friday's Tunnel
(narrated by February), February's Road (narrated
by February), ismo(told in third person although
Gail is the protagonist), Seven Sunflower Seeds
(narrated by Berry), Samson's Hoard (narrated by
Berry)
There are several series about emotions for
kids, a just few that came out about this time period. One
is from Child's World (1980, several authors) - What Does
It Mean? Glad...Afraid....Angry...I'm
Sorry.....Jealous....I'm Sorry...Sharing...etc. They
are illustrated with realistic pencil sketches, some with color
and some not. Another series it the Let's Talk
About series by Joy Wilt Berry
(Children's Press, starting in 1982 and continuing through the
years) and they have titles like Let's Talk About Being
Bossy...Being Afraid....Being a Good Friend....Being
Careless...Being Helpful. These are illustrated
with colored cartoonish illustrations, and each illustration has
a balloon caption obove one of the people's heads.
F181 I really think this is a series
of books by Roger Hargreaves. They were published in the
1980's (my younger sister loved them, but I was 8 or 9 so they
were a little young for me) and they were small and had white
covers. The characters were very cartoony - almost like balls
with legs and arms. Some of the titles were MR. FUSSY; MR
UPPITY, MR. WORRY, etc. And Hargreaves later came
out with the Little Miss series. You can find
pictures of the covers online, and I think they are still in
print, but in paperback. If this is not the series you are
thinking of, then maybe try Joy Berry's LET'S
TALK ABOUT FEELINGS series.~from a librarian
I just read the responses to my stumper, and can say for sure
it's not Roger Hargreave's books I'm thinking of, as I do still
have all those. These were mid-size hardcover books. I'm
trying to web-hunt for pictures of the other series suggested in
the responses, as I will know for sure once I see the
covers! Hopefully I can find pics of the original
editions... Thanks for the tips so far! I'll let you
know if I can verify whether or not the others are correct!
There are a series of books Raintree
Editions (Milwaukee) and distributed by Childrens Press.
Publishing dates start about 1973. Each book is about 32 pages
and most are illustrated with photos. Titles include: Feelings
between brothers and sisters, Feelings between
friends, Feelings between kids and grownups, Feelings
between kids and parents, Are we still best
friends?, Being alone, being together, Doing
things together, I'd rather stay home, Feelings
sweet pickles series? I
think it might be a series I remember from the late 70's.
These were very thin hardcovers and each one had a story about
an animal and a feeling, like "worried William" for
example. I can't remember any real titles. The
illustrations were cartoonish and all the characters lived in
the same town and appeared in each others' stories. I
think the inside covers of the books had a map of the town
showing where all these animal kids lived.
Isaac Asimov, "The Feeling of
Power." short story.
Asimov, Isaac, "The feeling of power."
It sounds like this is the story mentioned. I don't know which
anthologies have it. The plot is where doing maths with a paper
and pencil is so unheard of (computer do all calculations) that
the military are mightily impressed by this ability
Asimov, Isaac, "The Feeling of Power." Short
story. Mystery Solved. Found in Nine Tomorrows.
Also found in The complete stories vol.1, Asimov, 1990,
pp.297-308 (ISBN 0006476473).
M305 Asimov, Isaac. The
complete short stories. 2 vols
dust jackets by Barclay Shaw. Doubleday vol 1 c1990; vol 2
c1994.
Lattimore, Eleanor, Felicia, 1964. The one about the girl and the cat
(one of whom is named Felicia) is most likely "Felicia" by
Eleanor Lattimore. Here is a synopsis: Charlotte wishes
for a cat, but because her brother is allergic, she can't have
one. Then she has a visit from Felicia, a cat who turns into a
little girl, joins the family, has curious behavior & has to
leave in a most unusual manner. There is also a mouse in the
story.
---
A book about a girl who
has a cat, who turns into a real girl and is her best
friend. At the end the girl turns back into the cat.
I would have read this in the mid 1970's.
Anne Huston, The Girl Across the Way, 1970, copyright. Also
published as "The Cat Across the Way." "Ten-year-old
Lacey is unhappy in her dark city apartment, after moving from
the country and leaving her beloved horse behind, until she sees
a yellow cat on a neighboring rooftop." I have not actually read
this, but came across it while searching online, so I don't know
if the cat turns into a girl, or if Lacey befriends a little
girl whom she meets because of the cat (possibly the cat's
owner?) Anyway, I thought it was at least worth throwing out
there as a possibility. Front cover shows Lacey (blonde girl
with blonde hair, wearing a green jumper, white blouse, knee
socks, and loafers) sitting on a wooden crate, with her chin on
her hands. There is a chain-link fence in the background, and
the yellow cat is approaching her.
Eleanor Frances Lattimore, Felicia. It's in the "Solved"
section with a description, and it sounds like this book.
Eleanor Frances Lattimore, Felicia, 1964,
copyright. Charlotte is a lonely little girl who wants
a cat and can't have one because her brother is allergic.
Another girl mysteriously appears and stays with her for a
while. She hasn't any shoes, so Charlotte's mom buys her a
pair of sneakers. Felicia is not really a girl but a cat
from the general store. Charlotte knows this and has to keep
other people from finding out. At the end Felicia turns back
into a cat and all that is left are the sneakers sitting on
top of the pickle barrel. Lattimore illustrated all her own
books. She was best known for her stories about Chinese
children -- the Little Pear stories, Peach Blossom, The
Chinese Daughter, Journey of Ching Lai. I think I've seen
this in Solved
Mysteries E-F.
Hi and many thanks all, Felicia is definitely the book!
#P139, Poor Family Eats Bread, is the same
as #R69, Rich Family and Poor Family.
Balet, Jan B., The Fence: a Mexican
Tale, Delacorte
Press, 1969. "With the sound of his money the poor man
repays the rich neighbor for the smell of his food."
Jan B. Balet, The Fence: a Mexican
Tale, 1969. "With
the sound of his money the poor man repays the rich neighbor for
the smell of his food."
---
In this story, a rich family and a poor
family live next door to each other. The poorer family was
very happy and the rich family was not. When the poor family
would eat, they would stand by the fence dividing the two
houses and smell and enjoy the rich family's meals. This
angered the rich family. The father of the rich family took
the other family to court, saying the judge must have the poor
family pay up for their enjoyment. The judge ruled that the
poor father go outside and shake a bag of coins, so the rich
father could enjoy the sound of the poor man's money, as much
as the poor family had enjoyed the smell of the rich family's
food. I believe that the origin of the book was Spain or
perhaps Mexico, though my version was written in English.
R69: I'm sure there's more than one version
of this story, but the one I know is from the Japan-based book Ooka
the
Wise, aka Case of the Marble Monster.
#P139, Poor Family Eats Bread, is the same
as #R69, Rich Family and Poor Family.
Jan B. Balet, The Fence: a Mexican
Tale, 1969. "With
the sound of his money the poor man repays the rich neighbor for
the smell of his food."
Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by the
great Robert Lawson, 1936. A classic. New
hardcover: $16
N22: Is this The Fields of Home
(1953) by Ralph Moody? If so, it's the third book or so
in the Little Britches series. He moves from Colorado to
Massachusetts, then gets sent to Maine. It takes place in 1912.
You were exactly correct. Thanks so much for your help. Now if
we can track down U5.
The Fields of Home, by Ralph
Moody, illustrated by Edward Shenton, published Norton
1953. "Little Britches was 15 when he was sent to visit his
Grandfather Gould and helped to reclaim the family's rundown
Maine farm. His story is a rare compound of tears and
laughter, of cantankerousness and love." (HB Oct/53 p.317
pub ad) The other two novels are Little Britches
and Man of the Family.
This sounds like a Beverly Cleary
young adult novel. The girl sees the popular girl wearing
cashmere sweaters, while her best friend wears plaid skirts she
made herself. The plaid is sewn crooked, hence embarassing
the protagonist. Is it called Tomboy?
Beverly Cleary, Fifteen and
the Luckiest Girl,
later 1950s. This sounds like a combination of two Cleary
books. In Fifteen, the protagonist, her date (his
name's Stanley), and two other couples go into San Francisco's
Chinatown for dinner. The girl does not want to eat any of the
odd food and gratefully identifies a water chestnut in her meal.
Afterward the six split into couples to walk around and her date
buys her a regular American hamburger. I don't recall the
cashmere sweater, but she does long to be more sophisticated, in
behavior and food and perhaps with cashmere as well. In
the Luckiest Girl, Shelley's mother wants her to
have the best of everything that she, the mother, couldn't
afford. She buys her a fancy raincoat instead of the yellow
slicker all the popular girls wear.
Beverly Cleary? Possibly Fifteen, or Jean
and
Johnny?
Almost certainly Fifteen by Beverly
Cleary. The "flied lice" jogged my memory from 25 years
back - interestingly, though she wrote it in 1956, she had the
conscience to write that scene as a joke made by a white boy,
aimed at Jane, and in the same scene, Jane's date Stan, I think,
points out what the other boy is really saying and adds that
he's never heard Chinese-Americans talk like that, IIRC. Jane
first meets Stan when he delivers dog food (horse meat) to the
house where she's babysitting the brat from hell, and he uses a
trick done in pig Latin to get the brat to stop just before
pouring ink on the rug. (I'd never heard of pig Latin, so that
annoyed me as a kid.) She goes through all sorts of awkwardness
in trying to seem mature around him, such as pretending to like
coffee just because some other girls do. Her father quotes from
Carl Sandburg and she gets a back-scratcher as a present at one
point. Rather sweet, as I remember.
Beverly Cleary, Fifteen, 1956. There are other books that this
might be, but try this one first, especially if you remember the
book as being very funny. The girl's name is Jane Purdy,
her (eventual) boyfriend is Stan Crandall -- it's not him who
laughs, it's another boy named Buzz -- and there are six friends
eating out in Chinatown. Jane does a lot of babysitting in the
story, and has "typical teenage" problems with her parents. Her
best friend is named Julie. Hope this helps.
Beverly Cleary, Fifteen. Yes! I remember the heroine going
on a double date and the other guy teasing her about fried
"lice" (she wasn't very familiar with Chinese food).
Beverly Cleary, Fifteen, 1956. Cashmere sweater notation is on
page three! What a great memory. I read
your notes and recognized the story but not
the title and author until I went to the Library. I loved
this book too, I took it out to re-read. The humor of
going on a date in Chinatown and the unknown handling of
chopsticks is classic. My favorite part was when the date
showed up not in a car to pick her up but in the van from work
labelled "Doggie Diner"! Thanks for making me remember it!
Beverly Cleary, Fifteen. This is definitely Beverly Cleary's Fifteen.
I also remember the cashmere sweater aspect of this best,
although I remember it as the nice girl feeling sad because she
only has one cashmere sweater while the mean rich girl has one
for every day of the year! The most handsome boy in town asks
nice girl on a date, despite her sweater deficiency. I remember
loving this in the 1970s, even though it already seemed dated
then.
How about Fifteen by Beverly
Cleary? There is definitely a Chinese restaurant scene
where Jane is teased about "flied lice".
This is definitely Fifteen by
Beverly Cleary. I double-checked and the Flied Lice
scene is there.
I remember reading Fifteen,
but I don't know if it the same Beverly Cleary book that
had the cashmere sweater.
C136 is most definitely Fifteen by
Beverly Cleary. Jane Purdy's big date was to San
Francisco's Chinatown with Stan in the Doggie Diner Truck, and
one of the boys in the crowd ridiculed her for thinking that the
Chinese eat flied lice.
C136 FIFTEEN by Beverly
Cleary. Has both references to cashmere sweaters and
"flied lice" ~from a librarian
The "flied lice" scene is definitely in Fifteen,
which is about fifteen-year-old Jane Purdy. Other details:
her date's name is Stan they're at the restaurant with
another couple Stan buys her a Chinese backscratcher
afterwards.I think cashmere sweaters enter into it somewhere,
but I'm not so sure about that bit.
I am pretty sure that this occured in one of
the Tobey Heyden series of books by Rosamond
DuJardin.
---
Teenage girl living in San Francisco area going on dinner date
to Chinatown. Also, babysitting for kids whose mother
would say "hi there" to the babysitter, making her (babysitter)
feel sort of childish
A138: Fifteen by Beverly
Cleary, 1950s?
Beverly Cleary, Fifteen. This has to be "Fifteen." The girl is Jane
Purdy, and the guy she falls for is Stan. She meets him while
she's babysitting. Stan takes her on a double date to a Chinese
restaurant in San Francisco. She feels awkward all evening and
worries that he won't like her anymore. But in the end, Stan
asks her to go steady, and give her his ID bracelet to wear.
Beverly Cleary, Fifteen. Just a guess.
Beverly Cleary, Fifteen.
#O13--Oliver Greenwood: Well, Enid
Blyton wrote The Twins at St. Clare's and Fifth-Formers
at
St.
Clare's, but as those are about girls' schools,
unless it was Olivia Greenwood that doesn't do you much good.
This sounds like the sort of school story Talbot
Baines Reed churned out, but I can't say for sure.
Stories set in boys boarding schools are frighteningly common in
England, over at least a 50 year period.
Talbot Baines Reed, Fifth Form at St
Dominic's, c. 1887.
Fifth Form at St Dominic's, by
Talbot Baines Read, published Boys Own Paper 1900,
reprinted many times, about 315 pages. I pulled out our
library's copy and had a look. Some of the characters are Oliver
Greenfield and his friend Horace Wraysford, Oliver's young
brother Stephen, the clever lame boy Tony Pembury who starts up
a Fifth Form newspaper, the bully Braddy, Loman who is a monitor
in the Sixth Form, and the dishonest publican Cripps.
Greenfield, Wraysford and Loman are competing for the
Nightingale scholarship, but Loman spoils his chances drinking
at the Cockchafer pub and laying bets with Cripps. Greenfield
wins, but is suspected of having stolen a paper (it turns out to
have been Loman). The Head has the three write a second
exam, with different questions, and Greenfield comes first
again. Other plot elements include a strike by the younger boys
who 'fag' (do chores and run errands) for the older boys,
Stephen getting in debt to Cripps, almost drowning on the river,
and any number of cricket games.
Sounds like FIFTH GRADE MAGIC
by beatrice Gormley~from a librarian
Not a solution, but I remember this book
too. I think I got it from Scholastic in the eighties, and
the magic elemnt was some sort of frumpy fairy godmother who
used a magic calculator. The cover showed a chubby
godmother wearing a baseball cap. I particularly remember
how upset the unpopular girl was with the other girl's breakfast
cereal (some sort of natural muesli, as opposed to sugary
cereal).
Beatrice Gormley, Fifth Grade Magic, 1982. I believe this is the book you're
speaking of, as I own it and re-read it not long ago. The
girls in the story are Gretchen and Amy (Amy's the blond
one). All details match up.
Gormley, Beatrice, Fifth Grade Magic. Gretchen is jealous of Amy, and she gets
her fairy godmother, Errora to help her.
Beatrice Gormley, Fifth Grade Magic, 1984, reprint. This is absolutely
Fifth Grade Magic by Beatrice Gormley. I
clearly remember the plot of the book and your description
matches it exactly.
Thank you so much! Im surprised anyone managed to untangle that
plot synopsis. great website!
I just remembered that the story I mentioned about the boy who
was meant to go in the car, but didn't, is called "His Loving
Sister" ...I just saw it by Phillipa Pearce. She is not
the author of the book however, it's just one of the stories.
John Canning (editor), Fifty
Great Ghost Stories. Possibly this book? I
know it has been published in several different editions in the
70s and 80s, I remember it as a dark-colored hardback with a
blue dust jacket, each story had a small line drawing with the
title. "The Brown Lady" story scared me half to death as a kid!
Aidan Chambers (editor), Ghost
After Ghost, 1982. The one anthology I can
find containing the Pearce story cited is this (I'm not sure if
the 1982 hc contained any stories dropped from the 1987 pb
reprint or not). Data from Puffin 1987 pb edition: 7
Foreword Aidan Chambers fw 9 If She Bends, She Breaks
John Gordon ss * 28 Absalom, Absalom Jan Mark ss * 48
Such a Sweet Little Girl Lance Salway ss * 64 Sam and the
Sea George Mackay Brown ss * 82 Christmas in the Rectory
Catherine Storr ss * 97 His Loving Sister Philippa Pearce
ss * 108 Dead Ghost R. Chetwynd-Hayes ss * 126 Old
Fillikin Joan Aiken ss Ghostly Encounters, 1981 139 The
Haunting of Chas McGill Robert Westall nv * This
is a U.K. publication, and the date looks like a fit.
I'm the original author of this stumper, and after reading
people's comments, it definately isn't the second book (in
brown) but may well be the first one. I don't know this for sure
yet because I've ordered the book but it hasn't arrived
yet! Thanks very much for your ongoing support!
Adrienne Adams, The Halloween
Party,1974.Is there any chance at all the main
character was a little boy named Faraday (kind of an androgynous
name)? Your description made me think of The Halloween
Party, and A Woggle of Witches, both by Adrienne Adams.
The cover shows a witch on a broomstick, flying across the moon
with gremlin children behind her.
This sounds like Ellen Raskin's Figgs
and Phantoms. I remember it only sketchily but
it's about a girl whose last name is Figg, who has a lot of
eccentric relatives including an uncle who assists her in
stealing a book I believe the uncle does eventually die,
and a lot of the book is her fantasy about a paradise called
Capri, or possibly Capricos.
Thank you thank you thank you! I'm going
to recommend your store/site to every book fan I know. What a
wonderful service! I'm going to check this book out from the
library to make sure it's the right one, but it sure sounds
correct.
Figgs and Phantoms, written
and illustrated by Ellen Raskin, published Dutton 1974,
154 pages."Mona Lisa Newton, an unattractive, self-centered,
sullen adolescent, is related through her tap-dancing mother,
Sissie Figg Newton, to an astounding family of vaudeville
performers, the 'Fabulous Figgs.' No longer itinerant players,
the clannish, eccentric Figgs - to Mona's constant shame -
live and work in the town of Pineapple: her Uncle Truman, the
Human Pretzel, who is a sign-painter who cannot spell; her
twin uncles, Romulus and Remus; and her Uncle Kadota, the dog
trainer, with his dog-catcher wife and their son Fido.
Rejecting her parents, Mona loves only her Uncle Florence, the
gentle, sad-faced near-midget, a former child dancing star,
now a respected dealer in rare books. But Florence is gravely
ill; and Mona - misery adding to moodiness - is terrified that
he is about to die and go away to 'Capri,' the Figg family's
private heavenly kingdom. When Florence does die, Mona wants
only to follow him, and frantically seeks a clue to her
uncle's vision - his Capri - in his beloved books.
Inconsolable and sick, Mona enters a long dream sequence - a
surrealist phantasmagoria - full of her incarnate dreams and
wishes, and of cryptic references to Velazquez, Gauguin,
Schubert, Gilbert and Sullivan, Milton, Conrad and Blake; and
emerges peacefully at last, knowing that "'We live as we dream
- alone.'" (HB Oct/74 p.138)
I'm thinking T132 is not A Tree for
Peter because it's about a girl. Part of the
mental glitch I'm having is that I keep thinking of the part in
The Secret Garden where they hide picnic fixings
(potatoes, etc) in the tree. I'm also harking back to To
Kill a Mockingbird, where Scout finds lots of
goodies in a knothole in the tree.
Eleanor Frances Lattimore, The Fig
Tree. I
vaguely remember this book where a girl finds a key and teacup
(I think) in a fig tree. It was written in the early
1950's. Could this be it?
I wanted to thank you for this
solution. I had taken your advice and looked up Fig
Tree in the Library of Congress, and knew
immediately when I saw the author's name that this was
it! I have, in the meantime, goptten the book on inter-library
loan, and re-read it. This was a pleasure.
James Branch Cabell, Figures of
Earth,
1927. This is one of about twenty books in Cabell's series
"The Biography of Manuel," though it's the only one involving
Manuel himself (and many of the twenty are only loosely
connected to a series to casual eyes). Cabell's best-known book,
Jurgen, is also part of the series, as is The Silver Stallion
(about the fate of Manuel's followers) and others.
Robert W Drury, The Finches Fabulous
Furnace.
I'm pretty sure this is the one you are looking for, people in
the town become very suspicious and think they have invented a
special furnace.
Roger W. Drury, The Finches Fabulous
Furnace.
You're right. I couldn't remember the name of this book
to save my life! Thanks so much for your help! I
can't wait to get my hands on this book to read it again...and
to prove to my mother that my over-active imagination wasn't
quite as over-active as she thought!
V16 Sounds like it could be THE
FINCHES' FABULOUS FURNACE by Roger W. Drury,
1971. The heating system in their house is really a volcano in
the basement. ~from a librarian
Averill, Esther Holden, The Fire Cat,
1960. I'm almost certain
this is the right book. "Pickles is a young cat with big paws
and big plans. But all he can find to do is chase other cats,
until he is adopted by the local firehouse. Knowing that this is
his chance to do big things, Pickles works hard to be a good
fire cat. He learns to jump on a fire truck. He learns to help
put out a fire, and he even helps out in a rescue!"
Esther Averill, The Fire Cat, 1961. Reprinted many times, this is the
story of Pickles, a yellow cat with big paws and big ideas, who
isn't satisfied doing what other cats do. He is finally adopted
by the firefighters at the fire station, and determines to be
the best fire cat ever.
Esther Averill , The Fire Cat / Cat
Club books,
1960s. Maybe you're thinking of The Fire Cat,
part of the "Jenny and the Cat Club" series? Illustrated
"beginning reader" books. The description online of "The Fire
Cat" is, "Pickles is a young cat with big paws and big plans.
But all he can find to do is chase other cats, until he is
adopted by the local firehouse. Knowing that this is his chance
to do big things, Pickles works hard to be a good fire cat. He
learns to jump on a fire truck. He learns to help put out a
fire, and he even helps out in a rescue!" There are other
"Cat Club" books in which Pickes is not the main character.
Esther Averill, The Fire Cat, 1961. I recognized this as "The Fire
Cat", an old favorite that has been reprinted many times. It is
very easy to find.
Averill, Esther, The Fire Cat, 1960. This might be the one. It's a
classic.
Let's try - Fire Dog, by Lee Julian, illustrated by Charles Clement, published Golden Tell A Tale, 1951 "Story of Dally the Dalmatian dog who lives in the fire house with the 3 firemen Joe Brewer, McKeever and Bill Brown. One day on a fire call, the dog is left behind but finds Joe's boot and carries it to him at the fire scene. Thereafter he gets to ride on the firetruck."
Jim Kjelgaard, Fire Hunter. I'm sure about this one - it
contains all the details mentioned. The two main
characters are Hawk and Willow if I recall correctly.
Jim Kjelgaard, Firehunter. Not sure of the date written. After
reading a description this has to be it.
C210 yes, this seems to be it. Kjelgaard,
Jim,
Fire-hunter. ill by Ralph Ray. Holiday
House, 1951. sabertooth tigers; cavemen - juv fiction;
cave men
Condition Grades |
Kjelgaard, Jim. Fire-Hunter. Illustrated by Ralph Ray. Scholastic, 1951, 6th printing, 1969. Mass paperback, cover shows some wear. G. <SOLD> |
Nancy Willard, Firebrat, 1988. I believe that this is the book in
question. It was very beautifully illustrated by David
Weisner it's those pictures that really make it stick out
in my mind.
It appears my stumper has been solved! My mystery book is
indeed Firebrat by Nancy Willard.
Susan Jeschke, Firerose, 1974. Zora, the fortune teller, doesn't know what to do when she finds a fire-breathing baby with a curly green tail on the doorstep.
Greene, Carla, I Want to Be a Space
Pilot,
1961. Could it be I Want to Be a Space Pilot
from Carla Greene's "I Want to Be" series? Formatted like a
picture book, with a blend of story and information.
Mae and Ira Freeman, You Will Go to
the Moon, 1962. I
haven't read this since my own childhood but it looks like
a possibility
Robert Heinlein, Have Space Suit Will
Travel, 1958. Kip
Russell enters a contest to win a trip to the Moon. It's fiction
and adventure, not a non-fiction book, but maybe???
I remember You Will Go to the Moon,
with its pictures of moon buggies and so on, but I don't think
there was anything in it about touching helmets together or
pieces of metal to talk.
Jeanne Bendick, The First Book of
Space Travel,
1953. I have this book right in front of me, and on page
45 it reads "The only way you can hear another spaceman without
the radio is when you are both touching the same thing, or when
you put your helmets together." This is a very cool book, very
well-written from a scientific viewpoint, and full of great
information. If only we were living and working in space now, as
the author thought we'd be at this point! Pub by Franklin Watts
Inc Lib of Congress number 53-6143.
Condition Grades |
Bendick, Jeanne. The first book of space travel. illus by Jeanne Bendick. Watts, 1953, 5th printing. exlibrary; no dust jacket; original cloth binding, edgeworn, some doodling; pages very good <SOLD> |
I have found one of the two books. The tan book is First Fairy Tales, retold by Mildred L. Kerr and Frances Ross with illustrations by Mary Sherwood Jones and Ray Evans, Jr. Published by Charles E. Merrill Books, it has a copyright of 1946 (Wesleyan University) and is a 1954 printing. I would be interested in purchasing (2-3) copies if available and am still very interested in finding the other bookthe one with the lime green cover. It is almost certainly the same publisher and format and most likely same authors, illustrators, and copyright date.
G26 is Fish Out of Water,
by Helen Palmer Beginner Books, Random House 1961 Feed
him so much and no more, never more than a spot or something may
happen you never know what!
A FISH OUT OF WATER by Helen
Palmer, illustrated by P.D. Eastman
A Fish Out of Water by Helen
Palmer and illus. by P. D. Eastman.
#G26--Goldfish, portly, is definitely A
Fish Out of Water. The author is Helen
Palmer, who just happens to be Dr. Seuss's wife. I
didn't rediscover this one myself until just a few years ago
when I spotted it at the house of a friend who had wisely saved
their childhood favorites to pass on to their own
children. The copy I had as a child either belonged to a
friend or didn't survive our move.
I am looking for the title of a children's
book that has a goldfish named Otto who grows too big for his
bowl
Have any ideas?
I can remember a book that I had as a child
but what I can't remember is the name. It was my favorite and I
actually wouldn't mind being able to buy it again. I have done
some online searching and I think that I may have found a match,
but the site that I found it on doesn't have a picture. I think
it is a book called "I Got a Goldfish" published in 82 by
Curriculum Press. It is a story about a boy that bought a
goldfish and was told to only feed it a certain amount of food,
he decides to feed it more and the fish grows and grows. It
grows to the point that it's bigger than the house and the whole
city needs to join in to help keep the thing in water. I think
he gets it small again but I can't remember how. Anyway this is
the book I am looking for, again not sure if "I Got a Goldfish"
is not the right title, but any help from anyone would be great.
Thank you!
Condition Grades |
Palmer, Helen. A Fish Out of Water. Illustrated by P.D. Eastman. Random House Beginner Book, 1961. New copy. $8 |
|
Oh, but I know that one immediately! It's The Five
Chinese Brothers, written by Claire Bishop and
illustrated by Kurt Wiese. It's hard to find old copies of
it, but fortunately, it's back in print. I can send you a
new copy for about $15. :-)
Thank you very much for your lightning fast
response. About the new edition of The Five Chinese
Brothers, is it just like the original? I'd like to
find a nice copy of the original if I could. (I know, maybe
that's weird or picky, but that's me.) However, if the new
edition is an exact reprint of the one I had, that would be
great. Maybe this all sounds a little dumb to you, but I really
know nothing about books as far as "out of print" vs. "back in
print." If I haven't totally annoyed you by now, please
let me know. And THANK YOU.
Well, of course, old copies are best: they
look like the original copy you remember reading with that aged
paper and all. But a reprint is an exact facsimile, same
words, same pictures, and since Five Chinese Brothers
is basically a black and white book, the illustration
reproduction is fine. You can wait for an old copy, but it
might be awhile, and it might be expensive. Or I can send
you a new one today. Your choice.
Hi, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner,
but I didn't get your e-mail for a couple of days. I've been
having trouble sending and receiving e-mail from time to time.
Anyway, I picked up a copy of Chinese Brothers
last weekend at Barnes & Noble. It's just like I remember
it. Sorry I bought the other book from a different source, I
just had to have it the next day. Hope you understand. Thanks
and take care.
Did you ask the B&N clerk for the book about an "Oriental guy taking a large amount of water
into his mouth"?
Book about 5 chinese brothers each having a
special talent- one could hold his breath, one could swallow the
sea, one could withstand fire etc. I can't remember too
much more but if someone knows please help!! Thanks
---
I remember there were five chinese brothers who had braided
hair and caps and mandarin collars who where sent out on
adventures and each one had a way of surviving peril: ones
neck stretched when he was thrown into the ocean so he wouldn't
drown, anothers neck was steel and therefore couldn't be
chopped.
A classic.
---
The book I remember from when I was a child was a story of a
little oriental boy ( I believe he was Chinese). It was a thin
book with pictures. The story was fictional and involved one
part I remember well which the little boy swallowed the whole
sea and his head became very large. I can't remember what the
rest of the story was about. it was basically an allegorical
tale.
Rebecca believes it is Bishop, Claire Huchet and Kurt Wiese,
The Five Chinese Brothers.
---
This children's story revolves around a young man's ambition to
marry the emperor/king's daughter. He has to pass a series of
tests, each of which one of his brothers has the ability to do.
One of which is surviving being baked in a pie!
I'm a bit hazy on the others but one may have been sitting at
the bottom of the sea. This was one of the first books read to
me at school so would have been published around or before 1960.
Margaret Mahy, seven chinese
brothers. There have been many versions of
this book printed this is one of the most recent. an alternate
title is the Five Chinese Brothers.
Claire Huchet Bishop, The Five
Chinese Brothers.
I have bought both the Five and Seven
Brother versions and while neither seemed to be exactly the
same as what I remember, they were both delightful to read and
sufficiently different in their storyline to be worth keeping
to read to my grandchildren.The Five Brother story is
certainly the older of the two ((c) 1938) but the
illustrations I recall seem to belong to the Seven Brother
book but this is dated 1990. I wonder if there might have been
an earlier variation as I was told this story in my first year
of school, 1960.
---
It was a story about several identical
asian brothers (sextuplets or septuplets, perhaps), each of
which had an outstanding ability (to withstand fire, to
survive being stabbed with sharp things). So one of the
brothers' talent was the ability to take the entire ocean into
his mouth for as long as he could hold his breath. One
of the noble families in their village requested that he
perform this trick so their children could collect some shells
from the ocean floor and he happily agrees. However, when he
began to run out of breath, despite his motioning to the
children, he is unable to wait for them to crawl out of
the ocean basin and he releases the water back into the
ocean, killing the children. Naturally, he is condemned
to death but this is where his brothers come in. First
he is to be burned to death (but flame-resistant brother takes
his place and thus survives), next he is thrown in with
unfriendly alligators (and there is a picture of
non-punctureable brother with an alligator gnawing
unsuccesfully on his arm), and so on.... any ideas?
Bishop, Claire Huchet, Five Chinese
Brothers. "Five
identical brothers have remarkable talents: one can swallow the
sea, one has an iron neck, one can stretch and stretch his legs,
one cannot be burned, and one can hold his breath indefinitely.
The first one`s talent gets him in serious trouble, but the
other four step up to receive his punishment, one after the
other, and their remarkable attributes come in very handy
indeed."
Claire Huchet Bishop (Author), Kurt Wiese
(Illustrator), The Five Chinese Brothers
Condition Grades |
Bishop, Claire Huchet and Kurt Wiese. The Five Chinese Brothers. Coward McCann, 1938. New Hardback copy, $15. New paperback copy, $6. |
|
I remember many more of the illustrations for this fairy tale
book. The Rapunzel story has a picture with Rapunzel, her
long blonde hair unbraided walking with outstretched arms
towards her prince. The Diamonds & Toads story shows
one picture with the dark-haired good sister, hand resting on
her neck, spouting small jewels and roses from her lips.
The other "bad" sister is shown running away while lizards and
toads leap sideways. The Snow White and Rose Red story has
an illustration showing the 2 sisters clutching the dwarf in
mid-air while an eagle tries to carry him away. As I
described earlier, the illustrations are very vivid and made
quite an impression on me as a child. I believe Cinderella
was shown in 2 or 3 elaborate, french ball gowns (one gold/white
another in blue with white fur trim). I hope someone
remembers the title and author.
Five Fairy Tales, 1962.
Maybe this one illustrated by Gordon Laite and published by
Golden Press? It's a Big Golden Book with the stories
Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, Toads and Diamonds, Snow White
and Rose Red, and Cinderella. "48 pages of beautiful color
illustrations."
Thank you so much for solving my bookstumper question
F192. The book I remembered was Five Fairy Tales
illustrated by Gordon Laite, published in 1962. I did an
online search and found a few copies for sale. You folks
are doing a great job with your website and I am so impressed by
the looks of your store in Shaker Heights that I hope to visit
it sometime soon. Again, thank you for your help finding
my favorite old book.
This sounds like one of Enid Blyton's
"Five..." stories. Five Fall into Adventure,
maybe?
Arthur Ransome. Could be one of
the Swallowdale series. Or one of Enid
Blyton's books.
Yes!!!! It is Enid Blyton -- as soon as I read that name, I
recalled it. Thank you so very much!! What a wonderful
site this is!!
Margaret Sidney, Five Little Peppers
and How They Grew,
1881. This was the first of 12 books about Ben, Polly,
Joel, Davie, and Phronsie Pepper and their widowed mother. The
circus episode may be from a later book in the series.
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
by Margaret Sidney.
Condition Grades |
Sidney, Margaret. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. A Dell Yearling Classic, original copyright 1881, paperback 1985 edition with an afterword by Betsy Byars, 1990 paperback printing. F. $6 |
|
Buchanan, Gladys, The Five Litttle
Raccoons. Rand
McNally, 1936, illus. Clarence Biers.
Gladys Buchanan, The Five Little
Raccoons, 1936.
Maybe?
Margaret Sidney, Five Little Peppers
and How They Grew.
Probably not the book (no raccoons in this one) but the
title is so similar I thought one should check.
Five Were Missing
see Ransom
You've got it. It's called Fix it Please, written by Lucy Sprague Mitchell and illustrated by Eloise Wilkin. Published in 1947 as LGB #32. It's one of the harder LGB's to find, but I'll keep an eye out.
I think those are called "Slottie books"! They were a
series of books published by Rand McNally in the 40s and 50s with
Jan B. Balet as most common illustrator. The
"slotties" were paper doll-like pieces in the back of the book
that could be inserted into slots in the illustrations to
complete, or change, the picture. They weren't all about
dolls with missing heads, but what a great match of story and
technique! There are several fairy tales, as well as The
Theatre Cat, Bean Blossom Hill, Papa Pompino, and Rosalinda.
Haven't found the one that matches your stumper yet.
Your stumper about the book with dolls/toys
and separated heads is FIX THE TOYS, I think the
author is Dorothy King. A fun book, and hard to
find with all of the pieces still in the 'toybox'. Great website
by the way.
Hooray I now have ordered a book I have been looking for in
every used bookstore and flea market for years. The
original I had carried such sentimental value and I am so glad
to find a replacement. Thanks for your great service!
B139 bear: sounds to me like The
Flaming Bear, by Harold McCracken, published
Lippincott 1951, 222 pages. "Full of Arctic quiet and
loneliness, of beliefs from Aleutian legend, and the
persistent courage of a young hunter, this beautifully told
story about the giant Alaskan brown bear is new and different.
Tan, a chief's son, is the real hero, whose successful journey
through waters and volcanic terrain solved the mystery of
Flaming Bear's glowing appearances." (HB Feb/52 p.37)
I don't remember the title, but maybe I can
add some details -- my sister and I loved a book, mid 1960's,
where the flattened boy hides in a picture frame (dressed as a
shepherdess, I think) and catches an art thief, and then his
little (brother or sister) figures out that the way to make him
round again is to blow him up with a bicycle pump.
The person who responded to the steamroller
stumper is actually thinking of Flat Stanley by Jeff
Brown. Stanley is flat, and does catch an art thief, but
he is flattened by the bulletin board that falls onto his bed. Flat
Stanley is a fun book.
Sure sounds like Flat Stanley
(1964) by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Toni Ungerer(?)
I read it in school
in 2nd grade or so. Stanley Lambchop is
flattened by a bulletin board and finds his condition to be very
useful. There's a sequel - something like A Lamb for
Lambchop.
Sequel to Flat Stanley, A
Lamp for the Lambchops 1983.
---
I am looking for a children's book about
a little boy that is flattened by a steamroller. He then
wants to visit his grandmother, so his mom folds him up and
mails him to his grandma in an envelope. 1960s.
Jeff Brown, Flat Stanley. If it could be a bulletin board that
flattened the boy, and a friend that he was mailed to, I think
it's probably Flat Stanley. I see it's in Solved
Mysteries, too.
Jeff Brown, Flat Stanley. A possibility, even though Stanley is
flattened by a bulletin board,not a steamroller.
Brown, Jeff, Flat Stanley, 1964. Stanly is flattened by a bulletin
board that falls on him in his sleep. He has all sorts of
adventures, including being folded up and mailed to friends and
family, though I don't remember if his grandmother is
specifically mentioned.
Jeff Brown (author), Tomi Ungerer
(illustrator), Flat Stanley, 1964. Could
the stumper requester have confused some of the details?
Stanley is flattened by a falling bulletin board, not a
steamroller, and is mailed to a school friend who has moved to
California, not his grandmother. Followed by A Lamp
for the Lambchops (retitled Stanley and the
Magic Lamp) Invisible Stanley; Stanley,
Flat Again; Stanley in Space; and Stanley's
Christmas Adventure. Please see the "F" Solved
Mysteries page for more information---more than one stumper
requester thought a steamroller caused Stanley's accident!
Are you sure it was a steamroller?
This sounds like Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
(Harper & Row, 1964), but it was a bulletin board that
flattened Stanley. School teachers often use this story to
teach several lessons - the kids make a 'Flat Stanley' and he
gets mailed all over the world. When he arrives/gets
mailed back to the school, they often have a big party and read
his journal and look at the pictures that people took of his
various visits.
L129 Possibly Brown, Jeff Flat
Stanley illus by Tomi
Ungerer Harper 1964
Copy 2 is Bk Cl copy
1)no dust jacket; white publisher¹s library binding shows soil;
corners & spine ends some wear; shaken; ink doodles on
endpaper; hole in fly from pocket removal; page good Copy 2)
glossy boards soiled; corners & spine ends worn; name
on endpaper; pages very good except light crayon streak on
1
2.00;1.00 1382
Lofting, Hugh, The Crazy Story of
Dizzy Lizzie,
1953?? This is the second stumper to remind me of "Dizzy Lizzie"
(the other being L98), although in both cases there are
differences as well as similarities. The story appears in
Volume 4 of the Spencer Press CHILDREN'S HOUR collection
(reprinted, says the indicia, from CHILD LIFE magazine).
Lizzie is indeed flattened by a steamroller and then mailed
elsewhere, but she goes to Persia rather than to her
grandmother, and she's a girl, not a boy -- though Lofting's
illustrations could suggest otherwise. "Dizzy Lizzie" may well
not be the story the requester is thinking of -- but one wonders
if the author of the requester's story had read the Lofting
tale.
Jeff Brown, Flat Stanley,1968. This was a favourite of mine and I
still have it. My copy was printed in the U.K.. It's
all about Stanley Lambchop who gets accidentally flattened and
then has a number of adventures, including getting mailed to his
Grandma. This is a great site. I've been searching
for the Great Alphabet Race for years, and by a
stroke of luck found it in a random search that ended up at your
Monthly Stumpers. To further extend the good karma, I saw
this mystery was still unsolved. Thanks again.
L121 FLAT STANLEY by Jeff
Brown, 1964 (and there are other adventures with
Stanley)~from a librarian
Jeff Brown, Flat Stanley, 1964. Sounds like the classic Flat
Stanley, although Stanley was actually flattened when a bulletin
board fell on him as he slept, not by a steamroller. But
he is mailed to visit relatives in a big envelope. This
book became popular again in the 1990s, when teachers and
librarians around the country started mailing cardboard "Flat
Stanleys" to other schools as a sort of "pen pal" project.
This led to several sequels being published.
Vernon Grant, Flibbity Jibbit, 1943. 'Childrens' story of a duck -
created for the advertisement of "Junket" Brand Rennet
Powder and Tablets." There was at
least one sequel.
Dicka! Maj Lindman wrote these series books in the
40's featuring (and titled) Flicka,Ricka, Dicka
and Snipp, Snapp, Snurr. I have paperback
reprints available for $6.95 See list on the Back in Print page.
Thank you very much..... is hard to stump the bookseller... LOL
Macken, Walter, Flight of the Doves.
This is it, no question
Walter Macken, Flight of the
Doves, 1968. Why do the Dove Children run away?
Because their parents are dead and life with Uncle Toby is a
series of unbearable cruelties." Twelve year old Finn and seven
year old Derval run away to find their loving grandmother who
lives somewhere across the Irish Sea.
Macken, Walter, Flight of the
Doves. A twelve-year-old English boy Finn and his
seven-year-old sister Dervil run away from their abusive
stepfather and set out to reach their grandmother in western
Ireland, despite the publicity about their flight and a police
search for them.
Walter Macken, Flight of the
Doves, 1968
Walter Macken, Flight of the Doves. Wow!!
That
was
fast.
Thank
you
so
much
everyone
- I have been trying to remember this for years... now I have
a copy and will be able to share this with my own children.
Capon, Paul, Flight of Time. London: Heinemann, 1960. "Jill sat on the sand facing the sea and closed her eyes. She started to count up to a hundred, to give the others plenty of time to hide. She opened her eyes and was just about to jump up when - whoosh - it happened. At one moment there was nothing in front of her, and at the next there was a great shining object looking like a huge silver dishcover." If I recall from reading the review in Junior Bookshelf, the object is a time machine, and the children travel in it. No idea about a cat, though.
Stan and Jan Berenstain, Flipsville/Squaresville
#D37: Doll family shipwrecked on
island, sounds like Floating Island, by Anne
Parrish, a 1931 Newbery Honor Award book published by
Harper.
Hello! I have the answer for D37's question.
The book is called Floating Island by Anne
Parrish, copyright 1930, Harper & Bros, Publishers.
The pictures are by Mr. Doll! The Doll family's dollhouse is
shipwrecked on an island (Mr. and Mrs. Doll, and their children
Annabel and William, the maid Dinah, and their fake food Lobby,
Finny, and Pudding try to become reunited on the island. I found
this old favorite of mine at a library booksale. I love your
site!
D37: Just a warning...if the book you're
looking for IS the 1931 book Floating Island, be
aware that there's some very painful racism in it (when the
dolls get to leave the island, the black cook doll feels
compelled to stay on the island with the monkeys). I read one
parent on the Net who said she kept it out of her kids' hands
until they were old enough to listen to and fully understand her
explanation of why this is so appalling. If it weren't for that
character, this would be a pretty good book.
I am looking for a children's fiction
book that I read in the 4th or 5th grade (1974 -75). The
book was about a family of dolls stranded on an island.
The dolls were alive and explored the lsland. The doll
family had a maid/nanny dressed in clothing that reminds me of
Aunt Jemima on the syrup bottle. As they explored the
island, they encounter a crab and make it the family pet
(named Crabby?). The book is illustrated throughout and
contains lots of hand drawn maps and figures and has an over
abundance of asterisked references to the bottom of the
page. The book must have had between 100 - 250
pages. I can neither remember the title or the author,
or even much more about the book.
***And yet another...
This would be a children's book from the
50's. It involved a doll family and their doll house
being shipped by sea to the states from England. They
crash on an island and the story involves their being
separated and then trying to find each other. It
involved Mr. and Mrs. Doll, their son (William I think) their
daughter and their cook who is helped by monkeys.
---
Sorry, I didn't read the explanation thoroughly. The book
I am looking for was my favorite back in the early seventies,
and was about a dollhouse family which comes alive and leaves
their dollhouse for an adventure. I remember that there
was also a talking fish on a plate, with a lemon slice, and I'm
pretty sure that the dollhouse family ends up on a desert
island. It was quite a long book, not a 15 page kids'
book. I have looked all through the descriptions of
talking dollhouse family books on this website and none of them
look familiar. Help!
Actually, now that I've wandered around on your wonderful
website some more, I've discovered that the book I requested you
to identify is apparently "Floating Island" by Anne
Parrish. The stumper request I sent in is one referring to
a dollhouse family and a talking plate of fish.
______________________________________________
A chapter book, pre-1963; my 2nd grade
teacher read us a chapter daily. A doll family is shipwrecked
on a desert island. My only distinct memory is the father and
another male family member dragging a starfish into their
make-shift dwelling to use as a rug and the mother's horrified
reaction, whereupon she makes them remove it. Don't think it's
from The Borrower's series, though that's the scale of their
adventures. Seemed British...
Sounds like it could be FLOATING
ISLAND by Anne Parrish, 1930~from a
librarian
Floethe, Louise Lee, Floating Market, 1969. New York : Farrar, Straus &
Giroux. A Thai sister and brother sail to the market
hoping to sell their fruits, vegetables, and dumplings so they
can buy their younger sister a present.
Wow, I'm sure that's it! Thank you so much!
Sounds like Cicely Mary Barker to me. She wrote and illustrated many books about fairies, including a series of four through the seasons: Flower Fairies of the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. These are rather small, in verse, and with her delicate drawings. None has the quote you mentioned, but one of her other books might. They were originally published in London in the 1920's and the originals can be quite pricey. However, they are back in print for only $5.95 each.
I am looking for 2 books that I remember reading when I was a child. I don't have much information except the following:they were cloth covered - one in yellow and one in a brownish color (could've been red originally) I believe the illustrations in both were by Cicely Mary Barker. One book was about Flower Fairies and in particular there was a page that featured "Hollyhock" with a corresponding poem.
Condition Grades |
please check current availability...
Barker, Cicely Mary. Flower Fairies of the Spring. Frederick Warne, 1923, 1990. New copy. $6 Barker, Cicely Mary. Flower Fairies of the Summer. Frederick Warne, 1925, 1990. New copy. $6 Barker, Cicely Mary. Flower Fairies of the Autumn. Frederick Warne, 1926, 1990. New copy. $6 Barker, Cicely Mary. Flower Fairies of the Winter. Frederick Warne, 1923, 1990. New copy. $6 Barker, Cicely Mary. A Treasury of Flower Fairies. Frederick Warne, 1992. New copy. $20 Laing, Jane. Cicely Mary Barker and Her Art. Frederick Warne, 1995. New copy. $35 |
|
Maybe - Flowers for Filbert by
cecile Lamb, Whitman Pub. Co., 1951. "Filbert the
donkey learns the difference between real and artificial
flowers."
I am sitting here holding Flowers for Filbert amid a
flood of memories. I cannot begin to express my gratitude. I
feel so fortunate to have been listening to NPR that Saturday
morning. Thanks very much. Ps. I've already submitted my second
book stumper request.
And--I can't believe this--I FOUND my book about the little
lost lamb! It's Fluffy Little Lamb, a Wonder Book
by Gilbert Delahaye, pictured on page 408 of Santi's "Collecting
Little Golden Books," Fourth Edition. This guidebook was
expensive, but, it seems, worth it! It's actually a lot
more entertaining reading after seeing everyone's
stumpers. Now I gotta find this book!
The Flying Hockey Stick
I remember reading a book when I
was a kid in the 1970's about a boy who flies around the world
(I believe). He is doing it on a vacuum cleaner until he reaches
the end of the length of the cord. I think this was before I
could actually read but for some reason I thought his name was
Barnaby.
Jolly Roger Bradfield, The Flying Hockey Stick. Purple
House Press republished this book. Barnaby Jones invents a
flying machine.
Jolly Roger Bradfield, The Flying Hockey
Stick, 1966. I just want to thank the person who solved
my question. Looks like the original was in 1966 and there is
a reprint in 2007.
Frank Walton, Flying Machine Boys series, 1913 on. These look likely. I can find five titles, but no descriptions: The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service or, The Capture in the Air; The Flying Machine Boys on Duty or, The Clue Above the Clouds; The Flying Machine Boys in the Wilds; The Flying Machine Boys in Deadly Peril; The Flying Machine Boys in the Frozen North or, the Trail in the Snow.
The Flying Trunk is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. You're probably thinking of the Kubasta pop-up version printed in 1960. Kubasta was a master of paper engineering, and his books are very collectible...
T-60 is one of my other all time favorite
books. I don't recall the author's first name (she is
famous, though) and her last is Friermood. The
title of the book is Focus the Bright Land and I
just checked it out of the library again..first time this year,
though! Thanks for letting us help out, this is fun!!
I just fininshed reading it again and am
ready to take it back to the library..the author's full name is
Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood.
Focus the Bright Land, by Elisabeth
Hamilton Friermood, published Doubleday 1967, 240 pages.
"Vicky's father, founder of the Bodkin Photographic Studio,
had gone to Washington at the special request of President
Garfield to photograph his inauguration. Two of her brothers,
also expert photographers, were preparing for a summer of
traveling in their caravan studio. Vicky, practiced in the art
of getting her own way, finally succeeded in winning
permission to accompany her brothers, provided she made
herself useful. She had the imagination to see and the skill
to catch remarkable artistic effects in landscapes ... and she
proved her ability with the double lens for stereoscopic
views." (HB Dec/67 p.757)
Sauer, Julia L., Fog Magic, 1943 and reprinted again and again. The
kitten's name is "Wisp," the girl's is "Greta," and it takes
place in Nova Scotia, Canada.
This one is definitely Fog Magic
by Julia Sauer. The protagonist is a girl who can walk
back in time through the fog until her 11th birthday--then she
is too old. On her birthday she discovers her father did the
same.
Quite sure that the answer to F49 is Fog
Magic by Julia Sauer. I think it's
still in print.
I'm certain this is Fog Magic,
however it is set in Novia Scotia, Canada.
---
also see A Sound of Crying
---
A short novel from maybe the late 70's
early 80's (possibly). It's a story about a young girl who
walks through fog and ends up in a different time (maybe the
time of the Pilgrims?) And that's all I can remember!
Margaret Jean Anderson, In the Keep
of Time. Don't
know if this is it--but a little girl goes back in time while
exploring a tower somewhere in the U.K. (I thought it was Wales,
but someone on Amazon says it is Scotland). Her siblings (at
least one brother and one sister, and maybe one cousin) go to
find her and bring her back. As I recall, they go through fog to
find her. The creepy thing that has stuck with me all this time
is that they find a little girl who looks just like the sister,
but who belongs to that previous age. Since they can't find
their sister, or they think this is their sister under some kind
of magic, they bring the little girl home and try to pass her
off as their sister to their parents (she does not even speak
their language and screams when they do things like run the
vacuum!). As I recall, it works (!) and so none of the adults
are ever the wiser--but the reader is left wondering, WAS this
their little sister? If not, WHERE is she and WHAT is
happening to her??? It always haunted me to think of the
modern girl being abandoned by her siblings, who seemed to
assume one look-alike girl was as good as the next. It
looks like it is part of a trilogy, and another of the titles in
the trilogy is The Mists of Time. But it
sounds like all the stories take place in Scotland.
I think the story about only a girl (if I
remember correctly) takes place in the United States and I
think she meets early settlers in New England. Thanks though!
Julia Sauer, Fog Magic, 1943. This is Fog Magic by Julia Sauer...a
perennial favorite of many generations, as well as a Newbery
Honor book. Originally published in 1943, its been in print more
or less continuously since then, (including a Scholastic
printing in the 1969, which is the edition many remember) from
different publishers, with different art, but same text....its
even out in hardcover right now!!
Sauer, Julia L., Fog Magic. This is very likely your book. A girl is
able to walk into a town from the past when the fog comes in.
The Girl Who Slipped Through Time, 1980,
approximately.
I'm
not
sure
this
is
the
book
you're looking for. I read this book in the early
1980s. The main character's name was Paramecia, and her
father was a scientist. I have a vague memory of her
walking through some sort of fog and being transported to
another time.
Julia Sauer, Fog Magic, 1943. This is probably Fog Magic(see solved
mysteries)
Sauer, Julia, Fog Magic, 1960s. A little girl discovers a magic
world in the thick fog which occurs regularly along the coast of
Nova Scotia
Sauer, Julia, Fog Magic, 1943. Probably this book, which was
reprinted numerous times. Greta can walk backwards through
time to an old-fashioned village.
Julia Sauer, Fog Magic
Maybe Fog Magic by Julia
Sauer??
Julia Sauer, Fog Magic. This one is also a possibility, depending on
what you remember. It's about a girl named Greta, and
there's a description on the Solved
page.
The names sound German, but I'm reasonably
sure they aren't in Grimm. It could be either another collector,
or some of the 'literary fairy tales' written in Germany during
the Romantic period, like Brentano's long story of Gockel,
Hinkel and Gockelia. A couple of possibles: Matthiessen,
Wilhelm Folk Tales NY Grove Press, 1968, 8vo, 208
pages, color illustrations by Ruth Bartlett. Fairy Tales
of Ludwig Bechstein translated by Anthea Bell NY
Abelard Schuman 1967, illustrated in color by Irene Schreiber. "Bechstein
was
a
19th century poet and scholar and a collector of folklore.
This volume has a selection most likely to appeal to children"
Folk Tales by Wilhelm Matthiessen
- that's IT!! No wonder I had such trouble finding it - even
in the Boston area, most libraries don't carry WM and the few
copies in abebooks.com list none of the tales' titles at all!
The 13th tale is "Golden Acres". The translator is Kathleen
Shaw. I knew the edition had to be from the last 40 years
simply because in older books of "mainstream" fairy tales, you
just don't read about girls named Maureen or kings that smoke
"big fat cigars", or a kingdom which "you can walk around in a
quarter of an hour - I tried it only recently". Shaw
translated another of Matthiessen's books called The
Potato King and other Folk Tales as well. WM died in
1965. Thank you, I've helped solve 40 stumpers, I've posted 25
or so, and this was one of the ones I cared about most!
C219 These sound like 'porquoi' tales
[why?] There are many of them in just about every culture.
Anansi stories from Africa, Iktomi tales from native american
tribes, by way of who knows where? Hope this info helps you
narrow your search.
This may not be what either is looking for,
but let me try to hit 2 stumpers with 1 stone: C 219: Children's
book of how stories and W 120: Winds, Stories About could both
be Old Mother West Wind, by Thornton W.
Burgess, 1910. Put that title, in quotes, into Google, and
you'll even find entire online versions of it; for example,
chapter 2, Why
Grandfather Frog Has No Tail.
Thanks for the last suggestion to go to
Google but this was not the book I was looking for. There were
specific stories in my book but we're getting closer!
Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories.This is another possibility. I don't
remember any of the stories you mentioned, but it does contain
things like "How the elephant got his trunk" and "How the
leopard got his spots" and "How the whale got his throat."
Might want to look into it.
Thanks again but Kipling's book is not it
either I've checked into that one. The book I'm searching for
has stories in it such as how the Christmas tree got its
needles, The little turtle who couldn't stop talking and other
"how" stories.
I recently submitted an entry under
"Cautionary Tales" and you and I are looking for the same
marvelous book. I have had no luck yet.
Watty Piper, Folk Tales Children Love, 1934. I have been looking for exactly
the same book you seem to be looking for. I found my
solution in the solved mysteries section of this website under
children's tales. I then went online to confirm it by
getting a look at the cover. I think you may be seeking
the same book. That story of the turtle was so wonderful
and I've looked for the book for YEARS. I hope I've helped
to make you as happy as I am.
I think you might be mixing two books here. I'm not sure
about the Irish Setter book, but the German Shepard guide book may
be Follow My Leader by James Garfield.
The boy was blinded as a youngster playing with fireworks.
I'm not sure what the other book might be.
Dorothy Clewes, Guide Dog, 1965. This might also be it. This
one is set in England, the boy was nearly an adult when he was
blinded by an exploding package. It was a Weekly Reader
Book Club Selection.
Thank you, Ms. Logan. You and your readers are excellent book
detectives. Those three titles are the books I remember.
---
My third grade teacher read a book to the class (circa 1965)
about a boy that was shooting fireworks and became blind. The
story goes through the changes in the boy's life as he adjusts
to his blindness. I remember he gets a guide dog and the orginal
name of the dog was for a star, but I think the boy called the
dog by another name. I also remember the boy cooking one day
(maybe oatmeal or mashed potatoes) and using powdered detergent
instead of the food product. The book also talks about how he
learned to tell a cup was full, and something about
feeling the air pressure at a wall before walking into it. It
would make my day...no year if someone could tell me the title
of this book.
HRL: I remember this one from elementary school, too.
It's Follow My Leader, by James Garfield.
#T157--tree asked for glass leaves:
appears to have been solved in #T137 with The Foolish Fir
Tree, by Henry van Dyke.
Henry Van Dyke, The Foolish Fir Tree, 1911. This poem has a number of
variants I've seen online. "A Presbyterian Minister, Henry
Van Dyke is perhaps best known for The Story of the Other Wise
Man and for the Hymn of Joy ("Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
..."). He was also a prolific poet, and the above poem can be
found in: Van Dyke, Henry. The Poems of Henry Van Dyke.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911."
I found this one on the Solved pages: Children's
Stories selected by the Child Study Association.
you helped, a few yrs ago, with a successful booksearch. now,
i am searching for a poetry book may sister & i enjoyed as
children. the cover is red, i think. poems, include: clang,cling,
the cowbells ring;
smells ("my daddy smells like tobacco
& books; mommy, like lavender&
listerine"); the first thanksgivng ("peace &
mercy & jonathan,& patience, very small"); I'm
hiding ("i'm hiding, i'm hiding & no one knows
where, for all they can see are my toes & my hair ").
we enjoyed this book during the 50's & 60's. unfortunately,
i cannot recall the title. can you help?
I don't know the book, unfortunately, but
the Thanksgiving poem quoted here is "The First
Thanksgiving of All" by Nancy Byrd Turner.
That poem, at least, is fairly easy to find -- it's still
being used in patriotic and holiday collections!
re: "I'm hiding, I'm higing, and no one
knows where..."- a poem written from the perspective of a very
young child who is hiding from his parents. They are playing
along. It was in the Childcraft Encyclopedia
which, by the time my four older siblings had done with it, was
quite dog-eared and worn before it got to me. There were
many other treasures in it as well.
Zounds! Antiquing today and suddenly -BAM!
An old book has Smells by Christopher Morley,-then I see
First Thanksgiving of All by Nancy Byrd
Turner,and-YES!!- Cow Song by Aline Kilmer (Klang!
Kling! the cowbells ring) Yippee!! FOR A CHILD
great poems old and new- collected by Wilma
McFarland,1947. illustrated by NINON,1947. A
fabulous book: wonderful collection of poems, enchanting
illustrations- a treasure! I think this may solve some other
stumpers!
Christine Pullein Thompson, Phantom
Horse. Phantom
Horse is about an English girl called Jean who moves to America
and tames a wild palamino. Could this be it?
Unfortunately that isn't the book (Phantom
Horse). Thinking about it, I am pretty sure the
girl's name was Samantha, and that she moved from the city
into the Virginia countryside. She attended a one room
school with her siblings and rode a pony to school.
Patricia Leitch, For Love of a Horse, 1976. I have a copy of The Phantom
Horse and it does not fit the description given. It
could be For Love of a Horse by Patricia
Leitch where the family move from the town of "Stopton" to
the west coast of Scotland. The heroine is called "Jinny" and
the horse is called "Shantih". The punishment incident by the
headmaster in the small school takes place in Chapter 6 but it
is not directly connected to the horse. For Love of
a Horse is the first in the "Jinny" series of
stories and is followed by A Devil to Ride, The Summer
Riders and 8 others. Hope this information helps.
For Love Of A Horse by Patricia
Leitch matches this request perfectly. Jinny is the girl,
Shantih is the wild horse that she wants. It's been a long time
since I've read this book, but I distinctly remember the scene
with the headmaster using a ruler to hit Jinny's hand as
punishment for some minor transgression. I recently
found out this was the first book in a series.
For Love of a Horse. That's it! Thank you
thank you thank you!!!!! Funny that I thought it took
place in Virginia when the girl's name is Jinny. Thank
you!
LJ Smith, The Forbidden Game (I: The Hunter, II: The Chase,
III: The Kill). (1994) LJ Smith wrote a trilogy of books
about a guy with white-blonde hair (Julian) who tricks the main
character (Jenny) and her friends into various games in an
attempt to get Jenny, who he has been watching for years.
He has magic powers and could well be a demon or something, and
his initial appearance is as the cashier in a mysterious game
store where Jenny goes to buy a game to play at her boyfriend's
birthday party. I haven't read these since they first came
out, but I own copies, so can provide many more details upon
request.
Smith, L. J., The Forbidden
Game,1994.I agree with the first poster. this is
very clearly the Smith trilogy, first published in 1994 (I
believe there's since been an omnibus edition). The plot
and character details are a close match.
Mandy Bingham and Francoise
Seignobosc both wrote children's storoes named Minou.
The problem is minou just means "Kitty" in French.
This is definitely NOT Minou
by Mindy Bingham. That book is about a cat whose
owner dies and wanders through Paris looking for a new home.
This looks like a retelling of the French
fairy tale Blondine by The Comtesse de Ségur.
I found these possibilities, but couldn't determine whether
"Fair Minou" was part of them. Forest of Lilacs
illus. by Nicole Claveloux, NY: Harlin Quist,
1969. Abstract: "Powers of good and evil struggle in the
enchanted forest to decide the fate of Princess Blondine."
The Enchanted Forest by Beatrice
Schenk de Regniers, illus. with old prints by Gustave
Doré, NY: Atheneum, 1974. Abstract: "Lured into the
Enchanted Forest through the wiles of her wicked stepmother,
Princess Goldenhair is found by Bonnie Cat and Gentle Doe and
kept in their castle with the assurance that one day she will
return home."
Countess de Segur, Forest of Lilacs. The book
that I was looking for is called Forest of Lilacs, as provided
by someone who responded to my stumper question. I
received an original copy of it yesterday from a bookseller in
Brooklyn, NY and it is indeed the book I had been searching
for! Thank you so much for your help and thank you to the
person who solved my stumper!
This is probably Troy Nesbit, The
Forest Fire Mystery ('62).
F17 I read this one too, but don't recall it
being part of a series. I do remember the boy hero answering the
phone "Dewdrop Inn!" and realising that it sounded like "Do drop
in!". I think the inn belongs to his aunt and he's
helping out for the summer. Sorry I don't
remember anything useful.
F17 forest fires: finally got hold of a copy
of The Forest Fire Mystery, by Troy Nesbit,
illustrated by Shannon Stirweis, published Whitman 1962, 284
pages, and can confirm that this is it. The story is set in the
Colorado
Rockies, in the small town of Belmont. Art
Mills and his family have recently moved there, and Art's father
is the new owner of the Dew Drop Inn. On page 253 Art and his
friend Joe discover "a soda pop bottle! What
was a pop bottle doing here in the middle of
a tangled, remote forest? But stranger still, the bottle was
held a little way above the ground by two forked sticks." When
the boys open the corked bottle, inside is not water, but
"'Gasoline!' Art cried. 'This is Homer's time bomb!'"
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
by Patricia McKillip, maybe?
Patricia McKillip, The Forgotten
Beasts of Eld. I
wonder if N21 might be The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. The
"pets" Sybel keeps aren't all dragons, but the copy I have does
show a dragon beside her on the cover. And the book is
certainly very concerned with the power of naming. I believe
this is the only book of McKillip wrote as a children's book.
N21 was the correct book! Thanks for the help. I
bought the book and am enjoying it for a second time.
Thanks for solving my book stumper!
---
I can't remember much about this book
now. It was a fantasy type book. I can remember a large black
wild cat, I believe it was a panther, named Moria (not sure
which spelling of Moria was used). The panther could speak to
the girl, who was the main character of the book. I think that
the girl was on some type of mission, journey, adventure, and
from what I remember, other wild jungle type animals. It seems
like there was even some mystery involved, as well. It was a
chapter book, and I was about 11 to 13 or 14 years of age when
I read it. At the time, it looked to be a new library book.
The black panther, Moria, was on the cover. I remember very
hypnotic, piercing eyes, and I think the girl was on the cover
as well. Can't remember if any other animals were also on the
cover. I've searched for this book for many years. I'm a 6th
grade reading teacher, and have read much children's
literature - both then and now. Yet, this book haunts me, as
I'd just love to have it and read it again to see if it
was really as wonderful as I remember. Thanks so much in
advance for any help you can be in finding this.
Patricia McKillip, The
Forgotten Beasts of Eld, 1974. I think your book
may be this one, a beautiful, complex story about Sybel,
descended from wizards and living alone on a mountain in the
kingdom of Eldwold. She has inherited a collection of
animals including "the huge black Cat Moriah", the Lyon Gules,
the Dragon Gyld, the Falcon Ter, and a Black Swan, all of whom
were "called" (kind of a combination of telepathy and hypnotism)
she herself attempts to call a great white bird, the
Liralen. Meanwhile, a baby boy is left with her one night
-- an orphaned relative named Tamlorn, who turns out to be a
prince, and eventually must choose whether to stay with Sybel or
go down to the world of politics and warfare that awaits
him. Coren, the man who brought him to Sybel, falls in
love with her and together they, with their different but
equally emotionally impoverished backgrounds, struggle to learn
how to love. There are various covers but I can't find a photo
of the one I remember (it may have been the first), where the
cat was black and had the eyes you describe. Good luck!
---
A young adult book, about
a young woman living alone on top of a mountain, who can 'call'
all these mystical creatures to her. She calls a man to her,
moves down off the mountain to live with him; he's a prince? I
think she returns to the mountain with her creatures at the end,
but don't remember. I read the book as a kid in the 1970s,
if that helps any.
This sounds like The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip. I
read this as a teenager in my "Magic Carpet Books" phase.
Hi, I just looked at the site,
and someone already 'found' my book. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. As soon as I saw
the word Eld, it rang a bell. Thank you for this service you
provide!
R14 might be The Forgotten Daughter
by Caroline Dale Snedeker. It's a Newberry Honor
book that was published in 1933 and reissued in 1966. The Roman
slave in this book is a girl named Chloe whose father was a
patrician Roman and her mother a Greek woman
taken prisoner in a mlitary raid. I read it many years ago
and remember that Chloe had an older slave woman as a companion,
who I think was also Greek, but I don't
specifically remember the tapestry weaving.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten Door, 1965. Perhaps it's this one or another by
the same author, who often wrote about gentle displaced alien
children.
B176: Alexander Key, Illustrated by
Dom Lupo. The Forgotten Door, 1965. "Who is the
strange boy who can talk to animals and read people's minds?
Where does he come from? The boy, Jon, has lost his memory
and does not know. He only knows that he has fallen through the
forgotten door to the strange planet, Earth, and that he is in
great danger." He can't heal others, but when injured
himself, he recovers quickly. He does prevent a deer from being
killed by a lowlife character.
---
anonymous boy (from future?) found in
cave in forest. The book I'm trying to find is one that my 3rd
grade teacher read aloud to us (the same year we heard Where
the Red Fern Grows, etc.), so that would have been in
about 1983-84. As best as I can remember, it was about
siblings (I think) who found an anonymous boy in a
cave/grotto/secret place in the forest near their home (which
may have been a farm/ somewhere else rural, but also might not
have been). He may have been naked/mute when they found him. I
*believe* they eventually discovered that he'd come from the
future somehow -- that the cave/grotto was a portal of some
kind. I don't remember how it ended up, but I've always wanted
to track down the book and re-read it. The words "green door"
have stuck in my head regarding it, but no amount of title
searching on those words has turned up anything that seems
right.
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door. Little Jon falls through a door into our
world, where he is found by a family. He is telepathic and
doesn't speak at first as he learns the language. Later he is
persecuted for his telepathy, but after speaking up for
environmentalism and world peace, he returns to his home.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten
Door. I don't remember what year this was
published, but I'm sure that this is Alexander Key's The
Forgotten Door. His people had once had some
sort of gateways into other worlds, but these had been long
abandoned. He happened to be standing over one of those
forgotten gates when the earth covering it caved in under
him. Because he fell through into an underground
chamber (the one that housed the gate mechanisms) he'd struck
his head somewhere along the line and when he arrived in our
world he had developed amnesia. The rest of the story was
about the family who found him and tried to figure out who he
was and where he'd come from.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten
Door, 1965. I read this a long time ago but this
title came to mind when reading your description.
Could this be The Forgotten Doorby
Alexander Key???
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door, 1965. Could this be the one?
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door. The boy has fallen through a portal/door from
another planet and lands on earth. He is able to
communicate with animals and heals quickly. I believe it is also
in Solved Mysteries.
Alexander Key, Forgotten Door,
1965. I think you're looking for The Forgotten
Door. It seems to stick in the minds of a lot
of readers!
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door. Try this one - I'm sure it's the right
one. (You may have gotten "green door" from the fact that
your book was green - mine is!)
WOW! I never expected a solution so
quickly -- from the description posted on the site, The
Forgotten Door is the book I've been trying to remember
forever; I just ordered a copy, so we'll see for sure soon!
Thanks so much.
---
anonymous boy (from future?) found in
cave in forest. The book I'm trying to find is one that my 3rd
grade teacher read aloud to us (the same year we heard Where
the Red Fern Grows, etc.), so that would have been in
about 1983-84. As best as I can remember, it was about
siblings (I think) who found an anonymous boy in a
cave/grotto/secret place in the forest near their home (which
may have been a farm/ somewhere else rural, but also might not
have been). He may have been naked/mute when they found him. I
*believe* they eventually discovered that he'd come from the
future somehow -- that the cave/grotto was a portal of some
kind. I don't remember how it ended up, but I've always wanted
to track down the book and re-read it. The words "green door"
have stuck in my head regarding it, but no amount of title
searching on those words has turned up anything that seems
right.
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door. Little Jon falls through a door into our
world, where he is found by a family. He is telepathic and
doesn't speak at first as he learns the language. Later he is
persecuted for his telepathy, but after speaking up for
environmentalism and world peace, he returns to his home.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten
Door. I don't remember what year this was
published, but I'm sure that this is Alexander Key's The
Forgotten Door. His people had once had some
sort of gateways into other worlds, but these had been long
abandoned. He happened to be standing over one of those
forgotten gates when the earth covering it caved in under
him. Because he fell through into an underground
chamber (the one that housed the gate mechanisms) he'd struck
his head somewhere along the line and when he arrived in our
world he had developed amnesia. The rest of the story was
about the family who found him and tried to figure out who he
was and where he'd come from.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten
Door, 1965. I read this a long time ago but this
title came to mind when reading your description.
Could this be The Forgotten Door
by Alexander Key???
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door, 1965. Could this be the one?
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door. The boy has fallen through a portal/door from
another planet and lands on earth. He is able to
communicate with animals and heals quickly. I believe it is also
in Solved Mysteries.
Alexander Key, Forgotten Door,
1965. I think you're looking for The Forgotten
Door. It seems to stick in the minds of a lot
of readers!
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door. Try this one - I'm sure it's the right
one. (You may have gotten "green door" from the fact that
your book was green - mine is!)
WOW! I never expected a solution so
quickly -- from the description posted on the site, The
Forgotten Door is the book I've been trying to remember
forever; I just ordered a copy, so we'll see for sure soon!
Thanks so much.
---
The stumper I was interested in was a story about a couple of
kids (boy and girl) living in the Smoky Mountain area. They were
exploring a cave and came upon a boy that had somehow traveled
from another dimension where his world was in trouble. He had to
do something here and get back to them. This book would have
been at least back in the mid-sixties and would have probably
been a Scholastic Pub.
The Forgotten Door by Alexander
Key. See Solved Mysteries. A real treasure. There was a
British 1966 TV version of it.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten Door.
This, I believe indeed, is the book I wanted. I remember the
name of the main character Jon and the fact that he read
minds.
---
I remember reading a
book in the late 80's/early 90s, as a kid. A boy arrives through
some sort of space or time door, and gets adopted into this
family. He's got strange clothes (some unusual fabric). He tries
to figure out how to get home, but is also really attached to
the family, who helps him.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten Door, 1965, copyright.
Alexander Key, The
Forgotten Door. Could this be the
right book? "Jon, a boy from another world, accidentally
falls through a forgotten door to Earth, losing his memory,
but retaining his ability to communicate with animals and hear
people s thoughts. He is warned of danger by a deer, and
narrowly escapes peril throughout his adventure. He happens
upon the farm of kindly Mary and Thomas Bean. Jon's
supernatural abilities are almost immediately apparent to
Mary, and she suspects he is otherworldly. Thomas is
skeptical, at first. Word travels fast about a genius boy
staying with the Beans. Mary and Thomas realize there is
precious little time to take Jon elsewhere before everyone
from threatening neighbors to the CIA tries to get their hands
on him. The military and the press are closing in on the house
when Jon hears his father s voice calling him from their
world. Jon realizes the door is open again, and without a
moment to lose, the three of them steal away through the woods
on a moonless night, guided by the voice of Jon's father to
seek the forgotten door."
Alexander Key, The
Forgotten Door. The strange fabric
part of this makes me think of The Forgotten Door. It's in
the solved mysteries!
Key,
Alexander, Forgotten
Door. "Jon, a boy from another world,
accidentally falls through a forgotten door to Earth,
losing his memory, but retaining his ability to
communicate with animals and hear people s thoughts. He
is warned of danger by a deer, and narrowly escapes
peril throughout his adventure. He happens upon the farm
of kindly Mary and Thomas Bean. Jon s supernatural
abilities are almost immediately apparent to Mary, and
she suspects he is otherworldly. Thomas is skeptical, at
first. Word travels fast about a genius boy staying with
the Beans. Mary and Thomas realize there is precious
little time to take Jon elsewhere before everyone from
threatening neighbors to the CIA tries to get their
hands on him. The military and the press are closing in
on the house when Jon hears his father s voice calling
him from their world. Jon realizes the door is open
again, and without a moment to lose, the three of them
steal away through the woods on a moonless night, guided
by the voice of Jon s father to seek the forgotten
door."
Alexander Key, The Forgotten Door.
I'm
sure
you'll
get
many
answers
on
this
one! Many people have fond memories of it and it
comes up frequently on book search sites.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten Door,
1965.
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten Door.
Could this be the book? Jon, a boy from another
world, accidentally falls through a forgotten door
to Earth, losing his memory, but retaining his
ability to communicate with animals and hear people
s thoughts. He is warned of danger by a deer, and
narrowly escapes peril throughout his adventure. He
happens upon the farm of kindly Mary and Thomas
Bean. Jon s supernatural abilities are almost
immediately apparent to Mary, and she suspects he is
otherworldly. Thomas is skeptical, at first. Word
travels fast about a genius boy staying with the
Beans. Mary and Thomas realize there is precious
little time to take Jon elsewhere before everyone
from threatening neighbors to the CIA tries to get
their hands on him. The military and the press are
closing in on the house when Jon hears his father s
voice calling him from their world. Jon realizes the
door is open again, and without a moment to lose,
the three of them steal away through the woods on a
moonless night, guided by the voice of Jon s father
to seek the forgotten door. - I think it was
published in the early 80's but I don't recall any
particular "alien" clothing mentioned but great book
anyway!
This sounds
a lot like The Forgotten Door
by Alexander Key.
Key, Alexander, The Forgotten
Door, 1968, copyright.
This is definitely The Forgotten Door
by Alexander
Key.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten
Door, 1965, copyright.
In this book, a boy from another world falls
through a door and ends up in our world.
Margaret Mahy,
Aliens
in the Family, 1986,
copyright. Perhaps this one? A
bit of a long shot, sorry. It's set in
New Zealand. The boy from the future
is called Bond, and he wears strange
clothing: a suit of many pockets. The
children who help him are Dora, Lewis and
Jake. Lewis and Dora are brother and
sister Jake is their stepfather's
daughter, staying with them for a
holiday. I don't think the parents
have much to do with Bond, though, and I
don't think he's adopted by the family in a
literal way - though it's been a long time
since I read it.
Most
likely The Forgotten Door
by Alexander
Key. See Solved Mysteries.
Alexander
Keyes, The Forgotten Door.
A boy comes through a forgotten door
from his own peaceable, vegetarian
society and arrives here. The unusual
fiber of his clothing and shoes is
plant, since they do not use leather.
Paul
Samuel Jacobs, Born
Into Light, 1988,
copyright. I have read this book
a couple of times, but several years
ago. It sounds like what I remember,
but I can't fully remember about the
special cloth.
Alexander
Key, The Forgotten Door,
1968, approximate. This is The Forgotten
Door; Little Jon is the boy
who ended up on Earth and yes, his
clothes are made of a fabric the
mother of the family who takes him
in has never seen before.
Alexander Key, The
Forgotten Door,
1965, copyright. This is the
beloved classic, The
Forgotten Door by Alexander
Key. Currently in print,
as it has been almost continuously
since its publication.
Alexander Key, The
Forgotten Door.
The
boy's
name
is
Jon.
He
falls
through
a door from another world and
lands on earth, a local family
helps him.
Alexander Key, The Forgotten
Door.
Thank you so much, everyone!
I'm so glad someone in the
world remembered this book!
Condition Grades |
Key, Alexander. The Forgotten Door. Illustrated by Dom Lupo. Scholastic, 1965, 1968. Trade paperback, VG. $10 |
|
Fortunately by Remy Charlip has been re-issued in a good-quality paperback. See the Most Requested page for more on Remy Charlip.
Condition Grades |
Charlip, Remy. Fortunately. Simon & Schuster, 1964, 1993. New paperback, $6.99 |
|
Jordan, Hope Dahle, The
Fortune Cake. This was one of my favorites!
Jenny is the daughter of a Judge. The escaped convict
kidnapped her at Horseshoe Park, her family's vacation
home. She tutored a niece who was mentally
challenged. She baked tokens into the cake that would tell
your fortune, and the mustard to get attention of a
rescuer. This was later published by Scholastic under a
different name. It was something like Summer of Fear,
but I am not sure about that.
THE FORTUNE CAKE is the book I
remembered. Thanks so much!
Hello! The May 1997 request about a book
with photos of kittens dressed up in doll clothes sounds a lot
like a treasured book I own. I'm not willing to part with the
book, but maybe this information will help you, and I'll keep my
eyes open as well for another copy. My book's main characters
are rabbits (although there are kittens as well; I believe they
were neighbors of the rabbits). If I remember right (the book is
in storage) the rabbits names are Muff, Fluff, Puff, and
Algernon. They wave goodbye to their mother and set out
for an adverturous day which includes babysitting for a pair of
tiny bunnies, freeing White Rabbit, who had been tied to a tree
by some naughty boys, and finally helping the Easter Bunny
decorate eggs with frosting and chocolate. At the end of the
day, the Easter Bunny gives them the eggs that they had helped
to decorate, which they fly home to their mother in a blimp! The
name of the book is Four Little Bunnies by Harry
Whittier Frees. It was published in 1936, and is about 6"
tall by 8" wide. I don't recall any information being listed
about a publisher.
This is probably the companion volume to the kitten story, but
thanks for information on the author's name!
Frees, Harry Whittier. Four Little Kittens. Rand
McNally 1935. Children's picture book which features photos of
kittens dressed in doll-clothes, posed with various objects to
look like children with simple accompanying text. Very Good.
<SOLD>
What a remarkable website you have.
As a child I had two books (wider than tall) that had colored
photos of actual puppies in one book and kittens in the
other. These little animals were dressed up and posed to
illustrate the simple stories. One photo was of a puppie
wearing in a dress and bonnet, standing on its hind legs with
its front legs resting on the handle of a two wheeled stroller
with a smaller kitten tucked in under a blanket also wearing a
bonnet. A photo of a puppy wearing pants and a shirt standingon its hind legs pulling a
wagon with two puppies dressed in baby dresses. (or as I
remember) Another was of kittens dressed in snow atire but
they are telling the mother cat wearing a dress that their
mittens were lost. I spent hours trying to visualize how
those little animals were posed and I have looked everywhere for
reprints and of course sounded like a fool trying to describe them. Can you help
me find them? I've got my fingers crossed.
I'm looking for a book form my childhood in
the 1950's. It featured a family of kittens, one of whom
was named Agememnon. I recall that the kittens spent time
under a cookstove in the kitchen and were frightened of the two
feet of the cook (who might have been named Goody Two
Shoes). Can you help?
I have this book, it is called Four
Little Puppies. The puppies are Wags, Rags,
Tags and Obadiah. The author is Ruth Dixon, the
photographer was Harry Whittier Frees. The
copyright date is 1957, published by Rand McNally.
---
I am looking for another book that my
sister had when we were children. I am assuming that it
was published by Whitman but am not sure, it could have been a
Little Golden, but it was that type of book. It was a
book about 4 little puppies and their names were: Wags,
Tags, Rags and Obediah. In fact
that may have even been the name of the
book. Whenever we get a new pet we go through this
routine, "What shall we name it?" and I say "How about
Wags, Tags, Rags or Obediah?" of course my kids (7 of
them) just look at me kind of strange. I would love to
share this book with them so they can see why I love those 4
name so much.
P85- I think the book is Three
Puppies. It also is a Rand McNally Elf book
from the 1950's.
An amplification on these titles, which I
remember encountering as well-loved volumes in my grandmother's
closet when I
was very small: some months ago I was in a
bookstore in Long Beach, Washington and discovered that someone
has issued new facsimile editions in paperback, very modestly
priced. My mother immediately bought copies for her
grandchildren -- my niece and nephew -- but I don't now have
access to those books and can't recall who the new publisher is!
---
I'm looking for a book that I remember as "Agamemnon", not sure
of the spelling. Don't remember the story but it was full of
pictures of cats dressed up in people clothes. I owned it in the
sixties. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Frees, Harry Whittier, Four Little
Kittens, 1935.
This is in Solved Mysteries with a picture of the cover.
One of the four little kittens was named Agamemnon (the other
three were Buzz, Fuzz, and Suzz). Mother's name
Samantha. Great photos of them dressed up in dolls'
clothes.
Harry Whittier Frees. I'm not
sure which book this is, but it's one of Frees' kitten photo
books (the kittens were Buzz, Fuzz, Suzz, and Agamemnon, I
think).
check out the listings under Four Little Kittens
on the Solved Mysteries page. I don't remember the Frees
books ever being issued in paperback, however.
It was Four Little Puppies as was on your site on the
solved page! Thanks a lot!! Now If I could just find
a copy.
This site is so fun -- here's the 6th book I've solved for your Stump the Bookseller page! I was looking through some children's books at a thrift shop and came across a little book I recognized instantly as one described on your site. It's Four Puppies, a Little Golden Book written by Anne Heathers and illustrated by Lilian Obligado.
C52 is Definitely the series about the
Melendy family by Elizabeth Enright. The first book The
Saturdaysis about the 4 Melendy children and all the
adventures they have together. The second book is Four
Story Mistake about them moving to a large house in
the country. The 3rd book Then We Were Five is
about them meeting and adopting a fifth Melendy child. The 4th
book Spiderweb For Two is about the two youngest
who are left behind when the 3 oldest go off to boarding school.
Sounds the books about the Melendy family
(could be why the person's recalling the name Miranda - similiar
sound). They move into a new house, complete with secret door in
THE FOUR-STORY MISTAKEand they adopt a boy in THEN
THERE WERE FIVE. The first book was THE
SATURDAYS. All by Elizabeth Enright.
Published in the 1940's, although reprinted since then.
C52--The Four-Story Mistake by
Elizabeth Enright
C52 is The Four Story Mistake
by Elizabeth Enright. Four children, Mona, Rush,
Randy (Miranda), and Oliver Melendy move to a house in the
country. On a rainy day, Randy finds the secret room in
the attic with the portrait of a beautiful young
girl. Later they meet an old couple who live near by who
knew the girl in the portrait when they were children.
Great book, second in the four book Melendy series, the first
being The Saturdays.
C52 is another of Elizabeth Enright's
books, called The Four-Story Mistake. It
involved siblings Mona, Rush, Randy (Miranda) and Oliver, who
find the secret room when they move from New York City to a
house in
the country. They keep it a secret
from their father for a while, but eventually let him in on
it. Lots of other fun things in this fabulous book, which
is a sequel to The Saturdays: they put on a
fair and a show for the war effort; Randy finds a diamond in the
creek; they build a dam in the same creek; they meet a woman who
keeps a crocodile in the bathtub...There's a third book too,
called Then There Were Five, in which they
befriend a country boy named Mark, who lives with (and is
neglected by, if not actually abused) his mean cousin
Oren. These books are great and sure do stand the test of
time.
I'm almost certain this is Four-Story
Mistakeby Elizabeth Enright. The
Melendy children are Mona, Rush, Miranda (Randy) and
Oliver. They discover a secret room in their new house in
the country. In a later book (I think called Then
There Were Five) they adopt a brother, Mark, into
the family. The first book about the Melendys is The
Saturdays, about their life in the city. My
favorite book of the Melendy series is Spiderweb for Two,
which focuses on Randy and Oliver after the older kids have gone
away to school.
#C52, "Children in the Country," sounds an
awful lot like Elizabeth Enright's Melendy family
series, The Four-Story Mistake, The Saturdays, Then There
Were Five, and Spiderweb for Two: A
Melendy Maze. The oldest girl is named Mona,
not Miranda, and they do adopt a child in the last book.
These can be found in new editions from Children's
Book-of-the-Month Club. They are set before, during, and
after WWII, with
many references to the times.
I think that C52 is Four Storey
Mistake by Elizabeth Enright.
C52 - These are the Elizabeth Enright
books about the Melendy's - Mona, Rush, Miranda (Randy) and
Oliver. Two of the books are Four-Story Mistake,
and Spiderweb for Two.
C52- This sounds an awful lot like the
Melendy Family books written by Elizabeth Enright.
There is a daughter named Miranda; there is an adventure with a
lady they know who is old that turns out to be a little girl in
a picture in a museum; the family is large in number, lives in
the country and in a later book adopts a boy.
I'd love to locate a book I read and enjoyed as a child. The title was something like "The ?th Window" or "The Hidden Room". This family moves into an old house. I think there was no mother, and the housekeeper's name is possibly Mrs. Oliphant (unless I'm mixing her in from another book) Anyway, after living in the house for a while, one of the kids realizes there are more windows on the outside of the house than there are rooms inside. So they investigate and discover this room that has been boarded up for years. Inside, they find all kinds of old newspaper clippings, and there was some kind of mystery involved. Ring any bells anyone?
Elizabeth Enright, The Four-Story
Mistake, 1942.
This is the 2nd book in the series about the Melendy children.
They move to the country and notice that the wall to their
"office" (playroom) which is covered with clippings appears to
have a hinge and find the room. The only thing in the secret
room is a picture of a young girl titled: Clarinda, 1869.
Mrs. Oliphant is a family friend the housekeeper is Cuffy.
It could be GO TO THE ROOM OF THE
EYES by Betty K. Erwin. A family with 6
children move into an old house, and a clue that falls out of a
rolled-up window shade leads them on a treasure hunt that ends
in a secret rooms full of toys. I can't remember whether there's
a housekeeper or not. But I'm not 100% sure, so try to borrow a
copy through the library before purchasing.
This sure sounds like Elizabeth
Enright's Four Story Mistake, which is on your
Solved Page. The four Melendy children have no mother, a
housekeeper named Cuffy, and an older friend of the family named
Mrs Oliphant. They move into an old house in the country and
find a secret room, complete with newpaper clippings (I think
behind the wallpaper, but now my memory may be failing!).
---
This book is about a group of children who must go live at a
relative's house, and they end up solving a mystery about a
secret room in the house. What tips them off is that from the
outside in the back they count a certain number of windows, but
from the inside, the number is one less. They find the
secret room, and it ended up being a priest-hole, I think.
Thanks.
Elizabeth Enright?, The Four Story
Mistake. I'm sure
about the title, not sure about the author.
H42 Sound like it could be GO TO THE
ROOM OF THE EYES by Betty K. Irwin, 1969.
When they move into an old house, the first clue the children
find was in a rolled up window shade. The treasure they find is
a secret room full of toys. ~from a librarian
---
A fictional account of a family with 4 or
5 children living in the US during WWII how they coped
with rations and blackouts and the adventures they had. There
may be more than 1 book, am fuzzy on that. One of the girls
was named Miranda, Randy for short. I have some recollection
of the children discovering something in an attic, also of
paper lanterns during a party. Remotely akin to Molly of the
American Girl doll series or Willliam Saroyan's Human
Comedy.
I'm not sure if this is a match or not, but there's definately a
Miranda/Randy in Elizabeth Enright's Four Story Mistake
(and other books in the Melendy family series). Check
out the other memories posted on the Solved
Mysteries Page under the title Four Story Mistake,
and let me know if this is a match.
Thank you so much--the Elizabeth Enright books are the ones
I've been looking for. Do you have them?
Condition Grades |
Enright, Elizabeth. Then There Were Five. Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1944. Ex-library copy with usual markings. Slightly cocked spine. Reading copy only. G-. $25 |
|
Lots of bears, ice skating included, in The Fourteen Bears
Winter and Summer by Evelyn Scott. See
the Most Requested tribute page.
---
Looking for my sister's favorite book from childhood. All
she can remember is that a family of bears goes out for ice
cream. She would have read this book in the late
60's or early 70's but doesn't remember if the book seemed
current or older.
Sounds like a Frank Ash book...
The Thirteen (or Fourteen?) Bears in
Summer and Winter. This sounds like it could
be a book I read to my daughter. The 13 or 14 bears go out for a
summertime stroll in the first half of the book and end up with
ice cream. The second half finds them waking up from
hibernation to a snow-covered landscape, and walking around for
a while, eventually decorating their trees (each family member
has his or her own tree) for Christmas before returning to sleep
at the end.
Oh, well of course it could be that! It's Fourteen.
See more on the Most Requested Pages.
---
The book I am looking for was one my mother got us from the
library back in the 1970's - probably early to middle. We only
had it once so the details are a little sketchy now. I remember
it was about bunnies or bears, possibly siblings, and the homes
each one lived in. I think it also had a theme of the seasons,
holidays or months of the year. It was in the juvenile section
and I can remember there were pictures to go along with the
story. I have no clue of the name or title. Thanks for your
help.
I vaguely remember that the "homes" were cute...not "regular"
homes. They were decorated depending on the animals likes.
Sounds like this could be FOURTEEN
BEARS: SUMMER & WINTER by Evelyn Scott
which you have posted on the Back in
Print page because they are going to republish it in May
2005 ~from a librarian
That sure sounds like what I'm looking for. So glad it's soon
to be back in print. Thanks so much!!
golden book, The Fourteen Bears in
Summer and Winter. It seems like this might be
The Fourteen Bears in Summer and Winter. In it, the whole bear
family wakes up in the middle of winter, and they explore
outside. The illustrations are wonderful and at one point they
do go snow shoeing. This was a golden book but much larger than
the standard golden books.
Scot, Evelyn, The Fourteen Bears in
Summer and Winter,
1973. This book is made up of two distinct stories.
Although you only mentioned one little bear, this book has some
similarities you might want to check out. One of the bears
sleeps in the type of bed you described. In fact, each
bear's home has a unique style, with a special kitchen, living
room and bedroom. Each of the bear children (Veronica, Virginia,
Johanna, Ramona, Emma, Anna, Gloria, Hannah, Henrietta, Flora
and Dora) lives in her own tree, except for the baby bear,
Theodore, who sleeps at the foot of his parents' bed. In
the winter story, Little Theodore wakes up and wants to see what
winter is like. Everyone gets dressed and explores the
frozen pond, the forest, and a neighboring farm where they try
different winter activities. At the end, they return home
and decorate their trees for Christmas before going to
sleep again. The next morning, there is a message that
birds have made in the snow with their footprints. It
says, "Sleep tight good neighbors. See you in the spring."
This Golden Book is oversized (maybe 14 by 11) and very
expensive, but it has been recently reprinted in a smaller size,
at a much more affordable price.
Scott, Evelyn, The Fourteen Bears. I think this might be what you are looking for.
At one point in the story, the baby bear wakes up while his
family is hibernating and the whole family decides to go outside
and play in the snow. The book also has lots of illustrations of
all the bears' rooms which was always my favorite part of the
book! The book is large and hardcover, as you described.
Well, shame on me, but I didn't recognize this one from the
description. If Fourteen Bears is correct, then it's a
favorite around Loganberry, and readily available. See Most Requested for more nostalgia.
'I checked out the book Fourteen Bears:Summer and Winter at my
local library and I believe this is the correct story. I was a
bit dissapointed as my memory of the story is a bit different.
While the illustrations were good, I remembered them much more
elaborately. Maybe to a small child the original larger edition
seemed more so. Hopefully my own duaghter will find them as I
remember, since that was my reason for seeking this book out.
Freddy the Pig by Walter Brooks. a very popular series with a devout fanclub.... I'll let you know when I have some in stock.
Condition Grades |
Brooks, Walter R. Freddy the Detective. Illustrated by Kurt Wiese. 1932. Scholastic paperback copy, 1962. Right hand corner of cover and endpaper torn, general wear, but good for another read (see image). G- $10 |
|
Starr of the Chincoteaque by Marguerite Henry.
I
don't
have
any
hardbacks
right
now,
but
I might have a large paperback version...
Is it really? The title makes it sounds as if it's more focused
on the horse than the human character, and Chincoteague is in
the eastern shore instead of inland, isn't it? I'd have to look
at it to be sure. Could you give me a synopsis of the book?
Hi! Just thought I'd let you know that I solved one of my own
stumpers (Hallelujah!) - the one about a girl named Jane with a
horse called Starr. It's Freedom's
Daughter by Helen Oakley.
B36 Bears and kids-- Possibly The
Shoe
Shop Bears by Margaret Baker? American
printing Farrar,
Straus Giroux 1965, illustrations by C.
Walter Hodges. Boots, Slippers and Socks are three live toy
bears who live in a shoe shop and keep children amused while
their parents are trying on shoes. A short series of books.
Hoban, Little Bear. Could this be one of the Lillian and Russell
Hoban Books? Such as Little Bear's Friend?
Laydu, Claude, Illustrated by Paul
Durand , Freddie Bear, 1965 or 1967. golden
press, A Big Golden Book
Story of the adventures of little boy Peter
& his sister Lucy as they spend a summer visit with a family
of bears. The bears are Emily, Roly, Poly, Puff and Muff and of
course, Freddie. Note: Little Bear series is not
by Hoban, it is by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by
Maurice Sendak
Lionni, Leo, Frederick, 1967. There are many editions of this out
there, though according to Amazon none are in print/stock
currently. This story has been a staple in library
storytimes for years, and I imagine it won'\''t be that hard
getting a used copy.
Leo Lionni, Fredercik, c. 1973. This sounds so much like the
book you described that it almost certainly has to be it!
This sounds like Frederick,
the poet mouse that stores up stories and poems for the winter.
Leo Lionni, Frederick. A beautifully illustrated classic.
Frederick the mouse appears to be daydreaming while his fellow
mice are preparing for winter. However, when winter comes,
Frederick'\''s descriptive powers help his friends through the
winter days.
Leo Lionni, Frederick. "While other mice are gathering food for
the winter, Frederick seems to daydream the summer away. When
dreary weather comes, it is Frederick the poet-mouse who warms
his friends and cheers them with his words".
Leo Lionni, Frederick. This is definitely the one.
lionni, leo, frederick. Great little story that shows that
thoughts and ideas are just as valuable as hard work.
Leo Lionni, Frederick. Love this one! Highlights the value of
dreamers among us. Caldecott Honor book.
Leo Lionni, Fredrick, 1967. This sounds like Fredrick
by Leo Lionni. Fredrick is a mouse who writes
poetry and gathers sun, colors and words. These all are
needed during the long cold winter.
From the person who posted request: THANK
YOU! BLESS YOU! Through you I have also rediscovered a
favorite childhood author to share with my kids.
Condition Grades |
Lionni,
Leo. Frederick.
Pantheon, 1967. Vintage hardback copy, no dust
jacket. Cover soiled, pages clean.
G. $6
Lionni, Leo.Frederick. Dragonfly Books, 1967. New paperback edition in a slightly smaller format. New, $6 |
|
Sarah Stewart, The Friend, 2004. I think you're definitely looking for Stewarts
The Friend. CIP says: "With Mom too busy and
Dad away much of the time, Belle finds companionship with a
household employee who after each day's work takes Belle "hand
in hand" to the beach." There is an almost drowing, and
the nanny saves the girl. (The illustration of the poor
nanny in the aftermath, after she's realized what happened and
what she did still sticks with me!)
Sarah Stewart, The Friend. You
can mark N-98 as solved. This was definitely the book I have
been searching for. Thank you for yoru help!
Hilda Van Stockum,Friendly Gables,1960. Except for the fact that the family has 8
kids and they move from Washington, DC to Canada, the rest of
the details match up. This was reprinted by Bethlehem Books in
1996. It is one of a three book series about the Mitchell
family the other two titles are The Mitchells: Five for
Victory and Canadian Summer. These are among my
daughter's favorite books.
Hilda Van Stockum, Friendly Gables.
Wow! That was fast! Thank you so much. This has been nagging
at me for thirty years. After I submitted the stumper, I
suddenly had a feeling that Canada might be the setting. I
look forward to sharing all three Mitchell books with my
daughter.
#A17--Alice and Jerry?: Recently I
acquired the Alice and Jerry books Friendly Village
and If I Were Going. Friendly Village (at
least, the original 1936 version) has only one small
illustration of bicycle riding which is a black-and-white page
border. There is a boy named Jack but no store
windows. The section about England in If I Were
Going includes both bicycle riding and a pastry shop
(not candy shop) store window, but no boy named Jack and the
illustrations are small and unprepossessing. Another
textbook I saw was Happy Times, by Guy L. Bond,
which was published in Sacramento by the California State
Department of Education and Chicago by Lyons and Carnahan, 1949,
1954, 1955, and 1962. It has a boy named Jerry and a lot
of store windows but leafing through I couldn't find any bicycle
riding or any candy--just a lot of elephants, both real and
imaginary. Did your book include elephants? By the
way, none of these books are horizontal, just small, standard
grade school textbook size. All about third grade level.
M108 mouse wears red sounds like C25
country mouse cleans up. The 1950ish date, special
occasion/visit, the red dress and shoes, ...
C25 mouse cleans up and M108 mouse wears
red: Another possible is Margie Merry Mouse,
written & illustrated by Willy Schermele (Blyton
illustrator), published Clifford series 1950, reprint Agfa 1986.
A mouse in a red dress cleans house with the help of friends. If
it's the earlier printing it's not a bad match, though I
couldn't find any mention of a visit as the reason for cleanup.
Friends and Neighbours, or More
Friends and Neighbours, 1950-1960's. Childrens
Reader in Canadian Schools, a small red book. it had a
story called "Little Brown Mouse" who bought red shoes and
dress, and spent so much time dancing around that she didn't
have a clean house. When she danced, she sang something
like "Why fuss all day in your house, its better to dance like
Little Brown Mouse". One day she realizes the house is a
mess and there is dust on her new shoes and dress. She
cleans everything, and then sings about cleaning the house, and
then dancing all day like little brown mouse.
Wolo (pseudonym of Wolf Von
Trutzschler), author and illustrator, Friendship Valley,
1946. This sounds like unsolved stumpers F153: Forest Fire
drives animals to new home and A153: animals escape forest
fire. Friendship Valley is a story packed
with illustrations about a variety of animals, large and small,
who work together to make a home after the tragedy of a forest
fire. Endpapers are a pictorial map of "The Little Lake and
Friendship Valley," color pictorial paper over board.
Thank you for your input, however I don't
believe the book Friendship Valley is the book I'm
searching for. In the book I'm looking for the story
line was about reuniting the rescued kitten child with her
mother. The animals living among the roots under a huge,
old tree were all badgers (I think). All the animals
walked upright, wore clothes and behaved as humans. The
reason the kitten wouldn't speak was because she was from
another country and didn't understand English. It was a
fairly large picture book about 9" X 11". Again, the
illustrations were wonderful! Please keep looking.
Wolo (pseudonym of Wolf Von
Trutzschler), author and illustrator, Friendship
Valley, 1946. I was surprised when the original
poster dismissed my solution without examining the book, so I
borrowed it through interlibrary loan. I was correct---the
book being sought is Friendship Valley!
Here's a quote from the book: Suddenly Mother Raccoon let
out a scream. "Look out!" she cried. "We're going
to hit a rock!" Everyone jumped to his feet. But
it was only a big log floating in the water. "Something's
sitting on it---something with funny tasselled ears," said
Miss Tuffins. "Looks like some sort of a kitten to me,
wearing a little blue sock." "Why, it's only a baby," said
Dorinda, lifting her off the log, when they caught up with
it. "Here, let me get you warm." At first the little
stranger was very frightened but after some coaxing, she told
them that her name was Thedy. She was too little to talk
much. All they could make out was that she became lost
during the fire and had jumped onto the big log to save
herself. Dorinda cuddled her closely. "Poor little
thing!" she said. "We'll try awfully hard to find your
mother." The original poster remembered almost everything
correctly. There is a forest fire, but the kitten saves
herself by jumping on a log. The kitten is saved by a raft
full of animals escaping the fire---badger, woodchuck, racoons,
squirrel, hedgehog, and frog. The kitten speaks English,
but is very young and doesn't talk much yet. She has
ribbons on both ears, a shirt and a single blue sock. Peter the
trade rat passes through once the animals have established a new
home, and recognizes Thedy's blue sock because he sold the
bikkiberry blue wool to her mother. He brings Thedy's
mother, Mrs. Willow-cat, with him when he returns on the day
before Christmas.
Wolo, Friendship Valley, 1946,
copyright. When I read the reply for this book I didn't think
it was the one I was looking fore. However, I purchased
the book and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was the
correct book. It's funny how the mind remembers some
things from your childhood and forgets others. Anyway,
thank you for all the help...what a great website!
Joan Howard/Patricia Gordon, The
13th is Magic.
Parts of this stumper sound like The 13th is Magic.
I know the author wrote another book (The Summer is Magic)
involving the same kids, a brother (Roland? Ronald?) and sister
(Gillian). In this title, the thirteenth of each month is
magical. From my recollection, they're guided by a black
cat. They definitely have an encounter with a witch who
makes it snow at one point I think there end up being
snow-related animals (polar bears, etc.) in Central Park during
the snowstorm. They travel back in time to the times of
the Childe Roland poem--there's a
connection between the children's names and
the poems.
Margaret Storey, Timothy & the
Two Witches.
Could this be "Timothy & the Two Witches"? The girl's name
is something like Ellen - and there is a rowan branch involved
in warding off the bad witch. And there's an ice dragon,isn't
there?
Turnbull, Anne, The Frightened Forest, illustrated by Gillian Gaze. Kestrel
1974. Pretty positive it is this one. "When on a dare
Gillian walks into the abandoned railway tunnel, she has no idea
her act will unleash a long-trapped witch and leads to a cosmic
clash between the forces of good and evil." The witch was sealed
in the tunnel, but when Gillian breaks off a rowan branch to
guide herself along in the dark, she forces the witch out ahead
of her. The witch causes the seasons to go out of whack, and the
river freezes over.
Ann Turnbull, The Frightened
Forest, 1974. This is THE ONE! Many thanks to the
person who identified this book for me. I was able to get a
copy and I sat down and devoured it in one very enjoyable
sitting! Thanks for allowing me to enjoy this most-loved book
from my childhood once again. What a great website!
Madye Lee Chastain, Fripsey Summer, 1953. The missing "e" in the name
"Fripsey" is most likely why you were unable to find this
book. This is the first of two books about the many
adventures of the large Fripsey family. The second book is
"Fripsey Fun" (1955).
Madye Lee Chastain, Fripsey Summer, 1953. Others are Fripsey Fun,
and Leave It To the Fripseys: "With next door
neighbors like the numerous high spirited Fripseys, Marcy knew
life never could be dull. But when she and her best friend Patty
Fripsey discovered that Gwynn Gilson would be in their eight
grade class that fall, they both thought the whole year would be
ruined." This last one is supposed to be a sequel to a
1952 book by this author called Bright Days, so I
suppose that could be the first one in the series.
Madye Lee Chastain, Fripsey Summer ?, 1953. I only remember this title of a
book I used to see on library shelves I've no idea of the
plot. It's definitely spelled "Fripsey", though -- hope
this helps.
Chastain, Madye Lee, Fripsey Summer (1953), Fripsey Fun (1955), Leave
It To The Fripseys (1957)
The Fripsey books are by Madye Lee
Chastain- Fripsey Fun, Fripsey Summer etc.
Madye Lee Chastain, Fripsey Summer, 1953. This looks like it
may be the book. I scanned the first chapter and it
mentioned Mr. T, the fearsome boss. This is the second
book of a 4 book series which includes Bright Days,
Fripsey Fun and Leave It to the Fripseys.
Chastain Madye Lee, Fripsey Summer, 1953. There are other books about the
Fripseys. They are Fripsey Fun published in 1955
and Leave It to the Fripseys published in 1957.
Burnford, Sheila, The Incredible
Journey, 1960,
1988. This is what 1st popped to mind when I read your
stumper. If there were 2 dogs, and a cat, then maybe this
is your book.
golden book, little dog lost
D252 is NOT Guillot Little dog lost;
NOR Robinson Lost dog Jerry.
Kate Emery Pogue, Fritzie Goes Home, 1974. I figured out
the name of my book!!! I found some websites with old
Little Golden Books and there it was! Thanks to everyone
who offered solutions! I feel like I have found part of my
childhood that has been lost!
Konigsberg, E.L., From the Mixed Up
Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It's not a furniture, it's a musuem.
Claudia and Jamie run away to the Met. They take a taxi ride at
the end of the book, on their way to investigate a particular
statue's origins.
Konigsburg, E L, From the mixed-up
files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler. Sounds like this book to me, although it
was a museum, not a furniture store. Still in print.
E. L. Konigsburg, From the Mixed Up
Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, 1967. I think this may be From
the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, in
which Claudia takes her younger brother Jamie (who is very good
with money, so she knows he has quite a stash!) and runs away to
the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They don't go to a
furniture store, but they do stay in the decorative arts section
of the museum (in one of the period rooms, in a fabulous antique
bed). You might remember them bathing in the fountain (and
collecting coins from it!). Winner of the 1967 Newbury Medal,
its been in print and very popular ever since its debut.
Konigsburg, E. L., From the Mixed-Up
files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, 1967. Sounds like the "mixed up files"
except for the furniture store. However Claudia and James
sleep in the furniture section of the museum. "When Claudia and
Jamie plan to run away from home, they decide that the
Metropolitan Museum of Art would be a very comfortable place to
live. So they settle in and soon find themselves in the middle
of a controversy over the authenticity of a new statue."
E.L. Konigsburg, From the Mixed-Up
Files of Mrs. Basil E, Frankweiler. Could it be this classic? Claudia and her
little brother Jamie run away to NYC, where they spend a week
living in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They sleep in an
antigue bed in the furniture gallery. They frequently
bicker about whether to take taxis -- Jamie is a tightwad and
wants them to walk. In the end, they do spring for a taxi
to Mrs. Frankweiler's mansion and blow their budget.
E.L. Koningsburg, From the Mixed-up
Files of Mrs. Basil E. Franweiler, 1972. In this book, a girl and her
brother run away to New York. They stay in the Period
Rooms in the Metropolitan Museum for a few days.
Could the poster possibly be thinking of From
the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler?
The sister runs away, taking her brother with her, to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. They do sleep in a furniture
section, and there is some detail about the beds.
E.L. Konigsburg (author and
illustrator), From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.
Frankweiler, 1967. If you're certain the
children stay in a furniture store, then this can't be it, but
the rest of the details match! Claudia and her younger
brother Jamie run away to New York City and sleep in an antique
bed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While staying at
the MMA, the children see an angel statue that may have been
sculpted by Michelangelo, and they take a long (and expensive)
taxi ride to meet the statue's donor, Mrs. Basil E.
Frankweiler. The book won a Newbery Award in 1968.
E.L. Konigsberg, From the Mixed-Up
Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, 1967. This could be the one:
Claudia and Jamie Kincaid run away to the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York City. (They sleep in one of the beds on
display and ride in a taxi.)
Condition Grades |
E.L.
Konigsberg, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs.
Basil E. Frankweiler. Atheneum,
1967, fourth printing 1968. Hardcover, dust
jacket has some minor tears. VG/G+. $14
.... new paperback, $5.99 |
|
E.L. Konigsburg, From the Mixed-up
Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, (1967). i think this might be what you're looking for
-- i read as a youth too! :)
E. L. Konigsburg, From The Mixed Up
Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, 1960s. This is almost surely it. Claudia lives
with her family in Westchester County, NY, and feels
unappreciated. She plots to run away, and takes her
younger brother Jamie with her, because he's "rich" (by a kid's
standards - he wins money by diligent cheating at nickel card
games). They escape to NYC on the train, and live at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they sleep on historic beds,
bathe in the fountain (and collect coins from it), evade
security, and eat at automats. Eventually, Claudia becomes
obsessed with an angel statue at the museum, and with finding
out if it really is a Michaelangelo. They leave the museum
and track down the wealthy statue donor, Mrs. Basil E.
Frankweiler. She's an eccentric old lady who won't answer
Claudia's quetion - but gives them a chance to search her "mixed
up" files.
M434: I wanted to say that, according to the
online Inflation Calculator, the amount Jamie and Claudia had in
1967 - $28.61, IIRC - is equal to $162.89 in 2005 dollars. That
site is great fun for use with old stories!
Surely one of the Arnold Lobel I Can Read stories. Frog and Toad Are Friends (1970); Frog and Toad Together (1972), Frog and Toad All Year (1975), Days with Frog and Toad (1979).
Jonathan London (author), Frank
Remkiewicz(illustrator), Froggy Gets Dressed,
1992. Possibly this one? Froggy wants to go out and
play in the snow, but his mother repeatedly calls him back
inside to retrieve the essential pieces of clothing he has
forgotten. A funny and colorful picture book that was
followed by numerous sequels, including Froggy Goes to School.
I think you might be thinking of one of Jonathan
London's books! Froggy Gets Dressed is
written on this premise! Perhaps you want Froggy Goes to
School, or one of his others! Cute books.
Janet Herron Hughes, The Frosty
Filly, 1961. I'm
pretty sure this is The Frosty Filly by Janet Herron
Hughes..."Young orphan Frances disguises herself as a boy and
runs away to Virginia to find her father's Army buddy and soon
finds herself working in disquise at a riding and training
stable."
Confirming my earlier post...I've checked my
copy of The Frosty Filly, and this is definitely
the book....the scottie's name is Dominie, the girl is Frances,
masquerading as Franky...horse Lilliputian, aka Lilly, is there
as well!
V8- Fun With Decals (Little
Golden Book #139)
V8 vacation cottage: more on the suggested
title, Fun With Decals: A Very Special Little Golden
Book with a page of Real Decals, by Elsa Ruth Nast,
illustrated by Corinne Malvern, published by Simon and Schuster,
New York 1952. The cover shows children applying decals to a
chest-of-drawers and a lamp.
---
There was a picture book I remember from
the 50's about a family being at a lake and planning a picnic.
However, it rains and the children have a grand time playing
and having the picnic indoors. Before they know it, the sun is
out and they can go swimming.
The only one that comes to mind is The
Book
of
Live Dolls (1901) by Josephine Scribner Gates
(see Solved
Mysteries), though I don't remember them
swimming. I read part 1 in Better Homes and Gardens
Storybook,
vol. 1.
A Little Golden Book: Fun with Decals
P121 can be moved to the "Solved" catalog! The book is Fun
with Decals. When I read the answer, I remembered the book
but had not put it with the story I was thinking about. Thank
you to the person who submitted the answer and thank you to
Loganberry Books for providing the forum.
1955, childrens. The book
was in the Golden Book series, I think published by Simon &
Schuster back then. It probaby had to do with summertime or
going on vacation. The last page had an illustration of a child
jumping into the water from a pier.
Elsa Ruth Nast,
Fun with Decals: 1952, copyright. The description of the
child jumping off the pier definitely matches.
The family is on vacation, waiting for rain to stop, and
then they all put on their bathing suits and jump in the lake at
the end. The decals are a huge part
of the story though, so maybe this is not the book youre looking
for. There is a Little Golden Book
titled Summer Vacation, but it wasnt published till the 1980s and
the last page does not match your description at all.
Elsa Ruth Nast, Fun with Decals, 1952, copyright. The solution posted is correct. We obtained the book and verified that this was the book my wife remembered having over 55 years ago. Thank you to the reader who submitted the solution. and thank you Loganberry Books for having such a wonderful resource as Book Stumper available.
Possibly-- The Funny Bunny Factory by Adam Green, illus. Leonard Weisgard , Grosset & Dunlap, 1950, 1967. "Nice little story about hundreds of bunnies who take up residence in an abandoned factory. They find sugar eggs, penny candy, toys and party hats but one little bunny finds carrots! "
#F116--Funny Girl--not Fanny Brice: The
Funny Guy, by Grace Allen Hogarth. New
York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1955. First
Edition. A girl whose name is either Grace or Helen must
spend the summer with Auntie Cris. She is absent-minded
and very lonely--maybe that's why she does so many odd
things. No wonder the other children call her "the
funny guy." The harder she tries to disprove it, the more
the hateful nickname sticks. She attempts to rid herself
of the nickname until she really gets herself into trouble.
Called- Funny Guy- I'll check
my copy for author- possibly Grace Allen Hogarth-I'll
verify...
Grace Allen Hogarth, The Funny Guy, 1955.
Verified the author I suggested- Hogarth,
Funny Guy, (1967)-description matches.
The date 1955 is good, and the title
could well be Funny Guy. But the description of Funny
Guy doesn't quite fit. The event that has made the girl
"funny" in the book I recall takes place before the book
begins, and there is definitely this interaction with children
who used to live in the house via their diary. It's a
possibility, though. I think I'll check further into this
book.
I got the book and began reading it. This
is it! I wonder if I got some of the details mixed up with
another book (or two) that I read. There may be other books to
track down here. But I recognize all kinds of details in the
first chapter, so this is definitely the book I had in mind.
Thanks so much.
---
I'm looking for a children's book i got secoI'm looking for a
children's book i got second hand in the early 90s, however it
was probably from late/70s early 80s. It was about a girl
who lives in the USA in what i guess was the early 1900s. She
lived with her aunt, (think her parents had died or just her
mother) and it was just about her life eg. going to school. I
particularly remember that on her birthday her aunt gives her a
pink dress but she only has red ribbons to wear, so goes to buy
some pink ribbons and ends up being late for school and wearing
one pink ribbon and one red and all the kids laugh at her. I
think she gets bullied a lot by other kids, for example after
school they line up on a wall after school and throw things at
her. I think either the girl or her aunt is called helen.
Grace Hogarth, The Funny Guy
That's the book i was looking for, i've found a copy now i know
the title! thank you very much!
Hello, I know that one! Mosel, Arlene. The
Funny Little Woman. Illustrated by Blair
Lent. EP Dutton, 1972. First edition, no dust jacket.
VG. <ON HOLD>
Wanda Gag, The Funny Thing. This is definitely it.
Wanda Gag, The Funny Thing. A description on the 'net says
it's about "a dragon who devours dolls and a man who tries to
change his mealtime habits."
D129 PEANUT BUTTER BALLS - JUM -
JILLS 1 c. crunchy peanut butter; 1/2 c. raisins; 3/4 c.
non-fat dry milk powder; 1/4 c. honey nut wheat germ; 1/4 c.
honey. Mix together. Roll into 1 inch balls. Refrigerate.
Makes about 15 balls. Make these after reading The Funny
Thing by Wanda Gag, call them "jum-jills".
Gag, Wanda, The Funny Thing,1929. I just answered this stumper for a
patron last week who was looking for a story with a 'dragon with
blue points on his tail' and the phrase 'And very good they were
jum jills' What a coincidence!
---
I had a collection of stories as a child in the '60s.
Unfortunately, the cover was missing. Each story was
illustrated in black, white and one additional color. The
one that stands out was of a dragon that was terrorizing a
village until a "little man" began to make special cookies to
feed the dragon, whose tail grew ever longer until it would
around the dragon's mountain. This one illustrated in
black, white and aqua. Other stories included one about a
beautiful black cocker spaniel and one involving a double-decker
bus. The book was about 8 x 11; unfortunately, the cover
was missing.
I can't help with the name of the
anthology, but the story about the cookie eating dragon whose
tail grew until it wound around a mountain is definitely The
Funny Thing, written and illustrated by Wanda
Gag. A kind and gentle little man, Bobo, meets The
Funny Thing and is horrified to discover that it makes children
cry by eating their dolls. Bobo feeds his animal neighbors
every day, and he tries to alter the Funny Thing's diet by
offering it the nut cakes, seed puddings, cabbage salads, and
little cheeses he prepares for the animals. The Funny
Thing rejects all of these foods, and in a last ditch effort to
save the children from heartbreak, Bobo mixes all four
ingredients together, rolls the mixture into little balls he
calls jum-jills, and offers them to The Funny Thing. The
Funny Thing loves them, so Bobo feeds him daily. His
appetite satisfied, The Funny Thing stops eating dolls, and his
tail gets so long that he can't leave the mountain it is wrapped
around. The Funny Thing says repeatedly, "And very good
they are, jum-jills!" The beautiful illustrations show The
Funny Thing sitting on a mountain peak as his tail grows longer
and curls around the mountainside.
Wanda Gag, The Funny Thing. It sounds like one of Wanda Gag's stories,
which included the dragon story, The Funny Thing,
as well as Millions of Cats, ABC Bunny, Snippy and Snappy
among many others. They are available in reprint.
She herself lived from 1893 - 1946.
Wanda Gag, The Funny Thing / ABC Go! 1962, reprint. The story is called The
Funny Thing, by Wanda Gag, orig. published 1929. The
animal in the story looks like a dragon, but the word "dragon"
is not actually used. It is referred to as
"the funny thing" throughout the
story. The funny thing (who refers to himself as an
aminal, rather than an animal) goes to Bobo, the kind old man on
the mountain, who provides food for all the little
animals. The thing (dragon) likes to eat children's dolls
(and listen to the children cry afterward) until Bobo makes
little cakes called jum-jills for him to eat. The
jum-jills make his tail grow longer and
longer, until he can't move around anymore, so he perches on a
mountain top, wrapping his tail around and around it, while
birds continue to deliver the jum-jills to him. The last
picture shows him on the mountain, tail wrapped round it 6x,
Bobo holding up a tray of jum-jills, and a long curved line of
dozens of birds flying between, delivering the jum-jills in
their beaks. This story appears in the book ABC Go! which is
book 1 of Collier's Junior Classics / The Young Folks Shelf of
Books, published in 1962. The story (at least, in this
anthology) is illustrated only in black & white, but the
cover of the book is aqua w/ gold lettering. Some of the stories
in the book are illustrated in 1 or more colors, others are
b&w. However, I don't see any stories in this book w/ a
black cocker spaniel (though there is a
black scottie - Angus and the Cat, by
Marjorie Flack) and nothing at all w/ a double-decker bus, so
maybe you had a different anthology, or maybe those stories were
in another book? Another book to look at - First Story Book
(1954 - book 1 of The Children's Hour series, by Sears &
Roebuck). I don't have this one, so I can't look inside it, but
the table of contents lists The Funny Thing, also stories called
The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy (Jane Thayer) and Runaway Bus . Even
if these aren't the specific anthologies youre looking for,
knowing the titles/authors of the stories should help.
So many boy inventors... Danny Dunn, Rick Brant, Tom
Swift....
B170 could be Furious Flycycle
by Jan Wahl
Jan Wahl, The Furious Flycycle, 1968. This is definitely The
Furious Flycycle--I have a copy here and all the
details fit. I have read this book more times than I can
remember. It's a great story and the original illustrations by
Fernando Krahn are fantastic. The book is back in print now, but
the illustrations in this reprint edition are by Ted Enik and
are nowhere near as captivating.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this book is
titled Fussbunny. It was read to me a jillion
times when I was little. Fussbunny was a bunny who didn't like
anything he was offered to eat and "Fussbunny's mother felt so
sorry for him." I can still hear my mother bearing down on that
line. She gave a party, all the other animals came and brought
what they liked to eat, and Fussbunny shaped up. It was one of
those little golden books or wonder books. I have a copy
somewhere buried away.
Evers, Helen and Alf. FUSSBUNNY. New York: Rand McNally and Co. , 1946, 1955.
---
Im in desperate need to find this
childrens book... must have been sometime in the 60's. It has
card board book pages. a squirell or an animal was
having a birthday and all of his animal friends forgot and
when they final recalled that it was his birthday they all
went out and had a party and decided to bring presents. every
present was food. and every food item was geared towards the
giver rather than the birthday animal. eventually they
recongnized this and decided to eat what they brought. and
they all ended up enjoying the party. moral of the story was
kind of think about others before yourself. it was a
picture book. please help!
Helen and Alf Evers, Fussbunny,
1944. Possibly Fussbunny, published by
Rand McNalley in 1944, and reprinted as Elf Book #8405
and Tip-Top Elf Book #8642 in
various years, at least up through 1963. The original printing
has a dark green cover with a background pattern of white
clovers, and Fussbunny sitting up in the middle of it.
There are two different covers for the later editions. One
has a pale green polka-dot cover featuring Fussbunny sitting in
a patch of flowers, holding a carrot. The other has an
orange polka-dot cover featuring Fussbunny's head, surrounded by
a wreath of foods, such as corn, clover, letuce, etc. Cute story
about a little Bunny who was a very picky eater and didn't like
anything, until his Mother gave a party. All of the
animals who were invited brought along what they liked to eat,
and Fussbunny learned that he could eat a variety of different
foods
F14 - Fuzzies. It had some sort of
subtitle, like A Fable for Everyone. The story
was about a sad town that had once been a joyful place with many
little fuzzies that made people happy. The townspeople got too
possessive of the fuzzies and almost all of the fuzzies
died. The story and and the illustrations had a real 70's
pop-psych feel. Richard Lessor? I saw the book recently,
I think that's the author.
Good lead, but I couldn't find anything like it...
Back in junior high Home Ec. (Circa 1975) I
heard a story about warm fuzzies and cold pricklys. There
is a book called Original Warm Fuzzy Tale, by Claude
Steiner that sounds the same still in print. Could
it be the one.
I came across this book last night in a
thrift store and actually bought it, just because the stumper
was in my head!
(Sad, eh?) Fuzzies: A
Folk Fable by Richard
Lessor. Niles, IL: Argus Communications, c1971,
1975. The illustrations are photographs of drawings with
fuzz balls pasted on them. I think this must be the
one. "Once there was a valley of happiness and delight
where everyone shared Fuzzies. But one day, someone began
to hoard Fuzzies, and lo and behold, there was a serious
shortage in no time at all. The allegory reveals an
essential truth about human choices."
Sanchez, Pat, Fuzzy Wuzzy Elephant. Whitman 1944. It could be this one.
The Fuzzy Wuzzy books had fuzzy texturing on parts of the
pictures. The cover shows a grey elephant with pink soles,
wearing a top hat and coat and banging a drum as part of a
circus procession. The title is on a pink flag carried by a
small clown. No plot info, but does have elephants and pink
fuzz, and the date is plausible for a book read in the 50s.
---
E37: I have a book whose author, title,
publisher and date are missing because the cover, undoubtedly a
paper one, is missing. It is 10 x 9; some of the pictures of the
bear and elephant are flocked [coated with brown or gray fuzz.]
The theme of the book raises the question of career choice for
the elephant. He decides to be a circus clown. By the way, is
this the last page? And is the first one "Should I
be a policeman?" Thanks.
Pat Sanchez, Fuzzy Wuzzy
Elephant, 1944. This is a Fuzzy Wuzzy Book,
published by Whitman. Description: Edgar the
elephant cannot decide what he wnts to be when he grows
up.fireman?, sailor? or.?
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