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Lifton, Betty Jean, Kap the Kappa. NY Morrow 1960. No plot description, but the title is close. Kappas are a Japanese water-spirit, looking like children but with a depression in the top of the head which holds water. If the water spills out they are weakened.
Just in case, check out Paulus
and the Acornemn. It's Dutch, Paulus is
teeny tiny, the illustrations are fabulous, and he can fly, at
least if he rides on the back of a bird.... Aside from that,
no match....
Strong possibility: Astrid Lindgren,
Karlson on the Roof illustrated by Ilon
Wikland, published London, Methuen 1975, 120 pages, also
published Oxford UP 1958 as Eric and Karlsson-on-the-Roof.
"He is a small and very stout and determined gentleman, and
he can fly. Karlson has only to turn a knob which is just
about in the middle of his stomach and - whoops! - a tiny
engine which he has on his back starts up. Karlson stands
still for a moment while the engine warms up. And then - when
the propeller has got up enough speed - Karlson rises in the
air and glides away, as dignified as a bank manager, if you
can imagine a bank manager with a propellor on his back."
He has a little house on the roof, behind a chimney stack, and
says "Heysan hoppsan!" a lot.
This one I'm pretty sure of: Karius
and Baktus by Thorbjorn Egner. Published in
English twice, first in 1962 by Bobbs-Merrill, then a different
translation in 1993 by Skandisk. The 1962 blurb is "Karius
and Baktus are Dental Trolls who live in the mouth of a small
boy named Jimmy." The later version says "With names
derived from tooth 'caries' and 'bacteria', these mischievous,
microscopic rascals make life miserable for Erik, in whose
mouth Karius and Baktus have made their home." It was
first published in Norwegian in 1949.
M95 mud bath: Let's try this one - Karoleena,
written and illustrated by Charlotte Steiner, published
Doubleday 1957. "Karoleena has good intentions, but she
always seems to get into trouble - like giving someone's lap
dog a mud bath, and making friends with a goat who eats her
hat. 2-color illustrations. Ages 4-8." (HB Oct/57 p.345
pub.ad)
There was a series called Katie John by Mary
Calhoun...
Katie John is set in some
midwestern state on the Mississippi River, like in Missouri or
somewhere. She does live in a brown stone house.
Frieda Friedman, The Janitor's Girl,1962. I bought this from Scholastic or Tab
in the early '60s. Kate is pictured on the cover. Her dad gets a
job as the superintendent in a brownstone, and they move in. Her
sister is aghast that they will become "the janitor's girls" to
the snooty folks who live there (and, in fact, do). Kate gets a
job sorting and delivering mail in the building, with her
father's admonition not to read postcards.
The main character in the Janitor's
Girl is Sue Langdon.
Jean Little, Kate, 1960? I believe that this may be Kate,
by Jean Little. Kate does live in New York. One of
the few details I remember is that she has an uncle named Saul,
and asks "Sol as in King Solomon" and he says "No, Saul as in
King Saul." She does definiely live in New York. She's
also in Hey World, Here I Am and one other book
by Jean Little, but I can't find the title!
Kate and Emma
Eng writer F - Penguin - England
50' to 70's - two female school chums - one becomes a social
worker - other marries badly, has children, goes on welfare -
social worker is assigned chum's case & discovers child
neglect - one child lives and eats tied like a dog in shed -
cannot speak.
Monica Dickens, Kate and Emma, 1964, approximate. A
possibility.
Monica Dickens, Kate and Emma. Whoever posted on your site "Monica
Dickens, Kate and Emma"
provided the correct solution. Thank you very much.
Kate Smith, Kate Smith Stories of
Annabelle, 1951.
I remembered that the book was written by singer Kate Smith, of
all things, and I found it in the Library of Congress catalog,
with the title listed as KATE SMITH STORIES OF ANNABELLE. They
give its LC number as P28.5404 Kat FT MEADE.
I have written you twice already today. You probably think I am nutz. But I no longer need the bookstumper service. I have the title of the book, which is Kathy by Aleda Renken.
Your featured stumper is definitely Kathy and the Mysterious Statue by Lee Kingman published by Doubleday in 1952. I read it just two weeks ago for the first time, and it absolutely fits the plot description--sculptor father with a back injury moves his family to the town in Maine where he grew up in order to start a pottery business. The daughter Kathy gets acquainted with his old art teacher who runs a furniture store and begins making miniature tea sets and solves a mystery involving a statue.
H9 This sounds very familiar.
Could you be thinking of the Katie John books by
Mary Calhoun? I think the first three (Katie
John; Depend on Katie John; Honestly, Katie John!)
were all written in the 1960s. I know I read about the hot
potato episode somewhere, and I read the first three books, so
maybe it's in one of them. There was a later book (Katie
John and Heathcliff), but I didn't read that one and
don't know when it was published.
Isn't that question referring to the Katie
John books by Mary Calhoun? I seem to
recall there being a chapter about the potatoes...If so, there
were four of them--Katie John, For Love of Katie
John, Honestly, Katie John!, and Katie John
and Heathcliff.
---
We love your web site. What a great service. My
wife is looking for a series of adventure story books she read
in the late 1950's or early 1960's featuring a girl named
Karen. They were sold through her school when she was in
the fourth grade or so. Sorry, but that's the only
information I have. Any help would be appreciated.
Two wonderful books, written by Karen's
mother, Marie Killilea. Marie and her husband Jim
started the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation. The books are
titled Karen, and With Love, From Karen.
I would have to disagree; the Karen books
focus on Karen and her family and how they cope with her
cerebral palsy. They are wonderful books, though.
Tizz series, 1970s.
Could this be the Tizz series, about a girl and her horse?
(My sister's name is Karen, and I vaguely remember that she
loved this series for that reason.) I don't remember
the author, but the last name
probably began in the C - F range...
Bialk, Elisa. Tizz & Company. Childrens Press, 1958.
Mary Calhoun, Katie John series.
I
sent
you
this
stumper
a
while back. We've found the books my wife was looking
for - the Katie John series by Mary Calhoun, the first three
books of which were published between 1960 and 1963. I
guess memory plays tricks, since the main character's name was
unfortunately not precisely Karen.
---
I read this in the early 70's I
think--about the adventures of a girl(age 10?) who was best
friends with a boy, her next door neighbor, and they used a
sort of pulley line connected between their houses whenever
they wanted the other one to do something. I think there was
an overgrown garden somewhere in the story.
Alcott?, Jack and Jill. I don't know how old a book you're
thinking of...but Louisa May Alcott's Jack and Jill
is about boy and girl neighbours who both get hurt in a sledding
accident, and send each other things over a sort of pulley line
between their houses. No garden in that story that I can
remember, though.
No, it was a more recent book, similar in
style to Beverly Cleary. Thanks anyway!
Hans Christian Andersen, The Snow
Queen. This is a
real shot in the dark, but there are two children, boy and girl,
who
communicate across flower boxes that link
their windows in adjoining houses. I think the boy's name
was Kay.
Katie-John! There was a
series of books about Katie-John about this time. She was
about ten and her best friend was a boy named Edgar, I
think. I think one of the books has her holding the tin
can, too.
I think that's it--The Katie John series by Mary
Calhoun! Thank you!
Calhoun, Mary, Katie-John books. I just finished re-reading the
Katie John books, and there is nothing at all about a pulley
system and messages. Katie John's best friend is a girl
named Sue, who does not live next door or across the
street. In the third book, Honestly, Katie John!,
Katie does become friends with a boy named Edgar, but he lives
in a cemetery (his father is caretaker) and they never
communicate with anything resembling a pulley system.
There is a fourth book, Katie John and Heathcliff
that was written long after the rest of the series (in 1980) and
takes place when Katie John is older and in high school that I
have not read.
-------------------------------------------
Girl in front of large brick
house on cover. Chapter book from the 1970s about a girl who
moves into a house left to her family. Must rent
rooms. Dumbwaiter.
Mary Calhoun, Katie
John.This is definitely Katie John, right down
to the brick house on the cover. Sequels are Depend on
Katie John Honestly, Katie John and Katie John and
Heathcliff.
Helen Markley Miller, Beloved Monster, 1968, copyright. Fun
young adult romance that I borrowed several times from the
library growing up. The cover of the book was quite
attractive, with a young blonde woman in front of a large
mansion.
Calhoun, Mary, Katie
John.This is it. It also has several
sequels!
Mary Calhoun, Depend
on Katie John, 1963. This is the second in the
4-book series about resourceful and rambunctious Katie
John. In this book, she helps find boarders so her parents
can manage the financial burdens of the big house bequeathed to
them by Aunt Emily. Katie John helps out her parents in
managing the boarders and experiences a lot of mixed feelings
about the hard work and the relationships involved.
Mary Calhoun, Katie
John. I think this is Katie John by Mary
Calhoun. There were several sequels.
Possibly Carol (aka Carol
from the Country) by Frieda Friedman, 1950. There's definitely a
dumbwaiter involved - it turns out to be very important.
According to one source, Carol snubs her new city neighbors
because they're not as well off as she is/was, though my
(faulty?) memory is simply that she missed her old country
friends terribly and felt no one could live up to them as
friends, so she unintentionally acted rude to her new neighbors
to the point where her mother says sadly "you have no talent for
friends." Friedman's books are (now) low-key looks at
working-class city kids - and before 1960, she even tackled the
issue of prejudice, more than once.
Calhoun, Mary, Katie John,
1960. Katie John's family moves into the house they inherited.
She gets stuck in a dumbwaiter at one point. There is at least
one cover online featuring a girl in front of a brick building.
Mary Calhoun, Katie
John. Followed by "Depend on Katie John,"
"Honestly Katie John," and then about 20 years later.
Could it be Harriett the Spy? The book shows her in front of a brick building and
there's a dumbwaiter in the book.
Mary
Calhoun, Katie John, 1960, approximate. I believe
this is the book you are looking for. Mary Calhoun wrote
several books about the adventures of Katie John. "Katie
John and her family move into an inherited house in order to
sell it, but find they don't want to part with it."
SOLVED Thank you.
Was Katie John, and I just ordered it for my daughter.
--------------------------------------------
A young girl is brought to stay with a relative (aunt?) who
lives in an old brick Victorian (not sure if Victorian) house. I
believe the reason was because her mother was ill. I think that
the cover of the book had a drawing of the house and it was
somewhat square-ish and very large. At first the girl
hates the house and is very bored. As she explores the house she
finds interesting features. One of the features is a speaking
tube through which she can hear conversations downstairs. This
is an important part of the story for what she hears people
talking about. The story also deals with the girl making friends
and I think I remember there being problems with that. She
eventually loves the house and is sad to leave it in the end.
Mary Calhoun, Katie John. Sounds an awful lot like one of the books in the
Katie John series, by
Mary Calhoun, perhaps
"Katie John" or
"Depend on Katie John". In the books Katie isn't sent to live with a
relative, but moves into an old Victorian house along with her
parents. However, I clearly remember the the speaking tubes in
one of the Katie John books, and that she had some issues
making friends - I think because she might have been
considered a bit of a tomboy. One of the books in the
series may be the one you are looking for.
SOLVED: Thank you! Katie John it is. Yup, yup, red brick
squarish house. Story is right.
Sorensen, Virginia Eggertsen, Miracles
on
Maple
Hill, 1956. Not
Vermont but Pensylvannia - could it possibly be this book about
Marly and her family who move to her grandfather's farm when her
father returns from the war.
What a great service! I have been trying for years to
remember the names of those books and you got them solved in a
matter of days. W178 is Patricia's Secret (I
checked on the Internet and they even had one with the cover,
which I remember, so I know it's the right one), F204 is The
Unchosen and M325 is Marsha, thank you, thank
you. The last one, V40, sounds like Miracle on
Maple Hill which I have read, but I don't think it is that
one, although I want to get it from the library and double check
before submitting a denial, it was a very good guess. You
have made my day, you have no idea!
Mason, Miriam E., Katie Kittenheart, 1957. Although I can't find my copy to
double-check the details, I'm pretty sure that Katie Kittenheart
tells the story of young Katie discovering her bravery by
helping a class of young children through a fierce storm. She
admires her teacher and tries to emulate her behavior. May
be the one?
Jacqueline Jackson, The Taste of
Spruce Gum
early 1960s?, approximate. This is not Miracles on
Maple Hill, although that was similar in plot and
character. I think the book I am looking for was more for
younger children, not juvenile fiction. Hope someone will
recognize it, thank you!
I just looked at my copy of Katie
Kittenheart: Katie has black hair and she's in the
4th grade. She goes to visit her Grandma Buckley in Kentucky, on
an apple farm. The teacher at her new school leaves her in
charge when a pupil breaks his arm, there is a flood, Katie
takes care of the children overnight in the schoolhouse.
Stumper requester might want to look at Understood Betsy,
too.
Miriam Evangeline Mason, Katie Kittenheart, 1957.
I think this might be it, thank you so much for your help, but I
am going to get a copy of it to double check before I say for
sure. Thank you for getting me this far, I never thought
it would be solved!
Miriam E Mason, Katie Kittenheart, 1957. Katie it
is! Thanks so much for all the contributing suggestions, I
love this web site!!
If this isn't Understood Betsy
I'll eat my old straw hat. The only thing different is the bit
at the end. Rather than being left to tend to the
schoolchildren, Betsy and a younger school friend are abandoned
at the county fair. They haven't enough money to catch the rural
transit that would take them within three miles of home, so they
connive a doughnut-seller into paying them to tend the booth
while she takes care of some personal business. They are walking
the remaining three miles home when Betsy's uncle finds
them.
Weber, Lenora Mattingly, Don't Call
Me Katie Rose/ The Winds of March, 1965. This sounds like an amalgam of
Weber's first two Katie Rose Belford books, with possibly some
confusion with another story. The "aunt", a relative (Liz)
from Ireland, is in Don't Call me Katie Rose the
toilet-in-the-hall anxiety is in the sequel. Katie Rose
has a group she eats lunch with, and a best friend, Jeanie, but
not a "clique" problem. Her actual aunt, Eustace Belford,
gives her a dress and a fluffy white jacket in the first book,
but the cover of the second shows Katie Rose in a winter coat
with a collar that might look like velvet. The five
siblings, the mother who sings at "Guido's Gay Nineties", and
Katie Rose's dislike of secondhand clothes, messy house and
cracked eggs (as largesse from rural relatives) are in both, as
are two boys, her crush Bruce Seerie and Miguel, a neighbor,
whose real name is Michael Parnell.
This sounds like Don’t Call Me Katie
Rose by Lenora Mattingly Weber. This is the
first in a series about the delightful Belford family of
Denver. Katie Rose Belford is ashamed of her shabby home
and that her mother plays piano and sings nights at an Italian
restaurant. Her role model is her socially-prominent Aunt
Eustace, her deceased father’s sister. On the morning Katie Rose
and brother, Ben, are to start attending the new high school she
first asks her family to call her by her given name, Kathleen.
Later, before she and Ben enter the school she asks that he not
make their mother’s job public. I think the reader might
be combining Bruce Serie, with whom Katie Rose falls in love at
first sight the day before school starts, and who would care
about the toilet in the hall, with Miguel, who wouldn’t. She
meets Miguel a few hours before she meets Bruce, and he helps
her clean house and move the toilet out of sight (for her
anticipated visit from Aunt Eustace) in exchange for use of a
purple pen. He becomes like one of the family and develops a
crush on Katie Rose but she only has eyes for Bruce. The toilet
in the hall is because mom wants to convert the downstairs
closet into a half-a-bath (which happens in the next book in the
series The Winds of March) but the project is on
hold until she is able to save enough in her tip money for the
conversion.
Weber, Lenora Mattingly, Katie Rose series. I haven't read these books in
more than 20 years, but some of the details sound familiar -
didn't her mom work in a saloon/lounge as a singer? And I
know her family was Irish...
Lenora Mattingly Weber, Don't Call Me
Katie Rose, 1964.
This is the first of the Katie Rose Belford series of books
about the Irish Belford family living in Denver with a widowed
mother who played the piano at Guido's Gay Nineties, Ben, Katie
Rose, Stacy (after the glamorous and wealthy Aunt Eustace), and
the littles--Matt, Jill, and a name I'm blanking on. Don't
Call Me Katie Rose is followed by The Winds
of March, A New and Different Summer, and several
other books focusing on Katie Rose and then on Stacy. The
Belford series is scheduled to be reprinted shortly by Image
Cascade who has already reprinted the Beany Malone books by the
same author.
See the Back in
Print page for some more info on Weber.
Thanks so much for all the contributions
to solving my mystery. The Weber books about the March family
are what I was remembering. Your contributors are absolutely
fabulous to help solve this puzzle for me. Thanks again.
Could this be The Shy Kitten
or maybe it is The Shy Little Kitten? It is
a Little Golden Book and it is about a little kitten who gets
separated from her mother and littermates and finds a black
puppy dog, and a mole and a frog to visit with. The frog
gets a bee in his mouth and the bee stings him and the side of
his face swells up and the whole bunch of them jump into a pond
to escape the bee. Then, the kitten gets reunited with her
mother. It is a companion book, more or less, to The
Poky Little Puppy and is illustrated by the same
artist.
Color Kittens -- coming back
into print
Both are Little Golden Books: Schurr, Cathleen. The
Shy
Little Kitten. Illustrated by Gustaf
Tenggren. 1956, LGB #248 Revised in 1946 as LGB
#494. Brown, Margaret Wise. The Color Kittens.
Illustrated by Alice & Martin Provensen. 1949,
LGB #86. Later reissued with new cover art as LGB
#436.
Thanks for the hints! I can't remember what the story
line was, just that I could read the whole book. Will keep my
eyes open for both titles.
In the 50's I had a book about 3
kittens. The gray one hid from its mother in a stone
wall; the black and orange one hid in the black-eyed susans;
and I think there was a white one which hid in the
daisies. I know it was a Little Golden Book, but I
cannot remember the name.
tHANKS FOR THE INFO, BUT THIS STILL ISN'T
THE ONE. tHE MAIN IDEA OF THE WHOLE STORY WAS HOW THE
KITTENS HID FROM THEIR MOTHER(S) BY BLENDING IN WITH THEIR
SURROUNDINGS. PLEASE, KEEP TRYING-I'LL KNOW THE NAME
WHEN I SEE IT.
Are K7 and K5 the same book?
I remember this book well. Of course,
I can't remember the name. It was about a litter of white
kittens and one black kitten, and all they want to do is play
hide and seek, but when the white kittens hide in the snow, the
black kitten isn't hidden, and when the black kitten hides in
the dark, the white ones aren't hidden, so they can never play
right. Finally, the white kittens all roll in coal so that they
will match their brother, but unfortunately, the black one rolls
in flour at the same time, so they still don't match.
Ultimately, they all get in a silly wrestling match until they
are all black and white and no one can tell anyone apart.
I hope those details help. It wasn't a Golden Book--it was
a tall, flat, white book, I think.
I think that the answer to K5 is The
Surprise Kitten.
Thanks again for the infor, but the name
of the book is still unknown. I will recognize it when I
see it. Keep thinkin'/lookin'--I appreciate your
efforts.
#K5--Kittens: This one has jogged
memories of probably a different story entirely. A white
mother cat has three kittens: one pure black, one white,
one black with a white spot and paws. The black-and-white
one is self-conscious. It rolls in coal dust to match the
black one and in flour to match the white one, but they wash
off. Then another cat comes to see the kittens and says,
"I was so hoping there'd be one like me." Sure enough, he
is the father, and he is black with white paws. Could this
be Socks? Not the one by Beverly Cleary,
but the Little-Golden-sized one?
I couldn't find any listing for a Golden
Book or Elf book called Socks....
Take it back! We have Socks
here and it's about one outcast kitten trying to fit in.
K5: Kittens--Socks by Betty
Molgard Ryan, is a Whitman Tell-a-Tale which appears on
page 467 of Santi's Collecting Little Golden Books, 4th
edition. What I'm asking, for anyone familiar with the
book, is does it in any way fit the description I gave, or can
they name a book which does? On the subject of kittens hiding,
there's a Rand McNally Junior Elf Book, Mommy Cat and her
Kittens, on page 347 and 369, with three
different-color kittens, and I would have sworn there was one
with the same cover with a title about kittens hiding, but of
course I can't find it now.
On #K5, about the kittens hiding, I found
the title I was thinking of. It's The Kittens Who
Hid From Their Mother, by Louise Woodcock, a
Wonder Book pictured on page 384 of Santi's Collecting
Little Golden Books Fourth Edition. Not the same
cover as the Junior Elf book, but does show a mother cat with
three different-colored kittens. The person who sent the
stumper in may want to compare this and The Surprise
Kitten and see if either one of them is right.
#K5--Kittens: Socks, by
Betty Molgard Ryan, is indeed a book I had as a child about a
kitten trying to match the others, but I still haven't found the
story which I think had three white kittens and one of another
color, where the different kitten meets his father at the end,
who says, "I was so hoping there'd be one like me."
This is just a title I came upon, I do not
know the story line. Bootsy by Lucienne
Erville, illustrated by Mirian Lear.(1959) It
is a Wonder Book.(# 741)
Kathryn and Byron Jackson, Katie The
Kitten.
1949. The reader is thinking of Katie the Kitten,
a small tiger cat, is asleep in the hall, in a ball, in a
hat. Golden Books
Haskell, Helen Eggleston.
Just a guess since I
don't have the books in front of me, but possibly Haskell's
Katrinka series -- Katrinka, the Story of a Russian Child
(1915), Katrinka Grows Up (1932), &
Peter, Katrinka's Brother (1933). The
subject headings are 'ballet' 'brothers & sisters' and
'Russia' so it sounds like a real possibility.
So far I've found only two really worth checking: De Angeli,
Marguerite. Thee, Hannah! Doubleday, 1940.
Although this concerns a Quaker girl, it seems to me I was going
to look at it as a possibility for my "Amish Sleepover" unknown,
but never got hold of a copy to see if the pictures and story
looked familiar. If someone who has it could look to see
if there's an incident where Hannah goes on a visit and isn't
used to running water and so on it could either make or
eliminate this as a possibility.
Later, regarding Thee, Hannah!: I found this book
online and it's definitely NOT the "Amish sleepover," as it's
set in the pre-Civil War era. The book I'm thinking of
took place in modern times, at least in the 1920s or whenever
"city folk" had electric lights and running water as a regular
rule.
Could be Plain Girl by Virginia
Sorenson, illustrated by Charles Geer, Harcourt
Brace 1955, 151 pages (grade 4-6 reading level) "A
sensitive, sympathetically told story of a young Amish girl's
growing understanding of her people and their religion. Esther
faced her first days at school with mingled curiosity and
dread." (Good Books for Children 1948-61 Eakin, 1962) It
may be at a higher reading level than the reader described,
though, and no mention of visiting the city.
#A46--I'm pretty sure I've seen "Plain
Girl" and it is not the book I'm looking for.
For a reversal of this, there's Wonderful
Nice! by Irma Selz, published Lothrop 1960
"Alison, who lives in a tall apartment house in New York City,
speds a day with Katy Zook on an Amish farm in Pennsylvania,
discovers that riches are not just a matter of money - and
friends are 'wonderful nice!' Ages 4-8." (Horn Book Jun/60 p.183
pub ad)
let's try Katy, Be Good,
written and Illustrated by Irma Selz, published Lothrop
1962. "The story of an Amish child who goes to spend an
overnight visit with her friend who lives in the big city. Told
in rhyme. Text uses the Amish speaking syntax and words like
ferhoodled, schnoopduf and schwitz.
#A46--Amish Sleepover: as "Katy, Be
Good" is rather rare, I've been unable to look at the
book so far, but the plot and an example of the artwork online
convinced me, so for now I am assuming this is the story I'm
after.
Any chance this is Mystery in the
Doll Hospital by Elizabeth Honess?
There are twins in the story and the doll that is being restored
has sapphire eyes. The doll belongs to a old neighbor
whose father was a ship's captain
and he gave the doll to a man on his ship
for safekeeping. Unfortunately, the man was a jewel thief
and hid gems
in the doll. He was put in jail
without recovering the jewels, died, and told someone else the
story. That man got
out of jail and tried to recover the gems.
hi. thanks for your response. Your
synopsis of that book doesn't ring any bells, but it sounds
like a great book. Again thanks for responding.
#D38: If it's the one I am thinking
of, this was one of my all-time favorites. Amy's
Doll, by Barbara Brenner, published in the
'60s, illustrated with black-and-white photographs of Amy, her
brother, and the doll. Unfortunately scarce. I'd
love a copy!
D38 - doll hospital - might be Laura
Bannon's Katy Comes Next, a favorite of mine,
too. A library catalogue synopsizes it as "Ruth's
mother and father own a doll hospital where they are so busy
repairing other children's dolls, they never seem to have time
to mend daughter Ruth's toy" (but eventually Katy does
get a complete makeover).
Katy Comes Next works for time
period, here's more info: Bannon, Laura Katy
Comes Next Chicago, Whitman 1959 hardcover, "Story
ofa little girl whose doll, Katy, needs fixing and her father
runs a doll hospital. Beautiful delicate illustrations."
this sounds like it. if you can find a
copy ok
---
I'm actually looking for two books and I
don't have very much info. The first was a book about a doll
hospital. It described the dolls, their clothes, and the
family who fixed them.
the doll hospital book sounds like Katy
Comes
Next, listed on the Solved Mysteries page.
You and your website are BRILLIANT!
Thanks much.
---
Story about a woman and her little girl. The Motherhad a
little shop where she made and repaired dolls for a
living. One day she locked the door of the doll shop and
worked on repairing her daughter's doll that had become very
worn and broken. It was a small book with a navy blue
cover (it may have been rebound as it was a library book) with
pen and ink drawings scattered throughout of the Mother, the
daughter, the broken doll, and the repaired doll. It was
an old book and had an old-fashioned format/feeling at the time
we read it in the "60's or 70's". Fiction.
Sounds like Laura Bannon's Katy
Comes Next from the Solved Mysteries page.
Possibly - Katy Comes Next by
Laura Bannon, A. Whitman, 1959. "Ruth's mother and
father own a doll hospital where they are so busy repairing
other children's dolls, they never seem to have time to mend
daughter Ruth's doll."
---
Child's parents run a doll hospital, but
child's doll never gets fixed. One day they finally fix
it!
Bannon, Laura, Katy Comes Next, 1959. "Ruth's mother and father own a
doll hospital where they are so busy repairing other children's
dolls, they never seem to have time to mend daughter Ruth's
toy."
Payne, emmy, Katy No-Pocket, 1944. Katy Kangaroo was very sad because
she had no pocket to carry her son freddy. Katy asks all
the other animals carry their babies without pockets and finally
end up in the city where she finds an apron with lots of
pockets.
Katy No-Pocket. Your
details are a little off but I'm pretty sure you want Katy
No-Pocket. Katy is a kangaroo with no pocket
and her little kangaroo has trouble keeping up with her.
The other animals offer solutions but none of those things work
for Katy. Finally she goes to the city and meets a workman
wearing a big apron with lots of pockets. He gives it to
her, she puts her baby in one of the pockets, and hops back
home. Since she has so many spare pockets, she becomes a
babysitter for a bunch of other little animals.
Emmy Payne, Katy No-Pockets.
Emmy Payne, Katie No-Pocket, 1944. This sounds remarkably like Katie
No-Pocket, although in this book it is Katie who is looking for
a way to carry her baby because she has no poch. After
trying to imitate many of the other animals she sees around her
she ends up in the city where a kind carpenter who gives her his
apron which is full of pockets.
This stumper sounds a little like Katy
No-Pocket, by Emmy Payne, but in that book,
it is the kangaroo who hasn't a pouch to carry her baby
in. I have''t read Katy No-Pocket in years,
but I think the solution to her problem is an apron with
pockets.
Emmy Payne, Katy No-Pocket, 1944. This sounds very similar to
the classic Katy No-Pocket, but in that one, it
is Katy
the Kangaroo who is sad because she has no
pocket to carry her baby in, so she goes to the city in search
of one. She meets a workman who has an apron with lots of
big pockets, and he gives it to her. Katy is so happy that
she puts ALL of the baby animals in her many pockets. (from an
ex-Children's Librarian)
K51 This sounds like KATY NO POCKET
by Emmy Payne, illustrated by H.A. Rey, 1944.
Katy the kangaroo has no pouch and cannot carry her son. She
goes to the city for help, and a carpenter gives her an apron
with pockets.~from a librarian
This is just a guess, but it sounds like it
could be Katie John (or one of the sequels) by Mary
Calhoun.
Could be Katy Rose Is Mad by
Carol Nicklaus published by Platt and Munk in 1975.
I remeber this story. It was my
favorite when I was 4 years old. I do not know the author
or title but I think the girls name was Katie Rose. I
remember how mad Katie Rose would get when her mischief would
backfire.
Nicklaus, Carol, Katy Rose is Mad,
1975. Katy Rose is so mad that she threatens to hold her
breath until she turns blue. I found this info at the library
of congress site. I would like to thank the person who
figured out the correct title and author- posted in blue on
your site.
---
Katie Rose is Mad or Katie Rose Wants to Play,
1976? I think this is the same book listed as k22 under
book stumpers. I remember the little girl as being Katie
Rose. Katie Rose gets so mad each time she does something
destructive and it backfires. She throws blankets off her
bed, drinks the last cup of milk that was supposed to go in a
cake, and picks all the her mothers flowers growing in the
flower box just to be praised for being so good.
The Katie Rose books are by Lenora Mattingly
Weber(see Most
Requested Books). Mary Calhoun wrote a
series called Katie John, both in the 60's.
Could be Katy Rose Is Mad by
Carol Nicklaus published by Platt and Munk in 1975.
---
It is about a girl (with freckles) who is trying to get across
how mad she is by saying several times that she is going to hold
her breath until she turns blue. I'm sorry I don't
remember much more than that! It is very cute and I used
to love saying along with her in the book "I'm going to hold my
breath until I turn blue!"
G111 Judy Blume, Tales of a
Fourth-Grade Nothing, 1972. Did freckle-faced
Sheila Tubman (who later starred in her own Blume book, Otherwise
Known as Sheila the Great) badger the eponymous
Peter with this threat?
I thought that the book Tales of a
Fourth Grade Nothing was a chapter book (?), this one
wasn't. The character was talking to her parents (whom you
never see). Does this still sound like that book?
Carol Nicklaus, Katy Rose is mad, 1975. Is this it? "Katy Rose is so
mad that she threatens to hold her breath until she turns blue."
That sounds right. I tried to find
it online to confirm, but I can't find it
anywhere. I'm going to keep an eye out for it.
Thanks!
Cassidy, Clara, We Like Kindergarten, 1965, Golden Books. This is a
possibility. If you go to Google Images and enter the
title in quotes, you can see two different covers for the book
and see if it looks like the right book.
Clara Cassidy, We Like Kindergarten, 1965. It's a Little Golden Book.
The little girl's name is Carol. Wonderful Eloise
Wilkin illustrations!
Could this be Almost Big Enough
by Jean Tamburine? It doesn’t exactly match, but there
are a lot of similarities. A little girl can’t wait until she’s
big enough to go to school like her big brother, and is very
excited when she gets the chance to visit the kindergarten. The
first half shows her playing at home with her duck, cat, and
hen, and they do have a noisy tin-pan parade. Then she gets to
march in a musical parade at the kindergarten.
You may be remembering a Little Golden Book
titled We Like Kindergarten. It has a black
cover with a blonde haired girl holding up a finger
painting. The story is about a girl named Carol who is
about to start kindergarten. She has a little sister named
Laurie and a dog named patches. It shows all the things
she does at kindergarten and in the end she comes home and plays
the "Good Morning Song" on her piano and Laurie and Patches are
her students.
S322 is called Katy Did.
The
author's name is Jean Conder Soule. It was
illustrated by Aliki and is a Top Top Tales book. My copy
was published in 1962 by Whitman Publishing Company.
Jean Conder Soule, illustrated by
Aliki, Katy's First Day - A Going to School story.
A Whitman Tell-A-Tale book. I am certain this is the
book. Katy wears a red dress and has hair the "color of
butterscotch taffy". She marches around the kitchen
playing pots and pans. She doesn't want to start school but has
to anyway. Her mother slips a blue pencil in her
pocket as a surprise. She doesn't like
school until she gets to lead the kids around the room playing a
drum, just like at home!
Liebig, Nelda Johnson, Carrie
and the Crazy Quilt, 1993. This is the only book I
could find that deals with fire and a quilt, but I don't have a
copy so I couldn't verify the storyline. "Carrie's faith
in God helps her to overcome her fears during the Great Peshtigo
Fire of 1871." The sequel is Carrie and the Apple Pie.
In an old third grade reader, Friends
Far and Near-Ginn-(1966) there was a story matching
this description. The burned corner of the crazy quilt is
patched and then embroidered with the words "The Fire of
1868".It is attributed to Ruth Holbrook-Katy's Quilt-1940.This
is one old story that matches.Perhaps there is some more recent
book as well.
Friend's Far and Near, Katy's
Quilt. I think this must be the source of the story I
remember. I grew up in Los Angeles where they used the
Ginn series in the schools. Thanks for solving this for
me.
Judd, Frances K., The Mansion of
Secrets, 1951.
this is the Kay Tracey Mystery Series. The description
fits exactly. 1. Double Disguise 2. In
the Sunken Garden 3. Six Fingered Glove
Mystery 4. Mansion of Secrets
5. Green Cameo Mystery and 6. Message in the Sand Dunes
Francis K. Judd, Kay Tracey Mysteries. Maybe it's this series,
published in the 1940s? There's a
web page that lists the books.
Frances K. Judd, Kay Tracey mystery stories, 1930s and 40s.
There were 18 Kay Tracey mystery stories by Frances K. Judd
published in the 1930s and 40s. Kay Tracey was a teenage
detective with friends who helped her solve mysteries. The
volumes published in the 30s had yellow covers with a question
mark on the spine. There is a list of all the titles with
plot synopses at this
website.
Possibly the Kay Tracey Mysteries
by Frances K Judd. Characters include her mom
Kathryn, Cousin Bill (a lawyer), and friends Betty & Wilma
Worth. There are a lot of books in the series, which was
published beginning in 1934 and reprinted into the 1980's.
If you do an internet search, you can find lists of all the
titles.
K74 Judd, Frances K [Stratemeyer
Syndicate]. The lone footprint; a Kay Tracey
mystery. Books, Inc, 1952.
I submitted the stumper regarding Kay Thompson, turns out she's
Kay Tracey! That little minx. Stumper Solved. Thank
you so much for your efforts. I'm now on a hunt for Kay Tracey.
There were two books about Keeko that I had
as a child. The one I still have is Chee-Chee and
Keeko by Charles Thorson published by
Follett in 1952. The other one was just Keeko or
maybe Keeko the Indian Boy.
Yes, this does help, Harriett....I've
found several copies of his old Keeko books on the
'net! Thanks!
---
Keeko, little indian boy and his forest
friends, including an eagle that he tried to take a feather
from.
---
1950s childrens book: I remember as
a child a short story about a little Indian boy who want an
eagle feather. He goes into the woods, falling asleep on a log
he has a dream and when he awakens he has his Indian
headdress.
Charles Thorson, Keeko, 1952. By the creator of Bugs Bunny, this
beautifully illustrated picture book is a sequel to "Keeko and
Chee Chee" (1947). It is about a little Indian boy who
gets into all sorts of trouble while searching for eagle
feathers for his headdress.
Thorson, Charles, Keeko, 1950s. This is absolutely the correct
book. While he is sleeping, Keeko's animal friends that he is so
kind to give him the headress as a surprise. There is a second
book titled Chichi and Keeko--Chichi is a bluejay.
Thorson, Charles, Keeko, 1947. I have had this book since
childhood. Keeko is a little Indian boy who desperately
wants to have a big feather headdress. During his search
for feathers, he falls asleep on a log and dreams he is given a
headdress by a mother eagle in gratitude for saving her eaglet's
life. Then Keeko falls off the log, waking up from his
dream.
S117 isn't a short story, but a book -- Monica
Hughes's Keeper of the Isis Light, still in print.
Monica Hughes, Peddlar of Isis and two other books, 1980's? I am sure the
book is by Monica Hughes. She wrote three books about the
planet of Isis, and this girl with the mutated skin wasthe main
character. Hughes resides in Canada, and has written many
great books.
Follow up to my e-mail yesterday. I
had a chance to check our library catalogue, and the title in
question is Keeper of the Isis Light. There
are two sequels.
S117 This is THE KEEPER OF THE ISIS
LIGHT by Monica Hughes. A great sci-fi read.
This was one of my own personal stumpers that took me ages to
find. Luckily, it was republished in 2000. ~from a librarian
Monica Hughes, Keeper of the Isis
Light, 1980. This
has to be the one - down to the scaly UV protective skin her
robot companion gives her - only trouble is it's a full-length
novel - though not a long one! Unless it was published in an
abridged version as part of an anthology of SF stories?
S117 THE KEEPER OF THE ISIS LIGHT
by Monica Hughes 1980, 2000 ~from a librarian
---
I am looking for what is probably a YA SciFi short story or
novella, featured in a collection called "The Turning Point" or
"The Vanishing Point" or something similar. The story centers on
a young girl on an inimical planet. Her scientist parents have
died, but previous to their deaths, they had genetically and/or
surgically altered her to help her survive on the planet; I
remember that her eyes had "nictitating membranes", perhaps to
protect her eyes from dust storms. She was in the care of a
robotic guardian of some sort, who is now her only companion.
She was upset about not fitting in with the other humans (who
had since settled the planet) due to the physical differences
resulting from the alterations and is basically living in
self-enforced solitude.
Monica Hughes, Keeper of the Isis
Light. This is
almost certainly your book.
Monica Hughes, The Keeper of the Isis
Light, 1980. This
has to be "The Keeper of the Isis Light" but it'\''s a YA novel
rather than a short story. Perhaps portions of it were published
as a short story. All the details fit, including the
"nictitating membranes" (except the main character wasn'\''t
nearly as upset about her appearance as the settlers were!)
T280 This is definitely KEEPER OF THE
ISIS LIGHT by Monica Hughes~from a
librarian.
I'm sure this is an Octavia Butler
story, but I don't remember which one.
The Keeper of the Isis Light.
You
guys have done it! I must have been confused about it being a
short story as soon as I read the summary of the plot, I
knew that was it. Thanks so much!
---
Looking for a book for teens I read about
1986. The protagonist is a teenage girl who lived on a
planet distant from earth, she's human and ended up alone
there because her parents came as space colony researchers,
they were alone there and had a child and eventually both died
from radiation poisoning, the environment really is too harsh
for humans. She was raised by a somewhat humanoid robot
and, we find out later, she was genetically altered by the
robot for her own safety so she could live in the harsh
environment. Then, a whole group of humans come to setup
a colony. She lives high up on the cliffs, the humans
set up their colony in the valley, it is the only place they
can cope. The robot makes the girl wear a special suit,
he says it is to protect her from germs from the humans (she
has never been exposed so they could kill her), but we find
out later that was just a ruse, the reason for the suit was to
conceal her now-alien appearance from them. I would
really like to find this book again to share with my niece,
please let me know if you can help! Thanks.
Monica Hughes, Keeper of the
Isis Light. No doubt about it, this is the book.
Monica Hughes, The Keeper of
the Isis Light,1980. Details match exactly.
Check the synoposis listed on the Solved
Mysteries page for the Mystifying Twins.
T38 twins: could it be the first of The
Page
Twins series? (generally just called The Twins),
written by Dorothy Whitehill, published Barse &
Hopkins, and Grosset & Dunlap, 1920s. "It is about Janet
and Phyllis Page, identical twins who were separated at birth
by their vengeful grandmother, and who don't discover each
other until they are 13. The series features locales from
Arizona to New York to Europe, and the characters are
interesting. Janet and Phyllis both marry in the course of the
series. Thelma Gooch is the illustrator for Books 1 - 6." I
wouldn't guess The Mystifying Twins because they
don't seem to have been separated.
Grove, Harriet Pyne, The Strange
Likeness,Saalfield
1929. Another possible answer. Synopsis says "Classmates
in a girls' school in Michigan who look uncannily similar find
out they're twins, separated at birth. 236 pages." Nothing about
a carnival, though.
From the poster's description, it is not the
Whitehill series about the Page Twins. However, there's
a
good site for that series. Includes complete text of the
first 2 books in the series.
Cooney, Barbara, The Kellyhorns. NY Farrar & Rinehart 1942. This
was reprinted in 2001 in the "Lost Treasures" series. The date
(1942) is right, and the plot seems like a good match. "Pam and
Penny Kellyhorn are eleven-year-old twins, one living with an
aunt, the other with their father and cousin, in small towns in
Maine and have just met, but it doesn't take them long to learn
to be sisters as together they help bring an arsonist to
justice, and try to rekindle the romance between Aunt Ivory and
Puppa. About the Author - Barbara Coone''s books for children
have been loved by generations. Among the acclaimed books she
wrote and illustrated are Eleanor, Island Boy, and
Miss Rumphius. Book Description: Anne of Green
Gables meets The Parent Trap in this delightful tale set in a
small Maine island town. When Penny Kellyhorn meets Pamela at
the county fair, she is certain that she's found her long-lost
twin sister. Soon they are joyfully reunited. But then scandal
hits the town and threatens their newfound family."
Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby,
1863. This is a possible, though if you're looking for
something more authentically Celtic, disregard this
suggestion. :) Tom, a young chimney sweep, is cruelly
abused by his master Mr. Grimes. While cleaning the chimneys at
a great house, he happens upon the daughter of the house and
frightens/disgusts her - all covered in soot as he is. He runs
out of the house and into the country. He then falls into a
brook while trying to wash himself, where he is turned into a
water baby (drowns). After "teasing the trout" etc, he realises
he is lonely and then has various adventures while trying to
find his fellow water babies. All very improving Victorian
stuff, ultimately leading up to his forgiveness of Mr. Grimes,
now also dead, and imprisoned in a chimney. An excellent
description of this book is given by R. M. Fisher (Ravenna) in
her review entitled "My name is Written in my Eyes" on the
unmentionable website.
Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies, 1863. Maybe this one? The stumper didn't
indicate how old the book might be, but this classic has been
reprinted consistantly, even updated by different authors. The
1916 color illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith can be seen online
here. The water fairies are more prominantly
pictured in the line illustrations, as they are hidden from poor
Tom until near the end of his adventures.
My sister was able to get her hands on a
copy of the Water Babies and it is not that
book. Nowhere is there any mention of Kelpies in that
book I guess... This would be an older book - my oldest
sister is 54 and it was when they were young... I'm
going to talk to all of them again to try to get more
details. Thanks!
Mollie Hunter, The Kelpie's Pearls,
1976. Not this one, is
it? There is also something called Janet Reachfar and the
Kelpie but I couldn't find anything more about it.
Hi - thanks for the thoughts - those two
books are both too new - I found those when I searched the
internet too.. I sure wish my sisters would come
up with some more details but so far they haven't...
Janet Reachfar and the Kelpie
(by Jane Duncan, illustrated by Mairi Hedderwick,
published by Seabury Press, NY) was published in 1976, so if
you're remembering an older book, it's an unlikely choice.
The Kelpie's Pearls (by Mollie Hunter (also
known as M. M. H. M. McIlwraith), illustrated by Joseph Cellini,
published by Funk & Wagnalls, NY, 112 pages) was originally
published in 1966, when your eldest sister was about 12 years
old. It was republished in 1976 with drawings by Stephen
Gammell (Harper & Row, NY, 134 page). Here is an
online plot summary: "An old woman of the Scottish highlands
makes friends with a kelpie, sees the Loch Ness monster, and
practices some of her grandmother’s witchcraft." I haven't
seen or read these, and consequently don't know if they're a
match, but the Library of Congress lists two older books with
"kelpies" in the title: The Kelpies (1924) and The
Kelpies Run Away (1930), both written by Etta
Austin Blaisdell and illustrated by Clara Atwood
Fitts. The first book is 147 pages long, the second is 156
pages long, and both were published by Little, Brown and Company
(Boston).
Could it possibly be Baum's The Sea
Fairies? As I recall, this is a story about a
little girl, Trot, who with her bluff ship captain uncle goes to
visit the mermaids. I think perhaps Dorothy (Of Wizard
of Oz - same author) also goes along. It is
not part of the Oz series, but same Art Nouveau illustrations
and mix of humor (lots of puns) and adventure. I've seen
it reprinted lately.
I have the book printed in 1924, by Etta
Austin Blaisdell, illustrated by Clara Atwood Fitts,
published by Little, Brown, And Company. The Kelpies lived
down at the botton of the sea, pictured at front of book.
Two chapters on babies. The little baby lost and the little baby
found.
Etta Austin Blaisdell, The Kelpies. (1924) I think this is the book you may
be looking for
I had not been on the site in forever. Can you believe
one of my sisters started searching again and she was brought to
your site and saw the final message left about The Kelpies by Etta Austin
Blaisdell, illustrated by Clara Atwood Fitts and THAT IS THE
BOOK WE HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR FOR YEARS!!!!
Yippee!!! Please thank whoever it was who wrote in with
this answer. My sister was able to find a copy and got it
and we all enjoyed reading it last night with my parents.
Thank you so much again!
Etta Austin Blaisdell, Kelpies, 1920s. Just a
comment...there is a book that is the sequel to The Kelpies
called "The
Kelpies Run Away". It was a childhood favorite of
my mothers and mine.
Thank you for posting this!! And before anyone mentions
it, I don't believe what I'm looking for is the John and
Mary British series by Grace James.
I can tell you for sure now that the John and Mary
series by Grace James is definitely not what I'm looking
for. I located someone with one of the John and Mary
series who was able to send me a scan. They have black and
white line drawings, and what I'm looking for has regular
"filled in" pictures.
I am so glad to be able to tell you that you can now transfer
my book stumper G296 Good Times Club from the archives section
to the solved section!! I was at a book sale this past
Friday evening and found what I was looking for for 50
cents. It is Kendall's Second Reader written by
Calvin N. Kendall and Caroline Townsend, copyright 1917 by D C
Heath Company!!
No idea if it was a series, but maybe the
right subject: Olive Knox Little Giant
(Miss-top-ashish): the story of Henry Kelsey illustrated by
Clarence Tillenius, published Toronto, Ryerson, 1951 "Historical
novel for young readers about an English boy who came to
Canada in 1684 where he joined the Hudson's Bay Company,
exploring Northern America, making friends with the Indians."
I22 indian scout henry: besides Little
Giant (Miss-top-ashish) the story of Henry Kelsey,
by Olive Knox, Ryerson 1951, other books about Henry Kelsey
(assuming he is the historical character wanted) include - Little
giant of the North: the boy who won a fur empire,
by Alida Malku, published Winston 1952; and First
in the west: the story of Henry Kelsey, discoverer
of Canadian prairies, by James Whillans, published
Applied Arts 1955, but no series.
Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Moccasin Trail, 1952. This might be a possibility.
Altsheler, Joseph A., Kentucky
Frontiersman, 1989,
reprint. This is almost definitely one of the books in the
series.
The protagonist is Henry Ware, who was
captured and brought up by Indians but returned to an English
settlement to warn of an impending Shawnee attack and later
became a renowned scout and fighter. (In fact, the full
name of the book is Kentucky Frontiersman: The Adventures
of Henry Ware, Hunter and Border Fighter). I
read a bunch of these when I was young
I think there were a total of eight in this
series. I remember in particular a passage from one of the
books describing how, just after being captured 9or recaptured)
by Indians, Henry was forced to run single-file with members of
the tribe with his hands tied behind his back. At the
conclusion of a several-hours run, Henry and the Indian chief
were the only ones who had never broken a sweat.
Parrish, Peggy, Key to the Treasure. One of my absolute favorites! Three
children go to stay with their Grandparents in the summer.
Above the mantle is a picture with a key an indian headpiece and
a pot. Each of these things in the picture holds a clue of
how to find the treasure. The "key" in the picture opens
an old stone in a part of the house.
Sounds like KEY TO THE TREASURE
by Peggy Parish, 1966. Siblings Liza, Bill and Jed stay
with their grandparents. When their grandfather tells him of a
treasure hunt that his grandfather set up and that was never
solved, they set out to solve it. I believe one of the clues was
found in a secret compartment in a porch column, I think one was
found when a feather from a Native American headress was pulled
out, and the treasure itself was found hidden in a space under a
stone in the old well. I forget what the treasure was though!
I'll have to check my copy. And good news - it's still in print.
~from a librarian
Key to the Treasure, by Peggy
Parish, illustrated by Paul Frame, published Macmillan
1966, 154 pages. "Liza, Bill, and Jed, spending the summer
at their grandparents' farm, are determined to solve the
puzzle of an often-told family legend of authentic Indian
relics which, a hundred years before, vanished without a
trace. Young readers will be immediately involved when the
children accidentally stumble upon the first of the coded
clues." (HB Dec/66 p.706)
---
Grandfather starts the children on a
treasure hunt around the farm with a clue that leads to other
various clues that he has written that send them on to the
next clue. The treasure at the end is a key that
unlocks…something. Possible title, The Golden Key.
I read this book around the year 1967.
I was thinking this might be by Alexander Key, but that The
Golden Enemy... I think I'm just confusing the
words together.
Peggy Parrish, Key to the Treasure, ca 1967. This is probably the right
book. The treasure was hidden by the childrens'
great-great-grandfather in the Civil War,
and the three children find the clues and hunt down the treasure
while visiting their grandfather, who lives in the ancestral
home. It was a Weekly Reader Book Club selection.
MacDonald, George (1824-1905), The
Golden
Key. Could this be George MacDonald's The
golden key? There was a reprint in 1967
(Farar, Strous and Giroux, New York). The adventurous
wanderings of a boy and girl to find the keyhole which fits the
rainbo''s golden key. The Golden Key is the story of two
children, a boy and a girl, who live (not together) on the
border of Fairyland. The boy has been told that at the end of
the rainbow he can find a golden key -- it is not to be sold,
and no one knows what door it may open, but it will surely lead
somewhere wonderful. One day he sees a rainbow, and decides to
follow it into Fairyland, where it seems the end of it might be
-- and there he finds the golden key. Meantime, the girl, much
mistreated, wanders into the forest of Fairyland, following a
strange owl-like flying fish. Soon she meets a beautiful,
ageless, woman, and she learns that she and the boy must journey
together, looking for the keyhole into which the golden key will
fit.
Peggy Parish, Key to the Treasure. Looks like this was originally published
in 1967, so the date matches. Liza, Bill and
Jed are visiting their grandparents and
discover clues that lead them to a hidden treasure. I'm pretty
certain there's a real key involved, hence the title.
Peggy Parish, The Key to the Treasure. This sounds a lot like The Key to
the Treasure. Three children are staying at their
grandparent's house, which is very farm-like (one child gets
chased by a goose). They find a clue to an old treasure hunt in
an Indian head-dress. The kids' grandfather's grandfather set up
the treasure hunt, but the first clue was lost.
Peggy Parrish, The Key to the
Treasure. Just a
guess- the children are Liza, Bill, and Jed Roberts and
their grandfather leaves them clues to find a treasure.
Peggy Parish, Key to the Treasure. Could be "Key to the Treasure" The
first clue is in an Indian headress, and it goes on
with more clues from there.
MacDonald, George, The Golden Key. "The adventuous wanderings of a boy and girl to
find the keyhole which fits the
rainbow's golden key."
Peggy Parrish, The Key to the
Treasure. This
was the answer to a query on Abebooks, but it sounds as if it
might be the answer to this one also.
Peggy Parish, Paul Frame, Key to the
Treasure, 1960's.
This sounds like Key to the Treasure, which was
published in the mid-60's, but in this book I don't think the
grandfather made up the treasure hunt himself - it was a family
mystery.
Parish, Peggy, Key to the Treasure, 1966. The plot, the dating, and the
approximate title look to me like a very close match for the
Peggy Parish book KEY TO THE TREASURE (listed in Solved
Mysteries), which I also read as a youngster. As I recall,
there are several sequels as well.
This was the book title I was looking for! I really
enjoyed this book during a summer at my grandparents camp in the
mid 60's, but the book disappeared. I see that it is still
in print. Thank you to everybody who contributed to solving the
mystery! This is an awesome site with very thoughtful
people.
This is an addendum to my earlier
comment. The correct title was The Key to the
Treasure, by Peggy Parrish. Thanks again to all
who contributed. I'd like to get this book for my niece
and possibly the sequels, so this was very helpful.
---
Children on summer vacation (a girl and two boys?) at
grandparents? farm? see painting above fireplace of Indian
headdress rubric which starts them out on a treasure hunt that
their parents? never solved. Obstacles include a goose
that tries to keep them them out of a field, a wasps nest that
needs to be smoked and disposed of so they can unbury a
clue. There's also a treehouse and well with purple
stones. One of the characters may have been named Billy.
Parish, Peggy, Key to the Treasure. Bill, Liza, and Jed solve a mystery that
their family has been attemping to solve for generations.
Peggy Parish, Key to the Treasure, (1966).This book has been reprinted with a horrible
cover (see Amazon). At the end of the book, the children
remove a brick and find things inside. What happens is these
three children named Liza, Bill, and Jed try to figure a mystery
out. This is how there'\''s a mystery to be solved. Their
grandpa told them a story one night and he said when his
grandfather was a little boy there was a bonnet hanging on the
wall and the boy always wished he could try it on. One day he
came downstairs and the housekeeper said he could try it on. He
was excited. Then one day something happened that made everyone
sad. The boy'\''s dad was going to fight in the army. But the
dad left a puzzle. The boy had other brothers and sisters so the
dad gave them envelopes with clues to a treasure. Their mom by
mistake put the envelopes in her apron pocket. When she washed
the apron, the envelopes were still in the pocket. So the
envelopes got all soggy. Each summer Lisa, Bill, and Jed
visit their grandparents, and they hear the story of the
sketches hung above the mantel. The sketches are clues to a
hidden treasure, and no one has been able to figure them out for
a century. There is a missing first clue, but when the children
stumble upon the second clue, they'\''re on their way. Could it
be that on this visit they will solve the secret that has eluded
so many for more than a hundred years?
---
My description is VERY vague...it was a
series of a few mysteries that I read in the late 70's or
early 80's. They were part of my summer book club and were
about 3(?) siblings (two girls and their brother) who go to
their grandparents house for the summer and "solve" mysteries.
I remember them worrying about grandparents house being
haunted or scarey. I don't know if maybe a family member
planted the mysteries/clues to give them something to do while
on vacation. I remember a clue being found in a tree. I DO
remember one of these being my first "100+ pager".
Peggy Parish, The Key to the
Treasure.
This might be The Key to the Treasure -- the children visit
their grandparents and discover a series of clues to a treasure
that their great-grandfather had hidden on the farm before he
went off to war (perhaps the Civil War?). There was also
at least one sequel. I don't remember anything about the
house being haunted, though, and I don't think that the Key to
the Treasure is more than 100 pages. But it's the first
chapter book I remember reading, so it sounds as though it's
about the right age bracket. Good luck!
Except for the description of two girls and
a boy, the Peggy Parish mysteries about Liza, Bill and
Jed fit the description perfectly. I think the mystery
where they find the clue in the tree is "Key to the Treasure",
which is listed on the solved stumpers page.
Peggy Parish, Key to the Treasure. (1966) This sounds like the Liza, Bill
and Jed series of mysteries by Peggy Parish. The first was Key
to the Treasure, followed by Clues in the Woods, Haunted House,
Hermit Dan, Ghosts of Cougar Island....they've been in print
most of the time since 1966 (and I believe are currently in
print) so they could easily have been the collection you're
thinking of (I know the first was at one time a Weekly Reader
book)
Gage, Wilson, The Ghost of Five Owl
Farm. (1966) If
it's not the Peggy Parish books, try Wilson Gage (pseudonym of
Mary Q. Steele). In The Ghost of Five Owl Farm, Ted and
his twin cousins come to spend the summer at their grandparent's
farm. Ted wants to make the twins believe the farm is
haunted, but to his surpise, spooky things do start to
happen. I think there might have been a sequel or series
too.
Peggy Parish, The Key to the Treasure. (1966)
This is it!!! Thank you!!! I can't wait to buy these for my
children!!!
---
I'm trying to find a book that I
liked as a kid. I'm sure my neice would love it. I
don't remember the title or author. I had this book in the
1960's. Hard bound and illustrated. Maybe 30 pages
long? The story is about 3 grandchildren visiting their
grandparent's home for the summer. The house has been in
the family for many generations. Over the mantel, the
family has an old drawing made by the great grandfather before
he left for the civil war. The drawing is of an indian headdress, a
small clay pot and a strange looking key. The tale behind
the drawing is that the great grandfather knew he would be away
at war for a long time, so he left a series of clues for his
children (which is the grandfather that the kids are visiting in
the story) to follow. The clues would lead to some kind of family treasure. The
drawing was just a teaser that he made weeks before leaving to
keep the kids occupied. The great grandfather gives an
envelope with the first clue to his wife on the day he leaves
for the army. Unfortuneately, she puts the envelope in her
apron pocket and then washes the apron. The first clue is
destroyed. The treasure remains a mystery. The grandkids
start playing with an old indian headdress that their
grandfather has in a glass display case. It looks just
like the one in the drawing. The bottom most feather comes
out. They go to glue it back in and find a rolled up piece
of paper, which they pull out. The grandkids discover that
it is what would have been the first clue. It is written
in a simple code - numbers for letters. Written on the
paper is "All 26. This is your first clue." This leads to
a clue found inside a clay pot just like the one in the
drawing. This in turn leads to a key shaped like the one
in the drawing. This in turn leads to the family treasure.
Peggy Parish, Key to the
Treasure. Look at the solved
page for full details. This is definitely the story
you are looking for. There is actually a series of books
with the same characters.
Peggy Parrish, Key to the Treasure, 1966, copyright.
"Each summer Lisa, Bill, and Jed visit their grandparents,
and they hear the story of the sketches hung above the
mantel. The sketches are clues to a hidden treasure, and no
one has been able to figure them out for a century. There is
a missing first clue, but when the children stumble upon the
second clue, they're on their way. Could it be that on this
visit they will solve the secret that has eluded so many for
more than a hundred years?"
This certainly sounds like The Key to the Treasure by Peggy
Parrish. Found
under Solved- a much requested book.
Parrish, Peggy, Key to the Treasure.
See Solved Mysteries.
Peggy Parish, Key to the Treasure.
I'm
positive
this
is
the
first
of the Liza, Bill, and Jed mysteries. Followed by Clues in the Woods, The
Haunted House, Pirate Island Adventure, Hermit Dan,
and The Ghosts of
Cougar Island.
Parish, Peggy, Key to the Treasure.
Liza, Bill, and Jed Roberts stay at their
grandparents' farm one summer. The kids'
great great grandfather left the clues before going
off to the Civil War. I remember Indian
artifacts but not exactly what kind.
Peggy Parish, Key to the Treasure.
Sure sounds like this Peggy Parish book, except you
think it was only 30 pages long.
Peggy Parish, The Key to the
Treasure, 1966, copyright.
Peggy Parish, The Key to the
Treasure, 1966,
copyright. "Each summer Liza, Bill, and
Jed visit their grandparents, and they hear the
story of the sketches hung above the mantel. The
sketches are clues to a hidden treasure, and no
one has been able to figure them out for a
century. There is a missing first clue, but when
the children stumble upon the second clue,
they're on their way. Could it be that on this
visit they will solve the secret that has eluded
so many for more than a hundred years?" The
first in a series of Liza, Bill and Jed
mysteries. Other titles include: The Haunted House,
Pirate Island Adventure, The Mystery of Hermit
Dan, The Clues in the Woods, and The Ghosts of
Cougar Island.
Parish, Peggy, Key To The
Treasure, 1966. This
has got to be it. It's in the solved
stumpers.
Peggy Parrish,
The Key
to the Treasure, 1966,
copyright. I'm almost positive this is
the one... "Each summer Lisa, Bill, and Jed
visit their grandparents, and they hear the
story of the sketches hung above the mantel.
The sketches are clues to a hidden treasure,
and no one has been able to figure them out
for a century. There is a missing first
clue, but when the children stumble upon the
second clue, they're on their way. Could it
be that on this visit they will solve the
secret that has eluded so many for more than
a hundred years?"
Condition Grades |
Parish, Peggy. Key to the Treasure. Illustrated by Paul Frame. Macmillan, 1966. Hardback. G+ $10 |
|
Kid Sister, 1958, by Margaret
Embry. This book works like a karate chop on stereotypes
from that period. Not only is Zibby brazenly atypical as a
fictional female character, but so is her elderly aunt. On top
of that, Zibby's more "feminine" older sisters are nasty and
have far less maturity and appeal.
---
I had this book in 4th grade in
the 1970s and it featured a mouse that the family named
Rosemary.
Margaret Embry, Kid Sister, 1971. This was one of my favorites!
Rosemary isn't a mouse, though, she's a rat, and Zibby, the kid
sister of the title, gets all kinds of grief from her siste
Margaret Embry, Kid Sister, 1967. The kid sister in the title names the
rat after her favorite teacher.
SOLVED: Kid Sister. Your site is fantastic. I would
have never ever been able to remember the names of the two books
I was looking for. Kid Sister and The Winnemah Spirit covered both of my requests, and so
quickly as well. Thank you to everyone behind the scenes
helping to solve the mysteries!
Rosenbaum, Eileen, The Kidnapers
Upstairs, 1968. This
has to be the book you are looking for, the plot is exact!
We happened to pick it up at a yardsale last year.
---
Read in 70s: plot involves a boy
with green & yellow bike painted by artist parents, his
no-nonsense grandmother staying with him while parents are away,
a woman (a spy at the UN?) with a two-way radio disguised as a
feathered hat, and a charming foreign ambassador. Boy and
grandma foil plot.
Eileen Rosenbaum, The Kidnapers Upstairs, 1968, copyright.
Definitely this is your book, I have my copy here and the cover
shows the boy and his grandmother on a crazy green and yellow
bike (funny that is not the detail I remembered) and I
specifically remember the foreign ambassador and the lady with
the feathered hat.
That's the book--I can still picture the cover art,
but have been trying to remember the title for years with no
luck. I'm looking forward to reading the book again and
discovering why it stuck in my memory! Thanks for solving my
mystery, you've made my day.
The kidnapping of the coffee pot
/ story by Kaye Saari ; pictures by Henri
Galeron. [New York]: Harlin Quist, 1975. A
coffee pot, a lawn mower, and a pair of old shoes live happily
together in the city dump until the coffee pot is kidnapped.
K9 kidnapping of the coffee pot: The
suggested author and publisher are correct, and there can't be
two books with this title!
Dorothy Bennett, The Golden Almanac,
1944. Doesn't have a red cover
with a white grid on it but a beautifully illustrated pink cover
by Masha. A Big Golden Book, it has poems (including one
about Jack Frost), songs and stories about the months and
seasons although I can't find one about the saint that you
mention.
Randy Harelson, The Kids' Diary of
365 Amazing Days, 1979, copyright. I found it!
This is the book I was looking for! :)
Hi, I have C75. It's called The Kids' Kitchen Takeover and the author is Sara Bonnett Stein. It was published in 1975 and includes all the recipes and activities mentioned, including many more!
Patricia Reilly Giff, The Kids of
the Polk Street School series. (1984-1986, approx) Sounds like the
first "Kids of the Polk Street School" series by Patricia Reilly
Giff, which came out in the mid-80s. The books are very
thin. Book 4, "December Secrets" has the fire truck scene
(two girls ride up front
Jill, who is chubby, gets to wear the
fireman's hat, much to the chagrin of the other girl).
Book 11, "Sunny-Side Up" had a picture of kids playing in an
above-ground pool on the cover. The books were recently released
with new covers/illustrations, so don't be dismayed if your
search turns up unfamiliar covers at first.
Make it a teenager and this could be My
Side
of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.
T42: Sounds like Lloyd Alexander's Wizard
in
the Tree. The wizard is actually sucked into the
tree and
kept a prisoner until an orphaned girl
servant lets him out, and she still has to help him until he
finds out how to get home. Not as much fun as the Prydain
Chronicles, but the message is the same - that magic ultimately
isn't what matters in life and that happiness and respect are
found through work and acceptance of moral responsibilities, not
luck or daydreaming.
Might also be Kildee House by
Rutherford Montgomery. The tree forms the back of a
man's house in the woods. He actually has families of
animals living with him.
Kildee House by Rutherford
Montgomery, Doubleday 1950 sounds the most likely, "When
old Jerome Kildee went to live in his redwood grove, he meant
to be a hermit. His odd little dwelling, backed by a giant
tree, was set in the midst of his hundred California acres ...
a big raccoon thought he owned the tree, and presently a pair
of skunks set up housekeeping under the floor ... Emma Lou
discovered it and then came Donald Roger ..."
---
This was a juvenile novel read circa 1955. It was about a
man named Jerome who lived in a hollowed-out tree. He had
a skunk for a friend, and racoon, a deer, and mice. All
the animals in the story were his friends. There was no
plot that I can remember, just that Jerome was friends with
these animals, many of whom visited or lived in the tree with
him (the mice had their own little door, others came and went).
Montgomery, Rutherford, Kildee
House, 1949. I'm
pretty sure this is the book you're looking for. It's a 1950
Newbery Honor book.
Montgomery, Rutherford, Kildee House,
1949.
Killer of Death. I read
a book in the late 1970's, I believe titled "Killer-of-Death",
in which an Apache youth is sent on some kind of quest into
Commanche territory. Another young man from his village goes
with him, some kind of rivalry/dislike between them. There is
one scene where the protagonist is hiding as he watches
Commanches kill a whole family from another tribe (don't
remember if it was grass he was hiding in). As it turns out he
has more to fear from his traveling companion than enemy tribes.
When he returns safeley home he is given the name "Killer of
Death". Don't know the author, haven't been able to find it at
my local library.
A233 Someone else posted the answer of KILLER
OF DEATH. I found author info to go with it: Betty
Baker, published by Harper & Row in 963~from a
librarian
Betty Baker wrote Killer-of-Death
(c. 1963).
Betty Baker, Killer-of-Death, 1963.
A233 If it is Killer of death,
it is by Betty Baker.
I have already found out the book. The title is: Kincaid's Book of Witches, Goblins, Ogres, & other fantasy.
Janet Gillespie, A kind of Summer
Love, 1971.
Abridged from A Joyful Noise The family has an
old Dodge called 'The Artful Dodger', and in the first chapter
the author reminisces about loading (or overloading) the
car. Her father is a chaplain at Princeton,
her grandmother teaches her botany, and her cousin Tink is
developmentally disabled. I think that this is the book!
Oops! Tink is her grandmother's son.
Janet
Gillespie, A Kind of Summer Love, 1971.
Abridged from A Joyful Noise. I sent this in
once before, I'm certain that this is the book as I've since
reread it. All the details match.
Jolie Epstein, The Kindles Find a
Home. (1985,
approximate) I'm pretty sure this is the one you
want. I LOVED the Kindles when I was young. The
witch they hide from is Eyevil (I think that's how it's
spelled). They end up finding a land with a beautiful
waterfall inside a crystal dome
Jolie Epstein, The
Kindles Find a Home, 1985, copyright.
I'm looking at my copies of both of these books right now! They
are, indeed, "The Kindles Find a Home" and the sequel "The Kindles and
the Lady of Light," both published in 1985. "Welcome to
the magical land of the Kindles! It's a fantasy forest where
music makes the honeybud trees grow. The Kindles love to sing
with gladness, but now an evil sorceress named Eyevil wants to
end their happiness forever. It's up to Sparkli to lead the rest
of the Kindles out of danger. They embark on a quest to find the
Gloracle, who tells them about the domed Crystal Mountain, an
enchanted place where they can live together safely."
Littledale, Freya, The King and
Queen Who Wouldn't Speak, 1975. It's a play published by Scholastic
magazines.
Yes. King and the Princess by Jack O'Brien,
illustrated by Robert Doremus. Whitman, 1938, 1949. A
Cozy Corner Book. Look, I even have a copy!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! The book
arrived and wonderful memories came flooding back. You
have provided a wonderful service and I do so appreciate it.
---
I am looking for information about a 1950s book, or story- I
can't remember, about a black cat and a black dog, possibly a
Labrador. The 2 animals grew up together. Something
happened to the kitten and the owner made a peg leg with a
harness for it. The kitten would ride on the dog's
back. When they played together, or when the cat got mad
at the dog, it would smack the dog's nose with the wooden leg. I
can still visualize an illustration from the book of the kitten
with it's peg leg ready to smack the dog! This story has
stuck with me for so long, and I would like to find the
book. In 1985 we adopted a black cat from the Humane
Society and later got a black Lab. I think I was trying to
duplicate the friendship that had so impressed me in the
50's!! Hopefully, someone out there will
remember this story.
O'Brien, Jack. King and the Princess. Illustrated by Robert Doremus. Whitman, 1938, 1949. A Cozy Corner Book. I think it's an Irish setter. It's on the Solved mysteries page, but I've already sold my copy...
Condition Grades |
O'Brien, Jack. King and the Princess. Illustrated by Robert Doremus. Whitman, 1938, 1949. A Cozy Corner Book. Spine paper tattered and corners worn, otherwise VG-. <SOLD> |
Jack O'Brien (author), Robert Doremus (illus),
King and the Princess. Whitman, 1938, 1949. A
Cozy Corner Book. See more on Solved Mysteries.
There is an alternate version of this book:
The King and the Princess by Jack O'Brien
(author) and Kurt Wiese (illustrator), published in 1940
by Grosset & Dunlap. On the bottom of the front cover
it says, "A STORY PARADE PICTURE BOOK."
T184 Sounds like KING OF THE
DOLLHOUSE by Patricia Clapp ~from a
librarian
Clapp, Patricia, King of the
Dollhouse, 1974.
I think this is the book you're looking for though the
ring/crown detail doesn't exactly match. Ellie wakes up
one summer day to find King Borra Borra and his eleven 'peanut
butter' babies have moved into her dollhouse. The king's
family eventually moves out at the end of the summer when Queen
Griselda finds them a permanent home inside a tree and Ellie is
very sad to see them go. A few days later Ellie wakes up
to find the Queen's crown in the dollhouse with a message that
the Queen has taken up scuba diving and finds her crown is a
nuisance and they'd like Ellie to keep it as a momento.
Ellie puts the crown on her finger and her mother observes that
it looks "rather like a fairy crown" and the two of them decide
to write a story about little people who live in a dollhouse.
Patricia Clapp, King of the Dollhouse,
1974. 'The cover looks
different than described, but I think this is the book.
Description: "A miniature royal family moves into the dollhouse
of an only child and keeps her company the summer her mother is
writing a story for children."'
Clapp, Patricia, King of the
Dollhouse, 1974.
I checked to make sure this was the title. This book was
one of the reasons I started making my own dollhouse. I
remember she used toothpaste tube lids for trash cans, and cut
up something (one of her handkerchiefs?) to make small
handkerchiefs for him. From my local library
catalog: A miniature royal family moves into the
dollhouse of an only child and keeps her company the summer her
mother is writing a story for children.
There is an old English fairy tale with
this plot called Lazy Jack that I have read in
several different versions but it is usually a princess that
doesn't smile. In the version I have in front of me Jack
loses his penny and his mother scolds him and says he should
have carried in his pocket. The next day he gets a jar of
milk and puts it in his pocket, so his mother said he should
have carried it on his head and next he gets cheese and puts it
on his head and so on and so on until he ends up carrying a
donkey on his shoulders and the princess laughs and Jack marries
her. I also have read a version where several people and
animals are all stuck together and travel in front of the castle
causing the unhappy person (princess?) to laugh.
Another possibility is The Frowning
Prince, by Crockett Johnson, published by
Harper 1959 The prince's frown has the power to break glass and
wilt plants. "What happens when a prince with an immovable
frown meets a princess with an irresistable smile. Ages 4-8."
(Horn Book Apr/59 p.92 pub ad) This does at least have a prince
who doesn't smile, rather than a princess. In the usual form of
the Lazy Jack story, the (marriageable age) princess smiles
because she sees a ridiculous sight, while the (very young?)
prince in the questioner's story smiles perhaps because he is
given a golden toy instead of golden treasures that he can't
play with.
Lazy Jack: I think this may be
- The King Who Learned to Smile, by Seymour
Reit, illustrated by Gordon Laite, a Golden Book Beginning
Reader, published Western 1960. "approximately a 2nd grade
level, the story of a young king who had gold everything, but
who wasn't very happy. This story tells what made him happy
enough to finally smile." "A young king named Harold has all
the gold objects you can imagine - shells and bells, skates
and plates, even a gold toothbrush. But Harold is still
unhappy." The cover shows the young king lying on the
grass with animals around him, smiling at one who is wearing his
golden crown.
A few years ago, I submitted a
stumper. I basically forgot about it, but today, the
book I was searching for came to mind again....I searched on
the internet, and lo and behold, there was my answer. I
am ordering the book from another online seller, but the fact
is I had no idea as to the name of the book. The answer
provided me with even more detail to help me remember my
story. I knew it was the book I was looking for then!
What a great service.
Not 100% sure, but take a look at THE
KING
WITH
SIX FRIENDS by Jay Williams, 1968.
The previous suggestion was exactly
right. I have a copy of The King with Six
Friends by Jay Williams, illustrated by
Imero Gobbato. This copy is parents' magazine press,
1968. It's about a good king who loses his kingdom, so
he's "out of work" and goes to find a kingdom looking for
a king. He comes across an axe, an elephant, a fire,
a snake, a tree, and a swarm of bees, all of which turn
out to be men.
---
This will probably be impossible to find
but in elementary school in the early 1970s I read a
children's book about a young boy on a quest. Along the
way he encountered a number of strange individuals who were
misfits and outcasts. Among their number was a chubby
man that could transform into a swarm of bees, a red-haired
man that could turn into living flame, a darkly elegant man
who could morph into a large serpent and a tall gentleman who
could become an enormous tree. Through the boy's courage
and encouragement they overcame their insecurities and helped
the boy in his quest. But of course I do not recall the
title, author, publisher, or illustrator. And it's
driving me crazy! Any help or recommendations would be
greatly appreciated.
Jay Williams, King with Six Friends, 1968.
Illustrated by Imero Gobbato - I loved this one, too, and my copy
is somewhere in storage, but you can visit Eric's
books read page.
---
I recall this book from the early
seventies. It was a variation on the five Chinese
brothers story, but set in 19th century Europe, with colorful,
painterly illustrations. Five men were enlisted to
traverse a mountain pass, a river, etc, and each of them
turned out along the way to have a special skill...the man
with bright red hair could turn into fire, the man with a
large George Washington-like nose could turn into an axe to
cut wood. I seem to recall one man in blue who could
turn to ice and/or water. That's about all I
remember. Any ideas?
Jay Williams, The King with Six
Friends,
1968. This was a Parents Magazine Press book, one of a
series you could order by mail. King Zar loses his
kingdom, meets six strange men who can turn into things like
fire and axes, and then has to face three tests to win a
princess.
Jay Williams, The King With Six
Friends,1968.
This sounds like The King With Six Friends to me.
I am sitting here looking at the book in front of me and one
friend does turn into a fire, another into an ax. It is
about King Zar, the king with no kingdom going on a "quest" to
find one...he is kind to the odd people he meets along the way,
and they end up helping him in the end.
The Fool of the World and the Flying
Ship. Maybe?
Jay Williams, The King With Six
Friends. I'm not
sure that this is the title you are looking for, but it sounds
like what you are describing. I am a retired elementary
schl librarian and had this in my former library. If more
info is needed, I could try contacting that source.
---
I'm looking for a book I had as a
child. The story was about a prince who had 7 or 9
friends. Each friend has some special or "supernatural"
ability. They go on a quest during which each friend
helps accomplish some task by using his ability. In the
end, the prince asks his best friend why he gets to be king
since he doesn't have any special ability. His friend
answers something to the extent that we need you to lead
us. I know it's similar to the 7 Chinese Brothers
story. One vivid image I remember is the group trying to
cross a gorge. One friend can transform himself into a
snake. His lower half, still legs, is standing on one
side of the gorge; his upper half is stretched across the
gorge and his snake mouth is biting into a tree. The
rest of the group use him as a bridge.
M210 Most likely THE KING WITH
SIX FRIENDS by Jay Williams, 1968. The
description of the illustrations match this book. ~from a
librarian
Jay Williams, The King with Six
Friends, 1968.
Published by Parents Magazine Press. This is definitely
the one.
This one sounds like The King With
Six Friends again. I helped solve it for
someone else awhile back - more details should be on the solved
pages.
---
Illustrated childrens book about a
king/prince who left his land and travels with a group of
unique characters. Upon returning to his land, he must prove
himself by completing tests/trials, he is allowed to use his
companions to complete them. One is he must eat all the
food in a banquet room, being told that a king would be able
to. His companions can change form, so one turns into an
elephant to help eat the food, another turns into a man of
flame who burns the rest of the food. Another trial, he
has to cross a chasm, so a companion turns into a snake to
make a bridge to cross it.
This is a story that has been told in more
than one version. One is Jay Williams' The King
with Six Friends another is Arthur Ransome's The
Fool of the World and the Flying Ship.
Parker Fillmore, Longshanks, Girth,
and Keen. This is a
similar story, found in The Junior Classics Volume I, Fairy
Tales and Fables. Supposed to be a Czechoslovakian story.
Jay Williams, the King With Six
Friends, 1968. I
bet this is it -- if you are of "that certain age", because it
was a Parents' Magazine Press book. Everyone who was in
that book club seems to have very vivid memories of the
selections! It has great watercolor/pen-and-ink
illustrations by Imero Gobbato.
Thank you so much for this site. T231 entry question has
been solved correctly. I found my long lost book Title.
Thank you so very much
---
In the early 1970s, my mother bought an illustrated book
through my elementary school for me and my siblings. The
hero was a traveler (Western European, Middle Ages) who comes
across various characters with transforming powers (man-to-fire,
man-to-rope,) and saves them from predicaments. They in
turn help him complete a task for a king who rewards the
traveler. When someone asks one of the transforming
characters why the traveler should get credit when the
"transformers" did most of the work, the transformer replied "He
lead us".
Williams, Jay, The King With Six Friends. Apparently THE MOST popular book from the Parents' Magazine Press series.
Condition Grades |
Williams, Jay. The King With Six Friends. Illustrated by Imero Gobbato. Parents Magazine Press, 1968. Fine. <SOLD> |
Dr. Seuss, The King's Stilts, 1939. I don't know about this being in
an anthology, but this definitely sounds like The King's
Stilts by Dr. Seuss. The Kingdom of
Binn is below sea level and protected by Dike Trees. The
Dike Trees have to be protected from the Nizzards who will
destroy the root system and the kingdom will be flooded.
Eric the Page has to rouse the king to save the kingdom after
his stilts have been lost.
Might have been Seuss' THE KING'S
STILTS. Long picture book with a story of the
country with dike trees and how the cats defend the trees from
the nizzards - birds which would eat them. THe boy is the
king's page who sounds the warning and helps the king by
recovering his stolen stilts, which cheers him up and he's
kingly again, so he can lead the Patrol Cats in defense of the
dike trees.
Dr. Seuss, The King's Stilts, 1939.
Dr. Seuss, The King's Stilts. Yes, this is the
story I was trying to remember. The stilts brought it all
back. Thanks so much!!
Your memory is right on. Here it is:
---
Can you perhaps find for me the words of a poem by Eleanor
Farjeon, which begins John, John, bad King John,
Shamed the throne that he sat on.....
The poem is in Farjeon's Kings and Queens.
Condition Grades |
Farjeon, Eleanor and Herbert. Kings and Queens. Illustrated with 38 coloured plates by Rosalind Thornycroft. London: Victor Gollancz. NY: E.P. Dutton, 1932. This early American edition goes up to King George V. Wonderful color plates. Inscription on front free endpaper. Dust jacket torn at top edge and missing a couple chunks from bottom edge, now secure in a plastic dj protector. VG/P. <SOLD> |
Benjamin Elkin, The King's Wish and
Other Stories, 1960,
approximate.
K39: I love this one, it's so clever for its
age level. Benjamin Elkin, Illustrated by Leonard
Shortall. The King's Wish and Other Stories.
Beginner Books, 1960.
The King's Wish was a childhood favorite. Thank
you.
Google makes it sound as if the book is Sleigh's
The Kingdom of Carbonel.
Catherine McVicar, The grass
beyond the door. (1978) Just a slight
possibility because I can't find a reference to a flying rocking
chair in my copy, but the rest sort of fits. It's a
chapter book with black & white illustrations.
Miranda's cat becomes Sinbad and has mysterious powers, acting
as her guide.
Barbara Sleigh, Kingdom of Carbonel. (1960) Darn - the server keeps eating my
answers! Well... maybe 4th time's a charm? Anyway,
this has to be the one you're looking for. Rosemary and
her friend John must guard the royal kittens, when Carbonel, the
King of Cats, is summoned away to visit the Great Cat.
This book has both the talking cats and the flying rocking
chair. It is a sequel to "Carbonel, King of the Cats" in
which Rosemary acquires a magic broom and a talking cat.
She and John must help the cat, Carbonel, to break an evil
enslavement spell, so that he can return to his rightful
throne. There is also a third book in the series,
"Carbonel and Calidor," in which Rosemary and John must track
down Carbonel's son and heir, Calidor, who has run off with an
apprentice witch, in search of adventure. Rosemary &
John must restore Calidor's sense of duty, so that he will
return to his kingdom, and then they must also find/rescue his
missing father, Carbonel. Original copies of these books
are rare and expensive, but "Carbonel, King of the Cats" is back
in print - with any luck, the others soon will be as well.
I think this must be the right one! I was beginning to
think I had made up the detail of the rocking chair! I've so far
only located the first and third in the series of three, the
second being the one I was searching for, and my children and I
are enjoying them very much. I can't wait to read the
second. Thank you so much. This website it fantastic
and I wish I had found it years ago.
Ann Nolan Clark, All this wild land, 1976. Saunas are Finnish, so maybe this
one? "Arriving in Minnesota in the late 1800's with plans to
homestead, a Finnish family is faced with the problems of
starting a new life."
#S205--Scandinavian immigrant/pioneer
child: Well, here's a book about a Finnish
immigrant: Kirsti, by Helen Markley
Miller. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and
Company, Inc., 1964. In this one, it's Kirsti's mother,
not her father, who is dead. Her father doesn't die, but
he is gone through most of the book, at work in the mines,
leaving Kirsti with a pregnant stepmother
and winter coming on. She doesn't speak English and
survives only with the help of Tom Kincaid, an American boy with
whom she falls in love.
Thank you for solving a mystery for
me. I've been looking for a book about a Finnish pioneer
family. I read it sometime before 1974 and about 5 years ago
started looking for it. It's been haunting me ever since. The
lightbulb came on when I read the blurb on KIRSTI. Thanks.
Winifred Martin, Three Naughty
Kittens, 1948.
Another possibility is: A. Macgregor and W. Perrin: Smoke
and Fluff.
This was an early Ladybird book (c. 1942)
and was a story in verse about mischievous kittens. Yet
another possibility is Lillian Young: Pussy Willow's
Naughty Kittens.
Helen Wing, The Kitten Twins, 1960. This is a Rand McNally Elf Book,
called The Kitten Twins. See suggested solution
for T168: "There were two little kittens with eyes of blue, One
was named Twinkle, one was named Boo They tried to be good and
do what was right But they got into mischief from morning till
night!"
Condition Grades |
Wing, Helen. The Kitten Twins. Illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe. Rand McNally, 1966. "A Rand McNally Elf Book". Paperback. Cover is well-worn and creased, but interior is clean. G $5 |
|
Nina. with illustrator Feodor
Rojankovsky, The Kittens Surprise, 1950s. A
Little Golden Book later reprinted as The Little
Lost Kitten. May possibly be the one.
Little Lost Kitten, 1950 - 1962. I have a Whitman Tiny Tales
book entitled Little Lost Kitten. It's a
3"x 4" cardboard book with no author or copyright
information. The number 2952 is printed above the price
tag (5 cents) on the upper right hand corner of the
cover. I was born in 1961, and have had this book as
long as I can remember, it may have even belonged to my mother
or aunt. Brother and sister twins, Pat and Prue, go
to Grandma Winkies house for a visit. Prue does find the kitten
hiding under the sofa. However, Prue is blonde the kitten
is a tabby and the sofa is blue with pink throw pillows.
Nina The kitten's
surprise
Feodor
Rojankovsky Little Golden Book, 1951
"Nina", The Kittens Surprise. Little Golden Book, illustrated by Feodor
Rojankovsy, first published in 1951. Later re-published as The
Little Lost Kitten. Not sure it's the one, but seems
likely.
Are K7 and K5 the same book?
#K7--Kittens, dirty: In one of these
stories, the mother cat holds the protesting kitten down by the
ear to clean it. Anyone recognize this?
Louise P. Woodcock, ill by Adele
Werber and Doris Laslo, The Kittens Who Hid From Their
Mother, 1950. I have a copy if the searching
party is interested...
This sounds like either City Under
the Back Steps by Evelyn Sibley Lampman or Sarah's
Nest by Harry Gilbert.
I just caught a longer description of City Under the Back
Steps under stumper G117. This does not sound like it at
all - there was no male cousin, and she was not "shrunk". But I
will still take a look as I am desperate to find this book
again!
I do not think it is the Harry Gilbert book, since the
publication date is 1981, and I know I read it in the
1970's. Thanks for the suggestions to date!
Moon, Sheila, Knee Deep in Thunder, illustrated by Peter Parnall. NY
Atheneum 1968. I think this is it. The main character is a
young girl who finds herself in a strange world (apparently
based on Navajo mythology, but I wouldn't know) with insect
companions, including an ant and a caterpillar. They are as big
as she is, but it's never stated whether she 'shrunk' or that's
just how it is there. At one point they are captured by a Beast
and she has to entertain it by singing, and the caterpillar is
used as a footstool.
I just looked at City Under the Back
Steps, and that is not the book. The girl was
definitely the main character, and the creatures were of
different sorts, not just ants. Thanks again! I hope there are
more suggestions!
I think Knee Deep in Thunder is
it! I have requested a copy from another library, and I will
let you know!
---
I’d appreciate your help in identifying a juvenile fantasy I
read some time in the early ’70s (although it may have been
published even earlier). A young girl is transported into
a magical world. Unfortunately, I cannot remember any details of
the adventures she has there. However, the magical world is
presided over by a mystical creature/tutelary spirit called
(something like) The Mantis. Despite this title, I seem to
recall that he was more like a winged stag, than insectile in
form.
Perhaps Mantis by Peter Fox, St. Martin's
Press, 1979?
Sorry, no. Mantis by Peter Fox is not it. I don't think
"Mantis" was in the title, and 1979 is much to late. I'm sure I
read the book in 9th or 10th grade, which would have been '71,
'72. Any other ideas? Thanks.
Moon, Sheila, Knee-deep in Thunder. I checked our library's copy of this, and
the girl does meet a sort of tutelary spirit called the Mantid.
Several of her quest companions are insects, including an ant
and a caterpillar.
Moon, Sheila, Knee-deep in Thunder, NY Atheneum 1967. I wonder if it might be
this one. The unhappy young girl is transported into a world
based on Navajo mythology, her companions are insects (she may
be shrunk to their size, but it's never made clear) including an
ant and a caterpillar. They must battle an enemy called the
Beast, who is like a wild boar.
Sheila Moon, Knee-Deep in Thunder: This MIGHT be
it! I originally read the book, over 30 years ago, on loan
from the National Library Services for The Blind and Physically
Handicapped's Talking Books program. In the intervening years,
the recording has been withdrawn from circulation. I'll have to
order the book in braille, or find a more detailed plot summary
elsewhere, to be sure. But the brief summary in the NLSBPH
database rings faint bells. Will let you know if this, indeed,
turns out to be the solution. THANKS!
---
A girl somehow travels or falls into another world, where she
helps a group of animal-like creatures battle some other
creatures. I remember in particular an ant-like character
who sacrifices himself to save the others. After that, the
marks on the moon resemble the ant's shape. Eventually, the good
creatures win and she returns to our world.
Moon, Sheila, Knee-deep in Thunder. NY Atheneum 1968. This has to be
it. The girl, Maris, falls into another world
where she is the size of insects and other
small creatures. With a band of creatures including Exi the
beetle, Red the ant, Locus the mouse and Isia the caterpillar,
Maris goes on a quest to defeat the Beasts, with some aid and
advice from the Mantid. The land has no moon at first as "it
will not come until someone has tried" and after Red dies, the
moon
rises. Maris looks at the moon and thinks
"what was in the moon was an ant, the contours of a wonderful
red ant who tried."
Hello! I am answering my own question! About a month ago I sent you a "stump the bookseller" question about a group of children who have time-travelling adventures involving, among others, Ivanhoe, and the herb Thyme. Thanks to a lucky break on eBay, I have discovered the book. It is Knight's Castle by Edward Eager, and he wrote 6 more books all on the same theme. I now have a list of all the titles. In the meantime could you search for any of his books for me?
Randolph, Jane, illustrated by Don
Freeman, The Circus in Peter's Closet. NY:
Crowell 1955. This is perhaps too late and not a close
enough match, but worth considering. "A lonely sick boy finds
friends galore in a new town and a circus that comes out of his
closet." "The book is illustrated throughout in black &
white and black, red, & yellow drawings in Freema''s rather
representational but friendly style. An intriguing story about a
little boy in a strange town and the curious inhabitants of his
closet."
The Singing Grasshopper(?).
I'm
not positive, but I think the title is the Singing Grasshopper,
though I'm not 100% sure of that (it's definently The [word
here] Grasshopper, however). It has a yellow cover with
red letters, and a picture of the grasshopper on the
cover. The grasshopper is magical and can talk, and it is
him who gives the two children in the story the power to shrink
the animals in the circus and zoos and carry them home in their
pockets. However, the animals soon start to grow again!
Teichner, Miriam, The Knitting
Grasshopper,
1937. Located a copy of the book I had thought was called
"The Singing Grasshopper" - it is in fact called The
Knitting Grasshopper. This is 100% the book you're
looking for - the book is about two children, boy and girl, who
find a magical talking grasshopper who gives them a rhyme to
recite - the children recite it, and shrink all the animals in
the zoo to tiny sizes, and put them in their pockets and take
them home. The animals soon start to grow back to their
original size, however, causing all sorts of problems!
Well, if the memories are a bit garbled and
it's Parents' Magazine instead of Weekly Reader, it could be: Devlin,
Wende
and
Harry THE KNOBBY BOYS TO THE RESCUE
Parent's Magazine Press, 1965, 38 Pages. "Bright full page
colorful illustrations highlight this book about Raccon, Fox
and Crow [so self deemed as the Knobby Boys 'cause they liked
the name] who meet Baby Brown Bear [complete with baby bonnet]
who has no mother. Mom was captured by the gypsies. How the
Knobby Boys save the bear for a happy ending makes for great
reading."
Knobby Boys to the Rescue:
I
think
is
the
book
they
are looking for.
See the Devlin Tribute page for
more on these famous authors.
Harold Keith, Komantcia. The hero of Komantcia is actually a
Spanish boy kidnapped by the Comanche, but the episode of
stealing the horse herd in order to pay the bride-price for the
girl "Willow" (and save her from marriage to the evil "Paunch")
is definitely in there!
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.
Christine Nostlinger, Conrad the
Factory-Made Boy.
A182 This was a Wonderworks
production. The book is Konrad oder Das Kind
aus der KonservenbüchseChristine Nöstlinger, but I
cannot find anything with regards to an English translation.
A182 This is KONRAD by Christine
Nostlinger, translated by Anthea Bell, first American
edition, 1977. WonderWorks made the movie. ~from a librarian
----------------
I remember this book from
an old PBS show with John Robbins. What I remember a woman gets
a strange package. When she opens it up there is a small very
wrinkled boy. She is told from the boy to add water to him. Then
he transforms to a perfect blond little boy. Thanks.
Christine Nostlinger, Conrad: The
Factory-Made Boy (also just Konrad), 1983. "Mrs. Bartolotti finds a factory-made
child, who never does anything wrong, in the post—delivered by
mistake. The factory men try to reclaim Conrad but he doesn't
want to go."
Christine Nostlinger, Conrad:
The Factory Made Boy, 1975. Originally "Konrad", in German. In this clever tale, Conrad is a made-to-order boy who
has perfect manners. When he is accidentally delivered to the
wrong person, Mrs. Bartolotti, who does not demand perfection
from Conrad, the boy bonds with his new family. When the cold
and demanding parents who actually ordered the "perfect child"
arrive to regain their lost delivery, Conrad must quickly learn
how to be naughty so that he can stay with Mrs. Bartolotti.
Christine
Notslinger, Konrad
I recall
that book too. Seems the boy is programmed to be Perfect: not
eat candy, always picks up things, likes vegetables. Over the
course of things the woman and boy bond and want to stay
together but the people who sent the boy's canister
disagree. Ultimately the woman teaches the boy to be Normal,
that is, make mistakes, which convinces the Perfects she's
right. Hope this helps.
Christine
Nostlinger, Konrad. Definitely Konrad also published as Conrad: The Factory-Made Boy. PBS (Wonderworks) produced it
in 1985: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167240/
Christine
Nostlinger, Conrad, The
Factory-Made Boy, 1976. I'm not sure about the "just add water" part, but Conrad
(also published in English as Konrad) definitely involves a
small boy in a package being delivered to a woman's door.
SOLVED: Konrad or Conrad
well, i found my story a few minutes after posting my query. I'd misspelled the name. It was Kotick the white seal. Author is Kipling and i found the whole story online. Thanks... my $2 is well spent in any case to support your service.
Elizabeth Enright, Four-Story
Mistake, 1940s.
Near the beginning of this book Randy (Miranda) Melendy collides
with the back of a city bus while riding a bicycle, cuts her
head on the license plate and suffers a mild concussion.
Babbis Friis, Kersti. In some translations called Kristy's
Courage. A possibility.
I'm wondering if "G195: Girl in Hospital -
head injury" could possibly be from Elizabeth Enright's Four-Story
Mistake? Near the beginning of this book Randy
(Miranda) Melendy collides with the back of a city bus while
riding a bicycle, cuts her head on the license plate and suffers
a mild concussion. Thanks again for your site!
Kristy's courage. I think this is it. I am
trying to get a copy of it to make sure. That title sounds
vaguely familiar. thanks I appreciate the effort.
___________________________________________
This is a 1960s children's
book. All I remember is the book begins with a girl who is very
sick. As she lies in her bed she imagines strange things,
like horse hooves growing out of her face (I am not
kidding!) I think the cover was dark blue. Pencil
drawings inside. Maybe authors name in middle of
alphabet.
I think while the
sick girl is dozing in her bed having these strange dreams, she
keeps thinking Hickory, Dickory Dock. Not
much more to go on...
Britt Hallquist, Bettinas Secret.Is it possible that this book is
BETTINAS SECRET? Does anybody know
how this book begins, if she is in a bed recooperating, having
weird dreams?
Kristy's Courage. I think this is it. Could somebody please confirm? I saw the cover and thought By George, I think I've got it!"
Is it possible that the title for I148 is KRISTY'S SECRET?
KRISTY'S COURAGE. Found a copy of the book, read it, SOLVED~~~
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