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I believe these books are indeed published by Ladybird.
Small books, mostly common domain stories, with a ladybug on the
cover of each. I do get them from time to time, and will let
you know when I have some in stock.
Ladybird published a great number of
different series in the same format of small hardcover books.
The fairytale series referred to was called Well-Loved
Tales, and was graded by reading difficulty into
grades 1, 2 and 3. Grade 1 included The Elves and
the Shoemaker, The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Boy,
Chicken Licken, The Enormous Turnip, The Big Pancake, etc.
Grade 2 included Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots,
Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio,
etc. Grade 3 included Cinderella, Jack and the
Beanstalk, Snow White and Rose Red, Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, The Princess and the Frog, etc. The two remembered
are from the Grade 3 level.
About two months ago, I sent in a stumper
about a family who sailed around the world in a Chinese junk -
my friend couldn't remember much else about the books, just that
they were a series. Well, I have since discovered that the books
were written by Janet Lambert and are about the
Campbell family. So, if anyone else ever asks you that question,
here's the answer! Meanwhile, we have found some of the books,
and I think my friend wants to just search out the rest on her
own. Thanks!
---
I am looking for a young adult's book (maybe geared to about
5th grade?), probably part of a series, that was set on the East
Coast (New York?) on an army (or other) base in the 1930s or
1940s. It described the lives of he girls in a military
family who lived on base. One girl's name was Carol and
she ended up marrying David, either in that book or a follow-up
(if it is a series). I remember descriptions of bicycling
in pedal pushers, making fudge, going for bridemaid dress
fittings, etc. (definitely a girl's book!). I read
this in the 1960s.
Janet Lambert, Introducing Parri,
Star-Spangled Summer, Wedding Bells, The Stars Hang High, c.1962.
These books are about the Parrish family and
were written by Janet Lambert the details you mention are
correct. They took place in New York and had a lot to do
with West Point. I've read most of them and they were all
wonderful. Still have my copy of Introducing Parri,
"...the 14-year-old daughter of famous actress Penny Parrish.
Her trip into New York for a 'sensible' coat ended with a
tryout for a Broadway play...and began a whole new life of fun
and dating!"
I have a copy of this story The
Lambkin in a big red book, The Classic Volland
Edition GREAT CHILDREN'S STORIES, illustrated by
Frederick Richardson and published by Rand McNally. It is not a
small book, instead it has 17 traditional tales.
L2: This story appears in a skinny British
paperback collection of stories called Rom Pom Pom
that I have at home. Will send more details when I have access
to the book.
Hi . . . I just wanted to write and say that
I had a book as a child called Lambykins.
It was a Tell-a-Tale book, and the story was as the person that
wrote the e-mail described. (The lamb fooled everyone and rolled
away in a drum). Hope this helps.
I am looking for a children's book (like a
Golden Book , but not one of theirs) which is called The
Lambkin or The Little Lambkin. It was
one of my favorites, and now that I am expecting a baby I would
like to include it in his "library." Any help would be greatly
appreciated!!!!
Noel Langley, The Land of Green Ginger, 1937 / 1966 / 1975, copyright.
Definitely!
Noel
Langley, Land of Green Ginger.
Noel
Langley, The Land of Green
Ginger,
1966, copyright.Sounds like the adventures of Abu Ali (son of
Aladdin), his friend Boomalakka Wee, and the Mouse. The
Land of Green Ginger was the name of the flying island/floating
world. My copy is a Puffin paperback published by Penguin
Books Ltd.
Noel Langley, The Land of Green Ginger.
Yes! This is definitely it. I can't
wait to find it again (and I probably will go for the "66 since
that is what I must have read. Thank
you so much.
Noel Langley, The Land of Green Ginger. This one is solved.
I'm still trying to figure out the very old children's book with a color illustration of a rather rotund man with rosy cheeks (wearing a morning coat?) standing next to a tree with a door. After the boy walks away, he looks back to see only a bird--a robin, I think--in the tree. The door and the man are not there.
Maybe it is Little Boy Lost
by W.H. Hudson, but with the colour illustrations by Dorothy
Lathrop, published by Knopf 1920. I've seen one picture
from this edition, showing the little boy lying on a ledge
speaking to the Ocean, personified as a huge old man with a wide
mouth and trailing white weed-like hair and beard. There's an
incident in Little Boy Lost very similar to the robin incident
cited, where the boy speaks to a little man who won't answer
sensibly, then walks away and turns to see a burrowing owl(?). I
don't know whether Lathrop illustrated that incident, though.
S30 shapeshifting bird: Hard to be sure, but
another possibility is Wood Magic (also published
as Little Sir Bevis), by Richard Jeffries,
published Longmans in the 1920s, reprinted several times. "Wind
and brook, birds and animals are little Sir Bevis's friends.
They vie with one another for his affection and for his
sympathy with their very human-like jealousies and intrigues."
I've only read excerpts, but I think little Bevis wanders by
himself at times. Also, robins are more likely to show up in
Bevis's English countryside than the South America of Little
Boy Lost.
The suggestion that it might be Wood
Magic by Richard Jeffries was a good one as Bevis does
converse with many animals; however he does not converse with
a rotund little man who then becomes a bird. I am,
therefore, still searching for this illusive, colorfully
illustrated children's novel.
Dorothy Nell Whaley & Charles W.
Knudsen, The Land of Happy Days, 1938. Mystery
Solved!! I picked up a book entitled The Land of
Happy Days in a vintage bookstore today and there on
page 15 was the rotund man (Round Roger)wearing a tuxedo,
welcoming a boy and girl to Good Sleep Inn which happens to be
the trunk of a big tree. On page 40, the Inn is simply a
tree and Round Roger is nowhere to be found, but we do see a
fat round robin who looks "fat and roly-poly just like Round
Roger." Thanks to everyone who tried to help.
---
I don't remember much about the book, other than I loved it
when I was young! It was written by a young girl,
who apparently disappeared (I'm sure it mentioned that in the
preface?) Anyway, it was about a tiny fairy, was very
descriptive and beautiful. I think the fairy's name
started with a "T" and may have been the title, or part of the
title, of the the book. Thank you!
I know one that begins with a "P": Poppy, or the
Adventures of a Fairy by Anne Perez-Guerra.
1931.
Could this be Tatsinda by Elizabeth
Enright?
I think that the tiny fairy may be
Thumbelina.
This is definitely NOT Tatsinda
by Elizabeth Enright
The clue that it was written by a young girl
makes me think it's Opal Whitely's The Fairyland Around
Us. The fairy named "Twilight, the child of
Day and Night, came and led Liloriole forth in search of the
homes of Fairyland." There's a website with the entire
text at http://www.liloriole.net.
I checked out the website, and The
Fairyland
Around Us is beautiful, but it's not the book I'm
looking for *sigh*. I remember that there was a
description in the story of the fairy/girl waking up inside of
a flower which had been covered with ice during the night...it
seemed so beautiful to me, the way it was written. Maybe that
will ring a bell with someone? Thanks!
I'm wondering about The House Without
Windows and Eepersip's Life There by Barbara
Newhall Follett, published by Knopf, 1927 "The story of a
little girl who was "rather lonely" and who left home one day to
explore the meadows, fields, and woods near by. But she became
so enamored of life in the woods that she decided to "live wild"
and never go home anymore. She goes to the mountain and she goes
to the sea, then back to the mountains, where on one beautiful
summer day she becomes a dryad. A rarely lovely book, and the
only instance we know where a child has been able to record that
longing common to many children under ten to be one with nature.
The book was written by the author at nine and rewritten at
twelve, as the original manuscript had been burned." There's a
book about the young author: McCurdy, Harold (edited by)
BARBARA: the Unconscious Autobiography Of A Child Genius
Published by University of North Carolina Press: 1966, 146
pages, with b?w photos. "She was educated at home in New England
by literary parents, Wilson and Helen Follett, and at the age of
four she began to type out her own imaginative stories. By
thirteen she had already published a novel and, with the
publication of her second novel a year later, she seemed
launched on a literary career. Then the events of her inner life
and her outer world seemed to conspire against her vivd energy -
the separation of her parents, the Great Depression, her own
frustrating and unhappy marriage. Finally she fulfilled a
prophetic vein in her writings, which sought flight from the
human world to an enchanted, unsoiled world of nature. In the
winter of 1939, in a mystery that has never been solved, Barbara
Newhall Follett disappeared."
Dorothy Nell Whaley & Charles W.
Knudsen, The Land of Happy Days, 1938. A tiny fairy named Twinkle appears
in a mirror and leads two children, Betty and Jack, into the
enchanted forest.
I wish I remember the title for sure,
because I remember this book from my childhood as well (early
60s). However, I think it belonged to my mother so was from the
40s. I think it was called something like "Land of the Lost".
The boy and girl find all kinds of things under the sea that are
lost above, and sometimes never sought--lost socks but also
buttons, watches, treasures, dolls...
Hewson, Isabel Manning, Land of the
Lost, illustrated by
Olive Bailey, NY McGraw-Hill 1945. I would suggest this.
The fish's name is Red Lantern. "Billy 13, and Isabel, 11,
fishing from their rowboat, catch Red Lantern, the Guiding Light
of the Land of the Lost. In return for letting them go, Red
Lantern takes them to the wonderful kingdom under the sea where
all lost things eventually arrive. Here they find the doll
Henrietta that Isabel had lost overboard, and the toy soldier
Sergeant Pine who is now a captain. Then there is the villainous
Kid Squid and his band of cuttlefish, who nearly prevent Isabel
and Billy's return to earth. Best of all are the Knives of the
Square Table, with Billy's lost Jack Knife, the Great Horn
Spoon, Sir Keen Carver and Lavinia Ladle. These fascinating
stories have been developed from Isabel Manning Hewson's Blue
Network radio program: The Land of the Lost, which as this book
goes to press is carried on more than 80 radio stations
throughout the United States. Mrs. Hewson also reports that
there are more than 3500 Land of the Lost Clubs and the number
is growing daily." (from the dust jacket) There were also at
least 2 Land of the Lost cartoons made, one dealing with the
Jack Knife story, the other with a pocket watch. The animation
and art were similar to the Caspar the Friendly Ghost cartoons.
Isabel Manning Hewson, Land of the Lost.
(1947) God - just glad that there are people out there who
have heard of this book. I own a copy and wondered if any
one else had heard of it. The illustrations are a very
strange updated version of '\''Alice in Wonderland'\'' but quite
wonderful. I would love to know more about the author
though.'
Albert J. Harris & May Knight Clark,
Lands of Pleasure, 1965.
This was my first grade reader, too, and I have a copy of it.
The exact story of naming Zipper the cocker spaniel is in here.
The twin boys are named Jim and Jack Jones.
Day, Veronique, Landslide! 1958.
Veronique Day, Landslide!1966. You're pretty close---it's a
landslide that traps the children! Two sets of siblings
are trapped in the remote hillside home of an elderly couple who
happen to go to town that day. No one is looking for the
children: their parents believe they are on vacation, and their
host believes they have gone home. Escape is impossible,
so the children must figure out how to survive until help
arrives. Eventually, the children send a Morse code signal
that is seen by the sick boy, but because they have mixed up the
letters of the Morse alphabet, the schoolmaster must help the
sick boy decipher the message! Meanwhile, the eldest
child, an introverted and bookish boy who takes charge during
this emergency, is becoming sicker and weaker from an infected
wound on his arm. Will he die before help arrives?
One of my favorite childhood books!
Arthur Catherall, Prisoners in the
Snow
Veronique Day, Landslide, 1961. Five children are trapped in a
lonely cottage when a landslide hits during Christmas vacation.
The owners'\'' pet bird dies of shock, and the only thing the
children can hear is a cuckoo clock. They send signals in Morse
code using a large mirror.
Landslide. btw- the boy
who sees the flashes is home with a sprain, not allergies.
Veronique Day, Landslide, 1963. Five children (from two families)
on vacation without their parents are hiking and get caught by a
landslide in an elderly acquaintance's house. After a few days
some snow falls away from a window and they use a mirror and
morse code to signal for help, which is seen by a boy home sick
from school. I believe the book was originally in French and
translated.
Veronique Day, Landslide! 1963. I am certain this is the book you
are looking for. Five kids - two sibling groups - are on
vacation in the mountains. They go to see the oldest boy's
friend, an old man named M. Nortier. He is not
there. They go in and go to sleep. While they are
sleeping there is a landslide and they are trapped. No one
knows they are there and no one is looking for them because the
parents think they are somewhere else. After being trapped
for days, they are able to send a message by flashing a message
into the snow in Morse code using a mirror when the sunlight
hits just right at a certain time of day. A boy in the
village is home with a sprained ankle and sees it. With
the help of the village teacher they figure out the message and
the children are rescued.
Landslide! Yeah! Thank you so much! In
addition to my own collection, I'm working on a Christmas
present for my sister. These were all books we both read
as kids, and still talk about finding again.
Just wanted to say that Prisoners in
the Snow is about 2 children that see a plane crash
and watch the pilot parachute out. The plane causes an
avalanche. The kids run in and warn their grandfather (the
parents had taken advantage of the nice day to ski down to the
village). The house is buried. While they are moving
their cows to safety, they realized that the pilot is buried in
snow on the roof of the cowshed. The young boy has to try
and rescue the pilot as great risk to himself. The pilot
badly needs a doctor, so the boy again has to make a dangerous
attempt to reach the outside world. Anyone who enjoyed Landslide!
would probably like Prisoners in the Snow.
L3 I'm pretty sure you're thinking of
Sally Watson, who wrote Lark in 1964 and
wrote several other books in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Some
other titles include Jade and Linnet,
Watson's books feature young girls in different adventures and
are set in various times and countries.
Gertrude Crampton, The Large and Growly Bear,
1961. Although the version pictured
here is a book/record combination, that's the cover I
remember--and it is pink!
Daniel Manus Pinkwater, The Last
Guru. I think the
kid in this book invents 'Zenburgers'- the only other detail I
can recall involves lamas or priests who 'all look a little like
Anthony Quinn'.
Daniel Pinkwater, The Last Guru,
1978. That was fast, it just took one day! I went
to Daniel Pinkwater's site and confirmed that The Last
Guru was the book I was searching for. Thank you
very much, I look forward to reading it again and Pinkwater's
other books as well.
Julie Edwards, Last of the Really
Great Whangdoodles.
Must be this book. The Whangdoodle has a daisy on his sweet
tooth.
Julie Edwards, The Last of the Really
Great Whangdoodles.
Three children and a professor go to Whangdoodle land and try to
help the Whangdoodle get his hearts desire. He does indeed have
a "sweet tooth" with a flower on it.
This sounds like the Last of the
really great Whangdoodles I think I've got that
right by Julie Edwards (the married name of Julie
Andrews). The last Whangdoodle is a strange creature with
antlers and a sweet tooth marked with a flower. Three children
come to his land with the assistance of a scientist friend. I
haven't read it for 20 years but it was definitely psychedelic.
Well done you ! After all this time
wondering, you solve the mystery overnight.Thanks everso.
--
Juvenile
Literature/Chapter book. Perhaps a few sketches throughout.
Probably a map in the early pictures. Book about kid or kids
that enter a fantastical land. In this land there is an
endangered creature called a Wing Ding Dilly or a Wang Dang
Doodle. The kids travel through the land (that's why I
think I remember and the map). I think they were trying to
save the creature and it was very special. Don't know author,
title other than the wings and wangs and dings and doodles. Book was very popular in my middle
school in 1983-1986.
Julie
Edwards, The Last of the Really Great
Whangdoodles. The
Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards (actually
Julie Andrews). Wonderful, fun book. Might go read it again
right now.
Julie
Edwards, Last of the Really
Great Whangdoodles. Could this be Julie Andrews The Last of the Really
Great Whangdoodles? Two brothers and their sister travel
through a magical land with their friend the professor,
searching for the mysterious Whangdoodle.
Julie
Andrews Edwards,
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. 1974, copyright. Its
definitely this book. Three siblings (Ben, Tom, and Lindy)
meet an eccentric professor who takes them to Whangdoodleland, a
place where fanciful creatures and plants live. The
elusive and peaceful Whangdoodle is king, and the children go on
a search for him.
Julie
Andrew Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. 1974, approximate. Possibly
this one? "What on earth is a Whangdoodle? A "fanciful creature
of undefined nature," it was also once the wisest, kindest, most
fun-loving living thing in the world--until people stopped
believing in it. But when an open-minded professor--the
one adult who still believes in the Whangdoodle--joins forces
with three children with active imaginations, they become an
unstoppable team on a fantastic and sometimes terrifying journey
to Whangdoodleland."
Bill
Peet. This ones easy. One of my
sons favorite authors. The Whingdingdilly by Bill Peet.
Sounds like THE LAST OF THE
REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES by Julie Edwards (better known as
Julie Andrews)~from a librarian
Julie Edwards (Andrews), The Last of the
Really Great Whangdoodles,
1974, copyright. This is it!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm looking for a book about a couple of kids who go through a
hedge along a road and are transported into a magical
kingdom. They journey through the kingdom to a castle and
I think they meet a series of magical creatures along the
way. I read the book in 1978 when I was in the 4th grade
and it was my favorite book at the time. A librarian
friend suggested that it was The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe, but I know that's not it. I have been
trying to find it for 10 years and I hope someone can help.
Joy Chant, Red Moon and Black
Mountain, 1971,
approximate. It might be this book: 3 siblings go
through a hedge and end up in another world. Nicholas and Penny
end up together but Oliver gets separated from them.
Nesbit, E, The Enchanted Castle, 1907, copyright. Possibly this one -
they initially do find the castle when they stop to eat their
lunch in a hedge by the side of the road. You can read the
full text online at Project Gutenberg. From the publishers
description: Four English children find a wonderful world of
magic through an enchanted wishing ring. Originally published in
1907, this book concerns four likable English children and their
adventures with a magic ring.
Mary Stewart, A Walk in Wolf Wood. Could it possibly be "A Walk in
Wolf Wood"? This was one of my FAVORITE books, and
now I'm reading it to my kids. Here is a brief summary..."When a
weeping man in a strange costume passes their picnic spot and
disappears into the nearby woods, a brother and sister decide to
follow him and soon find themselves involved in the rescue of a
werewolf in the 14th century."
L. Frank Baum, Road to Oz. A very long shot, but in L. Frank
Baum's Road to Oz (one of the sequels to Wizard
of Oz) Dorothy and a young boy called Button Bright
are walking along a road and find they're lost in an enchanted
land. They travel along to the Emerald City meeting
various characters along the way (the Shaggy Man, Polychrome,
who normally lives on a rainbow...). The book was in print
in the 1970s.
Pamela Dean, The Secret Country, 2003, copyright. The copyright for the
most recent edition is 2003, but I know it's been around for
quite a bit longer. The children (teens and pre-teens) have
pretended about this place for years, and then one day they go
through a hedge and are actually in the world they have been
pretending about. It became the first book in a trilogy, but I
liked this one best.
Julie Edwards, Last
of the Really Great Whangdoodles, 1974,
copyright. Wearing scrappy hats, Ben, Tom and Lindy Potter
go through a hedge to Whangdoodle land with Professor Savant.
They meet all sorts of creatures like the Prock and the Whiffle
bird and eventually make their way to the palace of the
whangdoodle.
Julie Andrews Edwards, The Last of the
Really Great Whangdoodles , 1974, copyright.The Last of the Really Great
Whangdoodles is it! Thank you so much!!! After years
of searching, I am thrilled to read this book again!
Condition Grades |
Edwards, Julie. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. HarperCollins, 1989 paperback reprint. New pb, $5.99 pending availability. |
|
There's something called The Last Out by Jerry
Taylor, but that's certainly not it!
Wilfred McCormick, The last
put-out : a Bronc Burnett story, 1960.
Possibly? I'm not familiar with this series, but this is a
kid's fiction book about baseball.
How about The Last Put-Out: A Bronc
Burnett Story, Wilfred McCormick, Grosset
& Dunlap, 1960. Sorry, no description other than the
subjects Baseball and Juvenile fiction.
Donald J. Sobol, Angie's First Case,
1982. I can't be sure,
but this rang a bell of a book I used to frequently check out of
my library. Angie helps her sister, a police officer, with a
case involving a gang called the Wolf Pack or something similar.
I believe both she and her boyfriend were kidnapped. It's by the
author of the Encyclopedia Brown books. I couldn't find a
picture of the cover online.
Janet A. Stegeman, Last Seen on
Hopper's Lane, 1982. A
teenage girl (I can't remember her name) is exploring an
abandoned house when she comes across two men who are doing a
drug deal. They kidnap her (they take her bike too). One
kidnapper is kind while the other is very harsh. I think this
may be your book.
I had a stumper that was posted as # G423
a couple of weeks ago, and to my surprise and abounding
happiness, it was solved by the second poster (in
purple)! It is indeed Last Seen on Hopper’s Lane.
I was far off on the name (thinking it had the word kidnapped
in the title kept me from moving on to other guesses, I
think), but that is the book! I have already found it on
ebay and it arrived today, and I am in much bliss! Thank
you SO much! I have been unable to remember for years
and had almost resigned myself to never knowing!
a huge thanks for getting the book for me, i am so thrilled
after all these years of searching for it. It seems so ironic
that i'm getting a UK edition from the States, yet over here in
the UK my search has proved fruitless! :)
Just wanted to let you know that the book arrived safely.
My word, how strange it felt opening that package, and
viewing the cover of the book. It was exactly how i remembered
it! And i felt very nostaglic. The child in me had to read it
again, of course :)and i found it so hard to believe that it was
28 years ago that i first read it!! For years i have had a chant
in my head, and i couldn't remember where it had come from. I
had to laugh when i actually saw it in the book, and realised
that it had come from there. I feel sure my neice and nephew
will be thrilled with it, just as it thrilled me all those years
ago. The book was in excellent condition. Many thanks.
---
I took this book out of the library numerous times but cannot
remember the name or author. It's about a witch who gets
banished to a little girls' rhodedendron bush in her yard,
starting the day after Halloween until the following
Halloween. The witch conjurs from a picture on a serving
tray, a tiny flying Chinese Dragon. This dragon and the
little girl become fast friends, and the dragon grows bigger
throughout the book. He belonged to an ancient Chinese
magician who taught him all good and powerful magic. We go
through the year with these three. The witch is a fairly
dangerous character being that she's decidedly two-faced.
The book culminates with the Halloween bachanalia the following
year, where the witch and her cronies are defeated, and an
escape back to ancient China with the dragon where we meet his
master. The dragon ends up returning the girl, and
disappears back to his own time. HELP!
Fegan, Camilla, Late for Hallowe'en, Methuen 1966. This turned up as the
solution to a stumper on Booksleuth, and sounds like a good bet:
"Judy made her way to the little cave-opening under the bushes
and ducked through. 'Come in, won't you? And thank you for
knocking!' a thin crackly voice remarked. Judy has found a witch
living in the shrubbery--a witch called Murgatroyd and her cat,
Hornsbydale. Murgatroyd makes a dragon from an old tray. But.."
The dragon is called Chinquintafizz and his master is
Fly-by-the-Moon.
Kenneth Mahood, The Laughing Dragon. The dragon Hojo starts out as a pet to
the Emperor of Japan, and every time he laughed he would burn
things. Because he laughs uncontrollably, he is exiled. A turtle
teaches him to control his laughter, so he returns to Japan just
in time to save everyone from the cold. The turtle helps him
keep the laughter under control, but tells Hojo his funniest
jokes for the fireworks displays.
The Laughing Dragon. I
agree, 100%...The Laughing Dragon is the book you
are looking for! It was one of my childhood favorites too :)
The Laughing Dragon. Yes, that is the one! Thanks so
much!
I solved my own stumper - H13's Humpty
Dumpty story is actually called Laura by
Binette Schroeder. I happened to be in the Strand
Bookstore in NYC and I was so shocked when I saw it!
Andre Norton, Lavender-Green Magic. When the Wade children go to live with
their grandparents in the country, they explore an old garden
maze that leads them back through time to a witch's cottage.
Norton, Andre, Lavender Green Magic,
1974.
Andre Norton, Lavender-Green Magic
Andre Norton, Lavender-green magic, 1974. This was a wonderful book!
The heroine is the oldest child, and she's angry for a variety
of reasons, not least that she must live at the junkyard with
her grandparents. But what a junkyard! I wish -I-
could live there!
I read this book also, and the girls were
sisters, I believe they were African American, and they lived
with their grand parents who were caretakers of a garden, or an
estate. The pillow itself had a maze like pattern sewn on it and
a pleasant smell associated with lavender on one side and a
smell of decay on the other. I also seem to remember that they
found the pillow somewhere on the property. I don't recall the
author or name of the book, but perhaps these clues can help you
further your search.
I just came across your "Stump the
Bookseller" web site and finally, after years of searching,
found out the title and author of Lavendar-Green Magic!
I read that book when I was in 4th or 5th grade in the 70s, and
the story stuck with me but nothing else had. I have been trying
to discover what that book was for years, but did not discover
it until I stumbled across your web site. Thank you so
much!
Owen Johnson, The Lawrenceville
Stories, 1910. This is
one of Owen Johnson's popular Lawrenceville School stories,
starring boy heroes "Dink" Stover and The Tennessee Shad, among
others.
P247 Chapter 2 of The Prodigious
Hickey is called The great pancake record.
It's way too simple to think this might be
Ray Bradbury's short story "The Veldt," right?
Could H11 by Lazy Tommy Pumkinhead
by William Pene du Bois a picture book in which machines
do everything for the boy including getting dressed.
Most likely "Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead"
by Willem Pene du Bois. Very funny. This was supposed to
have been part of a "Seven Deadly Sins" series,
another being "Call Me Bandicoot" (about avarice)
but the series was never completed.
Thank you very much. Your stumper
answer sounds right! Now I want to get the book. I
looked for it online. holy cow, the lowest price was $180 used
!!! Unfortunately, my upper limit is around $30.
if you see the book cheaper (but in decent condition), please
let me know. Thanks.
---
story about a boy who lives in a mechanical house that pours
him out of bed and into the shower machine, dressing machine,
he's got mechanisms for making breakfast etc.
L28: Same as B79 - Lazy Tommy
Pumpkinhead by William Pene du Bois. Part of
a Seven Deadly Sins series. This is the best, IMHO, of the four
actually written - the second best is Call Me Bandicoot.
---
Help! I am looking for a children's book
that I read as a child (late 60's early 70"s) about a little
boy who doesn't like to do things so he invents machines that
will do the tasks for him (i.e. brush his teeth, etc). At
first the machines work fine but then start to malfunction,
i.e. brush his toes instead of his teeth. Have you heard of
it? I would love to get it for my son. Thanks so much.
Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966)
by
William Pene du Bois, I believe. Very funny. Check it
out in the Solved Mysteries page. The only other books in that
series I heard of were Pretty Pretty Peggy Moffitt (1968),
Porko von Popbutton (1969),
and Call Me Bandicoot (1970).
#L28--Lazy boy: Several stories
contain these elements. The introduction to William
Pene du Bois'sThe Twenty-One Balloons notes its
similarities to F. Scott Fitzgerald's story "The
Diamond as Big as the Ritz." I started to read the
Fitzgerald story, but it's not nearly as good as "The Twenty-One
Balloons." In "The Twenty-One Balloons," these magical
devices are the work of industrious Americans rich on a huge
diamond supply, while in "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" the
diamond discoverers rely on slave labor. When I got to the
part about how the whole scheme wouldn't have worked except that
the slaves placed absolute trust and complete belief in their
masters, *poof,* that was it for my suspension of
disbelief! William Pene du Bois said some of the
similarities were obvious but he couldn't account for how he and
F. Scott Fitzgerald would choose to spend their money in
identical ways! The other story that has some of these
elements is "The Veldt," the most famous of a number of
stories Ray Bradbury wrote on the theme of what did not
then exist but are now known as "smart houses." In "The
Veldt," Peter, the boy, complains to his father, "I didn't like
it when you took out the picture painter." "I want you to
learn to paint your own pictures," father replies. At last
father disconnects one too many "lazy" devices and plans to take
the children off to "rough it," which the children put to an end
through rather violent means. (If what you read was
this--or any other Bradbury story--you'd probably never forget
the ending.) His other famous "smart house" story, "There
Will Come Soft Rains," involves no people, but rather a
"smart" house which goes on working even though all its
occupants have been killed in a nuclear holocaust.
L28 Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead
-more info. appears on your Solved Mysteries page ~from a
librarian
---
I loved this story! It was about a lazy boy
who didn't want to do anything for himself (either that, or he
was an inventor boy). He made this contraption that did
everything for him (got him out of bed, got him dressed, made
him toast & eggs, etc.). I believe that the contraption may
backfire in the end of the story. I think it's a picturebook.
Definitely from the mid-seventies. Thanks!
---
Seeking a child's book about a lazy boy
who is fed and dressed by machines - machines break during a
storm
Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966) by William Pene
du Bois. See more on Solved Mysteries.
---
I had a picture book in the mid to late '70s about a boy who
lived by himself in a fully automated house. Every
morning, machines in the house would wake him up, get him
dressed, feed him breakfast, etc. One day, something goes
wrong and he's put into his clothes upside down, the toothbrush
is used on his feet (?), and I think he winds up with scrambled
eggs in his hair. That's all I can remember, but it's a
vivid memory!
HRL: Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead by William Pene du
Bois, 1966. See Solved Mysteries!
---
Hello Looking for a book about a boy who lives in an automated
house it gets him ready in the morning and cooks his breakfast
and then something happens possibly a power outage and he gets
backwards so his clothes go on backward the bath is backward and
his breakfast is served on his feet. Loved it as a child.
William Pene du Bois' wonderful and rare Lazy Tommy
Pumpkinhead, 1966.
---
This was a book I used to beg my mom to
read me daily in the 1980's. It was about a boy/man who
lived in a house that took care of him. There was a
machine that woke him up, another that put him in the shower,
dressed him and made him breakfast. One day all these
inventions go crazy and the shower is cold, it tries to feed
scrambled eggs to his feet and general mayhem ensues. I
have no ideas on what the title or author could possibly
be. Any help is appreciated.
William Pene DuBois, Lazy
Tommy Pumpkinhead, 1966. I bet this is Lazy Tommy
Pumpkinhead. Tommy lives by himself in a fully automated
house just as the seeker describes. Things go awry one day
with very funny results.
William Pene Du Bois, Lazy
Tommy Pumpkinhead, 1966. A spoiled/lazy boy is
awoken, washed, dressed, and fed his breakfast each morning by
an automated house. One day the machines get mixed up and
he goes through this process backwards -- his toes are
shampooed, he winds up with his pants on his head, etc. It is on
the Solved page L.
Willem Pene du Bois, Lazy
Tommy Pumpkinhead. This sounds the the popular Lazy
Tommy Pumpkinhead. He has an automatic house that does
everything for him and one day everything goes wrong and he get
breakfast served to his feet, he gets bathed in ice-cold water,
ect.
DuBois, William Pene, Lazy
Tommy Pumpkinhead, 1966. See more information under
Solved Mysteries. This definitely sounds like the book!
---
The book I'm looking for was a favorite I used to check out of
the library in the early or mid '70's, so it was probably
printed in the late '50's or '60's. A boy hated to get up
in the morning, so either he or a parent invented a machine that
got him up, dressed him and made him breakfast. Any help
would be appreciated!!
Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966) by William Pene
du Bois. See more on Solved Mysteries.
This is William Wise, The Lazy
Young Duke of Dundee (Rand McNally, '70), ill. Barbara
Cooney.
I'm happy to offer a copy of The Lazy Duke
of Dundee:
Wise, William. The Lazy Young
Duke of Dundee.
Illustrated by Barbara Cooney. Rand McNally, 1970,
1st printing. Some light soiling and edgewear, VG.
<SOLD>
There is a book called Ride with the Sun: Folk Tales and
Stories from all Countries of the United Nations,
compiled by the U.N. Women's Guild in1955. I have a copy
right here (F/F, $12) but I can't find the two stories you
mentioned listed (unless they have different titles, of
course). Then again, there could be another volume....
Thanks so much for your reply. Unfortunately I've seen
this book in libraries and it's not the one I
remember. Your website is wonderful, with some of
the most reasonable prices I've seen for old books; I'm
having so much fun sharing the memories and trying to help solve
the stumpers. I'm sure I'll think of more I'd like
to find. Thanks again!
Perhaps Legends of the United Nations
edited by Frances Mary Frost, published by McGraw 1943,
323 pages? 47 stories from Britain, Poland, China, Norway etc.
Contents list includes "Blue rose" and "Ys and her
bells". Hm, think we have a match.
Oh my goodness, I think that's it! "Frost" rings a
bell. Thank you!
Jack Williamson, The Legion of Time. This is definitely THE LEGION OF TIME, by
Jack Williamson. First published as a serial in ASTOUNDING
SCIENCE FICTION in 1938. First book publication around
1950, I think, and several subsequent paperback reprints.
Most recent reprint as part of a Willimson omnibus collection,
SPIDER ISLAND, in 2002 (Haffner Press hc): " One of
Williamson's most famous novels, "The Legion of Time," appears
here in the form it took when it ran as a three-part serial in
Astounding Science Fiction. Dennis Lanning holds the fate of two
different timestreams in his hands. Will he heed the innocent
supplication of good girl Lethonee, or respond to the primal
allure of bad girl Sorainya? Whatever his choice, one woman must
remain forever unborn."
Amazing! You guys solved it! I'm so
happy. Three plus decades wondering what the heck the title of
my favorite childhood book was. The Legion of Time, by
Williamson, is definitely it. Thanks again for your help.
E19: Most likely the Trick
series by Scott Corbett! The first one, I think, is The
Lemonade
Trick, where he gets the chemistry set from Mrs.
Graymalkin. He also wrote a couple of pleasantly scary books
(1st or 2nd grade) about a boy, a dog and Merlin - Dr.
Merlin's Magic Shop and The Great Custard Pie
Panic. I WISH they were in print!
These are the "trick" books by Scott
Corbett. Mrs. Graymalkin gives Kerby and Fenton her
son Felix's old chemistry set which seems to have a touch of
magic and the boys have many adventures. There are at least ten
books in the series published from 1960 to
1977. The first one is The Lemonade Trick. The
Mailbox Trick is my favorite.
More on the suggested series -
Lemonade Trick, by Scott Corbett,
illustrated by Paul Galdone, published Atlantic-Little 1960, 103
pages "Kerby delights to receive a magic chemistry set from
Mrs. Graymalkin (who might be a witch?). Ordinarily he faces
household chores and choir duties in the manner of any real
boy we'd know; how he handles them after a few drops of her
magic fluid, which makes him feel 'good', will also be
believed because Mr. Corbett has built up so real a
personality and situation for his very down-to-earth hero." (Horn
Book Apr/60 p.128)
Carl Stephenson,Leningen vs.
the Ants. Short story, not for the faint of heart.
Online here:
Carl Stephenson, Leiningen and
the Ants. This is it, a frequently anthologized
short story
Carl Stephenson, Leiningen
Versus the Ants, 1938. There's no science fiction
element, but given description and the "Leningrad ?"
note,requestor must be thinking of "Leiningen Versus the
Ants." Description at
here:
carl stephenson, Leinigen
versus the ants. Maybe Leinigen versus the
ants? This short story is in lots of
collections.
Also a 1950s Charleton Heston Movie
called "Naked Jungle"
This story was made into a film entitled
"The Naked Jungle" starring Charlton Heston.
Stephen Cosgrove, Leo The Lop Series, Serendipity Books, 1978. This sounds a lot like the Leo the Lop series, which I read in the early 80s. There are very colorful, late 70s style forest illustrations and the characters are all rabbits. they learn things like "I'm normal and so are you," and at least one was called Grampa Lop. That one was reprinted as Leo the Lop: Tail Four in 2002 by Price Stern Sloan.
Condition Grades |
Cosgrove, Stephen. Grampa-Lop. illus by Robin James.
Price/Stern/Sloan, 1981. 1982 printing. the magic
of olde folks' stories. paperback original, very
good. Serendipity Books $6
Cosgrove, Stephen. Leo the Lop. illus by Robin James. Price/Stern/Sloan, 1978. 21st printing 1986. self-image; courage; bravery. paperback original, a bit of surface damage, otherwise very good. Serendipity Books $5 |
|
Diana Shaw, Lessons In Fear, 1987. There is no question in my mind that this is the book -- I read it when I was young, and still have my copy from then. I even did a book report on it at one point!
I'm the one who posted this stumper and have some information
to add: when I say it "seemed Japanese," I was referring
to the photographs/an original edition--the actual book was an
English (language) edition, most likely published in the United
States. Also, the title *could* have been something like
"A Day in the Park" or "A Day at the Park." I'm fairly
certain that the dog and cat (dolls) were using a little
swingset in one of the photos.
Let's Go to the Park, Photographs by Gerry Swart, no date in
book.This book is a Golden Book. No author noted and no book
date. Marked as Golden Press Western Publishing Co, Inc.
Racine, WI. World Rights Reserved Printed in Japan Photographs
by Gerry Swart.
I have this book. It is exactly as you
describe. The pictures are actual photographs and the
siamese kitten and puppy ride a motorcycle (on cover), slide on
a slide, visit the zoo, ride an elephant, go swimming, have a
picnic & look at an fish tank. Not many words in the
book.
C225 I have not read it or seen it, but THE
FULL
COLOR FAIRYTALE BOOK (also listed as THE FULL
COLOR FAIRY TALE BOOK) by R.C. Scriven,
Gramercy Pub., 1974 includes, among other stories, "Cinderella"
and "How to Catch a Leprechaun". The summaries indicated that it
had beautiful illustrations, and that the front cover showed a
giant eating soup surrounded by other characters from the fairy
tales. So I have no idea if this is the right one, but it might
be worth checking into. ~from a librarian
Let's Pretend. This
sounds a lot like my mother's wonderful Let's Pretend
book of fairy tales, published in the 1940s or so. The stories
include Cinderella (and I think that her dress was white with
ermine), Rumplestiltskin, a story about Childe Rolande and his
sister Elaine, Little Moonbeam (a Chinese fairy tale), and an
Irish tale about a man with a crooked back who catches a
leprechaun and wishes to be straight and tall to attract a girl.
C225/I48: Same book perhaps?
The dress and hair remind me of the
Cinderella found in a Walt Disney collection I had.
Just wanted to add to the info I sent in
before, regarding my mother's book: Let's Pretend,
by Nila Mack, illustrated by Catherine Barnes (Racine,
WI: Whitman Publishing Company) 1948 Contains five
stories “adapted from the famous radio program Let's Pretend
heard over the Columbia Broadcasting System”: Cinderella, The
Leprechaun, Childe Roland, Princess Moonbeam, Rumpelstiltskin.
I have checked my Full Color
Fairytale Book by Scriven to see if it is a
match- unfortunately Cinderella does not match.
Nila Mack, Let's Pretend, 1947-48. THere is absolutely NO Doubt
that the book the Stumper seeker wanted was Nila Mack's Let's
Pretend, published by Whitman Publishing c.
1947. I got my copy in 1952- and like others
who posted -- remembered the color, the size, etc. but not the
title. My mother threw mine out ca. 1960-61 as I had
totally worn it out--covers torn, off etc. She never knew
how much I loved the book. I searched for it-- not
remember author, title-- but only the chartreuse green cover,
and the best lovely illustrations of fairy princesses, princes,
roses, knights, etc. Found a copy in an quaint antique
shop driving on I94 between St. Paul and Chicago this August --
and I've been forever grateful. Mine was very inexpensive
-- but check E-bay once in a while. Today -- Dec. 9- or
yesterday, they had a copy that at last check was going for over
$100.00 There is no doubt this is the book-- Cinderella
indeed has ermine on her dress. But note-- much of the
nostalgia in remembering this book is due to its fabulous
illustrations -- these were done by Catherine Barnes.
I've been doing more research into her various illustrations in
the 50s.
---
When I was in first grade I got a book
that had stories from different countries. It was yellow
and about the size of today’s coloring books but hardcover.
This was about 1952-53. One story had a girl that was
supposed to go to the emperor; she had earthly parents but was
actually the daughter of the lady in the moon. She cried
tears and they became pearls and the Moon Mother took her from
earth so she didn’t have to go to the emperor. Another
story was in Ireland and was about a girl names Colleen and a
boy named Michael that had a hump on his back and he was
trying to catch a leprechaun to make his back straight so
Colleen would love him. Turned out she loved him
anyway. There was a story about and tower where a lady
was imprisoned, the tower was covered in jewels and there was
a man named Roland. Cinderella was one of the stories
also. This was the only story that I have ever seen in
any other book. I feel pretty sure that there were other
stories but I don’t remember them at this time. This
book had the most beautiful illustrations I have ever
seen. I have been looking for this book for years as I
gave it to a friend’s children when I was 16 and they tore it
up.
Nila Mack, Let's Pretend, 1948. This is definitely the wonderful
book of stories from the Let's Pretend radio
show, with Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Childe Roland, the
Leprechaun, and Princess Moonbeam. The illustrations are by
Catherine Barnes. You can read more about it in the Solved
Mysteries.
Mack, Nila, Let's Pretend, 1948. Found this on the web--could it be
the one? I know that the Princess Moonbeam story was on a
Let's Pretend record my children had in the seventies.
1948 Let's Pretend, by Nila
Mack, illustrated by Catherine Barnes (Racine, WI: Whitman
Publishing Company). Contains five stories “adapted from
the famous radio program Let's Pretend heard over the Columbia
Broadcasting System”: Cinderella, The Leprechaun, Childe Roland,
Princess Moonbeam, Rumpelstiltskin
Just a few extra bits: the story of Roland
was the "childe Roland to the dark tower came" one where he has
to go widdershins around the tower and rescue someone (his
sister?). And Cinderella had three dresses, an
ermine-trimmed one (illustrated), a silver one (not illustrated)
and a gold one (illustrated).
Nila Mack, Let's Pretend. Thank you for reminding me of this book which I
received as a child and still have. It has some of the
most marvellous illustrations I've ever seen and I still like to
look at them from time to time!
When I was in grade school I picked out a
fairy tale book from a book sale. I took it to my grandmother's
house for a long weekend. She saw the lime green cover of the
book and was sooo ecited. She had a copy when she was younger
and it was lost. It quickly became "our" favorite book and
stayed at her home. Grandma passed recently and between the
funeral and grief, I forgot about the book. When I remembered,
the house and her belongings were dispursed. I was sick. Today
my uncle found the book and I can't tell you how good it is to
have this beautiful book back. I hope that you find a copy and
treasure it forever. The book is Let's Pretend by
Nila Mack illustated by Catherine Barnes, 1948 by Whitman
Publishing Co. Racine:Wisconsin
The Letter People -- Reading
Readiness Program. I'm almost certain you're looking
for The Letter People reading program. We used
it in kindergarten in 1975-76. The one we used had each
consonant as a "Mister" and each vowel as a "Miss." Mr.
T with Tall Teeth, Mr. M with a Munchy Mouth, Miss A with
"Achoo!" etc. A word of warning, though, it apparently
was completely redone in 1996, so if you go to buy it, look
for an older version published by World Book or Childcraft.
John Bellairs, The Letter, the Witch,
and The Ring,
1976. This is absolutly what you are looking for. In this,
the third book in the Louis Barnavelt series, Louis' tomboy
friend Rose Rita goes on a roadtrip with her friend Mrs.
Zimmerman, and they have to defeat an evil witch. You can see
a picture of the cover online.
John Bellairs, The Letter, The Witch
And The Ring.
This is it! Thanks so much. I will definitely use
this site again.
-------------------------
Supernatural book was probably mid-70s to early-80s. There was
an illustration of an old-fashioned gas station, and then the
girl had to go into the underground cellar by an entrance on the
outside of the house. Once inside, they found a dead witch
(?) and had to put coins on her eyes.
John Bellairs, Illustrator: Richard
Egielski, The Letter, The Witch, and the Ring, 1976.
This is definitely your book. One small discrepancy: when Rose
Rita breaks into the evil witch's house attached to the old gas
station, the witch paralyses her by placing the coins over the
girl's eyes. You can find a book summary at the author's
website, here:
http://www.bellairsia.com/the_work/letterwr/index.html Also, you
can follow the 'cover gallery' link on that website to see
reproductions of the covers of various editions.
SOLVED: Thank you so much for solving this! I can't
believe so few details prompted a solution! Thank you,
thank you, thank you!
Kathryn Jackson's The Santa Claus Book? A
Big Golden Book, 1952. It's big, but also nicely
illustrated.
Here I am again. Looking up books when I
should be working. Could S19 possibly be the LIFE AND
ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS by L. Frank Baum.of
Wizard of OZ fame.
Tolkien wrote a book about how Saint
Nicholas got to be Saint Nicholas, but I can't remember the
title.
Oh, this is fun! I'll bet your listing
number S-19 (a book regarding Santa Claus) was a childhood
favorite of mine. The title is The Life and Adventures of
Santa Claus by Julie Lane, illustrated by
someone named simply Hokie. It was originally published
by The Santa Claus Publishing Company of Boston, Massachusetts
in 1932, and was re-published by University Microfilms, A Xerox
Company located in Ann Arbor Michigan in 1967. The total pages
of this book, however, number 144. The book describes how
Nicholas, a fisherman's son, is orphaned by a terrible storm. He
is temporarily adopted by the individual families of the fishing
village. They each agree to take him for a year and then he will
move onto the next family. Nicholas begins giving toys to the
children of the families as a gift on the day that he leaves
them -- Christmas Day and continues it throughout his young
life. It goes on to describe how during his eighteenth year he
goes to live with a bitter old woodcarver, but through his good
nature changes the old man's life and becomes a skilled
woodcarver himself over the years. After the old man goes to
live with his sons, Nicholas maintains his affection for the
children of the village and continues to carve toys for them.
The book goes on to describe how he gets his red suit (sewn by a
lady who created it thinking of the size of his heart, not his
slender figure) and how he eats to fill it out so her feelings
won't be hurt. It describes how Holly is named for a little girl
who conquers her fears to bring him the bright beautiful berries
from the dark woods because she had been ill and could not bring
him flowers. It describes how he acquires his reindeer and shiny
red sleigh and why he began using a chimney to deliver his
gifts. It covers how children began to hang stockings for him to
fill and how the first Christmas trees came to exist for the
gypsy children who were spending their Christmas in a forest. It
covers his entire life until our beloved Nicholas, now a very
old man, dies sending the village into grief. However, as reward
for the faith of a young boy named Stephen, Nicholas continues
to bring joy to the children of the world even after death on
Christmas morning. It even covers how one of the village
children, too young to refer to his as Saint Nicholas as the
older people do, manages to stammer out "Sant' Claus".
---
Hello! Once I was one your site looking at all the
wonderful books people are looking for, when I found one that I
had had about st Nicholas. The story was very loosely based on
St Nicholas, it was mostly fiction. It started at boyhood. THe
illustrations were done in green ink. He found a little girl
named Holly who got lost in the woods. Anyways, it was a solved
mystery and I thought I would remember it but now I cannot find
it on your site. Can you help??? Thanks!
Lane, Julie, The Life and Adventures
of Santa Claus.
There is a long description of this book on the Solved Mysteries
pages.
S144: This IS in Solved Mysteries, it's The
Life
and Adventures of Santa Claus by Julie Lane,
NOT to be confused with the book by L. Frank Baum! It's not an
accurate picture of St. Nicholas, which they admit, but there
are links to his life in it.
Cherie Bennett, Life in the Fat Lane. The description of the book says that a
girl named Laura with a supposedly perfect family wins
homecoming queen, then starts gaining weight. She has to
deal with the metabolism problem and with her family falling
apart because her father is having an affair. eventually
she triumphs over her problems.
Sounds like LIFE IN THE FAT LANE by
Cherie Bennett, 1998~from a librarian
Cherie Bennett, Life in the Fat Lane, 1998. "Sixteen-year-old Lara, winner of
beauty pageants and Homecoming Queen, is distressed and
bewildered when she starts gaining weight and becomes a fat
girl."
Bennett, Cherie, Life in the fat lane, 1998. Beautiful Lara Ardeche has it all
-- she is named homecoming queen her junior year, she has the
ideal boyfriend, and a sweet personality to top it off.
Until she gains more than 100 pounds. At first Lara blames
her allergy medicine, but when she keeps gaining despite a
strict diet and exercise routine, she seeks a new
explanation. When she is diagnosed with a metabolic
disorder, she faces the awful truth that she may spend the rest
of her life trapped in a fat suit! Lara finds out who her
true supporters are when she embarks on the most difficult
battle she has ever faced.
George Dawson and Richard Glaubman, Life
is
So Good, 2000.
From your description, I'm almost sure the book you're looking
for is called, "Life is So Good." It was written by George
Dawson and co-authored by Richard Glaubman. The copyright date
is 2000 and it was published by Random House.
George Dawson and Richard Glaubman, Life
Is
So Good (ISBN
0-375-50396-X) 2000.Richard Glaubman and George Dawson's tutor
were featured speakers at our agency's fundraiser.
Dawnson's story is very interesting and inspiring. He passed
away at the age of 103 in July of 2001, I think.
George Dawson, Life is so good.2001, approximately.
George Dawson, Life is so Good, 2000 (Random House).
George Dawson, Life is so good, 2001. I wouldn't really consider this a
children's book, although it is a very
uplifting story and a quick read.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. For finding out the name
of the book for me. (Life is so Good). I couldn't believe
my eyes when I turned on my computer today and found that my
stumper had been solved. I will go to my library tomorrow
and I will also ring up a couple of our BIG book stores to see
if I can get it. Thank you again. It was $2.00
well spent.
Burton, Virginia Lee, Life Story,
1950s. Begins w/
prehistoric times, continues to the present -- some of the final
sequences show Burton's house in spring, with apple trees in
bloom. Burton's standing at the side of the stage with her
easel.
Beverly Butler, Light a Single
Candle, 1962.
This sounds a lot like Light a Single Candle -
the boy and girl friends (Pete and Cathy), the school and the
seeing eye dog. I'm not positive about the auburn hair.
Two suggestions: Beverly Butler, Light
A
Single Candle. Mine for Keeps by
Jean Little
Butler, Beverly, Light a Single
Candle
Butler, Beverly, Light a Single
Candle, 1962.
I'm pretty sure this is the one. Cathy is slowly going
blind, and her condition affects her life-long friendship with
the boy next door. She goes away to a boarding school for
the blind, and then eventually comes home and goes to a regular
high school with her guide dog Trudy.
Light a Single Candle (1962)
by Beverly Butler, maybe? The sequel is Gift of
Gold. Also, see E113. She's written at least five
other books.
Re: B519....THAT'S IT!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I searched for
it to see if I could get the blurb and once I saw the cover with
the girl and her long,flowing red hair with her wonderful guide
dog, I knew that was it! Oh, how I loved this book when I was a
young teen! I'm so excited now I will be able to read it
again! I can't thank you enough! KUDOS!! I simply cannot
believe how quickly it was solved! You ALL are wonderful! Hugs
all around! I have recommended your site already to all my
family and friends and NOW they are going to just freak when
they hear how fast this was solved! YAY! Best $$ I have EVER
spent! I can see I will visit again and again! LOL!
Beverly Butler, Light a Single Candle, 1962. I think this clinches the
deal: from page 8 of Light a Single Candle,
"She did not even dawdle over combing her short hair, as she
usually did, sqinting into the mirror to see if it were showing
any signs yet of darkening to the glowing auburn of her
mother's. Everyone, aunts, grandparents and friends, kept
predicting that someday it most surely would..."
---
A coming of age story about a girl (maybe
her name is Elizabeth) who has brown hair. She goes blind and
gets a German Shepard as a seeing eye dog. It may be a series
of books about this one character. I remember she has a
boyfriend who wants her to move somewhere with him but I think
she decides against it. Through the story (stories) she is
waiting for her brown hair to turn to a beautiful red color
which happens to the women in her family. At the end, although
she can't see it herself, it does turn red. The story may be
from the early 80's. Thanks!
Same book as B519?
This sounds like B519. Is it Light a
Single Candle?
P147: This is almost certainly The
Light Princess by George MacDonald,
1864. Here's
a link. It's described briefly in M154. The prince
gets saved from drowning in the end and the princess cries
non-stop when he opens his eyes - plus, the rain also pours
non-stop till the lake is full again. Maurice Sendak did indeed
illustrate one edition of it! Arthur Hughes was the first, but I
prefer William Pene du Bois' edition - the illustrations are
humorous in just the right fashion and it's also necessarily
abridged. MacDonald was seldom this funny! Lots of puns and
Freudian implications. Here's
a
link for Princess & the Goblin
with lots of gorgeous illustrations.
George MacDonald, The Light Princess,1864. I strongly suspect this is the
story, though some details are different I have no idea what
edition, though, since it was written in the 19th century
(though it looks like it was illustrated in one edition by
Maurice Sendak -- those might be your haunting black and
whites). "It is the tale of a princess who is cursed by a mean,
jealous, witch so that she has no gravity, both weightlessness,
and lack of gravity in her character.In the way of things, a
Prince appears, falls in love with the Princess, and thwarts the
curse by the selfless behavior, which results in the Princess
recovering her gravity: not an unmixed blessing, but one which
her new maturity allows her to realize is best in the long run."
The Prince is the one who puts himself in the situation to be
drowned in order to save the Princess.
The book in L-3 is Lightning
Strikes Twice by Marguerite Dickson.
Hi, I wrote looking for Lightning Never Strikes or a book title
similar to that. I bought it in a used bookstore the other
day. It was called Lightning Strikes Twice
and was by Marguerite Dickson. It was from
1946 and was close to what I remembered. Thanks so
much.
Mavis Jukes, Like Jake and Me. This is a picture book about a boy adjusting to
having a stepfather. His pregnant mother grows something
in a jar- it could be a peach but I think it was a pear.
At the end the boy saves his stepdad from a spider and feels
proud of being brave. It's a caldecott book.
It's already been solved! Like Jake and Me is exactly
the right book! Thanks for an excellent website.
If the title in question was a poetry
collection, here's a solve: Love is Like the Lion's
Tooth: an Anthology of Love Poems. Frances
Monson
McCullough (Editor). New York: Harper and Row,
1984. An anthology of love poems.
Contents: A Painful Love Song by Yehuda
Amichai, To Carry On Living by Yehuda Amichai, Lullaby by Wystan
Hugh, Auden Verses Of The Same Song 9 by Wendell Berry, Deep In
Love by Bhavabhuti, 2. by Bible, Insomnia by Elizabeth Bishop
Marjorie Bradley Kellogg , Like the
Lion's Tooth,
1973.
Marjorie Kellog, Like the Lion's
Tooth, 1972. The
description that I came across mentions that the book deals with
some abuse issues and that while it's a YA novel it's probably
too disturbing for most teens.
Marjorie Kellogg, Like the Lion's
Tooth, 1972. "The
world of Like The Lion's Tooth is a world of children,
specifically children who find themselves the almost unknowing
victims of their parents' savagery or obliviousness or simply
misguided love."
Love is Like the (a?) Lion's Tooth.
I
think that this book is by Marjorie Kellogg. To
the best of my recollection, it involves 2-3 children who have
rough lives(abuse, etc.) living together and making a place for
themselves in the world. I'll double-check my copy and let
you know if the specifics match.
Like the Lion's Tooth. I
re-read this last night and here are further plot details: it
takes place in/around a children's reform school. Two of
the children, Madeline and Ben, have constructed a shack out of
an abandoned piano crate on the banks of the Hudson River.
It is a really disturbing book---focuses on the abuse that many
of the children suffered prior to coming to the school.
---
This was a book I read in the late 70's, very early 80's.
It shocked me because it was the first graphic book I read
concerning child abuse. I believe the book was not long,
written for kids or young adults, and was paperback. There
were two teens or older kids in it. (Boy and Girl) I
remember the boy's father was a sailor and he tied up the boy
and raped him. The mother and rest of family were in next
room. The boy and the girl may have wound up in some sort
of protective facility but I am not sure. I was a young
teacher at the time and it taught me to watch for child
abuse. Very powerful book but no one remembers it!
Kellogg, Like the Lion's Tooth. This may be Like the Lion's Tooth.
I
don't recall the detail of the father being a sailor but know
that it does fit the time period and is about abuse. There
is a brief description on the solved mysteries page.
C302 just a guess: Bradbury, Bianca. Those
Traver
kids. il by Marvin Friedman. Houghton,
1972. stepfathers - juvenile fiction; child abuse -
juvenile fiction.
Hi! You found one of my
books! I am C302 and the book IS Like a Lion's Tooth by
Marjorie Kellogg! Now I hope
someone comes up with T216! Thank
you so much!! =)
Kellogg, Marjorie, Like the Lion's
Tooth.I'm sure it's
this book. The main boy and girl meet in a protective
facility, and both have been sexually abused. The father
of the boy was a sailor, and the family had tried hard to hide
from him.
G178 Could it be this? Norris, Gunilla Lillan. illus by Namcie Swanberg. Atheneum 1968 divorce; Sweden
Condition Grades |
Norris, Gunilla. Lillan. illus by Namcie Swanberg. Atheneum,1968. Ex-library; jacket in plastic, cloth and pages all very good. Overall, G+. [21379YQ] $9 |
|
Norris, Lillan, 1968. Maybe?? "A young girl's
father divorces her mother in Stockholm in the early years after
WWII. They have to rent out part of their appartment to make get
by and Lillian wonders if she or mother will ever be happy
again." It was published by Scholastic.
Lillian. I read this
recently & it does have a porcelain elephant. Lillian
actually steals it at one point-- but thinks better of her
actions & returns it. Her mother's new boyfriend ends up
buying it for Lillian's mother.
Now that you mention the title, Lillian, you are
exactly right. Thank you for solving the mystery. I
am not even really interested in finding a copy of the book, I
just wanted to remember the name of it. I have third grade
twins now, and I spend a lot of time trying to remember books
that I loved in my pre-teen years. This was just one of
those things that nagged at me and I could not remember! I
look at your site regularly now and hope someday I can solve a
mystery for someone.
-------
I'm looking for a book that I
read in the early to mid 70's. It was paperback, and the
illustrations were very nicely drawn in black and white I
believe. The only clear memories I have are: the young
girl in the story had a mother who worried about money (probably
divorced/widowed and a single parent), but gave her daughter a
much coveted carved wooden pencil box for school. The girl
had short, straight hair, parted on the side and I think held
back with a little barrette. I think they may have lived
in a city or even a foreign city in a Scandanavian country like
Denmark or Sweden. One thing that stands out is the mother
took her daughter out for dessert and tea or coffee at a cafe
and it was such a treat to them because of lack of money (maybe
it was during WWII?). Thinking back now, their clothes do
seemed to have been a style of the 1940's. Also, at home her
mother would run her hand worriedly over the "oilcloth"
tablecloth (I never heard of oilcloth so it sticks in my
mind). I know I read the book over and over and I would
love to see it again. It gave me alot of comfort. Thank
you. I would be so grateful for any help in identifying
this book.
Gunilla
Norris, Lillan, 1968.
Somehow this reminds me of Lillan, but it's been ages since I read
it. Do you remember the girl in the story stealing a small (I
think glass?) elephant figurine to give to her mother? Lillan's
mother is divorced, so money is tight. Also, Lillan is having a
hard time adjusting to the idea of her mother dating again.
SOLVED: Lillan by Gunilla Norris.
My request was solved - such an awesome website this is! I
would like to order the book so I will be doing that in the next
day or so. Thanks to everyone.
Lavell, Edith, Adventure
series of Linda Carlton, 1940's. I am not entirely
sure, but this is a series of a young rich girl who flies and
solves mysteries. They were published in the early 40's and
other than that, you could shoot for the stewardess series
similar to the Nancy Drew books. I think that character's
name was Vicki...one of the books was called Silver Wings for
Vicki.
Julie Tatham ( also author of Cherry
Ames), Vicki Barr series, 1950s.
Could this be the old series Vicki Barr, Air Stewardess series
by Julie Tatham? (1950s).She solves mysteries there are
many in the series. OR could it be the even older books by Harrison
Bardwell?(1930s) Airplane Girl series or Girl
Sky Pilot series? These seem to all be
mysteries,too. Roberta Langwell seems to be the main character.
She sounds like she has money! Hope this is a fit!
Edith Lavell, Linda Carlton, Air
Pilot,1931. This
is definitely the book -- it fits the poster's description
exactly. I'm looking at it right now and the first paragraph
talks about Linda's eyes being bluer than the blue paint on her
car. Linda has a father but her Aunt Emily has cared for her
ever since Linda's mother died when Linda was a baby. The dust
jacket flap
reads in part, "No sooner does Linda Carlton
graduate from high school than she begins to study flying. ...
Using her plane in her travels, she recovers a string of pearls
stolen from a friend, proving the innocence of the instructor at
the flying field ..."
Linnets and Valerians
I remember this book from reading it in the mid-1960's. Three
children are sent to their uncle's house, arriving in the middle
of the night in cart drawn by a pony or I think a rather large
dog. the uncle has an owl, and eventually we find that he is a
warlock who has some pretty magical powers. I thought the book
was by the adult novelist Elizabeth Goudge, but that book was
only about one little girl. This story takes place in Britain,
possibly at the turn of the century. Thanks for any help you can
provide.
Cooper, Susan, Over Sea, Under
Stone. One of the
Dark is Rising Series. The three Drew, Jane, Barney and
Simon, children are on vacation in Cornwall, at the old
sea-house with their Uncle Merry (not an actual relation). At
first all is well. But while searching for adventure, the
children stumble into a crumbling old map - a map dating back to
King Arthur's time. But this map is not just an antique curio -
but the key to finding a mystical grail...
This could be Linnets and Valerians,
by Elizabeth Goudge. (The book by her about one
girl is probably The Little White Horse.) It's four
children, rather than three, but they do arive at their uncle's
house in a pony-cart, and the uncle is a magician.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and
Valerians. This is
indeed by Elizabeth Goudge, just not the one you're thinking of
(it's _not_ Over Sea, Under Stone).
Probably the best book she ever wrote, IMHO, and one of the
easiest to get hold of.
There's no way this is Over Sea,
Under Stone---the children arrive by train and
there's no beekeeping. Their uncle is kind of a wizard and
the only owl association in the story is that the enemies hoot
like an owl to communicate danger to each other.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and
Valerians. Four
children sent to live with their nasty grandmother run away and
hitch a ride in a cart drawn by a pony to an old man's
house. This happens to be their great Uncle Ambrose.
He is a minister and former teacher who lives with a servant,
Ezra, and has a pet owl. He agrees to take the children in
a raise them since their father is in the army. The
children get involved in a mystery concerning an old
lady, Lady Alicia, and her missing husband
and son. They also run into another old village woman,
Emma, who is reputed to be a witch. While Uncle Ambrose is
not a wizard, there is reference to magic in the book because
Ezra believes that the bees in the beehives in the backyard
should be paid respect. One of the children also finds
notebooks containing magical spells and a voodoo doll.
Ezra makes his own good magic voodoo dolls to protect the
children.
---
I think I read this book in the mid-70s to late 70s. I
think it takes place in England. Either one or two
children come to live in small village. In the village
there is a woman who lives in a large house, her son went
missing a long time ago. I recall a scene with a
‘mandrake root’ or some sort of root with pins stuck in it, a
spell was cast on her son to cause him to go missing. I
think there is also a young man who was a gardener or something
and I think it turns out that he is her son? In the end
her son comes back to her.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and
Valerians. It's
been a while since I read this but I think this is the one
you're looking for.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and
Valerians. It's
been a while since I've read this book, but there seem to be a
lot of similarities: children going to live with an uncle
in a village, an old woman with a missing son, mandrake root,
and a memorable gardener.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and
Valerians, 1964.
This is one of my favorite books for children! Linnets
and Valerians is the story of the four Linnet
children who are sent to live with their grandmother in England
while their father travels in Egypt. The children end up
running away to live with their Uncle Ambrose in a small English
town. One of the women in town, Emma Colby, is a witch who
uses a mandrake root to make Lady Alicia's son mute. Other
wonderful characters include Moses, Lady A's singing servant,
Ezra, Uncle Ambrose's helper, and the bees! Elizabeth
Goudge also wrote the delightful story, The Little White
Horse.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and
Valerians. Still
one of my favorite books! See Solved Mysteries for more info.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and
Valerians, 1964.
I think this may be the book you're thinking of.Not all the
details matahc but it seems to have the same 'flavour' The four
Linnet children (Robert, Nan Timothy and Betsy) are sent to stay
with an eccentric great uncle in the country. There is a
gardener (with a wooden leg) and a missing son who turns out to
be a local hermit. There are definantly Mandrake roots, used to
curse people. the book is set in about 1890, if that helps.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and
Valerians. It's
four children instead of two, but I'm almost certain it's the
right book. A witch fashioned mandrake roots into dolls
that she stuck with pins and cast spells on. It caused a
husband and son to lose their memory and wander off. The doll of
the son had pins in his tongue, so he was also mute. In
the end the dolls were found, the spell erased, and the men
returned to their family. Most of the story of Linnets
and Valerians deals with the four children, but the
bit with the mandrakes and the lost son and husband is
definitely in there.
I just had to write to you to THANK YOU so much for your Stump
the Bookseller website. I still can’t believe how quickly
my bookstumper was solved. I have been trying to recall the name
of one my favorite books for decades and in just a few short
days of placing my stumper M334 on your website it was
solved!!! Many thanks to you and all those who helped
solve my stumper.
Perhaps - The Lion's Bed, by
Diane Redfield Massie, published Weekly Reader, 1974 "All
the animals unite to outwit the lion who is coming to their
neighborhood. They make him a soft bed, but coconuts fall on
him, ants crawl over him, pecarries play tag over him. He
decides that to get a good night's sleep he will go away."
This same query was posted on the Alibris
board, and I contacted the seeker by email to ask about The
Lion's Bed. She confirmed that it was the correct
title and that her husband had posted the stumper here.
I'd suggest Lisa and the Grompet,
written and illustrated by Patricia Coombs, published
New York, Lothrop 1970. "Tired of being told what to do,
Lisa runs away from home. When she stops to rest and 'think
about things' she encounters a grompet. This tiny, furry,
winged thing longs for what Lisa abhors - someone to boss him
around. Lisa appoints herself master and takes him home, where
they presumably live happily ever after. Softly modeled
illustrations in black and white with pink and brown overtones
- Lisa changes from belligerent to sad to happy while
remaining delightfully untidy; the grompet is a cute, cuddly
creature." (SLJ Book Review 1969-70 p.4)
Thank you! This is indeed the book
I have been searching for for over 20 years! Thank
you!!!
---
It is a tiny book about a grumpy
little girl. She doesn't like to tie her shoes, wash her
hands, or brush her hair. She talks to a tiny hairy creature/man
who does't like to do those things either. Sometimes he
sits on her shoulder or on the sink. I think he helps her
become more cooperative.
Patricia Coombs, Lisa and the Grompet. I think this is the book you're
looking for. Lisa doesn't like being told what to do and
she finds a "grompet" in the woods who feels the same.
Patricia Coombs, Lisa
and the Grompet, 1970, copyright. Stumper
solved! I found a picture of the book and it is
definately it! Thank you so much, I've been looking
for this book for years!
Small, fuzzy/furry/feathered
creature in 1970's young illustrated children's book. Ends with
picture of this creature going to sleep in the window (or window
shade pull) of the child's bedroom. He's a companion to the
child & helps the child. Title of book is this ceatures name
and is light brown...
Coombs,
Patricia, Lisa and the Grompe. A longshot but possibly
"Lisa and the Grompet".
F350:
Fuzzy/Furry/Feathered
Doing a search of the web, I found this
entry:
Holl, Adelaide Lothrop, Lisette,
illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (NY: See & Shephard, 1962).
30pp. Lisette comes to the USA aiming for immediate movie
stardom; instead, gets lost in New York City. Sounds very similar to what was described in L1
(though the publisher should probably be Lee & Shepard).
I believe my grandmother still has my story
about the poodle who got lost. I’ll check with her next
time I’m out her way, and let you know. I know it was from
the ‘60s.
I may have solved my own stumper I sent
yesterday. After some more Web searching, I think the series I
remember is the Little Animal
series by Karen Gunthorp.
The book I recall most vividly is Spring Comes to the
Forest, illustrated by Attilio Cassinelli. Do you
know if the whole series of Little Animal books was
illustrated by Cassinelli?
Looks like most of them are illustrated by Cassinelli!
George Mitchell, Little Babs, 1919. This is one of the beautifully
illustrated books done by the Volland Company. I have my
mother's copy of it.
Eureka! Someone knew the
book! My stumper is already solved. I am
thrilled! Can I buy a copy of this book as well, if you
can get a copy? Author: George Mitchell, Title: Little
Babs, published: 1919? While I am in
the process of collecting old well loved
children's books, how many of author William Steig's books can
you sell me? Thank you for all your help. I
loved your site I know I'll be back again and again.
My parents have this book. We grew up with
it. The title is Little Ballerina but I do not
know the author as it is sitting in my parents' house over
100 miles from where I am. It is an oversized picture type book.
We do own another one in the series, Little Swimmers, for
I recognize the illustrator--Dorothy Grider. The
publisher is Rand McNally and Company and it has "A Rand McNally
Giant Book " on the front cover. The main character is named
Carol and her legs are weak, perhaps from an illness so ballet
lessons are recommended by the family doctor. My sisters and I
all loved this book and I now read it to my 8 yo ballet loving
daughter when I visit my parents. Sorry I do not know the
author.
Right you are. Here's the full book description:
Dorothy Grider. Little Ballerina. Rand McNally,
1959. 4to, unpaginated.
I'm looking for a book I loved in the early
1960's. The main character is a little girl who is not
strong. Her doctor recommends to her mother to put her
into ballet class. The mother helps sew the
costumes. The children have a ballet recital in the book,
with a little boy as Jack Frost.
I've been looking for a book for years, but
can't remember the name. I'ts about ballarina's, I just remember
seeing little girls in different colored tu tu's. I thought it
was a little golden book, illustrated by Eloise Winken, but not
sure. It's was from the late 50's or early 60's.
B24 could be Little Ballerina,
a Rand McNally Elf book
---
I am looking for a book that I read when
I was about 7 or 8, so it would have been published late 50's
or early 60's. It was a book about ballet and the
illustrations were beautiful. There was one page with all of
the little ballet dancers dressed up in dresses resembling
flowers and they had matching hats...pink, yellow, green,
purple and blue. There are other pages with the ballet dancers
practicing. Would love to find it.
B82 ballet dancers as flowers: a picture
much like this appears in Dorothy Grider's Little
Ballerina, published Rand McNally 1959, unpaginated.
There are also pictures of the little dancers practicing.
Grider, Dorothy, Little Ballerina. Rand McNally Elf, 1959. The girls in the
ballet class dress as flowers in pink, purple and yellow, with
little green 'stem' caps. One boy is dressed in green with a
'stem' cap, and another is dressed in brown with a segmented
front, perhaps a beetle?
---
Golden Book, 1958-1963. Large
picture book about a girl who had an illness that weakened her
legs.
Doctor recommends ballet lessons. Book
shows her painful efforts to become good enough to dance in
the recital.
Dorothy Grider. Little
Ballerina. Rand
McNally, 1959. See more on the Solved Mysteries page.
---
1966, Little girl with dark braids, with
legs weakened by some illness, begins to take ballet to
strengthen her legs. This was the type of book you found in
the grocery, possibly a Golden Book. In the end she dances a
solo at her recital in a white tutu.
Dorothy Grider, Little
Ballerina, 1958. Definitely this one! Little
girl is named "Carol" and the book opens with her watching other
children play from the window, and wanting to play with them,
but she can't because her legs are weak. When she dances her
solo she plays a fairy queen, reviving the "flowers" wilted by
Jack Frost. A sweet book, beautifully illustrated by the
author, published by Rand McNally. (My copy is a Tip-Top Elf
Book, and is about the same size as a Little Golden Book, but
I'm pretty sure I've also seen a smaller Junior Elf version, as
well.)
Dorothy Grider, Little
Ballerina, 1958. I am pretty sure this is the
book. It was published in both a small (Little Golden Book
size)and large ("Rand McNally Giant Book") format. Carol's
doctor prescribes dance lessons to strengthen her legs. The book
describes her class and introduces several ballet terms.
In the end she is the star of the recital. This has been a
favorite of mine for about 45 years!
Elsa(?) Minarik, Little Bear Visits
Grandma.
Illustrated by Maurice Sendak, there were several titles in the
Little Bear series.
Another possibility is - Teddy Bear
of Bumpkin Hollow, over in the Solved list. Written
by Sharon Boucher, illustrated by Dean Bryant, published
Rand McNally Elf Books 1948. The little bear misses out on a
visit to grandma because he is always late, then is consoled by
having her visit him and make giant cookies for him.
Minarik, Else Holmelund, Little
Bear's Visit,
1961. Many in this series - currently in print (and
animated
series, available on video)
---
I am looking for a children's storybook
about a little elf or goblin who is walking through the woods
and gets scared (I think he hears a "bump in the woods"), and
jumps out of his shoes and begins to run home. As he is
running home he hears footsteps running behind him, thinking
that he is being chased. It becomes clear in the end that the
footsteps running behind him are nothing more than his shoes
that were running home after him -- moral of the story that he
had nothing to be afraid of but his own shoes! The story
had a picture of the elf jumping out of his shoes, and also of
the shoes running home behind him. I think there may
also be a picture of a large tree with a hollow in it (where
the elf hears the "bump in the woods") or possibly a
cave. The illustrations in the Little Bear series of
books remind me of the pictures that I remember from this
book. I thought perhaps the story was a story within a
story from the Little Bear series(perhaps Little Bear's father
telling him a story), but I can't seem to find any Little Bear
stories like that. This was one of my favorite story
books when I was a child in the late 1960s and early
1970s. Thank you so much for any help!
Else Holmelund Minarik, Little
Bear's Visit,
1961. I knew I had read this as well, and seen it as a
cartoon episode on Nickelodeon's Little Bear series, so I went
and searched through my childrens' books and sure enough there
it was. It's just as the poster described, told as a story to
Little Bear by his Grandfather.
Else Holmelund Minarik, Little Bear's
Visit, 1962. This
is definitely the book. The contributor was right about
it's being a Little Bear book, although I think it's Little
Bears grandfather, rather than father, who tells him the
story. (The "visit" in the title is to Little Bear's
grandparents' house.)
My stumper has been solved! Thank you so much!!
-------------------
I read the book when I was little in the mid to late 70s.
There was a character walking in the woods that thought he was
being followed because when he walked he heard "pitter pat,
pitter pat." (That's the only thing I remember clearly from the
book.) But it wasn't a person. Maybe magic shoes??
Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing, Timothy's
Shoes or The Fairy Shoes. Timothy is given
a pair of shoes by a fairy, and to his chagrin they don't allow
him to misbehave, carry him directly to school instead of
playing, etc. He makes several efforts to "lose" them but
they always return home.
Else Holmelund Minarik, Little Bear's
Visit, 1961. It sounds a lot like the
chapter from Little Bear's Visit called "Goblin
Story" Grandfather tells Little Bear the story of a goblin who
is startled by a big bump and goes running through the woods.
All he hears is pit-pat-pit-pat chasing him. It turns out he was
so scared he jumped right out of his shoes, and they had been
trying to catch up to him.
SOLVED: Else Holmelund Minarek, Little Bear's Visit,
1961. This was my daughter's original question, but I was
able to find a tape recording where my daughter was "reading"
the book, and I learned that it was a goblin that was being
chased by his shoes. With that key word (goblin) we were
able to find the book. We originally couldn't remember if it was
an elf being chased or what it was that was running from its
shoes.
This is a wonderful old Golden Book called,
I believe, Little Benny Who Wanted a Pony.
The original printing had a mask with a big downward frown bound
into it.
It is indeed. The correct title is Little Benny Wanted a
Pony written by Olive O'Connor Barrett and
illustrated by the great Richard Scarry in 1950. It was
issued with a mask in the back of the book.
Peggy Usher, Little Bitty Raindrop. 1948. Illustrations by Marguerite
Hanson. I don't know for sure if this is the one, but the
date is right, and the cover is blue.
Thanks for solving my stumper so quickly!! I would be very
interested in obtaining a copy of this children's book.
Little Black Sambo.
This must be what you are looking for.
Bannerman, Helen, Story of
Little Black Sambo.
Wonder how many responses you'll get to this one. Many
reprints but it looks like Amazon.com has a reprint of the
original.
Bannerman, Helen, Little Black Sambo. Surely they must be thinking of Little
Black Sambo - replace the lion with a tiger and the details
would be correct
Helen Bannerman, Little Black Sambo.(1880) Could this be Little Black Sambo?
It involves a group of tigers that take Little Sambo's finery
and then chase each other around and around a tree until they
melt into butter, which his mother serves to him on pancakes.
This charming story has been reissued with more appropriate
Indian names as The Story of Little Babaji. The illustrations
are darling!
Helen Bannerman, Little Black Sambo. This sure sound like Little Black Sambo -
just substitute tigers for the lion. A little boy walking
through the jungle is threatened by a series of tigers. To
each one, he gives an article of his clothing (a coat, trousers,
shoes, an umbrella, etc.) which the tiger believes makes him the
grandest tiger in the jungle. At the end, the tigers fight
over which is the grandest. They grab each others tails,
trying to eat each other up, and run in a circle around a tree
so fast that they all melt away into a pool of butter, which
Sambo's mother uses to make pancakes for her family. The book
has been printed many times, with different illustrators. Helen
Bannerman's original illustrations are rather crude and
potentially offensive, in an Aunt Jemima-ish way, but most
others, including those by Gustaf Tenggren, Florence White
Williams, and Fern Bisel Peat, are beautifully done.
(Also, despite the word "black" in the title, the text and most
versions of the illustrations place the story in India rather
than Africa.) While the story has fallen in-and-out of favor, as
people try to be "politically correct," it remains popular,
causing older versions of the book to be highly sought-after and
expensive. However, the original version with the
Bannerman illustrations was reprinted in 1996 and again in 2003,
and is available new. There is also an edition illustrated
by Christopher Bing that is new in print. There are also other
versions of the story, including "The Story of Little Babaji" by
Fred Marcellino and "Sam and the Tigers" by Julius Lester.
Helen Bannerman, The Story of Little
Black Sambo. (1899) I
would guess this is the book. Little boy meets up with
tigers and gives the tigers his clothes. The tigers run
around a tree until they turn into butter which Little Black
Sambo then brings home and his mother makes pancakes out of.
Little Black Sambo. I
wonder if it could be Sambo, not Jambo, and tigers instead of
the lion?
Little Black Sambo. Hi,
I don't know the name of the author, but the story sounds like
Little Black Sambo, later renamed Little Brave Sambo to be more
PC. Sambo's mother made him new clothes, which he wore
into the jungle, only to meet a series of tigers. Sambo
was able to trade articles of his clothes for the tigers not to
eat him. Sad about the loss of he fine clothes, Sambo
happens upon the tigers arguing about which of them looks
finest. The tigers start chasing each other around the
tree so fast, they melt into butter. Sambo then collects
his clothes and takes the butter home to have with pancakes his
mother makes.
Bannerman, Helen, The Story Of Little
Black Sambo. At
the end, the tigers race around a tree so fast they turn to a
pool of melted butter. It was popular, then shunned as being
racist, then popular again.
This book sounds like Little Black
Sambo. His mother made him new clothes, and he
wore them to take a walk in the jungle, but he was chased by
tigers. He gave the tigers his clothes so they wouldn't
eat him, and the tigers began to chase each other around a tree,
faster and faster until they turned into buttermilk, which
Sambo's mother made into pancakes.
Yes! It is The story of Little Black Sambo!
We looked it up online and my dad rememebered the book! I
am so excited ! I am so thankful!
Stephen Bone and Mary Adshead, The
Little Boy & His House, 1937. This was first published in
1937 but reprinted in 1967, and is definitely the book you
want. Here is a description I found of it: "A little boy
and his uncle visit houses all over the world. Each house suits
the climate and materials at hand, but it isn't quite right for
the boy. Brick is right for England! A little text on
traditional home design with cheerful drawings"
Yes, this is it. Thank you so much, I am convinced reading this
book as a child is the reason I became a structural engineer.
This has *got* to be Little Boy from
Shickshinny by Frank Anders. It's out of
print, but some copies turn up
---
My stumper question is about a children's book we once had
during the 70's (possibly 80's) that was about a little boy that
was grumpy and kept the farm animals all upset. I thought his
nickname was "cross mouth" but in the end he learns to be nice.
It was written like it was told with a Norwegian accent. The
library of Congress couldn't find it.
Frank Anders and Eileen Daly, The
Little Boy From Shickshinny, 1965, copyright. A Whitman Big
Tell-A-Tale Book about a litle boy who became angry because he
was too little to do what the big people could do. He became so
disagreeable that all the farm animals called him Mr.
Crossmouth. After a surprise meeting with a bear, he changed his
ways and became more pleasant.
The Little Boy From Shickshinny by
Frank Anders and Eileen Daly was the answer to my question and
I thank whomever solved it for me.
Almost certainly The Little
Broomstick, 1971 - it's Mary Stewart's first
children's book! Mary Smith, age
ten, stuck miserably at her great-aunt's
house in Shropshire (England) with no one to play with, gets
swept off to Endor College on an enchanted broomstick with a
mysterious cat named Tib. She enjoys playing along as a student
for a while, but soon realizes that the place is evil. She gets
home only to find that Tib has been taken prisoner for
transformation experiments and she has to go back to rescue him
in the dead of night. In doing so, she liberates all sorts of
beautiful woods creatures from their ugly transformations, plus
Tib's brother Gib! She's chased by Madame Mumblechook and Dr.
Dee, discovers a new friend, and together they manage to escape.
In doing so, Mary has to forsake magic forever. One might
callthis the flip side of "Harry Potter" - or, more simply, that
the story is about learning how to succeed and become happy
through your own efforts, not through any sinister "magic". I
remember thinking, as a kid, that Stewart's writing style was
just the way I would write if I could!
W57 witch sets free the animals: yes, this
is most likely The Little Broomstick by Mary
Stewart, illustrated by Shirley Hughes, published
Brockhampton 1971. The story is about Mary, staying at
Great-Aunt Charlotte's house, bored until she meets the black
cat Tib and finds the purple flower fly-by-night that makes the
little broomstick fly. In chapter 10 'gay go up and gay go down'
Mary hides in Endor College, the witch school, after hours and
finds Tib transformed into a frog (Madame Mumblechook had taken
him from her as her entry fee). She recites the Master Spell to
release him. "It was a simple, gay little rhyme, and it
ended on a phrase that might have been (but wasn't) 'the
dancing ring of days'. With a clicking and cracking like a
million billion nuts popping under the feet of a hundred
elephants, the locks of the cages - all the cages - flew open.
And out of every cage the creatures jumped, flapped, crept,
shuffled, clawed their way, till they swarmed all round Mary's
feet on the ground. Under Mary's eyes a lame hedgehog
stretched and grew and became a young deer, dappled and
big-eyed and supple as willow; a shuffling pangolin swept into
the air with the knife-wings and scarlet throat of a swallow;
the glass frog, rolling to her feet, melted into the steely
velvet of a beautiful smoke-grey cat; then all round her were
wings and the joyous cries of birds, and the light-flecked
coats and tossing antlers of deer. And from the little metal
cage with its burst lock leaped Tib, eyes wide and brilliant,
and landed on Mary's left shoulder, as the grey cat swarmed up
her other arm to anchor every claw in the collar of her coat.
... Then she shouted: 'Run, everyone! This way!' And tore out
through the strong-room door and across the lab."
Condition Grades |
Stewart, Mary. The Little Broomstick. William Morrow & Company, 1972. Ex-library copy with usual markings. G+/G+. <SOLD> |
Sand and gravel porridge just doesn't taste good. Then
one day Baby Brute found a little wandering lost good feeling in
a field of daisies, and he caught it in his paw and put it in
his tiny pocket. And he felt so good that he laughed and
said, "How lovely." Thank goodness for daisies.
And reprinted classics.
---
perhaps British or Canadian?, 1960s. The Grump family was
an unhappy lot. The ate sticks and stones for soup - their kites
would not fly. The rest is vague - but in the end
something turns their lives around, and I think it has something
to do with flowers.
Daisies cure everything! Back in print.
---
This was a young children's book
about a family of grumbling, grumpy creatures who are very rude
to one another. Something happens, and they learn to be nice to
each other. It is a very short little picture book. I don't
remember much about it, but my sister would like it for her
young daughter.
This is Little Brute Family by Russell and Lillian Hoban.
Joanna Cole, Monster
Manners, 1985, copyright. In "Monster Manners,"
a mother and father insist their daughter, Rosie Monster,
misbehave and they get Rosie's cousin to help (because being
impolite is what monsters do). Their house ends up
flooding and Rosie is nice on the phone with a plumber. BUT if
you remember the characters going throught the seasons (jumpin
in the pond and sinking like rocks) then it is "Little Brute
Family" by Russell
Hoban and Lillian Hoban.
Lillian and Russell Hoban, The Little Brute Family, 1966,
copyright. Definitely The Little Brute Family by Lillian and Russell Hoban.
There is also a sequel, called The Stone Doll of Sister Brute,
published in 1968.
---
it was about a
little family of creatures in the woods and they were mean and
snarly and they ate rocks and sticks. and then one day the
little kid creature found a warm fuzzy or something and came
home and was nice to the mom and dad and then they were all very
pleasant. Circa 1980s.
This is definitely The Little Brute Family by Russell and Lillian Hoban.
A
great, classic story!
Lillian and Russell Hoban, Little Brute Family, 1966,
copyright. Definitely The Little Brute Family by Lillian and Russell Hoban.
There is also a sequel called The
Stone
Doll of Sister Brute (1968).
Condition Grades |
Hoban, Russel. The Little Brute Family. Illustrated by Lillian Hoban. Macmillan, 1966. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, a Sunburst Book, 2002. New paperback, $5.95 |
|
Ada M. Skinner, A Little Child's Book of Stories, 1988. When I first saw this stumper posted on Loganberry's main page the memories flooded back. When I was young we had what must have been the same edition, orange cover and pictorial plate. The only story that I remembered was, about the little girl and the potato. It has been a labor of love searching for this book and finally, I asked a seller on ebay if this book contained the story and they wrote back and said "yes, the name of the story is "potato, potato". This book has been in print off and on since the 1940's, the one on ebay was published in 1988. Ada Skinner had two other books, one called A Child's Book of Stories and the other A Very Little Child's Book of Stories. Make sure that you get A Little Child's Book of Stories, it is the only one that has the story in it. I hope you find and enjoy it, I know I will!
The Little China Pig, 1954. I think I've solved my own stumper, but I'm not positve yet. Does anyone have a copy of a Rand McNally book with the above title? Does this title match the story line below? I am in the process of trying to find a copy of the book to buy, but have not done so yet.
I vaguely remember this book, too -- but
mostly I remember making my own yarn balls with trinkets
inside! There is a Little Golden Book called Surprise
for Sally by Ethel Crowninshield,
illustrated by Corinne Malvern, 1950, but I can't find any plot
summaries. The cover shows a girl running, holding a puppy
in her arms, which doesn't look familiar to me....
#Y2--Yarn and Grandma: Definitely not
Surprise for Sally, a book which has become rare
and expensive!
Annie Fellowes Johnston, The Little
Colonel's Hero,
1903. In this book in the series, the ball of yarn is used
as a plot device, and alludes to another (German) story,
"Marguerite's Wonderball." The citation: "...It was a green and
gold volume of short stories, one that she had read many times
before, but she never grew tired of them. The one she liked best
was "Marguerite's Wonderball'' and she turned to that first,
because it was the story of a happy birthday. Marguerite was a
little German girl, learning to knit, and to help her in her
task her family wound for her a mammoth ball of yarn as full of
surprise packages as a plum cake is of plums Day by day, as her
patient knitting unwound the yarn, some gift dropped out into
her lap. They were simple things, nearly all of them. A knife, a
ribbon, a thimble, a pencil, and here and there a bonbon, but
they were magnified by the charm of the surprise, and they
turned the tedious task into a pleasant pastime. Not until her
birthday was the knitting finished, and as she took the last
stitches a little velvet-covered jewel-box fell out. In the
jewel-box was a string of pears that had belonged to
Marguerite's great-great-grandmother. It was a precious family
heirloom, and although Marguerite could not wear the necklace
until she was old enough to go to her first great court ball, it
made her very proud and happy to think that, of all the
grandchildren in the family, she had been chosen as the one to
wear her great-great-grandmother's name that means pearl, and
had inherited on that account the beautiful Von Behren
necklace."
---
Little Colonel series, read in the
50's. I remember a dusty little girl sitting on a porch
in the Arizona desert where she'd moved.
Exactly that. Johnston, Annie Fellows. The
Little
Colonel in Arizona. Little Colonel series.
Page, 1904.
A. F. Johnston, Little Colonel's Chum
May Ware.
The dusty little girl is Mary Ware, who figures in a number of
other books set in Arizona and elsewhere--even back in Locust
I just sent an inquiry about this and then solved
it by reading a stumper in your archives and researching from
there!
What a great service ~ thank you! Your cats...excuse
me...make that kittens... are precious!
Condition Grades |
Johnston, Annie Fellows. The Little Colonel in Arizona. Little Colonel series. The Page Company 1904. 30th printing, 1937, in pink cloth with gilt lettering. Front hinge beginning to split, but still intact. Corners dirty, otherwise VG. $12 |
|
Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's
Christmas, 1951.
I've read your stumper several times and I keep thinking of A
Little Cowboy's Christmas. It is a Wonder Book
and a little boy asks Santa for a horse for Christmas. His
father gets worried and tells Santa that the only thing HE wants
for Christmas is for Santa NOT to bring a horse for
Christmas. Later, when the father realizes that it is the
only thing his son wants for Christmas he promises his son he
will try and find Santa and tell him it is ok to bring it.
He drives through the snow and finds a store with the window you
described where he sees a beautiful white horse in the window
and the jolly white bearded man gave it as a gift to the man for
his son. This may not be it but I thought I would put it
out there.
Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's
Christmas
Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's
Christmas, 1951.
A Wonder Book. A little boy tells Santa he wants a white
horse for Christmas but his father tells Santa not to bring
one. Little boy is so sad his father relents and goes out
looking for one late Christmas Eve. He comes upon a shop
out in the country he's never seen before, all lit up in the
falling snow. The santa-like proprietor gives him a white
rocking horse that he brings home to the little boy.
Everyone is happy. "Yippee! Hi-Ho!"
---
Pretty certain it was a little
golden book. She says that it must be from around the
'60's or '70's. It is a story about a father who is trying
to get home to give a gift to his daughter. Cover has a
picture of a car driving through the woods in the snow with the
headlights illuminating the sky.
Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's Christmas. If it could possibly be a
boy instead of a girl it might be this one. There's more
information listed on the solved page but basically the father
drives through a snowstorm to try to get a toy horse for his son
in time for Christmas.
Marcia
Martin, A Little Cowboy's
Christmas, 1951, copyright. This is it!! Thank
you so much for solving my book! It was JUST IN TIME for
Christmas!!!! My grandma is going to be so happy!! :)
---
I'm searching for
a Christmas book or story from the 50's or 40's I had as a child
(I was born in 1955) The story was about a father
searching for a gift for his son on Christmas eve. While
driving on stormy night, found house or shop with old man (santa
claus?) who had the gift he needed.
Marcia Martin, Little Cowboy's Christmas. Look on the solved page for more details.
A little boy wants a horse for Christmas but his father most
emphatically does not want him to have a horse. The
father tells Santa not to bring a horse but when he realizes
how dreadfully disappointed his son is he drives out into a
snowstorm to try to find one for him. He finds a shop
with an old man in it who sells him a white rocking horse and
his son is thrilled.
My inquiry was under C601, about the Christmas book
with the father searching for a gift for his son on
Christmas Eve. Someone directed me to solved mystery
under "A Little Cowboy's
Christmas." I had no memory of the book
having anything to do with a cowboy, so I had my doubts if
this was the book, but found it on the internet for sale and
ordered it. I was so pleased to find it WAS the
book! How fun to see it again! The memory is a
strange thing as I remembered the cover in the same way the
other person who was looking for the book did- with a
car and headlights in the dark. This was the picture
inside the cover! Anyway, thanks so much for
your great service and the joy it provides!
Jessica Potter Broderick, Little
Donkey,1964. A charming
Rand McNalley Junior Elf Book about a little donkey's adventures
on his first trip to market. Illustrated by Jean Tamburine.
Jessica Potter Broderick, Little Donkey, 1964.
Erik Christian Haugaard, The Little
Fishes. A possibility.
Maureen Daly, The Small War of
Sergeant Donkey,
1969. set in 1944 Italy. ill. Wesley Dennis
"Twelve-year-old Chico Filippo, whose own donkeys were
confiscated years before by the German army, can’ t
stay away from the newly set up American Remount Depot. Here, in
the last months of World War II in Italy, thousands of supply
mules and donkeys are processed and sent onto the fierce
mountain fighting in the Apennines. One of the handlers
introduces Chico to a small courageous animal the boy names
Sergeant Donkey. Drawn into friendship and then into unexpected
danger, Chico must demonstrate his own simple courage." I
believe this courage includes an overnight mountain journey in
which he may sleep in a cave.
John Patrick Carroll-Abbing, Journey
to Somewhere,
1955. "Here in story form is the dramatic account of the
life of a boy in Italy in World War II." I can't find many
more details, so I don't know for sure if this is the one, but
it is by the founder of the Boys Town in Rome, so it might have
been considered a noteable book.
B238 I spent a lot of time trying to find
out from Google, etc more abt plot. The boy's name is
Guido. The Little Fishes, 1967; Jane Addams
Book Award: Children's Books that Build for Peace. A tale
of the tragedy of war: the story of a twelve-year-old orphaned
beggar in occupied Italy, his daily search for food and for
meaning in the life he witnesses, and the development of
compassion and understanding that will help him survive.
SO THEN I WENT OUT AND DUG THE BOOK OUT AND I DO BELIEVE IT IS
IT. I SEE ONE CHAPTER TOWARD THE END IS "THE CAVE"
Condition Grades |
Haugaard, Erik Christian. The Little Fishes. Illustrated by Milton Johnson. Houghton Mifflin, 1967. Second printing. Ex-library copy, missing front free endpaper. Brown cloth. VG-. $10 |
|
Hi. I have the answer to F-3.
It is a short story titled Little Foxes Sleep Warm
by Waldo Carlton Wright. It was copyrighted in
1971. It can be found in "Alfred Hitchcock: Stories To Be
Read With the Door Locked"--a title in his anthology series.
And I have it! Your story Little Foxes Sleep Warm
is in Alfred Hitchcock's Stories to be Read with the Door
Locked, nice shape with dj. <SOLD>
Is the story about a man and his wife. They are so poor
that he decides to freeze her and put her in the barn for the
winter to save on food? And during this time a fox has
babies and they end up living on her to survive?
The book you are looking for is titled The
Little
Foxes Story Book by Hilda H. Roth.
The publishing company is The Saalfield Publising Company,
Akron, Ohio. I have a copy that was given as a gift in
1944 - I bought it at a used book store.
Margaret Wise Brown, Little Fur
Family, 1946.
This may be the book, as it features a little fur animal playing
with a red ball in the woods. (I don't think it was a bear
-- it was an unidentified fur creature -- but similar in
appearance to a bear.) It's another of the many wonerful
collaborations between Margaret Wise Brown and Garth
Williams. The illustrations are great, and I could easily
imagine a young artist being inspired by them.
I seem to recall that in one of Elizabeth
Upham's
Little Brown Bear books, the bear plays with a red
ball.
HRL: I'm guessing it's the first of
these, as the Margaret Wise Brown book has been (mostly)
in print for decades, and the Upham would have been remembered
as a vintage book even in the 70s.
Little Gipsy Dandelion.
If you spell "gipsy" with an "i", you should be able to track it
down in old songbooks. The words don't seem to be online,
though.
Carfra, Pat, Songs for Sleepyheads
& out-of-beds,
1984, LL Records, Dist. by A & M Records of Canada.
"Little Gypsy Dandelion" can be found on this tape.
I think I've solved the doll in the
supermarket stumper. Today I got a book at the library (an
anthology of doll stories called The Silent Playmate,
ed. Naomi Lewis) that has a section at the back with references
to other books about dolls. This is the very first one
mentioned, under "Picture Books": The Little Girl
and the Tiny Doll (Longmans, 1966) by Aingelda
Ardizzone and Edward Ardizzone: "A perfect doll tale
set in a modern supermarket. Doll, abandoned in deep freeze
section, hopefully waits. Nice little girl perceives, plans
rescue, 3 to 7 year olds."
I can not BELIEVE someone has solved my stumper!!!!! I'm
almost POSITIVE that this is the book I have been searching
for. Years and years of asking Children's Librarians have
turned up NADA. Everyone looked at me as if I were
crazy Harriett, your site is a little piece of heaven for
people like me!!! :-) If you can find a copy for me and
it's not outrageously expensive, I would love to purchase the
book. Thanks so much!!!!!
Good morning- I have been trying to remember
the name of a book I used to love when I was a child. The
story was about a tiny little girl who lived in the frozen food
section at a grocery store. Unfortunately, all I can
recall about this book is a crudely drawn picture of the little
girl in the freezer near frozen peas, and that at the end of the
story she is taken home by a real little girl who finds her
while food shopping with her mother! The book must be
fairly old, and was a favorite of mine when I was 5 years
old. If there is anything you can tell me about this one,
I would be extremely grateful!
You are amazing! Thank you so much for your prompt reply and
assistance!
In this children's book, a tiny little girl
is in the grocery store, and she plays tennis with frozen baby
peas.
---
the story was a book that i checked
out of the charlotte nc library in the early 70's - it may
have been older about a little girl who when she went to the
grocery say a tiny girl living in the frozen food section in
the actual freezer case. the peas i think. as i recall she
made little clothes and furniture for her and in the end i
think took her home.
The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll (Longmans, 1966) by Aingelda Ardizzone and Edward Ardizzone.
Phyllis Krasilowsky, The Very Little
Girl. Could
possibly be this one, or The Very Tall Little Girl
by the same author. Another possibility would be one of Charlotte
Zolotow's e.g. I Like to be Little.
THE LITTLE GIRL STORY. I
remember a cute little book published by Hallmark that my
Grandma gave me in the 70's. I don't remember the author. The
little girl got too big for her hobby horse, but now she could
learn to ride a real horse. She was too big to fit in her
playhouse, but now she could invite friends for a tea party. She
got too big to have all her dolls in her crib with her, so her
parents got her a big-girl bed. Could this be it, and if so,
does anyone know the author? One more thing: the end papers were
pink with little pink handprints all over them. Cute!
Dean Walley, The Little Girl Story, 1965. I'd
just like to thank the second person who responded to this
query. They put me on what I think is the right track.
Finding this book means so much to me because my father who is
now deceased bought it for me and as such it carries great
sentimental value for me.
Dean Walley, illustrated by Arlene
Armacost and Gloria Nixon, The Little Girl Story: A
Child's Experience of Growing and Helping,1970,
Halmark Children's Editions.This book is definitely The
Little Girl Story! Other incidents from the book
include outgrowing her dollhouse, a button popping off the back
of her old pink dress (she gets new clothes) and not needing a
chair to help her mother wash dishes in the kitchen sink.
I read it as a little girl in the late 70s.
Your website is fantastic!! I've solved this
bookstumper - I remembered it exactly from the description and
had my mom confirm the details: The Little Girl Story A
child's Experience of growing and helping,1970.This
book is definitely The Little Girl Story! Other incidents from
the book include outgrowing her tiny table, a button popping off
the back of her old pink dress (she gets a new pink dress) and
not needing a chair to help her mother wash dishes in the
kitchen sink. I loved this book - it was one of my favorites! I
read it as a little girl in the late 70s.
L31 LGB holidays: okay, now that I have the reg number, suggesting The Little Golden Holiday Book, by Marion Conger, artist is Eloise Wilkin, published 1951, Little Golden Library 109, "a beautiful story of a child's view of holidays, and precious drawings of childhood innocence, an extremely rare book with a wonderful story and beautiful drawings. The holidays covered are Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. The Halloween drawings are reminiscent of the Halloween segment of the movie Meet Me in St. Louis starring Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien."
Hooker, Yvonne, The Little
Green Caterpillar, illustrated by Giorgio
Vanetti. London, Methuen 1978. "A hole board book
with each page leading to the next. Caterpillar eats his way
thru the book to become a beautiful butterfly."
Little Hiawatha
Childrens book, possibly from the
early to mid 90s. Indian boy. I *think* It was something like "
The Little (blank) Warrior". Great illustrations. I only
remember that it's a little indian boy, like a toddler, with a
bow and arrow. Another memory is that I had a hard time
pronouncing part of title.
Thorson, Charles, Keeko, 1947. When I read that the Indian boy looked like a toddler, I
thought of this book. Little Keeko
has the typical plump body of a toddler in the many colorful
illustrations. Keeko is determined
to win a feather headdress like that of his grandfather, Old
Chief Running Horse. He searches
high and low for feathers, falls asleep, and dreams of a grand
adventure high in the mountains. Using
his little bow and arrows, he rescues a baby eagle whose mother
rewards Keeko with a whole headdress of feathers.
Disney, Little
Hiawatha,
1953. I think you must be looking for Little
Hiawatha. It was based on the Walt Disney animated movie
Hiawatha, and has been reprinted many times over the years. In
1953 it was issued as a Little Golden Book. The LGB has been
reprinted a number of times over the years. Disney also
released the book as part of their "Wonderful World of
Reading" series, and there was an edition published in 1990 as
part of "Walt Disney's American Classics" series.
Little Two
Feet?
SOLVED: Disney, Little Hiawatha. Little Hiawatha is it!
Thank you so much!!
This is The Little House by Virginia Lee
Burton, a real classic. I have a brand new hardback edition
for $15 plus $3 postage (book rate).
---
I'm afraid I have very little information, but I recall reading
an adorable book in the mid-60s when I was around 6 or 7 about a
little white house with a verandah that had huge skyscrapers
built around it. It was right in the middle of a busy street
downtown. I think that people wanted to tear it down but the
owners didn't want to move. Does anyone remember this cute
book?
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little
House, 1948.
great, classic children's book from the author of mike mulligan
and the steam shovel.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, c. 1943. This book won the Caldecott in
1943.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942. From
the
website: "The little house first stood in the
country, but gradually the city moved closer and closer. "The
pictures are full of life and movement . . . Virginia Lee Burton
tells the story of a little house which wins its way into the
very center of our heart.” –Horn Book "The Little House
was based on our own little house which we moved from the street
into "a field of daises with apple trees growing around."
-Virginia Lee Burton I used to read this to my kids - it's
a wonderful story
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little
House. From your
description, this sounds like The Little House by
Virginia Lee Burton. This book is still in print and
should be fairly easy to find. I checked on Amazon.com and the
version they had for sale still had the same illustrations that
I remember from reading this book in the early 1970s. Good luck!
Virginia Lee Burton , The Little
House. This
delightful 1943 Caldecott Medal winner, is still in print in
Houghton Mifflin's 1978 edition.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942. The book you're looking for is The
Little
House, by Virginia Lee Burton. I knew it as soon as
I saw the request, because her illustrations are so vivid. It
must have been reprinted, because I owned a copy as a child in
the late 1970s. Houghton-Mifflin mentions it on their Web site.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942. Won the Caldecott Medal in 1943, the
Little House is a book where the city grows around the house (so
years & years later, the descendants of the original family
move the house back out to the country.) This might be the
book...at least, there is an illustration that matches the
requestor's memory.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942. I believe this is the book you're
looking for. I remember it fondly from my
childhood -- never knew it was so old. You can
view the cover here.
Virginia Hamilton (I think), The
Little
House (I'm sure of this). 1950s-early 1960.
Clymer, Eleanor, Tiny Little House, 1964. A possibility --
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little
House. You
probably already thought of this one! But I thought I
would pass it on just in
case.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little
House. I
read this book often to my kids when they were little.
It's a very sweet book
with appealing illustrations. It's
unusual because the house is the main character people
come into the house's story from time to time, but the story
revolves around the house itself. Burton also wrote the
well-known book about Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel.
---
You have made me a hero once before, let's see if we can do it
again! My fiancee is looking for a book that she loved as a
child. Synopsis: There is a happy house living on a hill, and
the family moves out and a city sprouts up around it. The house
is lonely and unhappy, until finally someone comes and buys the
house (?) and moves it to another location, with a happy family.
The book might be called "The House on the Hill", but my web
searches have brought back nothing. Thanks!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little
House. One of my
children's favorites!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House. This is the book. The charming
illustrations show a house being overtaken and choked by runaway
industrialization and urbanization and finally removed to a new
location. Classic.
Virginia Lee Burton, author and
illustrator, The Little House, 1942. This
is it! Please see the Solved Mysteries L page for more
information!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1976, reprint. A childhood classic! (And
a Caldecott Medal winner.)
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942. This must be The Little
House by Virginia Lee Burton (the same
author who did Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel).
I love this book! The artwork is great--the house appears to be
smiling and then has a sad expression when the city grows up
with skyscrapers, pollution, etc. The country setting mentions
the apple trees and fields of daisies. The little house could
never be sold for gold or silver but the
great-great-granddaughter of the man who built the house
recognizes it and moves it back to the country. From a
children's librarian.
Virgina Lee Burton, The Little House,
60th anniversary. My
first memory of this story was hearing it read on Captain
Kangaroo!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House. Loganberry
comes through again. Right after I posted this, I read through
the other postings to see if someone else was looking and I
found a suggestion for H36, and that suggestion was the solution
to mine!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House. I remember this book from my child as
well. I'm almost positive that this is the one you're
looking for.
Condition Grades |
Burton, Virginia Lee. The Little House. Houghton Mifflin, 1942. New Hardback, $14.95 New paperback, $5.95 |
|
W9--This sounds similar to Black and
Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatly Snyder...or
maybe Magic in the Alley by Mary Calhoun?
Just so nobody gets off on the wrong
track; W9 is definately not Black and Blue Magic
by Snyder.
#W9--Wood Nymphs: this description is
not VAGUELY like Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha
Keatley Snyder or Alley Magic by Mary
Calhoun, fercryinoutloud! It is at least vaguely like Water
Babies, by Charles Kingsley, but that kid
was a chimney sweep, not a factory worker.
My first thought is someone like Frank
Stockton or Robert W. Chambers, but none of theirs
seem to quite fit. The best I've found through keyword search
has been The Enchanted by Elizabeth
Coatsworth, published by Pantheon in 1951, illustrated by
Robert Winthrop White "Story of a young man's strange
romance in the Enchanted, an actual and magical region in the
Northern Maine Woods." A further search described the
young man as a farmer, though, so not so likely.
barely possible: Garrott, Hal Snythergen
New York, McBride 1923 "The magical adventures of
the boy who went to the forest to live as a tree and learn
about nature and the important things of life. Beautifully
illustrated with 4 color plates and in black & white
throughout by Dugald Walker."
At 157 pages not likely (too short), but
because the author seems possible: Stockton, Frank R. The
Lost Dryad Riverside, Hillacre Book House 1912
28 pp. "Published posthumously. This charming story about a
tree spirit whose kiss could remove ten years from a person's
life was dictated as a unique gift for the author's friend,
Mrs. Florence Gotthold in 1901."
B143 boy ran away into forest sounds close
to W9 wood nymphs. The possible publication date is similar, and
both begin with a boy working in a factory who escapes into a
forest setting where magical things happen.
I have been looking for this book too and
was beginning to believe it was all in my imagination! It was a
wonderful book and the author should be thanked, whoever she/he
is. It got me through a very difficult childhood. I lived
in this book for years. To add more to the story: each night the
fire in the fireplace turned into a beautiful lady and covered
the orphan boy with a warm blanket. They fed him warm cream
& berrys and roasted chestnuts. But the book ended
sadly. He woke one morning to discover it was all a
dream. He was back in the factory, looking out a window,
daydreaming of living in the forest with his friends.
Ethel Cook Eliot, Little House in the
Fairy Wood, 1918.
I think this is it!!! The author also wrote Wind Boy and
many others. I found it on ebay!!
Ethel Eliot, The Little House in the
Fairy Wood. It is
Not Black and Blue Magic!! This book is The
Little House in the Fairy Wood by Ethel Eliot.
A great old book.
---
Can you please help? I would like to find an old
favorite. I read it in the 60`s as a little girl but do
not remember the author or publication. It`s about a young, poor
boy who worked hard in a factory all day. One day he ran
away into a nearby forest (I think the wind beckoned him to
follow it) and found a safe place, a small cabin or house.
The animals of the forest took care of him and became his
friends. I think there were faries and maybe elves that
lived in the forest and also took care of and played with him.
They had chestnut parties. Each night the fire in the hearth
would turn into a beautiful lady and covered him with a warm
blanket. At the end of the story he woke and it was all
just a dream to escape from his unhappy life. He was back in the
factory looking out of a window (at the forest) wishing he was
back there. Thank you so much for your help in hopefully finding
this old book for me to buy.
B143 boy ran away into forest sounds close
to W9 wood nymphs. The possible publication date is similar, and
both begin with a boy working in a factory who escapes into a
forest setting where magical things happen.
YES!!! I think it's the same book! I'm so desperate
to find this book that I'm willing to put up a reward (plus the
cost of the book) to any one to who finds it. Would that be too
tacky? This book means a lot to me, it got me through a very
abusive childhood (a way to escape). I didn't want to
mention that but I want you to know why this book is so
important. Thank you.
Ethel Cook Eliot, Little House in the
Fairy Wood. 1918.
The Little House in the Fairy Wood,
by Mrs. Ethel Augusta Eliot, published New York,
Stokes, Toronto, Butterworth, c.1918, 121 pages, colored
frontispiece, colored plates. 22 cm. "An unusual and beautiful
fairy story in which a little Earth Child has wonderful
adventures with Snow Witches, Star People, and in particular
with little Ivra who is 'part fairy'." The author also wrote Wind
Boy, (Doubleday 1923) "unusually lovely tale of
fancy ... two little war refugees in America, whose only
playmate was the Wind Boy." That was reprinted in 1996 by Raven
Rocks Press - maybe they'd be interested in reprinting this one
as well?
---
Many years ago your "Stump the Bookseller"
feature helped me identify this book. I only ever found one copy
for sale and it was $450. But the New York Public Library has a
reference copy. Since it's out of copyright, I scanned it and it
is now publically available at Project Gutenberg. (I got the
images courtesy of Rachel from rachelpages.com ). I wonder if
the other people looking for it ever found copies? It's not the
same as having the physical book, but if you'd care to pass the
link along, it's: http://gutenberg.net/1/0/4/6/10463/
Thanks
again!
Diana Maria Mulock Craik, The Little
Lame Prince and the Adventures of a Brownie, 1948. This sounds like the right
book---see B351 (above) for a description!
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, Brownie and
the Cook. This is
the story. Its in The Junior Classics
(1958) Vol. 2 Stories of Wonder and Magic.
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, The Little
Lame Prince and the Adventures of a Brownie, 1948, reprint. The story described is
"Adventure the First: Brownie and the Cook." Also
includes the Brownie and his adventures in a cherry tree, on a
farm, on the ice, and washing clothes. This is a
collection of stories by Craik. Besides The Little Lame
Prince and the Brownie, there are 3 other stories: "The
Invisible Prince", "Prince Cherry", and "The Prince With the
Nose."
B354 The vol 2 Jr Classics is
possibility, see A221 for more on series. Williams,
Mabel; Dalphin, Marcia, eds The
junior classics Vol 2: Stories of wonder and magic.
Illus by John Batten et al. Collier, 1949.
The Little Lame Prince and Adventures of a Brownie.
I
sent away for this title based on the feedback I received on my
stumper. The book arrived today and it is indeed the correct
book which includes the story I remember. Thank you so much!
W39: Sounds like Little Leftover
Witch (1960) by Florence Laughlin. Her name
is Felina, but she chooses
to stay with the Doon family and changes her
name to Mary Lucinda George Doon, I believe. Because of the
way the story develops, one might say this
falls less into the category of witch stories than, say,
adoption/adjustment stories.
I don't have a copy to doublecheck the
witch's name, but I'm pretty sure the person is thinking of THE
LITTLE LEFTOVER WITCH by Florence Laughlin.
The little witch crashes into a tree and breaks her broomstick,
stranding herself until the next Halloween when the witches
return. She stays with the Doon family. The witch is very
naughty at first, but eventually, with their patience and love,
she becomes kinder. She may even choose to stay with them when
Halloween returns.
this sounds an awful lot like Little
Leftover Witch by Florence Laughlin, only
the witch is named Felina. Happy Anniversary!
This story is The Little Leftover
Witch, and the author's name is Laughlin.
Thanks so much for everyone's help with
solving my mystery. After years of searching, I have
found a copy of The Little Leftover Witch and am
waiting on its arrival. I cannot wait to share it with
my niece and perhaps my one day, my own daughter. This
site is truly wonderful!! Thank you again!!!
The other one I read about 1972 or 73.
It's about a child witch who was adopted by a non witch family
and gave her a birthday of 10/31. *later* After I sent
this email I looked through your Solved Mysteries and one of my
mysteries was solved. The witch book I am looking for is Little
Leftover Witch.
--
When I was a little girl (early 1980s) I got this book out of
the library and it was about a little girl witch who was sad or
lonely. I can't remember why she was. For some
reason I think there might have been a part where she gets an
outfit that is "normal" i.e. not witch clothes. I'm
thinking that this might be Little Leftover Witch but
I'm not sure; I'd like more information about that plot, if
that's what you think it is. Please help me! I loved that
book and have wanted to find it for years.
The Littlest Witch. The
witch cries, spiders make a web around her, and her tears adorn
it.
The Littlest Witch? This
reminds me very much of a book I used to love when I was in
grade school, where a family finds a little witch in the tree in
their yard, and convinces her to come into the house to live
with them. She insists at first on hanging onto her
raggedy robe and hat, and eats unusual things, but ultimately
the family convinces her to dress in normal clothes and eat
normal food. I think it might have been called The
Littlest Witch.
This one does sound like The Little
Leftover Witch. The witch's name is Felina,
and she comes to live with the Doon family after getting left
behind on Halloween.
L108 Massey, Jeanne. The
littlest witch. illus by Adrienne Adams.
Knopf, 1959. the newest, littlest witch, becomes a
special witch - good, kind one. --or--
Laughlin, Florence. The little leftover witch.
illus by Sheila Greenwald. Macmillan Reading Spectrum,
1960. unhappy little witch, Felina, marooned on earth when her
broomstick broke, and adopted by a family, finally gives up her
witchiness by donating her pointed hat to the snowman the
neighborhood children have made. will snowman
incident tell her if this is it?
Yes! This is the book! I
bought it used and have read it already. I love this
book, especially the part where the witch is adopted by the
family. What a sweet story. Thanks to everyone for
your replies.
---
1970s childrens book. A little girl sees a witch (another
little girl, I think, whose name is Belinda/Melinda) outside her
window after a storm. The witch lives with the family. I can
picture an illustration of the little girl witch with a pointy
nose sitting bythe window.
Florence Laughlin, The Little
Leftover Witch,
1971. Illustrated by Shelia Greenwald. This is probably
it. The witch is named Felina she falls off her broomstick
one stormy Halloween, and gets left behind in the human world,
and can'\''t get back to the witch world until the following
Halloween. She is taken in by the Doon family, who have a
daughter the same age, named Lucinda - Lucinda is the one who
finds Felina on a branch outside her room. Felina slowly
loses her "witchiness" and becomes a member of the Doon family,
and doesn't go back to the witch world the following
Halloween. The book is out of print, and used paperback
copies start at over $40. This book seems to have been a
favorite of a lot of people. (I didn't like it as much as
a child - I always wanted Felina to stay a witch, because that
seemed so much more interesting!)
Laughlin, Florence, Little Leftover
Witch, 1960. This
sounds like the ever popular Little Leftover Witch. On
halloween night a little witch's broom get broken and she is
stranded in a tree outside a family's house. The little
witch's name is Felina and the family name is Doon. The little
girl's name is Lucinda Doon. It was written in 1960 and my
copy of this book is from 1966.
Florence Laughlin, Little Leftover
Witch. The girl
is Lucinda, the witch is Felina, and the cover of one edition
I've seen has the witch sitting in a tree outside the girl's
window. Felina crash lands on Halloween night and does
live with the family for a year, till Halloween rolls around
again and she can go home.
Florence Laughlin, The Little
Leftover Witch.
Maybe this one? The little witch is called Felina, I think.
W216: Most likely The Little Leftover
Witch(see Solved Mysteries). Simple, poignant and
sweet. The illustrator is the same who did Leo Tolstoy's
Fables & Fairy Tales.
Not the Chareles Tazewell classic, eh?
regarding L5-Littlest Angel; this is
definitely Little Lost Angel by Janet Field
Heath (her name isn't on the cover though), it was a "Rand
McNally Tip-Top Elf Book" (1963). Best of luck finding a
copy, it's a wonderful book, the only childrens book I've
constantly kept with me, but incredibly sad too,especially when
the angel gives her wings to the lame shepherd so he can walk
and then winds up permanently lame herself. Best Regards
from Australia (this is a great website - reading your Solved
Section cleared up a number of books I've been wondering
about for years - Thank You!)
---
Help! I have longed to find a book from
my chilhood I'm 31, I was referred here and it is my first
glimmer of hope. This was a red, material covered hardcover
(missing the dust jacket when I had it) children's bedtime
stories. I believe there were 4 stories 2 I remeber. One is
about an angel, you do not know she is and angel at first I
believe the story begins she is in a field of lambs sleeping
she goes to a house with a light on, the strangers care for
her feet which are cut & bruised from walking on the
ground. You find out she has given her gifts away such as her
wings to a lame boy, her harp to an older person I think?
Little Lost Angel
Janet Field Heath, Little Lost Angel, 1953. I think this would be the angel
book. The little angel comes with the angels on christmas
eve to announce the birth of Jesus. But she gets tired and
falls asleep in the field. When she awakes the angels are
gone. As she looks for them she gives away her harp to a
sad man, her crown to angry woman, her wings to a lame boy. She
follows a light looking for heaven but finds a home instead with
a couple who had been praying for a child. The
people to whom she gave her treasures went on to become good and
kind people. This was/is one of my favorite stories. It is
a Rand McNally Tip Top Elf Book. number 8680.
Janet Field Heath, Little Lost Angel, 1953. Don't know about the whole
collection, but the angel story is Little Lost Angel, for sure.
Nice color illustrations by Janet Laura Scott. Still makes me
weepy when I read it at Christmas.
#B167--Bedtime Stories, angel, fire
truck: The angel story is Little Lost Angel
by Janet Field Heath. Since this appeared as a
Rand McNally Elf Book in 1953, you might want to get a
guidebook of these and look for fire truck books done by Rand
McNally around the same time. Several of their stories
could have appeared in a collection.
B167 The story about the angel sounds like Janet
Field
Heath's LITTLE LOST ANGEL. It sounds like it was
included in a collection of stories, but I couldn't find it.
Heath did write a book of 18 illustrated stories, THE
HYGIENIC PIG AND OTHER STORIES, 1946, but I didn't
find a list of the stories included, and it sounds too long.
~from a librarian
Condition Grades |
Heath, Janet Field. Little Lost Angel. Illustrated by Janet Laura Scott. Rand McNally, 1953. Junior Elf Book. VG. <SOLD> |
Cathleen Schurr, The Shy Little
Kitten, 1946.
Could this be an oversized version of The Shy Little
Kitten? When a mother cat leads her kittens into the
barnyard sunshine, one kitten lingers behind and thus begins her
adventures. She takes a walk with a mole through the countryside
and the two happen upon a frog whose enormous mouth sends them
into gales of laughter. A shaggy puppy then offers to lead the
kitten home but not before he busies himself yapping at a
squirrel who drops a nut on his nose! Home at last, the kitten
joins a barnyard picnic but a bee-stung frog causes a stir and
everyone dives into the brook for safety! It isn't long though
before merriment is restored. 'This was the best day ever!' the
little kitten exclaims. Tenggren's illustrations are lovely and
most pleasing.
I'm fairly certain the person is looking for
Lois Lovett's Little Lost Kitten -- it's oversize
and fits the plot description. (Kitten chases a butterfly
and gets lost; asks various animals like Mrs. Pig how to get
home.) Here's a
cover scan if the person seeking it wants to see if that
cover looks familiar.
Yes, I think Little Lost Kitten
is the one.
Alice T. Curtis' 1950's Little Maid series.... includes A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia, A Little Maid of Ticonderoga, A Little Maid of Massachuetts Bay Colony, A Little Maid of Provincetown, A Little Maid of Connecticutt, A Little Maid of New England, A Little Maid of Narragansett Bay, A Little Maid of Old New York, A Little Maid of Maryland, A Little Maid of Virginia, A Little Maid of Mohawk Valley, etc.
It's actually a Rand McNally Elf Book: The Little Mailman
of Bayberry Lane by Ian Munn and illustrated
by Elizabeth Webbe, 1952.
---
L76: The Little Postman of Blueberry Lane. This was a
favourite childhood book of a friend of mine, who is a
children's librarian. All I know is the title, as I remember her
telling it to me. I would like to find a copy and surprise her
with it.
You're close, and it's remembered by many! It's a Rand
McNally Elf Book: The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane
by Ian Munn and illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe, 1952.
Roger Hargreaves, Mr Men and Litte
Miss series,
1971. This sounds like Roger Hargreaves' 1970s British
series of "Mr Men" and "Little Miss" children’s books. The
characters were colorful, anthropomorphized happy faces each
named for his or her cardinal trait: Mr. Nosey, Mr. Messy,
Little Miss Chatterbox, Little Miss Fickle, &c. Fate usually
dispensed some sort of mild but ironic retribution for their
behavior. In that way it was kind of like Struwwelpeter but with
out the death and dismemberment.
If the person remembers the book being
small, with kind of round abstract-looking characters, then it
could be one of the "Little Miss" series by Roger
Hargreaves. It could be LITTLE MISS BUSY.
~from a librarian
Edith Thacher Hurd, Hurry, Hurry, 1961. One of the "I Can Read"
series.
Sharon Kane, Little Mommy, 1967.
This
was a Golden Book called Little Mommy. I
just looked on
Bibliofind, which gives the
author/illustrator as Sharon Kane and the date as 1967, and says
it's "very hard to find." I remember reading it at my
grandmother's around 1970, and loved it because they
miniaturized the household tasks.
Maybe the Little Golden Book Little
Mommy by Sharon Kane, illustrated by Esther
Wilkin? The cover shows a little girl sitting in a chair holding
three dolls, which could be the three children named.
---
No idea on author; illustrated by Eloise Wilken, c. 1965.
I cannot recall the title of this Golden Book but it started
with "This is my house and I am the mommy. These are my
children Annabelle, Betsy, and Bonnie." It most likely was
published in the 1960's.
Sharon Kane, Little Mommy. I taught my little sister to read
with this book. It is hard to find and quite pricey!
---
I am looking for a children's book that
would have been read out by the late 60's or earlier.
It's about a girl who cares for a dolly that has "Mumbledy
Bumps". My wife swears such a book exists but I can't
find any reference for it in Google or on your site.
Sharon Kane, Little Mommy, 1967. Little Mommy is a
beautifully illustrated book about a girl who cares for her
dollies.
One of the dollies is "ill" and a boy
dressed up as a doctor comes and diagnosis "She'll be well as
quick as a wink, its just the mumbledy bumps I think" It
is a Little Golden Book marked C-569 in the upper left corner.
Mercer Mayer, Professor
Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-A-Zoo. Not
exactly what you're looking for, but maybe this Zipperump-A-Zoo
story is the basis for the one you're looking for. The Professor
collects creatures, and has a specimen of all animals from A-Y.
He's missing the Z-A-Zoo. He travels all over the world in his
quest, but is unsuccessful. Of course, at the end of the book he
goes home in defeat and goes to bed, and a whole gang of
Z-A-Zoos come out and play in his house. A great story.
This book is about one of Mercer's little monster who is having
a bad day. On every page there is a whimsical
spider. At the end of the book the mother monster is
tucking in the little monster and she tells him not to let the
"zipperumpazoos" bite. I beleive this series of books came
out before the Little Critter series, although the little
critter series still has the little spider in some of the
stories. I am desparately lookin for this book!
Mercer Mayer, Little Monster's
Bedtime Book, 1978. I enjoyed reading this one
to my son- very funny, especially the little asides, like the
character who keeps saying "my mama never told me 'bout this
stuff..."
Are you waiting for the original poster to
confirm an ID? I am 100% sure of this solution that I posted a
while back: Z2 is Mercer Mayer, Little Monster's
Bedtime Book, 1978.
---
This is a children's book, possibly by Mercer Mayer. The last
lines of the book, as the mom monster is putting the little
monster to bed, are "Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the
zipperumpazoos bite" I believe that in the same book, they refer
to yippyucks that bite toes and ride along on feet, holding on
to the person's leg. <then again, that could be another
one--I read hundreds during the kids' early years!>
Please help me find the zipperumpazoos!
Sure sounds like Mercer Mayer. There's Professor
Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo, Golden
Press, 1976. But this one is surely Little Monster's
Bedtime Book, 1978. See Solved Mysteries for more.
---
A picture book I remember from the late 70's early 80's. The
pictures were quite elaborate. Each page seemed to be about a
different monster, fantastical creature. I remember very early
in the book, there were these little black fluffy creatures, and
one had a speech balloon saying "we're rock cooties...count us".
They were throughout the book. The only other creature I
remember was a giant blowfish with a lantern on the top of his
head. I can't remember anything else, and it is beginning to
drive me crazy!
Graeme Base, The Sign of the
Seahorse.
Could this be it? Very elaborately illustrated...
Mercer Meyer, Little Monster's
Bedtime Book,
1978. See solved mysteries. There are little black
cootie creatures hidden on each page, and a monster called the
"Glowfish Blowfish"
Ha! Hemingway for kids!!
Not much to go on, but maybe Grandfather
Todd
of Old Cape Cod, by Joseph E.Hanson,
illustrated by Jean Porter, published New York, McKay 1959 "Seven
stories as fresh as a Cape Cod breeze - about a most "magical"
grandfather and his two young charges (Kate and Gregg) who
spent an enchanted summer exploring Cape Cod. Ages 7-10"
(Horn Book Apr/59 pub ad p.160) There's a line drawing showing a
man with a long white beard and captain's hat, carrying a
basket, walking with two children wearing striped shirts and
shorts, one with a fishing rod, the other with a sack. No
mention of cats.
Might this be Wanda Gag's Millions of Cats?
The very old man goes to find a cat to keep company with his very
old woman. He roams far and wide, and brings home every
beautiful cat he finds, in short, "hundreds of cats, thousands of
cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats." It's
more about the cats of course, but the image of the old man with
the long white beard made me think of it. A classic, in
print almost continuously since its publication in 1928.
Natalie Norton, A Little Old Man by
the Sea, 1959.
[Thank you for helping me find the author to Little Witch
by Anna Elizabeth Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!]
---
It was around 1972 in VA. I read an illustrated book
about an old man on a little island with a cat. He lived
in a little house, or boat up on stilts. He seemed to be
preparing for a flood (a little like Noah's Ark). Towards
the end of the book it did flood and he and his cat/s were safe
and snug in their boat. It was probably published around
the 60's? Don't remember the title or author.
Help! Thanks.
#B177--Boat: This was solved. I
remember your comment was "Hemingway for kids?" but that phrase
didn't turn up with a Google search, and, of course, I can't
remember the title.
From the Solved Mysteries page: A
Little Old Man by the Sea, by Natalie Norton.
P97 percis rides a turtle into forest: Is 1959 too recent, or could this be The Little One, by Dare Wright, published Doubleday 1959? "Persis was a dusty doll in an old house until Nice Bear and Cross Bear showed her the fun of the bright outdoors. Ages 2 to 6." (HB Dec/59 p.448 pub.ad) The cover pic shows the little doll talking to a turtle or tortoise, but don't know if she rides on him.
O5-Orphan Annie: This is hard to
locate because of spelling. The poem is Orphant
Annie by James Whitcomb Riley. Dover
Publications puts out an inexpensive book titled: Little
Orphant Annie and Other Poems by James
Whitcomb Riley. It is a Dover Thrift Edition - -
unabridged.
In response to O 5, the poem Little
Orphant Annie was written by James Whitcomb
Riley and appears in many anthologies of his writings.
Little Orphant Annie is
written by James Whitcomb Riley, and is probably in a
number of classic poetry books, though I have it in a book
called This Singing World, by Louis
Untermeyer (a collection of poems for young adults).
---
As a child in the 50's (book may also be
early 60's) I read a children's book of poems and stories with
one poem in it about Orphan Annie. I remember the
illustration which showed a large fireplace and hearth area
with goblins dancing around in a circle in front of it. (Annie
may have also been in the picture, seated in a chair by the
hearth). I think the last line of the poem was, "...the
goblins will get you if you don't watch out". The theme
was about being good. It seems that the entire book
contained both poems AND stories, but it is possible that it
was only poems. I seem to recall that the book was
somewhat oversized.
Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley. See more on the Solved Mysteries page.
I happened to notice that in the Solved Mysteries, under "Little Orphant Annie," the second inquirer is looking for a specific book in which she found the poem. The answer, based on her description of the unforgettable illustration for that poem, can only be The Golden Book of Poetry, which is also on your Solved Mysteries page [Jane Werner (ed.), The Golden Book of Poetry, c1947, 1949, reprint 1971. Subtitled "85 Childhood Favorites," this book contains all the poems mentioned, including "Little Orphant Annie." Charmingly illustrated by Gertrude Elliot. I had a copy as a child in the 50s.] I still have my childhood copy, the 1971 reprint.
A Little Oven by Eleanor Estes.
Dorothy Kunhardt, Little Peewee Or,
Now Open the Box,
1948. A Little Golden Book #52. "Peewee is a Dalmatian dog
the size of a mouse who grows to the size of an elephant."
See more on Kunhardt on the Most
Requested pages.
Dorothy Kunhardt, Little Peewee, the
circus dog, 1948.
Also known as Little Peewee, or, Now open the box.
I
found a picture of the cover. It is a Little Golden
Book.
Rumer Godden?
Godden, Rumer, Little Plum. Viking Press/1962,
Scholastic/1963. "The new girl who moves into the mansion
next door is a mystery to her eight- and nine-year-old neighbors
who plot to become her friends when they learn she too owns a
Japanese doll."
Rumer Godden, Little Plum.
I think the person who suggested Rumer
Godden is thinking of Miss Happiness and Miss
Flower, which certainly fits some details.
Rumer Godden, Little Plum, 1987, reprint. This book is either Miss
Happiness
and Miss Flower, or the sequel Little
Plum. The first is about an orphaned girl who
learns to create a home for herself by caring for her Japanese
dolls. (Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are joined by
Little Peach at the end of the book.) The second is about
a war that erupts between neighbors, when a new girl moves in
and neglects her Japanese doll, Little Plum.
Rumer Godden, Miss Happiness and Miss
Flower. England
is the last place Nona Fells wants to be. No one asked her if
she wanted to leave sunny India to live in a chilly English
village with her aunt's family -- and her cousin, Belinda, just
hates her! But when two dainty Japanese dolls arrive at Nona's
doorstep, everything begins to change. Like Nona, Miss Happiness
and Miss Flower are lonely and homesick, so Nona decides to
build them their own traditional Japanese house. Over time, not
only does Nona create a home for the dolls, but one for herself
as well. There is a sequel, Little Plum.
In
the sequel, Belinda is trying to make friends with a new girl
who has moved in next door. The new girl also has a
Japanese doll. The good news is that Miss Happiness
and Miss Flower has been reprinted.
Rumer Godden, Little Plum? Sounds like it could maybe be Little
Plum...a lot of the details fit well, but some don't.
Worth checking out though.
Possibles - The Pond, by Carol
and
Donald Carrick, published Macmillan 1970 "Children's story
about animals living in or at the pond." - The Animals at
Small Pond, by Phoebe Erickson, published
Grosset 1960, "A lovely nature book for early readers,
illustrated with line drawings." - The Beaver Pond
by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin,
published by Lothrop 1970, 34 pages "The story of the life cycle
of a pond and the creatures it creates and sustains."
Muriel Ward, Little Pond in the Woods,
1948. I'm pretty sure
this is the book. It's a Little Golden Book (Simon and
Schuster) and was illustrated by Tibor Gergely. Several
animals -- a duck, a bird, a bee, a bear, a butterfly, a deer, a
rabbit, a squirrel, and a grumpy frog -- all live in and around
a pond. A drought dries up the pond and forces them to
travel to a lake, led by the duck. Eventually the rains come,
and they all travel back to
the pond.
Muriel Ward, Little Pond in the Woods, 1948. Little Golden Books (Simon and
Schuster), illustrated by Tibor Gergely. I put in this
solution a few days ago and neglected to include the clincher:
the first line of the book is, indeed, as set forth in the
request. The book begins, "Deep in the woods was a little
pond. Its water was blue -- blue when the sky was
blue. The sun made yellow paths on it -- bright sparkling
yellow paths that danced up and down when the breeze ran
past."
there was a Middle Button
written by Kathryn Worth and illustrated by Dorothy
Bayly: Doubleday 1941.
M32- I don't know how often books are given
the same titles, but I have an old book called The Middle
Button about a family in the South. The Middle
girl wants to become a doctor and in the process learns to
manage her selfish temper and her troubles with being in the
middle. It is by a Kathryn Worth and takes place
in 1880.
Sure! I remember it being in the
West, not the South, but I could very well be wrong. The
"become a doctor" bit sort of strikes a chord. I can't
afford more than $25-30 or so, but if you can find a readable
copy within that range I'd love to have it. Thanks!
I know this mystery is supposed to be solved
already under the title Middle Button, but I
distinctly recognize the description of the adventure where the
middle sister gets a box of candy and hopes the old lady she is
offering the box to doesn't take the piece she wants (but does)
and how the second layer of candy is all that favorite
piece. The book I read with this adventure in it was
called Little Rhody and it's a story of a girl
named Rhoda as she grows up. There is another adventure in
the book where the family is going on a train ride and their
mother makes boiled eggs for the children to eat on the train
(there are a significant number of children in the
family). Little Rhody's brothers get 2 eggs, Little Rhody
gets one. She thinks that's unfair so she eats one before
the train ride (it's awful, without salt) and then replaces the
eaten egg in the lunch basket with a raw one. On the
train, she retrieves the raw egg but on her way to dispose of it
the train lurches and she smashes the egg on the edge of another
passenger's seat, splashing raw egg all over the passenger (an
unforgiving lady) and her misdeed is revealed. She goes
through several such embarrassing/harrowing adventures as she
grows up and at the end of the book, she has a birthday (I
think) and the family starts calling her Rhoda (her given name)
instead of "Little Rhody." I recall it was a light lime
green paperback with a drawing of a young teenaged girl in
pigtails with a pale blue gingham dress.
Neta Lohnes Frazier, Little Rhody, 1953. I feel pretty confident that
my solution is correct and the name of the book is not Middle
Button, based on the event the person seeking the
book described. Little Rhody's birthday was June 14, 1875,
so the timeframe matches the one the person looking for this
book identified.
Patsy Scarry, Little Richard. Ill. Cyndy Szekeres. (McGraw, '70)
Could there have been a Disney movie based
on this in the 1950s? I think I remember watching this on the
Disney show.
The Little Riders. I
remembering reading a part of this story, up to the part where
the girl is discovered trying to hide the horse. The
hiding place was a door into a crawl space in the back of
someone's closet in the girl's house. The story takes
place in the Netherlands or a similiar country and Germans have
invaded the country. In fact, a German official is living
in the house. The horse or horses have some sort of
special significance and the father of the girl feels they must
be saved and hidden. The words "The Little Riders" keep coming
to my mind.
Here's the description of Little
Riders by Margaretha Shemin (Peter Spier
illus.) Juvenile audience, 76 p., c.1963. "An American
girl living in Nazi-occupied Holland resents the presence of a
German soldier quartered in her grandparents' home until the
night she tries to hide part of the town's treasured clock
mechanism."
published 1935 Little
Sallie Mandy and Tommy Whiskers author Helen R.
Van Derveer I am not sure, but maybe it is the one -
maybe she can identify through the title ?
I found another one I know about. Number T1,
about Tommy Whiskers, definitely refers to the Little
Sallie Mandystories, of which there were several. I
can't recall the author's name.
Martin, Bill and Bernard, Little Squeegy Bug, 1945. The Little Squeegy bug is sad because he wants to be a bumblebee with silver wings and a gun in his tail. His new friend Creepy Caterpillar takes him to Hauncy the Spider (who where a black tophat) who spins him silver wings, and then gives him a lantern to put in his tail, making him a firefly.' I also should add that if you are looking for Little Squeegy Bug, there is a new version out that has *very* different illustrations.
THE LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER by
Alice P. Miller. I went crazy trying to find this book
myself. I found out there are two versions - one illustrated by
John Lawrence, 1961 and the other illustrated by Lisl Weil,
1973.
That sounds like it.. I haven't
been able to find any mention or copies of that book on the
net, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. ;)
---
I was referred to you by some librarian friends. I am trying to
find a book for a friend. Here is her description of it: I
have no clue about the author or title, but Captain Kangaroo
used to read it on his show (in the 60s). It's about a man
who ran an ice cream shop, and for some reason his son (?) had
to take over for him, but he didn't make the cones the same way
- the father put in a little bit of ice cream first so there
would be ice cream all the way to the bottom of the cone.
thank you for any help you can provide.
I13: Ice Cream Business: Wow! I grew
up on this book (the Lisl Weil illustrated version) and never
knew it had any connection to Captain Kangeroo. Since this book
was published twice with two different sets of illustrations,
I'm curious which one Captain Kangeroo used. I sent in the
answer when someone else asked for this book - it's now on your
solved mysteries page under LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER
(by Alice P. Miller). And I am 100% sure of this - I own
both illustrated versions (no, not willing to sell them!)
This is fabulous! thank you so much, I passed it on to my
friend and she was thrilled. She has family in Cleveland
and said she will definitely stop by your store. I've left
it up to her to find herself a copy. Thanks again. I
think there should be a book which lists all the books that were
read by Captain Kangaroo. I just bought Caps for Sale
today for my daughter.
I am a Librarian (Virginia Beach Public
Library) and I've tried any number of sources and search tactics
to find this book - for years. I just used one of your
"Solveds" to end a years long search by one of my customers (it
was the Little Store on the Corner). And on
behalf of a staff of nearly 30 and one very happy customer, I
must say: "Thank You. Very much."
---
I had this book as a child, so it was
most likely published sometime in the early 70s or earlier
(possibly as early as the 30s or 40s). The story was
about an ice cream/candy shop owner who had to leave his shop
(for a vacation or some other reason). He left the shop
in the hands of his nephew (I think or some other young, male
relative). All the kids were so sad to see him leave
(even for a short time) and they did not like the nephew (or
whoever he was). The nephew served up the SMALLEST
scoops of ice cream and didn't give the kids candy and
balloons (I may have made up the last part). Anyway, the kids
eventually teach him how to scoop up the big huge scoops and
be a great shop clerk. By the time the ice cream man
returns, his nephew is doing a great job and he is so happy
about it. I cannot for the life of me remember
what the title was and would love your help!
THE LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER
by Alice P. Miller. See Solved Mysteries. There are two
editions with different illustrators.
This was a personal stumper of mine some
years ago, and I hunted high and low and finally found the
answer. It is definitely THE LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER
by Alice P. Miller. I found out that there were 2
different editions with different illustrations. John Lawrence
illustrated one, and Scholastic published a paperback copy in
1973 illustrated by Lisl Weil.~from a librarian
G32 and G44 Goudge, Elizabeth, Little
White
Horse, 1946. I'm pretty sure this is G44 - and
may well be G32. The beautiful illustrations are by C. Walter
Hodges. The story is about Maria Merryweather, a spirited orphan
who travels from London (with her governess Miss Heliotrope and
King Charles spaniel Wiggins) to the home of her uncle in the
valley of Moonacre. There she is helped by a (once supposed
imaginary) boy named Robin to right the wrongs of her ancestors
and restore peace to the valley. The little white horse of the
title is actually a unicorn, symbol for the "moon
Merryweathers", who must learn how to companion the lion or
"sun erryweathers" (yup, England's heraldic beasts) so
harmony reigns. The gnome or dwarf with geraniums is Marmaduke
Scarlet, her uncle's cook, who has kept them in secret after the
previous generation's moon and sun representatives (Maria's
uncle and mystery fiancee) quarreled and parted. The geraniums
play a key role in mending that quarrel. Yes, the story is a bit
twee, but I read it when very young, so I'm still rather fond of
it! :) My copy is the fifth impression, dated 1958, published by
the University of London Press.
Elizabeth Gouge, The little white
horse,1946.
University of London Press,-reprinted 1948 (released in Canada
thru CLARKE, IRWIN & CO LTD,480-486, University Avenue,
Toronto, no address for US. Bound in Mid-blue with gold
impression of unicorn on bottom right corner. Inside in flyleaf
there is a colour plate of "Maria's Own Room" in the tower,
complete with star in centre of ceiling. Excellent book, I
recently re-read it. A little sad for a 29yo. Just want a little
bit of childhood back.
G44 geraniums in windowboxes: my friend who
asked this stumper says "I finally found and re-read Goudge's
Little White Horse, which was just what I would
have fainted and died for at age 9 and was charming enough
even now. I can see how I compounded
various elements into the vivid mental picture I still have, but
that picture/scene never actually happened in that book." So I
think we can move that to Solved.
---
I am looking for a book that I read in
the time period of 1965-1969. I do not think the book
was written durnig that time. I seem to recall an old
looking hardback book. The book main character was a
girl, who either lived in a house near the woods or visited
someone there. The house had salmon pink geraniums on
the steps and maybe in the windows. There was also a
unicorn in the woods/forest. I would like to find this
book for my daughter to read.
Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White
Horse. The little
white horse turns out to be a unicorn, and geraniums come into
the story in several places.
Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White
Horse. Would it
be this one, by any chance?
---
Book number two was about a gnome, he
loved geraniums and grew them to proffusion. Again, no
author or title but the book was a material covered book like
the one above and probably had a dust jacket originally.
This one however had the most beautiful colour plate pictures
in it that were every childs love...least in my childhood they
were.
Just possibly - Mr. Garden
by Eleanor Farjeon, illustrated by Jane Paton, published
Walck 1966, 39 pages. "The story tells of a family's return
home after a long absence to find the garden a tangled jungle
until a strange little man appears mysteriously and makes the
garden more beautiful than it had ever been."
G32 and G44 Goudge, Elizabeth, Little
White
Horse, 1946. I'm pretty sure this is G44 - and
may well be G32. The beautiful illustrations are by C. Walter
Hodges. The story is about Maria Merryweather, a spirited orphan
who travels from London (with her governess Miss Heliotrope and
King Charles spaniel Wiggins) to the home of her uncle in the
valley of Moonacre. There she is helped by a (once supposed
imaginary) boy named Robin to right the wrongs of her ancestors
and restore peace to the valley. The little white horse of the
title is actually a unicorn, symbol for the "moon
Merryweathers", who must learn how to companion the lion or
"sun erryweathers" (yup, England's heraldic beasts) so
harmony reigns. The gnome or dwarf with geraniums is Marmaduke
Scarlet, her uncle's cook, who has kept them in secret after the
previous generation's moon and sun representatives (Maria's
uncle and mystery fiancee) quarreled and parted. The geraniums
play a key role in mending that quarrel. Yes, the story is a bit
twee, but I read it when very young, so I'm still rather fond of
it! :) My copy is the fifth impression, dated 1958, published by
the University of London Press.
This definitely is NOT Farjeon's Mr
Garden- no geraniums - or not in profusion, anyway!
Hiya, I have emailed you before to let you know that my
bookstumper was solved and is indeed The Little White Horse
by Elizabeth Goudge. I have since bought myself (a
reckless treat to celebrate!) a first London printed edition in
hardback. I cannot thankyou enough for yours, and your
website visitors help in bringing back my memories...there is
nothing more precious than returning to your childhood
imaginations. I cannot recommend your site enough...a GOLD MEDAL
TO YOU AND YOURS.
To the person from July 1997 looking for a
story of the little girl with a mean witch mother, and the girl
does spells to make a fairy appear (using colored powders), then
it turns out her REAL mother IS a fairy under the spell of the
mean old witch: It's Little Witch by Anna
Elizabeth Bennett original copyright 1953. The copy I
have is a Scholastic version illustrated by Lisl Weil with a new
copyright by Scholastic of 1961. I also lost my first childhood
copy, then found this one at a garage sale a few years ago! Hope
you can find a copy for your client; it is one of my all time
favorite books!
Thanks for the tip, here's a copy I have for sale:
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth. Little Witch. Illus. by
Helen Stone. NY: Lippincott, 1953. Twelfth printing, ex-library.
Pictorial boards, clean and tight. VG-. <SOLD>
[more requests for the same book!]
I am trying to find a book I loved as a
child. I read it around 1974. It is about a girl who is a
witch's daughter. What I remember about the story is that she
befriends a woman who is a beautiful fairy with a beautiful
daughter and she wishes this fairy was her mother. The little
witch's mother often goes out at night, dresses her in ratty
clothes and treats her poorly. I also remember the little witch
admiring the hair ribbons the fairy's daughter wears. At the end
of the book, the fairy does turn out to be her mother. Somehow
the girl was kidnapped when she was a baby. I have done numerous
searches and I believe the book is out of print. I would
appreciate any help I can in finding this beloved story. Thanks
so much!
You are a miracle worker! Yes, I am going to
buy the book! I am truly amazed you were able to find it since
all the search vehicles I used online turned up nothing. I am
recommending you to all my friends who are interested in finding
their own little piece of nostalgia. Thanks again!
Your site is the greatest discovery I have
made so far in this new millenium. I have often wondered how I
would be able to find this book. I only new the name of the book
and what it was about. I had bought the book for 10 cents, when
I was in second grade, at an old resale shop called " The Attic
". I am now 29 and would like to once again read about Miniken
(Minx). Thank You.
I have been trying to remember the name one
one of my favorite children's book since it "disappered" from
the school's library may moons ago. It was about a little girl
who was being raised by a very mean witch. She meets some
regular kids and together that start messing around with the
witch's magic powders when she leaves every day. Wonderful and
strande things happen as they stir up different potions from the
magical powders. One day they conjur up a fairy who tells the
little girl that SHE is really her mother and the witch has
imorisioned her and stolen her (the little girl). I cannot
remember the exact title, but I thought it had "witch's
daughter" or something similiar in the title. Can you help me? I
highly doubt that it is still in print anyway, but...
cannot thank you enough! I
so-o-o-o-o-o love the interent for its information exchange
cabilities. I NEVER expected to find the name of that long lost
favorite Little Witch. I have searced through the
children's section of every library I've been in for over 25
years, hoping I'd recognize a cover or picture... I almost cried
when I read the "Mysteries Solved" secton of your web site
because yes, this IS the book I've been searching for! Thank
you! Thank you!
My daughter is 7 and I am starting to
rebuild my library of books I remember and never should have
gotten rid of. Can you believe I just found a copy of Little
Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. She loved
it!!
---
This book involved a small girl that saw a beautiful princess
in the mirror whenever she brushed her hair. The girl was
being held captive by an evil witch who at some point threw the
brush at the mirror, shattering the mirror, and setting the
princess free -- who turned out to be the mother of the small
girl.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.1953. The story about the little girl who
sees her mother's reflection in the mirror could be Little
Witch.
M150: Little Witch? Except no
one throws a brush at the mirror and it's only the spell that
gets broken, not the mirror itself.
M150 Sounds like LITTLE WITCH
by Anna Elizabeth Bennet (appears on Solved Mysteries
page) ~from a librarian
This sounds like Little Witch
by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. The witch had raised the
little girl as her own daughter, but the fairy in the mirror was
really her mother.
This was actually answered by W-84 which is
the same story. The girl with the colored powders is the
daughter of the princess in the mirror. What sets the
princess free is the evil witch throwing a hairbrush at the
mirror because that is where the little girl witch always sees
the princess.
---
Hi~ I am looking for a book about a witch-I cannot remember the
name or author. It is a book I loved as a child, I read it
in the early to mid 1970's. The main thing that I remember
is that the neighbor is a witch who has many jars of colored
powders for spells. I wish I could remember more as I did
love it so--any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953 and 1961. This may not be the same
book that the poster is thinking of at all, but the colored
powders part sounds like a scene out of Little Witch. Nine
year old Minx is a witch's child, but not a witch herself. She
is forced to do horrible things she doesn't want to do, such as
making Black Spell Brew. Her evil "mother" witch has "jars
of magic powders and liquids on the shelves. There were
hundreds of them, all different colors". This is just a
tiny detail in the book, but it was a detail I always enjoyed,
because I wanted to have hundreds of different colored magic
powders, too. Anyway, Minx later discovers that her
real Mother is a fairy who has been bewitched by the evil
witch.
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch, 1953. This is definately it.
This could be Little Witch by
Anna Elizabeth Bennett - a very popular book. It wasn't
a neighbor who had magic powders, but Minikin's (the daughter)
own "mother" who actually isn't. She uses different colored
powders to try to make a beautiful fairy appear, but it takes a
few tries.
The colored powders mentioned in W84 might
refer to Little Witch.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1963. This one is on the Solved Mystery
page.Sounds just like this book--my favorite part was
always when they experimented with the colored powders!!
Sounds like Little Witch by Anna
Elizabeth
Bennett, 1953. It's in Solved Mysteries. Wonderful, clever
and very original for its time (especially Frances' grandma, I
think), but try to get the edition with the more sophisticated
drawings.
This sounds like Little Witch.
There's
a
lot
more
to
this
story
but
the
little
witch,
Minikin Snickasnee, uses the colored powders to cast a spell to
help the enchanted lady she sees in the mirror.
Coombs, Patricia, Dorrie and
the Blue Witch,
1964. Could be any one of the "Dorrie the Witch" stories.
I loved them so as a child in the 60-70's.
---
If I remember correctly, this was a fantastic book for
children, a slim paperback that may have had short chapters with
a few black and white ink drawings for illustrations. It
was about a little girl named Lavinia (I'm about 90% sure of
that). I believe that Lavinia's mother had been a good
witch, but either died or disappeared into another
dimension. Lavinia either lives with or visits the old
house, where her two evil aunts still live. I think
Lavinia has to find her mother's old spellbook, and at some
point she or the aunts make a potion. In the end I think
it turns out that Lavinia herself possesses some power for good,
and she may make the aunts disappear into another
dimension. But of one thing I am almost certain: her name
was Lavinia!
#L59--Lavinia, little witch girl?: In
some ways sounds like Little Witch, by Anna
Elizabeth Bennett.
---
I have just a vague recollection of this book, but what I
remember is still quite vivid in my mind. It was a
children's book that involved a witch whose "pantry" was filled
with magic potions of all sorts of different colors, maybe
pastels? My memory is that the potions were like chalk and
kept in bottles -- something like the tempera paints that we
used to have in elementary school. The children have some
sort of an adventure where they possibly have to mix the potions
together for some unremembered purpose. I am 51
years old, so my elementary school years would have been early
1960s. I went to grade school both in Long Island, New
York and Abilene Texas.
Anna Elizabeth Barrett, Little Witch,1953. Maybe this book, which appears in the
"Solved Stumpers" section?
bennett, Little Witch. The witch "daughter" and her friends mix
together powders and conjure up several creatures trying to find
a fairy.
This might be it: Little Witch Anna
Elizabeth
Bennett,1953. "Minx hates being a witch's daughter, and
sneaks off to school to make friends. But her wicked mother
threatens to spoil everything, until a beautiful face in a
mirror reveals who Minx really is." As I recall, there was
quite a deal about her mixing powders of different colors to
find some solution to her problems as well.
---
1950's. A series of books (I think
it was a series) of a witch (a good one I think) who had
flower pots on her window sill that she had turned into
flowers from children.
Bennett, Little Witch again. Check Solved Mysteries.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch. See more about this book on the Solved
Pages. The witch (Minx's adopted mother) in this has turned
children from her village into flowers and she keeps them in
flowerpots by her window, so this detail definitely
matches. But she's a bad witch, not a good one. And
I don't think this is part of a series. So this may not be
it.
---
This book featured a wicked sorceress who
turned children she did not like into flowerpots (I
think). Her name was something like Madame
Snickernee. I found this book in my elementary school
library in 1960 or so and have been looking for it for
years. I would imagine that the protagonist was not the
sorceress but rather (presumably) some child or children, but
every detail of the book not mentioned above has gone out of
my memory. I will be extremely grateful to anyone who can give
me the title and/or author! Many thanks.
With a name like Snickasnee, it has to be Anna Elizabeth
Bennett's Little Witch. Illus. by Helen Stone.
NY: Lippincott, 1953. See more on Solved Mysteries.
Wow! Thank you so much for that swift solution. Little
Witch--and I thought I must have hallucinated that
flowerpot angle! I am going to submit a more difficult (I
fear) stumper soon--another fragment that's been haunting me.
What a wonderful resource you offer.
---
I read this book in elementary school (1967-1974). It was
about a young mistreated girl who lived with 2 cruel
witches. She was treated like Cinderella having to do all
the housework. She talks to a woman in a mirror and it
ends up being her mother who was imprisoned there by the witches
(I think). She is befriended by a child/children and they
experiment with the witches brightly colored potion powders,
etc. That's all the details I can remember.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little
Witch. Again! See
Solved Stumpers.
Anna E. Bennett, Little Witch. Definitely Little Witch, by Anna E. Bennett. I
had forgotten the name too and found it again when someone else
posted a stumper here some time ago!
This is "Little Witch" by Anna
Elizabeth
Bennett.
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little
Witch, 1953.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch,
1953. This has to be Little
Witch, by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. Minikin (Minx) lives w/ Madam
Snickasnee, a wicked witch, whom she believes to be her mother.
Minx wants to be a normal child, and finally sneaks off to
school, where she makes friends with the other children. She
teaches her friends to ride her broom, and together they
experiment w/ Madam Snickasnee's magic colored powders. The
powders cause various creatures to appear, including a centaur,
a water nixie, a fairy, and the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who helps
them free a bunch of other children that Madam Snickasnee had
turned into "flower pots" (potted plants) with her Black Spell
Brew. The beautiful woman whom Minikin occasionally glimpses in
the mirror is a nymph named Moonfire, and she is Minikin's real
mother. Madam Snickasnee had enchanted her and stolen
Minikin, when she was a baby. At the end, Minikin breaks the
spell, freeing her mother, and Madam Snickasnee is turned into
an anteater.
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little
Witch. Description
matches exactly except there is just one witch.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch,
1953. See more on the
Solved Mysteries "L" page!
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch,
1953.You probably read the
Scholastic version from 1961. Madame Snickasnee turn boys and
girls into potted plants. Minx, her supposed daughter,
spends her time trying to free the lady she sees in the mirror
with Madame Snickasnee's colored powders. The lady turns out to
be Moonfire, a fairy and Minx's mother.
---
I think this may have been a Scholastic
book, I read it in the early 1960's or even the 1950s (late).
We ordered these books through our school. It was a soft cover
book about a girl who saw a beautiful woman in a mirror in her
room. The mirror was full length, oval and set on a
stand. The girls supposed mother in the story was a
witch, dressed in black, who made her work hard, doing
housework and such. By the end of the book the girl
discovers the beautiful woman is her real mother and then
somehow frees her from the mirror, a spell put on her by the
witch. On the cover I think there was a drawing of the girl
looking at the woman in the mirror, the woman in the mirror
looked somewhat spritish. Hoping you'll know what this
one is. Thanks.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953. This sure sounds like Little
Witch. The little girl's name is Minikin (Minx
for short) and the wicked witch with whom she lives (and whom
she believes to be her mother) is Madame Snickasnee. Minx
wants badly to go to school and have friends like a regular
child, so she sneaks out of the house. She and her new friends
experiment with Madame Snickasnee's magic powders, summoning
assorted creatures, including a water nixie, a centaur, a fairy,
and the pied piper, who rescues a group of children whom Madame
Snickasnee had turned into "flower pots" (potted plants) with
Black Spell Brew. When Madame Snickasnee finds out, she tries to
turn Minx's friends into flowerpots. The beautiful lady that
Minx sometimes sees in the mirror is a nymph named "Moonfire,"
whom the witch had enchanted when she stole the infant Minx.
Minx breaks the spell and sets her real mother free by saying,
"I love you" to the reflection. At the end of the story, Madame
Snickasnee perjures herself in court, and is turned into an
anteater. I'm sure this is the same book, but the cover of mine
has a different picture - Minx riding on her broomstick,
illustrated by Helen Stone. The only picture inside the book
that shows Minx looking in the mirror shows a smallish mirror
atop a bureau, not a full-length mirror, and it is Minx's own
reflection in the mirror in that picture. There is another
edition of Little Witch, illustrated by Lisl Weil, which shows
on the cover Minx holding a broom, possibly sweeping, with
Madame Snickasnee standing on one side of her, and Scorcher, the
black cat, on the other. There may be other editions as well,
that do show the mirror on the cover?
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch. I'm sure this is in solved mysteries.
M366: Little Witch by Anna
Elizabeth
Bennett. See Solved Mysteries. BTW, there were two
illustrators for the book, and one - the prolific Lisl Weil
- died at age 95 in February of 2006. The other was Helen
Stone
(you can google their artwork). By the way, Bennett
was born in 1914 and is possibly still alive in 2006 - in
Southampton, NY! She only wrote one other book, I think. Don't
know if it's a kid's book or not.
Anna E. Bennett , Little Witch, Scholastic (August 1976). Madame Snickasee
is a witch who's fond of turning local townfolk into flowerpots
when they get in her way. Whe daughter Minx goes to school and
makes some friends, her investigations into the magical potions
in the house lead to surprises and a happy ending for Minx.
Little Witch. I don't
have any other info, but I also remember the mother in the
mirror, smiling at the girl. I'm pretty sure this is the same
book.
--
This was a children's book I remember
reading around 1976 or so. There was a young girl (early
teens?) being held by a witch (I think against her will?), and
every night the witch went out, and told the girl not to leave
or use any of her things. And every night the girl used
the witch's cauldron and some of her test ingredients - they
were either powders or liquids, all different colors. I
remember one night the girl used red and yellow together, and
they didn't mix, they stayed on opposite sides of the
cauldron. I believe that one made a clown? The girl
might have been named Blanche or Blythe.
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little
Witch. See Solved
mysteries.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch. (1956 approx) Sounds like Little Witch,
see solved mysteries L. Minx is an unhappy little girl,
mistreated by the evil witch, not allowed to have friends. When
the witch mother goes out at night, Minx uses the witch's
colored powders and cauldron to try and conjure a good fairy to
help her. The witch turns the neighbor children into flowerpots
when they bother her.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch. (1953) This is definitely it. See the
solved page for more details.
Girl tests witch's ingredients -
Sounds like Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth
Bennett, again!
---
I remember loving the following book in
first grade, which was 1969 - 1970. It was about a little girl
( a little witch, I think) who lived with a very mean witch
whom she believed to be her mother. She was very
unhappy. The mean witch used to go out and leave her at
home by herself, and sometimes she would see a sad, lovely
lady in a mirror, who turned out, in the happy ending, to be
her mother. At least, I think it goes something like
that. There is pretty definitely a mirror involved, and a
mystery about this mysterious lady. I would love to read this
book again. Thank you so much if you can help.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch,
1953. Details match
exactly.
The book is without a doubt Little Witch
by Anna Elizabeth Bennett.
This sounds more like Little Witch
by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Lippincott, 1953.
Unless it was also published as Weeny Witch?
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little
Witch.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch
Thank you, I did figure out that this was
LITTLE WITCH while searching the site
before the book stumper was even posted, but I also discovered
that I'd read and remembered WEENY WITCH, so now I
will get both for my nine-year-old daughter. Thanks to
all who helped!
Lorna Balian, Sometimes it's Turkey,
Sometimes it's Feathers. A little old lady, Mrs. Gumm, finds an egg in
the forest. She and her cat watch it hatch, then eat everything
in sight. The implication is that they're fattening it up for
Thanksgiving, but then the turkey ends up eating at the table
with them. A long shot, but the drawings are line
drawings, and the pages are a darkish brown color.
Sometimes it's Turkey, Sometimes it's
Feathers isn't the correct book. Thanks for the
suggestion. Maybe someone else has an idea?
I remember the witch walking through the
forest/woods in one of the illustrations. I don't think she's
a mean or scary witch. The story might have something to do
with her broom? Or maybe a potion? And I didn't mean to be
confusing about the look of the book. The cover might be
brown, but the pages are white. There are simple pencil line
illustrations, though. That's the one fact I'm sure of.
Ida DeLage, The Old Witch and the
Crows, 1983. If
there's a chance that the witch lived in a cave, maybe this is
the one you're looking for? The old witch disguises
herself as a giant crow, to help the King of the Crows drive off
a great horned owl who has been terrorizing the crows &
preventing them from sleeping.
The Old Witch and the Crows isn't
it, either :(
Chris Van Allsburg, The Widow's Broom, 1992, copyright. This is a very, very
long shot, especially as it was published in the early '90s, but
here's hoping you got the date wrong! A witch's broom loses its
flying power, and she crashes in an old lady's garden. The witch
leaves, but the broom stays with the old lady and turns out to
be alive. I becomes her friend. Good luck!
Otfried Preussler, The
Little Witch, 1979, reprint. I've solved my own
stumper after almost one year! After countless searches, a
friend on a message board solved my mystery. This book was
written in German and translated to English. I think it was
written in the late 1950s to early 1960s. I was right; there
is a raven in the book. His name is Abraxas. The little witch
is told to be good by her older sisters, who leave her behind
for a while. So the little witch helps people and does good
deeds. When her sisters return, they're angry at her for being
so good. Being good to a witch acutally means you're supposed
to be bad. It's a really cute story!
I'm pretty sure this is The Little
Wooden Doll by Margery Williams Bianco. Plot
summary: "A charming story about a wooden doll that had been
left in the attic for many years, and although the mice were her
friends, she wished to be loved by a child. How the animals help
her to find someone who cares for her is very resourceful."
D74 doll in attic: I think The Little
Wooden Doll, by Margery Williams Bianco,
published first in 1925 and frequently reprinted, had an edition
come out with a wooden doll to match the character. Perhaps the
1961 or
1965 edition.
---
I loved this book when I was a child (pre-1950). A carved
wooden doll was unwanted because she was too sharp (I'm not 100%
sure of the title). Through her experiences over time, her
features became softer and she finally found a good home with
someone who loved her.
Could be The Little Wooden Doll,
by Margery Bianco, illustrated by her daughter Pamela
Bianco, published Macmillan 1925, reprinted several times. It's
about a wooden doll who isn't very pretty, and is left in the
attic
with spiders for her friends.
Another possible is Nobody's Doll,
by Adele DeLeeuw, illustrated by Anne Vaughan, published
Little Brown 1946 and 1955, 85 pages. "The curious adventures of
a wooden-headed doll and Mr. McHugh, a Scottie." "An
old-fashioned doll encounters mishaps
aplenty until Mr. McHugh, a dour Scotty dog, befriends her."
D67 doll too sharp: this actually looks like
a better bet - Victoria Josephine, by Margaret
Baker, pictures by Mary Baker, published Dodd, Mead 1936.
Victoria Josephine is "an old wooden doll dressed in a strange
looking gown of white muslin" sent to Diana
by her great grand-aunt Jessica. Diana is a rough little girl
who doesn't want "an ugly old doll" so the puppy takes Victoria
Josephine out to the woods to see the world
instead. She is almost eaten by a cow and a
baby, is swept up by a crossing-sweeper and tossed into a rose
arbor, found and remade into a sailor doll with a new nose. Then
she is 'lost at sea', floats past cows
and fishing children and finally comes to
shore where Diana is picnicking. Diana is very happy with a
sailor doll and ready to "take him home and love him because he
was nearly drowned." The illustrations are silhouettes,
which might help confirm or disqualify this
possibility.
---
This is a book about a doll who is abandoned by a little
girl. She throws it out a window where it lies in the
grass. Eventually it is pitied by Fairies maybe, or birds,
etc. who dress it in spiders webs and foxgloves and beautiful
flowers. I think the book is pre-1950's. In the
1970's it was reissued in a box with a doll included.
Anyone know this book?
Vaguely reminiscient of Dare
Wright'sTake Me Home or The Little One,
but I don't believe those abandoned dolls ever get dressed.
Margery Williams Bianco, Little Wooden Doll,
1925. I submitted the query "Abandoned Doll".
Going through your submissions I found Little Wooden Doll
which had a photo accompanying it..and Viola! it was my
book. I got a lot of the info wrong--memories aren't
always that good. Thank you for your web sit.
---
my sister had a small book, blue cloth cover (i think) about a
small wooden doll who had been forgotten in a cabin or something
like that. Mice found her and helped her get back in shape
and was given to a little girl. There were illustrations
on every other page or so. Would like to find the name to
give as a gift to my sister.
Bianco, Margery Williams, The Little
Wooden Doll,
1926.
Book Stumper S58 about Susie and ballet
could be On Your Toes Susie by Lee Wyndham.
I can't really remember the story but the title sounds right on.
The cover blurb for On your toes,
Susie! makes me think it isn't the right one.
Susie has waited three years and finally gets pink toe shoes,
but now has to compete against the new girl, Mimi. And
then Susie sprains her ankle just before the big recital (oh,
no!). However, there is "A note to parents" by the author
at the end of this book that indicates this is part of a series,
which began with A Dance for Susie, in which she
received pre-ballet training at age six. Other books in
the series are Susie and the dancing cat and Susie
and the ballet family.
Other details that might help tell if this
is the right series: Susie's surname is Peters the
school is Miss Mara's School of Ballet. Miss Mara has a
French poodle named Coco. the city is Ferndale.
this sounds like a good bet - The
Littlest Star, by Sally Jackson, illustrated
by Dick Martin, published Chicago, Reilly & Lee
1961, 32 pages. "An Easy-to-Read Picture Story. Each and
every year thousands of little girls enter the enchanting,
magical world of ballet dancing. Susie is one of those little
girls who, clutching her leotard and slippers, knows how it
feels to be on the sidelines while she watches the older
children succeed. Readers of all ages will rejoice as stubborn
Susie finds her first success. Here is a book which any first
grader can really read alone. Ages 4-8, 8 1/2 x 11" (HB
Feb/61 p.101 pub ad) The illustration shown is a line drawing of
a little girl wearing a rabbit-eared cap and wide frothy tutu,
her hair in two braids, curtseying. One of her slippers is
undone.
S58 susie and ballet: more on one suggested
- A Dance for Susie, by Lee Wyndham,
illustrated by Jane Miller, published Dodd 1953, 56 pages. "Susie,
younger than the other girls in her neighborhood, was left out
of
everything and had begun to think there
was nothing a six-year-old could do. Then one day she saw in a
magazine a picture of ballerinas just her age. How she entered
a dancing class, studied hard and surprised her friends at the
school talent show makes a happy story." (HB Aug/53 p.275)
However, I'd put more money on The Littlest Star,
by Sally Jackson, after seeing pages shown on EBay. It's
an early-reader level story, and Susie is in class with her
older sister, when she is offered the part of a bunny in the
performance (they need a small child). Susie is told she will
only need to hop, and says she can hop and she can dance too.
Winifred Watson and Julius M. Nolte, A
Living Grammar,
1938. I don't know the poem (I learnt a different one at
school), but I typed the first line into Google, and got two
hits. One was
this site. About half-way down is a review of
"A Living Grammar". It quotes the first few lines of the
first chapter, which happen to include the first few lines of
the poem. I expect the book itself contains the whole
poem.
Yes! This has to be where the poem
comes from. Thank you so very much. Another
mystery solved.
?John Benton. I wonder if the
series you're thinking of has anything to do with the Walter
Hoving Home (a Christian organization) in New York which takes
in young women with drug/alcohol etc. problems. I know the
organization used to publish small paperback books with the
stories of the young women and the titles of the books were
often the girls' first names. I think John Benton, the founder
of the organization, wrote the books.
Here are the books in Benton's
series: Augie (1984) / Candy (1983) / Carmen (1983) / Cindy
(1978) / Connie (1982) / Crazy Mary (1977) / Debbie (1981) /
Denise (1983) / Jackie (1981) / Julie (1981) / Kari (1984) /
Kristi (1985) / Lefty (1981) / Lisa (1986) / Lorene
(1985) / Lori (1980) / Marji (1980) / Nikki (1981) / Patti
(1978) / Renee (1986) / Rocky (1985) / Sheila (1982) / Sherri
(1980) / Stephanie (1983) / Suzie (1979) / Vicki (1981)
John Benton, Living Hope Library
Series,
1977-1986. John Benton wrote a series of inspirational
books (identified as either "true life stories" or "Christian
fiction") about young women in trouble. According to
various on-line sources, titles include Marji, Marji and
the Gangland Wars, Marji and the Kidnap Plot, Crazy Mary,
Candi, Lori, Nikki, Carmen, Cindy, Sheila, Kari, Jackie,
Renee, Lisa, Julie, Lorene, Valarie, Stephanie, Connie,
Tasha, Patti, Sherri, Sandi, Denise, Debbie, Terri, and
Suzie. Many of these titles were reprinted in
1994 as part of the Living Hope Library Series. I haven't
read any of these and cannot comment on the contents.
Living in AMERICA Today and YESTERDAY by Prudence Cutright and John Jarolimek (editors) Macmillan Co.(1969) The town is Kingston and when the old fashioned ice cream freezer is delivered to the King's trailer the man also brings a large box of ICE!! Through the character of Old Timer a great deal of history, especially history of Native Americans, is explained in detail. The book does a wonderful job showing how a community slowly evolves and with it the need for schools, fire department, police, TAXES etc. This is the book!
S7 Liza Lou & the Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer, 1976 A little black girl has to go through the Yeller Belly Swamp to run errands for her mother, but there are dangerous creatures lurking there - including the swamp monster that the girl talks to while standing on a wooden bridge.
Daniel Pinkwater, Lizard Music, c. 1976. Definitely.
Daniel M. Pinkwater, Lizard Music. If the names Walter Cronkite, Claudia,
Chicken Man, and Reynold ring bells for you, it's gotta be one
of my favorite books of all time - Lizard Music.
Daniel Pinkwater, Lizard Music, 1978.
The Lost Doll by Pegg
Mann, Random House, 1972, 54pg., illus. Could this be the
book? "With the help of a number of city officials, Emily
finds her very special lost rag doll."
Adelberg, Doris, Lizzie's Twins,
1964. I think this is the
one -- I still have my childhood copy at home (liberally
scribbled-in, unfortunately), since it was my favorite preschool
book. I haven'\''t looked at it in years, but I recall the main
character lost her prized doll, and it had a line illustration
of the lost doll similar to the one described. Lizzie ends up
with two dolls -- her "twins" -- since her parents buy her
another one in an attempt to console her. She'd forgotten
her doll because she'd started playing with a friend or
something. If I recall correctly, she finds the lost doll
herself after a whole season or so has passed -- upside down in
a tree stump. If this is the right book, e-mail me and I can
actually dig the book out, verify my fuzzy memories, and give
you any info you need.
This makes me think of the "Galldora" stories,
which
are
British.
The
name
is
an
anagram
of
"A
Rag
Doll." There may be more than one book - I read some of the
stories in the British kids' magazine "Treasure" from the 1960's
or early 1970's. The doll, who can think and talk, is always
getting lost, which leads her into adventures (even though she
can't actually move on her own, IIRC).
I think the second guess posted on the site is probably as
close as I'm going to get ... the person who responded offered
to look up the book if I thought it might be the one ... since I
can't find "Lizzie's Twins" by Doris Adelberg or Doris Orgel,
I'd like to ask the person is s/he would be able to post a photo
from the book or something ... or even if s/he can confirm the
title/author (since I'm finding NOTHING).
D86 doll lost: here's more info if that
helps - Lizzie's Twins, by Doris Adelberg and
N.M. Bodecker, published NY Dial 1964. "Unexpected events
befall Lizzie's doll Beatrice, told in gay verse and captivating
pictures." If the illustrations are by Bodecker, who did several
of Edward Eager's books, they should be fairly distinctive line
drawings. Does the seeker remember whether the story rhymed?
Russell Hoban, London men and English men, 1962. Three children, playing at being London men, English men, and Madame Rose Mary Rose, travel across the sea to hunt whales, play golf, and have tea, before leaving on another journey--to school.
Malcolm Saville, Lone Pine Series, 1950s. Could this be one of Malcolm
Saville's mystery series - Lone Pine or Witchend?
I reckon the books your correspondent is
searching for is the series about The Cherrys by
Will Scott (I think that was the author's name). They
were excellent mysteries as I remember. There was a whole
series, the first being The Cherrys of River House.
Hope this helps
B101 Blyton-like series: The Malcolm
Saville books seem more likely, being about young
friends who solve mysteries, rather than a family as the Cherry
books are. They're also a very easy read, similar in style to
Blyton's
Famous Five and Adventure
series.
Malcolm Saville. I thought some
more info might help decide if this query is in fact the lone
pine series. The lone piners were:David, Richard
(dickie), Mary, Petronella (peter), Tom, Jenny, Jonathon and
Penny. They were accompanied by Macbeth - black scottie dog.
Some of the books were mystery at witchend, seven white
gates, gay dolphin adventure, lone pine five, secret of grey
walls, lone pine london. There were lots more and he
wrote several other series as well.
Maybe the Enid Blyton type story is A
Young Warrender by Ivy L Wallace, characters
- Di & Derry, Christopher & Caroline (both sets of
twins) & Belinda (Binkie).
Lone
Swimmer, Haunted Island
Series of paperbacks featuring
either Cindy or Skipper or both, presumably spin-off of the
famous dolls. Mystery/adventure series, one of which was
set in Capri, and another set in Scotland, latter featuring a
character called Angus. I guess aimed at 9-12 year
olds. I don't think there can have been many
printing runs as I have never come across a second-hand copy
in over 35 years (and I have looked! My query was about a series of mystery/adventure
books published in the 60s/early 70s featuring I think
Skipper - of the Mattel doll family - one story set in
Scotland and another set in Capril??
As a long-time Barbie doll collector whose
specialty is Skipper dolls, I can tell you that none of the
Random House/Wonder Books Barbie and Skipper doll stories
published in the United States fit your description.
However, that doesn't mean that there weren't European
exclusives that I don't know about, and there might have been
Sindy doll stories published in England. Also, the Ideal
Tammy dolls also had their own lines of books, which is
another possibility.
1967, approximate. Note that the doll's name is
spelled Sindy. There are six "A
Sindy Adventure Story" books, published by Young World Press
around 1967. LIGHTHOUSE MYSTERY CURIOUS CLOCK DOWN
TEXAS WAY DESERT ESCAPADE LONE SWIMMER HAUNTED
ISLAND.
Solved: Lone Swimmer,
Haunted Island et al. Sindy Adventure
Series Sindy Adventure
Series is right. Once I saw The Lone Swimmer and
Lighthouse Mystery the titles rang bells for me. Many
thanks to whoever solved a 40 year old mystery for me!
Next hurdle is to try and get copies of these books....
Dare Wright, The Lonely Doll. Lipstick on the mirror sounds like The
Lonely
Doll, but in that book it was Edith (the doll) and
Little Bear who wrote "Mr. Bear is a big silly" with lipstick
there are no children in the book. It (and its sequels) is
illustrated with b/w photographs.
Dare Wright, The Lonely Doll, 1957? The book had a pink and white checked
cover and black and white photographs of Edith, the lonely doll,
who writes on a mirror with lipstick.
Dare Wright, The Lonely Doll, 1957. if it's not this one, it might be
another of wright's books.
For more on Dare Wright, and available books for sale, visit the Most Requested Pages.
Lonely Doll Learns a
Lesson
I had
this book in the early 60's about a little girl who stays in
bed sick one day and her teddy bear cuts her hair off.
The illustrations are beautiful rosey-pastel photographs of a
doll and teddy bear posed to represent the characters, and it
was very easy reading.
Dare
Wright, The Lonely Doll
Learns a Lesson, 1961. In this book from
the series, Edith the doll neglects her friend Mr. Bear when she
gets a new kitten, but when she ends up in bed with the chicken
pox, she realizes her failure to be a true friend.
I think this is one of
the Lonely Doll books
by Dare Wright. That was a very popular series -- should be easy
to find.
Dare
Wright, The Lonely Doll series, 1950's-1960's. This
sounds like one of "The Lonely Doll" books, about the doll
Edith, Mr. Bear, and Little Bear.
Dare Wright, http://www.darewright.com/ This
sounds like a Dare Wright book. The author led an odd
life. Her books/stories were told with photos. She has a
website with an extensive bio.
Dare
Wright, The Lonely Doll Learns a Lesson, 1961. Pretty sure this is The Lonely
Doll Learns a Lesson, one of the Edith, the Lonely Doll stories by Dare
Wright. It might be the one that caused all the controversy when
Edith got spanked by Mr. Bear!
SOLVED: Dare Wright, The Lonely Doll Learns a Lesson
Wier, Ester, The Loner. McKay 1964. Pretty sure this is it. "He
has no home, no name, nothing. Once he remembers, there was a
mother who was nice to him, but that was too long ago." "A
touching story of a young boy with no name, no home, no parents,
who makes his way in life." He is taken in by a woman sheep
rancher called Boss, who names him David. Later published by
Scholastic, and a Newbery Award winner.
Ester Wier, The Loner. Although this book's
publisher and date are Scholastic and 1991, I wonder if it's a
reprint, because this is what I was looking for. I found it on a
list of books &c for children about homelessness.
---
I can only remember that the boy is either a runaway or orphan
(he is locked in a shed of some kind before he escapes?) and
during his adventure he meets a friend (on a farm?) who
eventually dies in a farming accident (possibly a hay baler).
Could have been written anytime from the seventies to the very
early nineties. Seems like the target was for young adults. Wish
I remembered more. I was in the 6th grade. Please help!
Esther Wier's 1962 Newbery Honor
book, The Loner, includes such an incident right
at the start. The boy wasn't locked in a shed but he did live
alone on the fringes of migrant society.
Ester Weir, The Loner. That's the book! Thank you
so much, it's been driving me crazy.
Henry Alain- Fournier, Le Grand
Meaulnes (the
Wanderer), 30's - 40's? Try this book. It
may be the one
L8 -- This one I'm almost certain of: Hill,
Weldon, Lonesome Traveler. 320 pages.
McKay, 1970, LC 75-114740 "Clem Marlow, on his way from
Eastern Oklahoma to visit his tubercular mother in New Mexico,
isn't a very lonesome traveler. He has the constant, splendid
company of Duke, his dog, and Pedro, his burro, besides the
almost daily meeting of new people: Gaylord the black
motorcyclist who turns up several times and shares Clem's most
unpleasant experience of the trip; Ken Whittle, the truck
driver who drops mail, doughnuts, and news from back home;
Dixie, with whom he falls in love; and many others. Though a
boy on his own trip is no new idea, Clem Marlow has an
engaging personality, and his story is fun to read." (School
Library Journal Book Review, 1969-70)
L8 lonesome traveller: the suggested title
seems like a very close match by title and plot. The only
differences are Oklahoma instead of Oregon and burro instead of
pony.
The Long Secret. Sequel to Harriet the Spy.
You'd remember the girls being "newly teenaged" because part of
the story concerns "puberty stuff."
Fitzhugh, The Long Secret, 1965, copyright. Definitely The
Long Secret, a sequel to Harriet the Spy.
I loved this - even more than the first Harriet book.
While at the beach for the summer, Harriet tries to uncover the
author of mysterious religious notes that appear all over town,
and which make her ponder her own beliefs, and Beth Ellen meets
the mother she last saw when she was four years old.
The Long Secret, sequel to Harriet
the
Spy?
THANK YOU!!! best $2.00 i've ever
spent! and even though I remembered several lines from the
first page, almost verbatim, I couldn't find this book or any
info on any of the search engines. wow! I've been
thinking of this book for years! ....now what'll I wrack
my brain about?
Long Way to Go, A
A paperback, mass market sized
young-adult fiction, probably published in the 70's. It's
entitled something like JOURNEY OF THREE or THREE JOURNEY HOME
and is about three children who are on vacation with their
parents. They're left in the hotel baby-sitting service while
the parents go shopping and the parents
never show up to get them. The
hotel is planning to turn the kids over to social services the
next day, and the kids sneak out
during the night and try to make it homeon their own. The rest of the book is about
their journey accross the country trying to evade authorities.
En route they acquire some animal companions, a duck, a dog
and a horse, I think, and these animals were in the original
title of this book. The cover has a picture of the kids and
the animals with the ducks wings spread open.
I think the title of this book is The
Long
Journey
Home or The Long Way Home. And
I think the author is Borden Deal. I have this
book on my shelf at home and I'm certain it's the same one; they
collect a dog, goose and mule along the way. The kids'
names are Ashley, Brett and Shane, and their journey starts out
somewhere in the Florida Keys. **Later...
OK, I have the book in front of me now, and
I was close. It is indeed by Borden Deal, entitled
A Long Way To Go. My paperback copy was
printed in 1967 by Avon Books, copyright is 1965 by the author
and originally
published by Doubleday.
Also J6 is not Journey For
Three. Journey for Three is about a
determined young girl whose parents were missionaries in foreign
countries. Her parents died of a jungle disease. She has two
younger 'brothers' that her parents picked up in thier travels,
one a little boy from India who dresses like a Native American,
carries a blanket, has read the Golden Bough and prides
himself on acting very grown-up, and a blonde toddler who went
by the nickname 'Fat Buttery' who doesn't like to wear clothes.
They were sent back to the United States and she is trying to
keep them all together as a family. They show up at her adult
cousin's house hoping for a place to stay. He doesn't want to
take them in because he's a writer and bachelor who values his
solitude and privacy.
J6 journeying kids: the Borden Deal book
sounds
like an awfully close match, has the original poster ever
responded?
---
I am trying to find the name of a book.. the synopsis is:
3 children are on vacation with parents on coast of fla.
kids are left with hotel babysitter. parents are
involved in accident and have nothing on them to indicate where
they are staying. hotel is about to turn kids over to
social workers but kids hear and decide to walk home to ga.
(about 500 miles). story is about adventures along
their journey home. it's a great book on self reliance.
Borden Deal, A Long Way To Go, 1965? This is on the solved pages under Long
Way
To Go, but I'm pretty sure the correct title is A
Long Way To Go. I loved this when I was
little, and I can't find it now on the Internet for under $80 or
so. I seem to remember that the little girl named her duck
Mr. Man or something like that, but I can't remember the
ending. I'd love to find a copy to read again that doesn't
cost a fortune.
Dorothy Canfield, Understood
Betsy, 1916. The poster's description varies
somewhat from this book, but the basic plot is similar.
Betsy lived with her great-aunt and adult cousin in the city
since she was a baby. When her aunt gets seriously ill,
she ends up with her great-aunt and uncle and adult cousin from
the other side of the family in the country. While she
dislikes it at first, this family doesn't coddle her her and she
learns to be self-reliant and starts to love it there. Her
kitten is Eleanor and she ends up staying on the farm when the
original cousin gets married.
Dorothy Canfield, Understood Betsy. No, sorry, that's
not it. There weren't any older relatives, just the young
girl and the youngish (early 30's?) aunt. Thanks for
trying though.
I'd put a small amount of money on this: The
Long
White Month by Dean Marshall,
illustrations
by Theresa Kalab / Published by E.P. Dutton 1942 "Little
Priscilla Newell lives with her aunt Millicent in a
well-staffed apartment in uptown New York. She is loved and
well cared for and managed to the point where she is not sure
of anything, except that for just once she would love to have
an unplanned day, rely upon herself occasionally, and not
worry about taking cold. Then, one day, Aunt Millicent is
obliged to go to California for a rest and Cousin Susan takes
over… Now Cousin Susan lives in a log cabin in the woods of
Connecticut, and she and Uncle Roger, Priscilla's guardian,
are good friends. Uncle Roger takes Priscilla out and buys her
sweaters and snow suits and all the things she has always
longed for. (Aunt Millicent preferred smocks from Liberty's.)
Then, in the midst of a thorough-going blizzard Cousin Susan
and Priscilla set out in Susan's car, for the little house up
in the woods. Priscilla is to remain there for a month while
further "plans" for her future are being made. What a month it
is for the city child who has dreamed of just such an
adventure, but has never experienced it! The bird lore alone
in this delightful book is enough to recommend it to any young
reader. Priscilla learns to build fires, to cook, to darn
stockings, and sew on buttons. She makes friends with the many
birds who flock about the little house in the snow, and when
Uncle Roger brings her a book of bird pictures she learns to
identify each. The pleasant Prescott family, up the road , are
an added attraction, and the 'long white month' passes all too
quickly. At last there are signs of Spring, and now again
'plans' must be made. Priscilla is desolated for she wants to
stay with Cousin Susan. It develops that she may for Cousin
Susan and Uncle Roger are to be married when spring comes and
live in the big farmhouse across the road from the Prescotts'.
The little house in the forest will always be there to use for
week-ends, so the story has the happy ending all little girls
demand." (from the dust jacket)
THAT'S IT! I've been trying to remember the name of this
book for about ten years! How do you do it?! Anyway,
I'm thrilled just to know it actually exists because I was
starting to think there was no such book, but just out of
curiosity, you don't have a copy, do you?
---
The Long White Winter, 1946?
Aunt Millicent, who was the guardian of Priscilla, became ill
and Priscilla had to apend the winter with her cousin(?) in
the Maine woods. For the first time, the seamstress did
not come in to make Priscilla smocked dresses for school, but
her cousin took her to a department store and they got all
sorts of warm clothes. The winter describes the birds at
the feeder, making snow ice cream and all that neat stuff to a
kid from Hawaii. The last time I read the book was from the
Eugene OR public library in 1972! I have been unable to
find it at abebooks or alibris under the name above.
I believe you have the title correct, but I couldn't find it
either. Written by Marshall? Something like that?
Or Walter Dean Myers? Not that
I can find this anywhere...
Dean Marshall?, The Long White Month? Is this any relation to The Long White
Month in your Solved section? I don't know
either book, but they sound similar.
A-ha! Yes! That's what I was thinking of! It is
hard to find, but at least I know it exists. Illustrated by
Theresa Kalab, published by Dutton, 1942.
Dean Marshall, The Long White Month, 1942.
---
When I was a little girl I used to read a
book and cannot remember much about it. I read the book in the
mid 70's. There was a girl who got suet from the butcher to
feed the birds in her yard so they wouldn't starve. I remember
it was very cold and snowy and at night she would warm bricks
to put at the bottom of her bed to keep her feet warm. I also
remember that she would leave the window cracked and wake up
with icy breath. I can't remember anymore about the book but
remember that I always enjoyed it and would love to find it
again.
This has to be The Long White Month by Dean Marshall. A little girl who has always lived in a big city goes to spend the winter with her aunt in a cabin deep in the woods. Another relative sends her bird feed, suet, etc. and she makes a bird book of her own by studying the birds she feeds. The aunt warms her bed with either hot bricks or an old-fashioned bed warmer.
Dean Marshall, The Long White Month. (1942) I sent this earlier in the
week--don't know if you received it. G339 is The Long
White Month by Dean Marshall, one of the best children's
books--ever!
To the person who wrote in regarding my stumper: Thank
you - Thank you! The Long White Month is the book
I've looked for all these years - I've just read a summary of it
on a Dean Marshall website!!! I can't wait to buy a copy
of my own! I can't believe I remembered the little girl's
name after 45 years. I've wanted to live in the country
ever since.
P107: Look Out For Pirates!
by Iris Vinton, 1961. A Beginner Book that's quite
entertaining.
---
There is a childrens Pirate book that i read in 1971 that I've
been going crazy over trying to locate for over 20 years.
The cover and the pages were the same stock as the Dr. Suess
books. i believe it was called "Pirates Gold;"
maybe. There is a deserted island and the pirates send a
diver to the bottom for their treasure with an old time diving
helmet and an airhose. The cover of the book has yellows
and blues in it and the pirates are on a tropical beach. I
heard about you guys on NPR here in Los Angeles and thought the
service was TERRIFIC!!! Thankyou
There is a 1961 Random House Beginner Book called Look Out for Pirates! by Iris Vinton.
Condition Grades |
Vinton, Iris. Look Out for Pirates! Illustrated by H.B. Vestal. Random House Beginners Books, 1961. First edition, glossy pictorial boards, chid's writing on dedication page. VG. <SOLD> |
m47 is The Looking Glass Factor
by Judith Goldberger.
I'd just like to add that I saw a page from
this book illustrated on EBay and yes, it shows a girl and some
human-sized cats 'merging' into a wall or something similar.
Looks interesting!
---
Cats merging molecules with inanimate
objects The main character is a girl who is friends with two
cats. It's set in the future and the cats are human size, walk
on their two back legs and talk. And they are conducting
experiments merging themselves with inanimate objects (the
cover of the copy I ad showed the two cats and the girl,
and one of the cats was partly merged into the wall). It opens
(I think) with the girl rushing home from boarding school at
the urging of the cats because they've had this big
breakthrough in their study of how to merge (one of the cats
is 'in' the wall). I was fascinated with the descriptions of
how it felt to have the molecules of your body interact and
co-mingle with those of a wall. Also, when I reread it as an
adult I was shocked to read a passage that I think was
describing her dad eating pot brownies (?) Please help!! I
would love to have a copy of this (my friends think I'm making
it up) Thanks.
Judith M. Goldberger, The Looking
Glass Factor, 1979.
A young girl and two feline friends continue the research of a
famous scientist who experimented with a mental process known as
merging.
The Looking Glass Factor. I
think this is it! Do you have any copies of it for sale? I did
find it online, but I'd like to give you the business if
you've got a copy or can find a copy for me. Thanks!
Christine Noble Govan and Emmy West, Lookout
Mystery
Series,
50's-60's. This is definately the series you are looking
for. It features a group of kids living in Lookout
Mountain, Tennesee, who call themselves the
Lookouts. The older kids had a group called the Cherokees
but they're getting older and not as active in the club
anymore. I'm not sure of the specific title you are
looking for in the series. Here is the list I have:
Mystery at Shingle Rock (1955), Mystery
at the Mountain Face (1956), Mystery at the Shuttered Hotel
(1956), Mystery at Moccasin Bend (1957), Mystery at the Indian
Hide-Out (1957), Mystery at the Deserted Mill, Mystery at
Ghost Lodge, Mystery at the Echoing Cave, Mystery of the
Dancing Skeleton, Mystery of the Vanishing Stamp (1962),
Mystery at the Haunted House, Mystery at Plum Nelly, Mystery
of the Fearsome Lake (1960), Mystery at Rock City, Mystery of
the Snowed-In Cabin (1961), Mystery at the Shuttered Hotel,
Mystery at the Weird Ruins.
Thank you for solving my stumper. I am most interested in
Mystery at Rock City, but would like to collect entire Lookout
Club series. Please let me know if you have any
copies or when you get one. Thanks!
---
This is a series of books I read from the
library. A group of kids living in some small country town-
all who ride horses and who solve mysteries. I think some are
siblings- the kids are split into an older and younger group,
but I think they actually worked together. NOT Robin Kane. One
mystery I remember ended with one of the club members riding
into a fair or exhibition on a fire engine in order to get
there in time to catch the bad guys and save his sister.
Trixie Belden series.
Maybe these? Here's a link.
Trixie Belden Series,
1940s? This is just a guess, but could it have been a book
from the Trixie Belden series? The series featured a group
of adolescents - Trixie Belden and her three brothers, her rich
friend Honey and her adopted brother, and one or two others -
who lived in a small semi-rural town in the Hudson Valley.
They rode horses and solved mysteries in every book. They
also had a club called the "Bob-whites" and had a special signal
and wore matching jackets. I don't remember the particular
story you cite, but I didn't read all of them.
Julie Campbell and Kathryn Kenny,
Trixie Belden Series. This is just a guess
but could you be thinking of the Trixie Belden series of
mysteries? Trixie has two brothers and her best friend, Honey
has one adopted brother. Trixie has another friend but she is an
only child. The whole group rides horses in many of the
mysteries - the setting is in upstate NY town called Sleepyside
and Honey's parents are rich and own horses. I don't remember
one with a fire engine but it has been a long time since I've
read them.
Govan and West, Lookout Mystery Series. -OOps-
should have said that it wasn't Trixie Belden. But it's
ok, I already found it on another page of this site. I was
thinking of the Lookout Mystery Series. This is
absolutely it- I could tell as soon as I started reading the
entry. I have confirmed it by looking at covers and synopsis on
a few websites. Thanks
Condition Grades |
Govan, Christine Noble and Emmy West. The
Mystery at Shingle Rock. Illustrated by Frederick T.
Chapman. Sterling, 1955, 5th printing. Ex-library copy in library binding with usual markings. G. <SOLD> |
|
Cecily Mary Barker, The Lord of the
Rushie River. If
it was a very small book it might be this one. The little
girl, Susan, is abused by the people she is placed with when her
father goes to sea, so she goes to live with the swans on the
river. At the end, when her father is homeward bound with
a lovely embroidered dress for her, the king swan flies over his
ship and snatches it, to take to Susan who has outgrown her old
dress. Beautiful illustrations.
I posed the stumper and this does indeed seem to be the correct
book. I also discovered it has a sequel! Thanks very much, a
wonderful service.
David McKee, Lord Rex, the Lion Who
Wished, 1973. Just a
guess based on the description: "A lion, longing for the
features of various animals, has all his wishes granted and
becomes a ridiculous-looking animal."
Pène du Bois, William. Lion. Viking Seafarer, 1956. angelic artists
design new animals for earth; the lion starts out being a
mixture of other animals with different colors, but ends up as
we know it; by award-winning author/illustrator.
I've got a copy of Lord Rex: The Lion
Who Wished and I'm sure that's the right book.
Lord Rex met a butterfly and wished he had wings like
hers. And since she is "a magic butterfly I can grant you
just one wish. You have made your wish and now you have
your wings." And he flies around with his new wings until
he gets bored. When he meets an elephant he wishes for a
trunk and since the elephant is "a magic elephant, I can grant
you just one wish. You have made your wish and now you
have your trunk." And so on.....he gets a beautiful tail
from a magic bird, strong legs from a kangaroo, and a long neck
from a giraffe. But when he looks into a pool of water and
sees a strange creature, he laughs "I certainly don't wish to
look like you." Until he realizes he's looking at his own
reflection and gets upset. Luckily he meets a magic lion
and gets changed back into himself and is happy.
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe. I
wanted to suggest this book because of some similar elements in
the description. The poster might check to see if this is it!!
Chase, Mary, Loretta Mason Potts, 1990, reprint. I've never read the book
myself, but I believe that Loretta does cross a bridge to get to
her secret land (and that there's a problem when she tries to
take a doll across).
---
Author's last name around mid-alphabet, early 1960's. The
family visited a farm to buy fruit, but the older sister refused
to go back home. Little brother and sister are at the farm to
find her. They explore the bedroom she has been using and
find a secret tunnel in the closet. They follow it and as
they cross a bridge at the end they feel dizzy and
strange. Then the castle appears. Sister is living
it up with the fairies. Brother breaks a teacup at the
castle and hides it in his pocket. Back at the farm he
finds the cup but it is as small as the tip of his finger.
Brother and sister figure out that they shrink when they cross
the bridge. They save older sister from the evil faries by
wading across the river and staying full sized.
M224 This is LORETTA MASON POTTS
by Mary Chase. It's on your Solved pages. ~from a
librarian
I'm pretty sure that this book is Loretta
Mason
Potts by Mary Chase.
Chase, Mary Ellen, Loretta Mason
Potts
Chase, Mary Ellen, Loretta Mason
Potts. Once again...
(what *is* it about that book that it stays in so many people's
memories?)
I have been looking for this book for 30
years. I even went so far as to browse the Library of
Congress. THe librarian there suggested I contact you. How
wonderful! I loved this book so much I think I checked
it out of the library over and over again. Unfortunately, when
we moved, I forgot about it and could no longer remember the
title. So, thanks again. You have made me very happy!
---
Some children discover a bridge behind the house they are
staying at - when they cross the bridge they become small and
interact w/faeries? I wish I could remember more.
Chase, Mary, Loretta Mason Potts. Also published under the title Colin's
Naughty
Sister. Loretta is a "bad" girl. She's been
raised with the milkman, and when brought home keeps running
away to be with her friends in a mysterious castle. It turns out
that when she (and later her brothers and sisters) cross the
bridge, they are shrunk to a small size.
B340 LORETTA MASON POTTS
by Mary Chase, 1958.~from a librarian
Check out all the other people who have
searched for this book in "Solved Mysteries" under L for Loretta
Mason Potts, or C for Colin's Naughty Sister.
I looked for it for 35 years until I found this wonderful web
site.
I have been wondering about these two books for a long long
time ... and now I have both the titles and authors and plan on
trying to find them. Your service is a wonderful thing and
I am so pleased ... thank you so much.
Durell, Ann, Lost Bear, 1959. I just googled this: "Lost Bear.
by Ann Durell. illustrated with photographs by Desmond Russell.
1959 Doubleday & Company. The story of Little Brown Bear who
lives with 13 other animals in The Very Back of Beyond & how
he wishes to be loved by a person.... Illustrated with
photographs of stuffed animals -- I believe the bear may be a
Steiff bear." Here's a link
to a picture of the cover.
Ann Durrell, Lost Bear, 1959. Could this be the one? Photographs
by Desmond Russell. Cover shows a light brown Steiff bear
climbing a slender tree trunk, looking over his left shoulder,
against a sky blue background.
Durell, Ann, Lost Bear, Doubleday, 1959. Illustrated with photos
by Desmond Russell, cast of characters provided by Magarete
Steiff. I saw a copy for sale - the cover shows a blue sky
with a bear climbing a tree branch.
Durrell, Ann, Lost Bear, 1959. photographs by Desmond
Russell. Cover features small Steiff bear on tree branch -
photos appear to be color
Ann Durell, Lost bear, 1959. Lost Bear by Ann Durell and
illustrated with photographs by Desmond Russell and published by
Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York I think this
may be your much sought after book!!! The bear is in the
woods with many animals (i.e. lion, tiger, rhino, monkey that
are all like stuffed animal looking in the photos) and some
dwarfs. The good dwarf has a white beard and a feather in
his hat. The bear is crying and no one knows what to
do. The dwarf is very wise and says that the bear needs a
small person to love him. The dwarf says "You must leave
the Very Back of Beyond and find a house with a white fence
around it. In the house you will find a small
person." The bear is tan and carries a red and white
knapsack. I hope you will be as lucky as I was on this
site and that this is your long missing book.
Five answers, all the same right
book. What a wonderful thing you have set up - it seems
like magic. I am so grateful to you and everyone who
answered. I'm especially moved by the person who sent in
the long, loving description. Many, many thanks to you
and the answerers.
Chafetz, Henry, The Lost Dream, 1955. This book has drawings by Ronni
Salbert and is definitely a children's book.
I e-mailed you yesterday about a book that I was looking for. I
am pretty sure that I have discovered the title. Lost In
the Barrensby Farley Mowat. I haven't picked
up a copy yet, but I am almost sure that is the book that I was
trying to recollect. Sorry I e-mailed you a little too soon, but
thank you for your service and I will stop by your website from
time to time and see if I can help with anyone else.
---
The book concerns two teenage boys, one
white, one Native, who follow an expedition in northern
Canada. They become separated from the main group and end up
spending a winter in the Canadian Arctic. It's a
survival story.
Mowat, Farley, Lost in the Barrens, 1957. I think that L67 and Y12 might be
the same book.
Farley Mowat, Lost in the Barrens.
#L67--lost on Canadian tundra: Lost
in
the Barrens, by Farley Mowat, paperback
title Two Against the North. This and
possibly its sequel, The Curse of the Viking Grave,
have been filmed. Don't remember titles of the films but
the actor who played one of the boys, I think the native,
Akavak, had the last name of Shields. A search at Internet
Movie Database for
Shields or for Farley Mowat would probably
find these movies.
---
The book is about a boy on an adventure in Canada's
wilderness. I remember the city The Pas, in Manitoba,
Canada was in the story. The spelling Pas is
correct. I read the book in the late 1950s.
Mowat, Farley, Lost in the Barrens, 1957. I think that Y12 and L67 might be the same book.
Miriam Cohen, Lost in the Museum
THANK YOU , THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I'll start searching
immediatly!! If I find it, I'll be sure and let you know. At
least I have somewhere to start now. You are TOO kind!
THANK YOU!!!
Have you checked out Julie of the Wolves by Jean
Craighead
George? It's not as early as what you describe, the
rest of the details match.
It doesn't sound familiar but I'll check it out. Thanks
for getting back to me!
#Y3--Yukon: Sorry, but though similar
in plot, Julie of the Wolves was published in
1972--WAY too late to be this book. James Oliver
Curwood was a writer of many titles about Alaska, after
Jack London, before Walt Morey and Jean Craighead George, and
WELL before Gary Paulsen! He is worth a try as the author.
Perhaps - Lost Island by Nora
Burglon, illustrated by James Reid, published Winston
1939, 261 pages. "A story of Alaska for older girls. Solvig
Salstrom is left on her own after her father fails to return
from the hunt for a lost Arctic flyer. Solvig manages a team
of outlaw dogs, is shipwrecked on a lonely island, and finally
succeeds in finding her father." (Children's Catalog
1956)
I'm the one who submitted the inquiry
about the girl lost in the Yukon with her team of sled dogs
(listed as Y3), and I want to thank whoever it was that
suggested I try Lost Islandby Nora Burglon,
illustrated by James Reid. The description sounds just
like what I'm looking for. Haven't had a chance to track
the book down, but I'm willing to bet this is it!!!
Thank you, thank you. I can't tell you how many friends
and librarians I've pestered with my questions on this one!
Madeleine L'Engle, Many Waters, 1986. A long shot--I don't
remember anything about pyramids, but this book deals with
time-traveling back to the days of Noah.
The format described sounds like an Ace
Double. Perhaps the searcher could find a familiar cover or
title on
this site.
Roger Dixon , Noah II, 1970. I suspect this is NOAH II by Roger
Dixon. A
cover scan can be seen here. This is a 1970 Ace pb
original. The drawback is that it is *not* one of the
long-running "Ace Double" series from that publisher this
is a solo title and not a back to back one. But since Ace
was publishing mostly doubles at the same time, perhaps
requestor is remembering it as a double even if it isn't?
Also of possible interest: a short story, "Deluge II" by
Robert F. Young, whose depiction on the cover of the
October 1961 issue of FANTASTIC STORIES OF THE IMAGINATION shows
animals marching two by two through heavy rain into an
arc-shaped space ship. But while this story may have been
subsequently reprinted, it was never expanded into a full-length
novel. This one is from memory I can't find a cover
image of the issue on the net.
I have recently tracked down 'Noah II' by Roger Dixon.
Looks like a good read but this is not the book I'm after. In
the book I'm after there is no time-travelling. The first
section is just a sort of prologue / introduction to the main
story which is set in the 'pre-flood' times, as previously
mentioned. The 'flood' occurs when an atmospheric capacitor is
built in the polar region and overloads because it is too close
or could even be over the Earth's magnetic pole. The more I've
though about this story the more I recall (I only wish it was
the title that I could remember).
I have found out the answer to my request listed under S262:
Sci-Fi Take on the Ark and the Flood. The title is 'The Lost
Millennium' by Walt and Leigh Richmond. It is indeed
an 'Ace Double' (H-29) as was previously mentioned. I didn't
recognise it from the illustration when I first checked them
out, and the book has since been re-issued under a new title,
'Siva'.
Patricia Coombs, The Lost Playground,1963. The story of Jane and her stuffed animal named Mostly. Illustrated with sweet black and white drawings by the author. I still have this book as it was one of my childhood favorites.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away Lake. 1957.
This
was
a
Newbery
Award
winner.
See
more
on
the
Solved
Mysteries page.
Hate to disagree with you, but this
description doesn't sound like Gone Away Lake at
all.
Thanks so much for posting my books. I just wanted to let
you know that D151 is NOT Gone Away Lake. You know I
actually thought to include in my description that "THIS IS NOT
GONE AWAY LAKE." But I thought it would be obvious that they are
not the same so I didn't. Since I wasn't clear in my first
description I will try to clarify. - Gone Away Lake is
about a young brother and sister who come upon the former lake
while on vacation. - Mystery book is about a teenage girl and
her family who live in a rural area near where this lake
sometimes is. - Gone Away Lake is about an actual
deserted lake resort. - Mystery book is about a lake that never
stays around long enough for a resort to be built around it.
Sometimes it's there. Most of the times it isn't. The location
can't even be mapped. People just sometimes come upon it. And
when they do it's a real lake, not a former one. When it goes it
leave no trace of where it has been. Seeing it was almost like
an omen that something good was about to happen to the one who
saw it. - Gone Away Lake is not a romance. - Mystery
book had elements of romance since the main character, the
teenaged girl, is in love with a slightly older neighbor and as
the book ends the reader is told he will wait for her to grow
up. I hope these clarifications will help someone identify
it. The other thing I remember is that in the library from which
I checked out both of these books Gone Away Lake was in
the juvenile section and the mystery book was in young adults. I
think it was in the same book shelf but several rows up from
where the Lenora Mattingly Weber books were, which means the
author's name may have been mid-alphabet. Thanks again for
your wonderful service!
Melcher, Marguerite Fellows, The
Lost Pond, NY: Viking
1956. This is one I suggested for another stumper (Jennifer
Wish) long ago, but perhaps it's right this time! The
Lost Pond, by Marguerite Fellows Melcher,
published Viking 1956, 190 pages. "A New Hampshire
village in the 1890s is the setting for this story of Pauline
Franklin's 15th summer in the beautiful old house to which the
Winn sisters brought their families every year. There are
exploring trips in the woods, a reception and dance for an older
cousin, a County Fair, and various family activities but
the story centers around Pauline's growing up, ... She knows
that Lost Pond, so deeply hidden in the mountains that it is
almost impossible to find, has a special secret meaning for all
who do come upon it, and at the end of this last summer of her
childhood she herself finds it ..." (HB Dec/56 p.460)
I’d really have to see The Lost Pond to know for
certain if it’s the one I’m trying to find. Regardless it sounds
like a book I would like to read. Although it has been
many years since I read the book I am trying to find I had
thought it was set in contemporary times, which then would have
been the 1960s. But I will try to find a copy of the book just
to make sure. Thanks again!
Please put D151 down as solved with a condition, if that’s
possible. I recently found a copy of Marguerite Fellows
Melcher’s The Lost Pond and am certain I have read it.
I’m now wondering if my memories have combined this book with
another similar one, but still not Gone-away Lake. So
while one mystery remains solved I hope your readers will
suggest any other book(s) with which they are familiar that may
have a similar theme. Thanks!
O3--The Lost Race of Mars.
About a boy who lives in a colony on Mars. I got this from
a school book order in '68 or '69.
Harriett, Hello and THANKS A MILLION for
your reply! I would be SO happy if I could get this book
for my brother! Do you have any suggestions as to what I
can do to purchase it? Also, how can I thank the person
who posted the info. on my "stumper"? Thanks in advance for
taking the time to respond and for ALL your help!
Wondering about this, because the Silverberg
book is a 'chapter book' and the book described sounds more like
a picture book or early reader. My guess would be either the
Wonder Book Tom Corbett a Trip to the Moon 1953,
by Marcia Martin, which has dark-haired Tom, a redheaded
boy and blonde girl in space suits, or Peter and the
Two-hour Moon 1962, by Hazel Corson, where a
boy visits a space station, or You Will go to the Moon
1959, by the Freemans, which has a brown-haired boy in a
space-suit.
Bianca
Bradbury,
Lots of Love, Lucinda. Could
this be the right book? "When Corry and her family read
about a program of inviting Southern Negro students to go to
school in the North, they think it's a marvelous idea. And when
Lucinda Jackson accepts their invitation, they're even more
excited. But now things
aren't working out exactly as they had planned. Corry finds her
social life changing, and she's changing, too, in a way she
finds it hard to explain to her family...or to Matt.
SOLVED: Bingo! You have hit the
jackpot. I can't thank you enough. I have been
searching for this book and another one I found on your site for
ten years or more. I just got lucky one day finding your
site.
I have in my hands here Lots of
Stories, by Rowena Bennett, illustrated by
Sally de Frehn, published Racine, Whitman 1946, 382 pages, 74
stories and poems, including (in stumper order): A Golf
Ball Goes to School p.366 - Mary and Jill find two
golf balls on the way to school. Mary takes the battered one and
unravels it in school while the schoolmaster MacFadden, called
"Mister Mac" teaches all the classes in the one-room school.
Suddenly there is an explosion, because Mary has jabbed the core
of the ball with her pen-knife and the compressed air escaped.
Mister Mac thinks one of the boys has brought a gun in and asks
each of them, but not the girls. Mary confesses and Mister Mac
"laughed so long and so hard that sometimes I hear his laughter
in my dreams even now." Lucy and the Leprechaun
p.259; The Little Red Goblin p.294; Big
Ruth and Little Ruth p.211; Rob Roy
(and Katherine Kalahan) p.227 (Rob Roy is also in The Rhyming
Cat p.151); Peter and the Pumpkin p.287; There is
no story about an Old Roadster, but The Roadster's Secret
p.146 is about a new blue roadster with a rumble seat. Miss
Hintamaster and Miss Toothpick are paper doll "old maids" cut
from advertisements on How to Get Thin and How to Get Fat, and
they appear in the story Mother's Game p.76; Down
the Chipmunk Hole (Estelle the French doll rescued
by chipmunks) p.97; Grandma's Story (redheaded
Jane learns to like her hair and name when Bonnie Lynn admires
them and stops others teasing) p.116. The book measures
roughly 7.5" x 10.5", board cover is grey, with the title in
yellow letters. The head and shoulders of a boy are shown
emerging from a black circle. He has a book lying open in front
of him and a bowl of bubble-mix, floating above are big bubbles
showing characters from the stories, including an elf, a dog
with a ball, a bunny with eggs, a boy skiiing. More bubbles are
shown on the back cover, containing a rainbow, a jester with a
lute, a frost elf, and a kite with a clown face. The edges of
the pages are a bright pinky-red, so that opened the book does
look pink. (I'd almost suggest it for H32 hot pink
pages, but that book was new in 1965-72 and had a white cover)
also T73 tree unhappy with self: the poem described,
called The Unhappy Fir Tree, appears on p.352 "A
fairy walked in the forest/ She heard a fir tree whine/ The
other trees don't have to wear/ sharp needles such as mine." "I
wish that I had golden leaves/ That glittered in the light/ The
fairy waved her wand and changed/ The fir tree overnight." The
golden leaves are stolen, the glass leaves broken, and the green
leaves eaten by a goat, so the tree asks for its needles back.
"And thank you for your magic gifts/ You merry woodland elf/
You've taught me that it's best for me/ Always to be myself."
This may be the same poem appearing in Children's Stories
Selected by the Child Study Association, also
published by Whitman, 1950.
---
G103: This is one story in a book of stories. The book
was hard bound, about 8.5 x 11 overall, glossy gray cover, and
1-1.5 inches thick. It did have illustrations, although
they were not the focal point. The goblin boy lived
under/in a mountain and the little (blonde?) girl rescued him?
turned him into a good real little boy? c. 1954.
#G103--Goblin boy saved by girl: No
idea of the solution, but check out The Tam Lin Pages.
This sounds like a much more juvenile version of the story, but
is obviously the same idea. Not long ago there were
several threads at rec.arts.books.childrens at Google Groups,
which can be accessed at www.deja.com on The Red Shift
by Alan Garner and other "Tam Lin" inspired stories. This
one might either appear on that list or should be added to it
when solved.
G103 & 104: These both sound like The
Princess
and the Goblin by George MacDonald, from the
1870s.
G103 Bennet, Rowena, Lots of
Stories, illustrated by Sally de Frehn, Racine:
Whitman, 1946. Sounds like the story "The
Little Red Goblin" on p.294. The mountains
are inhabited by little red goblins who do wicked deeds all
night. One goblin befriends a little blonde girl named
Mara and has such fun playing with her that he doesn't keep up
his wickedness. He turns out to be Hobkin, Prince of Chimney
Mountain, but decides to give it up and become human. When the
other goblins turn Chimney Mountain into a volcano to destroy
Mara's valley, he decides to put an end to the goblins (by
giving their blind fish eyes so they can't be caught!). He is
starving into invisibility when Mara gives him the flower from
her hair, which turns into the white flower they've been seeking
to turn him into a human, and he becomes a handsome young boy.
G103/04 For me, this was an example of being
disappointed when I reread it. Macdonald, George. The
princess
and
Curdie. cover illus by EM Pilborough. Chariot
Books, 1882, 1979.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle, 1945. Another possibility, though a
longer shot. On the "Solved Stumpers" page.
I submitted this Bookstumper and want to
let you know the Rowena Bennet book Lots of Stories,
Racine: Whitman, 1946 is indeed the book I was
seeking. "Little Red Goblin" is the story.
John Christopher, The Lotus Caves, 1969. I believe this is the one you are
looking for. I remember it being about two boys who live in
Bubbles on the moon. They take a kind of buggy out exploring the
surface of the moon and end up crashing into some caves
that have a sentient plant life. Great book by a great author.
Sounds a lot like The Lotus Caves
by John Christopher.
I have two possiblities... The First
one is Journey Outside, by Mary Q. Steele,
published in 1969. "The Raft People live in darkness and
travel a circular journey on a underground river. One boy finds
his way outside and tries to learn as much as possible so he can
ultimately lead his people there to the Better Place." The
second one The Lotus Caves, by John
Christopher, also published in 1969. "Rebelling
against the monotonous life of the moon colony, two boys go
beyond its boundaries and discover a series of caves ruled by a
super-intelligent plant-like being." Good luck!
Wow! You guys are awesome! I've been looking for this for
twenty years and you solve it over a weekend! I love this
site!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you !!
Please disregard the solution I
submitted for this stumper - I completely missed that the book
was purchased in the 70's. The 26 Fairmont Ave series
wasn't started till much later than that. That said, Tomie
dePaola may still be the author, though he was doing much more
illustration than authoring in the 60's-70's. The
requester can try looking at the list of
his work to see if any titles ring a bell. Sorry I
couldn't help after all!
Tomie dePaola, 26 Fairmount Avenue. Not sure if this is what the requester is
looking for - Tomie dePaola wrote a series of children's books
called _26 Fairmount Avenue_ that fits the general description
provided. The dandelion bit rings a bell for me but I
can't recall which book I had read - I'd recommend the requester
take a look at one of the first four books in the series, as I
read it some time ago and the books were published starting in
2000.
Joe Vergara, Love and Pasta, 1968, approximately. Could this be Joe
Vergara's "Love and Pasta"? An excerpt appeared in Reader's
Digest, December 1968 as "I Give You Mr. Charley American". See
if the names Joe, Al and Wheezer sound familiar - the narrator
and his two brothers. Their father was a constant source of
embarrassment - wouldn't use a cash register at his shop, and
was indignant when they called dandelions "weeds" because they
could be used in salad. At last the boys realize their dad's
behavior is in the true spirit of American individuality.
I just bought a copy of Love and
Pasta and it is indeed the book I've been
wanting. Thank you so much. This site provides
such a great service.
The short story is called Love Is a
Fallacy. It can be found in The Many Loves of
Dobie Gillis by Max Shulman.
I'm so excited! I have looked for this for years, but
with neither title nor author, I got no 'forrader.' Thanks
to your terrific service, I now have both title and author, and
using that information was able to find the short story I
particularly remembered online- within days of asking my book
stumper. You have an unbeatable concept with this
page. Thanks so much!
Anglund sounds right, but Library of
Congress lists 101 titles, and bookfinder has a great
many, but none sounds quite right. My copies of Love
is a special way of feeling are not it. Closer is
a tiny one called Pour toi, a poem of Untermeyer's
translated into French. You might check with her
publisher, Harcourt, or the publisher of Pour toi:
French & European Publications, email address:
frenchbookstore@aol.com {a very special store in Rockefeller
Plaza]
Joan Walsh Anglund, Love One Another,
1982
Conford, Ellen, Anything for a
Friend, 1979,
copyright. This is definitely the book about Wallis, who
moves around a lot and always has to explain about her unusual
name. I remember asking my dad about the whole Duchess of
Windsor thing and why the potential king had to give up his
crown to marry her. I loved this book growing up, and all of Ellen
Conford's books which are laugh-out-loud funny. Only
thing, I don't remember her winning anything but the requester
may have mixed this up with another Ellen Conford book The
Luck of Pokey Bloom who was always entering
contests.
Ellen Conford, The
Luck of Pokey Bloom, Anything for a Friend,
1975, 1979, copyright. Thank you, you're
brilliant! No wonder I could never find it since the
only two details I was certain of were actually from different
books!
Definitely sounds like THE LUCKIEST
GIRL by Beverly Cleary. ~from a librarian
Cleary, Beverly, The luckiest girl. The girl came from Seattle and was teased
for her "webbed feet." Publisher New
York, Morrow [c1958] Summary A young girl
leaves her home and friends in Oregon to spend her exciting
senior year in a California high school I love your
site - boy this one brought back immediate memories!
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl
I remember this book as well... I read it in
1969, I think. I believe the setting was the 1950s, and the
raincoat the girl's mother got for her was a pink one with a
velvet collar. The girl made a list of things she would do
when she became a mother herself in order to "improve" on her
mother's "shortcomings." I believe the list changed
at the end of the book as the girl achieves
a higher level of insight and understanding. I think I
remember that she had a crush on a boy named Philip at the new
school who had a sunburned nose (he turns out not to be such a
nice boy after all). Sorry this isn't the title and
author, but I thought perhaps someone else out there whose
memory might be jogged if they saw more details.
This is definitely Beverly Cleary's The
Luckiest
Girl. I remember reading this when I was in
high school and still have a copy buried in my dad's attic along
with the rest of my children's books (3 cartons full)!!!
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest
Girl I haven't
read this book in a million years, but I'm pretty sure it's
right. I think she wanted a pink rain slicker.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl, 2001, reprint. One of my favorites,
and will probably be in reprint forever. I especially
enjoyed how Shelly blossomed once she was out from under her
mother's thumb. I found this book long, long ago when I
was a rebellious teen and I cheered!
---
I read the book in the early 70's. It was about a
teenaged girl who goes to stay with a family whose live are more
casual than she is accustomed to. One night of the week
dinner is always leftovers, with a platter of scrambled eggs to
"fill in the cracks". She tries pizza for the first time,
calls it a "spicy, cheesey, tomatoey dish". Falls for a
popular boy but has nothing in common with him, then realizes
she enjoys being with another boy, not popular, but nice.
The last evening of her stay she is sitting on a swing, knowing
she is leaving the next day, but happy for her chance to
experience her first love.
Beverly Cleary, The luckiest girl. (1958) Shelley Latham spends her junior
year of high school living with the Michie family in
California. You remember details well! On Thursday
evenings this "casual family" eats leftovers with a platter of
scrambled eggs to "fill in the cracks". Philip is the
popular boy Shelley initially falls for, and Hartley is the boy
she has far more in common with. The swing is a rope at
the top of a eucalyptus tree and sure enough, that is the final
scene in the book. You'll find this under the "solved
pages".
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. Could this be The Luckiest Girl? I don't
remember the dinner details but certainly the family Shelly
stays with is a lot more casual than her own family, and the
part about the boys matches.
Cleary, Beverly, THe Luckiest Girl. (1950s) I'm pretty sure this is "The Luckiest
Girl" by Beverly Clearly. I read it over 20 year ago, and
for some reason, the "scrambled eggs to fill in the cracks" was
a detail that had stuck with me as well. I managed to dredge the
title of the book out of my memory and looked it up on-line, and
I'm pretty sure this is it. A girl named Shelly isn't getting
along well with her mom, so her parents let her spend a year
with her mom's old college roommate, Mavis, in Southern
California. Mavis' family is much more easy-going, and
Southern California is very different from home. As the "exotic"
outsider, Shelly also gets a lot of attention, especially from
boys, and overall had a really good time, grows up, etc. (Did
you also remember details about her wanting a yellow rain
slicker like everyone else, instead of the pink raincoat with
the black velvet collar her mother bought her, and introducing
her new classmates to doughnut holes? Those were the other
detail that had stuck with me from the same book.)
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl
Beverly Cleary. This is a long
shot, but could the stumper be thinking of Jimmy and Janet?
There were originally four picture books, but it looks like
they've been reillustrated and combined in a new issue. The four
were The Real Hole, Two Dog Biscuits, The Growing-Up Feet, and
Janet's Thingamajigs.
Beverly Cleary, The luckiest girl.(1959) This is The Luckiest Girl by
Beverly Cleary (1959)
---
I read this in the early 1980's. A girl either moves to
California or goes to stay with relatives there for the summer.
She enjoys the olive tree they have in the yard and the family
likes to hang their laundry out by the moon to dry. She wears a
bright pink rain slicker with black trim... she might've been
wearing it on the cover of the book. I so have a feeling that
the book was set in the 50's or 60's.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. One of my favorites- about Shelley, who goes to
visit the family of her mother's college roommate. She dislikes
the pretty pink and black slicker her mother has bought for her.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. Pink rain slicker with black trim.
See Solved Stumpers for this one, I'm sure there will be lots of
responses. Some familiar plot points include the girl
(Shelly) eating uncured olives, teaching her classmates what
"donut holes" are, and the fact that she hates her pink raincoat
and wants a yellow one like everyone else.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. This is in the solved pages and I'm sure
you'll get lots of responses! It's available reprinted.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. This has to be it - Google the book or check
the solved stumpers. (That minor plot detail of the
raincoat sure stuck with a lot of readers, me included!)
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl.
This is a story that Cleary
based on her own life, when she went to California as a
teenager. I've read it only once - I prefer her books for
younger children - but one of my memories is when the California
kids give the visitor an uncured olive to eat and it tastes
vile. I had one of those in Greece once, and ewwwww!
The original dust jacket had her in her pink coat with black
trim; The later reprint has a different cover.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. The raincoat makes me think you're remembering
Beverley Cleary's THe luckiest Girl, wherein Shelley's mother
buys her a pink raincoat with black trim and Shelley has a fit
because she wanted a yellow slicker like everyone else.
Shelley gets sent to California for a year to grow up and
cool off. Did the gal in your book also stuff roses down
the garbage disposal? That's this book, if so.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. Shelley Latham is the girl. First she
dates popular Philip, then she falls for Hartley. Living
in California matures her.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl.
Shelley lives in Oregon and is
disatisfied with her life, so goes to live with family/friends
in Southern California for the school year. She doesn't
like her pink raincoat in Oregon, but gets compliments on it in
California. Another part I remember is her surprise that
California celebrated Admissions Day (we don't anymore, though I
remember the day off from school when I was a kid!).
Beverly Cleary, Lucky Chuck. The boy in this book is Chuck, not Doug, but it
sounds like the right one. This is one of Beverly Cleary's
lesser-known books but it's a lot of fun while teaching a lot
about motorcycles. There's a great review (with pictures) here.
H146 This sounds like LUCKY, LUCKY
WHITE HORSE by Beryl Williams Epstein,
1965~from a librarian.
Epstein, Beryl, Lucky, lucky white
horse, 1965. New
York, Harper & Row. Illustrated by Mia
Carpenter. Set in Columbus, Ohio. Ellen is a shy
girl and when Ellen moves to a new town, her aunt tells her
about the magic of counting white horses. When you've
counted up to one hundred and you walk around the block, you
will find a surprise. Ellen is sure that this will work
and so she starts counting white horses right away.
Epstein, Beryl Lucky,
lucky
white horse
Columbus, Ohio 1916; Ellen follows superstition of counting 100
white horses to become lucky
I remember this, but of course not the
title. I do remember that the book quoted a song or poem:
"Flow gently sweet Afton." That might jog someone's memory...
Audrey Brixner, Lucy and the
Merman. Maybe this is the one?
S72 seagull drops: more on the suggested - Lucy
and
the Merman, by Audrey Brixner, illustrated
by Joan Berg Victor, published Scholastic 1977, 112 pages. I
have been trying to find a plot description, but no luck so far.
Audrey Brixner, Lucy and the Merman, 1977. I saw your listing on Lucy
and the Merman and thought I would write and pass on
some information to you as the listing said you were looking for
a plot but couldn't find it. I have this book, and it was one of
my favorites from childhood. It's about a girl named Lucy who is
lonely because her best friend is away on a trip and she has
nothing to do without her. A merman named Triton lands in her
treehouse one day, dropped by a seagull that captured him.
Triton and his wife Thetis had been searching for their daughter
Sabrina, a mermaid who disappeared along the California coast
while pretending to be a siren. Lucy returns Triton to the
nearby lake, and after finding a way back to the sea and his
people he invites her to join them for a day to be a mermaid
herself. The majority of the book is Lucy's journey with the
merpeople, and at the end she returns home with the hope of
seeing them again on the next full moon. The line you mentioned
is from a long poem printed at the end of the book, called The
Forsaken Merman by Matthew Arnold.
Thanks for the great trip down memory lane. I was thinking of
this book and did a search for it on the internet and found your
site. As someone who works in children's publishing and was a
children's bookseller for a long time, it's so wonderful to see
mention of these forgotten favorites again!
Here are a few more titles - no
descriptions other than they're both juvenile chapter
books. House With the Secret Room by Eunice
Young Smith ( bobbs-Merrill, 1956). Karen's Secret
Room by Kathleen Mary Duncan (London:
Methuen, 1969).
Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Velvet
Room
Jean Little, Look Through My Window. I think this might be it, although the details
are a bit off - Emily's family moves to a new house, very big,
with lots of rooms. The room she chooses for her bedroom
is way up in the garret, and she finds a box hidden there.
The box turns out to belong to two of the neighborhood girls who
had been using the once abandoned house as a clubhouse for their
story-writing club. They are initially hostile towards
Emily, but all become friends.
I'm the original requester and it's definitely not either the
Jean Little book or the Snyder book (I met her once, she's a
WONDERFUL lady!). I'll try to find and look at the other
two. I'm wondering now if maybe the title word was
"Hidden" rather than "Secret"?
Elizabeth Lansing, Lulu's Window, 1954. I've
found it! The title is Lulu's Window and I've
ordered it from Interlibrary Loan. Thanks to all who
researched this for me.
Carlson, Natalie Savage, Luvvy and
the Girls, 1971.
This sounds like the same story. It's a sequel to The
Half Sisters.
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the
Girls. A
possibility.
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the
Girls, c. 1970. Luvvy
and
the Girls is the sequel to The Half
Sisters. I read both books growing up.
I can only put my hands on The Half Sisters right
now, though so I can't be sure that this is what you're
looking for. However, I remember the Barbara Fritchie
reference, too. The school is in Fredricksburg - which was
where Dame Fritchie became famous. Hope this helps!
Thank you all so much! I'm sure
that's it!.
---
Natalie Savage Carlson, The Half
Sisters. (1955)
Sounds like it could be The Half Sisters or its
sequel, Luvvy and the Girls. Both took
place in Baltimore. I loved these books!
Luvvy and the Girls is the book! I am so thrilled - I
never thought I would find it again. I am not sure who
solved my bookstumper but please tell whoever solved it for me
THANK YOU! She/He certainly made my day - if not my year.
---
In 1980 when I was in middle school, my favorite book was about
a girl my age named Lovey. The book was about her friends
at either a boarding school or private school. I think one
of the characters had a little brother who was also in the
story. The book had a pink cover and was hardcover. Either
another girl in the book was named Ivy or it was part of the
title. I never bothered to remember the title of the book
because it was always in the same spot at my school's
library. Everytime I see the "Secret Garden" it makes me
think of that book for some reason. There were other books
in the series - I think three, but I always liked the original
one the best.
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and
the Girls. Sequel
to The Half-Sisters. sounds like the
one: more info here:
http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/006454.html
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the
Girls, 1971, copyright.
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the
Girls, 1950-1960?,
approximate. I'm sure this is the book...one of my
favorites too! Luvvy wants to go to boarding school just
like her older half-sisters. Her little brother is born
while she is there. There isn't an Ivy, but her sisters
are Hetty and Betsy, and her friends are Agatha and Amy.
Also, the original cover is pink. :) This is the 2nd
book in the series, the first is "The Half-Sisters."
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the
Girls, 1950,
approximate. This could be the one you are looking
for. I believe it is a sequel to The Half Sisters.
The books take place around Baltimore during the early 1900s.
Carlson, Natalie Savage, Luvvy and
the Girls, 1971,
copyright. Luvvy is finally sent off to boarding school, a
convent school, that her older sisters attend. This is the
sequel to "The Half Sisters".
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the
Girls. Maybe this
one? Luvvy has several older sisters and she yearns to go
to boarding school with them in "The Half-sisters".
"Luvvy and the Girls" is the sequel to The
Half-Sisters and tells of Luvvy going off to
boarding school and her experiences there.
It is quite possible that your stumpers solved my book
mystery G444. Turns out that a library around here has a
copy of it so I'm going to visit over the weekend to see if,
in fact, it is the book that I was looking for (I have to see
the cover to know for sure). Based on the great
information that everyone submitted, I can't imagine that it
wouldn't be the same book - it sounds identical to the book I
loved (and reminded me about a lot of it I had long
forgotten). I'll be forever grateful for the discovery!
G444 Solved - Luvvy and the
Girls by Natalie Savage Carlson. It's the
book! Thank you so much for answering my stumper.
I am so grateful to you all that you have knew this
book. I have a daughter now and so desperately wanted to
share this with her.
I believe you are looking for the book Lyle Lyle The Crocodile. I do not know the author, but my first grade granddaughter tells me this is the story you wrote about. It is a book that may still be in some schools as she has read it recently. Hope this will help you in your search.
Well, I took this advice and found the following:
Waber, Bernard. Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. 1973. $12 plus $3
shipping.
I don't know if you add comments to the
solved mystery section or not, but you answered the stumper
about the crocodile as Lyle, Lyle the Crocodile
by Bernard Waber. That was not the first book
about Lyle. The original was The House on East 88th
Street. There may have even been a third book but I
don't recall its title.
Foster, Elizabeth Vincent, Lyrico:
the only horse of his kind, 1970. A young girl’s greatest wish is fulfilled
when a horse is delivered to her New York penthouse--especially
since it is a horse with wings.
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