Loganberry Books: Solved Mysteries: S

Loganberry Books
Solved Mysteries: S

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Sad Day, Glad Day
I'm looking for a book about a little girl whose family is moving to a new house. Somehow, in the confusion of the move, she forgets her doll. When she gets to her new home, though, she finds a doll that was left there by the little girl who lived there before--I think with a note pinned to her dress asking for someone to take care of her doll because she couldn't take it with her. Any ideas on what this book might be?

D60 It sounds like SAD DAY, GLAD DAYby Vivian Lauybach Thompson, 1962. ~from a librarian
More on the suggested title - Sad Day, Glad Day, by Vivian L. Thompson, illustrated by Lilian Obligado, published by Holiday 1962, 38 pages. "Warmly appealing story for little girls of first and second grades. They can sympathize with small Kathy when on moving day she has to leave a familiar home and forgets her doll; and they can rejoice with her in the new apartment house when she finds a bequest from a young former resident who has left a note with a doll, because she could not take all her dolls to her new home. Soft pencil drawings reflect the highly emotional moments of Kathy's big day." (Horn Book Oct/62 p.479)

Sadie & Kevin series
My question was about a series of three or four books which I read as a young teenager in the mid-70's, and there were shelved in the young adult section of my New Jersey public library. The books were about a young Irish couple, one Protestant, one Catholic, who married against their families wishes, during the violent times of the IRA in northern Ireland, and what their young married life was like as they dealt with the violence as newlyweds. It was a good introduction to the struggles in Ireland as well as being good novels. Thanks.

Possibly one of the books about Sadie & Kevin by Joan Lingard? They were written from 1970 to 1977.
SOLVED!! Yes, indeed, this is the series I was remembering. I thought the names might be Bridget and Michael, so that just goes to show that memory can be tricky when we are searching for these books. There are five books in this series now, apparently is is pretty well-respected. Thanks to whoever solved it. I KNEW someone would. So far, all of my stumpers have been solved but one!

Safe as the Grave
I read this book in the 80s. It was about a girl, I think on summer vacation with her family. She is bored all the time, and the only book she can find is called "Daily Life of the Etruscans" or something similar. She reads an underlined passage in that book where a mother refers to her children as her "jewels," and that helps her to realize that some missing jewels (or maybe a jewel-encrusted cross) are buried in a grave.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I do seem to remember some other details about this book... the heroine gets poison ivy and ends up with calamine lotion all over her hands. The mystery of the jewels centers around a long-dead native of the town named Euphemia/ Euphelia Price (maybe?), or "Eppie" for short.
Clare and Effie. Maybe this one? Quote found online: "It was a very small picture, framed and glazed, and beneath it was written: Euphemia Price. A corner of the artists room in Paris.Clare took it to the window. It wasn't dark yet, and pearly light revealed the painting clearly...It's a bit colourless," Jamie said, coming up behind her."No," Clare said, still staring, "it isn't." She was thinking it was the most lovely picture she had ever seen."
Merryn Williams, Clare and Effie,1996. 'Not sure this is your book, but it does seem to be the one about Euphemia Price "In a book for nine to twelve year olds, influenced by the historical characters Gwen and Augustus John, Clare finds that it is no fun being the younger sister of a clever older brother, her artistic talent dismissed, falling behind at school, and upset by her parents' marital problems.When her Welsh grandmother dies, leaving them the family home in Swansea, the summer holiday provides a welcome refuge and opportunity to discover more about the work of her woman artist relative, Euphemia Price - Effie of the title. Her knowledge and admiration grow in an atmosphere of tension which somehow echoes the earlier generation's troubles. Who is more loved - brother or sister? Can a female be a proper artist? Whose fault is it that mum and dad are living apart?"
Aha! I think it might be Caroline Cooney's Safe as the Grave.
Caroline Cooney, Safe as the Grave. Yes! That's it! Thank you!!

Sailor in the Sun
A stumper. I read this in the fourth grade (1952). I believe it belonged to the teacher, so it was probably published earlier. It was hardback. Don't know author or title. Story line - a girl is living somewhere on the Atlantic coast or maybe the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps only for the summer. Her family is either not there, or very unattentive as I don't remember anything about them. Her only companion is a boy about her age she meets there, and he teaches her about the sailing and the sea. They find an old leaky rowboat and make it seaworthy and use it. She gets blisters on her hands and he tells her to soak them in the sea water as it will toughen them - and it does. Have been searching for this for YEARS.

I enjoy your site very much. The book described by "O4" Ocean Adventure sounds a lot like The Lion's Paw. It was about 2 orphans (a boy and a girl) who run away from the orphanage and take a boat through channels in Florida to Captiva Island in the Gulf of Mexico. They called themselves "eganaps" because the orphanage sign was backwards to them looking out. They meet up with an older boy or man. I vaguely remember that the girl soaked her hands in the salt water to get rid of the blisters caused by pulling the ropes on the boat. I can't remember who wrote the book. My aunt had given it to us because we had lived on Captiva Island with her. Alas the book was lost during one move or another.
I don't have a specific title, but it sounds like it could be one of Elizabeth Ladd's books.
The book mentioned in the first response to query O4, The Lion's Paw, is by Robb White and was published by Doubleday in 1946. It could be the book described in the original question -- at one point the girl, Penny,
soaks her feet in brine when they are sore from going barefoot, and at another point she has blisters on her hands from rowing and the boy who owns the boat puts pine oil on them. (I think my husband must have read all of Robb White's books when he was a kid and then bought copies when he was in his 20's. Good, solid kid's books of the don't-write-them-like-that-anymore variety.)
i thought it might have been the Lion's Paw. I did a little research and it sounds like another book by the same author - Robb White. The book might be Our Virgin Island. I haven't read it but the descriptions sound more like the book being sought. There is a Robb White III homepage that shows a cover of the book - that might help. LCCN 53006887, CALL#F2129.W56. There is a library search "NOBLE" that found the book in the Beverly library in Massachusetts.
Thanks so much for this lead - I am so excited that I may find the book again. I have ordered four possibilities (all Robb White books from the early 40's) through my local public library ILL to try to pin down the right book. Can't wait to find it!!

Thanks to all who helped, I finally got to reread my childhood mystery book. It was Robb White's Sailor in the Sun! (pub. 1941) Needless to say, my memory of details was not very accurate! The girl's "companion" was not a boy her age, but an elderly boatbuilder! Cherry was sent from New York City to live with poor relatives on the Gulf coast of Florida because her father had died, and her mother was in a sanitorium. The uncle in Florida disliked girls, so the aunt cut her hair short and made her dress as a boy. The boatbuilder who befriended her taught her how to build boats and to sail them. A great "girl heroine" story!

Sailor Jack
when I was a child my dad was an avid rescuer of books from the library discard table. I remember a series of several children's books that followed the misadventures of a sailor's pet parrot in the US Navy. Alas, now that I am older and want to preserve them, they are now gone. I want to say the bird's name was "salty" but I am not sure. In each book the hapless bird would cause havoc at sea, but end up saving the day in the end. One book dealt with a tour of duty on a submarine. The parrot, having heard the command "Dive, dive!" all month repeats the phrase into the intercom while an Admiral is inspecting the crew topside. The men on duty follow the bird's order and all the brass ends up going for a swim. From the pictures I remember I believe that they were printed between 1960 and 1970.

Sounds like the Sailor Jack books by Selma & Jack Wasserman (Chicago: Benefic Press, 1960s). The parrot's name is Bluebell. (Sailor Jack & Bluebell's Dive takes place on a submarine)

Saint Game
Two sisters, mandrake root, guilty uncle: this may be a tricky one. I've searched your site and have been unable to find it. I remember two sisters from about 100 years ago, on the cusp of womanhood, living with their parents and I think, their uncle comes to stay, and the older sister is raped. She is mute after the attack. The story is told from the vantage of the younger sister, who with the aid of a mandrake root, reveals that the uncle is guilty of the rape. I think winter is featured, with snow and maybe ice skating. It is all handled sensitively. I read this in the 1970's, possibly from the young adult section of the library. Thank you.

Cicely Louise Evans, The Saint Game,1977. This description really tortured me - I was certain I remembered this same story. The younger girl thought that by burying the mandrake in a certain way, she would force the uncle to reveal his crime. The mandrake grew a rootlet from its crotch, giving it the appearance of an aroused man - the uncle discovered it and was freaked out and confessed. I remember the young girl was unfamiliar with the word "rape" and was wondering if it was related to "rapier." I cannot find a plot summary of the book online anywhere. However, there was a listing for a review of it on Canadian Children's Literature here that is titled "Tragic Innocence" and lists the subjects as "Historical fiction / Religion / Sex," so it may be the same book.
Cicely Louise Evans, The Saint Game. Yes, thank you, I recognized the name of the book. It is The Saint Game. I am so pleased someone else remembered it. I don't remember the saint part of it, though you would think I would, but I definitely remembered the anatomically-correct mandrake root that triggers the uncle's confession. Another stumper solved for me - many thanks again!

Sal Fisher series
There's another book, I think it was a Scholastic Book Club book, probably about 1960, about a girl who goes away to girl scout camp. I think her name was Sally. The camp was named Lenoloc, for the man who'd donated the land for the camp, a Colonel (spell that backwards and you'll see why). I remember there was a poetry competition and one of the poems, about a campfire, ended, "these ashes...something something... fade to gray. But friendship's glow was kindled here to stay."

G36 Girl Scout Camp: Good thing that person remembered the girl's name was Sally - it triggered my own memories of the book. It's SAL FISHER AT GIRL SCOUT CAMP by Lillian S. Gardner, 1959, 1966 (1966 is the Scholastic date)
DEFINITELY "Sal Fisher at Girl Scout Camp." Thank you so much! As soon as I read the title I remembered it.
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A children's book about a seven year old girl and her bothersome little sister. One chapter was about her cutting her brownie uniform and when mended it looked like an L which she felt showed she was left handed. At the end of the chapter someone showed her that it was not an L but rather a 7 which stood for how old she was. Also the little sister throughout the book kept yelling that "SHE WAS TOO A SUSIE/MARY SUNSHINE". I always thought it was a Bezzis and Ramona book, but I think I have read all of them over the last few years and none of them had the two parts I remember so it must have been some other book. I would have read it in the 1960s so it would be written then or before.

I think the requester might have two books mixed up here, because the child insisting "I am too a Mary Sunshine" is a Ramona and Beezus book, (I can't remember which one), but the Brownie uniform episode is not.
It's "Merry Sunshine" and that scene is from Beezus and Ramona.
I posted this stumper, and you are right the Merry Sunshine part came from Bezzus and Ramona. Although my memory had it more important in the whole story. The L 7 must be from another book which I am still trying to find out it's name -- must have been reading them at around the same time -- what happens when you read alot even as a child.
Gardner, Lillian, Sal Fisher, Brownie Scout, 1953. If the little sister / Mary Sunshine references are Beezus and Ramona, then it's *possible* that the Brownie references are to one of Lillian Gardner's Sal Fisher books. Either Sal Fisher, Brownie Scout (1953) or Sal Fisher's Fly-Up Year (1957). I haven't read either, but I read Sal Fisher at Girl Scout Camp many, many times, and there's definitely a reference in there to Sal having slipped with scissors and cut her Brownie uniform in an earlier episode (it's how she became friends with another Brownie).
I got a hold of the flying up and at camp and it does seem like the book I was thinking of was Sal Fisher, Brownie -- now just to find a copy of it. Thanks for your help this is a great service.
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This might be a longshot. I can't remember Title OR Author! All I can remember is the front cover (soft cover) had a (i THINK) pencil type sketch of a girl , laying on a cot , inside a tent (flap was open I think) writing a letter... I want to say she was chewing on the pencil eraser but I'm not sure. Anyway, it was about a girl who went to camp .. I don't remember anything else really... at the beginning of the book I think she's in her room , all packed and ready to go and thinking she's going to have a horrible summer. I used to love this book and can't believe I can't remember more about it! I hope you can help!

Never mind! Not 2 minutes after submitting payment to you , I found the answer in your archives. Sal Fisher at Girl Scout Camp! So , I don't need to know where my stumper is going to show up , as I already have the answer. Thanks anyway!

Sally
The book I am trying to track down contains this plot: An orphan/foster girl, somewhere from 9-12 years old or so is welcomed into the home of an older couple. As she lives with them, she begins to get close with them, particularly the woman, as she is taught to cook and help out around the home and made to feel a part of the family. She also becomes a friend to a nice girl with whom she attends school. This girl occasionally comes over to the house to visit the foster girl. But then the older couple face a new problem: their grandson is diagnosed as being autistic and is going to be put into an institution. The grandmother steps in, strenuously objecting to that idea and asks that her grandson be left in their care in the hope that he will improve. When he arrives, the foster girl offers to be of help to the grandmother in caring for the boy, but the grandmother refuses her help, citing her concerns that everything needed to be done just so, and that her grandson was her own responsibility. This causes the foster girl to begin to feel out of place and wonder if she's still wanted or needed as the grandmother's main focus and energies are almost all turned to her own grandson as she tries desperately to communicate to and relate to him despite his autism. But her efforts appear to be fruitless, as the grandson is basically withdrawn and does nothing on his own initiative, mostly just sitting in a chair and staring ahead. His grandmother becomes increasingly frustrated and discouraged with the situation. The foster girl notices one day that the boy seems to be watching the birds at the feeder just outside of the picture window where he usually sat most of the time. She observes his eyes moving as he looks at them, and confides this to her girl friend. They take him out for a walk one day shortly after the foster girl noticed him watching the birds, each girl holding one of his hands, marching as they sang a song they liked. When they stopped to catch their breath, they were amazed as the boy looked up at them and started marching in place, clearly indicating that he had been enjoying the march and wanted to keep on going. When the girls relate this to the grandmother, she doesn't believe them at first, but then, when the girls march with the lad and stop again, he pulls at their hands and indicates again that he wants to march some more. The grandmother now sees that the foster girl has been telling her the truth and not been exaggerating in her observations of her grandson. Now the grandmother allows the foster girl to take the grandson out and about more often. On one of their outings, the grandson finds a kitten that hops like a rabbit, a runt of the litter that is named Reject by the old man that gives the kitten to the boy and foster girl. The kitten helps later in the story. The grandmother knows that her grandson's improvement will only occur if he stays with them, but her daughter in law and son are skeptical about the reports she's giving them and come out to see their son for themselves. The boy's kitten goes off on it's own when he sees the strangers and the boy withdraws into himself for most of his parents' visit. The parents are about to take the boy with them when the kitten reappears at the last minute and the boy, so happy to see his pet again, laughs, claps his hands together, and takes off in hot pursuit, thus convincing his parents that he truly had improved while staying with his grandparents and the foster girl. I think they want to adopt the foster girl by the end of the story, but I'm not certain on this detail. I AM certain about the kitten's name, Reject; it's the only character's name I remember in the entire story! If you could help me find the title of this book, which is one I love and hope to pass down to my daughers, I would be most grateful.

Louise Dickinson Rich, Sally (originally Three of a Kind),1970. My copy is titled Sally but the original title is Three of a Kind. It's about Sally who goes to live with an older couple on an island off of the Maine coast. Soon, their autistic grandson comes to stay with them. The grandson's name is Benjie, the older couple's names are Rhoda and Ben.
Louise Dickinson Rich, Sally (aka. Three of a Kind), 1970.This is absolutely The book, the foster family is named Cooper and the little boy is Benjie, I specifically remember the incident of him seeing the birds. The story actually takes place on an island called Star Island, 7 miles off the Maine Coast.

Sally Goes Shopping Alone
I am looking for a book I had as a child during the 1940's and 1950's I do not know the name of the book but is it about a little girl who goes by herself to a department store to buy her mother a present. I believe the the little girl's name is either Belinda or Melinda- however I am not certain. Each time she makes a purchase the store clerk asks her if she wants to carry the package or have it sent. Each time she decides to carry the package. After she has finished shopping she realizes that she no longer has the present she bought for her Mommy. The floorwalker attempts to help the child. I would really like to find this book.

Her name is Sally. Here's the book you're looking for:
Eppenstein, Louise. Sally Goes Shopping Alone. Platt & Munk, 1940. Illustrated by Esther Friend. 7.5x9.25", 44pp, blue cloth. Cover soiled, interior bright. Good. <SOLD>
I also have: Sally Goes to the Circus Alone. Platt & Munk, 1953. Illustrated by Jean Staples. 7.5x9.25"; 44pp, red cloth. Very Good. $18 postagepaid.

Thank you so much for responding to my search. I would very much like to have the book. It is rather ironic that I remember the story in great detail (as my mother read it to me many, many times)--however I did not remember the little girls name and it is the same as mine!

I shrieked at the memory of SALLY GOES SHOPPING ALONE. I loved that book, and still love to go shopping alone!
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In the late 50s I had a book about a little girl who goes shopping with a velevt purse. Can anyone recall a story like this?

Sounds like Sally to me. Louise Eppenstein, Sally Goes Shopping Alone, 1940.
The book I'm looking for may be Sally Goes Shopping Alone, I'm not sure though. Would you have another copy available? Does she have a velvet purse?
I don't have a copy of Sally Goes Shopping Alone right now, but I have a sequel called Sally Goes Travelling Alone, in which she refers constantly to her "little red purse." She doesn't actually call it velvet, but it looks like a small hand-held purse with a string handle. Maybe?
Hey! That could be her. It's amazing the impact books have on us as children that stay with us and hold such tenderness in our hearts. TY so much. I'd like to get it.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Eppenstein, Louise. Sally Goes Traveling Alone. Illustrated by Jean Staples. Platt & Munk, 1942. A beautiful copy in dust jacket, dj has a few small holes on front fold-over. F/G+. <SOLD>
Eppenstein, Louise. Sally Goes To The Circus Alone. Illustrated by Jean Staples. Platt & Munk, 1952. Front paste-down endpaper torn, otherwise VG. $25

Sam and the Impossible Thing
My brother and I both remember this phrase from a book from our childhood: "Soup, soup de loop, soup de loop impossible soup." Actually he thinks the line might have been: "super duper incredible soup." Published in the late 70s or early 80s. We don't remember what the book was! Any ideas?

Doubt this is it, but your verses put me in mind of the Mock Turtle's song, "Soup of the Evening/Beautiful Soup!" near the end of Alice In Wonderland. Hope you find your book.
Tamara Kitt, Sam and the impossible thing, 1967. This is a bit of a long shot but have you checked a copy of this book? Illustrated by Brinton Turkle. When mother goes away Sam makes a soup fit only for a creature like the Impossible Thing. Tamara Kitt was a pseudonym for author Beatrice Schenk DeRegniers.
Sam and the Impossible Thing is the right one! The 1967 publication date would be right because we have older siblings! You are all rockstars! Thanks!

Samantha's Secret Room
I'm looking for a children's adventure book that must have been published sometime before 1968. There was a secret room or attic involved, and a caravan painted with images of Nefertiti. The title could have included the word "Letters" but I'm not at all sure of that.

Lyn Cook, Samantha's Secret Room, 1963. Samantha's cousin Josh is the owner of the caravan named Nefertiti.
Lyn Cook, Samantha's Secret Room, 1963. Scholastic Canada. Samantha (Sam) lives on a rural property in Canada and gains a penfriend by tying a letter to a christmas tree. The caravan belongs to a cousin who comes to visit for a family reunion. The secret room is in a root cellar.
Hi again, Harriett. I just wanted to thank you for providing your Stump the Bookseller service. My mystery is solved! You're a wonderful resource, and I'll be back!

Samantha's Surprise
2 beautifully illustrated books about "Samantha and Samuel, two plush ducklings" (that's how the first book opened). In one of the books, the ducklings had an adventure when it rained and their cardboard box house floated away. These books opened sideways (wider than long). Author was Beth(first Name) or Tudor (Last name); 1960's or early '70s

Samantha's Surprise. by Bethany Tudor. J. B. Lippincott Co. (1964)
Bethany Tudor, Gooseberry Lane

Sand in My Castle
I am also searching for one the name of which I cannot remember. It was a story about a young girl and boy, pre-teens, it seems to me, that met on a cruise ship or at a resort hotel and forming a sweet and touching friendship. It was a picture-book sized book, as I recall, but it had very few pictures. For some reason the word 'sandcastle' is associated in my mind with this book. My aunt brought it to me when I was ill in the late 1950's, if that is any help.

This may be Shirley Belden, Sand in My Castle (NY:V Longmans, Green, '58).
Sand in My Castle, by Shirley Belden, illustrated by Genia, published Longman, 1958, 182 pages. "Judith Burritt has one special love - her photography - and all other interests fade in comparison. As she pursues this hobby she begins to realise that she is relying to much on her mother to manage her life and it is time to try her wings away from the family hearth. Encouraged by her father and with her camera as constant companion, she spends a fruitful and energetic summer on Cape Cod, helping an older girl to develop a 'different' tea room. Photography plays an important role as Judith finds new friends, a new love, widened interests, and especially, a more healthy relationship with her family." (BRD 1959) This sounds actually a more complex book than the one remembered, for a higher reading level. A book with a similar title that might possibly be the one wanted is Castle in the Sand, written and illustrated by Bettina, published Harper 1951 "With her usual wisdom and awareness, the author of the beloved Cocolo books tells the amusing and beautiful story of two children who make friends on a beach in Italy. 20 black and white wash drawings. Ages 7-10." (Horn Book Sep/51 p.288 pub ad) The illustration shows a boy with curly black hair and an aquiline nose and an impish looking girl with blonde shoulder-length straight hair.

Sandeagozu
1970s. several misfit or injured animals from a pet shop escape and travel together in search of a utopia they believe to be called san diego zoo. There is a snake with a broken tail, a bird or parrot, some animal like a ferret and others. these animals are not adoptable because of their deformities. They adventure into the sewars and I believe they travel in a truck as well. they do not know what a "zoo" is, they just know it is a paradice for animals.

i think that the book you want is sandeagozu by janann tenner. harpercollins. 1986.
I read the book you are looking for! Unfortunately I can't remember the title or author either - but here are a few more details. The title was the animals' phonetic interpretation of the words "San Diego Zoo" ie, something along the lines of "Sandy Eggo Zu" etc. It was a novel for adults, and there were definitely some human villans that the animals had to avoid, including one who came to a very bad end by eating dried corn in an abandoned Native American village and then drinking too much water (stomach exploded: ugh!) The cover of the hardback had an illustration of the animals including a large snake. Hope this helps!
Jenner, Janann V., Sandeagozu: a novel, 1986. Not from the 1970s, but definitely your book. A Burmese python, coatimundi, macaw and rattlesnake escape from Leftrack's Pet Emporium in NYC in search of the mythical Sandeagozu, a warm land where animals can live without cages.

Sandwich
I'm looking for a book as a surprise for a friend, but have had no luck, although I have the supposed title -- "And a Piece of Bread". The cover was shaped like a piece of bread, and each page was then shaped like part of a sandwich -- a slice of ham, a piece of cheese, etc. The reader then constructed a Dagwood sandwich by turning the pages -- periodically adding "a piece of bread".

I managed to ask my friend's mother about this book, and although she remembers it, she remembers it differently than he does. She also says the book was sandwich shaped, but that it was very short, and contained pages for jam and peanut butter. She purchased it at the drug store. My friend is in his mid thirties, so this was probably in the early 70's.
David Pelham, Sam's Sandwich. Looks like the right book.
Sorry, but Sam's Sandwich is far too new to be the book I'm looking for. Amazon claims that the first US edition was printed in 1991. The book I'm looking for would've been published in the mid-70s at the latest.
Dorothy C. Seymour, The Sandwich. This was published in the 60s and had the repeating lines "a little of this...some of that...and some bread." It was a picture book, sandwich shaped, illustrated by Richard C. Lewis. It may be the book
you are looking for.
Find out more about Dorothy Seymour on the Most Requested pages.

Santa Claus and Lili Monk
Monty Monk's Christmas. This may not be the title. It is a children's book about a monkey and his adventures with Santa. We read it as children in the late 50's or early 60's. It is a large book, with not many pages. Some of the pages may have had "texture".

Anonymous, Santa Claus and Lili Monk,1955. The reason I think this might be the one besides the date is that apparently the pages are textured. "A fuzzy wuzzy book Folio. [16] pp. (unpaginated). This is the story of a little monkey who hitched a ride to the North Pole in Santa's bag when he was visiting the jungle looking for drums. Does Lili stay in the North Pole?"
G.P. Hall, Monty the Monkey, 1943. Another angle on which to look -- this does''t seem to be the book, but it might be
another book by the same author. "Thacker's Dumpy Books No. 6. A Little Black Sambo imitation, each page of text in large type faces a full page illus. in line by G.P. Hall. A curious book."
I checked the one for Santa Claus and Lili Monk. There is no Monty Monk character in that story, so that is not the one I am searching for. But thanks for trying!
M163 Could this be a comic book series? Monty Monk. Entry (p. 146) in Encyclopedia of Comic Characters, by
Denis Gifford (Harlow : Longman, 1987). -- See this site.
Still no luck. I checked out the "Monty the Monkey" book from 1943, and there definitely were no references to Little Black Sambo in the book that I am searching for, so it cannot be this book. Also, the next person listed a comic book reference. The book I am looking for was nothing like a comic book, so this leads me to another dead end. After talking with my mother and brother, they both agreed that the center of the story was...Monty Monk was such a good little monkey that Santa allowed him to ride in his sleigh as he delivered toys to all the girls and boys. Hope someone can help me find this book. Thanks.
I am so excited!!!!!! My mystery is solved and I have found my book! Actually, I must admit that I made an error. For several years, I thought the book I was looking for was about Monty Monk. I'm not sure where I got that idea. There is not character "Monty Monk" in the book I was looking for. Instead the character is "Lili Monk"! I took a chance, and ordered the book Santa Claus and Lili Monk from one of the used book sources that you recommend. And lo, and behold, it was the book of my childhood! Well, not the actual book, but one just like it! I am just so happy. I received it yesterday, sat down and reread it after nearly 40 years! I still love it, and the illustrations are just as wonderful as I remembered them! But alas, no one is given credit in the book for the illustrations nor the words! Anyway, thanks so much for offering this service! My mystery is solved!

Santa Claus Book
C124: I have pages 23-100 of a book of Christmas stories and poems which belonged to someone born in the 40's. Stories in this book include "Mr. Pig's Surprise", "Christmas Through a Knothole", "Susie's Christmas Star", "The Perfect Tree," "Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Mittens", "The Exactly Right Present", "The Christmas Eve Whispers", "The Speedy Little Train", "A Shoe for Blitzen", "Noel's New Birthday", and "The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy." Poems included are "Winter Morning", "If I Were Santa's Little Boy", "Christmas", "Sortie", "Song", "What Can I Give Him?", "Santa's Workshop", "Christmas Magic", "Secret Lake", and "Good Nicholas Nichol". I know that it is NOT The Tall Book of Christmas.

The Santa Claus Book. This is a Big Golden Book. Mine is so worn that I have no title page, so I can't give you any other information.
I thought there was one by Kathryn Jackson, but when I first looked all I could find was a Golden Super Shape Book by Eileen Daly, Illustrated by Florence Sarah Winship, 1972. But, I was right the first time. It is The Santa Claus book; 43 Christmas stories and poems, written and compiled by Kathryn Jackson. Pictures by Retta Worcester. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1952. It's just hard to come by these nostalgic days.
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C138: I am looking for a book that belonged to my mother who was born in 1945. It is about 8 1/2 by 11 size and is an COLLECTION of Christmas stories. I have pages 57-100 which have the stories, The Exactly Right Present, The Christmas Eve Whispers, The poem Merry Christmas, The Speedy Little Train, the song Good Nicolas Nicol, A Shoe for Blitzen, Noel's New Birthday, the poem "Song" and "I Saw Three Ships", and THe Puppy Who Wanted a Boy adn The Elves and the Shoemaker. I am desperate to find this book adn would appreciate any help!!!!

Sounds like it could be THE TALL BOOK OF CHRISTMAS selected by Dorothy Hall Smith, illustrated by Gertrude Elliott Espenscheid, 1954. It is about 12 inches tall and 5 inches wide. It contains "The Christmas Story", "I Saw Three Ships" "Christmas Through a Knothole", "Christmas", "Everywhere Christmas", "The Birds", "Babouscka", "The Story of the First Christmas Tree", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Giant Grummer's Christmas", "The Friendly Beasts", "The Christmas Rose", "For Christmas", Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Kittens", "A Christmas for Bears", "Song", "Long, Long Ago", "Away In A Manger", "Santa Claus", "The Christmas Cake", "The Puppy Who Wanted A Boy", "Words From An Old Spanish Carol", "Patapan", "The Holly and the Ivy", "A Little Christmas Wish", "What Can I Give Him?", "In the Great Walled Country", "Here We Come A-Caroling", "The Night Before Christmas". There were other TALL BOOK OF... including THE TALL BOOK OF FAIRY TALES which includes "The Shoemaker and the Elves". There was also THE TALL BOOK OF MAKE-BELIEVE, but I didn't find a list of its contents. Perhaps all the stories weren't in one book - perhaps the mother owned more than one of THE TALL BOOK series? ~from a librarian
The Santa Claus Book. This is a Big Golden Book. My copy is just about worn out and I have no title page. I think this is the same book described in C124. It is certainly a wonderful Christmas book.
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C47: I do not have author or title for the book I am looking for It was a Christmas book with several different stories in it. One story was about a poor family who went out to buy a star for the top of their Christmas tree and lost the money, when they got home the tree that was is front of a window was topped by a star outside. Another was about a girl who got so upset when they had to take the tree down that they planted one outside. I would be very surprised it you can help, but thought I would try. I had the book in the 1950's.

I get many requests for a book called a The Shinest Star by Beth Vardon, but I haven't read the book myself. Might this be it?
I'm quite familiar with the story The Shiniest Star by Beth Vardon, and I'm sorry to say that this great story is not the one described. The Shiniest Star is about three little angels who polish their stars in heaven. The hard working, humble Touselhead's star becomes the Christmas star.
The Santa Claus Book. This is a Big Golden Book. It contains several Christmas stories. One is "Susie's Christmas Star" in which Susie goes to the store and buys a star and candy canes for her family's tree, but loses them on the way home. She follows footprints and finds that a very poor family has found the candy canes and used them to decorate their tree. Seeing this, she generously pushes her star through their window too. When she goes home a real star is shining through the window over her family's tree. Other stories in this book include: The Penny Walk, Christmas through a knothole, Granny Glittens and her Amazing Mittens, The Thirty-nine Letters, etc.
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I am searching for a book my father frequently read me when I was young. I don't recall the title or author and neither does my father but I can still picture the book illustrations and story in my mind. I was a child in the 1960's so the book had to be written before 1965 probably. I have not had any success using the search features as I seem to only get later published books. How do I go about finding this book which may be out of print? The gist of the book is about a young girl who has a few cents. She goes to the corner candy store and purchases 10 candy canes which the shopkeeper puts in a paper bag. She leaves the store and begins home trudging through the snow covered streets, her boots leaving footprints. When she gets home, she discovers her bag had a hole in it and all her candy canes are gone.
She retraces her steps and follows the path of her lost candy canes which had fallen one-by-one leaving imprints in the snow. She discovers that each one has been picked up so she follows the trail of the "thief" only to discover that it leads to an orphange. Standing in the street outside the orphanage, she looks inside the window and sees all the children happily looking at the Christmas tree. On the Christmas tree are her candy canes! I'm not sure how it ends, but I believe she is happy about where her candy canes have ended up. This book has such good memories for me that I would like to find it again. Please give me some suggestions about how I can go about finding this book. Thank you.

I have been unable to find this story published alone, but here's an anthology in which it appears. (Thanks for the tip, Barb!)
The Santa Claus Book: 43 Christmas stories and poems, written and compiled by Kathryn Jackson. Illustrated by Retta Worcester. Simon and Schuster, 1952. A Big Golden Book. One of the stories is "Susie's Christmas Star" in which Susie goes to the store and buys a star and candy canes for her family's tree, but loses them on the way home. She follows footprints and finds that a very poor family has found the candy canes and used them to decorate their tree. Seeing this, she generously pushes her star through their window too. When she goes home a real star is shining through the window over her family's tree. Other stories in this book include: The Penny Walk, Christmas through a knothole, Granny Glittens and her Amazing Mittens, The Thirty-nine Letters, etc.
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I am looking for a book of Christmas stories published in the 1950s. The last story in the book was about a little girl named Mary Berry who hated to see the Christmas tree taken down. There was also a story about a penny walk and one about a woman who made edible mittens of yarn colored with candy. Thanks!

Smith, Dorothy Hall, Tall Book of Christmas. (1954) From the Solved page - includes Granny Glittens and her Amazing Mittens, Christmas Through a Knothole, The Penny Walk (flipping a penny to decide which way to walk), & The Perfect Tree (with Mary Berry---).
Dorothy Hall Smith, The Tall Book of Christmas. (1954) This is definitely the book. It's in Solved Mysteries.
Dorothy Hall Smith, Tall Book of Christmas. (1954) I found a copy of the Tall Book of Christmas in the New York Public Library, and it is not the book I am looking for. Although it does contain Granny Glittens and her Amazing Mittens, it does not contain the Penny Walk nor The Perfect Tree. Thanks though.
Possibly this one? The Golden Christmas Book (1947) by Gertrude Crampton (author), Corinne Malvern (illustrator). It definitely contains "Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Mittens" but I don't own a copy, so I can't tell you what else is in the book, except that according to various online sellers, it contains songs, poems (including "A Visit From St. Nicholas"), puzzles (including a maze and crossword puzzle), a pop-up Christmas tree, stories, jokes and things to do for Christmas. Lots of pictures in full color and in black and white. The last page contains answers to the puzzles and riddles. Clean, intact copies are expensive, but books with a missing Christmas tree and writing on the pages can be quite cheap.
Kathryn Jackson, The Santa Claus Book. (1952) Thanks to the clues given here (particularly Granny Glittens), I have found the book! It is the Santa Claus Book published by Simon and Schuster in 1952. It contains Granny Glittens, The Penny Walk, Christmas Through a Knothole, Susie's Christmas Star, and The Twelfth Night Trouble (Mary Berry and the Christmas tree). Thank you all so much--I would never have found it without your help.
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C548: For years I have been searching for a Christmas book that was gifted to me when I was very young (in the early -'50s). I love this book but it was given away by mistake.... Over the years friends and family have sent me numerous books, hoping it would be the one I was missing. The Tall Book of Christmas has several of the stories but it's definitely NOT the correct book. The stories I recall are "Granny Glittens and her Amazing Mittens," "The Penney Walk," "A Shoe for Blitzen," "Christmas Through a Knothole," and a story about a young "jester-type of guy who was able to accompany Santa in his sleigh on Christmas Eve - I only remember that he had on leggings and one side was red and the other green (or some variety of mixed colors). I was only about 6 when the book was given to me but I can remember the cover had Santa with a huge bag on his back and the toys were falling out of it. If I recall correctly, the picture carried over onto the back cover. I also think of it as more of an 8" x 10" or more of a larger but not thick book. Oh, and the background of the cover seemed to be a pretty light blue. The stories were charming and I remember that the cover had like a "film" that covered it -- I had handled the book so much that a piece of the opaque cover was tearing away. The pages were very smooth, I can still feel my hands sweeping over the pages. I lived in Ohio at the time and the person who gave it to me lived there as well, so it wasn't like some item that was only available on the coast. Anyway, I miss it terribly and have long lamented that it got away from me.

Kathryn Jackson, The Santa Claus Book, 1952. This is in the Solved Stumpers section. According to their information it contains many stories, among them: Granny Glittens and the Amazing Mittens, Christmas Through a Knothole, The Penny Walk, Susie's Christmas Star, Twelfth Night Trouble (a story about Mary Berry and a Christmas Tree), and Thirty Nine Letters.
Kathryn Jackson, The Santa Claus Book (A Big Golden Book), 1952, copyright. Front cover is light blue, showing Santa putting toys into an overflowing sack. Toys and elves are on the snow around the sack, and continue onto the back cover. Forty-Three stories and poems, include Mr. Pig's Surprise, Christmas Through a Knothole, Susie's Christmas Star, The Perfect Tree, Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Mittens, The Exactly Right Present, The Christmas Eve Whispers, The Speedy Little Train, A Shoe for Blitzen, Noel's New Birthday, The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy, The Christmas Angel, and The Penny Walk.
Your mention of Granny Glittens rang a bell! Under Solved there was a solution- Santa Claus Book- Kathryn Jackson- 1952. Hope this is your answer.
Gertrude Crampton, The Golden Christmas Book, A Big Golden Book, 1955 or 1967, reprint. The later editions of this book have a cover depicting Santa with an overflowing gift sack as he rides on a sled with some children. The original 1947 edition has a cover with Santa and two angels on his lap. This book is about 8 x 10 size and has the story "Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Mittens" but I don't see in my copy of the book the other stories the seeker mentions.
Kathryn Jackson, The Santa Claus Book: A Big Golden Book, 1952, copyright. Found this description on the 'net: "Kathryn Jackson, The Santa Claus Book: 43 Christmas stories and poems, written and compiled by Kathryn Jackson. Pictures by Retta Worcester. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1952. Stories in this book include "Mr. Pig's Surprise", "Christmas Through a Knothole", "Susie's Christmas Star", "The Perfect Tree," "Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Mittens", "The Exactly Right Present", "The Christmas Eve Whispers", "The Speedy Little Train", "A Shoe for Blitzen", "Noel's New Birthday", and "The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy." Poems included are "Winter Morning", "If I Were Santa's Little Boy," "Christmas," "Sortie", "Song", "What Can I Give Him?", "Santa's Workshop", "Christmas Magic", "Secret Lake", and "Good Nicholas Nichol"." There are lots of pictures of the book -- which, as you described, features Santa, his sack overflowing with toys, continuing onto the back cover, against a light-blue background that does look like it has a "film" on it.

Santa Mouse
I'm sorry i don't have much info. the story is about a mouse and santa. santa fills the stocking full of toys. then he tells the mouse "he can not put one thing more" but the mouse says He can--and he chews a hole in the stocking!! That is how it ends. Please Help me find it so my grand children can read it. I Loved it!!! '

This sounds like it could be one of the Santa Mouse books by Michael Brown.
M 27 and N 9 sound like the same book.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you-----I would like to know if you have this book to sell me or a way for me to find it.
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i dont have much info.--- the story is about santa and a mouse. santa fills the stocking so full that " Not One Thing More" can be put in ( could be the title) then the mouse says he can put in"One Thing More" and gnaws a hole in the stuffed stocking. This book was read to me by my Father when I was a child in the 50's (55)?? I'm wondering if you can help me find it so I can read it to my grandchildren--- It had lovely colorful pictures in it. It was probably bought in a 5&10 cent store. Thanking You in Advavce

M 27 and N 9 sound like the same book.
N9-- Thanks for reminding me of this. It was a poem my grandmother used to recite. Unfortunately, my mother doesn't know the title or the author, but the fact that Grandma recited it to her children, then her grandchildren, puts it back to the 1930s--probably earlier. Some of Grandma's stories predated Grandma. I'm having the devil's own time finding a story she used to recite--we've figured it originated in a magazine printed before she was born; more on that later. Keyword searches on this (not one thing more, stocking, mouse, Santa Claus, etc.) in the Library of Congress were not much help. Maybe someone can do better with them than I. If this was printed, either by itself or as part of a larger book, I would very much like to know where, and how to get a copy!
Regarding N9, the original poem, "Santa Claus and the Mouse", was written by Emilie Poulsson. If this was made into a children's book, perhaps having the original author will help.
The book which is identified as from the "Santa Mouse" series is actually the same poem I sent to solve stumper #N9. They should both be listed under that title.
Well, it sure helps to have the correct spelling of the author's name! When I searched under "Emilie Pouisson" in the Library of Congress I didn't find a thing, but under "Emilie Poulsson" all sorts of stuff came up! I still didn't find anything to indicate that Santa Claus and the Mouse was a picture book by itself (and want to know if it was) but there were all sorts of collections of poems, including holiday poems, and of course it could have appeared in someone else's collection of poems. I also did a search on Google with "Emilie Poulsson" and "Santa Claus" and still couldn't find anything like Santa Claus and the Mouse as a picture book, but did find a story called How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley. Does anyone know if this story featured a sugar plum sleigh? It might be the one I'm looking for.
a copy of this poem can be viewed at http://www.geocities.com/grandma_lyn/SantaMouse.html.
I think "How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas" is the same as "The Year Without a Santa Claus", which was made into a popular Christmas TV special with Mickey Rooney. (It was first published in a womens' magazine, 1956.) Don't remember any particular mention in it of a sugar plum sleigh.
Many thanks to the person who identified Emilie Poulsson as the author of Santa Claus and the Mouse. Recently I was going through a box of books and found a very old one by this author which must have belonged to my grandmother. Sure enough, the poem was in it! I'd never have known to look for it there had I not been informed of the author's name.

Santa's Busy Day
I am looking for a book that I had in the mid-1950's. It was made of heavy cardstock and was spiral bound. The premise was Santa had lost one of his reindeer. The book came with a cardstock reindeer that could be moved from page to page. The last page of the book was a picture of the inside of Santa's barn and the door to the missing reindeer's stall opened up and the reindeer could be placed inside the stall. Please help if you are able to. Thank you in advance.

Santa's Busy Day, 1953. I have this book!! I got it for Christmas from my grandparents when I was 4. (Many many decades ago!) There is no author listed, but the title page says "Copyright 1953 by Polygraphic Company of American, Inc. Lithographed in U.S.A." Each page has a fold-out, movable eyes, a saw and paintbrush that moves, or a small piece of real tinsel rope. The missing reindeer is Blitzen, and he is found in Santa's kitchen. Thanks so much for reminding me of one of my oldest treasures, and prompting me to go find it.
SOLVED: Santa's Busy Day. THAT'S THE BOOK !!! Thank you SO MUCH ! I found my own copy on-line to purchase and it just arrived. What a flood of happy memories it brought back. Another mystery solved!!!

Santa's Footprints
A book of Christmas stories. The first story was about two girls who accidentally received the wrong dolls. The rich girl got a rag doll, and she was happy to have a toy to play with. The poor girl got a fancy doll, and she was happy to have something so beautiful.

Barbara Chapman, The Wonderful Mistake,1948. When I read this "memory", I thought I'd read it before. When I looked it up, however, my anthology entitled Santa's Footprints put together by Aladdin Books, had a story called The Wonderful Mistake in it. There is a princess who is thrilled to get a regular boy doll who is "not to go in a glass case he is just to play with!" by mistake and a family of 4 war orphans who end up with a fancy doll that was intended for the princess. The orphans decide to make a nativity scene and the fancy doll becomes the beautiful Virgin Mary. It ends with having the mistake be one that "made this Christmas the best for everyone." This story is the next to the last one in the book.
I am the original poster, and Santa's Footprints is the correct book. You can put this one down as solved!

Sapphire Signet
I have been trying to find a book for years that I remember as "The Silver Signet." These girls find an old trunk with a diary in it. The diary is all in code. A girl who is crippled, or handicapped in some way, does all the decoding, and each chapter reads some new translation. It's a mystery story, and I just loved it. I have looked for it everywhere under that title. (The signet was hidden in the trunk, and the girl's mother threw the diary away because she thought the girl was getting "too excited" and it might endanger her health.)

Augusta Huiell Seaman, Sapphire Signet, 1916. You may want to check out this book. The author was an extremely popular writer of children's mysteries nearly 100 years ago. I have never read this particular one, because it's very rare, but the plot you described sounds about like something she would have written. Also, one of the very few references I found to this book by googling revealed some of the plot: "Set in a very modern New York City (that is, in the early 1900’s), where change is constant and construction of the new subway system brings noise and turmoil to what had been a quiet neighborhood, the plot involves three sisters, a younger cousin, and a new friend who together work to solve a mystery rooted in the Revolutionary War." "...One of the young girls in the story, Corinne Cameron...“offish and queer and quiet. . . and when she isn’t studying she is always reading something”(p. 8). More significantly, when the twins, Jess and Bess, visit Corinne for the first time, she talks about her father with whom she lives (her mother is dead) and she picks up on old book with the title Valentine’s Manual, Volume II, an old history of New York, and said that her father had picked it up an auction sale and given it to her for her birthday. When the twins are nonplussed at the pleasure she is showing in this “old, dilapidated, uninteresting book” she says that she is a born “antiquarian” just like her father (p. 11)." Lest you should think this book is too old, it was republished in 1936 & 1941 -- just in time for a new generation of girl readers.
Seaman, Augusta Huiell, The Sapphire Signet. This might be the book you're looking for. I'm not sure of the exact plot, but this sounds like something she might have written.
Augusta Huiell Seaman, The Sapphire Signet, 1916. I believe this may be it. The diary is found in a secret compartment and is deciphered by an invalid girl. The diary is destroyed by a housekeeper (who is in the place of a mother--thankfully after the whole diary has been deciphered). The signet is eventually found and delivered to the proper owner by the invalid girl who has regained her health.

Sara and Hoppity
I have only a dim memory of this book. A child had a favorite toy, perhaps a wooden doll or marionette. One of the legs got broken. An adult in the household repaired the leg, but it was shorter than the other. The adult may have been a nanny, nurse, governess or aunt; I think it was someone who took care of the child. At some point in the story, the adult gave the child a hand-painted dinner plate. The plate already had food on it, including a vegetable (perhaps creamed spinach) that the child disliked. The painting on the plate was of the child's favorite toy, but the leg was covered with the hated vegetable. The child asked if the leg had been painted shorter than the other. The adult said that the child would have to eat his/her vegetable to uncover the painting in order to find out.

Roberta Leigh, Sara and Hoppity, 1960. The book is Sara and Hoppity, about a "goblin toy" that is brought to Sara's parents' toy shop. Her parents and helper, Miss Julie (that's probably who the requestor remembers" repairs for her. It's the mother who paints the plate with Hoppity's picture on it, so Sara will eat her spinach with egg. What happens is that Sara hates the taste so much that when Hoppity "tells" her to slide the food into the pocket of her apron and tell her parents she ate it (Hoppity is a very naughty toy)! Sara is found out and punished by being sent to her room, and you never find out whether the leg on the plate is shorter than the other. In the end she sees Hoppity, at whom she has been very angry, standing in the corner, so she knows he feels remorseful and realizes how much she loves him. This story and its sequel, Sara and Hoppity Make New Friends, were my favorite childhood books, and I've never known anyone else who recalled them.
Sara & Hoppity. Apparantly there were 6 books and it may interest your requestor to know that there was also a television series that aired in the 60s. My mother and sister remember it fondly. There's more information about both books and tv show at this site.
Though not my "Stumper" this has helped me with a childhood memory.I grew up in southern England in the '60s, and have a distinct memory of Sarah and Hoppity being a puppet show on local TV. I actually recall being a bit upset that Sarah was always getting into trouble for things Hoppity had instigated. Anyway, now I live in Scotland, no one else remembers the show, and I had started to think I had dreamt it, so thank you for confirming that the memory may be correct.
Thank you for solving this one for me! It has intruded on my thoughts for 10-15 years and I couldn't figure out how to find the title. I LOVE this website -- many thanks to Harriett Logan for this wonderful service. I was able to find 2 other elusive books from my childhood (Magic Elizabeth and Candle in her Room) simply by searching the solved stumpers. But all I knew for sure with this one was the short leg and painted plate -- not a lot to go on. The story seems to be a lot different than what I thought I recalled. I'm sure that over the years I have mixed up a number of favorite books, making it even harder to track them down. (As a child, I may even have dreamt about the stories, thereby distorting my recollection even more.) Thanks to the posted solution I found a website that summarizes all of the books.

Sarah
I am looking for a novel that I read in junior high during the 1970s. The heroine was a talented pianist (named Sara?) who loses her fiance in WW1.

Bro, Marguerite Harmon, Sarah. I read this book too! She ends up playing a piano piece that was written for the left hand to show a soldier who lost his right hand/arm in the war that he could still accomplish things.
Bro, Marguerite Harmon, Sarah, 1949. Thank you so much! I've been trying to find this for a long time and I had no idea who the auther was and when it was published. Thanks!

Sarah Canary
i think this book was set during a gold rush, but am not sure. it's about a man on a journey and for a time he works in a mental insitution. when he escapes[?] from the institution a patient goes with him. this patient is very literal and has all the best lines. also at one point there is an escape out a hotel window with a woman who i think supposedly killed her husband and then they go in a boat. i just read this last year so i don't think it is very old.

This sounds like Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler.
i would like to thank the person that figured out my book. as a matter of fact, i feel like i should give them my firstborn child i am so grateful. i just knew i would never find this book again. thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sarah's Room
I am looking for a book I loved when I was wounger. It was for younger children. What I rememeber of it was that the main charctaer, a young girl, was very jealous of her older sister, who had a beautiful bedroom with all sorts of nice things, and I think her parents told the young girl she couldn't have all those nice things too unless she because as neat as her sister. By the end she does. I have no recollection of title or author, but I recall it was a short book, and small, and had illustrations that I would look at for hours.

I have a definite answer for one of the stumpers!! N7 is a book called Sarah's Room by Doris Orgel, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. I still have the copy that my Mom gave me as a little girl. (Although it didn't help me keep my room clean!) She gave it to me because she liked finding books with a Sarah as the main character.

Satanic Mill
This book was about a boy who got lost in a snow storm & ended up at a mill where they always had 12? apprentices. They did millwork in the day and learned black magic by night. Every so often, a mysterious stranger would come by in the middle of the night & they would have to work the mill to grind whatever it was that the stranger brought & have it all done by morning. Once a year, one of the boys would die horribly and they would find a new apprentice in the loft, who would join them. Of course the hero did not want to wind up this way, so he fell in love w/a local girl who was supposed to choose him out of all the boys. If a girl was successful, then the spell would be broken and all the apprentices would be free to go, which is what happend at the end of the story. The story was set in a rural place and made to seem long ago, and possibly in a nordic or Russian country.

Otfried Preussler, Satanic Mill. This very special book is by the popular German author Otfried Preussler,
beautifully translated by Anthea Bell.
Otto Preussler, Satanic Mill, 1970?. Poster remembered title OK. Fairly sure I have the author's name spelt
correctly - no longer have a copy to check! Story (as I remember it) spot on, though.
Would suggest The Satanic Mill, by Otfried Preussler, translated by Anthea Bell, published Macmillan 1971, 185 pages "In seventeenth century Germany, a boy named Krabat desperately wants to escape from a school for Black Magic where he is held captive by demonic forces. Krabat must learn enough magic to escape." "Krabat, the protagonist, is a young orphan who starts working as an apprentice at a mill where black magic and witchcraft are at work. The miller has made a deal with the devil, and each year one of the apprentices has to be sacrificed by the miller to keep his side of the deal. Some of Krabat's friends end up dead. Krabat, however, finds
salvation through his love, a singer from the nearby village. She is able to rescue him from certain death and put an end to Satan's reign, even when the miller casts an evil spell, because her love for Krabat is stronger than witchcraft." (from the Amazon review)
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There are several books with the title "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (which I thought was the correct title) but none match my memory of the book... a young boy is apprenticed to an evil magician. He is expected to perform several difficult tasks (i.e., emptying a well of water, but his bucket has a hole in it sweeping the feathers from a room, but the wind keeps blowing them back). Finally he defeats the evil sorcerer when the sorcerer becomes a raven. Thanks for your help!

Padraic Colum wrote a book entitled THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER, 1966 (although there was an earlier printing in the 1920s?). I haven't read it and I couldn't find much info. on it except that Eean the fisherman's son is apprenticed to the evil Zabulun. Might be worth a look. ~from a librarian
Thank you for the tip, but it was not A Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter. I have since remembered that the book had a windmill in it... does that help anyone?
S134 sorceror's apprentice: the impossible tasks are a very common folktale motif. Usually the boy or girl (most commonly a girl) is helped by animals that he or she helped earlier in the story. I'd guess that the boy was acting as a servant rather than an apprentice - that's the usual arrangement.
Otfried Preussler, The Satanic Mill. Suddenly, after all these years, the title came to me! It is The Satanic Mill. I checked it out at the library and it was the right book. I enjoyed it again!
S134 sorceror's apprentice: if the book had a windmill in it, could it possibly be The Satanic Mill, from the Solved List? Later - I had a look at our library's copy, and it doesn't seem to have the impossible tasks in it, just a lot of shape-changing and the trial is recognising the transformed loved one.
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S234: The miller or the Mill at..., mid 1970s. Book has been driving me crazy, read it once when I was a freshman in high school - so that would be in the early 1980s. Book was about a sorcerer who had a mill at the edge of a village. He would take in orphan boys as apprentice. At the end of each year, one of his apprentice must die before a new one could take his place. Book is about an orphan boy who becomes an apprentice. At some time in the book he tries to escape, turning himself into various animals, each time the miller who was following him, turned himself into something stronger.

#S234--sorceror or miller: The Satanic Mill. Otfried Preussler. Abelard-Schuman, London 1972-1st ed. (U.K). New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1972-1st ed. (U.S). Set against the colorful background of 17th-Century Germany, the story of Krabat's captive apprenticeship and ultimate victory over the master is an unusual, tension-packed thriller that readers of all ages will find difficult to put down. Author's sixth release, this title received the German State Children's prize for 1972. Quite a "dark" book and themes, for a children's story. Set in Southern Germany during the thirty years war. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 185pp. Murray Tinkelman, jacket illustrator. Translated by Anthea Bell.
Otfried Preussler, The Satanic Mill, 1971. See Solved Mysteries Page.
Otfried Preussler, The Curse of the Darkling Mill, also known as The Satanic Mill. "Secret Arts. Unexplained deaths. What is happening at the mill in the fens? Drawn by powers beyond his control, fourteen-year-old Krabat finds himself apprenticed to the dark mill and begins work with the Miller's eleven other journeymen. But strange things continue to happen at the mill. Time passes at an unnatural pace, and the journeymen have superhuman powers, and can turn themselves into ravens and other creatures. Trapped by an evil power which makes escape impossible, Krabat is forced to submit to the Master of the Mill as he tries to unravel the mill's secrets. The Curse of the Darkling Mill is an eerie tale of sorcery and nightmares, which will keep you guessing right to the end."
Otfried Preussler, The Satanic Mill.One of my favorites!
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60's or 70's, juvenile. I read this book the late 70's or early 80's. It's about a boy (maybe an orphan?) who is turned into a crow by a wizard or warlock and joins a group of other boys/crows that are kept by the wizard. In exchange for learning magic they're under the control of the wizard. I think they're crows at night and boys during the day. At the end, inspired by a girl he falls in love with, the boy manages to escape the wizard (and I think loses his ability to use magic when he escapes). I've searched everywhere online and in libraries, and can't find it. Thanks!!

This sounds like the often-searched-for "The Satanic Mill" by Otfried Preussler.
The Satanic Mill. I did some research on The Satanic Mill and I'm positive this is the book -- thank you!

Saturday the Twelfth of October
The title was a date (like "Wednesday, August 12th); around 1980. In the early 80's I read a book about a girl named Zan, about 13 years old, who travels back in time and lives for a year with cavemen. She lives in New York and gets mugged at the beginning of the book by some kids. (The main mugger has blue eyes.) Then there is some family dispute revolving around her little brother. She runs out of the apartment crying and goes to her favorite rock, maybe in Central Park. Apparently strong emotions cause the rock to somehow transport her into the past. After an encounter with some now-extinct prehistoric animal, she meets a couple of kids from a tribe where she ends up staying for the next year or so. Since she introduces herself to them as "Me Zan", they believe her name is Meezan and call her that. They come to accept her until they start falling on hard times. Misconceptions about her and misunderstandings cause them to make her a scapegoat for their problems. When the elder spiritual leader woman tries to kill her with her own pocket knife, she runs away and seeks out her rock. Apparently it is triggered by her emotions. She returns to the same moment at which she left, so her parents never knew she was gone they just think she looks like she might be getting the flu. I remember that the author was a woman and that her husband also wrote books for the same age group and that they collaborated on at least one.

This is Saturday, the Twelfth of October by Norma Fox Mazer.
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This YA book was a time travel novel about a girl (about 12 or 13) who lived (I believe) in New York in the 1970s. Somehow, while at Central Park, she ends up traveling back in time to an ancient, tribal civilization. She spents almost a year there trying to find a way home. She brought with her a key, a safety pin, and a knife and these items end up playing a key role in ruining the civilization. It was an incredible book that I used to read in the 1980s. It had a lot of feminist and naturalist elements to it. I would really like to find it again! I'm almost positve that the title was a date, starting with the name of a month (September? October?)

Norma Fox Mazer, Saturday, the Twelfth of October.
Norma Fox Mazer, Saturday, the Twelfth of October.
Mazer, Norma Fox, Saturday, the twelfth of October, 1975, copyright. After spending almost a year with cave people from an earlier time, a young girl is transported back to the present greatly changed, both by her experience and by the fact that no one believes her.
Norma Fox Mazer, Saturday, the Twelfth of October, 1975, copyright.
Norma Fox Mazer, Saturday, the Twelfth of October. This was the only book my mother ever censored when I was a kid! Now I want to find it and read it again.
Norma Fox Mazer, Saturday, the Twelfth of October. This is defintely it. Great book.
Norma Fox Mazer, Saturday, the Twelfth of October, 1975, copyright. Thanks! This is definitely it.

Saturdays
I am looking for a novel I read, probably in the '60s, about a group of elementary school-aged children who discover a silkworm, and then the children learn about what silkworms need to survive, and carefully take the silkworm (or worms?) to a mulberry tree, where it grows and makes silk. This may have been a story in a schoolbook, or a book I checked out of the library, but I can't remember much more, except it was very magical to me. The children may have had many other adventures; I think they had a neighborhood club that met in an attic(?), but this part of the book is what I recall.

The latter part of S45 sounds a lot like The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. Mona, Rush, Randy and Oliver
are four siblings living in NYC in the 30s. They pool their allowances so that they can each have an adventure on a Saturday. They called their club ISAAC and named their dog Isaac, too.
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Family detective series--This is a wonderful series of books for upper elementary/jr hi about a family--no mom, a housekeeper named, I think, Curly, several kids, and a dad. The kids solve a mystery in each book but that's not the main point. The oldest boy plays the piano. The oldest girl goes around reciting recipes in one book; she also gets a perm that's too tight, earning her the name "Brillo Queen." I think one book is titled "The Tangled Web," but I had no luck in searching the Lib. of Congress for it. The girl also takes off her nail polish with her treasured bottle of perfume in one book.

I found lots of titles called A Tangled Web, including one by L.M. Montgomery (1931). Maybe?
#F113--family detective series: Tangled Web could be Mangled Memory of Melendy Family stories by Elizabeth Enright. Some details, such as Mona getting a permanent and Rush playing the piano, are right, and the maid's name was Cuffy, which is pretty close. The mystery title in the series was Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze.
Could be the Melendy books by Elizabeth Enright. Four books: The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five and Spiderweb For two: A Melendy Maze.
F113 is definitely not L.M. Montgomery's a Tangled Web.
Elizabeth Enright, Melendy family series. Took me a few minutes to put your clues together, but this is definitely it. The books are The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, and Spiderweb for Two. The children are Mona, Rush, Randy, and Oliver. They are not mystery books but Spiderweb for Two is about a year-long treasure hunt that the rest of the family puts on for Randy and Oliver.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. The housekeeper is Cuffy, the eldest son, Rush, plays the piano, Mona gets her hair permed and nails painted and removes the polish with perfume. A Tangled Web by Montgomery is about a will and all the members of the family who wish to inherit a certain vase.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays and Spiderweb for Two. This sounds like the Melendy family. In The Saturdays, Mona uses her Saturday to get a perm and manicure. In Spiderweb for Two Randy and Oliver get clues to a year long treasure hunt when the older kids are away at school. Rush plays the piano. Their housekeeper's name is Cuffy.
Don't think that this is an L.M. Montgomery. Not the right type, and her list of works doesn't seem to have a series of this type. Title should be The Tangled Web, not A Tangled Web.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. Sequels: The Four-Storey Mistake, Then There Were Five, Spiderweb for Two. Mona is the one who gets nail polish off with perfume! Cuffy is the housekeeper.
Enright, Elizabeth, Spiderweb for Two: a Melendy Maze, 1951. Might these be Enright's books about the Melendy family? The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, and Spiderweb for Two. Although the children are not detectives, per se, Spiderweb for Two does feature a mystery with the two youngest children, Randy and Oliver. Other details: no mother, the housekeeper's name is Cuffy (not Curly), there are 4 (then 5!) kids, and a dad. Rush (the oldest boy) plays the piano. Mona is an actress who gives frequent dreamy recitations I believe recipes are included. In the first book, The Saturdays, Mona indulges in a scandalous beauty treatment including haircut (although I don't think "Brillo Queen" featured) and manicure, and she ends up removing her nail polish with strong perfume. I hope these turn out to be the right books -- they should be great treat to re-discover! I never "lost" Enright's children's books (among my favorites), but I've just discovered her adult fiction (short stories) with very great pleasure, and would highly recommend them, especially to fans of her writing for children.
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A woman wrote this book, 1950s. Four children live in a Victorian house - it has a cupola - I believe there was an illustration of it, might have been on the cover. I think the children live there on their own. Each weekend, one of them is "allowed" to leave the house and have an adventure. They weren't in prison! I think they might have been so poor, there was some "sensible" reason for this situation. It was charmingly told each adventure was engaging.

I believe this is Elizabeth Enright's The Saturdays. The Melendy children pool their allowance so each one of them, on their Saturday, can plan some special all day outing. The children are not poor but I believe the war is on and they are still rationing. Their home, with cupola, is described at great length in The Four Story Mistake.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays/The Four Story Mistake. You're combining two of the Melendy family books. In The Saturdays, the family is living in New York City and the children pool their allowances so that they can take turns going
to the art gallery, the opera and so on. In The Four Story Mistake, they move to a house in the country that has a cupola.
Enright, Elizabeth, The Saturdays/Four Story Mistake. This sounds like a combination of both these stories - in The Saturdays, the kids take turns having adventures, and in The Four Story Mistake, they've moved out to the country and
the house has a cupola.
Elizabeth Enright??, The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake ?? Is it possible you're remembering parts of two of the books about the Melendy family? In The Saturdays, the four children (Mona, Rush, Randy & Oliver) pool their allowances so they can (individually) afford an adventure each Saturday this is in New York City. In the second book, they move to the country and live in a Victorian house with a four-windowed cupola on the roof.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. This sounds like an amalgamation of The Saturdays and its first sequel The Four
Storey Mistake. In the first book, the children live in New York, and pool their money so that each child can have an adventure on successive Saturdays eventually they start having their 'adventures' as a group. In the second book, they move
to a house with a cupola.
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HI! I'm looking for a book I read as a child about a family - there's at least a couple of daughters, a father and I don't know if I remember a mom or a grandmother. Each chapter of the book is a different "episode" in the life of the family...all I really remember is that in one chapter, the eldest daughter goes to the city for the day, and, feeling more grown up than she is, gets her fingernails painted (a no-no in the house). She tries to hide her hands during the next meal with the family, but gets caught and becomes more upset when she thinks the polish won't come off. That's all I remember, I apologize, but I'd really like to find this book. I would have been reading it around 1978 or so, but I'm not sure how old the book was at the time (it seemed a bit antiquated in its reflection of family values, I recall!) Thanks so much!

Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. This is the first of the Melendy stories. When they can't afford a vacation outside NYC, the four kids pool their allowances and each does something exciting with all the week's money. Mona gets her hair bobbed and (accidentally) a red manicure, and the hairdresser tells her a story about running away to the city. The other kids go to an opera, an art gallery, and the circus.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 1942. This is definitely the book. The girl with the nail polish is Mona, and she also has her hair cut that day. Its the first of the Melendy Quartet.
not sure of author, but this is definately The Saturdays! The girls name was mona and it was her turn to used the combined weekly allowence of all the kids to do exactly what she wanted - she got a perm and a manicure - and got in big trouble!!
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. Definitely the one.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. See solved stumpers. In one chapter Mona, the eldest daughter, spends her Saturday money having her hair cut in a grown up style and inadvertently gets a manicure at the same time which causes almost more trouble than having her braids cut off
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 1941. In this book, four siblings decide to pool their weekly allowances and take turns spending the money on a special Saturday outing. On her Saturday, teen Mona Melendy takes a trip to a beauty salon where she gets a short and stylish haircut and a manicure with bright nail polish. Her father (a widower) disapproves and she later removes the nail polish with cologne or perfume. Followed by three sequels. Please see the "S" solved pages for more information.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. This is the one about the siblings who pool their allowances so each child can have a Saturday outing on their own.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. Almost definitely The Satrudays. See solved stumpers.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 1941. I believe this is the book you're looking for.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. This sounds like The Saturdays, the first book in the series about the Melendy family. In it, Mona, the oldest girl, gets her hair cut and her fingernails polished on one of her outings and gets in trouble for it. The setting is in NYC during WWII.
Enright, Elizabeth, The Saturdays. Solution for nail polish no-nos- Mona, the eldest daughter in the Melendy family, uses her Saturday to get her hair and nails done.
Elizabeth Enright, the saturdays, 1941. Sure sounds like the Saturdays and the Melendy family, with Mona being the eldest daughter they live with their dad and their housekeeper and each saturday one of the kids goes on an adventure. The other three kids are Randy, Rush, and Oliver.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. Sounds like it might be this classic. Mona is the girl's name.
N60 is The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. Each of the Melendy children pool their allowance and take turns having a Saturday out alone. Mona goes to the beauty shop, gets her hair cut, and a manicure. Cuffy, the housekeeper, removes the nail polish with perfume.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 1941. This episode is from the first book about the Melendy Family. The four children pool their allowances so that they each have an adventure in NYC. Mona, the oldest, uses the money to go to a beauty salon she gets her hair cut and has her nails done, much to her family's dismay.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 1950s. This sounds like one of the chapters from The Saturdays, where Mona Melendy spends the siblings (Mona, Rush, Randy and Oliver) pooled allowance to go to the city for a makeover. Each chapter is one of the kids using the allowance money for something they really want. The Melendys series consists of The Four Story Mistake, The Saturdays, And Then There were Five, and Spiderweb for Two.
Enright, Elizabeth, The Saturdays. The kids form a group called Isaac to pool their money together so each kid can have his/her own "day".
This sounds like The Saturdays to me...when Mona gets her turn to have an adventure on a Saturday. I think she gets her hair cut too. The other kids are Rush, Randy and Oliver. There's a dad, but the mom died, and Cuffy is the housekeeper -- definitely a grandmotherly type.
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1970's, childrens. Kids live in a big house in the city and the whole top floor is a play room. They keep clay in the bathroom sink.

Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. The first of the Melendy family books. The top floor is The Office, which is the children's playroom, and they have clay in a sink, that needs to be moistened regularly. That's one of Oliver's jobs (I think it's Oliver's).
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 60s, approximate. This really sounds like The Saturdays, one of the Melendy family books. In this book they all lived in the city, had a huge playroom, and kept clay in the sink, or maybe turtles. There are other Melendy books for after they move out to the country into a huge house, have a huge playroom, etc.
Elizabeth Enright, The Four Story Mistake. I think this might be The Four Story Mistake (or possibly one of the other Melendy books.)
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 1941, copyright. Definitely this first in the 4-book Melendy family series which are still in print. Mona, Rush, Randy and Oliver live with their widowed dad and beloved housekeeper Cuffy in Manhattan. Their upstairs playroom has clay in the sink, a piano, masks and other wonderful stuff. Every Saturday, each child takes a turn going somewhere different in the city with their pooled allowance money.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. The first of the Melendy books-definitely the one.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. This is the first of the books about the Melendy Family.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 1941, copyright. This can be none other than this well-loved classic. The details match! You will find lots of other details on the solved pages.
Enright, Elizabeth, The Melendy Family. Sounds like a detail from the Melendy Family series. There were four children children, Mona, Rush, Randy, and Oliver, who lived in Manhattan with their widowed father. They did have a large playroom on the top floor of a tall, thin brownstone, one which did include the bathtub full of clay, and also a large upright piano, a trapeze, and several pictures on the ceiling formed by leaks. The children themselves had several adventures exploring the city. Later books dealt with their lives after they moved to the country. Hope this helps.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays, 1941, copyright. Could this be The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright? Printed originally in 1941, it's a timeless story, and has been reprinted many times (including an edition that came out in the 70s)...it's still in print today. If it's the one, in addition to the full-floor play room, you might remember that the four siblings (2 boys, 2 girls) each took turns having a "Saturday" adventure with their combined allowance...hence the title "The Saturdays". Eldest girl went to the theatre, youngest boy to the circus, etc.
Enright, Elizabeth, The Saturdays. Part of the Melendy family books, before they move to the country. The Office is what they call their playroom.
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays. Thank you all so much for solving the mystery. The book that I was searching for is indeed "The Saturdays" by Elizabeth Enright.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Enright, Elizabeth. The Saturdays. Henry Holt, 1941, 1969, 2002. New hardback with new cover illustration by Tricia Tusa. $16.95
Enright, Elizabeth. The Saturdays. Henry Holt, 1941, 1969, 20th hardback printing. Ex-library edition with only stamp being on top edges, very small water damage to top corner of pages. G/VG. $20

Saucepan Journey
Yet another vague book request. I'm looking for a book my friend read as a child, probably in the late 50s/early 60s (or a bit later). The ONLY thing she can remember about it is that is was about a pot called Pete (or maybe Peep). It was a magic/special pot, where you could cook several things at once - ie, meat in one section, vegetables in another, dessert in another. And sadly, that's all the information I have! I really hope you can help because I'd love to find it for her. Thanks a lot.

On #P16, "Pot Named Pete," there's also a book titled Teena and the Magic Pot, illustrated by Jack and Louise Myers, a 1961 Tell-A-Tale which appears on page 469 of Santi's "Collecting Little Golden Books" guide, 4th Edition.
#P16--A Pot Named Pete. There's a Rand McNally Junior Elf Book called The Magic Pot. It's the only kids' book I've seen about a pot (not counting The Black Cauldron) except for Caroline and her Kettle Named Maud.
Thanks for the info. I'll have to ask my friend if these sound familiar to her.
Hi again. I have spoken to my friend about this book and she has provided further information. The pot is definitely called Peep, not Pete. It wasn't a magic pot, it was simply one that was divided into three sections where you could cook three different things (unheard of at the time). The father of the family was a travelling salesman who sold the pots and the family all had Norwegian sounding names. The book had a cloth cover. That's about it! Thanks a lot.
P16 Pot named Pete -- Not magic but possible, but Edith Unnerstad's Saucepan Journey, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin, Macmillan 1951, "amusing story of the Larsson family, father mother, and seven children, who spend part of a summer traveling in horse-drawn wagons from Stockholm to Norrkoping. Father is an inventor and his whistling saucepan, Peep, makes the trip lucrative, exciting and funny. The story is told by eleven year old Lars."
That's it!! Thank you thank you! And I actually managed to find a copy in Australia (which is where I am) so I am now VERY happy. I just looooove this website........

Sawdust in His Shoes
Sawdust In His Shoes--Again, pretty sure about the title. I read this in high school in the early 60s. A teenage boy runs away from the circus, or falls ill and is left in an orphanage and runs away from there, or something! Anyway, he ends up on a farm where he begins training the farm horse for an equestrian act.

Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Sawdust in His Shoes (NY:Coward-McCann, 1950)
Sounds right. Where I remember the book being shelved in the school library could well have been the M's, and the publication date is feasible. I'd like to have a copy of this one as well. Thanks.
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The book i am looking for was probably considered YA (i read it in the early 1970's) basic synopsis teen boy in the circus has to leave it for some reason (dont remember) and runs away from where he is put- he ends up living on the farm of a family that takes him in.

Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Sawdust In His Shoes. Sounds like Sawdust In His Shoes, the story of a teenage circus equestrian who is placed in an orphanage, but runs away and is taken in by a farm family. He trains one of the plow horses, develops an new act, and eventually rejoins the circus.
McGraw, Eloise Jarvis, Sawdust in His Shoes. The boy's father, a lion tamer, gets killed, and he has to go to an orphanage, from which he runs away. The boy is a solo equestrien and finds the perfect horse for him on the farm. He ends up back in the circus as a headliner.'
Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Sawdust in His Shoes. 1950.
I vaguely remember reading something similar back in the early 80s. I think the title was "Sawdust in his Shoes", and I thought the author was Edward Fenton, but I couldn't locate it online, so probably not. Maybe this will help jar someone else's memory though..

Scamp Family
The Scamp Family, 1900-1920? The daily life of a family of 5 (or 4) orphaned siblings who live on a British farm or estate owned by their great-uncle Matthew (called Gum???) who travels around the world ( on business?)They do outrageous things to the dismay and annoyance of the neighbors in his long absence.I believe he returns and somehow civilizes them, but it's the outragous thinsg I recall. I do not recall the author or whathappened to my copy, but I would love to find it again.

Well, it's not common, but I did find one:
L. T. Meade, The Scamp Family. London, W. & R. Chambers, n.d. Illustrated by A. Talbot Smith. Decorative board with picture of four children sitting on a wall. Foxed. Spine a little bit cracked. Good. $35
I think the poster may be conflating two books: Meade's The Scanp Family, which fits most of the description and
Noel Streatfield's Ballet Shoes, which includes the travelling Great Uncle Matthew, called Gum for short.

Scarface: The Story of a Grizzly
My Dad read this book as a child, so it must have been published in the 30-40's. It's about the last grizzly in the state of Colorado. He remember's it being called: "Silvertip The Grizzly", but I have never found it by this name. He said he thought the author also published a book about a cougar too. He checked the book out of the public library in Rawlins, WY. Any ideas?

Earnest Seton-Thompson, The Biography of a Grizzly, 1900, copyright. A perennial classic, this is the story of Wahb, a silvertip bear. After his mother and siblings are shot by a cattle czar, Wahb grows up alone in the mountains of northwestern Wyoming. As a cub, he collects wounds and stores up hatred for omnipresent enemies—men and beasts. But in maturity he owns the territory. His arms can "toss pine logs like broomsticks"; his paws "with one tap" can "crush the biggest bull in the range"; and his claws can "tear huge slabs of rock from the mountainside." During summers at Yellowstone National Park he is on good behavior, except for his one intimidating visit to the hotel. Now his only enemies are time and the roachback grizzly who challenges his power.
If the book was non-fiction, the "last grizzly" in Colorado was officially killed in 1952 (though actually another was killed in 1979), so try searching a later time period for the book. If it was fictional, try the authors Rutherford Montgomery, who wrote many animal stories, including 'Cougar' and 'Yellow Eyes' about cougars, or Thomas C Hinkle, another popular nature/animal writer.
Jim Kjelgaard or Ernest Thompson Seton. Hi, this might help the poster of the G454 stumper. When I was young, I read lots of animal stories and I remember that two "animal story" authors of the 30s-40s time period included Jim Kjelgaard and Ernest Thompson Seton. One of these two might be the author of the "Grizzly" tale. Just a guess.
Thomas C. Hinkle. In addition to Kjelgaard and Seton, Thomas C. Hinkle is also a possibility.
Possibly THE BIOGRAPHY OF A GRIZZLY by Ernest Thompson Seton (1900), who also wrote many other "animal biographies" -- don't know if one is about
a cougar, but there may be one. Or possibly THE GRIZZLY KING by James Oliver Curwood, or SCARFACE: THE STORY OF A GRIZZLY by Dorr Yeager; or OLD FOUR-TOES THE GRIZZLY BEAR by Edwin L. Sabin; or something else...
Dorr Yeager, Scarface: The Story of a Grizzly, 1939, approximate. Turns out it was Wyoming, not Colorado. And my Dad thinks it is the Dorr Yeager books we have been looking for. He did also write one about a cougar called Chita. Now I'm looking for both the books for Father's Day! Thanks so much for all your help!

Scarlet Ibis
Literature short story about a young boy and his brother. The boy dislikes his younger brother. His younger brother in the end of the story dies underneath a tree in the forest, because of his weak heart or exhaustion. (Can’t remember which one) The way he dies in the end is compared to that of a red canary. (Or other type of bird, I do not quite remember) When his brother finds him, he soon realizes that his brother is dead and laments for leaving him behind. (He left him behind when he was running away from him) I read this when I was in grammar school, in the 90’s. It was a short story from a literature textbook. I would be forever grateful if anyone can help me find the title of the story. I know this is a vague description, but it is all I can recall at this time.

James Hurst, The Scarlet Ibis. I was absolutely haunted by this story...it made a lasting impression. It apparently made an impression on my uncle as well (so the story must be at least from the 60s), who ended up naming his company after it.
James Hurst, The Scarlet Ibis. This is the story. Its been a staple of high school literature books since at least the 1960s.
James Hurst, The Scarlet Ibis. The brother's name is Doodle.
James Hurst, The Scarlet Ibis. The short story, one of my persnonal favorites, was in the 9th grade literature book used at Beaumont Junior High, Lexington, KY. The date - 1967-168 school year.
James Hurst, The Scarlet Ibis. Been a while since I read it, but I'm pretty sure this is it.
This is definitely The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. The young brother's name is Doodle.
James Hurst, The Scarlet Ibis, 1960. Oh, thank you everyone for finding the title of this short story. I read it when I was in 8th or 9th grade and I remember reading it over and over because I was so moved and saddened by the story. This is now one of my favorite websites. Keep up the great work!

Scarred
I think this book might have been called Scarred. Boy with a cleft lip and/or palate...a fall (for which the boy blames himself) which either injures or kills a brother. I read it around 1963; I think it was a YA book from the school library. Thanks.

Dang, I just solved it myself! ...the title is indeed Scarred, and it's by Bruce Lowery, from 1961. Think I'll try to get it on interlibrary loan, just to see if it's as powerful as I remember. I remember that my sixth grade self was really shaken by the raw portrayal of the guilt felt over the death (as I remember it---perhaps it was just a severe injury) of a younger sibling.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
I have a strange request, for a couple of years I have been looking for this poem, or maybe its a song. I am looking for any book that contains the complete poem. I don't know the title but it about a worm and a funeral (may be titled when a hearse goes by) with a phrase something like the worm goes in the worm goes out.

When a hearse goes by is a line from an Emily Dickinson poem. I think the poem you're looking for goes something like, The worms go in,/ The worms go out./ They eat your guts,/ And they spit them out. Lovely imagery!
#W57: Along with a lot of other people, I can definitely help you with this. Alvin H. Schwartz did a series of Scary Stories books. I believe it is the first one which contains the "worms" song, all the words, as well
as notes on its origins. Highly enjoyable and entertaining books with GREAT illustrations!
W57 The person is right about the Schwartz book as a source for the song. Specifically, it's in the first one called SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK and it's called "The Hearse Song" in the book. Schwartz also includes a good bibliography at the back, so the person can take a look at that too.

Scat! Scat!
My favorite childhood book has been lost. The book was about a white kitty that was always being told-Scat,scat you bad cat! I believe that the name of the book is scat, scat. The kitty was unwanted in the story. It was hardcover with color illustrations. In one part of the book the little kitty was swept away by someone with a broom saying scat, scat you bad cat! My grandmother read this book to me during the 1950s. I hope you can help me. Thank you.

I've had this book before. I believe it's called exactly that: Scat! Scat! by Sally Frances, Platt & Munk, 1929, 1940.

School in the Sky
This book was probably published before 1965. It's about children on a glass-bottomed airplane taking a trip around the world. One of the places they visit is the Great Wall of China.

Ruth & Latrobe Carroll, School in the Sky, 1945. No mistaking this one -- it's School in the Sky. It's been quite a while but I recall one of the students was a girl named Annie, and they had a cow in the plane with them! I remember being fascinated with the description of strapping in the cow for takeoff!
Dear Harriett, I am very happy I found your website! My search for a book was solved with the title "School in the Sky". I can't figure out how to respond within the post so I am writing to you to say "thanks" to whoever solved it. I am very grateful. I made this request on behalf of someone I met at a dinner. We started talking about children's books and she mentioned one about children traveling the world in a glass-bottomed airplane. She said she didn't know the title or author, but had searched everywhere for the book with the little information she had. I found your website later that night and now we have the answer. She will be thrilled. Thanks for helping people rediscover the books that shaped their worlds when they were young. Finding a book you once loved is like opening a door and stepping into the past for a while. I have two young daughters and can't part with a single book of theirs, because I want that door to their early years to always be close by.

School on an Island
Castaway school? 1950's? childrens. (No, it's not Lord of the Flies!) I bought this book used in the 1970's and it disappeared somewhere along the line; I've searched for various boarding school series but can't seem to find the right one. The main character is Patricia (Pat), who has a best friend, Eunice. Their class (maybe in a previous book?) has won some kind of a prize, a holiday aboard a boat. When the girls get on board, they discover that another girl named Tiny (sort of a protege of Pat's?) has stowed away in a basket. Something happens to the boat and they all end up shipwrecked--and at that point my memory fails me on the plot. I know they all get rescued and it ends happily--nothing nasty.

Carol Ryrie Brink, Baby Island, 1937, approximate. Description from Wikipedia: The book begins with the Wallace sisters, twelve-year-old Mary and ten-year-old Jean, traveling alone on a ship to meet their father in Australia. The girls often babysit young children: at home, they had enjoyed "borrowing" the babies of neighbors. Their ship is disabled in a storm, and the girls are set adrift in a lifeboat -- alone with four babies under two, the children of fellow passengers. The craft eventually drifts to a tropical island, and in a Robinson Crusoe-like scenario, they must learn to build shelter and survive on wild foodstuffs. They do this with great success, while raising the babies through various developmental milestones and adopting a baby monkey who they raise alongside the babies. Throughout the story, the girls sing Scots We hae to inspire their courage to deal with their situation. In the latter part of the book the girls also encounter a character like Friday: a mysterious, gruff man who lives alone on the island and dislikes children. He eventually warms to their babies, and they enjoy his company and his useful craftsmanship. Finally, the girls are rescued on Christmas day, after a storm, and all the babies are returned to their parents.
Sorry, no, it's definitely not Baby Island--this was a school story and seemed to be part of a series. I don't think they spent a long time stranded.
Rita Coatts, School on an Island, 1949. Looks like I solved my own stumper after all these years!

Screwball
Soapbox Derby book I think the author's name starts with an A, something like Armstrong. There are 2 brothers, one athletic and the other not. The non-athletic boy builds a soapbox racer, so his brother decides he has to do the same but he doesn't want to put the same effort into making it right. He takes an old spring off a screen door to hold his brake pedal rather than buying a new spring, but then secretly swaps the old spring for the first brother's good one, so the first boy's brake drags during the
race and makes him lose the race.

Alberta Armer, Screwball (NY, 1963) has 2 brothers & a soap box derby; one brother has been lamed by polio. Don't know whether this is the book you're looking for, but the author's name seemed close enough to Armstrong to be worth a shot.
That's it! I remember the title now that I see it! Is this out of print, and if so can you find an inexpensive copy for me?

Sea Change
My mother has been looking for a book for years. She read it as a teenager, so it has to be from the 1930's or before. It is called Sea Change, and it was by Elizabeth someone or other, and it isn't the one that comes up in Bibliofind. It is about a girl in Nova Scotia(?) who falls in love with someone inappropriate (a fisherman?). She remembers the library binding was red.

This might be one of Elisabeth Ogilvie's books...she was very prolific writing for both young readers and adults, and most of her stories are set in Maine and deal with fishermen. She's still writing, but most of her young readers stuff would be vintage 40's or so. Maybe this will help!
How 'bout: Ogilvie, Elisabeth. Masquerade At Sea House. McGraw Hill, 1965.
Thanks for keeping this request in mind. Yes, you had sent the Ogilvie suggestion before and my mother says she has looked at Ogilvie's books and none of them is it. Someday, we'll find it!
I wonder if this could be the book by Eleanor Mercein Kelly. I don't know anything about her except that she won the O Henry award a couple of times for her short stories, and she was from Kentucky. She wrote from the 1910's through 1940's or so, and her stories were set all other the place. She did publish a book called Sea Change, in the early 30's, I think, but I've never read it.
Thanks for the tip. My mom swears it's not this one, but I've put in an interlibrary loan request for a copy, just in case. I can't find a used one anywhere.
I tracked down Eleanor Mercein Kelly's Sea Change. Definitely not it.
Results from a search on AG-Canada's database (sorry, no plot descriptions): Kelly, Eleanor (Mercein), Mrs., 1880- Sea change, New York and London, Harper & brothers, 1931. 3 p.l., 358 p. front., illus. 20 cm.
Vincent, Kitty, Sea-Change, London c 1933 Watters, Barbara H., 1907- Sea change, New York; Toronto, Rinehart & company, inc. [1946] 5 p.l., 3-270 p. 20 cm.
Worth, Kathryn, 1898- Sea change. [1st ed.] Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1948. 240 p. 21 cm.
Clements, Eileen Helen, Sea-change, London, Dutton?, 1951
Hargreaves, Elisabeth, Sea Change, London, Hutchinson?, 1953
Howard, Elizabeth Jane, The sea change, London : J. Cape, 1959. 412 p.
I researched this one thoroughly and the only book with that name that hasn't been eliminated previously is this one. The author: Flora Louisa Shaw (also know as: Flora L. Shaw, Flora Lousa Shaw Lugard, Lady Flora Shaw) Title: A Sea Change Published: 1884 in Boston by Roberts Brothers Binding: Red, embossed with floral border Size: about 4" x 6", 382 pages Plot: This was a non-circulating book that I found in the library, so I had to skim the plot. A young woman (girl?) is found washed ashore, and brought to the home of Sir George and Lady Trevelyan. She has no memory of her name, and so they call her Marina. The Trevelyans have a son named Norman that she ends up falling in love with. In the denouement, she is discovered to be the granddaughter of old friends of the family, with an old locket that she wore when found being the proof. Her father was the black sheep of the family and was in Australia, sending his daughter back to his parents by ship. I realize that not all of the details are not an exact fit, but it does have the name, the red cover, a publication date early enough to be possible, and an unconventional (for the times) romance.
I check back from time to time, to see if anyone has found my mother's Sea Change. Here is a more complete list of books that I have tried. It is not any of these: James Abbeglenn (about Pacific Asia), Richard Armstrong (1969), Peter Burchard (too new), Celeste de Blassis (Bantam Romance), Caroline Brooks (Signet Regency romance), R Byron (Shetland Society), Cousins, James (poetry), Denis, Nigel (1949), Sylvia Earle (1955 ecology?), Robert Goddard (2000), Rumer Godden (1991), Lois Gould (too late), Elisabeth Hargreaves (1953--West Indies family), Hedderwick, Mairi (1999), Elizabeth Jane Howard (about playwright), Christopher Howell (1985), Stuart Hughes (1975 Sociology), Barbara Hunt (witches), Eleanor Mercein Kelly (set in Mallorca), Ann Knowles (1979, Wales), Muna Lee (poetry), Charles Lloyd-Jones (man's POV), Philip Loraine (1982), Allison McLeay (too late: 1992), Peter Nichols (too late, and about sailing), Dorothy Pitkin (1964) about biological station, James Powlik (biotechnothriller), J.R. Salamanca (1969), Cynthia Seton (too new), Flora Louise Shaw (1886--about London and Sussex), Barbara Shor (1975, ltd. edition, Paris), Keith Speed (1982), Trudy Stack (1998 photography), Lynda Ward (1983-romance), Ralph E. West, Jr. (1980, anthology short fict)
Kathryn Worth, Sea Change, 1948. After checking dozens of books with this title, this turned out to be the one! I have it on interlibrary loan and would really like to get a copy for my mother. The two I've found online are $325.00 and up. If anyone can find a less expensive copy, I'd be very grateful.

The Seagulls Woke Me
I remember the main character was invited to a dance at her high school at the last minute. She & her mother went to buy a dress but since it was late there wasn't much of a selection. The dress she ended up wearing was taupe color. I remember that distinctly because I looked the word up in the dictionary. At the dance the main character went to the bathroom and heard some girls making fun of her dress. When they came out of the bathroom stall one of the girls apologized for being rude. I know this was written by a popular teen writer (at the time) but I can't remember her name or the book name.

Beverly Cleary, Fifteen. This sounds like it could be Fifteen by Beverly Cleary?
Mary Stoltz, The Seagulls Woke Me. I am not sure whether I have spelled the author's name correctly, but she was one of my favourites in my teens and I remember this book vividly.
I'm sorry this isn't a solution, but I can at least rule out Fifteen by Beverly Cleary (a favorite of mine, which has no dance nor shopping scene), though it might be from one of her other books. Two other popular authors of that period were Betty Cavanna and Margaret Maze Craig, in case that helps.
Mary Stolz, The Seagulls Woke Me, 1951. I can confirm that this is your book. The girl's name is Jean. The incident you describe is what convinces her folks to let her take a summer job in a different town.
Mary Stolz, The Seagulls Woke Me.
Beverly Cleary, Jean and Johnny. Possible that this is Jean and Johnny by Beverly Cleary?? Although there is no scene in the book where Jean goes into the bathroom and hears girls making fun of her, I do recall that she did buy a dress that was an unusual color (taupe or olive?) for the dance, and that she had a hard time finding a dress because of her small size.
Mary Stoltz, The Seagulls Woke Me. Thank you so much for solving my stumper. It was so much fun to read the book again....38 years later!

Sea Horse
Boy rides seahorse float to undersea king-A boy goes to the seashore with a new inflatable seahorse float. He goes in the water and gets swept out or rides out to sea. He is taken to some sort of undersea king, (maybe because he is lost) and finally gets back to the beach. I think it was possibly a dream he had well napping on the beach. This book was probably written sometime in the late 60s I think. It had beautiful water-type illustrations only richer coolers. The seahorse was yellow.

Frans Van Anrooy, The Sea Horse, 1967. Library of Congress description: "John dreams he visits the kingdom of the sea horses where he rescues the king's favorite sea horse from the lair of an ancient spider".
My mystery was indeed solved! I searched under The Seahorse but because this was a rare book I didn't find it through normal channels. I loved this story and can now get it for my two year old son. Thanks so much.

Sea Horse in the Sky
I read this book back in the early to mid 70s. Passengers in an airplane wake up and find most of the other passengers gone and the plane on an alien planet. This is not Kings Langoliers. I think it was a YA book.

Edmund Cooper, Seahorse in the Sky, 1969, copyright. Could this be it? a small group of people who were travelling on a plane wake up to find themselves on an alien planet and gradually learn to survive there.They find that they can all understand one another despite speakign different languages, and later learn that 2 other groups of people, one from a mediaeval-level civilisation and another from a stone-age civilisation are also there.I dont recal it being a YA novel - I seem to recall that there is a certain amoubt of sex and violence.
Varley, John, Millennium, 1983, copyright. Could this be it? Aliens (actually humans from Earths future) kidnap airplane passengers and transport them to the future, where warfare and pollution have reduced the population to a mere handful. These airline passengers are needed to re-populate the Earth. The twist is that all these passengers were about to die in a dreadful plane crash. The "snatch teams" from the future can look back in time, see these crashes, or sinking ships, or whatever, arrange for clones to be prepared to substitute for the living people, and then snatch away the otherwise-doomed passengers.

Airplane abducted by aliens. Cooper's Seahorse in the Sky is indeed the one I was thinking of.

Sea View Secret
Children's mystery 50's or 60's. Author's name 2nd half of alphabet. Unhappy brother & sister moved from country to new suburb. 1 other child? 1 old house & old lady who needs money. Lost diamond ring. Pet monkey from the old lady's childhood. Diamond found in old oak tree.

SOLVED: Kinsey, Sea View Secret, 1952. I submitted the stumper and kept searching on my own and found it! I don't know where I got the part about the tree, but this is the story. I remember where it was on the shelf of my elementary school library, and the "k's" would have been in that area.

Seabird
I recall reading or having read to me as a child (in the 1950s) a book about which I have dim but persistent memories. It took place on a wooden sailing ship, seemingly in the 1800's, and involved a sailor who carved a great soaring bird, perhaps an albatross or a petrel, out of ivory. The sailor mounted the bird on a wand or reed and it then kept watch as a sort of talisman over the ship as it sailed through storms and other perils. I don't rmember much more about it, but the story had a haunting quality and these fragments have stayed with me. I'd love to find out what the book was -- I think it had line drawings -- and any help would be appreciated.

Holling C. Holling, Seabird, 1948.
Holling Clancy Holling, Seabird. It sounds a lot like Seabird, which has both colour and b/w line drawings, a slightly
oversize book. The bird is carved by a young man on a whaling ship, and is passed down through a few generations of his family, following the changes in ships.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Holling, Holling C. Seabird. Houghton Mifflin, 1948, sixth printing. Nice hardback edition in edgeworn and spine frayed dust jacket. VG/G. $10

Seabiscuit
I'm looking for a book published (I guess) about 50 years ago for young adult readers, about 11/12 yrs old. The title is something like Come on, Sea Biscuit or Come Home, Sea Biscuit (possibly Little Sea Biscuit?) where Sea Biscuit is the name of a (race?) horse and may involve a young girl as owner, rider or friend. I believe it is hard back, similar in size to a Nancy Drew book. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ralph Moody wrote a book called Sea Biscuit, the Racehorse, or A Racehorse called Sea Biscuit, which might be the one.
Moody, Ralph. Come On Seabiscuit. Illustrated by Robert Riger. Houghton Mifflin, 1963. Young American Book Club.

Seademons
This book has been haunting me for years. It's a science fiction novel for young adults about a mysterious orphan girl who is discovered on the shore by an angler. He brings the child to the ruling family and she grows up among them. The children of the ruling family call their father Da. But her connection to the sea cannot be controlled and eventually she goes back. I think they discover that she is related to some sea monsters/creatures who are threatening the established order of things. I think I also remember the son of the ruling family falling in love with her. Please help me track down this book!

Regarding S66-Sea Child: Perhaps if the poster uses the keyword "selkie" she might have more success...
Hi. I'm the poster for query S66: Sea Child. I looked up selkies to no avail, so far. I suddenly remembered that the orphan was named Meave (or possibly Maeve). In doing a search on the net I discovered that Maeve is an Irish heroine and it occurs to me that "Da," what the young people called their father in the story, is also an Irish phenomenon. However, the book is most definitely NOT a folktale; it's set in the future. The book also has to have been written before 1987, because I read it in high school. I hope these scant details will spark a memory in your other readers.

I keep thinking of Poul Anderson's The Merman's Children, but that's not a children's book, and has sex and violence as well as fantasy about the last remnants of Faerie being driven out by Christianity. Other than that,
not a lot to go on, but maybe The sea child by Carolyn Sloan, New York, Holiday House, 1987, 127 p. "A mysterious "sea child" ventures into a nearby village where she meets a lonely nine-year-old." It's just on the edge for the date, though.
Maybe Eyas by Crawford Killian. New York: Bantam Books 1982 "Through the long centuries of humanity's twilight, the People of Longstrand lived in peace and harmony with nature, under the protection of their goddess from the sea. Then she put her mark upon a raven-haired child who would alter their destiny forever -- Eyas, nestling of the hawk."
Perhaps - The Selchie's Seed, by Shulamith Oppenheim, published 1975 "Story of a girl from the "Seal folk" - who shed their skins, & live as humans on land. A fantasy adventure tale of a whale and respect for nature and family. Beautiful illustrations in brush and wash half tones by Diane Goode."
Perhaps - The Curse of Seal Valley, by Joyce Stranger, published by Dent 1980, 122 pages. "The scene is the present, the world of colour television, but in a remote place where emotions are elemental and the savage is waiting just underneath the skin. Hughe lives all alone, nursing his grief at the loss of wife and family and quietly doing good. Among his cares is that of wild creatures which have been damaged in the oil-polluted sea, and one day a strange creature indeed comes into his care, a girl from a distant country, speaking an unknown language. He nurses her back to health and eventually marries her. But the valley is tainted by Gwyn the daftie, retarded and malicious. Gwyn decides that the girl is a seal-woman and that she shall bring bad luck to the village. He plays on the superstitious fears of the villagers and builds up hostility towards her. The ugliness mounts and bursts out into arson and violence." (Junior Bookshelf Aug/80 p.201)
Probably too short, and the child is a boy, is Greyling: a Picture Story from the Islands of Shetland, by Jane Yolen, illustrated by William Stobbs, published World 1969, 32 pages. "A lonely fisherman and his
wife long for a child of their own. One day the man finds a grey seal pup "stranded on the sand bar, crying for its own." Out of pity he wraps it in his shirt and takes it home, only to find that it has turned into a strangely handsome child with grey eyes and silvery hair. Vowing that he should never return to the sea, the foster-parents bring him up as their son. But when the fisherman is foundering offshore in a terrible storm, the boy rushes to his rescue, plunging back into the wide, enveloping sea."
S66 sea child: here's another - Seal Woman,by Ronald Lockley, published Bradbury 1975, 431 pages "Shian was the last of the O'Malleys of Kilcalla, descendants of Irish kings and Vikings. A born naturalist, intuitive and intelligent, Shian could swim long distances with the seals (she had thin webs between her fingers and toes) and she could talk with, and even tame, wild animals. From early childhood, Shian had been told by her grandparents that she was a sea-child born in a seal-cave and that one day a sea-prince would come and take her back to the kingdom beyond the horizon whence she had come."
S66 sea child: not really sf, but there's Marra's World, by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Krystyna Turska, published Greenwillow 1975, 83 pages. "based on a Scottish legend transferred to the Maine Coast, a strange, taunted little girl cared for by a harsh grandmother comes to learn that she is the daughter of a sealwife."
Another long shot on the sea child -- Rosalie K. Fry's The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry (the basis for the movie "The Secret of Roan Inish." There's an excerpt on the web with part of the legend.
Baird, Alison, The Hidden World, 1999 (darn it!). If it weren't for the publication date this would be almost perfect: "Maeve O'Connor is 15, wants to be an actress, is not particularly pretty, and is a perennial outsider at her school near Toronto. To make matters worse her father has just lost his job, her rebellious older brother is driving her parents apart, and to top it all off they have sent her off to rural Newfoundland to spend the summer with her aunt and uncle. Through a talisman she discovers in a bureau -- and her own fey nature -- she begins shifting back and forth between Newfoundland and a parallel universe of Celtic myth, Annwn, which her grandmother had described in a children's novel. She is befriended by Thomas, an Annwn-born boy of her age and his community, but terror soon grips the land as the evil sea-dwelling Fomori, bent on subjugating Annwn drive forth Thomas' people from their homes. When things are looking bleakest for her friends, she and Thomas mount a bold bid to enlist the aid of the fairy folk." The heroine's name, the Celtic background, the evil sea creatures ... but Baird doesn't even seem to have published before 1994. If Maeve's grandmother's book were real, maybe that would be the answer.
McKillip, The Changeling Sea, 1980s. I don't think this is your book, but The Changeling Sea by Patricia Mckillip has a very similar plot, with the genders reversed. Angler's daughter finds a young man on the beach, who looks very much like the son of the ruling family, Prince Kir, who is obsessed with the sea.. A Sea Dragon is threatening the land. In the end it is discovered that the found youth was the real prince, enchanted to be a dragon, and Prince Kir, the changeling, goes back to the sea.
Laurence Yep, Seademons.Yep usually writes YA fiction with a Chinese -American setting for this SF novel he delved into Celtic myth. Maeve is a human child raised by aliens and then returned to a human-setted world, where she can never truly fit in. The paperback has a gorgeous cover by Frank Frazetta. The book must not have done well, he never wrote anything else like it, but I loved it.
Laurence Yep, Seademons. Thank you! I know it's been ages since I submitted this query. Seademons by Lawrence Yep is the answer. My thanks to everyone who tried to help me.

Seals on Wheels
I am looking for a children's rhyming book with illustrations. My sisters and I had it during the mid 1970's, but I have no idea how old the book is. Two of the rhymes I remember are, "Green Meanies roasting weenies, meanies jump in yellow jello, and they become mellow fellows." and "Snail on whale, whale on snail, it's no wonder they go under." This book was my favorite childhood book and I have had much difficulty trying to find the title and/or author. If anyone has any information on the title/author, I would be so happy. I would love to purchase 3 copies if possible, one for each of us girls, to share with our children. If only one book is available, we could share...but 3 would be wonderful. Please, please, please....if anyone knows anything about this book, please let me know. Much thanks and appreciation for this wonderful service!

G106 I am looking for this book too! I had it in the seventies, and I have never seen it since... The only help that I can offer is another line from the book: "Shades of purple pickle pie" - Good luck!
Dean Walley, Seals on Wheels, 1970. This book was published by the Hallmark card company. Great book for reading aloud! It contains the "green meanies" and everything the person mentioned.
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Seals on Wheels might be the title -- children's book. Something about fellows eating lemon jello -- they are yellow fellows. I read it in the mid-70s.

You've got the title right. It's Seals on Wheels by Dean Walley, Hallmark 1970. See G106 and Solved Mysteries.
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late 70s or early 80s. All I remember is the last words of the book on last page are Night is falling, bang. Page is black. It may have been a first color's book for ages 4-8. I think it may be a small black covered book with a small peacock on it. Our family to this day all say "Night is falling! and another will answer Bang. Have saved all books from that time but can't find this one amoung them! Very frustrating. I won't give up!

Dean Walley, Seals on Wheels, 1970. I have solved my own mystery. I searched high and low in my attic for this book as I had saved all books from when my children were young but was having trouble locating this one! It finally turned up!! I noticed one other person on stumpers was looking for this book, think it was listed under Peacock, but can't remember their stumper number.
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It would have been published in the sixties or seventies, before 1977. I think it had a white alligator on a page, and there was a peacock on every page. I know the last page says...The night is falling.... BANG! I thought the book was called the night is falling but I guess I'm wrong. It was a child's book to learn colors.

Allamand, Pascale, translated by Elizabeth Watson Tayler, The Animals Who Changed Their Colors (Weekly Reader). NY Lothrop 1979. The publication date may be too late, but there are resemblances. "The polar bear, whale, tortoise, and two crocodiles try to imitate the parrot's beautiful colors, only to discover how impractical they are." If we swap parrot for peacock and crocodile for alligator, it's close.
I ordered The Animals Who Changed Their Colors and rec'd it and it is not even close!!!! The search continue's. Just thought you should know.
Dean Walley, Seals on Wheels, 1970. According to stumper N93 this is the book that ends with "Bang! Night is falling"
Dean Walley, Seals on Wheels, 1970. This was a Hallmark Series book from 1970.

Seamstress of Salzburg
This book was given to me as a young girl by my grandmother, but got given away when her house was sold, sadly with all my other books at her house. It would have been around 1972 or 1973. It was about a dressmaker who made dresses for princesses. The princesses (sisters?) wanted to out-do each other with the amount of flowers and trims on their dresses (for a parade I think.) The young dressmaker warned them that their dresses would fall apart due to the weight, but they did not listen. They kept coming back for her to add more and more to their dresses. It almost had a Cinderella flair to it, as I think the dressmaker was making herself a dress and she ended up being the prettiest of all(?), and it was lovely and elegant. The princesses were very upset when their dresses fell apart in front of the townspeople, and they blamed the dressmaker. The illustrations were very pretty, with bright colors and different fancy trims and flowers on the dresses. I can picture them now, but, for the life of me, cannot recall the title. I have searched and searched. I hope you can help! I desperately want to get this for my little girls! Many thanks!

Somehow, I found it on the LOC site using various keywords - one of which was "seamstress." It is the Seamstress of Salzburg by Anita Lobel. Yippee! Thanks anyway!!

Search for Planet X
Planet X? The Search for Planet X? A paperback scholastic book for young readers about the discovery of Pluto. Probably from the 70s. I had to have checked this out of the elementary school library and re-read it at least 10 times before moving on to jr. high. I'd appreciate any leads you or other visitors might have. Thanks again!

#P60: The Search for Planet X is definitely a 1960s or 1970s Scholastic paperback, small and black. I come across it all the time in a thrift store and can pick it up if it's still there next time
Simon, Tony. The Search for Planet X. New York: Basic Books, 1962. Scholastic, 1965.

Searching for Shona
I read this book in the early 1980's. It was about 2 girls in England -- one very wealthy and one poor. One (or both, I can't remember) are being sent to the country during WWII. They decide to switch places -- they look alike and one snips off her braids with nail scissors to complete the disguise. For most of the book, the reader follows the life of the wealthy girl, who goes to live with 2 old unmarried sisters (cousins?) in the countryside. The wealthy girl learns to value family, friends, etc over the things that use to surround her during her well-to-do life in London. When the war is over, the formerly wealthy girl returns to the city. She goes back to her old home so that she and the other girl can switch back. The poor girl pretends not to recognize the rich girl and claims that the switch never happened. I loved this book and I would be thrilled to find out the title and perhaps locate a copy of the book. Thank you!!

Margaret Jean Anderson, Searching for Shona, 1978. "During the evacuation of children from Edinburgh in the early days of World War II, shy, wealthy Margaret on her way to relatives in Canada trades places and identities with the orphaned Shona bound for the Scottish countryside."
I KNOW I used to own this, but can't find it anywhere. Did the cover show one girl looking down from a train window at the other? I seem to remember the cover was mostly green and I'm pretty sure I got it from one of those Scholastic order forms.
T130 Searching for Shona by Margaret Jean Anderson, 1978 ~from a librarian
Ha! Now that someone's posted the title, I can tell you that Searching for Shona is definitely the book I was thinking of when I posted my clue. I was thinking that one of the girls was named Sasha. Hope this is it!
It's definitely Searching for Shona. It ends, after a conversation in which Shona denies switching places with Marjorie, "Yes, Shona could keep her money, her relatives, and even her name! Marjorie walked down Willowbrae Road feeling bold, confident, and daring. She had found herself at last. And she liked what she had
found."

Searching for Shona
I remember reading this book in the late 1970s. It was the story of 2 girls being evacuated during the Blitz in England in World War 2. They decide to trade places (they superficially resembled each other). One girl was rich and one was poor. Years later, after the war ends, the rich girl looks up the poor girl because she wants to trade back, but of course the poor girl (who is now rich) disavows any knowledge of the trade. It seems to me that the rich girl ends up in Ireland, because there's a comment in the book about her eating so many potatoes. I have been trying to remember the name of the book with no luck! I can't remember the characters names, or the author. Help!

Anderson, Margaret J, Searching for Shona, 1978. During the evacuation of children from Edinburgh in the early days of World War II, shy, wealthy Margaret on her way to relatives in Canada trades places and identities with the orphaned Shona bound for the Scottish countryside
Margaret Jean Anderson, Searching for Shona. This sounds like "Searching for Shona". You can read more about it in the "Solved" section.
Margaret Anderson, Searching for Shona 1978, approximate Sounds like Searching for Shona. "During the evacuation of children from Edinburgh in the early days of World War II, shy, wealthy Margaret on her way to relatives in Canada trades places and identities with the orphaned Shona bound for the Scottish countryside." If I remember correctly, they're both happier where they are, so they never switch back.

Season of Ponies
I read this book in the 70's. My memory of it is vague - I remember a girl living in a large house, maybe visiting? There were some horses/ponies with rainbow (or colored) manes and tails. They were her secret or she found them by accident or something like that - in fact i think the title was something like "secret ponies" - i may be totally off on that. Thanks for any help!

Zilpha Keatley Snyder, A Season of Ponies
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley, Season of Ponies, illustrated by Alton Raible. NY Atheneum 1964. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's going to suggest this one. Here's a plot description: "Pamela found living with two old aunts dreadful until the moment a boy moved out of the mist with a flute and a herd of weirdly beautiful ponies. Pamela never knew where they came from exactly it was possible that the strange amulet her father gave her just before he went on another of his long trips had something to do with it. But wherever they came from, Ponyboy and his ponies brought a summer of magic, high adventure and a new beginning to a girl who had lost all hope...." If I remember correctly from reading it years ago, the ponies are pastel-coloured, and resemble Pamela's collection of glass horses. The old aunts won't hear of her having anything to do with horses, so she has to keep it a secret.

Sea Sprite
A young adult novel probably written in the 50's about a young girl who learns to sail on a bay and as I remember she is almost always alone. I don't recall any of her family details, but there was a feeling of sadness or loss. Sailing in her own little sailboat becomes a sort of salvation for her. I think she sailed on a bay, maybe in the New England area. I thought her name was Candy, but I could be wrong. I seem to recall that there was a feeling of mastery about her independence (or maybe that was MY projection!).

The Sea Sprite by Jane S. McIlvaine, published in 1952, is about a girl named Callie Pritchard who learns to sail. She is from a wealthy family, her father is an ambassador, so she has traveled around a lot and not had a chance to make friends. She feels very out of place when her parents bring her to Sea Haven (I'm not sure if it's in New England or not), but learning to sail makes her feel part of the group and helps her to fit in.
Jane McIlvaine, Sea Sprite, 1952. This sounds like Sea Sprite by Jane McIlvaine, who was perhaps better known for her horse books. The girl in the book is Callie, not Candy. She receives the Sea Sprite as a birthday gift, and hopes it will help her fit in with the other teens, but its not that easy. She takes sailing lessons, and is frequently alone...only at the end of the book does she finally make friends with the the gang at the seashore community. Hope this helps!
Thanks so much for trying to solve this. Somehow, The Sea Sprite about a wealthy girl doesn't sound right, but I'll take a look at it (when I find it.)
Janet Lambert, Candy Kane. Could you be confusing two stories here? The Sea Sprite is about a lonely girl who learns to sail, and a similar themed book, although not with any sailing involved...is Candy Kane by Janet Lambert. A lonely "military brat" girl grows up and becomes more independent
No, I do remember that sailing was a primary theme in the book. Thanks for trying though!
You have this listed under solved, with the title Sea Sprite by Jane McIlvaine, but the original poster had said that this didn't sound like the right book (I was one of the people who suggested it). I think I have found the correct book, which is Skipper Sandra by Dorothy Horton McGee. "Sandra Turner, her parents and older brother, Clyde, went off cruising every weekend and during Mr. Turner's vacations. But Sandra wantee to learn everything about managing a boat herself. Shy and unable to make friends easily, she longed to join the Junior Yacht Club and take part in the sailing courses and all the activities" . Hope you can reactivate the old stumper, and that this is at last the book in question!

Seaview Secret
The book I'm looking for was probably published in the 1950s or early 1960s. Title and author are unknown. Plot: A brother and sister (I think) visit their grandparents' old house and see a family portrait from the 1890s or early 1900s when the grandparents were young. The family's pet monkey was sitting on the shoulder of one. There was also a family story about some very valuable jewels being lost that were never recovered. The modern brother and sister think it would be wonderful to find the jewels and they do by piecing together old stories, photographs, and diary clues. It turns out the pet monkey had taken the jewels that were in a soft leather pouch and hidden them in the body of a ship's model. The model had been sitting in plain sight under the portrait for 50 or 60 years but no one had thought to look inside.

I don't remember the tiles but both D19 and M20 sound familiar to me. I wonder if these could be either Helen Fuller Orton or Mary C. Jane mysteries. I read as many of these as I could find in the 60's and most of them had plots along these lines.
This is very scanty, but The Fortune of the Indies by Edith Ballinger Price, published by Century, 1920s "A mystery-adventures story connected with the model of a clipper ship."
Not much data here, but The Secret of Peach Orchard Plantation by Ruby L.Radford, published by Abelard-Schuman, 1963 "A charming story of a hunt for Great-Grandmother's emerald necklace, on an old plantation in Georgia."
Seaview Secret, 1962. Kids went to live in a new subdivision near the water. Their dad was at sea most of the time. The old house around which the subdivision had been built had a cupola where you could watch ships returning from voyages. Either the subdivision or the old house was called Sea View. And, yes, the monkey done it. The kids found the jewels.

Seaward
I have been searching for this book seemingly forever! I thought the book was called "Westerly Bound," about a young boy named West (I think) who is attacked in his own world and whose mother is killed. The book, however, begins with a girl, whose father first dies, and then mother. Both teens meet each other in another, magical world, where they are persued by a woman who seems to be like a goddess, and helped by a man, who is like a god (later, you learn that she is like Death while her counterpart is equivalent to Life). They meet strange creatures, one of which looks like a spider, very thin, and drinks a nectar like substance but dies helping them. The boy also has a magical dagger he uses to open doors, and the girl turns out to be one of those magical silkie people, who lost her skin, and when she does have her skin, turns into a seal (she has scars on the palms of her hands). At one point, the girl is turned into stone (a dragon is also turned into stone) and is brought back to life when she calls upon some birds that bury her in their feathers. The book is excellent, I remember a lot, but can't find it! Can you help?

Seaward by Susan Cooper. "His name is West. Her name is Cally. They speak different languages and come from different countries thousands of miles apart, but they do not know that. What they do know are the tragedies that took their parents, then wrenched the two of them out of reality, into a strange and perilous world through which they must travel together, knowing only that they must reach the sea. Together West and Cally embark upon a strange and sometimes terrifying quest, learning to survive and to love and, at last, the real secret of their journey." Yes, Cally has selkie blood, and West is short for Westerly.
Susan Cooper, Seaward. This is definitely it. The boy, Westerly, and girl, Cally (Calliope), meet in another world following the deaths of their parents and must survive a number of adventures, including outwitting the Lady Taranis.
Susan Cooper, Seaward. (1983) Definitely. "Westerly and Cally (Calliope), who speak different languages and come from different countries thousands of miles apart, are wrenched by catastrophe out of reality into a perilous world through which they must travel toward the sea."
Susan Cooper, Seaward. A novel about Cally and Westerly, Cally does turn out to be a Selkie in the end. An excellent book!
Susan Cooper, Seaward. (1983) This soinds like the story of West and Cally who come together and travel seaward, Cally discovers she is a selkie. They travel together with the help of Lugan.
Susan Cooper, SEAWARD. the boy is Westerly, the girl who is part selkie is Cally, teh god of life (more or less) is Lugan, and his sister Death is Taranis.
Susan Cooper, Seaward. (1987) This is definitely Seaward, by Susan Cooper. I read this as a kid and it is still one of my favorite books.
Susan Cooper, Seaward. (1983) "So Cally and Westerly follow the sun westward to the sea, through a strange and perilous land, a waking dream where the power of goodness must confront dark forces of evil at every turn." Don't forget to also read her "The Dark is Rising" series.
Susan Cooper, Seaward. (1987) This is Seaward, by Susan Cooper.

Second Best (Cavanagh)
This was a YA novel about a teenaged girl having growing pains. She has a brillant, tidy, older sister, who likes patchouli perfume, and twin baby siblings. The main character steals her older sisters paper on Edna St. Vincent Millay, hands it in as her own and gets caught. At some point the two sisters double date, with the younger sister wearing a dusty pink outfit. On the date she has to crawl underneath the bathroom stall door because she doesn't have any change for the coin-op door.

Second Best. This was a teen romance paperback written in the 1980's for the Wildfire series. Can't remember the author. Check out the "mixed lots" of teen fiction on eBay as I saw one there recently and I'm betting you'll find a copy. Make sure you search descriptions as it wouldn't be listed in the auction title. Good luck!
Is this it? Pascal, Francine. Second Best (Sweet Valley Twins #16). "Things are happening fast forthe Wakefield twins. The biggest party of the year is coming up. If Jessica can get "un-grounded" in time, she'll be able to go. Elizabeth is entering a statewide essay contest, hoping to win the $100 prize. And both twins are putting in extra time on their special school projects.\n\n\n\nCute, smart, and popular Tom McKay is in Jessica's work group. His antisocial brother, Dylan, is in Elizabeth's. Dylan feels that he will never be as good as his brother. So why should he even bother to try? Elizabeth really wants to prove to Dylan that he can be the best at something, too. But can she help him without coming between two brothers?"
Second Best, Helen Cavanagh. I was the one who originally posted the solution Second Best. It's not a Sweet Valley book, it was published under the Wildfire series. The description on the back is exactly what she just described. And the author is Helen Cavanagh. I came across it today, strangely enough, in a thrift store.

Second Sight
It was a woman who was married and maybe they had a child. She spent a lot of time alone, I can't remember why and found a special room or attic and there may have been a diary there. Anyway she spent a lot of peaceful time in a rocking chair it seems like and eventually she time travelled more and more and stayed there where she was happier. Seems like her husband couldn't see the room, only her. Does this sound familiar? I've never been able to forget it but yet I can't find it again. Although with the help of google and your site I found another one I've been looking for for about 20 years!

David Williams, Second Sight 1977 The heroine of this one had a troubled marriage. I think a miscarriage was involved, plus the husband had an affair. They were trying to reconcile but she not only liked it better in the past, but she also came to prefer the man she met there, an artist, so she left the present to live in the past. Her husband later finds a old painting which the artist did of her.
Williams, David. I'm going to try to find it at the library and see if it's the same one. It sounds familiar but I'll know when I see it. I'll let you know then. Thanks!

Second Witch
This is a story that’s never left me since i read it in 1973 as a third-grader, and though i’ve looked, i haven’t seen it since. I remember the title being simply ‘The Witch’ (though given the number of books with that title, that hasn’t helped the search much). A young boy (10 or 12?) lives in a small rural town with a legend of a local witch who was banished from a nearby mountain years before. Then one morning, a plume of smoke on the mountain sends a chill through the town, who fear that the witch has returned. Wandering up to the mountain, the boy meets a bear who can talk and a girl picking wildflowers (though possibly in the other order — i believe i remember something about the boy noticing that when the girl smells the flowers, they wither and die as if blasted by frost, though i may be transposing that from a different book). As the boy and girl become friends, the boy realizes that the girl is the witch that the townspeople are terrified of, but her gentle goodness shows him he (and they) have nothing to fear from her. Back in town, the townspeople get into angry-mob mode and demand that the busy-body mayor do something about the witch, but when he makes the journey up the mountain to confront her, she reveals angrily that the mayor befriended her when he was a boy (as the young boy has now), then betrayed her memory by forgetting her. The mayor goes tearing back down the mountain and mob goes up, but when the talking bear tries to defend his mistress, he’s shot and killed. The boy finds the girl in tears in the woods, and she explains that a witch causing a human death is grounds for banishment from the world, and since she’d given the bear intelligence, she’d effectively made him human. She disappears from the mountain. In the denouement, the young boy is now an adult and the mayor of the town himself. He watches the mountain constantly, hoping to catch sight again of the plume of smoke that means the witch has returned.

The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes?
This is definitely not THE WITCH FAMILY by Eleanor Estes. It sounds like it could be THE SECOND WITCH by Jack Sendak and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz, 1965. From various descriptions of the book it seems that the village is called Platzenhausen, the villagers are unpleasant, the young witch, Vivian, befriends a young boy
named Andrew, and the villagers try to get rid of the witch because she plays tricks on them. I haven't read the book, so I can't guarantee this is the right one, but it certainly sounds like it. ~from a librarian
Jack Sendak, Second Witch, 1965. From all the descriptions I could find of this book, the young witch is named Vivian, the boy she befriends is Andrew, the village is Platzenhausen, the villagers are known to be unpleasant and supposedly the young witch plays tricks on the villagers and does something to shock them into getting rid of the witch. None of the descriptions said anything about a talking bear, but it might be worth investigating. (It's also 94 pages long, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz, if that helps) ~from a librarian.
Y6 is Ready Or Not by Norma Johnston, but the female character's name is Carlie--not Carrie.
Jack Sendak (author), Uri Shulevitz (illustrator), The Second Witch, 1965. This is definitely The Second Witch by Jack Sendak, whose brother is Maurice Sendak. The young boy is Andrew Papenhausen, the talking bear is Stanwix, and the young witch is Vivian. Vivian's nose is so cold that when she picks flowers and sniffs them, they instantly wither and die. But she is NOT gentle and good---she plays irksome, frightening pranks. Despite her proclivity for cruel tricks, Andy befriends Vivian. The villagers of Platzenhausen are a heartless and hateful lot who had helped each other only once long ago, when they united to combat a witch that had plagued them. That witch was banished when she accidentally caused the death of a child. The current mayor, though only a boy then, had been her friend, and she had asked him to make sure the villagers didn't forget her: first, because she could only live as long as someone remembered her and second, because the villagers would return to their selfish and spiteful ways unless they remembered how they had defeated the witch together. The mayor forgot his promise, and now the second witch has come because the villagers are unneighborly and the first witch's life is hanging by a thread. Once again, the villagers band together, but they kill the naive and loveable Stanwix, who is gently trying to reason with them. Since Vivian has caused the death of an innocent soul, she loses her power and must leave. She asks Andy to remember her always, and to remind the villagers as well. Andy grows up, becomes the mayor, and keeps his promise, and the villagers remain kind and cooperative. He watches constantly for the smoke to return to the chimney of the witch's house, but it never does. Out of print, not hard to find, not terribly expensive.
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A small witch is befriended by a local boy, and strange things start to happen in the town. The book I originally read was orange and hardback, with line drawings in orange, yellow, black and white.

Florence Laughlin, The Little Leftover Witch. I believe this is the book you are looking for, except it is young Lucinda who finds Felina on her window sill Halloween night - not a boy. Felina is forced to live the next year with Lucinda's family and then has to decide if she wants to remain a witch or become a real girl.
Marian Place, Marilyn Miller (illus), The Witch Who Saved Halloween, 1971, copyright. Any chance the witch was also a boy? "The situation is serious. Pollution is making it hard to breathe, buckles tarnish, and all sorts of unpleasant things are happening. And the witches are thinking of leaving the Earth to live on a cleaner planet! Witchard (a young witchling) must find a satisfactory solution to the pollution problem. Along the way, he meets some Earthling boys who become his friends and teach him to play touch football."
Sorry, neither of those books are the one I'm looking for. It was a large hardback book, but not precisely a picture book OR a chapter book - it took me awhile to read. The drawings were black and white line drawings, but with yellow and orange accent colors here and there. The witch was definitely a girl, but there was a boy who befriended her. She came from nowhere, and disappears, too, if I remember correctly. It had a very melancholy feel to it - at least, when I was a kid I thought so!
Jack Sendak, The Second Witch. I think this might be the one you're looking for. The book is orange- not a long chapter book but not a picture book either. There are more descriptions of it on the solved pages.
Jack Sendak, The Second Witch. They solved another one for me! Thanks so much!

Secret Agents Four
I read this book in elementary school in the early 1980s, but the book was probably from the late 1950s or early 1960s. It was set in the United States and featured a boy who was the son of some kind of U.S. government official--maybe an FBI agent. At any rate, some kind of mystery occurred that the boy tried to solve, and he realized that neighbor in his town (in California, maybe?) was a Soviet mole--an agent planted there to lead a normal life until he was activated for some mission. That was the first time I had encountered the concept of a mole. I think this mole might have been going to poison the town water supply.

Donald Sobol, Secret Agents Four,1967.Sounds a little like Secret Agents Four...there are four boys though, but they are trying to prevent spies (including a mole, who works for the father of one of the boys) from poisoning the water supply though the local reservoir.
If it's not that, it might be one of the sequels to Guns in the Heather by Lockhart Amerman. I don't remember the titles, but I think one of them had something about poisoning the water suppply.
Donald J. Sobol, Secret Agents Four, 1967. I checked out Secret Agents Four, suggested as an answer to my stumper. At first, it really didn't ring any bells--the beginning of the book, introducing the four boys on their summer vacation, just made me think of the Mad Scientists' Club. When I got to the action sequence at the climax of the book, though, it seemed to come back to me. Ken's explanation to the other guys of what a sleeper--sleeper, not mole, as I remembered, although sleeper makes better sense--agent is was right on target. At the end of this book, only two of the four boys are good in enough shape to race to stop the sleeper from poisoning te reservoir I think that must be the reason I remember there being two boys instead of four. I think it is conclusive that this is another mystery solved! Thanks for your great service!

Secret Cat
About a princess who has a cat that must find a birthday present for a queen. She and the cat set out on a journey to find the perfect gift -- at the end she gives the cat to the queen. I remember the book being small like a 5x8 and blue cover with illustrations.

Kitt, Tamara, The Secret Cat, illustrated by William Russell. NY: Wonder, Scholastic & Troll 1961. The Wonder Books Easy Reader edition of this is dark blue, with a picture of the orange-striped cat juggling, with a castle in the background. "A prince and princess have no present for their mother, the queen's birthday. They have a cat which is their own little secret. They decide to try and sell it to buy a present for their mom, but decide the cat is worth so much, maybe it could be a present."

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Kitt, Tamara. The Secret Cat. Illustrated by William Russell. Grosset & Dunlap, 1961. Grosset & Dunlap Easy Reader #3455, Library binding, corners worn; pages have some light stains . G <SOLD>

Secret for a Star
From the 1960s or earlier, a newly-orphaned girl, age 12-13, goes to live with her very proper grandmother (Boston?). The girl is unhappy and overweight and wants to be an actress, like her mother. Grandmother disapproves.

Marguerite Vance, Secret for a Star. I'm pretty sure this is the right one. Prudence Trudhoe is the girl, her grandmother lives in a resort near Boston, Prudence wants to be an actress like her mother, and is very overweight.
SOLVED: Marguerite Vance, Secret for a Star. Thank you. This sounds like the right book, and I used to find it toward the end of the children's section -- alphabetical by author.

Secret Friend
I read this book when I was about junior high age, so in the early 80's. I can't remember the main character's name, but she has a best friend named Wendy(I am pretty sure that is the name) and they wear identical lockets with powdered jello or kool-aid in them. Wendy decides that she doesn't want to be friends anymore and gives her locket away and the main character goes through all the ups and downs of losing a friend that wasn't really a friend to begin with. Also the main character has a mother who bakes for all her school activities and helps her re-decorate her room and they have this special time after school when they talk over cookies and brownies. That is all I can remember!!!

Marilyn Sachs, A Secret Friend, 1978.
Marilyn Sachs, A Secret Friend, 1978. Yes, this is exactly the book!!! Thank you to whoever solved this for me!!!!!!!
Sachs, Marilyn, A Secret Friend, 1987. This is definitely the book that they're looking for as Jessica, the main character, loses her friend Wendy and they have "poison" lockets that have red jello in them.
Marilyn Sachs, A Secret Friend, 1978. Definitely A Secret Friend (I remember Wendy and the "poison lockets" filled with Jell-O powder!)

Secret Hide-Out
The book or series was about a group of ~3 boys who camp out together and fight a monster (really a bush) using spears made from broom sticks & lion masks made from grocery bags (paper-not plastic). The father and grandfather of one of the boys had a secret club with a hidden 3-ring binder filled with club rules and instructions on how to make the spears, masks, ect. Seemed to be aimed at boys 8-11-ish. It had a fairly even mix of pictures and text. It might have been a Scholastic publication.

This is definitely THE SECRET HIDE-OUT by John Peterson, 1965, 1998. The author's estate has put the whole book, including illustrations, online here. Don't let the cover and the illustrations throw you though - they are from the 1998 reprint. The Scholastic copy was more orange or yellow, and I remember different illustrations (I'll have to check my childhood copy). Also, you might be interested to know that there was a sequel, ENEMIES OF THE SECRET HIDE-OUT. ~from a librarian
BTW, the full name is John Lawrence Peterson and he is also the author of the well-known Littles series!
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Scholastic or Arrow book club book about kids who find a dusty notebook in grandparent's basement - it's instructions on how to join a Viking Club - have to sleep outside and show bravery - after following instruction, their dad meets them and initiates them - it was his creation as a kid

ooooh - I remember this one -- can't remember the name! But have more details: the boys had to make masks out of paper bags and use a whistle signal and code names to call each other ... I borrowed it multiple times from my 4th grade classroom library (mid 80s), and believe it was a scholastic book club book. determined to find the title ...
Got it! The Secret Hide Out, by John Peterson. Found a description on Alibris: "Matt and Sam discover the secret book of a mysterious Viking Club in their grandmother's cellar. Following the instructions in the book, the boys find their way to a secret hide-out where they encounter the biggest surprise--and secret--of all."
Peterson, John Lawrence, Secret Hide Out, 1965. "Matt Burns and his brother Sam find the secret book of the Viking Club. How will the boys find the secret hide-out? And when they do, what will they find there?" There's also Enemies of the Secret Hide Out (1966)."The members of the Viking Club outwit the enemy to protect their secret hideout."
This is definitely THE SECRET HIDE-OUT by John Peterson, originally published 1965, republished 1988. While in their grandmother's basement, Sam and Matt Burns find the secret notebook of the Viking Club, and follow clues to find the secret club hide-out. It contained diagrams/instructions for making or doing some of the activities. I seem to recall that the cover of the reprint doesn't match the original, so don't let that throw you. You also might be interested to know that there was a sequel, ENEMIES OF THE SECRET HIDE-OUT, 1966.~from a librarian
John Peterson, The Secret Hide-out. This has been reprinted! The sequel is Enemies of the Secret Hide-out.
John Lawrence Peterson, The Secret Hideout. Definitely The Secret Hideout. The kids find a notebook that tells them all this elaborate stuff they have to make.. a shield, a mask, a spear, and a whistle. Eventually they find the hideout and their dad is dressed in his gear ready to greet them. There's a sequel called Enemies of the Secret Hideout as well.
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This book was out in the mid-late 70's (as that is when I remember reading it). It involves a couple of brothers that go to their grandmothers house for the summer. After meeting up with one other boy, they discover a secret message. Following the instructions in the message they find instructions for making paper signal whistles, a shield (of some sort) as well as paper bag masks (I think one decided to do a lion, and a tiger, etc memory is a little fuzzy here). Eventually they discover directions to a secret "hide out". When they arrive, there is a man there, wearing a similar mask. This man inducts them into a secret club, and at the end reveals himself to be the father of the two boys. The book included instructions on how to make this mask, whistle, etc. I don't know the author or the title.

Actually, I found the book. It is The Secret Hide-Out. By John Peterson.
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Treasure hunt Boys book I read in the 1960's at school about finding a old book about a secret Indian? club in the attic with a map to a meeting place and codes etc. when they find the place one of the kid's father is there in indian/club gear to tell the boys he was in the club when he was young

John Peterson, Secret Hide-Out. See the solved page for more detail but this sure sounds like you're describing The Secret Hide-Out by John Peterson.
Peterson, John, The Secret Hide-Out, 1965. It's a Viking Club! Followed by a sequel, Enemies of the Secret-Hide-Out (1966). Please see the Solved Mysteries "S" page for more information.
Thanks for the answer! That book stuck in my mind for all these years
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1965-1975. I have fond memories of this book. I bought it through a school book club like Scholastic back in elementary it may have been scholastic then - I don't know. Anyway, the story is about a young boy who, I think goes to his grandfather's farm or cottage and there in the woods (or the barn) finds a secret hiding place for a mysterious club. There are other boys involved, but I don't remember if they are all friends or if they meet each other during the story. The book offers a kind of guide to creating the club, a clubhouse, and masks, shields, and staffs in a kind of Knightly fashion with how-to's in the storyline. I hope someone else remembers or has a copy. Thanks!!!

John Peterson, The Secret Hide-Out. Check the description of this book in "Solved Mysteries." It sounds like what you're looking for.
John Peterson, The Secret Hideout. Sounds a lot like The Secret Hideout, though they are called The Viking Club, rather than knights.
There's also a sequel: Enemies of the secret hide-out, 1966
Thanks to who ever it was who solved the mystery. The book I remember is definitely The Secret Hide-Out by John Peterson. I did a quick search on the net and found the cover art and thats it! Now all I need to do is find a copy. Thanks again to all!!!
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I think this is a series. A book is found behind a brick in a wall, it has clues that lead to a cave, which becomes their clubhouse(?). The book was their parents from when their parents were young. Later their tree house is taken over by another group of kids.

John Peterson, The Secret Hide-Out. This sounds like John Peterson's The Secret Hide-Out, and its sequel, Enemies of the Secret Hide-Out. Do you remember big scary masks made out of brown paperbags? Spears made from broom handles? If so, these are your books! Hardcover originally, then paperbacks published by Scholastic.
John Peterson, The Secret Hide-Out. Matches THE SECRET HIDE-OUT by John Peterson. Just be aware this was republished with a different cover. There was also a sequel, ENEMIES OF THE SECRET HIDE-OUT.
This is going to drive me insane now, because I know I have read this book. If it is the one I am thinking of, here are more details: the book they find has all sorts of details about a secret club/society, so the kids start working on doing all of the activities. One of them involves spearing a monster at night, and when the boys stay out all night camping they see a "monster" and throw their spears, only to realize later that it is just a bush. Other taks have them making masks and whistles. On the last morning, just as they are about to do the last task, they mention what they are doing to their father, who suddenly takes off. The last thing is to go to this particular cave covered in vines and whistle. They are shocked when they hear an answering whistle from inside the cave. It turns out that the father was one of the children who wrote all the rules for the secret club/society. I think the word lions was involved somehow. It was a transitional chapter book, like a second or third grader would read. I read a very battered paperback in the mid-80's.
The Secret Hideout. Your description does sound like the noted book, esp in regard to the father he was ultimately the one who revealed the hide-out to his son and their friends.
SOVLED: John Peterson, The Secret Hideout.

Secret in Miranda's Closet
i read this book in the late 70's, about the same time I read Julie Andrews' Mandy. Really creative book about a girl making the most of what she has/what she can find. She makes beautiful rooms from scraps of wallpaper and rugs and finds some happiness and her creative streak doing it. Maybe she gets a job from it, too? can't recall.

Sheila Greenwald, The Secret in Miranda's Closest. A great book. I believe she has to scrounge for materials and hide the doll from her mother, who is sort of an uber-feminist and believes that dolls are bad for girls.
Greenwald, Sheila, The Secret in Miranda's Closet, 1977. This may be the book you are talking about. Miranda is a young girl's whose Mother, Olivia, is an ardent feminist and has kept Miranda from playing with dolls all of her life. Miranda somehow gets a doll and secretly creates a fabulous doll world in the back of her closet to keep her Mother from being disappointed in her.
Greenwald, Sheila, The Secret in Miranda's Closet, 1977. This sounds like The Secret in Miranda's Closet. As I recall, Miranda's Mom, Olivia, was an ardent feminist who never let "Randy" (as she called her) play with dolls. To avoid
disappointing her Mom, Miranda created a fabulous doll house in the back of her closet and kept it a secret from her. Olivia didn't get her registered for summer camp in time, so Miranda spent her days working on her doll house. She became acquainted with some supportive adults as she shopped for wood, fabrics, and other materials to create an elaborate house for her doll, and became more confident in the process. Hope this helps.
sheila greenwald, The Secret In Miranda's Closet, 1977. I think this is the one you're looking for-I bought a copy from The Scholastic Book Club when I was in second or third grade-- I really identified with the lead character because I used my bedroom closet as a "secret world" too!
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Book from 1970s or very early 1980s--a girl whose single mom is a feminist who doesn't want her daughter playing with dolls (too gender stereotyped) gets an old china doll and trunk full of clothes from a neighbor. She hides the doll from her mother, but researches the history of porcelain dolls, meets other collectors, and makes a small dollhouse that she hides in her closet. The story was set in New York City. The girl's mother was named Olivia, and she supported a feminist book collective or bookstore. She had changed her name from Mary Lou. I don't remember the names of the girl or the doll.

Sheila Greenwald, The Secret in Miranda's Closest, 1977. See more on the Solved Mysteries pages.

The Secret Kitten
1970, childrens. I have sketchy memories of a boy and girl that I assume are brother and sister. Both are drawn to look dirty and desheveled. I remember their faces look dirty. They have a box of kittens. I think they try to hide them in a bedroom closet. There are pages of the kittens playing with them. I am sorry I can not remember more.

Anne Mallett, The Secret Kitten, 1972, copyright. Maybe this one -- the cover shows a girl and boy standing in the closet holding a kitten. It was published by Parents Magazine Press, if that helps.
Anne Mallett, The Secret Kitten. Thank you so much!!!!!! What a flood of memories. Thank you for this service.

Secret Language
Hello! I love your site! For years I have been trying to find a particular book. I read it in 6th grade in 1979. It is about a couple of girls at a boarding school. At Halloween, they make ice cream cone costumes out of chicken wire. I loved this book! I borrowed it from the Bookmobile and have never seen it since. Does anyone else know the name of this book and where I can purchase it?

This book is The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom. It was published by Harper in 1960. I loved this
book and read it over and over when I was a girl. It's the story of two girls, Martha and Victoria, who make up a secret language to help themselves deal with their insecurities and fears in boarding school.
H9 is The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom, Harper 1960 The two girls are unhappy at being at boarding school and start their own secret club with a secret language and fix up a clubhouse in the woods.
I think H9 is The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom. It's about two young girls (around age 9) at a boarding school. They dress as ice-cream cones for the Halloween party (the illustration of them in their costumes is very funny), and later in the book they build themselves a playhouse in the woods on the school grounds.
This is definitely Ursula Nordstrom's Secret Language -- I just pulled my copy and found the scene where the girls wear ice cream cone costumes.
Wow... all of these answers came within one week of posting this stumper!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! I can't wait to get the book and read it again! This is such a wonderful service you do!!
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The book I read often as an elementary school child involved a girl who I think went to a boarding school and found solace in going to the woods. My most vivid memory is of her creating a moss lined pond that was her secret place. I don't know what keyword to submit. Can you help me with that? Thanks and I'll be checking for the solution. P.S. I heard of your web site on NPR this morning.

I haven't read it in a long time, but this sounds like The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom.
Zibby O'Neal, Language of the Goldfish, 1980. This may not be it, but it does involve a girl and a pond that is her special place.
Nordstrom, Ursula, The Secret Language. Victoria also builds a hut in the woods, invents a secret language and dresses as an ice cream cone for party.
Sounds like THE SECRET LANGUAGE by Ursula Nordstrom, 1960. ~from a librarian
Re B168: I remember this book well, but not the title or author. The girl was very lonely because everyone else went home on holidays and weekends. She was forever getting demerits for sitting on the bed in her room and otherwise getting in trouble with the strict headmistress. She and her friend (roommate?) dressed as ice-cream cones for Halloween--not a good idea. I think that the headmistress eventually discovers the hiding place in the woods, but turns out to be understanding about it. I believe mine was a Scholastic edition.
What a treat to have my bookstumper solved on day one! I have three daughters and look forward to sharing this book with them. Is it available at your store? Please let me know the details if it is. Thanks.
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This book was a 1970s book about a home (orphanage maybe?) for young girls in Europe (England, France?) and run by a religious order (possibly) and focuses on the friendship of two girls (maybe ages 8-10?). All I remember is that the two girls' chores consisted of washing, drying and putting away the dishes and silverware after meals. One girl lovingly dries each piece of silverware and pretends they are soldiers she is taking care of before carefully putting each piece "to bed" in the drawer. Maybe the book takes place during wartime. I would love to find out the title/author of this childhood book and have searched endlessly on the Internet for any clues. Please help!

S463: Most likely The Secret Language (1960), which is, I believe, Ursula Nordstrom's only children's novel. See Solved Mysteries. (It was also she who dragged Shel Silverstein into children's publishing, I heard!) Fatherless Victoria North is only eight when she's sent off to boarding school (in the U.S.) and is very homesick until she meets Martha, the only sympathetic person there. Victoria says at one point that her mother had to send her there because she has a job that involves traveling a lot - and that before then, they usually lived in hotels. (To this day, I'm confused as to just what this says about their financial situation - somehow, you'd think hiring a nanny would be cheaper than boarding school! Or maybe it's not supposed to be realistic, even for 1960.) The book has its charms, but the icy Miss Mossman and "Mother Carrie" are clearly opposite extremes that are equally outdated. I wonder if Nordstrom was thinking of "The Water-Babies" or the Virgin Mary when she created the latter?
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language. Victoria and Martha were roommates at an American boarding school, and this was just Victoria's game that she described to Martha (she pretended they were wounded soldiers as she polished the silverware), but I bet you anything this is the book you're looking for. Do you remember when they dressed up as ice cream cones for the Halloween party?
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that you and your kind friends have solved this book stumper for me! I immediately went to [big megacorporate website] and ordered a used cpoy of this book and can't wait to read it again (and, now to my children). Just reading the comments which provided more details about the book's characters and activities (that I'd forgotten about but came back to me immediately!) made me so excited. Thank you for providing such a wonderful service! I am telling all my friends and family about this website.
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It is a chapter book, I read in grade school in the 1960's, fourth, fifth grade?, which takes place in a girls boarding school. It involves two girls, one very shy who has just arrived at the school and another who might be considered the school bully. They become unlikely friends. The "bully" has some made up words she uses and one of them is "ickenspick" or something similar. There is a mean head teacher of the boarding school who is later replaced by a very nice one. For some reason I remember one chapter titled, "Come In and Put Your Sweaters on.

Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language. This is the one you want. The inside jacket reads: "Victoria felt lost and alone her first day at boarding school. Then Martha offered to teach her the secret language, and suddenly Victoria had no time to be homesick." A wonderful story--one of my favorites from childhood. And it is so leebossa that I could help you name the book! (leebossa = when something is lovely or works out just right). I don't know if there was more than one printing, but make sure you get an edition illustrated by Mary Chalmers--charming.
The Secret Language. Definitely the ickenspick (yuck) book...or maybe that should be leebossa (cool), since so many people remember it fondly.
Thank you for solving the mystery. Actually my older sister who also read the book as a youngster remembered the title about when I sent you my request money. I am a third grade teacher at a small elementary school in central Kansas and as soon as I found out the title I went to our library to see if possibly.....? Sure enough, they had an old copy and I read it that evening. So many memories but so different than the books kids that age read today. Simpler, I guess. It is fun to look through your "mysteries" to see if any are things I read as a young girl. Thank you again
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60s-70s. This is a short kids/young adult novel about two little girls who are friends and who meet up to have adventures in a garden. I think there is some sort of hideaway, secret castle, or something like that. (No, this book is not The Secret Garden!) The cover on the edition I had was an illustration of the two girls, one of them blond, bending over to look at something or kneeling on the grass in this special garden area. I know this is really vague--hopefully it jogs a memory for someone.

Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language.The cover of the edition I had showed the two girls standing under some trees, bending over a small pool they had created near the hut they had built in the woods.
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language. My copy of the Secret Language has a cover that matches this description.
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language. Thanks so much! This was the right book!

Secret Life of Dilly McBean
Rereading some of Roald Dahl's books reminded me of this book that I read when I was a kid. It would have been published sometime before 1987 (when I entered high school). The main character was a boy who lost his parents in some kind of car accident. I seem to remember a description of a stack of hay falling slowly down from a truck next to them. I don't remember much about the main plot but I do remember he had a nightlight shaped like a globe with star constellations on it. There were small pinpricks in the globe that the light shone through and I think it rotated too. I think he was being raised by a butler or something, I'm not positive about this last detail. Any help would be appreciated.

The Secret Life of Dilly McBean. I had this as a kid, and loved it. All the details mentioned are there: the parents die when a hay truck falls on them, kid grows up in a series of camps and boarding schools until being sent to a house in the country with a butler hired through is inheritance, his possessions from his (earlier) childhood are there, including the constellation lamp. And, as a bonus, he as magnetism. As in, he can attract iron and steel to him or erase computer disks. Pretty memorable book, I must have read it several hundred times growing up.
Dorothy Haas, The secret life of Dilly McBean. I just want to say thank you to whoever posted the solution to my stumper. The second I read the title I knew this was it. I checked my library's online catalog and they have it. I can't wait to reread it. Thank you again! This is a wonderful resource for those of us with less than perfect memories.

Secret Messages (Usborne Spy Guides)
This was a book I always checked out in the mid-90's from the Cleburne Public Library in Cleburne, Texas. They no longer have this book on the shelf and cannot help me find it. I do not remember the author. I am 99% certain the title had the word "Secret" in it somewhere. I always thought the title was just "Secrets," but I have been unable to search for this book very well because of the massive amount of other children's books with the word "Secret" in the title. The title was not more than 2 words, at most. It was a little pink hardcover book and was nonfiction. It was about being a spy and was mostly colorful illustrations. I remember distinctly one illustration of some type of spy ring made out of wire with little pieces of colored paper wrapped around it. I do not know how old the book was in the 90's but it was probably at least 10-20 years old then.

Travis Falcon , Secret Messages (Usborne Spy Guides). The colored-things-on-a-ring is suggested in the (absolutely wonderful) Usborne Spy Guides. There are several books in the series but Secret Messages is probably the one you want.
SOLVED: Travis Falcon, Secret Messages (Usborne Spy Guides). S703 is solved! Thank you very much!

Secret Museum
I read this book as a child in the early 70's, but it might have been much older - I think my mom got it at a used bookstore. The story starts with a young girl who goes to live with family members (I think an aunt and uncle) on thier farm for the summer. She goes walking one day picking blueberries and hears crying in the woods. She investigates and finds a little house with a lot of dirty old dolls in it. she cleans them up and takes care of them and they start talking to her. There are a king, a jester, a baby, and many other dolls. Later, it turns out the dolls were the childhood toys of the old woman who owns the large abandoned house on the property. She finds out about the girl having her dolls and at first is mad, but when she sees how well she took care of them, she remembers how much she used to love them and gives them to the girl, or gives her a lot of money and lets her play with them, or something like that. This has been driving me crazy for years - I am so glad to have found your site!!!!!

Greenwald, Sheila, The Secret Museum, 1974. "Throught their restoration of an abandoned playhouse full of antique dolls, two young girls show several other members of the community how to gain a new lease on life." Just a guess, but the description sounds promising and it's from the right time period.
Sheila Greenwald, The Secret Museum. The main character's parents have moved into the country, which the girl doesn't like too well. She goes out exploring, finds the dolls, and she and another girl fix them up and charge admission. The actual owner of the dolls finds out they're doing this and gets mad, but all turns out well in the end.

Secret Oceans
Hi, I've been trying to figure this book out for some years! I hope someone can help me. I'm fairly sure it's out of print, as Amazon comes up with nothing. The book was large in width and height, and also fairly long. It was brilliantly illustrated throughout, on every page, but the text was extensive. The premise was that a bunch of scientists were on an expedition in a submarine, and they ended up in an undiscovered cavern system inhabited by evolved dolphins. They had developed frills that allowed them to broadcast images for communication, fingers, and the scientists learned to speak with them through computers. They had advanced civilization; I remember there was a doctor dolphin, who used a small octopus that sat on his hand. He sent mind-pictures to the octopus, which could then perform operations with much more dexterity than the dolphin could, and there was an illustration of injured members of many species entering the "clinic." Eventually, the dolphins led the scientists on a round-the-world undersea expedition, down to the deep sea fissures and undersea volcanoes, and at one point into a congregation of whales. It is a beautiful book! I hope someone knows it! Thanks for any help you can give!

Hugh Walters, Dark Triangle, 1979, copyright. This was the twentieth (and last) book published in Hugh Walters' "Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A." (United States Exploration Agency) series. When a plane carrying both the UK Prime Minister and the US President disappears over the Bermuda Triangle, Chris and his colleagues venture into the Triangle to look for them. There, they encounter a telepathic dolphin-like species called the Sembrians.
I had a feeling someone would suggest Dark Triangle, and thank you, but I am quite certain this is not it. Looks like a fascinating book though. The cover of the one I'm looking for, by the way, had an color illustration (paint?) showing a boy and girl holding onto the dorsal fins of these dolphins, in the middle of a lagoon surrounded by beautiful jungle. Thank you for the suggestion...any more ideas?
Betty Ballantine, The Secret Oceans. I found it!!! I found an obscure list of dolphin fiction books online. Thanks for your help, guys... this site is amazing.

Secret of Beaver Valley
Beaver with unusually large teeth - not the title of this early 1970's picture book, but as close as I can get. The story is about a beaver with very large front teeth. His friends and neighbors get him to do an extraordinary amount of work, eventually turning their peaceful village into a heavily industrialized society that eventually implodes. The beaver ends up looking more like an enormous piece of construction equipment than a beaver. At the end, the peaceful village is restored, but another beaver with unusually large teeth is born... I received this book as a gift around 1973, and the theme seems to fit with the burgeoning environmental concern of the time. It was a large book, with wonderful illustrations that tempered the heavy-handed approach and made the story much more fun than it sounds.

Walter D. Edmonds, Beaver Valley, 1971. This is a children's allegory about conservation and ecology. The story concerns a colony of beavers who move into a peaceful valley and build dams which disrupt the environment and threaten the lives of many of the animal residents. The descriptions I found of it were not very detailed, however, so I don't know if one of the beavers has unusually large teeth, as you recall.
Guy Buffet, Robert B. Goodman & Robert A. Spicer, Secret of Beaver Valley, 1973. I am the one who suggested Edmond's Beaver Valley as a possible solution, but I have looked a bit more and realized that is incorrect. The right book is the very similarly-titled Secret of Beaver Valley, which, like Beaver Valley is also an allegory for children about the environment and conservation (what are the odds?). In this one, Ernest Beaver is born with unusually big teeth, and as he is able to do more work for the other beavers, they find themselves obliged to do more and more work for him. Ernest's thirst for power and his enormous needs transform the once-peaceful valley into an unpleasant industrialized society.

Secret of Crossbone Hill
This is a mystery set in South Carolina starring a brother and sister named David and Kathy.

The Secret of Crossbone Hill by Wilson Gage.
Secret of Crossbone Hill, by Wilson Gage, illustrated by Mary Stevens, published by World 1959, 184 pages. "A lively and well-written tale of summer play adventures with eleven-year-old David and his younger sister kathy, whose family are vacationing on the South Carolina coast. A swamp with a mystery which turns out NOT to be pirates and treasure furnishes some heady agitation in strange sights and other enigmas. The family group is particularly likable, given to amusing banter (father, especially, has a gift for inventing long ridiculous retorts, full of made-up words). There is some naturally introduced description of birds which fascinate David's bird-watching mother and become a hobby for him, too, as egrets, terns, anhingas, and ibises are to be seen." (Horn Book Jun/59 p.205)

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Gage, Wilson. The Secret of Crossbone Hill. Illustrated by Mary Stevens. Weekly Reader, 1960. Dustjacket flaps have been clipped and a piece of tape with an inscription has been affixed to inside front cover. VG/VG. $32

Secret of Grandfather's Diary
1960s. I have sketchy recollections of the full plot. It was a mystery involving a necklace that was hidden in a jar (I think) in a library of a house. The mystery was solved by the main character (boy or girl?) reading in an old diary. The problem with the diary was that the person who wrote in it (perhaps a late grandfather?) had funny penmanship, so the diary entry read something like either "necklace in jar" or "beads in vase". I think the main character mistakes certain letters. In the end, I believe the necklace was made of valuable blue beads, but they'd been disguised/hidden in a fake pearl one. The hardback book showed a boy looking through a shelf lined with books. I think the colors were blue, brown and black on a white background. On one of the bookshelves sits a jar/vase. The boy has his back to us.

Lomask Milton, The secret of Grandfather's diary, 1968, reprint. An Archway Paperbak, Washington Square Press. Story of Denny and a strange and eventful summer. I don't have this book on me at the moment but can get back to you with more details.
This is the book I was looking for! Thanks for the speedy solution.

Secret of Hidden Creek
See Secrets of Hidden Creek

Secret of Saturday Cove
Children's book about a child on the north atlantic coast who traps lobsters and was searching for his family's hidden treasure. I read it in 1979. The child knew that the had traveled by rowboat for a certain number of hours and returned. At the end the treasure was found on his island in a cave.

Barbee Oliver Carleton, The Secret of Saturday Cove, 1961.
SOLVED: Barbee Oliver Carleton, The Secret of Saturday Cove. AMAZING! I have searched for this book for years. I have spent hours doing web searches for the various terms I could vaguely remember. One quick request here, a trifle donation, I I have my answer in week! Thank you SOOO much.

Secret of Sleeping River
"Chapter" book, octavo size, about 200 pages (approx). Illustrated with line drawings in a late 50s-early 60s style, rather like textbook illos. I read it before 1970, but I'd date it to the 50s at a guess. The story concerned a family with 3 or 4 children who acquired a television set that only worked when it was upside down. Then it showed very strange programs. One was about firemen, who were shown breaking into a burning house, only to find the family inside sitting placidly in front of their television, watching the same show! One well-meaning friend offered to fix the set and was turned down. It seems to me that the family had recently moved from the slums to the country, and that there was a sub-plot concerning bringing some of their child friends out to the countryside as well. I remember the daughter asking her mother why people felt sorry for city/slum kids since she thought they were smarter and more clued in, and her mother pointing out the negatives for underprivileged kids. This was a book with an agenda, but it never seemed to interfere with the story.

U5 Upside down television set -- I FOUND IT!!! The Secret of Sleeping River, a story of television magic by Archie Binns, published Winston, 1952, 213 pages, illustrated by Rafaello Busoni. "Rarely seen, delightful book about what happens when a family comes to possess a magic television as a result of a gypsy's tinkering." I'm happy. No kidding, "rarely seen". Woohoo!
the answer to U5 is: The Secret of Sleeping River, a story of television magic by Archie Binns, published Winston, 1952, 213 pages, illustrated by Rafaello Busoni.
Believe it or not, it looks as if this is also my found stumper (Upside down tv) Secret of the Sleeping River: a story of television magic, by Archie Binns, illustrated by Rafello Busoni, published by Winston, 1952. I had forgotten that the mysterious tv programs were sponsored by Pomeroy's Wild Goat's Milk Cheese, and announced by the Absent-Minded Announcer, who is connected with the farmhouse that the family has moved to. They find a photograph of him as a boy between some boards in the window-seat. It's a terrific book, and I'm excited to find that someone else read it and remembered it - it's as if we'd each remembered half the plot and needed to be put together!

Secret of Smuggler's Cove, The
I started reading this book in 1986, so it's either a few or many years older than that. It's about a girl who goes to live with her aunt? on the coast somewhere in the southwest. The book has to do with the girl investigating something mysterious in the caves/ shadows on the capes (los cabos)? with a boy who lived nearby. Unfortunately just when mysterious things started to happen I stopped reading. The book (in English) had a lot of Spanish words. I think there was a "t" word mentioned a lot similar to torros? describing the area. I know it's not torros because there were no bulls in the story. Or maybe there were? I stopped reading. One funny thing toward the beginning was that the aunt ate hardly anything she didn't realize the girl needed to eat more than her. The girl would sneak down to a roadside cafe and eat without her knowing it. She finally cooked the aunt breakfast one Sunday morning, enough pancakes to feed an army. The aunt got the hint, and they laughed about it. The cafe was run by a hispanic couple. The owner Joe got spooked by something the girl brought in (the mystery was starting). Perhaps if I had gone on reading the mystery would have been really intriguing? Perhaps not. But I turned the book back into my elementary school's library and I've since forgotten the title, the author, and all the characters names except for the one I mentioned. The Madonna song "La Isla Bonita" was popular at the time so my memory associates it with the book. I know that doesn't help you any :)

Eleanor Cameron, A Spell is Cast. The stumper almost sounds like A Spell is Cast. It takes place on the coast near Monterey or Carmel, and I know they explore some caves. I don't remember about the pancakes, though it's been a long time since I read this.
Margaret Leighton, The Secret of Smuggler's Cove, 1959. I believe it's The Secret of Smuggler's Cove. I read it recently and the details match--the aunt who doesn't eat much and doesn't realize a growing girl needs more to eat, the diner owned by the hispanic couple where she fills up after her aunt's scanty meals and the valuable book that the couple owns that they're afraid someone will steal.
Thanks so much for your replies! The Secret of Smuggler's Cove has to be it. The title rings a bell now, and so does the valuable book that the couple owns.

Secret of Smugglers' Wood
R. J. McGregor, Secret of Smugglers' Wood (?), Puffin Books (UK), late 50s/early 60s. I think this was title, but I may be wrong. NOT The Young Detectives, NOT Secret of Dead Man's Cove. Kids discover hidden room in house, foil criminals. Also, who was McGregor, and how many other books did he write?

Secret of Smugglers' Wood, R.J. (Reginald James) McGregor, Penguin, 1957, Puffin Story Books #105. Some other books by McGregor are: The Young Detectives (c.1934, 1967), Warrior's Treasure (1962), Indian Delight (1958), Laughing Raider (1951), Jungle Holiday (1950), Chi-Lo the General (1947), Monkey-God's Secret a story of adventure (1924), Secret Jungle (?), Jungle Mystery a story of adventure (1910-1919?), as well as numerous plays.
Further detail to an item in solved mystery catlaogue: R J McGregor, Secret of Smugglers' Wood. RJ McGregor was the Headmaster of Bristol Grammer Preparatory School, hence his affinity to childern's stories. He had four children, whose first names are the same as the heroes in the Young Detectives etc.

Secret of Stone House Farm
I remember reading this book as a child: a boy about 12 is on summer vacation, a strange family moves in nearby and they turn out to be a troupe of circus performers that houses their elephant, "Tiny" in their barn. There is a parade in the book and something about the town not wanting elephants to be housed in the barn. I cannot remember the name of this book! Thanks and good luck!

C74 circus looks like the same book as T74 Tiny the circus elephant. Probably not the right book, but on a similar theme is Lions in the Barn, by Virginia Frances Voight, illustrated by Kurt Wiese, published Holiday
1955, 96 pages "Most circuses in the old days had no permanent winter headquarters. This gave many a farmer in New York State and Western Connecticut a chance to make a little extra cash by winter-boarding animals. It must also have given many farm boys as much pleasure as it did Clay Baldwin. Miss Voight tells how he helped his father get their barn ready; how the trainer and his six big cats arrived; how Clay learned to help him care for the animals and train a lion cub." Less information but possible - The Hired Man's Elephant, by Phil Stong, published Dodd, Mead 1939, 149 pp. Illustrated by Doris Lee. "story of an elephant that finds a home on an Iowa farm."
C74 circus and T74 tiny the elephant: The Secret of Stone House Farm, by Miriam Young, illustrated by William M. Hutchinson, published Harcourt 1963, 192 pages, is about Marcy, Wayne and Lee, who discover that a long-deserted farm near their home has been occupied by "Bert Cole, a retired circus performer, his immensely fat wife Juanita (an ex-ballerina) and their collection of strange pets. But it is the "secret" hidden in the barn and carefully guarded, that finally brings the story to a spirited climax." (HB Oct/63 p.505) Nothing solid on whether an elephant is involved, though.
Another possible is Elephants in the Garden, written and illustrated by Ida Scheib, published David McKay 1958. "Joey becomes a neighborhood sensation after he makes his unscheduled debut - by elephant back - under the Big Top, in Madison Square Garden. Offstage glimpses of the circus, Joey, and his elephant friends will captivate the younger set. Ages 7-10." (HB Apr/58 p.85 pub ad). It sounds more as if Joey is already part of the circus, though, and doesn's seem to be set in the countryside.
C74 circus: just perhaps, Black Elephant, by Virginia F. Voight, published Prentice-Hall 1960. "this well written story lends an interesting perspective to the circus life of the last century, to life in rural New England. Ages 8-12." (HB Dec/60 p.549 pub ad) "Young Dilly joins the Hathaway Rolling Show circus and becomes involved with the care of elephants. When an abused young black elephant named Ebony escapes into the Maine woods, Dilly must find the elephant and regain its trust." No mention of Tiny, though.
Miriam Young, if you say so, The Secret of Stone House Farm. C47 is definitely Secret of Stone House Farm! The elephant is being hidden in the barn because he hurt someone he thought was attacking his keeper, Bert, and Bert and Juanita are afraid - with good reason - that he will be destroyed. Hiding an elephant is no small job, though, and once the kids find out, they are happy to enlist their help. Gradually, more and more people find out about Tiny. I don't remember how the problem of his being destroyed is solved, but I distinctly remember Tiny's taking part in a parade. The bank pays to have him advertise for them, and the heroine, who wants to be a drum majorette in the parade, has to be the clown riding Tiny instead. This precipitates the climax, in which Tiny is discovered by the authorities and the question of his being dangerous is settled satisfactorily.
Young, Miriam, Secret of Stone House Farm. This was given as a solution for C47 christmas star, and I believe that was a typo for C74, since the plot of the Miriam Young book is about an elephant in a barn (as in C74) not a star on a tree (as in C47). If the stumper was originally posted by the same person who posted the first Mop Top solution, it is confirmed there.
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Hi-I am looking for the title of a paperback chapter book I read as a child. It was set ina small town durin summer vacation, and a boy finds out that a group of circus performers has just moved in nearby. they have a elephant named Tiny, and there is a parade in it. This is just about all I can remember. Any ideas? This is a great site- WOW.

T74: Well, elephants named "Tiny" are something of a running gag in fiction, but I remember one story fondly (not the title though - sorry) - it was part of the same collection, I think, that had the Native American story I mentioned in "Pie for a beggar". In it, a boy and his father work in a circus - the father does a sad clown act in which he's called "The Great Gaston"(?) and the boy tends a young elephant. The father has an injury and the boy begs the ringmaster to be allowed to fill in for him. He makes up an act in which he's searching everywhere for Tiny, who's right behind him, and whenever he turns, she turns. Finally, he sees her and asks, "Have you seen an
elephant anywhere? She's just your size." She shakes her head. The act is a hit. The other stories include one about a man who can never make up his mind about anything and one about a fool who has to be told to build a house, then to put in a door, windows, and a chimney. Probably written before 1970.
C74 circus looks like the same book as T74 Tiny the circus elephant. Probably not the right book, but on a similar theme is Lions in the Barn, by Virginia Frances Voight, illustrated by Kurt Wiese, published Holiday
1955, 96 pages "Most circuses in the old days had no permanent winter headquarters. This gave many a farmer in New York State and Western Connecticut a chance to make a little extra cash by winter-boarding animals. It must also have given many farm boys as much pleasure as it did Clay Baldwin. Miss Voight tells how he helped his father get their barn ready; how the trainer and his six big cats arrived; how Clay learned to help him care for the animals and train a lion cub." Less information but possible - The Hired Man's Elephant, by Phil Stong, published Dodd, Mead 1939, 149 pp. Illustrated by Doris Lee. "story of an elephant that finds a home on an Iowa farm."
C74 circus and T74 tiny the elephant: The Secret of Stone House Farm, by Miriam Young, illustrated by William M. Hutchinson, published Harcourt 1963, 192 pages, is about Marcy, Wayne and Lee, who discover that a long-deserted farm near their home has been occupied by "Bert Cole, a retired circus performer, his immensely fat wife Juanita (an ex-ballerina) and their collection of strange pets. But it is the "secret" hidden in the barn and carefully guarded, that finally brings the story to a spirited climax." (HB Oct/63 p.505) Nothing solid on whether an elephant is involved, though.
Another possible is Elephants in the Garden, written and illustrated by Ida Scheib, published David McKay 1958. "Joey becomes a neighborhood sensation after he makes his unscheduled debut - by elephant back - under the Big Top, in Madison Square Garden. Offstage glimpses of the circus, Joey, and his elephant friends will captivate the younger set. Ages 7-10." (HB Apr/58 p.85 pub ad). It sounds more as if Joey is already part of the circus, though, and doesn's seem to be set in the countryside.
Miriam Young, The Secret of Stone House Farm, 1963. I am currently reading this book from our area library. It is about a girl (Marcy), her younger brother (Wayne) and a neighbor boy Lee. During summer break, they become friends with Mr. and Mrs. Cole, retired circus performers who moved in to the house next door. They have an elephant Tiny. In order to get the towns people to accept Tiny, they offer kids rides on him. (I am not completely through with the book yet, but I have skimmed it and there is a part where the kids put on a parade.) Hope this helps!

Secret of Terror Castle
As a child in the 60's I owned and read a series of boy's books that I believe were written in the 40's-60's possibly. I read them in the 3rd-5th grade. The stories involved a boy and his non-fantasy adventures. The only thing I can remember about them is that at the beginning of each book, it was explained that the boy had had an accident when he was younger and broke his leg in "umpteen" places and now walked with a limp. At first I thought it was the Eddie series written by Carolyn Haywood, but I have since purchased the Eddie series on e-Bay and they are not them, but I seem to remember that they were similar to the Eddie books.

Sounds like The Secret of Terror Castle by Robert Arthur, the first book in Alfred Hitchcock & The Three Investigators series! Bob was the one who kept records and did research because he was somewhat lame from his accident when he tried to climb a small mountain and fell and broke his leg "in umpteen places." M.V. Carey also wrote books in the series, which were all (?)rewritten after Alfred Hitchcock's death to leave him out as an anachronistic character. Lots of fun, all of them, although my mother used to complain about the portrayal of the female characters - and I don't just mean Allie Jamison. I can see her point.
ALfred Hitchcock's Three Investigators, late 1950s, early 1960s. I remember the boy with the broken leg, he is the narrator of a series of mysteries set in Southern California that all involved Alfred Hitchcock. The narrator worked with two other teenage boys out of a trailor in a junkyard. One of the boys was very bright and had the temporary use of a Rolls and chauffeur which enabled them to travel around to investigate mysteries. Hitchcock was a character who gave them advice from time to time. The boy with the broken leg had to stay with the car because he limped and couldn't walk or climb for long periods. I remember the titles of two of the books: The Secret of Terror Castle and The Mystery of the Green Ghost. They were Scholastic paperbacks and were also in hardcover in my school library.
Robert Arthur, Alfred Hitchcock andThe Three Investigators, 1964. I just sent in this solution, then I discovered the series is still in print and available.
Yes, this is it! It all started coming back to me as I read the titles and the bit about the junk yard. I looked up the books on the web to confirm my suspicions, and after reading the excerpts and reviews, I am convinced this is the series. Thank you all.
The original series of Three Investigators novels began in 1964 with The Secret Of Terror Castle (#1) and concluded with The Mystery Of The Cranky Collector (#43) in 1987. The early books were written by Robert Arthur. Later installments were written by other authors, such as M. V. Carey, using the characters (Jupiter, Pete and Bob) created by Arthur.

Secret of the Crazy Quilt
I don't remember much of this book but this is what I remember: (It's a children's book) Two children going to a relative's house. They find there is some mysterious treasure hidden in the house and go searching for it. There is a garden with stones around it and each stone is a letter of the alphabet (maybe) telling some secret code. At the end they find the treasure hidden in an heirloom quilt. I don't know the author or the title! I keep having vague memories of this book but I don't know how much
of the memories are accurate.

Not 100% sure, but person could try The Secret of the Crazy Quilt by Florence Hightower, 1972.
S69 sounds a bit like T39
Going only by the title, maybe Treasure of Crazy Quilt Farm by Marcella Thum, illustrated by Elinor Jaeger, published by Franklin Watts 1965. Not too likely, but also The Mystery of the Gold Candlesticks by
Winifred Scott, published London, Mowbrays 1958 "This fast-paced adventure story for boys and girls is concerned with the unexpected detective activities of an orphaned brother and sister on holiday in a strange country house." (Junior Bookshelf Oct/58 p.172 publ. ad) And still grasping at straws Key to the Treasure by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Paul Frame, published NY Macmillan 1966, 154 pages "Liza, Bill, and Jed, spending the summer at their grandparent's farm, are determined to solve the puzzle of an often-told family legend of authentic Indian relics, which a hundred years before vanished without trace. Young readers will be immediately involved when the children accidentally stumble upon the first of the coded clues, and can share the fun and excitement of unscrambling the codes and deciphering the cryptic instructions."
More on The Sectret of the Crazy Quilt: "During a prolonged visit at their Massachusetts family home during the winter of 1944-45, Jerry and her aunt try to unravel the mysterious events of another vacation
visit twenty years before."
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It is a book for young adolescents, set in the Prohibition era, with a young heroine and a patchwork quilt, involving boats, rumrunners and I think an wireless radio. It was an exciting adventure mystery. I particularly remember the quilt - I think the solution to the mystery was sewn into the crazy patchwork quilt.

Shot in the dark, but it could be SECRET OF THE CRAZY QUILT by Florence Hightower, 1972. While vacationing in the family home in Massachusetts in 1944, a girl and her aunt try to solve a mystery from 20 years before (which would put it in the time of Prohibition)~from a librarian
Margaret Sutton, The Clue in the Patchwork Quilt, 1941.Not sure what the plot is, but this is part of a girl sleuth series, like Nancy Drew, so it might be what you are looking for.
Thank you for your suggestions. I am going to try the Florence Hightower book, which seems correct. The author's name is familiar, and it seems the correct year. I think I read the Margaret Sutton book also - is that a Judy Bolton?

Secret of the Emerald Star
This book is a juvenile mystery by Phyllis A Whitney. It involves a blind girl, and I believe a key or jewel or some small object which is missing.

This book is indeed by Phyliss Whitney. It's called The Secret of the Emerald Star and the children's names were Robin, Stella (the blind girl) and Julian. I loved this mystery as a child, particularly because I loved the name of Julian. I picked up a copy of this book for 50 cents when my local library discarded it. I can't wait to introduce it to my three-year-old when she gets older.
W10--Secret of The Emerald Star

I am looking for a couple of mystery books I read as a child in the early eighties. The titles (as best as I can remember) are The Mystery of the Red Carnations (I think it was an Edgar Allan Poe grave-type of mystery-- someone's leaving carnations on someone's grave) and The Mystery of the Missing Emeralds (has a blind girl named Stella, the stone ends up having been hidden in a statue which she had sculpted). Please help! I've been looking for title/author/book for many years.

Secret of the Emerald Star, by Phyliss Whitney!!! I remember loving this book as a youngster, too!
Two books are mentioned in M12. I don't know the first one, but the second one mentioned is definately Secret of the Emerald Star by Phyllis A. Whitney.
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This was a young adult mystery that I read sometime between 1980-1983. I can remember a girl who visits someone (cousin?) and a big old house nearby -- and someone (uncle? gardner?) who is involved in jewel theft. I know this isn't much! I remember that it was pretty scary and there was a chase in the woods at night... Also, the cover had a girl looking up at an old victorian style house at night. This was not a "series" book. Please help!

Whitney, Mystery of the Green Cat, 1955. It's possible that this is the book. Here is part of the synopsis from the Phyllis Whitney website: A diversion brings a new development in the family's problems. There are some exciting rumors about the people who live in the old Victorian house next door. Roger Dallas even suggests that there might be a mystery locked behind its forbidding walls. When a rock shatters a window in the girls' room and a strange note about a green cat is found, Jill and Andy decide to investigate. Jill meets Hana Tamura, a Japanese girl whose parents work for the people in the mysterious mansion. Hana has been forbidden to be friendly with anyone in the neighborhood, and when Jill asks about the green cat, the effect on Hana is electric. One thrilling adventure follows upon another and Andy and Jill make some startling discoveries.
MARY STEWART, Moon-Spinners, 1962. I'm not sure about the old house part in this one, but this does involve jewelry smuggling. Here's the description: When beautiful Nicola Ferris chose the remote island of Crete for her vacation, all she desired was to experience the ancient and brooding land on her own.But one day her impulse led her on a little-used path into the foreboding White Mountains. And there she found a man in hiding -- for reasons he could not explain. Warned to stay away, Nicola was unable to obey. And before she realized what she had uncovered, she found herself thrust into the midst of an alarming plot in which she would become the prey. It was also made into a Disney movie with Hayley Mills. Here's a description of the movie: When Nikki Ferris and her aunt took a trip to a small Greek island, they never expected to get involved in jewel theft and murder. A strangely reluctant innkeeper, a handsome Englishmen, a missing boy and a mysterious yacht all play a part in this Mystery/Romance based on a Mary Stewart novel.
The suggestion about the Whitney book jogged my memory--it was the same author, Phyllis A. Whitney that wrote the book I was searching for: The Secret of the Emerald Star! Thanks so much!!

Secret of the Old Salem Desk
I read this book in the mid-70s, but it may have been published much earlier--it seemed old when I read it. It was hardcover and it was the first "real" (novel-length) book I ever read. I always think of it as "The Red Desk," though it may have been the cover of the book that was actually red. Maybe it was "The Secret Desk." At any rate there was an antique desk that was at the center of some mystery, either the desk itself had gone missing or it had a secret drawer, and I think a litttle girl solved the mystery. I check it out of the library and always wanted to read it again, but then we moved and I never found it again.

Molloy, Anne Stearns Baker, The secret of the old Salem desk, 1955. Ariel Books, New York. I found this description online. The desk is red lacquer so it could be the right book. All that was left in the little Maine house out on an island was a handsome old secretary, made in China especially for Stephen's great grandfather who was a wealthy merchant from Salem, Massachusetts. ... And the old desk, so stately and glorious in its red lacquer, stoof for everything he couldn't have or be. So you can imagine how he felt when it disappeared.
Molloy, Anne, Secret of the Old Salem Desk. NY Ariel 1955. "Stephen loves the old Salem desk which disappears, so he sets out to find it." The title, date, and rough plot seem to be a reasonable match.

Secret of the Seven Crows
The title may have been "The Secret of the Seven Crows" or something similar. It was one of a series. (I would love to find the whole series but I am pretty sure they had different authors.) It was a mystery story with a treasure? The mystery was solved by a code. The code was seven crows spelled over and over again. I would have read this in the 1970's.

Wylly Folk St. John, The Secret of the Seven Crows, 1973, copyright. A strange riddle is the only clue several young people have as they search for treasure in an old Gulf Coast mansion. Other titles include Mystery of the Gingerbread House, Uncle Robert's Secret, The Christmas Tree Mystery, The Secret of Hidden Creek, The Secrets of Pirate Inn, The Ghost Next Door, and The Mystery of the Other Girl.
Wylly Folk St. John, The Secret of the Seven Crows, 1965, approximate. I'm not sure this is the one you're looking for; the crows clues come from the counting song--"One crow for sorrow, two crows for joy, three crows a baby...etc." It's definitely a treasure hunt though. The author wrote a few other mysteries that follow the same type of formula, but with different characters--"The Secrets of Hidden Creek", "The Secret of the Pirate Inn", "The Gingerbread House Mystery"...
St. John, Wylly Folk, Secret of the Seven Crows, 1973, Viking. "A strange riddle is the only clue several young people have as they search for treasure in an old Gulf Coast mansion." It's A Camelot Book, here are some other titles in the series -- The Christmas tree mystery by Wylly Folk St. John / Uncle Robert's secret A Camelot book by Wylly Folk St. John / Secret Wishes (Avon Camelot Book) by Lou Kassem / The Best-Kept Secret (Avon Camelot book) by Emily Rodda.
St John, Wylie Folk, Secret of the seven crows, 1973, copyright. A strange riddle is the only clue several young people have as they search for treasure in an old Gulf Coast mansion. other titles by the same author include Secrets of Hidden Creek; Uncle Robert's Secret; Secrets of the pirate Inn; Mystery of the other girl; Mystery of the gingerbread house; Ghost next door; christmas tree mystery.
St. John, The Secret of the Seven Crows. Thank you everyone! This is definitely the right book.

B851: Bells hidden in/near a church tower
A mystery I read as a child, maybe 1960's. Setting I think was in Europe. Holland or Germany? Church bells were hidden/disguised, maybe for safety? The town's bells not heard in a long time. A little boy unraveled the mystery of the bells. Bells disguised in clothing. Word glockenspiel used.

This may not help at all, but I read that book too, although I don't remember the author or the title. I think it was called something like "The ___ Bells of St. ___" and the author's last name started with a C. Rather than St. or Saint, it may have been Santa or Sainte...another language's version of saint.
SOLVED: The Secret of the Singing Tower. I sent in the original request to find this book. I found out the name of the book is "The Secret of the Singing Tower". Thanks to all who were looking!!!

Secret of the Spotted Shell
Treasure/mystery of girl and family visiting elder female relative near seashore area, with lost necklace/jewelry that disappeared many years ago. A beautiful seashell was involved, because near the end it was discovered to contain a note which had accidentally slipped into the seashell and which provided the key to finding the treasure or solving the mystery. This book may be titled something like
"The Mystery of the Seashell" or "The Mysterious Seashell" or "The Secret of the Seashell", etc.

S47 is probably SECRET OF THE SPOTTED SHELL, by Phyllis Whitney, Westminster press, 1967.
S-47 may be one of Phyllis Whitney's young adult mysteries. I think the title might be Secret of the Spotted Shell.
This may be The Mysterious Christmas Shell, by Eleanor Cameron. (1961) The girl, visting her old aunties
and grandmother, finds a shell that contains important papers (regarding lost wealth?) inside.....the item had been
slipped inside long ago, when one of the older relatives was a girl. One of my favorites!
S47- if this book isn't by Whitney (and it probably is), I thought it could also be the Mysterious Christmas Shell by Eleanor Cameron.

Secret of the Third Eye
This book was one of a series, I do remember that much, but I never saw any of the others. The main character was a teenage girl who solved mysteries--something like Nancy Drew, but I don't think it was one of her stories (I've searched under "Nancy Drew" and found no matches). The particular book I saw involved a young man who'd trained as a monk in Tibet I believe his name was Padme Lampo. He lived in a house near the town which had been modelled after a Tibetan monastery (built by a deceased relative--the young man's uncle? grandfather?) The house was called Ama Dablam after the monastery. Does any of this ring any bells for anyone?

Carlson, Dale Bick, Secret of the Third Eye,1983. This is the 3rd book in a 4-book series. Other titles are -- Mystery of the Shining Children, Mystery of the Hidden Trap, and Secret of the Invisible City. Found this through Google: "What do you get when you mix Nancy Drew with Tom Swift, and throw in a bit of X-Files just for the fun of it? Well, you get Jenny Dean, that’s what! The Jenny Dean Science Fiction Mysteries were written by Dale Bick Carlson....The Jenny Dean books are a series of four “science fiction mysteries” published in hardback, picture-cover format by Grosset & Dunlap in the early 1980s......Having cracked her second case, Jenny is due some rest and relaxation. But even as her friends invite her to go camping near the old Aba Dablam estate, she is led directly into her third adventure, The Secret of the Third Eye. When Jenny and Mike go camping, Jenny finds herself mysteriously drawn to the old Aba Dablam estate, where she discovers that the owner’s grandson, now calling himself Padme Lampo, as he is a Grand Lama possessing amazing mental powers – which are controlled by his third eye in his forehead (which Jenny discovers is actually a ruby surgically placed there). His mental powers, however, are very real, as he quickly proves to Jenny through telepathic communication and levitation! But someone in Winter Falls is determined to exploit this young Lama and it’s up to Jenny and her friends to stop them! Not one, but two kidnappings ultimately lead Jenny to the truth and help her to expose the villain for the greedy exploiter that he is! "

Secret of the Two Feathers
Story about a boy in Central Park (I think). He talks about Cleopatra's Needle. He somehow acquires a magic item, I think a feather. I think it makes him invisible. I read the story about 40 years ago.

Duka, Ivo and Helen Kolda, Secret of the Two Feathers. 1954. Sounds like this one - Martin finds a magic feather that can do things like make him grow and shrink, all done with trick photography. There's a sequel, Martin and his Friend from Outer Space, published the next year. Hard to find, though.
The Secret of the Two Feathers. I think this is the title, but I'm not sure and haven't seen it since the fifties. It was illustrated with black and white photos that used trick photography to show the boy (Martin, I think) becoming little or invisible or whatever. He does mention Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park, NYC. There was a sequel called something like Martin and His Friend From Outer Space. Oops, just realized this is answered in G53.

Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain
I have been trying to locate a book, may have been a young adult book, called the mystery of turkeyfoot mountain, or the secret of turkeyfoot mountain or something similar, but cannot find a reference to it anywhere.

LC has the title Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain by Eda and Richard Crist Abelard-Schuman, NY 1957
The Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain was on my unknowns list for a long time. As a result, I grab every copy I see, and now have an extra, if the person who asked about it still wants/needs it. I could send it and others to you in exchange for titles I want.
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I have mostly a feeling of the book (when I was about 14-16 years old). It had such an air of myster about some woods, I believe it was in connecticut. Some kids (boys only, I believe) are trying to sove some mystery involving some history of the woods about a man who died in a blizzard but managed to walk out or almost walk out by shere force of the human will. That point was particular accentuated as if it meant something to the author. I believe they made several attempts at going into the woods, but something scares them away. But something scares them away when they hear a noise once, a loud knocking and run away. It made it such a spooky story. A spooky Woods maybe that's a key to the title Haunted Woods? I have to say what it was because I have suche a minimum of facts. It was a woodpecker (perhaps bigger than usual). I think they eventually find an old lost cabin with some writing on it of some kind belonging to the man of a local historical legend. Maybe it's not much of a story but it's in my memories and I don't think I finished it. Feist, Raymond, Faerie Tale. Some elements of the Stumper reminded me of this. Book features twin brothers living
in an old house near a spooky woods. One brother is captured by evil fairies and the other must struggle through the woods and other places to find him. In one part, he must pass through a house with different rooms, each representing one of the four seasons, and is tempted to join the people he sees in the rooms. Only sheer will can get him past the rooms.
Two possibilities: Peggy Parish's Clues in the Woods, which is a little off on the targeted age range but is definitely about a mysterious man in the woods; or one of the Alfred Hitchcock Three Investigators series (maybe Mystery of the Wandering Cave Man?). You can see the complete title list plus cover pictures on this website.
Phantom of Walkaway Hill by Edward Fenton - maybe a remote possibility. An excellent mystery with lots of atmosphere!
M-173 - (Added Note:) Alfred Hitchcock Three Investigators series are some pretty cool books for a young person, even when not exactly that young, which is also why it is a good suggestion: If you are in a class which schedules periodic school library visits and requries you to check out a book, (and you don't read much) you would pick the ones with the cool pictures on the cover even if you are a little too old to be reading that book.
I'm the original stumper. I left out the date range of the early 1960's. The kids are probably just three in number, about 10 - 14 years, two boys and one of their sisters. They are just ordinary; nothing supernatural; not child detectives. The mysteries are of the imagination; real in excitement but eventually explained. There was another book (that I know of) with the same three kids in it. I didn't get around to reading it. I didn't realize there were so many books and so many of similar story line and titles; so, only really unique points will identify it. Strange noises in the woods, one of them being a woodpecker? surprisingly, not that unusual. I don't really know why they were just getting around to exploring the woods (near their homes), but coincidentally, they uncover facts clearing an infamous person in the town's history. The man tryed to make it out of the woods, even in a blizzard! A little more unusual.
Suggested solely by picture cover seen on line- Ghosts of Rathburn Park by Zilpher Keatley Snyder.
See T384 -- sounds like you're looking for the same book.
Crist, Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain. Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain has got to be the answer. If ginseng rings a bell, this is it. The woods have a swamp and hemlocks. The boys are looking for a place to find ginseng to sell so they can buy some sheep. They find an old "Sang Man's" cottage and his ancient cache of valuable ginseng. The Sang Man was the person who left the swamp in a storm and subsequently died. The boys thought he was haunting the cottage, but it was only a woodpecker perched on the old rocking chair. Hard to find is right.

Secret of the Unicorn
I remember a fiction book in my elementary school library which would have been from the mid 60's to the early 70's that involved a mystery with a unicorn tapestry. As best I can remember there were two girls involved who were trying to solve some kind of mystery and the key was stitched into the tapestry itself. I think it may have taken place in America, possibly New York. It was happening during contemporary times not the past. The tapestry may have been in a museum. The one very unique thing I remember about the book is that on the dust jacket itself there was a picture of the tapestry and you could actually see the clue they were looking for in the artwork. The dust jacket fly leaf told you to look at the cover to find the clue. The book may have been an award winner of some kind but I can't remember which award. I've searched quite a bit to find this one with no luck. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

U31 I read an online description of SECRET OF THE UNICORN by Robin Gottlieb that seemed to match.~from a librarian
Robin Gottlieb, Secret of the Unicorn, 1965. Hi, I hope I'm doing this right. Thank you to "A Librarian". You have solved my mystery and in surprisingly short order. I have been looking for this one for years. Thanks again. Well done!
Your site is extraordinary. I have also searched for this book for years thinking, in error, that it was by Phyllis Whitney. Isn't the internet grand - we can recapture our childhood favorites with help of experts like you and find them at booksellers worldwide. You do a wonderful service here!

Secret of the Unicorn Queen
I read this book once in the mid-90's and never marked down the title or author. In this book, a girl works for a museum or an inventor or something like that and at her workplace is a machine. One day after school, she gets into the machine for some reason (and she has her backpack) and is sent to another dimension/time/place. In this new place are unicorns and the people there speak a very musical language. They help the girl, give her some way of understanding them, and then one of the unicorns chooses the girl to be her rider. Things happen and I vaguely remember a city and ships, but that is a lot less certain than the rest of my memories. I've been searching for this book ever since I returned it to the library. It is NOT the Bruce Coville book, btw, as that has been the most usual response.

Joseph Sherman and Gwen Hansen, The Secret of the Unicorn Queen. Sheila is accidentally transported to Arren in the machine her scientist friend built, where she makes friends with the unicorns and helps work to right wrongs, etc. It was a whole series of books.
Piers Anthony, Apprentice Adept seires, 80s-90s. The world of musical unicorns and the rest of the details sound very much like this series, I think the (7th) last one, Phaze Doubt. This is a series that really needs to be read in order, so I recommend you start with the first, Split Infinity.
Josepha Sherman, The Secret of the Unicorn Queen: Swept Away, 1988. The Secret of the Unicorn Queen is indeed correct. I must admit, it is odd how quickly you were able to figure this book out when I have been asking around librarians, friends, message boards, and the like since late elementary school. I am very pleased though. This is one less thing to drive me crazy. Thank you.

Secret of the Witch's Stairway
I read this book in the mid-80's. The story had to do with a treasure (which was gold or silver, and i think included a goblet), and a book (possibly with geneological information about the family). i think there were two kids in it, and at the end some information was found in a graveyard near the house where the kids lived. i believe that the treasure was either found in a tree, or hidden somewhere in a basement/winery. if anyone can help me figure out author or title, i'd greatly appreciate it!

Don't know if this is worth posting, but the second-to-last on the new page--under "T" for treasure, I think-- sounds vaguely like Tinker's Castle by Winifred Langford Mantle. Perhaps someone could find a description of it and post it so the person inquiring can see if it's different enough to NOT be the book. I will say "Tinker's Castle" involves English children visiting France, the goblet is glass, and their friend is heir to a disputed family fortune.
T99 This is a very long shot, but I thought I'd mention this book just in case. The treasure and cemetery elments appear in SAFE AS THE GRAVE by Caroline B. Cooney, 1979. Lynn is always getting into trouble, while her sister Victoria is perfect. While the family is weeding the family graveyard, Lynn notices a stone for Cordelia, no last name, only a date. No one except her long-dead relative knew who Cordelia was, so Lynn decides to investigate. She gets a clue from an old book of her relative's; the relative wrote, "A joke all for myself" on a
morality story about Cordelia, the Good Mother. It turns out that the relative had been responsible for saving the church's valuable gold cross during the Revolutionary war, and there was no Cordelia. The cross was hidden in the grave. A very long shot - but you never know! ~from a librarian
T99 treasure mystery: possibly The Sparrow Child, by Meriol Trevor, illustrated by Martin Thomas, published Collins 1958, 254 pages. "Philip Sparrow comes to stay at Corben Place, the old family house, and there he meets an assortment of conflicting characters, the story of a lost chalice, and an appealing sea and countryside. Eventually the conflicts are unravelled, the chalice is found, and the countryside is saved from being the site of an atomic research establishment. ... Some of the characters have dreams full of symbolism..." (JB Nov/58 p.283)
Holly Beth Walker, Secret of the Witch's Stairway. 2nd in the Meg Mysteries series. Meg and Kerry visit 2 little old ladies who are twins and run a chicken farm. An ancestor of theirs, Melinda, during the Civil War hid the family silver and no one's been able to find it. A young orphan boy, Glenn, has been helping out around the farm. Meg and Kerry find out he has Melinda's diary because he is also related to Melinda. They think the clues point to a fireplace in the old house that burned down. They tear it apart but they are mistaken. Eventually they find the silver in a room behind the witch's stairway.

Secret Passage (Bawden)
See House of Secrets

Secret Passage (Russell)
Now I have a stumper, call it English Seaside Cottage Adventure: My grandma had a children's book (probably published circa 1910-1920) that was British. It was about a family of children (probably 4-6 kids) who went to their English seaside cottage for a holiday. They found a cave that was being used by smugglers and had an adventure relating to the cave and smugglers. I think the story may have taken place during WWI, because it seems to me there was something about a spy...

And I actually own (I believe) the book mentioned in E17. I have an old Puffin book that answers this description. I can see the cover clear as day in my mind's eye but not the title or author. I will check this evening when I get home and write again.
I wrote earlier today to say, among other things, that I thought I had the answer to E-17. Well, wonder of wonders, I found the book I think it might be on my shelves. It's an old Puffin (orig. pub date 1934, Puffin pub. date 1948) called The Young Detectives by R. J. McGregor. Here's what the inside teaser says about the story: "Here is a first-rate family story with more than a little spice of adventure in it. The five Mackie children had the rare good luck to find, in a house taken for the holidays in Deonshire, a secret passage leading to a smugglers' cave. There was a mysterious intruder who slipped round doors too quickly for recognition, footprints where no footprints should have been, and a wreck off shore with something curious about it, too." Hope this is the one the inquirer is remembering.
Hi. Actually it turns out that my cousin has the book and it's called The Secret Passage by Dorothy Russell. It's funny, though, the Young Detectives book sounds suspiciously similar!

Secret Pencil
I have had a lot of luck looking for the books from my childhood. However, I have this memory of a book that I LOVED but cannot remember much about. I was in middle school so it is a juvenile but not a baby. The main character is a boy. He is staying with some sort of relatives that he doesn't know/like. (Big surprise). He goes into a cave at the ocean shore and finds a magic silver pen and adventure ensues. At some point, he loses the pen. That's it. That's all I remember. Any thoughts?

Well, this is a bit sideways, but Patricia Ward's Silver Pencil (US title: Secret Pencil) (UK '59; US Random, '60) is about a girl who spends the summer with her uncle on the coast of Wales, where she finds a magic silver
pencil. I've heard wonderful things about this book but haven't seen a copy.
Sounds close enough to investigate. Even if it isn't the same one I remember, sounds good. Thanks!
Patricia Ward, Silver Pencil. Indeed The Silver Pencil was about a silver pencil that was found by a boy in a cave on the sea shore. I knew Lady Patricia Ward when I was a boy, in fact we shared the same birthday, 24th August, and we spent many happy times together at her homes in Chevington and Bampton. I was given a signed copy of the book when it first went into print, but it was sadly lost many years ago. I don't remember the
story well, it was about 40 years ago, but it was a wonderful story. I remember that the pencil was embellished with a Turquoise, it was able to write on its own and always signed off with a seahorse as its signature. Happy memories.
Secret Pencil, by Patricia Ward. Just to clarify, the main character is a little girl, Anna. With her elder brothers, David and John, and the twins, Richard and Rose, she is staying at Glanruthven, Uncle Robert's house on
the coast of North Wales, for the first 3 weeks of August. Although she loves her uncle and the place, she is unhappy because her brothers go fishing with Jim instead of going with her to visit their favourite places on the first day. In the cave called the Wigwam she finds a blackened silver case about 5" long, set with a blue stone and with a ring at one end, holding a short flat pencil. When she tries to write with it, it writes by itself, signing with an S that looks like a seahorse. When Uncle Robert takes the children out on the Mary-Anna (sailboat) the pencil writes
a message to go to Fisherman's Cove - quick! where they rescue ten-year-old Philippe and his puppy George from the rising tide. Philippe and Anna become friends and share the secret of the pencil, which turns out to have
belonged to Anna's great-grandfather, Admiral Samuel Evans. The pencil's messages sound very much as if they came from Admiral Evans, who had a sea-horse tattoo. On the last night of the visit, after many adventures,
Anna dreams that she sails with her great-grandfather and gives the pencil to him. In the morning it is gone.

Secret Sea
Man turned down by the draft board 'it hurts to turn down someone who really wants to go' goes treasure hunting with tough street kid in Carribean. Kid tries to make him seasick with story of man who ties string to oyster, swallows it, then pulls oyster up by string. Kid always calls him 'Mac'. Man foils radar of pursuers by leaving decoy boat with foil strips on it behind him. Kid wonders if pursuer will catch up with him, present boat and say 'hey, you dropped something'. Man caught by giant octopus, horrifing description of being raked by beak while trying to stab it between the eyes.. Must move slowly so as not to alarm the octopus. Distributed by Scholastic Book Services.in late 1960's. Any ideas?

I didn't really read it, but it sounds like Secret Sea (1947) by Navy ensign and engineer Robb White (1909-1990 - not to be confused with the much younger Georgia boatbuilder).
Photo & review: http://susanabraham2007.wordpress.com/2007/04/19/book-review-secret-sea-antiquarian/ See here for his booklist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robb_White. And here for his film credits: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0925380/. He wrote Up Periscope as well, which was filmed in 1959.

Yes, it is ‘Secret Sea’ – thanks for the help.

Secret Seven

Secret Staircase
I read this book around 1990-1992. Two mice are exploring their tree home one day, and discover a whole secret palace full of rooms. They have a grand time, trying on fancy clothes and finding new things. When they return home, they don't tell any of their mouse relatives about their discovery, but keep it as their secret getaway... Beautifully illustrated.

Barklem, Jill, The Secret Staircase, 1983, approximate. Whilst your details don't quite match, I believe this could possibly be your book. The Secret Staircase is book 6 in the Brambley Hedge series. Everybody is getting ready for the Midwinter celebration in the Old Oak Palace. In the hustle and bustle, Primrose's mother tells Primrose and Wilfred to go up to the attics to find a quiet place to practise their party piece. They find a hidden door in the attic and follow the long winding staircase to some rooms that everyone appears to have forgotten about. There are lots of treasures to be found and Primrose and Wilfred have found their very own place to explore.
Jill Barklem, The Secret Staircase. This wonderful book is part of the Brambly Hedge series about a group of mice and their adventures. There are several books in the series, revolving around the seasons, but this one, where two mice trying to find a quiet place to rehearse for the midwinter ball find a secret set of rooms in the old oak tree, is definitely my favorite. Excellent illustrations!
Jill Barklem, The Secret Staircase (Brambly Hedge), 1999, approximate. This book was one of my favorites as a child. Jill Barklem's illustrations are so beautifully done throughout her entire Brambly Hedge series. "Quite by accident, the young mice, Primrose and Wilfred, find a secret staircse in the Old Oak Palace which leads them to a magnificent surprise."
Barklem, Jill, The Secret Staircase, 1983, copyright. Part of the Brambly Hedge series (book 6) this one focuses on Primrose and her friend Wilfred. Everyone is busy preparing for the midwinter celebrations. Primrose and Wilfred are looking for somewhere quiet to practice their party piece - Primrose's mother suggests the attic. When they start exploring the attic, they find a hidden door leading to a long winding staircase. Up the staircase is a hidden room packed with all sorts of treasures and clothes to try on. Wilfred and Primrose are delighted to have their very own secret place.
Barklem, Jill, The Secret Staircase. Solved: thanks ever so much! (What a great thing you've got going on here :)
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book about families of mice living in a tree trunk. The trunk of the tree is an elaborate maze of beautiful rooms. it looks like a mansion inside. the young sister and brother mouse get scolded by their mother to get out of the kitchen (she is preparing for the winter performance/festival that will take place that night). They begin to explore all the rooms of the house, and find costumes for the performance. The pictures are very detailed and elaborate.

Barkelm, Jill, The Secret Staircase, (1983). Absolutely, definitely the book you are after. Everyone is preparing for a big midwinter party and Primrose and Wilfred want to rehearse their party piece but they keep getting in the way. Mother sends them up to the attic and they discover the hidden staircase that leads to all sorts of treasures.

Secret Summer
A girl runs away to a small island somewhere in the U.S. She has a small amount of cash with her and buys a boat to get there -- I think an inflatable raft? -- and maybe a flashlight or lantern? And maybe a younger boy/brother? comes along? She comes back across to get food a few times. I can't remember why she's hiding out or anything. Stuck in my mind with "My Side of the Mountain" and Konigsberg's "...Mixed up Files..." as sort of survival-oriented. Published before 1980, probably before 1975. Everybody in the world but me probably knows this, as I don't even find anyone else asking about it on the solved or open stumpers lists!

G95 Could it have been abt Australia and a sailboat? I just went to storage to check but didn't find it. Phipson, Joan Cross currents illus by Janet Duchesne Harcourt c1966 1st American edition 1967
Not 100% sure, but it might be worth looking into - Ruth Chew wrote a book BAKED BEANS FOR BREAKFAST, 1970 and Scholastic later republished it as THE SECRET SUMMER, 1974. Ruth Chew was known for her fantasy book (like WHAT THE WITCH LEFT, a popular stumper here), but this book was
realistic fiction. There was definitely a brother and his older sister, and they run away for the summer. However, I haven't read it since I was a child, and I can't find any summaries of the book. But maybe the title will ring a bell? ~from a librarian
Ruth Chew, The Secret Summer, 1970. A long shot, but worth a try. The original title was Baked Beans For Breakfast. Kathleen and Joe run away from their awful babysitter and head for a favorite vacation spot on a lake. They buy an old boat (not inflatable) and sail it to a small island. They do go to town a few times for supplies and befriend an older woman who hires them to do chores. Then the dam breaks and the island is submerged...the children are rescued and spend the rest of the summer with the older lady.
Chew, Ruth, Secret Summer (orig. title Baked Beans for Breakfast), Scholastic 1970, 128 p., reprint. I haven't read this myself, but the story has been described elsewhere as about a sister and brother who decide not to go to summer camp, but to take their luggage and spending money and hide out on an island. They buy food occasionally and have to avoid suspicion from adults. Probably other people will suggest this - hopefully one of them will have read it and can supply details!
Mazer, Harry, Island Keeper, 1981. Any chance this is the one? Date is a bit later than quoted, and I'm not certain all the details mesh, but stylistically it does remind me of the two other titles mentioned.
Ruth Chew, Baked Beans for Breakfast,1970. This book is about Joe and Kathleen who run away from their babysitter while their parents are in Europe for the summer. They head for the lake that their family usually vactions at every summer. They go to the country store where the shopkeepers know them from other summers spent there and they buy a sterno stove, a saucepan, a frying pan, plastic utensils, and groceries. They go back a few more times for more groceries. The summer before they had built a pine needle cabin and they planned to sleep there, but it was no longer standing. They decide to go to Epply island, a small island on the lake, and they buy an inexpensive plastic boat to get them there.
Hi, Harriet! I submitted G95 on the new stumpers page, Girl buys raft and runs away to island. The helpful internet folks got it right away -- The Secret Summer, apparently originally Baked Beans for Breakfast... so it can go to "Solved." THANKS! I feel so much better now that I know. <g>
G95 might be The Hideaway Summer by Beverly Hollett Renner. It was first published in 1978. Plot summary: A sister and brother miss the bus to camp and instead secretly spend an adventurous summer at a cabin in the woods.
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Thanks for your site! I've had quite a few answers to long-lost book questions! These books are like long-lost friends! Here's another: A story about a girl camping under undesirable circumstances (with a boy--a brother?). She can't go home or can't find her way...they don't have much money...it rains a lot...they buy chocolate squares...I think she may be hiding. I don't think it's High Trail. Thanks so much!!

Not much info to go on; but could be On the Far Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George--the sequel to My Side of the Mountain.
It sounds a bit like Cynthia Voigt's Homecoming. It's a story of four children abandoned by their mother who walk from New England to Va's Eastern Shore. There's lots of unpleasant "camping" involved. The oldest child is a girl. They have to hide - they're afraid of getting caught and put into separate foster homes. It's been a while since I read it but I believe there is a scene focusing on two of the children during a particularly stormy night. Hope this helps!
C32 -- This one was a Scholastic book, I think. The one I'm thinking of had a boy and a girl that had run away and were living in the woods. The girl had a stuffed mouse toy that she carried everywhere. I remember that the two of them had lunch fixed for them at one point (can't remember if they were at a cafe, or someone's home) and they were served stewed tomatoes, which they both hated. Sorry, but I can't remember the name, though.
C32: Somehow, this makes me think of Ruth Chew's Secret Summer, a.k.a. Baked Beans for Breakfast, though I didn't actually read it. It does deal with runaways.
Not very sure about this - Junior Bookshelf review from 1978: Scrub Fire by A. De Roo, 106 pages, Heinemann. "set in the New Zealand bush. Fourteen year old Michelle's fears about the compulsory treat of a camping holiday given by a childless uncle and aunt to her and her two brothers are fully justified. A sudden fire raised by their uncle's ignorance of the bush separates them from the grownups, and Michelle's attempt as eldest to take charge sees them lost in the wilds, though the elder boy reveals unexpected knowledge of bush craft which at first helps them survive. They have also the problem of nursing the delicate youngest child who runs a high fever.
... several near-rescues and unexpected difficulties, and finally crises of despair which the rapidly weakening older pair have to overcome by mutual support and a fantasy story about their 'kingdom'."
More on the suggested title - Secret Summer / Baked Beans for Breakfast, by Ruth Chew, published Scholastic 1970 and 1974 two children are to be left in the care of a horrid housekeeper while their parents go to Europe. They decide to run away for the summer. They may have been returning from summer camp as they were discussing this on the bus, and so had suitcases already with them.
Baked Beans for Breakfast-AKA The secret summer. This one is definetely Baked Beans for Breakfast aka The secret summer Again, one of my favorite books. I remember them running away, camping out, the girl's stuffed animal, they get lunch at this house where this old lady lives. I think they then start working for the old lady and try to hide the fact that they are camping out. She eventually guesses and I think they go home to their parents. The boy keeps teasing the girl about bringing the stuffed animal. I think it is a bunny and at one point he has to "rescue" it. She is very greatful. Hope this helps!
I love this one, not just because it's apparently Ruth Chew's only non-fantasy story, but because it's a pleasant subtle bridging of the "generation gap." That is, on one side you have the mean babysitter who likes children only if they're little, and then you have the old lady who has every respect for the older kids' ages and intelligence.

Secret Summer of L. E. B.
I read this in the mid-70's. It is about a girl who spends her summer away from home—can’t remember where, but do remember the house is described as trimmed in “gingerbread”, which captures girls imagination. I also seem to remember watercress tea sandwiches. Main plot element is that girl befriends boy and they spend a lot of time in an abandoned home where they meet and talk. Seems like maybe girl notices the way he smells—like ivory soap, maybe? That is all I can remember—sorry so sketchy!

Barbara Wallace, The Secret Summer of L.E.B. Possibly it's The Secret Summer of L.E.B.? The girl is part of a clique, and has to hide her friendship with the boy because he's unpopular.
Barbara Wallace, The Secret Summer of L. E. B., 2000, reprint. Wow, you all are amazing. I found the book on another website and read additional details--the girl's name is Lizabeth and she belongs to the VIG's and B's (Very Important Girls and Boys). I am sure that is the book. It is back in print--how cool! How you could have figured that out after such sketchy clues is beyond me. Thank you, thank you!!

Secret Under the Sea
I am looking for a school bookclub book published in the late sixties or early seventies. The hero of the story was a young boy named Robert who lived with his dad (mom is dead?) in an underwater laboratory in the shape of a cone made of glass. His bedroom walls gave him a view of the undersea world surrounding the lab. The good guys in the book wore clear faceplates and collars when they swam. The collar collected oxygen from the sea water and sent it to the face plate so the swimmer could breath. There was a subplot dealing with “Vandals” who, to a man I guess, had beards (!) and therefore could not wear the faceplates. They swam around with big iron helmets on their suits. The illustrations were simple pen and ink line drawings. The boy had a pet dolphin. Thanks for any help!

SECRET UNDER THE SEAby Gordon R. Dickson. Scholastic Book Services, NY [1960]. Illustrated throughout in B&W by Jo Ann Stover, cover by Dom Lupo. "Children's Sci-fiction set in 2013, where a boy lives in an Underwater Research Station with his scientist parents." "Why is his dolphin acting so strangely?" "Then he finds the giant footprints" (under the water). "This is the author's first book for children, himself a noted science fiction writer." (NOT to be confused with Robb White's 1947 book Secret Sea about pirates, gold, and a giant octopus!)
Thanks! Secret Under the Sea is indeed the book. I found many copies of it for sale in a variety of sites, and just received my copy today. What a kick, thumbing through a book I last read maybe thirty years ago. Thanks!

Secret World of Og
I may have made the title up completely. It's a children's novel about young children who find a small hole in the ground that turns out to be a cave to an underground world. They find an underground river and a boat that transports them to underground town(s). I read this maybe 40 years ago. It may have been written years before that.

Curry, Jane Louise, Beneath the Hill, 1968? The details are sufficiently sketchy that they may apply to a great many books, but Curry's is the one that came immediately to my mind -- the first-written, though not first in internal chronology, of a series of novels about the underground kingdom of Abaloc. For a wonder, it seems to be at least nominally back in print from iUniverse and available through the author's Web site (which I suspect of being quite new I don't remember running across it the last time I Googled), www.janelouisecurry.com.
Berton, Pierre, The Secret World of Og. McClelland & Stewart 1961. It may be this story - a family of children, whose names all begin with P (the youngest is called Polliwog) find a hole in the floor of their clubhouse. Investigating, they find an
underground world, inhabited by pale hairless people who have based their culture on comics and books stolen from the children.
C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair. This is a long shot, but perhaps worth suggesting: in the Silver Chair (from the Naria
series) the children go underground and cross in a boat to a city. The witch who rules the city tries to convince them that the above-ground world is simply something of their imagining (the sun simply something that they've made up based on a lamp, etc). If you read that section as a kid and then read Plato's "The Cave" as an adult, it was sort of a neat experience.
Pierre Berton, The Secret World of Og, 1961. I am pretty sure this is the book. I picked it up at the library and my daughter and I are reading now. The other books suggested look great too. I will also try the suggested book, Beneath the Hill. We had already enjoyed the last suggestion, The Silver Chair.
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The book, probably from the 50’s, was about 5 children. Their names all began with the letter “P”, so it Peter, Penelope, Patti, etc. They lived in the country and had a little playhouse out in the backyard. Things were always missing from the playhouse and from their play area in the yard, for which the children always got blamed. One day Peter spied a small, troll-like creature come up from the ground and take one of his toys. He went in the hole after him and entered the Land of OG (?), where all the creatures only spoke this one word, “OG.” All the children go down to rescue Peter and have an adventure which ends when they go back to the surface in time for dinner, with none of the ‘adults’ being the wiser. Kind of like “The Borrowers”, but that wasn’t this book. Please help. There were some illustrations in the book and I believe it was made into a cartoon move, but still can’t locate a copy of it in print. Thank you.

This is definitely Berton's Secret World of Og. The children's names in the story are the names of his real children. This book has been reprinted several times - once with illustrations by his daughter
Pierre Berton, The Secret World of Og. No doubt about it!
P249 THE SECRET WORLD OF OG by Pierre Berton. It was also made into an animated ABC Afterschool Special. I believe this is on your Solved Stumpers
page.~from a librarian
You solved the mystery with The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton. Thank you, very much! I’ve already recommended your site to several people with children of their own.

Secret World of Polly Flint
Girls sees invisible people in forest who live beneath a lake? She loses them and can only hear their bells through the groundi

Helen Cresswell, The Secret World of Polly Flint

Secrets of Hidden Creek
A children's mystery set in the south... A girl comes to visit the area... There's an old estate where a scary old woman lives... The girl meets quite by mistake a rather grumpy , surly boy who comes from a poor family...the family eats ocra...The boy is secretly trying to find the lost gold left behind by the confederates... wonderful ending... Thank you for the help!

#W68--Wormwood?: When this question came up before, either here or on the Alibris message boards, I said it sounded like The Secrets of Hidden Creek, by Wylly Folk Saint John, but I couldn't be sure. This time I dug
out my copy and I am QUITE sure this is the book you are after. The place in the book is, indeed, called Wormwood.
W68 wormood??? sounds very close to C71 confederate treasure mystery
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I remember reading a mystery when I was a middle aged child...it was set in the south...there was a surly boy character, very poor who ate okra, I believe a girl character who came to the area for a visit. There was an old house with an old woman that everyone was afraid of...wormwood or something like that...There was confederate treasure hidden there... I am hoping to relocate the title at least and then the book if possible...thanks for any help!!!!!!!!!!!

#C71--Confederate Treasure Mystery: I believe The Secrets of Hidden Creek, by Wylly Folk Saint John, appears on the "Solved Mysteries" page. Can't be sure this is the same one, but it has a lot of similarities.
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Love your site. Fascinating reading how the stories of our childhoods stay with us so vividly. Keep up the good work. Here's my long-lost book: It was called THE MYSTERY OF THE INDIAN ROCK or THE SECRET OF INDIAN ROCK or somesuch. The story was about three siblings who went to stay with their grandparents for summer vacation. They were looking for a buried treasure (I think), and their only clue was its burial under an "Indian rock." They search and search as the summer spools out, looking for a rock shaped like an Indian or an Indian headdress, etc. The denoument sticks with me: As the weather heats up, the lake by grandpa's house evaporates. The rock they were seeking is under the water and reachable only in the dead of summer. And the "Indian" connection is not in the shape of the rock but its use; long-ago Indian tribes would grind the rock and use the powder mixed with water for face paint. I used to read this book every year on the first day of summer vacation. We're talking late-1960s to early-1970s. I sure would love to get a copy for my now six-year-old.

Yahoo! We have the title for this book! My 9 y.o. read it a few months ago and loved it. We both recognized it from the above poster's description, but couldn't remember where we'd gotten the copy she read. We couldn't remember the title, either, and we couldn't find it in our public or home library. We found it yesterday at a used bookstore and brought it home to live. The title has nothing in it about the Indian Rock, but there is no doubt this is the book. The title is The Secret of Hidden Creek, by Wylly Folk St. John. The storyline is exactly as the poster described. The treasure being sought is a confederate treasure hidden from the Yankees by a wounded Confederate soldier who "lay where he fell." He left a clue in a diary, which nobody could've understood but his sister, who, unbeknownst to him was either already dead or would die before she ever saw the diary. Nobody else saw the diary for years, until these three children stumble across it and spend the summer hunting for the Indian Rock mentioned. They can't find it because the soldier talks about it being near a creek, and there is no creek, only a lake. When the lake dries out or is emptied toward the end of the summer they see the path of the old creek and discover the Indian Rock, so called because of its use in war paint (they sit on it and later discover
their shorts are all red). There is a fourth child who figures in the story as well. His father is dead, and everybody thinks he is was a thief. The children end up saving this boys' life from the real thief and proving his father's innocence to everybody. Sorry so long, but it's such a relief to get the itch of this title out of our heads!
That is GREAT news. Thanks so much for helping me track this down. You've brought an end to many a sleepless night! Great!!
Secrets of Hidden Creek, by Wylly Folk St. John, illustrated by Paul Galdone, published Viking 1967, 160 pages. "Not one but two long-lost treasures are unearthed by the children in a mystery story set in the lake and mountain country of northern Georgia. Three lively young people are spending their vacation with their grandparents in a summer cabin. A romantic ruin with a history of violence and tragedy, inhabited by an aged recluse, proves irresistible to the children; thorough exploration reveals a secret passage leading to a vital clue to a long-sought cache of Confederate gold. Meanwhile the three meet a local boy whose dead father some years before had been implicated in a robbery of a collection of rare old coins; in a sufficiently exciting ending, both mysteries are happily solved." (HB Feb/67 p.67)
I just have to say that I don't believe I have ever seen such an amazing site as yours. For the last 2 days, I have searched high and low for a book and after hitting what I thought was a wall, I stumbled upon your website. Once there, it took me all of
3 minutes to find the book, The secrets of hidden creek. I am so impressed. Please thank everyone on your staff for their hard work. I will most certainly send out a link to your site to all my friends and family.
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This is very vague, but the protagonist is a girl (I think, probably age 10 to 13-ish, that solves a mystery or puzzle (or finds what she has been searching for) when the lake drains (which I think happens periodically). Something is buried or found that was put there once when the lake drained in the past and that is the fact that hampers her from solving this sooner. I think that this is maybe set at her grandparents during summer vacation, and they live on the lake. None of that is certain, but the lake draining is definitely what allows her to solve the mystery. This has driven me crazy for many years... please help!

Rodie Sudbery, A Sound of Crying, 1970. Original British title: The House in the Wood. Perhaps this is the book? Polly, visiting her aunt and uncle and cousin Frederick, has dreams in which she is Sarah, a girl from the 19th century. A pool in the woods, behind a small stone dam that causes a waterfall, frightens her, for no obvious reason. She and her cousin and her siblings take down the dam to destroy the pool, and it turns out that there is a chest under the water the pool had been created to hide it by Sarah's cruel uncle.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away Lake or Return to Gone-Away. Could it be either one of these classic Enright books with cousins Julian and Portia as the main characters?
Wylly Folk St. John, The Secrets of Hidden Creek, 1966. Becky, Jenny, and Chuck visit their grandparents in the mountains of north Georgia, see a will-o-the-wisp across the lake, befriend an elderly lady who lives in a nearby house that is reputed to be haunted, solve a robbery-murder that involved the father of a neighbor boy Arie, and eventually find some Confederate treasure hidden by one of the elderly lady’s ancestors. The Confederate treasure is buried under an Indian stone next to a creek. The creek isn't visible until the lake drains away.
The book I am looking for is neither Sound of Crying/House in the Wood nor the Gone-Away Lake books. The book I am looking for doesn't have the dreaming of a 19th century girl plot as in the former suggestions, nor deserted summer homes as in the latter. I just remember how the fact that the lake existed stumped her from finding/solving the mystery. When it drains, she understands, and finds it in the lake bed.
Mabel Esther Allan, Pendron under the water. Long shot - is it a reservoir that almost dries up during a hot summer revealing a drowned village? If is it might be Mabel Esther Allan - Pendron under the water. The "treasure" is the date-stone of the old farmhouse, which the grandfather had refused to take when the reservoir was created.
SOLVED: Wylly F. St. John, The Secrets of Hidden Creek. Hooray! This is the book: The Secrets of Hidden Creek by Wylly F. St. John! Thank you so much. This book may not be a literary masterpiece, but it was a piece of my childhood. It feels wonderful to recapture that!

Secrets of the Shopping Mall
I remember this book vaguely. It is about how the mannequins in a department store are really abandoned children and teenagers. They come alive at night. I remember the book being vaguely spooky, but not a horror book. I would love to find it.

There are mannequins in Carol Ryrie Brink's The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein, but I think this is a different story.
M121 *and* R48: Richard Peck, Secrets of the Shopping Mall, 1979. I believe the solution to both M121 and R48 is Secrets of the Shopping Mall by Richard Peck (who also wrote the strikingly imaginative Ghosts I Have Been). In Shopping Mall, two eighth graders, Barnie and Teresa, hide from the King Kobra gang at Paradise Park and get locked in. Their adventures in the bedding, electronics and Junior Miss departments are thwarted when they are apprehended by what seems to be a cadre of glossy, fashion-conscious mannequins that come alive after closing time, led by the dictatorial Barbie (aka Madame Chairperson) and Ken (Blazer Boy). Memorable line: "I am an inmate of the Ratso Luv Charleen Junior High School."
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A group of kids run away and hide/live in a shopping mall. I read this in the early 80's but could be older.

#R48--Runaways: Eyes in the Fishbowl, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, involves a boy running away to live in a department store, which I believe proves to be haunted. I think he's alone but other kids do figure in the story. Strange to say, a much more recent book by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is titled The Runaways.
I think this is Secrets of the Shopping Mall by Richard Peck. Two kids named Bernie and Theresa run away from bullies in their inner city neighborhood by taking a bus out to the suburbs and end up at Paradise Park Mall. They live in a department store and borrow clothing and eat food out of the deli counter and employee cafeteria. While sneaking around the department store, they meet a bunch of kids also living there who pretend to be store dummies and live a whole other underground life. They get caught in a battle between the store kids and a gang of kids from the outside.
M121 *and* R48: Richard Peck, Secrets of the Shopping Mall, 1979. I believe the solution to both M121 and R48 is Secrets of the Shopping Mall by Richard Peck (who also wrote the strikingly imaginative Ghosts I Have Been). In Shopping Mall, two eighth graders, Barnie and Teresa, hide from the King Kobra gang at Paradise Park and get locked in. Their adventures in the bedding, electronics and Junior Miss departments are thwarted when they are apprehended by what seems to be a cadre of glossy, fashion-conscious mannequins that come alive after closing time, led by the dictatorial Barbie (aka Madame Chairperson) and Ken (Blazer Boy). Memorable line: "I am an inmate of the Ratso Luv Charleen Junior High School."
M121 AND R48 SECRETS OF THE SHOPPING MALL by Ricahrd Peck, 1979 ~from a librarian
M121 & R48 both sound like Secrets of the Shopping Mall by Richard Peck. A boy and a girl run away from a terrible school & hide out in a department store. While there, they discover a group of runaway/abandoned kids who masquerade as maniquins during the day & hide out at night. They fight off a rival group of kids who live in the parking lot. Eventually, the original group decides that they would rather live in the world, and the hero & heroine get jobs at the department store and continue living there.
M121 mannequins abandoned children: This sounds like The Eyes in the Fishbowl by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, illustrated by Alton Raible, published New York, Atheneum 1968, 168 pages. The main character is a young boy fascinated by the very upscale dept store where his mother works. An older woman who lost her family in war (WWII?) in Europe is a friend of his, and has somehow opened the store at night to the ghosts? of children who died as war orphans or refugees. The title comes from an advertisement for a mink-lined fishbowl (luxury goods from the store) with the eyes of a refugee child showing through from a charitable appeal on the other side of the page.
Secrets of the Shopping Mall by Richard Peck. Audrey says this is the coolest. One of the best. Have read it like four times or so and am overdue for another read.

Secrets of the Unicorn Queen
I read this short series (of at least 3-4 novels) in the early 1990s. The story was about a young girl, possibly in high school, who had a scientist pal who had a sort of time or place travel machine. I think her name was Shiela. I think she accidentily set it off the first time around and ended up in another place. I don't remember if it was Earth or some other planet. She has some adventures with a tribal sort of people. She learns how to throw a spear really well. The time that she is gone is a matter of months, but only accounts for seconds on Earth. At one point a friend of her's notices that she is really tan and comments about her being very toned and having a "California tan". I remember something about a large smooth boulder in her yard that she would go to and think or travel (this may be from another story--I'm not absolutely sure!).

Secret of the Unicorn Queen (series). This sounds like the series "The Secret of the Unicorn Queen" with Sheila, Morning Star, Cookie, Darian, Illyria and others. The titles are: Swept Away, Sun Blind, The Final Test, Into the Dream, The Dark Gods, Moonspell. Different authors. Take a look at this website.

Security Check
A short SF story at least 30-40 years old, in style of Robert Sheckley. A frustrated sci-fi writer is sitting in his room surrounded by books returned from publishers, when two Men in Black knock on the door. They question him about space technology "disclosed" in his writings and eventually ask the writer to join them. Only then he notices their strange accent and understands they are aliens, not FBI.

Arthur C Clarke, Security Check. (1957) Could this be a short story by Arthur C Clarke - It's about a man named Hans Muller who designs sets etc for a 'Star Trek' style TV show.(not an author). Two men turn up from "security", saying there has been a leak. He protests he has not done anything to annoy the FBI. The story ends with one of the men asking " 'What is the FBI' but Hans didn't hear him. He had just seen the space ship". If this is the story it appears in an anthology named "The other side of the sky".
Absolutely! This is exactly what I was trying to find -- thanks a lot.

Seeds and More Seeds
1960's. Don't know if this was the title, or just our nickname for it. Benny is given some seeds to plant in pots, I think, for a science project. The illustration are line drawings with only green and rose-colored highlights. It was a hardback.

B201 Millicent E. Selsam, Seeds and More Seeds. Check the library, this is still fairly easy to find.
The Carrot Seed. I remember the book used to have a copy, but I don't believe I do any more. Can't remember the author, but I'd recognize it if I heard it. Many elemenatry school libraries still have this title.
Millicent Selsam, Seeds and More Seeds
Millicent E. Selsam, Seeds and More Seeds, 1959. Benny is the main character.
Yes, it all comes back to me now!! I'm sure this is it, but will check libraries and used bookstores to see for sure. Please let me know if you have a copy. Thanks very much!
Definitely solved! Thank you!

Seeing Summer
Hi! Looking for a book, read in the 1960's when I was a child, that still haunts me - a young girl makes friends with a blind girl. The cover was pink and green, and had a white picket garden gate on it. One scene stands out - the two girls sitting in the blind girl's bedroom, and the sighted girl is mesmerized by her new friend, who is describing what it is like being blind. I think the sighted girl was hesitant to make friends initially, and walked by the other girl's house, wondering about the girl.

Y26 Could it be this? Whitney, Phyllis A. Secret of the emerald star. illus by Stein, Alex. Westminster, 1964. blindness - juvenile fiction; Staten Island.
I see that you suggested the Whitney book, Secret of the Emerald Star...I did look up a synopsis of the book, and saw a pic of the dustjacket...I don't believe that's it....I think it was a simpler story, more along the lines of the Catherine Woolley Ginnie and Geneva books....or at least that age-group.... I''ll keep checking your site - I love it!
Are you familiar with The Green Gate by Mary Canty, or The Secret of the Closed Gate, by Margaret Leighton? I found these titles by doing a keyword search on the net. I am not familiar with them, and can't find synopsis for either one.
Jeanette Eyerly, The Seeing Summer, 1981. This is a story about Carey who meets Jenny, the blind girl who moves in next door. There is a picture on the cover of the book of Carey and Jenny sitting on a porch with a white picket fence in front!
Jeanette Eyerly, The Seeing Summer. I think this is the book you are looking for - the cover matches, the tone of the book matches, and the bedroom scene is there.

Seldom and the Golden Cheese
I am looking for a book that I read when I was a child that actually belonged to my father when he was a child ( he is 74). It was probably printed some time in the nineteen twenties or thirties. There were beautiful color engravings. The story was something like ______ ______ and the Big Cheese. Though I am not sure. It was about a normal human boy born into a family of large headed "Gombeem" men who were minors. He left his family to search for his fortune and discovers the BIG Cheese. Eventually he meets a girl and meets a king and everyone lives happily ever after. There are some wild characters along the way. He meets a man who throws his hat, then walks up to it and throws it again. He explains that this is the only way he can get from one place to the other. The boy suggests he throws one foot in front of the other and voila! Problem solved. It is filled with little silly things like that. This is all I remember. Please Help!!

Alibris.com currently lists several copies of Donald and the Big Cheese: an Adventure in the Netherlands, published by Grolier, no author, no date, no other details.
the suggested title Donald and the Big Cheese, is a Disney Small World Library book about Donald Duck travelling to Holland, "Book tells of the sights of the Netherlands with the three ducks, Donald, Daisy and Hans.
The sights are: Tulips, Windmills, Cheese, Wooden Shoes, Pottery, Museum, Van Gogh, etc." (Gee, wouldn't want to miss any stereotypes ...) Anyway, doesn't sound likely, unfortunately. BTW, it probably isn't exactly
"Gombeem men" but something that sounds similar, since "gombeen" is an Irish dialect word meaning moneylending.
B85 big cheese: could be Seldom and the Golden Cheese, by Joseph Schrank, illustrated by Gustav Tenggren, published Dodd Mead 1933, 160 pages. Plot description very scanty, apparently an episodic, satirical fantasy about a bit of gold? or a miraculous cheese? that grows. However the title is close and the date is right, and Tenggren's illustrations (in his pre-Pokey Puppy days) sound appropriate.
B85 big cheese: more on the suggested title Seldom and the Golden Cheese "It's a fairy tale of sorts with giants, ogres, little "Greenjackets," wizards and the obligatory questing young hero." "Rare and wonderful fantasy set in Cheesemellow Town in the Kingdom of Rumpumpernick. Illustrated by Tenggren with pictorial endpapers, color frontis, beautiful full page black and whites plus many smaller black and whites in-text as well as a fabulous pictorial wrapper, all in his early style (reminiscent of the style of Arthur Rackham)"

Selfish Giant
when i was a child there was this book about a giant and a little boy. the little boy finally got the nerve to climb the giants tree, then the tree began to flower and he and the giant became friends. then i believe the giant let all the children play in his yard and the little boy ended up dying

This might be The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. When I first read it 25 years ago in the My Book House
series (ed. 1920), the bittersweet ending was removed and all you know is that the giant has taken the wall
down. Not a bad idea for smaller children, I suppose.
G28 could be Oscar Wilde The Selfish Giant - giant tries to keep children out of his garden but a boy climbs over and befriends him
G28 is The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. There are more that one version of this tale so I don't know which
one you had as a child.
THE SELFISH GIANT by Oscar Wilde
#G28--Giant and boy, friends, has just about got to be The Selfish Giant, a Christian parable by Oscar Wilde. The giant was selfish and mean and kids were afraid of him. Maybe they did go into his garden, but only to raid apple trees or something. The new, strange little boy resisted the giant's attempts to frighten him. Once they became fast friends, the other children played nice in the giant's garden. When the little boy disappeared, the
giant was very upset. One day the little boy reappeared, with bleeding wounds on his hands and feet. The giant demanded to know "who hurt you" and "I'll fix them," and the child said, "Nay, these are the wounds of love."
All I can remember without the story in front of me, but I will say it was a GREAT cartoon 30 or more years ago, with wonderful animation and music, and for reasons I don't understand, never shown again! I would like to find out about it and see if I like it as much as I did as a child.
G28 is certainly Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant story. It's one of his most famous and included in all collections of his fairy-tales. Dover issues it in its thrift edition of the fairy tales, which sell for a dollar. There's even a cd-rom version that you can sometimes find on Ebay :) Simon and Schuster put out a copy in 1984 illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. It's quite pretty and oversized, only containing that story.
G28 - Is the story called The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde...I think Elizabeth Zwerger illustrated a version...fairly recently - that is, within living memory.
maybe that cartoon mentioned is from the Reader's Digest series - at any rate, it's on video.
On The Selfish Giant, I guess I was right about the cartoon being good; it was nominated for an Oscar. Why it is never aired is beyond me. They have such a slew of junk at Christmas and hardly any good Easter-themed
kids' shows. Someone selling the Reader's Digest video on eBay currently says it is rare, hard-to-find, almost impossible to come by. Since I can't find it listed on "Movies Unlimited," it's just possible they may be right.
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This is a book that was read to us a lot in nursery school, and I haven't encountered it since, so it was published no later than 1974. A giant who likes children spends some time befriending and playing with a group of them. When the kids go home at the end of the day, their parents are upset and tell them that the giant is dangerous and that they must stay far away from him. The children promise to do so. On a subsequent day, the giant goes up to the kids and they play again. (I remember asking a teacher how that was possible if the children were staying far from the giant and his home. She told me that because he was a giant, distances that would seem far to small children, would still be very close for a giant.) In the end I believe that the giant somehow proved to the parents that he was non-malevolent and was allowed to continue playing with their children. I also remember that the giant had a lot of giant-sized cool stuff that the kids had access to, and the sizes were compared to everyday objects, like cookies (or perhaps crackers) as big as wagon wheels and ice cream cones as big as something else.

Oscar Wilde, Selfish Giant. This has a lot of similarities, but may be too old - though it has been reprinted many times. Giant posts keep out notice on garden after children have been playing in it - then one child gets round him somehow and he lets them back in again. Not exactly the same as your poster is remembering, but I'm doing it from memory too, and it may be worth his/her while checking this out in case there's more in common than I remember!

Seniors series
I read a series of books - young adult romance I think - in the late 80's. One of the books was about one of the friends (Stephanie maybe??) who was a high school high diving champion. I think another one of the friends names was Lori. I can't be sure. Oh, thanks so much for correctly answering my last question. What a great service!!

Eileen Goudge, Seniors series. I'm not sure about the diving, but Stephanie and Lori are two of the names in the
"Seniors" series by Eileen Goudge. Ginger is another, but I can't remember the fourth it might be Kim. I hope this is the right one.
You solved it for me! Thanks.

Sense of Magic
teenage book. all girls school. greasy cafe in the neighborhood where the girls not allowed, but would sneak & go there. They'd get caught cause they smelled of grease. A romantic twist w/ a stern looking teacher or librarian - the girls do a makeover on her and she's beautiful. They fix up the cafe too.

Kate McNair, A Sense of Magic, 1965, copyright. This book is definitely A Sense of Magic by Kate McNair. It is set in a boarding school for girls, and two of the stories within concern a romance engineered for the school's grumpy librarian and the girls' visit to Joe's Eats, a restaurant the kids are supposed to stay out of because of the horrible smell. The girls inspire Joe and his wife to clean up the restaurant, paint, make other improvements, and make a success of the place.
Kate McNair, A Sense of Magic, 1965. OMG!!! This is fantastic, the individual who solved my puzzle was SPOT on. I Googled the title and author and found the EXACT paperback cover I (now) remember! Thank you so MUCH!!!!! I'm just giddy!!!! I even found a couple of used paperback online immediately following the solution to this stumper. My book is on its way! thanks again and again!

Sense of Wonder
Praise the Ship, Science Fiction Story--Anyone Know? My friends heard this story on the radio program "X Minus One." They were sure it was by Ray Bradbury and I am sure it is not. It's about a group of people sent off in a totally self-sufficient space ship. The ship becomes a religion and people go around saying, "Praise the ship." Then one kid gets out of bounds, into another area of the ship, and finds out something he isn't supposed to know. I told my brother-in-law, "I've read just about everything of Bradbury's but not much else science fiction and I haven't read this story" and he said, "I haven't read much of Bradbury's but I've read a lot of other science fiction and I have read it," but he couldn't think of it. I posted it on the Ray Bradbury message board and someone thought it vaguely resembled an Isaac Asimov story. Any takers?
Later...
Two previous answers, Little Lost Robot by Isaac Asimov and Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein, didn't sound quite right, then this came in: "It was the Milton Lesser story The Sense of Wonder. Basically, about a society traveling through space for 10,000 years. For the inhabitants, the
"ship is all - praise the ship." But suddenly it comes back to Earth whence it left and essentially it freaks the people out that there is life beyond their ship. The story was very much similar in basic concept to Robert Heinlein's Universe which had a similar basis, but a different tone. Sense of Wonder was from X Minus One 4/24/56." My friend who originally brought up the story answered, "Yup, that's the one."

Sensible Kate
It probably doesn't get much vaguer than this. The book would be pre-1980's. It's a buddy/coming of age story. I don't remember if both characters were boys; one was for sure. That character has a brother who is a fisherman. I clearly remember the sentence "The albacore are running" being said by that brother before he goes out on a fishing trip from which he never returns.

Doris Gates, Sensible Kate. This is actually the name of a chapter in the book. Kate is placed in foster care with an older couple. One of the children in the class is a boy whose older brother who is a fisherman. This older brother goes out to fish albacore in bad weather and does not come back alive. There is also a seriously nasty rich girl in the class whose father's car has white wall tires. I still reread this book now and then.
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I read this book in the early 1970's from my school library. It was about a young orphan girl, who goes to live with an older couple. I think she has red braids, and their are boats, an artist,and a McCall's contest in the book, which might be set in the 1920's or 1930's?? The girls comes to appreciate her older adopted parents in the end. A young artist paints her for a [Redbook] magazine cover contest, which I believe is the winning entry. I believe the book features a cover contest for REDBOOK magazine, not McCalls, because I believe the story features a young girl with RED braids. I think she has to choose between the artist and his young wife, and the older couple she is living with, for her adoption. I believe there are some blue-checked curtains as a pertinent detail, and the book is set in a beach or fishing town, I think in New England. I would have read it in the early 1970's.I would love to read this again. Thank you.

Doris Gates, Sensible Kate, 1943. I'm pretty sure this is the one. I don't have it front of me but re-read it last year.
Gates, Doris, Sensible Kate. Kate actually goes to stay with an older couple, but befriends a young couple, the husband is an artist and paints her portrait.
I am 98% certain that the book being described is Sensible Kate, a favorite book of my childhood.
Thank you so much! I'd actually done some more Googling and come up with this title and author, but I couldn't find a plot description online, so I wasn't sure. I had a feeling it might be SENSIBLE KATE. It's funny, isn't how, what the subconscious remembers. I've remembered this book for more than thirty years, and look forward to reading it again.

Sentinels from Space
I read this book in '70s or '80s in the UK. The basic plot was about aliens who come to help Earth, and inhabit the bodies of two people (with the former "occupants" permission). One is a girl, who I think committed suicide and I remember a passage which runs something like "XXXX was just a little too big in every way but she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen" (this is with the alien presence in her). I have a vague memory that the male body arose due to an accident on the moon. I can't remember how the book ends, but the overwhelming image is of great butterflies, flying through space (I think the natural form of the aliens, but also what we could become in the future.

Eric Frank Russell, Sentinels from Space. Absolutely certain of this one! Reprinted by Methuen in 1987.
Bookstumper turns up trumps again! This is the book. Thank you so much.

Separate Peace
Customer is looking for a book that he read in the 9th grade, so it could be juvenile or young adult. Two boys befriend each other in boarding school or college. One is very gifted swims and breaks a school record but won't let his friend tell anyone about it. At the end of the book the gifted one dies, possibly of a brain tumor. Thanks for the help.

Isn't this A Separate Peace by Knowles?
Harriett, my customer is going to go check it out at the library to see if this is what he was thinking, but saying it REALLY sounds close. Many many thanks!

The Serial Garden
I am trying to identify a series of books, and a running story that ran across consecutive editions. I recall this book series as being an anthology of fiction and non-fiction, and physically resembling the Companion Library series in terms of the thickness of their spines - they were quite thick books. Across multiple books, with an installment in each one, there was a story about a boy who regularly eats a particular breakfast cereal. On the back of his cereal box is a picture of a fountain or garden and he is somehow able to transport himself into this place. There must also be tokens somehow involved in the plot, because he makes himself eat box after box of this inedible cereal (that he thinks of as tasting like little mats) so he can collect the tokens from the boxes. I can't tell you how it finishes because my library didn't have all the books! To anyone who can help me out, I will be extremely grateful!

Joan Aiken, The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories' before 1980, approximate. I don't know if this is the book or not, but I remember reading that story too - but don't remember any other details! I don't remember reading it from a series of books, however. Does this sound familiar? "a cutout from a cereal box leads into a beautiful and tragic palace garden".
Joan Aiken, The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories. Joan Aiken wrote many short stories about the Armitages, an ordinary family to whom extraordinary things happen. Originally some of these short stories were published in different collections, but they have been recently republished together. In the stories you are remembering, a boy discovers that the cardboard garden cutouts on the back of his cereal box take him into a real fantastic garden. Unfortunately, the cereal is so bad the company went out of business...
Joan Aiken, One of her short stories about Mark and Harriet, 2 5 10. Possibly from her ?1950s? anthologies All You've Ever Wanted and More Than You Bargained For.
Joan Aiken, Armitage Stories. Sounds like the Armitage stories by Joan Aiken. I think most of them have been collected in Armitage, Armitage, Fly Away Home.
Joan Aiken, The Serial Garden. I can't help you with the series of books, but I do know that particular story. It's by Joan Aiken, and it's called "The Serial Garden". It's one of her Armitage stories she wrote a delightful series of short stories about the Armitage family, who tend to attract strange and magical happenings. Joy of joys, in looking up the name of the short story, I found out that all of the Armitage stories were collected in a single volume in 2008 its title is also "The Serial Garden". Thank you, stranger, for causing me to make that particular discovery. :-) I hope the story name helps you find the series you're looking for - and I enthusiastically recommend that new anthology!
Joan Aiken, The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories.Verified - it must be The Serial Garden! Oddly enough, the story itself doesn't seem familiar, but the stumper did seem very familiar.
Aiken, Joan, Serial Garden.The story is called "The Serial Garden" and is one of the Armitage Family stories.
Joan Aiken, The Serial Garden. The Serial Garden is a story from Joan Aiken's series of stories about the Armitage family, which were first published in different collections. The stories are collected in an omnibus edition titled "The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories."

Solved: The Serial Garden.
Mystery solved! Thank you sincerely to everyone who wrote in to identify the childhood story I was after as "The Serial Garden" by the talented Joan Aiken. I find it quite amazing that through the Stump the Bookseller service, the few scant memories I had could be used to identify the story! This one has been puzzling me for over twenty years, and I honestly wasn't sure it would ever be solved, so thank you so much for your generous assistance! :)
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This story was in a school English book from late 80s, early 90s . A boy cuts out paper models of a castle or village and is magically transported to the village randomly. There is a princess who needs help. At the end his mom throws the paper models in the fire so he can't visit anymore. Thanks!

Aiken, Joan, The Serial Garden. One of the Armitage family stories, it was originally published in a book of short stories. You can now buy a collected volume of all the Armitage family stories - titled The Serial Garden.
Joan Aiken, The Serial Garden, 1970, approximate. I believe you're looking for the short story "the Serial Garden" by Joan Aiken. It was originally published in Armitage, Armitage, Fly Away Home and was just reprinted within the last couple years in a compilation of all her Armitage Family stories, appropriately titled The Serial Garden. (It's the one everyone seems to remember.)
Joan Aiken, Serial Garden (short story). This is one of Joan Aiken's Mark and Harriet Armitage stories, the one titled "The Serial Garden". It's in Armitage, Armitage, Fly Away Home (where I first read it), and in the complete Armitage collection, that came out a year or two back... which, is called The Serial Garden The Complete Armitage Family Stories.
Joan Aiken, The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories. This is a short story that has been printed in several different collections of Joan Aiken's works. You can find more descriptions in solved mysteries!
Joan Aiken, The Serial Garden. Joan Aiken's short story "The Serial Garden," most recently reprinted as title story of her complete "Armitage Family" series:http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-caw-astral-weeks25-2009jan25,0,1579872.story It originally (?) appeared in Aiken's 1969 collection A Small Pinch of Weather
Aiken, Joan, The Serial Garden. Thanks! The suggestions are correct.

Sesame Street Book of Letters
I remember a book from the early 70's about the alphabet. Every letter had it's own page and the rhymes included: "A is for Apple and also for Ant, who tries to climb up but finds that he can't" and "After an X-ray, Max mixed a fox and an ox in a box" and "Six silly sailors went sliding down our street." I loved this book and want to share it with my 4-year-old, but can't remember the author, title, etc. Thanks for any help at all.

The Sesame Street Book of Letters, 1970. A bookseller gives the following description of this book: "What is different about this book is the alphabet isn't in order. Instead each page takes a letter like A is for apple and also for ant who tries to climb up it but finds that he can't. At the bottom of the page throughout the book the alphabet is shown. The next page is H for Hole. A happy hole holds a heap of high humor, etc."

Sesame Street Book of Opposites with Zero Mostel
Ok! Here is my Stumper - as a kid in the 70's I had a Sesame Street book that was full of very bizzare pics of (I believe) Zero Mostel. I remember he was wearing a top hat and what looked like white long johns with a DIAPER over them! The background colors were total 70's orange & pea green, etc, and tho I liked the book it also kind of freaked me out, esp a pic of him pinching his nose with a pliers! It was a simple book with each pic showing contrasting or opposite words...?

Exactly. It's just hard to find.... George Medoza's Sesame Street Book of Opposites with Zero Mostel. Photographs by Sheldon Secunda. NY: Platt & Munk, 1974.
George Mendoza, et. al., Sesame Street Book of Opposites with Zero Mostel, 1974. And Mostel does indeed wear long johns and a diaper as he pantomimes various opposites.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Medoza, George. Sesame Street Book of Opposites with Zero Mostel. Photographs by Sheldon Secunda. NY: Platt & Munk, 1974. Spotting on endpapers, pencil doodles on rear endpapers. Cover scuffed, corners bumped, missing paper on top half-inch of spine, although the binding is sound. Overall, only G- condition, but quite scarce. $80

Seven Day Magic
I remember reading this book in the 70's. It was about a group of children who found a magic tailsman and a book. The book would write itself when the children had adventures (usually traveling through time). The couldn't look ahead in the book because all the pages would be blank.

T80 Sounds like SEVEN DAY MAGIC by Edward Eager. However, the book is magic (it's been stored with the fairy tale books, and their magic had dripped onto it) They have adventures, but can't read ahead - they can't
read about their own adventures until they've happened. ~from a librarian
Sure sounds like Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager, one of the classics. The children take a library book out and it writes their magic adventures as they occur. However, I don't recall any magic item other than the book, so
this may not be it.
It almost sounds like this person has mixed up Seven Day Magic and Half Magic, both by Edward Eager. In "Half Magic," there is a talisman. It's a small coin that looks like a nickel but has strange symbols on it. In "Seven Day Magic," the book is the magical object that grants the children their wishes. The children also could not look ahead in the book because the pages would be blank.
School children are still reading this book as part of the Accelerated Reading Program. I have seen this book and most of his other boks (there is a sequesl called Magic By the Lake) in bookstores.
It's definitely Seven Day magic by Edward Eager. Still in print, as far as I know. I have a paperback copy, purchased at some chain bookstore within the last year.
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This book was about a group of children who discovered a red-covered book in the library. When the children first looked in the book, the pages were blank, but then, as the story progressed, the pages of the book began to be filled in with either adventures that the children had already been on or adventures that were about to happen to the children in the future (I forget which). I read this book in the mid- to late-1970s, so it was written probably in the mid-70s or earlier. It is either juveniled or young adult fiction. I loved this book when I was a child and would love to find it again!

Edward Eager, Seven Day Magic
Edward Eager, Seven-Day Magic, 1962. Edward Eager works a magic of his own: Once you've read one of his books, you have to read them all!
Edward Eager, Seven Day Magic, 1960s. This is the book, still in print and widely available
Edward Eager, Seven Day Magic. Children + blank red book filling up with their own adventures = Seven Day Magic! Seven days is the loan period for this library book.
This sounds like Seven-Day Magic, by Edward Eager.
Edward Eager, Seven Day Magic. Five children discover a mysterious red book at the library and eventually they discover that it's writing the story of their own wishful adventures--a story they make up as they go, and then witness coming to life in the red book's pages. Along their way, the children meet a dragon, a wizard, and the baby and little girl from Half Magic, another Eager book. Another adventure starts when the children are transported back in time with grandmother and nearly perish in a blizzard. Disaster almost strikes again when the friends wish themselves at a television rehearsal and it nearly costs one of their fathers his job on a show. The children return the book to the library and wonder who will find it next.
Edward Eager, Seven Day Magic. This sounds like Seven Day Magic. The children check a book out of the library, find, when they start reading it, that it is about themselves, although most of the pages are stuck. I think they make wishes to fill in the rest of their adventures.
Eager, Edward, Seven-Day Magic, 1962. Parts of the description sound like Seven-Day Magic -- children find a red book in the library, and, walking home, start reading it only to discover they're reading their own story. In different chapters, they have book-related adventures, visiting Oz before it was Oz, the frontier (in a loose adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder), etc., and also try to help their father's singing career. When they return the book to the library at the end of the week, they discover it now has a fresh title on its spine: Seven-Day Magic.
Edward Eager, Seven-Day Magic, 1962.
M239 It's SEVEN DAY MAGIC by Edward Eager. He wrote seven fantasy books for children, and this one is my favorite. And you might be interested to know that MAGIC BY THE LAKE has the same kids in it. ~from a librarian.
Thank you so much for helping me! I have thought about this book for years, and can't wait to read it to my children.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Eager, Edward. Seven-Day Magic. Odyssey Classics reprint edition, 1962, 1999. New paperback, $6

Seven Steps to Satan
This was a book I read while at the U if Michigan, found it deep in the stacks, the titel was something like "29 Steps" - it hauted me and my roommate, we dreamed about it over and over, it's about finding a door in a cellar, entering it and ending up in some kind of test with the devil. The book was VERY old. I have tried searching the Michagan library but cannot find it. Thanks

Philip Murdock, "27," or, The house of many doors, 1883. This is just a lead, since I could find no summary of this book. What I do know about it: It is a 15 page book, it was from the "Five cent wide awake library" (sounds like a very early horror/thriller, maybe?), and it is 30 cm. tall. And, of course, it is very old. Also, the only library that reports having it is the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
A.(Abraham) Merritt, Seven Footprints (Footsteps?) To Satan. A long shot, but worth mentioning.
S173: I do think this might well be Seven Steps to Satan, which is quite old (1928) and a mesmerizing tale. James Kirkham is kidnapped and taken to the mansion of somone who calls himself Satan. Satan challenges Kirkham to take his test, the Seven Steps. There is a flight of 21 semi-circular steps. Seven of them are marked with invisible golden footprints, supposed to be of the Buddha; four are fortunate and three are not. If someone steps on all four lucky ones while ascending, he gets unlimited power, wealth, etc.; if he steps on one unlucky footprint, he must do Satan one service; two unlucky steps, serve him for one year; three, he surrenders himself completely to Satan. Also in the plot are a beautiful girl named Eve and a robbery at the Metropolitan museum.

Seven Stone
I'm searching for a book I read as a young girl. I remember very little about the story, but I do remember the cover of the book said it was previously titled "The Seven Stone." I've never been able to find it. The story was about a young girl who was friends with a new girl in school, whom none of the other girls in school seemed to like. I believe the new girl gave the main character a smooth rock as a gift. A special one. She believed a girl got a mind of her own on her seventh birthday. I also remember the new girl became very ill, and the main character drew a picture for her friend. Then thinking it was silly, showed it to her much older brother who told her anyone would be lucky to have such a picture. I would love to find a copy. It was a very gentle, sweet story.

Mary Francis Shura, Seven Stone. I found several copies of Seven Stone listed online, along with many other books by Mary Francis Shura, but I don't know which one of those you're looking for.
Craig, M. S., The Seven Stone, 1972. There is a book called "The Seven Stone," where "Maggie learns many things when she befriends the strange new girl in her class."
Mary Francis Shura, Maggie in the Middle aka The Seven Stone, 1972. Found these synopses on the web:
"About a girl who went to a new school and had to learn the secret of 'fitting in.'" "Maggie makes friends with the new girl, Tilly. Tilly is convinced she's the daughter of a witch and that she has magical powers. The Seven Stone, she believes, is her protective talisman. Maggie struggles to grasp who and what Tilly (and the stone) really are, as well as the value of friends."
The Seven Stone by M.S. Craig, Holiday House, c1972, ISBN 0823402142. "Maggie learns many things when she befriends the strange new girl in her class." It was reprinted by Scholastic as Maggie In The Middle, with the author's name now given as Mary Francis Shura.
Shura, Mary Francis, Maggie in the Middle (Original Title: the Seven Stone) 1975, Scholastic reprint.
Mary Francis Shura, The Seven Stone. I belive it is out of print.
Mary Francis Shura, The Seven Stone, 1972. I don't know about the other title that the requestor was asking about but this book called "The Seven Stone" sounds like it might be the one. A girl named Maggie befriends the new girl in class named Tilly. Tilly has a stone that she believes is her protective talisman. The book is illustrated by Dale Payson. Published in 1972 by Holiday House. If this was later printed under another name, you may wish to find out if it is illustrated by the same person, and which are the illustrations you remember.
A little further research reveals a second title: Maggie in the Middle published by Scholastic Book Services in 1975. The illustrator is the same: Dale Payson.
Mary Francis Shura, Maggie in the Middle, 1975. With the original title, this was pretty easy---I just typed in Seven Stone on bookfinder and came up with this title. Hope it's the one!
Shura, Mary Francis, The Seven Stone, illustrated by Dale Payson, NY Holiday House 1972. This was republished by Scholastic 1975 under the title Maggie in the Middle. The only plot description I have is that it is about a girl who goes to a new school and has to learn the secret of fitting in.
Shura, Mary Francis, The Seven Stone,1972. I found it!!! The Seven Stone byMary Francis Shura, Illustrated by Dale Payson, Published in New York: Holiday House, 1972 ISBN:0823402142 JUVENILE BOOK FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN ABOUT A GIRL WHO WENT TO A NEW SCHOOL AND HAD TO LEARN THE SECRET OF 'FITTING IN'. BOOK TEACHES SOME LIFE-LESSONS. Other edition: Maggie in the Middle by Mary Francis Shura, Illustrated by Dale Payson, Published NY Scholastic 1975.
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Seven Stone / Maggie in the Middle
I think this book was published in the early to mid 70s. The main character is in 5th or 6th grade. her name is Maggie but her parents and older brothers call her "Magpie." One day a new girl joins her class, and is immediately ostracized for her "hippie" style of dress - a long skirt and lace-up hiking boots. Maggie befriends the new girl, who also turns out to be very smart - she immediately wins the class spelling bee, knocking the current champion (and class "queen bee") off the board. The queen bee ends up seriously injuring the new girl by pushing or pulling her underneath the merry-go-round on the schoolyard. Maggie eventually learns to stand up to the popular girls and defend her friend. One other detail I remember - the new girl's family is into "throwing pots" which confuses Maggie until she learns that the term means "making pottery."

Shura, Mary Francis, The seven stone, 1972. on the solved pages too. Maggie makes friends with Tilly the new girl in her class
Mary Francis Shura, The Seven Stone/ Maggie in the Middle. This was solved recently on another board.

Seven Sunflower Seeds
I love your site, what a brilliant service! Thanks! Any luck with this one? Its an older children's book, British, probably written in the 1960's or 1950's. Cannot remember name or author, but the book is about a large family of clever kids, and includes a sequence near the beginning where they are making up an alphabet as follows...A for 'orses -- B eef or mutton -- C forth Highlanders -- D eformation... Can't remember the rest of it and its driving the whole family crazy trying to locate it!

I don't remember an alphabet scene but Ordinary Jack does have a family of kids who are all geniuses except Jack. There were several others in the series as well.
I saw your answer to my ABC query. I don't know the book mentioned, so I don't think it can come from there. I just found a version in the adult book A Fool"s Alphabet by Sebastian Faulkes, which is similar, but not the same, and of course not as good! So if any more answers come up I would still be interested.
No, I don't have the answer (although Cresswell's Bagthorpesseemed as plausible as any), but there's a good version of the "Cockney Alphabet" that begins with A for 'orses in Eric Partridge's Comic Alphabets(London, 1961): A for ’orses, B for mutton, C for sailors (for th’Highlanders), D for rent, E for brick, F for vest, G for police, H for beauty, I for hangover, J for oranges, K for a drink, L for leather, M for services, N for eggs, O for the rainbow,. P for a whistle, Q for the flicks, R for moment (for Askey), S for you (for Rantzen), T for two, U for mystic (for cough, for nerve, for knee), V for l’amour, W for a quid, X for breakfast, Y for ****’s sake (for mistress), Z for breezes (for effect, for de dogtor — I hab a bad code iddy doze). Hope someone comes up with the book!
The book in question is Seven Sunflower Seeds by John Varley. This is the fourth in a series of books about the somewhat eccentric Callendar family (not quite as addled as the Bagthorpes). The other books are Friday's Tunnel,February's Road, ISMO. The first two are much the best. ISMO is the weakest, and the only one written from other than the first-person viewpoint of one of the Callendar children. The books were written in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The author is John Verney (Varley is a sci fi writer).
Yes, thanks, I had seen the answer on your site. I now have a copy- it quite lived up to my memory!
I ahve another query posted under FISH. Hope that one gets an answer too! Still really enjoying the site. Many thanks. N.B. Author's name is John VERNEY.

Sex Education
around 1989/1990 (it was published relatively recently, I think), I read a book about a girl who joins a high school and falls in love with the "bad boy" who is actually a lovely guy. At the very end, they are doing a school project where they have to care for an elderly woman, and as they are leaving her home, having completed the project and being happily in love, he slips on some ice on some steps and breaks his neck and dies. Then we dicover she (the girl) told the story from a mental institution where we went after he died. The cover is drawn, in an 80's style cartoon, with her profile at the front, and his full face further back. I can picture it so clearly, but can't see the title. I've searched and searched for years, but can't find any trace of it. It was on the same shelf as Sweet Valley High, so that was probably its genre, albeit more grown up. Thank you so, so much. Been desperately searching for years. Thank you.

Jenny Davis, Sex Education, 1988. This one has some similarities to Sex Education. Two high school kids Livvie and David are trying to help a young pregnant neighbor as part of an assignment. Turns out her husband is abusive. He pushes David down the steps and he dies. Great book--very poignant story.
Jenny Davis, Sex Education, 1988. I think that may be the one!! Apprently it was re-printed in 1995 with a different cover, so the search is on. I could have sworn the characters were called David and Olivia, so to find they're called David and Livvie... thank you so much!

Shades, The
The book was about about boy living somewhere other than his home, maybe an English country estate. He makes friends with the shadows in the garden. I remember the shadows eating a cake. When you cut the cake and took a slice, the piece would fill back in because it was a shadow. And there was something in this garden they were frightened of, maybe a statue or a fountain. I remeber the story being very interesting and enchanting.

Boston, Green Knowe Series. Sounds like it might be one of these. The first book of the series is about a little boy who goes to stay with his grandmother and makes friends with ghost children from a century or so ago. I think the remaining ones are more of the same idea.
S250 This is definitely THE SHADESby Betty Brock, 1971. Hollis stays at the old house of a relative, and after he washes his eyes in the dolphin fountain, he can see and interact with the shadows in the garden, the shadows left by all the people who were in the garden. ~from a librarian

Shadow Castle
Do you know of a book where a castle exists that has shadows of fairies. A child finds the castle and a strange man on the last day of his banishment from fairy land. I think there is a magic ring.

It's not Shadow Castle by Marion Cockrell, is it?
sure does sound like it - Shadow Castle by Marian Cockrell, illustrated by Olive Bailey, copyright 1945, Scholastic printing 1968. "In the middle of a deep, dark forest there is a castle. Only shadows live here - shadows of kings and queens who are waiting. They have been waiting for hundreds of years. They have been waiting for someone to break the enchanged spell that was cast upon them. Then one day, a girl named Lucy wanders into this shadow land...."
Definitely, definitely Shadow Castle.
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A book I found originally in about 1976. There was no cover. It began with a little girl who lived with her grandmother. They lived near a forest and the little girl was friends with all the forest creatures. One day she is following a little dog and goes deep into the forest. She comes upon a tunnel covered with vines. She follows the little dog in to the dark tunnel. She thinks she sees a goblin and runs after the dog. The end up in a beautiful valley with a huge castle at one end. There she meets a man who invites her inside. He spends the whole day telling her stories of the family who lived there. The father was a fairy prince who rescued his mortal wife from a terrible fate and brought her to live in the valley. The man goes on to tell her about each of their children (a son and a daughter who were half fairy/half mortal) and their lives as they grew up. The son marries a fairy princess named Bluebell after rescuing her from a goblin spell. The daughter befrends a dragon who lives on top of a mountain and eventually marries they man who saves the dragon. Anyway after the man spends the whole day with the little girl it turn out he is actually the original fairy prince father who is awaiting the end of a magic spell when he can be returned to his mortal wife. The man hurries the little girl home, giving her the little dog to keep and she makes it back out of the valley just as the castle disapears. She and the little dog make it back to Grandma's just as night falls. It's a whole lot more drawn out than that but that's pretty much the jist. It's all about fairies being good and goblins being evil, love, honor and family. I loved it as a child and read it over and over. Please help if you can!

Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Again!
This is just a guess, but it sounds a little like The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. There's a little girl, her grandmother, a castle and a band of evil goblins.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. This book is 100% definately Shadow Castle - I know because I am looking at it right now on my shelf and you have remembered the details very well!
Regarding your solved mysteries, Shadow Castle, I was wondering if anyone knew if any of the printings on this
were ever published in a green cloth hardback, with the book dimensions being oversized and measuring
something like 9 and 1/2 " by 12 and 1/2 " The beginning of the description people have given about the girl following an animal into the forest...only to discover a door seoms to fit exactly to the only thing I remember of the book I loved as a girl. P.s. This web site is incredible beyond words!! Now I only wish I had the money to purchase a new world of exciting books, which I have discovered through you!
I can't tell you how happy I am to have found your site! I've been trying to remember the name of a book I had as a child - and it's been bugging me for a long time. Finally I put all the words I could think of to describe the book into a Google search - your site is the first one that came up on the list - and there was the answer! Shadow Castle!!! I was trying to think of "Fairy Princess", "Fairy Queen", and stuff like that. But this is definitely the book. I just wanted to thank you!
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The book has a castle that reappears every 100? years (like Brigadoon). A girl walking through the woods goes through a viney/arbor-type "tunnel" and finds the castle and a boy who lives there. There are fairies, blue elves (bad guys) and other bad guys (goblins?) who are trapped in the door knobs and knockers of the castle. At one point the blue elves break through a protective spell and come through the windows to attack during a party. At the end she leaves just as the castle is going to disappear. His name may have been Michael or Christopher... The book was a paperback from Scholastic books. I read it in the late 60's maybe 70's. It was my introduction to fantasy/sci-fi and I've been hooked ever since!

Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle, 1986. This sounds like one of Diana Wynne Jones' books and I believe this is the correct one: "Sophie, the eldest of three daughters, lives in the smallish town of Market Chipping with her
step-mother and her two sisters. After the girls' father dies, Fanny, the step-mother, is unable to raise three daughters on a hatmakers salary. She finds good apprenticeships for Sophie's two younger sisters and keeps Sophie to help in the hat shop. The sisters, Lettie and Martha, promptly switch places, since Lettie would rather be a witch, and Martha would rather be a
baker. Discontented with her life, Sophie is nonetheless a marvellous hatmaker, whose hats seem to bestow upon their wearers exactly the things Sophie wishes when she's making them. In the meantime, a castle has taken up residence on the outskirts of town. It moves willy-nilly from one place to another and is said to be inhabited by a wizard who "was known to amuse himself by collecting young girls and sucking the souls from them. Or some people said he ate their hearts.". Young girls are advised to never go out alone lest they be captured and treated to all manner of horrors. Then, Sophie enrages the witch of the west with her incredible skill at making hats. The witch descends upon Sophie and casts a curse which turns Sophie into an old woman. Worse, Sophie is cursed to be physically unable to tell anybody she's under a curse. The horror of the curse breaks Sophie from her appalling state of mousy discontent. She can't bear to think of her family seeing her in this state, and so runs away. Old and feeble, she struggles even in the simple act of walking away from town. By the time
evening descends, she has only covered a short distance, and she knows she won't be able to travel as far away as another village. In this state, she comes upon the moving castle. Age gives her the courage she lacked as a hatmakers' apprentice, and she not only forces her way into the castle, but also invites herself to stay for the night. The wizard himself isn't home, but his apprentice, Michael, is quite unable to deal with this irascible old woman. Sophie falls asleep in front of the fire, thinking how the flames quite resemble a face. When she wakens, she tosses a log on the fire, and realises that the flames more than resemble a face, they ARE a face. The fire in this castle is actually controlled by a fire demon named Calcifer. Like Sophie, Calcifer is cursed, and they make a pact, each to discover the nature of the other's curse and break it. This, of course, requires Sophie to find a pretext for staying at the castle. She declares herself housekeeper and by the time the wizard Howl arrives, he finds her furiously cleaning cobwebs out of dusty corners and scrubbing the dust into oblivion. He doesn't invite her to stay, but then, he doesn't exactly throw her out, either, leaving her free to find out exactly how Calcifer is bound to the castle."
Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Shadow Castle yet again!
Marian Cockrell (sp?), Shadow Castle. I am 99.99% positive that this one is also Shadow Castle. Goblins, tunnel, fairy prince Michael (Mika) all fit.
Woo Hoo - it's already solved !!!! Shadow Castle, now to see if I can get a copy...
Thank you for helping me locate this most loved story. I first stumbled upon it in the 1970's on my grandmother's basement bookshelf. It must of originally belonged to one of my aunts. I absolutely adored the fantasy and could not forgive myself for losing the book. The part I remembered most vividly was when the visiting princess turns out to be an impostor. Anyway, the book is currently available in a reprint edition! I'm ordering two copies: one for me and one for my niece. :)
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Land of A Thousand (something) MAYBE...late 30's-1945. I had this book read to me in 1945. It must have been a library book -- it had no cover, was dark green. It was about an enchanted princess, cursed by a spell from a witch to live a thousand years in a strange land, with purple skin! Her skin would not revert back to white until the thousand years was up. There were all kinds of fantasy characters there, too, but that is all I remember. The scary purple face. There were illustrations.

R.A. McClanahan and others, The Purple Princess. I don't know if this is the right book or not - it is so obscure, the Library of Congress does not even list a date of publication (although it is from their old catalog, so must have been published before 1965) or a subject summary, and I could not locate a single used copy anywhere online. But I thought I would suggest it anyway, just in case.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Something reminded me of Shadow Castle. The poster may want to check it to see if it
matches completely. I'm pretty sure it's in Solved Mysteries.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle, 1945. Loooong time favorite of mine. Princess gets turned into a mute purple face goblin so that the goblin princess who takes her place can be courted by the prince. Series of short stories told by another prince as he waits for a thousand year spell to end and he can be with his mortal true love who can now be a fairy.
Marian Cockrell (author), Olive Bailey (illustrator), Shadow Castle, 1945. I wonder whether the stumper requester is confusing two different princesses in the same story? In Shadow Castle, Princess Gloria is sent to Fairyland for one thousand years and seven days, but Princess Bluebell is turned into an ugly, mute, illiterate purple maid. Shadow Castle was published in 1945, and you can read more about it on the "S" Solved Mysteries page. I've never seen a first edition, but the book was reprinted in paperback by Scholastic, and I own a fourth printing from 1968. It is printed and illustrated in dark green ink---perhaps the original was as well, and that's why the stumper requester remembers this as a "dark green" book even though that copy had no cover? The book also contains an illustration of Princess Bluebell in her purple skin on page 58. Reprinted in hardcover (and black ink) in 2000 by Buccaneer Books. There's an expanded paperback edition (with additional stories not included in the original) but I haven't read it and cannot comment on its contents.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle, ca. 1946. I want to suggest Shadow Castle, just in case. :)
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle, 1946. My god, my god! Thank you so much! I am almost sure that would be it! The green color, the purple princess -- and most of all, the segmented, convoluted storyline. I remember being five or six years old and not being quite able to understand how it all came together, who was who and all that -- as I was only read a chapter a night, but I do remember several storylines. And of course I wouldn't remember whether it was the real princess that became purple or how the goblin became a beautiful princess. I am going to try and find this book and am so delighted that you all have wonderful memories of it, too! Who would have thought that 60 years later -- I would solve the mystery of this indelible but vaguely-remembered book. And as I implied before -- I had nightmares about that purple face for months, maybe years-- afraid it would happen to me! That doesn't mean I didn't love the book. This has to be it.
For years, I’ve been trying to find a book I loved as a child in the 60’s. Tonight I searched your website and there it was – E28, Shadow Castle. All of the details your readers describe are just right – this is the book I’ve been searching for! Thanks to you and all your readers for providing such a wonderful service!
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F187: Fairy Ball
I am looking for a Scholastic Children's paperback book that I purchased/read in 1970--might have been 1969-1971. It was about a girl who is magically transported to fairy land and goes to a fairy ball. I remember that the fairy queen had a dress of gold or silver, and the girl was changed to fairy size, she had an escort, might have been a fairy or prince. I mostly remember the fairy queen at the ball and the girl dancing at the ball. I don't really recall much else, but read it till it fell apart. I would like to find this for my 9 and 7 year old daughters! Any ideas or guesses on title or author are greatly appreciated! I think that midnight figures prominently in the story, and maybe moonlight. Also, as an aside, it was the first time I saw the word candelabra! The ball was definitely inside some castle and not out in the woods! Thank you again, I'm keeping by fingers crossed!

Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle, 1968 reprint. I found this book today in the archives. I searched the web and found an excerpt. It is the book I remember, and I'm thrilled to have found it. As an added bonus--it has been reprinted with additional chapters and stories!!! Thanks a lot!
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Read in the early-mid 70's. Girl is reading a book alone. Maybe wakes up and enters a woods/cave. It is intrance into a kingdom. Gargoyle door knockers or door knobs move/live. There is an evil force and she must help save something. The prince is ....oh I don't know. At the end, she awakens and it could have been a dream? This has been driving me insane for many many years. Thanks for your help.

Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle. More info is available on the solved stumpers page but this certainly sounds like Shadow Castle to me!
This sounds like the film "Labyrinth" with David Bowie, made by Jim Henson. I don't know if it was ever a book.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Maybe? There are woods, a prince, caves, evil forces, and goblins as door knockers. See the Solved Mysteries.
Lona: A Fairytale. I believe that this could be the book you remember i too had this book as a child i don't know who the author is although the pictures where photos of a doll more like barbie size than a baby doll reminiscent of the author Dare Wright's photos. Were the pictures black and white i seem to remember that the photos in the Lona book were black and white and there was lots of fog everywhere. i'll have to ask my mother if she remembers anything more but it sounds as if we are remembering the same book. after i saw your posting i got on the internet to see if i could find anything on lona, all i found was someone else searching for the book.
Lona is indeed by Dare Wright. It's a picture book though. Is the requester looking for a picture book or a novel?
M.Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Check solved stumpers, this sounds like Shadow Castle again.
Hi, Not strictly about this Stumper, but an odd coincidence:-I put the comment in about "labyrinth", so was checking on this Stumper. I got a bit of a shock when I saw my name, which isn't one that I have seen very often. You've guessed it, it's Lona!
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A child finds a house in the woods inhabited by shadows of elves and learns their stories.At the end you find there will soon be an elf-mortal wedding that has been waited for for 600 years. One elf was named Bluebell, a goblin tried to impersonate her to wed an elf prince but was caught. Please help me find the title! Thanks

Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. No doubt about it. This is definitely the book you are looking for!
Cockrell, Marion, Shadow Castle. I'm sure you'll get lots of responses to this one! It has to be Shadow Castle, look for more details on the solved mystery pages. I looked for this book for 22 years and am very glad to be able to help someone else find it now. An expanded edition was printed in 2000!
M.Cockrell, Shadow Castle. See Solved Stumpers.
Sounds like Shadow Castle! Check the solved mysteries.
Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle. I believe this is the book. It is listed under the solved mysteries if you want to see more information on it.
Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. This is definitely Shadow Castle - believe it's on the solved pages as well.
If you want to read the same version of Shadow Castle you remember from your childhood, be sure to purchase either a vintage copy or a reprint of the original from Buccaneer books. The expanded edition currently on the market is repetitious and contains superfluous violence.

For years, I’ve been trying to find a book I loved as a child in the 60’s. Tonight I searched your website and there it was – E28, Shadow Castle. All of the details your readers describe are just right – this is the book I’ve been searching for! Thanks to you and all your readers for providing such a wonderful service!
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Shadow Castle
A small paperback book I read when I was anywhere from 6-9 years old, in the year 1979 to 1982. I remember checking it out at my elementary school library in Jackson, Wyoming several different times and really enjoying it. The only plot lines I can recall involve a girl that goes to or gets trapped in a castle...and there was a purple maid that really sticks in my mind. Anyone remember anything with a purple maid???? I know, this is not much info....but I thought I'd give it a try. Thanks!!!!

Marian Cockrell (author), Olive Bailey (illustrator), Shadow Castle. (1945) This is definitely it! Lucy finds a secret castle, where a mysterious young man named Michael tells her the story of Princess Bluebell, who is turned into a mute purple maid by a goblin that takes her place. Please see the Solved Mysteries "S" page for more information! Reprinted in hardcover in 2000 by Buccaneer books. If you have fond childhood memories of this book, do NOT buy the expanded paperback edition from Amazon---it is much more violent (and repetitious!) than the originally published version.
M. Cockrell, Shadow Castle. See solved stumpers :-) I'll bet the entire crew will chime in on this one!
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Buccaneer Books Reprint edition (June 1992) I did a search for "purple maid" & it led me to this book.The rest of the description sounds similar. Hope this is it.
Google mentions Cockrell's Shadow castle in your S section - purple maid
I think this is Shadow Castle by Marion Cockrell, (again!) Everybody loved that book
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. The Blue Elves send an entourage to the castle in hopes of marrying their princess to Mika and Gloria's son, Robin. There is a sad little purple maid who doesn't speak in the group. After an attack on the castle, it is revealed that the real Princess Bluebell was enchanted into the purple maid and a swamp fairy was masquerading as the princess.
Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Shadow Castle had a plot with a princess who was turned into a purple maid. Check out the solved mysteries for this book to see if anything else sounds familiar.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Wow,,,that took no time at all to solve...I believe you're right, the title rings a bell. After reading all of the comments and plot descriptions I realized how much I had forgotten about the story. This was a favorite...thank you so much..I appreciate the help!

Shadow Castle
The book that I would love to find was a fairytale book published probably in the '60s, but maybe earlier. It was paperback, I think, and was possibly a Scholastic book, or something like that. It concerned at least two generations of a fairy family. There was a brother and sister, I think twins. The brother was almost tricked into marrying a goblin who impersonated a blue fairy princess, but goblin grains pressed into her hand exposed her. I think maybe the real fairy princess was there disguised and exposed her, but I can't remember exactly. The sister met an elderly, wise dragon who owed his long life to his dragon nectar, which the girl would also drink when she visited him. He was threatened by the villagers or something like that, and I think he is saved but, I can't remember. I think the sister also meets her true-love/future husband through this adventure, but I can't remember for sure. Thanks!

Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. A frequent stumper. Loved by many.
Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle. This is most definitely the book being sought. I searched for 20 years for it and am happy to point someone else in the right direction! See the solved mystery pages for some good decriptions.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Definitely! Again!
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. (1945) This is definitely the book! The Scholastic version was printed in 1968. The twins are Robin (boy) and Meira (girl)and you remember their stories pretty accurately! Please see the Solved Mysteries "S" page for more information. I forgot to mention that if you want to read the version of Shadow Castle you remember from your childhood, find a vintage copy or order a reprint from Buccaneer Books. Do NOT order the expanded edition currently being sold on Amazon---the added material is repetitious and needlessly violent.
Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Brother marries fairy princess after goblin imposter is exposed. Sister meets her intended when he trusts her opinion that the dragon is friendly.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. I think this is Shadow Castle again :-) See Solved Stumpers.

Shadow Castle
I would very much like to identify a book I read somewhere in the early 1970s (I was born in 1960). The story line involved some dragons who lived on a mountaintop and drank nectar from teacups. Going up the mountain you passed pink clouds, then purple ones, etc. In another chapter, the main character has to pass thru a dark tunnel to get to some magic land, and with scary ghostly creatures in the tunnel. Kind of an Alice in Wonderland deal in that respect. There is a time-travel quality to it, some prince who has to find his sweetie and is running out of time. His image is fading as time passes. The main character tries to help him. This may be an anthology of different stories, or it is possible I've somehow combined story lines of two different books. I can't seem to connect the nectar-drinking dragons and the protagonist in the dark tunnel....

Shadow Castle. I don't know the dragon story, but the tunnel to the magic land with a sense of menace and urgency sounds like Shadow Castle, which is in the solved mysteries.
Definitely Shadow Castle by Marian Cockrell (1945). The dragon who drinks nectar is Branstookah. Lucy passes through the tunnel and is frightened by an unseen malevolent being. Mika is the fairy prince who has been parted from his beloved for one thousand years and seven days. The book is a series of tales about different members of one family, which is why you remember it as a collection of short stories, instead of a book. If you want to read the version you remember from your childhood, be sure to purchase either a vintage copy or a reprint of the original from Buccaneer books. The expanded edition of Shadow Castle currently sold by Amazon contains violent scenes that were not in the original.
Cockrell, Marion, Shadow Castle. This sounds like the book, look on the solved mystery pages for some good descriptions.
marion cockrell, Shadow Castle. This is a chapter from Shadow Castle - more of this one on the Solved Mysteries page.

Shadow Glen
I am trying to locate a paperback book probably written in the 1960's, but not sure. It's a Gothic romance type of story. Plot line revolves around a girl whose mother will be having a serious operation, and tells her that she kidnapped her and wants her to go back to see her real mother. The girl does and finds that she is terrified of the horses on the mansion grounds, doesn't know why. She finds herself trapped in the horse paddocks and knows that she will be killed. Eventually, she learns her real mother is insane and tried to kill a person by having a horse trample them to death. She was seated in front of her mother on the horse. There is also a side romantic line. I have looked everywhere for this book and would appreciate it if anyone could help me.

Anne McCaffrey, Ring of Fire. This could be it. McCaffrey wrote a few romance novels as well as the Pern dragon fantasies.
McCaffrey, Ring of Fear. I previously proposed McCaffrey's Ring of Fire for this stumper. The title is actually Ring of Fear.
The suggested solution is definitely not the one. I have researched that title and the plot is no where near the same. Thanks anyway, and I hope someone still comes up with it.
This sounds vaguely like a book I read long ago by Mary Monica Pulver. There were a few in the series, about a police detective and his much younger wife--Peter and Kori Brichter. They were written in the late 80s/early 90s, so they're not the right timeframe. Maybe worth checking out though?
Dorothy Daniels, Shadow Glen. Thanks to everyone who read my requests. I was able to locate the book through some pictures of old gothic romance books online.

Shadow Guests
A kid named Cosmo (perhaps Cozmo) goes to stay for a summer with his aunt, a mathematician, in her house by an old watermill. While there, he meets several time travellers, who he helps out as best he can with the issues of their time. One of them is a Roman slave-cum-gladiator, with whom Cosmo practices net and trident combat. His aunt gives him a copy of "Flatland," and one of her students (while drunk), claims to have seen the square root of -1 somewhere in the cellar. I think i first read this book accidentally, thinking it was by Diana Wynne Jones (it's not). Any help would be appreciated.

This sounds very much like Joan Aiken's The Shadow Guests. Cosmo is sent to live with his aunt after his mother and older brother vanish (I think from a desert in Australia?). He's lonely until he starts meeting the ghosts of ancient relatives. He has to help train them to help them break a curse on his family. The first one is a roman gladiator. The curse is somehow connected to his mother's and brother's disappearance.
Joan Aiken, The Shadow Guests. Cosom is staying with his (great) aunt after the loss of his brother and mother - there are a number of time travellers including a roman slave and a crusader, also poltergeist activity. It reminds me of Diana Wynne Jones too!

Shadow Over Mousehaven Manor
Children's book about a female mouse who goes to search for her missing aunt w/help of a white weasel; along the way, evil mice/rats heard chanting "Sungam" which they find is Magnus backwards, name of the most evil one. They discover this by writing SANGUM in the snow with a stick (illustrated)

SOLVED: Mary DeBall Kwitz, Shadow Over Mousehaven Manor, 1990. The book is illustrated by Stella Ormai. The SAME WEEK I emailed you, I found out the name of the book by happenstace, at my local library - this, after YEARS of searching. It was the most amazing coincidence I can remember having in my life. And 3 days before Christmas! So I was able to get the book for my sister, the person for whom I had been searching. As an addendum, actually the illustration only showed the female mouse named Minabell writing SUNGAM in the snow with her finger, not with a stick. And the white weasel was actually a secret agent Magnus was an evil rat, served by evil rats he had taken over Aunt PittyPat's mansion, otherwise known as Moushaven Manor. Thanks all!

Shark in Charlie's Window
In the late 70s, I had a paperback book, very possibly Scholastic. This book was about a boy with a pet shark that flew. I recall a scene where there was a kite competition and he attached his shark to a stick and would have won, if the shark hadn't started nibbling on other people's kites.

F12 - The Shark in Charlie's Window?
Lazarus, Keo Felker. The Shark In Charlie's Window. Illustrated by Laurel Schindleman. Scholastic, 1972, paperback.
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Kid's book about a young boy who finds a shark on the beach. He takes it home, feeds it hamburger and it learns to fly rather than swim.

Keo Felker Lazarus, The shark in the window, 1972. Some details aren't quite right but could this be it? An eleven-year-old boy faces a unique problem when he discovers the shark hatched from the shark egg in his aquarium can fly.
Keo Felker Lazarus, The Shark in Charlie's Window, 1972. Charlie finds a 'mermaid's purse' (egg case) on the beach, and puts it into his aquarium. When the shark hatches, Charlie names it 'Nipper'. And, yes, Nipper can fly!

She Fell Among Thieves
This was a short story for adults, not children, about a pair of grave robbers. They would go around to Middle Eastern archealogical sites and steal treasures to sell. One day they come across this statue of a beautiful nude woman, standing with her hands on her hips, looking over her shoulder. Her hairstyle
identifies her as being from ancient times. They load her on their truck and proceed to drive through a heavy rainstorm. When they check the contents of the truck, no statue is there, only rainwater. It is then that they realize that the statue was actually Lot's wife, turned into a "pillar" of salt! It is a cool story, but I don't remember the author or title. This was in a anthology of short stories.

"She Fell Among Thieves," short story by Robert Edmond Alter. This is NOT the same story as the movie of that title starring Malcolm McDowell, which is based on a novel by Dornford Yates. Maybe he stole the title, or maybe they both borrowed it from another source. The short story appeared in "Argosy," 1964, I also know I saw it in "The Reader's Digest" a long time ago. It can be found in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Master's Choice, Edited by Alfred Hitchcock, Random House, 1979.

She's Come Undone
Fiction Book about a young, overweight woman that wants to become thin. She is aided by a gay, black man. written by a latin female.

I recall additional information that may help. Not only did the two gay men befriend the overweight woman, but helped her to lose weight through diet and exercise, e.g., she would eat only hard boiled eggs and, gradually, toast was added to the menu. Also, one of the gay men, I believe the black one, contracted an intestinal parasite. The book was written by a female with both a Spanish and Anglo name, e.g., Consuela Brown. This book was written between 1970 and 1998. I originally found and read this book from a hodgepodge of stored, unused books in the storage area of the Shreve Memorial Library. I have perused various library and online bibliographic databases, e.g., World Cat and Library of Congress for this with no luck. Perhaps this additional information will jog someone's memory. I certainly appreciate any assistance in locating this book.

SOLVED: Wally Lamb, She's Come Undone. I found it!!!!

Sheep of Lal Bagh
This book we also had in early 70s. Bought from a monthly book club. I have no idea really what the name of this book could be. It is about a sheep that has a talent of chewing the grass in designs. It is alot like charlottes web except it is a sheep that creates designs on people lawns. All three of these books I have been looking for but have had not luck. Help please!

I read a book with some similarities recently, though I'm not positive it's the right one. I can't come up with the title tonight, but maybe these details will help. It takes place in India, and the sheep does designs in the lawn of the local park. The children love the sheep, but the adults want to modernize with a lawnmower, so the sheep is put out to pasture. The sheep is bored and lonely, the people miss the designs, the children miss the sheep. So they bring the sheep back and he plays with the children and makes designs only on special occasions. Is this the right one?
Mark, David, Sheep of Lal Bagh, 1967. Parents Magazine Press. This is the book I couldn't remember, about Ramesh, the sheep in an Indian park. Hopefully, it's a match to the stumper!
S140 Might be THE SHEEP OF LAL BAGH by David Mark, illustrated by Lionel Kalish, Parents Magazine Press, 1967. A sheep lives in a park in India and crowds come to see him nibble the grass in different designs. But the park keeper decides to replace him with a lawnmower...~from a librarian
David Mark, The Sheep of the Lal-Bagh, 1967. I just started looking for this one too! One of my childhood favorites.
David Mark, The Sheep of the Lal Bagh, 1967. I also belonged to the Parents' Magazine Press Book Club. This was one of my favorite books. I hope you can find a copy for yourself.
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I'm looking for a book that I read in elementary school (early 70s). If I remember correctly, there was a goat or sheep that mowed (ate) the grass around the king's castle in interesting patterns. I remember the people looking middle eastern with turbans and the castle had tops that looked like the Taj Mahal. I hope you can help. Thanks!!!

M301 This is THE SHEEP OF LAL BAGH by David Mark, Parents Magazine Press~from a librarian
Mark, David, Sheep of the Lal Bagh, 1967, Parent's Magazine Press. "A sheep lives in a special park in India and nibbles the grass in decorative designs until he is replaced by a lawnmower."

Sherwood Ring
I think this book would be characterized as a young adult book, so I'm not sure that it falls within your area of expertise, but I'd appreciate any help I can get. I read this book back in the early 60's, so it had to have been published before then. I began looking for this book after I had moved, but only a few years after I had last read it. That's why I was so sure I knew the title, Rest and Be Thankful. However, whenever I do a search I come up with the book by Helen MacInnes, which it is not. This book is about a girl who has to go stay with her uncle in the country (who knows why) and is not too happy about it. His house is old, dating from the revolutionary war, and the girl becomes aware of ghosts from that time period. She somehow witnesses scenes from the past: a brother and sister who live in the house; a young British soldier who becomes involved with the sister. It was very sweet and I think of this book often. Your site is the first I've found that is willing to take on a search based on such flimsy information. I have been looking for more than 30 years and still yearn to read this book again. Thank you in advance for any help you might be able to give.

I know the answer to R1 of your stumpers - the one about the Revolutionary War ghosts at a place called Rest and Be Thankful. It's The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope.
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I am looking for a young-adult novel I read sometime between 1980-83 when I was in junior high school. I read it in one day and returned it to the school library the next, without sufficiently digesting title and author and thus have no idea of either. The framework of the story involved a young woman who goes to live and/or work at a house (possibly with connection to her family) and eventually falls in love. However, the real meat of the story is told by the ghosts she meets in the house, who tell her, over the course of several nights, of their adventures during the Civil (?) War, when the house is overtaken by soldiers of the oppposing side. The brother is imprisoned in the basement, but the sister allowed limited freedom of the house by the gentlemanly officers, and invited to dine with their commander. Communicating with her brother in their old schoolroom foot-stomping code, she assures him that she can take care of things, while making it clear to their captors that she is in possesion of a bottle of laudanum. Thus, when she brings the drinks (in distinctive heirloom goblets, one of which has a dolphin base) after dinner (during which she has been thoroughly charmed by the dashing officer), he knows that one is poisoned. Guessing wrongly, he has just enough time to stand and propose to her before dropping insensible at her feet. Lapsing briefly into hysterics, she then recovers to save the day. After the war, though, she waits day after day in the window watching for her lover to return. The young lady who listens to the ghosts' stories uses incidents from them in her own life, for example, disguising her suitor's unwelcome presence at a party by having him impersonate a waiter, and eventually her own romance is resolved to the satisfaction of the couple. I hope someone can identify this for me, as I have tried unsuccessfully for 20-some years to find it!

Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Sherwood Ring, 1958. "Newly orphaned Peggy Grahame is caught off-guard when she first arrives at her family’s ancestral estate. Her eccentric uncle Enos drives away her only new acquaintance, Pat, a handsome British scholar, then leaves Peggy to fend for herself. But she is not alone. The house is full of mysteries—and ghosts. Soon Peggy becomes involved with the spirits of her own Colonial ancestors and witnesses the unfolding of a centuries-old romance against a backdrop of spies and intrigue and of battles plotted and foiled. History has never been so exciting—especially because the ghosts are leading Peggy to a romance of her own!"
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Sherwood Ring. Definitely!
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Sherwood Ring,2001, reprint. It was the Revolutionary War, but all the other details match. The present-day girl is Peggy Grahame, living with her Uncle Enos at the family home, Rest-and-be-thankful. She meets Pat
Thorne the ghosts are Barbara and Richard Grahame (her relatives) and a British officer, Peaceable Sherwood. I remember that "waiter" gig too!
Dear Wonderful BookFinder: I'm so pleased to have "found" this book again--I'm looking forward to reading it with my daughter. Thank you all so much!
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This is the story of a young woman who time travels to the days of the American Revolution. She (or a character she meets--I'm not sure whether she acts in the past or is just an observer) falls in love with a British raider/spy whose first name is Peaceable. At one point he locks her up in his house (I think to prevent her from turning him in). Her brother (or cousin?) comes to visit, and they communicate silently through a code that involves kicking and stepping on each other's feet. The modern-day heroine turns out to be a descendant of the Revolutionary-Era woman, and she falls in love with one of the raider's descendants (who's been named for him). I read this in the late 60s.

Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Sherwood Ring. This is definitely the book you are seeking. The author also wrote The Perilous Gard which is another great book you might enjoy.
Elizabeth Marie Pope,The Sherwood Ring. This is The Sherwood Ring - the British officer's name is Peaceable Drummond Sherwood.
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Sherwood Ring. This is it! One of my favorites. It's in the Solved Mysteries.
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Sherwood Ring, 1958. One of the nicest time-travel books ever! :)
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Sherwood Ring. see solved stumpers!
This is definitely The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
T278 Great memory to remember the name Peaceable! The book is The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Pope.~from a librarian
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Sherwood Ring. The British officer named Peaceable nails it - it's Pope's The Sherwood Ring. Memory is a bit garbled - the modern girl hears the stories of Revolution adventure from family ghosts. She sees Barbara, the American girl who loved Peaceable most often.

Shhhhh, It's a Secret
It's a book probably from the early 70's as I was 6 when my first grade teacher read me the book (and I'm 33 now). It was a paperback, bright yellow cover. I believe the title was "Shhh! It's a Secret" and it was about a boy that was told a secret and couldn't tell anyone. Well keeping the secret in, was killing him and as he held in the secret his cheeks got bigger and he did everything not to tell. He ended up digging a huge hole and yelling the secret into the hole. I can't find this book anywhere...I'm pretty certain I have the the title right.

Bernice Myers, Shhhhh, It's a Secret, 1973. Look for Shhhhh spelled with 5 h's. Published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York. Level 9 of Holt Basic Reading System. Cover is soft & yellow, with a picture of a boy wearing a green sweater, holding his hands by his mouth. "William gets told a secret for the very first time and promises not to tell but it is driving him crazy with excitement."
Not a solution, but a sidelight: the plot sounds like it's been taken from one of the myths about King Midas. (He "misjudged" -- in the opinion of loser Apollo -- a music contest, and was cursed with asses' ears. He hid this shame from all but his barber, but the barber, unable to contain himself, had to relieve his feelings by digging a hole in the ground and shouting into it "King Midas has asses' ears!" Unfortunately, the nearby plantlife heard this and spread the word, and Midas was humiliated.
Mollie Hunter, A Stranger Came Ashore, 1975. Twelve-year-old Robbie is certain that the stranger washed ashore and taken in by his family is a Selkie, who will take Robbie's sister back to the sea with him. It takes place in the Shetland Islands.

Shiba Productions
Thumbelina, 1960-1968? This book had a shiny black hard cover with a 3-D type picture about 3" by 4" inserted into a frame on the cover ( I don't remember what the picture was of). The pages were thick like a board book and the illustrations were photographs of cloth dolls. I remember that thumbelina was underground in a mole's home nursing a sick robin with a blanket over it. She was a cloth doll with yellow yarn hair. I think that the pictures took the entire page with the words written over the picture. I think it may have been an abridged version of Hans Christian Anderson's story because I don't remember many words although I wasn't reading very well then. I think another photo shows her riding on the robins back. One of the last pages had thumbelina with other fairies sitting on flowers.

T223 I think this is one of the books created by Izawa & Hijikata. They were published under different series titles, like Puppet Storybook, Puppet Treasure Books and more. Try doing a search on "Thumbelina, Izawa and Hijikata"~from a librarian
This isn't really a solution, but may help find the correct book. My sister had a version of The Snow Queen that sounds exactly like this book. It had a black shiny cover with a "holographic" type 3D picture inserted in the front. The pages were board book in type and the illustrations were cloth dolls posed in various scenes. Perhaps this particular publisher did a series of famous fairy tales in this format? As I recall, the author was listed simply as Hans Christian Anderson and I don't remember a publisher's name anywhere on the book.
It may help to know that the black covered 3d books were produced by Shiba Productions and not Grosset and Dunlap (who produced the puppet storybooks). They are readily found and aren't too expensive.
Hans Christian Andersen, Thumbelina, mid 1960s. This is one of a series of books published by Golden Press, pictures of Shiba Productions. I have "The Little Mermaid" and it is just as you have described "Thumbelina": there is a 3-D, holographic picture embedded in the cover, and the pictures are photographs of cloth dolls or puppets. When you search for the book, it helps if you use keywords "golden press" and "shiba."
Hi, Do you know anything about these books? They are 3-D puppet books. Some are by H.C.Andersen. They are all fairy tales. (Little mermaid, snow queen, tin soldier, puss and boots, thumbelina.) Do you know the name of this series, how many books were in it and the titles? Any info you have is greatly appreciated. They were from 1966 - 1968, I think.

Shield of Three Lions
I am looking for a book that I read back around 1984-1986. I was only 9 or 10 at the time, and it was one of my parents books. I am pretty sure it wasn't written by Stephen King, but similar style to some of his fantasy-type books. I want to say the title might have the word dragon in it, but again, I'm not positive. Seems that it was set back in medieval times. It's about a girl whose "kingdom?" is invaded and her mother/sisters etc. are killed by the enemy barbarian types who rape and pillage and destroy everything. This girl must be disguised as a boy to save her life, and a man is found to escort her to some far away place where she will be safe. I think the girl keeps a glass vial of either blood/tears/or her mothers milk with her. He doesn't know she is a female, and she must keep it a secret. During the story, her impression of this man is initially negative, but by the end of the book, I believe they end up marrying eachother. During the story there is some visit to a church of some kind, and an incident where the girl must pretend to be peeing as a boy to ensure no one finds out her secret. In the story she also begins to menstruate and initially thinks her guardian must have found her secret and taken advantage of her in her sleep. Its only when they spend a night in a crowded inn that she hears other women speak of personal things that she realizes her secret is still safe. It was one of those mass produced, soft cover books that you could have found at any drugstore during the time it was published. But it was so long ago, that I have no idea how to find it. I would like to read it again as an adult since I have remembered it for all these years.

Kaufman, Pamela, Shield of Three Lions. NY Crown 1983. Although this is not a fantasy novel, I'm pretty certain it's the one wanted. Here's the blurb: "Eleven-year-old Alix is the daughter of the baron of Wanthwaite, whose lands along the Scottish border are among the best in England. But when her family is killed and her lands seized, Alix is forced to flee from the only home she’s ever known. Her one hope of restoring her inheritance is to plead her case to King Richard the Lion Heart, who is far away in France, preparing to go on his Crusade. Alix resolves to follow him. She cuts her hair, dresses as a boy, and takes the road south to London. Disguised as a beautiful young boy, Alix is more than befriended by the handsome and mysterious King Richard, even becoming his favorite page. Their relationship sets tongues wagging and places Alix in considerable danger as the battle for Jerusalem unfolds." The similarities - Alix's castle is attacked in the opening scenes. Her mother is raped and murdered, and her 'milk-sister' Maisry is also raped and murdered when she tries to distract their pursuers as Alix escapes. Alix disguises herself as a boy and is companioned by a wild Scot, Enoch, who considers her as his young brother. The menstruation incident occurs exactly as described. Alix, being the heir to the castle and lands, is being pursued by agents of the usurper, and at one point one of them claims that he has an illness for which one of the medicines is the urine of a young boy, and Alix pretends to pee like a boy. I don't recall the vial of tears/blood. However, Alix does have a 'treasure' of coins in a purse or similar, which she conceals under her clothes to help her pass as a boy. Some other incidents that might trigger memory - Alix is dressed as Cupid and hidden in a pastry shell as part of a feast subtelty; she helps a woman deliver twins, one of whom is born with a caul; she sees Richard order the massacre of Saracens; she returns to Wanthwaite and frames the usurper for rape; she is forced to marry Enoch in order to regain her lands.
Rhoda Lerman, The Book of the Night, 1984. Description of this one I found online: On the island of Iona, where the tenth century co-exists with the twentieth, where the old Celtic gods fight against the rising power of Rome, where science and religion are locked in combat, Celeste, girl-child disguised as a boy, reaches puberty. The awakening of powerful sexual desire pushes her into the chaos that exists behind the apparent order of nature and the created order of human culture.
Pamela Kaufman, Shield of Three Lions, 1983. As previously stated, this is the book being sought. While on a pilgrimage with her milk sister, Maisry, the protagonist, Alix, purchases a religious relic, a metal vial that allegedly contains a drop of the Holy Virgin's own milk. After Alix discovers that her mother has been slain, she opens the vial, discovers it is empty, and squeezes a few drops of her mother's blood into the vial. She also takes a lock of her mother's hair. When her wounded father dies soon afterwards, she adds his blood to the vial and takes a lock of his hair and his dagger.

Shiniest Star
This was a beautifully-illustrated book about 3 angel-children who had to shine their stars every day. The most distinctive thing I remember was their names: the littlest one was named "Touslehead" and I think one of the others was named "Crew-cut."

The Shiniest Star (title).
Beth Varden (author), The Shiniest Star. I googled the character names and found The Shiniest Star by Beth Varden and some information about the original publication. This is the way I have found other favourite childhood books whose titles and authors have eluded me.
Beth Varden (author), The Shiniest Star. Definitely the book. It''s very hard to find, but you can read the whole text online: http://www.denelder.com/poetry/shinystar.html .
Beth Varden (author), The Shiniest Star (1950). This book has the following lines: "When the Christmas Star is shining in the dark blue sky at night, / Did you ever start to wonder how it got to be so bright? / Well, some special little angels(just the very smallest size) / Use to have the job of shining all the stars up in the skies./An alarm clock rang at sundown--(when most children go to bed!) / Waking Pigtails, walking Crewcut, waking little Touslehead." Note: there is a current version available with illustrations by Charlot Byi, though not will all the original ''extras'' like the manger scene and the whistle.
Beth Vardon (author), The Shiniest Star, (1958). A charming Christmas pop-up book, featuring angels Pigtails, Crewcut, and Touslehead. Each angel is responsible for polishing his/her star, and keeping it bright and shiny. The three exchange stories about what their stars have done. Crewcut angel says "Listen! My star saved two children, Lost and wandering side by side. It was midnight in the forest. They were scared as scared could be! But MY STAR shone through the darkness. I was helping them to see!" Touslehead's star is the Christmas star. The book ends, "When the Christmas Star is shining In the dark blue sky at night, Maybe Touslehead's STILL working -- Proud and glad to KEEP it bright!" The original book was spiral-bound. A reproduction was issued in 1999 by International Music Publications.'
Beth Vardon (author), The Shiniest Star. Found this description, hope it helps! "A Christmas book about an angel, Touslehead, who tries diligently to shine his star, but it just won't shine up as brightly as the other small angels' stars.
Beth Vardon (author), Charlot Byj (illustrator), The Shiniest Star. I just finished reading about this book! Go to the Solved Mysteries page "W", and look up a book called, "The Wonderful Window." It was also written by the same team. This book has a link to a website that has the entire text of "The Shiniest Star" and a picture of the cover too. One little angel was Crewcut, one was Touslehead and I'm pretty sure a third little angel was Pigtails. I didn't read it all, but it was a Christmas story about the star that the wise men followed. Touslehead seemed to be the main character. Hope this helps!
This sounds like The Shiniest Star by Beth Vardon (author) and Charlot Byi (illustrator). Here's a description from elsewhere on the Loganberry Books site: "The Shiniest Star is about three little angels who polish their stars in heaven. The hard working, humble Touselhead's star becomes the Christmas star." The book apparently has some pop-ups and accessories (star, gift card, gift box, wisemen, whistle?) and intact copies are difficult to find and expensive.
By Beth Vardon Illustratred by Charlotte Byi, The Shinest Star 1958 I am looking at this book right now! it was a gift to me from my mother and was dated 1958. It has had a paper nativity scene which could be assembled (long gone) I still have the little fish whistle (the shark) that Pigtails told her story about! A couple of the pages are pop ups! Stange there is no publisher listed. I do remember it came in a box with the same picture as the front cover of the book. Perhaps it contained the publisher. I seem to remember that my aunt sold Sunshine Cards at this time. I can't be sure, but, for some reason I thought my mother ordered the book from her. It is a wonderful book I have shared with my children and hopefully I will have grandchildren to read it to! I was six years old the Christmas my mother gave it to me.

Ship that Flew
Sometime during the late 50's, I read a fantasy about a family of 3 or 4 children who came across a small Viking (?) ship that would magically grow large and take them all on adventures. any ideas?

The Ship that Flew by Hilda Winifred Lewis. Critierion Press, 1952.
The book I was looking for did turn out to be The Ship That Flew by Hilda Lewis...thanks so much for coming up with the title! I got the book interlibrary-loaned through my local library and after reading the story, found it to be as satisfying as it was 40 years ago! Thanks again!
More on the title - The Ship that Flew, by Hilda Lewis, illustrated by Nora Lavrin, published Oxford University Press 1939, 320 pages (frequently reprinted). Peter, Sheila, Humphrey and Sandy Grant live in a seaside village in England. Their mother is ill and in a nursing home, their father is a doctor. Peter sees a beautiful little model ship in a dark little shop and buys it from an old man with an eye-patch for "all the money you have in the world - and a bit over." He soon discovers that if he wishes, the ship grows to whatever size is necesssary and flies through space and time. The children use it to visit their mother, to travel to a bazaar in Egypt (where they almost lose the ship to the governor of the town), to a Norman castle (and later they bring the Norman daughter to their own time), to ancient Egypt, to medieval England where they help Robin Hood save one of his men, and to Asgard, where they discover that their ship is the one made for the god Frey. At the end of the book they give the ship back in return for their heart's desire.
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My sister remembers this book from our elementary school about 4 British children (2 boys and 2 girls) who travel around in a flying ship (possibly blue) that can fit into your pocket. She thinks they may have gone to other worlds or other times or something like that. She would have read it in the early 90s but we have no idea how old the story is. Any ideas?

Sounds like Lewis' The Ship that Flew. The kids in question visit ancient Egypt and Norman England, among other places.
Lewis, Hilda, The ship that flew, 1939. This is definitely your book. A classic time travel book about Peter and his siblings. Peter first sees the ship in a shop window. They travel back in time on several adventures, including to meet Robin Hood, to Ancient Egypt and to meet the Norse god Odin. It has been reprinted many times and I think is still in print.
Yes, it was reprinted in 1998, but it is out of print again now.
Lewis, Hilda, The Ship That Flew, 1958. This one sounds like The Ship That Flew. Peter, the oldest brother in a family of four (two girls, two boys) buys a tiny Viking ship in a toy shop, only to discover that it can somehow grow big enough to take all the children for rides through time and space. They visit the pyramids, Robin Hood, William the Conqueror and, in the end, Odin and the other Viking gods. 1958 is the US publication date, I think it was originally published much earlier in England.
Hilda Lewis, The Ship That Flew, 1939 etc. etc. Could it be this one? I found an online description: "Peter buys a model ship and discovers it to be magical, having the power to grow and shrink and to travel to distant places and times. He has several adventures on it with his brothers and sisters....The style of the book reflects 1930s childhood while being fairly timeless." I believe the ship was a model Viking ship, large enough to sail on a pond in the park (when not being shrunk to hide it). If I remember correctly, the adventures were historical, and Odin or Thor reappeared here and there to guide the children.
Lewis, Hilda, The ship that flew. This sounds like The Ship that flew, a boy buys a model boat in a secondhand shop, and later it turns out to grow and carry both him and his brother and sisters. They travel through time, but eventually hand the ship back to its true owner. Quite old but recently reprinted.
I think this sounds like it's the one, so I'll send the title off to my sister. Thanks for the help, everyone!
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Anyway, the book I am trying to remember is about several siblings in England or British Isles who find a magic toy ship and it transports them back in time. I remember that they went to Egypt, among other places. I read this back in the 60s but not sure when it was written. Can you help me? Thanks so much. You have an awesome website and business!

Hilda Lewis, The Ship That Flew,1939. "When Peter sees the model ship in the shop window, he wants it more than anything else on Earth. But this is no ordinary model. The ship takes Peter and the other children on magical flights, wherever they ask to go. Time after time the magic ship takes them on different exciting adventures, to different countries, and to different times. And why should magic ever end?"
Hilda Lewis, The ship that flew, 1939. This sounds like the one. There are several descriptions of it under the solved pages.
Not sure, but could this be one of Edward Eager's books, possibly MAGIC BY THE LAKE? ~from a librarian
Lewis, Hilda, Ship That Flew. Peter buys the ship in a mysterious old shop, and he and his three siblings travel to Egypt, Norman France, and even Asgard.
Hilda Lewis, The Ship That Flew, 1938. If it was a Viking longboat, it was probably The Ship that Flew. My copy is dated 1953, but it'\''s a reprint.
E. Nesbit, The Story of the Amulet. Could this be The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit? No toy ship, but it is about two brothers and two sisters in England who get an amulet that lets them travel through time, and they do go to Egypt as well as to Babylon and Atlantis and other places
Hilda Lewis, The Ship that Flew. This is the book that originally brought me to this website! An old favourite.
This is not Eager's Magic By The Lake - that's about a turtle that grants wishes.

Shoemaker's Son: The Life of Hans Christian Andersen
Early to mid 1950s. Not sure if this was a chapter book, more text than illustration. Two episodes stand out in memory: Hans and his cobbler father making and playing with puppets and the father placing shoes on the table--a superstition of death--and the father dying soon afterward. The other incident was Hans visiting an old woman considered a witch in the village and her eccentric but delightful home full of toys. He later used her as inspiration for the toy castle witch for Snow Queen. The book went through his whole life into adulthood and his many honors.

Constance Buel Burnett, Shoemaker's Son: The Life of Hans Christian Andersen, 1943, approximate. Sounds like this one, to me.
Constance Buel Burnett, The Shoemaker's Son - The Life of Hans Christian Andersen, 1941, copyright. There are many versions of Andersen's biography, but this one looks like a good possiblility. Includes an incident where an old brown suit of his father's is cut down to fit him for Easter Sunday, and he is given his first pair of leather shoes. He loves his new finery, but is distressed that the long pants hide the tops of his new boots. He wants to roll up the trousers to better show off his shoes, but his mother won't let him. He later tucks the trousers into the tops of his shoes. The book includes photographs, illustrations by Fritz Kredel, and reproductions of Andersen's intricate paper cutouts.
Ruth Manning-Sanders, The Story of Hans Andersen, Swan of Denmark, 1949, copyright. Based on the date, this might be worth checking out. Includes illustrations by Astrid Walford.
The Shoemaker's Son. Oh, this is it! I remember the incident about the cut down brown suit and the Fritz Kredel illustrations. I have literally been trying to find the title of this book for over 40 years! Ms. Logan, is it available from you by any chance? I believe I could find it now but would like you to have the business if possible. Thanks EVERYONE for your help and incredible memories.

Shore of Women
PLEASE FIND ME THE TITLE OF THIS BOOK. Teen fantasy/ romance. Published before 2000. Some kind of alternate history or post apocalypse. Women live in communities (enclaves) civilized society with advanced tech and flying machines. Men roam outside in bands/groups/tribes and survive as they can. Women call men using 'temples' where men go to pray to the 'goddess' who summons them and gives them 'visions' of pleasure. When the men go to the enclave they are allowed in a small chamber and are sedated and treated medically. Semen is gathered for artificial insemination while they are unaware. Male children are given to a wandering group – preferably containing the biological father. One girl falls in love and leaves the enclave, becomes pregnant. Dangerous realisation of the lack of divinity of women. Growing understanding of biological responsibility.

Tepper, Sheri S., The Gate to Women's Country, 1988, copyright. Although the details don't match up exactly, Tepper's The Gate to Women's Country has some of your topics. The two sexes are divided, and the only men allowed in the women's country are non-violent. The main character in the story, a young girl, learns that her father was a different person than the man her mother told her he was.
Sheri S. Tepper, The Gate to Women's Country, 1988, copyright.
Pamela Sargent , The Shore of Women. This is Pamela Sargent's "The Shore of Women". You may also enjoy Sheri S. Tepper's "The Gate to Women's Country".
Tepper, Sherri, The Gate to Women's Country. This could be what the requester is looking for. In Tepper's book, women live in enclaves, while most of the men live in military camps outside the enclaves. The men are not permitted to enter the enclaves, except special areas where they have sex with the women. When boys are born to the women in the enclaves, they spend their first 10 or so years with their mothers, but at the end of that period, they must live with their fathers and be trained as soldiers for another 10 or so years. At the end of this period, they must decide whether they want to live with their mothers or with their fathers. In truth, the women who become pregnant are artificially inseminated with sperm from the men who have chosen to live in the enclaves.
Thank you, I have been looking for this book for a very long time now, and you seem to have found it amazingly quickly. I think it is Pamela Sargent's The Shore of Women.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School
THe book I am looking for is a young adult novel, possibly one in a series. It is about a group of students in a rather crazy school, which I think was missing the thirteenth floor. I remember one student being sent to this floor. I also recall a story about a boy in the class who sat behind a girl with pigtails. He loved to pull them, and she hated it. One day, she (I'm not sure how) fell out the window, and the only way she was able to get back into the class was by the boy pulling her up by the pigtails. I read this years ago and would love to know its name.

If it's a school without a 19th floor, then it's one of the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar.
Sachar, Louis, Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Definitly the one. Get ready for seven thousand other people to chime in with the answer too, as this is a very popular book!
Sachar, Louis, Wayside School is Falling Down, 1989. This is the book you want. The school has no 19th floor. Leslie is the girl with the pigtails.
Louis Sachar, Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Louis Sachar, Sideways Stories from Wayside School. I know it's in one of these books- there's a sequel Wayside School is Falling Down, etc. but I believe it's in the first one- Sideways Stories from Wayside School.
Louis Sachar, Wayside Schoolseries, 1978. The description sounds a lot like the Wayside School series. These are the titles I am familiar with: Sideway Stories from Wayside School,Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, and Wayside School is Falling Down. The school is 30 stories high with only one room on each floor. There is no 19th floor but in one chapter in one of the books, someone does go to that floor. Very funny books.
S421 This is one of the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar - listed here in no particular order: WAYSIDE SCHOOL IS FALLING DOWN; WAYSIDE SCHOOL GETS A LITTLE STRANGER; SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL; SIDEWAYS ARITHMETIC FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL.~from a librarian
Louis Sachar, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, 1980s. Such a fun book! There is at least one sequel.
Louis Sachar, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, 1978. This is definitey one of the Wayside story books. "Humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was accidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story."

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Sachar, Louis. Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Harper Collins, 1978, 1998. New paperback, $5.99

Siegfried, Dog of the Alps
What a great site. I hope you can help :) Of course I have no title or author, but here is the plot... There is a St. Bernard who is very afraid of the cold. He tries to be other types of dog, i.e., a lap dog, but it doesn't work. He loves to sit by the fire or watch the children go to school. One day the children go on a hiking trip and the St. Bernard is very nervous. Soon there is a blizzard and the children do not return. Even though he hates the cold he goes out after them and happily he rescues them :) I read this book in the early 1970s, it was a hard cover library book. The only thing I know is that it is not "Barry the Story of a Brave St. Bernard" I have that one. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Talk about weird. After searching for this book for years, I found your site and e-mailed you a "stumper" about a cold St. Bernard. Then, just for fun, I decided to check the Library of congress. After scrolling through many pages I actually found my book. The book is Siegfried, dog of the Alps by Syd Hoff published by Gosset and Dunlap in 1970. Well now that I know the name I am hoping you can help me to find it. I am so excited to find your site I have flagged it on my favorite list.

Signs And Wonders
This has been driving me crazy! I had a book that I just loved. I loaned it to someone (I can't remember who) about 10 years ago, and I never got it back. I would like to find another copy of it. This book I'm thinking of is a collection of humorous short stories about the amish/minnenite community. One of the stories is about a church oven that blew up. One was about car that was built in a barn loft and fell through the roof. The air had to be let out of the tires to get the car out of the barn. One was about how evangelistic tapes were tied to balloons and floated in the general direction of a community that "needed to be saved". It was not a huge book, and it contained about 10 or so short stories. I remember reading it to my son, and we just laughed out loud. Thank you for your help.

Keillor, garrison. Your description sounds a whole lot like stories Garrison Keillor (A Prairie Home Companion) tells. Some of his stories have been compiled in books. So, perhaps it was one of those you remember.
Phillip Gulley. Phillip Gulley writes a series of books about being a Quaker pastor in a small town named Harmony. I'm sure the balloons are in one of them, and I think I remember the oven blowing up too.
Phillip Gulley, Signs And Wonders

Silent Bells
A young girl living in the alps,perhaps France, in a small town where the cathedral bells no longer ring.....the custom is to take gifts to the cathedral to place in the manger.....she leaves home in the morning, with her dog(?), with a hand made blanket, and meets a man in need of the blanket,,she trades him the blanket.for whatever it is he has(bird in a cage ?) continues her journey and continues to trade what she has for what people need....she ends up with tiny worn out carving of a lamb. When she finally arrives at the cathedral she is embarassed by what she has,but goes up the isle andvplaces the lamb, a perfect fit,in the hands of the baby Jesus.....and the bells of the cathedral again begin to ring...Not to be confused with "Why the Chimes Rang: Christmas Classic"....i believe that the title included the words Bells or Miracle and perhaps the name of the Cathedral or Province

William MacKellar, The Silent Bells, 1978. This is the book you are looking for. It's set in a Swiss alpine village. There is also a play version published. Our church presented it during the Christmas season a couple years ago. I looked on-line and the book seems to be readily available for purchase and several libraries were listed in the Find in a Library site. BTW the play version was adapted by Jane O'Neill & Charles Todd Apple
MacKellar, William, The Silent Bells, 1978. "A young Swiss girl dreams of the day the cathedral bells, which no one has ever heard, will break their long silence when a special gift is presented at the crèche on Christmas Eve."
Good morning......i believe i solved my own mystery........yesteray,i googled, for the 99th time ,some key words......up popped a youth fiction website from around the world.....there sat a description that caught my eye......to make a long story short......the name of the book is The Silent Bells by Jonathan MacKellar and illustrated by Ted Lewin......Thanks.....

Silent Stalker
My memory is very fuzzy on this book, sadly, even though I read it in 1997. I think it was published in the 1990's and is a young adult novel about a modern day (teenage?) girl who ends up at a castle or large seemingly abandoned manor. I don't remember too much about the story other than the fact that there were twin brothers living there. Maybe a little older than her. One or both of them were dressed as jesters, I believe, or there could have been a 4th character who was a jester. I remember that as a 6th grader reading this book, it seemed very dark in comparison to what I was used to. One scene takes place somewhere dark and filled with water, like a dungeon and I think she was being attacked by one of the brothers, and was perhaps saved by the other? It seems like there might have been an evil twin complex in this book, but the girl had a hard time figuring out which one was on her side. This last little tidbit might be coming completely from my imagination but I thought that maybe one of the twins was mute or at least, very quiet and reserved. Sorry about all the details being so fuzzy, but I do hope someone can remember the name of this book, I've been trying to figure it out for YEARS and google just isn't cutting it. I'm one step away from calling up my 6th grade teacher and asking her if she can remember. Please, help before I get to that level.

Richie Tankersley Cusick, Silent Stalker. (1993) Creepy house, twins, secrets, and a jester.
Thats it! than you so much. I can rest easy now, knowing the name of the book.

Silk and the Song
I'm looking for a science fiction short story that I read in a science fiction anthology--I think a yearly anthology--in the late fifties to early sixties. It was set on a planet where small sentient creatures were the dominant species and humans who had at some distant time came by spaceship to this planet were now slaves and beasts of burden to the planet's inhabitants. I especially remember a teen boy who was 'owned' by a creature, who used him as a steed, riding on his shoulders. At some point the boy manages to enter a spaceship that was left from the original human journey to the planet and head it back to earth by using a rhyme that humans on the planet learned by rote, almost like a nursery rhyme, not understanding it, but which had actually been designed by some of the early humans to teach later generations how to start up the spaceship. This was one of the stories that started my life-long love of science fiction. Thanks in advance.

Charles Fontenay, The Silk and the Song. (1956) This is Charles Fontenay's "The Silk and the Song," originally published in THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION for July 1956 and first anthologized in BEST FROM FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION: SIXTH SERIES the following year, which is probably the anthology in which you read it. (Subsequently it's been reprinted in THEMES IN SCIENCE FICTION ed. Leo B. Kelley (1972) and in SCIENCE FICTION A TO Z ed. Isaac Asimov (1982), and perhaps elsewhere.) Here's a website with a picture of the first pb reprint edition of the anthology and story notes on it, from which I quote the one on this story: "The Silk and the Song. Charles L. Fontenay. The descendants of human settlers have been reduced to beasts of burden and transportation by the native Hussir. Except for a small band living wild, who have a couple of ancient artifacts and nursery rhymes linking them to a more glorious past, a past to which the Star Tower stands mute testament. Young Alan risks all to flee his owner, and is able to play a key role in challenging the Hussir and reclaiming humanity's destiny. A particularly strong story which holds up well.
Thank you so much--this is definitely the story I was looking for. Now to find a copy!

Silly Book / Silly Record
This concerns a recording I had as a child. The name of it was "The Silly Nothing Record", and had all sorts of nonsense songs and stories, including "The Silly Nothing Song". Have you heard of this? Any additional information?

Silly Record / Silly Book. There are a lot of people out there looking for this record, too. A forum I belong to has had a thread on this title for several months, and some people have gathered info on this record. Here's what they've found: The Silly Book has the songs from the record. It's by Stoo Hample (aka Stuart Hample), published by Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York, 1961, LC 61-15153. The Silly Record performed by Frank Burton, music composes & conducted by George Kleinsinger, Columbia Records, 1962. Per Stoo Hample's son, the book is set to be reissued by Candlewick in Fall 2003, and his father's working on getting the record reissued. Hope this helps!
Thanks to your website I was able to contact the publisher several years ago. The Silly Book will be reprinted in summer 2004!

Silly Will
Picture of small naked boy who could not sleep, goes outside alone at night. He is looking up at the huge trees who are looking back at him. We see the boy from behind - a little naked bottom. Can't remember the story exactly, just the illustration. From the 50's or so.

Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Silly Will (in Here and Now Story Book, or Golden Book of Nursery Tales). Story of a little boy who ridiculed people for being despondent over the loss of the cow, sheep, and horse on which they depended - he claimed that he didn't depend on any animals, and didn't need anything from them. That night, the animals took back all those things he had from them - leather shoes, wool clothes & blankets, feather mattress, tallow candles, and of course milk, butter, eggs, and meat. The next day, not yet having learned his lesson, Will mocked a gardener who lost his vegetables to a frost and a woodcutter who lost his trees. That night, the plant kingdom took back everything as well, from the vegetables in the kitchen to the wood from which his house was built to his cotton nightshirt and underthings. The illustration shows Will shivering and naked (yes, from behind) looking at the ruins of his house - just the brick chimneys, tin roof, and iron stove remain. Behind the house are the trees and animals, laughing at him, and a big yellow full moon. When Will finally acknowledged his need for other living things, everything was restored. The story can be found in Lucy Sprague Mitchell's Here And Now Story Book, and in The Golden Book of Nursery Tales.
My stumper was solved! Thank you! You guys are the best! I didn't think I'd ever find this book.
Re: I135 Silly Will. I have been looking for this story collection for years, ever since I left it in my classroom as a young teacher in 1979 and had it taken. I'd had the book since I was a child, the covers were missing, and I didn't know what the collection was called. My favorite story in the book was "Silly Will," but I couldn't even remember that. Tonight is the first time I've tried to find it with an internet search, found your site, and saw "illustration of naked boy outside at night." I was so excited! Thank you for providing this service. I didn't know anything like it existed.

Silver Chief, Dog of the North
1930-40. This book is one my mom read and all she remembers is it was set in Canada with the Mounties and this dog worked with them. We aren't sure about the title DOG OF THE ? but that's all she can remember. She did say it was her favorite book as a child and she is 74 yo now!

There was a boys' series about the Mounties, but I certainly wouldn't know which book would be the one...
Jack O'Brien, Silver Chief, Dog of the North, 1933. Jack O'Brien wrote four Silver Chief books: 1. Silver Chief, Dog of the North. 1933; 2. Silver Chief to the Rescue. 1937; 3. Return of Silver Chief. 1943; 4. Silver Chief's Revenge. 1954. The first three books feature Sergeant Jim Thorne of the RCMP and his husky. At the end of the third book, Jim Thorne is promoted to inspector and assumes a desk job. The fourth book features Silver Chief III, the grandson of the original Silver Chief, with Mounted Police Sergeant Pete Thorne as his human partner. Pete Thjorne and Silver Chief III also appeared in the book Royal Red, which is mainly about a Mountie's horse. There is also a fifth Silver Chief book by Arthur G. Miller, called Silver Chief's Big Game Trail (1961). I haven't read Royal Red or Silver Chief's Big Game Trail, but I loved the original four books when I was eight.
I read these! Canadian Mountie Jim Thorne & his brave husky dog, Silver Chief. O'Brien, Jack. Silver Chief: Dog of the North Grosset & Dunlap, 1933, 182 pages. O'Brien, Jack. Silver Chief to the Rescue Philedelphia, Winston 1937 "This is the 2nd book in "The Silver Chief Series" and is a heartwarming dog story about Sergeant Thorne and the heroic lead dog, Silver Chief, at a snowbound diphtheria-stricken outpost in the Far North." O'Brien, Jack. Return of Silver Chief Grosset & Dunlap 1943, 211 pages "Jim Thorne & his leader of the dogs winter at Cameron River Post in Hudson Bay country." O'Brien, Jack, Silver Chief's Revenge New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1954 reprint 213 pages.
Another Canadian Mounties book is Campbell, William's Knight of the North, pub. Bruce c1943
Thank you for your help with this search for the title to this book. However, my mom (who this search was for) is content to have a paperback copy to read.. so we will not be buying your hardcover copies.

Silver Coach
The author of this book probably has a last name in the beginning of the alphabet (I was obsessed with reading all the books in the library of my elementary school and this was on the first bookshelf). It's about two sisters who are going through some family crisis--divorce maybe? But they have this crystal or glass stagecoach that they hold on to and it transports them to fantastical places (although I can't remember where). I thought it was called "The Glass Stagecoach" or "The Crystal Stagecoach" but I've had no luck finding it.

C.S. Adler, The Silver Coach or The Magical Coach, 1979. Published under both titles. 12-yr. old Chris and 6-yr. old sister go to spend the summer with their strange, possibly witch grandmother in a remote, woodland cabin. She has a magical silver coach that can take them places. The girls gradually come to accept their parents' divorce.
C. S. Adler, The Silver Coach (or The Magical Coach). (1979, approx) Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a fantastic thing the internet is, to bring people together like this to help on questions that normally would never be answered.

Silver Crown
Hi, I´m trying to remember the name of a novel in which a teenage girl returns home to find that her house has been burnt to the ground and her family have died. Some people are trying to kidnap her, I´m not sure why, and she is on the run from them- I can remember her meetíng a girl named Genevieve. I think the book was written in the 80s.

O'Brien, Robert, The Silver Crown. Ellen goes out early in the morning on her birthday, and when she returns, discovers her house was burnt down. There isn't a Genevive, I don't believe, but there is Otto. The two of them have to save the world from an evil machine, and escape from a castle holding several children prisoner.
Robert O'Brien, The Silver Crown. Yes that´s it! Thank you so much, I had been trying to remember the title and author for years!
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In 1975 or 1976 my 6th grade teacher read us a book. One of the characters was a young boy named Otto and a young girl who traveled to a place with strange characters. I believe it was the young girl's birthday and she got up in the morning before her father awoke and went to a park by herself. That is where she met Otto.

Robert C O'Brien, The Silver Crown. This book sounds like The Silver Crown where Ellen wakes before her family on her birthday & finds a strange silver crown has been left for her. After her house is burned down and her family disappears she runs away, encountering a boy named Otto and a few other characters before discovering what the crown does. It's an awesome book!
Robert O'Brien, The Silver Crown. I'm pretty sure this is what you're looking for. The main character is named Ellen. She goes to the park early in the morning after finding a silver crown on her pillow for her birthday and returns home to find that her house is on fire and her family is presumed dead. She runs off and starts on a quest that includes meeting a boy named Otto and his pet crow. Together they find the source of an evil force- people are being controlled by a Heironymous machine. Ellen's crown has the power to counteract the effect. She is reunited with her family in the end.
O'Brien, Robert, The Silver Crown. Ellen wakes up on her birthday to find a silver crown on her pillow. She takes it into the park, and thereby misses the terrible fire that destroys her house. She and her new friend Otto end up going to a strange place where children are under mind control. You're in luck, because it was recently reprinted.
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a novel I read around 1968-9 when age 9 or 10, but am clutching at elusive memories. Seem to remember that a girl wakes early on the morning of birthday and leaves her house to go to a nearby park. The house burns down,and I think the girl is in some sort of danger. I also have some memory of the girl learning she is a princess?, She befriends a boy and because they are in danger,they must flee. They discover children being held in some sort of institution, like an evil school. They must find a way to secretly break in and free the children. I remember the children in the "school" being brainwashed to learn evil nursery rhymes. Sounds crazy? Help me regain my mind.

Robert O'Brien, The Silver Crown, 1968.Definately the book that you are looking for.
Rober O'Brien, The Silver Crown. This is definitely The Silver Crown. Ellen wakes to find a silver crown on her pillow. Though she is not surprised by the gift, she is curious about the gift's giver. Before she can discover the answer to this mystery, Ellen's house burns down and her family disappears. A man in a strange green mask shoots a police officer who tries to help, and soon Ellen finds herself traveling across the kingdom on a magical quest to unravel the silver crown's secrets.
Robert O'Brien, The Silver Crown. Definitely this one. Ellen wakes up on her birthday and finds a silver crown on the pillow. She wanders out into the early morning, enjoying the feeling of being a secret princess. She sees fire trucks and realizes her house is on fire, returns to the house to find it burned to the ground with no survivors. She doesn't tell the police who she is, preferring to make her way to her aunt's house alone. During her journey she meets a boy, Otto, and his pet raven who accompany her. She discovers a hidden compound where children are being controlled by a black crown and realizes she has to fight the owner of the black crown to release them.
Robert O'Brien, The Silver Crown, 1968. My internet savvy daughter (and future librarian) found the name of the book the day after I submitted the stumper and then I was able to find other references to it on your web site. I have already located a copy and am so glad to have located this lost memory. I think your site is great and am struck by how many wonderful books were out there when we 40-somethings were children. I am planning to track some of them down and settle in for some satisfying reading this coming winter.
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The book was from the Scholastic book club in the mid to late 70's (probably late). It was a fantasy / adventure book. A brother and sister's parents were killed and they were chased by the killers. As they set off on their own, they meet a woodcarver and stay with him a little while until they move on. The had to cross a ravine by climbing down and she hurts her ankle badly. So, she stays in a cavern that has a natural flue that is by the stream. Eventually, she climbs up the other side (I think her brother might have gone to look for food and didn't come back), when she finds a black fortress. She enters and finds it filled with children who had been kidnapped or disappeared along with her brother and they were being brainwashed (the black stone that the building was made of enhanced it). She wouldn't give in and was placed in a stronger unit that looked like a huge black playpen. I think the term, hieronymus bosch was used in the book in regards to the machine perhaps.

Nevermind - I found the book. It's actually somewhat a well known book once I discovered the title - they weren't brother and sister, but found each other as they were being chased -"The Silver Crown" by Robert O'Brien. In fact, it has just been republished. Very good memories of a book and affirmed by the publisher bringing it back :-) Thank you and I have delighted in finding your site too.

Silver Curlew
I am looking for a book I read when I was a child, probably published in the 50s. It's a variation on the Rumpelstiltskin story. I remember the girl who was supposed to spin straw into gold was beautiful, but rather stupid, and with a voracious appetite- set to watching the bread bake and instructed by her mother to remove the rolls from the oven when they've "come again" she eats all of them thinking they'll reappear. ("why not? Mam sez they'll come agin in an hour.") There was some danger and she was helped by her clever younger sister. The Rumpelstiltskin character was named Tom Tit Tot. "An'
that twirled that's tail.." He was a pretty seriously nasty creature! I remember at the end when the Prince discovered she'd eaten all that bread he was majorly impressed that anybody could eat that much! Anyway- do you know that book?

Don't know if it's the one described, but there is a version of Rumpelstiltskin called Tom Tit Tot, illustrated by Evaline Ness, written in a colloquial style.
With R-35, though, it's not Evaline Ness' "Tom Tit Tot." This was a book I read in childhood and was probably published in the 50s. Oh well, I'll keep looking!
R35 Rumpelstiltskin: Not a complete match, but Eleanor Farjeon's The Silver Curlew, illustrated by Ernest Shepard, Oxford Univ Press, 1953, 182 pages. Retelling of Tom-tit-tot, makes use of Norfolk dialect in the dialogue. Lazy Doll eats the dumplings because her mother said they'll 'come agen' in a half hour. Her mother is bewailing the fact when the King of Norfolk arrives, and hears it as spun twelve skeins in a half hour. Doll marries
the king, Nollekens, who is nice or nasty depending which foot he gets out of bed with. The Spinning Imp's name is discovered by little sister Poll, with the help of Charlee Loon, during a perilous adventure in the Witching Wood. Doll explains her bargain "I were shut in with my spinning-wheel and up pops this little black imp and that twirls that's tail and bargains to spin the flax ..." When Nollekens discovers that Doll had eaten twelve dumplings "without getting a stomach-ache" he hugs her and says "Oh you wonderful, wonderful girl!", bursting with admiration.
YESYESYES! That's it! Thank you!
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This is a hardcover version of the story that I enjoyed reading at my public library back in the 70s. It is *not* the Evelynn Ness version. This was a version for young adults with black and white line drawings, and possibly a few colour plates. This version of the fable had 2 or 3 sisters living with their mother in a windmill. One of course ends up marrying the prince and has the wqhole spinning straw into gold thing going on. She is eventually saved by her younger sister, who learns about the problem with having to guess the goblins name and, after finding a goblin skin in an old boat, uses it as a disguise to spy on the goblins mettings (I think there was a colour plate of the goblins meeting, though that might be a false memory). The style in which the goblins were draw was all jaggety draggled and dark, the trolls from the opening ceremony of the Lilliehammer winter olympics reminded me very much of them. Been trying to find a copy of this version of the story for years now!

Farjeon, Eleanor, illustrated by E.H. Shepard, The Silver Curlew. Oxford OUP 1953. This is on the Solved List, and I think might be the answer. This retelling has the older daughter saved by her sister, and is illustrated by memorable line drawings (and coloured endpapers) by Shepard, who illustrated Winnie the Pooh.
These sound like the Meg mysteries by Holly Beth Walker. Titles include: Meg and the disappearing diamonds, Meg and the Ghost of Hidden Springs.

Silverfoot
Maud Lindsey - Sheffield, Alabama, 1938-1940's. Story about a horse with one silver foot.

Just a small spelling error. It's Silverfoot, by Maud Lindsay ; illustrated by Florence Liley Young. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1924. Alas, it's a hard one to find. I did find one ex-library copy for $50. Let me know if you'd like me to pursue that.

Silver Key
Date, 1965. A young adult/teen novel, probably written in the mid 60's. I read it in high school in 1967 or so. It took place in the "Old West" roughly during the time of the Civil War. A young girl travels west with her stepmother and stepsiblings to live with her father on a ranch/farm. She is in her late teens. On the way, they meet a young man while they are taking a rest in a hotel/cafe. It turns out later that he either works on her father's ranch or is a neighbor. Needless to say, they fall in love, but somehow she commits a grave error in judgment and puts someone's life in danger - I believe it is a runaway slave. This causes a major rift in her relationship with the young man, which is eventually corrected when he finds out that her error was innocent. I seem to remember that someone was named Tom. There may have been a Maggie although I am not sure if that was the stepmom or the young girl. I do remember that her stemother was fairly young, had had twins, I believe, and there was a Black farmhand. Title may have had "Star" in it, but that is a little fuzzy in my memory.

Beverly Butler, The Silver Key. I'm pretty sure from the description that this is the book.
Beverly Butler, The Silver Key, 1961. Alwyn, her stepmother Meg, and her sisters, twins Rachel and Leah and 3 yr. old Becky, travel to Wisconsin to live with her father and brother on their ranch. The young man she meets on the way and the runaway slave are here also.
Beverly Butler, The Silver Key. You have found my book - The Silver Key - by Beverly Butler. After nearly 15 years of searching for this, I can hardly believe my luck. I had tried so many other avenues, but without an author or title, I was always stymied. Thank you, thank you!!

Silver Nutmeg
I hope you can help, as trying to remember what this story was called has been driving me crazy for some time now. I probably read it some time in the mid-seventies. What I remember is this: The main character is a boy, I think he is visiting a family member (for the summer?). Either that or he has moved somewhere new. Somewhere there is an old, or older man- this may be the relative he is visiting, or a neighbour. He discovers a pond, and finds out that there is another world on the other side (or through) the pond- he finds this out because he is throwing paw-paws (I never knew what those were!) into the pond, and then one comes back out at him! He meets a young boy who lives in the other world. Various adventures ensue- and it turns out that this older relative or friend is originally from the other side of the pond- you can tell because he is bandy-legged. (I think that means bow-legged.) He also has an old sweetheart who still lives on the other side of the pond- the story ends with them getting back together (somehow the boys help orchestrate this.) Also, the book MAY have been illustrated, as I keep seeing pictures in my head, but I may be thinking of The Phantom Tollbooth. ( SUCH a great book!) If it WAS illustrated, it was like that- in pen and ink drawings. I think! Can you help??

?Elizabeth Enright, ?Gone-Away Lake & Return to gone-away, 1957 & 1961. i'm not sure this is a match. Some of the facts don't match up, but this description sounds a bit like one of my favorite books--Gone Away Lake. In the book, Portia Blake and her brother Foster visit their aunt, uncle, and cousin, Julian, for the summer. They discover a swamp, and past that a row of wrecked old houses. They meet an old lady, Minnehaha Cheever and her brother Pindar Payton. They have some wonerful times in thold town-starting a club, exploring the houses, escaping the swamp. It has wonderful pen and ink drawings inside by Beth and Joe Krush. Gone-away Lake has been reprinted at least in 1985, and Return to Gone-Away in 92.
O17 It's not GONE-AWAY LAKE
O17 other world through pond: Almost certain about this, except that it's a girl, not a boy - The Silver Nutmeg, written and illustrated by Palmer Brown, sequel to Beyond the Paw-paw Trees (the first book about Anna Lavinia) published Harper 1956. In this one, Anna Lavinia jumps through the dewpond on top of Dew Pond Hill (without getting wet) to another country where she meets the boy Toby and strange and magical things happen. Palmer Brown's artistic style is quite distinctive, and I can send a jpg of an illustration if that helps.
Palmer Brown, The Silver Nutmeg, Beyond the Paw-Paw Tree, 1956. Yes!! As soon as I saw the title The Silver Nutmeg, and the name Anna Lavinia, it all came back to me. I wonder why I thought the main character was a boy? Anyway, Thank You! I loved these books, and can't wait to re-read them. Now to FIND them....
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I was looking for a book I read in 1970-1971 from my school library about a girl who could visit an upside down world. I think she had an umbrella and she could float up the side of a cliff and step onto the ledge at the top. There was something about a bridge over a stream or small river, and she would walk under and then arrive in the other world. I think she could walk on ceilings there, too. Does anyone recognize this? Thanks!

Palmer Brown, Beyond the pawpaw trees, 1954, copyright. This sounds like the oft sought-after "Beyond the pawpaw trees". It's in the solved pages.
Palmer Brown, The Silver Nutmeg. Enough of your description reminds me of The Silver Nutmeg that I think you should check the Solved Stumpers decription. This is the story of Anna Lavinia and her adventure through the dew pond. Instead of gravity, there is the tingle. As long as anyone (or anything) is in contact with anything touching the ground you won't float away. So you can walk up the side of a cliff, or across the ceiling of your bedroom!
Palmer Brown, The Silver Nutmeg, 1956, copyright.
Palmer Brown. A long shot, but the umbrella made me think of Palmer Brown and his two books about Anna Lavinia, The Silver Nutmeg and the sequel, Beyond the Paw Paw Tree. Anna Lavinia definitely has some adventures with an umbrella. Both of these books are out of print, and used copies are VERY expensive. I don't think many libraries still have them in their children's dept. I know mine doesn't. I read this in the mid-70's. Hope this helps.
Maybe not the book you're looking for, but in "Beyond the Pawpaw Trees: The story of Anna Lavinia" by Palmer Brown, Anna Lavinia is searching for her father in a mysterious world she gets to by train. She eventually leaves the train and does travel up and down a cliff via umbrella. I think she might visit an upside down world in the second book, "The Silver Nutmeg", although it's been years since I've seen that one. Good luck!
This sounds like the books that I read. To make sure, can anyone give me more details about how Anna Lavinia used the umbrella, and what else she did that was unusual? Thanks!
Palmer Brown, The Silver Nutmeg. YES!!!! This is the one I've been searching for! I broke down and bought both "The Siver Nutmeg" and "Beyond the Paw Paw Trees". Thank you all for reuniting me with a lost book and the wonderful memories associated with it!

Silver Pencil
see Secret Pencil

Silver Pennies
I was so happy to see your web site I screamed! I have been searching for a specific mother goose book for my mother for 4 years. There are so many . The only way she can distinguish her's from the many books is that in her book there is a beautiful color picture of Fairies and the saying " I'm as big for me as you are big for you" She thinks it was published sometime around 1940's and no later than 1967. Any information would be greatly appreciated. My mother is a wonderful person who hasn't gotten many breaks in life . Thank You for you time.

M145: I can't help much, but that poem sounds like The Little Elf by John Kendrick Bangs. You can read it online. I first read it in Louis Untermeyer's Golden Treasury of Poetry, which I think was originally from the 1950's.
Are you sure this was a Mother Goose book? The line you quoted is from "The Little Elf", by John Kendrick Bangs, so it's doubtful it would be in a book only of Mother Goose rhymes. The poem goes like this: I met a little Elf-man, once/ Down where the lilies blow / I asked him why he was so small,/ And why he didn't grow. / He slightly frowned, and with his eye/ He looked me through and through./ "I'm quite as big for me," said he,/ "As you are big for you." In my Golden Treasury of Poetry, the poem on the same page with this is "Fairy Days" and there is a line drawing of two fairies looking at a baby in a cradle. Any possibility that's what you remember?
I don't know the book, but I do know this nursery rhyme, so maybe it will help you narrow down the search! It's called "The Little Elf".
I don't have a solution, but perhaps a clue to further identification. In The Golden Picture Book of Poems To Read and To Learn (Simon & Schuster, 1955) -- which isn't a Mother Goose book but a collection of poems such as "Mr. Nobody" and "Fog" -- there is a poem, "The Little Elf", by John Kendrick Bangs: "I met a little Elfman once,/ Down where the lilies blow./ I asked him why he was so small,/ And why he didn't grow./ He slightly frowned, and with his eye/ He looked me through and through--/ 'I'm just as big for me,' said he,/ 'As you are big for you!' Incidentally, on the opposite page, illustrating Rose Fyleman's "Have You Watched the Fairies?", there is a color illustration of fairies dancing in a ring.
Thompson, Blanche Jennings, Silver Pennies, 1920's? "The Little Elf" was one in a collection of poems in the marvelous and loved poetry book Silver Pennies, which was apparently used as a school reader in earlier years. It is timeless and I am delighted it has just recently been reprinted... it has black and white illustrations, however, not color... perhaps the color was in the memory's delighted imagination?

Silver Pony
This is a beautiful picture book I remember from my childhood. It didn't have any words just pictures of the story. It had a child who somehow rode a unicorn (or a white horse) at night and then returned home.

This is The Silver Pony; a Story in Pictures, by Lynd Ward, Houghton Mifflin, 1973. Recounts without words the adventures of a boy and his winged horse. Beautiful story told entirely through black and white woodcuts by the great Lynd Ward.
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Story book (with no words?), drawn in blue and white, about a little boy on a farm who is visited by a winged horse, who takes him all over the world until they are scared by an airplane and the boys falls off. He is injured, and after recovering he finds a colt that looks just like the horse.

Lynd Ward, The Silver Pony, 1992, reprint. Here is the description from the review: Told only in pictures, this is the story of a lonely farm boy who confuses his dreams of adventure on a winged pony with reality. Stumper, I hope you are able to get a copy of your own!
Lynd Ward, The Silver Pony, 1992, reprint. I'm sure this is The Silver Pony, a very good story with not a single word in it. The story is told all in pictures about a winged horse that a little boy finds, and his journeys through the night sky. A classic by Lynd Ward.
Ward, Lynd, The silver pony: a story in pictures, 1973. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. No wording as remembered tells the story of a lonely farm boy and his adventures on a winged horse.

Silver Seven
Published sometime BEFORE 1976 as I remember reading this around 10-12 years old. The book was hard-backed but not oversized, and had a pink cover with a girl figure skater on it. I believe the title was: "The Silver Seven." At least that's what I remember it as. The book was about a girl who practiced ice skating at a pond near her home in order to become a really good figure skater. I don't remember if the "Silver Seven" indicated seven different tests she had to perform in order to get to a different skating level or what... but something along those lines. I don't remember much else about it, but do remember loving the story as a little girl and I read it several times over.

Rita Ritchie, The Silver Seven. This was one of the Whitman books, printed in the same format as the Trixie Belden books of the 1970's. I'm remembering a pink cover (but am too lazy to go downstairs to look at it).
Rita Ritchie, The Silver Seven, 1972.
Rita Ritchie, The Silver Seven, 1972, copyright. It has to be this! It has a pink cover, just like you remember, and is from the right time frame. :) "Challenge On Ice: For as long as she could remember, it seemed, Sandra Miller had had only one goal: to master the joyous, graceful freedom of figure skating. All this meant time – not just hours of practice but also years of lessons and twice a day skating sessions. Of the hundreds who started this sequence, as few as ten might pass the Eighth Test and earn the coveted Gold Medal. Sandra had advanced steadily to the Seventh Test, with determination as cold and clear as the ice itself. After that, nothing could stop her. But there was one thing Sandra had not anticipated – a thing that could stand between her and the Silver Seven. And one evening in October, it happened..."
Noel Streatfeild, Skating Shoes, 1951. Sounds similar to this book (UK title was White Boots). Mostly the skating girls practice at a rink, but I think there's a part where they skate and trace figures on a pond. They definitely have to practice skating figures, and a lot of the plot involves them passing different levels of tests (bronze, silver, gold). See here for more info: http://www.whitegauntlet.com.au/noelstreatfeild/ChildFiction/BooksWhiteBoots.htm.
Rita Ritchie, The Silver Seven, 1972. A Whitman book.
Noel Streatfield, Skating Shoes, 1951, copyright. This is worth a try - Lalla Moore practices at the local skating rink every day, and a lot of the book deals with all the different tests she must pass to become a skater, including the Silver and the Inter-Silver tests. A friend of hers, Harriet, also starts taking skating tests as well. The book I had was pink with a skater on the cover, like you mentioned. (It's a great book even if it's not the one you are looking for!)
Rita Ritchie, The Silver Seven, 1972, copyright. Definitely The Silver Seven. I loved this book too - It was published by Western/Whitman. Made me want to be an Ice skater!
Rita Ritchie, The Silver Seven, 1972, copyright. It sounds like the book you're looking for is The Silver Seven by Rita Ritchie.
I hadn't checked in here in awhile, but see that my book stumper was SOLVED!!!! Yahoo!!!! The book that is right is "The Silver Seven" by Rita Ritchie. ... I have since found it online and verified this. Thanks so much for this great service :-)

Silver Snaffles
Children visit a magic land where ponies talk. I read this book when I was about 9 years old (1954) but I remember it had a well worn look even then. It was a "chapter book" rather than a picture book. Somehow, I remember the name Silver Spurs, but that could be all wrong. I've done searches under that title, but have only pulled up Westerns. This book does not fall under that category.

#H64--Horse Stories: Silver Snaffles, by Primrose Cumming. England: Blackie and Son Ltd., 1937.

Silver Spurs
On Romper Room Miss Nancy read this book about a timy elf who rode in Santa's beard on Christmas Eve. His job was to go through the keyhole to let Santa in the houses that did not have chimneys. early 1980s, childrens.

Robert Knigge, Silver Spurs, 1978. That would be Silver Spurs, a wonderful tale that's been out of print for a number of years.
Thank you so much for helping me find the book - Silver Spurs. I had been searching for years, asking everybody I could think of. I never knew about your site. I purchased the book and read it to my grandchildren last night. It was fantastic! Thanks again for solving my search.

Simon's Book
This has been making me crazy, but I remember reading this book as a child and would like to find it. I remember it mainly for the illustrations; they were in color, but were very dark and full of ink drops, splotches, etc. I think the plot was about a little boy who maybe has a disagreement with his guardians (might have been aunts?), and I think he falls into an inkwell and is transported into an alternate universe of sorts. My mother says she remembers it, but nothing about the title or much about the plot, just that she always thought the author and/or illustrator was schizophrenic due to the messy darkness of the illustrations. I think it is most likely from the 80's, but definitely pre-1990 I think, as I would probably remember it otherwise. Please help! Thanks!

Drescher, Henrik, Simon's Book, 1983. The description of the illustrations makes me think this might be Simon's Book. I can't remember much about the plot, either, but the pictures are very distinctive. I don't have a copy in my current library collection so I can't check out the details, but according to the catalog description, the plot summary is "Simon flees from a friendly monster with the aid of some drawing pens and a bottle of ink."

Solved: Drescher, Henrik, Simon's Book. 1983. Amazing! In less than two weeks, someone solved this! Just looked this up online, and it is the book I remembered...apparently it was featured on an episode of Reading Rainbow, and that is probably another reason I remembered the illustrations so vividly. Thanks again!

Simon's Hook: A Story About Teases and Put-Downs

a guidance counselor friend of mine is searching for this one to use with the kids. she says its a fishing story allegory. the person who is teasing is like the fisherman throwing out the bait. if he gets a nibble (reaction) he'll sink his hook and reel you in. thanks in advance!

F224 From Google: How about Simon's Hook: A Story About Teases and Put-Downs?

Simple Gifts
This is a young adult novel I read around 1995-97. A family living in the South, maybe Appalachia? They are down on their luck, and sign up for a government program where they enact the "olden days" in complete detail (no electricity, no running water, etc) in exchange for a stipend, in order to show visitors how farming used to be. Of course it's really hard, and the mom keeps sneaking things, like using the electric iron, and the gov't program sends an inspector out to make sure they are complying with the rules so they can keep receiving the stipend. They also have to hide the fact that the father is a narcoleptic. I think the son ends up having a fling with the woman inspector. I don't even remember *liking* this book that much, but it's driving me nuts that I can't think of the title or author; sometimes I think I made it all up. I guess we'll see! Thank you!

Greenberg, Joanne, Simple Gifts, 1986. This is definitely the book. The father's narcolepsy was a major aspect of the plot.
Solved! Many thanks to the person who submitted Simple Gifts. I mis-remembered some key details; it's set in Colorado, not the South. I'm enjoying it much more the second time around. I guess it lodged itself in my psyche for a reason.... Thank you Harriett!

Simple Prayers
This is not a children's book; it's an adult book. It takes place in medieval Italy on a small island off the coast of Venice. A stranger arrives on the island and everyone gets involved with the stranger. It turns out he had the plague and everyone starts dying. In the course of the story someone goes by boat to Venice and has a meal which includes meat, a very unusual thing. There is also something about building a church or some other building. One of the characters is a Signora Bertinelli.

I would need to double check on the Signora Bertinelli thing, but this sounds very close to Simple Prayers by Michael Golding. The only trouble is that the person with the plague doesn't interact with the villagers, seeing as how he's dead when he gets there (his body washes ashore). You might also want to checkBocaccio'sDecameron--it's similar to Canterbury Tales villagers fleeing the plague make up tales on their way out of the city. This premise is fairly factual (plague spreading to islanders) do you recall whether the book was more about the plague or more about the people's
relationships? I have a lot of bubonic plague books, but more on the medical side than on the fictional side.
This sounds as if it may be the book I am looking for. I have ordered a copy and we shall see! Thanks for your response.
Yes, this is the book I've been searching for! Thanks so much! And the character is Siora Bertinelli, not Signora Bertinelli.

Simple Sounds of Freedom
The book is about a man who joined the army paratroopers and was sent to England in prepartion for D Day. After D Day he is captured by the Germans and imprisoned. He escapes and is sent to other prisons farther and farther east. He then escapes again and is captured by the Russians. He joins a Russian tank unit that is avancing on the Germans from the East. He is badly wounded and finally ends up in Moscow. After the intervention by the American embassy he is finally sent back to England andhome. He is the only US soldier to fight the Germans for both the US and Russia. I believe the title states this.

I think P441 is the solved by this solution posted for another recent stumper. Thomas H. Taylor, The Simple Sounds of Freedom: The true story of the only soldier to fight for both america and the soviet union in World War II. This book is also published under the title, Behind Hitlers Lines: The true story,etc. It is a very exciting story and I think it would make a great movie. Probably very few people have gone thru an adventure such as described in this book.

Sinbad and Me
I read this book many times about 30 years ago when I was about 10 or 12. It was a mystery about a boy and his dog named Sindad who was a bulldog. I don't remember anything about the mystery except that I really enjoyed it and would love to read it again and introduce it to my 11 year old daughter. I couldn't find it under any out of print listings and have no idea who the author was. I seem to remember it was a rather thick book.

#S86--Sinbad and Me: In The Robber Ghost, by Karin Anckarsvard, the boy is named Knut, the dog is a boxer named Ramrod, not a bulldog named Sinbad, and the story is a mystery set in Sweden. That far enough off for ya?
Sinbad and Me by Kin Platt
It must be the book by Kin Platt, as the book was definitely called Sinbad and Me. Great to get the info. Thank you very much. Great website.

Sing a Song of Ambush
This is a book I read in the early 70s, but it may have been older. The cover illustration style looked very 50s-ish. The story was about two teenage boy scouts who were receiving some kind of award, and were backstage at a tv show where they met a "rock-and-roll star" their age. Kidnappers came in to get the rock star, but took all three of them because the boy scouts thought that by confusing the kidnappers, they could rescue the other boy. (Obviously, it didn't work.) All three were taken in a small plane to a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness. The answers to the kidnappers demands came over the radio--depending on whether the ransom came or not, they would hear one of the star's songs. The boy scouts end up escaping, and dragging the protesting rock star along with them. They canoe through the wilderness until they are rescued. I think it takes about a week, with the boys being pursued the whole time. When they reach safety, the rock star starts to take all the credit...but looks at the two others and admits that they rescued him. The scouts decide he wasn't all that bad. I thought the title was something like "Escape in Alaska", and I sort of remember that it was in the E-F shelf in the library (although I could be wrong about that). I've been trying to track this one down for years!

This book is by K. M. Peyton, and I'm pretty sure it's her 1959 novel North to Adventure. She's a great British author; really glad to see that others have developed obsessions around her books!!! Thanks for your great service! It's so fun to drop by every now and then and see the new mysteries and what has been solved in the meantime.
Wow. Thanks, Harriet. It just might be the right one...the title sounds right. Although I always liked K.M. Peyton, so I would have thought I'd have come across it earlier. I'll see if I can get a copy through my library, then, if it IS the right one, I'll try to find one to purchase! I'll let you know when it's a definite yes.
I just got the KM Peyton book, and it is NOT the right one. (Nary a Boy Scout in sight--not even a kidnapper! It does, however, take place in Alaska.) Oh well, maybe someone else will recognize it...
Okay, so I muffed it last time by suggesting North To Adventure; all my books are in storage and I couldn't double-check! Try this one; judging from how the University of Washington has it catalogued, it looks hopeful:
The Hard Way Home / K.M. Peyton London : Collins, 1962 SUBJECTS: Wilderness survival -- Juvenile fiction Kidnapping -- Juvenile fiction Ontario -- Juvenile fiction
Third time's the charm! Found this online:
Peyton, K. M. Sing a Song of Ambush. Platt & Munk, (1964). "A Junior Adventure." Nick and Rob, visiting Sea Scouts from England, adventure in the Canadian north as they try to solve the kidnapping of a young rock singer.
Hi, I'm the one who sent in all the suggestions for this stumper. I was at the University of Washington library last night, and sat down with The Hard Way Home. It's definitely the right book, but I think Sing a Song of Ambush is the SAME book, with titles differing between the US and the UK (as is the case with several of her other books). Thought this info might come in handy for the person looking for it.

Sing a Song of Mother Goose
I am looking for a Mother Goose / Nursery Rhyme book from the late 80s/ early 90s. It was a pb with a light blue cover with a border of clay objects/characters, approx. the size of a magazine and not very thick. The illustrations were entirely made of clay/ claymation. Inc. Hickory Dickory Doc.

Barbara Reid, Sing a Song of Mother Goose. If they were Plasticine illustrations, then check out this book.
Barbara Reid, Sing a song of Mother Goose, 1988. First published in 1988. Reid is well known for her amazing all plasticine illustrations. Note there was a 20 year anniversary edition in 2008 that Reid created all new illustrations for.
SOLVED: Sing a Song of Mother Goose by Barabar Reid with plastacine pictures (not clay, oops) was my book! Thank you for the help!!!

Singing Tree
I borrowed this from the school library, and it was an unusually long and complicated story for an elementary school to have. This was a novel about a brother and sister living in World War I Europe (or it might have even been the Crimean War). One of the chapters was about the Christmas truce between the two sides when all of the soldiers on both sides started singing. This was the first time I had ever heard of this event.

Kate Seredy, The Singing Tree, 1939 & several reprints. This is a long shot, but it reminds me so much of one of my favorite books, The Singing Tree, sequel to The Good Master. Kate and Jancsi are Hungarian cousins (brought up together, almost like siblings), and are young adolescents when Father/Uncle Marton goes off to WWI. He is posted missing, and later found dramatically in an Army hospital. Invalided back to his ranch, he sometimes tells gentle, poignant war stories to Kate, Jancsi, and the little German children Mother has taken in (along with six Russian prisoners to help do the farm work). The story of the impromptu truce at one battle is in the chapter "Light a Candle" near the end of the book.
Kate Seredy, The Singing Tree. If this story takes place on a farm in Hungary, then it must be The Singing Tree, sequel to The Good Master. The girl is actually a cousin, and the story about the Christmas truce is one the boy's father tells them (the family had to manage the farm while he was fighting). These are both excellent books!
Kate Seredy, The Singing Tree, 1939. The story about the fighting soldiers who stop shooting and instead light candles and sing "Silent Night" happens in this sequel to Seredy's classic book The Good Master. It is in the chapter titled "Light a Candle", in which Marton Nagy, newly returned to his Hungarian home from fighting the Russians in World War I, tells his family on Christmas Eve how he had spent the day the year before. The children in these two books are named Jancsi and Kate, and they are actually cousins and not brother and sister.
Yes, the book is The Singing Tree. I am going to have to reread it now!

Singing Wheels
This is apparently a sort of grammar storybook/reader that I got from a country school that closed in the early 1970s. So the book may be decades older than that. Written at what today would be a 6th grade level I think. I do not remember the title or author. The plot revolved around a boy and his family who moved out west to the frontier and what it was like. Sort of a 'Little House on the Prairie' but for boys and a little more harsh in an 'Old Yeller' sort of way. The stories included the boy's learning to drive oxen by commanding them to turn left and right by saying 'gee' and 'haw'. Another involved the menfolk in the area getting their rifles and forming a circle that was apparently miles across and all marching inward, flushing all the game and predators into a meadow, where they shot all the wolves, as the wolves had been attacking their livestock. There was also the making candles of wax and soap from lye and tallow. Lye was made by letting rain water off the roof of their cabin drain into a barrel of ashes. It was a lively account of the very rugged pioneer existence. I lost the book to a leaky roof long ago. Hope you can find it for me.

Herbert E. Arnston, Frontier Boy: A Story of Oregon, 1967. This is just a guess, as I have not seen this book myself. Library of Congress summarizes it as such: "The adventures of a young boy on the frontier, who, when his father is away, finds himself with man-sized responsibilities."
This is Farmer Boy by Laura I. Wilder. I actually just re-read this to my son last year and was surprised how different it was from the Little House books! The stories are about Almonzo Wilder, who eventually married Laura.
Hamlin Garland, Boy's Life on the Prairie. A possibility.
Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie fame also wrote a book about her husband's childhood called Farmer Boy. Almanzo Wilder learns to drive oxen with "gee" and "haw". He helps his mother make candles using the lye from their saved ashes and the animal fat from butchering. I don't remember the wolf scene though.
Mabel O'Connell, Florence Hoopes & Margaret Campbell, Singing Wheels, 1952. This is the book. Did a search on the name and found it on a couple of sites. One even had photo of the cover and this is F176.
F176 is not Farmer Boy. It is Singing Wheels. I specifically remember reading the part where the men form a circle, driving the wolves to the center and shooting them. It's been a while since I've read Farmer Boy but I'm almost 100% sure nothing even close to this is in Farmer Boy. The other comments about learning to drive oxen and making candles and soap are in Singing Wheels.
Singing Wheels. I first read this book in second grade. My school library was dicarding it. I specifically remember the boy learning to drive oxen by saying "gee" and "haw" & the men forming a huge circle that they then compress, driving wolves towards the center where they are shot. I'll have to see if I can find my copy, can't recall name of the author or when it was written. If so I'll post this.
Hey wow, Singing Wheels is an Alice and Jerry primer! It's by Mabel O'Donnell, as are the other Alice and Jerry books, but it doesn't feature our friends Alice and Jerry. Instead, the protagonist is named Tom, and other characters include Ma, Pa and Lightening Joe in the pioneer town of Hastings Mills. It is part of the Alice and Jerry reading program published by Harper & Row (probably geared towards a second or third grade reading level), with copyrights ranging from 1940-1957. The ox driving, wolf shooting and candle making are all here, with some color illustrations and some nice black and white drawings of technical equipment. I have the 1965 printing.

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Read this in schoool, 4th grade, 1969 - 1970. Maybe a textbook? . It was about a family traveling west on a stagecoach. They stopped off at an Inn to eat. Later, they were sugaring (maple syrup) and eating syrup on snow. Thought name included "wagon wheels" ,but it's not Barbara Brenner book.

Mabel O'Donnell, Singing Wheels - The Alice And Jerry Books, Reading Foundation Series, 1950s. This was the fourth grade reader in the Alice and Jerry Series. I believe fifth grade was "Engine Whistles" and another year was "Runaway Home" about a family in a trailer.
Maple Sugar for Windy Foot. A possibility?
SOLVED:Mabel O'Donnell, Singing Wheels - The Alice And Jerry Books, 1950's.This is the one! I was able to find an electronic copy online and look at it. I literally cried. This book made such a huge impression on me as a kid, but I could never find it. Have searched sporadically for years, even tried to track down my 4th grade teacher to ask her (I'm 51 now). Thank you, thank you.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades O'Donnell, Mabel. Singing Wheels. Illustrated by Florence and Margaret Hoopes. Harper & Row, The Alice and Jerry Basic Reading Program. Copyrights 1940-1957. 1965 printing. Hardcover, 383 pages with glossary. Slight wear to corners, name on front paste-down endpaper, otherwise Fine. $25

Singularity
I read a Book in Junior High about two brothers who had an uncle die and go to sort out his house and affairs (or something roughly like that). When there they find a room where time moves slower, well one brother does... I think it was like out back in a little storage shed...for some reason i remeber a tree stump or something... they find all these supplies there as well, and its only later that one brother realizes that time moves very very slowly inside the area/room/shed place (i believe its the younger brother). I know one of the main happenings deals with the younger brother staying "overnight" in the room, while the older ones sleeps in the regular world. Due to the time manipulations the younger brother in the little room has to live out sever years of his life in soltitude, just for the passing of one night in reality. Its either that he was younger and he did it to become older or mabey they were twins and he just wanted to look different for once so he aged himself like 40 years in the funky time room.... i dont clearly remember. But that was the gist of it.... Also I rmemebr like animal skulls or taxadermy or something with wierd animal combonations... Im pretty unclear about that part.. it might be a memeory from a differnt book.

William Sleator, Singularity. Great book where twin brothers are sent to a dead uncle's house to hold down the fort. They discover that a shack on the land has been constructed around a spot where time runs faster. The smaller of the twin brothers, Harry, decides to spend a night of real time in the shack, which ages him by a year.
Singulariy, Sleator, William. Harry and Barry are twins, and one of them purposefully enters the shed to get bigger and more educated than the twin he sees as always besting him.
William Sleator, Singularity, 1995. I've read this a couple of times and recognized it right away. It's still easy to find in print. Sixteen-year-old twins Harry and Barry stumble across a gateway to another universe, where a distortion in time and space causes a dramatic change in their competitive relationship.
William Sleator, Singularity. I'm positive this is your book.
Yeah that was solved almost instantly! thats awesome you guys rule! thanks for providing a totally uselul and unique service!

Sir Tobey Jingle's Beastly Journey
I read this book in second grade around '89. It was a book about an old knight with a long white beard, he was being followed by a griffin with a long neck, and I think another monster, but i don't remember for sure. I think they become friends at the end. It did have a lot of pictures. thanks.

Frank Stockton, The Griffin and the Minor Canon, 1990, approximate. Although I'm not sure it's the one you're looking for, this book definitely has a griffin following people around. He's overawed by the statue of a griffin (he thinks himself) over a church door. I remember a monk, rather than a knight, but it could be the same book you're remembering. It was illustrated by Maurice Sendak.
Ruth Plumly Thompson, Yellow Knight of Oz, 1930, copyright. It has been a great many years since I read this book, but Sir Hokus of Pokes (I think) was certainly an elderly knight with a beard so long it engaged him in difficulties. I don't recall a griffin, but that wouldn't be unusual in an Oz book. The knight on the cover of the paperback reprint is nothing like the John R. Neill illustrations of the original hardback.
Wallace Tripp, Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey, 1976, copyright. This could be the book you're looking for. Sir Toby Jingle has long mustaches, not a beard. Basic plot: Sir Toby is getting old & tired of fighting the beasts of Grimghast Forest. He plans a last adventure to lure all of his former enemies (including a griffin, a bear, a dragon, a one-eyed tiger, and an ogre) to a castle to lock them up. Along the way, the beasts try their best to get rid of Sir Toby, but always fail. In the end, they form a circus, the monsters end up enjoying themselves & Sir Toby retires to his quiet garden. Illustrations are both color & black & white.
Stockton, Frank, The Griffin and the Minor Canon. Could it be this one?
I'm the poster of G441, the griffin with the old knight. It was solved, it was Sir Tobey Jingle's Beastly Journey. Thank You so much.

Sisters Impossible
Chapter book for older elementary, junior high girls. I read it in the mid-80s. There are two sisters living in NYC. Older one is a ballet student, very graceful and hardworking. Younger sister (maybe named Lily) feels overshadowed, sloppy, resentful. When their parents convince Lily to take a beginner ballet class at the same dance school as her sister, she learns that her perfect sister is stressed out and anxious about her abilities. In the end they like each other and understand each other better. I remember that the sisters are described as looking very different: ballerina sister is tall, with smooth dark hair in a bun. Lily is short, chubby, with curly blond hair. The store or brand name "Capezio" is mentioned (it's where the dancers get their shoes and other supplies). There's an important scene where the older sister shows Lily the damage that dancing has done to her feet: really gross blisters, callouses, deformed toes.

James David Landis, The sisters impossible, 1979. "Lily's beginning ballet classes draw her unexpectedly closer to her seemingly haughty older sister, already an advanced dancer."
James Landis, The Sisters Impossible, 1979. "Lily's beginning ballet classes draw her unexpectedly closer to her seemingly haughty older sister, Saundra, already an advanced dancer." There's a section on "ugly feet are beautiful."
James David Landis, Sisters Impossible, 1979. I would say that this is almost definitely the book you are searching for. "Lily's beginning ballet classes draw her unexpectedly closer to her seemingly haughty older sister, already an advanced dancer."
James Davis Landis, The Sisters Impossible, 1979. This sounds like The Sisters Impossible by James Davis Landis.
Landis, James David, The sisters impossible, 1979. Lily's beginning ballet classes draw her unexpectedly closer to her seemingly haughty older sister, already an advanced dancer. Lily is the younger sister, Saundra is the older sister

Sitting Ducks
I'm desperately trying to remember the title of a book I saw a few years ago. It was a story about a crocodile (or maybe an alligator, I can't remember, but we'll call him a crocodile for arguments sake) who works with all the other crocodiles in some sort of duck factory, where ducks are made to be eaten. One day a duck egg falls off the conveyor belt, and this particular crocodile takes the egg home, and ends up raising the duck. He keeps the duck very sheltered, so that it won't find out the
truth about ducks and crocodiles, but of course the duck does eventually find out. In the end, both the duck and the crocodile end up going to the land of ducks, where they live happily ever after. I hope you can help. I'm starting to think this book was a figment of my imagination.

This person is not crazy! Such a book exists! Actually, it's a fairly new book (1998) SITTING DUCKS by Michael Bedard. Very cute illustrations. It's actually an alligator (which explains why the person may have had trouble finding it)
More on the suggested title - Sitting Ducks by Michael Bedard, published New York, Putnam 1998 "The story begins at the Colossal Duck Factory where alligator workers oversee the hatching of duck eggs (carried by conveyor belt through a giant incubator). The ducks that emerge are destined for dinner tables until, one day, one duck falls off the assembly line and is befriended by an alligator worker. In due time, the liberated fowl liberates his fellow hatchlings by teaching them to fly. They all wing their way south to The Flapping Arms Seaside Resort. The oddball alligator who started it all takes a plane to join them, and they live happily ever after."

Six Robbens
I am trying to find someone who knows the name of this book that I read in the early 60's. It was about a family who renovated an old school and moved into it. I think the family had been broken up for a time (the book was ahead of its time), but they were reuniting and the father and son were doing the work on the school themselves. I remember they left the chalkboards on the walls, and I thought how neat it would be to live in an old renovated school with blackboards on the wall. I think one chapter in the book may have been called "Pink Monday" because when the father did the laundry, he threw something red in there which bled on the rest of the clothes. Any ideas? Thanks.

I would be interested in finding S22 as well. I think the name of the family was Robin's (spelling) and I thought that the name of the book was Robin's Nest but I have never been able to find it under that title.
It could very well be the title of the book: I have no recollection whatsoever--only the story line. I have begun trying to locate books by that title, but so far no luck.
If #S28 is indeed "Robin's," and not some other kind of bird's, "Nest," it is not "The Robin's Nest," by Frances J. Gassaway, published in New York in 1958, as the only bookseller with a copy currently listed online says, "This is the story of a Navy wife, Frances J. Gassaway." A jolly good thing, too, as it was printed by Vantage Press, a notorious vanity house (which is why I don't use the term "published") so was no doubt an extremely limited print run and would be hard-to-find and expensive. There is another book titled "The Robins Nest," by Sara J. Eddy, listed in the Library of Congress, couldn't find a publication date or any way to make a summary come up. (Anyone know and want to tell me?) There were also two other books by that title which couldn't be it as they're so old they were written before the schoolhouse would have been built. I also tried variations such as "Robbins" and "Robinsons" without success.
Later...
Hi. I am the one who posted S-22--the one about the family that renovated an old schoolhouse and moved into it. I have found the book, thanks to one of your readers who thought it was named Robin's Nest. That's not the title, but it is similar and that's how I was able to find it (thanks!). The book is The Six Robbens by Marion Barrett Obermeyer. I'm very excited.
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[was listed under Trolley Car Family]
I am trying to find someone who knows the name of this book that I read in the early 60's. It was about a family who renovated an old school and moved into it. I think the family had been broken up for a time (the book was ahead of its time), but they were reuniting and the father and son were doing the work on the school themselves. I remember they left the chalkboards on the walls, and I thought how neat it would be to live in an old renovated school with blackboards on the wall. I think one chapter in the book may have been called "Pink Monday" because when the father did the laundry, he threw something red in there which bled on the rest of the clothes. Any ideas? Thanks.
I'm not sure if it's the same book or not, but the pink laundry rang a bell. I thought the family were living in an old
railroad car and the title was Boxcar Family or something like that. I've looked for it often, but am always offered the Boxcar Children or the Nesbit book, neither of which is correct. There was a scene where father talked with nails in his mouth, and mother told him to take them out, even though she had just agreed he was the boss -- and they decide mother is the boss about things that go in your mouth! Also, one of the girls buys a glass egg at the store for a joke, and doesn't know it's a nesting egg... so they have to decide whether to raise chickens. Same book? **Later...
I just had a brainstorm. I think the book I'm remembering was called the Trolley Car Family, and shows up online with the author as Eleanor Clymer. I found this summary elsewhere, and it doesn't entirely sound right, but the children's names do: "When the trolley company switches to buses, Mr. Parker refuses a job driving a 'new-fangled bus' so he is out of a job. Then Pa and Ma Parker, Sally, Bill, George and Little Peter go to live in an old trolley at the very last stop on the old trolley line." I'm going to look for a copy, and if I get one, I'll let you know if there's pink laundy! Thanks for the memories (so to speak).
In Stumper S22 School house, someone posted a message on the end asking about a family living in a boxcar. I'm pretty sure this person is looking for The Trolley Car Family by eleanor Clymer, 1947 (although I think there was a later paperback publication)
In S22 the book with the nails in the mouth and the glass egg is The Trolley Car Family by Eleanor Clymer it is not the same one as the school house. The father loses his job driving a Trolley car and he takes the Car to the end of the line and he and his family live in it.
Yes, you are all correct: there is no pink laundry in the Trolley Car Family (I just got a copy in the mail and re-read it).
You have this description listed under solved mysteries as the Trolley Car Family. A lot of people did think is was the same book but it is definitely not. I have been keeping an eye on it because I remember reading it and have been looking for it too.
Book listed under Trolley Car Family in Solved Mysteries about the family moving in to the school house and remodeling it to live in is The Six Robbens by Marion Obermeyer Barrett, 1950. I remember thinking it
was the Robin's Nest and looked for all varations of the spelling for Robin except Robben. Was browsing through another message board and saw it mentioned.

Skating Gander
This is a children's book, large with lots of pictures, about a skating goose. I read it in about 2nd grade. Illustrations were beautiful.

Roger Duvoisin, Petunia books. Just a possibility. I'm pretty sure it's not the first book, Petunia the Silly Goose, but there are several in the series.
G129 Just checked: it's not Petunia's Christmas.
Alice Bailey, Skating Gander, 1927. Have not read it, but at least the title sounds appropriate.
I was thinking there was a Volland that met this description, and the Alice Bailey is it. Beautiful illustration, indeed.

Skeleton Cave
I read a children's book in the early 1970's that involved these details: rural boy (about 12?) finds a skull in a cave and secretly travels to the "big city" in a truck to speak with an authority (professor?) on the skull or something like that. Along the way, he eats cold tomatoes he'd put in his sweater pockets. Once in the city, the professor takes him to a restaurant. The boy is fascinated by the menu and mistakenly thinks he has to eat all of the food listed! The only other detail I remember is that the boy wanted to buy his grandfather a "rolling chair" (wheelchair). This book made quite an impression on me as a pre-pubescent and I would love to read it again and own it, too.

This is Skeleton Cave by Cora Cheney.(Scholastic Book Services) Published 1954. My copy is the 5th printing, 1964. Love your site!
Possibly Treasure Cave written and illustrated by Sanford Tousey, published Whitman, 1946 "On a big ranch Jack Simms and his Indian friend White Buffalo discover a prairie dog town, see a rattlesnake, and dig a fine cave. Jack unexpectedly uncovers an old chest of drawers, a skull, and a sizeable amount of old money. The author has created a fine western story full of wholesome adventure. Ages 8 to 10 years." (Horn Book Sep-Oct/46 publ ad p.327)
Cora Cheney, Skeleton Cave. Truly, it is Skeleton Cave! All the details match! (I have two copies).
Another quote from the Alibris list, with more plot detail (from the cover) to aid memory - SKELETON CAVE, BY CORA CHENEY. TX150. Paperback. Illustrated by Paul Galdone. A Tab Book. Published by Tab Books, NY, 1958. 91 pages. "It couldn't be- but it was! There in the cave lay a human skeleton. How did it get there? What did it mean? Davy could hardly wait to go back to the cave with his grandfather to solve the mystery. But sadly, Davy has to promise his Ma that he won't go back to the cave alone. Pa is away. Grampy is sick and can't use his legs. if only Davy could think of a way to get Grampy to the Cave! He does. And at the same time he learns the answer to the riddle of the skeleton in the cave."

Sky High
I remember this book as a child in 50's. It told about angel children doing chores during week: hanging wash from star tip to moon slice on Mon., ironing on Tues., etc. The blue hardcover showed the title, something about angels in the night sky it may not be a Golden book, it was smaller - I think!!! Please help!

Don't have the title for you yet (I'm still thinking about it), but I do remember this book! I want to say it was called something like "Busy Angels," but I checked and couldn't find anything by that title.
I see this book has surfaced again! The description of the illustration with the wash hanging on a line from a star to the moon is unmistakable. it's the same as stumper A228, and is called Twinkle-Tots. See Solved Mysteries for more.
Twinkle Tots is by Frances Wosmek, published in the U.K. by Peter Haddock, n.d., "My First Tall Board Book".
I still don't think Twinkle Tots is the correct book. I have found one called Sky High, which is what I originally believed. I found a copy, and am awaiting its arrival. I'll let you know about this mysterious book/title when I have it in my hands! (It's coming from Canada.)
Imagine my surprise when I stumbled on your web page while trying to find some information about a book from my past. I was searching for information about illustrator Frances Wosmek. In the 50's as a little girl I had a book entitled HERE WE GO! (from the Friendly Books series)--full of two-pager stories, written by Mary Windsor. Two of my favorite stories were illustrated by Frances Wosmek--and dealt with little cherub children (kind of kewpie doll looks) who lived on the clouds and ate out of star dishes. One story was DICKIE GOES VISITING, Pictures by Frances Wosmek--about a little boy visiting Star Land. The second was THE STAR CHILDREN, Pictures by Frances Wosmek again. Many days as a child I was drawn to these pictures, and many years after I still had the book. I often told my husband about how much I loved the book that our daughter (now 31) had enjoyed through her early reading days. Years later at a K-Mart (I think), I found a little board book entitled TWINKLE TOTS-- Story and Pictures by Frances Wosmek--billed as "My First Board Book.) The book had a copyright date of 1991, "Peter Haddock, Ltd., England, published by Derrydale Books, distributed by Outlet Book Company, Inc., a Random House Company." Immediately I recognized those cherubs and bought the only copy of the book on the off chance that the illustrator would match my book at home--she did. Frances Wosmek had illustrated the little stories I had loved so much for their pictures! You would have thought I had found a rare treasure, and actually I did. It's amazing how much our books influence us. You mignt not know it from this frenetic e-mail, but my daughter and I are both English majors from the same alma mater, and she's an artist--no doubt influenced by the many, many books I read to her through her childhood, as my parents had. I'm almost positive that TWINKLE TOTS is the book being sought in the A253 entry on your site. I hope this helps you if you have not found an answer by now. Love your web site.
Frances Wosmek, Sky High, 1949. The book with the angel children doing chores during the week is definitely Sky High, by Frances Wosmek. It was my aunt's favourite book when she was little, and when I was born, it became my favourite book. In fact, when my mom was in the hospital having my little brother, my dad tape-recorded me reciting it. I was 2 weeks shy of my 3rd birthday at the time. Maybe this'll jog some memories: It begins, "Angel children are little things, with fairy ways and fairy wings..." On Monday, we see them gathering dew from morning glories and doing laundry (which they hang to dry on a very tall tree, not a star). Tuesday, they iron, using "half a star on the quarter moon". Wednesday, an owl teaches them. Thursday, they bake angel food cake. Friday, they clean the moon, stars & clouds. Saturday, they go down to earth. Sunday, they put on "robes of blue and pink" and "sing with a chorus of little birds". The last page tells us that when the sky is really blue, "Maybe you'll see one winking at you". Sky High was first published in 1949, and was reprinted in 1975. Frances Wosmek has a website. It's here: and you can contact her through it.
Frances Wosmek, Sky High, 1949. I've just solved the mystery! This proves that Sky High & Twinkle Tots are essentially the same book. The only differences are the title, and the fact that the words "angel children" are changed to "Twinkle Tots". The rhymes and illustrations are identical. It appears that Sky High was the North American version, and Twinkle Tots was the version published in England and Australia.

Skyjets for Fliers of Tomorrow
I've always had an interest in flying, and I think it stems from a children's book I read in my early elementary school years (1960-1964?). I'm trying to remember details, but have very few. It involved I believe a boy and girl and some sort of flying device like a jet pack which an older relative had brought over. The illustrations as I recall were very reminiscent of the 50's, with as many illustrations as pages of text. I believe the ending of the story was that it was just a daydream. Can you or anyone help?

This book sounds like it might be the Furious Flycycle by Jan Wahl. It was published in the 1970's , I think.
F32 flying device: the detail about a relative makes me wonder about The Fantastic Flying Journey: an Adventure in Natural History by Gerald Durrell, illustrated by Graham Perry, published 1987, 140 pages. "The story of Great-Uncle Lancelot and his niece and twin nephews who embark on an epic voyage around the globe in an extraordinary ecological flying machine." It seems to look more like a flying house than a jetpack, though, to judge from the cover picture, and it's too recent.
Robert Lawson, McWhinney's Jaunt. It might be a stretch, but what about this one? Older man, flying bicycle...
Lois Donaldson, SKYJETS FOR FLIERS OF TOMORROW, c. 1954.
Lois Donaldson, Skyjets for Fliers of Tomorrow, 1954. Yes, this is the book--my favorite book from kindergarten, in 1954! I've just rediscovered it! Many copies are for sale on the Web. And what a WONDERFUL idea for a website!!!!!!! THANK you so much! Though "Skyjets" was just about the last of my childhood favorites to be hunted down ... I've already found "Monsters of Old Los Angeles," "Rusty's Space Ship," and various others ...

Slake's Limbo
Hi. I am looking for a scholastic book I read in grade school. It was about a kid who runs away from a neglectful family and makes himself a home in the subway tunnels of New York City. I remember that the girl working in a diner in the subway station gives him a job sweeping up and gives him food in return.

I believe the book you are looking for might be Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman. I think it is still in print.
Yes! That's the book I was thinking of. Thank you!!!!

Sleep
Where do you sleep? This book was full-color illustrated and showed people going to sleep around the world. Some in bunk beds, some on mats, some in huts, some on the ground, etc. It was really cute. I think there was a boy and a girl in every type of sleeping situation, or maybe it alternated. I want to say that in Africa there were jungle animals too. I don't remember much about it but the joy it gave me. Any help in finding this book would be appreciated VERY MUCH.

Perhaps Sleepy Time for Everyone, illustrated by Martha Castagnoli, a Wonder Book, published 1954, 18 pages? No story description, though.
author unknown, Sleep, 1972. I have a book right in front of me (one of my son's) that looks to match the description of this one very closely. It is called "Sleep" and is a "Wonder Starters" book, copyright 1971, first printing 1972. There is no author credited, but the illustrations are by John Mousedale. It does not feature a boy and girl alternating in the illustrations, but does have people sleeping in a variety of places, including the ground, 4-post beds, hammocks, in space (astronauts), and on beds of nails! There is also a section about sleeping animals, including jungle animals. At the end is a short section on dreams, and a vocabulary section for beginning readers. Hope this helps! It really does sound a lot like the book being described.

Sleep Out
I am trying to put a name to this book, it is from my childhood..in this book is about a boy who either goes camping or gets lost..but he has a sleeping bag, so I am guessing he went camping, he is with his dogs, there are woods, they find an abandoned farm house and sleep in it on the second floor, there may or may not be a bear scare in it...it was read by me in the mid 70s and may have been published before that, hardback, picture book, lots of brown and green hues.....HELP??

Carol and Donald Carrick, Sleep Out, 1975, copyright. When young Christopher gets a sleeping bag and other camping gear for his birthday, he immediately wants to sleep out, but must wait for a family trip to a cabin in the country. Once there, he selects a spot by a brook where he will spend the night alone. During the night, it starts to rain and he relocates to an abandoned farmhouse, where he is frightened by strange noises. Fortunately, his dog Bodger finds him and with this reassurance he falls asleep. In the morning, he goes back to the cabin and tells his father that it was great, but he got a little scared. His father then tells him that they will pitch a tent in the back yard that night. Cover picture is Christopher walking downhill, with a forest behind him, wearing his sleeping bag on his back, a canteen on his belt, and a pillow under his arm. There is also a great picture inside of Christopher huddled in a corner in the abandoned farmhouse, next to a window. He appears to be upstairs, as the roof slants steeply above him. Other books about Christopher and his dogs, Bodger and Ben, are: Lost in the Storm, The Accident, The Foundling, The Washout, Ben and the Porcupine, and Dark and Full of Secrets.
I want to thank you for the opportunity your site offered in finding a long lost and wanted book. I was able to find the title of my stumper! It is Sleep Out by Carol Carrick. I found it online and promptly ordered it. While browsing your gobs and gobs of pages I was reminded of so many favorite books of old, Mrs. Twiggly’s Tree, Goops and How To Be Them, Geraldine Belinda….. thank you once again!!

Sleeping Dragon
I'm looking for a series of paperbacks from the mid 1980s. A group of college-age fantasy role-playing gamers (ostensibly Dungeons and Dragons) is trapped in the fantasy world by their dungeon master. He's a wizard from that world, and they must complete a quest for him to earn their way back to the "real" world. One gamer dies immediately upon entering the world. One had been in a wheelchair, but with working legs in the fantasy world, decides not to go back. The first book ends with them completing the quest. Second & subsequent books are about their crusade to establish a new kingdom in the fantasy world and rid it of slavery using their real-world scientific knowledge. Thanks in advance

Joel Rosenberg, The Sleeping Dragon. I think this may be it. It's the first volume in Rosenberg's "Guardians of the Flame" series.
Guy Gavriel Kay, Fionavar Tapestry (a trilogy), 1980's. The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy consists of The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road. The first book of the trilogy was published in 1984, the second and third were both published in 1986. The Tapestry tells the tale of five young Canadians who are taken to Fionavar, the first of all worlds, by Loren Silvercloak, a mage of that world. Ostensibly invited to come as guests of the court for a celebration of the anniversary of the monarch's ascension to the throne, all five students quickly find that their roles in Fionavar are far more complex than they originally expected.
Joel Rosenberg, The Sleeping Dragon, 1993. The first of the series, and to my mind, the best.
Joel Rosenberg, The Sleeping Dragon, 1986. This is definitely Joel Rosenberg's "Guardians Of The Flame" series. The first book is The Sleeping Dragon. He's up to at least 7 or 8 books in the series now, but I've only read the first four or five. The first three books are collected in an omnibus called The Guardians Of The Flame.
This is definitely not Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry, although if you like good fantasy you can't do better than Kay!
Joel Rosenberg, The Sleeping Dragon. Thanks for the rapid response. Seeing the title, I'm reminded that the final quest and access to the gate home was past a sleeping dragon, so I'm nearly certain this is the one. Loganberry Books, if you have a copy of just the first in the series, Sleeping Dragon, please let me know. Thanks again.

Sleepy Book
I am searching for a Sleepy Time Tales compilation I had as a child - around 1963 ish. Blue cover - Brown tree - Green leaves. Several stories - one about a Rabbit? that swallowed a bee - also one about a fox that went hunting for rabbits and ended up joining them for vegetable stew. Many Grateful Thanks in anticipation of your assistance -

I also have a book similar to the SLEEPY TIME TALES mentioned in #S26 among my children's books in the form of a "little golden book", c.1948, this edition 1975. Author is listed as Margaret Wise Brown, illustrator Garth Williams and it does have the story of the bunny who swallows the bee as well as several other poems, songs and stories. Only thing is mine is called THE SLEEPY BOOK. It has a yellow pictorial cover with a picture of a sleepy little bear getting into bed. Is this the one?

Slim
Title is "Slim"...has nothing to do with cowboys or losing weight. Came out in pprbk in late fifties or early sixties. Story of Slim who is a young man (18 or so) in one of the Carolinas or Georgia who walks to a crew building a tower to carry high voltage wires and asks for a job. He's hired, is taken in hand by "Red" who teaches him his job and becomes his friend in the process. Slim grows and matures and continues to learn from Red and others and also survives a knife attack by an enemy. Red is eventually killed in an accident involving both the loss of his arm and a fall from a tower. Slim continues to mature and eventually changes the direction of his career to that of installing and maintaining the wiring for train yards and trains that run via electricity fed from the wires overhead. This may seem a bit dry but I assure you it is not. It is a tremendous "coming of age" story. The cover of the book had a drawn picture of Red in his safety belt working high up on a tower. Thanks very much for any help. It has been about thirty five years since I've read it.

Sirs & Mesdames: Looks like S 65 is Slim by William Wister Haines. Published in 1934 by Little, Brown at 414 pages. He also wrote High Tension. I am looking for both books.
I found this one (confirmed by poster over on Alibris) it's "Slim" by William Wister Haines, published Little, Brown, 1934, 414 pages. "A story of the life of linemen on high-power electric construction work. Particularly it is the story of young "Slim" Kincaid, southern ploughboy and his adventures after he leaves the farm and gradually rises through various grades to the position of lineman."

A Slipping Down Life
early 1970s.'this was a teen/young adult paperback about a troubled girl who had a crush on a local Elvis-type bar singer and somehow someone (or herself) cuts his name backwards onto her forehead, scarring her. They end up having some kind of shotgun wedding and basically a miserable life together until she leaves him.

Anne Tyler, A Slipping Down Life. I'm not 100% positive, but I think this is A Slipping Down Life. It was available from Scholastic in the 1970s.
Anne Tyler, A Slipping-Down Life, 1970. This was filmed in 1999, starring Lili Taylor as Evie and Guy Pearce as Drumstrings Casey.
Anne Tyler, A Slipping Down Life, 1969. An early book about teenagers from a famous adult author. I remember finding it in the YA section of my public library when I was in junior high school and have been an Anne Tyler fan ever since.
Thank you so much for the answers! That is definitely the book I was looking for.

Slovenly Peter
I have a xerox copy of a book tittled Slovenly Peter. It includes poems four times more then the original book by Heinrich Hoffmann. The drowing (illustrations) are very close to the original ones but yet different, immitating the stile. Still it includes much more poems then the original and I know for sure Hoffmann didn't write them. What I'm asking is who wrote those extra poems, who illustrated them and what's the story behind them. That info does not apear in the book. All what's written is After Heinrich Hoffmann. Thanks.

I believe that Slovenly Peter is a translated title forHoffman's Strewwelpeter. There were probably many translations, some authorized and some bowlderized. Mark Twain translated it for the Limited Editions Club in 1935, and Mary Perks had a version out in 1940. W.W. Denslow also included a version of at least one of these poems in his bowlderized Oz book Scarecrow and Tin-Man (that's a whole other copyright struggle story). My best guess is that you have an unauthorized translated version of Strewwelpeter with amplifications and additions. No wonder the author/translator didn't put a name on it.

Slumber Party
Okay, I'm back for another successful (hopefully)round. I read this book as a preteen or early teenager in the 1980's. A group of high school girls (best friends) go away for a winter holiday/getaway to relax. They stay at a house or lodge or cabin. At first things seem great but the longer that they are there the more suspicious they become of one another. One of the girls is killed/murdered. This leads to chaos between the remaining girls because they don't know who did it or if it was an accident. Strange and mysterious accidents start happening to all the girls. At the end, one of the girls had been responsible for trying to hurt all of the others because she was evil/hated them. I have tried searching this site as well as general search engines and come up empty handed. Please help!!!

Corcoran, Barbara, Mystery on Ice. Could it be Mystery on Ice? The summary is: "A family outing to Camp Allegro during the Christmas holidays is overshadowed by a series of mysterious threats that soon escalate into dangerous and frightening events." It's part of a series that includes August, Die she Must and You're Camp Allegro Dead.
Christopher Pike, Slumber Party. Description reads: Grade 7-10 Six teenage girls in a luxurious winter vacation home experience a series of bizarre and violent incidents during a blizzard that makes communication and travel difficult. Old secrets weigh heavily on the group. Lara has explained to newcomer Celeste that Nell's facial scars were caused by a tragic fire during the group's last slumber party, but she is unable to talk about the death that also occurred. For a while, Lara is pleasantly distracted by handsome Percy, but tension returns when Dana disappears. Where she was last seen, only melted snow, ash, and bone remain. New horrors multiply as the plot races to a surprising and violent end. I couldn't find the original date but I remember reading it in the 80's sometime.
Pike, Christopher, Slumber Party,1980s.Your description sounds like Christopher Pike's Slumber Party, one of my favorites from the late 1980s! Laura and her friends/frenemies are invited to spend the weekend at Nell's vacation home. The entire group hasn't had a sleepover together since the disastrous one in elementary school during which Nell's younger sister Nicole died as a result of a fire caused during a scary seance. Now as the snow piles up, someone or something seems to be seeking retribution for the past....
Pike, Christopher, Slumber Party, 1985. Thank you so much to those who knew the answer!!! This was indeed the right book. Now I can share it with my daughter. This is the coolest site ever! Kudos to those who knew the answer and I'll be trying to solve other mysteries!!!!

Sly Little Bear and Other Bears
My exhusband burned all of my childrens books from when I was a child and all the ones that we purchased for our children. That was 14 years ago and now I'm going to be a grandmother at the age of 45. I would like to locate books that I had as a child. I am looking for a book with a bear that possibly had 3 bedtime stories in it. I'm not sure but the bear went fishing with his dad and got into some poison ivy when he was eating berries. Could you please tell where I could find either of these books?

Berenstein Bears, perhaps?
Sure sounds like the Berenstain Bears to me! I'm sure I had the same one and wore it out.
B23 is definitely Sly Little Bear and Other Bears, a Little Golden Book by Kathryn Jackson, 1960 The 1st story is about a little bear who only pretends to take a bath. The 2nd story is about a bear who picks poison ivy leaves and brings them home to his mother. The 3rd story is about a bear who wants to go fishing with his brother.
I wonder if B23 might not be one of the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. I know there was one in which Little Bear goes fishing with his father. Lovely books, much superior to Berenstains.
Also, for B23: this is definitely not in the Little Bear series.

Small One
Hi! I would appreciate your help locating a book. I remember it was talked up on the LIVE with Regis and Kathie Lee show a few years ago (more than 2 years less than 5 years ago i believe). It is about a child that gives his donkey (I believe) to a poor couple on a journey and at the end of the story you find out the couple is Mary and Joseph. I remember she would give it away to the people who called in to answer trivia questions. Any help will be greatly appreciated. I was hoping to get it for our children's Christmas eve party, but the librarian and the bookstore owner didn't know what the book was, and my on-line searches haven't found anything. Thanks!

THE SMALL ONE by Alex Walsh, 1997. It gained a lot of attention when Kathie Lee Gifford talked about on her show.
D36 is The Small One, a traditional story (I thought), but most recently reprinted by Disney Press and credited to Alex (or Alec) Walsh.
#D36 is almost certainly The Small One, by Charles Tazewell, who seemed to write almost exclusively Christmas stories! The Littlest Snowman's Christmas Gift and the wonderful The Littlest Angel. Does anyone know of any books by Charles Tazewell which are NOT about Christmas? The Small One was a short subject (not feature-length) Disney cartoon.

Small Pig
I’m looking for a picture book, perhaps from the 1960s or 1970s, in which a pig has his pig pen cleaned out by the farmer whose farm he lives on because the farmer has decided the pig was too dirty. The pig then goes to a series of other places to find another place to wallow, but all the good spots are already taken. He goes to the city dump, for example, and I think a snake tells him to go find someplace else. He eventually finds what he thinks is the perfect spot, in newly poured cement in the city, but of course he gets stuck, and when he is safely removed, the farmer is so happy he lets the pig have his messy pig pen back again.

Arnold Lobel, Small Pig. This is definitely the book you are looking for. It was published by Harper Trophy in their "I can read" series.
Lobel, Arnold, Small Pig, 1969. Because the farmer’s wife insists on cleaning his mud puddle, a little pig runs away to the city where he becomes permanently stuck in what he thought was a mud puddle. An I can read book
Arnold Lobel, Small Pig, 1969. Definitely the book. "Because the farmer's wife insists on cleaning his mud puddle, a little pig runs away to the city where he becomes permanently stuck in what he thought was a mud puddle."
Lobel, Arnold, Small Pig, 1969. It's the farmer's wife who's the clean freak and cleans the stable, chicken coop, etc., and when the small pig can't find his good, soft mud he runs away to find a new home with mud. The swamp has mud but also bugs, the junk yard has a vaccuum but no mud, and finally he finds soft mud in the city. But by morning he is stuck in the now hardened cement and people gather round. As the farmer and his wife drive by looking for their pig they see the crowd, call for the firemen to rescue their pig, and when he is safe again they take him back to the farm where the farmer's wife promises to clean up again.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Lobel, Arnold. Small Pig. HarperCollins, 1969, 1988 reprint. New paperback, $3.99

Smart Little Mouse
1950 -1958 Little Golden Book, Possibly. Had a cute grey squirrel, a funny little bunny, and another animal - maybe a mouse. There was a repeated line in it "Cute grey squirrel, cute grey squirrel come out and play with me. Funny little bunny, funny little bunny, come out and play with me." Whatever the third animal was, it saved the squirrel and the bunny from either a fox or a wolfe that had them in a burlap bag and was going to eat them.

Sherwan, Earl, The Smart Little Mouse, 1950. Rand McNally Elf Book No. 441 "The adventures of the smart little mouse, the big red fox, the funny little bunny and the cute gray squirrel."
Earl Sherwan, The Smart Little Mouse. (1950) I just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to use your service. The Smart Little Mouse was the name of the book - it was solved on your web site - and I now have four copies coming through Barnes and Noble - all thanks to your site! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Sherwan, Earl, The Smart Little Mouse. (1950) Yeah, it's definitely the book you want. I'm looking at my old copy right now and the story matches your description exactly.

Smartest Bear and His Brother Oliver
The book I am looking for was published in the late 1970's or early '80's (I think). It's about a bear family that is getting ready to hybernate by eating alot of food. One of the bear children doesn't want to eat all of the food, and his mother is always having to talk him into eating. There is a scene where she puts apples into his porridge hoping that the red color of the apples will make him want to eat. My sister and I loved this book and we have never been able to find it!

Alice Bach, The Smartest Bear and His Brother Oliver, 1975. Does this sound familiar? I don't have it so can't check the apples in porridge detail. "A young bear is determined to stay awake during the winter while his family sleeps so he can finish reading the encyclopedia and thus be recognized as a separate identity from his non-bookish twin brother."
B218 Bach, Alice. The smartest bear and his brother Oliver. illus by Steven Kellogg, Dell Yearling, 1975 IT IS THE RIGHT BOOK.
I wanted to thank you for solving my book stumper. i have ordered the book and I will have it in time for my sister's birthday. I can't tell you how excited I am-- we have been looking for our book for 10 years!

Smiling Hill Farm
Read this book in 1970s. It follows three generations of a family. First they build log cabin, make soap, etc. Next generation sees stagecoaches on turnpike. Next generation rides a steam engine - kid gets cinder in eye. Loved it, can't remember the name! Would love some help with this. THanks!

Miriam E. Mason, Smiling Hill Farm, 1937. the answer to this stumper is DEFINITELY Smiling Hill Farm and it is described in the responses to the T362 stumper! Here is one paragraph describing what happened when people saw the train: "People were frightened by the dangerous-looking train and hurried away from the tracks. Babies screamed and cried at the tops of their voices. All the horses tried to run away." Betsey and Margaret refuse to ride the train but Matilda, Jack, and Joe ride it and when the ride ends, Joe has a cinder in his eye, Matilda feels sick and all of them have faces blackened from the smoke and soot. "But it had been a wonderful ride all the same."
Miriam E. Mason, Smiling HIll Farm, 1937. Smiling HIll Farm (mentioned as a possible solution to T362) fits the description nicely - right down to the cinder in Joe's eye. The setting is Indiana. This book is part of Calvert Home School's third grade curriculum so there are probably lots of used copies floating around.
Thanks very much to the people who suggested Smiling Hill Farm. That sounds like the one! I'll get a copy and let you know. I'm looking forward to reading this to my children. Thanks again!
Thanks again for the solution. My copy of Smiling Hill Farm just arrived, and it is definitely the book I remember!

Smoky Joe
This is a story about a cat called "Smokey Joe" whose "true" name is Ju the Jolly. I suspect it might be by Margaret J Baker, but can't find the title.

Perhaps Porterhouse Major by Margaret J. Baker? It was published in 1967, illustrated by Shirley Hughes, and features a very large, very intelligent and very bossy cat.
I'm pretty sure that isn't right, although it's the right period. Maybe the Smokie is spelled that way, or Smoky... I'm still thinking Smokey Joe though, and I'm CERTAIN of Ju the Jolly.
Laurence Meynell, Smoky Joe, 1952. Definitely the right book, it is the first in a trilogy. Two sequels are Smoky Joe in Trouble (1953) and Smoky Joe Goes to School (1956). Smoky Joe is a feral young cat who lives with his wild mother (Fu the Ferocious, sometimes called Fluffy) and siblings. He disobeys his mother's orders to stay away from humans and ends up being domesticated by a little girl named Ann and befriending her pony Sinbad.
John O'Grady, Smoky Joe The Fish Eater, 1972. This is the only book I can think of starring a cat named Smokey Joe. I'm not sure if they call him Jue the Jolly in it however...
Laurence Meynell, Smoky Joe. Thanks for the solution! I'm sure this is right, as "Fu the Ferocious" rings a distant bell. I wonder why it didn't turn up when I ran searches? Maybe I didn't try "Smoky" but only "Smokey" and "Smokie".

Snarly Snuffin
I was read this book in the late 1980s- the cover page has a very intricate map (on an island?) showing the forest, a dirt road, mountains and the village... @ the village there lives a baker who, if i can remember correctly, bakes muffins using the eggs from a puffin who has a nest at the top of an old stone building... the puffin disappears and the villagers are worried bc they can't make muffins anymore... this book was beautifully illustrated, several pages from an "up above" perspective... the old man is bald/balding with grayish-white hair, his bakery is old fashioned... the puffin returns at the end, but i can't remember why it left... i've exhausted every possible book on amazon, LoC... i found you through my latest google search, and figured it could be the best $2 i've ever spent for peace of mind...

Stephen Cosgrove, Snarly Snuffin, 1988, copyright. A mystery story for young children, featuring a missing puffin whose daily egg is the necessary ingredient for Snuffin Muffins. When Snarly Snuffin, the town's eccentric, is falsely accused of kidnapping the puffin, the town learns a lesson about suspicion and respecting others.
Stephen Cosgrove, Snarly Snuffin, 1988, copyright. This mystery story for young children features a missing puffin whose daily egg is the necessary ingredient for Snuffin Muffins. When Snarly Snuffin, the town's eccentric, is falsely accused of kidnapping the puffin, the town learns a lesson about suspicion and respecting others.
Stepehn Cosgrove, Snarly Snuffin. Hi- Just wanted to let you know that I was indeed looking for Snarly Snuffin. Thank you thank you thank you for your help!

Snipp, Snapp and Snurr

Snip, Snap and Snurr or at least I thought it was. They fly a rocking horse to candy land, eat until they can't eat anymore..fall off the horse back into bed and wake up sick to their stomachs and their Mom is there.

There's a whole series of Snipp, Snapp, Snurr books. Maj Lindman penned them originally in the 1930's, but they're back in print: see the Back in Print page for a picture and a list of titles available for sale. I didn't see any with a flying rocking horse though.
S181 Maj Lindman, Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Magic Horse. This is one of the fantasy Snipp, Snapp, Snurr's. The boys receive a large rocking horse for their birthday it takes them to Candyland for a magical adventure.
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Magic Horse, Lindman, Maj. Albert Whitman & Co., 1935. "The story is about Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr, 3 little Swedish boys who get a rocking horse on their birthday. Climbing aboard, they discover the horse is magic when he takes them to Candy Land."
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Snipp, Snapp, Snurr series
I only have a book description. In the 1950's, I read a series of books about three little norse boys. I think they were triplets, and probably Swedish. The books were very thin, and there seemed to be a lot of them. Can you help?

Lindman, Maj, Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the .... Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr are identical Swedish triplets featured in a wide series of books.
Maj Lindman, Snipp, Snapp, Snurr series.
Snip, Snap, Snurr books. This stumper sounds a little like the Snip, Snap and Snurr books. Those books are about three blonde brothers and they are thin books, if I remember correctly.
Lindman, Maj, Snip, Snapp, Snurr books. Could this be the SNIPP, SNAPP, SNURR books by Maj Lindman?
Maj Lindman, Snipp Snapp and Snurr books. Many of these titles are back in print.
Snip, Snap, and Snurr (series), 1950s. Hi, this is a response to the stumper posed by T266 and just a guess, since I did not ever actually read any of the books. I remember coming across lots and lots of these "Snip, Snap, and Snurr (sic?)" books in libraries when I was young obviously the adventures of triplet boys, all with golden hair, ruddy cheeks, and blue eyes (that's what I remember from the covers). Maybe a fit.
Lindman Maj, Snipp, Snapp, Snurr (books).. These could be the Snipp, Snapp, Snurr books.
Maj Lindman, Snipp Snapp Snurr (various titles). This sounds like the Snipp Snapp Snurr books which are Swedish. The girls'counterpart books are about Flicka Ricka and Dicka.
Maj Lindman, Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and [the Red Shoes (etc.)], 1950s.
Maj Lindman, Snipp, Snapp & Snurr, 1930s. I read a few of these books when I was quite young, back in the fifties. I think you can goggle for the author. They were triplet boys, Swedish, very blond, always getting into predicaments. She also wrote a series of books with girl triplets, Flicka, Ricka & Dicka. These were some of the first books I read by myself so they were memorable.
Maj Lindmann, Snipp, Snapp, Snurr series. Possibly these? Now back in print. See: http://loganberrybooks.com/backinprint.html.
Maj Lindman, Snip, Snap and Snurr. Could this be the Snip Snap and Snurr series of books by Maj Lindman? There was also a girls equivalent entitled Flicka, Dicka and Ricka.
Snipp, Snapp & Snurr series, Maj Lindman. Very likely the "Snipp, Snapp & Snurr" series from the 1930s. Written by Maj Lindman, who also wrote a girl series - "Flicka, Ricka & Dicka." The former series has at least seven titles, which are: SSS & the Red Shoes, SSS & the Gingerbread, SSS and the Buttered Bread, SSS Learn to Swim, SSS and the Reindeer, SSS & the Yellow Sled, and SSS and the Big Surprise. Probably best for kindergarteners.
Maj Lindman, Snip Snap and Snurr.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Lindman, Maj.
Snipp Snapp Snurr and the Gingerbread. Albert Whitman & Co., 1994. New paperback, $6.95
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Big Surprise. Albert Whitman & Co., 1995. New paperback, $6.95
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Buttered Bread. Albert Whitman & Co., 1934, 1962, 1995. New paperback, $6.95
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Red Shoes. Albert Whitman & Co., 1994. New paperback, $6.95
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Yellow Sled. Albert Whitman & Co., 1936, 1995. New paperback, $6.95
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr Learn to Swim. Albert Whitman & Co., 1954, 1982, 1995. New paperback, $6.95
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr, and the Reindeer. Albert Whitman & Co., 1957, 1995. New paperback, $6.95

Snow
I'm desprately trying to locate a book for my brother. It's a children's book that he read in the sixties. It has a blue cover with white snowflakes and a little boy on it. The title is something like "Come Out and Play" or "Let's Go Play". I would truly appreciate any help! Thanks!

There's an Eloise Wilkin Little Golden Book with this title, but I don't remember snowflakes....
Here is some additional information about the book I'm looking for: The book is about a little boy playing in the snow. He takes some of the snow inside and puts it in the freezer. It sounds a lot like The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, but it's not. The book may have been published anytime before 1975. Thanks!
Donna Pape, I Play in the Snow, 1967. This is a Whitman Tell-a-Tale book that might be the one you are seeking. The cover shows a little boy playing in the snow with a blue sky background. No snowflakes coming down on the cover but plenty on the pages inside. The boy plays in the snow, catches snowflakes, tastes one on his tongue, builds a snow castle, a giant snowball, and draws pictures in the snow with an icicle 'pencil'. He uses the side of his hand and his fingers to make 'barefoot prints' in the snow. Then his dad comes home with a sled for him to play with tomorrow. He laughs when his dad says "I wonder who walked barefoot in the snow?" Nice winter story.
I bought the Donna Pape book and although it was a cute story, it wasn't it. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Roy McKie and P. D. Eastman, Snow,1962. I'm almost positive this is the book you are looking for. The cover is blue with snow falling and has a boy and girl sledding. They play with the snow all day and make a snowman. When the sun comes out and starts to melt the snowman, they take some snow and put it in the freezer for another day. It is still available (at least I bought a copy a couple years ago) and is a Dr. Seuss book.
That's it! Thank you sooooo much!!! I'm so excited!!
I posted the suggestion that this book is Snow. I felt like I should add that even though there is no "Come Out and Play" in the title, the first few words of the book are "Snow! Snow! Come out in the snow.

Snow Angel
This book may have been a re-issue of an older book, but I saw it about five years ago. The story is about a little girl who goes into the woods. Somehow she befriends an angel and I distinctly remember them playing and making snow angels together. I really can't remember the rest of the story, but I wasn't too impressed with the illustrations (although I liked the story). I believe the illustrations looked "old" perhaps 50's/60's style and it wasn't too colorful. Your Stumper-site has helped me find TWO childhood books so far. I think it is excellent and I hope someone can help me this time. Thanks!

H13 since it was read only 5 years ago, how about Snow Angel by Jean Marzollo, Jacqueline Rogers (Illustrator) When school closes early because of a blizzard, Jamie is accidentally left behind as her mother picks up all of the other children in her car pool. While waiting for her mom to return, the little girl makes a snow angel. As she gets up, a real angel (just her size) ``wearing a long silver dress and Jack Frost wings'' takes her hand. Less likely, but a bit older is Boone, Debby - The Snow Angel Rose and her grandfather seem to be the only people left in theirvillage who know how to dream and experience the beauty of the world,until a snow angel
comes to life and creates a wondrous event.
H13 how girl befriends: now that I've been able to see the covers of both suggested, the Debby Boone title Snow Angel, illustrated by Gabriel Ferrer, published Harvest House 1991, seems more likely. The illustrations are very simple, and rather resemble Louis Slobodkin's drawings for the Moffat stories in the 1940s. The illustrations for the Marzollo book are much more detailed and realistic. Also, the cover of the Boone book shows little Rose in the woods, looking at the angel, while in the Marzollo book, Jamie seems to make her snow angels right in the schoolyard.

Snow Ghosts
I've kept up with children's literature over the years, and have had little trouble finding all the books from my childhood. I was a voracious reader, but always memorized the name of the book and the author. However, I've always been nagged by the memory of a book I checked out of the school library around 1980. It was probably at least ten or twenty years old at that point. It was a juvenile novel with (I believe) a picture of a sleigh with a woman and a girl in it with an old mansion in the background. The cover was dark and typical of the artwork done for the gothic novels that were popular in the late sixties and seventies, but it was definitely a children's novel. I believe the plot had to do with the girl coming to the mansion and typical gothic mystery ensues. I have since done much study on gothic novels of the 20th century, but was never able to figure out what this was.
I don't think there are any overtly supernatural elements in the plot, but I think snow and cold weather was an important element. Also, I remember its placement in the libray and the author must have had a name that was somewhere in the B-G range (approximately). Sorry to not provide any more details than this, but I am very resourceful and if my memory were any better of this book I wouldn't need to ask! By the way, it definitely isn't Joan Aiken's "Wolves of Willoughby Chase" or anything nearly that well know. I am fairly certain the author was not a prolific novelist. Any help would be much appreciated--I remember enjoying this book, and I'd love to revisit it!

Re. S95 ("Snow- Sleigh")- this might just possibly be Cold Christmas by Nina Beachcroft.
Could this be The Snow Ghosts byBeryl Netherclift? My copy is a Scholastic paperback circa 1973, and the cover (now missing, thanks to my kids) showed a girl in a snowstorm, perhaps in a sleigh, superimposed over a forbidding-looking mansion. The plot has three English children (twin girls and a boy, Caroline, Kit, and Richard) moving to a great-aunt's decrepit namor, where they solve the mystery of the family's missing treasures through time travel facilitated by a snowstorm paperweight. The time travel isn't presented as supernatural in the occult sense- more from a scifi-ish, other dimensions angle. A huge blizzard leads to the climax of the story. Book was originally titled The Snowstorm.

Snow Queen
A fantastic site, congratulations! The magic bullet, or the silver bullet - the title (I think) of a short
story. It is set in lap land, there is lots of snow. A boy is a hunter but the only thing which will kill the wolf is a silver bullet. This memory is associated with a memory of The Little Fir Tree, so maybe they were in the same book.

M54 could this be part of Gerda's adventures on her search for Kay in the Snow Queen? - as this is also by Hans Andersen it may well be in the same volume as the Little Fir Tree. Gerda meets a little Robber Girl and I'm fairly sure a silver bullet is invlolved.
Again, I have to wonder about this. There is no silver bullet episode in the Andersen story. Could this have been an anthology containing The Little Fir Tree and other non-Andersen stories, perhaps a selection of stories from the North, or Scandinavian countries?

Snow Queen and Other Tales
The Snow Queen and Other Russian Fairy Tales, 1962. Beautifully illustrated book with some titles that include Baba Yaga, Joringa and Jorangel, The Nutcracker, and The Snow Queen.

The Snow Queen is a Hans Christian Andersen tale, so it would be Danish, not Russian. But there is a Snow Maiden (or Snegurochka) that is included with many Russian fairy tale anthologies...
by Andre Bay Translated by Marie Ponsot Illustrated by Adrienne Segur, The Snow Queen and Other Tales. Has been reprinted and currently available.

Snow Treasure
Original Title: Rescue of the Hidden Gold
My 4th grade teacher read this book to our class in 1959. The story I recall takes place in Nazi occupied Norway during World War II. To keep Norway’s gold from falling into German hands, children hide gold bars under the padding on their sleds and transport the gold directly past Nazi soldiers. I recall the father of one of the main characters was a fisherman. I would like to purchase a copy of the book if anyone can come up with a title.

S186 Sounds like SNOW TREASURE by Marie McSwigan ~from a librarian
#S186--Sledding gold bars past the Nazis: Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan, original title The Rescue of the Hidden Gold.
McSwigan, Marie, Snow Treasure. This is it.
Marie McSwigan, Snow Treasure
By Secret Railway. The title of the book in which I remember kids putting gold bullion in the bottoms of their sleds and sledding it past the Nazis was called By Secret Railway. I'm not sure of the author.
This is definitely Snow Treasure, which I think was published under another title originally.
Marie McSwigan, Snow Treasure
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This was an exciting junior or possibly senior high level novel about young people in Norway or Denmark who used skis to carry out underground activities against the Nazis in World War II. I remember the snow and the skiis and that's all, but I loved it.

Any possibility this is Snow Treasure again? Sleds, not skis, and the targeted age range is a little off, but the rest sounds familiar.
Marie McSwigan, Snow Treasure. Children transport gold bars on their sleds under the eyes of the Nazis.
Marie McSwigan, Snow Treasure. See solved mysteries
Could this be Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan? Maybe.
Marie McSwigan, Snow Treasure/Rescue of the Hidden Gold. This is the same plot, except with sleds instead of skis. There's more under "Solved Mysteries."
McSwigan, Marie, Snow Treasure, 1942.
W131 Sounds like it could be SNOW TREASURE by Marie McSwigan. I know this is a popular stumper, so it's probably on your Solved mysteries page. ~from a librarian
W131: Sounds like Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan. See Solved Mysteries.
Marie McSwigan, Snow Treasure, Grade 3-6-Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan is an exciting, suspenseful tale of Norwegian children and their contributions to protecting their town's gold during the German occupation in 1940. The reading level seems low for what the reader is looking for, but the basic plot seems right.
Well, it didn't take long to solve my mystery, and my memory was not very good about the age at which I read the book or the fact it was sleds, not skiis. Thanks so much, and I certainly enjoyed browsing through many other books, identified and still waiting to be. What a great idea this web site is, Harriet..using high technology to help people remember the wonderful world of books.
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I'm looking for a book I read around 1980. It took place during WWII in one of the Scandinavian countries. All I recall is that the children helped to smuggle gold out of their village to help the Resistance. They accomplished this by placing gold bars on their sleds and then lying belly-down on top to hide them. They rode their sleds through the town under the very noses of the Nazis. Another memory (perhaps from this book or perhaps from another stumper-worthy book?) is of a number of children hiding in a cellar sharing their chocolate rations with Jewish children and having to keep absolutely silent. I'd be grateful for any ideas as to the title(s?). Thanks so much in advance!

Must be Snow Treasure again...
I think the second book is Twenty and Ten(aka "The Secret Cave") by Claire Huchet Bishop. You can read more about it under stumper #W85: Woman & Children escape Germany.
The second part of this query, about the Jewish children and chocolate rations, is Twenty and Ten, by Claire Huchet Bishop. It was reprinted in a Scholastic paperback as The Secret Cave in the early 1970s.
Thanks for two quick solutions! D144 was my other stumper. I can see that I will be spending my free time reading through the solved stumper files to find all of my old favorites. I read about your website in the New York Times... it's just a wonderful service for all of us bookworms who stayed in at recess instead of being picked last to play kickball.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades McSwigan, Marie. Snow Treasure. Original illustrations by Mary Reardon. E.P. Dutton, 1942. Ninth printing, 1945. Ex-library in hardcover library binding with usual marks. Pages soft and well read, edges worn. G-. $12
McSwigan, Marie. Snow Treasure. New illustrations by Andre LaBlanc. Scholastic Apple paperback, 1942, 1958. Sixth paperback reprint. G+. $5

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Looking for an edition of Snow White from late 60's early 70's with very beautiful color illustrations on every page. The setting for the pictures is Medieval Europe, the Wicked Queen had a killer laboratory, with all kinds of creepy gadgets. That picture showed her from the back, in a dark reddish dress, trimmed with fur, holding up the poisoned apple. There is another illustration of a forest, with castles dotted about and a hunter and an odd dragon/dog creature devouring a rabbit. I remember the illustrations very well, the last picture in the book is two parts, on the left is a white dog, like a whippet, with a leather collar cringing before an open door to a dark cellar, and to the right, Snow White and her Prince and ascending a stair to a bright, bright room for their wedding. I remember one line "They made her (the Wicked Queen) put on a pair of red hot iron slippers, and dance until she was dead." In retrospect, it was all a little greusome, but wonderfully vivid. The end papers are blue and orange diamonds. The book is about 9 by 12, hardcover.

Grimm (tr. Randall Jarrell, ill. Nancy Ekholm Burkert), Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1972. This book is on my shelf and is illustrated *exactly* as you've described it. The last line of the story is, "Then she had to put on the red-hot slippers and dance till she dropped down dead." I hadn't read it in a while and had forgotten how beautiful it is -- thank you!
Grimm, Jacob W. , SNOW-WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, 1978. The used copy I found through bookfinder.com is dated 1978, but may be a reprint. The illustrations were done by NANCY EKHOLM BURKERT and they were spectacular (which is why I think this is the edition the requester couldn't forget)
Jarrell, Randall, reteller. il Nancy Burkert, Snow White, 1972. The illustrations described are by Nancy Eckholm Burkert (Caldecott Honor book, still in print)
Yeah, I thought that was the one... but all my children's books are packed in boxes, and I couldn't check the line reference....

Snow White- Prince Buckethead
l920's - l930's. Antique children's book - heavy cardboard cover - little book about 4" x 4" square - 1" thick. Possibly old comic book. A story about a boy dancing with a mop with a wooden bucket on his head and they called him Prince Buckethead. My sisters and cousins used to laugh and laugh at the book. None of us know what ever happened to the book.

Here's what I found in an article on Google. It doesn't really answer your request for the book title, but it's a lead -- "However, when we received a request for information on a character named "Prince Buckethead" from a 1930's or 1940's cartoon or children's story, I was doubtful about our chances of finding anything.....Finally, I was able to locate a reference to "Prince Buckethead" in the Comic Research Biography. It was a citation for an article titled "Whatever happened to Prince Buckethead?" .......article was able to provide an apparent answer to the patron's question. "Prince Buckethead" was a nickname for the prince in Disney's classic 1937 version of Snow White. He got this name from a storyboard, or scene that had been drafted for the animated film but was never used." -- So maybe your book was a Disney Snow White book.
I am the one that was looking for Prince Buckethead. You put me on the right track when you said it was in l937 Snow White. I kept searching and found a magazine of the Golden anniversary of Snow White in l987. I ordered the magazine and it has the comic book of Snow White in it. In that Snow White she got a bucket and painted a face on it and turned it upside down on a pole and called it Prince Buckethead. Thank you so much for helping me.

Snowball
I work for a school district (personnel dept.) and am attempting to locate a book for a co-worker. She cannot remember the title nor the author but does recall the gist of the story. It is evidently a children's book (fiction) regarding a big black poodle who lives in an apartment above a millenary shop. At times he goes down into the hat shop and ends up with various hats on his head. I believe she told me that on one occasion, the dog caused some chaos by running through the shop and scattering the hats in all directions. Almost reminded me of the book, The Diggingest Dog which I often read to my boys when they were little. My friend is to turn 60 soon and recalls reading this as a child so it was probably written around the 1940's (maybe earlier). She said that there was some fabric on the cover which you could feel and envision petting a dog's fur coat. She also said that it was a large book (indicating with her hands to be something like 12" x 16" or there about). Would love to locate this book and purchase it from you if you can help. (P.S. Got your website from one of our school librarians!) I hope to surprise her with a copy of this book.

There's a Fuzzy Wuzzy book and another about a black poodle namedWoofus... but I'm not sure either is the culprit.
My Mother has a book called Miss Sniff. It was definitely written around the 1940's because she is the same age as the woman that wants the book. It is the size of the poodle book, too. The cat on the front was fuzzy so you could pet it. They made several of these books that were called "Fuzzy Wuzzy Books." Maybe if somebody had one of these Fuzzy Wuzzy books some of the other books they printed would be listed on the back cover.
Wright, Betty Ren. Snowball.Whitman, A Tell-A-Tale/Fuzzy Wuzzy Book. 1952. Snowball is a black & white toy poodle, whose black fur is fuzzy to touch on cover & inside.
Another book about a big black poodle in an apartment is Hodie by Katharine and Bernard Garbutt, published by Aladdin 1949, 42 pages, 10x7". I don't know if he causes havoc among the hats, but he has to be sent to the country because of the trouble he causes, where he becomes a good work dog, to the farmer's surprise. It's not fuzzy, but the seeker may be interested in it too.
Snowball is a fuzzy book about a small white poodle who constantly gets dirty, with wet tar, etc. A fuzzy book about a large black poodle is The Woolly Dog, by Jane Curry, illustrated by Florence Sarah Winship, published Whitman 1944, a Fuzzy Wuzzy book with the drawings of Woofus & the little black cat, Tar Baby, done in a felt-like texture throughout. "The book is fully color illustrated in delightful 1940s vintage drawings. It measures over 8 x 11, has great illustrated endpapers which are conventional color drawings of Woofus in various poses. The adorable children are named Bobbie & Jean."
Okay, I think this fits much better: Pom Pom The Fuzzy Dog by Virginia Cunningham, illustrated by Catherine Barnes; published 1947 by Whitman Publishing; Pom Pom is a fuzzy dog and this is the story of his life with "Mamzelle Mimi" and her French Hat Shop." The cover shows a black poodle, the endpapers show Pom Pom in the park, a standard, not toy, black poodle and it actually involves a hat shop. Jpg attached.
Hi I have the answer as well as the book that is about a large poodle. The questioon is in here under, Snowball It is called Pantaloon, about a large black poodle who tries many jobs and ends up working in a bakery which he ends up making a mess of. It is a Little Golden Book by Kathryn Jackson, 1951.

Snowbound with Betsy
During the early to mid 70's I read a story about a girl and her family during Christmas. There was a snowstorm and her Dad brought home a stranded woman to stay with the family. During the story, I remember that the young girl made gifts for the birds outside. They hung pine cones covered with peanut butter on an tree in their backyard. It is possible that the story was in a book with other stories but, I cannot remember. Thanks!

Carolyn Haywood, Snowbound with Betsy. This could be one of the Betsy series by Haywood. Snowbound with Betsy does involve a stranded woman (and I think her children) staying with Betsy's family and I know at least one book out of this series involved pinecones and peanut butter for the birds
Carolyn Haywood, Snowbound with Betsy. This one comes up a lot! Mrs. Bird and her children get stranded just before Christmas and have to stay with Betsy's family.

Snowbound in Hidden Valley
This is a book i read as a young girl in the 70s. It was about a white girl who was stuck on an indian reservation during a snowstorm. At first she is very stand-offish and afraid, i remember that she was offended that the Native Americans were going to eat rabbits. I think she learns about their culture; tanning hides etc. At the end she is more tolerant of and friendlier to her new Indian friends. I remember that she thinks to herself, "I guess eating rabbit is no worse than eating plump chickens!" Any help would be much appreciated!

Holly Wilson, Snowbound in Hidden Valley, 1957. I'm fairly sure that this is the book you're thinking of. I have owned it since I was a child, and I found the line about her thinking that eating rabbits is no crueler than eating plump chickens, so it seems right. In it, the main character Jo gets stranded in a snowstorm with the family of her American Indian friend Onota. By the time she is able to leave, she has gone from being somewhat afraid of them to being good friends with them, and is more or less invited to join the tribe, given an Indian name, etc. She then defends them to her family and proves that they were not guilty of burning someone's barn down, of which they were falsely accused. Does this sound familiar?
Wilson, Holly, Snowbound in Hidden Valley, 1965. I believe this is the one you are looking for. "'Your name is Onota, isn't it?' Jo Shannon asks the proud-looking girl with the long black braids... The other girls in the class are unfriendly to Onota because she is Indian. But Jo can see how lonely Onota is. Jo's friendship with the Indian girl is the beginning of a thrilling adventure. They soon share the excitement and dangers of a great blizzard and in the nick of time, Jo proves that Onota's father is not the one who set the mysterious fire."
Holly Wilson, Snowbound in Hidden Valley. I just received the book in the mail. Yes, it is indeed the correct chapter book i read as a girl! It's like reuniting with a dear old friend. Thank you thank you thank you!! Love this site! You all rock!
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A short novel about a young girl who gets caught out in a snowstorm where she is rescued by a family member of a classmate who is Native American. She must stay with her classmates family until it is safe to return home. She has all kinds of experiences different to how they do things at home. I think I remember she gets to take a bath in a tub that has moss along the bottom which feels good to her and when she leaves she is given some rabbit fur mittens just like her newfound friend's ones. Thanks in advance for any help with this!

Holly Wilson, Snowbound in Hidden Valley, 1961. Definitely the book you're looking for. One of my favourites as a child. The main character's name is Jo, and the Indian girl who is her friend is named Onota. The book deals with racial prejudice (the white people looking down on the natives, the other girls at school being mean to Onota because she's an Indian, etc.) and there's a part where Onota's family is wrongly accused of setting a fire to someone's barn, and Jo helps prove that it wasn't them after all.
Holly Wilson, Snowbound in Hidden Valley, 1957. This is Snowbound in Hidden Valley by Holly Wilson...printed in hardcover in 1957, it was reissued several times in paperback by Scholastic...the last time I believe in the early 70s. Easy to find, and still a great read!
Holly Wilson, Snowbound in Hidden Valley, 1961. This desciption matches my memory of the book. It must be it. THANK YOU!

Snowman the Cinderella Horse
I'm looking for a book whose title I'm not sure of. I think it was called Snowman: The Show Jumping Horse, or something to that effect. It was about a white horse that became a famous show jumper. It was a kids book that I read when I ws around 11 or 12 (around 1970 or so). I'm thinking that it might even have been made into a Disney movie or tv special, though I don't know if that helps any. Thanks for a great web site!

I think I recognize the book about Snowman the Show Jumping Horse. I think the horse's name was SNOWBALL, not Snowman. I know this isn't much help, but you never know. Thanks!!
I have a book called Snowman the Cinderella Horse. It's written and illustrated by Tony Palazzo, published in 1962 by Duell, Sloan, and Pearce (New York). It's a first edition library edition... what is a library edition?
I went to grade school in the early to mid 1980's and loved checking out a book about a boy and his white horse that kept jumping fences. The horse became a jumper and the boy named him Snowman ( I think). I thought the title had something to do with the name of the horse..I remember the cover had a picture of this white horse on it. Any ideas on what it was?
Here's a bit more on Snowman. There's a photo on the dw of this, not the usual R. Montgomery size.
Montgomery, Rutherford. Snowman. NY: Duell, 1962, 1st; 131 pp. The biography of the famous jumper Snowman, for two years the "horse of the year" at Madison Square Garden. Tells his story from his plowhorse
beginnings to his final days. Definitely one of my heroes in 1958! Many photos.
In response to Snowman cinderella horse. There was a disney movie called The horse in the Grey Flannel Suit. Hope it helps.

Snowman's Christmas Present
I am looking for a book for my friend from her childhood. She believes it was a golden book called "me too cried little Davy" It had animals in it including a little bird who say "chickadee dee dee dee"

irma wilde, snowman's christmas present. the story and illustrations were done by a lady named irma wilde. this is not a golden book, but a wonderbook, very close in style i think though. published in new york 1951.

Snowstorm Jenny Never Forgot
Here's all the information I remember: a family is driving in a car (mom, dad, little child - I think a girl) and they get stuck in a snowstorm. The snow keeps getting higher and higher until it almost covers the car. Then something happens to rescue them and they are all taken to a Holiday Inn (I think!!!). I believe the art was mostly blues and reds, both inside and out.

Miriam Wood, The Snowstorm Jenny Never Forgot, 1976. "Relates the experiences of a young girl and her grandparents when they become snowbound on the turnpike." At 80 pages and from a religious publisher, I didn't think this was going to be it, but I found a picture of it here: and the table of contents includes a chapter called "Welcome to the Holiday Inn Lobby." See the little Holiday Inn on the cover? The full table of contents: Starting Home, Ohio, On to Somerset, A Night in the Car, A Long Day Gets Started, Welcome to the Holiday Inn Lobby, A Night to Remember.
Thank you, thank you!!! You've solved it! I didn't remember it being a religious book, but now it makes sense since my parents are Seventh-day Adventists and Review & Herald Publishing is owned by that church.You're amazing!

Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket
Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket, 1980s? I think this was from a children's book club. Picture book. Characters from a dream-like night time adventure appear on Snuggle Piggy's blanket in the morning.

Stepto, Michele, Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket, 1987. "The creatures sewn onto snuggle Piggy's magic blanket, who come alive at night and dance with him in the moonlight, are endangered one stormy night when the blanket is left outdoors after being washed."
Michele Stepto, Snuggle Piggy and the magic blanket,1987. "The creatures sewn onto Snuggle Piggy's magic blanket, who come alive at night and dance with him in the moonlight, are endangered one stormy night when the blanket is left outdoors after being washed."
Steptoe, Michele, Snuggle Piggy and the magic blanket, 1987
Michele Stepto, Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket. Published by Unicorn Books.

So Big
The book was in the form of a poem/nursery rhyme. It went something like this: "How big are you baby? Why don't you know? You're only so big and there's still room to grow!"

A classic Eloise Wilkin Little Golden Book, So Big, 1968. LGB# 574. See the Eloise Wilkin page.

I was paying a visit to your Stump the Bookseller site this weekend, love it! Thank you for such an amazing resource.

There is one solved mystery for the book So Big, though, that is not correct. The person quoted the line "How big are you baby? Why don't you know? You're only so big and there's still room to grow!" and was givn the solution of So Big by Wilkin. This line is actually from a First Little Golden Book called "How Big Are You" by Corinne Malvern, illustrated by Barbara Lanza. I knew it as soon as I read this line because we read this book endlessly when my daughter was a toddler:) I double checked in our book stash, and it is this book indeed.

Thanks for a great site, hope this helps!

Socks
Short kids book about a brother and sister with a litter of kittens their parents have ordered them to give away. The little sister decides to save the kitten with the white feet and in order to stop her brother from giving him away dumps him into a mail box. Once released by the mailman, the kitten is adopted by a kind lady and given the name "Socks" for his white feet. Socks has adventures and lives a (mostly) happy kitty life. I can't remember the author or publication date, but my sister and I had a new copy in the early 70's.

Socks, by Betty Molgard Ryan, about a kitten trying to match its siblings.
K52 It sounds like SOCKS by Beverly Cleary, 1973. It does start with a kitten sale and a mailbox. ~from a librarian
Cleary, Beverly, Socks. 1973. From your description, I am fairly certain that the book you are seeking is Socks by Beverly Cleary. I remember reading this as a child, and it was about a kitten with white feet named Socks. My version had a baby and the kitten on the cover, and it was about how the cat's life was disrupted by the arrival of a new baby.
Beverly Cleary, Socks. You have the right title, wrong author. Things don't go so well for Socks, though, after the new baby comes.
Cleary, Beverly, Socks, 1973. I think this is the book. I know the kitten is put in the mailbox, which is what makes me think it's the correct book.

Socks for Supper
I am looking for a children's picture book. I read it in the late 70s, early 80s, but I'm not sure when it dates from. All I remember is a wife or grandma who knits a scarf or a sweater for her husband, and then unravels whatever she knits to knit something else (like a pair of socks). For some reason I also remember that the husband character sold or ate big wheels of cheese...Any help would be appreciated!

definitely SOCKS FOR SUPPER by Jack Kent~from a librarian
I remember this book too! Those details brought it all back (the cheese too) --but can't remember a title. I have a hunch it's a Parents Magazine Press book - one of the ones I got in the mail monthly.
Jack Kent, Socks for Supper. May have found it ... could this be it? The LOC description says the couple trades socks for milk and cheese - am I remembering correctly that the socks are from the husband's sweater than the wife is unraveling?
Kent, Jack, Socks for Supper, c. 1978. I am guessing that this is the title you are looking for.
Socks for Supper is definitely the book. I'm so happy to have found it. Thanks to everyone for their help!

Sold!
I am remembering a hardback novel with a red book jacket purchased on a remainder table in the early 1980s. It was about a small auction house in upstate New York (or somewhere in New England) that comes into posession of a trunk left at the death of an elderly destitute farm worker. Inside the trunk are Fabrege eggs, various other pieces of Russian art, and papers tying the man to the murdered family of the Czar. I would love to read this book again, but have searched for years without being able to find it. Please help.

SOLVED: Nan and Ivan Lyons, Sold!, 1982. I found the book on a shelf at my sister's house. It is probably the original book that I bought and then gave to her to read. Since no one solved this stumper in all the years it has been posted, I'm thinking that not many copies of the book were ever sold.

So'm I
In the early 1960's I had a childrens book that had the story of a horse that couldn't find a home because nobody wanted a bowlegged knockkneed horse. Then along came a set of twins, one bowlegged, one knockkneed. They understood the horse and adopted him.

Is this possibly a book called So 'M I? I found a description that reads "There once was a horse named So 'M I who lived with his mother and brother at the famous Whoopshire Stables." So 'M I was knock-kneed in front and bow-legged in back. Does this sound familiar? I cannot find the author.
Key, Theodore, 1912- ., So'm I,illustrated by Frank Owen. NY, Dutton, 1954, 67 pages. More on this suggested title "The creator of Hazel has produced a picture-story book about a knock-kneed, bow-legged horse who after adventures with a number of masters finally wins the championship in a steeplechase race. (BRD 1954
p.492) Both Key and Owen were well-known cartoonists, and several reviewers comment on the cartoony style and suggest that the book could be a bridge from comics to books for reluctant readers.

Somebody Hides
Children's book about a black-haired girl who wears a fuzzy yellow sweater. On some pages the sweater is actual fuzzy fabric. I think there are farm animals involved.

Not exactly a solution, but maybe a step in the right direction? If the book you are looking for was published between the 1940's and the 1960's, you might try looking at the Whitman Fuzzy Wuzzy book series. There are a lot of these books, mostly about animals, that all feature the fuzzy texturing on the illustrations.
Eileen Daly, Somebody Hides. 1963. A Golden Fuzzy Wuzzy Book, illustrated by Dagmar Wilson. Front cover shows a dark-haired girl wearing a fuzzy yellow sweater over a blue dress, standing by a tree, with her hands over her eyes (but peeking through her fingers). Facing her are a horse, dog, cat, pig, squirrel, bird, baby chick and rabbit. The yellow sweater is made of a fuzzy material.
Eileen Daly, Somebody Hides. Thank you!

Interpreting
Condition
Grades

Eileen Daly. Somebody Hides. Illustrated by Dagmar Wilson. Whitman Publishing Company, 1963. Hardcover, cover a little frayed. G. $8.

Someday Angeline
The book I am looking for is written about a little girl who's father is a garbage man. She loves the way he smells when he comes home. She likes to drink salt water and goes to a pier in the book. I think her mother is dead in the story. She falls or dreams of falling off the pier. I read it in the 80's.

Sachar, Louis, Someday Angeline. Angeline is a genius, her father is a garbage man. She's obsessed with the ocean.
Louis Sachar, Someday Angeline, 1983. "She heard her father outside the apartment door. She bent the page in her book to mark her place and jumped up to greet him as he opened it. 'Don't hug me until I take a shower,' he said, pushing her away. 'I smell like garbage.' 'I like the way you smell,' said Angeline. 'You like the smell of garbage?' asked Abel. 'I do,' said Angeline." Thanks for posting -- I've been trying to remember this book myself! :)
Louis Sachar, Someday Angeline. This is certainly Someday Angeline. Still in print. Wonderful book!
you found my book..i can not believe it..thank you so much. someday angeline. i can not wait to reread this childhood favorite. thank you again for your service.

Something Foolish, Something Gay
early 1960s. The narrator is a teenage girl with a boyfriend named Sammy. She wants to laze around all summer, enjoy the beach etc., whereas he is an ambitious dynamo with a job and a million projects even during vacation. She resents his busyness he tries to prod her out of her inertia by encouraging her to reach for her dream of becoming an actress by trying out for a play, Maxwell Anderson's "Winterset." She gets a main role but on opening night is immobilized by stage fright and wants to quit. He bullies her into going through with it, forcing a crisis in their relationship. Despising him, she goes on and becomes a smashing success, thus learning the advantages of hard work and facing your fears. (I believe this was a Scholastic Book Club item.)

Glen Sire, Something Foolish, Something Gay. This sounds like the end of Something Foolish, Something Gay by Glen Sire.
Glen and Jane Sire, Something Foolish, Something Gay, 1958. This is it!! I did a little online research, and this is definitely the book I've been trying to remember the title of for years. Thank you, thank you, whoever solved it!
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Teen fiction set in the late 1950s or very early sixties (I read it in paperback in about 1964) about a 15-16 year old girl who wants to be an actress. She is in highschool (possibly in California), lives with her parents and a pesky younger sibling (a brother, I think), and has a next-door boyfriend named Sammy (who gives her a puppy named Banjo). There is a different teen-angst “adventure” in every chapter – the prom, parental rules, boyfriend troubles, her socially-awkward and bookish cousin comes to stay and so on – and the book ends with Sammy forcing the heroine onto the stage of their highschool to perform a monologue in a talent review. Not much to go on, I know, but I do appreciate your willingness to try!

Glen and Jane Sire, Something Foolish, Something Gay. One of my favorites! -- a collection of stories about Laurie, whose annoying older sister Andrea is engaged to Phil (he's either away at college or in the military, I forget). The different stories are just as you described, including the last one, and the tone is sympathetic but also humorous. Remember Sammy after a quarrel, sitting in his garage tossing bolts into a coffee can and saying "She loves me/She loves me not" ? Wonderful book!

SOLVED: Glen and Jane Sire, Something Foolish, Something Gay. Hello, I am simply blown away! Someone not only remembered my book (already!), they also recollected one of my favorite scenes from it! Who do I write to thank?
You're welcome! :) (I solved it so fast because I love the book and have reread it often.)

Something Out There
A teenage girl is a sailing instructor, and her parents are gone. They've rented an apartment over the garage to a young man (Jeff?), so he can keep an eye on the house and their daughter while they're gone. She teaches young children to sail, and she notices that something is going on at an abandoned lighthouse on an island near the harbor. If I remember correctly, there is some crime (smuggling?) taking place, and one of the clues is the positioning of old decoys. Climactic ending involving struggle on the collapsing lighthouse stairs, and she and the young caretaker begin a romance. Clearly an 80s Weekly Reader paperback sort of book!

Harriett, I submitted this, and cannot believe it, but I actually found the book! Something Out There by Leslie Davis. So, this is another one that can be chalked up as solved! And the readers solved the other two, so I'm very pleased. Thanks so much!

Something Queer series
Can't think of the name..... it was my favorite book. Fletcher the dog ( a lazy bassett Hound) sat on the steps every day waiting for his girl to come home from school. One day he wasn't there. Gwen, the girl's friend, who is also a fan of mysteries, cooks up a tale of Fletcher's being kidnapped by the new guy down the street- Fiedler Fernbach. They search high and low for Fletcher until they finally sneak in to Mr. Fernbach's house where they are using Fletcher to pose for a dog zfood commercial. Can you help??? I was enjoying this book in the late seventies.

This is Elizabeth Levy, Something Queer is Going On (Delacorte, '73)
Definitely right. Thanks! I could remember nearly EVERY detail but the title! please let me know if you have this book, or if is it still in print, how can I get a copy??? Your website is awesome. I have already recommended it to several friends. Thanks again.
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I am looking for a book from my childhood. Unfortunately, I can't remember the title or author, but I remember much of the subject matter. There were two little girls, one named Gwen, who liked to solve mysteries. Gwen liked to tap on her dental braces when she was concentrating. They had a dog named Fletcher. The storyline I remember is a mystery about who destroyed a library book. There had been pictures cut out and drawings of a dog in the margin. I fell in love with this book in grade school, I probably discovered it around 1983-84. If any of this sounds familiar, or you know what book this is, I would greatly appreciate any help.

This is Something Queer at the Library (a Mystery), by Elizabeth Levy. It's illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein. Delacorte Press, 1977. We have a >copy for $9 + $3 (domestic) shipping. Interested?
Yes!! I would love to purchase the book. Do you have any other titles by Elizabeth Levy? In particular, I'd be interested in any of her other books with these characters.
I've set aside Something Queer at the Library for you; we also have Frankenstein Moved In On the Fourth Floor, which is for a few grades above the Queer books. It's a smaller format and still has Mordicai Gerstein
illustrations; this is also part of a series. It doesn't feature the same characters. That's all we have in right now. Other titles, for your records and future book buying needs! Something Queer at the Ball Park. Something Queer at the Birthday Party. Something Queer at the Haunted House. Something Queer at the Haunted School. Something Queer in Outer Space. Something Queer in Rock 'N' Roll. Something Queer in the Cafeteria. Something Queer is Going on.
Thank you very, VERY much for your help.
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This book is about a dog (bassett hound, i believe) who never leaves his front step. One day he's is gone and his kids (owners) discover he's been kidnapped. They do some detecting and find him and catch the kidnappers. I can't remember anything else about it.

Elizabeth Levy, Something Queer Is Going On. This description sounds like this title the first in the series. There were several other Something Queer titles by this authir featuring Fletcher, the basset hound.
B127: Something Queer is Going On by Elizabeth Levy, the first(?) of the Something Queer series in the 1970s. Fantastic, humorously illustrated mystery story about two smart modern girls who figure out who took the dog and why - and when the mother of one is called in to help, she's no sissy naif herself, which, even as a kid, I knew was a break from the usual female generation gaps in current fiction!
I'm sure several other people will respond to this stumper, but this is most definitely Something Queer is Going On by Elizabeth Levy. Two girls (Jill and Gwen) track down the kidnapper of Fletcher the Bassett Hound.
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I read this book in the late 1970's or early 80's. For maybe 5th grade level. A girl with braces has a dog that never ever moves off her front steps(basset hound with tongue going down the steps like a carpet in the illustrations).In fact he barely ever moves, period.One day she comes home from school and he's gone. She taps her braces while thinking (trying to sleuth out the dog's whereabouts). Turns out some unscrupulous person dognapped him for a dog food commercial.)

D190: Something Queer is Going On. See Solved Mysteries.
D190 This is definitely SOMETHING QUEER IS GOING ON by Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Mordecai Gerstein. Jill has long frizzy red hair, her friend Gwen taps her braces, and the lazy Bassett Hound is Fletcher. There were more mystery titles with these same characters, some are still in print, but in a smaller paperback version.~from a librarian
Elizabeth Levy. I don't know which one of the Something Queer books, but it's definitely this series. The series includes Something Queer & the Wild Horse, Something Queer at the Ball Park, Something Queer at the Birthday Party, Something Queer at the Haunted School, Something Queer at the Library, Something Queer at the Scary Movie, Something Queer in Outer Space, Something Queer is Going On, Something Queer in the Wild West, Something Queer in the Cafeteria... Something Queer in the Wild West: Devotees of the "Something Queer" series will be rewarded once again. The author-illustrator duo of Levy and Gerstein continue their rollicking good adventures, this time on Gwen's uncle's ranch in New Mexico, where their imaginations work overtime with a decidedly western twang. Trusty bassett hound Fletcher sits tall in the saddle in this plot which weaves the legends of the ghosts of wild horses and haunted barns with the reality of a present-day shady character. Fletcher keeps disappearing late at night, giving Gwen and Jill plenty of reasons to suspect that "something queer" is going on. He leads the girls on an intriguing path to solving a mystery that has lots of twists turns and many reasons for Gwen to tap her braces. We also see that when it comes to caring for a buddy, animals are just as capable of looking out for one another as are humans.
This is it! THANK YOU!!!!!'

Something Short and Sweet
It's a short story about two young English women (1940's? 50's?) who leave city life to start their own herb farm in the countryside. Their little farm prospers, though the young women endure much hardship and illness. A man appears to court the fairer of the young women, threatening both their bond and their farm. There was a gorgeous BBC production of this short story in the 1980's, which I thought might be called, The Herb Farm. I could have sworn that the original story was written by Nevile Shute, but no amount of searching has turned up the story, and a Shute expert I corresponded with said it was not his. I am quite certain that the title of the story is a woman's name (one of the characters). I know that it was one of the most beautiful little stories I have ever read. Please help! Many thanks!

D. H. Lawrence, The Fox.
I am the seeker of Book Stumper H68. I see that someone has suggested the solution is D.H. Lawrence's The Fox, but while this is a good guess, it is not correct. Since I sent you my original stumper, I have actually located the correct title and author of the book I seek, but now I find that the book is well out of print, and can only be had for a very dear price from a Rare Book dealer in London. Here's what I know: Author: H.E. Bates Title: Something Short and Sweet (Short Stories) 1937. The specific short story is within this volume and MAY be called "Breeze Antsey" but may also have another title, which as I recall is an unusual woman's name. At any rate, I am now going to see if I can find the book in the Library of Congress, and at least photocopy that one blessed story. I am also still open to purchasing this book if you can help me find it for sale at a reasonable price. Many thanks for the wonderful service you provide.

Sometimes I Don't Love My Mother
Mother and daughter, recently widowed and the daughter's name is Dallas. Published in the late 1970's I believe.

Judy Blume, Tiger Eyes. Possibly? The girl's name was Davey, not Dallas. After her dad is shot and killed in a convenience store, she and her mom move to New Mexico where she befriends a guy named Wolf.
Hila Colman, Sometimes I Don't Love My Mother, 1977. I haven't read it, but it might be. "Dallas Davis loved her father more than anyone. When he died she thought she'd never recover. But she did--it was her mother who didn't."
Sometimes I Don't Love My Mother! That's it! Thank you!!

Song At Dusk
Looking for my third grade grammar book that had a poem: The flowers nod. The shadows creep. A star comes over the hill. The youngest lamb has gone to sleep. The smallest bird is still. (Written by anonymous-- whoever that is!)

Nancy Byrd Turner, Song At Dusk, 1944. The textbook is English One, Grade 3, American Book Company (publisher). The poem in the book is Song At Dusk by Nancy Byrd Turner. With the help of the Texas Education Agency I finally solved my own book stumper and was also able to identify the poem for others who were also looking for the name of this particular poem. A happy ending.

Song of the Voyageur
Don't know title or author, I'm afraid. Girls/teen historical novel written prior to 1968. Girl lives in wilderness cabin with family not her own. Could be orphan. Had initially come from a more civilized background in Philadelphia. Is romantically torn between visitor (rescued??) who could take her back to civilization, and the oldest son of the family she lives with. I think the son's name is Jean, and he may be half blood Indian. She chooses son, if I recall correctly.

Beverly Butler, Song of the Voyageur, 1955, copyright. This definitely the book - It is one of my alltime favorite books from my teen years.
Song of the Voyageur. I'm the original poster. I've got to find a copy, but I'm pretty certain this could be the one. I'd been thinking it over since I submitted the stumper, and the word "Song" kept coming to mind. I wasn't quite sure of the other - I'd played with both the words "Wilderness" and "Voyageur", but hadn't gotten quite the right combination.
Beverly Butler, Song of the Voyageur. This one can definitely be marked as Solved. I got my copy of the book today, and I recognized the cover immediately. I'll be enjoying re-reading this over the next couple of days!! Thanks everybody.

Song of the Wild
I am looking for a YA book I loved in the early 80's about a boy who had the ability to put his consciousness into animals and thus could see and experience everything the animal saw. His body remained motionless wherever he happened to be when he jumped into the animal's mind. I believe he called his gift "sight" or "insight". His family refused to believe him when he tried to describe his abilities. They thought he was just daydreaming or zoning out all the time. At the end of the book he "jumps" into a horse and leaves his body sitting behind the animal--the horse startles and kicks the boy in the head and he dies. His consciousness is trapped inside the horse and he's terrified that he will be a horse forever. Then he sees a bird and jumps into the bird and realizes joyfully that he is now free to go at will into whatever animal he wants, for all eternity. This book was wonderful and haunting and it's driving me nuts that I can't remember the title or author!! I want to read this to my sons. Thanks in advance.

Allen W. Eckert, Song of the Wild, 1980, copyright. Go to http://allaneck.com/b_song-of-the-wild.html for a detailed description and ordering information. You'll find that it is exactly the book you want. I read it when it was first published-couldn't stop thinking about it!!
Allan Eckert, Song of the Wild, 1980, copyright. Solved!! Thanks SO much. I went to the link and when I saw the cover it gave me chills. I would have never remembered the title on my own! Thank you!!

Song Quest
I borrowed a book from the public library about 7 years ago, it had a beautiful colourful cover, with a face in the middle of it (I believe it was a mermaids face) and her hair was spread out across the cover and was all different colours. There may have been a city scene at the bottom of the cover, but I’m not too sure. The book was a little less than an inch thick and was probably a teen’s fantasy novel. I recall there were mermaids and the “bad people” in the book were trying to harvest them, I think it may have been for their eggs, but while people were walking up a snowy mountain they saw a mermaid that had been frozen in the snow. At one point the “good people” are thrown into prison and a phoenix is there, but I’m not too sure about that part. I’m also remembering something about the colour blue, I don’t know if it was the people or the mermaids or some sort of creature, blue just keeps popping into my mind. It was a fantastic book from my childhood and I would love to read it again. Thanks so much for all your help!
Katherine Roberts, Song Quest
SOLVED: Katherine Roberts, Song Quest

The Songcatcher
This is a novel - a little boy lives on an Island in Scotland (I think its called Islay). He gets washed out to sea, his family thinks he's drowned but he is picked up by a freighter and I think ends up in the U.S. There's a theme in this book about a song that is remembered from his childhood.

Sharyn McCrumb, The Songcatcher.
SOLVED: Sharyn McCrumb, The Songcatcher. Thank you to whoever solved this one for me! Well worth the $2.00 investment. What a wonderful website you have here.

Songs of Earth and Power
Young man walking at night, musician. He notices something about house along the way Goes in and finds very tall woman who gives him riddles. Curious he follows the riddles and is taken into another world. Alone in a great empty plain he finds a dwelling of three strange creatures tall, limbs bent at angles gangly a tuft of white hair on their heads can’t understand their language. A girl arrives beautiful she communicates better. The old women are ancient of the fairy line of this place and half human. The girl is half human and half fairy/elf as well. Once attracted to her he is repulsed to think she would become overtime like the 3 old creatures. The girl takes him to a village of humans. They were all members of a symphony that played a particular piece of music and the entire orchestra was transported to this world. He falls in love with a younger woman there. He learns things from the three creatures as his ability with music makes him a magician here. He is able to create heat as his first skill. He finds the girl in bed with a man and is angry. The man and girl explain that human children born here are born mad, without a soul and the void is filled with some demons. All children that had been born were locked away at the edge of the desert and tended by the humans. The man who slept with the girl he loved was sterile and so the only way that to have sex without children. An evil sorcerer lives far away across the desert and the young man wants to find him to see if he could go home. But the socerer is evil and the boy doesn’t know how to survive in this world. He finds a way back to the house with the tall
woman and finds her snake like and having shed her skin. That's most of what I remember...

Greg Bear, The Infinity Concerto, 1984. Solved! This book, plus the sequel The Serpent Mage were combined recently and reprinted, perhaps under a different title. Michael Perrin is transported to 'The Realm' of the Sidhe,where he must learn survival skills from Nare, Spart, and Coom, three half-breed Faer. His enemy is The Isomage David Clarkham, whose former mistresses, Lamia and Tristesse, guard the gate leading to the Realm. (Lamia is the one who sheds her skin, Tristesse the skinny odd-jointed one) Michael's (deceased) mentor is Arnold Waltiri, whose music sent many humans to The Realm.
Greg Bear, Songs fo Earth and Power. Addendum to my earlier email: From Publishers Weekly Two of Bear's earlier and closely related novels, each originally published in its own mass market edition, have now been expanded and placed between one set of hard covers. Together, the two excel at one of fantasy's foremost attributes: its power to create new worlds that reflect intriguingly on our own. "In The Infinity Concerto (1984), 16-year-old poet Michael Perrin follows a mysterious set of instructions from his deceased friend, the composer Arno Waltiri. Going through a deserted house, he enters the Realm of the Sidhe, a race that has oppressed humanity since our Serpent Mage first stole their souls. In the Realm, Michael is taught magic and survival by the half-faerie/half-human "Breed" women Nare, Spart and Coom. Setting off across the Realm, he gets caught up in a plot and counterplot that, by novel's end, connect him with a hidden knowledge, fragments of which were revealed to Coleridge in his celebrated poem about Xanadu. The Serpent Mage (1986) proves slightly less exciting, since Michael's rough edges have smoothed over as, under Breed tutelage, he has gained nearly godlike powers. The action here centers less on the Realm than on modern-day Los Angeles, where Michael and Kristine Pendeers, a UCLA musicologist, manage to get Waltiri's elusive and otherworldly Infinity Concerto performed. Movie scoring, the nature of the universe and the bases for Western religions are all ink for Bear's pen as the richness of his ideas, the exuberance of his characters and their refreshing decency make this new edition of two old works a joy to read." Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Bear, Greg, Songs of Earth and Power, 1995, reprint. Actually two books republished together. "In The Infinity Concerto (1984), 16-year-old poet Michael Perrin follows a mysterious set of instructions from his deceased friend, the composer Arno Waltiri. Going through a deserted house, he enters the Realm of the Sidhe, a race that has oppressed humanity since our Serpent Mage first stole their souls. In the Realm, Michael is taught magic and survival by the half-faerie/half-human "Breed" women Nare, Spart and Coom. Setting off across the Realm, he gets caught up in a plot and counterplot that, by novel's end, connect him with a hidden knowledge, fragments of which were revealed to Coleridge in his celebrated poem about Xanadu. The Serpent Mage (1986) proves slightly less exciting, since Michael's rough edges have smoothed over as, under Breed tutelage, he has gained nearly godlike powers. The action here centers less on the Realm than on modern-day Los Angeles, where Michael and Kristine Pendeers, a UCLA musicologist, manage to get Waltiri's elusive and otherworldly Infinity Concerto performed. Movie scoring, the nature of the universe and the bases for Western religions are all ink for Bear's pen as the richness of his ideas, the exuberance of his characters and their refreshing decency make this new edition of two old works a joy to read."

Sophie and Gussie
About a female creature (weasel? squirrel? otter? I completely forget. I don't believe the character was human.) who goes on a summer vacation to a boardwalk, perhaps Atlantic City. While there she get saltwater taffy and has a ride on a rickshaw. In one of the pictures she is packing her suitcase. The "illustrations" were distinctive: like photos of paper cutouts perhaps? It was probably from the late 60s/early 70s. Not much text, it was more of a picture book.

#A43: Atlantic City Vacation. Despite some differences, it keeps sounding to me like Mrs. Duck's Lovely Day, a Rand McNally Jr. Elf Book by Vivienne Blake.
A43 atlantic city vacation: just guessing, but could this be The Trip, and Other Sophie and Gussie Stories, by Marjorie Sharmat, illustrated by Lillian Hoban, published Macmillan 1976, 64 pages? "IN FOUR HILARIOUS EPISODES, THE INGENUOUS SQUIRREL-LADIES CREATE CONFUSION OUT OF SUCH MAJOR UNDERTAKINGS AS PACKING FOR A TRIP, CLEANING THE HOUSE, CONTENDING WITH A LEAKY CEILING, AND SHARING A FLOWER. THIS IS THE HAPPY SEQUEL TO SOPHIE AND GUSSIE." Nothing much about the actual trip, though, and there are two furry female animals, not one.
From the Library of Congress: Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman. Sophie and Gussie. Pictures by Lillian Hoban. New York, Macmillan [1973]. Two squirrel friends spend the weekend together, exchange presents, plan a party, and trade hats. Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman. The trip, and other Sophie and Gussie stories. Pictures by Lillian Hoban. New York : Macmillan, c1976. Two squirrel friends prepare for a trip, clean house, listen to the rain, and care for a flower.

SOS at Midnight
In early 1960s I read 3 (I think) juvenile adventure books where the young kids (2 or 3) were ham radio operators and discovered and solved mysteries with bad guys. I think at least one of them was set on the coast of Washington, perhaps at Leadbetter point and may have involved pirates.

Ethelyn M. Parkinson, Today I am a Ham, 1970. There was a book about a boy who was into Ham radios. The boy was also into long distance running, and the two come together to prevent an accident from happening by a bridge that was out of service. The author also wrote a series about a boy named Rupert, for example, Rupert Piper and the Boy who Could Knit, or Rupert Piper and the dear, dear birds, and The Terrible Troubles of Ruper Piper. Hope this helps!
Walker A. Tompkins, SOS at Midnight, 1957. I think it could possibly be the series of ham novels written by Walker A. Tompkins. They were re-published by the American Relay League in 1985. The other titles are CQ Ghost Ship, Death Valley QTH, and DX Brings Danger. I've read the first one and have the others because my dad was a ham radio operator.
Walker A. Tompkins. Yes, I'm sure that these must be the books I remember. Thanks so much.

Soul Catcher
A Native American Man abducts a young caucasian boy. I don't remember why, but there is a threat of harm or death to the boy by the man. Most of the book is dialogue between the two of them, a developing of a relationship. At the end, the man does kill the boy. This book has haunted me for over twenty years. I believe the word "catcher" is in the title...perhaps "Sun Catcher" or "Star Catcher"? But I may be way off on that.

Frank Herbert, Soul Catcher.
Frank Herbert, Soul Catcher, 1972. "The story revolves around the kidnapping of a young boy who happens to be the son
of a prominent politician. He is kidnapped by a Native American living in the California coastal mountains because the 'Indian' has been given a vision by Bee, his spirit creature. He has to find out whether this boy is worthy of what destiny says the 'Indian' must do. And what is that I hear you asking? Well we can't tell you everything now, can we. But rest assured the ending is well worth the length of the novel itself."

Sound of Crying
A young girl connects to a past time possibly by living in the same house as another young girl who had been sent there as an orphan or servant or both. The girl in the past was keeping a kitten without permission, possibly calling it Gray Eyes. The male figure in the household was tyranical. There was something about a nearby village, possibly fishing based, where the girl finds an ally or love or a home. The present day girl views all this or channels this inner viewing when a certain type of fog occurs.

Rodie Sudbery, A Sound of Crying, 1972, Scholastic. I just read this, and am fairly certain most of the details match... but I of course cannot find the book right now!
#F43--Fog Magic Time Reversal: Most of the plot described is of a book by Rodie Sudbery, published in England as The House in the Wood and in America as A Sound of Crying. Part of it is at least one other book, possibly Fog Magic by Julia Sauer. The fog and fishing village seem to fit with this book. Neither story takes place in America. A Sound of Crying is in England and Fog Magic is in Nova Scotia.
Sounds like it could be FOG MAGIC by Julia L. Sauer, 1943, 1971, 1986 and still in print. Greta can see and go into the past when there's fog, and he does near the sea. ~from a librarian
Julia Sauer, Fog Magic, 1943. I'm pretty sure this is Fog Magic, although there's no tyrannical parents. Girl living in Nova Scotia fishing village can go back in time when the fog rolls in. When she turns twelve, she can't go back any longer but is given a kitten to take with her.
Sudbery, Rodie, A Sound of Crying, 1970. I wrote before thinking this is the book, and have found my copy now. Almost all the details match, except for the fog. Polly comes to stay in a house and has dreams about a girl who used to live there, Sarah. Sarah Gray is living with her uncle Simon, who treats her as a servant. She finds a cat and keeps it secretly, naming it Gray One. She has a friend in the housekeeper, Mrs. Piper. No fog, but
there is a mystery related to a pool and waterfall.
Please thank your readers for me for solving this lost book puzzle. It would have been so difficult for me to find A Sound of Crying since I obviously had it mixed together with Fog Magic in my memories! Now I'll have to find both because they both clearly made a big impression on me as a child. I wish I'd never thought I'd be so grown-up someday, that I would never want those hundreds of children's books I once possessed.
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Book Plot: A girl, I think her name is Sarah/Sara Gray/Grey, goes to live with her uncle in a big house. I think her mother died and she's depressed. Her only relation is her grandfather who she's never met until now, and he is not very friendly. She's given a room in the attic and at night she has dreams of another girl who was possibly a servant in the house in another century and the man she is employed by is mean. Sarah is reliving the girl's life through her dreams at night. Or the dream girl's name was Sarah. I think it was called Ghost Story, but I can't be sure. It was a Scholastic book and I remember reading it in the early 70s when I was in 4th grade. I think '71 or '72. I remember a stone house and something about a brook.

Sudbery, Rodie, A Sound of Crying, 1970. A Sound of Crying was about a girl named Polly who hears the sobs of a girl, Sarah, who lived in the stone house in the past. Sarah's cat is named Grey One. Its original title was The House in the Wood. And, yes, it was published in paperback by Scholastic in the early 70s, because I bought a copy of it too!
Sudbery Rodie, A sound of Crying, 1972. published in the UK as The House in the Wood. This is definitely the book. There's more information on your solved mystery pages. It's a great book and although Sudbery wrote several other books, as far as I can tell, this is the only one in this genre.
Rodie Sudbery, A Sound of Crying. Polly and her siblings are sent to stay with relatives while their mother is ill. Polly is given the garret room and has dreams about Sarah, who had lived in the house with her cruel uncle, Simon Stampenstone.
Rodie Sudbery, A Sound of Crying. Please thank your readers for me. I have been searching for this book for months now! As soon as I read the title that they gave, I knew it was the right one. Thanks to all of you for your help!
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Hi, I'm Rodie Sudbery's daughter (also an author), and it seems you have all the details correct now. Just a small note: She did write a few other books with a similar feel / genre, or with supernatural themes. Her book Somewhere Else was about a girl who also visited another world in her dreams, although it was less ghostly. The Silk and The Skin is about a boy who conjures up the spirit of a dead necromancer. The Pigsleg is about a girl who becomes so upset she loses the ability to talk. And Cowls is about some children who find a haunted house. I recommend all these books, and indeed all her others (she had approx fifteen published)! The Silk and the Skin may be the easiest to get hold of, as it was republished by Puffin. It's also, in my opinion, one of her best.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades

Sudbery, Rodie. A Sound of Crying. Scholastic, 1970. Used paperback. VG. $3

Sounding
I read this book as a paperback about a decade ago. It was a wonderful story written as if a sperm whale was telling it first person. In it, the whales had a natural language (unlike our languages made of arbitrary words): they communicated by making sounds that imitated sonar returns, thereby painting pictures for each other of what they wanted to say. The story included a plot about the whale saving at least one crewmember of a disabled russian nuclear submarine. I believe the whale was very old and had a broken jaw that doomed it.

Hank Searls, Sounding, 1982. After years of search, I found it myself here: From the back cover: "Sounding takes us into the extraordinary mind and emotions of the magnificent sperm whale, an aging bull roaming the waters of the Atlantic. Troubled and separated from his herd, the whale wants to fulfill his one obsessive desire--to communicate with the human race and learn why they can be both vicious hunters and frolicking playmates. "Far away, on a doomed Russian nuclear submarine, Lieutenant Peter Rostov, the sonar officer and a classical musician, is spending what he's sure are his last days listening to the beautiful 'sounding' of the whale. In the amazing climax to this unique novel, man and whale come together-- and a magnificent destiny is fulfilled."

South of Heaven
Do not know either title or author. Came out in pprbk during the mid sixties. Must have been in hardback first. Hero comes from poor background and gets a job as the lowest of the low in the oil fields and gas fields in Texas. He works hard and learns and works his way up and is finally able to strike out on his own and be very successful. Then he loses it all and I don't remember if he ever is able to make a comeback. I remember the story of his early years best because of some of the things he had to overcome and deal with. At one of his first jobs where he has to live with the crew he is on in the fields, he is bullied unmercifully by one fellow and his lowlife sidekick. Hero bides his time and catches the bully alone and uses a baseball bat to get the bully to change his ways..........it is a scene that is engraved in my memory. (You don't suppose it's because I was often bullied myself do you?) Almost as memorable as the baseball bat scene is a subsequent scene in which the hero finds the bully and two other men dead from inhaling unscented natural gas and comes close to succumbing to it himself. Also, right after the hero used the baseball bat on the bully, they return to their barracks and the hero takes the bully's foul and filthy clothing out of his own locker where the bully had forced him to store it and dumps it in the middle of the barracks floor. The lowlife sidekick says something like, "Hey Bully, you see what the kid just did? Are you gonna let him do something like that?" To which the bully snarls, "Shut up!" It was a very good book. I read it only one time that I recall and have remembered it all these years. I'd love to read it again and own it. Thanks much for any help.

Dear Sirs & Mesdames: It looks like O12, the story about rough necking and wildcatting for oil in Texas, is a book entitled; South of Heaven by Jim Thompson. Many thanks to Barbara-MLG for turning it up. I have been looking for it for roughly thirty five years and am tickled to have found it. Thanks to you all.

Southarn Folly
I read this in my local library when I was in my teens/twenties (so between 1971 and 1984), and I remembered it as A Shilling For Candles by Josephine Tey. But when I got that out to reread, I found I was wrong. I'm pretty sure it was written in the same period as Tey was writing: the style of writing was certainly from between 1920 and 1965. The heroine is a quiet little woman, who has recently been widowed. I think her husband had been somewhat overbearing and she had been typical of 1920s/30s women in putting his desires before any of hers. She thinks she is supposed to miss him, but she doesn't, and is just realising that she can now have her own life. She visits (I think she drives there in a little or old car) a stately home in England and joins the guided tour of the rooms. For some reason she is left behind in a bedroom with a four-poster and falls asleep on the bed. She wakes to find a man in the room; he turns out to be the ghost of an English nobleman (maybe a duke) whose house it had been. He was 17th or 18th century, or possibly Elizabethan. I'm sure he wasn't from earlier than that, and he was definitely not later than 1820.

It is definitely NOT The Ghost and Mrs Muir, The Dancing Floor, Sir Rohan's Ghost or Tryst, which were recent suggestions.
Paula Allardyce, Southarn Folly, 1957.A reader on librarything.com suggested this book. When I was finally able to obtain a copy, bingo!

Space Captives of the Golden Men
I read a science fiction book around 1960 where two boys (aged 12 and 14, more or less) were kidnapped by aliens and taken to the moon as hostages so their scientist father would come and rescue them. The boys were rendered unconscious by sheets of material placed over their faces, and while they were on the moon, were allowed to go out in space suits to explore, and found caves in the craters with moon people in them! Any ideas?

A33 might just be one of Hugh Walters' sci-fi
sounds familiar, but I recall the kidnappers as being human, not aliens, and the boys being taken to _a_ moon, not _the_ moon. It seems to me this was a Scholastic-type paperback, and was called something like The Caves of ...
Could this be Lost Race of Mars by Robert Silverberg, published by Scholastic 1960, 1973? It's about two children (Sally and Jim) and their father, a scientist, who visit the Mars colony in the year 2017. There's apparently some hostility to their father's research about the dead civilisation of the original Martians, but I couldn't confirm a kidnapping. There are Martian mummies in caves and the children discover that the civilisation still exists underground. No plot, but another possible is John Blaine's Caves of Fear 1951, 210 pages, one of the Rick Brant Electronic Adventures, featuring Rick and his friend Scotty, whose fathers are scientists working on Spindrift Island. But no idea if this takes place off-planet.
This is not The Lost Race of Mars. No kidnapping; it was a brother and sister, not two boys; the family traveled with their family to Mars, not the moon; and the shy Martians were friendly to the children and didn't want contact with adults!
Maybe By Spaceship to the Moon by Gavin Gibbons, illustrated by Denis Mills, published Oxford, Blackwell 1958 "This is a space story out of the usual run - up-to-date and of enthralling interest. Two Venusians in a scout ship visit the earth and take two boys on a visit to the moon." (ads in Junior Bookshelf Oct and Nov/58). No mention of kidnapping though. The line drawing with the first ad shows two boys in middle teens, one blond, one dark-haired, standing in what looks like sand dunes, looking at a bell-shaped UFO in the sky.
I don't know the book, but I do know that it is *not* THE CAVES OF FEAR by John Blaine. The Rick Brant series was often borderline sf, but the characters never left earth and never (quite) encountered a real alien--they came close in THE EGYPTIAN CAT MYSTERY, where they picked up signals from space from what seemed to be (long-gone) intelligent sources.
Don't know if this it could be one of these, as I can't find further info on them - Caverns of the Moon and Captives of the Moon, both children's fiction by the famous astronomer (he wrote a lot of other books about the moon, but these 2 sound the most likely).
Not sure (since it's been a few years since I read it) but could A33 be Heinlein's Have Spacesuit Will Travel? I seem to remember a kidnapping in that one -- or maybe it was one of his other Juveniles I'm thinking of.
Lost: a Moon, 1960s. I know this! The title is Lost: A Moon. Unfortunately, I can't remember the author. A triangle-shaped alien kidnaps a scientist, his daughter and a boy who was at their home. THey think the scientist is actually an artist, and the alien is trying to understand human emotions, and he thinks an artist can explain them to him. The teenagers are separated from the adult, and manage to escape. Eventually they trick the alien and figure out how to fly the spaceship back home.
M.E. Patchett, Space Captives of the Golden Men, or Kidnappers of Space, 1953. This's it fer sure! Second title is original English publication. First is what I read in U.S.
patchett, space captives of the golden men. Hurray! That was the book! I asked for it to be inter-library loaned, and it was exactly the right book. Probably not the best book ever written, but it was pretty exciting the first time I read it, and I still enjoyed it. Thanks so much.
Paul Capon is the author of Lost: A Moon (1955). Here are two descriptions from two sellers who were kind enough to respond to my queries: "This book is about a girl, her friend and her father who are all kidnapped by a Martian Satellite named Phobos. On Phobos they meet another human captive named Bill. Adventure follows." "It is about a painter and his two children that are kidnapped by a space ship. They are taken to a Martian moon where they find another American." Out of print, rare, expensive, and fortunately not the title sought by the stumper requester.

Space Ship Under the Apple Tree
Ok, the book I keep trying to remember was a thin book I'm sure that I got from my Catholic grade school library,that featured a teenage-ish boy who had an apple orchard and a space ship landed it. I can see the picture of the boy in the orchard, but that's all I remember, but the book at the time and in memory, made me homesick. Hmmmm. I've been thinking about this for probably 40 years. I'm not too hopeful, but I love that you have this service. Congratulations and peace!

Hope restored! This is Louis Slobodkin's The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree.
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spaceship in boy's apple orchard, 1960's. a teenage boy has an apple orchard or at least an apple tree and a spaceship lands in it. read it in the 60's - got it from school library - some illustration - the apple orchard?
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I read this/these books as a child in the 1970's. I think they were a short series and involved a group of siblings who meet some space travelers whose space ship ends up in their backyard tomoto bush. I think they get shrunken down and have all sorts of adventures with their space traveler friends. I have no recollection of the title or author. Would love to find this/these books for my young children, if they even exist anymore. I am totally stumped.

Louis Slobodkin, Space Ship Under the Apple Tree (and its sequels), 1952. pretty much a guess sequels are listed online here.
I can't tell you how suprised I was to find out the title of this book. Like everyone else, I remember the book but no idea of the title and wanted to find it for my kids to read. I never thought I'd figure it out.
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A series of at least two humorous children's science fiction books from the Fifties or Sixties about a man from another planet who was small enough to resemble a child and who was secretly "adopted" by an Earth boy and his family. He may have been Martian, because the Earth name he used was a play on the word "Martian": Martin E. Ann, or something like it. There was a scene in the second book in the series where he uses powered shoes or sneakers from his planet to win a swimming race, even though he knew that water would eventually wreck the shoes. There was another scene wherein he and the Earth boy take a trip in his spaceship to Boston and visit the Old North Church but wind up in the wrong location.

Slobodkin, Louis, The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree. (others in series).See solved stumpers

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I remember a book where a boy somehow swims very fast in a pool race very possibly thanks to an alien of some sort. That's all I remember. Thanks.

The only thing I can think of is a film I saw on the Disney channel, where the boy not only becomes a great swimmer, but starts growing fins on his hands and feet. Turns out his real mother is a mermaid, who'd left him in infancy with his landbound parents to protect him from fishermen. The boy's changes seem due to his reaching age 13. Hope this helps.
Beatrice Gormley. I don't have a specific suggestion for you, but this book sounds like it could have been written by Beatrice Gormley, who wrote books about ordinary kids who get involved sometimes with magic and sometimes with aliens. I don't know if that helps!
The Thirteenth Year. The answer to B683 request is The Thirteenth Year. But I don't know the author.
The Disney film someone suggested is indeed called THE THIRTEENTH YEAR, but it does not appear to be have been based on a book (or novelized). For what its worth: When Cody Griffin, the schools champion swimmer, begins to grow fins and gills on his thirteenth birthday, he learns that his was no ordinary adoption and wonders how his friends will accept him.
John Wyndham, Chocky, 1968, copyright. This sounds as if it could possibly be Chocky by John Wyndham. Chocky is an alien who establishes mind contact with a young boy. In one episode in the book, when the boy and his sister are knocked into a river, Chocky enables the boy to suddenly learn to swim and save himself and his sister, for which he is awarded a lifesaving medal.

SOLVED: Slobodkin, The Spaceship under the Apple Tree. I realize that it has been a few years since I sent in this stumper, but I have finally found the book that I was looking for. The title is The Spaceship under the apple tree by Lois Slobodkin. There is a scene in the book where the alien is able to swim very fast in the pool, mostly as I remembered it. Thanks again for your wonderful site, which I always peruse whenever I have a chance.

Space Prison
This book was probably published in the 1950's and was suitable for a teen. I read it when I was about 12 and it was in hardback at the time. I can remember finding it again in a public library in about 1972 (?). It is about a group of travellers on a space ship who are attacked. The survivors manage to travel to a planet where they live for generations. The problem is that the gravity is very strong for their bodies and as generations pass their bodies compensate for this and they colonize the planet. Eventually the group who attacked their original ship comes to this planet and sees what happened to the surviving gernerations.

Tom Godwin, Space Prison (originally The Survivors), 1958 (rev. 1962). I remember this novel as well. Tom Godwin is most famously known for his short story, "The Cold Equations," a story controversial mostly for its artificial construction and unbelievability. Nevertheless, I too enjoyed The Survivors when I first read it in the early 1960's. Here are two good links: One Two

Spaghetti Eddie
Eddie spaghetti...this was a public school library book I read in the 1970's. A large hardcover.I believe pale blue color. I remember a small boy trying to make spaghetti and the phrase "more spaghetti Eddie." The pot overflows with too much spaghetti.

Tomie De Paola, Strega Nona, 1975. Not sure if this is the book you are thinking of, but it's the book I thought of when I read your stumper. Some parts of your description fit and some parts don't. Strega Nona's magic pasta pot makes wonderful spaghetti when she uses it. But when she has to leave for a trip, she tells Big Anthony - her assistant - to leave the pot alone. But he can't resist trying out the pot. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to stop the pasta pot when it has made enough. By the time Strega Nona returns it is just in time to save the village from drowning in spaghtetti!
Ellis, Mary Jackson, Spaghetti Eddie, 1957. illus by Sylvia Myers. This book looks like a large format hardback and is light blue in color, with a picture of a boy (presumably Eddie) on the front, wearing a chef's cap.
Could it be this? Gelman, Rita Golden. More spaghetti, I say! illus by Mort Gerberg. Scholastic Cartwheel Books text c1977; monkeys Freddy and Minnie prefer to eat spaghetti than to play; pasta; stories in rhyme; Hello Reader! series Level 2.
Two possibilities- Freddie's Spaghetti, by Charlotte Doyle or More Spaghetti, I Say, by Rita Goldman Gelman
E95: Ellis, Mary Jackson & Myers, Sylvia (illus.): Spaghetti Eddie. This is the correct answer. In fact, I have already ordered a copy for myself!!! Thank you so much!

Speaker for the Dead
Just the person I'm looking for. Quite some years ago (about 10?) I was listening to the CBC and the had an author reading his work. Of course, either I didn't have a pen and paper handy or they didn't repeat the title, but I have been trying to find this book or short story for yonks. The plot is: An anthroplogy student is studying some remote tribe in the jungle (African or South American, I do not know...). He thinks that he is on the ins with them and they are going to reveal a secret ceremony and invite him along. It appears that he is to be "part of the ceremony" in ways he never imagined! They tie him down on the floor of the jungle, cut slits in his skin and insert soil and seeds. Bear with me.... Over the next few days and weeks he finds himself more and more "part of the jungle as the roots begin to grow in him. He is eventually rescued against his own wishes......I have tried every search I know, and I WORKED in a bookstore for many years and have never come across it. PLEASE, PLEASE, before this drives me mad, can you find the title for me??????????

This stumper has been nagging at me since I first read it, and it finally clicked. There's a scene in the science fiction novel Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (a sequel to the famous Ender's Game) in which a character is staked to the forest floor, cut so roots can grow in his body, and finally becomes part of the forest. It isn't exactly as remembered in the request- it doesn't involve anthropology, and there's no rescue- but I thought I'd submit it just in case. Copyright date is 1986, so it could easily have been read from on the radio ten years ago.
Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead, 1986. Here's the relevant passage:
    Rooter lay spread-eagled in the cleared dirt. He had been eviscerated, and not carelessly. Each organ had been cleanly separated, and the strands and filaments of his limbs had also been pulled out and spread in a symmetrical pattern on the drying
soil. Everything still had some connection to the body -- nothing had been completely severed.
    Libo's agonized crying was almost hysterical. Novinha knelt by him and held him, rocked him, tried to soothe him. Pipo methodically took out his small camera and took pictures from every angle so the computer could analyze it in detail later.
    "He was still alive when they did this," Libo said, when he had calmed enough to speak. Even so, he had to say the words slowly, carefully, as if he were a foreigner just learning to speak. "There's so much blood on the ground, spattered so far --
his heart had to be beating when they opened him up."
    "We'll discuss it later," said Pipo.
    Now the thing Libo had forgotten yesterday came back to him with cruel clarity. "It's what Rooter said about the women. They decide when the men should die. He told me that, and I--" He stopped himself. Of course he did nothing. The law required
him to do nothing. And at that moment he decided that he hated the law. If the law meant allowing this to be done to Rooter, then the law had no understanding. Rooter was a person. You don't stand by and let this happen to a person just because
you're studying him.
    "They didn't dishonor him," said Novinha. "If there's one thing that's certain, it's the love that they have for trees. See?" Out of the center of his chest cavity, which was otherwise empty now, a very small seedling sprouted "They planted a tree to mark his burial spot."
    "Now we know why they name all their trees," said Libo bitterly. "They planted them as grave markers for the piggies they tortured to death."
It's possible that Card read from a story that preceded, or was inspired by, Speaker for the Dead. He's a native of Alberta, a frequent radio guest -- seems a likely candidate.

Speedy Digs Downside Up
Children's book, read in the late 60s/early 70s. Brother and sister living in Pennsylvania decide to dig a hole through the earth and come out in Tasmania.

Kumin, Maxine. Speedy digs downside up. Illus Ezra Jack Keats. Putnam 1964. Pennsylvania boy digs thru earth to Tasmania; Australia

Special Trade
This book was about a granfather and his granddaughter who take care of each other. What I remember is the grandfather had to take care of the granddaughter and then as the story progressed the grandfather got sick and so the granddaughter had to take care of him. The grandfather was in a wheelchair and the little girl would push him around and take him for ice cream.

I doubt you mean Heidi...
Tomie de Paola, Now One Foot, Now the Other. I think this may be the one. The grandchild is a boy rather than a girl, but otherwise it seems to fit the description.
Sally Wittman, A Special Trade, 1978. I am almost sure this is the book. The gradnfather takes care of the little girl when she is an infant, and when he is older and ill, she takes care of him. A picture book, but not large.
I am so happy I almost can't get the word out. I stopped by the site today to see if the posting was up, figuring I would have a little while to wait for a response and trying to temper my hopes. But there were already several responses, and the book I have been searching for was there! It is A special trade, by Sally Wittman! I have been searching my brain for the title for years, and there it was. I just wanted to thank you, it means the world to me to now be able to get this book. Thank you very much for this service.
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I think Captain Kangaroo read this book. It was about a little boy and his neighbor. When the boy was a baby, the old man would wheel him around the block, when they came to a bump in the sidewalk, the old man would say "bump" (I think) The old man eventually became ill and had to leave for awhile. When he returned, he was in a wheelchair. The boy then wheeled the old man around the block, and when they came to that same bump in the sidewalk, the boy would say "bump".

Sally Wittman, A Special Trade, 1978. Is it possible one of the main characters was a girl instead of a boy? The storyline described is exactly like the book, A Special Trade.
Sally Wittman, A Special Trade, 1978. Old Bartholomew would take Nelly out in her stroller, warn her about the bumps, stop and pet nice dogs, and if Mrs. Pringle's sprinkler was on, they would charge right through it. When Nelly got older and Old Bartholomew was in a wheelchair, they traded roles. Nelly pushed, they still stopped to pet nice dogs, Nelly warned him about the bumps, and when the sprinkler was on, they'd charge right through it!
Sally Wittman, A Special Trade. This is exactly the book I've been looking for! Thanks so much..great website.
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A book for very young children (I received it as a gift for my daughter in the early 1980's) about a little girl who is taken for walks in her stroller by an elderly neighbor. Time passes and the neighbor is rushed to the hospital in an ambulance one day. When he returns he is using a wheelchair. The young girl takes him for walks (tracing they steps they've always taken) by pushing his wheelchair (including through a sprinkler). There are references to red geraniums, too. Thank you so much - I've been trying to find this book, or it's name or author, for many years.

A Special Trade. I can't promise the geraniums, but this sounds very like the solution "A Special Trade" that is on the Loganberry site under Solved Mysteries (filed under S). Good luck!
Sally Wittman, A Special Trade, 1978. I loved this when I was growing up too!
Sally Wittman, A Special Trade, 1978. I have this book in my school library in a Harper Trophy (paperback) edition which was reprinted in 1985. The cover is bright red!
Thank you all - yes, it had a bright red cover - I'm thrilled to have this solved.

Special Year
Hi - I am looking for a book I read in the 1960's. It's a young adult novel, and the main character was a girl named Marly. She might have lived in Wisconsin. If anyone knows the author or title, please let me know! Thanks

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen, published in 1956. Marly and her family move to her grandmother's old place, Maple Hill in northern Pennsylvania. Marly's father was a prisoner of war and needs to get away from the city. The family loves the outdoors and helps with the maple syrup business and Marly's dad gradually regains his health (that's the miracle).
Could this be Miracle on Maple Hillby Virgina Sorensen? It was a Newberry Award winner in 1957. Marly's family moves into Grandma's house in Somerset Country, PA after WWII has left her father withdrawn and bitter. Wonderful picture of sugaring time. HTH!
Hi Harriet. Unfortunately this isn't the book - I've checked it out before. The one I'm looking for is about a teenager, and as I recall it's a fairly standard teen romance. So my search continues!
M70 marly: this was also posted on the Alibris board, and identified there as The Special Year by Laura Nelson Baker, 1959. "In it, the main character's name is Scott, but his girlfriend's name is Marly. Just glancing through it, it looks like the book takes place over the space of a year starting with Marly's sixteenth birthday and ending when she is about to turn seventeen. It looks like things start to go wrong for them, something about Marly possibly being involved in a car accident."
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Hi! What a great idea for a website! I have been trying for months to find this book...it takes place somewhere between the 1950's & 1960's. I am pretty sure the main character is in the 8th grade & her name is Allison Farrington. I believe she has a younger sister named Cassie. The story is mostly about her last year before high school, and she deals with such issues as having store bought clothes versus the homemade clothes her mother & grandmother make for her. I have no idea of the title or author, although for some reason "Special Year" comes to mind. Please help! I would love to have this book again!!

Evelyn Sibley Lampman, Special Year.1959
Just wanted to let you know that you were right...I ordered a copy of Special Year by Evelyn Sibley Lampman and it was the book I was looking for! Thanks again!!

Speedy Little Taxi
When I was in kindergarten in 1975 my teacher would red us this book before nap time. It was about a little car that liked to go fast and run red lights and always got in trouble. The car tried changing colors but nothing seemed to go right until he became red. Once he was red he got to drive the fire chief to fires so he did not get in trouble for running red lights and going fast.

Geis, Darlene, The Speedy Little Taxi, 1955. I have a book and record set of The Speedy Little Taxi. I am sure that this is the book you are looking for. The front of the book says: Happiness Story Books. It is published by Ottenheimer Publishers, Inc. The 45RPM record says Peter Pan Players on it. Hope this helps!

Spell is Cast
When I was in the sixth grade (approx. 1970), I read a book I loved and I would give anything to have a copy of it. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the book or the author. Perhaps someone in your organization can help me. The book was about a young girl who lived with her grandparents. One day she went deep into the woods and heard someone playing "Greensleeves" on a piano. She followed the sound of the music until she found the cottage where the music was coming from. A lady lived alone in the cottage and she often played "Greensleeves" on the piano. The girl and the lady became friends. Come to find out, the lady was her mother. I know it's a stretch, but I'm hoping someone will recognize the story and be able to give me more information.

Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Greensleeves, 1968. I don't have the book available to confirm it but I think this might be it.
Eleanor Cameron, A Spell is Cast. I think this might be the book--the girl and the woman in the cottage turn out to have matching unicorn pendants.
This doesn't sound like McGraw's Greensleeves, which is about a college-age teenager, Shannon Lightly, taking a year off to "find herself" by working as a waitress in an Oregon town. ("Greensleeves" is a reference to her uniform.) In A Spell Is Cast, Cory follows the Greensleeves music when she has fever (indoors), but does go through the woods to Laurel's cottage later. I agree this sounds very similar.

Spell Me a Witch
Here's my childhood book memory: It's about a witch school where most of the girls have spice names (Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, etc.) The woman who runs the school has an assistant named something like Bethany, who isn't supposed to be a witch, but at the end she is proven quite powerful, and her tears from when she was a baby are used to prevent some catastrope. I believe the author's last name started with W, and the book is about a fifth-sixth grade reading level. I've been wondering about this for ages, and any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated!

Suggesting Spell me a Witch by Barbara Willard, illustrated by Phillida Gili, published London, Hamish Hamilton, 1979. Inside flap "Belladonna Agrimony is worried. For years now she has run The Academy for Young Witches, ... but something is going wrong. After a long and successful career she seems to be losing some of her witchiness. Word comes that The Three, the most powerful, important and terrifying of the Sisterhood, are on their way to inspect Belladonna's famous academy. The whole establishment is thrown into panic and turmoil at the news. Belladonna, her assistant, the mysterious Betony, and all her pupil witches start making plans and working out spells to display to the alarming visitors." Witch pupils are named Angelica, Tansy, Borage, Marjoram, Spurge, Caroway, Chervil, Tarragon and Camomile. Betony was found as a baby and her tears were stored in a glass jar.
I submitted this one -- I think this is it! Thanks for all your help (interesting to see which details I had correctly remembered).

Spider's Palace
I'm looking for two short stories that may have appeared in the same book. The first involves a girl (?) who travels down a telephone wire and ends up inside a whale, when she thought her family was going on holiday to Wales. The second involves a boy who turns somersaults or cartwheels, flashing light and dark as he does so.

Richard Hughes, Living in W'ales. I read this anthologised in the 50s in the Junior Classics.
Richard Hughes, The Spider's Palace
Richard Hughes, The Spider's Palace and Other Stories. Published by Puffin Books in 1961, though I think there may have been an earlier edition

Spiderweb for Two
I remember my fifth grade teacher reading this to the class (c. 1960) and I just loved it! My memory says that it was a blue book without a dust cover or illustrations on the front. It seems to me that the characters in the book followed a series of clues or something of that nature. I remember something about a clue being in a mailbox! I realize that this description is very vague but I have searched my "memory banks" many times over the years to try to remember more about the book but I just can't come up with any more information than that - I just remember how much I loved the book and could hardly wait for the teacher to read it to us! Any info would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!

Enright, Elizabeth, Spiderweb for two: a Melendy Maze, 1951. The fourth and final book in the Melendy series. Randy and Oliver are left at home, while the others go away to school. They are not looking forward to it, but the year suddenly seems to move faster when a mysterious clue arrives in the mailbox, and their treasure hunt journey begins. A great book!
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two. One of the series about the Melendy family. Older sibling leave a series of clues for the two younger ones to figure out.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two, 1951. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I was able to find this book in our Public Library and could hardly wait to read it! I began reading it and I knew that it was the book that I have been searching for for about 20 years now!!! The farther I got into it the more vivid were my memories of our teacher reading it to us.I was especially excited when I got to a part that has had a place in my memory all these years - reading it now gave me the same feeling that I had when our teacher read it to us in the early 60s! Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my "stumper"!! Searching for the book all these years has been fun but actually finding it and being able to read it has been even more fun!!
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There may have been a series of books about the same family, but the one I remember was a child going on a sort of treasure hunt one summer. I would have read this in the mid-80s. Some of the clues included a ‘golden oriole’, a ‘cupola’ and a statue of the goddess Kwan-Yin. I can’t remember why he was on the treasure hunt or what the end result was, but I think there were deadlines for some of the puzzles, so he had to get up early and sneak out. I’m fairly certain it was an American book as it contained things I hadn’t come across before.

Enright, Elizabeth, Spiderweb for Two, 1951. Though I haven't read it in a long time, this certainly sounds like Spiderweb For Two. It was a brother and sister, sent clues that they had to figure out before they got to the next clue. They had to keep it secret from everyone else. One of the Melendy family books.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for two. See solved mysteries.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two, circa 1943. This sounds like Spiderweb for Two to me, too. I know one of the clues involved Kwan Yin, and their house, The Four Story Mistake, had a cupola. There are several other books in the series--all great reads.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze, 1951. I just finished reading Spiderweb for Two last week. This book features a treasure hunt with clues that a sister and brother solve over the course of a school year. Some of the clues do have deadlines and the children get up early to search for solutions on several occasions. Randy (a girl) and Oliver find one clue in an oriole's nest referred to as "a pocketful of gold," search their house's cupola for another clue and discover that their father's statue of Kwan-Yin is the answer to another clue. This certainly sounds like your book. I'm pretty sure "Spiderweb" is the last of the four books about the Melendy family. It's a fun treasure hunt book with sophisticated, poetic clues.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two is right - thank you to whoever suggested it, and thanks for the great site!
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Hi..My mother has told me for years about a book she read as a child (between 1960-1970) that her father got her...it's about two young children, a sister and younger brother, who are not looking forward to summer because they think it will be boring. Then they start finding clues, and these clues lead them to other clues, and they find suprises, etc. Before they know it summer is over, and in the end you find out that the parents were leaving the clues for them. My mom has always talked about this book and I'd really like to find it and get it for her as a surprise...She thinks it's called "Secret for Two" but she's not sure, and I can't find that title. If you could help--at least find the title and/or author, I'd be most grateful!!! Thank you!!

Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for two, 1951. Check the solved pages for this one.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze, 1951. This book is about Randy and Oliver Melendy who think that their winter is going to be boring because their older sister and brothers have gone away to school. Then they get a surprise message in their mailbox. It is a poem they've got to decode to lead them to the next clue. This is the 5th book in this 5 book series about the Melendy family.
Elisabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze, 1951. Absolutely the right book. I love this series and this book is the only one I have left to buy. In it, Randy (short for Miranda) and her brother Oliver are dreading a long school year without their three older siblings who have gone away to school. Then they find a clue (I don't remember how) and it leads to another and another, throughout the school year, until the summer arrives and they reach the end of their treasure hunt and realize that it was their older siblings (Mona, Rush, and adopted brother Mark) who had set it all up for them. I'm sure this one will get a lot of responses, and I think that it's already in the solved mysteries.
You'll probably get flooded on this answer! Except for the fact that the kids are trying to pass time during the winter (because the older siblings are away at boarding school and will be back in the summer), this matches SPIDERWEB FOR TWO by Elizabeth Enright (This is one of the books about the Melendy family. Other titles include: THE FOUR-STORY MISTAKE; THE SATURDAYS; THEN THERE WERE FIVE)~from a librarian
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two, 1953. This is the book. The youngest Melendy children are entertained with clues left for them by their older siblings and some other friends.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two, 1951. Part of the 4-book Melendy family series. In this one, the older children are away at school, and leave a series of clues for the brother and sister left behind. The clues occupy the kids until the older ones have returned.
Enright, Elizabeth, Spiderweb for Two. It's actually the older brother and sister that left the clues but the rest of the story fits- I think this is your book.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two. One of the Melendy family books. Randy and Oliver are bored with their father and older siblings away, and then clues for a treasure hunt start arriving.
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A book from the 70s or 80s, American I think. A young girl is on her own for the summer - all of her siblings/family are away but to cheer her up they have organised an elaborate treasure hunt. One clue was in the fridge (in an ice cube?) and another in a weaver bird's nest.

Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy maze. My sister and I read this out loud several years ago--we specifically remembered the ice-cube clue!
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two. One of the Melendy books. The ice cube and bird's nest details fit perfectly.
Enright, Elizabeth, Spiderweb for Two, a Melendy maze. Long shot, but it sounds like "Spiderweb for Two", a continuation of the Melendy family series. The girl's younger brother is also home, and helps her. The girl's older siblings have gone off to school in the city, but they and their father have left the clues, including the nest and icicles, and others involving other things such as books or jewelry, that are family knowledge. The treasure hunt is spread out over the whole year, the basic point was to keep Randy, the girl, and Oliver, the boy, from getting lonely without the older children.
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two. Yes, this is it, thank you all so much! Strange how I had completely forgotten the younger brother and remembered only the girl, Randy, but this is definitely it. I have ordered a copy of the reprinted paperback, but best of all I was also able to buy and download the audiobook, burn it to CD, and my three children have been absolutely transfixed by it (as I have, all over again!) on our long journey from London to Italy for our summer holiday. What a brilliant site this is!

Spirit Town
A girl moves with her mother and older sister to a tourist town in Florida. The mother is setting up a beauty salon, the older sister is still mourning her fiance who died in the Vietnam war (or maybe it was the Korean war?). The town turns out to be made up of mystics, psychics, mediums, tarot readers, etc. The local church is an advertisement for the psychics, the drugstore only sells charms and talismans. The girl suspects they're lying, especially when they try to convince her mom to tell fortunes in the beauty salon, and when they tell her sister they can contact her lost fiance. The girl finally exposes them as fakes by planting a different tape in their hidden cassette player at the seance. There is a romance in the book, too, between the girl and a boy who lives with his aunt and uncle, the owners of the big hotel, because his parents are dead). The book I read was hardcover and I believe it had flames on the cover. I think it was written in the mid-seventies, but could have been earlier. Certainly not before the fifties and not after 1983, when I read it.

Roberts, Suzanne, Spirit Town, 1972. I'm positive this is it. Mimi, her mother and her sister Julie move to Hangsaman in Florida after Julie's boyfriend Chuck is killed in the vietnam war. When Julie finds out that the town is full of mediums she is determined to contact Chuck and Mimi is determined to prove that the mediums and their seances are staged. The details are just as the poster described.
Solved!! I am the person who sent this one in and yes it IS Spirit Town and I just want to say Thank You Thank You Thank You to the person who figured it out! Hooray!

Spook
Okay Harriet, heres one for you. I read this book in , I think, 1981-1983. One of those years. I'm guessing it was written in the 70's. The book was about a LITTLE BLACK DOG who was a mean witches "familiar". On Halloween night, he and the witch were on their way to a witches meeting but he fell off. Some kids that were trick-or-treating came across him and wanted to keep him but they had to meet with the witch first. I believe it was a paperback book with uncolored illustrations If you can come up with something on it, please let me know. I'm interested in buying it.

This sounds like it might have been a book called Spook (also the dog's name). I read it in the late seventies.
Here's an answer to W13 Witch's Dog SPOOKby Jane Little, illustrated by Suzanne Kesteloo Larsen, 1965 (repub. in 1990?) A little dog falls off the witch's broom, and finds a happy home with some children. He doesn't want to live with the mean witch anymore, but in order to keep the dog, the children must win a contest against the witch. There's a little black dog on the cover, with the witch (and I think a cauldron) and lots of orange in the cover.

Spook Birds
My daughter remembers reading a picture book about a little boy who goes to stay with his great-uncle (or possibly another older male relative) in a fancy, big, but creepy, house. Behind the dinner table is a case of stuffed birds and they frighten the boy because they seem to be looking at him. The dining chairs are big wing-backed chairs and the boy slumps down in his so as not to see the birds. He senses that the birds have moved, and although the uncle doesn't say anything, the boy thinks the uncle knows that he knows something about the birds. The boy realizes the birds are alive and the book ends with the sound of rushing wings and the boy learning the case is empty. She remembers the book having appropriately creepy illustrations.

Bunting, Eve, The Spook Birds, 1981. "Larry witnesses some mysterious goings-on at his rich grandmother's house when the stuffed birds in her glass case suddenly come alive."

Spooky Thing
Steele, William O., The Spooky Thing. This is a short story but I believe it has also been published as a book. It definitly has the hillbilly brothers and the monster chasing them through the woods so it may be the story you're seeking.
Joanna Galdone, The Tailypo: A Ghost Story, 1977. This is about 1 hillbilly with a pack of dogs, who is chased by an unseen monster who screams "Tailypo, tailypo, give me back my tailypo!" Illustrations are by the wonderful Paul Galdone. I think is is a Southern folktale, so there may be other versions, if this is not the right one.
William O. Steele, The Spooky Thing,1960.That's it! It's called The Spooky Thing by William O. Steele and illustrated by Paul Coker. After checking it out of my local library (I was surprised to find a copy), I still thought it was a funny tall tale. BTW, it's loosely based on a Tennessee folk tale called Chicky-Licky-Chow-Chow-Chow. Thanks!
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I read the book probably in the early 1970s. It's a story about two hillbilly brothers who leave their farm and are chasing a monster through the woods. Or is the monster chasing them? The book was quite humorous and had pen/ink drawings scattered throughout the book. Any ideas?
Solved: The Spooky Thing

Spot
When I was in kindergarten (1982 to 1983), I progressed through a series of beginning readers (very, very easy), after my class had completed the "letter books" published by the Lippincott company. I don't now if the readers were part of the same curriculum, but they may have been. Anyway, the specific reader I remember is about a little boy who disobeys his parents in some way and falls into a pig pen. He gets all muddy, and he's spanked for it. That's about all I remember, as I considered it somewhat shocking at the time. The boy may have had blond hair, but I'm not sure about that. These were definitely from some sort of educational curriculum, as I remember that all the books looked somewhat alike, although they were different colors. I know that after we'd completed one book (individually), we'd be allowed to go on to another one. They were very thin paperbacks, as I recall.

#B95--Boy falls into pig pen: Scott, Foresman did a reading program like this, but were perhaps not the only ones in that format. I remember these, too. Ours were in different boxes ranked by color for difficulty, but I have seen them with illustrated covers as well, no doubt done in different formats at different times.
I just wanted to let you know that this book has been definitely identified. The title is Spot, and the author is JoAnne Nelson. This book is #15 in the "SuperBooks" reading series, first published by Lippincott in 1974.

Spotty
When I was a child in the late forties, we checked out books from the Bookmobile. One that I read over and over was about a family of white bunnies that had somehow gotten one black bunny. The other bunnies treated him terribly. Eventually they found a family with the opposite problem and traded. As a small child, I was never satisfied with that ending I wanted them black bunny to be treated kindly. Does anyone know anything about that book?

yikes, let's hope this one is long out of print.
Margaret and H.A. Rey, Spotty.This book is actually very charming, and the bunny isn't black, he's brown spotted. The whole rest of his family is white, and while they don't exactly mistreat him, his feeling of "differentness" has him sitting alone a lot. One day when the rest go to their great-aunt's birthday party, they leave him home so he won't be noticed by the dignified matron. He runs away and ends up meeting a brown spotted bunny like himself, and they go home together. At the brown spot house, there is a solid white bunny who is also an introvert, passed over by his family. The two families meet and realize they've been acting horribly, and then they all get along.
I submitted the original query about this book and am revlieved to find it has a name. The book made a profound impression on me. Even though I was only about 4 or 5 years old, I remember crying every time it was read to me. But I checked it out over and over and made my mom and aunt read it to me over and over. Something about the ending never really satisfied me.

Spring Comes Riding
I am trying to find a book for a good friend and her description is: four sisters with varying degrees of red hair who live on a horse farm. The youngest sister is the "narrator" and one big event in the book is that one of the older sisters gets married. My friend thinks the book was written somewhere in the 50s or early 60s. She remembers a blue cover with white "silhouette" type drawing on the front of the girls sitting on a fence. If this rings a bell, any help would be MUCH appreciated. Thank you and I really like your web site!

Betty Cavanna, Spring Comes Riding, 1950. I think this may be the book you're looking for....there are definitely red headed sisters, who all raise and show horses, the younger sister (Meg) is the narrator and there is a rivalry with the older sister. The copy I read is from Westminster Press, and has a blue cover with a profile of a girl on horseback, but there were a few different versions of this book printed, so there are probably more than one version of cover art. Good luck!

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Cavanna, Betty. Spring Comes Riding. The Westminster Press, 1950. Ex-library in green library binding with usual stamps and wear. G-. <SOLD>

Spunky
There is a man and woman, and they end up with 3 dogs. One named Happy, one a Doberman, and 3rd is the title character. The wife is expecting a baby. Pretty sure Happy dies. The title dog was pictured on cover - not a drawing. Mid 70's to early 80's. Came from a school function-RIF, Scholastic, etc

Dori Brink, Spunky. Pretty sure this is it. Stay puppy is adopted by a human and her life goes through many changes, including several moves, her human's marriage, the addition of several other dogs to the family, the death of two of them, and the birth of her humans' baby. Cover features a photo/realistic painting of a sad-looking dog.
Dori Brink, Spunky, 1980 by Scholastic Book Services. You are correct with your answer. Similar life experience sent me in search of this gem. Thank you very much.

Squawk to the Moon, Little Goose
Gosh, I hope you can help me. When I was a little girl i read a book about a duck who was always chasing the moon - I believe he thought it was cheese. That is all I remember - if you can give me a title... that would be a miracle. It must have been published circa 1968 - 1979. It's me again. The book cover was a navy blue - and the duck was on the front cover. I am interested in writing myself - children's books and spiritual novels. finding this book will be the link to the missing puzzle.

Could it have been a goose? Preston, Edna Mitchell Squawk to the Moon, Little Goose Viking, 1974. Large 8vo, isbn 0140505466 "As a bright, full moon sails overhead a gosling leaps out of bed and goes outside, heedless of a waiting, hungry fox. Lilting text by Preston and superb color illustrations by Cooney create a joyous combination."
M17 moon made of cheese: more on the suggested title Squawk to the Moon, Little Goose - "A curious and naive gosling sallies forth on a forbidden nighttime excursion. As she splashes happily in a pond, she fancies that she sees a white fox swallow the moon but after she wakens the farmer with the alarming news, the moon reappears and the goose waddles away in shame - until she sees the moon apparently struggling in the weeds at the water's edge. Once again she squawks for help, and onece again the farmer dismisses her by pointing to the moon safely riding in the sky. Lost in embarrasment the goose fails to see a predatory fox; and having twice responded to her alarms, the farmer pays no attention to her cries. Luminous, hauntingly beautiful watercolor illustrations." (HB Feb/75 p.41) The gosling in the illustration shown does look more ducklike than gooselike.

SRA Cards
I would like to know if you have any recollection of a reading program used 30+ years ago, that I will describe as best I remember: It was a program that I had in my first grade class at a private school. The set was color coded cards and the container box was tiered so you could see the different levels and colors. I don't remember how many levels/subjects there were but I think at least 16 or 20. I always called it by its initials, my mother seems to think "SAE". I think the S may have stood for "scholastic", but can't really recall the initials myself. Each learning card was about 4 x 5 inches, and had a bit to read about a given subject, and then a quiz at the end. I remember fill-in-the-blanks. We weren't allowed to write on the cards, of course, because the whole class used them. I remember a story about dinosaurs, and turquoise as one of the colors, also purple and red - the colors were on the headers of each level or subject card. I think maybe the colors represented subjects, and possibly there were numbers to indicate the level you were reading at. I went through these while the teacher taught the other students who could not already read. Sometimes, though, I got bored and antsy and she had to tell me to go sit in the bathroom. I would then sneak out slooooowly to reach the learning cards or toys. I wonder if any teachers remember or use these cards today?

The reading program described sounds like the SRA program I remember as a child in the early '70s.
Science Research Associates cards. They were published by Science Research Associates, and we called them SRA cards. I remember using them in the '70's.
SRA cards. You can read more about the creator of the cards online here.
This was a reading program called SRA, and I think it's still used today. You can still order these if you look it up on the internet, but they are expensive. I, too, used these in elementary school, and loved them. Good Luck
This description fits the SRA reading program that I had in school in the 60's. I can still remember the thrill of moving up to the next color card set in the box. You can check out their website at www.sra-4kids.com , although I have a feeling that it's a little bit different than we remember it!
I believe those cards were called SRA. I remember them too. I have no idea what SRA stands for, perhaps
Scholastic Reading Assessment.
R59 is the SRA reading program. I can't remember what the initials stood for--Scholastic Reading ?
Just my remembrance on the SRA reading cards. They must've been around for a while since I used them about 20 years ago. I loved the green-colored one about Pompeii--my teacher was annoyed that I kept going back to that one when I was capable of reading the higher levels!

Sredni Vashtar
I remember a book or story from my childhood (I was born in 1965) that was either a horror story or a mystery. I don't remember a lot of the details. A boy had parents who were very strict with him and abusive or punishing. He may have murdered them and then the story ends when they are gone and for the first time he is able to do whatever he wants. He then makes some toast and delights in being able to put as much butter as he wants on the toast. Does anyone recall a book or story like this? Thank you.

Saki, Sredni Vashtar. This sounds to me like it could be the short story Sredni Vashtar by Saki. It's online all over the place, just do a search on the title and you'll find it.
Saki, Sredni Vashtar, 1914, approximately. A short story by author Saki - originally printed in the collection Beasts and Super Beasts. Saki's work is out of copyright now, but is frequently collected and could probably be found with little trouble.
Saki (H.H. Munro), Sredni Vashtar, 1911, approximately. This is one of Saki's short stories. Its a governess, not the boy's parents, but its definitely the same story. Here's a link.
Not a solution, sorry, but I couldn't help laughing at that description, because it immediately brought to mind a noteworthy scene in both the book and movie version of the British autobiography The Naked Civil Servant, by Quentin Crisp. In the scene, the strict father/lawyer hisses at Quentin, his unemployed adult son, "don't put so much butter on your toast!" Soon after, Quentin promises to leave shortly and not come back. His father dies, and nearly 40 years later, at the end of the book, Quentin has murder fantasies (though not aimed at him). A sad, witty, wonderful, beautiful book. John Hurt starred in the 1975 movie version and won the British Academy Award for it.
Saki, Sredni Vashtar. This sounds remarkably like Saki's short story, Sredni Vashtar. See website.
Saki (H.H. Munro), Sredni Vashtar. One of my favorite stories! Here it is online.
Saki, Sredni Vashtar, 1911. You bet I do. That's "Sredni Vashtar", written by H.H. Munro (Saki), published in "The Chronicles of Clovis", and available on line here: "Whoever will break it to the poor child? I couldn't for the life of me!" exclaimed a shrill voice. And while they debated the matter among themselves, Conradin made himself another piece of toast.
Saki, Sredni Vashtar. I am the original poster. I would like to express my gratitude to those who responded to my stumper query. I really appreciate the links to the story as well. I've just read it and absolutely, this is indeed the story. Interesting how my memory of this story, which I read as a child, is greatly simplified. It really is beautifully written when read with adult eyes. Best wishes and thank you all.

St. Patrick's Day in the Morning
Hi there, just trying to find a book that I used to read a lot in elementary. All I remember is that the main character was a boy, and it took place on St. Patrick's Day. I also remember him waking up real early, before everyone else, putting on a raincoat, and walking all over town I believe with his dog, and I remember him drinking ginger ale?.. haha, very vague I know.. just seeing if anyone recognizes it! Thanks a bunch!

Jan Brett, St. Patrick's Day in the Morning, 1983. I believe this is the book you are looking for. I don't remember the boy drinking ginger ale, but he does get up early with his dog and walk the St. Patrick's Day parade route.
Eve Bunting, St. Patrick's Day in the Morning, 1980. I have the book right in front of me. Scholastic press, ISBN 0-590-26470-2. Jamie wanders all over town on St. Pat's Day, and is the first one at the field where the celebration will be held. He then goes back home and gets in bed and is asleep when it is time to go to the St. Pat's party!
Yes! That's it! Thank you guys soo much for your help! This is such a great site!

Stairway to a Secret
A young girl is staying in London w/a relative (an Aunt?) .. I think the girl's name is Kat .. I recall a long paragraph where she reflects on being call Kat and not Kit ...

This is a long shot, but there is a book called Stairway to a Secret by Joy DeWeese Wehen, published around 1953, about a teenage girl whose nickname is "Kitten" who goes to spend a year in London with her godmother, Reina. There is a long explanation for why she is called Kitten "...not Kitty, because Kitties are tall and bored and over twenty one, but Kitten, because she was five foot two and seventeen....."
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.
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Looking for a book(YA), published in the 1960's, about a girl named Kitten who visits her Godmother named Reina, in London and gets involved in a mystery. They live next door to a Lord's son who pretends to be a painter but is really a detective. They have a housekeeper named Mrs. Pettigrew.

Joy DeWeese Wehen, Stairway to a Secret, 1953, approximate. I love this book and had forgotten the title, too, until I found it a while ago on this website. Joy DeWeese Wehen's book *So Far From Malabar* is also really interesting.
Joy DeWeese Wehen, Stairway to a Secret, 1963, copyright. This was a favorite of mine. It's half mystery and half travelogue -- Kitten ("Miss Katherine Anne Carpenter") and Peter ("Detective-Inspector the Honorable Peter Langham Finch") see a lot of London while they're falling in love, including Kitten and Reina's attendance at a Royal Garden Party. There is also the mysterious neighbor named George, a slightly older man who impresses Kitten. The book is set in the 1950s, and I remember how surprised I was that "Zipper" was still a trade name -- the British called them "slide fasteners".
This is Stairway to a Secret by Joy DeWeese Wehen. It was my absolute favorite book the summer I was 12, I think I read it 50 times.
Joy DeWeese Wehen, Stairway to a Secret.
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Hello, I read this when I was a teen in the 1970's and it was an older book then - may have been my mom's, so from the 1950's. It was a favorite book, a sweet romance. I remember a girl visiting London for the first time with her mother, to see her aunt, or maybe her godmother. They call her Kitten.

Joy DeWeese Wehen, Stairway to a Secret.
Wehen, Moy DeWeese, Stairway to a Secret, 1953. Kitten goes to London to stay with her Godmother Renia. The book has a lot of good history and information about London. She meets a neighbor (Artist)named Peter Finch and gets involved in a sinister mystery.

WOW!!! That was fast - less than 2 weeks. I didn't really expect to have this one solved. Thank you to the Stumper Solvers - I've already purchased a copy and I can't wait to read it again. You've inspired me to try again with another stumper request. I am pleased that it seems I remember this book so well for a good reason. I have a daughter Catharine myself now, and I call her Cat - inspired in part by this book, I think. Love, love, love this site and its Book Stumpers!

Stanley & Rhoda
The children's book i am looking for has a main character named Rhoda and she gets stung by a bee. She keeps telling everyone "don't touch it, don't look at it." All the characters are animals but i can't remember what type.

Wells, Rosemary, Stanley & Rhoda, 1978. In three episodes a brother and sister deal with Rhoda’s untidy room, a bee sting, and a baby sitter.
Rosemary Wells, Stanley and Rhoda,1978. This is definitely it. Stanley and Rhoda are brother and sister, and I believe they are mice. The book contains three stories, "Bunny Berries" about Rhoda's messy room which Stanley helps her clean, "Don't Touch It, Don't Look At It," in which Rhoda is stung by a bee and older brother Stanley tries to comfort her, and "Henry," in which the siblings deal with a new baby sitter.
Wells, Rosemary, Stanley & Rhoda, 1978. In three episodes a brother and sister deal with Rhoda's untidy room, a bee sting, and a baby sitter."
You can move the R-149 to the solved section!!!!!!! That solution was it! Thank you so much.

Star Beast
I don't remember much. It was a science fiction book I read back in the late 70s or early 80s about some sort of large creature from outer space. It seemed to have a sense of humor and I think it might have had a friendship with a young boy. I particularly remember a part where it devoured a dog (a mastiff, I believe) and thought to itself that the collar made a "crunchy tidbit."

Robert A. Heinlein, The Star Beast, 1954. An astronaut named John Thomas Stuart brought a tiny alien creature back from outer space, and it became his family's pet. A couple of generations have passed, "Lummox" has grown to a huge size, and now he's eating a car, the neighbor's dog, a steel cage, and just wrecking things in general. But Lummox is more than he appears to be. For one thing, he's really a she. And young John Thomas Stuart is about to find out just how far-reaching the consequences of his family's having adopted this "pet" have become.
Robert A. Heinlein, The Star Beast. The alien is called "Lummox", if that rings a bell.
Robert Heinlein, Starbeast, 1960. This might be Starbeast by Robert Heinlein. The beast (named Lummox) had actually been brought back by the boy's grandfather as a pet he picked up somewhere on his galatic journeys. Through the years and generations the creature was taken care of by the grandfather, father, and now the teenage son. Gradually the beast got larger and larger, developed speech and extra limbs with hands. The family is astonished to learn that their pet is actually the young of an ancient race of star-faring creatures who has been actively sought by his people for years. These aliens are very wise, with an very old civilization, far advanced from that of earthlings. A galatic war almost insues until their child is returned. The young boy is astounded when he learns that his pet Lummox, who he thinks he has been caring for, believes that he has been raising John Thomases (the boy's, father's, and grandfather's name) for generations, rather than the other way around. A great book by a master. Hope this is it!
Robert Heinlein, The Star Beast, 1970. This website is awesome! Thanks so much to those who provided the info. "Lummox" does, indeed, ring a bell. This is the title I've been racking my brain trying to remember. I have to call my sister!! Thanks again! =o)

Star Child
A classic tale by a famous writer about a selfish and spoiled little prince who lived in heaven until one day, an accident happened that caused him to fall from the sky to a kingdom on earth. Alone and helpless, he experienced for the first time hunger and poverty, while roaming among unscrupulous people on the fringe of society who treated him very unkindly. All the while he was desperately searching for his mother, the bright star which had tried to follow him as he fell. I have read this book many times as a young child in the late 50's. I would appreciate anyone's help to tell me the title and author. Thank you.

I think this very well may be Oscar Wilde's "Star Child". link
S397 Wilde, Oscar. The happy prince and other stories [Selfish giant; nightingale and the rose, et al] illus by Lara Bo THIS HAS THE RIGHT STORY IN IT: STAR PRINCE
I would like to thank you and the two readers who identified the story and gave me the title and author. I couldn't have been more thrilled to find this childhood story again! I have also found the book in the local library and read the story in an abbreviated and simplified manner to my 6-year-old, who has never before heard such a sad tale (he is a Nickelodeon fan - Dora et al.). I didn't have the heart to read him the Happy Prince by the same author. Sad as they may be, the author wrote stories that carry important morals that I think children should learn.

Star Dog
I read this juvenile science fiction paperback when I was in jr. high school, circa 1975. It was about a boy who befriends a dog, (a big black one it think, like a lab?) But the dog is really an alien and has an extra set of paws coming out of its chest, like arms almost. That is all I remember, thanks in advance
for any information.

Maybe Star Dog, by A.M. Lightner (pseud. of Harry Harrison?) published McGraw-Hill 1973, 179 pages. "During the confusion that reigns over the supposed appearance of some kind of UFO outside Holt's home town, his collie, Mitzi, who has escaped purdah while in heat, somehow manages to mate with a strange six-legged dog found dead later by Holt and a friend. Mitzi's pup turns out to be capable of telepathic communication with its master. Scientific examination of the strange corpse of Rover's father inevitably leaks out and brings down upon Holt, family, friends and teachers the whole ballyhoo of the American media and the interference of the forces of law and order as well as the skulduggery of the unscrupulous criminal fringe ..." (Junior Bookshelf Apr/75 p.122)
Again! I THANK YOU!!! # S 109 Sci Fi Dog is Star Dog! I am sooooo happy I can't stand it! One
more important one to go... (G-54) Thank you thank you thank you.

Star Girl
This book is more of a science fiction children's book where some brothers and sisters befriend a little girl who is really from Mars. I do remember that the children thought she was magic before they discovered her origin.

sounds a bit like one suggested for another stumper - Star Girl, by Henry Winterfeld, published Lutterworth 1963, 168 pages, illustrated with line drawings by R. Ackermann-Ophuls. It's about Little Mo, from Venus, who falls out of her spaceship, is befriended by children and protected from officious and greedy adult humans.
G61 girl from mars: more on Star Girl, by Henry Winterfeld, illustrated by Fritz Wegner, translated by Kyrill Schabert, published Harcourt 1957. "It tells, almost entirely in conversation, how some German children discover a little girl, wearing a diamond necklace, who has fallen into their woods out of a space ship from Venus. As they take her into their town, help her in a wild escape from unbelieving adults, and finally with difficulty get her back to her father, they and the reader learn much about her fabulous home star. There children age slowly (she is 87 years old) and have fun with their own little airplanes, submarines, and speedboats." (HB Dec/57 p.490) A similar book, but with an alien boy, is Down to Earth, by Patricia Wrightson, published Harcourt 1965.

Star Island Boy
A group of kids are adopted by families on an Island off of the NorthEastern US mainland. The community is mainly in the fishing/lobster business and have lost all of their own children who have moved to the mainland to pursue "modern" life. The kids go through normal adjustments, etc. I *think* the book may have been hardback but am not positive. It may have been called "Star Island" or something similar and I probably got it
circa 1977-1981. It was possibly a "Scholastic" book that we used to get out of the flyer/catalogue in Elementary school.

louise dickinson rich, star island boy
Elinor Jaeger, Star Island Boy,1968. An eleven-year-old orphan goes to a new foster home on an island off the coast of Maine, wondering why the islanders want so many foster children at once.
Rich, Louise Dickinson, Star Island Boy, 1968. Maybe?? "An eleven-year-old orphan goes to a new foster home on an island off the coast of Maine, wondering why the islanders want so many foster children at once, and determined not to like the lobstermens' way of life as he is sure that this home, also, is one in which he will not be able to stay permanently."
F194 Pretty sure this is STAR ISLAND BOY by Louise Rich. It was a Weekly Reader Club book in 1968, and the details match.~from a librarian
F194 This sounds a bit like it : Rich, Louise Dickinson. Sally [original title: Three of a kind]. illus by William M Hutchinson. Scholastic, 1964. foster children; foster families; Maine fishing village. I see on Google that she also wrote a juvenile one called Star Island Boy, so that is prob it. I don't have a copy.
Louise Dickinson Rich, Star Island Boy, 1968. Once again, you have come through for me! I haven't laid my hands on a copy yet, but I'm positive this is it. Again, you have my thanks!

The Starlight Crystal
I am so glad to have found this site. My title query is about a girl who is watching some kind of space launch (or something else to do with space) when she turns and sees some woman (who seems vaguely familiar to her) watching her with a sad expression in her eyes. A series of events occur that culminate in the girl and her daughter (I think) along with some other people finding themselves on a space ship in suspended animation. My memories a bit jumbled here but something happens and her mind is now in the body of her daughter. She and a male companion are raiding some kind of space complex with the intention of setting a bomb. As a failsafe they both have separate detonation devices. I'm getting a bit muddled now but I remember there being a reference to Khrishna and a scene (which I've paraphrased a lot) - As she approached the black hole, the nearer she got, the faster her hair and nails grew. (She had to stop several times just to cut it). I think the girl had blond hair. I hope that's enough. I appreciate any title and author suggestions anyone may have for me. Thank you very much.

Christopher Pike, The Starlight Crystal, 1996. I can't be 100% certain on this, but an awful lot of the details match.

Star of Light
Christian children's story: boy runs away with sister to town, she lives with woman

Patricia St. John, Star of Light. Set in Morocco--brother takes blind sister to town to keep her from being sold, and leaves her at a missionary's house.
Patricia St. John... that's it!!!! Yahoo!!!! Thank you!
Ruth Chew, Baked Beans for Breakfast, 1970.Could it be Baked Beans for Breakfast? (This had another title as a paperback, which I can't recall, but had Summer in the title.) This was the only Ruth Chew fiction title that didn't have magic in it. A brother and sister ran away from a babysitter who only liked their younger toddler siblings, and hid in the woods. They ended up buying a plastic boat and the girl made friends with an elderly woman who lived nearby and helped them. Both kids ended up spending the summer with her.

Star-Spangled Banner
i read this book in the early 1960's--i checked it out of the library and it was in hardback. i don't know when it was originally printed. it was about a boy in colonial times who from what i remember witnessed the bombing of ft.mchenry and there was some tie in with the writing of the star spangled banner. this was near the end of the book and there was all sorts of revolutionary war (or maybe war of 1812?) era intrigue leading up to bombing. actually i assume it was ft.mchenry--i don't actually remember that part, just what i thought was the tie in to the star spangled banner and the bombing of some fort. anyway, the boy had a lot of adventures (with all efforts directed against the redcoats) and i remember being glued to this book until i finished it, but i never saw or read it again after i returned it to the library. 40+ years later i still remember it though. do you have any idea what book this could possibly be--i have several nieces and nephews i would like to pass it on to if it's still available.

Neil Swanson and Anne Sherbourne, The Star-Spangled Banner: The Thrilling Story of a Boy who Lived the Words of our National Anthem, 1958. This is historical fiction depicting the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner, focusing on a young boy caught up in the War of 1812.

Stars in Her Eyes
A girl of 14 tries to sing at her father TV show and fails. She will eventually come of age in a beach area (Rhode Island?) and when she tries again to sing in the TV show, at 16, she succeeded. The story happened in the USA.

I believe that S-59 is Stars In Her Eyes by Betty Cavanna. In that book, 14-year-old Maggie Page has a
humiliating experience performing on her father's television show. She gains a lot of self-confidence after spending
time working on Cape Cod, and at sixteen, once again performs on her father's show--this time to great applause!
Marvelous! It is the right book! I remember the name Maggie Page! Thank you so much, Harriett! And yes, please find me the book. Maybe you can also find out if the author published any other books.
Under the "Solved Mysteries," Stars in Her Eyes, someone asked whether Betty Cavanna wrote any other books. Well, she wrote PLENTY! I can get you a copy of one called The Black Spaniel Mystery, I think must be rare as it's the only one I've seen. (I saw it once in hardcover and once in paperback--that's it--this is the hardcover.) I was very annoyed at it for not being my dognapping mystery. Also, The Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain.
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This book was probably published between 1955 and 1965. It is about a teenage girl whose parent (or parents) are actors. She is somewhat of an underachiever, (I think she has a weight problem also), and finds it difficult to be the daughter of famous people. At some point in the book, she goes to England, and falls in love with a boy there. I can't remember the title or the author, but I loved this book!

A100 (once again) is Stars In Her Eyes by Betty Cavanna. This has already been on here once before. Maggie Page is the plump daughter of television personality Peter Page, and definitely an underachiever. It's France she goes to--not England. Gee, this must have been a much-loved book.

Stars in my Crown
I believe the main character was a girl--although I don't think the book was intended for children--and was written from her vantage point. 1960s. What I remember most about the book was a character named Chloroform--whose mother had been one of the first persons chloroform was experimented on during childbirth. Other characters included a pair of elderly spinster sisters, one of which pined for a longlost sweetheart who had died or gone away to war in their youth.

Joe David Brown, Stars in my Crown. This story is told in the first person by a boy growing up in the South after the Civil
War. He is raised by his grandparents, and his grandfather is a Methodist minister. The character named Chloroform is a minor one, a man who used to live on a flatboat with his parents, and got his name after his mother received the gas during delivery. She liked the sweet smell. The spinster who lost a love is his grandmother's sister, Aunt Pim. At one point the boy nearly dies of typhoid.

Stars My Destination
Science fiction about a man who could "jaunt", or send himself across the universe.

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. Alluded to quite meaningfully in Hollow Man by Dan Simmons. Classic sf. Keep in the part about Dan Simmons; God forbid he get more readers or something.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Bester, Alfred. The Stars My Destination. The New American Library, 1956. Third Signet paperback printing, 1961. Cover worn and soiled. G. $15

Star Ship on Saddle Mountain
Date: mid-1970s or earlier. I read this book as a child or young teen, anywhere from late 1960s to mid 1970s. Aliens come to small town America. These friendly aliens communicate telepathically most of the Earth adults cannot "hear" them. The protagonist, a boy, can "talk" with the aliens easily. It's discovered that most adults can't use telepathy because they've had the body organ for telepathic function removed by the time they're grown. Earthlings were unaware that this organ had any special function it's either tonsils or appendix-I think it's the tonsils, but I'm not sure. That's all I remember. It's been driving me nuts--please help!

Atlantis Hallam, Starship on Saddle Mountain, 1955. Several reviews of this mention the telepathy/tonsils connection. Seems to be well remembered, scarce, and pricey.
SOLVED: Atlantis Hallan, Star Ship on Saddle Mountain, 1955. This has to be it! I checked some reviews (now that I have a title!), and parts of it sound familiar and parts don't, but it has been a VERY long time since I've read it, and how many books can there be with the tonsils for telepathy idea?! As you said, all the copies I've seen listed are VERY pricey--guess I need to start saving! Thank you SO much! No one to whom I have described it ever heard of it or remembered reading it. I've been trying to find out the title for years. Thanks again!

Steal Away Home
I'm looking for a book I read in the early 1980s about two young brothers who were slaves in the south. It was arranged that they would use the Underground Railroad to run away to their father, a free man living in the North. All I remember is: they had to cross the Pee Dee River; they were helped by Quakers; they escaped detection many times in various ways; they eventually reached their father safely. Thank you in advance for helping!

Addition to U28!! I just recalled that the brothers' names are Amos and Obie (perhaps 80% sure).
Kristof, Jane, Steal Away Home, 1969. "Two slave boys run away from their South Carolina plantation in an attempt to reach their freed father five hundred miles to the north."
I double-checked the book and the boys' names are Amos and Obadiah.

Step on a Crack
Yet another shot-in-the-dark stumper...great site, by the way. My mystery book is: The protagonist, probably a 12-or-so-year-old girl, learns that her mother is not the woman she has grown up with, but another woman, whose name was Kat. Kat is an artist. One of the girl's strongest early memories from that time is being in some sort of cage (maybe in a park?) and poking a stick through the bars, messing up the wet paint on Kat's canvas. I think she called her "mommikat" at the time. The book has something of an Alice in Wonderland theme because the girl keeps dreaming about the Red Queen, which is partly what leads her to the discovery of her real mother. The girl's best friend is the daughter of a psychologist and gets into trouble at the end of the book for having been an amateur psychologist about the whole thing. This is all that I can dredge up. I must have read this book between 1975-1985.

Step On A Crack by Mary Anderson. It isn't a memory the main character has, it's a dream. She would dream she was skipping rope, then she would be behind bars, she would see her mother and then use the rope to tie her mother to the bars. After the dream she was compelled to shoplift, she saved all the items she stole in a bureau drawer and they proved to be clues to what the dream meant. Great book!

Thank you so much! I'm sure this is the right book. At the moment, I'm living in Romania, so I'm afraid I'll have to pass on your offer to look for the book for me. (I'm trying to get rid of most of my books here in preparation for moving....) But again, thanks for finding this, and keep up the good work!

Step to the Music
My best recollection is the setting was during the civil war and the main characters were female cousins. There were also two male characters it seems and at the end, one of the boys had returned from the war with an amputated leg and the more uppity cousin had learned humility and was planning a future with him. In memory, I think the cover showed the two girls and one was sitting on a tree swing. I had the book when I was either a sophmore or junior in high school so I think it would have been published around the early 1980's, probably 1983-1984. I left it in the gym and never could locate it and it has driven me crazy ever since.

Phyllis Whitney, Step to the Music, 1953, reprint. Surely this is Step to the Music. This is the book's description from the back cover: "Abbie knew that one day she would marry Douglas - that is, until Lorena" (her cousin, indeed) "arrived on the scene. Lorena had a flirtatious mix of charm and recklessness" (and beauty) "that was hard for any man to resist, and Douglas was no exception. What troubled Abbie, too, was that Lorena, an impassioned Southerner, was using her wiles to sway Douglas toward the rebel side in the War between the States. Nothing was turning out as Abbie had dreamed it..." I, too, love this book. Phyllis Whitney also wrote a number of other excellent young adult novels (besides her many mysteries for slightly younger children.) Some titles include: The Highest Dream (about a young woman working for the U.N. who is trying to determine her career path); Creole Holiday (the daughter of a famous actor is determined to follow in his footsteps - or is she?); and The Fire and the Gold (a young woman helps her family recover from the aftermath of the great San Francisco Fire of 1906.) There are others, as well - some hard to find!
Phyllis Whitney, Step to the Music. Set during the Civil War and involves cousins. Abbie is a northern girl living on Staten Island. Her glamourous southern cousin Lorena comes to stay during the war. She wins the boy on whom Abbie has always had a crush.
Phyllis Whitney, Step to the Music, 1985, reprint. Thank you! My memory is so hazy on details except the basic plot line. I wish I could find a photo of the 1985 reprint just for giggles & grins. The names of the girls sound right on target though. When I first misplaced the book, I didn't realize it. I had been re-reading it at lunch and left it on the bleachers when it was time to return to class. I did not notice for a couple of days (darn that homework!)but when I did, it was no where to be found. I tried lost & found, the library, etc. In the years since, it became sketchier to call up details. So once again, thank you!

Steps Out of Time
A boy and his father are new in a rundown house, maybe newly mother- and wifeless. They lay new linoleum in the kitchen, the first room they reconstruct. The boy starts his new school and it doesn't go well. Somehow he becomes (wakes up as? goes through the front door?) another boy who lives obviously in the future. He kind of watches out of that boy's eyes, a dual consciousness so the future boy doesn't flub anything up. The future boy can draw, and the now-boy learns to draw through him. He draws the mother from the Swiss Family Robinson for a school project, and a view from a cliff that's recognizable but inaccessible as well as illegal in his own time. He's working on a complicated portrait of the future-boy's sister as he realizes who the future family is, and that for time-continuity (?) he has to put the portrait in the chimney (he and his father are now working on the fireplace) and not submit it as the school project he intended it for. The final scene in the book might be the future-family discovering this portrait in their own chimney, and the future-father is mystified and haunted because his father, the now-boy, died before either of these grandchildren (the futureboy and his sister) were born, yet here is a wonderful portrait of the girl. It's set in England, was published in the late '70s to late '80s (I'm guessing early '80s), and the cover has a boy opening the door into a rowhouse, yet through the door is not an interior but a lightly clouded blue sky.

B158 boy entlish timetravels: Houghton, Eric, Steps Out of Time, UK title Boy Beyond the Mist, NY Lothrop 1979, UK publication 1960s. This is one of my long-losts, and the UK edition is nearly impossible to find. I finally found the US edition, with a different title, which complicates matters by never admitting that there was an earlier publication! The seeker remembers the plot quite closely. The boy and his father have moved to a new house and town, and he has to take on many responsibilities at home. School doesn't go well because he is shy and doesn't want to invite the other children home. On certain misty evenings he goes home and his home is different, he gradually works out that he is travelling in time and that the family are his descendants. The future boy is a talented artist and the boy learns how to look at something and draw it accurately. I remember the incident where he draws the forbidden view, and his present-day schoolmates think he has trespassed. The portrait of the future sister is what he does as part of a class project to show your hobby. I don't recall the Swiss Family Robinson picture. Points that may confirm the memory - he notices that the future children say "masterwork" instead of "masterpiece" he borrows the future boy's art portfolio and has to hide it at school because the fabric and fastening method are not of his time he makes friends with a present-day schoolmate over his hobby of netting and raising small fish.

Steve Forrester series
The book is about a boy named Hercules who possibly has a boxer or a bull dog. His adventures may include a witch and a cave. These adventures may be incorporated into the same book or there may be more than one book written about Hercules and his adventures. The name 'Hercules' is a sarcastic nickname as this main character is either weak or disabled in some way. My friend believes that he read the book in the mid- seventies, but beleives that it was written sooner than this date. He also thinks that the same author may have written a more serious book (urban realism) about a boy that gets involved in a gang and in the end gets a cork screw in his stomach.

Platt, Kin, Sinbad and Me, Grosset 1966. I wonder if this might be the Steve and Sinbad series (Sinbad being the bulldog). later book in the series - The Witch Who Wouldn't - involves a witch, and The Ghost on Hellsfire Street involves a pirate ghost (maybe a cave too?). On the other hand, Steve is not disabled, and not nicknamed Hercules - though a character like that wouldn't be unlikely in a Platt book.
Platt, Kin, Steve Forrester Young Adult Mysteries, 1961-1980. The boy's name is Herman Krakower and his nickname is Herky, short for Hercules. He survived a bout of polio with physical disabilities, but has a brilliant intellect and a gift for solving codes, puzzles and ciphers. The dog is an English bulldog named Sinbad. Sinbad doesn't belong to Herky, he belongs to Herky's friend Steve Forrester, the protagonist of four young adult mysteries by Kin Platt: The Blue Man (1961) Sinbad and Me (1966, the "cave adventure" you seek) The Mystery of the Witch Who Wouldn't (1969, the "witch adventure" you're looking for) and The Ghost of Hellsfire Street (1980). I haven't read The Blue Man, but I can tell you that Herky is an important part of the other three books. This is definitely the series of books you're looking for.

Stevie and His Seven Orphans
I cannot remember the author or the title, but it concerned a boy (and perhaps his sister) who discover an abandoned box of seven puppies. The boy takes it upon himself to find homes for the pups and is ultimately successful. It's a very modest little story, in novel form, but the storyline appealed greatly to me. The most telling detail I can remember is that the boy names the puppies after the seven days of the week, matching each pup to the description of the day given in the old nursery rhyme (you know, Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday'schild is full of grace, etc.) I believe he keeps the seventh pup himself, which he names Sabbath. Any bells ringing?

The name of this wonderful book is Stevie and His Seven Orphans by Miriam E. Mason. Stevie ends up keeping one of the puppies, but it's NOT Sabbath! (Grin)
I think this is Miriam Mason, Stevie & his Seven Orphans (Houghton Mifflin, '64). This was a Weekly Reader book.

Stina
I am looking for the title of a chldren's picture book about a little girl who lives with her grandfather by the sea. He tells her not to go out in the rain without her coat and a storm comes. The next day she finds a drawer washed up on the rocks and then proceeds to fill it with all kinds of "treasures" like shells, buttons etc. It's my daughter's favorite book and I can't remember the name...help!

Anderson, Lena, Stina, 1989.
Anderson, Lena, Stina, 1989. Someone guessed it right and I was able to purchase the book so it would arrive in time for Christmas! Thanks!

Stirring Stories for Boys
boys mixed story book (approx 10 stories) pale blue cover, at least 20 years old prob more. One story called - See Lunar & Die picture of spaceship with story... spaceship crew talking of journey into space and described rain coming down from leaden skies. Book was originally purchased in UK - poss had Dust jacket. book was hardback but not huge. hope you can help, this book is very important to a friend of mine. Thank you

John Keir Cross, Stirring stories for boys. This is my own book stumper, I am just posting the info I have managed to find in case anyone else is interested. Thank you to all the booksellers who helped me trace this book when I had such vauge information!!

Stolen Necklace
1960's, takes place in India, About an Indian princess or servent girl on palace like grounds. A monkey might steal a pearl necklace. brightly illistrated. I have been looking for this book most of my adult life.

This is THE STOLEN NECKLACE written and illustrated by Anne Rockwell, 1968. It is based on a Jataka tale. ~from a librarian
Chardiet, Bernice, The Monkeys and the Water Monster, 1974. This sounds similar to a story in The Monkeys and the Water Monster, which is a book with three stories. I believe they are all folktales from India. The stories in the book are
"The monkeys and the water monster," "The monkey and the crocodile," and "The stolen necklace." One problem is that it didn't come out till 1974. I am trying very hard to remember for sure, but I think the stolen necklace in this book was taken from a king, though, not a female. Also, I wouldn't call this a brightly illustrated book - I seem to remember lots of line drawings with very muted (if any) colors. Even if this turns out to be the wrong book, perhaps knowing that your book is an Indian folktale will help in your search, anyway.
How about The Stolen Necklace a picture story from India by Anne Rockwell (c1968, World Pub. Co). "A story, based on a tale from the Jataka, of a clever gardener who figured out a way to recover the princess' pearl necklace, stolen by a vain monkey." There are over 200 US libraries that own the book go to your local library and ask them to interlibrary loan it for you so you can see if it's the book you're looking for. Good luck!
Anne Rockwell, The Stolen Necklace. I'm sure this is the book I am looking for. I will do as suggested and see if I can
get it at a library. Thank you so much for all your help! This is a wonderful and fun service.

Stolen Pony
A pony (blind? spotted?) is alone in the desert, where other animals help him. I remember a bit of an American Indian feel to the story and the pictures. The illustrations were stylized pen and ink. I don't recall any humans in the story, though there may have been later on in the book. Somewhat short book from the 1960s-1970s.

Glen Rounds, Stolen Pony, 1948, 1969 (reprint). "Taken away in the dark of night by a gang of horse thieves, then lost in the worst part of the Bad Lands, this handsome pony would never have been able to find his way back had it not been for his staunch friend, a dog from the home ranch. The dog gets on his trail and joins him. Then begins the most gripping part of the story, their return over the long, pathless route, through rough country, lonely, full of danger. Everything depends on the dog, because the horse is blind." I believe this book is a sequel to The Blind Colt (1941) "The adventures of a blind colt as he roams with a band of mustangs and is eventually adopted and trained as a saddle horse by ten-year-old Whitey." A similar book by the author: Blind Outlaw (1980) "A blind outlaw horse is tamed by a boy who can not speak.
Rounds, Glen, The Blind Colt, 1941. A blind mustang is separated from its herd during a whiteout winter storm but is able to fend for itself because it relies on its other senses.
Sounds like the right story, but the illustrations are definately wrong. The one I remember was black and white, poss. pen and ink, much more stylized. I think the horse was spotted (appaloosa?) and I am really pretty sure (almost) that there WAS a dog. Also, it was more a YA (young adult) book than a children's book.
Glen Rounds, Stolen Pony. Try looking at the older copies of the book, especially the hardcover versions. They have more stylized pen-and-ink illustrations, as opposed to the photographic-style cover of the latest reprints. The hardcover 1969 edition is very close to black-and-white on the cover - just a slight wash of color - while the paperback version from the same year is a more colorful version of the same picture. The 1948 edition has a different cover, too - blue, with the picture in shades of reddish-brown. The horse is spotted in the pictures.
Glen Rounds, Stolen Pony. My copy is a paperback, 1969, 95 pages. The cover depicts a grey Appaloosa pony with a spaniel (?) at his feet. The black-and white illustrations in the text are very delicate sketches, somewhat crude. Some remind me a bit of cave paintings.
I did some digging, and do think you are right after all! The '69 version does look like the right drawing style. Thanks so much! This has been haunting me for many years!

Stolen Seasons
I read this book in the early or mid 1970s. All I can recall is that there were two or three English children involved in a mystery. The book concluded with the children being chased by the bad guys over Hadrian's Wall. An archeological dig was also involved -- one of the girls in the book had very sensitive fingertips and was able to reach into the dig site and describe the engraving on a tray without actually seeing it. The tray later acted as a shield that protected one of the children from a bullet.Not much to go on, I know! I reread the book several times as a child because I found it so exciting.

Finlay Winifred, Danger at Black Dyke, 1968. Using their knowledge of Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland three youngsters hide a mysterious man whom they later discover was a potential pawn for an unsuccessful Latin American Revolution.
David Divine, The Stolen Seasons, 1967. Three children (two of them English) are helping at an archaelogical dig near Hadrian's Wall. The archaeologists find a large silver dish that they must remove very slowly so they dont disturb the site. The girl reaches in with her hand and describes it to them. The dish is stolen and the children steal it back from the thieves, who chase them. The girl is shot at, but the bullet strikes the dish, which she is carrying in a backpack.
Divine, The Stolen Seasons. Yes! The Stolen Seasons is it! Thanks so much for solving this mystery for me!

Stolen Telesm
I read this book in the 1980s but don’t know when it was written. I remember being mesmerized by this book but can’t seem to remember details. It’s possible that the title was ‘The Stolen Talisman’, but it was definitely ‘The Stolen……”something”’. . There are (I think) two main characters, a boy and a girl. An extremely scary woman, who lives in a run down mansion with iron gates, plays an important part in the story – all the curtains are closed in her room and there is a creepy orange/red hue to the room. The setting is rugged countryside and the child/ren at one point get seriously snowed into a crevice/cave where they get rescued by someone, perhaps a servant of the old woman. I might be completely wrong but I think the servant was a monkey (?). The children are compelled to go to the old house and into the room and there is something to do with a magic talisman. There are crows in this book that are in the power of the old woman and act as her spies.

Baxter, Caroline, The Stolen Telesm, 1975. Summary: "Two children are drawn into a battle with the evil forces of Darkness after they find a winged horse and an ancient stone." Other summaries from various sources: David and Lucy were reluctant to cross the lonely moor to the great crumbling Hall where Miss Fothersby-Bane lived. Was Mrs. Fothersby-Bane a witch? After being runner-up in a "Times" children's story competition, 17-year-old Caroline Baxter impressed Cape enough for them to publish this dark, imaginative fantasy. Enhanced by full-page illustrations by Pat Marriott and a splendid wrap-round dust jacket design (so much better than the U.S. jacket!) depicting the bizarre scene in which the children first meet a menacing old woman lying in her bed in an overheated room, playing chess with a baboon.
Pamela Dean, The Secret Country trilogy. This is a very, very long shot, since I barely remember the books, but the Secret Country trilogy by Pamela Dean has an old lady, living in a run-down house, who is the villain in some way and crows sound slightly familiar. It's the story of four cousins who spend their summers in a dark, magical world on the other side of a hedge.
Thank you so much to whoever solved my mystery and so quickly! Caroline Baxter’s novel The Stolen Telesm is definitely the right book – I am thrilled to have a chance to read this book again and to be able to share it with my daughter. Yes the UK dust cover was beautiful and bizarre – I’ll be looking for a copy of that now. I’m amazed to hear it was written by a 17 year old. What a fantastic web-site – thank you again.

Stolen Years
I have a stumper for you. I can tell you just about everything but the title. the story takes place during WW2. This is a young adult book by the way. The main character is a girl I believe is named Sara or Sarah. Not sure of the spelling. She and her father hide from the Nazis for a while in the upstairs room of a house until her father dies. She and her brother are separated and put in concentration camps. I remember one scene where a campmate of Sara's shares apple peelings that she finds in the trash with Sara. At the end of the story Sara meets her husband who turns out to be the author of the book and asks her to become Sara---- I want to say the last name is Zyskind but I'm not sure. Can you help me find this title? Any help is appreciated. I used to love this book. The characters were so brave and so real to me. I think the husband's first name was Alex or Alexander.

Could this be one of Sara Zyskind's books? Stolen Years or Struggle?
You got it Harriet! Stolen Years is it! Thanks. I've been trying to find it for a long time. I work in a bookstore and have been trying to find it. I stumped all our booksellers. Thanks again
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H26: There is a book I have been trying to remember the name and author of. I think it is called, Seven Long Years or Nine Long Years. I read it when I was about 10, in 1981. A true story, it is about a girl who survived the holocaust in Warsaw, Poland. I remember she goes in the sewers and she was supposed to go in the shower line but instead sees a friend in the other line so she survives. I hope someone will know what it is. Thanks.

This sounds like both The Endless Steppe and The Cage.
Sara Zyskind, Stolen Years.H-26 sounds like Stolen Years by Sara Zyskind, the story of a privileged daughter of a talit maker in Warsaw and how she survives both the ghetto and Auschwitz.

Stone Age Kids Discover America
Boy, my memories of this book seem to be fading more and more with each year, but here's what I remember: I would have read it (or had it read to me, I should say) in the early 70's. It was an oversized hardcover book with colored, cartoon-like illustrations. I remember it featuring caveman children and large animals, although I can't remember if they were real or imaginary animals. There was something about a race, perhaps, with a bunch of animals harnessed together and pulling a large wooden cart with the children on top? Seems like the animals were horse-like, but not quite horses. I don't have much hope of anyone coming up with an answer to this stumper - I'm pretty familiar with children's lit, and I'm sure this must have been just a "flash-in-the-pan" type of book/author. But boy, would I love to see this book again, just to relive the memories!

I don't have the answer, but this site has a huge list of "prehistoric fiction" with thumbnails of jackets. If you scroll
through it, you may recognize the style. Be patient it takes forever to load.
I checked out the link you gave under my bookstumper request, and what a lucky break! I found what I'm almost positive is the book I remember, and it was one of the first books on the first page! Here's what I think is the solution to my stumper: Almqvist, Bertil [1902-1972]. (1948) 1962. The Stone Age Kids Discover America. translated from the Swedish Barna Hedenhös upptäcker Amerika by Gerry Bothmer. comic, col. ill. 24 pp. 28 cm, New York. Macmillan Co. Thank you, thank you, thank you - now I just have to FIND the book! :-)
The Stone Age Kids Discover America, written and illustrated by Bertil Almquist, published New York, Macmillan 1962 "The madcap adventures of a prehistoric family who sailed into New York harbor 4,000 years ago. Ages 8 up." (HB Dec/62 p.570 pub ad)

Stoneflight
The book I am looking for is about a teen in New York City. Her parents are divorcing, she's living with an aunt and spending her summer on her own, sketching gargoyles and buildings. She gets to know some of the scupltures, which come alive and talk to her. She participates in a good vs. evil gathering of the stone sculptures at the climax of the book.

McHargue, Georgess, Stoneflight, Viking 1975. "Janie uses her power to put life in the stone animals that ornament New York buildings to escape her parents' quarreling, but when the animals start to turn her into stone she learns that having feelings is the price of remaining human." Janie sketches the statues and reliefs as she wanders around New York. At one point a suspicious shopkeeper takes her sketchbook to examine and leaves a dirty thumb-mark on it. Her father takes her to a lecture at the library, and her mother panics and thinks he has abducted her. Ring any bells?
Georgess McHargue, Stoneflight. This is most definitely Stoneflight ... my copy is Avon books, 1975.
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I read this in the 70s as a kid. A girl moves to NY city and has no friends. She spends her time sketching the statues and they start to come to life. She ends up needing help/saving or something so runs around finding the warlike ones to draw.

Georgess McHargue, Stoneflight, 1975. I think this might be your book. Janie meets Griff, the stone griffin at the top of her apartment building, and starts waking the statues of New York.
SOLVED: Georgess McHargue, Stoneflight. Yes!!! Stoneflight is the book! Wish I had found this 8 years ago when I wanted my daughter to read it.
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I read this children's book in the early 80's. I thought it was called The Stone Griffin but have searched for this title to no avail. Girl lives in city apartment building with one stone griffin on the roof. She is an artist, and sketches griffin many times, and one night he comes to life. He flies her around and has her draw other stone animals around the city, and she "wakes" these too. There is a big nighttime meeting of stone animals, and the sphinx is coming to reward the girl for waking so many stone creatures. But, griffin warns her that her reward is to become a statue herself, and so sacrifices himself somehow to save the girl from the sphinx (who is so old that she no longer needs a human to wake her). Anybody know the real title? Thanks!

SOLVED: Georgess McHargue, Stoneflight. YEA!!! I just found the book in your archived stumpers. It is Stoneflight! I have looked for this stupid book for YEARS! What a great service you are performing. I so hope you can find the other book I am looking for.

Stonewords: A Ghost Story
We don't know title, author, etc. of the book. But we know that it's about a girl who goes to live with her grandma or aunt. She has a playhouse and there are rosebushes in the woods near the house. They were planted by the mother of a girl who died many years ago in a fire. (in the same house) The ghost of the dead girl visits the living girl. sometimes she's mean, and steals or breaks things, and
sometimes she's nice. The girl has a dog. Sometimes near the end, the living girl will go into the dead girls world and be a ghost there. she saves the girl from the fire. The rose bushes then turn into rasberry bushes. One possible cover looks like this: The two girls are in a dusty, attic-like room. The ghost is in the background and looks old-fashioned. The living girl is standing closer and is looking at her hand which she is holding up to the light from a window. The hand is transparent and you can see the bones in it. she looks shocked.

G20--Could this be one of Ruth Arthur's books? It sounds a little like After Candlemas or Miss Ghost.
This one sounds an awful lot like The Ghosts by Antonia Barber, published by Archway Paperback in August 1975. In the book, Lucy does go back in time and save the "ghosts," a young victorian girl and her younger brother from a fire. When she goes back in time, she becomes a "ghost" herself. In the end, it turns out that the children she rescued are her ancestors. It's a great book.
G20: Ghost Girl -- sounds very much like the plot of Pam Conrad's Stonewords: A Ghost Story
G20:Ghost Girl I went and checked our library's copy of it. At the end of the book, the site where the roses in memory of the dead girl were no longer there. There were raspberries instead. So I just wanted to second whoever suggested it (it was not my stumper though)
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This might be pretty difficult because I do not remember that much about the book. The book is about a girl who is staying in a house near woods. Her room is upstairs and has a small window. Someone she lives with (either an uncle or grandfather) builds her a life size playhouse outside near the house. She plays in this playhouse with a ghost. She becomes very good friends with this ghost. At one point, the ghost gets mad at her for befriending another girl and ends up taking all the furniture in the playhouse and putting it on the ceiling. Other small things I remember are as follows: 1.there is a staircase that leads into the kitchen with a swinging door 2.there may be a dog 3.I think the girl wears a white nightgown and goes into the woods.

Conrad, Pam, Stonewords. Zoe lives with her grandparents and their pug dog. She meets a ghost child, Zoe Louise, in her playhouse outside. They become friends and she discovers that by walking up the kitchen steps she can go back in time and visit Zoe Louise's world. There's a fire at the end of the book and there is also a sequel called Zoe Rising.
Conrad, Pam, Stonewords. This is only a partial solution, I'm sorry to say. I think the poster is mentally merging more than one book. The staircase and the furniture stuck into the ceiling of the playhouse come from Stonewords by Pam Conrad. But the rest of the elements are not from that book.
Pam Conrad, Stonewords: A Ghost Story, 1990
Pam Conrad, Stonewords: A Ghost Story, 1990. This is definitely the book! Zoe lives with her grandparents and befriends another girl named Zoe, who died in a terrible tragedy one hundred years earlier.
Pam Conrad, Stonewords: A Ghost Story, 1990. Thats correct!!!! Thank you so much!!!!! When you said Zoe Louise as the girls name and the thing about the roses, I knew you were right. You are awesome!! :)

Stories for Bedtime (Blyton)
The story was one of a number in a book I read in the 70s, about a little girl (name may have been Angela) who left her toy cooker at the bottom of her garden and the fairies who were having a party! made gobbledy gook buns and various other foods in it and left some for the little girl to eat. Many thanks

Enid Blyton. I also read this story during the seventies, and I'm convinced that it's an Enid Blyton short story, possible from a bedtime stories collection?
Blyton, Enid, The Little Toy Stove from Stories for bedtime, 1966. I have this book in front of me. Angela has a "dear little stove" that she isn't allowed to play with because she isn't big enough. An elf asks to borrow her stove for a party. Angela sneaks out to watch the fairy cook a meal which includes tippy-top pudding, poppity cake and google buns. When Angela gets up in the morning she finds the elf has left her some cake and buns to try. Other memorable stories in this book include The Walkaway Shoes, Connie's curious candle, andThe Grumpy Goblins.

Stories for the Household
I actually have this book - I just can't seem to find either the translator's name or the illustrator's name. The cover says "Han's (sic) Andersen's Stories for the Household Illustrated" in gold letters; the background has faded to gray; the spine has a frontal picture of a stork; the cover has (all marked with touches of red) a stork, a rooster, a girl in a pointed hat and a polka-dot dress on a broom, rabbits, three fairies on a leaf, a boy in costume sitting, and cat-tails; the illustrator's initials are HBM with the strokes intertwined; the copyright says "McLoughlin Bros. New York, 1893"; the frontispiece is titled "A Christmas Dream" and shows a child in bed surrounded by cherubs, a swan, a man with a Japanese parasol, toys, and a painting with a Napoleon-like figure in it (I've seen the illustration "ACD" elsewhere too); and, probably most importantly, "The Little Mermaid" is titled "The Little Sea Maid". The book begins with "The Snow Queen" and ends with "The Dryad". It's not complete, but other stories included are "The Ice Maiden", "The Swan's Nest", "A Rose From the Grave of Homer" "The Shadow" and "The Travelling Companion". All the illustrations are in black and white -probably done in pen. ** Also, in this version, "Hans Clodhopper" is named "Jack the Dullard".

A64 anthology, translator. I checked the LC databases and although this edition is held by a couple of libraries, there's no decent bibliographic information. It may be a pirate edition of a selection of stories from the translation published about the same time - Hans Andersen's Stories, in 2 volumes, translated by Horace E. Scudder, published Houghton Mifflin 1891, Riverside series, no info about illustrations. Also from 1870 on Routledge published editions Stories for the Household, "the most complete collection that has yet been made" with 137 stories translated by H.W. Dulcken and 220 to 290 illustrations by A.W. Bayes, engraved by the Dalziel Brothers. The first translations into English were made by Mary Howitt in 1846, and illustrated by Lieutenant V. Pedersen, a Danish artist chosen by Andersen himself. I haven't been able to find any illustrator of Andersen whose initials work out to HBM - is there any way the monogram could be read as AWB?
Translated by H.W. Dulcken Illustrated by A.W.Bayes, Stories for the Household

Stories from Many Lands
Set children's books, possibly 20 vols., ca. 1940s or earlier, yellow/(maybe) black hardcover w/children in native dress (Eskimo, Chinese, etc.). Tales (stories) from many lands. Scandinavian (North) volume contains "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon."

dolch, edward w & marguerite p, teepee stories, hawaii stories, etc. 1950s and 60s. large series "stories from..." "tales from..." "navaho stories" "robin hood stories" "aesop stories" etc. retelling of folklore from around the world.
Various, Stories from Many Lands, 1925, copyright. A bookseller from whom I was buying something else and to whom I'd mentioned this set e-mailed to say she thought she'd found the series. She sent a scan of the cover of one of the volumes and, sure enough, there it was: the book cover I'd remembered from age 6. The series is called Travel and Adventure Library for Young Folks, published by Doubleday Doran in 1930. There are 16 volumes that I could find listed, each from a different country, with illustrative plates in black, white and yellow. Volumes have different authors, some of whom illustrated their books themselves.

Stories from Old China
I'm looking for a book I read when I was in fourth grade (in the late 70s). It was a series of books, yellow hardbacks. I believe each one had stories of different countries, but I only read the Asian/Chinese one. I remember there was one story about a Chinese princess, but I don't remember the plot...

Edward Dolch, Stories from Old China, 1964. I wonder if these are the Dolch Folklore of the World Series. There were several books and many of them were from different countries, e.g., Stories from Italy, Stories from Canada, Stories from France, etc. I read them myself when I was in 4th grade.
I read through the book again and it IS the book I read when I was a kid. Stumper solved! THANX!

Stories of Hans Christian Andersen
I don't know who wrote it, but there was more than one story with a record. One of the songs had to do with her sailing down a stream. I KNOW this sounds so stupid. I had this around 1976-1977. I think one of the other story's had something to do with a frog or mouse. I have a feeling this will be one of your UNSOLVED.

Hans Christian Anderson, Hans Christian Anderson Tales (i think). Includes stories such as Thumbelina (including floating down a river and meeting the fairy people) The little Mermaid, The little match girl,The little tin soldier and the snow queen.
This has the right date: The Walt Disney Company. The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen. Disneyland Records, 1967. A Record of 4 stories with music and illustrated booklet.

Story About Me
This is a children's picture book that I had in the '70s...but I believe it was a library discard so it may have been from the '50s-'60s. This is what I vaguely remember...a small bear wanders out of the woods and befriends a child. They are about the same size. I think the child calls him "Me Bear" because they are so much alike. They spend the day together doing ordinary things and then the bear goes back in the woods. Fairly simple, sweet illustrations. I wish I could thinks of more details! I have been searching for this book for years, to no avail. It was a favorite of mine and I would REALLY appreciate any suggestions!

Eileen Daly, A Story About Me. (1966) I found it...wooohooo! "A Story About Me" by Eileen Daly. I was searching through your archives and found a similar description (someone else had described a "me bear" book). I'm so very happy!
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I am looking for a book about a boy and a bear (imaginary) and something about the word "me". I can see that someone else on this page is looking for the same exact book. If you can, please forward my contact info to that person, if they are interested, I would like to join forces with them.

This is a children's book, hardcover, thin (approx 10-20 pages), from the sixties. There is a boy who goes out into the woods and finds a friend bear, and I think he named the bear "Me". The boy and the bear have a lot of fun together and go fishing (I think), visit the boy's house, eat cookies or jam, wear the boy's mother's hat (?), play cowboy and indian (I think). Later the bear goes home, maybe the boy walks him home, and the boy meets the bear's mom. We always called it the "Me Bear" book but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Alexander, Martha, And My Mean Old Mother Will Be Sorry, Blackboard Bear, 1969, approximate. If the poster is looking for a picture book, Martha Alexander had a series about a boy and his imaginary bear (We're in Big Trouble, Blackboard Bear I Sure Am Glad to See You, Blackboard Bear, etc.). They were originally issued with minimal colors (light blue and grey, perhaps), and reissued ca2000 with full color illustrations.
Norma Knoche & Eilee Daly, A Story About Me,1966, copyright. I am CERTAIN this is the book you are looking for! It was one of my childhood favorites and my search for it lead me to this website. The little boy finds a bear (imaginary) companion that he calls "Me Bear" and they spend a day together playing at his house and eating cookies. Hope that information helps!

I found the book!A Story About Me by Norma Knoch and Eileen Daly

Story Hour
I am looking for a collection of books. There were four in the series that I remember and it was around the early 1970's that I had them. One was an orange-yellow book and it featured short stories. One was the book What Mary Jo Shared by Janice May Udry. Another story was about a family by the name of Apple and they had about 4 children which they each named after a variety of apple (MacIntosh and etc…) and the wife had a little girl and the book was about them deciding what to name her. They ended up naming her Delicious. Another story was about a little Asian girl who wasn't in school yet, but she was invited to go to her older brother's school on field day and run in a three-legged race with him. The book had other short stories also. There was also a lime green book, a red book and a light-blue book in this series and I believe one was a kids' craft-type book and one of the other's dealt with science for kids. They were some sort of scholastic books for kids. I'd really like any information on either of the stories or the collection and where I could possibly get them. These were my favorite books when I was little and didn't take good care of my things. I am much older now and am convinced that I wouldn't color on any of the pages. : ) Thank you. I think the apple book is Mr. Apple Names The Children or something like that.

A WorldCat search shows at least two sets of juvenile booklets of the time period including WHAT MARY JO SHARED: Title: Scott, Foresman first talking storybook box, Pyle, Wilma J. Contents: A is for alphabet.--Anatole.--Angelo the naughty one.--Benjie.--Chicken Licken.--Frances Face-maker.--Harry the dirty dog.--The house that Jack built.--Humbug witch.--Jack and the beanstalk.--Little Bear's pancake party.--The little rabbit who wanted red wings.--Mickey's magnet.--Mother goose rhymes.--Over in the meadow.--The shoemaker and the elves.--Straight up.--The tale of the flopsy bunnies.--Timothy turtle.--What Mary Jo shared.--Where's Andy? Note(s): Phonodiscs for each book teacher's instruction booklet and individual record cards for set are included. School and teachers: Box 2. Contents: Will I have a friend? - - Maisy goes to school - - Today was a terrible day - - Our teacher's having a baby - - The holiday handwriting school - - What Mary Jo shared - - Rise and shine, Mariko-chan - -Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's won't-pick-up-toys cure - - The bicycle man - - Arthur writes a story - - We share everything - - Hooray for Diffendoofer Day - - Miss Bindergarten gets ready for kindergarten - - Miss Malarkey doesn't live in room 10 - - Amazing Grace.
I remember this story about the couple who had children named after many varieties of apple. The family's last name was Apple, and they were called Winesap, MacIntosh, etc., and the mother put up with this without complaint. When the last little baby was born, she triumphed in her desire to have a "normal" name for her daughter, and still follow the apple theme, to please her husband: the baby was named Ann, as in an apple. I remember this particularly, I still think of it almost every time I see apple varieties in the supermarket. She was NOT named Delicious. Maybe this will help jog someone else'\''s memory. Sorry not to remember more.
Child Horizons. I saw my parents last weekend and found one of the books in the series. My little brother had colored on this book inside and out way back when. It was "Parade of Stories" and it was part of the Child Horizon books published in Chicago in 1969. The orange-yellow book I had been looking for featured a mother sitting on a couch and a little boy in blue pajamas w/ a book in his hand. It was called Story Hour. Thanks to all who wrote in and I do remember now that they called the last baby Ann Apple. It's all coming back to me.

Story of Bobby Squirrel
1920's primer. This book features Bobby and Betty Squirrel and Mother and Father Squirrel, along with other neighbors, such as Mrs. Bushytail, etc. The stories contained within this reader all deal with etiquette and proper social graces, etc. I remember the cover being a brown cloth and it was illustrated. I would love to be able to know the name and to find a copy of this old favorite.

Doens't quite sound like Thornton Burgess...
B99 betty and bobby squirrel: perhaps one of these? The Story of Bobby Squirrel and Other Bedtime Stories; and, Fluffy Tail's Adventures and Other Bedtime Stories, both by Mrs. Frank Sittig, in the series of Bed-time Story-land Books published Platt & Peck New York 1916, unpaginated, hardbound pictorial boards, illustrated with color frontispiece, b/w line drawings and green illustrated endpapers. "Main story entitled Fluffy-tail's Adventures features Bobby Fluffy-tail, a squirrel. Other stories are Madam Mouse and Heart's Desire." "Most animal or flower themes (one has a caterpillar hero)"

Story of Bubbles the Whale
lonely baby whale, separated from mother, in "Sea World" kind of place (LGB?) I read a book about a baby whale separated from its mother and put into a show. He's lonely. The pictures were of a little, black whale. Reunited with his mother at the end. Possible a Little Golden Book, but I can find no listing. Thanks for the help!

Kenneth Norris, told to Jane Werner Watson, The Happy Little Whale, 1960. This is a Little Golden Book. The whale is captured by a ship and separated from the other whales. (Doesn't mention the whale's mother, though). The whale is taken to a pool where a black fish (looks like a shark or killer whale) teaches it tricks. Then the whale is taken to another pool (Sea World?) where it meets another little whale and does tricks for an audience. This is pretty close to what the requester is looking for.
L87 I thought it was this, but he isn't reunited with his mother. He ends up being happy in captivity, performing and eating squid, with another little whale. Norris, Kenneth, as told to Watson, Jane Werner. The happy little whale. illus by Tibor Gergely Little Golden #393 1960 5th printing 1973
Don Hackett, The Story of Bubbles the Whale, 1963. This story is about a little pilot whale who was playing with her friend Squirt one day and was captured by some fishermen. Her family and friends told her to swim away, and she tried but eventually gave up because the net was too strong. She was taken to Marineland where she was very sad. She doesn't eat for 9 days because she's so sad, but she sees she's making the children sad, so she finally eats and Jake the Diver teaches her tricks. She's finally happy, and is even happier when one day her best friend Squirt is brought to Marineland too. Cover picture here.

Story of an English Village
A picture book or wordless book. It started out with an ancient country scene like from an English hillside. Little by little (page by page) the scene changed from a path, to a village, to a town, to a city. On the right hand side of the page was the interior of a dwelling, and as the book moved through the ages, you could see the changes in the living conditions within the home, like from maybe a grass hut, to a mud hut, to a log house, a caste, etc. I can't remember how "modern" the house became, but it was just cute the way the living standards changed and improved, adding more room, "modern" conveniences, etc. And it seems like it was supposed to represent the same bend in the road, so all the dwellings were located at the same location.

I sent you information for a children's book search about houses. The search is for my sister and a friend thought she had found the book for her. It was Anno's Journeys or a similar title, but was NOT the book she was looking for. Thanks for the help!
This may be one of John S. Goodall's books. He had several books that showed a place changing over time. Likely possibilities are: THE GREAT DAYS OF A COUNTRY HOUSE or THE STORY OF AN ENGLISH VILLAGE or THE STORY OF A FARM.~from a librarian
John S. Goodall, The Story of an English Village. Thanks so much! My sister found the books in her library and thinks they are what she remembered. What fun!

Story of Horace
This is a book from the 1950's about a bear named Horace who lives with a family in or near the woods. Every day the family goes out hunting (with Horace) and every day one less family member comes home. The remaining family members want to get rid of Horace but every day "Horace took on so, they just couldn't do it." The book ends with "Horace went out hunting" - apparently cause he's
dispatched everyone in the family. I don't remember if this is a picture book or not - I recall it only hazily. My sister has been looking for this book, so I thought I'd help out.
From another requester...
The story was of a family which lived in or by the woods. Horace, the bear, lived with that family. Every day several of the family members went out hunting. Horace accompanied them. But each evening one less family member returned, Horace, apparently, having eaten (or killed) him. Each night the remaining family members threaten to oust Horace from the family. What I remember best is the refrain, which was repeated after each evening's return: 'But Horace took on so that they didn't have the heart to do it.' The last page of the story was: "The next day Horace went out hunting!" (Horace having eaten the last family member-) This sounds quite macabre, I know. But this was a picture book which so tickled me as a child, that its memory has lasted a lifetime! I would be so grateful if I could find it again!
and another!
We are looking for a book to delight a favorite aunt who remembers from her childhood (1940s and 1950s) a book which featured a character named Horace the Bear. We don't have any author or title information, just Horace's name as a lead. We would appreciate hearing from anyone with more information about Horace the Bear in children's books, especially if they have a copy of such a book for sale.

I found an answer to H28. It's THE STORY OF HORACE, written and illustrated by Alice M. Coats; London, 1937. The summary matches exactly!
You guys are super, and perform a wonderful human service! And thank you so much again.

Story of Lengthwise
I remember a book from my childhood where a caterpillar (or maybe an inch-worm) doesn't know how to read so he decides to eat his way through the entire dictionary in an attempt to learn. I can't remember the title or author. I think the book was in color because I seem to remember these interestingly simple illustrations that depict the caterpillar (or whatever) outside in the purple night looking up at the stars out in the garden. I remember him getting sick at some point and just lying there all stuffed with words and letters. The only concrete word I can remember is "zounds" because that was the first time I'd heard that word. I want to own this book and need to know something about it so I can try to find it. Thanks!

Could this possible be Wally the Wordworm? It's by Clifton Fadiman with illustrations by Arnold Roth. I don't remember the night scene but the business about "zounds" sounds familiar.
The premise sounds familiar - I believe the word "Bookworm" is somewhere in the title.
There is also a book called The Hungry Caterpillar (not sure of the author) where there are holes in the pages as the caterpillar eats his way through the book. Hope that helps
I'm pretty confident about this one: The Story of Lengthwise by Ernestine Cobern Beyer, illustrated by Don Madden, published by Follett, 1967. Lengthwise is a bookworm who lives in a dictionary. "He began life among the A's and started nibbling right away." After learning all the A words he crawls outside and meets an ant, but he can only speak in A words, so he goes back to eat and learn more words. After he eats to M there's a coloured picture of him outside at night looking up at the sky. He eats to the Z's and there's a picture of him curled up with stomach-ache under a blue flower. An elf asks him what's wrong and he says "Zounds! I've lost my zest."
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The worm eats his way through a dictionary. If he's eatings "A's" one day, for example, he only talks to the other bugs in the garden with "A" words, and they think he's a snob. When he gets to the "Z" words, he feels ill because they're zigzagy and hurt going down. A writer finds him lonely and sick and they become great friends. He sits on the writer's shoulder and helps him come up with words as the writer types his novel. I had this book in the mid 70's, and it had very vivid, colorful pictures. The worm was purple and I think the book cover was green. There were some beautiful color garden scenes with lots of busy bugs everywhere. I keep thinking the name of the book was the worm's name and the first letter of his name, for example: "A is for Alex", but I can't remember the name, but remember it wasn't a common name. I think search #B180 Bookworm or inchworm is looking for the same book. Please help!!

Beyer, Ernestine Cobern, The Story of Lengthwise, illustrated by Donn Madden. NY Follett 1967. I believe it's Lengthwise again. The cover is green, and Lengthwise is pink and purple. When he's feeling sick after eating Z words he is quite purple. "They had sharp corners which scratched as they went down." The first time he goes into the garden he can only speak in A words, and the ant he meets says "What a show-off!" The beetle says "Why all the big words, pal?" This is on a page showing grass and plants covered with busy bugs. When he is lonely and sick (from z-words), he is found by an elf, whom he helps with a crossword puzzle. In thanks, the elf introduces him to Mr. Wright, the author. On the last page he is shown sitting on Mr. Wright's shoulder as he types. "From that time on, Mr. Wright dedicated every book he wrote: 'To my friend L.' And nobody but Mr. Wright knew that the L was for Lengthwise."
B298 This isn't it, but reader might enjoy it: Charles, Donald. Calico Cat meets bookworm. illus by Donald Charles. Children's Press, 1979. bookworm shows bored cat the fun of libraries and reading. Calico Cat series.

The Story of a Little Bay Horse
I read this book as a kid in the 1970s. It was the story of a horse's life, through all of his owners. One of the first owners was a boy that takes him to a military-type school and he learns to jump, even scary jumps that the boys set up to test each other, like a pole with rattling metal buckets hanging from it. One of his later owners beats him, and starts him down a destructive path of being afraid of everything. He is eventually sent to be killed, but is rescued, recovers, and is found to be a great jumper. When he is jumping at Madison Square Garden, he sees the owner that beat him in the crowd, and is so upset he nearly falls before a jump, but gets up heroically and wins the competition. I believe the end of the story is real, but the book is fiction because they don't really know the history of the horse. The story is made up to fit the situation of his rescue, and of clues they find in the horse's behavior. They don't really know what made him stumble at Madison Square Garden, they only know that he did for no apparent reason. They don't know why he's scared of almost everything when they rescue him, but never of jumps, even the scariest ones. Thanks!

Margaret Cabell Self , Sky Rocket, the story of a little bay horse. (1970, approximate) I can remember each of the incidents described. The boy owner was the son or nephew of the man in charge of the military school. They go to a jumping competition against other schools, and the horse leads the others over the most difficult jump. The copy I had was a thick blue hardcover.
Margaret Cabell Self, Sky Rocket: The Story of a Little Bay Horse.(1970) 'Illustrated by Sam Savitt.
Palazzo, Tony. The Story of Snowman, the Cinderella Horse (1962)
Palazzo, Tony. The Story of Snowman, the Cinderella Horse (1962).
Self, Margaret Cabell, Sky Rocket, The Story of a Little Bay Horse. (1970) This is the right book, thanks very much!! I started thinking of this book because I've been riding a horse (not little, not bay) that was also rescued from starving, yet seems like he's had some wonderful training and a great, willing personality. We're constantly making up stories about his past to fit the details we discover about him as we work with him. Just like this book! Thanks again for this great service.

Story of Little Janet
The title is certain. It was a story called "Little Janet and the Lollipop," about a very good little girl doing her best to resist a lollipop. I think it was kept in a box to which she had easy access. Anyway it was contained in a book (or possibly a magazine, though I hope not) that was already old when my mother was little. She was born in 1945 and used to read it at her grandmother's house. It was already yellowing and had lost its covers, so I fear it might even have been a serial of some kind. I remember it being at least 1/4 inch thick and bound with staples, not a flimsy little thing, and maybe 8x10 inches. No color, no ads. I read it when I was little too, and I can confirm the title of that one story. My dusty recollection of the style of illustrations would confirm it as quite old. The problem is that it was in a book or collection of other things--stories, probably poems, drawings, and several examples of games one could play with other children. My fear is that it's buried in a serial somewhere, as I haven't been able to turn it up in any searches.

William MacGillivray, The Story of Little Janet, 1907. Just a guess, based on the title and date and size of book from the WorldCat database: Title: The story of little Janet / Author(s): MacGillivray, William. MacGoun, H. C. Preston. Publication: London : Published by T.N. Foulis, Year: 1907 Description: 52, 15 p., [9] leaves of plates : ill. 18 cm. Language: English SUBJECT(S) Genre/Form: Publishers' advertisements -- England -- London -- 1907 Note(s): "A reminiscense of 70 years ago."/ Includes publisher's advertising (15 p.) at end. Responsibility: by the author of "Rob Lindsay & his school" illustrated by H.C. Preston MacGoun, R.S.W.
I'm delighted someone has already come up with a lead for me, but I don't know where to proceed from here. The suggested author, William MacGillivray, is (or shares a name with a guy who) died in 1851 and was a prominent biologist. So all of my searches are coming up with this other guy...in my current job I don't have access to any paid databases. This might be the same story in a different format, rather than the collection I remember, but I have zero idea how to confirm it.
HRL: Looks like it's British, which is why it isn't in the Library of Congress. There are a couple of copies out there for around $60, but I can't tell for certain if it's the same collection your mother remembers, although it looks like a mighty fine chance.

Story of Little Kettle Head
I read this book in the early 60's. It is about a little girl who is playing with fire, sets her head on fire and places a pot with eyes, nose and mouth drawn on so her mother won't notice.

Bannerman, helen, The Story of Little Kettlehead. Isn't this The Story of Little Kettlehead by Helen Bannerman of Little Black Sambo fame? The story is detailed on your Helen Bannerman page.
Helen Bennerman, The Story of Little Kettlehead, 1903. I believe this is The Story of Little Kettlehead. See the Helen Bannerman page on this website.
Helen Bannerman, Little Kettle Head. A rather bizarre tale the author is better known for the now-notorious "Little Black Sambo"
Isn't this Little Kettlehead by Helen Bannerman?? Discussed and described in several areas at this very site!
oops-- well, of course it is. See more on the Helen Bannerman tribute page.

Story of Live Dolls
Am looking for a book that was read to me by my 1st grade teacher around 1943-44. Have never forgotten this wonderful little book about dolls that come to life on a certain day. I want to say the title is "Live Dolls", but have searched that title unsuccessfully. As I recall, a little girl finds a leaflet one day that states the following day all the dolls will come to life for one day. She runs to her playroom the next A.M. to peep into her dollhouse and find that, indeed, her dolls are alive. One particular memory is that she noticed the dolls were having pancakes for breakfast, and the pancakes were the size of a penny. I remember this as a small book, maybe 5" x 7", not very thick, and in my mind's eye, after nearly 60 yrs., I see it as rusty, reddish-brown. in color. Don't recall colored pictures, but seem to recall pencil drawings. This book was sheer magic to me as a little girl, and I'd love to find it to share with my granddaughters.

Sounds like Josephine Scribner Gates and her series of Live Dolls Books: The Story of Live Dolls (1901), The Story of the Three Dolls (1905), More About Live Dolls (1906), The Live Dolls' House Party (1906), The Live Dolls' Busy Days (1907), The Secret of the Live Dolls (191?), The Live Dolls' Playdays (1908), The Live Dolls in Wonderland (1912), The Book of Live Dolls: an Omnibus (1957).
How the Dolls Came Alive is included in an anthology called, Book Trails- Through the Wildwood(book 4) which is a dark reddish-brown colour. It contains all of the incidents described in the stumper. I have very fond memories of this book. My grandmother read it to me, over and over and over...
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The Day the Dolls Came Alive, 1950's. This is a story about how a little girl dreamed of her dolls coming alive for a day. When she woke up, to her amazement they were all alive. All, with different personalities and talking to her about what they thought and felt.

Josephine Scribner Gates, The Story of Live Dolls. This favorite tale can be found in the Better Homes and Gardens Story Book, copyright 1950. Young Janie Bell discovers that all the dolls in her home town will become alive on the following morning. There is a lot of charming detail about her various dolls and how they think and act, including the residents of her doll house.
Josephine Gates, Story of Live Dolls
D131 Possibly The story of live dolls; Being an Account of How, on a Certain June Morning, all of the Dolls in the Village of Cloverdale Came Alive by Josephine Gates 1901. very expensive but can also be found in Better Homes and Gardens Storybook which is 1950
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early 1950's. In this book, a little girl is playing with her dolls and they come to life. The dolls don't become human, they remain dolls. I remember a beach scene also.

If it was an older story, check out Josephine Scribner Gates and her series of Live Dolls Books: The Story of Live Dolls (1901), The Story of the Three Dolls (1905), More About Live Dolls (1906), The Live Dolls' House Party (1906), The Live Dolls' Busy Days (1907), The Secret of the Live Dolls (191?), The Live Dolls' Playdays (1908),The Live Dolls in Wonderland (1912), The Book of Live Dolls: an Omnibus (1957).
O'Connor's Better Homes and Gardens Story Bookhas Live Dolls in it.
Story of Live Dolls. This is definitely the one. The version that we have (in the Better Homes and Gardens Storybook) contains the part where they all go to the seaside for the day.

Story of Madame Curie
I'm searching for the name of what I think is a Scholastic Book Services book about Marie Curie,
starting with the scene where the teacher is illegally teaching her and the other young students in Polish, the Russian inspector makes one of his surprise visits, and "Marya", as she is known, begs silently that the teacher won't call on her, but she knows she will since she's the smartest girl in class. After cross-examining her Russian, the inspector leaves and the teacher kisses her in gratitude. The book goes on to cover her life, her marriage, her discovery of radium and her death - of radium poisoning. This was written before 1980, I think.

M74: You might be thinking of The Story of Madame Curie by Alice Thorne. I have an edition published by Scholastic in 1971 but the book was written in 1959. I loved this book as a girl, and I recently found a used copy which I purchased for my daughter, who also enjoyed it very much.
M74 - another contender is Eleanor Doorly'sRadium Woman, which won the Carnegie Medal (UK equivalent of Newbery) in 1940s.
After perusing my copy of The Story of Madame Curie by Alice Thorne, I am positive this is the book you are looking for!
Yes, that's it, thanks.

Story of Mrs. Tubbs
I am looking for the title of another story my mother read to me in the early 50s--about an old woman whose wicked nephew took over her home and threw her out. She was cared for through the cold and night by her animals, a dog, cat, pig (who kept her feet warm) and others. The mice/rats helped the loyal animals drive the nephew away, allowing the old woman to return home for her remaining days. I remember a picture of her on a "park bench", with the animals all around her--she is lying down. I don't know if this is a mind picture or one from the book. The illustrations were reminiscent of Beatrix Potter's style, but were apparently not done by her.

just maybe The Story of Mrs. Tubbs, by Hugh Lofting, published Stokes 1923, 95 pages. "A short tale of an old woman and her devoted pets. Attractive to little children." "How Peter Punk, Polly Ponk, and Patrick Pink rescue the kindly Mrs. Tubbs from an unhappy fate. A picture book and entertaining animal story for very young
children." On the other hand, Lofting's drawings wouldn't look anything like Beatrix Potter's detailed watercolours.
Eleanor Farjeon, Mrs Malone Just a thought - some elements of this very similar to Mrs Malone - not
sure about the nephew, though! Might be worth the poster checking?
more on the suggested Lofting title "A dear little old lady 100 years old, and the efforts of her friends - a pig, a duck, and a dog who try to look out for her when she is turned out of her home to make way for her landlord's son." (JB Feb/69 p.28) Which looks pretty close.

Story of the First Christmas Tree
A Christmas tale, probably a traditional story from a european culture, that was in a Christmas Ideals magazine in the 1960's. It was read to us many years in a row. It was called something like THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREES and there are many tales like this, but this was about a girl named Anis. I remember the name distinctly. The trees lit the way home through a snowstorm by lighting up one by one in the direction of home and when you'd get to the next one the lights on the one behind would fade away. Sound familiar to anyone???

Rose Fyleman, The Story of the First Christmas Tree, appears in The Tall Book of Christmas, Harper & Bros, ed. Dorothy Smith. This story is about a poor woodcutter with a daugher named Annis. He gets lost in the snow one night, and the fairies put lights on fir trees to guide him home. "And always after that he used to put lights on a little fir-tree on Christmas Eve in memory of the time when the fairies saved him from being lost in the forest." It appears in the anthology The Tall Book of Christmas, which was one of my all time favourite books as a child, ed. Dorothy Hall Smith, pub. Harper & Brothers, NY, 1954
The acknowledgement page on The Tall Book of Christmas credits Doubleday & Co. and The Society of Authors for the Fyleman story, but I haven't been able to track down a book with solely this story.

Story of the Root Children
I read this book in the mid 1950s. It was bout Beetles and insects as nurses and nannies I'm sure about the Beetles, but I think there were elf children, too It had color illustrations that were detailed and well done. Larger book, rather than small. The text might have been at the bottom.

Sibylle Von Olfers, The Root Children (Etwas von den Wurzelkindern), 1906. This is a famous German children's book which was later translated into English. The Root children live underground during the winter with insects and beetles and the Earth mother, then emerge in the springtime to make the flowers bloom. Very beautiful illustrations: you can see some of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16735390@N00/4022358083/
SOLVED: Sibylle von Olfer, Story of the Root Children, 1906. I have searched for this book my entire adult life and words simply can't express how excited I am to finally find it. As a child in a big family, books were my quiet time, my entertainment...my friends. And Story of the Root Children was likely the beginning of my lifelong love of reading. Thank you so much for solving this mystery. I immediately bought this book so I could share it with my grandchildren.

Story of a Little White Teddy Bear Who Didn't Want to Go to Bed
This story was in a large anthology which was, I think, just one book in a set of books. It seems the books were beige, with a blue label on each spine, maybe. I don't remember any of the other stories except this one, about a little white teddy bear that didn't want to go to sleep. I seem to remember it ran away from home instead of going to sleep. Thanks!

I'm not sure about the anthology, but the story sounds like The Story of a Little White Teddy Bear Who Didn't Want to Go to Bed by Dorothy Sherrill, 1931.
Edna Groff Deihl, The Teddy Bear That Prowled at Night. I don't know if this is a story in an anthology or not, but there is a children's book called The Teddy Bear that Prowled at Night. A white teddy bear named Prowly leaves his cinnamon-colored brothers (I think Howly, Growly, and Scowly) in bed and gets into mischief during the night. The little girl who owns him is always telling him he must get his beauty sleep to stay beautiful. He starts out the most beautiful of the bears, but misadventures, such as getting stung by bees, start affecting his looks. One night he convinces his brothers to prowl with him. They wind up in the coal bin, and then on the washing line.
Dorothy Sherrill, The Story of a Little White Teddy Bear Who Didn't Want to Go to Bed. I am pretty sure this is the one you're looking for because it's in The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls anthology set, which is beige with a blue label on the spine! It's in the first volume which is "Nursery Favorites Old and New."

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Sherrill, Dorothy. The Story of A Little White Teddy Bear Who Didn't Want to Go to Bed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1931, 1959, 10th printing. Blue cloth, worn at corners, clean interior. An uncommon but influential children's book. VG. $35

Story of Zachary Zween
The book I'm looking for is about a boy who is always last. It was probably published in the early 1960's It may also have been British. His class always did everything alphabetically, and his name started with a Z. Zackary? This make him very sad, until they go to I believe it was the zoo. On the way home, he had to ride in the caboose, and got tea and crumpets. this made his whole class jealous, and he was finally happy to be last.

Mabel Watt, The Story of Zachary Zween.
The Story of Zachary Zween. Thank you so much for helping me out with my query on z18. It has been solved.

Story-Teller
I don't remember the title, but I'm trying to find a short story that I read back in grade school. The story included a strange man going a train ride with two children who were bored with normal everyday things. The strange man peaked their interests by telling them about a young girl who was so good and nice that she had won many medals for good behavior and being nice in school. One day a wolf chased her home and she tried to hide in the bushes. However, because the medals she wore clanged together as she moved, the wolf was able to find her and eat her. The kids on the train were surprised by the story's ending. In grade school, the story may have been used as an example of the use of irony, but I'm not sure. I also remember something about being "terribly nice" or something to that effect in the story.

"The Story-Teller" by Saki (aka H.H. Munro). This is definitely the wonderful short story by Saki (pen name of H.H. Munro). A man amuses some children on a train with a story about a "horribly good" little girl who is eaten by a wolf because the medals for goodness that she wears around her neck clink together and give away her hiding place. The children's high-minded aunt is shocked that he would tell them a tale without a proper moral. A classic.
Saki (H.H. Munro), The Story Teller, early 1900s, reprinted many times. This is on pages 391-396 of The Short Stories of Saki, from Modern Library. The little girl's name is Bertha, and she is "horribly good". Its a parody of all the "good children" stories.
Saki (H.H. Munro), The Story-teller. Definitely! Here's a link.
Saki (H. H. Munro). This was a story by H. H. Munro, who wrote at the turn of the (20th) century under the pen name of Saki. I don't remember the actual name of the story if I find it I will send it along. A slightly jazzed-up version was also used as a part of "Free to Be -- You and Me" with Marlo Thomas, but the original was by Saki.
Saki (H. H. Munro) , The Story-Teller, 1914. This is a short story that can be found in anthologies of Saki's work.
Thank you so much. It was a real treat seeing my stumper included and having it solved so quickly. I needed the title and author so that I can research who owns the copyright. I'm not sure about my next step, but I couldn't have gotten anywhere without the title and author. Thanks Again.

Storytime Tales
Hello! OK here goes... The book was an anthology of childrens tales, illustrated, by many different authors. The stores included Carl Sandburg's The Huckabuck Family, and The Wedding of the RagDoll and the Broom Handle, a story about a lady who ends up with 7 couches, one for each day of the week, Rumplestiltskin, The Tinderbox, The Fisherman and the Sea, The Fox and the Grapes, and more. The front cover was off our book for years, so none of us can remember the title. Mom threw it out, never suspecting that we loved it so much.

Well, the Sandburg stories are part of The Rootabaga Stories, but the others aren't!
Storytime Tales, 1950. This is a Big Golden Book, pictures by Corinne Malvern. Subtitled A Treasury of Favorite Stories. Contains 42 stories, poems and songs.

Storytime Treasury
I just found your site and think maybe you could help me. I had these fairy tale books as a child they were quite large hardcover books. I have seen on your website people mentioning similar books and you said they were The Fairy Tale book but I don't think it's the same one. This series had two stories in each book and the one story I remember the best was Bluebeard and there were beautiful pictures which were like oil paintings. There was also Donkeyskin and a story about a boy who was born in his nightshirt and had to go on a quest to get three golden hairs out of the head of a giant. They were excellent and I would love to get copies of them again. My father bought them new in the 70s but I don't know when they were originally published. Do these sound familiar?

Fratelli Fabbri (illustrator), Storytime Treasury series, 1969. This was a series published by The McCall Publishing Company in 1969. They're described as "Elephant Folio - over 15" - 23" tall. Clean, tight, crisp. Beautiful glossy pages as well as sweet, big illlustrations of the world-wide favorites."
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When I was a kid (early 70s) I had a series of books that were oversized (maybe 9 x 14 or so - maybe a little larger) with glossy pages and amazing illustrations. My guess is the books were published in the late 60s or early 70s. Each book included two separate stories of which each was illustrated, I believe, on the cover in two separate panels. The books were hardcover. Some of the stories included Thumbelina, Ali Babba, Cinderella, Rumplestilskin, Rapunzel, the Princess and the Pea and Puss N' Boots. I am desperately trying to find these books again (ours were mistakenly sold at a yard way back in the early 80s) and appreciate any leads. Thanks!

Storytime Treasury, 1969. I am almost certain the writer is seeking the "Storytime Treasury" series that was published by McCall Publishing in 1969. There were at least a dozen volumes, each an oversized book containing two different fairy tales. They did have glossy pages and colorful, well-done illustrations. You can often find them on Ebay or online used booksellers. Some examples of the titles include "Puss n' Boots/ Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast/ The Tinderbox", "The Nightingale/ Abdullah of the Land", "Bluebeard/The Ogre's Three Golden Hairs", and "Jack in the Beanstalk/ The Bremen Town Musicians".
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There were at least three giant beautifully illustrated books, all part of a series. The pages were extremely sharp because I remember the paper cuts I would get from reading them. These are the stories I remember, although, I think each book had three to four stories and I can not remember which stories were in which books: Rapunzel, Puss in Boots, Aladdin, and something about a sneezing donkey. I distinctly remmber the Aladdin picture about him entering the earth to find the earth filled with jewels--clusters like grapes, all over the ground. The illustrations were probably down in watercolor.

McCall Publishing, Storytime Treasury, 1969. Sounds like "Storytime Treasury" yet again (I have answered this one for other posters before). There were at least 10 volumes, and each was an oversized book with two different fairy tales. They were beautifully illustrated in what looked like water color. Some of the titles were "Puss n' Boots/ Aladdin", "Rapunzel/ Treasure of the Three Brothers", "The Blind Sheik/ Donkeyskins" and "Jack in the Beanstalk/ The Bremen Town Musicians"
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Between 1950-1980. These were two oversized (10 X 12 or so) hardcover books (possibly in a series) of children's fairy tales with two stories in each book with amazingly beautiful illustrations in them maybe watercolor or pastel/colored pencil, etc. The stories I remember were Cinderella (especially gorgeous illustrations of the dresses she wore to each consecutive night of the prince's balls, culminating in an amazing blue-and-gold ballgown with a stand-up -possibly Tudor- gold-lace collar), The Pied Piper, Puss-In-Boots & possibly Aladin and the Magic Lamp. One book was pumpkin-orange, and the other sherbet-green, and I believe there was a stylized insignia on the covers in a color coordinating with the cover of the book of Cinderella's coach. I was very upset when these books were lost during a move from my childhood home in 1984, and would love to get a hold of these and/or any others in the series for myself and my children. At least a clue to the real edition/publishing dates, author/illustrator/publisher would be a help. Thank you!

McCall Publishing, Storytime Treasury, 1968. The answer is the same as for Stumper F158, which I answered just a couple of weeks ago and is still on this page. It is "Storytime Treasury" once again. I believe this is the fourth time I have answered this one I guess other people remember these books with as much fondness as I do!
Were the stories done in a sort of play format rather than as narrative? I received a series of books published in the early 70s with the stories you mention. The books were oversized, with two stories to a book. I don't offhand remember the illustrations, just the play format. If that sounds familiar, I could probably find out the publishing information (they are somewhere at my parent's house so I can't just run and check, or I would).
To answer the second poster, Storytime Treasury books were indeed done in a "play" format - there was some narrative, but each character's words were written like dramatic dialogue.
Thank you so much for all of your help! You are, of course, correct; I saw the other stumper right above before mine was even listed and recognized it right away as the Storybook Treasury but would not have been able to identify it without your help! And the irony is that I have been scanning your site periodically for a few years now, searching for clues and not really finding anything, as this has bothered me for at least ten years and then there it was the day I finally sent mine in! Thank you for finally solving the puzzle! I was able to find a copy FINALLY!
Additonal information on this series that seems to come up a lot on this site: I had the good fortune of receiving the entire series of these as a
child. My parents and I thought it would be one book a month. Ended up getting a giant box (with my name on it: very exiting fora 5 year old!)
with all 20 volumes in it! Yes, there are twenty in this set, each with two stories. Lovely books, now a little worn, but full of wonderful images, and memories!

Strange but True - 22 Amazing Stories
I had two inquiries. They were both stories I remember reading in the later 1970's. They were both in scary story anthology books, I believe from Scholastic. One story I believe was called "The Elevator Operator" or was about an elevator operator who used to drag a coffin around. The other story was about some children who sledded down a mountain, through a gate and landed near a house where there were many happy children and everything seemed perfect. They later found out that the only catch was that they could never leave. Sort of like The Thief of Always by Clive Barker, but it was a short story. In the end they escaped through the gate and got out. I was curious if you could find out the name of the anthology book(s) that these stories were in.

#E16: Could the sled story here be the same one described in #T57? Thank goodness that was solved so quickly--I'm dying to read it! Yes, The Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales is great, and yes The Devil's Pocket is in it, but the others described here are definitely not.
T57 Tobagganing Mystery
My sister, Laura and I loved this book! The book is THE PHANTOM CYCLIST: AND OTHER GHOST STORIES by Ruth Ainsworth, 1974 The story you are thinking of is White-Haired Children. The other stories are Phantom Cyclist; Sunday Child; Cherry Ripe; Whistling Boy; Cat Who Liked Children; Silent Visitor; Mirror, Mirror on the Wall.
Strange but True. My cousin had a Scholastic paperback called Strange but True: 22 (or some other number) Amazing Stories which contained the elevator operator story, a variation on the old "Room for One More" tale in which the storyteller shrinks back from getting on the lift, only to hear it plunge down to the ground, killing
everybody inside. The story (especially the illustration of the evil elevator operator) was so terrifying to me that I had nightmares about it, yet when we visited I'd find myself opening the book again. (Ironically, my cousin's parents owned an elevator company.) Another story in the same book had to do with a ghost on the roof of a train station. This was in the mid-70's, so I'd bet it's the one you remember.
Duncan, Strange but True - 22 Amazing Stories, 1970s. This is definitely the book my copy unfortunately is missing the cover and copyright pages (as well as part of the spine) - it's been well read by my children. It'\''s a Scholastic book - the number on the spine is TK2388. Other stories are: He Carried a Curse, The Night Thing, Girl on the Train, The Clue in the Sand, The Girl Who Fell Six Miles, etc.

Strange Light
I wonder whether you could help me track down a book I read in about 1970. I believe it is British. It is about a girl named, I think, Christina, who is staying for the summer with her Uncle John, who is a writer. She goes behind a hedge in his yard and discovers that this is where book characters live before they are put into books. When a writer starts writing about them, they are "called," and their faces turn purple. Then they have to go away and be in the book. A boy called Eggy who lives there
starts a rebellion because he doesn't want to go off and be in a book. One of his confederates is a giant rabbit. Christina is worried that there will be no more books, so she foils the rebellion by asking her Uncle John, who has always promised to write a book for her, to write a book about Eggy and his confederates so they will be "called." I think the book is called something like "Beyond the Hedge" but I have never been able to track it down under that name. The book's author may be named John, like the uncle in the book.

James Reeves, The Strange Light, 1964.
more info on the suggested title The Strange Light by James Reeves, illustrated by Lynton Lamb, published London, Heinemann 1964, 122 pages "Christina, the niece of a writer of children's stories, climbs through a
hedge into a land occupied by the raw materials of fiction. All the people are waiting to be summoned by an author." (Junior Bookshelf Oct/64 p.235)
What a wonderful service! I've been looking for this book for about 25 years. Yes, I'd appreciate it if you would search for a copy. Thank you. I bet you hear this all the time, but I never thought I'd find that book!

Strange Story of the Frog Who Became a Prince
I don't remember much. Witch lives in swamp (I think) wears goggles, is always dripping wet, prince (?) is involved? was a frog? don't remember, but the book I had was a paperback in the mid 1970's

I found this just a year ago or so, and remembered it was read to us in school when we were all 7! Most likely, it's The Strange Story of the Frog Who Became a Prince by Elinor Lander Horwitz, 1971. Illustrated by John Heinly. 45 pages. "What happens when a perfectly happy frog has a witch come along and turn him into a prince? What is he to do?" It's a very funny fractured fairy tale - the frog is horrified at his human looks, which he considers hideous, and the witch (who does wear goggles as she swims through the swamp) can't immediately figure out how to change him back. There's also a "review" from Kermit the Frog on the back cover! It was made into a 11.5 minute film in 1972 as part of the Desire to Read Series.
M.M. Kaye, The Ordinary Princess. Could it be M.M. Kaye's The Ordinary Princess? I had a version when I was young with a few good line drawings that were excellent character studies. The book is mostly about a plain princess named Amy who embarasses her parents, who have several other beautiful, graceful, well-behaved daughters, but Amy's godmother is a water fairy/witch who lives in a swamp and leaves wet marks on the floor, frogs/fish falling out of her train, etc. The line drawing in my (lavender paperback) edition showed the fairy with thick glasses, almost goggle-like.
Elinor L. Horwitz, The Strange Story of the Frog Who Became a Prince, 1971. Thank you! Such a quick response! I've ordered a copy and can't wait until it gets in! I've been looking for this book for years.

Strange Tomorrow
Young adult book, science fiction, i read it about 15 years ago. It was about a young girl who goes with her father to check out a goverment facitlity that is located underground. They are there to check out the supplies and such. The facility is for the president to go to in case of a nuclear threat. The young girl gets up and goes outside at one point and there is snow/ash falling onto everything (kind of like a nuclear winter). Then the book jumps ahead several hundred years and the narriator is a descendent of the first girl.

Jean Karl, Strange Tomorrow (possibly), 1985. This is definitely one of Jean E. Karl's books but I'm not sure which there were several (including The Turning Place, and But We Are Not of Earth) describing humanity during and centuries after the "Chlordian Sweep" wherein aliens destroyed nearly all life on the Earth. I recall that the "bomb shelter" had frozen embryos of common animals such as rabbits, intended to be used to repopulate after nuclear war. The descendents of the original protagonist are semi-literate cave people. There were also a group of schoolchildren who were hiking in a canyon which sheltered them from the Sweep at the end they hear radio signals from other survivors (although possibly this tidbit is from another book in the series). Descendents of survivors eventually develop ESP powers. Out of print but well worth the read.
Karl, Jean, Strange Tomorrow,1985. This is definately the book you seek. However, it is only one half of the story. The second part concerns the human race several generations later, when little bands of people are trying to recover their civilization, and are beginning to reach out to other colonies or communities.
Jean Karl, Strange Tomorrow. Thank you so much. This is the book I was looking for. That is exactaly what happened with the other people in caves and the frozen embroyos. I have already found the book at an out-of-print store and have purchased it. This has been bugging me for months now.

Strangely Enough
During the 70's I read a paperback book that contained several ghost stories/mysteries that seemed like they could actually be true. One story was about a woman who lived alone on the prairie and one day she heard a whistle that kept getting closer and closer. After the sound went by her house she looked out and her dog was gone. There was another about a young woman given a ride and later the driver found out she was a ghost. There were several more but I can't think of them at this time. I believe the cover was grayish white and there was some sort of a picture on it.

Strangely Enough. This was a Scholastic book. The cover has a spooky eyeball picture on it. We had an old tattered copy of it that freaked us out so much that it got put in the burn barrel one night! The story you mentioned, "The Whistle," was the creepiest and most memorable of them all. I believe the other story ("Lavender"?) was in there, too - the old ghost story about the boys trying to return the girl hitchhiker's sweater and finding out she had died several years before in a car wreck that very night. Sorry I don't have the author or editor's name with me now. If you need it post here and I can send it in later.
C. B. Colby, Strangely Enough, 1959. This is a fun collection of short ghost stories and mystery stories. There are about
90 of them in my version of this book (there are several versions) but each story is only a page and a half or so long. The first one you remember is "The Whistle" and the second one sounds like "Lavender" (the name of the ghost girl). There are gobs of good stories in here. One is about a painting of a castle with a light in one window, that goes dark sometimes. Another is about a man who finds little balls of clay on a beach and throws them out to sea, and finds out later that they had precious gems inside.
Gosh, there are tons of these books on the market. I have a stack of them from a paper I did in junior high school. Try True Experiences with Ghosts, a signet mystic, edited by Martin Ebon. (gray picture on cover) Prominent American Ghosts, by Susy Smith, (blue with ethereal figure on cover) The Supernatural, Douglas Hill and Pat Williams, a signet book. (gray with eyes on cover) Supernatural, edited by Phil Hirsch, Pyramid books. Gray cover, ethereal reddish ghost on cover. They aren't kids books, so try half.com to pick them up cheap by typing in a key word. Good luck.
One of the stories described (woman being picked up & then disappearing) is known as The Vanishing Hitchhiker and is an old standby in ghost story collections. Might want to check books by Daniel Cohen ("Phone Call From a Ghost", "The Phantom Hitchhiker and Other Ghost Mysteries", "The Headless Roommate and Other Tales of Terror", "Real Ghosts", etc.)
C. B. Colbey, Strangely Enough. Thank-you so much!!! Yes, I'd forgotten about the man with the clay balls which he tossed in the ocean. You all are awesome!!! So few clues, yet you figured it out. Thank-you to everyone who took the time to write and your good advice. I ordered the book today! Thank-you again.

A Stranger Came Ashore
My question relates to a children's novel i read in primary school (roughly late 1980's, early 1990's) about a young boy who lived on a remote Scottish island in a Butt & Ben house with his family including his grandfather. A young man was found washed up on shore and the family took him into their home to care for him. The boy didn't trust the man, and was learning about magic from his headmaster. The boy discovered that the man was actually some kind of merman type creature who wanted to take his sister away. In the end the boy's headmaster turned into a raven and pecked out the eyes of the merman to save the boy's sister. This is all i can remember and i was looking for any details of the title and author.

S427 I think the person is thinking of A STRANGER CAME ASHORE by Mollie Hunter. It's not a merman, but a selkie, but otherwise the details are similar. Here is an image of the cover I have, but it's paperback. The hardcover may have had a differnet cover.~from a librarian
Hunter, Mollie, Stranger Came Ashore, 1975? A possibility. The stranger, Finn Learson, is a selkie (a seal that's shed his skin to take human form), not a merman, but the rest of the plot sounds very similar.
Mollie Hunter, A Stranger Came Ashore, 1975. I posted this book stumper however by chance I ran into my primary school teacher and she was able to help. The so called merman i referred to was a man called Finn Learson one of the "selkie folk" legendary creatures that live in the waters of the Shetland isle in Scotland, seals that can transform into other creatures including humans. Anyway i managed to buy the book but I thought I had better solve this in case it was annoying anyone else.

Stranger from the Depths
The second occurs near a beach I think. It involves someone finding a small statue of an alien-like being, some type of excavation ( I think), and a tunnel to another city under the sea. I don't know if it was flooded and had been in a large underground cavern, or if it was a city of water people. The people that lived in it had been a very advanced people. The tunnel that was used to get to the city was flooded by the sea. I realize it's not much to go on, but from looking at your site, I'm very hopeful.

A50 is Stranger from the Depths, by Gerry Turner. Doubleday, 1967 The statue uncovered in the cliff leads Jordan and Gary to a "Lizard Man" who in turn leads them to an underground abandoned underground city. They have further adventures in the center of the earth trying to find others of the same race.
That's it!! They are both correct. Your site is fantastic. I didn't think I would ever know the names of these books so that I could pass them along to my kids, who also love to read. Thank you ever so much.
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I read this book as a child in Canada. So publish date is most likely around 1972-75 or earlier and author is probably Canadian. Possibly a Scholastic book club book, not sure. It started with a young man (possibly a teenager) that worked around the water, maybe he was a fisherman? He was either in a boat or a pickup truck near the dock and somehow noticed there was an alien hiding on board, under a tarp or something. The alien was very tall...8 or 9 feet. I believe the young man brought the alien to his home for a while. Though the alien lived underwater, he somehow was ok for a while outside of the water also, or maybe the alien's underwater home somehow had oxygen, can't remember. The young man eventually went to the Alien's home which was a huge under water city. Something happened to the Alien's race, not sure if they were wiped out or being held captive somewhere. But the alien needed the young man's help for some reason. Sorry my memory is sketchy on all the facts. The only other thing I remember is there was some sort of group of dictator Aliens and they had something to do with a Door and an Eye. Maybe there was an eye symbol on the door or something. I think maybe the young man and the alien had to figure out the symbol to get through the door. Sure hope someone can help! I've been searching for this book title for the past 20 years!
Thanks!

Turner, Gerry, Stranger From the Depths. This is it. Check solved myteries.
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Merman tries to retrun to Atlantis. I read this in the mid-70's; it is juvenile fiction. He has human kids helping him and I think there is something about a bomb near the end and maybe the center of the Earth? He is very homesick. I think it was a scholastic book with blues and greens on the cover and a picture of him. I think they call him a merman but he looks more like the creature from the black lagoon in the drawing.

Turner, Gerry, Stranger from the Depths. See Solved mysteries.
Gerry Turner, Stranger from the Depths, 1967. Never read the book, but from description of the cover I suspect it's this one.
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I read this book in the early to mid-1970's. Two children, I believe a brother and sister, traveled underneath the earth to another society. While there they were able to speak the language of this society. They traveled under the earth in a vehicle like a subway. They had a guide with them (a member of the society). They undertook this journey to solve a problem for the members of the underground world. Their mission was successful and they returned to the earth with a small green statue as a memento. The statue has writing on the bottom of it, but the children can no longer read the writing once they return to the surface of the earth.

Turner, Gary, Stranger from the Depths. Check in Solved Mysteries.
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This was a YA book, probably from the 70s? On the cover was a green statue of a reptillian man. The plot involves two boys whose parents are scientists, and they live at a very remote, isolated lab complex. After an earthquake, the two boys are stunned to find a small statue of a reptillian man, apparently buried in the rock for over a million years. A few days later, they find a suspended animation chamber containing one of these reptile men. And he wakes up. His name is Saa -- he's possibly the last survivor of the first intelligent race to evolve on Earth. Or, to be more exact, under it. His people have vast underground cities. Luckily, the scientists happen to be working on a massive drilling-machine project, a burrowing tank they can ride down into the earth's crust. This gets them to one of the outposts of Saa's people, where they get to use one of his people's drilling machines. The machine actually melts its way through the rock, which re-solidifies behind them. It is explained that this is one of the reasons it's been impossible for humans to find traces of his culture-- they left no tracks. It turns out there are a few survivors of the reptillian culture. They had a fountain in one of the cities where the water went up, but was vaporized by microwaves so it never came down. Then the water vapor was vented back into the fountain to cool and be sprayed up again. And eventually, after several weeks below ground, our heroes return to the surface, with nothing to mark their adventure but their memories and the statue that started it all.

Turner, Gerry, Stranger from the Depths. This is it. Check Solved Mysteries
Stranger from the Depths. Thank you so much! I've looked everywhere for the title of this book (I even read through your archives and missed it somehow, probably because I was looking for "reptile men"....) :-) What a wonderful service! I hope I can return the favor by solving someone else's stumper.
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This was late 60's or early 70's. It was a group of young divers with a teacher (I think) and they found an undersea cave with a red coffin in a room. There was a green "gill" man in the coffin. They somehow woke him up and learned to talk with him. And then helped him to get back to his people.

Turner, Gerry, Stranger from the Depths. You will find the description in solved mysteries.
Gerry Turner, Stranger from the Depths, 1970, approximate. The gill man was several million years old, and his people lived in a city near the center of the earth, which modern scientists reached on a craft that tunneled through the magma. I think it was called a MOLE.
Gerry Turner, Stranger from the Depths, 1967. see plot synopsis at http://iarnuocon.newsvine.com/_news/2007/09/27/987556-book-review-stranger-from-the-depths.
Gerry Turner, Stranger from the Depths, 1970. Thank you so much!! The Internet friends solved my mystery in short order. What a marvelous service you offer. I will tell all my friends who can't remember childhood books to look at your site. Y'all made my day. I can't wait to re-read that book. I am over the moon right now!!!! Thanks again!
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I read a library book in the early 70's about some teenagers who discover a "gilled man" from beneath the sea. They revive him and he takes them underwater to his city. The book had special crystals in it and the "man's" name was Saa. This is NOT "City Beneath The Sea" by Bamman. HELP!

Gerry Turner, Stranger from the Depths, 1967. I've never read this myself, but the listing for it under Solved Mysteries looks promising. http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-s.html
Turner, Gerry, Stranger from the Depths, 1967. Three teenagers find a "lizard" man's tomb, when Saa wakes up he leads them to his underground city, and then takes them deeper under the earth to find what was left of his people.
Gerry Turner, Stranger From The Depths, 1972. Found it! Oddly enough, it was in the archives but I missed it the first time I was reading thru them! Thank you!!

Stranger Than Science
This may have been an adult book I read as a child. It had a green cover and I think the title had something about XXXXX is Stranger than XXX (may have been fiction). It had stories about strange happenings - the Shanti Devi reincarnation, the Oak Island treasure pit, a story about an albino boy (Hauser?) who mysteriously appeared in England? in the snow and spoke no English, and then was mysteriously stabbed before he learned enough English to tell people his story, Mary Reeser's human combustion story, a story about a girl who lived with wolves and slept curled up in a ball.

In the meantime, I know of a book called Stranger Than Science by Frank Edwards, (1959 Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1973 Bantam Books, Inc., 181 pgs. ) that sounds like it could be the book described in query X-1. I stumbled across this book a year or so ago while going through some of my dad's old things. The one I found isn't green, but it's possible it's just a different printing. It does indeed contain a version of the Mary Reeser story. Not sure about the other ones, though. It's worth a shot.
I believe that both these stumpers have been solved! Thank you so much - this helps me tremendously!!!! So many books to re-read, so little time!

Stranger With My Face
I am so glad someone told me about your site! I am looking for a chapter book that I read in the late 1980s (age range 11-13?). The subject matter makes me believe it must have been written during the 1980s...but I could be wrong. There is a female protagonist and I seem to remember no other major characters besides what I think was her dead (at birth) twin sister. The story takes place in the U.S (west coast - california - I think) and much of it takes place at night. What I think happens is the protagonist discovers she can astral travel (leave her body while the is sleeping). At some point in time she meets her dead twin and the twin tries to take the protagonists place in her body while she is astral travelling. Did that make sense? The general mood/feel of the book is of darkness/loneliness/fear (in relation to the protagonist) in an otherwise sunny and safe world (in relation to the setting of the book). hmmmmm. I think that is all I remember. This book left a lasting impression in my mind and I'd LOVE to find it. I found/find the subject of astral travel in a children's novel quite intriguing. I am not sure if the book actually calls it astral travelling though... Thanks for your help!

This sounds a lot like a Lois Duncan young adult novel called Stranger With My Face, (1984) in which the main character does have a evil twin, but the twin did not die at birth - they were adopted by different parents. The evil sister does try to steal the good sister's life. I think this is probably the book you're looking for.
A104--Stranger with my face--Lois Duncan
Hi. I wrote the stumper for A104. Just a quick note to let you know that I am almost positive (short of rereading the book) that this is the right book so I guess you can move it to the solved list. I got the book the other day and flipped through it and it seems very familiar. I thought it would take longer to be solved but I see that Lois Duncan appears to be a well known author (I have only read this one book by her). Thank you for your service. Recently I have been collecting favorite children's books from my past and this one has been on my mind. Your site was recommended to me by a tiny bookseller in Toronto.
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Psychic sisters (twins?) who are separated and find each other psychically. One lives in a place by a beach and rides horses. The other sister lives somewhere like Mexico or Spain. At the beginning of the story the main character does not know she has a sister until the sister in Mexico or Spain sends the other sister visions. I think this is a teen book I read in junior high or high school in the 80s.

Lois Duncan, Stranger With My Face. Laurie lives in New England members of her friends/family start claiming she's been places with them and done things that she's never done. It turns out that her twin Lia, who lives in Arizona, is using astral projection to interfere with her life.
Lois Duncan, Stranger with my Face, 1981, 1999 reissue. Main character on an East Coast island other girl (unknown identical twin) lives in New Mexico. Main character feels she is being spied on. Very suspenseful and quite good. Won some awards.
Duncan, Lois, Stranger With My Face. This sounds a lot like Stranger With My Face - seventeen-year-old Laurie lives with her family on an island in New England. She discovers she's adopted and has a twin sister Lia who astrally projects herself (from New Mexico or Arizona, I think) to Laurie. Quite the creepy book.
Lois Duncan, Stranger With My Face. Could this be the answer? The girl in this book finds her twin through astral projection. I believe her twin sister lives in Mexico.
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This is a young adult book, I think, about a girl who is adopted, has 2 younger siblings, brother and sister, not adopted. She senses that there is a girl who has been visiting her room, touching her things. She later finds out that it's her twin sister, who is in an asylum and searching for her. She learned how to leave her body from her mother who would search for her father at night. Their mother was native american, father american. The sister in the asylum tricks her twin into leaving her body and steals her body, to have a better life. Published probably in the 80's, early 90's.

Lois Duncan, Stranger With My Face, 1984. (I love it when I know these : )!) This is the book without a doubt.
Definitely Stranger with My Face. Also on the solved books page
Lois Duncan, Stranger With My face, 1983. I think this could be the one. The protagonist is a girl named LAurie Stratton - she starts having problems becasue her frineds / boyfriend think she is lying (because they see her in palces she hasn't been) It turns out she has a twin who has been astrally projecting and tries to take over her life. I don't remember whether the twn was in an asylum or some other kind of institution. The book made a big impression on me when I read it and I'm, pretty sure it's still in print.
Lois Duncan, Stranger With My Face, 1981 - Laurie is the main character, her unknown twin sister, Lia, is the one in the mental hospital.
Duncan, Lois, Stranger with my Face. This is the story, see the solved mystery pages for some plot summaries.
Duncan, Lois, Stranger With My Face, 1982. This is Stranger With My Face. The main character, Laurie Stratton, is a teenager who lives with her parents and two younger siblings in a nice house on an island. Strange things start to happen - people say they saw Laurie somewhere she wasn't, there's a "ghostly presence", etc. She eventually finds out that she is adopted, and that she has an evil twin sister who can perform astral projection. The evil twin wants to take over Laurie's body and Laurie's life, because she's screwed up her own life, and is in some kind of trouble. Laurie turns out to have the ability to astral project as well, but the evil twin is waiting to inhabit and steal Laurie's body and life, which she does for a while, although Laurie eventually gets it back.
Lois Duncan, Stranger with my Face, 1970s. Of all the Lois Duncan novels,"Stranger with my Face" was absolutely my favorite! I loved this book. I bought a brand new copy at a bookstore recently just for fun...they've been rereleased, or maybe they never went out of print?1

Strangers on Forlorn
Looking for a book from probably about the early 1970s. It is about a group of young people who's airplane crashes on an island. The island has some large crablike creatures that crawl up the shore and have long whiplike stinging tails. I recall that this book was also made into a tv movie (perhaps for ABC's movie of the week). Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! I've been looking for this for quite a few years. Thank you in advance.

I think I17 may be a book called The New People - I used to have a copy and it seems similar.
Saw several copies of this when I was searching for something else: Steele, Alex They Came From the Sea: The New People NY Tempo 1969 "A strange invasion menaces the island castaways in this exciting original novel based on the television series. Based on bizarre ABC-TV series "The New People" which lasted maybe 3-4 episodes before cancellation. VERY Sixties-ish."
E.X.I.L.E. I saw a made-for-tv movie in the early 90s called E.X.I.L.E. (that stood for something) that involved a group of teenagers going on an extended school trip. Their plane crashed, their teacher died. They had to survive alone. The pilot turned up later and tried to take over their little 'society' and hurt some of them. Sounds like it could be a remake of the book you want - but I am certain there were no giant crabs. There was something about friendly monkeys though. Good luck!
Here is a possibility! Paul Capon's Strangers on Forlorn (1969) "It takes John and Sally, pilot and stewardess of a crashed airliner, and their teenage passengers some time to unearth the sixty or so islanders living in seclusion on Forlorn." This has potential?!!

Straw Men
This is a mystery book where murders are committed very far apart. Identical type murders like a serial killer but because they happen so far apart it has police stumped. My brother read a write up on it in the Milw. JOur.Sentinel and he thinks he remembers there being a suspicion of the supernatural connected to the story since it would be impossible for one human being to be responsible at such long intervals. He read it shortly before x-mas.

Michael Marshall, The Straw Men, June 2002 (paperback). Marshall's debut thriller, which is essentially two seemingly independent stories that meet in the middle, takes its time hooking readers. Dyersburg, Mont., narrator Ward Hopkins,
attempting to make sense of the accident that killed his parents, discovers a note and videotape that lead him to believe their lives (and deaths) were not as they appeared. Meanwhile, the abduction of 14-year-old Sarah Becker renews the search for a serial killer who scalps his victims, embroiders their names into sweaters using their hair and then delivers the clothing to
the victims parents. As Ward and his CIA buddy slowly unravel the mystery surrounding Wards parents, FBI agent Nina Baynam and former LAPD homicide detective John Zandt search for the elusive killer. Their paths cross when a series of connections is made between the victims and a bizarre cult known as The Straw Men. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. (C+P from elsewhere, apologies)

Strawberry book of shapes
The first book I read was a rhyming book and I think the cover matched the page that went...three bears in three chairs (with the page showing the backs of the chairs and the tops of the bears' heads) and the next page... one round, one square, one wearing pink underwear (with the page now showing the front of the bears) and then a few pages later... a girl in a deli saying 'I'd like one pound of ground round for my round hound, please' That's all I clearly remember from it. I think it was around 1976-78. I just had a baby and I'd love to fine this book for her. Thanks :)

Richard Hefter, the strawberry book of shapes, 1976. Yes, the title is all in lower case lettering. The person remembering this book described it very well. The only difference is that my copy of this book has a picture on the front cover showing an arial view of bears square dancing in a square shape. But this is definitely the book. The book starts out with the page that says "Here are some bears sitting in chairs" showing the backs of three chairs and the tops of the bears' heads. The next page says "One bear is round, one bear is square, and one bear is wearing pink underwear" now showing the front of the bears. Then a few pages later a girl in a deli says "A pound of ground round please, for my round brown hound." My copy is a Weekly Reader Edition and the author/illustrator is Richard Hefter who also authored and illustrated the Sweet Pickles series of books.

Strawberry Thumb
I belive it was about a little girl who sucked her thumb, and perhaps her parents are trying to get her to stop?? We would have read it in the mid-70's, but I have no idea how old it was. My mother and I have almost convinced ourselves that we made this story up, although we both remember checking out of the library on numerous occasions. I've searched for it under this title for years now, with no success.

I am sure that the book is called Straw Peter. Will check with my mum and find out for sure as she recently found a new copy. I think it originally came out in the C19th. Definitely before WW2 as my aunt was read it as a child and she was born 1927.It is a collection of cautionary tales for children (German or Dutch originally- think it was then called Struwzel Pieter. Used to scare me witless as a child. There was a story about a child who sucked their thumb and a man (Johnny Suck-a-Thumb?) came and chopped them off with a pair of scissors. Also stories about what happens if you swing on your chair or play with matches and other things in a similar vein. Basically the idea was to scare children out of bad habits
Barbara Klimowicz, The Strawberry Thumb, 1968. My father knew the author when he was a child and we read this book many, many times. The book actually has a cutout thumb form so that you can make for your child's thumb. We read it because *I* sucked my thumb. I have the book infront of me. It starts : "Her eyes were the blue of the skies at morn..." The little girl's name was Anna-May. It's a wonderful story.
I remember a book (but not the name) about a little girl who was trying to quit thumbsucking at the same time that her mom was trying to quit smoking. [I know that one -- it's The Quitting Deal by Tobi Tobias, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, 1975.]
S113 strawberry thumb: I am going to disagree with the suggestion that this is Struwwelpeter (English title: Shock-headed Peter), the famous collection of poems by Heinrich Hoffmann, first published in German in the 1800s and translated into many languages, not to mention parodied and imitated. The thumb sucking child in Struwwelpeter is a boy, and his thumbs are cut off by the Scissors Man while he is alone in the room - his parents do not feature in the story. Given that the child in the story wanted is a girl and her parents are trying to find ways to prevent thumb sucking, and that it is described as a single story from the 1970s, perhaps it is The
Quitting Deal, by Tobi Tobias, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, published Viking Press 1975, 28 pages. "Jenny agrees to quit sucking her thumb if her Mom will quit smoking- they try many various cures, like talking and holding hands."

Stream That Stood Still
A witch turns a small boy into a stickeback fish, and he is placed in a stream. His sister obtains a magic transparent mask which allows her breathe underwater and enter the stream to rescue him. He is threatened by a pike, but she eventually rescues him. I read this around 1966, but it was recommended by an older woman, so it was probablt written earlier in the 20th or even in the 19th century. I assume from presence of the stickleback that it may be English in origin. It also felt like it might be a sequel or one of a series. I think "stream" may be in the title.

Beverley Nichols, The Stream That Stood Still. I'm not sure about this - it's so many years since I read this series - but it rings a lot of bells!
Calloo! Callay! Accidentally stumbled on this on the shelves behind me. I must have bot it years ago in memory of my parents' love for his books. Hadn't even been aware he did any juvs. I skimmed it enuf to know it fits. Nichols, Beverley. The stream that stood still. illus by Richard Kennedy. London; Jonathan Cape c1948 a modern witch changes a young boy into a stickleback fish; his sister eventually figures out how to rescue him. Magic Woodland series.

Street Sparrows
What a valuable service, to help people recall their loved and lost old favorite books! I’m looking for a book that would probably be classified as young adult historical fiction. It’s the story of a young girl or teenager, possibly named Maggie (but I’m not sure), who grew up as an orphan (I think) living in poverty and homelessness at times, on the streets of London approximately around the turn of the century (last century, that is…) At one early point she had a foster mother but the children were living in such deplorable conditions that she was taken away or ran away. I remember an anecdote about how the foster mother knew that the inspectors were coming, so she was going to clean her basement apartment, but she started with a large chest of drawers and spent so long “mooning over its contents” that she never finished cleaning for the home inspection. Later, she earns a living sweeping the streets and sidewalks for wealthy pedestrians, and at another time she makes some money by selling flowers. Maybe also doing wash or sewing or mending… The book chronicles the methods and relationships of the protagonist and other people living in poverty. She makes a friend named Angel who is a chimney sweep, and they help each other. At one point they have to run away or hide from someone, and Angel makes her cover her hair so she will be less noticeable. There are several references to her beautiful long (?) brown hair. At one point she falls sick and has to spend her meager savings buying food for nourishment so she can recuperate. I think she also forms a friendship or some other relationship with a Scotsman who is older and intermittently in the picture. Any leads?

Rose Ayers, The Street Sparrows
Rose Ayers, The Street Sparrows, 1979. Definitely!

Mary Downing Hahn, Wait till Helen Comes,1980s, approximate.Sounds like this could be Wait Till Helen Comes, by Mary Downing Hahn. Heather, an alive girl, meets Helen, the ghost, when she discovers a graveyard on the property of her family's new home. They are both the same age (or at least Helen was Heather's age when she died) and have the same initials. Helen tries to convince Heather that she (helen) is the only one who cares about her (Heather). Helen attempts to lure Heather into a pond (where she will drown) so the two girls can be together always. Helen's ghost finally fades away when Heather and her sister discover the bones of Helen's family in the burnt out shell of an old house and give them a proper burial.

Streets and Roads
This story is about a white horse who is jealous of the family's brand new automobile. When the horse gets stuck in mud (and the frogs in the swamp are croaking "Too deep, too deep"), it is the automobile that pulls the horse out. The horse is grateful and accepts the auto into the family. The story was part of a collection of children's stories and was from the '40s or 50's, or perhaps even older than that. Please help!!!! It was a favorite of my twin sister's and mine when we were little.

T125 This brings back memories of a short story included in a grade school reader. I have my 5th grade reader and it's
not in there so I'm guessing it was 4th or 6th grade. The year would have been about 1955. The story I remember is
exactly as described here. Perhaps the title may be Too Deep, Too Deep.
Yes, my sister said it was in a reader! Could it be in the Sheldon Basic Reading Series, published by Allyn & Bacon??
The 5th grade reader I have is Scott, Foresman and Company. Not sure if all the grades would have used the same company to provide their reading text books.
streets and roads: basic readers, (The Story of White Satin), 1946-47. This is a Scott, Foresman and Company book with short stories divided into a variety of categories (on city streets, along country roads, on the road to story-land, animals in town and country, and on the roads of long ago). The story you are thinking of is called "The Story of White Satin". I loved these stories when I was little (when I started kindergarten in the late 70's, one of the schools I applied to must have been giving away their old books and gave me some. I never realized that these were school books- they were just great story books!) I'm so excited that I could help on my first time on this page-- and I found the title of the book I was looking for.

Strega Nona
This is a book which was around in the 70s/80s, had a blue cover with several pans of overflowing macaroni (spaghetti?). The story involved a boy/young man who wound up in the kitchen of a palace cooking macaroni (or spaghetti) for the king. There was pots and pots of the stuff, and he had great difficulty finding enough receptacles to put the pasta in. He even had to use a dishwashing pan. For the life of me I can't remember what it is! Any ideas?

Tomie de Paola, Strega Nona
Tomi de Paola, ? The Pasta Pot, 1960s/70s. Can't remember the exact title but this is certainly a story that Tomi de Paola did as a picture book.

String Bean
see What Daddies Do

String of Time
I once LOVED this book about a young girl. Parts of it include her having a secret hiding place she would go to at night, which was like a thicket, or brambles of some sort. At certain times, (possibly a full moon?) There would be a wolf, or some other similar animal, that was her friend, I think. There was something unusual about the color of the eyes. There was also at the end, some hint that the wolf was really this man she knew, as he had the exact same eyes.

G54 girl with wolf friend: this one's a picture-book, so it may not be the one wanted - A Wolf of My Own, by Jan Wahl, illustrated by Lillian Hoban, published Macmillan 1969. "A birthday puppy becomes an untamed wolf cub - a wolf friend, a wolf brother - as a little girl's imagination creates the companion she secretly wants. Gentle pastel pictures make the fantasy as real to the children who read the book as it is to the child in the story. Ages 4-8."
G54 girl with wolf friend: there is a book called My Wolf, My Friend (also titled Sasha, My Friend) by Barbara Corcoran, Atheneum 1969, 203 pages, about Hallie, who moves to Montana and her father's Christmas tree farm after the accident that killed her mother. Her only friends are Birdie, the strange crippled girl, and the elderly Indian Black Thunder, until she decides to tame and raise an orphaned white wolf cub. No information on eye colour or human counterpart.
Jane Yolen, Girl in the Golden Bower, 1992. Girl befriends woodland beasts- untangles their fur- they protect her.
G186 Severn, David, Foxy-boy, illustrated by Lynton Lamb (US title The Wild Valley). London, Bodley Head 1959. This may be a bit early, however Severn's books do sometimes have supernatural or unsettling elements to them. "When nine-year-old Phillippa arrived to spend her holidays with her godmother at Lilliput Castle, she was disappointed to find that the other children had moved away, and the prospect of a long holiday with only Kitty and Prudence as her companions was not a very exciting thought. The two women share of the work at Lilliput Castle between them Kitty, Philippa's godmother, worked outside, on the farm and in the garden, while Prudence enjoyed doing all the household chores, the cooking polishing and cleaning. So Phillippa was left to amuse herself, and it was during one of her solitary walks in Wild Valley that she first saw Foxy-boy. Was he a Fox or a boy? What was he doing in the Valley? And would Phillippa ever be able to get near enough to him to find out?" Hey, this might work for G54 girl with wolf friend, too!
Foxspell.'This is another title that sounds simaliar, but the main character is a boy, not a girl.
Irma Chilton, String Of Time,1977. I Am the Original Poster of this mystery, after a few years it has FINALLY been FOUND!!! The book is called String of Time by Irma Chilton in the UK and in the USA - Nightmare by I.M. Chilton Same book, different titles. All the elements are there as I remembered them, just the details were off a little. :)

Stripey, a Little Zebra
I want to find a book as a surprise for my wife. It was her favorite book as a child (in the 1930's). All I know about the book is that it is about a Zebra whose name is Stripy or Stripie of some similar spelling.

Hamilton Williamson, Stripey, a Little Zebra, 1939.
It never fails. I wrote you yesterday and Stripey arrived in today's mail. Thank you, thank you. It is perfect. Just what I wanted to find. Couldn't have done it without your help. You are a peach.

StruwwelHitler
Have you ever seen a copy of the wartime propaganda version of Struwwelpeter printed in England adn titled "StruwwelHitler" which depicted all the German leadership of the time in the same style? I used to have both at home when a kid, but can't find them now that I have a youngster in need of such light-hearted horror!

S51 - Sruwwelhitler is one of a number of parodies of Struwwelpeter that were published in the early to mid 20th century

Struwwelpeter
Hi- My grandmother used to have this book when we were kids, that she read us stories from. Now, I realize how SICK and abusive it really was!!!! But, to that generation, I suppose it all seemed like good discipling measures to keep the kids in line..... Anyway, I want a copy of it! As I said, it's translated from the German, into English (woo-hoo, lucky us-), and the English translation is "Slovenly Peter". The German name, as closely as I can recall, is "StruwellPetter". {sp.??} The search is on! I really hope I can find this via your site!

Not really a stumper, since you know what it is. But it's usually spelled a little differently, which might have made your search difficult. Heinrich Hoffman created Struwwelpeter for his 3-year-old son in 1845 because he thought the children's books on the market were sentimental, didactic or boring. He added to the collection of tales over the years, as have others, and parodies and adaptations abound.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades Hoffman, Heinrich. Der Struwwelpeter. Frankfurt, circa 1871. Thick pages, colored lithographs, in German with old German typeface. Spine cloth replaced with modern black spine tape. Edges worn and soiled. G. $55
[Hoffman.] Slovenly Peter: Cheerful Stories and Funny Pictures for Good Little Folks. Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., n.d., "with colored illustrations after the original style" (both color and b&w). Inscription reads 1946, although the book feels earlier. Contains the Slovenly Betsy stories also. Beige cloth with black and red decorative stamping, mild wear, overall VG+. $75

Hoffman, Heinrich. Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories & Vile Pictures to Instruct Good Little Folks. Illustrations by Sarita Vendetta, plus a facsimilie of the 1915 edition. Introduction by Jack Zipes (with great historical essay). Feral House, 1999. Paperback, badly water damaged. Poor, as is. $4

Struwwelpeter: Phoebe Ann
This rather unattractive girl had an unfortunate habit of looking up (maybe she held her nose in the air in the sense of being arrogant?). Despite warnings, she continued this habit and eventually her neck became long--very long. Ultimately, she had to carry her head (still attached to the neck of course) in a wagon or wheelbarrow. I know it is a wierd concept, but carries such a strong memory from my childhood (40s or 50s), I must locate this book! Your help is greatly appreciated.

Looks like the same stumper as V17, still unsolved.
I remember this story too may have been a rhyme. I can say that it was contained within a book or collection of short stories and possibly nursery rhymes or fairy tales as I remember. The girl was very conceited and did not want to waste her time by looking down at the ground and plainer things. After her neck grew and she had to carry her head around on a wagon, the boys made fun of her and called her a snake. There were several illustrations. I may still have the book, I'll check and see. I write this in hopes that it will jog someones elses memory.
Rebecca says it reminds her of Hilaire Belloc's poems.... Cautionary Tales for Children or Cautionary Verses?
Hoffmann, Heinrich, Phoebe Ann, the Proud Girl. Ok, I did still have my book. The title of the story for this stumper sounds like it is called "Phoebe Ann, The Proud Girl". It is contained in a collection of other 'cautionary' childrens tales. The book I remembered and still have is entitled More than 30 of American Childhoods Best Books Copyright 1942 by John Bagg and distributed by the American Crayon Company. Unfortunately, the tale as contained in my book did not list the origination or author of the story, so... I did a Google search of the title and found the following info. Struwwelpeter
by Hoffmann, Heinrich (Chrysalis Children's Books, ISBN: 1843650606). The story of Struwwelpeter is just over 150 years old and tells of a young lad whose name when translated into English is Slovenly Peter. Other characters in this classic collection of cautionary tales include Simple Hans, Phoebe Ann, the proud girl and Jimmy Sliderlegs. Also, on another website it APPEARS that this particular story (Phoebe Ann) was added during the translation of the American version and is not part of the original German version of the "Struwwelpeter" book, so may or may not actually be by Heinrich Hoffmann.
I am not the original stumper requester, but I have Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Verses (1941)in my lap right now. This is a large volume containing seven of his works: Cautionary Tales for Children, New Cautionary Tales, The Bad Child's Book of Beasts, More Beasts for Worse Children, More Peers, A Moral Alphabet, and Ladies and Gentlemen. The girl with the long neck isn't in any of these, though the first two books do contain poems about badly behaved children who come to a wretched end. I remember the long necked girl from my childhood, and I've been looking for her as well. I thought that I'd find her in Heinrich Hoffman's Der Struwwelpeter (1844), also known as Slovenly Peter: or, Cheerful Stories and Funny Pictures for Good Little Folks. My public library has a facsimile, and I was surprised to find that while it contains poems about badly behaved children who meet wretched ends, the girl with the long neck is not among them. Neither are the other children I remember: a dirty boy who is so filthy and unkempt that his father mistakes him for a bear and shoots him; a heedless boy who slides down bannisters and is eventually dashed to bits at the foot of a long staircase, and a child who consumes so many sweets that his teeth fall out, his pores begin to ooze syrup, and he melts away in the rain. I don't know for certain that these children are in the same book as the long necked girl, but it seems likely.
Heinrich Hoffman and other anonymous sources, Slovenly Peter, Or Cheerful Stories and Funny Pictures for Good Little Folks, 1915, reprint. Eureka, I found it! The book in question is indeed Slovenly Peter, but it is probably the 1915 American edition (published in Philadelphia) which contains seventeen poems not found in the German original. According to my web research, the original German text contains only the following poems: Slovenly Peter, The Story of Cruel, Frederick, The Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches, The Story of the Inky Boys, The Story of the Wild Huntsman, The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb, The Story of Augustus Who Would Not Have Any Soup, The Story of Fidgety Philip, The Story of Johnny Look-in-the-Air, and The Story of Flying Robert. The 1915 "translation" added seventeen poems from anonymous sources, including Tom Bogus the Sweet Tooth (the boy who eats so many sweets that he melts in the rain), Jimmy Sliderlegs (the boy who meets his premature end at the bottom of a bannister), and Phoebe Ann the Proud Girl (the long necked girl). Feral House recently published a new version of the 1915 work, but changed the title to Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories & Vile Pictures To Instruct Good Little Folks. It apparently contains a facsimile of the original, as well as a full set of new illustrations by Sarita Vendetta. You can see some of Sarita Vendetta's illustrations on the web. Note especially the illustration for Phoebe Ann on this page. Warning: the new illustrations are FAR more graphic than the cartoonish drawings I remember, so please keep children far away from the computer if you choose to look at these!
There were many reprints of the original Hoffman version, some with and some without additional stories. In 1911 (17 years after Hoffman's death), an English edition appeared under the title Slovenly Betsy that contains the Phoebe Ann story.
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Girl constantly looking up, nose in the air. Neck becomes longer and longer until eventually it becomes so long she must carry her head around (still attached to the neck, of course!) in a wagon or wheelbarrow. It is a wierd book and the girl is quite unattractive. I believe the picture on the cover is of the scene described above. I must have this book! I have been trying to recall the name for years.

Helga is a giraffe, but the rest fits. Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman. Helga High-Up. Scholastic, 1988. Helga is too tall, even for a giraffe. Her classmates think she is stuck-up because she is so high-up. Then one day Helga saves the day by sticking her neck out and catching a crook.
The suggested match is not the book, since it was about a real girl and was around in the 1940s or early 1950s, when a little girl.
The solution is already on your "Solved Mysteries: S" page---Struwwelpeter: Phoebe Ann

Interpreting
Condition
Grades [Hoffman.] Slovenly Peter: Cheerful Stories and Funny Pictures for Good Little Folks. Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., n.d., "with colored illustrations after the original style" (both color and b&w). Inscription reads 1946, although the book feels earlier. Contains the Slovenly Betsy stories also. Beige cloth with black and red decorative stamping, mild wear, overall VG+. $75
Hoffman, Henry. Slovenly Betsy. MA: Applewood Books, 1995 reprint. "With numerous illustrations in color from the original designs by Walter Hayn." Small 12mo (Beatrix Potter size), contains the "Phoebe Ann" story. New glossy boards, F. $12

Stubborn Binnder
I hope that someone knows the title of this book about a little girl and a pony, circa 1960-1962. She leads the pony with a daisy chain and his name is either Stubborn Bender or Plush Rascal. Thank you.

Carol Dornfield Stevenson, Stubborn Binnder, 1961. Illustrated by Betty Beeby. I'm looking at my copy from when I was a kid. Book is roughly 6 1/2 inches by 8 inches. Cover is Green orange, black and white - picture of girl sitting on fence looking at pony, with daisy chain framing picture.

Sudbery, Rodie
Hi there. I own (and love) the children's book "A sound of crying" by Rodie Sudbery. I have only recently discovered that it's part of a series of books about the character, Polly Devenish - does anyone know the names of the other books, and perhaps the order they come in? I have searched in
many places using the author's name and haven't had much luck, so I don't like my chances of finding anything, but I'd like to know exactly what I'm looking for! Thanks a lot.

I found Rodie Sudbery searching the Library of Congress Catalog. Her book Sound of Crying was originally published as House in the Wood, in 1968. There are several other titles listed in the Library of Congress. According to the book I found in our library the Polly Devenish stories are as follows. THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS; COWLS; RICH AND FAMOUS AND BAD WARTS AND ALL; DUCKS AND DRAKES
They were printed in Great Britian by the Adre' Deutsch Limited.
S55--Sudbery, Rodie. I loved A Sound of Crying (British title: The House in the Wood) so much I listed all of Rodie Sudbery's books, though I never found copies of any of the titles and wasn't aware that Polly was in
any others. The titles are: Cowls (1969), Rich and Famous and Bad (1970), The Pigsleg (1971), A Curious Place (1973), Inside the Wells (1973), Ducks and Drakes (1975), Lightning Cliff (1975), The Silk and the Skin (1976), Long Way 'Round (1977), Somewhere Else (1978), and A Tunnel With Problems (1979.)

Suddenly -- A Witch!
My friend and I have been trying to find this book for decades but neither of us remembers very much about it. We read it in the mid 70s. My friend remembers the main character was a little girl, who was sick in bed with the flu or a cold and that was why she couldn't go trick or treating. She also remembers a black cat (hers or a neighbors?) showed up at the bedroom window on a witch's broom and flew her to the Halloween party where she was invisible. She also remembers the main character flying past a bunch of jack-o-lanterns that spoke to her on the way to the party and it was sort of scary. I think I remember that the girl suddenly becomes visible at the party and then sees a lucky penny (see a penny, pick it up...) and becomes invisible again. I could be wrong about this part though.

Pretty sure this is SUDDENLY-A WITCH! by Irene Bowen, 1970. Susan gets invited to a Halloween party, but can't go because she catches a bad cold. Her cat Spooky brings her a magic broomstick, and she goes flying. Some jack o'lanterns do talk to her, she does becomes invisible and plays tricks at the party, is spotted briefly and then becomes invisible again. She isn't a penny she picks up but a pin, and she chants a rhyme "See a pin and pick it up; All the day you'll have good luck." ~from a librarian

Sugar and Spice
I've spent years trying to locate a book for which I have, unfortunately, no title. It was a book of somewhat unconventional nursery rhymes, probably published by Whitman Press of Racine, WI, about 8" x 10" on crummy paper, with gorgeous silhouette illustrations. Some of the poem titles included "Tom Thimble Lives in the Whitethorn Tree" and (my very favorite) "Widdy Widdy Wurkey Was the Name of My Turkey". Would very much like to find a reading copy of this. Published in boards but not really what I'd call a hardcover.

I'm pretty sure this is Rose Fyleman, Sugar & Spice (Whitman,'35), ill. Janet Laura Scott "Color illustrated paper over boards. No DJ. 81/8 x 11 1/4. 61 pages. Illustrated with black & white silhouettes and border designs." Fyleman included "Widdy widdy wurky" in other collections.
#W28--The Rose Fyleman book published as Widdy-Widdy-Turkey or Widdy-Widdy-Wurkey in 1934 was republished in 1971 as Nursery Rhymes from Many Lands. A search under that title should produce a copy.
W28 widdy widdy wurkey: the first suggested title, Sugar and Spice, fits the publisher, size, author and illustration style. Whitman books have never been noted for the quality of their paper, either. A match?

Sugar Mouse Cake
I have a final book I've been seeking. I don't know the title, author, or publisher, although it was read to me some time in the 1970's or early 1980's. I can describe the plot in minute detail. It's about a baker with a pet mouse named Tina who can perform countless delightful tricks. One night the baker makes a beautiful, multi-tiered cake for the king and queen's cake contest. The cake is a
stunning masterpiece showing little white mice playing instruments, dancing around, and honoring the king and queen mice atop the highest tier. On the day of the contest, a mishap breaks the delicate queen mouse on top of the cake, and the baker ends up putting Tina there instead, telling her, "Hold, Tina, hold!" She performs the trick and freezes so perfectly still that everyone is fooled -- all except the royal cat ...

Could this be Sugar Mouse Cake by Gene Zion?
Oh, wow! I can't tell you how excited I was to get your message. In the middle of a dull, ordinary day, this unexpected, glorious info dropped out of the sky like a tiny thunderbolt. Hooray! I hardly dare to hope, but the book probably is Sugar Mouse Cake, by Gene Zion. I looked up a description in the Library of Congress, and although the description is a little vague, it sounded quite possible that this is the same book. I'm trying to see if any libraries have this book to loan to me, so I can make sure. Or did the person who posted info about this book know for certain it was the one? (Was the mouse named "Tina"?) If they're sure, I would definitely love to put in an order for a copy of this book, if one can be found! Actually, I'm almost positive this is the book -- so if this book is out there anywhere, please let me know! Thank you so much, Harriett, for creating this wonderful site -- I can't tell you how overjoyed I am! (And if you have the time, would you tell the respondant thanks, too?)
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I'm searching for the name of a book I read as a child about a white mouse. At one point, a baker is involved in a contest to design a cake. He puts white sugar mice all over the cake. When one breaks, the real white mouse takes its place and tries to hold completely still to fool the judges. Havoc ensues when the deception is discovered. Any ideas?

This is Sugar Mouse Cake by Gene Zion. Would you like me to look for a copy for you?
Thanks for responding so quickly. I laughed when I read the title Sugar Mouse Cake. It seems so obvious. I would appreciate it if you could look for a copy for me.
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This was a childrens book from the late 60's or early 70's. I think it was called "Tina the Mouse". It was about a mouse named Tina who was friends with a Chef who made a wedding cake. On top of the weddding cake were a sugar mice bride and groom. The bride mouse is broken and the real mouse, Tina, takes her place and stands very still on the cake.

#T62: sounds like one of the solved mysteries, Sugar Mouse Cake.
T62 Tina the mouse on cake: This is THE SUGAR MOUSE cake by Gene Zion, and it is listed on your solved stumpers page
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I have no title, author or date of any kind for this book. I am 33 years old and this was my book as a 5-10 year old. I do remember some of content from this childrens' book. It takes place in a castle with a king and queen. They are having a ball or party of some sort. There are at least one boy mouse and perhaps a girl mouse that live in the castle. For the party a giant ornate cake has been made with little mice on it that are made of sugar. Either the boy mouse thinks one of the mice on the cake is real and falls in love and goes onto the cake to meet her, or the boy and girl mouse venture up onto the cake to inspect. The cake is about to be cut and either the knife is about to cut the sugar mouse and the real mouse tries to save the sugar mouse or the knife is about to cut the real girl mouse, either way , the real boy mouse tries to be the hero and the queen or someone else sees the mouse and screams and all heck breaks loose. Much melee,and the mouse or mice
try to escape and I believe they do.

Zion, Gene. The Sugar Mouse Cake. 1964.
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I beleive book is from 60's 70's? black tall hard cover book white huge white layered cake i beleive pink decorations mouse and baker I beleive on cover. book is about a mouse in a bakery making trouble. good luck:) I would be so grateful if you could tell me the name

Zion, Gene, The Sugar Mouse cake, 1964. Illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham. With the help of a mouse a cook’s assistant bakes a cake judged the best in the kingdom and thus becomes the King’s Chief Pastry Cook The mouse is called Tina and the baker is called Tom. Cover is black and features Tom and a pile of pots and pans (no cake though) Good luck - This book is EXPENSIVE!!
Gene Zion, The Sugar Mouse Cake, 1964. Tom, the ninth assistant to the chief pastry cook, enters a cake-decorating competition with his Sugar Mouse Cake. When one of the mice gets broken, he substitutes his pet mouse Tina. The cake is so successful that it gets taken to the king's room, and Tom has to get Tina back before anybody finds out. And yes, the dust jacket is black and there's a picture of Tom on it holding Tina, beside a big pile of pots he's supposed to wash.
Zion, Gene, The Sugar Mouse Cake, 1964. This is the book. It is one of your "solved mysteries."
Gene Zion, Sugar Mouse Cake. Out of print and usually expensive. More info in solved section.
C384 Could this be THE SUGAR MOUSE CAKE by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham, 1964? You can find a picture of the cover online here. The cover is black, and the baker's assistant is sitting in front of a tower of pots and a mouse is perched on one of the pots. The baker's assistant enters a contest to determine who will be the new baker. He makes an elaborate, multi-tiered cake with sugar mice, but a rival baker trips him and one of the sugar mice on top break. But his friend Tina, a mouse, is able to save the day by standing on the cake as a replacement. It is also on the solved mysteries page.~from a librarian

Sugar Mouse Cake
I am looking for a book I used to check out as a kid - in the late 70s or early 80s. It was about two mice loose in a house. I think the people are getting ready for a wedding and the house is in an uproar. At the end of the book, the mice end up on top of a wedding cake as the bride and groom. I think it had a black cover. I used to look for it in the library by author, and I usually started with "Z" and looked backwards from there, so I am assuming the author's last name was towards the end of the alphabet. Hope you can help!

Zion, Gene. The Sugar Mouse Cake. 1964.
I think this is it. I was able to see the cover, and it looked familiar. Unfortunately, the prices I was able to find it for were shocking, to say the least. Thank you, thank you for solving it for me! This site is amazing.

Sugarplum
I have been searching for a book from my childhood, but so far have had no luck finding it since I don't know the title. When I was about six years old in the mid 1970s, my mother would take us kids to the library and I always requested the same book over and over again. The book was about a fairy who was very small and lived in someone's kitchen cupboard. The book was all about her adventures. There were a lot of pictures (as with any young child's book), and I think there was one of her sitting inside a teacup. For some reason I have it stuck in my head that the fairy (or whatever she was) was called the sugar plum fairy. Since it was so long ago, I just can't be certain. I know this is so little to go on, but I would be immensely grateful to you if you could help me find the book. It was a beloved part of my childhood and I just know that if I were to see a copy of the book again, all of the pictures and the story would instantly come back to my memory.

Finally, S49 is one of my favorite childhood books. It is called Sugarplum and is by Johanna Johnston. Sugarplum is actually a tiny, tiny doll who is scorned by her owner's larger dolls because she is "a gimcrack, a gewgaw." She is always being lost, because she is so small. Eventually she falls into the jelly that the little girl's mother is making...there is a wonderful illustration of what the cellar looks like through the curved side of the jelly jar. Sometime later the little girl falls ill and the mother gets a jar of jelly for her tray and discovers Sugarplum inside. The little girl gets better and she (or her mother) makes Sugarplum a real dress with a great big bow so she won't get lost again. And Sugarplum gains the respect of the other dolls because she helped the little girl get better.
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I remember a book about a tiny doll - I think she had short black hair and rosy cheeks. She was so small that Mother (or was it the maid?) vacuumed her up into and old fashioned vacuum cleaner. Eventually after looking all over the house, the vacuum is inspected and the tiny doll is found. I hope I
don't stump you! My memory is hazy, but I remember pinkish hues and colored pencil (or watercolor painted?) illustrations. One more thing..... I think the story is told from doll's point of view. Yes, I am almost sure of it!!!

L23 - Is Sugar Plum by (I'm pretty sure) Joanne Johnson.
Sugarplum.I can't really take credit for remembering it. The tiny doll and vacuum cleaner sounded familiar, but I had to ask a book goddess for the title. :)
Yes, PLEASE search. Something about that title is coming back to me (or is it wishful thinking?) Can you tell me who replied or why they think that is the answer? What does having you do a search require from me? Thanks SO MUCH for your site!
The book is actually by Joanne JOHNSTON--good to know!--and there's another book called Sugarplum &
Snowball, about the doll and the cat. Here's what one of the descriptions of Sugarplum has to say: Wonderful story of a tiny doll that keeps getting lost- in the vacuum cleaner, in a jar of jelly, etc. Does this sound right? Unfortunately, I can't find a copy right now that's not over $100...
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All I recall is that a small doll gets lost somehow and falls into a jar of jelly or jam - wish I could remember more!

Edward Ardizzone, The Little Girl and the tiny Doll. The details don't match exactly, but it does remind me of The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll. The doll in that book falls into a freezer bin at a grocery store, and lives there until she is rescued by a little girl. No jam, though.
Johnston, Johanna, Sugarplum. Illustrated by Marvin Bileck, NY Knopf 1955. "A tiny little doll named Sugarplum was always getting lost and being accused by the larger dolls of being no more than a trinket. But when she falls into a jar of newly made jelly and is lost for months, Sugarplum gets her chance to prove she is a little girl's real doll." This is on the Solved list, by the way.
D145 Sugarplum by Johanna Johnston, nearly impossible to find. There is a sequel called Sugarplum and Snowball.
D145 Could this be IMPUNITY JANE: THE STORY OF A POCKET DOLL by Rumer Godden? The description rings a bell, but I don't have a copy here to doublecheck it. ~from a librarian
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I am looking for a book from the late 1950s/early 1960s. I think it was called Penny Jelly. It was about a girl who had a tiny doll who got sucked up in the vaccum cleaner and lost. When the girl and her mother finally found the doll they put it in a jar so it wouldn't get lost again. When I read the book is was probably around 1961, I don't know how old the book was.

I just got more information on the book, after talking it over with my mother: I am looking for a book from the late 1950s/early 1960s. I think it was called Penny Jelly. It was about a girl who had a tiny doll who got sucked up in the vaccum cleaner and lost. The little girl and her mother found her. Then the doll got lost again and they found her in a jelly jar. At the end of the story, the little girl put a big bow on the little doll so she would not get lost again. The last picture in the book was of the doll with the bow on the dress. The pictures were "soft", perhaps done by watercolor. The book was somewhat smaller than the traditional 8.5 by 11 inch format, but it was not an extremely small book. When I read the book is was probably around 1961, I don't know how old the book was.
P229 This may be a stretch, but investigate SUGARPLUM by Johanna Johnston, illustrated by Marvin Bileck, 1955. THe doll's name is Sugarplum, but she is a small penny wooden doll (maybe that's why you remember Penny?) She is always getting lost, and one day she falls into a jar of jelly. So this book doesn't match exactly, but the elements are so similiar that I think it's worth a look~from a librarian
Johanna Johnston, Sugarplum. More under "Solved Mysteries."
Johanna Johnston (author), Marvin Bileck (illustrator), Sugarplum, 1955. The adventures of a tiny doll who doesn't have proper clothing because the little girl who owns her has too little patience and makes stitches that are too big. Sugarplum's adventures include getting sucked into a vacuum cleaner. She eventually falls into a jar of jelly, where she remains until her owner becomes ill and the jelly is taken from the cellar into the sickroom. The book ends with the little girl making Sugarplum a little dress with tiny stitches and a huge bow so she can't get lost again. (Please note that I don't have a copy of the book, and am reciting the plot as I remember it from my childhood!) Hard to find and expensive. Followed by a sequel, Sugarplum and Snowball. See the Solved Mysteries "S" page for more information.

Suitcase with a surprise
I'm trying to help a friend find a book from her childhood (early 1950s). She THINKS that it was a Golden Book. A little boy had a stuffed monkey named Jocko. They built a train by lining up chairs. The boy's Mother gave him a gift and when he opened it up there was an orange inside.

Ornitz, Samuel, Round the World with Jocko the Great. We have a copy of Ornitz's Round the World with Jocko the Great for sale here at Loganberry. The title is where the similarities to your stumper cease, however. This one is the story of monkey who becomes a jester.
(Re) the above named book, authored by Samuel Ornitz.....I did further research and this is definitely not the book I am searching for.... so that other people will know that I am still searching for this book. Thank you in advance for your help.
We'll keep trying!
Ornitz, Samuel, Round the World with Jocko the Great. Nope.....that's not the book I'm looking for. Does anybody else out there have an idea?!
This is only a clue that may help in the search. If you look at these images on Flicker and they match the memory maybe the Flicker poster could let you know what book it's from (she doesn't list it) They are pages from an old book, the toy monkey's name is Jocko and there's a toy dog named Blackout. http://www.flickr.com/photos/icklebird/220621285/'
Frances Horwich, Suitcase with a surprise, 1953. I read this a child and kept the book. Tommy builds a train of kitchen chairs, packs his suitcase, and visits his Aunt Janet in Cincinnati. When he unpacks his suitcase on the train, he finds his monkey, Jocko who was placed there secretly by his mother.
SOLVED: Frances Horwich, Suitcase with a surprise, 1953. A BIG thank you to whoever recognized this book and took the time to contact me ! It was exactly the book I was looking for. I found a copy on-line and my friend was absolutely thrilled when I gave it to her.

Summer at Buckhorn
A family of children--2 older (pre-teen) and I think 2 younger--at least one younger brother, Frederick? --were sent to spend the summer at a relative's in Georgia. They were sent on the train and spent the night in sleeping berths. They pinned "Frederick's" pjs to the sheet so he would not fall out of the upper berth and he got scratched by the pin and the older sister put toothpaste on the scratch as medicine. The rest of the book was their adventures during the summer in the HOT countryside. I think I was 8-10 years old when I read this book.

First of all, is it possible that T21 is a Bobbsey Twins book? Older twins were Nan and Dave and younger twins were Flossie and Freddie.
BOBBSEY TWINS TREASURE HUNTING By: LAURA LEE HOPE, 1929. GOOD BOOK ABOUT 2 SETS OF TWINS (NAN BERT FLOSSIE FREDDIE) AND THEIR ADVENTURES.
Wright, Anna Rose, Summer at Buckhorn, 1956. Reading through some old S t B's and came across this one.
From Summer at Buckhorn: "She and Dick boosted Hickabus aloft. Then they clawed their way up to a point where the could reach to pin her. They took a large saftey pin and moored the rear of her pajamas to the mattress." "... Hincabus bus is scratched by the pin and Maria smooths something cool into the scratch to make is stop hurting. "What did y ou rub on her?" whispered Dick, when the elder two had retired again to their lower bunk. Sssh! TOOTHPASTE! Don't tell her," Maria Answered." Their is also a brother Frederick. It's a oldy but I hope it helps.

Summer at Hasty Cove
I remember reading a book about children who went to visit their Uncle for a couple weeks. When they got to his house he told the kids that their uncle was away. The kids stayed and cleaned up his place. He had a boat and it was a mess too, until they cleaned it up. They really enjoyed themselves. When they headed home they met an oncoming, rattle trap, messy looking car --- and it was their uncle. They kept on going towards home!!

Madye Lee Chastain, Summer at Hasty Cove, 1959. The Parker family - mother, father, Mark, Laurie, and Sam - rent a cottage from Mrs. Parker's uncle, who will be away for the summer. She remembers it as being wonderful, but it is now a mess the uncle's boat is, also. After the spend the summer there, and restore the boat, they leave, see the uncle arriving in his "old rattletrap of a car," and they keep going because, as the father sas, "We can't get too far away from Uncle Benjy to suit me!"

Summer Cat
I am trying to find a book that probably is not in print anymore, but it was a book we read to our children in the late 70s or early 80s about a calico cat named Apple Blossom. The cat was found by a young boy and his sister and I believe the true owner later came back and the children reluctantly had to give it back. I believe the woman lived in the city and came to the country during the summers, so it ended happily in that the kids would get to see the cat again each summer. We ended up getting a calico cat and named her Blossom. She lived for 22 years until this week and we would like to find this book for memories. Thanks.

Knotts, Howard, The Summer Cat, 1981. I think "The Summer Cat" is it. I know my children and I checked this book out of our local library just this year, but of course I couldn't remember the title and I can't find a good enough description to confirm it. I can picture the calico cat on the cover though. I will try to find it at the library to be sure. Sorry about the loss of your kitty, that's always hard.
A241 Try THE SUMMER CAT by Howard Knotts, 1981. An online description of the book confirms that the boy names the cat Apple Blossom.~from a librarian

Summer Magic
I bought this book around 1977 from a school book club (Scholastic, maybe). A boy & girl (siblings, I think) go to a museum and look at a "colonial village scene" behind glass. One of the kids rubs a leaf or petal (that they had previously found somewhere) on the glass and then they magically travel back in time to that colonial village. I don't remember why the leaf/petal had special powers and I can't remember much else, but they eventually get back to their own time. I hope this rings a bell for someone!!

Edward Eager, The Time Garden. It's been so long that I don't recall specific episodes, but this book is about several siblings who travel in time with the aid of thyme (the herb).
Ruth Chew, Summer Magic, 1977. Details match exactly.
Sounds like it's probably SUMMER MAGIC by Ruth Chew, Scholastic Book Services, 1977. Brother and sister Sarah and Timothy Standish go back in time through a museum display~from a librarian
Ruth Chew, Summer Magic
Thanks!! I just saw a picture on the internet of the cover of Summer Magic and I know I definitely read that book. That must be the one that I was asking about, even though there isn't any mention of rubbing leaves <g>. Thanks again for having such a wonderful site!!!

Summer of the Monkeys
Young adult fiction book about a young boy and his twin sister who live out in the country (I think). She has a foot/leg defect that she eventually has surgery for. The book has a "Where the Red Fern Grows" feel, which is why I seem to think it takes place in the country.

Definitely Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls, who also wrote Where the Red Fern Grows!
Wilson Rawls, Summer of the Monkeys, 1981, reprint. This is by the same author who wrote Where the Red Fern Grows, and is in a similar setting. I think the children were different ages instead of twins though. The boy spends the summer trying to catch monkeys escaped from a circus train to earn the reward. He intends to buy a pony, but when he gets it he decides to put the money towards his sister's operation.

Summer of the Silent Hands
A child prodigy pianist is involved in a car accident in which both parents are badly hurt and his hands start shaking when stressed. He is sent away to stay with relatives in the country (on the coast) to recuperate - under an assumed name. He is given a puppy, makes friends with local children, and gradually recovers and starts playing piano again (in the church hall, I think). One scene is when he refuses to join a local swimming competition ( in the sea) because his father is too ill to ask permission. The book ends with him back on the concert platform, playing as he has never played before, after a summer of personal growth.

Rosemary Weir, Summer of the Silent Hands.

SOLVED: Summer of the Silent Hands. I've just bought the book and it's just as I remembered.

Summer Story
1970's. Told in the first person by a male a story of his first love. He lived in a shore town with his father and brothers. Met a girl who came to live with them. The girl was a "free spirit" and apparently she got pregnant by the boy's father and had an abortion. He felt betrayed by his brothers and father and I think, moved on at the end. The title may have had the word "summer" in it. Probably the reason I didn't remember the title or author was because it was so sad.

Robert Houston, Summer Story, 1978, copyright. It took me 30 years, but I finally remembered the name of this book. I bought it and it was exactly as I remembered, sad and depressing.

Summerfolk
Illustrated softcover book, unsure of size. The story is dreamy and hazy, and although a children's book, is somewhat creepy, with undertones of alienation and rebellion. A raft is involved, being poled through a watery world along a sinuous channel through reeds and tree roots. I think it starts out in more of an open marshy atmosphere with only one child at the helm, but as he/she moves along through the hazy afternoon, he gradually makes stops and picks up additional children, perhaps even a set of twins, and then enters more of a forested swampy environment and the mood grows darker and more mysterious and ultimately they end up, in the evening, within a forest clearing that contains a rickety circus/carnival, with trapezes swooping from the trees and giant nets descending from the branches. No adults appear in this book, and there is a distinct sense of being in a world of lost children. I believe it is the last day of summer, or midsummer's eve.

Doris Burn, The Summerfolk. This sounds similar to The Summerfolk by Doris Burn.
This makes me think of THE SUMMERFOLK by Doris Burns, 1968. Sick of the summerfolk invading the beach, Willy poles his raft through the swamp where there are a very different bunch of people living there. There's a strange/unsettling feel to the book. If it helps, it was also published as a Weekly Reader Book Club book. If you look online, you can find images of the book, and see if it matches your memories.~from a librarian
Doris Burn, The Summerfolk, 1968, copyright. Thank you SO MUCH!! I have been looking for this book for years, and was beginning to think I had made it up...
As soon as I googled it and saw the cover image, I knew it was the correct book. I cannot wait to be able to read it again and see if it's as I remember. Your description of it as strange/unsettling makes me think it will be!

read this book as a child (early 80's). All different strange people living on a river. They all have different boats. One starts out and picks up the next one...they form a 'flotilla'. I believe they have meals along the way, and meals in between meals like 'lupper'. everybody is quirky.

Tove Jansson, Moominsummer Madness. Could this be one of the Moomintroll books? Like Moominsummer Madness: "A nearby volcano causes a massive wave to flood Moominvalley. While escaping the flood the Moomin family and their friends find a building floating past, and take up residence there
Doris Burn, The Summerfolk. Sounds like it could be The Summerfolk by Doris Burn. It has a dreamy, odd atmosphere, and some people living on boats/raft
Doris Burn, The Summerfolk. Sounds like Doris Burn's The Summerfolk. A boy in a tourist town who looks down on the "summerfolk" ends up among a fleet of quirky boats and people, and decides the summerfolk are more interesting than he originally thought.

Solved: Doris Burn, The Summerfolk. YEA! This is the book I was looking for! Thanks so much! This is solved, now I just have to get the book.

Summerhouse
The book I am looking for is about girls who have been friends since they were young. When they are a little older (about 40, I think) they get together and the topic of discussion is, "If you could change a decision you made in your life, what would it be?" They then go back in time and have a chance to actually change their destiny. They have three days to decide whether they want to stay in their new changed world or go back to they way things were before. Has anyone ever hear of this book? I would appreciate any help.

Jude Deveraux, The Summerhouse.Not sure, but this sounds an awful lot like the plot of The Summerhouse to me. If it isn't, I'd love to know which book it is!
My friend read this book at her cottage this summer. She recalled it to be The Summer House.

Su Won and Her Wonderful Tree
1950-1952.About a Korean girl, Su-Won, who learns silk culture, something about weaving contest? She wins with beautiful golden silk, not the natural colored stuff....might have been called something like "Su-Won and the Golden Silk."

Fairfax, Virginia, Su-Won and Her Wonderful Tree, 1949. "Su Won who is known for her silk weaving yearns to get an education and her weaving helps her win a prize and a chance to go to school."
Fairfax, Virginia, Su Won and her wonderful tree, 1949. Su Won who is known for her silk weaving yearns to get an education and her weaving helps her win a prize and a chance to go to school
Virginia Fairfax (author), Dorothy Bayley Moore (illustrator), Su Won and Her Wonderful Tree, 1949. Su Won is a Korean girl who weaves a very special silk to pay for her schooling.
Su-Won and Her Wonderful Tree, 1949, by Fairfax, Virginia. How much fun is that!?!?! Got it? Best two bucks I ever spent!!! Thanks for a great service!

Sun, The
The first one was a picture book I received as a gift around 1970, when I was about 8. It had sophisticated enough text that it didn't feel babyish. I'm pretty sure it was a translation of a Swedish (or somewhere in that part of the world) story. It was all about Miss Sun and Jack Frost and the North Wind and was basically a story of the seasons. What made it really special was that it had the most beautiful illustrations. All sponge paintings, I think, with incredibly vivid colors. The background color on the cover was red, I think.

Possibly The Sun by Helga Mauersberger, illustrated by Klaus Winter and Helmut Bischoff, published by Edmund Ward, 1961, 44 pages, 13x10in. "A large and gorgeous picture book for small children ... the story of the seasons, the elements and their Queen, the Sun ... in a blaze of rich purples, fuschia and gold we are introduced to dazzling Miss Sunshine, sharp-nosed Jack Frost, wild-haired, noisy Mr. Wind, gay Mr. Rainbow, and many other 'elemental' characters. It will enthrall the young child with its bold colouring and simple story." (ad from Junior Bookshelf, Nov60). It's somewhat early for the book remembered, but the illustration with the ad, though b/w, looks as if it could be sponge-printing combined with pen-and-ink.
S40 seasons story: a bit more on the suggested title by Mauersberger - "This is Cockadoodledo's story of how Miss Sun does her work of making the seasons revolve. It is a picture-book on a grand scale, with no restriction of colours and with an uninhibited vigour which is reminiscent of Swedish work." (JB Mar/61 p.80) Since the Sun is more usually personified as male, this may be distinctive enough a detail to ID the book.

Sun, Moon, and Stars Clock
On the first page of Savery's "In Apple Alley," a small boy named Punch (Richard) Westerby tells friends that he has had adventures with "a sun-moon-and-stars clock... a clock that struck thirteen... a clock that ticked too much... clocks that couldn't tick... a clock that came home from a house under the sea... and a one-o'clock adventure." "The Sun, Moon, and Stars Clock" was reprinted by DC Heath & Co. in "Luck and Pluck" (1942, revised 1950), with copyright permission from Longmans, Green & Co. I'd like to know where the clock series appeared originally and of any other reprints of the individual stories.

I posted the original stumper. I have had a chance to review Constance Savery's work notebooks and found that The Sun, Moon, and Stars Clock was printed in the Oct. '36 issue of the "Junior Red Cross News." She declined an offer from the Oxford University Press for one or two of the others, because she wished to publish them all as a set. Two, at least, of the stories were broadcast by the BBC in Feb. '35, [there were six "Little Dragon" stories by Savery broadcast in 1935 and 1936.] probably as part of the "Uncle Mac Children's Hour." It is possible that these stories were reprinted later in Uncle Mac collections.

Sunday Morning
This is a children's book about two young brothers left home alone for the evening. They are running around the house in their pajamas. Their imaginations run wild and they envision the living room carpet as an ocean and make boats out of sofa cushions. At some point I believe one of them spills cereal all over the floor. When the parents come home, they are not happy and I think the dad stubs his toe. The distinguishing point of this book is the art - it's large pictures that are black and white but inverted because the boys spend most of the night running around with the lights off so they appear as black figures. At the end when the parents arrive, they turn the lights on and everything becomes un-inverted. note: It is very possible I am combining more than one childhood book memory, so anything that is even remotely similar, even if it is not exactly what I described may help (ie: the dad doesn't actually stub his toe or there are other colors than black and white) THANK YOU

Viorst, Judith, Sunday morning : a story.(1968) I am sure this is the book - your description immediately made me think of Judith Viorst. Originally printed in 1968, reprinted as recently as 1993. Illustrated by Hilary Knight It's Sunday morning, very early Sunday morning. Anthony and Nicholas are not supposed to wake their parents before 9:45 am. (Whenever that is.) Certainly, three puzzles falling off a shelf isn't enough to wake them. And what about some music or a game of boat in the living room? These wouldn't wake them up, would they? Illustrations are largely black and white with a hint of blue
Judith Viorst, sunday morning. (1968) Thank you so much, that's it! I really appreciate it as this was driving me nuts! Now I can get it for my daughter. :)

Sunflower Garden
Im looking for a book that was published likely in the 1960s or 1970s, probably by Scholastic. Its about a young American Indian girl who has just a few sunflower seeds. She plants them and watches them grow into sunflowers from which she collects more seeds. Simple book - but I adored it!

Udry, Janice May, The Sunflower Garden, 1969, copyright.

My stumper has been solved! I found a photo of the book...that's definitely it!! Thank you!

Super Colossal Book of Puzzles, Games and Tricks
I'm looking for a book I checked out from the Seattle library during the mid-80s which unfortunately, had a plain library binding so I don't know what the cover looked like. The book was very thick, maybe about 500 pages long, and had black pen drawings. I think it had a number at the beginning of the title, like "10,001" or "30,001" and the title might have been something like, "10,001 Puzzles, Quizzes and Logic Games." It had ghost stories in it too (one of which being the man who picks up a female hitchhiker who turns out to have passed away several years before). There were also numbers you could type into your calculator that would spell the answers to riddles when you turned it upside down. I remember one of the riddles asked for the names of gas stations and the answer was "ESSO" and "SHELL."

I had this book when I was young (which means that it must have been published end of 1970s or beginning of 1980s) - a big, thick hardback. The cover was yellow, with the title in big letters (no picture). I'm pretty sure it was called Puzzles, Games and Fun (or Games, Puzzles and Fun?). I vaguely remember a number like 10,001, but I think that was in the sub-title. Can't remember author/compiler name or publisher - sorry.
Just a guess, but title and date *sort of* match, and the size (448 pp) certainly does: Reader's digest book of 1000 family games. Pleasantville, N.Y., Reader's Digest Association , 1971. 448 p. illus. 27 cm. Cover title: 1000 family games.
Shelia Anne Barry, Giant Book of Puzzles and Games, 1978. I got very lucky and solved my own Book Stumper by going through the books at the used bookstore! They even had two copies! The original title, as I knew it, was Super Colossal Book of Puzzles, Games and Tricks

Suppose You Met a Witch
I remember endlessly going through this book to look at the intricate drawings, possibly before I could read, which would put the time somewhere in the early or mid-80s. No idea of the name. The book was landscape format, not many pages (probably 20 or so), with minimal text, or I may just not remember the text since I was mostly looking at the pictures. Probably intended for children, but not that young. It's a fairy-tale type of story, with a bit of a "Hansel & Gretel" feel to it, but definitely *not* Hansel & Gretel. From what I can remember about it, the heroes were a young man and a young woman, possibly brother and sister. The witch had captured the girl in her house that was covered with thorns. The boy had magic boots that let him travel long distances in one stride? (I may be remembering the boots from a different story.) The girl might have been turned into a swan by the witch? Or maybe the boy & girl could both turn into swans. There was a key that had a swirly design on the end, which might have been used to free the girl at the end of the story. Or the key was used as a sword to kill the witch? The drawings were black and white pen & ink that took up the entire two-page spread, very swirly with lots and lots of embellishment. In particular I remember the face of the witch being hidden in the thorns. She might have been swallowed up by the thorns in the end. The only color that comes to mind besides the black and white drawings is hot pink. The cover may have been hot pink, or possibly some pink on the pages. Hope you can help, I've wanted to find this book for years!!

Brothers Grimm, Jorinda and Joringel. Your description sounds like it might be for a version of Jorinda and Joringel. In this story, a young couple walking in the forest get too close to the home of a witch, who spends her days in the form of an owl or cat, and who captures maidens and turns them into caged birds. Joringel is temporarily frozen to the spot, while Jorinda is turned into a nightingale and locked in a cage. Joringel later has a dream about a magical flower with a dew drop inside, like a perfect pearl, which is the key to freeing his beloved. He goes on a difficult quest to obtain this flower, and with it is able to free Jorinda and the other girls, restoring them to human form, and break the power of the witch. The witch is often portrayed peering out of a thorny thicket. There are a lot of different versions of this book, both as stand-alone stories, and in fairy tale anthologies. Your description of the illustrations sounds like Arthur Rackham's exquisite line drawings. I know his Cinderella book features black-and-white line drawings, accented with pink. I'm not sure if his Jorinda & Joringel was ever published as a stand-alone book, but it is contained in his anthology of Grimms Fairy Tales, which was reissued in the 1970's. Perhaps you are combining details from multiple books?
Ian Serraillier, Suppose You Met a Witch. (1973) Sounds very much like "Suppose You Met a Witch" by Ian Serraillier. Illustrated by Ed Emberley. The book is a picture book in landscape format, the illustrations are pen and ink with HOT PINK (and other colors, but the pink really stands out.) They are done in a very trippy hippy style of the 60's with lots of swirliness and ornateness. The text is from a poem written in 1952 and employs antiquated language like 'twas, and thereon. The two teenagers are Roland and Miranda. The witch, Grimblegrum, traps them in a sack and then takes them home to a gingerbread type house. Miranda has a magic wand that she grabs from the witch and it looks like a swirly key/ candle holder shape. They becomes swans and the witch put on the most magnificent psychedelic pink seven league boots and pursues them. Miranda then transforms into a rose in a hedge and Roland changes into a piper with the wand as his magic flute. The witch ends up trapped in a thorny hedge. The children escape through the woods. Later that day a farmer walking by the hedge hears the witch and sets the hedge on fire and that is the end of her.
Ian Serraillier, Suppose You Met a Witch, 1973. --that is ABSOLUTELY it!! And I must have been able to read because the title and Roland and Miranda all sound familiar to me. Can't believe Ed Emberly was the illustrator, I have some of his drawing books! Thank you SO MUCH! I'll have to check out the other Grimm story as well, sounds like it's right up my alley. :)

Surprise Doll
Dolls of different nationalities belong to little girl. Does one get lost??? It was a small book with pencil drawings, I believe. early 1960s.

Sounds like Morrell Gibson's The Surprise Doll. See more on Most Requested Books. The good news: Purple House Press plans to reissue this book in the fall of 2004.
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I am looking for a book that I read as a child...I'm now 62. I cannot remember the name of the book. I believe it would have been similar to the little Golden Books. The story is about a little girl who has an uncle (or some relative) who brings her dolls from every country that he visits. I think he may have been a sea captain, who traveled to different ports, but I'm not positive about that part. The book instilled a desire for travel and adventure that still haunts me today. I would love to read it again to see what has influenced my life in such a significant manner. Thanks for any help you might have.

Definately Morrell Gipson's The Surprise Doll. Originally published by Wonder Books in 1949, and due for reissue by Purple House Press in the spring of 2005. Read more on the Most Requested Page where you can reserve your copy now ($15).
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I am looking for an Eloise Wilkin illustrated book that my Gramma had...it was about a little girl whose father went on a trip (he may have been a pilot) and brought her back a doll....I want to give it to my sister for her 50th bday...she loved that story and has been trying to find it for years. Help! Thanks in advance!

HRL: I don't think it's Eloise Wilkin, but it's from that vintage... I think it's the oft-requested and just reprinted The Surprise Doll by Morrell Gipson. It was a hard one to find Wonder Book until last week: now I have nice slick Purple House reprints for a mere $15.

Surprise for Davy
I am trying to recall which Lois Lenski book (I'm pretty sure it was Lois Lenski) in which there was a scene of children at a birthday party. I remember there was a cake and other party items.

Zolotow, Charlotte, Over and Over, 1957. Even though this isn't Lois Lenski, it may be the book. Garth Williams illustrated it with terrific watercolors. The book takes a small girl through a year of holidays (Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter etc.) Her birthday comes right at the end, her wish being for it all to happen again ("And of course, over and over, year after year, it did."). There's a wonderful illustration of children wearing party hats at the table bearing the cake, which is what makes me think this might be the book.
Lenski, Lois, Surprise For Davy, H.Z. Walck, 1947. "Davy celebrates his fourth birthday with presents, a party, and a big birthday cake."
Lois Lenski (illustrator)/Maude Hart Lovelace (author), Betsy-Tacy. Are you sure the book was written by Lois Lenski, or is it possible it was only illustrated by her? The reason I ask is because she illustrated the earlier editions of the Betsy-Tacy Series by Maude Hart Lovelace. I know that one of the Betsy-Tacy books-"Betsy-Tacy", I believe, includes illustrations of a child's (Betsy's) party.
Lovelace, Maud Hart, Betsy-Tacy and Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, 1940 and 1942. These two books from the Betsy-Tacy series, illustrated by Lois Lenski, contain illustrations from birthday parties.
Thanks for all the information! From reading these comments and doing some on-line research I think the book might be Surprise for Davy. I have ordered a copy of it and when it arrives I will post what I find out.
Mystery solved! Surprise for Davy is the book I remembered!! It is wonderful to have a copy again.

Surprise for Mrs. Bunny
It was about a family of bunnies-just the mother and several children, as far as I can remember. The mother's birthday came up (Easter, I believe). All of the little bunnies decided to take and egg, and each would paint it a different color for the mother, putting them all in a basket as a gift. One painted his blue like the sky, one yellow like the sun, one green like the grass, etc. The two distinctive ones were these - one bunny was sitting on a desk pondering over what color to paint the egg, and accidentally spilt black ink all over it. The last one spent the whole time thinking, and couldn't come up with anything. So he put his in the basket white, very worried about disappointing his mother. Conclusion of the story was that she was extremely happy with the gift, and liked the white egg most of all.

Not positive, because I don't have the book any more, but I think this is A Surprise for Mrs. Bunny by Charlotte Steiner, Wonder Book #601 first published in 1953. I had the book when I was little, though I didn't remember it until I read the stumper. The last picture was the one that got me, of the beautiful basket with all the vividly colored eggs in it!
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A children's Easter book...I remember a big paint brush and a dozen eggs all which are "white" and then painted but there is one black egg...in the end, the black egg hatches!

Charlotte Steiner, Surprise for Mrs. Bunny. A Wonder Book. Each bunny takes one of the white eggs and paints it a different colour.
Charlotte Steiner, A Surprise for Mrs. Bunny. All of Mrs. Bunny's children's are painting eggs for her birthday. Each one chooses a different color (one accidentally spills ink so that egg ends up black) but one can't think of a color so leaves his white. The white egg hatches at the end and a baby chick appears. A Wonder Book.
I'm sorry, I don't know the name of this book, as I myself am searching for it, but I can give you more details. It is about several little bunnies who want to give their mother a beautiful easter gift. They each take an egg and decide to paint it a different colour - one gazes at the sky and finds it beautiful so he paints his egg blue, - so the story goes, except for one little bunny who accidently knocks over the ink and so his egg becomes black. he is upset because he doesn't think his egg is beautiful like the others, but to his surprise, when they give them to their mother at the end, his egg hatches and that's the best gift of all. I think the book may have originally been a European or Scandinavian story has they have names like Lola, Olla, etc (I think) I had this book in the mid 70s. It was like a smaller version of a golden book but with glossy paper covered board covers.
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I remember this book from the mid 1960's. It was about little bunnies who wanted to color their own Easter eggs...one made his "blue like the sky", another "green like the grass", and the last little bunny couldn't decide and colored his too many times and it turned black. Thanks for any help you can provide.....

Charlotte Steiner, A Surprise for Mrs. Bunny1945, Charming story about eight little bunnies who weave a basket for their mother''s birthday, and decorate eggs to put inside. They colored their eggs red like roses, orange like carrots, yellow like a duckling's feathers, green like lettuce, blue like the sky, black like ink (because bunny Lolly spilled ink on her egg), and purple like violets. The last egg was unpainted, because bunny Jolly fell asleep and awoke too late. However, this egg hatched into a little yellow chick, for the most wonderful surprise of all.
Charlotte Steiner, Surprise for Mrs. Bunny. "Baby rabbits named Rolly, Dolly, Trolly, Molly, Lolly, Wolly, Polly, and Jolly want to do something special for their mother's birthday." Definitely the one.
Charlotte Steiner, A Surprise for Mrs. Bunny. I had this one as a child- it's definitely the one you're looking for. All of the little bunnies pick out beautiful colors to dye eggs for their mother, each bunny having a favorite color. One accidently knocks an ink well over onto hers, leaving her with a black egg. The last bunny just can't decide which color to use so leaves her egg white. She's sad, but cheers up when that egg hatches into a cute chick as a special surprise for Mrs. Bunny.
Charlotte Steiner, Surprise for Mrs. Bunny, 1953. Check in Solved Mysteries -- it sounds like it could be the one.
Charlotte Steiner, A Surprise For Mrs. Bunny, 1953. This is definitely the book (and there will probably be lots of responses).
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A childrens book from the mid 1950's about bunnies/rabbits named Molly, Lolly, Dolly etc. They each colored eggs their own color. The pictures may be similar to those done by Garth Williams.

Charlotte Steiner, A Surprise for Mrs. Bunny,1945. Definitely this one. From inside the dust jacket: "Rolly, Dolly, Trolly, Molly, Lolly, Wolly, Polly, and Jolly decided to make a shopping basked and surprise their Mama Bunny on her Birthday. But when the basket was finished, it looked so empty! Trolly had a clever idea. He suggested that each bunny put an egg in the basket, painted the color he liked best. While the others were busily painting their eggs, Jolly, who was a lazy little bunny, fell fast asleep. What happened to Jolly's plain white egg was as big a surprise to the eight little bunnies as it was to Mrs. Bunny."
A Surprise for Mrs. Bunny
Charlotte Steiner, A Surprise for Mrs. Bunny. Definitely the book you are seeking. Mrs. Bunny's children want to make her a special Easter basket so each chooses a different color for their egg. The children's names are Lolly, Dolly, Rolly, Polly, etc. One accidentally knocks an ink bottle over on his egg so it has to be black. The others choose lovely colors and the basket looks very nice. The youngest one is sad because she couldn't find a color for her egg but it turns out to be the best one because it hatches a chick!
Steiner, Charlotte, A surprise for Mrs Bunny,1945.originally published by Grosset & Dunlap, reprinted by Wonder Books (I have one dating from the 70s). The rabbit siblings each paint an egg as an easter surprise for their mother.

Surprise for Sally
This story book was published in the 1950's I think. One story was about a little girl who's name might have been Kitty, who lived in an apartment at the top of the stairs. Everyday she went "up the stairs, up the stairs, up up up the stairs." and at the middle she stopped to visit a little mouse. The "up the stairs" text is repeated through the story. I've had no luck searching the usual channels for this book, but would love to find it.

Ethel Crowninshield, Surprise for Sally. I have finally solved my own stumper after purchasing a copy of the book, and then realizing this story was one of several in the book. The story is called "Ketty's Secret," and it is about a little girl who lives on the top floor of her apartment building. She comes home alone from school but has a little pet mouse who lives in the stairs and keeps her company. The 'Up the stairs' phrase is repeated throughout the story. This is one of the stories in the Little Golden Book called Surprise for Sally published in 1950. The cover of the book gives no indication that the book contains more than one story.

Surprise House
A 10-year-old girl who loves to read inherits a large library from her aunt or grandmother. Since her relative was very wealthy, it seemed strange to the others in her family that a collection of books was all she was left, but the girl is happy with her inheritance. In her will her grandmother sets her a task: to read the plays of Shakespeare from a particular edition in the library -- the pages of which she has marked with clues that involve her niece in an ongoing treasure hunt. I loved it, but cannot remember the name or the author. Any help would me much appreciated.

S76 Squeak and S83 Shakespearean treasure hunt sound similar (can you say that 5 times fast?)
Maybe ... Brown, Abbie F. Surprise House New York, Houghton 1917, 110 pages, illustrated by Helen Mason Grose. "The eccentricities of a maiden aunt are manifested in the house which she bequeathed to her nephews and nieces, especially in her Shakespeare library where the interest of the story centres."
I've just read Surprise House byAbbie Farwell Brown, and I feel sure it must be the solution to this stumper. The eccentric aunt has left the contents of her library to 15 year old Mary. She finds a letter from her aunt with instructions to read Shakespeare's plays in a certain order. When she does, she finds that certain passages have been underlined which are clues leading to the treasure. Eventually she discovers that a volume titled "Gems from Shakespeare" is not actually a book, but a box designed to look like one... but even though real treasure is found, the moral is that the real gems from Shakespeare are found in his writing. Other memorable details include the trick door bell of the house, which instead of ringing produces a stern voice saying "nobody home", and the aunt's black cat, Caliban, who Mary also inherits.

Surprise in the Tree
I am looking for a book about a boy named Jerry who has a cat named "Penny". The illustrations as I remember them are pen and ink line drawings with yellow color ink accent (Like the cat for instance) There is a picture of an old rich lady walking a french poodle in it. That's all I can remember. But I am certain the boy is Jerry and cat is Penny. This was a favorite of mine when I was a toddler. Can you find if from a description like this?

Maybe this one - Surprise in the Tree, by Sara Asheron, illustrated by Susan Perl, published Wonder Books 1962, illustrations in b&w and yellow. "When Jerry's new kitten Penny goes up a tree and can't get down, his
mother calls the fire department but Jerry climbs up the tree and then he can't get down either!"

The Survival of Jan Little
Biography or autobiography ~ setting was a remote location ~ possibly a tropical jungle. Story about 2 women, a blind mother and her daughter. How the women survived ~ some times they were cut off from supplies. The daughter may have died.

John Man, The Survival of Jan Little, 1988. If this isn't it, it might be of interest to you as a story along the same lines. This is about a partially deaf-blind woman who married a jungle adventurer. His name is Harry. There is a lot about homesteading in the Amazon jungle. She has a daughter named Rebecca. Harry, a religious fanatic, becomes emotionally abusive and Jan and Rebecca put up with that for twenty years before he dies. Rebecca dies also and Jan is left to fend for herself. The story is how she does it.
John Man, The Survival of Jan Little.1987, This was the correct book. Thanks so much!

Susan's Bears
The book was light blue with a family of bears on the front. The story was that a child discovered them living behind the closet door in the hall upstairs in his house.

This isn't exactly the book described, but it's the first book that jumped into my mind -- The Bears Upstairsby Dorothy Haas (Scholastic, 1978). The cover is light blue and shows the bears dressed in clothes, along with the girl who discovers that they are alien bears living upstairs in her apartment building trying to get back to the planet Brun.
Mildred Lawrence, Susan's Bears, 1945. This might be it. "Although Susan wasn't afraid of the bears in the zoo, she was
very much afraid of the bears she could not see-those imaginary ones that lived behind the upstairs hall door at Aunt Marian's house. With humor and understanding Mildred Lawrence tells how Susan overcame her fear of the bear family and become friends with them instead." This is also anthologized in The Tall Book of Makebelieve.

Susan's Magic
This was a chapter book I read in the mid-70's, maybe fifth- or sixth-grade level. No memory of the exact plot, but there was a dollhouse the main character wanted, some sort of shop (antique or junk?), and- this detail stuck with me- an orange cake figured in at some point, deliciously described, being sold at some kind of bake sale or fundraiser. I also associate the names Joyce (an unpleasant character?) and Susan (the heroine or maybe the author) with this book. I think the setting was contemporary.

Solved my own stumper and figured I'd post it in case this description rang a bell with anyone else- it's Susan's Magic by Nan Hayden Agle, 1973.

Susannah at Boarding School
As a child, I read a book about a little girl in a french school. The little girl was about 9 or 10 and was episode was called fish eyes and glue. It concerned how she was forced to eat all she took and was busy talking and missed not refusing the dessert of grapes in a paste called fish eyes and glue. Her favorite teacher, mamselle, taught her how to eat it with a bit of sweet candy. It was a very good book. Does it ring any bells?

I do not know if this is the book you are referring to. In the book Susannah at Boarding School, there is an episode about the students eating tapioca pudding, which they called "fish eyes and glue". This book does not
take place in France, but in England. It is the third book in a series by Muriel Denison, about a girl who before being sent to England lived on the Canadan praire and in the Yukon.
I pulled out our library's copy of Muriel Denison's Susannah at Boarding School New York, Dodd Mead, 1941, 344 pages, and it's looking like a good match. Susannah is at school in England, not France, but in a French school it seems likely that ALL the teachers would be addressed as Mamselle, not just the French mistress. In the chapter "Settling Down" Susannah is, yes, busy talking and forgets to refuse 'fish eyes and glue' which is tapioca pudding. The school rule is that any food accepted must be finished. She has to stay at the table until she eats it, after everyone else has gone. She finally agrees to eat it when the 'old girl' Rosemary arrives for a
visit and gives her a little cake and then a chocolate to 'take the taste away'. Rosemary is not French, but has just come from Paris, has French frocks, and smells of 'violette de Parme' perfume.

Susi: A Little Girl Who had a Wonderful Birthday Party
From the early 50s? A little girl, Susan? Susy?, is in bed, with I think a hot water bottle. I remember a milkman with a horse-drawn wagon, counting sheep, a sawing log, a french poodle, maybe some sad rain clouds. Illustrated, lots of pink. Younger readers.

I remember a similar book, but I thought it was called "A Nightcap for Cathy". Cathy can't sleep, even after trying everything, so her mother either buys or makes her a cap to wear to bed. I'm not sure about the "nightcap" part, but I am sure the name was Cathy. It had to have been published in 1968 or before.
The book that's been cited as "A Nightcap for Cathy" I knew as The I Don't Want To Go To Bed Book For Girls, and it certainly was pink. It came with a little nightcap with felt hands attached that supposedly came down over your ears (but was way too small for anyone over three or so). It was an alleged "magic" nightcap that was supposed to put the wearer to sleep instantly. Does any of this sound familiar?
Dorothea Filosa, Susi: A Little Girl Who had a Wonderful Birthday Party, 1939, copyright. Am I allowed to solve my own stumper? My mother managed to find the book I was trying to remember, though she has no idea where it came from. I didn't remember the subtitle at all, but the pictures are just as I remembered them, and I still love the book.

Susie series
I am looking for a book that I read as a child in the late 60s-early 70s. It is probably a scholastic book. It is about a little girl who is really into ballet. I believe she has short hair. She goes to the beach with her family for the summer, they rent a beach house, possibly a house with a crow's nest on top. She has a little baby brother or sister and I think her Dad may leave for the week and come back on weekends, or he commutes to work. She meets a boy who is also a dancer. She becomes involved with a dancing couple, maybe from Russia, they are putting on a dance of the nutcracker and the little girl gets to dance in the show. I think in one dance she is one of the bon-bons, or maybe one of the children under the skirt of the male dancer. There is also is a character named Allegra Allard. I believe she is not very nice to the little girl, and there may be some kind of competition with the boy or as dancers. Thank you in advance for your help!

Wyndham, Lee (pseud), Susie and the ballet family, 1955. You remember the details very accurately - Susie goes with her family to the beach - and the house does indeed have a crow's nest. Allegra is truly awful! There are a series of Susie books
Susie and the Ballet Family, by Lee Wyndham. Illustrated by Jane Miller. Originally published by Dodd, Mead in 1955 reprinted in paperback several times by Scholastic. This is part of a series that includes A Dance for Susie (1953), Susie and the Dancing Cat (1954), On Your Toes, Susie! (1958) and Susie and the Ballet Horse (1961), all published by Dodd, Mead. On Your Toes, Susie! was also reprinted by Scholastic, though the others were not Lee Wyndham was the psuedonym for Jane Andrews.
Lee Wyndham, Susie and the Ballet Family, 1960s. Your description sounds like it must be one of the Susie books.
I'm pretty sure this is one of Lee Wyndham's "Susie" books. It could be On your toes, Susie and was published as a Scholastic book. There are references to the books in the solved pages on this site.

Lee Wyndham, Series of Susie dance books. (1958) This question was already solved but more info. There are four books in the series. A Dance For Susie, Susie and the Dancing Cat, Susie and the Ballet Family, and On Your Toes, Susie. They are timeless books. I owned the book On Your Toes Susie and my daughter and I just read it again (the original book!)

Suzi, a Shy Little Mouse
My favorite!! Susie was a Shy Mouse who said "Squeekety, Eekety, squeekity, EEEK !!" I think the cover was orange, and it could have been published in the 30's, but it was read to me in the 40's.

Wittner, Ruth W, Suzie, a shy little mouse. Illus. by Erma Jane Wittner. The Harter Pub. Co., 1934.

Suzuki Beane
Girl named Suzuki Bean a free spirit , lives lives in a loft with bohemian artist parents Marsha and John? befriends a conservative kid from rich family. I'm looking for this book for a friend, who read it in the 1970's.

Suzuki Bean is exactly the title, written by Sandra Scoppettone and illustrated by Louise Fitzhugh (of Harriet the Spy fame). It's getting harder to find these days...
Hi, just writing to make a correction. What's listed as Suzuki Bean is really Suzuki Beane, Doubleday, 1961. That extra E was what made me able to actually find sellers with copies after months of confusion. Cheers!

Swallows and Amazons
I am 62 years old. About 50 years ago, when I was a boy in England, I read a series of library books, I think there were at least half a dozen in the series, about three brothers. They were young teenagers, the youngest may have been pre-teen and I 'think' his name was Roger, although I can't be sure of that. All of the books were of their various summer vacation adventures. I think they took place in east-central England, I think in the Yarmouth area. I would love to read these books again but I don't remember the author. Can you help?

The author of these books is Arthur Ransome. The first book in the series is called Swallows and Amazons - and there is a series of around 12 books in total.
Hope this helps!
Unless the poster has remembered the number of brothers wrongly, this is not Ransome, which has a family of two boys and three girls (although most of the books only feature two of the girls). The younger boy is a Roger, though.
Arthur Ransome, Swallows & Amazons. YES! YES!! You solved it for me!! Thank you! Thank you!! Now I can read them again!!!! Many thanks!!!!!!
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I remember reading a series of childrens books with my mother in the mid-late 1970's. No idea what the titles, character names, author, date of publication are. The stories were about a group of children from different families who lived close to the shore (not sure which continent or ocean) but each child or family had a small sailboat that the children had adventures in together in the marshy waterways close to the ocean. There were both boys and girls, some had one-person sailboats and others had room for two or three. I would guess the books were probably written in the 40's or 50's. I would love to now read these books with my boys. Thanks for helping!

Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons, 1930. Sounds like the Swallows and Amazons series, a perennial favorite, and still in print. Set in the Lake District between the two world wars, The Walker children and the Blackett children sail their dinghies on the lakes and streams near their homes, exploring and camping during the summer holiday.
Arthur Ransome, Swallos and Amazons, 1930. Almost certainly this series.
Arthur Ransome, The Coot Club. I concur that you're probably looking for one of Ransome's many books -- if you remember "marshy waterways close to the ocean" you might first try The Coot Club or The Big Six, which take place on the Norfolk Broads rather than the Lake District. But all the books are good, and the various characters intermingle to an extent.
Ransome, Arthur, Swallows and Amazons, 1930. Thank you all so much. This was indeed the series I was remembering and we are enjoying reading them together.

Swan Song
There was a young adult book I think was called Swan Song, about a girl’s first love. I remember it being somewhat tragic, and involved her boyfriend’s unhappy family life. I also read this one in the late 80’s. Hope you can help! If you can give me any clues, I’ll be forever in your debt, because I’ve been searching for these books for years!

Hi. Just read through the unsolved section and I have a few ideas. On #S17 could it be SWAN SONG by Helen Robertson, 1960 a British book also titled something like the Chinese Goose (in Britain).
I'll check it out! Love your site! :)
I think this is actually Swann Song, by Gibbs Davis (1988). The summary on Amazon is: Lost in her first love, Prudence fails to notice the troubles best friend Mary Tess is facing, until it's too late. Ages 12-up. I read this book in high school and I'm pretty sure it's the one the original poster is referring to. Your site is wonderful! I've already found more than half a dozen books I remembered from my own childhood just by browsing the solved mysteries. I plan to visit often!

Swarm in May
I too would like some help finding a book. I cannot recall the title or the author, but it is a story of a boy who belongs to a Cathedral School in England and revives an old church ritual involving bees. The book is full of interesting information on bee-keeping. The most memorable scene occurs when the boy leads a procession through the cathedral holding a swarm of honey-bees aloft at the end of some sort of mitre.

Another book dealer just told me that the Cathedral School story is William Mayne's fabulous Swarm in May.
Swarm in May - this is the first of 4 titles in the Choir School series by William Mayne. Set in Canterbury
Cathedral. The others are: Chorister's Cake, Cathedral Wednesday and Words and Music.

Sweet Patootie Doll
The Sweet Potato Doll, 60sor earlier. My sister and I frequently checked out this book from the public library and I think I have the correct title. The story is about a sweet potato that is fashioned into a doll because its features look like a face. We read it in the early-mid 60s, though it may have been published earlier. Thanks for any help. I'd love to learn more details and obtain a copy someday.

Mary Calhoun, Sweet Patootie Doll, 1957."Once upon a time there was a Sweet Patootie Doll. A doll made out of sweet potatoe. This little old Sweet Patootie Doll belonged to a girl named Lucy. And this is how the doll came to be."
The Sweet Patootie Dollby Mary Calhoun.

Sweet Pickles series
I am thrilled to have found you. I am a new mother to a 4-month-old son and reading is a part of our daily routine. For several weeks now I have been trying to recollect a series of animal books that I read to children I cared for in the early 1980’s. Their mother received the books through a book-of-the-month club and I remember eagerly awaiting their arrival. All of the characters were animals and they taught great lessons about manners, friendships, etc. I am at a loss for any character names or titles but hope you may be able to help. I have never seen any of the books in a bookstore so maybe you know about some of the book clubs that existed in the 1980’s. I appreciate any information you might have. Thank you for providing the world with such a wonderful service!!

Oh, oh, oh, I remember reading these! My mom got them for me. They were cheaply made small hard cover books with no dust jacket. I never liked the illustrations (simple line drawings colored in) but I really enjoyed the stories. There was one in particular about an Iguana who wanted to look like everyone else and ended up in a ridiculous costume. I'm positive it was called Me Too Iguana. This was a whole series, one for each animal, Walrus, Dog, Pig etc. Sorry - can't remember author, illustrator or publisher, but there was a (logo?) Pickle on every cover. Now, somebody help me with my stumpers (C11 & D14)!!!!
Now there's a clue I know what to do with! How 'bout the Sweet Pickles series? They were indeed book club books and fit all the descriptions I've read so far.

Sweet Smells of Christmas
This was a scratch and sniff book, probably a board book but I can't remember, that had a Hershey's chocolate bar on one page and I believe spearmint gum on another. I can't remember the other scents but maybe leather? Thanks for your help!

S176 Sounds like THE SWEET SMELL OF CHRISTMAS by Patricia Scarry (a bear family, and you scratch and sniff different things like the mug of cocoa, the candy cane, the pine). And good news! I wrote to the publisher recently to ask them to consider re-issuing it, and they told me they already had plans to republish it and will bring it out Fall 2003! ~from a librarian

Sweet Touch
I'm trying to find a book for my sister. She remembers reading it in the late seventies. It was about a little girl who has a dream that everything in her bedroom turns to candy. Her bed posts become candy canes and a chocolate syrup river flows through her bedroom and sweeps her away on her bed.

I am searching for the same book as the above listed person. I have been searching for this book for years, and am so excited to finally find someone else who is familiar with this book!!!! Also, if you find any information
on this book, please let me know. I do remember that the girlat the end wakes up and has been trying to eat her pillow b/c she thinks it is cotton candy. I thought the book had the word "magic" in the title...
I have found the book. I got in touch with one of my old elementary teachers and she found out the
title! It is Sweet Touch by Lorna Balian. I checked it out at Barnes & Noble and they do have the hardcover available.
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I remember a book in which the little girl wished that everything that she touched turned to sweets. When the wish came true, she began to eat everything in sight. After a while, she became sick and learned that it wasn't a good thing to always eat sweets. Do you have any idea what the name of that story is? I remember very colorful pages, but not much else. I could recognize the book by seeing it, but I can't think of the name.

E27 *might* be Lorna Balian's picture book, The Sweet Touch.
Erik Kraft, Chocolatina, April 1998. Tina's health teacher is always admonishing her students, "You are what
you eat!" But all Tina likes to eat is chocolate. One day she wishes Mrs. Ferdman's favorite saying were true, and the very next morning she wakes up a completely chocolate girl! How is she going to become an un-chocolate girl?
Lorna Balian, Sweet Touch
The Sweet Touch, written and illustrated by Lorna Balian, published Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1976 Pictorial Hard Cover. "To Peggy's great surprise, there stood oliver, a genuine [but inexperienced] genie! He had
been summoned when Peggy rubbed the genuine plastic gold ring that she got outof a gumball machine. Oliver, who's just getting started in the genie business can only grant Peggy one wish due to his youth and inexperience. Why not make everything that Peggy touches turn into something sweet? But then Peggy and Oliver have another problem, Oliver doesn't know how to turn the wish off!!"
E27 Could this be THE SWEET TOUCHby Lorna Balian, 1976, 1994 ~from a librarian
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This book is probably from the early 70's. It's about a little girl who falls asleep and dreams all the items in her room turn into candy (i.e. her pillow turns into cotton candy, etc, jump rope turns into licorice. I think something else turns into taffy. The last time I read this was probably 1977. If memory serves, the book was pale yellow w/ black type.

Could this one be The Sweet Touch by Lorna Balian? This is on the solved mysteries page, too.
Balian Lorna, Sweet Touch. Abingdon, 1976. The little girl is visited by a very young inept fairy who gives
her the "sweet touch" and comic candy mayhem insues until his mother finds him and undoes the sweet spell. One of Balian's best!
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A little girl goes to bed and dreams that everything she touches turns to candy. Her bedpost turns to candy. The clouds are made of candy. When she wakes up she finds a little dab of candy in her hair and she knows it's not just a dream. 1980s.

C298 Sounds like THE SWEET TOUCH by Lorna Balian, and has been republished.~from a librarian
Lorna Balian, The Sweet Touch, 1976. If I remember correctly, a little girl finds a plastic silver ring from a gumball machine, rubs it to "see if the shiny will come off" and unleashes a neophyte genie who grants a candy-related wish but things get deliciously out of control.
It will be republished, that is. It's slated to be re-released in April of 2005 by Star Bright Books for $15.95.
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This book was read to my 3rd grade class about 20 years age (1984?) and I do not remember the name or author. It was about a little girl who ate gumballs/candy and then got all tangled up in it. The illustrations were very soft and pastel colored. She had light or blond hair and I think she was in bed with pillows. She may have been dreaming in the story. I would love to find this book to read it to my daughter. The librarian's name who read it to my class was Nancy Walkup from Barton school in Mpls, MN. Do any of you literary buffs happen to know her? Maybe she would remember this book?

Lorna Balian, The Sweet Touch. This definitely sounds like the book. A little girl has a young fairy grant her wish that everything she touches becomes sweet. Her mattresses turn into marshmallows, her pillow to cotton candy, her bed to gingerbread.
Hi Harriet! THANK-YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!! My book mystery has been solved! I ALSO WANT TO THANK WHOEVER SOLVED THIS MYSTERY FOR ME! “The Sweet Touch” By Lorna Balian

Sweet Valley Twins Series
I am trying to find a book I read in junior high. It has something to do with two Harlequin male dolls who are actually princes in another world. The details are fuzzy, but I think there are two girls (?), and one goes with each prince in order to reach the castle and remove the doll spell maybe? I remember a scene in an underwater world I think, and also a scene with an avalanche...can anyone help?

Francine Pascal, Sweet Valley Twins Christmas Special (?). I am not sure of this but is sounds like a Sweet Valley Twins super/special edition and it might have been a Christmas one. I remember 2 princes and the underwater part sound familiar too.
Francine Pascal, Sweet Valley Twins and Friends: The Magic Christmas, 1992. Jessica and Elizabeth receive matching antique dolls from their grandparents for Christmas. After helping free the two princes imprisoned in the dolls from a spell, they are trapped in the Hidden Kingdom and must help defeat the evil sorcerer in order to return home.

A Sweetheart for Valentine
I read this in the late 1980s. The plot involved a giant (female) who lived near a bunch of villagers. The villagers grew tons of flowers in order to make a beautiful dress for her (possibly a wedding dress?). The thing I remember most is the vivid 2 page spread of the giant in the dress. Thanks

Lorna Balian, A Sweetheart for Valentine.

Lorna Balian, A Sweetheart for Valentine. You are totally right! Thank you so much! I am so excited right now...you just made my week!
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Valentines day book ~either later 70's early 80's. Saint valentines seems to me to be a theme of book. Illustrations are like a "where's waldo feel" they are tiny and cover the pages. There's a village and perhaps cupids telling the story how st. valentines got it's name. Need Help! can't find!

Lorna Balian, A Sweetheart for Valentine, 1979. I love this book and read it to my students every Valentine's Day. The illustrations have the same "feel" as the book you are describing.
Lorna Balian, A Sweetheart for Valentine, 1979. Hello! I am like a giddy kid! I just checked to see if someone has been able to assist with my "stumper" and they did!! They found the book! It's funny but I feel a weight has been lifted! How do I mark it as solved? How can I thank the person that left he information? What a relief!

Swiftwater
This is a book my husband read in the 50s or early 60s. It probably takes place in the pioneer days. A young boy hunts and traps so he can earn money to buy a gun. When he finally has enough money, there is a family crisis and he gives the money to his parents. Later, he receives the gun as a Christmas present.

B223 It's NOT The matchlock gunby Edmonds. I read some of that today.
Paul Annixter , Swiftwater, 1950. This sounds a lot like one my favorite boyhood books, about a boy named Bucky Calloway that tends traplines and fights a wolverine. For christmas his family gets him a gun he had admired at the store they trade their furs to, but he chooses instead to accept one of this father's guns instead.

Swing in the Summerhouse
I believe there are two books. I remember that there was a gazebo in a garden, and perhaps a swing, and two children, perhaps brother and sister, and they would travel in time. The book itself was hard back, and the cover was purple and had a pen and ink drawing of the swing and gazebo on the front. I believe there may have been pen and ink illustrations in the book. I heard about this site on NPR, and believe it or not, I have been racking my brain trying to remember the title of the book that was mentioned on the NPR segment, All of a Kind Family. Thanks so much for this website!

Jane Langton, The Swing in the Summerhouse. See S179 below.
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I pulled this off the library shelf during the summer of 1972 or 1973. I was 12 or 13 at the time and it was a chapter book. It is about a brother and sister and a gazebo in a backyard. There is a swing in the center of the gazebo and above each side of the gazebo is a carved inscription. If the children jump off the swing and go through one of the sides of the gazebo, they land in an alternate reality that has something to do with the inscription. I know at one point, the brother (or sister) turns into a statue. There are also strange things that happen in the house that involves a dollhouse, someone sewing something white, pricking a finger and a tiny drop of blood....I would love to read this book again and share it with my 13 year old daughter. I remember it gave me goosebumps and had a good ending.

#S179--Swing in gazebo sends children to alternate realities: Langton, Jane, Illustrated by Erik Blegvad. The Swing in the Summerhouse. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. First Edition, 185 pages. A swing in a summerhouse leads Edward, Eleanor, and Georgie on a series of strange and fantastic adventures. Hall Family Chronicles, Book 2, sequel to The Diamond in the Window and companion to The Astonishing Stereoscope, all three of which should appear under "Solved Mysteries."
Jane Langton, The Swing in the Summerhouse.
Jane Langton, The Swing in the Summerhouse. 1967. Part of a series of 6 books in the Hall Family Chronicles. Back in print!
Jane Langton, The Swing in the Summerhouse.
Jane Langton, The Swing in the Summerhouse, 1967. This is the first sequel to "The Diamond in the Window", though there are several Hall family chronicles that follow it: "The Astonishing Stereoscope", "The Fledgeling", "The Fragile Flag", and most recently, "The Time Bike". "When Prince Krishna is called away, he leaves behind some strict instructions for the Hall children about one of the openings in the mysterious summerhouse: Keep Out! As Eddy and Eleanor swing through each of the other openings, they refuse to break the rule, even as their temptation grows. But when Oliver and little Georgie disappear through the forbidden archway, Eleanor and Eddy know that they must either break their promise or risk never seeing their friends again."

Swish of the Curtain
This book is about two families of children who live in England. I think it's set about in the '60s. One family moves in close to the other family, and the children meet at a horrible performance being put on by the lady's club in town. They begin hanging out. All of them are talented either in acting, dancing, or singing. They accidentally throw a stone through a window of a closed-down old building. As they sneak into the church to see the damage, they discover a perfect mini-theatre. They decide to see if they can renovate the place and start putting on productions. They become befriended by a clergy man (not sure on that), and he educates them further in their acting abilities/interests by taking them with him to Startford-on-Avon for the Shakespeare festival. Eventually they end up winning a major competition for their performance (something to do with a circus). And, although they all originally had other future plans, they decide to continue persuing their acting careers with the plan to come back together as a company when they are all older. I remember that one of the girls is a really good sewer and singer. One of them (a red-head) is a really good dancer/actor. The rest all have a variety of skills. I want to say one of the boys was called Nigel, but I'm really not sure. It included at least five children if not six or seven. Their ages ranged from early teens to about to graduate from school.

Noel Streatfield, Theater Shoes. (1945) This stumper immediately made me think of Noel Streatfield's books, which are always about children who can dance or sing or act. Here is a description: Three orphans are forced to enter a theater school by their grandmother, a famous actress. Unable to pay the tuition, they are given scholarships from the now-grown orphans from Ballet Shoes. Will they be able to live up to their patrons’ legacies? The children are ready to run away—until they discover their hidden talents. Originally published in 1945.
Pamela Brown , The Swish of the Curtain. There are also several sequels to this book.
Brown Pamela, The swish of the curtain. There are 3 families involved, Sandra & Maddie, Lynette & Jeremy, Nigel, Bulldog and Vickie, who find an unused former chapel and convert it to the Blue Door Theatre. They all loathe Mrs Potter-Smythe, but the Bishop of Fenchester and their local vicar help them to begin with. There are sequels to this as well.
Pamela Brown, The Swish of the Curtain
I found this: "Pamela Brown's excellent series about a group of youngsters : Lynne, Nigel; Sandra; Vicky; Jeremy; Maddy; and Bulldog (aka Percy). They first discover a lonely hall then give amateur theatricals in it. Eventually they train in London and return to open the hall as the Blue Door Theatre and go on from there. Blue Door Books in order: Swish of the Curtain; Golden Pavements; Maddy Alone; Blue Door Venture; Maddy Again."

Sword of Aradel
A girl and a young boy (a fair-haired Celt, thus destined to become a great leader) travel forward in time to a modern library on a quest to retrieve a legendary sword. I was going to have to ask about another book as well - A young witch and "spelling bee" (bumblebee) named Malachi who lives under the porch - but your site identified Witch Family for me already. Thanks!

Alexander Key, The Sword of Aradel, 1977. This sounds like one of my favorite books. A medieval boy and girl travel through time 1000 years to New York City to find a legendary sword in a museum. Turns out the boy is the lost heir to the throne.
F68 fairhaired celt: sounds rather like The Sword of Aradel, by Alexander Key, published Westminster 1977, 144 pages. "A medieval boy and girl travel through time to present-day New York in search of a magic sword." From the dustjacket: "Brian's only real friend at the medieval abbey is Brother Benedict, a burly blacksmith who teaches Brian history, quarterstaff, and sword-handling. Only a peasant serf boy, Brian is mysteriously called on for a special mission - a search for the true sword of Aradel. Escaping from the abbey by a secret route, Brian finds himself in a magical forest. There Merra, the strawberry girl who is half Dryad, comes to his aid and uses her special powers. The two magically whirl through time - and land in modern, midtown Manhattan - pursued by the evil monk Albericus, who has also traveled from medieval times. Merra and Brian find themselves in all sorts of situations. They try buying hamburgers with a twelfth-century gold piece and have trouble explaining their "costumes" to the gang-busting New York City police. Finding refuge in the Tate Museum, they discover that there are two swords, almost alike. Tension rises. The sword lends its supernatural strength to the evil monk. Shall they escape through time, or stay to pit human skill against black magic?".

Sylvester, The Mouse with the Musical Ear
Kids' book I read in the late 60s about a mouse who lived in a guitar. The guitar had at least 1 broken string. The strings would sound in the wind. The cover or illustration included a drawing of the mouse going between the strings. I think cover was light blue.

Adelaide Holl, Sylvester, The Mouse With The Musical Ear, 1961, copyright. Possibly this one? There are multiple covers for this one, depending on the year of the printing. The original showed a close-up of the hole in the guitar, with Sylvester (wearing a red-and-white checkered scarf) inside the guitar, plucking the strings. The 1967 printing is a 2-in-1 with Sylvester & "Little Peewee (Or, Now Open the Box)" by Dorothy Kunhardt. The cover of this one looks like a red brick wall around the edges, and the center shows Peewee (a spotted dog) and Sylvester (wearing the checked scarf) standing atop a tiny ladder that is leaned up against the guitar, so that he can play it. The 1973 printing has a close-up of the guitar printed over both the front and back covers, so that you can only see half of it when the book is closed. Sylvester (still wearing the checkered scarf) is perched atop the guitar, playing it. The background is blue with green grasses.
Adelaide Hall, Sylvester, the Mouse with the Musical Ear, 1961, copyright. With illustrations by N.M. Bodecker, tells the story of an uprooted field mouse who must move from his meadow with its beautiful sounds, but finds a nice alternative home in a music store.
Holl, Adelaide, Sylvester, the mouse with the musical ear, 1961, approximate. Displaced from his country home, a mouse finds lodging in a guitar where a new musical life opens up for him.
Adelaide Holl, Sylvester, The Mouse with the Musical Ear, 1969, copyright. This might be the book you are looking for.
Humm the Singing Hamster? (See Solved Mysteries.) Or: The Mouse with the Small Guitar by Al Graham & Tony Palazzo (Illustrator), 1947. I never read either one, so I can't say. The latter included the poem A Curious Pup, which was included in the Better Homes & Gardens Storybook, vol. 1.
Holl, Adelaide, Sylvester, the mouse with the musical ear, Golden Press, 1973. "Displaced from his country home, a mouse finds lodging in a guitar where a new musical life opens up for him."
Adelaide Holl, Sylvester, the Mouse with the Musical Ear, 1961, copyright. From Publisher's Weekly: "N.M. Bodecker's elegant illustrations never go out of style, as Sylvester the Mouse with the Musical Ear by Adelaide Hall, originally published in 1961, testifies. Here, an enlarged trim size showcases the tale of an uprooted country mouse who must find a new home when his grassy meadow with its "lovely sounds" is mowed down to make way for a highway. Luckily a music shop in the city provides an appealing alternative." The Weekly Reader Book Club edition was a "Two Books in One", coupled with "Little Peewee" by Dorothy Kunhardt.
Adelaide Holl, Sylvester, The Mouse with the Musical Ear. I am certain that you're looking for "Sylvester, The Mouse with the Muscial Ear"! It was one of my favorite books as well :) Mine was a "two books in one" version from the Weekly Reader Club (along with "Little Peewee"). "...the tale of an uprooted country mouse who must find a new home when his grassy meadow with its "lovely sounds" is mowed down to make way for a highway. Luckily a music shop in the city provides an appealing alternative."
Holl, Adelaide, Sylvester: The Mouse With the Musical Ear, 1961, copyright. The story of a mouse who leaves the country and finds a new home in a guitar. The cover has a picture of the guitar and mouse with a light blue background.
Adelaide Holl, Sylvester, The Mouse with the Musical Ear, 1969, approximate. That's it! Hurray! It is Sylvester! Thank you so much for solving this for me. What a wonderful service. and how fun to help others! I am so pleased.

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3/15/13