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Well now! I remember Logan's Run....but I've
never run into a comic strip character with my name, so please
educate me!
Logan is the real name of X-Man Wolverine
in Marvel comics. And they've been going for many years so
it would fit the date......
Barbara Brenner, A Year in the Life
of Rosie Bernard.
I love this book! Rosie goes to live with her extended
family in New York while her father pursues his stage career -
she is taken up with a number of projects, including a Mind/Body
book, choosing a religion, etc. Her father marries an actress
and Rosie has a difficult time acacepting her.
Barbara Brenner, A Year in the Life
of Rose Bernard,
1971. This book is definitely A Year in the Life of
Rosie Bernard by Barbara Brenner. The
religious dilemma is there as described. Rosie's father is
an actor, and at the end of the book, Rosie is reconciled to the
idea of leaving her relatives to go live with her father and his
new wife.
Are You There God, It's Me Margaret
by Judy Blume does sound slightly like this.
Perhaps some details may have become confused?
Thank you so much, solvers!! A Year In the Life of Rosie
Bernard is definitely it. I'm so looking forward to
reading it.
Rita Ritchie, The Year of the Horse,1957. Novel about the nomads of Mongolia.
Now that I've thought about it, I believe it was set in CANADA, not England, because I remember something about the girl and her brothers going to a flea market in Kitchener, which I believe is in Ontario. I don't know if this helps or not. I think it must have come out in the 80's, maybe late 70's, and I had both books, in paperback, sometime between 1979 and 1984.
H39 horse called horse: let's try The
Year
of
the Horse, by Diana Walker, published
Abelard 1975, 179 pages. "Suddenly transferred to
Grandmother Tate's farm in Ontario while her peripatetic
parents are completing a reserach project in Mexico, 15 year
old Joanna Longfellow considers the latest interruption in her
life a particularly unfortunate development. Her initial
exercise in self-pity is short-lived, however, when John
Holmes, the handsome son of well-to-do neighbors, rides into
her life on one of his family's prize-winning horses.
Overnight, Joanna envisions herself as an equestrienne fatale.
Capitalizing on the sudden interest, her younger brothers
inveigle her into helping them care for the horse of a
hospitalized neighbor. It is through Horse - and the hilarious
but succesful schemes of her brothers - that she finally gains
the opportunity to become part of the 'horsey set.'" (HB
Apr/76 p.160)
Move this one to the "Solved Mysteries" page! I was just
sitting down tonight to tell you I had remembered that the
girl's name was Joanna, only to find you'd already solved it for
me. Thank you so much, Harriett!
Any chance this is Go Ask Alice?
Could this be I Capture the Castle
by Dodie Smith? The main character is an older teenager,
but it's written like a diary.
Donna Balcombe,The Year of Janie's
Diary, 1965. I was
researching this book and fell across this entry. This book is
so well read, and indeed, so well liked that the girls who read
the book wrote their comments on the back endpapers! (It is an
ex-library book.)
Floethe, Louise Lee , A Year to
Remember, 1957. I
don't remember a gondala scene, but this book, about an American
girl named Elise who goes to a a very strict, almost
convent-like, French boarding school sounds like it might be the
one. I think the boy she develops a romance with was named
Jim. I seem to recall that they manage to meet illicitly
in the lobby of a hotel during a ski trip. Elise writes a
poem called something like "love came in the snow" and enters it
in a contest (?), but it doesn't win, because it suffered from
being translated into French. Another plot strand involves
helping a friend deal with her divorced father's remarriage.
A Year to Remember by Louise Lee Floethe is the correct
book. Thank you very much to whoever solved the stumper so
quickly.
This reminds me of the children's Christmas
special The Year Without a Santa Claus, which has
the same basic plot and is done in rhyme. A quick search at
Amazon showed a book entitled Year Without Santa Claus
by Phyllis McGinley. There's also a cassette version
which looks like it was read by Carol Channing.
The Christmas special was indeed inspired by McGinley's
poem.
Yes, that's it. Pretty well-written verse.
I, too, remember the "yellow cat with
purple ears!!!" --the phrase recurs throughout the book,
and as I remember causes much amazement.
I have the book C6 is refering to. It is the
Yellow Cat by Betty Ren Wright. It is a
Tell-A-Tale book and a Fuzzy Wuzzy Book Copyright, MCMLII, by
Whitman Publishing Company, Racine, Wisconsin. The cat on the
cover was flocked and throughout the book. The flocking
has worn off on my copy. I loved this book when I was about 3.
It includes this: "Is a yellow cat
with purple ears, / A flouncy, pouncy kind of cat, / With
pointed, purple ears. / But I'll never see that." Hope this helps you out. Love your site.
YES! Someone out there really has
a copy of this book!! That fact gives me hope that I too
might find a copy to call my own.
---
Some of the lines are: Jonathon Wonathon
Higgins McGee and There's no such thing as a yellow cat
I found this query on another page, and
thought it might be useful here, as it has a few more of the
words: "When I was little I had a children's book that was
a poem about 'Jonathan Wonathan Higgins McGee.' It said he
'jumped out of bed with a one, two, three. Put on
his...'(??) Then said 'There's no such thing as a purple
cat. Yet there it sat at the foot of the bed, winking its
eye and nodding its head.'
I hope I can help someone else out the way
you both helped me. While I was looking through your list
again, I was delighted to come across Stumper U4:Unk. I
know this book well. I loved it to pieces as a child and
am currently holding the ragged remains in my lap. The
book is called The Yellow Cat, written by Betty
Ren Wright and illustrated by Sari. It is
one of the "Fuzzy Wuzzy Series" of the "Tell-A-Tale Books,"
published in MCMLII (1952?) by Whitman Publishing Company.
I feel wondrously gratified that I was able to recognize this
book on the same day you brought me such good news about my own
book. The system works! Now, it occurs to me
that if I'd been the one looking for The Yellow Cat,
I'd want my brain to have closure on that unfinished poem that
was quoted in the description. So in case your inquirer
wants the rest of the words to the book, here they are: "The strangest thing that ever could be," /
Said Jonathan Wonathan Higgens McGee, "Is a yellow cat with
purple ears, /A flouncy, pouncy kind of cat, With pointed,
purple ears. / But I'll never see that. NOT A
YELLOW CAT!" Yet there she was by his bouncy bed, / Washing
her paws and cocking her head, Drinking her tea from a silver
cup, / Saying, "Jonathan Wonathan Higgens McGee, GET
UP!" Jonathan Wonathan Higgens McGee / Jumped out of bed
in a one-two-three, Put on his coat and his tie and his spats,
/ "Said, "Theres no such thing as yellow cats." Jonathan
Wonathan shook his head. / "Now the cat is gone and I'm glad,"
he said. "I'll never believe in a yellow cat." / Something
wiggled under his hat. With claws / On its paws. Jonathan
chased her around the room / With a cane and a map and a
prickly broom, Till his wife said "Stop!" / And they all said
"Stop!" We're pos-i-tive-ly certain that THERE'S NO SUCH
THING AS A YELLOW CAT!"(I
know; I know -- too much information. I'm just excited!)
---
This children's book (read in the '60's)
begins "The strangest thing I ever did see," said Jonathan
Wonathan Higgins McGee, "is a yellow cat with purple
ears. A bouncy, flouncy kind of cat with (???) purple
ears." Later, the cat tells him to get out of bed, and
he puts on a tall silk at and some spats, I think. My
fuzzy memory says this is a Little Golden Book, but my mother
doesn't think so. The whole thing is in verse. I
seem to remember a picture, maybe the cover, with a tree, some
steps, the cat, and Higgins-McGee in his tall silk hat, but
this is a very fuzzy memory and I may be making it up.
We would love to find this book for my children. My
mother thought it was in a collection of stories, but I think
it was a complete book. Thanks for any help you can give!
Wright, Betty Ren. Yellow Cat.Whitman Tell-A-Tale, 1952. Already
on Solved Mysteries.
Another point about "The Yellow Cat",
which my sisters and I loved, too, when we were little.
The person who gave the text left out part of it. I
can't remember it all, but there was a middle section that
said, "Jonathan Wonathan Higgins McGee was about to climb out
of the apple tree when his children's shouts and his wife's
dark glares reminded him to use the stairs".
I was born in 1951.
The book, The
Yellow Cat, was given to me as a gift on either my
first or second birthday. Mom read it to me constantly
until I was finally able to read it myself. She put it
away for me when I outgrew it, and when I was married I hunted
through a ton of old boxes she had in her shed, until I found
it. I read it to each of my 3 children until they outgrew
it. It was read, by my daughter, to my first grandchild
till she finally became too old for it, and it now sits on a
bookshelf waiting patiently for further grandchildren to enjoy
its pages. I was not at all surprised to read that so many
people remembered it so well. I can barely remember my
phone number, but I can still recite *The Yellow Cat* word for
word.
This is showing as solved but my recollection of the text is there is a big section missing I think after jonathon wonathon jumps out of bed "he put on his coat and his tie and his spats said there's no such thing as yellow cats. then because he was quite upset he took a shower (his coat got wet) said there's no such thing as yellow cats, the cat said all the same my dear I'm here. Jonathon wonathon higgins Magee tried to climb down the apple tree till his children's shouts and his wife's dark glares reminded him to come down the stairs. Now the cat is gone and I'm glad he said , something wriggled under his hat ,with claws on it's paws. Jonathon chased her round the room with a cane and a mop and a prickly broom . Till his wife said stop and they all said stop WE ARE POSITIVELY CERTAIN THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A YELLOW CAT.
Not quite the same details, but check out The
Wild Orphan by Robert Froman. Very good.
Also, it's illustrated by Mort Kunstler, whose other work
includes MAD magazine.
Rutherford Montgomery, Yellow Eyes.
Apparently has been reprinted
and found it on Amazon. Growing up, I LOVED this book
about a young cougar who outsmarts the white hunter who killed
his mother and fed his siblings to his dogs. No
anthropomorphizing or sentimentality, but wonderfully
affecting. Hope this is it!
Rutherford Montgomery, Yellow Eyes.
That
is
the book exactly! Thank you so much, I cannot tell you how
often I've thought about this book. I thought I'd lost it
forever.
ed. by Andrew Lang, The Yellow Fairy Book: The Glass Mountain. The Glass Mountain is one of about forty stories in The Yellow Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. Other stories are The Tinder Box, The Hazel-nut Child, and The Iron Stove. In looking this up, I noticed that he seems to have lots of different "fairy" books (blue, brown, crimson, lilac, olive, orange, red, violet, and yellow) with multiple fairy tales that probably solve a lot of the stumpers listed here.
Yellow Jacket : the story of a
domestic cat / Russell Gordon Carter.
Ralph Carlyle Prather, illus. 1931 / Fiction : Juvenile
audience 270 p. : ill. Philadelphia : Penn
Carter, Russell Gordon, Illustrated
by Ralph Carlyle Prather, YELLOW JACKET The
Story of a Domestic Cat, 1931. Ask your mother
if this sounds right.
Cheers, Angelle YELLOW JACKET The
Story of a Domestic Cat. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Co. 1931
First Edition. Large 12mo. Red, hardcover buckram. No dj.
Endpapers are delightful penciled drawings of a cat walking a
fence at night.
additional info: there is a photo of the
cover of Yellow Jacket at this website, run by
Russell Gordon Carter's daughter. Scroll
down to see it.
Jean Slaughter Doty, Yesterday's
Horses, 1985.
This sounds like Yesterday's Horses by Jean
Slaughter Doty
Jean Slaughter Doty, Yesterday's
Horses, 1985. I
believe this is the book you are looking for. "While riding in
the mountains, Kelly finds an orphaned foal that seems to belong
to a breed of wild horses supposedly extinct for thousands of
years and which holds the secret to a modern medical mystery."
Jean Slaughter Doty, Yesterday's
Horses, 1985. I
don't know for sure, but try this one. Description: While riding
in the mountains, Kelly finds an orphaned foal that seems to
belong to a breed of wild horses supposedly extinct for
thousands of years and which holds the secret to a modern
medical mystery.
Vercors (true name Jean Bruller), You
Shall
Know
Them, 1953. A group of primitive hominids is
found in New Guinea, and the question arises as to what rights,
if any, they have. For example, is there any reason why they
should not be used as
slave labor, as an Australian businessman
plans to do? When a hybrid human-tropi baby is born and the
father kills it, the case goes to court, and the jurors must
decide whether the baby was human or not."
Jean Buller aka VerCours
(Vercors), You Shall Know Them, 1953.
Translated from the French, originally titled "Les Animaux
Dénaturés". "Book addresses the age-old question "what is
man", in this sophisticated novel for moderns, the author turns
from realism to the tradition of Voltaire, Anatole France and
George Orwell. A science fiction novel concerning the discovery
of a new species of primates with very human- like
characteristics. One of the creatures is killed and a murder
trial ensues in which the prosecution is compelled to define
'human being' with scientific precision in order to win the
case."
Vercors, You Shall Know Them, 1953. I found this summary: "Not far off,
Derry, the strange creature who mothered the 'son' that Douglas
killed, is quartered happily in London Zoo. Not science nor
philosophy, not Parliament nor clergy, can decide if she is
manlike ape of apelike man.
#R37--Rocket to the Moon: You
Will Go to the Moon, by Mae and Ira Freeman,
illustrated by Robert Patterson. New York: Beginner
Books, 1959. (From the same set as the Dr. Seuss Books,
with the Cat in the Hat on the cover.)
Possibly YOU WILL GO TO THE MOON,
by Mae and Ira Freeman. a Random House Beginner Book,
1959
Isn't this You were princess last
time by Laura Fisher?
I'm almost positive you're right with You Were Princess
Last Time! I remember the word 'princess' being in
the title -- and the last name 'Fisher' is a match. Can't
wait to find a copy after all these years -- thanks so much!!
C198 du Jardin, Rosamond. Young and fair. Lippincott, 1963. Chicago, Illinois - 1880¹s - juvenile fiction, department stores
Bamman, Henry A & Whitehead, Robert
J., Bush Pilot. Possibly part of the
Top Flight Readers series?
B151 Here is another possiblity just
forwarded to me by an Oregon smokejumper who has bot a lot of
bks from me. These may be what that fellow was
seeking. Young bush pilot ... Jack
Hambleton. Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co., 1949.
Hambleton, Jack , Young Bush Pilot, illustrated by Thoreau Macdonald, 200 pages.
Toronto Longmans 1949. More on the suggested: "A true
story of the forest fire at Chapleau, Ont. The main characters
are actual people, Big Jim Holden is the only character who is
fictional." Hambleton also wrote Charter Pilot,
published Longmans 1952, "the final Bill Hanson story, a story
of flying in Northern Ontario", Wolverine,
Longmans 1954 "a Bill Hanson story" and Wings Over
Labrador, Longmans 1957, "This story is based on the
actual development of Labrador's famous iron deposits and a
pilot whose job it was to run the largest civilian airlift to
build a railroad to bring the iron to the docks for export. The
exploits of the pilot are harrowing."
Thank you for your help in solving my
stumper! The book I was looking for was Young Bush
Pilot by Jack Hambleton and I was able to track down a
copy in very good condition. Thank you again and keep up
the good work!!
Just noticed the new entry K72, I think this is one of the same books. It remember the name Paul, but it was definately about a group not just one main character. The 1950's sounds about right for a publishing date......
Joseph Altsheler , Young Trailers
series, 1907. This series includes The Young
Trailers, The Forest Runners, the Keepers of the
Trail, the Eyes of the Woods, etc. The
characters include Henry Ware and his friend Paul (the scholar).
Joseph Altsheler, The Young Trailers
series, 1907. I think it could be these. The
series has 8 titles: The
Young Trailers, The Forest Runners, The Keepers of the
Trail, The Eyes of the Woods, The Free Rangers, The Rifleman
of the Ohio, The Scouts of the Valley, and
The Border Watch.
f191 and k72 (the same series).....one other
characters name was Sol.... of the group there was Jim, Paul,
Sol, and ??? (the leader)
Altsheler, Joseph, Young Trailers series,
1907.
Yes!
That is the series! Thank you all, good work. I loved these
books as a kid, remember being kind of bummed out when I
finished the the last one and there weren't any more.....
Looking forward to reading them again. Funny that after all
these years of searching for "Eyes of the Forest" it never
occurred to me to try "Eyes of the Woods"!
---
The Young Trailers series
GROUP OF 4-5 YOUNG MEN IN EARLY AMERICAN
EAST, KENTUCKY, WHO HELPED EARLY SETTLERS, JIM HART = ? 1, ONE
WAS SCHOLAR =? PAUL, LEADER WAS VERY ATHLETIC, RAN THROUGH
WOODS LIKE WIND, IN LIBRARY 1954
I think this is one of the same books as
the stumper I just submitted, F191.
Joseph Altsheler, The Young Trailers series, 1907. See F191. I think it
could be the same.
f191 and k72 (the same series).....one other
characters name was Sol.... of the group there was Jim, Paul,
Sol, and ??? (the leader)
Could this be Swords from the North
by Henry Treece (publ 1967)? Failing that, Treece
did write several other Viking novels for children in the
1950s/60s so he may be an author worth investigating.
Sorry, that's not the one. The one I'm thinking of is most
likely well under a hundred pages, is simple
enough to be read to a first grader, has many black and white
drawings, and largish print. Thanks anyway.
Actually, this one sounds more like Beorn
the
Proud by Madeleine Polland, illustrated by
William Stobbs, published by Constable in 1961, 175 pages. "Beorn
is the son of a Viking warrior, and when his father raids the
coast of Ireland, he saves Ness, the daughter of a slain Irish
chieftain ... many vicissitudes to face both on the return
journey by sea and in their own homeland, where Beorn's right
to his father's inheritance is disputed by his cousin Helge."
(Junior Bookshelf review Nov/61 p.286) There's also an illus
from the book shown on page 324, showing a young person being
thrown into the sea from a ship with a carved dragon-tail on the
stern.
I checked Polland's book and that doesn't
seem to be the right story either - besides, her writing level
is a good deal higher than what I'm thinking of. Let's try
again...
V10 viking boy: two possibles published by
Scholastic - Viking Adventure, by Clyde
Robert Bulla, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline, 117 pages,
first published by Crowell/Weekly Reader 1963, Scholastic 1972 "Sigurd
lived in Norway at the time of the ancient Vikings. A Viking
boy was expected to be prepared for an adventuresome and
rugged life, so Sigurd's father, Olaf the Strong, taught him
to be stalwart and courageous. The lessons were hard, but
Sigurd practiced well." Then there's Young Viking,
written and illustrated by Jack Coggins, published TAB
Scholastic 1959 and Scholastic 1973, 63 pages, which makes it
the right publisher and size, but I couldn't find a plot
description.
Young Viking written and
illustrated by Jack Coggins - yes, that's it! It takes place
in 994 and they sail all the way to Istanbul, or Mikligarde in
Norse. They raid a town in Gibraltar for food and capture
Muslims whom they exchange as slaves for more food in
Sardinia. Fascinating story.
The book being looked for in item A8 sounds
likeYoung Years: Best Loved Stories and Poems for Little
Children.
I still have my copy from childhood and not long ago, purchased
a second copy on e-Bay.
Yes, this sounds like it!!! I am so
excited!!!! Now, how do I get a copy of it?
I think I forgot to say THANK YOU in my
earlier reply. I was so excited to have the title of the
book, and hope you can find me a copy soon!
---
Book from Parents Magazine Press. Read Aloud Club. 1960, 61, 62
or 63. Free book was part of a package of 24 books sent over a
two year time frame. This book had many stories; Mrs. Gooses
hatbox cake - Cheese, peas, & chocolate pudding, The
little train that could, etc.
Baker, Augusta (ed.), Young
Years: Best Loved Stories and Poems for Little
Children. I found
several Parents Magazine Press collections listed, but crossed
most of them out because they had the wrong stories in
them. This one doesn't have a full description, but it's
one of the only ones left on the list.
Nope, it's not Young Years.
I've
got a copy in front of me and neither of those stories are in
it.
---
I am trying to find a book from childhood. It has beige linen
cover, title must have been obscured (cause I have a great
memory) also title page & author was missing. Had to be 300
pages, small print, lots of illus. some color. The first section
was mother goose nursery rhymes, then stories, Snow white,
Cinderella, Brer Rabbit, Mr. Vinegar man, Aesops fables, It had
sections of different stories. Hundreds of stories, Grimms,
Anderson. I am nuts to find it. It was a heavy book, illus were
beautiful. The largest collection of varied stories I had ever
seen. Please help!!! Ps, I was born in 1953 and was an early
reader (3-4 years old) and the book was old when I was a child!!
Thanks so much for your wonderful site!!
Young Years, Best Loved Stories and
Poems for Little Children. At this time, I'm
thinking this may just be the book A75 seeks. Copyright is
"MCMLX"--is that 1945? [no, that's
1960.] Contents: Nursery
Rhymes, Nursery Stories (including The Three Billy Goats Gruff,
Tale of Peter Rabbit), Fables (there are 20), Fairy Tales
(including Snow White, Cinderella, The Wonderful Tar Baby
Story--Brer Rabbit), Poetry (including Wynken, Blynken and
Nod). I'm not familiar with Mr. Vinegar Man but he could
very well be in this 511 page anthology published by Parents'
Magazine Press. In fact, this could be the book described
in several of the anthology requests. I jumped out on eBay
to see whether the book is on auction right now but it was
not. I would be glad to look up anything in the book or
describe it further if any of your anthology seekers want to ask
me any questions about the book. Feel free to pass
on my e-mail address. My book is definitely not for sale
but I would love to answer questions for anyone who thinks this
might just be THE BOOK.
---
HB, Think it was yellow with
illustrations cover? full of nursery rhymes and stories toward
the back. Published before 1970. Color illustrations of
Goldilocks. Seems to me full page picture of snow white dead,
with dwarves around her, possibly in a glass, above groud
coffin. Rhymes i remember Jack be nimble, rock a bye baby,
peter peter pumkin eater. Please give me a few
possililities I loved this book as a child.
Definitey one of those Disney collections.
I
had
this one.
Pauline Rush Evans (ed), Family
Treasury
of Children's Stories. The colour of the book
you describe doesn't match our set (ours are gray with small
coloured illustrations on the covers), but I think this still
could be Volume 1 of the three-volume Family Treasury of
Children's Stories, ed. by Pauline Rush Evans.
Unfortunately I have only the other two volumes, so can't check
the Snow White picture, but it sounds very familiar--Im pretty
sure there was a colour plate of Snow White in the glass
coffin. I know Vol. 1 is the one that had all the nursery
rhymes too, which would fit your description. But there
are probably quite a few other possibilities too.
The memory of the picture of the dwarves
around Snow White in a glass above ground coffin sounds like it
comes from Disney's Snow White story book.
You might be confusing two books here.
Hilda Boswell, Hilda Boswell's
omnibus: a treasury of favourites. Hilda Boswell illustrated beautiful books of
fairytales and nursery rhymes. The omnibus is an anthology
of four books: the fairy tales (including
Goldilocks and Snow White with an illustration of the glass
coffin displayed on a hill); the nursery rhymes;
RL Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses and a
set of stories including an extract from the Water Babies
and a snow maiden story.
Augusta Baker, Young Years best loved stories and poems for
little children, 1960 reprint. I fianally found it
wonderful book thank you all for your input. I am so happy
to be able to share this book with my son.
I know this one is on the Solved Mysteries page
somewhere... oh, dilemnas, do I stop and search now, or keep
posting this pile of stumpers and give one of you Stumper
Magicians an easy one to solve?
Cassedy Sylvia, Behind the Attic
Wall. 1994. Does
this sound familiar? An unloved orphan's ancestors have been
turned into dolls that live in a secret room. "But from behind
the closet door in the great and gloomy house, Maggie hears the
faint whisperings, the beckoning voices. And in the forbidding
house of her ancestors, Maggie finds magic...the kind that lets
her, for the first time, love and be loved"
Sylvia Cassedy, Behind the Attic
Wall, 1983. This
might be "Behind the Attic Wall" by Sylvia Cassedy. "After
having been kicked out of many boarding schools, 12-year-old
Maggie goes to live with her great-aunts in a huge stone house.
There, from behind the closet door, Maggie hears voices &
finds magic." Does involve dolls and a hidden room.
I don't think it could be Behind the
Attic Wall, since that wasn't published till 1983,
and the book being sought was read in the 1950's.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Velvet
Room, 1965. The
Velvet Room is about a young girl from a migratory farm family
who finds a hidden reading room with velvet lined drapes and
cushions in an old abandoned mansion. I believe the story
may be set during the dust bowl era of the 1930's. Her
family are something like "okies" and she is embarrassed that
they travel around with all of their possessions in a broken
down model T (I think that's what it was.) I can't
remember the girl's name but she seemed to be about 12 and just
wanted to get away from her family and from having to constantly
work, so she slips away to this velvet room to read. There
is some sort of mystery surrounding this room too, which is
resolved by the end of the story and I think she and/or her
whole family get to stay on at the ranch where they were working
once the mystery is solved. She also befriends the
beautiful, rich girl whose family owns the ranch. I
remember horses but I don't remember a doll. This was also
written in the wrong decade, but I thought I'd give it a shot
anyway.
Erwin, Betty, Go to the Room of the
Eyes, 1969. Just
a possibility- the date is later than the person mentioned.
#H60, Hidden Room Mystery, is definitely NOT
The Velvet Room. It could be The
Wonderful Fashion Doll, by Laura Bannon,
Houghton Mifflin, 1953. This is either in Solved
Mysteries, or was suggested as a solution for another stumper,
so should appear somewhere among the pages.
Elizabeth Honness, Mystery of the
Square Tower,
1957. As I remember, some of the items fit.
Could this be the first of the Mandie
series, titled Mandie and the Secret Tunnel, by Lois
Gladys Leppard? Mandie fins a tunnel leading to a secret
room in her grandfathers house.
Lattimore, Eleanor Frances, The
Youngest Artist,
1959. "The Youngest Artist" was the first novel (compared
to an easy book) I ever borrowed from the library (I was in
first grade) and it obviously left an impression on me since
I've remembered it for so long. This sounds like the book
you were asking about. It concerns a little girl in
Charleston who lives in an older run-down house and discovers
that there is a secret staircase in it. The family then
decides to open the house to tourists and have candlelight tours
down the stairs. The girl also paints a picture of her
doll, and her father puts it in the window of his art shop.
This is probably The Youngest Omnibus
edited by Rosalind Vallance; I can get you a copy...
I can't believe you found it after all these years. My
mother-in-law thinks it was bought around 1941! She remembers
the book as having a blue cover but the only story she can
remember is about an orange peel family? I'm sending a money
order ASAP and keeping my fingers crossed. With many thanks
This is just a guess: Edith Heal's
Teen-Age Manual (S&S, '48) seems to have been
pretty popular, & she was an illustrator...I haven't seen
the book, but it might be worth checking out.
Why Harriett! You are
amazing! I thank you so much for your message.
I'll try to check it out and let you know if that is the
book. Could very well be it! More later and thanks so
much for staying with this.
Another possible is Your Manners are
Showing: the handbook of teen-age know-how
illustrated by Betty Betz with verses by Anne Clark,
published Grosset 1946, 95 pages, illustrated cover. "Many
humorous colored
illustrations and bits of verse to inform
the younger generation not to hold hands in public, greet
guests 'en negligee', borrow money from friends ... It may be
a little too breezy for the conservative parent but will
surely appeal to the high school group ..."
More on Your Manners are Showing
written & illustrated by Betty Betz, verses by Anne
Clark, Grosset & Dunlap 1946 "Extremely Charming book! 7
1/4 & 8 1/2" and 95 pages. Hardcover book, dust jacket has
identical graphic design as is printed on the book itself.
Front has top 3" in greenish-blue where title is, below that
are color line drawn picture of teenagers at a party
w/balloons, streamers, punch bowl & table, these
depictions are comic-like. This design wraps around spine to
back, top says.. Your Manners are Showing is the bright &
breezy low-down on dates, popularity, clothes, jobs, parents,
smoking, money, table manners,parties & dozens of other
vital teenage matters. Betty Betz has been featured in
Seventeen Mag. etc."
James Marshall (author and
illustrator), Yummers!, 1973. Eugene the
turtle takes Emily the pig for a walk to help her lose weight,
but she stops at every concession stand and restaurant she sees
and stuffs herself sick. A hilarious look at how good
intentions are thwarted by the inability to resist
temptation. Followed by a 1986 sequel, Yummers Too:
The Second Course.
James Marshall, Yummers! This is certainly the book. There is also
a sequel: Yummers
Too:
The Second Course.
Thank you so much for your help in finding this book I
have already ordered it and look forward to reading it to my
grandchildren
Joyce Stranger, Zara,1975? I don't have the book, but this is its
description from another of her books: "Richard Proud
coveted the golden-brown mare from the moment he saw her.
Although he couldn't afford Zara, he bought her nevertheless,
hoping she would breed him winners - foals that would restore
the fortune of the Yorkshire stud where he bred and trained
racehorses. Zara was born a winner: she had to be raced.
Richard was determined that she should race so - despite
personal crises, caused by his reckless wife, by a snowstorm
that isolated the stud only a few days before Zara was due to
run, and by an accident to her jockey - he had to find a way
to let Zara prove her ability."
Joyce Stranger, Zara. I had this in paperback as a child in the
1970s and am sure it is the same book. I think Zara was a
racehorse and Richard spent more time with her than he did with
his wife.
Virginia Hamilton, Zeely. This sounds like it might be the book
Zeely, by Virginia Hamilton. Though I don't remember any
vodoo taking place in the book, the rest of the details are on
target.
Virginia Hamilton, Zeely. This is almost definitely Zeely, by
Virginia Hamilton. The two children are living in the
south and are convinced that the tall, black, regal woman next
door is an african queen. still in print, I believe.
Hamilton, Virginia, Zeely. Your description of the imagery reminds
me of Zeely.
Virginia Hamilton , Zeely. Worth a look!
Hamilton, Virginia, Zeely, c.1967. Library catalog summary:
"Geeder's summer at her uncle's farm is made special
because of her friendship with a very tall,
composed woman who raises hogs and who closely resembles the
magazine photograph of a Watutsi queen." (The catalog doesn't
mention it, but Geeder's brother is also part of the story.)
Hamilton, Virgina, Zeely, 1967.
K55 Hamilton, Virginia. Zeely.
illus
by
Symeon Shimin Scholastic, 1967.
|
Condition Grades |
Hamilton, Virginia. Zeely. Simon & Schuster, 1967. New Hardback, $17.95 New paperback, $4.99 |
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Frans & Joyce van Lamsweerde, Ziggy
books. Ziggy
and his music / Author: Lamsweerde, Frans van.
Lamsweerde, Joyce van. Publication: Milwaukee : Ideals Pub. Co.,
1968. Bookseller description: "A story in verse told by
Ziggy, an elfin little boy, who captures all the wonderful
sounds of wind, trains, crickets, birds, wagons and others in a
net, stores them in a box, and them stops and listens to them. "
Ziggy, what animals say / Author: Lamsweerde,
Frans van. Publication: Milwaukee : Ideals Pub. Co., 1968.
Ziggy and his colors / Author: Lamsweerde, Frans
van. Dolan, Mike. Publication: [Milwaukee] : Ideals Pub. Co.,
1969
"Hello again, I'm Ziggy! And how are you
today? Here's a magic color game That both of us can play. We're
going on a color hunt! I'm anxious to begin. This bucket is a
magic one To gather colors in." Ziggy and his
friends : music, animals, colors. Author:
Lamsweerde, Joyce Van. Lamsweerde, Frans Van. Publication:
Chicago : Childrens Press, 1980, ? Document: English : Book :
Fiction : Juvenile audience ISBN: 089542939X, 0516092030
This one is a combination of all three books.
Edward Gorey (author), The
Utter Zoo, (1967). The Ombledroom, the Posby, the
Quingawaga, and the Raitch are but a few of the strangely
engaging creatures that inhabit the world of Edward Gorey's Utter
Zoo Alphabet. Taken from Gorey's book of the
same title, these twenty-six dark, delightful drawings, one for
each letter of the alphabet, lure you, as only Edward Gorey's
work can, into an animal kingdom never before encountered in the
ordinary world. 26 black-and-white reproductions."
-- does it sound like your alphabet book? Also published
in one of the Amphigorey anthologies .
in regards to stumper w204.the answer
someone posted is not my book.
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3/15/13
