U1: Uncle Wiggily Solved: Uncle Wiggily and the Alligator U2: UFO's and aliens I'd like to find a copy of a science fiction book I read in the
mid 1950's. I don't remember the title or author but the main
characters were three young men who were involved with crashed
UFOs and alien technology. One of the characters was an
electronics whiz. Any ideas?
Maybe one of the Rick Brant
Electronic Boys series? They were written by John
Blaine in the late 1940s. Rick and his friend Scotty lived
on Spindrift Island with Rick's father and other scientists and
solved mysteries. No idea about UFOs, though. Maybe The
Rocket's Shadow 1947? Raymond F. Jones, SON OF THE STARS.
1952. Jones, Raymond F., Son of the Stars, Winston 1957. More information on
the suggested title, but it doesn't confirm anything. "In 'Son
of the Stars', Raymond Jones has written of a forthright
friendship between a young castaway from space and his earthly
counterpart. How a cold and suspicious military, recognizing
Clonar only as an alien from an astonishingly advanced
civilization, turns friendship into treachery that threatens
earth's existence, makes this an electrifying story with a
thought-provoking theme. In scenes uncomfortably vivid, you'll
meet soldiers and citizens of a typical American city
people like calculating General Gillispie and frightened Mrs.
Barron, whose reactions to an 'interplanetary' situation bring
the world to the brink of destruction.." The term 'castaway'
suggests that there may be UFO crash technology involved, but
only the alien boy Clonar and his friend young Barron are
mentioned, not 3 boys. If it helps, Clonar has 6 fingers.
I don't know the teens and UFOs novel
sought, but it's none of the Rick Brant
series. Rick Brant gets involved in some mildly sftish
situations with new inventions and such, but the only trace of
aliens in the whole series are some thousand-year-old ambigious
radio signals from space picked up in THE EGYPTIAN CAT
MYSTERY.
U5: Unexpected wilderness survival esperience This is a book about either a boy or a boy and an adult friend
that went for a hiking experience in the mountains. They wind up
with a snow storm that strands him/them in a high valley for the
winter. The book talks about the things that had to be improvised
to survive. I believe it talked about tanning deer hide. And I
think there was some reference to cinnabar (an ore from which
mercury is derived). It seems the book ends as spring arrives and
he/they are able to return home.
#U5--Unexpected
wilderness survival experience: The plot is somewhat like
Walt Morey'sCanyon Winter, but not enough
to be the book described. The main differences are that
the stranding was due to a plane crash and I don't believe
there's anything about deer hide tanning or metal ore--just a
lot about tree conservation. The deer hide tanning is like My
Side of the Mountain, but that wasn't an accidental
experience--Sam did spend the
winter, and did have a friend, but went up
there on purpose. It is also definitely not Viereck'sTerror on the Mountain, as that takes place during
the summer.
Would this be one of the Gary Paulsen
books? I was reminded of either The River
or Hatchet. Neither match exactly, though.
U5 unexpected wilderness survival: Not an
exact match, but there's Lone Woodsman, by Warren
Hastings Miller, illustrated Kreigh Collins, published
Winston 1943, 230 pages. Dan Pickett loses all his supplies when
his canoe capsizes on Lac Seul, leaving him with his belt knife,
swim trunks, and dog Pepper. He makes his way to Factory St.
Joseph to meet his father, foraging for food, killing animals
with a hand-made bow and traps, tanning hides, smoking meat and
so on. He loses supplies and shelter once to a wolverine and
once to a moose. Diagrams are provided for several of the things
he makes. Couldn't find a reference to cinnabar, though. Most of
the journey takes place in snowy weather. Jean Craighead George, My Side of the
Mountain.
A long shot. Parts of the plot don't match, but the parts
about a boy tanning deerskin and surviving a winter alone in the
mountains do. U5: Unexpected wilderness survival
experience - just a note from the original poster of this
puzzle. I have checked in every few months and pursued the
suggestions. In fact, I have enjoyed purchasing and reading My
Side of the Mountain. Unfortunately, none of the
suggestions is the book I remember. Thanks for making this
forum available - and I hope someone will yet be able to help
me find this book. Hobbs, Will, Far North,1996. You might take a look at Far North by Will Hobbs. Two
teenage boys and an elderly man (who dies part way through) are
stranded for the winter in a high valley in Canada's Northwest
Terr. after a float plane accident.
Farley
Mowat, Lost in the Barrens,
1956, This mystery
reminded me of this book, which I really enjoyed as a kid. Some
elements sound similar but it may not be the one either. Either
way, thanks for reminding me of it!
U6: Upon my word Solved: Alice and Jerry
primers U7: Upset
house Solved: The House That Had Enough
U8: Under One Roof Solved: Under one roof 2003 U9: Underground river with
families living on rafts Solved: Journey Outside
U10: Unicorn healing Solved: The Beast with the Magical Horn U11: Underground lost world Solved: The Perilous Descent U12: unicorn & geraniums Solved: The Little
White Horse U13: underground stream or bush bower book was read in the late 1940's or early 1950's by teacher in a
rural school for children 6-12 years old. In book children
had a bower on a hill made of brush or tall weeds. Also there was
a portion that talked of a river or stream that ran under a
house. There was a ladder that went down into the stream.
Goudge, Elizabeth, Henrietta's House, London, Hodder, 1942. I wonder if it
might be this. Henrietta, her brother Hugh
John, and assorted adults go for a picnic in
the hills. The story blends fantasy and reality. There is a
sinister hulking gatekeeper who is like the Giant who had no
heart in his body, and an old gentleman who builds bowers in the
forest for imagined Sleeping Beauty and Babes in the Woods, and
a mysterious house fitted up just as Henrietta had dreamed. Hugh
John and the Bishop find an underground river and a boat, and go
down it, to find a robbers' den and the place where the young
saint of the hills may have prayed. I believe there is a ladder
out of the den.
U14: Useful Cart believe it was published in UK, c. 1970. described all the
uses children found for a wagon. not a lot of text, no plot.
Mollie Clarke, The
Useful
Cart, 1966. No
description, but the title's right, it was published in the UK,
and there was a
reprint in 1969.
U14 Do you want me to look in Petersham's
The Box with Red Wheels to see?
I don't think The Box With Red Wheels
fits the description; it's a very short story about some animals
wondering what could be inside that box with red wheels (it
turns out to be a baby). Donald
Hall, Ox-Cart Man, 1979. Could this be Ox-Cart Man
by Donald Hall?
Man who has a wife and two kids on a farm loads up the Ox-Cart
each year and sells everything in it for presents/goods for the
family including the cart itself at the end. Then the story
starts over again.
U15: undersea animals (starfish, etc.) interact Solved: The Garden Under the Sea U16: Unicorn awakes after 500? years Solved: Unicorn
Magic U17: Up the Hill Solved: Up the Hill U18: Utensils teach child to cook Solved: The Mary
Frances Cook Book U19a: Under the Sea Solved: Valley of the Song U19b: US sailor with smuggled puppy 1955 - 1958. I remember a book about a US sailor (homesick?) in a
ship in the Med Fleet, peacetime, post WWII. He finds (and
smuggles aboard)a puppy while on shoreleave in an Italian(?) port.
Many adventures later, the book ended and simultaneously broke my
heart and began a life filled with the great joy found on the
printed page. This was the first "real book" I read. Borrowed it
from the Carrol Park Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. U20: Ugly (or evil) dolls I have only foggy memories of this book, but what stands out is
that the protagonist(s) are afraid of a certain house or person
because this person (an old woman?) makes really ugly dolls with
patches for eyes, and yet the dolls seem to "watch" people and
know what they're up to. It was really creepy and it seems to me
that these dolls, as well as the protagonists, are part of some
mystery. Any help would be appreciated.
U20 Sounds like it could be REVENGE
OF THE DOLLS by Carol Beach York, 1979.
Definitely creepy. The old aunt makes ugly evil dolls. They do
not have patches for eyes, tThey have glass button eyes, and
they do watch. Although, as revenge for Paulie destroying one of
her dolls, she creates a sinister pirate doll which has an eye
patch. So it might be worth looking at. ~from a librarian
U21: Underground City Children Escape Solved: This Time of Darkness U22:
Unfortunately Solved: Fortunately 2004 U23: Up the stairs Solved: Surprise for
Sally U24: Under the ? Tree Solved: Beyond
the Pawpaw Trees U25:
Unfinished Stories (Illustrated) Solved: The Mysteries
of Harris Burdick 2005 U26: Under the Maple Tree Solved: Miracles on Maple Hill U27: Upside down book I am looking for a book published in the late 1940's or
early 1950's. I don't remember anything about it except that
you had to turn the book upside down and there was another related
story that you read when you turned the book upside down at the
end of the first story. I know this is very farfetched, but it is
a book that I loved when I was in kindergarden around 1958-59 and
I want to locate it and buy it for my granddaughters.
There are several Wonder and Elf books that fit this upside-down
theme: Good Morning and Good Night by Frank
Luther, The Goody-Naughty Book and The
Sunny-Sulky Book by Sarah Cory Rippey,
and The Goody Naughty Book by Mabel
Watts. If these were longer juvenile stories, there's
a whole series of Dandelion Books, but the stories aren't
necessarily related. Check the Solved Mysteries pages to see
if any of these work. Upside down books. I had one of these books in the 50's
when I was a child. It wass called Just Like
Mummy/Just Like Daddy. Charlotte Zolotow, When I Grow Up???, 1950's. CZ has a book like this
where one side is a little girl, "when I grow up, I can wear
party dresses to school, etc." The other side is a little
boy. Maybe this? Margriet Heymans Annemie, The Dolls'
Party Annemie and
Margriet Heymans, The Doll's Party.
U28: Underground Railroad Solved: Steal Away Home U29: Umbrella, hat and broom I had a book when I was a kid in the 70s....it was a collection
of stories and one included an umbrella, a hat and a broom - they
could talk and I think it was a rainy day and they found something
to keep themselves busy..... It's driving me NUTS!
I want to say that this is an Enid
Blyton story. There's a vauge recollection of having
read this, and I had a lot of the Blyton short story collections
as a child. However, there are a lot of short story
collections of hers to check! The smuggler's cave
and other stories has a story called "The
surprising broom."
I think this sounds a lot like Stumper
D186. Both have unbrellas, which seems unusual.
U30a: Umbrella Hi, I am looking for a book I read as a
child around 1968-1972. Story was about a young girl and
her adventures. Something somewhat magical from what I
remember. The only clue I can offer is that at one point
she had to jump from a cliff so she opened her UMBRELLA and she
drifted safely down to the ground.
Brown, Palmer, Beyond the Pawpaw
Trees. When I
read this stumper, my first thought was of this book.
Didn't she always carry her umbrella? And the description
of her jumping off a cliff and floating down with her umbrella
sounds familiar. Palmer Brown, Beyond the pawpaw
trees: the story of Anna Lavinia,1954. I also think this could be
the book you're looking for. Maybe some of this description will
sound familiar? Pages 60-63 of the 1973 Camelot Book
reprint describe how Anna Lavinia has thrown stones, a tea cosy
and a jar of pawpaw jelly over the cliff and noticed a peculiar
phenomenon. She has then watched her cat Strawberry fall over
the edge of the cliff with no ill effects. She decides she
has no choice but to follow him, pushing a carpet bag and
gardenia bush over the edge ahead of her. "Finally, just to be
on the safe side, she opened her umbrella and reached into her
pocket to squeeze the silver key for good luck. Then she
took a deep breath and stepped off into the air." Just to confirm, U30 is indeed Beyond the Pawpaw Trees: The
Story of Anna Lavinia by Palmer Brown. I just read it a
few weeks ago and remember the scene quite clearly.
U30b: Uncle sends lion skin for birthday, boy gets back at
sisters After all these years, I am still seeking a
PICTURE BOOK about a little BLACK BOY (maybe in an urban
setting) who is picked on by his MEAN SISTERS. At one point his
sisters lock the boy in a CLOSET and eat his birthday cake while
he watches through the KEYHOLE. And all they save for him is a
candle with a little bit of cake stuck to the bottom! His uncle
sends a LION SKIN (head and all--like a rug), or some other
large cat, from somewhere abroad (Africa perhaps), and with it,
he's able to scare the beejeebers out of his sisters and exact
revenge. My best guess is that it could have been
published between 1960 and 1975, definitely not as late as
1980. While the plot is remarkably similar, it is not
JAMES THE JAGUAR, by Mary Lystad, illustrated by Cyndy Szekeres
(1972). Please help! Thank you.
This description is nearly identical to
B282, which is still unsolved. Also, just so you know, I was indeed the one who posted
B282--perhaps two years ago. I too hope the mystery is
solved soon. Ruth Cavin, Timothy
the Terror, 1972. Very rare and hard to
find, expensive too (saw a copy for sale which cost $104.99).
Great story though.
U31: Unicorn Tapestry Mystery Solved: Secret of the Unicorn U32:
ufo short stories humor flying saucers Weekly reader or Scholastic magazine had a
special issue that had short humorous stories about flying
saucer experiences. My recollection is that they were
penned by Buddy Hackett (the late comedian). One story
starts "I was flying my private plane to Lubbock Texas to bomb
some people whose religious proclivities I didn't wholly agree
with" another ends with a description of the effects on a
mans wife "she had to be pulled around on a dolly and could only
communicate with the aid of a hand puppet". Any assistance in
finding these stories would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
U32 Do they remember if it was 8 1/2 x
11? If so, it might be this: The Scholastic
Funfact book of UFOs. Scholastic, 1977.
U32 Please keep trying :-) The short
stories I'm trying to find were purely fiction. Thanks.
U33: Unicorn book with necklace I'm looking for a kids book about a unicorn. The book was
probably published in the late 70s or early 80s, and the book came
with a little necklace (I believe the necklace had a unicorn on it
as well). I know that's not much info to go on, but I'm
trying to find both the book and necklace for a friend. If
anyone has any ideas I would really appreciate it!
Perhaps it was one of the books by Elizabeth
Koda-Callan. She wrote a bunch of books that came with
charm necklaces around that time and some are still in print, I
think. Good Luck! Thank you for the response. I checked into this author,
though, and she doesn't appear to have written any books about
unicorns. Also, my friend who had the book was a boy, and
these are all books for little girls. Scholastic frequently
packaged necklaces or such that related to a books
subject. Escape of the Unicorn by Suzanne Lord or Sarah's
Unicorn by Bruce Coville were both publish by Scholastic in that
era.
U34: "Underground Railroad" Jeanie Quakers Orphan Solved: Voices in the Night U35: Upside-down or backwards book I am not sure of the correct term but it was an "upside-down or
backwards book" with 2 stories in one book both about a child's
bedtime, sleep, not wanting to go to bed. I am pretty sure
that there were 2 Covers, 2 titles, 2 fronts to the book. You
would read in one direction , one story. Flip the book over and
there was another cover and another story. The 2 stories
were on reverse pages, upside down, as I recall , if you looked
over the page of story #1. Year I read this would have been
in the early 1950's, maybe even the late 1940's. One story
was about a little girl who did not want to go to sleep and stayed
up all night wandering through the empty house, as I
recall. the other story , when you flipped the
book, was about what goes on in the house when everyone is
asleep. I just recall it was quite clever and really
got the message across that it was better to go to sleep than stay
up all night,. I would so love to find this book
Thanks for any help. Such a cool web site. I was able
to solve one of them... U36: Uncle-niece thing Solved: Me, My Goat,
and My Sister's Wedding U37: Underground monsters This is a book I read in the late 50's. I am very vague
about it, but it was fairly large and had many full page black and
white or sepia drawings. It had as many pictures as a normal
picture book but more writing. A boy goes ?underground in a
?castle, or possibly down a well and comes to a world with many
strange and grotesque creatures. It's more like an art book,
can't really remember the plot, but I think he has to try to get
out. I'm not certain if the creatures are threatening him or
not. Not much to go on, I know!
Could this be George MacDonald's The
Princess
and
the Goblin? You can read it online
here. Thanks, but it's definitely not The
Princess and the Goblin. It's not a fairy or folk
tale, I'm sure, but a modern fable of some kind, with the
emphasis on the artwork and strange underground monsters.
I remember reading this book but i haven't a
clue waht it's called, although i recall the pictures looking
vaguely like those in where the wild things are by maurice
sendak, maybe it was by him?
U38: Unicorns Solved: The
Secret of the Unicorn Queen 2006 U39: Underground maze Solved: The House of
Stairs U40:
Utah pioneer Solved: The Great Brain
Series U41: Underground Society I happened to browse onto your page in
search for This Time of Darkness. I also have a very
(quite similar) issue. I am also looking for a book about
an underground society. Since you seemed to be (somewhat)
versed, at least reading three books on the subject ( This Time
of Darkness, Outside and The City Under Ground), I was hopeing
you can help me out. When I was a kid, I read 1/2 way
threw a book and my mom returned it, without my knowledge, and
we just never bothered getting it out of the library again
(something I truly regret). So anyway, this is what I
remember from the book: * The society did live underground * The main character was not over the age
of a teenager...but most likely pre-pubesent. Not sure of
the gender, but I think it was male. * There was a scene with a "town meeting"
where the male and female adults stood on opposite sides of the
room (maybe a theme of segregation?) and the children were
either not present or split from both groups of adults. * The main character describes a "beating"
he received for looking up a "smoke stack" to the surface to see
the sky. Something that was obviously forbidden. * The main character and his/her friends
went exploring, following "train tracks" to
somewhere...something i believe was also forbidden. The last two bullets, the overall idea I'm
sure is correct, but I am fuzzy on the details.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Below the
Root, 1975. I
think you're looking for the Green-sky trilogy - the books are
"Below the Root", "And All Between", and "Until the
Celebration". The novels are about a planet with two
different groups of people - the Kindar, who live in villages in
the treetops and wear long, wing-like outfits that allow them to
glide from tree to tree, and the Erdlings, who have been
imprisoned underground and developed an industrialized
society. A Kindar teenager named Raamo is invited to join
the ruling council, and finds out about the existence of the
Erdlings. The clues you provide sound a lot like
descriptions of the Erdling tunnels.
The book or series described in the query
wouldn't be Green-sky. No child abuse (almost no
violence at all) or gender segregation in those books. Could you
be remembering two different series with similar ideas? Ayn Rand, Anthem, 1937. Not everything matches, but you might be
looking for ANTHEM. Jean Duprau, City
of Ember. The plot sounds like Duprau's book about Ember,
where people had gone to escape some coming global
catastrophe. By the time of the book, two children had
discovered a route "up there". The time doesn't sound right
for it though.
2007 U42: Uncle gloves mansion cabin snakes wash basin This is a paperback book I read about 10
yrs ago, might have been written sometime in early 90's: A boy
is sent to live with his evil aunt and uncle in a giant old
creepy mansion (I believe he is orphaned, and he might have had
a sister who went too...) His uncle and aunt put him
to very hard labor; his hands get very blistered, and on
his birthday, they only give him work gloves (!). In his
bedroom, there is a scary wash basin painted with a scene of a
very chaotic and violent cavalry battle (that happened a few
hundred years ago). Eventually, the boy flips over the
basin and finds a secret passage, which he follows down to find
a log cabin buried deep within the house where a nice old lady
lives, who helps him. He even crosses a snake pit at one
point, I think. I forget how the happy ending wraps up... U43: Uncle Popacatapetl I dimly recall reading, circa 1965, a
children's fantasy novel which I suspect was published at least
thirty years earlier. The book was written in third-person
narration, but always focusing on the child protagonist (as in Alice
in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz) The main
character was a little boy I can't remember his name for
certain, but it might be Peter. At one point in this book, the
boy meets a very jolly bald fat man whose name is Uncle
Popacatapetl. I'm pretty sure of that spelling. In real life,
there is a volcano in Mexico named Popocatapetl notice the
spelling difference.I don't remember the name of the book's
author or illustrator. At one point, there is an illustration
when the boy meets a lot of human or humanoid figures. One of
the figures is a pair of tongs or a pair of pliers walking
upright, with a male human face. The strange thing about these
figures is that they seem to be parodies of the "Happy
Families": these are characters in a children's card game which
is very popular in Britain, similar to American children's games
such as Old Maid and Go Fish, except that Happy Families
requires a special dedicated card deck. I think that these
characters in this book even have names similar to the names in
the Happy Families card deck: Mister Cutts the Butcher, and so
forth: surnames linked to a trade, and punning on it. I get the
impression that this novel was written and published in America
(I saw it in a shipment of books from the USA), but the presence
of the Happy Families characters might indicate that the book
originated in Britain. Any ideas?
Not a direct solution, but I found
reference to your Uncle P. character being in a book titled Alternative
Alices (Twenty stories by different authors giving
an alternative picture of the heroine of Lewis Carroll's 1865
novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Often less
flattering than the original, they were written between 1869 and
1930) -- so here's the contents of that book.
Hopefully, you'll recognize the story you're looking for in
there. Contents: Mopsa the fairy : Reeds and rushes;
Queen's wand; Failure / Jean Ingelow -- Amelia and the
dwarfs / Juliana Horatia Ewing -- From Speaking likenesses /
Christina Rossetti -- Behind the white brick / Frances Hodgson
Burnett -- Wanted-a king, or, how Merle set the nursery rhymes
to right / Maggie Browne -- New Alice in the old wonderland :
Peggy the pig; Dutchess and her house; Tweedles
Pageant / Anna M. Richards --
Justnowland / E. Nesbit -- Ernest / Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen
-- From nowhere to the north pole: a Noah's ark-æological
narrative : How Frank fared in Teumendtlandt; What
happened to Frank in Quadrupedremia / Tom Hood -- Down the snow
stairs, or, from good-night to good-morning : naughty children
land / Alice Corkran -- Davy the goblin, or what followed
reading "Alice's adventures in wonderland" : the moving forest /
Charles E. Carryl -- Wallypug of why : Way to why;
Breakfast for tea; Girlie sees the wallypug;
What is a goo? / G.E. Farrow -- New
adventures of "Alice" : Found in the attic; To Bunberry
Cross, or along came a snipe; Peevish printer
Fire!! / John Rae -- Uncle Wiggily in
wonderland : Uncle Wiggily and wonderland Alice; Uncle
Wiggily and the march hare; Uncle Wiggily and the cheshire
cat / Howard R. Garis -- From David Blaize and the blue door /
E.F. Benson -- Westminster Alice : Alice in Downing
street; Alice in Pall Mall; Alice and the liberal
party / Saki -- Clara in Blunderland : in a hole again /
Caroline Lewis -- Alice in Blunderland, an iridescent dream :
off to Blunderland; ownership of children / John Kendrick
Bangs -- Alice and the stork: a fairy tale for workingmen's
children : Alice visits the American eagle / Henry T.
Schnittkind -- Alice in the delighted states : Through the
drinking glass; Jealous island; Humble pie
Censor incensed / Edward Hope Benson, E. F., David Blaize
and the Blue Door,1918. Acting on the above
information, I found that the story in the book Alternative
Alices with Uncle Popacatapetl is "David
Blaize and the Blue Door," by E. F. Benson.
I'm not certain it's the right book, because there is only an
excerpt available in that book, but it seems like a good lead!
U44: Upside Down Land Thanks GOD for this site! There is one book
I’ve been looking for this book for YEARS! Please help! I used
to take this book out from the library when I was very very
young, maybe 15 or 20 years ago. It was in the Children’s
section, one of those thin hardcover picture books. I remember
that the cover was brown and possibly and the cartoonish picture
on it like the inside of the book. What I REALLY remember is the
pictures. The story was about a young boy who traveled to all
these different worlds. Like most picture books there wasn’t a
lot of words but big pictures of these worlds. One of them was
an “Upsidedown land” where everyone walked with their shoes on
their hands and birds flying upside down and people walking
around doing handstands. Then he traveled to a chocolate World
(possibly Chocolate and Marshmallow it was all brown and white)
Actually that was the world that reminded me of the book (Anyone
else seen the Chocolate Quik commercial where everything turns
to chocolate – that’s what triggered my memory) Now this book
looked like it was written in early 80s, possibly older (by a
few years, nothing more than 60s) Please Please help!
James Flora, Pishtosh, Bullwash, and
Wimple.One of my
favorites as a child. A boy has three friends (Pishtosh,
Bullwash, and Wimple) that take him on wonderful
adventures. One place is upside down land, another is
growly forest (where trees growl), another is chocolate lake (my
favorite!) where they go fishing for marshmallow fish with
vanilla wafer fins and he catches a big chocolate fish with a
peanut eye. Once he catches a peppermint turtle. At
the end of the book they have to find the north pole (taken by a
polar bear to share with his homesick relatives in a zoo) before
all the gravity spills out of the earth. They replace it
in the nick of time, just as everything is floating off of the
earth.
Not a solution, but this sounds similar to a
book I've been trying to unearth from my memory for a long time.
The one I read would have been in the 70s.
Mattel, Upsy-Downsy Land,1969.You
may
be thinking of Upsy-Downsy Land - one of our
all-time favorite books! It lists no auther - just
"Mattel." Brilliantly colored cartoon pictures where
everyone walks on their hands...
U45: Unfinished picture book Solved: The Mysteries
of Harris Burdick U46: Uncle Toby, boys adventures I vaguely remember 2 boys in a children's
book who had an uncle Toby who sent them on really fantastic,
almost surreal trips. I think there was a series of the
books. Sadly, I can't remember much else.
Gordon Boshell, Captain Cobwebb. That could be this long series - the
uncle was Septimus Cobwebb (and was invisible) but Toby was one
of the boys (his older brother was David). If Fanty the
elephorse, the Leopillar, the Golden Cactus, the shershl (an
invisible bus) and/or being kidnapped by a sort of ground-effect
horseshoe crab with tentacles ring any bells then the
requester's looking for this.
U47: Ugly Duckling The Ugly Duckling, publication date
approx. between 1950-1960; large edition, approx. 8 1/2" x 11";
white boards; final page in book has small drawing in a box
centered in upper half of the page (maybe a plain white page
after that). Good luck!! I've spent a LONG time
looking! U48: Upside Down Hatbox Cake I am looking for a children's book from my childhood. It featured
a group of animal characters that acted like people. There was a
Mrs. Duck (I think - some kind of "Fowl") The premise of the book
is that there is a village fete going on where baked goods will be
sold. "Mrs. Duck" makes a cake and places it in a Hatbox on a
shelf in her closet to cool. When she goes to retrieve the cake it
tips upside down. She's upset, but takes the cake anyway. It sells
and the folks want more! She makes another, puts it in the Hatbox
and turns it upside down. The "Up side down Hatbox Cake" is born.
Any of this sound familiar? I got the book from my Elementary
School Library. It might have been part of a collection of
stories. Somewhere around 1965, although it wasn't new then.
Miriam Clark Potter, Mrs. Goose
series. The story
"Hatbox Cake" is anthologized in Let's Hear
a Story - 30 Stories and Poems for Today's Boys and Girls,
ed. by Sidonie Matsner Grunberg, c. 1961. The
story is from one of Miriam Clark Potter's "Mrs.
Goose" books, but I'm not sure which one.
Titles in the series include "Mrs. Goose of Animal Town"
(1939), "Hello Mrs. Goose" (1947), "Here
Comes Mrs. Goose" (1953), "Our Friend Mrs.
Goose" (1956), "Mrs. Goose's Green Trailer"
(1956), "Just Mrs. Goose" (1957), "Queer,
Dear Mrs. Goose" (1959), "Goodness, Mrs.
Goose!" (1960), "No, No, Mrs. Goose!"
(1962), "Goofy Mrs. Goose" (1963), "Mrs.
Goose and Three-Ducks" (1964), and "Mrs. Goose
and her Funny Friends" (1964). "Hello Mrs.
Goose" was reprinted in 2000, and "Just Mrs.
Goose" was reprinted in 2004. Miriam Clark Potter, Mrs. Goose, 1957, copyright. This sounds like it
could be a Mrs. Goose book. There are at least
three of them: Just Mrs. Goose, Mrs. Goose
and her Funny Friends and Goofy Mrs. Goose.
It's the only reference I could find to a
'hatbox cake' so maybe------Let's hear a story: 30 stories
and poems for today's boys and girls / Sidonie
Matsner Gruenberg / 1961 [1st ed.]. English Book :
Juvenile audience 160 p. illus. 29 cm. Garden City, N.Y.,
Doubleday. Miriam Clark Potter, Our
Friend Mrs. Goose, 1951, copyright. This
is in response to a question about where to find "The Hatbox
Cake" story by Miriam Clark Potter. The story, according
to the acknowledgments in an anthology containing the story, was
originally in Miriam Clark
Potter's "Our Friend Mrs. Goose," published in 1951. The
anthology referred to above is: Let's Hear a Story, by Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg
(1961).
2008 U49: Unicorn,
maiden, greyhounds The book features a beautiful
maiden, a white unicorn, and white greyhounds that hunt the
unicorn. It is a children's book that contains mainly
illustration, as opposed to text. The drawings are detailed,
elegant, and realistic. I believe there may be a tapestry feel to
the art and layout. My strongest image is that of the unicorn
being attacked by the white greyhounds. I also recall the maiden
having beautifully illustrated hands and fingernails. I
encountered this book in the mid-eighties, and I have no idea what
the title or author could have been.
Gale Cooper, Unicorn Moon, 1984,
copyright. "One night a lonely princess dreams of a handsome
hunter on a unicorn, forever riding through the land of Unicorn
Moon. His only companions are his hunting hounds. He is enchanted
by a powerful spell - and can be freed only if she solves a great
riddle: What is the meaning of true love?" Front cover shows a
unicorn and two white greyhounds running, with a full moon behind
them. The dogs are on either side of the unicorn, with open mouths
and tongues hanging out, and could be construed as either
attacking it or as simply running alongside and panting. There is
an interior picture of a blonde prince, in lavendar tights &
shirt, with a burgundy tunic, sitting at the edge of the water,
with three white greyhounds sitting behind him and a full moon
over his shoulder. He is reflected in the water, and the unicorn
is standing in the foreground. U50: Upside
down world Solved: The Silver Nutmeg U51: Underground
Society and Names This book was found in a middle
school library. It may have been a children's book, but then
again, it may not have been as it contained some things I would
consider very adult. I am fuzzy on the plot of the book. Its
been so many years; all I recall is a vague impression of the two
main characters getting themselves into deeper and deeper trouble
until they fled to a passageway above ground I'm not sure they
believed existed. I know the premise was that long ago a
society had to go underground due to war or possibly environmental
catastrophe, and believed they could never go back again, and that
this was the world the main characters lived in. The entire book
except the very end takes place underground. One of the
traits I do recall about the society was how they passed on names.
If someone died, they would take the names of the person who died
and give it to a newly born babe. So, say your father was named
"Sam" and he died...the first male child to be born would then
carry the name "Sam." This became especially vivid when the
main characters (a boy and a girl, not fully grown, I think)
escaped to above ground up a long staircase (again, I think). They
found a group of people who lived on the surface, and in the
course of things one of the above-grounders died. One of the main
characters asked who would take on his name, and the question
earned them a lecture on honoring the dead. Help?
This almost never happens to me, but as I was reading your
stumper to post it, I suddenly had this thought that I might know
what this is. It reminded me of this movie trailer that I saw
just yesterday (when I went to see Prince Caspian), called "City of Ember."
From the trailer, I gathered that there was this underground
society, a refuge from Earth, meant to last 200 years; now the
electricity generator is failing, and these 2 teens have to find the
way out to save their society. I did some online research and
found that it's based on a young adult novel by Jeanne DuPrau also called The City of Ember,
which is the first of the series Books of Ember. I could be
totally wrong, since these books are only a few years old and I
don't know how long ago you found your book, but this just flashed
into my mind, and I had to write this down. :) City of Ember. This also
sounds like City
of Ember to me, though I don't remember the part about
the names being taken. There is also the Windsinger series, in which a
brother and sister have to leave their town because they get into
trouble. The City of Ember is not
the right book. The book I found was back when I was in middle
school, and I'm 32 now. It was a lot of years back. However,
there are some similarities, enough that I have wondered if the
writer of "City of Ember" also read the same book. Logan's Run. Okay, as I read the description again, there were a lot
of similarities to the movie Logan's Run. I never read the
book, but it could be what the reader is looking for--has the
staircase and the upper/lower world with the belief that the
world didn't exist anymore. Gregory Maguire, I
Feel Like the Morning Star, 1989, copyright. I
haven't read this, and nothing mentions the names, but the book
sounds right in other ways. There's a post-nuclear underground
society, rigid, static, and frightened, which is shaken up by
three teenagers who are determined to be free. Louise
Lawrence, Andra. I remember the book Andra having
an underground society with a strange way of choosing names.
But the rest of the details don't fit, and Andra had quite a
downbeat ending that i thought would be mentioned in the
query. So it's not a strong possibility. I remember this
one! The city underground is cramped and dirty and
overcrowded. The girl and boy decide (there is some
overwhelming reason) to just keep going up the staircase until
they find out where it ends. I remember one level, the girl
has to go to the restroom and pretends she has to vomit to move up
the line of women waiting quickly.It was definitely published in the mid to
1980's. I will try to jar my memory some more about this
book. U52: Underground
girl I think that this was a serial in
Jack and Jill magazine in the 1950's. A girl lives both on
top of and under the ground. This seems to be in tunnels and
perhaps in Ireland. I don't remember any time traveling
taking place but just that she goes underground when there is
trouble on top. Thank you. U53: Unicorn kept on apartment roof The
Secret
Unicorn (maybe?), 1975. This is a children's novel
about a girl who lives in the city (I believe it was NYC, but it
may have been Chicago or another big US city) who secretly owns a
unicorn and keeps it on the roof of her family's apartment
building. Eventually the unicorn becomes unhappy living there and
the girl has to let it free -- a very sad, but sweet ending.
I remember it having a light blue cover with a whimsical
illustration of a unicorn, possibly with a girl riding it. I think
the type may have been orange. I think I may have ordered the
paperback from a school book fair.
Georgess McHargue, Stoneflight, 1975, copyright. Any chance it was a griffin,
instead of a unicorn? Set in Manhattan in the 1970s, Stoneflight
is about a pre-teen girl (Janie) who escapes her parents marital
problems by hiding out on the rooftop of her apartment
building. There, she spends her time cleaning a beautiful
stone griffin (whom she calls "Griff") until he finally comes to
life for her and she is able to soar over the city on his back.
Janie then travels around New York City, discovering other stone
animals decorating the City’s architecture and bringing them to
life. However, when the animals start to turn her into
stone, she learns that having feelings is the price of remaining
human. Front cover shows Janie riding on the back of the griffin.
Dominant colors are blues, greens, and lavender. Foster, Elizabeth Vincent, Lyrico: the
only horse of his kind,1970.This crops up twice on your site! And
answers the above! THanks for a fantastic resource! I am trying to find this
book as well. It is not a unicorn but a pegasus and the title
might have something like ''rico'' in it. It was scholastic with a
blue cover, and in the story the horse might have needed a certain
(alpine?) plant to survive and this is why she lets him go. Mid
70's. U54: under a purple moon Hi there. I remember reading a book
when I was kid during the late '70's, early '80's and I swear it's
called Under the Purple Moon. It was set in the future and cars
would fly. I remember the little boy in the book traveling to a
different world that was under the purple moon.
Lionel Davidson, Under Plum Lake, 1980, copyright. I wonder if
you are thinking of Under Plum Lake. Another person remembered it as
"Under a Purple Moon", or "Under a Purple Sea". It is the story of
a boy who is taken to a fantastic, futuristic subterranean world.
See the Solved Mystery pages for more. Crockett Johnson, Harold
and the Purple Crayon, 1955. Perhaps it
is Harold
and the Purple Crayon, or one of the other Harold
books? Wikipedia says, "The protagonist, Harold, is a
curious four-year-old boy who, with his purple crayon, has the
power to create a world of his own simply by drawing it. Harold
wants to go for a walk in the moonlight, but there is no moon,
so he draws one. He has nowhere to walk, so he draws a path. He
has many adventures looking for his room, but, in the end, he
draws his own house and bed and goes to sleep." U55: Undertaker fakes ghosts to rob town Solved: The Ghost on Saturday Night 2009 U56: Underground
Railroad Christian novel? A teenage girl is sold as an
indentured servant to her uncle. A man named Freeman
receives an inheritance but must get married and have a child in
order to get the money. He marries the girl. The
Underground Railroad is involved. A Christian historical
fiction novel.
Stahl, Hilda, The Covenant, 1991, copyright. I
FINALLY found the book!I did another
search on a Christian bookstore website and got a hit!Ive been trying to remember this book
title for more than 16 years. :)
U57: Urban
Fantasy A friend of one of my cousins was
telling me about this one, its kind of an urban fantasy in which a
scientist working somewhere very cold (the guy telling me about
the book said someplace like Alaska or the Yukon Territory)
discovers that there are really elves and fairies in the world. At
first he wants to reveal them to the scientific community, but
decides to protect them instead. He got the book at a public
library in Denver, Colorado, but couldnt remember the name, title,
or a whole lot of important plot stuff. I sincerely hope that this
book is not a figment of his imagination, as I would VERY much
like to get my hands on it because it sounded really interesting.
Eoin Colfer, Artemis
Fowl and the Arctic Incident. Just to eliminate
the obvious, could your friend be thinking of the Artemis Fowl
series? One takes place in the arctic.
No, it wasn't Artemis
Fowl-he's exploiting the fairies that he found, and this was
published before "The Arctic Incident"'
U58:
Uncle Wiggily 1970s uncle wiggily book- christmas
book - I think it was about someone getting lost in a snow storm
on christmas eve. U59:
Up All Night Children's book
about a little kid who stays up all night for the first time.
Definitely a children's book, not young adult; kinda short, and
I seem to recall more pictures than text. Gist of it was how the
noises and shadows in the house, and outside in the street,
change as the night wears on. This book had to be published sometime
between 1960 and 1990.Updated:
So far, the book stumper page lists 3 possible books for my
mystery book, # U59. I just wanted to report back that I've gotten
copies of all 3 books and, sadly, none of them is the right one.
I'm hoping for some more suggestions...
Bill Harley, Nothing Happened,
1995, copyright. A possibility. Jack stays up all alone one
night because he believes that everyone else stays up and has
fun all night, but all he experiences is the small noises of his
quiet house: a cat, the furnace, etc. Teddy Jam, Night
Cars. Maybe Night Cars? Daddy and
sleepless baby looking out the apartment window at the night's
goings-on, told in rhyme. "Chocolate for baby, coffee for dad,
even night cars go to bed." Harriet
Ziefert, I Won't Go To Bed!,1987. It sounds a lot like this
one. Harry refuses to go to bed, so he stays awake all
night and finds out that it's not so much fun being awake alone.
I remember this book, too and she's rightit's not any of the 3 suggestions. I
remember that the little girl's name was Amy and her dig stays up
with her, tho I don't recall its name. Her name, Amy, is in the
title, something like Amy Stays Up or Bedtime For Amy. I so hope
you can find it! Nancy
Garber, Amy's Long Night Nancy Garber, Amy's Long Night(1970).
I remember reading this book.
It was a fave!! For some reason, I am recalling it was made into
a TV special...but, I could be wrong about that.
U60: United Nations
picture book explains children living in different
conditions I believe this is a hardcover
children's picture book published by the United Nations.
The pages were large. It explains to children how some
children in the world don't have enough food, or clean water, or
live in war conditions, etc. I think I saw this book in
the 1990s.
Annabel Kindersley, Children Just Like Me, 1995. This book was printed w/ cooperation
of UNICEF. Each page spread shows a real child, and has
details and photos about where the child lives, what he or she
wears, eats, and studies at school. Barnabas & Anabel Kindersley,
Children Just Like Me,1995. This
is a book of photographs of real children living in various
countries around the world with accompanying text describing
their various living conditions and what they do. It has
a foreward by UNICEF. It is a DK book and spawned
"Children Just Like Me Celebrations!"
Sorry, the book I'm looking
for is definitely not Children
Just Like Me.The one I remember had much,
much simpler pages and pictures.Like,
just one or two sentences on a whole page. Kermit the
Frog/Louise Gikow, For Every
Child, a Better World,1993. A United Nations
book about children around the world who lack basic necessities.
One 2-page spread per idea. 2011 U61: underground
homes, mushrooms, flowers, trees, dwarf like characters 1970's children's picture book;
underground homes, mushrooms, flowers, trees, dwarf like
characters
Arlene Mosel, The Funny
Little Woman,
1973.Might this be the Caldecott winner Funny
Little Woman?A large part of the
story takes place in an underground world occupied by the Oni. Sibylle von
Olfers, When the Root Children
Wake Up,1906,
approximate. This has been re-issued several times since
its original publication, with various illustrators. Little Men Underground by Austria's Ida Bohatta?
Translation: Mary Lee Theobald. Bohatta did several books about
gnomes, plants, animals, etc. so you'll want to look at as many
titles as possible - especially in Google Images. Only trouble is,
that book was supposedly written in 1981. (Bohatta lived from 1900
to 1992.) Berton,
Pierre, The Secret World of Og, 1974. I think this could be your book. U62: Under the Big
Umbrella I've been looking for a book that
was read to me as a child in the early 1980s. It had the
phrase "under the big umbrella." I had in my mind that it
was a Golden book, but I really do not remember. My mom
thought it may have had the word "beach" in the title. I
know it isn't "Harry by the Sea."
Literature
Committee of the Association for Childhood Education, Told Under the Green Umbrella. There was a series of anthologies
of folk tales and other short stories for young children: Told Under the Green Umbrella, Told Under the Blue Umbrella,
Told Under the Magic Umbrella, etc. I don't know if you're thinking of one of these
books? Under the Big Umbrella was a Golden Book that my mom read to us, and I
think it was earlier than the 80s. "Under the big umbrella,
mother sits from the sun. Under the big umbrella, there was
only one." The book builds up to 10 under the umbrella, I
think, and then maybe takes the people under the big umbrella down
again. Sorry I can't be more helpful. But I keep
hoping I'll find it, too! I think this person is talking
about "Numbers" (Little Golden Book) It's a little golden book
called Numbers
(1955). We read it almost every night. It's a counting and
math book, but the section in question takes place at the beach.
It's a wonderful book, and the beach section is absolutely the
best part. "Under the big umbrella Mother hides from the sun now there is ONE under the big umbrella" etc. U63: Unicorn
coral necklace The book was about a little girl (?
Astrid) who had a coral necklace. There was a stream at the bottom
of the garden and the necklace broke into the stream, tinkling
into the stream and then she saw a tiny unicorn drinking from the
stream. I'm 40 now so I would have read this in the 70's.
Irmelin Sandman Lilius, The Unicorn, 1965. "The story of Muddle's search
with her doll Aster-Pippi for her broken pieces of coral necklace
left her by the tiny unicorn has a quiet, dream-like quality and
is a dream-like ramble through a series of incidents in a fantasy
world." Muddle and Aster-Pippi appear again in The Maharajah
Adventure. 2012 U64: Unrequited
Love
this is to find a book/story.I
thought it was by Edith Wharton, but can't locate it.It is about a man who is in love with a
woman whom he can't tell.In his old
age he finally decides to find her and tell her how he feels.He finds the house but sits outside on a
bench and does not go in.
Edith
Wharton, Age of Innocence, 1920. U65: Unicorn stampede
is stopped by griffons Picture book I read in the 90's. A
king(?) & griffonish creatures in a castle see a herd of
unicorns stampeding. Going to run over a cliff and fall. The
griffons fly over with a giant board that has holes drilled in it
and drop it on their horns to stop them. Uni's come to live at
castle at the end.
U66: UMA Title Guess: Death on the Beach /
Isle of Death, c. 1965. I believe this was a
mystery, paperback novel. It was called something like "Isle of
Death" or "Death on the Beach", but I can't find it under those
names. The cover was yellowish (sky and beach) and I'm pretty
sure it had a close up of a skull dangling on a stick stuck in
the sand. One of the main characters was an island girl named
Uma. I believe it was about the adventures of several people on
a south sea island.
The
Beach of Falesá, Robert Louis Stevenson. The story can be read at http://www.fullbooks.com/Island-Nights-Entertainments1.html. It includes an island girl named Uma, a
taboo, and a nefarious character suspected of several murders. SOLVED: The
Beach of Falesá, Robert Louis Stevenson. Thanks!U67:
Unicorn, lost black kitten, witch that wants to be an actress
again, bad wizard in castle next door, forgetful pony, alicorn
The book is a large hardbound glossy print book. The pictures are
very beautiful, colorful, and many details. I would most likely
compare the artwork to Susan Dawe, specifically the print of the
long haired black and white cat sitting on a wall with its back to
the viewer touching the nose of a unicorn with it's paw. I think
the story was set in England as the buildings in the story are a
stone castle and a thatch cottage with a fairy garden and pony
paddock. I remember reading this book in the late 1980's/early
1990's.
Tuttle, Lisa, Catwitch, 1983. I
read this book dozens of times as a little girl and it's
definitely the one you're thinking of! "The book follows the
adventures of Jules, a small kitten in search of life, who becomes
apprenticed to a witch, Eva Eden. Eva is a former actress, who
needs to perform the great spell in order to restore herself to
her former glory. The problem is that she needs alicorn and can't
remember what it is. Jules finds out, but it's too late, the
alicorn has been stolen by a rival warlock, and Eva's landlord,
Alexander Wylie." U68:Uncle
Matthew
gets young boy visitor In 1985 I read a book about a young boy that is sent to stay
with his Uncle Matthew. The uncle's house had many secret rooms
and passages and there was a mystery for the boy to solve. Notable
part - The uncle says, "It's bad luck to call someone "Uncle
Matthew" give me a nickname." U69: Underground flotilla of a lost tribe I've been trying to find a children's chapter book that I
remember being assigned to read in about 4th or 5th grade (for me,
that was about 1974-5). I don't remember the title or author at
all, but the plot was surreal: It was about a tribe of people who
lived on a flotilla of rafts, drifting endlessly on an underground
river. No one could remember where they were going to, or how long
they'd lived there, only that they had to stay on the rafts. One
boy decided he wanted to explore the riverbanks and he abandoned
his people. He found a tunnel to the surface and was amazed to see
the sun and the rest of the outside world. On his way back to find
his people and share the news, he discovers that the river they're
traveling on is a giant loop, and they've been traveling in
circles for generations. I've been looking for this one for years.
Help!
This sounds like Mary Q. Steele's Journey
Outside, see Solved
Stumpers. V1: Valley
of Mystery Perhaps you may be familiar with a series I remember reading in
1947 while in grade school concerning a boy detective who resided
in the town of Edinburgh, Scotland. After the mystery presented
itself, the boy would track down clues by riding his bicycle to
various locations in and around Edinburgh. I cannot recall either
the name of the author or the name of the boy detective, but I
believe one of the books was entitled The
Valley Of Mystery. Thank you for any assistance
you or your online readers can give me.
V 1's search might focus on part of the "Plupey"
(Plupy?) series my brother read as a young boy.
Although the name "Plupey" doesn't sound
familiar at the moment, this is the first clue I've
received. I'll do searches under that name and will let
you know of any positive findings. Thanks so much for the
information!!
The Plupy series was written
by Henry Shute and published in the 1900s. It was set in
small town America, NOT Edinburgh, and had no apparent mystery
themes. Sorry to be negative, but it's a false trail.
Not likely, because of the date, but William
Mackellar wrote The Mystery of the Ruined Abbey,
a boy's mystery set in Scotland, 1954; Danger in the Mist
1956; Ghost in the Castle 1960; and many sports
stories. I haven't been able to track down any earlier books,
though.
Well, a possible author, anyway. Agnes
Mary Robertson Dunlap, who wrote under the name Elizabeth
Kyle, was writing juvenile mysteries in the late 1940s to
early 60s, published in England by Peter Davies and in the
States by Houghton. Several are set in Scotland. Titles include
The Provost's Jewel 1950, The Holly Hotel
Mystery 1947, The Mirrors of Castle Doone
1947, Mally Lee 1947, Mystery of the Good
Adventure1950, etc. Oswald Dallas, The Valley of Mystery. I haven't read the book but at any rate it's
the right title.
V3: Vardon, Beth Solved: Davie and the First Christmas
V5: Viking ship Solved: The Ship That
Flew V6: Viking
ship again Solved: Reindeer of the
Waves V7: Victorian
lady Solved: Lucky Mrs.
Ticklefeather V8: Vacation
cottage Solved: Fun With Decals V10: Viking boy Solved: Young Viking V11: Visual Perception I have been searching for a children's book that was popular 20
years ago in pre-school. It was a large book with grand
illustrations of scenes and objects that fooled the eye. One page
that I remember was of two stem wine glasses but if you turned the
book up side down the image became that of mountains. The entire
book, of 20 - 30 pages, was about visual perception. Do you recall
such a book? If so can you obtain a copy for me?
I think of Tana Hoban's work, and a picture book
called Black and White which tells one story
front-to-back, and another when you turn the book upside down and
read it again, but I don't think either is your book. I'll post
this as a stumper and see what other ideas come up.
V11 Visual Perception: Maybe Mitsuma
Anno'sTopsy-Turvies Walker-Weatherhill 1970? I
don't recall that specific illustration, though.
V11 - Anno's Topsy-Turvies
is about a pack (deck) of cards, but this picture could be in
one of his other titles.
Perhaps - Topsys and Turvys,
author-illustrator Peter Newell, published by Dover
1965, 72 pages 9"x6" "Selections have been made from two of
Peter Newell's books, first published in 1894 and 1902. The
pictures are to be looked at first rightside up and then
upside down, a device that used to delight six- to
eight-year-olds" (Horn Book Aug/65 p.406)
Not a lot to go on, but maybe - Now
This, Now That: Playing with Points of View, written
and illustrated by Howard Baer, published Holiday House
1957. "Through simple text and bold, full-page drawings, the
young observer is encouraged to discover the fun of looking at
things in different, imaginative ways. Ages 3-6." (Horn
Book Oct/57 p.338) The illustration shows a thin book wider than
tall, with a cover showing two boys with backs to each other,
each with short dark hair and slightly old-fashioned clothes,
wide collars and Norfolk? jackets, one smiling, the other
looking surprised.
I immediately thought of Beau Gardner's
books from the 1980's. On each page is a bold, 2-color
graphic. The reader can turn the page a quarter turn and the
picture appears to be something else (ex. - teddy bear foot,
pipe bowl, periscope, & lamp). I've checked The
turn About, Think About, Look About Book and The
Look Again...And Again, And Again, And Again Book
but didn't see any wine glasses. However, he does have
several other books (What Is It: A Spin About Book, etc.)
that may have the wine glasses picture. Incidently, I
think the black & white book mentioned above is Round
Trip by Ann Jonas. It portrays a trip
out to the
country, then you turn the book around and
the pictures become a trip back to the city. Hoban'sBlack On White & White On Black
are board books with simple outlines of common items for babies
to look at.
I wonder if the bookstumper V11: Visual
Perception might be Graham Oakley's Magical Changes.
There are no wine glasses and the book is not turned up-side
down, but it is definitely a "large book with grand
illustrations of scenes and objects" and there are many
pages with items that have long stems similar to wine
glasses. The pages are split horizontally and you flip
them to make different combinations. I've had the book at
least twenty years, so the time frame is right. Thanks for
maintaining this wonderful site!
V12: Vocabulary book I'm looking for a reprint of a late ninteenth or early twentieth
century children's vocabulary book. I think it was
reprinted by Dover or Merrimack in the 1970s (at least that's when
I received it). The book is fairly small, about 4 by 7
inches, and has a hardcover, possibly green. Each
two-page spread has a largish engraving, surrounded by smaller
engravings of words related to the large picture. For
example, one double page spread shows a ship at sea. Around
the margins are words and pictures such as "astrolabe," "sextant" and other nautical terms. I
loved reading the unfamiliar, old-fashioned words when I was given
this book. It was definintely a reprint of a children's
book, but I have never seen it since my copy was tossed in the
give-away pile. Please help!
DMIRAL W.H. SMYTH, THE SAILOR'S
WORD-BOOK OF 1867, 1867. AN ALPHABETICAL DIGEST OF
NAUTICAL TERMS. This book has been
re-released. I don't know if it has pictures or
not. Just a long-shot
V13: Vanishing Airliner Solved: Bringing Down
the Air Pirate V14: Vegetable children The book I am looking for is a book that my
nursery school teacher had. I'm 39 and it was old
then. The characters were children who were all vegetables
(really)! They had names like Little Miss Endive and Baby
Brussel Sprout. I've been thinking about that book for
years. I you have any luck I'd love it.
Sounds like Vegetable Children
in your solved pages.
V14 vegetable children: maybe Mother
Earth's Children: the Frolics of the Fruits and the
Vegetables, by Elizabeth Gordon, published
Volland 1914, 95 pages, reprinted Derrydale 2000. Less likely is
When the Root Children Wake Up, by Sybille
Olfers, English text by Helen Dean Fish, published
Lippincott 1941, 22 pages, reprinted by Green Tiger 1976.
The Elizabeth Gordon books (Flower Children,
Vegetable Children, etc.) feature animated creatures
(ie, Daisies or Carrots with human baby faces and hands) with
short rhymes underneath each illustration. I do not believe
the rhymes are related to each other in any way, but they do often
have cute names. So if the book sought is a portfolio of
characters rather than a story with a plot, the Gordon may well be
the one.
2002 V15: Viking Game fictional book In the late 1960s or early 1970s I remember
reading a book about a boy who found an ancient Viking game
similar to chess. I think that when he held the pieces he may
have been able to talk to a Viking, who explained the Viking way
of life. The book very intrically explained the game and Viking
ways. There were many line drawings in the margins. This book
probably would have been 4-6th grade reading level.
Not a solution, but a possible lead.
There was a beautiful Viking chess set discovered about the time
the enquirer read the book, and perhaps the book was published
by a museum, like the British Museum? I'll try to find out
more. Moyra Caldecott (pseud of Olivia
Brown), Weapons of the Wolfhound, 1976.
This may not the book you're remembering, but the Lewis Chessmen
almost certainly are the game pieces the boy holds. Here's an
interesting note on them from the Guardian 30 Oct '99: "The
Lewis chessmen Probably Scandinavian, walrus ivory, 12th
century, when the Outer Hebrides were part of the kingdom of
Norway. Finest medieval chess set in Europe. Confused
records of discovery, 93 pieces found buried in a sand dune in
Uig in 1831, possibly in a stone lined burial chamber. Some in
National Museum of Scotland. Isle of Lewis council has
repeatedly requested the return of the set."
Would the following word help solve the
mystery? There is an ancient Viking game something like chess
called hnefatafl.
V16: Volcano in the basement Solved: The Fiches Fabulous Furnace
2003 V17: Very long-necked
girl Solved: Struwwelpeter:
Phoebe Ann V18: victorian house with lady and alligator Solved: Alexander and
the Magic Mouse V19: Vanishing Lessons Solved: Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons V20: Virginia, a horse that secretly talks Virginia is a horse owned by a little girl. Virginia talks
only to the girl, and they keep this communication a secret. The
girl and horse learn riding, teaching each other. At the
end, they win a big race, like the Grand National (National Velvet
style), with the horse talking the girl through the course.
This book was maybe 200 (or fewer) pages, had a red/orange hard
cover, about 5x8".
Hallowell, P. C, Dinah and Virginia. Great horse story, very nice
illustrations. Virginia, the horse,teaches Dinah, her
owner, to ride and jump. They didn't win a race, but the
open jumping event at a horse show. Virginia retires from
jumping to have a foal. Dinah, the girl, had a younger
brother who wanted to be Roy Rogers.This should be it.
Virginia (the horse) teaches Dinah (her new girl owner) how to
ride. Ultimately, they win the open jumping event in a
horse show. Virginia retires to have a foal. Dinah
has a younger brother who wants to be Roy Rogers. Her
father is allergic to horses. The illustrations are a cut
above.
V21: Viking Erik, The Red-Tempered Viking, c.1970. Erik (Eric)
was an irrasible cartoonish seafarer of about the eleventh
century, who sailed the northern seas in search of conquest and
adventure with his crew. An explorer/real estate developer,
he was from Denmark or Norway. He started his career in
grass-covered island he called "Iceland" and talked some settlers
into joining him, but after a time they pushed him out of the
colony because he was always making trouble. He sailed west,
discovered a huge ice-covered place which he named "Greenland" in
order to entice settlers. After a time the Greenlanders also
voted him off, and again he sailed west. This time he found
an even better place he named "Vineland" but when nobody believed
his tales of discovery, he learned a lesson. The
illustrations are very funny, and kids, especially boys find
many lessons in behavior, manners, truth-telling and other social
skills. I think it might be Houghton-Mifflin publishers.
As for Eric the Viking, these are details
from the life of Leif Ericson. The book could be The
Story of Leif Ericson, by William O. Steele
(1954), as Steele sometimes wrote about historical figures with
exaggerated humor.
V21 The book for younger children, Leif
the
Lucky, by Erick Berry, tells of his father,
Erik, and his grandfather, Thorvald, both having been evicted
from their countries because of arguments. They and Leif went
from Greenland to Iceland. I'm saying that the wanted book may
indeed be about Erik, even though Leif might be in it.
#V21--Viking: Also try Leif
Eriksson: First Voyager to America, by Katherine
B. Shippen. Harper, 1951. Nathaniel Benchley, Beyond the Mists:
A Novel, 1975.
Found this while searching for something else. Here is a
brief description: "The ambience of eleventh-century
Scandinavian life is portrayed through the eyes of an
adventurous youth who travels to Vinland with Leif Eriksson."
V22: velvet purse 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. Just recieved Sally Goes Traveling Alone and am sorry
to discover that it is not the book I am looking for, so Sally
took an adventurous trip once again. The book I remember had a
sepia look to the art work in it and I think the hardcover had a
kind of fabric texture to it and may have been brownish. The
size may have been 6 x 8.5" approximately, if I recall it
correctly. This would have been in the late 50s that I had it as
a child. The search continues.
V23: Virgin
Prince and Talking Unicorn Virgin Prince and Talking Unicorn. Please help!
Looking for a 1970's-ish short fantasy paperback I read as a
child, and would dearly love to find once more. It's about a
virgin prince who is sent on a quest to rescue a princess (from a
dragon?) by his not-so-nice older brother (father?). The
prince rides a (talking?) unicorn (a source of much grief, as only
virgins ride unicorns), and duly falls in love with the rescued
princess while depositing her back at the castle. He goes on
to do great things (?), returns, rids kingdom of not-so-nice
brother, and marries her. Any ideas? Thanks!
Simon Green, Blue Moon Rising, 1991. Although this is later than the
date in the clue, there is the second son, Prince Rupert
who rides a talking unicorn, and enlists a dragon and a princess
(who is supposed to marry his elder brother) in his struggle to save the Forest Kingdom from evil.
At the end they knock out his unpleasant brother and leave to
find their own fortunes. Stephen R Boyette, Ariel: Book of
Change, 1983.
This is more of a young adult book, but worth a mention. This
site has a good summary. John DeCles, The
Particolored Unicorn, 1987, copyright.
Could be this novel. The unicorn is multicolored (as the
title suggests). The setting is futuristic fantasy.
Protagonist is Piswyck and at some point mentions his family is
named alphabetically and there is some prophecy about "when the
alphabet runs out". The unicorn isn't named until the very
end as Lifesaver (after the candies).
V24: Vansel I have a friend (male) who was given a most
unusual middle name: VANSEL based on a character in a book
his mother was reading during her pregnancy (mid - 1940's) - but
he does not know the book, title, nor author - we assume it was
fiction and published before 1947. and of course I'd like to buy
the book from you if it can be found. I have had no success
finding that name in lists of names (such as name you baby this)
- which supports my belief that it was a work of fiction.
{I'd even be willing to buy a book of names that listed it}
Not a solution, but looking on Google,
there are lots of mentions of Vansel as a surname, so it was
probably a case of someone being given a surname as a first
name, thus unlikely to be found in a book of baby names.
This isn't a solution either, but I happened
to be looking through "From Aaron to Zoe: 15,000 Great Baby
Names" & ran across "Vencel," which I though was close
enough to "Vansel" to mention. According to the book, "Vencel"
is an unusual Hungarian name meaning "wreath" or "garland."
Not a solution, but an observation. My first
thought when I read this stumper was "how would one pronounce
this name?" Stories can change when they go from parent to
child, over time. If the Mom was a radio fan in the thirties and
forties, maybe she heard "Von Zell" as many times as I did
as a kid, (actor/announcer Harry Von Zell) and spelled it the
way she preferred it.
2004 V25:
Victorian House is Alive I am looking for the title of a children's
book. This book is about an old victorian house that is "alive".
The house has human characteristics. It has colorful
illustrations and possibly the old house is on the front cover.
The windows served as eyes, etc. This book is from the early
1970's or before. It might be a golden book.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little
House, 1942. This
may seem too simple but could this be it? I don't think
the house is really Victorian but everything else matches.
This could be the Wonder Book Once
There Was a House-(1965). Victorian
(GingerBread) House empty and abandoned-one morning feels sick
(pain in the boiler, etc) gets up off foundation and goes to
doctor (Dr. Pim) "tight squeeze" to get into office! "Nurse
surprised!" After thorough exam- "You have mice"! Gets
prescription at hardware store- mice gone- Gets New Family! THE
END!
V26:
Visiting Grandpa's farm I had a story book in the early 1950's when I was 8 - 10. It was
about a brother and sister(I think) that visited their grandpa's
farm. They had several learning experiences as grandpa taught them
about nature. The book had well drawn line illustrations - I can
still see in my mind's eye the drawing of a mud dabber wasp and
its beatiful ewer-shaped nest. I think the kids had to crawl under
a stone fence to get into the orchard, but I'm not sure. I wish I
could remember more about the book. I surely enjoyed looking at it
all those years ago.
V26 is NOT Read, Helen, Grandfather's
farm, 1928.
This is a bit of a wild guess, but has the
poster looked at the Maple Hill Farm books
created by Martin and Alice Provensen? At least two of
their books deal almost entirely with animals. I know the
Provensens started illustrating books in the 40s, though I'm not
sure of the copyright on the Maple Hill Farm books.
V26 is NOT Provensen. I checked.
V27: Veronica Ganz Solved: Veronica Ganz V28:
Voodoo Kit Solved: Mrs. Coverlet's
Magicians V29:
Very Scary Book Solved: Grandpa's Ghost
Stories V30:
Villain steals town's polka dots Solved: Rootie Kazootie, Detective 2005 V31: various animal characters go into a cave Childrens book with pastel coloured fat flumpy cartoon animal
characters (think rabbit crossed with pastel coloured fat
pillow/marshmallow). They all go into a cave for some reason and
use crayons i think to mark there way on the wall.There could have
been bats in the cave im not sure.There was a rabbit, a cat
possibly a green sheep and a blue dog maybe; i cant think of the
rest.Very thin book, mostly pictures.
Sounds like it could be a Puffalumps
book, based on a series of puffy stuffed Fisher-Price animal dolls
from the 1980s and 1990s. Possibly Puffalump Pillow Tales by Nora Smith, Puffalumps Annual
Book, Puffalumps and the Big Scare by Jon Chardiet, 1987, "the story
of a Puffalump camping trip and three monsters that they meet" or
The
Puffalumps Treasure Hunt by Cathy West, 1987. V32: Victorian House Solved: Nothing Ever
Happens on My Block V33: Vanishing Island Solved: Dangerous Island V34: Victorian dolls Solved: Behind the
Attic Wall V35: ventriloquism french and indian war A teenage girl in America, I believe during the French and Indian
Wars, is left in charge of two young boys. She knows
ventriloquism, and amuses the children by making chipmunks talk
and the like. Indians kidnap them and take them to their camp,
where the medicine man wants the tribe to go to war against the
settlers. The chief doesn't want to, but he gets sick. The girl is
present when the chief dies, and suddenly a voice says he is the
chief's spirit and that the whites are responsible for his death,
and the tribe should go and fight. The girl realizes what is
happening, and makes a little bird "speak" and say that the
medicine man is wicked and should be thrown out of the tribe. The
Indians believe her, and war is avoided.I read this in the 70s,
but I think the book is older. V36: Viking brother and sister Solved: Hakon of Rogen's Saga V37: Grandma's Boat Solved: The Maggie B. V38: Vast Cream Bun, Running From Solved: 123 and Things V39: visit to the doll hospital Solved: Doll Hospital V40: Vermont heroine saves children's class Solved: Katie
Kittenheart V41:
vocabulary picture book OLD! (1940?) childrens vocabulary picture book. Three elves
explain the difference between three closely related words.
On an inital page: a storm is coming up in the forest. The
three elves huddle together and say "what is this? a hurricane? a
cyclone? a tornado? The following three pages each illustrate one
of these while an elf gives the definition. The word
groups ranged over a number of subjects (not just weather) but
this is the only one I remember. Wonderfully illustrated
with rich colors. Wish I knew the title !! V42:
victorian paranormals Solved: The Children of
Green Knowe V43: Victorian England I read this series of books in the mid-seventies at my school
library, but they looked as if they had been in print for some
time. The stories centered around a very large family in Victorian
times, the father of which worked for the Indian Ink Company. The
parents had hired a nanny, with possibly a German name, who
dressed in black clothing trimmed in jet beads. She was quite
magical, and used different forms of magic to get the many
children to behave. In one book she turned one of the smaller
children into a pig! In my mind, the books were small in size, but
not in length- they were decent length chapter books. Thanks
for any info- I have wanted to find these books for a long time,
they were so enjoyable.
V43 Go to this
site for an excerpt of a book it may be. Christianna Brand, Nurse Matildabooks. There are three in
the series: Nurse Matilda, Nurse Matilda Goes to
Town, and Nurse Matilda Goes to
Hospital. They are small-format books and she
does wear black with jet beads. If you do a search for
Nurse Matilda, you can see a photo of a boxed set of the books.
Surprised no one has yet noted that the Nurse
Matilda books have just been made into a movie:
"NANNY MCPHEE", starring Emma Thompson.
2006 V44: Vacation Spent Living in Swamp Trees This is a book about a family on summer vacation in the
(Louisiana?) swamps where everyone lives in trees over the
water. Again, probably a Weekly Reader book club issue of
late 60's or early 70's.
Patricia Cecil Hass, Swampfire, 1973. A Scholastic book about "three
youngsters camping in the Great Dismal Swamp bite off more than
they expect when they decide to catch the ghost horse running
loose in the swamp." Except, as I recall, the story is also
about two kids from the city who are spending the summer with
their family in the swamp. They meet a kid who actually lives in
the swamp year round. One theme from the book that always stood
out for me was the fact that each of them longed to be more like
the other. Chad Walsh, Nellie
and Her Flying Crocodile, 1956,
copyright. Not sure if this fits well enough: this is a
fantasy book and originally published earlier than the time
period mentioned, but maybe it was reprinted then (it was
definitely reprinted 1979). The characters first meet the
"flying crocodile" while on vacation, and later on I think they
do end up living in houses in trees above the water, which might
be swampy.
V45: Visit to Venus by a disabled male When in sixth grade (1961) the primary school teacher read to
students a book which featured a disabled person who went to Venus
with other people from earth. I think this was a section where he
was examined by a doctor who said that because the planet Venus
had a smaller diameter than Earth, that the male character would
weigh less on Venus. The nature of his disability: perhaps he was
in a wheel chair? I have a vague recollection that the description
of the planet Venus included aspects like warm, and had islands.
This book ends with a comment on the disabled person "and he
didn't need to use the hand rail" or something similar. Can anyone
identify this book? V46: Vicki (?) series, road trip w family Solved: Meet the
Austins V47:
Vacation with bus and professor Solved: Professor
Diggins' Dragons V48:
Vikings Solved: The Faraway
Lurs V49:
Vain Girl Vain girl is imprisoned in a beautiful room
where the windows and walls gradually become mirrors. This
was a story in a book of stories for (probably older) children
that I read -- once -- in the late 1950s/early 1960s, but the
book was old at the time and could easily have been published
any time in the previous half-century. It had a dark,
nondescript cover and was about the size of a novel. I do not
remember any of the other stories in the book, but they probably
all had lessons to teach, as this one did. I do not remember any
illustrations, but there may have been some. In the story, I do
not remember the girl's name, or how she came to be in this
situation, but she was made to stay alone in a beautiful but
enchanted room, where she had everything she could ask for or
want. She spent all of her time gazing at herself in the mirror,
and each morning when she woke up, more of the room's walls had
become mirrors. She enjoyed having more ways to look at herself,
but soon the windows were changed to mirrors also, and there was
no light to see herself by. She realizes the error of her ways
and, magically, the room becomes as it was before, and she is
freed. Any ideas? I did search your site for "mirror" and
"vain," and did check your anthologies page, with no luck.
V49: Sure it wasn't a boy? In that case, it
would be Prince Harweda and the Magic Prison (see
Solved Mysteries) by Elizabeth Harrison. A 19th-century
story you can read online.
I read the same story, but the protagonist
was a boy! A young prince was an only child and utterly
spoiled and selfish. His parents were unable to change his
ways, so a magical person (fairy godmother?) stepped in.
She transported the boy to a beautiful tower room where windows
and mirrors were alternately placed on the walls. The room
was filled with toys, books, cushions, plates of food,
beverages, and a cage with a bird in it. The boy was so
vain and self-absorbed that he spent every day admiring himself
in the mirrors. He didn't notice that the windows were
getting smaller and the mirrors larger until one day, he was
completely sealed in darkness. He was furious at first,
then self-pitying, especially when he realized that the food and
drink were no longer being renewed. His situation didn't
change until he realized that the bird was trapped with
him. He groped around in the dark until he found a small
amount of drink, then decided to bear his thirst so that the
bird might drink. The windows opened a tiny bit. He
found a bit of food that hadn't spoiled, and gave it to the
bird. The windows opened a bit more. Then he decided
that even if he couldn't be freed, the window opening was large
enough to liberate the bird. The prince did this, and his
unselfish act allowed him to escape his prison. He
returned to his parents, forever a changed boy. My copy of
this story was in a set of books with multiple volumes that
included stories, crafts and games.
V50:
Visual puzzle book with gears This was a full color picture puzzle book. All I remember is a
two page complicated machine puzzle. There was a prince in the
upper-left corner of the left page, and a princess in the
bottom-right corner of the right page. She was attached to a death
machine, and in between her and the prince were hundreds of gears,
pulleys and levers. It was a complex maze-type puzzle, you had to
decide which way the prince would turn the gear he was next to in
order to free the princess, not kill her. It was very difficult
and I could not solve it. The whole book was filled with similarly
difficult and fiendish puzzles. I don't remember if there was a
plot. I took it out from the library somewhere between 1989 and
1995. I would love to find this book, even more than the book
about warring toys.
Steve Jackson, The Tasks of Tantalon, 1985. I think this might be
it. It was a VERY tricky puzzle book, set in a fantasy world, with
knights and princesses and witches and suchlike, and there was
definitely one puzzle with cogs and wheels. V51: Valerie Anne and Alligator Eugene I remember a series of books from the 1960s
that involved a French girl named Valerie anne who travels
somewhere and possibly is shipwrecked, or somehow winds up in
New York. She has a friend named Eugene who is an alligator. The
books were almost like board books but not quite. Perhaps there
was 5 or 6 books in a series. They were brightly colored. V52: Veronica Back in the 70's there was a book that was
my favorite. All I remember about it was it was a pink
hardcover book and the girl's name in it was Veronica. She
was a little thing with blonde hair and there was a house in the
book. That is ALL I remember. I believe the title
had something to do with Veronica but....don't
recall. Her name could have been Vanessa but I am
almost positive it was Veronica. HELP!
Marilyn Sachs, Veronica Ganz,
1968. Marilyn Sachs, Veronica Ganz. This book was about a bully-ish girl always
getting into scraps until she meets her match, Peter Wedemeyer,
who outsmarts her. Marilyn Sachs, Veronica Ganz.
I wonder if the reader might be actually
thinking of Marilyn Sach's Amy and Laura . Amy
is blond, and Laura does battle with the bully Veronica Ganz
during the course of the book.
2007 V53: Viney Solved: Mystery at
Moccasin Bend V54: Virus on Earth Solved: The Girl Who
Owned a City V54b: Victorian boy and family, troublemaking antics,
series I am looking for a series of books from the
mid to late 1970's. It's about a boy and his big victorian
family. He gets into trouble quite a bit, and i recall one
of the books telling about the "new flush toilet" his dad
ordered. Or how the family ordered every year out of the
sears and roebuck. There were some illustrations at the
beginning of each chapter. I cannot remember the name of
the boy. I think it may have been Ted, or Theodore.
Maybe it was slightly based on how teddy roosevelt would have
grown up as a young kid. It was really tom sawyerish, and
I think his dad owned a store in town. The young boy with
his friends, and older and younger brothers were always getting
in to scrapes. My 6th grade teacher read us the series,
and we loved them! Do you have any ideas? Thanks!
John D. Fitzgerald, The Great
Brain. This sounds a lot like The Great
Brain series, by John D. Fitzgerald,
although this series was not Victorian
it was set in late 19th century
Utah. The narrator is the youngest of three brothers, and
the books focus on his middle brother Tom, who is something of a
juvenile con man. The incident with the flush toilet is
out of the first book (The Great Brain) and I'm pretty sure that
ordering from the Sears catalog is mentioned in that book as
well. The other books in the series are: Me and
My Little Brain, The Great Brain Reforms, More
Adventures of the Great Brain, The Return of the Great
Brain, and The Great Brain is Back. John D. Fitzgerald, The Great
Brain series, 1967 - 1976. The Great Brain
series, set in the fictional town of Audenville, Utah,
is loosely based on the childhood experiences of the author.
Mercer Mayer did the original illustrations. Tom Fitzgerald is
the middle son in this family of three boys, and his clever
plans to make money are frequently at the center of the
adventures. John D. Fitzgerald, The Great
Brain, 1967. This has to be the one you're looking
for. In the first chapter of The Great Brain,
titled "The Magic Water Closet," the boys'father (who has a
reputation for buying odd contraptions and inventions, most of
which don't work) installs the first flush toilet in town.
Enterprising Tom, with the help of younger brother John (J.D.),
charges other children a penny apiece to watch the installation,
and later to see the completed bathroom. This is the first
in a series of eight books about the misadventures of Tom and
J.D. Their family is Mormon, living in Utah in the late 1800's -
early 1900's. J.D. serves as the narrator in most, if not all,
of the books, which feature charming black & white
illustrations by Mercer Mayer.
V55: Victorian doll's hospital Solved: Nelly's
Hospital V56: vegetarian agrarian society I'm looking for a book I read in the
1970's. It was sci fi. It was about some future
society, many years after a war had reduced mankind to a
vegetarian agrarian society. A boy at the time is able to
communicate with the domestic animals. The pre-war society
had been forgotten. A giant bear with a grudge from the
pre-war years appears (never says from where) and begins tearing
up the place and turning the animals against the humans.
Can you help me with this?
Alexander Key, The Golden
Enemy,1969. Andre Norton, Iron Cage, 1974.
Andre Norton. I think you're looking
for one of Andre Norton's books...but I can't remember which
one. Maybe Iron Cage or No Night
Without Stars?
V57: Valiant Woman Solved: The Valiant
Women V58: Victory cow and Gettysburg Address 1945 to 1950, childrens. A friend had a
favorite book I would like to find. It was set during
World War II. A family with children live in the country
and have a Victory Cow. There is a school assembly where
one boy must recite the Gettysburg Address. He has
practiced while milking the cow. To help him remember
during the performance his sister ties a rope to his belt so
that he can make milking motions behind his back and keep the
rhythm. I know those are odd recollections but they are
the ones that stuck in her mind. She was born in 1944 and
this sounds like a grade school level book so I'm guessing at
the publication date. 2008 V59: Veronica I am looking for a book that I believe had a pink cover.
There was a character whose name was Veronica I believe. She
had arms that could stretch and reach as high as a tree.
Please help!! V60: vampire
animals on Venus Solved: Five Against Venus V61: van,
learning, summer holiday on beach Solved: Professor Diggins' Dragons V62: Vikings
Northumbria Charlemagne Roncevaux Saracens The book starts and ends in
Northumbria, in England, in the eighth century AD - in fact in the
coastal area between the Tyne and Wear rivers. The hero helps to
fight off a Viking raid at the beginning of the book, and then is
sent to Charlemagne's court in France, possibly to ask for help in
repelling the Vikings. I remember he meets Alcuin of York at some
point, but whether it's in England or at the court I can't
remember. I think he is unsuccessful in obtaining any promises of
help, but subsequently joins the Frankish invasion of Spain, and
fights and is defeated at Roncevaux. Along with a friend (who I
think is Welsh), he is enslaved and sold to the Saracens; they row
in a galley for some time, but then take the opportunity of a
sea-fight with a Christian ship to lead a slave rebellion and free
themselves. (I remember that some of the violence is quite
graphic, which suggests it may have been a book for older
readers.) They then become traders in the Middle Sea, have various
adventures and prosper, and eventually return to England. The last
scene sees them successfully fighting off a much larger Viking
invasion of the same area.
This sounds like it could be one of the many books by Rosemary Sutcliffe, but I can't
remember which one would fit best... Someone's added the comment that
the book sounds like it's by Rosemary Sutcliffe. It isn't,
unortunately - I'm familiar with all of her books. I am not sure what this
is but am guessing a book by Geoffrey Trease or Ronald Welch. It sounds a little like one of Madeleine Polland's books,
but it's been so long since I read them that I can't remember
which is which! Beorn the Proud was the first one
I thought of, but I'm pretty sure that one is told from a girl's
point of view, watching Beorn's struggle. V63: Video
game boy Solved: Demons Don't Dream V64: Veterinarian
and his dogs, adventures I think the vet's name is Dr. Box.
He's got a lot of dogs who ride in his funny car on many
adventures. They figure out why the ducks in the park are sinking;
they save a gorilla (or find a gorilla?); they figure out why a
greyhound is so tired and slow at the races; they encounter a
boxing kangaroo. The copy I had was hardcover (possibly library
binding) with a balding Dr. [Box?] on the cover. Thanks!
Andrew Davies, The Fantastic Feats of Doctor Boox, 1972, copyright. Ducks that sink, a gloomy gorilla,
and a kangaroo that can't stop boxing.....Who can help them? Dr.
Boox, the famous animal doctor, can. Front cover shows a
front-view of the balding Dr. Boox and a whole bunch of dogs in a
red open-top jalopy. V65: Very
Quiet Forest My mother read this story to us as
children at naptime. It was SO relaxing and
quiet. Probably in the 1960's - It was in a
volume or treasury of other stories. My brother and I
remember it was a child who went to this "very quiet
forest." I remember some description about a little pool of
water, maybe drawing in the mud, picking a little cherry that hung
from a branch (there was a picture of this), and maybe something
about moss. Any ideas??!!?? I am pretty certain the
title was The Very Quiet Forest. No idea of author.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Tibor Gergely (illus), The Golden Story Treasury (A Big
Golden Book In Full Color), 1951, copyright. Cover is
pink, with a montage of images from many stories, including
children flying a kite, a kangaroo, an elephant, a panda, a camel
loaded with bundles, a rooster, a fire engine with firemen, a
steam shovel, a trolley car, a tugboat, a lion, a frog, a donkey
wearing a staw hat, and a sheet with a green jack-o-lantern head
on top. Stories include Samson, Biffington Bop, The Very
Quiet Forest, William the Rooster, Genevieve Goes to Bed Early,
and many more. V66: Vet's
son communicates with animals Solved: H. Phillip Birdsong's ESP V67: Victorian
ghost ship Read in late 60's. Picture book
with a large amount of text. Hard cover - no words or
pics on cover - maybe red. A girl lives in Netherlands (?), goes
ice skating past where she is supposed to go, finds a victorian
ghost ship, visits daily, last time she goes ice is melting and
she can't say goodbye to ship. V68: Victorian
era, man sells fish Victorian era fiction about a man
who builds up his business and family starting by selling fish on
the beach. Thought it was called "Hardcastles" or some variation.
Was in paperback 15 years ago. He meets his wife when she tries to
steal from him at the beginning of the novel. They become rich. V69: Vain, outcast horse eventually accepted by the other
horses and realizes he no longer needs vanity Hi! Book: around 1979--a
horse--vain, outcast from other horses--grew very lonely. He got
muddy and was then accepted by the others--they didn't know who he
was. Rain returned him to beauty, he no longer cared or needed
it--just happy to be loved for him.
The only thing close to
this I can recall is a book, name uncertain, by the author of Danny and the Dinosaur. The
white horse is wild and free, only to be captured by some cowboys.
They treat the horse kindly, brushing his mane and feeding him,
teaching him to allow a rider and saying "There, there, big
fellow." Eventually the horse does escape back to the prairies,
but realizes he misses his human friends. He returns to the
cowboys and thier ranch and is accepted back by thier horses. Hope
this helps. Stephen Cosgrove, Nitter
Pitter, 1978, copyright. The is the
delightful tale of a horse named Nitter Pitter who thinks his
good looks make him "better" than all the other horses. As a
result, they exclude him from their games. After being
accidently knocked into a pond one day, Nitter Pitter learns
that having friends is more imporant than being beautiful. Like
the other books in the 'Serendipity' series, this one teaches an
important lesson in a subtle and friendly way.V70: very
nosy woman
A cutely illustrated book about a very
nosy woman who always had her nose in other people's
business. I remember one page where she was sticking her
nose into someone's order at the market--it was live snails, and
they crawled on her nose. It was from the 1970s or earlier
(1979 at the latest.)
V71:Vampire
comes
back from the grave
I read this horror novel from a library around the
mid-1980s. A man falls prey to a (female?) vampire. He falls
at a crossroads; the stake in her heart sticks through his hand,
causing him to pull it out and wake her. Has a recurring
phrase something like: 'I am the dead, and I will abide.2009 V72: Victorian
era heroine Read these books in the late
80s-early 90s, they were slightly worn then! The heroine was
a clever, independent young woman in Edwardian/Victorian times who
lived with her father. I think her name was Amelia or Lydia
or Imogene, etc. The cover was white with pink, purple and
blue. Please help!
More details about the book - I
think it was part of a small series. The main character was
the head of her social circle, and was fairly well-off. She
had a suitor (maybe something like Roger or Reggie) and I think
they became engaged towards the end of the series. I think
she might have also had a dog to whom she was very attached.
The books (physically) seemed more old-fashioned in their bindings
and illustrations, not at all like the other things published in
the mid-80s.
Pullman, Philip, The Ruby in the Smoke.This is a longshot, but could
you be looking for The Ruby in the Smoke (and the sequels) by
Philip Pullman? The girl's name is Sally, but she's
independant. Her father is killed in the first book, but he's
talked about enough that he could be remembered as a
character. Everything almost fits...just not quite. Lloyd
Alexander, Vesper Holly series, 1986.Could this be one of
the following? The Illyrian Adventure (1986) The El Dorado Adventure
(1987) The Drackenberg Adventure
(1988) The Jedera Adventure
(1989) The Philadelphia Adventure
(1990) The Xanadu Adventure
(2005) Martha Finley, Elsie. Maybe the Elsie Dinsmore
series?
V73:
Vikings Canadian museum time travel A
children's book he read in 1950s: kids in a museum in Canada
are transported back to Viking times. Title probably has
Vikings in it. (Submitted on behalf of one of our customers).
Wuorio, Eva-Lis, Return
of the Viking, 1945,
copyright.Viking time-travel: Joan, Wendy
and John visit the Royal Ontario Museum on a rainy Saturday during
WWII, and meet Thorvald, a young Norwegian refugee who points out
the Viking sword exhibit as proof that Norwegians discovered
Canada. In the reproduction of an English 16th c. room, they try
the "very ancient looking, thick, wooden door" and it opens, to
reveal Lief the Lucky on the other side. He fell asleep almost
1000 years ago while exploring "Vinland'', woke up and couldn't
find his sword -- which is of course, the one in the exhibit. Lief
is invisible to adults, but ends up going for commando training
because his homeland is in danger from the Nazis. At the end of
the story the children read a news report about a commando raid on
a Nazi-held Norwegian seaport supported by a ghostly figure in a
strange costume. This is the first story of 4 in the book, all
involving time-travel and Canadian history, and the same children
and their friends.
V74: vignettes of the flood
Solved:
Promises in the Attic
V75: Victoria Childhood book. small hard cover red
book. this is an extract from the book , it is read in a
home video on the 9/2/1995 on my 5th birthday. I think i had
the book since i was born(1990) A doll named Victoria whom she
loved very much indeed. The only thing she wished for was
that victoria could walk and talk instead of just lying or
sitting perfectly still, staring out with her eyes
open. i can pretend you talk to me and i can
pretend you run about and play said Anna. but you don't
really and truly and it would be such fun for if just for
once you really came alive. anna felt quite certain that if
only she could walk and talk she would make her a wonderful
friend for anna had no brothers or sisters so she was often
lonely that was why she played so much with victoria but
victoria just sat and stared. and didn't move a finger or
say a word. then one day a very strange thing happened when
anna took victoria for a walk in pixie wood although it had
such a lovely name anna had never seen any pixies or
anything at all exciting in pixie wood it was just like an
ordinary woods but today it seemed a little different...Sorry, thats all
the information i have. perhaps the doll gets lost through
out the story? i hope you can help!
Enid Blyton, The
Enchanted Doll."While walking in Pixie Wood Anna
finds a tiny pram, a pram that can run away all by itself."
V76:
Vampire in winter I'm
trying to hunt down the first book I ever read--or, more
accurately, the first book I have a concrete memory of reading.
I remember checking it out of the library. I would have been
young, no older than five or six, which means at the latest the
book would have been published in the early 80s. But I don't
think it was a new book, so I'd say it's more likely it was
published in the 70s. I
want to say it was a young adults book, but maybe it was a
children's book. In either event, it was all prose, no pictures.
A slim read. It
involved a vampire. In my mind I want to remember the title as
"The Last Vampire," though it's most likely not that or I'd have
found it by now. "Vlad the Last Vampire"? I have no idea. I
remember crying at the end of it. I don't think the vampire
died, but he made some manner of sacrifice that involved him
having to leave the world of humans, and it was pretty
heart-breaking for a five year old. The cover had him sledding, I think.
I remember it being winter themed, but again, the odds of other
books and memories sluicing into this memory are high. All I know concretely is this was an
all-prose book for young adults or children, published most
likely in the 70s, and involving a single vampire interacting
with humanity. This is probably why I keep remembering it as
"The Last Vampire." I remember he was it as far as vampires
went. I'm now 33 years
old and would love to be able to go back and read this book that
apparently moved a five year old me to tears. The library I got
the book from has since been torn down, and besides I doubt it'd
still be in their circulation. Any help you could give would be
greatly appreciated.
Willis
Hall, The Last Vampire.Could it be The Last Vampire by
Willis Hall? It's part of a series (Vampire's Holiday, Vampire's
Christmas, Vampire's Revenge). The series is humorous, and the
vampire (Alucard) is a vegetarian...but he's also the last vampire
on Earth, and I think he may make some kind of sacrifice to save
the boy narrating the story. It could have made you cray, since
it's difficult to know what kids will remember, and how they
remember it. (a child I know cannot watch The Little Mermaid and
cries every time it comes on because Ariel has no family. In her
mind the merfolk can no longer interact with her since she left
the sea. ) Willis
Hall, The Last Vampire, 1982. This is a British book,
first published in the UK in hardback in 1982 (paperback edition
1984). It's a children's book, 156 pages long. The
front cover is by Babette Cole, and shows a vampire at the reins
of a sleigh drawn by four wolves. There *are* some pictures
in the book, but they're black and white sketches rather than
colour plates, and they're incorporated into the text rather than
being full-page drawings. Easy to forget they were there, if
you were concentrating on the story. The story is about the
Hollins family from England, who get lost on their European
camping holiday and encounter the rather nice, gentle, vegetarian
Count Alucard. He is having a spot of bother with the
villagers... It's a summer holiday, but it does snow at a crucial
moment in the story, and the cover picture illustrates that scene,
so you'd have come away with the impression of winter. The tone of
the book is actually quite light and humorous, but here's your sad
part at the end: The family agree to bring the Count home with
them, but he's arrested at the border. He turns into a bat
to escape through the bars of the cell, and flies to England, but:
"Since flying across the sea and arriving in England, Count
Alucard has never once returned to human form. He has spent
all of his time, in the guise of a bat, searching for his young
friend Henry Hollins. [...] Go out though, into street or field or
garden after dark, stand staring upwards and - who knows? - you
could just be lucky enough to spot Count Alucard, the very last of
the vampires, scudding across the night sky..." Two notes.
First, your five-year-old self might have been comforted to know
that that wasn't *really* the end: Hall eventually went on to
write a number of sequels. Second, you thought the title
might be "Vlad the Last Vampire". Vlad is a fairly obvious
vampire name, but you might be conflating the title of the Hall
book with "Vlad the Drac" by Ann Jungman, which dates from the
same period. That would definitely only be the source for
the title, not the story, though.' 2011 V77: Victorian England,
Historical Romance, Love Triangle Set around the 1880's. Young
woman travels from Cairo to London to visit her sister,
Leonie. Falls in love with her sister's husband though both
try to hide their feelings. Leonie is later murdered, and is
revealed as having had a lesbian affair. Written in the 1st
person. Published in 80s or 90s
Leslie
O'Grady, The Second Sister,1984. Just a guess, based on the names and
locations, but this could be your book. Described as Victorian
Romantic Suspense. Cassandra Clark is happy as the "Right Hand" of
jovial Cousin Cyrus in a Cairo tourist hotel when she is suddenly
summoned to London by her mother, who had abandoned her years
before to marry an Earl. In London she meets her heretofore
unknown beautiful (and nasty) half-sister, Leonie. Publisher's
description includes references to the mysterious death of one of
the Prince of Wales notorious mistresses, scandal, and intrigue. Leslie
O'Grady,
The Second Sister,
1984, approximate. V78:
Versailles Fairly long novel going through
several generations of women in one family whose lives revolve
around Versailles Palace in France. One of the women paints fans
to sell to the royals, then I think her daughter becomes an
attendant to the queen, one is kicked out, etc. (not the novel by
Kathryn Davis)
Rosalind
Laker, To dance with kings, 1988, approximate. Publishers weekly description: Her
storytelling skills displayed with panache in this captivating
historical novel, British author Laker ( The Silver Touch )
should gain an appreciative audience here. Set during the reigns
of Louis XIV and Louis XVI, the sweeping saga takes place mainly
in the Chateau of Versailles and the surrounding town from which
the magnificent edifice took its name. The narrative is enriched
with intriguing period details, and beautifully paced with
fast-moving events, drama and romance. Spanning four
generations, the protagonists are the women of one family,
named, in turn, Marguerite, Jasmin, Violette and Rose, all of
whose destinies are entwined with those of their monarchs as
well as the dashing men who bring them love and heartache.
Involving her heroines in the art of fan-making, Laker
interpolates fascinating information about the fashions of the
time and the codes of social etiquette. The sybaritic luxuries
of the French Court are set against the brutalities of the
Huguenot persecution and the barbaric excesses of the
Revolution. Rosalind
Laker, To Dance With Kings. V79: Visit
To City Play Grown-Up In the 1960's I read a children's
book about a young girl who visits her aunt? in the city where the
girl has her own room in an apartment and dresses up and is
treated as if she were a grown up - going out for tea, I believe.
Maybe this is too
obvious, but is the poster thinking of Eloise, by Kay Thompson? V80: Valentine's Day
book SOLVED: Lorna Balian, A Sweetheart for Valentine, 1979. V81:Victorian
romance pub about 1910 frumpy putupon companion to dowager
meets duke? at house party and gains his love. Endangers
life by walking to village on errand in rain. Came with "the
rosary" by Barclay.
Grace
Livingston Hill?,
Just a suggestion -- if
there is any hint of self-sacrifice or religion in the book, given
the date it may be one by Grace Livingston Hill, who wrote
"wholesome" stories for girls around that time.
V82: Victorian cab horse When I was a child I had a picture
book about a Victorian cab horse (or omnibus horse) called, I
think, Brandy - tho I may be wrong there. The book was
something to do with the horse getting its foot but on a piece
of glass, and featured a Victorian scene on the front cover
complete with lamp post.
Dorothy
Craigie, The Little Horse Bus. V83: Valentine
SOLVED: Evan Carrol, Valentine.
Thank you for solving my stumper. I always thought Valentine was
the title but when I tried typing that name into Abebooks, etc. I
got hundreds of books about the holiday. I ordered the book and am
looking forward to reading it again! V84: Victorian? story
collection 8vo coll. of kids's stories,
fantasy/ fairy, most likely Victorian, green cover Three plots
from book: - Girl Merle goes to land of story book characters,
Princess loses magic posy kept in locket and becomes grumpy
(variation of sleeping beauty) and evil lady keeps 1 child in dark
other in light.
Jonathan Cott, ed., Beyond the
Looking Glass: Extraordinary Works of Fairy Tale and Fantasy, Stonehill 1973. This is definitely
your book. Merle in the land of storybook characters is "Wanted --
A King" by Maggie Browne. The one where the princess loses the
magic posy is "Petsetilla's Posy" by Tom Hood. The evil lady who
raised one child in dark and the other in light is in George
MacDonald's "The Day Boy and the Night Girl". Other stories in the
collection include MacDonald's "The Golden Key", Ruskin's "King of
the Golden River", Mrs. Clifford's "Wooden Tony", "Tinykin's
Transformations" by Mark Lemon, "Through the Fire" and "Wanderings
of Arasmon" both by Mary de Morgan, and the classic poem "Goblin
Market" by Christina Rossetti. There are two in-depth
introductions, one by Cott, the other by Leslie Fiedler, and many
Victorian era illustrations, some in full color, along with two of
the Cottingley fairy photographs. There's more info on thesolved-B
page. V85:
Vintage mystery, teen girl stone staircase, in cliff, k-k-k
katy Probably from the 40's or
earlier, a teen girl hears piano music, the song is k-k-k katy,
discovers a damp stone staircase leading down the cliff to the
sea. It is most definitely not the Nancy Drew novel that sounds so
similar. V86: Victorian
girl learns from accomplished seamstress I read this book in the 1960s.
Chapter book, perhaps a few illustrations. Set, I
believe, in Victorian or Edwardian times, in England or America. A
young girl is taken underwing by an accomplished seamstress who
teaches her how to sew doll clothes and also, I believe, teaches
her petitpoint. One striking image is the girl being allowed
to rummage through drawers and drawers of fine remnants, ribbons
and notions to select her materials. The girl displays her
creations at some sort of show or competition and wins a prize.
Similar to Polly Poppingay, but
I’m almost positive the focus was on creating doll clothing, not
hats.
Jane Flory, Faraway Dream, 1968. I am quite sure this is the
wrong book, but when I read the description this was the one that
popped into my mind. It had been a very long time since I
read it, and when I finally figured out which book I was
remembering and checked the details, I decided to send this in
because even though it probably isn't the one wanted, the stumper
requester might enjoy it anyway. And I figure I owe the
requester something because Polly Poppingay sounded so fascinating I just
ordered a horribly expensive copy of it! V87: Vintage Reader Circa 1930- 1957. I am looking for
a school reader or primer (like a Websters reader). It had an
orangish cover and I think it had "East of the Sun" written on the
cover. The stories included in the book were: Princess on the
glass hill, Rose White and Rose Red, East of the sun and west of
the moon, a story about a farmer and his wife who change places
and several others. There were many illustrations in black &
white and also many in color. It was probably a 4th to 6th grade
reader. It was not called a fairy tale book. V88:
Vampire, brush fangs, mummy, stinky bandages A vampire loses his fangs if he doesn't brush them; a mummy's
bandages are stinky until someone washes them for him (but then
he's not a very good mummy anymore??). Dimly remembered by
my husband from childhood in early 80s. Thanks!!!
Since no one answered, I thought I'd take a
shot in the dark. Could the husband be thinking of Norman
Bridwell's How to Care for Your Monster. Someone's
blog post features the cover and interior illustrationshttp://frankensteinia.blogspot.com/2008/04/norman-bridwells-how-to-care-for-your.html V89: Violets, boyfriend, girlfriend I'm looking for a YA book from the late sixties or early
seventies about a boy and girl who were friends and as time goes
on they become boyfriend/girlfriend. She loves violets and
he has a man make a pendant or necklace for her fashioned like a
violet.
W1: Wimbly Lane Here is an almost impossible task. If you don't feel up to it, I
quite understand. I don't know the author. I don't know the title,
exactly, except that it was something like this: No. 5, Wimbly Lane. It could be any
number, but I remember it as a single digit - it could be street,
lane, close, circle, avenue, etc - but I am almost positive it is
street. I don't know the name of the street. I made up Wimbly. It
is about a boy who confounds the neigborhood bully. It would be
geared for children 8-11. It is British, fifties or early sixties,
illustrated by someone who is, or who illustrates like, whomever
drew the pictures for Edward Eager's books. It was in the Dimond
Branch of the Oakland Public Library in Oakland, California in the
fifties/sixties.
In response to the book with the street
name in the title, I remember reading a book in the 5th grade
about Pudding Lane. It could have had
illustrations similar to Edward Eager's, but I don't remember
the plot at all, or the street number. Sorry!
This isn't The Family From One End
Street series, is it? There were, I believe,
several stories about the family, all with One End Street in the
title. I did check these out, thank you - very kind of you, but
neither is the one. I'll keep searching until I find it!
I was wondering if you might be thinking
of The Dog on Barkham Street. Although
this book is neither British nor has a number in its title, it
was written in 1960 and is about a boy, a dog, and the
neighborhood bully. Here's a descriptive clip I copied: Stolz,
Mary. A DOG ON BARKHAM STREET (8).Edward
Frost faces two challenges-the bully of Barkham Street and
getting a dog of his own. When his uncle arrives with a collie
named Argess, Edward's life begins to change. There's
also another book by this author entitled The Bully on
Barkham Street. I know this book doesn't fit
all the seeker's criteria, but the "Street" and "bully" thoughts
made me think of this book.
Found a book in a www search (while looking
for another title) called # Five Hackberry Street written
by Christine Govan and illustrated by Peggy Bacon
published in 1964. Plot: apparently the children
Jessie, Tilly, and Frank have moved to a new house. No
other synopses given.
#W1--Wimbly Lane: A book catalog
description I found of Number 5 Hackberry Street
identified it as taking place at the turn of the 20th Century in
Tennessee. If the wanted book took place later and in
England, it is not
that one.
#W1--Wimbly Lane: Jean Fritz wrote
a
book titled 121 Pudding Street.
W1 wimbly lane: well, it's English, involves
a bully, has a street name in the title, and the illustrator did
do several of Edward Eager's books - Songberd's Grove,
by Anne Barrett, illustrated by N.M. Bodecker, published
in the US by Bobbs 1958, 247 pages. "Songberd's Grove lies
in London, a street of beautifully proportioned Georgian
rowhouses now in slummy condition. The author creates a living
picture of the row, particularly of No.1, from which Lenny, a
Teddy-boy type of dictator, has ruled the street, and No.7,
where 12 year old Martin moves in to establish a new balance
of power with a determination to make things peaceable and
attractive." (HB Feb/58 p.43) Stanley Watts, Number 21. This was illustrated by Robin Jacques. I
think that Songberd's Grove sounds most
likely but if it isn't, then this may be a possibility.
Yet another possibility is Kathleen O'Farrell's Number
One Victoria Terrace, illustrated by Shirley
Hughes but I don't remember a bully.
W2: Watermelons I am trying to remember a book that I loved as a child. It was
about a boy that wanted to buy his mother a present. He raised watermelons on a terraced hillside and
when they were ripe he sold the melons to buy his mother a piece
of jewelery. I hope you can help because this is driving me crazy
because I've seen the name a few years back and saw the book in
our library.
I have a bit of information on W2. I
know I read that when I was in grade school, so it dates back at
least to the mid-1960s. I remember it as being an odd size
-- squareish like a picture book, but written for 4th to 6th
grade readers. It was about a Chinese boy, and I remember
thinking the melons were smaller than I was used to. I
think there was something about the melons or the money going
missing, and then either they were recovered,
or something was found for a reward that
brought in the same amount of money.I think it may have been
published in the same series that 31 Brothers and Sisters
by Reba P. Mirsky was published in -- I think it had
the same format, and it was also a foreign setting.
P49 Present for a mother sounds the same as
W2 Watermelons
Could be Little Wu and the
Watermelons by Beatrice Liu, illustrated by
Graham Peck, Follett, 1954, 96 pages. "A delightful tale of
a small boy of the Hua Miao tribe of southwest China and his
efforts to earn enough money to buy a present for his mother.
Little Wu wanted to show his mother that he thought her the
most beautiful mother in the world and he decided that the way
to do that would be to buy her a piece of jewelry. When he
finally had enough money, most of it gained from the sale of
watermelons he had painstakingly raised, he realized that
jewelry was not what she wanted most, but for the family to be
able to buy a small field of their own."
W8: World War II Here's one for you: When I was child in the
'50s I remember reading, a book about a little girl whose
father, I believe, was killed in World War II and she one day finds an old letter from him in a trunk in the
attic. That is ALL I can
remember--along with a picture in my mind of an illustration,
the girl kneeling next to the trunk, letter in hand. Any clue as
to what this one might be?? 2002 W9: Wood Nymphs Solved: Little House in
the Fairy Wood
W17: Witch Actress Solved: Catwitch
W18: West Wind It was a set of books, undersized hardbacks in my library, that
were something like the west wind tales.
They were around 150-200 pages each, and I think there were 6-8 of
them. The stories were about the west, north, east and south
winds, and various things they did...and something else I can't
quite remember. I remember one of them had a person waiting in the
cave for whichever wind it was to return, and something about
riding on the shoulder of the wind.
There's Thornton Burgess' tales of Old Mother West
Wind (including several books on her Why Stories,
Where Stories, Who Stories, etc.), but this doesn't sound
like exactly the same thing.
Maybe George MacDonald?
W18--East 'O the Sun and West 'O the Moon.
These are collection of fairytales which have many stories about
the wind. I have two books with this same title but they have
completely different stories. One is a small hardback(6
inches or so).
W19: Where's Charlie? I am looking for a lift-a-flap book that I had when I was little.
I think the title is Where's
Charlie? but I'm not sure. It was probably
first published in the late 60's to early 70's and I don't
think it is still in print. The object of the book was to
find Charlie who turns out to be a mouse. Any help would be
appreciated!
My sister had this book. Could the
title be "Let's Find Charlie." Hope this helps.
I definitely remember this book--it was all
in very bright primary colours, and I especially remember
opening the "refrigerator" flap and all the food inside (I think
you could even open the freezer!). It was all very blocky
and cartoonish. I remember it as being hardback, probably
yellow, horizontal. I'm so sorry I can't remember the name
of the author; it was a great book. [And later...]
I think the author's last name may be
Arthur.
"Let's Find Charlie" written by Lois Morton,
designed and illustrated by Elissa Scott. Random
House. I adored that book. Lois Morton, Let's Find
Charlie.I found this old children's book. A
little girl looks for her mouse. Lift the flaps of doors,
cabinets, etc. to see where he is hiding. Charlie ends up in her
dollhouse fast asleep. It took me a long time to find this book,
but it was definitely worth it!'
W20: Witch and cat series OK, I hardly remember anything except that I loved these
books. I now have a daughter that is about the same
age, and I'd love for her to read them ... You've seemed to
work magic elsewhere, so here goes! While living in Paris in
1972, I read an english-book series that was still being published
in paperback at the time. They were chapter books about a
girl who was magical, or a witch. There may have been a cat
in the series too. My Mom thinks that they were a Puffin
series and that the cat's name was Tabitha ... but I cannot
confirm that. There were definitely at least 4 books in the
series ... Oh, I can't really be of much help!
Is this the series by Ruth Chew that
includes The Trouble with Magic, The Wednesday Witch,
Witch in the House, etc.? published by Scholastic,
mid-70s.
I am wondering if W20 might also be
referring to the Barbara Sleigh's Carbonelseries
(see
L15)
-- although I think there were only two of them, not four.
W20 I just bought a copy of The
Wednesday witch. The witch's name is Hilda, and the
cat's name is Cinders and they all appear to fly thru the sky on
a vacuum cleaner
W20 witch and cat series: Barbara
Sleigh's Carbonelseries was published by Puffin
and includes - Carbonel (Puffin 1955), Carbonel's
Kingdom (Puffin 1961), Carbonel and Calidor
(Kestrel 1978), that I know of. The children are John and
Rosemary. Jill Murphy, The Worst Witch, 1974. This sounds like it could be the Worst
Witch series by Jill Murphy but the first
in the series was written in 1974. There are 4 books in all and
the little witch was called Mildred. Her cat was Tabby. The
books are still available in the UK published by Puffin.
Patricia
Coombs, Doorie the Witch
series, 1970s-1980s.Sounds like the Doorie the Witch books to me.
Doorie was a little girl witch (yes she had a cat: Jinx, I think
it was). She was always getting into some kind of mischief, but
always ended up saving the day. Loved these books as a little
girl! I hope this helps :).
W21: Witch upside-down on swing Solved: A Witch in the House W22: Witch's eyebrows I think this is a short story and not a book. It has to be
dated in the 1980s or earlier (probably earlier). It was for
young adults, I think. A pretty little girl wants something she
sees in an old woman's window. I think the thing she wants is a
doll house, but I'm not sure. The old woman turns out to be
a witch. The little girl wants this thing more and
more. The old woman offers to trade it to the little girl
for the little girl's eyebrows. The little girl agrees and
sees her pretty little eyebrows flit off her face and land on the
old woman's face. I seem to recall that the little girl
immediately regrets her decision to trade, but there are no
"refunds," so to speak.
#W22--Witch's eyebrows: A book called
The Good American Witch contains a similar
premise. The Good American Witch by Peggy
Bacon (Watts, 1957) includes stories told by the
children's Uncle Robert about the 'good American witch', one
story involving Susan who wanted her black hair changed to gold,
another about Rufus who wanted his poodle to talk. Perhaps this
was one of these stories, anthologised or read separately?
W27: Witches & Wizards on HBO Wanting to find out title and author of children's book about
witches and wizards turned into HBO series.
It is the Worst Witch series
byJill Murphy.
W28: Widdy Widdy Wurkey Solved: Sugar and Spice W29: Witch's garden Solved: The Ghost
Garden W31: William Tell's son I am looking for a book I read at about age
12 back in the fifties that was about William Tell, told from
the viewpoint of his son, Walter. This book is not the Apple and the Arrow, which I do have, but a longer and more
fictionalized book. I remember something about the boy Walter
being forced to climb a dangerous castle wall as a kind of
entertainmentfor the lords and ladies. Thanks for your
help--this site is so much fun to read through!
Regarding Stump the Bookseller, W31:
Could this the The Magic Meadow by Ingri and
Edgar d'Aulaire? I haven't read it in a long time,
but I know it is about William Tell in the Swiss Alps.
W31 william tell: perhaps William
Tell, by Katharine Scherman, illustrated by
George Schreiber, published Random House 1960, 52 pages? It's in
a historical series for children, but no information on whether
it is narrated by Tell's son.
W32: War over redheaded girl Solved: The Cybil War W35: Witch book with tragic feel Solved: Benjamin the
True W37: Wind is my friend I checked this book out of the Seattle
Public Library, Queen Anne Branch, sometime in the
mid-60's. The title is probably wrong; I think I may be
right about the title having the words "wind" and "friend" in
it, but can't be positive. It was a story about a little
boy who, for some reason, is alone out in the snow. He
tries to survive on his own, but one of the only parts I can
remember clearly is him killing a rabbit for food. I
also remember him lying down to die in the snow at the
end. It was a very moving story for a young child; without the
typical "happily ever after" ending. It did have
illustrations, I don't remember them being very detailed - maybe
black and white, but when he killed the rabbit, there was red in
the illustration. I have been looking for this book
everywhere, in every possible way, for twenty-five years with
absolutely no luck. I know it exists out there somewhere.
I can't be the only one who read this book, or was touched by
it. Please help!!!
W37 - George Macdonald's At the
Back of the North Wind has a boy called Diamond
(shades of D41 but I don't think this is the answer to that!)
whom the North Wind, in the guise of a beautiful woman,
befriends, and takes on journeys - including one to the land at
her back. There are scenes of some violence though I don't
remember a rabbit being killed, shipwrecks feature I think and
the ending is certainly very sad.
A very long shot, but just possibly The
Magic
Forest by Stewart White? It was published in
the 1920s, reprinted several times. It's about a small boy who
falls off a train in the Northern woods and is found by Indians
who take care of him - he is eventually returned to his parents.
It's been years since I read it, but I think there was a
sequence where he wanders lost in the snow, perhaps before being
found by the Indians. Although he doesn't die, the ending is
sad, since he's almost forgotten his parents, and will in turn
forget his Indian 'family'.
Another possibility - Moccasin Trail
by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, NY Coward-McCann 1952, 247
pages "Runaway 10 year old Jim Keath, trapping for beaver in
the vast wild country beyond the Missouri River, is left for
dead after a grizzly's attack. Found and adopted by Crow
Indians, he grows up knowing only the Indians' wandering
restless life." If the first part of this book was
anthologised, it might be what the questioner remembers.
Alice Curtis Desmond wrote a story
called "The Snow is Your Friend" that was
collected in Told Under Spacious Skies
(p.313-23), Macmillan 1952. No idea of the plot, but she also
wrote American historical fiction and tales of other lands for
children.
W37 wind is my friend: this time I'm pretty
sure - The Boy and His Friend the Blizzard, by Gregor
Marton,
illustrated (in 2 colours) by Brian Wildsmith, published
Cape 1962."A young orphan boy is making his way westward from Budapest. His only
possession is a medal of St. Anthony, left to him by his dying
mother. He encounters another wanderer, a pregnant woman, and
shelters her in a shack by a frozen lake during a fierce
snowstorm. In the woods he finds food for her, and through a
hole in the ice of lake tries to catch fish. The
blizzard he regards as a friend-it shields him from the
marauding soldiers but racks his frail body. Fearless of the
hostile forces of nature, he responds heroically to the
demands of the woman's plight and his own desperate situation
while dreaming of a life of freedom on the high seas." The
title is close, and the mood of the story is certainly sombre
enough. Cypher in the Snow. This
comment reminded me strongly of a movie called "Cypher in
the Snow" that I watched in a religion class when I was
young - it was about a young boy who was ignored by everyone,
had no friends, and finally dropped dead in the snow at the
end! Maybe a connection? Gregory Marton, The boy and
his friend the blizzard, 1962. The boy and his
friend the blizzard is most probably the book your after. I read
it this year and lent it to a friend. I absolutely loved it. The
boy makes friends with a rabbit and, like the blizzard, kills
the boy he kills the rabbit.
The illustrations in the book are monotone
of various colors throughout.
W38: Women growing up Solved: This Year's
Girl W42: When I grow up... Looking for a picture book--"When I grow
up, what will I be?" is a recurring refrain with different
professions. The character is a girl. The cover is
orange.
There's a book in the Easy Reader series, When
I Grow Up, by Jean Bethell, illustrated by Ruth
Wood, published Wonder Books 1965, with a little girl
imagining growing up to be a nurse, cowgirl, stewardess or
ballerina. The cover is light orange and shows a red-headed girl
in a green plaid dress with her back to us, looking into an oval
mirror where her future selves wave their arms in an excited
fashion. The boy's version (same title) was published a few
years earlier (1961?) and the boy imagines himself as a cowboy,
marine, etc.
W43: Why the Maple Leaves Turn Scarlet Solved: Perhaps
and Perchance: Tales of Nature W44: Wiggly worm I was in a children's play about books in the 6th grade. Some of
the characters were a wiggly worm and some kind of animal with a
sausage nose (yes, believe it or not). One of my lines was, "Wiggle,
wiggle, brainy worm. How I wiggle, how I squirm. Through the
pages as I munch, yummy, yummy, books for lunch!" Any ideas
on the name of the play or how I could locate it? W47:Winkie
book Solved: Day by Day W48: Willie's bed Solved: Tucked-In Tales W49: Whitman Tell-A-Tale about a cat Looking for a book I remember my babysitter
reading to me over and over (she must have been very patient).
It was a whitman tell-a-tales, with green or teal edges outline
around the front cover and a drawing of an orange/yellow
kitten. I think it may have had a bow on her neck.
This would have read to me in the early 1960's. I don't really
recall the story, but I think maybe the cat came home.
W49- Possibly Pitty Pat The Fuzzy
Cat or Big Little Kitty
(Tell-A-Tales)
W50: Who needs doughnuts? Solved: Who Needs
Donuts? W51: Wright, Dare I am not familiar with Dare Wright yet one
of my friends is looking for one of her books. I have
looked at many titles yet she thinks the title has
something to do with a little girl's prayer. She thought
that the title had the word prayer in it...but she wasn't
certain and I haven't found any such books. She is 21 years old
and says she used to read it every night when she was a
little girl, so I'm trying to locate one. I would
appreciate any help that I can get. The only thing I
know for certain is that the title is NOT "The Lonely
Doll." If somebody replies to this please send the
information to jthylton@rocketmail.com. Thank you very
much.
I don't know any Dare Wright book
with Prayer in the title. Here are the list of non-Edith
titles: The Little One (features
small naked doll lost in woods, small book); Date With
London; Lona, a Fariy Tale (features more
sophisticated doll, very large format); Take Me Home
(similar to The Little One); Look at a Gull
(photography of seagulls); Look at a Colt; The Kitten's
Little Boy; Look at a Calf; Look at a Kitten and 10
Edith Lonely Doll books.... nothing religious here,
although Edith does sometimes learn a lesson (as in Lonely
Doll Learns a Lesson and Edith and Little
Bear Lend a Hand).
W51 wright, dare: Is the poster absolutely
certain that this is a Dare Wright book? It keeps
reminding me of Prayer for a Child, by Rachel
Field, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones,
published Macmillan 1945, 26 pages. "This childlike prayer,
written for Hannah (Field's daughter), has been printed
before, but not in illustrated form, as a book by itself. A
realistic, unsentimental picture on each page makes the
meaning of the phrases more clear to little children, closer
to daily life." (HB Jan/45 p.33) Part of the text: "Bless this
milk and bless this bread / bless this soft and waiting bed /
Through the darkness, through the night / let no danger come
to fright / my sleep ... Bless the lamplight, bless the fire /
Bless the hands that never tire / in their loving care of me
..."
W51 Dare Wright prayer: just possibly A
Child's Grace, verses by Ernest Claxton,
photographs by Constance Bannister, published Dutton
1948. "In this book of exquisite simplicity and vibrant
beauty, every alternate page has a photograph of a child,
depicting some phase of daily life for which he thanks God.
New photographs and a beautiful four-color jacket. Ages 2 and
up." (HB Dec/48 p.406) The photo shown is of a little
girl with shoulder-length dark hair and a doll-like face.
W52: Willo the Wisp Hi. I'm looking for the title of this story. It's about a little
boy who lives by a marsh. At night he sees lights out on the marsh
and his mother tells him it is Willo the Wisp. He goes out in
search of this light. I can't remember exactly what happens next,
but somehow the Wisp falls into the marsh and the little boy never
sees him at night anymore. Can someone help?
#W52: Willo the Wisp: An
incident like this appears on page 28 of Barbee Oliver
Carleton's Mystery of the Witches' Bridge (The
Witches' Bridge in hardcover.)"Then Dan narrowed
his eyes. Had he seen a light out there in the
marsh? He stared into the blackness until his eyes
shifted in their sockets. Yes! There it came. The
light winked again, and yet again. With a thrill of
relief Dan realized that it was flashing a signal. No
will-'o-the-wisp would be sending the Morse code!"
The other similarities are that Dan never does see this light
again, and there is talk of things falling into salt ponds in
the marsh. Dan's mother, though, is dead before the story
starts, and I would guess this is not the one you're
after. I've just been waiting for someone to ask about Mystery
of the Witches' Bridge, as it is one of my alltime
favorites!
W52 I don't have the answer, but just a hint
that might help the search. The spelling is usually
will-o-the-wisp or will o' the wisp.
Maybe one of the Willo the Wisp
series by Nicholas Spargo? Published by Windward in the
early 1980s. I don't know anything about the stories though.
The book wasn't just one story, and the only
other story I remember (I was about 3 or 4 at the time, this is
pretty good going) was a boy that finds little people and gets
turned into their size and walks through underground caverns
with them. It's all very vague and the original poster
remembered more than me already, but there you go.
W53: Willy mouse Solved: Willie Mouse series
W55: Whaling captain I'm searching for the title and author of a
book I read as a child (aren't we all?!) It was about a whaling
captain from Nantucket who took his family with him on a voyage.
It was set in the mid-1800s and focused primarily on the
daughter in the family. Thanks for any help you can give!
Has anyone suggested Aiken, JoanNightbirds
on Nantucket il by Robin Jacques
Doubleday 1966
Maybe Keturah Came 'Round the Horn: a
story of old California by Ada Claire Darby,
published by Stokes in 1935 and 1940? "Tale of a New England
girl who came round the Horn with her sea-captain father in
1846, to Monterey and Sand Diego, at a time when revolution
brewed between the Spanish regime, Mexican rebels, and an
American Government that sought California for herself."
Or there's Captain Ramsay's Daughter by Elizabeth
Fraser Torjesen, published by Lothrop in 1955, 223 pages "Nantucket
in whaling times is the backdrop for a story of a teenage
girl's adventure." Though that doesn't say anything about
actually sailing. Another is Elizabeth CoatsworthThe
Captain's Daughter published by Macmillan in 1950 "Adventure
and
romance are the ngredients of this delightful novel for
young adults, about a young girl's trip to the Orient in a
clipper ship."
Yet another - Holberg, Ruth, The
Wonderful Voyage illustrated by Phyllis Cote,
published Garden City, Doubleday Doran Junior Books 1945
"Eight-year old Randy and her older brother Jay go on the most
exciting trip that could happen in the 1850's - a whaling voyage
on their father's ship, from Gloucester, around Cape Horn and up
through the Pacific Ocean. Randy forgot she was "puny" ... cut
the frills off her pantalettes and vowed to do everything her
brother did." The cover shows the two children standing by some
rigging, with Jay pointing at a leaping whale and Randy's
voluminous petticoats blown by the wind. Less likely - Crowe,
John Congdon, In the Days of the WindjammersToronto,
Ryerson 1959 9x6, 176pp. 9 illus. "This is a factual account of
the life of the Captain and his family who lived aboard a
full-rigged ships, starting with the launch of the 'BEDFORD' in
1877. This narrative was written by one of Captain Crowes sons
who, not in any unique way for the times, lived and sailed with
his mother and father." Rachel Field, Hitty her first hundred
years. I realy
enjoyed reading this book. it is a doll's memoirs on her
first 100 yrs. Her first owner was a girl named Phoebe Preble
who lived in Nantucket,Maine. Phoebe's father was a whaler. At
one point he takes his family on a whaling trip with him and
they get shipwrecked on a island and have several more
adventures.Then the doll writes about her other owners. Corinne Demas, If
Ever I Return. About a 12-year-old girl
on her father's whaling ship - not sure the location. I think
the story is told through letters to her cousin.
W56: Watermelon stealing and its consequences I remember a story possibly from the early
60's or late 50'sabout a little black child who steals and eats
melons from the neighbor. I think he may have also either tore
or lost his jacket or some other item of clothing. A large storm
brews and he believes it is chasing him possibly as punishment
for stealing. Does this sound familiar at all?
W56 - sounds like either Epaminondas
or one of Helen Bannerman'sLittle Black
Sambo/Little Black Quibba/Little White Squibba etc
series Pal, George, Jasper and the
Watermelons,c
1945. I was looking for a copy of Jasper and the
Watermelons" which I remember reading at the home of
the librarian who lived across the street from us when I was a
little girl in the mid 1950s. When I saw your stumper, I seemed
likely this was the book you were seeking. Jasper steals the
watermelons, doesn't come home when called, eats until he falls
asleep, and is menaced by watermelons, a storm and the fantasy
of his tummy exploding. He goes home remorseful and grateful to
be in one
piece. I hope this is it, and I hope you
find a copy -- I'm still looking.
W56 watermelon stealing - I saw a copy of
one suggested on EBay - Jasper and the Watermelons,
written and illustrated by George Pal (famous animator
and special effects creator) published New York, Diamond
Publishing, 1945. "FANTASTICALLY illustrated bit of our
past. Little Black boy doesn't listen to Mammy and eats too
much watermelon and has wild dreams."
W57: Witch sets free the animals! Solved: The Little
Broomstick W59: Witch wishes It was a book about a witch who grants wishes i seem to remember
there was a girl and they may have met on a play ground i
remember it being as large as 8 by 10 hard cover possibly light
blue it was illustrated any thoughts greatly appreciated. I
read it when i was eight that was in 72 and the book seemed old to
me it was a chapter book
Helen Cresswell, Lizzie Dripping and
the Witch, 1970?
It's a long time since I read it, but I know this starts with
Lizzie meeting the Witch in a playground.
W59 witch wishes: more on the suggested -
Lizzie Dripping and the Witch, by Helen
Cresswell, Illustrated by Chris Riddell, published
London, BBC Books 1991 "Everyone knows a Lizzie
Dripping. It's the name people call the kind of girl who is
dreamy and daring at the same time and who turns things upside
down and inside out wherever she goes and whatever she does.
But our Lizzie Dripping is even more special. Because Lizzie,
out of all the people in Little Hemlock, has her own private
witch. A witch that only Lizzie can see and talk to. So that
although life for Lizzie is often exciting, or strange, or
even rather scary, it is never, never dull. In this book, the
author has written six new stories about one of the most
delightful and best-loved characters in modern children's
literature." The first book, Lizzie Dripping,
published 1973, also involved a witch, possibly the same one.
"Lizzie knows there is a Witch in the village, but no one
believes her." There are several other titles in the series.
W60: W.A.V.E.S. in WWII The fiction book was about Navy WAVES during World War II. One of
the main male characters was a man named, as I recall, Seth and he
had salt and pepper hair. At least some of the action may
have taken place in Hawaii. I remember that the book was
hardback and had a dark blue cover.
If it was a really old book (1940s), for
middle grades, it might be Sally Scott of the WAVES,
by Roy J. Snell, part of Whitman's Fighters for Freedom
series. I don't have a copy to check, but Norma
Kent of the WACs
from the same series has a blue cover. A
synopsis of Sally Scott can
be
found online. It does NOT mention a character named
Seth, but does refer to an older, unnamed man who invented a
radio that apparently plays a key part inthe story.
W61: Weird Illustrated Book This is a black humor book. It is all illustrations, such as
drawings of a car with a "real" picture of a bra for headlights.
There was spaghetti bowls with meatballs for swimming. Very weird
humor. My siblings and I discovered this book in 1978 but we have
no idea when it was published. We can't seem to remember the title
at all, but I think that the author's name is Ungerer or Unger. If
you can help me at all it would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks.
Does either Tomi Unger's Beastly
Boys and Ghastly Girlsor Ron
Barrett's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballslook
familiar? Or perhaps one of the Harlin Quist books? I
thought it worth a try... Nope. Also, just so ya know, it's not a children's book really.
I mean we found it and it amused the heck out of us, but I don't
think it would be "labeled" as a children's book. I really
appreicate the help though, it would save me a few sleepless
nights! ;) James Thurber? This has a
strong 'family resemblance' to the kind of thing that James
Thurber wrote - often illustrating his books himself, with odd
line drawings.
Besides illustrating and writing children's
books, Tomi Ungerer also draws quite adult, rather
surreal cartoons, some with erotic or misogynist content. There
have been a few collections of his work, including Adam
and Eve, published London, Cape, 1976; and Testament,
covering his work from 1960-1980, published London, Cape, 1983.
Given the artist's name as remembered, one of these would be my
bet.
Weird black humor!! I would certainly look
at Edward Gorey. Some of his titles around in the
seventies- Amphigorey, Too Cobweb Castle,Epileptic Bicycle,
Awdrey-Gore Legacy, and others. Check them
out!
W62: Willy Churchmouse Solved: Peter Churchmouse W63: What Miranda Knew Solved: What Miranda
Knew W64: Willy woo Solved: Willy
Woo-Oo-Oo W65: When Herbie McNally was seven... Solved: The Wonderful Magic-Motion Machine W66: Woman's autobiography series Solved: Marty
W67: Witch's cat didn't fit
in Solved: Gobbolino the Witch's Cat
W68: Wormood??? Solved: The Secrets of Hidden Creek
W69: WWII gold Solved: The Rescue of the Hidden Gold
W70: WWII pig Solved: Ernestine, the Pig in the Potting
Shed
W71: Waffles & other
memories Solved: What Katy Did at School
W72: Wynken, Blynken and Nod
record I am going crazy looking for this. I don't know if it's
actually a book or just a record. I remember my mother
getting it out of the library several times when I was
YOUNG! I am 25 now ans if ANYBODY knows where I can find
info on this great old record I need to know! I posted this as a stumper but I do not think it ever was a book.
I am looking for an old, old record called Winkin Blinkin and
Nod. It had Halley's comet in there somewhere. I got it out
from the library so many times as a kid and to this day I am still
looking for it. HELP ME!!! For nostalgia's sake!
thanks
Well, I don't know about the record, but the nursery rhyme Wynken,
Blynken and Nod was written by Eugene Field
and widely anthologized.
#W72--Wynken, Blynken and Nod Record:
Because I am seeking a particular edition of Wynken,
Blynken and Nod (Paperback, Wonder Books, 1964), I
search for this on eBay all the time. It appears on LOTS
of records! I find as many recordings of it as
books. The only one I have is a recording by the Irish
Rovers, but records come up all the time, including very old
ones. You might be advised to keep doing searches on eBay;
there is also some website devoted to old vinyl. Here's
one: OLD CHILDRENS 78 RPM RECORD This is an old
CHILDRENS 78 RPM RECORD. By LINCOLN records #529. Year 1950.
songs are, WYNKEN BLYNKEN AND NOD / RAPUNZEL..
I have two records with Wynken,
Blynken and Nod. The first one is mine from
the 60's and is titled Song Time for Young People
published by Treasure Records. The cover is pink with a circus
scene on the front and has 18 songs including Katie the
Kangaroo, Over in the Meadow, Pop Goes the Weasel, and
Clementine. The other I purchased in 1980 and is a two record
set called A Golden Treasury of Mother Goose
published by Golden Records. There are 82 songs and rhymes
directed by Mitch Miller.
Little Golden Book records has a record with
Wynken Blyken and Nod on side one, Storm in
the Bathtub on side two. Is it possible that Storm
in the Bathtub makes mention of Halley's Comet? Maybe someone
can help with that part. I do not know that song. The wonderful world of Wynken,
Blynken, and Nod. Author(s): Lande, Kay
and Denning, Wade. RCA Camden, 1966. 33 1/3
rpm. stereo. Contents: Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.--We must
be brave, brave, brave.--My name is Haley Comet.--Miss Guiding
Star's song.-We're gonna go a-searchin' for a rocket
ship.--Mister Parrot's lament.--Catch me, catch
me.--Trouble.--Due North.--A perpetual cold in my nose.--We're
going to Australia to ride a kangaroo.--Sing me a rhyme.--Jack
Yak.--Wynken, Blynken and Nod. Note(s): Participants:
Story and songs written by Wade Denning and Kay
Lande performed by Kay Lande and cast Wade Denning,
arranger and conductor.
W73: Who spilled the paint? Solved: Big Orange Splot
W74: Wishing Tree by
Faulkner Solved: The Wishing
Tree W75:
Werepony girl who travels around in van and, I think, moves into parallel
world where she becomes a werepony; also features a couple who are
werewolf and werehuman [wolf who becomes human] and are expecting
respectively a cubs and a baby.
W75 werepony: there's a rather odd book
that may be it - Horse of Air, written and
illustrated by L. Campbell, published Routledge 1957,
160 pages. The author was 15 when she wrote it. "It concerns
Lindsey, a girl whose imaginary world becomes her real world.
Here she roams with her band of horses, having the ability to
become one herself at any time. They journey through countries
together, meeting were-wolves or Indians, or cowboys or people
from small townships. With two or three of her horses she
takes journeys back to "Reality" and occasionally in time. The
portrayal of the horses is excellent and each becomes a real
personality to the reader." (JB Nov/57 p.258) More likely
it's a recent paperback fantasy for adults or YA, though.
W76: World
War
II U-Boat Stories Not your usual fare, but I read this book as a teen; not sure if
it was really targeted at younger readers or not. This was a
collection of stories about German U-Boat operations during
WWII, and was probably published in the 50s. Each
chapter was about a different sub, as I recall. I've tried
some searches and I've concluded that "U-Boat" probably is
NOT in the title, but I can't be certain of that. The book itself
had a light brown cover with the title on the spine in navy
blue; my copy didn't have any dust jacket.
Could this be one of the Random House
Landmark series books for young people. The cover description
and date sound right. Check out the lengthy list of titles. Battle
for the Atlantic, The Story of Submarines, The History of
the U. S. Coast Guard, etc.
W77: Witches and Blueberry Pancakes Solved: Old Black Witch
W78: Whitman publishing? title: something...Christmas book, maybe My Christmas Book?
Whitman mid 1950s. containing approx. 20/25 children's
Christmas stories mostly about Santa, gift giving, helping those
less fortunate It was about 12in x 8in approx. 150-200 pages
with some illustrations the title was "My Christmas Book" or
something Christmas Book On the cover was a big picture of
Santa's face with his eyes closed. Overlayed in his white
beard was a decorated Christmas tree with children dancing around
the tree holding ribbons, similar to the Coca-Cola kind of
Santa two stories from book: Bertrum's Reindeer
and The Little Blue Dishes.
W78 whitman christmas: the cover
description sounds like The Christmas Book,
Whitman 1954, which is on the Solved List. The only difference
is that the children are dancing hand-in-hand around the tree,
though the garlands strung around it do give the impression that
they are holding maypole ribbons.
W79: white poodle babysitter book Solved: The Bunny
Sitter W80: Wilkin book Solved: My Dolly and
Me
W81: Witch in a Rhododendrun
bush Solved: Late for
Hallowe'en W82:
Whale, Woman Overboard Solved: Overboard
W83: washing machine I read a book of short stories as a
kid. Probably from the 1940's about a girl named wendy who
falls asleep on a washing machine and dreams. In this
short stories book is also a story about invisible elves that
come out and are visible at night. Any information you
have would be great I would love to read it to my kids.
In a Ginn second grade reader Around
the Corner (green cover)(1966) there is a story
called "The Wonderful Washing Machine". In this Ann
falls asleep and she dreams she is flying out across the country
atop the washer. The story is by Miriam Young and is attributed
to Story Parade magazine. I do not see an elf story here,
however.
W84:
Witch with colored powders Solved: Little
Witch
W85: Woman &
Children escape Germany I am looking for a book I read in the early
80's. It is about a young Jewish woman who escapes from a
ghetto (possibly Warsaw) and ends up hiding in a Convent with
several Jewish children, possibly acting as a teacher. At
the end of the book, she and a man from the convent smuggle the
children across the border on a train (I think they were in
baggage or bundles.) I cannot remember anything else of the
content, except that at one point while hiding she has the
children act in a play about Purim.
Claire Huchet Bishop, Twenty and Ten,
1952. I'm a little
uncertain whether this is the book referred to, except that the
children in the book do act in a play (as far as my memory
serves me). A short synopsis of the book follows:
"During the Nazi occupation of France, twenty ordinary
French kids in a boarding school agree to hide ten Jewish
children. Then German soldiers arrive. Will the children
be able to withstand the interrogation and harassment?
Twenty and Ten is based on a true story -- one of many similar
incidents that took place all over Europe during World War II.
It is a book that has much to say to children of any age."
Assuming this is the book (there are a number of books on
the same theme) there was a 1990 made for TV movie based
on it, starring Loretta Swit, called "Miracle at Moreaux".
I still think the book you are looking for
is something else, whose title I cannot recall, but a friend
suggested a lot of plot elements are like Kathryn Lasky's The
Night Journey. Claire Huchet Bishop, Twenty and Ten. This is the solution I coulnd't think of
last time, and I believe I've got it now.
I do not remember the title, but I taught
this book to 6th graders in New Jersey. Look at the videos
at your library I believe it is also a movie. You
can ask the research librarian to look for the topic with
Juvenile literature for 4th to 7th grade material, and she will
probably find it.
I'm not positive about this, but W85 might
be Escape from Warsaw by Ian Serralier.
It's about three children from a Warsaw ghetto
running from the Nazis. This book is back in
print. My Hundred Children, Lena Kuchler, 1987. This is a book about a woman who
helps 100 children (Holocaust survivors) get to Israel. I
remember very little about it and it is long out of print, but I
thought it might help as it looks like this stumper hasn't been
solved. I checked out briefs on Twenty &
Ten, Escape from Warsaw, and The Night Journey, but
unfortunately none of them are the book I'm seeking. I
did, however, remember that the name of the main character is
Lena or Leni, if that helps.
I do not believe that Claire Huchet
Bishop's Twenty and Ten is correct.
Also published under the title The
Secret Cave (Scholastic-1969) the story concerns
French school children who vote to aid some Jewish children by
hiding them at their convent school. There is no adult who is
fleeing nor do the Jewish children escape from France in the
end. The story merely ends with the Nazis departing, believing
they were mistaken. The ten hidden children come out and
everyone feast on some food left behind by the soldiers. The
children had been subsisting on very meager rations. The school
barely food had food for the twenty and they were actually
sharing their supply with the extra ten! They were nearly
starving! Lena Küchler-Silberman, translated
from the Hebrew by David C. Gross., My Hundred Children,
1987. maybe? - Trying to find reason to go on living after
her family died in the Holocaust, Kuchler-Silberman directed a
postwar orphanage for 100 of the few Jewish children who
remained alive in Poland. Her aim was to provide physical and
emotional wholeness for those children who had lived in closets
or forests and for the many who had seen their parents killed.
She encountered aggressive anti-Semitism directed toward the
children. Finally leaving Poland for safer Czechoslovakia forms
the crux of the first-person narrative, but as much drama is
found in moving vignettes, such as the intoxicated hilarity the
children and staff enjoy, dressed alike in pink flannel pajamas
(their first such warmth after the war). Kuchler-Silberman is
truly a hero her accomplishments will be honored in a
forthcoming TV movie.
2003 W86: Witch with pastel
pantry Solved: Little Witch W87: "Who's that happy hippopotamus hopping heavily in
the hall" Solved: Is That a Happy
Hippopotamus? W88: woodsmen with wine jugs Childhood book wanted: Read in the 50's.
Picture book. Woodsmen with axes and jugs of wine or milk? Trees
prominent in pictures
The Golden Goose. I had
a book in the seventies called The Golden Goose,
which had all the elements you describe, including a woodsmen
being cut with an axe, and treesy, earth toned pictures.
W88: Sounds like the Grimms' The
Golden Goose, though the only time I remember seeing
it as a book was a pre-1970 edition in which the youngest son is
called, not Simpleton, but "Dumming" or some such. A lot of
dialogue. Very plain illustrations - what sticks in my memory is
when the brothers cut themselves with the ax and you see the
gaping cuts in profile, but no blood or redness.
W88 L. Leslie Brooke, The
Golden Goose. Oddly enough, I just saw this in
my doctor's office among the books they had
for the kids. It had simple line drawings
done in color. Lots of trees in the pictures.
W88 This one? Brooke, Leslie. The
golden goose and other favorites. ilus by Leslie Brooke.
Avenel old fairy and
nursery tales; Mother Goose rhymes.
W89: witches Solved: Little Witch W90: The wolf who wanted to be a horse This was a library book I read to my son in
the early 1970s. It was wry and funny and I would love to read
it to my granddaughter. I believe it was called The Wolf Who
Wanted to Be a Horse. (Or it may have been a horse who
wanted to be a wolf.) I simply can't remember for sure.
Kristine Willis, The Long-legged,
long-nosed, long-maned wolf, 1968. It' not an exact match, but
it was close enough that I felt I should mention it.
Summary: "The strange wolf doesn't make a very good horse, and
the strange man doesn't make a very fierce bandito, but they
make a good pair because of the unusual favors they do for each
other." It's 48 pages long, so it's probably an "easy
reader" type book.
I have no summaries for these two but the
time period fits: Wolf Who Had a Wonderful Dream
by Anne Rockwell (1973), Mouse Who Wanted to be a
Man by Margaret Howell (1976)
W91:
Witch saves witch school with thorn bush This short story was in an anthology of
witch stories. In the story, a young girl, who is a witch, is
sent to a (boarding?) school for witches. There is a
portrait of one of her famous witch ancestors on a wall in the
school. Somehow the girl saves the school by growing a
thorn bush all around the school. I think the book was
oversized. It may have had a picture on the cover of a
witch riding a broomstick and wearing a billowing cloak. I
read the book sometime around 1977-1983. Thanks!
Hoke, Helen, Witches, Witches,
Witches, 1953.
This is a slightly oversized J fiction with a black cover.
I just thumbed through Witches,
Witches, Witches and didn't see a story resembling
the above description. Likewise, A Book of Witches
by Ruth Manning-Sanders and 13 Wtiches by
Dorothy Gladys Spicer.
W91 The Helen Hoke book is a
collection of stories. I'll read the copy of it that I own to
double check it. In the meantime, check SPELL ME A WITCH
by Barbara Willard, 1979, 1981. It could be the one
you're looking for. ~from a librarian Diana Wynne Jones, Witch Week,
1982. Could this be it? "There are, in the universe,
an infinite number of worlds, each split
off from its neighbors by the turnings of history. In one world,
very much like ours, witchcraft is illegal and witches are
burned, unless they can manage to escape. A large number of
witch-orphans have been sent to Larwood House, a government-run
boarding school. A note accusing someone at the school of being
a witch is only the beginning of the strange occurrences.
Young Charles Morgan has just discovered that he can cast
spells. Nirupam Singh's brother was burned as a witch. Nan
Pilgrim has just taken her first flight on a broom. Among the
other students at the school are Estelle Green, whose mother
used to run part of the witches rescue service; Brian Wentworth,
whose father is assistant head and who has begun acting
decidedly odd; and the perfect Simon Silverson, whose every word
suddenly starts coming true. When one of the students disappears
and a note is left blaming the witch, everyone begins to get
scared and several students run
away. Nan and Estelle, trying to reach the witches rescue
service, are given a spell that will summon help, in the form of
the wizard Chrestomanci." It's definitely NOT Witch Week (or
anything
by Diana Wynne Jones. It was a short story and I don't
even think the anthology was that thick. I also forgot
to add that it was in my elementary school library (Indianola
Elementary in Columbus, Ohio). Thanks for the ideas. The Worst Witch Ever. I
know the cover of my edition was of the girl flying (looking
fairly disheveled) with a cloak on. She went to a boarding
school and was often in trouble, but managed to save the day. A
thorn bush sounds vaguely familiar. There were 2 books I
read in the series, I think. I would have read this book
around 1985ish and it was in paperback then.
W92: Witch's house has chicken
legs Solved: Baba Yaga W93: weather explained to girl Louis Slobodkin (illustrator),
1955-1965. In a dream, a girl rises up to a cloud, where
weather is explained to her.This was a picture book.
Is the poster sure this book
was illustrated by Louis Slobodkin? There seems to be information
about all the books he illustrated at
http://www.slobodkin.org/books/index.html, but none look like they
fit the poster's description. W94: Willie the Wisp and cousin Solved: The Day Willie
Wasn't W95: woody woodpecker fireworks popcorn birthday Solved: Woody
Woodpecker Shoots the Works W96: WWII & Jewish life a book I read in late 60s, when I was about
10. Book had four sections, each with a girl's name, one
of which was Nina, and it covered WWII & Jewish life.
One of the girls was a dancer but gets killed in WWII. Her
daughter is raised in the next (final?) section by her mother
(the girl's grandmother), who one day asks about the child's
mother's dancing. THe girl looks blankly at her
grandmother & says that her mother never danced she could
barely hobble, they'd burned her feet in the camps. THanks
for looking. YOu MUST be overwhelmed with NPR--you're a
dream come true!!!!
Ruth Arthur, A Candle in Her Room. I was haunted by this one when I was a
kid. I'm sure this is it it matches in every detail.
I don't think this one is A Candle in
her Room by Ruth Arthur. I don't remember it containing
Jewish people. It takes places in the English countryside and
centers around an evil doll named Dido.
This is really whistling in the dark, but is
it possible that the person who submitted the first clue was
really thinking of A Candle in the Dark by
Adele Geras & Elsie Lennox? Though I've never read it,
I know it's about the Holocaust and the title is very close to A
Candle in Her Room.
It is A Candle in Her Room.
The section with the evil doll is (mainly) the first generation.
The dancer is a second generation girl who moves to Europe. Her
child is orphaned and lost after the war. An aunt who had been
crippled (because of the doll) has a vision of the child and is
healed so that she can go find her. Then the child comes back
and deals with the doll. Arthur, Ruth, A Candle in Her Room, NY Atheneum 1966. I think this IS A
Candle in Her Room. The book is in 4 sections, each narrated by
a girl or woman, covering 3 generations of women at an isolated
country house. This particular episode occurs - The first
narrator finds her grand niece after WWII in the DP camps, her
mother having been murdered by the Nazis for involvement in the
Polish Resistance. The grand niece is named Nina, and her mother
had been a dancer, but the Nazis had burned her feet so that she
was barely able to hobble, news which horrifies her great
aunt. Nina, because of her early hardship, is a tough kid,
and she is the one who finally has the strength to defy the
power of the evil doll Dido and free the family of her
influence. The characters are not Jewish, and WWII is mostly
offstage, but I wonder if the seeker has invented that memory to
explain this incident?
Additional notation regarding the
answer to the original question. Thanks first, I've been haunted
by the book for years too. I read it as a young girl. The
questioner was accurate. The second or third generation girl(nina)
is talking to her grandmother and grandma asks about her
daughter(the girls(nina?) mother) and her dancing. The
granddaughter(nina?) says "Dance? My mother couldnt dance. She
could barely hobble, the Nazis tortured her. They burned the soles
of her feet". I remember it verbatim. Thanks for the info,
I've always wondered about the book and have tried to recall the
title/author. It was geared to girls about the age of 12-14
because I read it about the same time as I blew through Lois
Duncan's books. W97: Widowed sisters Solved: The Widow's
Adventures W98: Whitey the Rabbit? Solved: Whitey, the
Bunny Whose Wish Came True W99: walnut ship in the park lake Solved: Pirates in the
Park W100: Wumpy Dump can't fly We used to read this book to our daughter
(now 27) who still refers to herself as Wumpy Dump when things
aren't going well! The story concerned a mother and father bird
and their baby in the nest. Father bird felt that baby was ready
to leave the nest but mother bird said "But wumpy dump can't
fly." I don't think it was a Golden book but wouldn't rule out
anything. I've checked the title in a number of places so I
don't think it contains the words "Wumpy Dump". The father
bird seemed to have kind of a military bearing. I think he said
something like, "Get that bird out of the nest!" W101: Who Needs Doughnuts Solved: Who Needs
Donuts? W102:
World War II book about European girl sent to America This book features a European girl who had
an upper-class lifestyle in Europe (perhaps Paris?) but who was
sent to a farm in America by her loving parents in order to get
her out of harm's way in World War II. The adjustment to
lower-middle-class American farm life is very difficult for her,
but she gradually warms up to the American family hosting her.
At the end of the book, her parents find her out in a field,
dressed very poorly, and are shocked at the change in her.
I would have read this in the late 1960; it is probably written
for a late-elementary reader.
Back Home, Michelle Majorian.
Unless the person who submitted the stumper
has confirmed it, I think W102 should be reopened - sorry.
Back Home by Michelle Magorian wasn't
published until 1984, and while it is about an English girl who
was evacuated to America during WWII, it deals with her struggle
to adjust to life in England again after the war, rather than
focusing on how hard it was to adjust to life in America.
P. L. Travers, I Go By Sea, I
Go By Land, 1966. Maybe? This is
non-fiction and is written in diary form. Story of an
English girl and her younger brother who were sent to live with
relatives in America during World War II. I'm the
original poster of this stumper. Neither of these
answers is correct (although I appreciate the help!): I
know I read this book when I was in elementary school in the
late 1960s, and it was written in the third-person, as a piece
of fiction (even if based on a true story). I remember
that at the beginning of the book, she was very happy with her
mom and dad in a major European city and was horrified at her
new host family in America or Canada; in the scene at the end
when the parents from Europe come to the farm to get their
daughter, she is in a field, and if memory serves, is chewing
a bit of straw and may even have not had a shirt on!
(She was prepubesent, of course.) She had grown to love
her country life, too, and I think dreaded the adjustment to
life back in Europe. That was where the book
ended. Thanks! Haywood, Carolyn, Primrose Day,
1942. This is simply a suggestion. I haven't read
it, so can't say whether it contains the exact details you've
described, but the plot sounds right. "Because of the war,
7-year-old Merry Primrose Ramsay goes to live with her Aunt
Helen and Uncle Bill in America, where she finds things very
different from England."
This book is DEFINITELY NOT Primrose
Day, as that is a very sweet and wonderful book with
a very happy ending! And thanks for this great service,
because I was actually looking for Primrose Day's
title and found it here!!!
W103: Who Dun It I think I remember this as a 'soft back'
book, but (?)! It contained a series of "situations" in a brain
twizzler or brain teaser format.... there were pictures or
sketches (?) pertaining to each one... seem to remember many
murder mystery related puzzlers! I especially remember a
particular one depicting a hanging rope......apparently the
person hung himself and the puzzle was to find out "how" this
was done, because there were no chairs or step ladders or any
way for the person to climb up to the rope...... he was found
'dangling' with no clues! I do remember that the answer to this
"HOW WAS IT DONE" twizzler, was that the person climbed up on
'dry ice' and that was the end! I would like to resume my
search for this book..... I do not know whether it was called Who
Dun it or Who Done It or the book of Who
dun/done its..... murder mysteries "May" or may not be a
part of the title!
Oh my, I remember that brain teaser.
Brain teasers were part of an oral tradition and dinnertime
activity in my family. I'll be eager to see this one
solved.
Well, there's Donald J. Sobol's
Two-Minute Mysteries series featuring Inspector
Haledjian. I couldn't find such a case in More
Two-Minute Mysteries or Still More Two-Minute
Mysteries, though it could be in Two-Minute
Mysteries. A book featuring a female detective
with the same initials as Sherlock Holmes is Mini-Mysteries, by
Julia Remine Piggin, but I couldn't find such a case in
that book or any sequels to it. All of these came out in
paperback from Scholastic in the early 1970s. The
mysteries were about a page each with the solution printed
upside-down at the bottom of the page. Ken Weber, Five Minute Mysteries (series). Since Weber's books involve
murders, I think it's the Five Minute Mystery Series.
W103 Not a definitive answer, but try doing
a keyword search on your library's computer catalog or on the
internet with the words "minute mysteries". I didn't get a sense
of what year you might have read these books, but from the 70s
to the present, there are various minute mystery titles - like
Two Minute Mysteries, etc. Might be worth
investigating. ~from a librarian
Very early- but The Baffle Books
by Randle McKay and Lassiter Wren?? (1920-30's)?
I have read the "Two-Minute Mysteries"
books mentioned above, and I'm sure that these are the books you
are looking for. I remember the exact story you have mentioned.
I believe it was the butler who killed the master of the house
by hanging him, and claimed that he was merely walking into the
house and saw the man kick over the stool he was standing on and
hang himself in the attic. The mystery was solved because there
is no way the butler could have known it was a stool from way
down on the ground. Hope this helps!
W104: Walk In the Forest Solved: In the Forest W105: World War II Solved: Animal Stories W106: Weasel becomes an ermine Children's storybook read to me in 1945.
Little brown weasel (in Russia or a snowy country) is being
hunted by hunters. His brown fur against the white snow makes
him very vulnerable. But then he bcomes an ERMINE, and with
white fur, now has the perfect camouflage! And, as they say,
lives happily ever after,,,,,, W107: Willie? Smokey Joe? Solved: The
Cold-Blooded Penguin W108: White kitten cleaned up and adopted Solved: Peppermint W109: West Point Family Solved: Penny Parrish W110: Way out west in Chicago I was born in 1937 in San Francisco.
My mother read a book to me that began "Way out west in
Chicago." It was a collection of stories, as I recall, and I
really don't remember much beyond that. The geographical irony
of the west being far to our east always stuck in my mind, and
perhaps contributed to my lifelong interest in geography.
The book was hard bound and green as I recall. I have
looked at used children's books to try and find this, but
without luck. W111: world champion hammerer was in a hilton anthology. It was
about a guy who got a job at a factory and at first he couldnt
hammer a nail (that was his job). they said they would fire him.
Then he got obsessed with it and practiced all the time. He took
great pride in it and got really carried away with it. One day
the company replaced all the hammerers with a machine. He tried
to break the machine.
Sounds a
little bit like the story of John Henry, who I think is a
fictional folk hero. Probably in multiple
anthologies I do distinctly remember hearing one where he
breaks a machine that threatens to replace him.
W112: We three
Solved: Three Without
Fear W113: witch Solved: Little Witch W114: WWI Ace to Ace Dogfighting Game Books Solved: Aces to Aces
WWII Air Combat Game W115: Will In 1955 or so, a substitute teacher read a
story to a rowdy junior high English class. A man's will
provides that his child may benefit from his estate as long as
he wears a cloak. Cloaks go out of fasion, and something else
(perhaps coats) come into fashion. THe will is interpreted
so that "cloak" means "coat." Coats go out of fashion, and
something else (perhaps jackets) come into fashion. The
will is reinterpreted so that "cloak" means "jacket." And
so forth until "cloak" comes to mean "scraf." I think the
author of the story was English. I would like to read the
story to my students. W116: Widget and Wodget Solved: The Widget, The
Wadget, and Boff W117: Weekend adventures, children take turns Solved: The Saturdays W118: Witch in a tree Solved: Jennifer,
Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth W119:
Wedding and junior bridesmaids get pearl necklaces Solved: Aunt Sharon's
Wedding Day W120:
Winds, Stories about This was a story my mother read to
me. The story related the four winds (north, south, east,
and west) and their certain characteristics in the form of a
short story. I remember something about a cave or montaintop as
their home. It wasn't a friendly story. It was more of a
fable, fairy tale, or myth.
This may not be what either is looking for,
but let me try to hit 2 stumpers with 1 stone: C 219: Children's
book of how stories and W 120: Winds, Stories About could both
be Old Mother West Wind, by Thornton W.
Burgess, 1910. Put that title, in quotes, into Google, and
you'll even find entire online versions of it; for example,
chapter 2, Why Grandfather Frog Has No Tail. Hans Christian Andersen, The Garden of
Paradise, c.1838.
W-120, story about the four winds with different
characteristics, could this be The Garden of Paradise,
one of Andersen's fairy tales? Here's a link. As the
poster relates, it most definitely is not a friendly story.
W120 is NOT Tresselt
Follow the windNORBrindze The story of the
trade winds NOR Conger Who has seen the wind
W120 Could this be EAST OF THE SUN AND
WEST OF THE MOON, an old tale from Norway? ~from a
librarian
W121: WW2 Army Engineer unit M*A*S*H-like Solved: Hanging On W122:
Witch little sister Mousie Solved: Witch's Sister W123: wishes Solved: Pinkety
Pinkety, a Practical Guide to Wishing W124: Warrior A young man's father (or loved one) is
killed by an evil (dark) menacing warrior, who possesses great
power. The young man spends man years preparing to meet
this warrior in a final match. He is coached in his
preparation by a mentor. He must learn to conquer his
fears and his anger. (I remember much emphasis on this) Of
course, he is successful. My shaky memory places the
era in the dark ages a time of heavy armor and heavy swords -
and other weapons charicteristic of that age. I remember
something that struck me related to this young man washing his
hands in water, during his preparation, but I don't remember
what or why. I don't know what is meant by the
"approximate date" field above. I read the book in 1982,
but I remember it was well used, thus I'm guessing the book was
published some years before.
Rosemary Sutcliffe? This
sounds as if it might be any of a number of young adult novels
by Rosemary Sutcliffe, set in early Britain. I am sorry I
can't be more specific. Walter Dean Myers, Legend of Tarik, 1981. Could this be The Legend of
Tarik? Synopsis: "After witnessing the annihilation
of his people by El Muerte's legions, young Tarik undergoes the
training, which will enable him to destroy this fierce leader.
W125:Wolf
catches girl with medals Solved: The
Story-Teller W126: William Wigglesworth William Wigglesworth, 1940s. I
remember this book, from my childhood, as being very gentle and
dear, but I don't have any clue beyond that. W127: Wrong side of bed Solved: My Giant Story
Book W128: Wilderness survival after floatplane crash Two boys and a pilot (uncle?) are in a
small private float plane. The plane experiences some sort of
mechanical trouble and sets down on a lake. After repairs
the pilot takes the plane up to test it out but crashes leaving
the two boys to fend for themselves in the woods. The story
deals with how they survive. They make a fish trap to
catch fish. At one point they capture and train a river
otter to help them with the catching of the fish. One of the
boys even dives to the sunken plane to try to get supplies. They
finally make a raft to take them down river to civilization. The
book was read sometime around 1960-65.
Fea, Henry R., Adventure In
The Sierras, 1959. Survival story. Plane with
uncle & 2 children crashes. Ginn & Company. 180 pages.
I'm the original submitter for Stumper
W128 "Wilderness survival after floatplane crash". This
stumper is shown as solved with the book identified as "Adventure
in the sierras" by Henry R. Fea. Unfortunately this is
not the book that I'm searching for. The solved book is
a crash survival story but has two children in it, a boy and a
girl. The book I'm searching for is based around two
boys, a floatplane and ultimately a river trip by raft back to
civilization. Burton L Spiller, The Young Crusoes, 1959. I'm sure this is the book
referred to. It is my favourite book but have not read it for a
number of years. I was searching the internet to confirm the
title and typed in my idea of the plot summary...it was almost
identical to the stumper W128. I was pretty sure the title was
"The Young Crusoes" and further internet searching has confirmed
this. Burton Spiller, Northland
Castaways. This book is Northland
Castaways. Look it up in the Solved Mysteries
section. It is now very rare - no copies on ABE! - but can
still be found on interlibrary loan.
W129: When I Went for a Walk in the Forest Solved: In the Forest W130: Witch rides on a vacuum I am looking for a book that I read in
elementary school back around 1960. It was about a witch that
rode on a vacuum instead of a broom.
The Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew, 1969. See more comments on the Solved
Mysteries page.
This book (the Wednesday Witch by
Ruth Chew) was not published until 1969. The book I want
is one that I read in 1960.
Dan Wickenden, The Amazing Vacation.This
book was published around the right time. I read it in
elementary school about 1960. Two children, Joanna and
Ricky, go to visit their eccentric uncle and aunt, and end up
going through a strange stained-glass window into another
country. One of the characters in the book is a witch who
rides on a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom. This book is
set in the 1920's. I found this book recently at Alibris
or ABEbooks, and it's as delightful as I remembered. Mary Calhoun, Wobble the Witch
Cat. Although the other answer might be the right
one -- if you remember an early reader picture book instead of a
novel, it might be Wobble the Witch Cat. Wobble
hates riding on the witch's broom, so he throws it away. On
Halloween, the witch is desperate to take to the skies, so she
enchants her vaccum cleaner and rides that instead. Wobble finds
it very comfy.
W131: WW2 Underground Solved: Snow Treasure W132: Whale saves russian submarine crew Solved: Sounding W133: Where is "The Dangerous Game"? Solved: Terrible Game W134: Window, child looks out Solved: Out Of My
Window 2004 W135: Witches, Goblins, Trolls, Ogres and other fantasy Solved: Kincaid's Book
of Witches, Goblins, Ogres, & other fantasy W136: Western Showdown Stumper I am looking for a book read to me about
15-20 years ago about a western town that has been harassed by a
group of 'bad guys'. There is a boy in this town who
decides to challenge these guys and divides them into 3
different groups. One group he tricks into having their
horses tied to their backs. Another group he challenges to
a race up a ladder to a building roof where he knocks down the
ladder so they are stuck. The last group he challenges to
a race to a barn/shed where he is able to lock them in.
Then the last guy he challenges to a shouting contest down at
the river where the sheriff hears him and returns to find 5 men
on a roof, 5 tied to their horses and 5 in the barn. So
the boy saves the day. Any thoughts?
Could this be
one of Alan Coren's Arthur books? A
British series of humorous books with titles like Arthur
the Kid, The Lone Arthur, etc. The plot generally
involved Arthur, a ten-year-old boy, outwitting assorted wild
west bad guys. The story that your correspondent describes
doesn't ring any bells, but it sounds like the kind of
resourceful thing Arthur would do. Richard Kennedy, The Contests at Cowlick, 1975. Illustrated by Marc Simont. "Wally
outwits a gang of outlaws and saves the town of Cowlick."
W137:
Warring neighborhood children "War of Roses"? Solved: Bill Bergson
and the White Rose Rescue W138: The White Bed My Mother purchased this set of books from
a door to door saleman, my Father thought it was a waste of
money! Sometime in the 1950's. There was a set of smaller red/
burgundy books (6 X 8?) and two larger books (12x 14?), one
green and one golden yellow. The large books had raised
covers that you could put paper over and do a sort of rubbing on
to get picutres. One of the large books had pictures of works of
art and pictures to trace. One of the books had nursery
rhymes and poems. The stories I remember were one about a little
boy who did not want to go to bed but laid on the floor in front
of the fireplace and read and heard his little white bed come
down the stairs and run away. After he got cold and begged for
the nice warm and comfy bed to come back it did. I remember my
Mom reading the sound the bed made coming down the stairs,
clumpity clump, clumpity clump. Another story was about
Jack Frost "Nips your nose" and the Winken Blinken and Nod poem,
also Three Men in a Tub. Hope someone can help. Thanks in
adadvance.
The story The Bed that Ran Away is
found in Volume 2 of the Book Trails book (For
Baby Feet), and Volume 1 is full of poetry. I believe these book
sets were sold door to door, so it's probably worth
investigating. Multiple Contributors -
Introduction by M.V. O'Shea, Junior Instructor, Books 1 and 2,
1943 (orig. 1916), copyright. The green-covered and
yellow-covered Junior Instructor books were sold along with the
Book Trails series. The 1943 copyright was published by
United Educators, Inc.
W139: wagon train trapped on mountain pass When I was a teenager I read a book about a
wagon train heading west that was trapped on a mountain pass buy
a sudden snowstorm for several weeks and/or months and as they
did not have enough food they may have been forced to
cannabalize others who did not survive. I believe the story was
narrated by a young girl.
Laurgaard, Rachel K, Patty Reed's
Doll:The Story of the Donner Party, 1956. Sounds like this might be about
the Donner Party, a group of emigrants to California who in the
winter of 1846–47 met with one of the most famous tragedies in
Western history. The California-bound families were mostly from
Illinois and Iowa. Early snow caught them, trapping them
in the Sierra Nevada. Resources ran out, and survivors resorted
to cannibalism to survive. The story is told from a child's
doll's perspective.
You didnt give an approximate date of when
you read the book, and there are a LOT of books about the true
story of the Donner Party, which your description certainly
sounded like. I did find a possibility - Across The Plains
In The Donner Party: a personal narrative of the
overland trip to California, 1846-47 by Virginia Reed Murphy
(Outbooks, 1980). "This is her story, recalled 45 years
later at the request of the editor of Century, a national
magazine of that day, and reprinted here with the original
illustrations and some additional ones." If you
could give a date, it would be easier to narrow down possible
titles. Jane and Paul Annixter, Wagon Scout. If the original stumper requester is
mixing up the Donner Party (starvation) with lack of water, this
could be the book. The protagonist is a sixteen-year-old
boy. Rachel K. Laurgaard , Patty Reed's
Doll,1956. This
is just a guess. A lot depends on when the poster was a
teenager. If the book was about the Donner party, then this link
may help.
I can't imagine anyone writing a children's
book on The Donner Party, but that's sure what this sounds
like! Also there's a short story by Mark Twain:Cannibalism
in the Cars, but its not narrated by a young girl.
I'm willing to bet this is a story based on
the Donner Party. Three possible titles: Patty
Reed's Doll: the Story of the Donner Party by Rachel
Laurgaard, Lorina's Song: A Pioneer Girl's Journey
with the Donner Party by Marian Rudolph, and
Palace Wagon Family: A True Story of the Donner Party. Winter Harvest, by Norah
Lofts, a novel about the Donner Party. I remember it was
narrated by one of the members of the party, either a teenage
girl or boy. Laurgaard, Rachel K., Patty
Reed's Doll, 1956. The stumper must surely
refer to a book about the Donner party--could this be the one?
W139 is presumably talking about a story
based on the real-life Donner Party. There are many
possibilities, and since I don't know when requestor was in high
school, I've sorted them by date: Grim journey : the story of the
adventures of the emigrating company known as the Donner
party, which, in the year 1846, crossed the plains
from Independence, Missouri, to California ... by Birney,
Hoffman, 1934. The mothers : an American saga of
courage by Fisher, Vardis, 1943. Winter harvest : a novel by Lofts,
Norah, 1955. Beyond the pass. by Headen,
William, 1956. Palace wagon family: a true story of
the Donner Party. Sutton, Margaret, 1957. West through the wilderness: a story
of the tragedy at Donner Pass. by Bowlen, Ruth, 1961. The ungodly: a novel of the Donner
party. by Rhodes, Richard, 1973.
Tamsen by Galloway, David
D., 1983. Left hand turn : a story of the Donner
Party women by Maino, by Jeannette Gould,
1987. Patty Reed's doll : the story of the
Donner party by Laurgaard, Rachel K., 1989.
Trapped! the true story of a pioneer
girl by Boeve, Eunice, 1997. The Donner Party : a diary of a
survivor : historical fiction by Olson, Tod,
1999.
Lovina's song : a pioneer girl's
journey with the Donner party by Rudolph, Marian,
1999.
W140:
woman's 1920's solo Mongolian journey (Kazakhstan) rendez vous", 1950? Fiance of
American ambassador diplomat to ?Tibet? Peking? travels solo
across parts of eastern Soviet Union and western China to be
reunited with him. She was first white woman to travel these
parts and slept in yurts and ate whatever food was available. It
was terribly cold and they bundled her up warmly in a
cart. I am fairly sure she wrote the book. She was
legendary for her great packing skills along the journey.
Sounds as though it might be THE POWER
OF NOTHINGNESS by Alexandra David-Neel & Lama
Yondgen; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982 Janwillem
van de Wetering translation. First English language
edition. [Not a children's book.] For more information,
see this website.
W141: wishes for another birthday The character is the story wishes for her
birthday to happen all over again on the following day. I
think she makes the wish on a star. "Star Light, Star
Bright. First Star I see tonight I wish I may, I wish I
might have the wish I wish tonight." And day after day it works,
until she gets tired of having her birthday again. I think
at the end she wishes for a new lunch box. Also it may
have been a scholastic book because I remember my teacher
playing it on tape.
Some of the details may be muddled here
(for example, I don't recall the story being that the wish is
for the birthday to happen over and over, but it's been 25 years
since I read it, so maybe that's what happened), but this is
definitely Bear's Magic and Other Stories by Carla
Stevens. It was indeed a Scholastic book from the
1970s, and my copy came with a record. Hi. Thank you for your
help. It is not the correct story listed.
Well, I still think this is Bear's
Magic and Other Stories by Carla Stevens.
This info from another solve on this site: Not exactly
firetrucks but... The first story, Wish I May, Wish I Might, in
the book Bear's Magic and Other Stories is about a rabbit with
an old lunch box. Everyone else in his class has pictures
on their lunch boxes. So rabbit wishes on a star several
nights in a row for a new lunch box. There's no answer at
first, but rabbit reminds himself how far away the stars
are. After three nights (and after his mother overhears
him), he gets a new lunch box with "trucks on it -- a dump
truck, a garbage truck, a tow truck -- more than ten different
trucks!" The other two stories in the book are about a
mouse who makes a birthday wish, and a bear who wishes it would
stop snowing. It's by Carla Stevens, with pictures
by Robert J. Lee. Scholastic, 1976. Does that ring
any more bells?
W142: What if icecream ozzed from the garden hose Solved: What If? W143: Wilds of Scotland I'm looking for a book (teen/young adult)
first published in the UK, I'm fairly sure, and published here
in the mid to late 70s?? The book is about a teenaged girl who
is living in an intolerable situation (slum? abusive parents?)
in a Northern English city. She runs away and ends up in the
wilds of Scotland, living in a cave of sorts. At one point she
rescues an injured mountain climber, nurses him to health in her
cave and , I think, becomes pregnant by him. I don't remember
much more than that but if you could help me find it, I'd be
thrilled.
Renvoize, Jean, A Wild Thing.
London:
Macmillan
1970.
This
sounds
possible
-
"Morag
runs
away
to
try
to
live
by
herself
in
the
highlands
of
Scotland."
"The
townspeople
believed
she
was
a
demon
spirit...They
frightened
each
other
with
tales
of
a
wild
young
creature
glimpsed
here
and
there
for
an
instant,
then vanished. In truth, Morag was a lonely young runaway, a
girl, not quite sixteen years old, who had deserted the poverty
and pain of life as an unwanted child to live out a harsh dream
of freedom in the wilderness. Her home was a cave, her
companions two goats and a moss-covered skeleton-until, one day,
a boy wandered into her strange, solitary existence and brought
with him all the joys and evils of the civilization she had
fled."
W144: Wishing Star Solved: The Wishing
Star W145: Whip-poor-will: naughty rabbit gets a spanking I had a collection of fairy tales in an
oversized hardcover book with color illustrations. There
were many stories, but I remember there was a version of the
Brothers Grimm story of King Thrushbeard (or Roughbeard).
In this version, at the end, it specifically mentioned the queen
being told by a guest to compliment the kitchen staff because a
pastry was so delicious, and she said she would, but she
actually had made the pastry herself, "by her own hand".
There was also a story about William Cottontail, a rabbit who
was naughty all over the village and finally got a spanking over
his mother's knee, while a bird announced it to
the whole village, calling "Whip-poor-will!
Whip-poor-will!" The book dated somewhere between
1900-1950, if I had to guess, I would say it was from around
1920. I've been looking for years! W146: Wordless children's book I am looking for a wordless children's
picturebook that was read to me in the mid eighties. All I can
recall is that on one page there was a bunny (maybe white?) who
was cooking dinner for all his forest friends. The story was
definately about the bunny and life in the forest. I also recall
there was a strip of white that ran along the bottom.
W146 possibilities? Haven't dug it
out to check for white line. These are wordless and have at
least one rabbit in them: Bruna, Dick. Miffy's
dream. illus by Dick Bruna. Methuen,
1979. white rabbit, brown rabbit. Fromm,
Lilo. Muffel and Plums. illus by Lilo
Fromm Macmillan, 1972. lion,
rabbit; friendship; books without words.
W147: Witch causes July snowstorm Solved: The Frightened
Forest W148: Waverly Solved: Waverly W149: Waste Not, Want Not Solved: The Parents
Assistant W150:
Witch's yellow cat Solved: The Witch of
Hissing Hill 2006 W151:
What's that big lump in your bed? Solved: The Big Tidy Up W152:
What Will I Dream Of Solved: What Can I
Dream About? W153: Wizard and "The Arch of St. Louis" I once got this book from the library about
a spell-using wizard whom I think lived in the Arch of St
Louis. I think it was dated in the 1940s or 1950s and was
hardcover, I believe yellow. Any idea on author and title?
I have never been able to find it again, even upon returning to
the same library. Thanks in advance!
If the date is 1940s-1950s then it couldn't
mention the Arch of St. Louis, which wasn't built until the late
1960s.
From the Special Collections, St. Louis
Public Library: We have checked several sources including
reference books, databases, and the Internet, plus the memories
and expertise of staff members, but could not discover the title
of the book, which you mentioned. You may have placed the
date of publication a bit too early, since the competition for
the Gateway Arch (formally known as the Jefferson National
Expansion Memorial) took place in 1947-48 and the Arch itself
was completed on October 29, 1965. I have also asked the
library's Youth Services librarians for assistance. If they
identify a possible match, I will pass the information along to
you. Thanks for the dates and education about
the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The book
appeared to me to be somewhat old, but given your dates, it
likely was a used and liked book. I would have read it
around the years of 1974-1977. Given your information,
it must have been not even a decade old. It may have
been in a collection of short stories; I just cannot remember
any other details. Again I would be grateful for any
details. I have tried looking at some online card
catalogs to no success.
2005 W154: Wood Nymph Solved: Peterkin W155: Witch girl Solved: The
Active-Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch W156: Where the animals live? I have a friend who has told me about a
book she had as a child that she would give anything to find
again - she is a painter and aparently the colors in this book
really influenced her stuff. All she can remember is that it was
a very vividly colored picture book that was titled something
like "Where the animals live" and showed the animals and the
different types of homes they lived in. She stressed that the
illustrations were very, very vividly colored, possibly with
highly contrasting bright colors that would vibrate against
eachother. I would LOVE to find her a copy & suprise her
with it!!
W156 Daly, Kathleen N. The
home is best book [former title: The nest
book]. Illus by Jan Pfloog. Golden, 1968,
1976.
animal homes; Golden Shape Book. This
is probably not it. The pictures are nice, but not arty. 1st
spread is of orioles and their nest; next spread "A cave is home
to big black Bear" then "A cozy den is Fox's lair." Then the
head of a cat peering at the goldfish in their bowl, etc.
I really doubt it is The Nest Book
- from how she described it diddnt have traditional painted
illustrations, they were more graphic and luminous...copyright
early to mid 70's, I assume, since she is in her late 20's... Mary Anne Hoberman, A House is
A House For Me, 1978. Maybe? "A web is a
house for a spider" is the first line. Many other animal
homes are mentioned in this long illustrated poem.
Illustrations are interesting.
W157: WWII carousel horse Solved: The Little
Riders W158: Windmills - a yellow cover children picture book with
descriptions [80 (or so) pages] - about a kid who lives in the woods - story about how he makes windmills (or
so), and how he lives there - I read it while i was a kid, around late
80s i know my description is a bit vague. But
any help is appreciated. I have been spending hours online
trying to hunt this book to bring back my nostalgic memories..
Thanks so much. W159: Williamsburg (colonial)
Solved: Williamsburg
series W160: Wheat grows in silted port Solved: Tales Told in
Holland W161: Wrecked red race car Solved: The Red Car W162: Witch at amusement park Solved: The Resident
Witch W163: War on a planet (or 2 planets?) between musicians
and non-musicians Takes place on a planet (or on 2 planets?)
involving a ware between 2 "tribes" of peoples: one who
are all musicians and one who are not. It's very
fuzzy and I may be getting the details wrong. But I seem
to remember a battle and a march to a distant castle and climax
in a great hall. (?) The musicians played symphonic
instruments. I read it as a child in the late '50's or
very early '60's. I always thought it was called "The
Musicians of Mars," but have been unable to track down
anything matching that title... Does this ring a bell for
anyone????
This sounds a bit like The Phantom
Tollbooth...the book did have an 'otherworldly' feel
to it. A long shot, but perhaps helpful.
W163 I'm quoting from blurb of Phantom
Tollbooth: "In his quest for Rhyme and Reason, Milo
helps settle the war between words and numbers, visits the
Island of Conclusions (which can only be reached by jumping),
and ventures into the forbidden Mountains of Ignorance whose all
too familiar demons menace his every step." As to
musicians, Milo runs into a big symphony orchestra but it
produces no sound; it produces the colors in the world, starting
with sunrise. They don't seem to be involved in any wars.
Thanks, but I don't think it's The
Phantom Tollbooth. The book I "remember" (hah!) is
probably not as clever as that one sounds.
:) I've been to many a library and consulted with
many a veteran children's librarian and been sent to many a
bibliography of children's science fiction and fantasy, to no
avail...
This isn't a solution exactly, but I have
fond memories of a Walt Disney Silly Symphony cartoon about a
war between 2 islands - one peopled with symphonic instruments
(violins, oboes and the like) and one peopled with jazz
instruments (saxophones and trumpets). A sweet young
violin and a shy young sax fall in love and their respective
parents throw a collective tizzy which involves everyone on both
islands hurling music note "bombs" at each other until the
inevitable happy ending.
W164: Witch in a cave My stumper has to do with a children's book
that is dated some time back. I am 31 years old and remember
reading it when I was a small child. I know it contains
the word "Witch" in the title and has to do with a witch who
lived in a cave. She was evil to all the people until
someone did an act of kindness for her. Any ideas would be
GREATLY appreciated!
The
requester might look at some of Ruth Chew's
books. The witch in The Wednesday Witch lived in a
cave.
W164 Total shot in the dark, but it might be
worth looking into the Old Witch books by Ida
DeLage. Titles include OLD WITCH AND HER
MAGIC BASKET; OLD WITCH AND THE SNORES; OLD WITCH AND
THE DRAGON and more. Old Witch lives in a cave (at
least in some of the stories), but I haven't read them so I
don't know if the other details match.~from a librarian.
Susan Cooper, Greenwitch. (1974)
'This might be GREENWITCH, the third book in Susan
Cooper'sTHE DARK IS RISING SEQUENCE. The
title character is a sort of Wicker-Man type effigy that the
locals in a Welsh village toss over a cliff into the ocean each
year, and upon which the town's women can make wishes (to obtain
husbands, children, wealth, etc.) Jane, one of the four
child protagonists, feels sorry for the Greenwitch, and when it
is her turn to ask for something, simply hopes that the
Greenwitch "is happy." The Greenwitch "lives" near an
underwater cave, guarding a treasure (an ancient scroll) within
that the children must secure from the powers of the Dark.
It is because of Jane's kindness that the Greenwitch, which has
a terrifying power of its own, ultimately relinquishes the
scroll. Eleanor
Estes, The Witch Family,
1960, approximate. Is this it? Old Witch is sent to a
Glass Mountain which includes a cave.
W165: wedding of Jack and Jill
Solved: The Wedding of
Jack and Jill W166: witch, children, soap This is a children's book from the late 70s
to early 80s. It involved a witch and some children and a bar of
soap, and also (I think) a key and maybe a comb?? The children
had these common items and used them to perform magic that
allowed them to escape the witch.
This sounds like one of the many versions
of Baba Yaga. The comb becomes a forest of trees, the
mirror becomes a lake (sometimes it's a towel that becomes a
river) allowing the girl to escape Baba Yaga. I don't
remember a version with soap, though, so maybe that's the clue
that will halp narrow down the version you're looking for.
W166: Maybe Teeny-Tiny & the
Witch Woman? "Despite their mother's
warnings, three brothers go into the forest to play and
encounter the witch-woman
who eats little children." Barbara K.
Walker, illustrated by Michael Foreman, 1975. Very eerie
pictures. The other brothers are called Big-One and
In-the-Middle. Walker has retold many other fairy tales,
especially from Turkey and Nigeria.
Perhaps? Cole, Joanna.
Bony-Legs. illus by Dirk Zimmer.
Scholastic, 1983. Baba Yaga, Russian witch Nina Beachcroft, Well Met by
Witchlight, circa
1976. Could this be it?
W167: witch cake with prizes I have a book stumper about a children's
book I used to read in the 70's. It was about a witch and
I remember the book ending with the townspeople baking her
a cake that included a prize in every slice. Can you please
help?
Not quite the same plot, but maybe worth a
try is Wende and Harry Devlin's Old Witch and the Polka
Dot Ribbon. The witch bakes a cake for the town's
fund-raising carnival, and is given a special polka-dot ribbon
for most original cake. Ida Delage, The Old Witch Goes
to the Ball, 1969. This book is The Old
Witch Goes to the Ball by Ida Delage.
There is a sign on a telephone pole that reads "Come One Come
All to the Halloween Ball..." The sign is carried by the
wind up to the old witch who lives in a cave on a hill.
She comes to the ball where everyone is in costume and everyone
thinks she is another woman of the town dressed as a
witch. The prize for best costume is a cake with prizes
baked in it. She doesn'\''t win and starts seeking
revenge. A farmer's wife decides to bake the witch a cake
with prizes to make her happy so that she won'\''t do any damage
to anyone. The witch takes the cake back up to her cave
and is very happy and plans to come again to the ball next year.
W168: witchina I think the title was something like
"witchina the teenaged witch." The part I remember best is
Witchina participates in a "witch" contest of normal people
pretending to be witches. She is afraid that if she is too
authentic and they will guess she is a real witch.
Marian T. Place, The Resident
Witch. This one's in the Solved Mysteries
listings and has a heroine named Witcheena.
1960s or 1970s?, I remember this book
too. There was a Halloween Ball that was to be held.
There was either a sign or a written invitation that stated:
"Come one come all, to the Halloween Ball". I remember the
cake with the prizes bake in as well. I cannot remember
the title either. Marian T. Place, The
Resident Witch, 1971, approximate. I
think you're actually describing two books by Marian T. Place. The
book with Witcheena is "The Resident Witch" and involves
the resident witch contest. I believe the Halloween Ball
could be "The
Witch Who Saved Halloween" -- also written by Place but
with a male protagonist named Witchard. I just learned
that Place wrote a third witch book, "The Astrowitches," that
included both characters.
W169: Wilkin Solved: The Surprise
Doll W170: WWII Solved: The Innocents
Within W171: witch I've read over the "solved" area (w's) and
haven't seen this one. I'm looking for a children's book
that I read in the 70s. I don't remember title or author
or even much of the plot. It was about a young girl, I
believe she was a witch, or just had to deal with them. In
one point of the story, she was in a store and a bad witch made
a candy bar appear in her pocket so that our heroine got in
trouble for shoplifting. Also in the book, there were
references to the magical properties of trees of different
types, such as oak, beech and linden. I believe that the
setting was London. Any help?
Eva Ibbotson. My daughter says
this description could be possibly one of Eva Ibbontson's
stories.
She has read many of her books, but not all - so she didn't
recognize this particular plot point. But it sounded to
her typical of Ibbotson. Lynne Reid Banks, The Fairy
Rebel. Could your witches maybe be fairies? I
haven't read this book for a long time, but it involves a little
girl (who was given to her parents by the 'fairy rebel'). The
wicked queen of the fairies is angry that the fairy rebel helped
the humans have their child and makes war both on the rebel and
on the little girl and her family. I think tere is something in
the book about the little girl eating lots of sweets and it is
possible that the wicked fairy queen made it look like she stole
them. I think it takes place in England, but I don't remember
about the trees. Hope this helps!
Unfortunately, neither of these sound right
to me, although I haven't gone to the library yet to really
check through those books. Thanks for the help, though.
Could it be Wispey the Littlest Witch
written by Rosemary Varney, illustrated by Robert
Masheris, a paperback published in 1977, ISBN 0913778702?
Margaret Storey, The Dragon's
Sister and Timothy Travels,
1967. The Dragon's Sister starts with a grey lady
magically sending sweets into Timothy's pockets while he is out
shopping with his mother. It is a sequel to Timothy and Two
Witches, where his babysitter, Melinda, is a good
witch, battling a mean witch next door. In that book, rowan and
ash are mentioned as good trees that block black magic when
Timothy and Ellen run into the mean witch and Melinda is not
around to protect them. In the later story, the grey lady
turns out to be the first mean witch's sister. Both Dell
Yearling books. Loved these books, where little cakes
(with your name in frosting!) grew on trees for tea and baby
dragons could show up in your back garden!
Adding to previous RE: The
Dragon's Sister. Later in the book, Ellen is
with Timothy and they encounter the Grey Woman again, which may
be why the original poster remembers a girl being accused of
shoplifting. The children have put ash keys (seeds) into
their pockets to prevent the witch from "magicking" items into
their pockets again. Margaret Storey, The
Dragon's Sister and Timothy Travels.
Agree that the shoplifting scene happens in Timothy's
Travels. It is described in detail on the T Solved page
under Timothy's Travels.
W172: Whining bunny An extra long children’s novel about
rabbits (no, it is not Watership Down). These were more
child-like rabbits, and each chapter was a separate adventure
for one of them. One of the bunnies was always whining and
complaining, and eventually another rabbit told him to stop
acting so childish. This rabbit then goes out alone and
gets hurt, and does his best not to cry as he limps back home.
Lawson, Robert, Rabbit Hill.
I haven't read this book for years, but this might be Rabbit
Hill by Rbt Lawson. W172 Nope, Rabbit Hill doesn't
fit. Nor does his other one abt a rabbit.
Is there any chance that the seeker could be
remembering one of Thronton Burgess' books? Many
of them were set up as a series of small stories about the same
character or set of characters. I can't remember this incident
in the ones I read, but it's the type of thing that happened in
these books.
W173: Witch, two girls, and hypnosis Solved: Witch
series (Naylor) W174:Warriors bounding with prehistoric cat Solved: Gandalara Cycle W175: Windmills War Children on the Run Solved: The White
Mountains W176: Woman loses weight and floats away Solved: Over the
Gate W177a: Woman finds money after murder Woman working for department store
advertising department gets fired for proof reading error. Woman
has to find a cheaper place to live, finds place owned by
elderly lady, the old lady is murdered. Murderer was after
money, lady who worked in department store finds the money in
the end, when the murder is solved. I read it in the 1970's. It
is a Mystery book, written by an American Author (?), possibly
in the 1950’s. W177b: wooden doll and mice Solved: The Little
Wooden Doll W178: Watch me daddy Solved: Patricia's
Secret W179: war bride tale I am looking for a story about a dramatic
actress named Modesta Mason. She impulsively marries a man
named Tony, who is a pilot, in the war. Somehow, she thinks he
has betrayed her and when her flatmate dies, she impulsively
switches id's. She has a stepmother named Muriel that Tony meets
on his impassioned search for Modesta. Modesta, under her
assumed name, gets a comic role in a small time production ofBlithe
Spirit. She is living with her godfather at the time and
she dies her hair blonde. Tony's nickname for her is
cariad. I can't remember the title, the author or the date
of publication. I have an impression of age, not a current book
perhaps 50s or 60's. I believe it was in hardcover but there
maybe a paper edition. If anyone can help I would appreciate it.
This has been driving me crazy for years. I have tried my local
library, Library of Congress and other online search services.
Lib/Cong. mentioned your site so please help me find " A war
bride"
'Cariad' is a Welsh endearment, if that's
any help.
I'm sorry that I don't have any information
about your book. I'm sending along this detail in case it
somehow helps you or others remember more: the word
"cariad" is a Welsh endearment, something like "love" or
"darling". Maybe Tony was Welsh?
W180: WWII Saipan Following are the details I know about the
book: 1. Authors name begins with an "O" (I think).
2. It was a paperback book sold at Waldenbooks in the
1990's. 3. The book was about World War II and a soldier
in a village in Saipan. 4. The book was purchased 1990's
at Waldenbooks in New Mexico. 5. There are four sentences
(or lines, I'm not sure) at the top of the book and Saipan is
the last word. I don't know if this is the title or not.
6. There are two pictures in this book. One of a soldier
drinking from a canteen with eight or nine soldiers around
him. Although this is an authentic picture, I do not
believe it had the soldier's name (Evangelo Klonis or it might
say T.E. Underwood). I believe there was a caption under
the picture. The picture on the opposite side of the page
is of the same soldier smoking a cigarette. 7. Evangelo
Klonis is Greek (don't know if that will help) but fought for
the U.S. 8. The photographer was W. Eugene Smith. 9.
The book was a greenish color and approximately 250 pages. W181: witch torments two girls Solved: Witch Series W182: Wales Wolves Fog Mountain Solved: The Grey King W183: woodpecker I have been looking for a book of
fables/tales could be legends, but it contained a story about
how the redheaded woodpecker got it's red head. I remember
it began with a mean old woman who work a gray cloak and a red
scarf on her head. She was horrid to most everyone, and
somehow she was turned into the woodpecker. I was trying
to find the story itself and or the book it is in.
This sounds like Road to Storyland
(see Solved Mysteries) but I wanted to add that the Cary poem is
here. And the Christ version is Welsh.
I have found your story! The book: The
Magic
Story Tree (Fifteen Favorite Fables and Fairy Tales)illustrated
by Lucille and H.C. Holling, Platt and Munk,1964. The
Old Woman and the Magic Cakes is the woodpecker story. A beggar
smells the old woman'\''s cake baking and asks for some. The
cake is too big to give him any so she prepares a small cake for
him! It grows and grows. This is too big to give away. She
prepares a very small piece of dough for the oven. Again it
grows and grows. In the end she gives none away but keeps it all
for herself. As she sits down to eat all her cakes her nose
feels strange. It turns into a beak, etc. She becomes the
woodpecker. Other stories in this very nice book: Olaf and the
Three Goats, Anders' Wonderful Cap, The Stone in the Road, The
First Easter Rabbit. Elson Basic Readers Book Two, Old
woman
and the cakes,1930s.At the moment I only have Book
Four, publisher Scott, Foresman and Co so I am assuming that
Book Two was the same timeframe. These were school books that
included many types of stories. I loved this story, and "The
Star Dipper" which was also in this book.
2006 W184:
Witch Accuses Boy of Shoplifting Solved: Timothy's
Travels W185:
Witch romance saves brother Solved: The Changeover W186:
Witch called Miranda Solved: Timothy and Two
Witches W187: Witch, Children and Junkyard Solved: Witch's
Business W188: where's jacobs bed Solved: The Trouble
with Jacob W189: Wind from the South I am looking for a book, probably from the
40's, probably published by a left-wing publisher: The
Wind From the South. It is the story of a run-away slave
who makes his way north.
Leonard Nathan, A Wind Like a Bugle, 1954. Later than the 1940s, and publisher
(Macmillan) is not left-wingish, but the only novel about
fugitive slaves/underground railroad I can find anywhere near
the 1940s with the word "wind" in the title. Worth a look,
I suspect.
W190:
Witch, Blueberry Muffin Recipe and something like "Boo Scat
and Ratchafratch" This is a book I used to read to my kids in
the early 70's and I think it is something about a boy and a
girl who got lost in the woods and stumbled upon a witch who
scared them with these words and then ended up making muffins
for them and the actual recipe for blueberry muffins is in the
book - - -I remember we bought the ingredients and made them - -
now I have grandchildren the same ages that my kids were then
and I"d love to find the book-
If it was blueberry pancakes in an old
house converted into a tea shop, then it's Old Black
Witch by Harry and Wende Devlin. See
more nostalgic memories on the Most Requested page.
W191: WWII French Resistance action novel Here's one for the Stumper - WWII action
novel buffs may recognize this one as well. The plot of
the novel goes something like this: an Allied airman (he was
American I believe) is shot down over France in the spring of
1944. He survives the crash and is taken in by the local
resistance group. He is sheltered in the nearby village,
which is in a very rural part of France. Initially his
resistance group friends are concerned with keeping him hidden
and out of sight, as he doesn't speak a word of French and his
presence would surely grad the attention of the Germans.
Eventually however he becomes involved in planning and carrying
out resistance group activites, as the Allies have landed in
Normandy and the Germans are in full retreat. The climax
of the novel is an ambush the group carries out on a column of
Germans on a road just outside the town. The ambush is a
success and the Germans are slaughtered. The action
sequences are geat. The ambush scene forms the latter part
of the book. Does this ring a bell with anyone? I've
been looking for this book for a while now - I need help!
Just a suggestion--if this is a children's
book, you might try the WWII books by Eva-Lis Wurio.
I don't remember too many specifics, but this does sound very
similar to one of hers. Good luck!
W192: World geography with Bunga, Pedro "My World" or "World Geography,"
early
1950s, A fourth grade geography text book used in many Catholic
grade schools in the '50s. This text helped children learn
about the continents by highlighting a fictional child's life
from each area. Crops, climate, resources, exports, etc. were
studied. (E.G.: "Bunga" from Africa, "Pedro" of the Andes
in South America, "Souvanne" of the Steppe in Asia, "Netsouk"
and "Claya"(sp?) from North America.)W193: Witch plays a flute while standing on rock in sea Solved: The Haunted Cove W194:
Wagon Solved: Mr. Mysterious
and Company W195: Warring hippos Childrens picture book, beautifully
illustrated. It has these fuzzy little hippo looking creatures
that are quite war like and has several "battle" scenes. Mixing
some bow and arrow type siege warefare, some have pictures of
them driving motorcycles with sidecars circa WW2 vintage. I
loved this book 20 years ago, now I can't find it anywhere.
A long shot--could you be remembering the
scene in one of the Babar books where the elephants disguise
their back ends (and walk backwards) to scare off the attacking
rhinos? (Their bottoms with faces painted on them and hair
on top do look a little like some kind of hippos.) Peter Cross, illus., Trouble
for Trumpets. (1982) Story by Peter
Dallas-Smith. Here's a description from the Solved
Mysteries: The creatures have faces shaped like hippos', and are
the Trumpets ("We..live in a summer world of warmth and
sunshine...in winter we go down into our warm homes
underground") and the Grumpets ("They live in the dark, frozen
mountains...a sharp, pointed, cross-looking lot") who want to
take over the Trumpets' country. The Trumpets are helped in
their military defense by wrens, owls, snails, mice and other
creatures. The Grumpets wear pointy helmets and invade using
submarines and helicopters (the rotors are made of seed pods)...
The whole thing is like a takeoff of British military lore, in
the midst of fields and hedges! W196: World War II family saga
I am looking for a young adult series I
read in the 60s, although they probably were not new then. The
series was about the lives and adventures of an extended
family during World War II. Each book was about a different
family member. The heroine of one of the books was a young
actress in New York. Her romantic interest was a producer I
believe. Janet Lambert, Penny Parrish/Tippy
Parrish series. It could be these books about the
Parrish family, starting with Star Spangled Summer.
Penny becomes an actress, and eventually marries Josh MacDonald,
a producer. The books continue through the war with Tippy's
stories. Lambert, Janet, Up Goes the
Curtain. (1946)
'After working hard in a summer stock company, Penny Parrish is
cast in a Broadway show where she meets stage manager, Josh
MacDonald. Penny learns more about life in the theatre and how
it feels to wait for the curtain to go up on opening night." I
recommend you look at http://www.imagecascade.com/ They are
republishing these books - just look under Lambert and there is
a summary of each book and a lot more similar series if this
isn't the one.
W197: Windy city ballet I am looking for a book I read in the 50s
or possibly early 60s about a young girl studying ballet. One
windy morning she gets the idea for a ballet while watching
newspapers and leaves being blown about. She choreographs the
"Windy City Ballet" and dances the role of a newsboy in it. I
remember a drawing of her in the newsboy costume. Thank
you.
Smith, Eunice Young, Jennifer Dances. (1955) One of the series of books about
Jennifer Hill. The books in the series are The
Jennifer Wish (1949), The Jennifer Gift (1950),
The Jennifer Prize (1951), Jennifer is Eleven
(1952), Jennifer Dances (1954), and High Heels for
Jennifer (1964). I believe Jennifer
Dances is the rarest. Eunice Young Smith, Jennifer Dances. This is Jennifer Dances,
in which young Jennifer visits her beloved aunt as she
recuperates from a prolonged illness, and gets involved with
ballet. One of the best of the Jennifer series, which include
The Jennifer Wish, The Jennifer Gift, Jennifer is Eleven, and
High Heels for Jennifer.
W198: Witches terrorize town Boy & girl (?) something to do with the
witches meeting in cave & terrorize a small town, but the
clever child hides clothes in cave then appears to witches and
tells them he is a wizard and can teach them to walk through the
rain drops - the witches come out of the cave and the rain hits
them and they die - the town is saved! REally enjoyed this book
as a child - cannot remember name or author - want to share it
with my kids - please help!
There might be another variation of this
Talmudic legend, but the one I know is THE RABBI AND THE
TWENTY-NINE WITCHES retold and illustrated by Marilyn
Hirsch, published as a book in 1976, and also included in
the collection of scary stories, THE SCARY BOOK compiled
by Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson ; illustrated by
Chris Demarest, 1991, 1992. A Rabbi is asked to do something
about the witches, so he gathers up a lot of
young men who trick the witches into dancing
with them in the rain. The rain shrinks the witches.~from a
librarian
W199: Walt Disney story collection Looking for an old book that was a
collection of Walt Disney stories in a single book. If I
remember correctly, it was a hard bound, dark blue (I don't
remember any pictures on the cover) in color and was about
1-1/2" thick. It contained a number of illustrated Disney
stories, including mickey mouse stories where Mickey was Jack
and the Bean stock. stock. I believe it was from the mid to late
1950s.
The Wonderful
Worlds of Walt Disney. (1965) You may be
thinking of one of the four volumes in this hardbound set: Stories
From Other Lands, Fantasyland, America, Worlds of
Nature. Jack and the Beanstalk is not
included, but the Fantasyland volume (with red binding,
America has a blue binding) has several Mickey Mouse stories
like The Sorcerer's Apprentice and The Brave Little Tailor, also
many Mother Goose rhymes with Disney characters portraying
them. All four volumes contain adaptations of Disney
films and cartoons. They were sold by mail during the 1960s.
Adapted
by H. Marion Palmer, Walt Disney's
Surprise Package,
1944. Adaptations of classis tales with Disney illustrations of
many stories: Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the
Willows, Peter and the Wolf, The Little Fir Tree, Brer Rabbit,
Emperor's New Clothes, Lady (early version of Lady and Tramp),
Happy Valley (Early Disney movie version of Mickey in Jack and
the Beanstalk)
W200: Witch and chicken noodle soup I read a book when I was a child about a
little boy who gets sick and a witch in small town who everyone
hates brings him chicken soup and he gets better and the witch
is liked by everyone. I thought witch and chicken noodle
were in the title but I can't find this book anywhere. I
hope you can help.
Norman Bridwell, The Witch Next Door. This seems unlikely but I'll mention it
anyway as no one else has had a guess. In The Witch
Next Door two children have a witch move next door to
them. They love the witch and enjoy her unusual habits (sleeping
upside down, painting her house black, etc.) There is a
picture of a boy sick in bed and the witch sending in soup and
cookies (they're floating through the air!) but it's not a major
plot point of the book. At the end two grouchy adults try
to make the witch move but she turns them into a beautiful
princess and handsome prince and they forget all about her.
W201: White dresses I am looking for a book about a girl that
was only allowed to sit on the porch because every time she went
out to play her perfect white dress was ruined. She wanted
to be able to play in the mud and eat orange popsicles and all
the other stuff that kids do. One day the mother finally
decided to dye all the white dresses to colors. She got a
brown dress for making mud pies and a pink dress for eating
strawberry ice cream. She got a green dress for rolling in
the grass and an orange dress for eating orange popsicles.
I believe that the front cover had the girl sitting on the porch
in a white dress with a white bow in her hair.
De Paola, Tomie, Marianna May
and Nursey. (1983) A little rich girl is
miserable because she isn't allowed to do anything but sit still
and keep her white dresses clean, until Mr. Talbot the iceman
has a clever idea. Tomie dePaola, Marianna May and Nursey. (1983) Marianna May feels stifled and
bored, required to keep her fancy dresses clean all day. Nursey
and Cook come up with a creative solution so that she can act
like a child again. Charming Victorian-inspired illustrations,
yet current and colorful. I find the book I was questioning about.
Someone else recently asked for it under w201. And it is
without a doubt Marianna May by Tomie de Paolo.
Thanks for all the help. I couldn't have found it without this
website.
W202: Witches on a glass mountain This was a children's book about a little
girl who lived on a glass mountain with 1 (or 2?) witches.
I believe there was some sort of insect (spider?) that she
talked to. Published in the 50s or 60s perhaps.
Eleanor Estes, The Witch Family. Easy one! The insect is Malachi
the Spelling Bee.
W203: Woman and wolf set out on quest I don't remember much about this series
except that I really enjoyed it. I believe, since I read
it when I was in early teens, it would have been published at
least between the late 1980's to the mid-1990's. From what
I can remember, this book is about a young (warrior) woman and
her wolf who set out on a quest to find something (stones,
maybe). It is possible that she is a healer and I think
that she can communicate telepathically with the wolf. She does
not live in "civilization", she either lives with or has lived
with the wolf. On their quest, they are join and helped by
a several people that they encounter on their way. One of
the people they encounter is a man, who is possible a
prince. In one of the books, she is either captured and
sold into a harrem or as a slave or she volunteers herself to be
sold into a harrem or as a slave. She excapes from this
situation. I also remember the group making it to a house
or some structure, where they found something important.
But the wolf or one of the people became sick. I know this
is not a lot to go on, but I hope someone recognizes this
book. Thank you.
Graham Diamond, The Haven Series. (1977-1981) The description is
likely one of the books in the Haven Series, by
Graham Diamond. The first, The Haven,
is rare and expensive, but the other four are much more readily
available. The description certainly sounds like this
series! (if I had to guess at a specific book, I think it's the
Dungeons of Kuba, but I am not sure). The wolves
were named after Shakespere characters. Tara K. Harper, Wolfwalker.(1990) If 203 isn't by Graham Diamond, could it
be by Tara Harper? Here's the description of Wolfwalker:
Dion was a healer and a wolfwalker, and the unique telepathic
bond that she shared with the wolf Gray Hishn sometimes seemed
to amplify her sensitivity to her patients. But she never
guessed how strong that bond could be, or what kind of power it
could wield, until she found herself lost in the wilderness,
with angry slavers at her heels and war on the horizon. Suddenly
she and her fellow travelers were fighting for their lives in
the snowy winter wastes, where the wolves were their only
guides, the greatest secret of the ancients their only
salvation...and Dion their only hope to survive. Tamora Pierce (author), Wild
Magic, (1994). This also sounds like Wild
Magic, the first of Tamora Pierce's
Immortals series. Daine is a young woman who can talk to
animals, and has a special affinity with wolves. I think
one travels with her. After her family is killed, she
joins a mage named Numair (who might also be a prince in the
end)to battle the dreadful immortal creatures that have recently
begun to attack the kingdom of Tortall. I think there's a
situation with a harem in one of the later books:
Wolf-Speaker, The Emperor Mage and Realms of the Gods.
W204: Weird animals from A to Z Solved: Zoophabets W205: Woman goes from religion to politics Solved: Daughter of the
Empire
posted 8/12/06 W206: Witch in thorns Solved: Suppose You Met
a Witch
posted 8/12/06 W207: Woozy children study fear Solved: The Gruesome
Green Witch
posted 08/21/06 W208: witch stepmother, gargoyle helpers A girl has lost her mother. Her father is
dating someone, but she has a bad feeling about her. She goes to
her aunt's apartment where the aunt is painting leaves to
decorate a set. Somehow she realizes her future stepmother is a
witch who has gargolyes that come to life and help her. I submitted this stumper, and I thought of
some more information that might be helpful. I would have been
reading this book sometime in the early 1970's. Also, I have the
feeling that the book was translated from another language,
possibly something Scandanavian.
Benary-Isbert, Margot, The
Wicked Enchantment,1955. Anemone and her father live
in the town of Vogelsant peacefully until the "foolish virgin"
and the gargoyle disappear from the cathedral. Then under
the mean housekeeper and her mean son, Anemone and her dog
Winnie are driven away. They go to live with her Aunt
Gundula who paints wonderful easter eggs. A magical story.
This does sound like Margot
Benary-Isbert's The Wicked Enchantment, but
beware! The new edition doesn't have the lovey pictures of the
original, so you might want to look out for a second-hand copy
rather than buying a new one.
posted 08/21/06 W209: Wooden spaceship, dwarves, bleeding plants The book involves a human, dwarves and a
wooden spaceship. They crash on a planet and eat plants that
grow at night (I believe the plants screamed and bled when they
died). Also one of the dwarves gets killed but the rest of them
see him or think they do towards the end. They also might have
had special weapons or abilities, but I'm blurry on that.
Pat Murphy, There and Back Again. Could this possibly be "There and
Back Again", which is a science fiction version of "The
Hobbit"?
posted 8/28/06 W210: Witch chicken pox I read this book sometime before 1969. I
was between 9 and 12 years old at the time. I think the
witch caught the chicken pox from a child and she was very
annoyed about it!
T.H. White retold by Mary Carey, The
Sword in the Stone. (1963) A long shot, but
the only reference I can find to a witch with chicken pox is in
"The Sword in the Stone," in which Merlin rescues
the young Wart and defeats the witch, Madame Mim, by infecting
her. The Disney animated film (released in 1963) was based
on a children's novel of the same name, written by T.H.
White in 1938 (but reprinted many times). The book
version of the Disney film, also dated 1963, is retold by Mary
Carey. If you're looking for a picture book, try the
Disney version. If it was a novel, you might look at the
original, which is also back in print.
W211: Witch lives in swamp, wears goggles Solved: The Strange
Story of the Frog Who Became a Prince
posted 9/18/06 W212: Women's novel I'm looking for a book about 300 pages long. It revolves
around the lives of 3 or 4 women who are all connected to each
other. One of the women rekindles a romance with her college
sweetheart Ben, who ends up being elected President. He was
formerly married to one of the other women's cousins, I believe,
but she died. They refer to her once or twice as "The
Peach-Tree Princess". There is also a woman named Georgie,
who is Texan, I think. There is a section that deals
with the first woman's marriage and the death of her husband and
unborn child at an airport bombing. It would have been
published mid-90s I believe. I read it in ninth or tenth
grade, having snuck it from my mother :-)
Doris Mortman, The Lucky Ones. "When rising politician Benjamin Knight
gets married on a perfect summer day, the four women watching
don't realize how prophetic the best man's toast for success is.
And over the next 20 years, the women all forge their own
ambitious careers: Zoe becomes a foreign affairs analyst, a
career choice made in order to get as far from Ben as possible
Celia, Ben's sister-in-law, uses her beauty and talent to build
a career in national television Georgie, Ben's childhood friend,
becomes a congresswoman and Kate, Ben's college classmate,
founds a national child protection organization following the
murder of her daughter."
posted 10/3/06 W213: The Witch's cove Solved: The Haunted Cove posted 10/3/06 W214:
Witch - spells ALWAYS go wrong Solved: Witch's Gold
posted 10/3/06 W215: Who am I? Solved: I'm nobody! Who Are You?
posted 10/09/06 W216:
witchy little girl Solved: The Little Leftover Witch
posted 10/09/06 W217: Witch uncovered Solved: The Letter, The Witch And The Ring W218:
WWI and hunting Looking for a 7th-9th grade book about WWI-remember a story in it
about Sgt. York and how he used his childhood hunting experience
when he fought in the war. 150-200 pages? Possibly from the 80's
and a Scholastic book. Can anyone help?
Louis L. Snyder, WWI, 1981. Burton Spiller, Northland
Castaways. W128 sounds like the solved Northland
Castaways, especially the detail about the boy diving into the
crashed plane for supplies.
W219: Wind and the Humble Sand Solved: Old Wind and
Liu Li-San W220: Wait a minute I am looking for an old book I don’t know
the author or title but one of the stories in the book is about
a child who always says wait a minute or is always late one day
when the family is going someplace fun a rock grows on the
childs foot and they cannot walk so they are left at home.
another story is about a messy child who ends up under a pile of
clothing so she cant be found.
Norah Smaridge, The Big Tidy-Up,
1979. The messy room book may
very likely be THE BIG TIDY-UP, one of my favorite books when I
was in grade school.
2007 W221: whale paints itself red? This was a children's book about sea animals that liked each
other's colors better than their own. I think a macaw
painted herself green, the whale might have painted herself red,
the turtle painted himself blue, etc. After awhile, they all
decide they liked their original colors best and washed the
painted colors off.
I came to this
website to find this same book! I remember the main animal being a
whaleI think there was monkeys that
rubbed an animal (possibly the whale) with leaves to turn him
green, another animal, possibly the crocodile that rolled in earth
clay to turn itself red like the macaw. I believe the whale was
swimming through a river in a rain forest. The whale itself was
dark grey, almost black. The drawing was very primitive, much like
Roger Duvoinin. It could be him, infact, though I haven't been
able to find the book with his name linked to it. Hope this helps!
Really want my favorite childhood book back in my hands.
The Animals Who Changed Their Colors by Pascale
Allamand. I just
commented on this one, and I found these results on another
site! This is precisely the book I was talking of. I hope this
is yours too!
W222: Wolves eat a fallen puppy, other stories I am searching for a book from my elementary school days(I read
it during the 80's but I have no idea when it was
written). It was a collection of children's horror
stories. One story had a boy climbing a wall of a castle
with a backpack of puppies. One puppy falls and is eaten
by a pack of wolves. Another story is about a witch living
in a lake with part of her face missing. I'm sorry that
this is all I have for a description, but this is all I can
remember, other than being absolutely petrified!!
Alvin Schwartz, Scary Stories
to Tell in the Dark,1986..There are 3 books in this
series, but this was the first one
W223: Witch turning something into giraffe type animal Solved: The Whingdingdilly W224: White girl "cursed" to be Black Circa 1965, I had a hardcover anthology of
fairy tales published many years earlier (I'm guessing the
1930s.) The fairy tales were in the classic medieval folklore
style of Charles Perrault or Hans Christian Andersen -- lots of
princesses, castles, happy endings, no modern inventions -- but
the prose was written in American English, and revealed American
prejudices of the early 20th century. I don't believe that there
were authors bylines for the individual stories, so the
anthology was probably published either anonymously or with a
single byline (probably a house pseudonym) for the entire
collection. I only remember one story clearly. A beautiful
young blue-eyed golden-haired girl lived in a hut in the woods.
I'm not sure if she was a princess, but for some reason she had
to live in this remote hut. A witch came along and cast an evil
spell on this girl: at night she would be her true self, but in
the daytime she turned into a Negro girl. There are detailed
descriptions of how "ugly" she is as a black girl: I remember
the phrase "crisped hair", and there are descriptions of her big
red lips, rolling dark eyes, etc. Very racist! One day, while
the girl is in her Negro phase, a handsome (white) prince comes
along. For some reason I can't recall, he decides to stay in the
hut for a while, even though this means he's co-habiting with
the black girl, whose ugliness repels him. At night, the girl
reverts back to her true beautiful (blonde) self, but the prince
is either away at night or else he's asleep and she can't wake
him up. (I forget which.) There is a happy ending, with the girl
being "cured" of turning black, and the prince discovering her
true self. This is not a hoax! I genuinely remember this
book, and I recall (40-plus years ago) being shocked at the
author's casual conflation of Negro features with ugliness. No,
the book is not "Black Alice" by Thom Demijohn. Please help!
Edmund
Dulac, Fairy Tales of the
World,1984.
This sounds very similar to this book and there is a story in
there called White Caroline and Black Caroline. Perhaps
there is an earlier version that matches this more throughly. W225a: What Happened to ...Davey Circa 1965, I read a much older (1940s?) children's book
(American?) with a title which I recall as "What Happened to
Davey". Possibly the name was Davy instead of Davey, or maybe it
was something else altogether: anyway, the name in the book's
title was the name of this novel''s boy protagonist. I am NOT
referring to "Davy and the Goblin". This book's title was
definitely "What Happened to (Boy's Name)". No question mark in
the title. There was an elaborate embossed illustration on the
cover, but I don't believe that there were any interior
illustrations. In the first chapter, the boy meets some sort of
small magical creature (an elf?) and taunts it viciously. The
creature threatens to cast a spell on Davey (or whatever the kid's
name is), and then shows the boy his reflection in a hand mirror.
The boy discovers that the words "BE BRAVE", "BE KIND" and "LEARN"
are now printed on his forehead in huge letters. The elf(?) then
tells the boy that, in order to remove these words from his
forehead, he will have to journey through seven magical lands. I
recall that the transition from each world to the next is through
a door. Each of the magical lands is a different color of the
rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet in that
order. The author (whose name I don't remember) gives each magical
land a theme appropriate to its color. For instance, the green
country resembles a fairytale version of Ireland, and is inhabited
by leprechauns. The indigo country is underwater, and the boy can
magically breathe underwater while he's there. Whenever the boy is
cowardly or cruel, the words "BE BRAVE" or "BE KIND" grow larger
on his forehead whenever he is brave or kind, the words grow
smaller. Whenever he learns a lesson, "LEARN" grows smaller.I n
the last chapter -- after several moral lessons -- Davey(?)
returns home and discovers that "BE BRAVE" and "BE KIND" have
vanished from his forehead, but "LEARN" is still there in very
tiny letters ... because he must never stop learning. The elf(?)
assures him that the word is only visible in a magic mirror. End
of story. Again, this book is NOT "Davy and the Goblin". Answers,
please?
Olive Thorne Miller, WHAT
HAPPENED TO BARBARA, Long shot, but since this
doesn't have a question mark in the title, I thought I'd mention
it. There was a series of books by Lois Lenski
with a boy named Davy. That might be a lead.
W225b: Wendy
Solved: A Secret Friend W226: Witches Brew Solved: The Old Witch
and the Snores W227: what happened after Solved: What Happened
After? W228: witches use crochet to communicate I read this book in the mid to late
'80s but it could have been published much earlier. I think
there were a brother and sister staying with relatives.
There was a group that crocheted together and it turned out that
they were a coven who communicated with each other in secret using
the crochet patterns as code that the others would decipher.
It got a little scary toward the end.
Ruth Manning-Sanders, The
Crochet Woman,1930.Novel of the English countryside
and the works of a modern day witch, who accomplishes with
gossip and innuendo what earlier witches did with spells and
curses. Thx. for trying, but the word "crochet"
was not in the title and the plot focused on 2 children, a boy
and his sister, I think, who were endangered by a group of
middle-aged people who held meetings as a crochet club, but in
fact were witches who communicated secrets through the code in
their stitches. Nicholas Stuart Gray, Down in the
Cellar. Bit of a long
shot, but it could be this one. The grannies of the town, the
people who run the sweet shop and tea shop, etc, are actually
witches (or bad and magical in some way). I remember something
about the knitted or crocheted tea cozies. There is a
young man being sought by them that the children hide in the
cellar - eventually he goes off to the magic land they can
access from there. Mine hasn't been solved
W229: wizard's sash All I remember about this book was that the
children in the book had to find 3 things to save someone or
something. One of the things they had to find was the sash of a
wizard's robe. I read this school library book, a chapter book,
in about 1978 when I was in fifth grade. Sound familiar? Thanks! W230: Witch upside down Solved: Witch in the
House W231: Winter holiday ends in murder Solved: Slumber
Party W232: Woman, photography, romance Solved: To The Ends Of
The Earth W233: Witches, wizards, sorcerers I read a book as a child ( born in
76) that might have been something like a Golden Book. The only
lines I remember from the book are " witches and wizards and
socerers too with a magical broom and a magical brew" and " but
ahh there's a ring on the hall telephone" and it showed a
picture of a pink princess phone. I don't think the whole book
was about witches but do remember they were mentioned in that
line. I've been searching for this book for years and would love
to share it with my kids. Thanks so much W234: Weird creatures on island Solved: Rotten Island W235: Whales need bandaids, fisherman Solved: Burt Dow, Deep
Water Man W236: War, griffins, phoenixes, cyclops Solved: Beyond the
North Wind W237: Woman runs from abusive relationship A woman is running from an abusive
relationship and goes to her great-aunt's in New Mexico or
Arizona for refuge. W238: Whatever Happened to Jennifer? Solved: What Happened
to Amy? W239: Woman, flower pot Solved: Read Aloud
Funny Stories W240: Wet kitten, French I was born in 1954 and this was an
illustrated children's book, written in French about a wet
kitten. Very cute illustrations,wish I could remember
more. Thanks!
Probst, Pierre, 1950s. This could
be a shot in the dark, but there's a chance this could be a
Pierre Probst book. My knowledge of him is limited to a Golden
Book called Puff the Blue Kitten that had been
translated into English, with a few sentences explaining that he
had written several extremely popular books about Puff in French
(he's called Pouf in the French version) in a series about a
girl called Caroline. I have no idea what each book was about,
but they MIGHT point you in the right direction. You can read
more about them here:
Gladys M. Horn, Pitty Pat the
Fuzzy Cat, 1954. Is there any chance your book was
originally written in English and you had copy translated into
French? Because Pitty Pat in this story does get caught
out in the rain. You'd remember it because it was a Fuzzy Wuzzy
Tell-a-Tale book (with "fuzzy" pictures) I'm sure that neither of the guesses are correct.
The story only had cats/kittens, no people, no little girl
named Caroline. And, I'm 99% sure that it's a French
book. My Mom was in the Red Cross at the end of WWII and
was stationed in Nancy, France. She's remained good
friends with a French woman who still lives there and I know
they bought the book there. Isn't it funny how something
like this just sticks in your head and you can't forget about
it? "Pouf" did ring a tiny bell so I will take a look
through the illustrations that were suggested as well.
W241: Witch, imp, boy, girl, adventures I am looking for an old children's book, it
was a large book with color pictures and pretty thick. It had to
children characters a boy and girl (they were siblings) it also
had a witch and an imp in it. The book started by the witch
arriving in their bedroom and then they leave with her on her
broom and they go and have adventures. I think they may end up
as princes or princesses in the end...or something.
It sounds as if it could be one of the Ruth
Chew novels. I don't know which one though. Ruthanna Long, Witches,
Ghosts, and Goblins, 1974, copyright.
Wow! On this site for the first time and I decided to read
through the W's to see if anyone was asking about this book I
fondly remember (and have next to me right now) - this must be Witches,
Ghosts, and Goblins. Miranda Witch flies to the house
of Polly and Oliver to ask them to help find her cat Cactus.
They visit her castle where Imp joins them, and they journey on
to the land of the Goblins where the King sends them on quests
(to the Ghosts, Witches, and Giants) in exchange for his help.
W242: What was that? Solved: What Was That! W243: Witch, teahouse The book I am looking for is most likely a
Parent’s Magazine Press book published around 1964. I remember
it as part of a set my Mother had for us which included Miss
Suzy, Alexander, and of course Never Tease A Weasel. This books
had a witch that lived upstairs from a tea house (or something
like that) and was scaring customers, until somehow she started
serving or brewing the tea. I don’t remember everything about
the book, but I remember the witch serving tea near the end of
the story. My sister doesn’t remember any more details then I
do. What a wonderful website! Glad I found it!
Devlin, Harry and Wende, Old Black
Witch. of course. see
your website
W244: Witch Girl Picturebook Solved: Dorrie the
Little Witch W245: wagon wheel shaped space station I am looking for a book I read in the early
80's or late 70's. It is about a boy who lives in a wagon wheel
shaped space station. He goes outside the station and meets up
with Orion from the constellation, and Cygnus. I think he
battles a blob at some point, and I think Cygnus dies in the
battle, then he goes back home to the space station. Thanks in
advance for any help.
Nancy Etchemendy, The Watchers of
Space, 1980.
Illustrated by Andrew Glass. It's about a boy (William?) who has
to go outside the spaceship and defeat bad guys before he can
find a planet for his people. He works with Orion in the
process. A sequel is The Crystal City, where he
and his sister meet some alien spiders.
W246: Wild Prairie Sky Soved: Wild Prairie Sky W247: Witch's "daughter" actually daughter of fairy queen Solved: Weeny Witch W248: Wizard Book Solved: Magic
Everywhere W249: Widow with daughter Solved: Sometimes I
Don't Love My Mother W250: Wounded man, hungry panther and sting rays A wounded man lies on the bank of a river with a hungry panther
on the other side. Sting rays in the river prevent the
panther from crossing. Illustration: a sting ray with his
head out of the water, talking to the man. From an
illustrated, oversize boy's adventure anthology of 50s vintage or
earlier, but what is the name? W251: Witch and fairy This book was published in 1974 or earlier about a little girl
raised by a witch as a witch, but the girl learns later that she
is actually a fairy.
Check out W247 (above). Is this what you are looking for? Bennett, Anna, Little Witch. See solved Mysteries. Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.
Could be either this one or
Weeny Witch -- two differnt books.
W252: Witch, spider's web Looking for children's book, read 25 years ago, about a young
girl witch in the woods one night with older witches. Older
witches take a broom ride, but she is not allowed to go. She cries
while the others are away. Meanwhile a spider creates a beautiful
web from her hat to her surroundings such that she is the envy of
all the witches when they return.
Jeanne Massey, The Littlest Witch,
1959. This was one of my
favorites! On her first Halloween as a witch, Littlest Witch
misplaces her broom, arrives late at the witches' circle and
uses all her magic to help instead of haunt, those whom she
encounters during the evening. Although she does not participate
in the annual race to the moon, Littlest Witch has her own
adventures, and ends up with a very special prize. The other
witches in the witches' circle finally, grudgingly, accept that
Littlest Witch is a "good witch".
W253: Whiz kids, rocket to the moon, barber chairs This is a follow-up requenst to one that I
made several years ago (R122) but is still unfortunatley not
solved. I am looking for a book that I read in elementary
school in the late 60's - early 70's. I am guessing the
book was written sometime from the late 1940's to the late
1950's. It is about two or three boys who build a
rocket and tavel to the moon. What was memorable about the
book is the boys were "whiz kid" types who both have barber
chairs in their bedrooms, that they pump up out of the roofs of
their houses hundreds of feet up into the air. There was a
great illustration in the book of this. The other
memorable item was the detailed descriptions ofthe food they
took along with them on the rocket trip - this book must have
been written way before the advent of fast food, as they took
along potatoes, carrots, etc.
It was suggested earlier that this may
have been one of Eleanor Cameron's "Mushroom Planet" series,
however I don't beleive that was it. Unfortunatley,
reprints of these books no longer include any illustrations,
however from perusing a few of these books recently I don't
think these were it. The book was reasonably long, I do
not think it was part of a serial or series.
W254: Wales girl, mystery castle It was in the junior section of the
library. I guess Nancy Drew age. There was a series
with an author that I THINK had 3 names or a first, middle
initial and last. It was a mystery about a girl who
inherited a castle in Wales. She wanted to check it out,
so she went there. People were robbing all the
contents. I remember the boy friend doing a, what they
called, military run...they ran 20 steps, walked 20 steps, ran
20 steps etc. Any help?
Hilda Boden, Mystery of Castle
Croome. This fits the
bill! I just read it recently! Hilda Boden, Mystery of Castle
Croome. Scholastic
reprinted it, so it was in fairly wide release. The author
wrote several other mysteries featuring the same
characters. The girl who inherited the castle was
American, but her friends were British. The castle was in
Scotland. Allan, Mabel Esther, Catrin in Wales.
It might be this book...
Can't remember all the details, but it was about a girl staying
in a castle and I think there was a singing contest.
W255: woman in well This was a harlequin book from more than 5 years ago. My mother
read a promo for a book and she's talked about it for years but
never found it. She does'nt remember the name or the writer. The
book was about a prince who gets amnesia, falls in love with a
commoner, gets his memory back and leaves her not knowing that she
is pregnant. Some one from his country has her thrown down a well
and left for dead. W256: witch, halloween, party, picture book For YEARS now I've been looking for this book. Google and ebay
and Yahoo answers have given me nothing. When I was around 7 or 10
I'd say (I'm 21 now) there was this book I'd check out from the
Sewickley Library about this witch. It was super similar to a
Where's Waldo book because those were big back then. I remember it
being hardback and oversized but thin. I think her name was
like Wenda Witch or something (tho it could have started with a G,
I am unsure), and you go through the book looking through finding
spell ingredients and other things. I remember she had a little
goblin boy helper or something but the very first two pages were
of her spooky mansion house, cut in half so you could see
inside. I also remember a cemetery and other's witches
graves, like Witch Hazel's had plants on it. I tried going
back to find it when I flew home, but the library has been
completely remodeled and I didn't have a title or author to go by.
I LOVED THIS BOOK THOUGH.
Wenda Witch and the Dragon's Tears.
I'm
sure
you're
describing
the
books
in
the
Wenda
Witch
series.
Apparently
they
are
only
available
through
a
Belgian
publisher
called
Abimo.
"Little
Wenda
lives
in
the
witches'
wood.
When
all
the
other
witches
suddenly
begin
to
suffer
from
a
strange
illness,
Wenda
and
her
friend
Mogs
set
off on a dangerous journey to find the cure: dragon tears."
Other books in the series include "Wenda Witch and the Dragon's
Egg", "Wenda Witch and Lily the Elf", and there is apparently a
Wenda Witch Birthday Party coloring book. There is a Wanda Witch
series which is not the same thing. Hope this helps. Abimo
Publishing. Tallarico, Anthony, Where's Wendy, 1991. I immediately thought of this
book, but the first couple of pages are NOT in her mansion, so
it probably isn't your book. Tallarico has a ton of search
and find books, and this one features Wendy the Witch, dressed
in black with green hair, and you look for a list of items on
each page - in the classroom, on the witches' class trip, in the
lunchroom, in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory, in the mummuy's
tomb, etc. Good luck in your search!
W257: witch, school, pta, cookies Solved: Glenda W258: WW Dogg May be a Golden or Little Golden book with a poem about WW Dogg:
"A curious pup / with a curious name / was W.W. Dogg. / He lived
in a flat / with a curious cat / in the curious city of Habitatat,
/ and he never went out / without wearing a hat..."
I can't find the author, but the lines
certainly sound like A Curious Pup, which is
included in the Better Homes & Gardens Storybook,
Vol. 1., 1950. See the Anthology Finder. It comes
right after Peter Pan, late in the book.
Found it - it was excerpted from the book The
Mouse With the Small Guitar by Al Graham,
illustrated by Tony Palazzo, 1947.
W259: witch switches daughter Solved: The Tredana Trilogy: The Broken Citadel, Castledown, The Great
Wheel W260: Welsh family, manor house, artist I'm looking for a book I had as a child and I'm hoping you can
help me. I don't know the title or authors name, but its
about a welsh family who moves from their beloved home to a small
house under or near railroad tracks. The main characters
name is a girl named Dilys, she has siblings and a cat I think the
cats name is red or its a ginger cat. They met two kids,
brother and sister who live with their aunt or their dad.
Dilys and her siblings stumble across them throwing rocks at a cat
or other animal. While exploring they find an abandoned
Manor House in the woods and they want to fix it up. They
also meet an artist who they befriend and has painted their house,
The artist gives the painting to Dilys who hangs it up in here
bedroom. Dilys, her family and friends save the manor house
from ruin and the artist moves in and opens the house to
tours. Can you help?
Mabel Esther Allan, The Flash
Children, 1975.
Dilys, Arthur and Megan move with their parents, and the cat,
Red, to new house near a railway embankment. and near a
"flash" - stretch of water with a causeway over. The other two
children are Dan and Edith. There's also a partially-sighted
boy, Brian, whose family own the old manor house. The artist is
Mr Laurie. There's a sequel, The Flash Children in Winter.
W261: Witch girl, boy, and bear A little boy who lives in the woods meets a little girl witch.
She bewitches a bear and the bear learns to speak. The people of
the town are afraid of the bear and kill it. The little witch
leaves forever. The boy always watches her house, looking for
smoke coming from the chimney.
Peet, Bill, Big Bad Bruce, 1977, copyright. Bruce, a bear bully,
never picks on anyone his own size until he is diminished in
more ways than one by a small but very independent witch.
The Second Witch. See
the solved mysteries page under S for more details.
W262: Witch vs. bear Solved: Old
Witch and The Snores W263: Witch's Cat is Wrong Color (not black!) Solved: The Witch of
Hissing Hill W264: Witch Becomes Flower 1950?, childrens. A little girl witch turns herself into
all kinds of things. (I remember a picture of her face in the
middle of a flower.) a few more pieces of information: this little girl witch
sometimes turned into things that she hadn't intended to turn into
and would get into trouble... and mostly i remember the
pictures... like that flower with her face in the middle of it...
the flower pot was on a windowsill, i think.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little
Witch.This sounds like
it could be Little Witch again. Check the "solved
mysteries" to see if the clues add up to your book. Jane Yolen, The Witch Who Wasn't. 1964, copyright. A long shot, but
possibly this one? Isabel doesn't look like the other witches,
with her blue eyes and curly blonde hair, and she can't get her
spells to turn out right. See solved mysteries for more details.
2008 W265: Werewolves in high school Solved: Private School W266: Wrong clothes Solved: What Will I Wear W267: Wallis enters contests Solved: The
Luck
of Pokey Bloom and Anything for a Friend W268: white bear wants to change his color Solved: The Animals Who Changed Their Colors W269: Woman
has child with alien There is a human colony, maybe from
a shipwreck? A woman is kidnapped by one of the aliens. The aliens
are native to the planet. Maybe colored blue? Somehow she is able
to have a baby with one of them. I remember they lived in
something like cliff dwellings. I read this in the 70s or 80s but
I was reading a used book.
Octavia Butler, Survivor, 1978. It sounds as if it
could be Survivor.
A young woman is captured in a raid on a human colony and
eventaully marries one of the non-humans; the color of the skin-
or possibly fur- denotes social status if I remember correctly and
blue is high-status. W270: Witches who can't travel over water I probably read this book back in
the 80s. The main character is a young girl. She finds
out that her aunt and uncle (I think) are witches. One day
they're pursued by bad (?) witches. They travel at night
over a bridge spanning a river. Evidently, the bad witches
can't cross the water.
John Bellairs, The House with a Clock in its
Walls.
Some of the details don't match, but I'm pretty sure this is your
book. The main character is actually a boy, Lewis Barnavelt. After
his parents die in an accident he goes to live with his uncle
Jonathan and soon discovers that both his uncle and the next-door
neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman, have magical abilities. At one point the
three of them are being chased in a car down a country road at night by the resurrected spirit
of the evil witch
Mrs. Izzard. They escape by driving across the Wilder Creek
bridge, because the
evil spirit can't
cross running water. John Bellairs, The
House with a Clock in its Walls. If the
girl was actually a boy, it might have been Lewis
Barnavelt. When he is orphaned he goes to live with his
uncle Jonathan, who turns out to be a wizard. Mrs.
Zimmerman, who lives across the street, is likewise a good
witch. The previous owner of Uncle Jonathan's house was an
evil wizard, and Lewis accidentally sets events in motion that
could re-animate the dead wizard and end the world. At one
point he is riding in the backseat of his uncle's car when a
mysterious car starts following them. (The headlights in
the rearview mirror make a gray glare just like the reflection
off the glasses of the evil wizard's wife.) Eventually
Uncle Jonathan drives across a river and the other car cannot
follow. There are several related sequels featuring a
female friend. John Bellairs, The
House With A Clock In Its Walls, 1993,
reprint. I believe this is the book you are looking for,
although the main character is a boy named Lewis. He goes to
live with his uncle Jonathan, and finds out Jonathan and his
next-door neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman are witches. There is a part
in the book where they go for a drive at night and are chased
by evil witches, who stop when they get to a bridge. W271: Woodman's
Three Wishes It's a story about a poor woodsman
(or wood cutter or wood SOMETHING) that travels all day (or
whatever) to his job site and returns with three gold coins for
his (week's? month's?) wages, and on his way back home he crosses
paths with a shabbily dressed hungry looking beggar, and takes
pity and gives him one of his gold coins. This scene repeats
itself a second time with the same results. The third time the
woodsman protests that if he gives up his last coin, he and his
wife will have nothing to live on, but the beggar pleads, so the
woodsman gives up his last coin... and then the beggar transforms
into a shimmering shining beautiful angel, and announces that it
was also the other two beggars, and because the woodsman was so
generous these three times, that the angel was granting him three
wishes. Although I don't remember the first two wishes, the
woodsman was a very humble man, and the first two wishes were
trivial and for the benefit of someone else (his wife? his
neighbor?) But when it came to the third wish, he thought and
thought, and said, you know, its time I did something for ME! And
so the reader assumes tons of gold or something will follow, but
the woodsman (demonstrating once again his humbleness) tells the
angel about this lovely apple tree in his yard, and how tired he
is of everyone (neighborhood kids?) stealing his apples
(specifically picking them from his tree without his permission
perhaps?) and makes his third wish that anyone who picked an apple
from his tree would stick to it until he released them! He then
proceeds home, and the story continues to unfold about untold
fortune befalling this man due to the most unexpected twists
resulting from the seemingly trivial first two wishes (which again
I don't remember the details) but finally one day the grim reaper
(although I think they came right out and called the visitor the
devil) showed up at his house and told him his time on earth was
up (or whatever) so the woodsman went with him, and as they passed
the apple tree the woodsman asked the devil if he could have one
last request, and the devil asked what (yeah, sure! but anyway)
and the woodsman asked if he could enjoy one last apple from his
tree, and could the devil go pick one last apple for him, so the
devil went to get an apple for him (sure!) and promptly stuck to
the tree! So the woodsman merrily went his way (yet again - I
think perhaps the first two wishes had him inadvertently avoiding
death - and by this time he was getting pretty good at it!) and
from there all I remember is something in the first two wishes had
resulted in him offending God or St Peter or something, and when
he finally agreed to step out of this life, he ended up at the
gateway to Heaven (?) and a voice hollered at his escort for them
to go away! So his escort took him down to the gateway to Hell,
but the devil (who had presumably somehow pryed himself loose from
the apple tree at some point during the past 500 years or so?)
hollered at his escort to get him (the woodsman) out of there! So
the escort (angel?) asked the woodsman what he wanted to do, since
neither Heaven nor Hell would take him, and he responded that he
wanted to always be the big fish that every fisherman told stories
about, but could never catch!!
Traditional, The Smith Outwits the Devil.
The
good
news
is
I
know
exactly
what
story
you
are
talking
about...
the
bad
news
is
that
it's
a
traditional
story
which
is
spread
(from
ancient
Greece,
some
researchers
suggest)
all
over
Europe
and
the
Americas,
so
I
don't
know
what
specific
book
you are remembering. The most well known versions of the story are
"The Smith outwits the Devil" from Norway and "Gambling Hansel"
from Germany. In most versions the main character either ends up
wandering the earth for eternity or slipping through a crack of
heaven's door. This story has been classified as Aarne-Thompson
tale type 330. W272: WWII England
time travel I used to be a member (via my
parents) of a book club. Young Adults Books. So, I'm thinking I
read this book around 1970ish. The book takes place in England.
The opening of the book is 'current day' England. Teenage girl
gets in a bit of trouble at school and her parents decide to get
her away from the crowd she was running with. She, I believe, goes
to stay with a relative (Grandmother?) and begins to learn about
life in England during WWll. She eventually time travels back to
WWll England, meets a family where there is a daughter named Lark
who eventually is killed in a bombing in London. She meets a young
man named Hillary (sp?) and she experiences all sorts of
situations in worn torn England. Back in the current day she meets
and falls in love with Hillary's grandson. I'd love to find
the name of this book but it's GONE from my brain.
Mabel Esther Allan, Time to Go Back,
1972, copyright. "After a disastrous protest meeting in
Trafalgar Square sixteen-year-old Sarah Farrant is ill, unhappy
and at odds with her former friends, as well as with her
mother. At this time of self-searching she discovers the
wartime poems of Larke Ellesmere, who would have been her aunt if
she had lived. The poems vividly evoke the bombing of
Merseyside and Larke's moving love story..." "Something -
perhaps her obsession with the poems - takes Sarah back to
1941..." And the young man next door is Hilary. W273: Walking scissors creature Solved: The Ice-Cream
Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds W274: Wars of the Roses children's book that uses a code
that revolves around the war of the roses; we read it in the
1970's.
Astrid Lindgren, Bill Bergson and the White Rose
Rescue, 1970, approximate. This Bill Bergson mystery does have
kids who use a code based on the War of the Roses...not sure it's
the one you want though. There's a bit with poisoned chocolate,
and an older man who holds Eva-Lis (Bill's friend and teammate)
prisoner. If that sounds familiar, it could be the book
you're looking for! W275: washer
woman at the ford, celtic druid, second sight My mum got me the book in the mid
seventies. A young lad meets up with what might be celtic
druid who walks with a staff; the druid passes his gift of second
sight to the lad, and also teachs him how to "throw" his own
image. The young lad meets a "washer woman " at a ford ; the druid
throw the lad aside to prevent the washerwoman from slapping the
lad with her washing, and claiming his life. But in doing so the
druid is hit, and he is taken instead. Would love to read
this again and also read it to my kids. W276: Witch
with hollow back containing spirits This was such a long time ago,
probably mid-seventies when I read the book. I must have been
about 6 or so, and I remember this book made a big impression on
me because of its scary cover. Depicted was a beautiful witch (in
green, I think) with a strange ragged hollow in her back with
faces looking out. I don't remember much of the story but I think
the hero discovered her inner evil when he saw her back in a
mirror.
That is a Norse-Celtic
legend which could be in any number of books. They are referred to
as Elle or Ullafolk. They disguise themselves as beautiful,
siren-like women, but the disguise is incomplete -- they wear
their hair long to conceal that they have no back. A lot of
fearful tales have been told of them, but apparently they can also
bring good luck. They live on moors, where lost travelers have
been said to have met them. If you suspect someone you meet of
being one, don't try to look at their back, it's rude. Be polite
and they'll help you. W277: World War I, Spanish Flu I think this was a new book when I
read it in 1974. It was about two women, who met at the time
of the first World War. I think one of them had a romance
with a married man. The "Spanish Flu" epidemic was an important
part of the plot. One of the woman contracted it, but she
survived. Despite the serious content, I think it was a
fairly light-hearted book! I read it when I was home sick and
became very absorbed in it. That's all I can remember. W278: Witch picture book This was a picture book about
witches, probably published in the late '70s or early '80s. The
book was very funny, and I remember there was a witch with a big
wart on her nose, and in picture a fat witch was in the bathtub. W279: Witch eats glass and coffee grounds Solved: Witch in the House W280: Witch figure moves through windows of
house Solved: Nothing Ever Happens on My Block W281: woman
washed up on shore beneath tower This is a young adult/teen fantasy
book probably written in the mid 90s about a woman who washes up
on shore beneath a tower inhabited by a scholarly young man.
I don't believe he possessed any magical talent, but the world may
have been magical in nature. He of course falls for the
woman and finds out that she is wanted by various other factions
for various reasons, but he just wants her for her. They
must overcome many obstacles to stay together. This is a
memory of a book summary like those found on the back of a
softcover book, thus the very vague plot and character
recollections.^_^ Its a shot in the dark, but maybe someone
has read it out there. Thanks. W282: WW1 era "young adult" novel Solved: Sarah W283: War book The book was an old war book and my
son read it in the 1970-80s timeframe. He thought it was
more of a satirical memoir or some such about a military person
who kept being dropped behind enemy lines and the screw ups the US
Gov't did to cause him so much pain. The cover had a guy
hanging onto an umbrella and if his sketchy memory serves, it was
titled Operation (something). It was a loose biography
of sorts. I hope you can find it - and thanks!
Roger Hall, You're Stepping on my Cloak and
Dagger, 1957, copyright. I seem to recall the Bantam pb
reprint of this one having a cover somewhat as described (cartoon
of a guy using an umbrella as an emergency parachute), and as I
recall the book is humorous nonfiction about the origins of the
OSS; checking ABEBooks though I was shocked to see the prices
asked for it, so perhaps you ought to hope this is not the
title... W284: Wizards
strings forest In this book there were wizards
roaming around in a forest that had invisible strings crossing and
hanging all over the place. They would pull certain strings or
twist them around each other to perform magic. I've been pursuing
a physics degree and just can't get this book out of my mind...
It sounds like you're thinking of the Enchanted Forest
Chronicles by Patricia C.
Wrede. There are four books in the series: Dealing with
Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons.
I loved these books when I was in junior high! You're partly
right about the details: there are wizards (who are the bad guys)
roaming around causing trouble for the King of the Enchanted Forest
and his friends. But it's the King of the Enchanted Forest
(not the wizards) who can control the magic of the forest, which he
sees as strings that cross the forest and can be pulled or twisted
to perform magic. Searching for Dragons (book 2) is the one where
this fact is first mentioned. W285: Woody Woodpecker book Book contains the following words
in the first page or first few pages "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat.
Woody Woodpecker knocks on Wally Walrus' door. BBBRRRR it's
cold outside". I had this book when I was a child in the
70's. W286: Wagon
train, girl stowaway Solved: The
Golden Venture W287: White witch, invisible castle,
clouds, Hilarion Read between about 1975/1982. Maybe
a human child occasionally in witches world. I thought one of the
books was called "The White Witch" but no luck with that title
yet. Lazy necromancer named Hilarion with invisible castle in
clouds sometimes helps. Not "Castle in the Air" by Diana Wynne
Jones - published too late.
Margaret Storey. A somewhat similar query on
Usenet elicited an opinion that Margaret
Storey was the author - I think her "Timothy and the
Two Witches" series must have been meant. Wizards
named Hilarion also occur in Andre
Norton's "Sorceress of the Witch World" and other Witch
World books, as well as Caroline
Stevermer's "A College of Magics"; however, these don't fit
the description as well. Margaret Storey. Although I don't remember
a 'Hilarion', this has some of the elements from the Timothy
books by Margaret Storey.
They're originally British, but were republished by Dell in 70s.
The two I've read are "The Dragon's Sister" and "Timothy Travels",
there's another called "Timothy and the Two Witches".
I think there were more though, that never made it over here. Norton, Andre, Witch World Series. Book
5 in the series - Sorceress of the Witch World - seems to be
the one that includes the character Hilarion. Andre Norton, Witch World
Series. You might want to look at Andre Norton's Witch World
series - there is an adept (or wizard) named
Hilarion in that one and a powerful witch named Kaththea
Tregarth. Storey, Margaret, Timothy and the Two Witches. The
suggestions for Margaret Storey sound promising to
me. I am going to order a couple of them (most are
way too expensive) to check. I'm sure Andre Norton
is not the one because I would have been reading these
books whan I was about 7 or 8 -not that I mentioned this
in the original query. Melinda though definitely
rang lots of bells as the White Witch (I nearly put this
in the original query). I am British so I probably
would have been able to read all the titles and I
remember borrowing them from our local library.
Will report back to confirm once I have read the books
to my 5 year old. W288: Wall and Dyke, Inc. [title] Surnames of the teenage boy and
girl protagonists. Grossett and Dunlap but not 100%
sure. 1920's 30's, maybe 40's. The mother and sister
look alike, both wore red Chinese shaws. Bracelet stolen
from aunt. Set near sea cliff. Gypsy woman. Life size marble
statue, hidden door behind it. W289: Woman
and child kidnapped by ruler of small middle east country Read in late 70's. Woman and
child were kidnapped by ruler of small middle east country.
Agents sent to rescue them. Might have been English?
The ruler thought to be magical because he could walk across a
crater & live, when others died. Turns out was a trick,
he was very tall, carbon dioxide. W290: Welsh boy whose mother lives in a
lake early 1970s?, childrens.
Small chapter book. I don't remember much more than what I
wrote above: little, Welsh boy whose mother came from the
lake. I don't remember if boy visits the lake or what
happened to the family. PS It's not The Grey King.
A Welsh fairy tale, The Lady
of the Lake.
Sounds
like this Welsh fairy tale. Maybe it was made into a short
book.
http://books.google.com/books?id=R8LUDdb0b_EC&pg=PA1&lpg=PT1&dq=boy+falls+in+love+with+fairy+book&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html. 2009 W291: Wordless and surreal island/ship
switching children's book Wordless, surreal, confusing. Large
ship with Titanic-like smokestacks is at island populated by
natives; possibly invading or somehow conflicting with native
population. Protagonist from shore sees the smokestacks magically
on the island and vice versa, huts on the ship. Other things
switch too?
Istvan Banyai, Zoom, 1995, copyright. Sounds
like ZOOM (1995) or RE-ZOOM (1998). Love
them both, have used them in my classroom and with my
daughter. In Zoom, the camera pulls back from a farm toy set
that is part of a magazine ad, shows a cruise ship that is part of
a banner on the side of the bus, pulls back to show a stamp on a
letter that is handed to an islander and ends showing the airplane
mailman flying into the sky.
http://www.wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/Zoom.html;
http://www.istvanbanyai.com/. W292: Where
do babies come from? I am looking for a childrens' book
I believe from the 80's or earlier. I want to say the title
was Where do babies come from? It has nice drawings of a
mother's uterus with the fetus showing in eight illustration as
well as drawings of the male and female reproductive systems, both
inside and out. Any ideas?
Jonathan Miller & David
Pelham, The Facts of Life, 1984, copyright. Six
accurately detailed, movable three-dimensional models and dozens
of instructive drawings accompany a text that explains the process
of human reproduction from the moment of conception through birth. Peter Mayle,
Where Did I Come From. Peter Mayle, Where Did I Come From? Sounds like his two books combined as one
memory. Both are usually given to kids during the "facts
of life" stage. "Where Did I Come From?" (for
younger kids) and "What's Happening to Me?" for pre-teens.
Both long standing excellent books. W293: "We're having milk and cookies while
we wait for him to dry" "We're having milk and cookies
while we wait for him to dry" (book quote) 1970-80's children's
book, possibly 1960's, a boy takes his stuffed teddy bear out in a
boat(?) and has to hang teddy up on a clothesline by his ear to
dry out, and I think he has a tea party with his other stuffed
animals. W294: Woman
With Flame Red Hair Possibly "The Woman With Flame Red
Hair". I read it years ago, and it was about a woman with
fire-red hair, who married a preacher who controlled her. He was
killed in a tornado, she ends up in a tree, rescued by a man who
she later marries, I think. Subplots included an interracial
affair and an older woman who loses her house. W295: Willy Woo-oo-oo words I am missing part of a page and,
therefore, some words in my Willy woo-oo-oo book. I need to
know the next sentence after "This is pumping engine, Pete, who
comes behind me down the street." W296: Woman is hunted down by murdered sister's husband
I remember reading the book in 1993. It was a paperback book. It
was a story about a woman whose sister is killed. They think her
mean husband did it. The sister then takes the two children away
with her and moves somewhere. I think it's a boy and a girl not
really sure. The husband tries to basically hunt them down. He is
upset at the sister and wants to do her harm. He doesn't speak too
highly of women, especially his late wife. At one point in the
story he finds out where the sister and children are living. He
breaks into the apartment. Sister has no clue she has been found.
At one point while the "dad" is in the apartment he finds his
sister in law's underwear drawer takes out a pair of panties and
leaves her his essense. To put it nicely . I believe he also cuts
open her toothpaste so that when she squeezes it a mess will be
made. I am not really sure why I want to find this book but I do.
I for some reason think the word Ghost might be in the title but I
have had no luck finding it so I am starting to doubt myself. I am
not sure of any further details. Maybe if you can ask the right
question I could answer it. Thank you for your help. W297:
weaving, rose coverlet, mother, Debbie, sick, deadline,
Pennsylvania It's about a mother who weaves
overshot coverlets, and has a commission to weave a rose pattern
coverlet, but she falls ill before it's completed. The family
really needs the money, so the daughter, Debbie, has to finish it.
Although usually you can tell where one weaver leaves off and
another begins, Debbie matches her mother's work perfectly, and
the the coverlet is finished in time, and the mother gets well. I
think the book is from the 1930s or 1940s, but I think it is set
in the 19th century; I think they are in rural Pennsylvania.
Thanks for your help. I hope you can identify this one!
Cornelia Meigs,
Wind in th Chimney1934,
copyright.The pattern of the quilt is
Wheel of Fortune.
W298:
Winged Horse Apple Orchard Boy Color Illustrations Looking for title/author of a
children's book that I remember reading +/- 1975. It was a thin
book with great color illus. about a boy who found a winged horse
hiding in a orchard and with the help, managed to catch it in a
net and trap it in a barn (then it escapes/set free?). Not Silver
Pony.
Kellogg, Jean, Hans and the winged horse, 1964, copyright. illus. by
Pers Crowell. Found this in the Bulletin of the Center for
Childrens Books: A fairy tale about a small boy who rode a
winged horse. Hans, who lived with hisgrandparents, made long
trips to the spring to get water. One day he saw a
wingedhorse nobody believed him but the town baker, who
said he had seen the same thingwhen he was a boy. At last Hans
had the joy of riding the horse then he was
saddenedbecause the townspeople caught it. The boy rescued the
beautiful animal next morn-ing he found that a clear
spring of water had risen where the horses hoofs had struckthe
ground. Betsy
Byars, The Winged Colt of
Casa Mia.
I think this is the book youre looking for, but all I remember
in that the main character, a boy, was visiting his retired
movie stuntman uncle for the summer and they found a winged colt
in an apple orchard. It was extremely popular around 1976, and
they made an Afterschool Special of the book. Jean
Kellogg, Hans and the Winged
Horse,
1964, copyright. I had to go and find a used copy of this to be
certain, but yes, this is the book Ive been looking for on and
off over the last 30+ years or so. Never would have found it
without you. Thank you!!! *is off to go and re-read this Right
Now*
W299:Old kids book, a witch & school Hi.
I have very sketchy memories of a book I read as a kid -
probably in the early 80s. I remember a witch, a flying
broomstick & a classroom (I think a girl sitting at a
desk). I think the cover was purple. The cover art
on C. Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series reminded me of
it. thanks!
Estes, Eleanor, The Witch Family, 1960, copyright. There is a
scene where Hannah, the little witch girl, flies into witch school
late and all the other witch girls are already seated at their
desks. Val Willis,
The Surprise in the Wardrobe, 1990, copyright. Im not sure if
this is the book youre looking for. I think it was originally
published in Britian in the 80s, and John Shelleys illustrations
are kind of similar to some of the artwork on the Sookie
Stackhouse books. Anyhow, Bobby Bell finds a witch hanging
in his wardrobe and takes her to school. She flies around on her
bromstick, makes some mischief, annoys Jenny Wood, etc... Jill Murphy, The worst witch,
80s, approximate. This could be what you are thinking of? The
cover was purple, I read this book in the early 80s, about a witch
at school, learning to fly on her broomstick etc. only she is a
terrible witch. She doesnt mean to be, but things always go wrong
for her.W300: WWII
Lost Prince Setting is WWII in either Poland or
Hungary. Main character in the story is young boy, a prince, his
father is a commander in the cavalry. The war breaks out , the
prince is hidden by servants and escapes. He is evidentally
befriended by an American GI, I think he ends up in America. No
one knows he is a member of the royal family. I think this was a
series of books. Had good illustrations.
Seredy, Kate, The Chestry
Oak. This sounds
like the Chestry Oak written and beautifully illustrated by Kate
Seredy. See solved stumpers for more information. Kate
Seredy, The Chestry Oak, 1948, copyright. My childhood
favorite. Michael, Prince of Chestry, and his stallion
Midnight escape from his ancestral castle in Hungary before his
father (secretly anti-Nazi but reviled as a collaborator) blows
it up during a meeting of Nazi leaders. No one believes
Michael is a prince he is at a center for displaced
persons when the G.I. meets him. After the war the G.I.
arranges for Michael to go to his family in the U.S. The
book isnt part of a series, but you might think so because
Seredy wrote two other books set in Hungary, and her
illustration style is unmistakeable.
W301: World War II Story The book is a story of a man who
joins the US Army as a paratrooper (I think 101st) and after D
Day is captured by the Germans and imprisoned. He goes
thru several prisons and eventually excapes to be captured by
the Russians. He joins them in their fight to
Berlin. He is badly wounded and ends up in Moscow.
Thru the US Embassy he eventually gets back to England and
home. I believe the title of the book says something to
the effect, that he is the only man in WW II to fight the
germans for both the US and Russia. I think it also
gives his name in the title although I am not sure.
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.
W302:
Wish to be beatiful and immortal turns witch into
weeping willow A book I read in the early 80's
about a boy and a magician. At the end of the book an
antogonistic witch wished to be beautiful and live forever, and
she is turned into a weeping willow tree. One of the
characters uses an anacronist phrase to name a kitchen match, and
is found to be possessed.
John Bellairs, The Letter, the Witch and the Ring, 1976.This is the book
that has the witch who becomes a willow tree at the end, but you
are also mixing in a detail from another book by John Bellairs:
the possessed boy who call matches by an old-fashioned name is
from The Revenge of the Wizards Ghost. Both are excellent, creepy
stories!
W303:
Woman Abandons Family and Lives In Seclusion I remember reading a book from my
high school library (1980-1984) about a woman who leaves her
husband and children (2, I think) to live alone in the mountains
or a cabin and does her own gardening, canning, etc. In the end,
she decides to not go back to her family, instead continuing to
live alone.W304:
World War II orphans travel to Palestine
Story takes place right after World War II when a brother and
sister (I think they are Italian) are discovered to be Jewish and
they end up on a boat traveling to Palestine. I read this in the
70s but probably published earlier. I think there was some
reference to a volcano erupting.
Sally Watson, To Build a Land, 1960. If the
story continues in Palestine, with the children, Leo and Mia,
living on a kibbutz with the other children from the boat, all of
whom are orphan refugees and many of whom take Hebrew names (the
French girl Rachelle becomes Rachel, Diana becomes Dina, etc.),
then its probably this one.The plot,
as far as I remember it, has to do with teenage Leos learning to
stop being the independent leader of Italian street scavengers and
settle into a new life as a member of more or less settled
society.The struggle to establish
Israel also comes into the story.
W305: Wicked
doll found by little girl in hollow of tree SolvedW306: WWI
Flying School
A children's book, published in Britain early 1970's. It's World
War I. Hero is a boy, likes cross-country running. Loses a race,
is scorned by Vicky, the girl he has a crush on. Runs away to
flying school, qualifies as a pilot. Is injured, returns home a
hero, girl now loves him. Thanks!
Bruce
Carter (Richard Hough), WWI
Flying School.The book
wanted is B Flight by Bruce Carter - this is a pseudonym of
Richard Hough. The running takes place in the Lake District and
the climax of the story takes place on Preston Station where the
hero is reunited with Vicky. The boy's brown belt is of symbolic
importance on the very last page. W307:
War tests children Children's book from the 1950s.
During a war (WWII) some Jewish children are taken to a live-in
school (?) to hide. They make friends with the children there,
ages about 3 to 15. When soldiers come for them, the children hide
their new friends in nearby caves. The soldiers bribe the children
by offering oranges, hoping to find out if others are hiding
nearby. The youngest child seems about to tell all, but saves the
day instead. (This book was being read by sixth graders around
1994 in a parocial school).
Claire Huchet Bishop, Twenty and Ten, 1978, approximate.Jewish children are taken
to a Christian boarding school in France to hide from the Nazis.
The Jews hide in a cave in the woods the Christian
children protect the hiding place when Nazis come. The
soldiers tempt the Christian children with boxes of chocolate,
candy, and oranges. Claire
Huchet Bishop, Twenty and Ten. Published by Scholastic as THE
SECRET CAVE. Bishop,
Claire Huchett, Twenty and Ten. See Solved Mysteries.
You're going to get a lost of responses to this one. Claire
Huchet Bishop , The Secret
Cave (Original Title: Twenty and Ten), 1973, copyright. I think this
might be "The Secret Cave". Amazon.com has a picture of
the cover, which might help: http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Cave-Original-Title-Twenty/dp/B000GRSQTE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255024706&sr=1-1 Claire Huchet Bishop, The
Secret Cave (AKA Twenty and Ten), 1952, copyright This
sounds like The Secret Cave (which was first published under the
name Twenty and Ten) by Claire Huchet Bishop. There are twenty
students at the school and ten hidden Jewish children. The
Jewish students have to hide in a cave when the soldiers come
looking for them. Bishop,
Clare Hutchet, Twenty and Ten.
W308:
Book Stumper Keywords: Wordless, clothed animals, half
pages
Solved: Creepy Castle W309:
Woman Falls in Pool A woman falls into a pool, or dives
into a pool and she surfaces in the 1800's. She comes back
to the present time after being shot by indians. No one
believes that she time travelled. Someone comes with a really old
pic and it shows her back in time.
June Lund Shiplett, Journey to Yesterday, 1989, approximate. June Lund
Shiplett, Journey to
Yesterday,
1983, copyright.
W310:
Weeping Willow in the Woods In the mid to late 1970's I checked
out a book from the library for my 5 yr old son. All we can
remember is: (1) The title did not match the story; (2) a
bad tree becomes the first weeping willow tree at the entrance of
the forest; (3) the forest looses its magic when the last unicorn
leaves. Thanks again for posting
this. We are hoping that someone can help solve our
mystery. My son remembers that the Unicorns could only
live in the valley and the tree (that becomes the 1st weeping
willow) was at the entrance of the valley. If the unicorns
ever left the valley they would loose their magic. The
tree drove the unicorns away because he was tired of their
laughing and horseplay. I don't know if it would help to
add this, but we thought we would pass it along.
W311: Witchcraft
in Summer Vacation Solved: Spiderweb
for Two I recall a book from my
childhood. I was born in 1971, and was probably between
7-12 when I read it. I'm unsure of the title, publisher or
the date published. It was a book about a brother and
sister who are left by their parents during summer vacation
with two caretakers, a woman who takes care of them and the
house, and a man who takes care of their yard. The parents
leave a scavenger hunt behind for the children, and the
caretakers are in "cahoots" with the entire plan. The hunt
goes on for a long time throughout the story, but the children
keep it a secret from their caretakers as they have no idea who
is leaving the clues for them. I think they found a
hidden room somewhere, "treasures", etc. One strange thing
I remember is one of the clues was left in an ice cube
tray - frozen into a cube. (Google only offered me a
"search overload headache" on that one!) When the
parents arrive home, of course the kids discover that
they were behind the whole ordeal, but the mystery and
suspense of what would happen next was wonderful - and I recall
being completely surprised to find out that their parents
masterminded the plan. It was a great adventure that
created a bond between the kids, kept them busy (instead of
bored) and they got along (instead of fighting
everyday) as they worked together to solve the
mysteries. I wish I could share this book with
my twin boys who are now 8 years old, but of course I cannot
remember the name of it. I hope you can help and if I
remember any more details, I'll send them along. It's possible that
there may have been something to do with witchcraft involved in the story
too, but I could be confusing another book with this
one. I guess my mind is failing me already! :(
Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy
Maze, 1951. This is the last book
in the Melendy quartet. While Oliver and Randy's older
siblings are away at boarding school, their father, housekeeper
Cuffy, and handyman Willy Sloper arrange a scavenger hunt that
takes them through the year, from fall to summer. Their
prize at the end is reuniting with their siblings at last. Elizabeth
Enright, Spiderweb for Two: A
Melendy Maze,1951, copyright. Randy and Oliver Melendy are feeling
deserted when their older sister Mona, brother Rush, and adopted
brother Mark all leave for school (or, in Mona's case, to become
an actress). They're distracted from their depressions
though, by a mysterious note. Through the year their siblings
are gone, they follow the clues, find out things they never knew
about their neighbors, and make new friends as they follow
more clues along the way.In the end,
they discover that their brothers and sister created the whole
treasure hunt to keep them busy and interested while they were
gone. (No witchcraft though--maybe the spiderweb is what
you're remembering?). Elizabeth
Enright, Spiderweb For Two. This is the last volume of the
Melendy Family Chronicles. The older children are away at
school, and the younger two become involved in a mysterious
treasure hunt. Elizabeth
Enright, Spiderweb For Two. You have a few details wrong,
but the ice-cube tray is for sure! Also a statue of a
Chinese goddess, an oriole's nest at a neighbor's house, an old
shoe, the top of a surrey...does this sound familiar?
Randy Melendy and her brother Oliver miss their older siblings
Mona, Rush and Mark, when they depart for boarding school, so
their father and a family friend, Mrs. Oliphant, conspire with
the older kids to set up this treasure hunt for the months of
the school year. The housekeeper, Cuffy, and the yard man,
Willy Sloper, are not in on it, because they would be too
softhearted and help Randy and Oliver -- that's why it's
important to get the ice cube before Cuffy does her weekly
defrosting of the fridge, since she has no idea what's in
it. This is the last of the books about the Melendys --
the others are great too. (No witchcraft though, sorry.)
W312:
Wooden Sword fro Christmas This is a long shot, But I thought
I'd try. This was a Christmas story that was printed in newspapers
back in the early to Mid 70's. All I can remember is again, it was
about Christmas, and involved a kid with a wooden sword, and a
giant was the bad guy I think. I remembered a little more. The kid had to get crocodile
tears for some reason, so he had to go somewhere and make this
crocodile cry by telling it sad stories, and catch them in a
little jar. I also vaguely remember something about a princess
kissing the tip of his wooden sword to bless it or some such
thing.W313:White Feather
Used to check this book out of the
elementary school library in the 1970s, could never remember it's
name but every time I went looking for a book this is the one I
chose.It is about a little girl
whose family spent their summers at a lake.One
summer they return to find a boy scout camp on the lake.The little girl is upset and wages war
on the camp.She wears her hair in
braids with a white feather.When the
boy scouts get fed up with her, they catch her and cut off one of
her braids.She goes to her mother in
tears who says she can fix it and the mother removes the other
braid to find the girls hair mossy.It
turns out the girl never removed the braids to wash her hair all
summershe thought she didn't need to
wash her hair because she swam in the lake.That
is what I remember about this story.
Jacqueline
Jackson, The Paleface
Redskins,1970, approximate.This
is definitely the book you're looking for--I read it so many times
when I was a kid! I couldn't understand, though, how the girl
could get away with never taking out her braids, since mine would
get so messy after just a day or two!
W314: A
Winter Journey
1971-1972 a little girl
traveling in a covered wagon with family, in a snowstorm, she is
the oldest of the children, adults start to die and she is left
taking care of children, baby dies and she puts the baby up in a
tree, i think maybe a Indian helped her, i was thinking winter was
in the title.
W315:
What's done is done farmer woodsman
SOLVED: Wanda Gag, Gone is Gone, 1935.
W316: "Why
is the Sky Blue?" and Other Science Inquiries
Published before 2000, probably in 1980s. Series of science
picture books, hard glossy cover, about the size of a 9 x 11
paper folded in half. Titles are questions like "Why is the sky
blue?" "Where does a rainbow come from?" possibly arranged
alphabetically or numerically. Arkady Leokum, Tell Me Why series. This sounds very much
like the Tell Me Why series. There were three that I had back in
the 70s: Tell Me Why, More Tell Me Why,and Still More Tell Me
Why. I don't know if there were more of the them. Really great
books for kids who ask "Why?" about everything. Chris Arvetis, Why
is the Sky Blue? A Just Ask Book, 1986, approximate.This
is one in a series of science-related children's books called
"Just Ask" books. The authors include Chris Arvetis and
Carole Palmer, with illustrations by James Buckley. A
field mouse asks the questions and is answered by different
animals and such. A great bunch of books we had as kids :) Jack Long, Why is
the sky blue?: questions & answers about
nature, 1989, reprint. Could it be Why is the sky blue? :
questions & answers about nature by Jack Long? It was part
of the Now You Know series. Answers such questions as: Why do
cats purr? What causes thunder? What is a jungle?' Chris Arvetis & Carole
Palmer, Just Ask books, 1980s, approximate. The "Just Ask" books
were a series of more than 30 hardback books about science and
nature, published by Weekly Reader Books in the 1980s. Titles
include: Why is the Sky Blue? What is a Rainbow? Why Does it
Rain? Why is it Hot? Why is it Cold? What are Seasons? What is
Gravity? What is a Star? What is the Moon? What is a Mountain?
What is a Volcano? What is a Wave? What Makes Day and Night? Why
Do Animals Sleep Through Winter? What is a Dinosaur? What is a
Jungle? Why Do Birds Fly South? etc.
W317:
Witch, mirror, laughing, mountain
I do
not remember if it was separate or in a collection. This is the
plot as I remember: King, Queen and daughter live on one side of
mountain. Imagined riches rumored on the other. Queen wants
these riches. Queen sends daughter's boyfriend to get them. He
never returns. Queen sends reluctant husband (he prefers
gardening). He never returns. Queen goes herself. She never
returns. Good daughter goes. She is given advice about house
with witch (location of riches). She brings ordinary objects
including a mirror with her. She is able to break the spells
imprisoning her loved ones by giving witch the mirror. Witch has
never seen her reflection before and begins to laugh. She leaves
(dies?) laughing. All return home and now content with previous
lives. I have used witch, mirror and mountain in previous
searches to no avail. I feel like the witch laughing at her
reflection is main memory of the story. Thank you for your help.
Baba
Yaga.This
is not the title, but the idea of a witch laughing at herself
and therefore releasing her captives sounds a bit like something
the Russian/Slavic folkloric character Baba Yaga would do. This
might help the seeker.
W318:
White Merry-Go-Round Horse and Little Girl A little girl who takes her penny
allowance to the mobile merry go round that visits weekly. She
loves a special white horse on the merry-go-round and rides only
that horse. One day, it dissapears. The girl is sad, but finds her
friend in the end.
Margery Williams Bianco and
Marjory Collison, Penny and the White Horse, 1942. The story of a little girl
and a special white carousel horse. W319: Waterskiing accident Solved: The Family Name, 1971. W320:
Woman gives birth to monster fish and living advertisments I checked this scifi book out at my
elementary in the 80s. Young woman lives alone in a living house
like a long hollow caterpillar. To make money she becomes
pregnant, gives birth in a bucket to black fish/tadpoles that try
to bite her and mature into living advertisements. Vaguely asian
culture.
Geoff Ryman, The Unconquered Country, 1982. I don't remember Ryman's novella very
well, but it is a sort of magic realism thing set in an askew
Cambodia, and I do recall the biological houses and the idea of
woman making a living by "renting" her womb to produce war
supplies of some sort. I'd certainly not expect to have
found it in an elementary school library, though.
W321: WWII, boy, bicycle, ghetto WWII, boy, bicycle, ghetto, perhaps
Warsaw, messenger? Children's book I read in 1985 - title
like "Courier V.F.W" or ""FVC" I remember three
letters. Hardcover, dark red/burnt orange cover - story of a
boy who works as a secret messenger to get messages out of the
Ghetto. Ian
Serraillier, The Silver
Sword/Escape from Warsaw,1959. This sounds
like parts of The Silver
Sword (also called Escape
from Warsaw. You might check it out and see if it's the
book you're looking for. W322: Witch, lake, fairy
SOLVED: Wayne Anderson,
Ratsmagic, 1976.
W323:
Woman, cat, storm, float to China SOLVED:The lady
who saw the good side of everything. W324:
World War One multi volume set Looking for a
multi volumn set of books published in england, written in
english. The subject is World War One. They are non-fiction. The
books are gray, hard cover, manchester has something to do with
the publisher or where they were published, Published before 1930.
The Manchester
Guardian History of the War.Published by John Heywood Ltd., Manchester.There were apparently 9 volumes, and
they seem to have been released with green paper covers but many
copies were re-bound in hardcover, presumably in a variety of
colors.
2011 W325: where's
your trunk, blouse, inky, lake girls, robe on door SOLVED: Bianca
Bradbury, Lots of Love, Lucinda. W326:
Wordless Apple Tree Lifecycle Pictures only, no words. One
picture per page: Sapling becomes apple tree, blooms become
apples, one is picked, goes to market stand, girl buys and brings
home, eats, tosses core out window, new sapling grows. B&W
line drawings with one red apple. Ours had a black hardcover.
Hogrogian,
Nonny, Apples,1972. Apples by Nonny
Hogrogian The apple peddler replenishes his cart from the trees
that grow from the discarded cores of the apples he sells.
Hardcover, 1972 Stories without words. The suggestion that is posted
regarding my book search is not correct. The book is not the
Hogrogian "Apples". The plot does not fit with what I'm looking
for. There is no pictured "peddler" in my book. And the
description here http://www.swap.com/book/apples-nonny-hogrogian/5056338/
describes an orchard being created. The book I'm looking for has
one simple drawing per page, just as I described. It's a very
simple "circle of life" story. I have searched the web extensively
for this, and also came up with the Hogrogian book, and have still
not been able to find the one I'm looking for. Thus my coming to
you guys! :) Thanks for continuing the search! W327:
widow, ghost, english, romance, country house, four poster bed SOLVED: Paula Allardyce, Southarn Folly, 1957.
W328: when
I go to school My daughter got a book from the
library about 'when I go to school...I will play games, sing
songs, eat lunch, make friends...' in the early-mid 1980's. I
think it had a white cover. It was a children's picture book about
15-20 pages long. It would be wonderful if you could track this
down for us. W329:
Witch I read it circa 1994. A man
meets a witch, maybe in the woods or in a cave, and she makes
demands of him. She's beautiful and cold, and makes him do
her bidding. I believe he has a wife, who is none to happy
about about the witch. The word "witch" may be in title. The
man escapes her clutches. W330: Woman
dressed as boy
Woman is following someone (her brother?) out West in covered
wagon. Travels dressed as 12 year old boy with a man who she ends
up falling in love with. Stays with this travel partner when she
gets there, sifting in a river for gold, and he discovers she's a
woman. He then helps her find her family.
CY Lee, Land of the Golden Mountain.Sounds quite a bit like
Land of the Golden Mountain.It's
about a Chinese girl who disguises herself as a boy and travels to
the California gold rush country. If I remember correctly, she's
looking for a fiance (or cousin, or acquaintance) named Moon Cake,
but ends up marrying a mine owner who hired her as a houseboy. W331: When
I was small and Christmas trees were tall My
father remembers this book when he was young, so I'm
guessing it was published / written sometime before 1950 (he
was born in 1943). The "name" of the book he keeps
referencing is "When I was small and christmas trees were
tall". At this point, I'm not even sure that is the title,
but perhaps the first line of the book, or a repeating line. He also
remembers the book being 10 or so pages long, small size (maybe
4x6” or 5x7”) and either paper back or cloth bound. It might have
been a paperback pamphlet or a poem in paperback book form. The
story was illustrated, but very simply as in pencil sketches.
Maybe some color, but definitely nothing bright. The sketches
might have revolved around a small boy. My Dad lived in central
Illinois at the time that he remembered reading this book with his
mother. He did say that it might have been a seasonal keepsake
story that was published by a large company (Sears, Woolworth's,
etc.). I have checked with Coca-Cola. It's not one of theirs. So
that's all I have to go on. I tried to search keywords through
your Solved Mysteries but have had no success. Any help or
guidance would be greatly appreciated by all of his children!
First
Of May
song. A Google search for "When I was small and Christmas trees
were tall" indicates this is the first line in the song "First Of
May" sung by the Bee Gees, and more recently by Sarah
Brightman. Could your father be thinking of this song with
the lyrics written in book form? W332:
Witch, oatmeal Children's book published in the
'60s or '70s about a witch (ugly in illustrations) who was a bit
of a misfit or incompetent, as far as witches go. I cannot
remember much, but there was something about oatmeal in it, and
the witch's name was unusual. Wish I had more to go on...
The Magic Porridge Pot.Are you maybe
thinking of porridge rather than oatmeal?This
is a traditional tale, told by the Brothers Grimm and others.The version I had was illustrated by
Andy Warhol.If you Google the title
with his name you can see some of them. Tomie
de Paola, Strega Nona, 1976. Might the
funny name be Strega Nona? She's appeared in several
stories, beginning in the 1970s. Though she's usually
competent, another character, Big Anthony, makes mistakes when
he tries to imitate her.
SOLVED: Bedita's Bad Day from
Eros Keith. W333: William
Wigglewhistle
1950-1965, childrens. This book was about a boy named William Wigglewhistle who
sees several dogs of different sizes and shapes sitting outside
doghouses that did not fit them. William figures out which house
fits each dog (the biggest house to the biggest dog, the low
long house to the Dachshund, the littlest house to the tiny dog,
etc.) It was a very simple story with line drawings. My mother
remembered only the name "William Wigglewhistle," and that's it.
Anne Heyneman, William
Wigglewhistle, 1939. This is it, but it's
out of print so it might be hard to find a copy. Good luck! Heyneman, Anne, William Wigglewhistle, 1939. William receives a dog for his birthday, and when she
mysteriously disappears he sets off on a quest to find her. This
was one of Time Magazine's books
of the year in 1939.
W334: Wonders of
science A friend remembers a book that may
be called "Wonders of Science". It was about 15 centimeters tall
and the cover was red with an embossed golden globe. It was
probably pre-WWII and contained brief articles accompanied by
pictures. A few of the articles he remembers included a mechanical
television with discs, and ball lightning with a picture of the
lightning coming down a chimney. There was an article claiming
that the world's population could fit into a box that measured one
cubic mile that could be lost if thrown into the Grand Canyon.
Ruth
Murray Miller, Wonders of
science: a pictorial story of science and invention,1936.The year is right, anyway.
W335: Witch, girl held hostage by witch, real mother
had curse put on her 1975 or earlier, juvenile. Hello, I remember my teacher reading this book
to me in 1974 or 1975.It was about a
young girl whose mother was a witch and treated her poorly.She had to do all the chores, was worked
very hard and I think they lived in a run down house.The girl imagined that the witch was not
her mother and that her real mother was beautiful and loved her.One day when the witch went out the girl
saw a beautiful woman in the mirror but when she turned around
there was no one there.This girl
imagined that this woman was her mother.One
day she whispered "I love you" to the reflection and when she
turned around the woman was indeed there.The
woman told her she was her real mother and the witch had put a
curse on her.When her daughter said
she loved her, that broke the curse/spell.I
remember the woman had to disappear before the witch returned.
Anna
Elizabeth Bennett, Little
Witch, 1953. Definitely. Bennett, Anne, Little
Witch.Check solved mysteries for a description.http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-l.html Elizabeth
Bennett, Little Witch. I'm sure you'll get a million
responses on this one! See "Solved Mysteries" for complete
details. A quick online search should turn up many images for this
book. There are two very different cover illustrations, so if you
see a copy that looks unfamiliar, try the other one. Anna
Bennett, Little Witch.Minikin Snickasnee aka Little Witch strikes again!Check out the Solved Mysteries page for
more information. Anna
Elizabeth Bennett, Little
Witch,
1960s-1970s, approximate. This is Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. Minx
lives with her alleged witch mother Madame Snickasnee, but wishes
to go to school and be a normal girl. She sneaks to school, makes
friends, mixes multicolored potions while her mother is away and
eventually frees enchanted children who had been turned into
plants and discovers that her real mother is a fairy trapped in
Madam Snickasnee's mirror who can only be freed if Minx says "I
love you."' W336:
Woodpecker
Date, 1900-1950s. A
female pileated woodpecker cares for her family of baby
woodpeckers. Momma wears a white apron and a red hat and is a good
mama. W337: Witch and
vending machine Hello, I had a childrens book in
70's it was a softback about a witch, she gave, I
believe, a boy and girl (brother and sister) a vending
machine/candy or pop in their room. If I see the title I think it
would come to me, but I'm blank. I loved that book and liked the
drawings in it. thanks for your help.
Bridwell, Norman, The Witch's Vacation.It may THE WITCH'S VACATION
or another of the witch book by Norman Bridwell. In the WITCH'S
VACATION, the boy and girl go to camp and are disappointed to have
a old tent. But when they go in the witch's tent, she has all
kinds of wonderful things (maybe a popcorn machine, pinball
machines, etc). They were republished with illustrations
updates/colored, so some images may be different, but I think
you'll know when you see them. Ruth
Chew?, Ms. Chew wrote many
books about nonscary witches and magic.I
don't remember the vending machine, but it's the kind of thing she
wrote about. W338: Warriors riding
cats SOLVED: Randall Garrett, Gandalara Cycle. W339: Wilbur will not
chase the sun Book is
from 1950-1954 About a puppy who at first does not want to chase
the sun A line from the book may be "at first Wilbur does not
want to chase the sun"
Le Grand (Henderson), The
Puppy Who Chased The Sun W340: Woman dates man
named Ritchie. His mother buys a table from her for much less
than it was worth. SOLVED: Dorothy Gilman Butters, The Calico Year. W341: Woman gets a
small boy but has to add water SOLVED: Christine
Nostlinger,Konrad. W342: "Would You Be"
Alphabet book Seeking alphabet book read in
1980s. I think it was a waxed-cloth, sewn-binding book,
probably 6 or 9" square, vivid color illustrations. Each page
asked "Would you [like to] be..." something beginning with each
letter of the alphabet. I have an audio recording of my then
2 or 3 year old brother "reading" (ie looking at the pictures
and saying what he could remember... not always accurate) from an
alphabet book we had; that would have been in about 1984-5. I
was only 4-5 at the time so my memory is VERY hazy.
I THINK it was one of those sewn-binding
books made out of waxed cloth or a Tevlar type fabric, that were
kind of popular for kids. It could just be a normal book, but I
just had that impression. I also seem to remember very
richly colored, 70s style illustrations. Each page said,
"Would you be..." and then described something for that
letter. The letters were: A - Acorn (and grow to be a
tree) / B - Boat (sailing on the sea) / C - Camel (in the zoo?) /
D - Dog (with juicy bone) / E - Elephant (with long ears?) / F -
Fish (swimming for years and years) / G - Goat
(eating paper and grass) / H - House (with windows made of
glass) / I - Island / J - Jumping jack/Jack in the
box? (play a sound/make a sound)[unclear; he says it wrong] / K - Kite (with a longstring) / L -
Lion (and growl at everything) / M - Monkey (with long
tail?) / N - Nail (with a hammer pounding you) / O - Orange
(and sit in the bowl) / P - Pig (in a big mud hole) / Q
- Queen / R - Rooster (and crow/say
cock-a-doodle-doo at sun-up) / S - Snow (... white) /
T - Train (whistling in the night) / U - Umbrella (in
the rain) / V - Violet (living in the lane) (must have been a
ladybug on the page because that's what he says first) / W - Worm
(in the dirt) / X - Xylophone (playing a sound?) / Y - You (and
live where you do) / Z - Zebra (and live in the zoo)
Thanks a million!!!!! 2012 W343: Wizard
with cat kidnaps girl Unfortunately I don't remember much: It
was a picture book from the late 70s/early 80s, the colours
were rather dark & intense (no pastel colours). Plot: A
wizard/sorcerer kidnaps a girl (princess?) and carries her
away in a big bag/sack. He brings her to his dark tower, where
his cat lived. Thanks!
Ungerer, Tomi, Zeralda's
Ogre, 1967. W344:
Winter and Summer's armies I am looking for an illustrated
children's book (c.1980, could be 70s). Winter and Summer's
armies are at war, and they look a little like moomins or
hippos. They have some WW1/WW2 technology, ie telephone
cables and they hide/hibernate in tubetrain stations. Bad guys
look a bit German (helmets)...
Peter
Dallas-Smith (Peter Cross, illustrator), Trouble for Trumpets.This is absolutely
your book. It is a work of art, and really the top billing
should go to the illustrator, the amazing Peter Cross. If you do
a quick google image search of the title, you will immediately
see that it's the one you're looking for. The author and
illustrator also teamed up for a sequel, Trumpets in
Grumpetland, but the artwork seemed more rushed for
that one.
W345: Witch,
mushroom, crack, grow A solitary witch lives under a
mushroom in a field. She wakes up and her roof is cracked so she
goes around the forest trying to find out who cracked her roof.
Ultimately she stays up all night and discovers that no one is
cracking her roof - it's just the mushroom growing.
Mary Leister, Wee Green
Witch,1979. A lovely little book, and one
of my own childhood favorites! W346:Winter Windigo Scare Looking for a book from
highschool library. I don't think the book was too old really.
It had a main character of a boy that was new in town (moved
with his mother, and bought possibly a bed and breakfast or old
fishing shed?) Where he moves is up North (Americas) and very
cold/snowy. More: Boy moving to a snowy cold region.
Suspense/horror novel for teens? He starts to realize something
is stalking him as he walks home in the dark winter evenings.
Its animalistic if I remember, and white/grey, terrifying and
huge. He outruns it and makes it inside, I think it cant face
light or come inside? He and a few friends (one was a love
interest girl that looses her family member and wants to hunt it
to save them I think?) The track it to a cave and try to kill
it. I remember them being by a huge lake and the thick ice
cracking and causing issues at one point. Almost reminds me of a
wendigo (windigo) but I don't know if he ever says that its what
the monster is?
Paul Annixter, Windigo, 1963. Windigo might be the book you're
looking for. I remember checking it out a few times from my
library, and never being able to get through the scary
scenes. And if you were searching for a "wendigo", this one
probably wouldn't have come up... W347: Wealthy man on quest to get
a woman Looking for a children's book
about a wealthy man who was on a quest to get to a woman. He met
a man with a long beard sitting at the base of a tree who could
somehow help him change into part animal (i.e. a fish at the end
of the book) or have really long, reaching legs to move faster. W348: Wynken, Blynken and Nod SOLVED: Eugene Field, Helen Page
(illus), Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. W349: Wolf gets lost
and cold Grey (?) wolf (wolf-like dog?) is
lost (?), and cold. It snows (?) and the wolf finds and wears a
trench coat at one point, and is trying to find way back home (?).
There is a mountain road (?) and a car at one point . I believe
there was a happy ending. Book probably not in landscape mode. I
was born in 1981, so my parents must have bought me the books
around 1985 give or take a few years. I grew up in Greece and most
of the books I read were probably more from the UK, France and
Belgium and less from the US. W350: Warlocks in the
snow Warlocks in the snow - this is how
it starts - ? several Another children's book, the teacher started
to read to the class in the 1970's/very early 80's in the
UK. Think this will be too difficult to get from the limited
information I have given. Sounded a great book, really
wished I'd gotten title.
John
Bellairs, The Face in the
Frost, 1969.
This is a long shot, of course, but the words warlocks and snow
made this book pop into my head. Set in a sort-of alternate
Britain, two wizards, Prospero (not THAT Prospero) and Roger Bacon
set out to prevent an evil wizard from destroying the world with
an evil book. you can see a picture of the cover and read a
summary on the author's website, here: http://www.bellairsia.com/the_work/facef/index.html Pamela
Service, Winter of Magic's
Return,1985.
It's been winter for 500 years after a nuclear war. Britain is
coming out of the cold though, and magic is coming back. The
kids in the story are the reincarnations of Arthur and Merlin, and
their frosty sorcerer enemy is Morgan LeFay. The first chapter is
all winter and sorcery, and the Arthurian bits don't come into
play until at least half way through the story. It might be
the book you're looking for!W351:
Woman falls down a well
I'm looking for a children's book. From what I recall it is
about a woman (Asian?) who falls down a well and discovers a
fabulous underground world. Please help!
Arlene Mosel, The Funny Little Woman, 1993. Might be this Caldecott award winning book
about a little Japanese woman who falls through a crack in the
floor and enters a magical underground world on a road lined with
statues of gods (Oni). She giggles at everything, gets captured by
the Oni, and must outwit them to escape. Mosel, Arlene, funny little woman, 1972.
Possibly
this story of a woman to falls down a crack in the floor while
chasing a dumpling. The Funny Little Woman is a traditional
Japanese tale. The woman in this story likes to laugh and make
rice dumplings, one day when she was making the rice dumplings,
one of her dumplings started to roll! She and her dumpling ended
up on a strange place lined with Jizo (guardian statues). The Jizo
warns her not to go after the dumpling, but she does anyway. She
is caught by the Wicked Oni, (a demon) who takes her back to his
house to have her cook for him and the rest of the oni. The Funny
Little Woman gets a magic paddle to make rice dumplings faster.
One day she escaped, across a wide river back to her home. She
made rice dumplings for a living, and when she sold them, soon
became the richest woman in all Japan. She likes to laugh, so she
laughs like this, "Tehehehe"! Arlene Mosel, author, Blair Lent,
Illustrator, The Funny Little Woman, 1972. A traditional
Japanese folktale about a funny little woman (who laughs, tee
hee!) who follows a rolling rice dumpling down a crack in the
floor and slips into an underground world inhabited by the
terrible Oni. She is put to work cooking their rice, but manages
to make her escape after stealing their magic rice paddle, gets
back home and uses it to get rich selling rice dumplings, tee hee!
The beautiful illustrations show a split view of her house above
ground falling into disrepair as the seasons change while she
lives with the Oni below. You can see he cover and several
illustrations here:
http://booksforbreakfast2.blogspot.com/2011/11/funny-little-woman.html Mosel, Arlene, The Funny Little Woman.
This sounds about right, the Funny Little Woman lives in Japan and
makes rice dumplings: one rolls down her well and she chases after
it. Along the way she meets kind jizo statues and big oni demons,
who then catch her and teach her to cook for them. Of course in
the end she does escape and all ends well. It's light-hearted and
clever, with lovely pictures, including what's under the little
old woman's well, hope this helps. Funny Little Woman, Mosel, Arlene,
1973, approximate. Could this be the Caldecott winner, Funny
Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent? (There's an entry
on Wikipedia showing the cover illustration.)
It sounds a bit like theMother Holle
story from Germany. There are different versions of it, but it's
usually like a Cinderella story with a girl who is abused by her
stepmother and stepsister. One day, the stepmother forces the girl
to retrieve something that fell down the well, and she finds
herself in a magical land with a strange lady called Mother
Holle. Mother Holle is kind to her and rewards the girl for
helping her with her chores. Later, the stepsister tries to go
down the well and get the same reward, but she is punished instead
because she refuses to help with the chores. Peter Lum, Fairy Tales of China,
1959. W352:
World War II girl sent to the country A girl and her sister are sent to the country when their
mother goes to be a dancer?/entertainer? for the soldiers serving
overseas. She makes friends with a boy and his cousin? who is a
fighter pilot with shell shock. The main things I remember is that
she goes to a dance.
This sounds like 'A little Love Song'
by Michelle Magorian (1991) (ISBN 0-7497-1061-6) -
(published as 'Not a swan' in the USA). Rose and her elder sister,
Diana move to live in the country while their mother is overseas,
during the War. they end up living alone as the relation who was
supposed to look after them is unable to do so. Rose gets to know
Alec, a bookseller, who she ultimately learns is on sick leave
after Dunkirk. She is initially friendly with Alec's nephew,
who is manipulative and takes advantage of her. There is a scene
where they go to a dance -the dance is hosted by US
servicemen stationed nearby who provide food, such as oranges,
which have been unavailable for years. Rose collects up the skins
with a view to making marmalade and is embarrassed when they fly
everywhere when she tries to ?jitterbug?. Rose also learns to
confront her own prejudices and preconceptions, and to start to
work on her wish to become a writer. There is also a strand in the
story about 'Mad Hilda' the former occupant of the cottage which
Rose and Diana live in, and about Dot, an unmarried mother who has
also been evacuated to the same area. W353: Witch's handbook Read in the early 90's (90-92) a how to be a witch
book, the cover was glossy, as were the pages, each page was fully
illustrated, there was a picture of a witch in yellow rainboots,
NOT malcolm bird's "The Witch's Handbook."
Could possibly be The Witches and Wizards Club Members Handbook
byDerek Rangecroft from
1995. In response to the suggested solution: that book was
published later than the book I am searching for. W354:
What do the waves say
I am looking for a children's picture book that is about a girl
that loves to read, she is wealthy and her family has multiple
homes, they have a big sailboat, her dad is a builder and is
building all the same houses so she suggests that he paint them
different colors, she tries to listen to the waves or figure out
what they are saying to find her path in life, she grows up and
gets her fortune told and listens to what the waves are saying and
if I remember correctly she decides to become a writer.