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F212 I'm surprised you didn't recognize this:  I t must be: Hoban   Bread and jam for Frances
Thanks for your effort, but unfortunately that is not the book I am looking for.  In Bread & Jam for Frances, there are none of the babysitting scenes I described in my original posting.  The way I remember the title of the book, it was something like, "Frances babysits" although that can't be right, since I've researched all the Hoban books, and none of them are about Frances babysitting.  It's a conundrum!
I'm sorry to disagree, but this is NOT Bread and Jam for Frances (written by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban).  In that book, Frances is cured of her picky eating habits when her mother serves her favorite snack, bread and jam, at every meal.  She quickly tires of bread and jam and longs for variety in her diet.  The stumper requester is looking for a different book!
This is definitely NOT Bread and Jam for Frances.
Sorry, this is NOT Bread and Jam for Frances.  In that book, Frances only wants bread and jam to eat because it is so wonderful, and so she begins to have it served to her at every meal.  At first she is happy with the situation but after awhile, watching her family and friends continue to eat makes her less of a picky eater, and she gives up her bread and jam.  It doesn't sound like the book in question.
This cannot POSSIBLY be Bread and Jam for Frances.   In that book, Frances only wants to eat bread and jam for every meal until her parents gently convince her to eat other things.  And Frances never had a little brother.
This is NOT Bread and Jam for Francis.  That book is about Francis being a picky eater, so her mother gives in and just gives her bread and jam for every meal.  After a few days of this, she realizes "What I am, is tired of jam".
No, this is NOT Bread and Jam for Francis!  In that book, Frances refuses to eat anything but bread and jam, and her parents indulge her ... with perhaps unexpected results.  No baby brother (Frances has a baby SISTER, Gloria), no pillow fight, no feathers.
This would not be the book Bread and Jam for Francis!  I'm afraid I do not know the title the reader is searching for, but Bread and Jam for Francis is about a little girl badger that only wants to eat jam sandwiches.  Her mother makes them for her so often that little Francis finally decides to expand her mealtime repetoire.  Francis does no babysitting, and she has a little sister, not a brother.
this may be one of the hoban's francis books but the previous solver said it was Bread and Jam for  Francis. Bread and Jam has no baby sitting and no mess. sorry
F212 I just looked at a lot of Google entries to see if it could be a  Marie Louse's heyday by Natalie Savage Carlson, but I guess it isn't.  A mongoose babysits 5 possums.
It's also not No trouble at all (Bardstown), about Grandpa Bear babysitting his two grandcubs, even though, oddly enough, there is both a pillow fight and a jam incident in it.
You are NOT hallucinating!!!I found your book today at a library booksale!!! Waddy and His Brother by Patricia Coombs (of Dorrie the Witch fame)(Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.-1964) Kind of a rare book. While these animals look sort of like bears they are actually raccoons. The story is as you describe. The feathers from the pillow get stuck all over little brother because of all the sticky jam. A cute story!! Hurrah!
Yayyyy!!  Thank you so much to whoever it was that solved my book mystery!  I am so excited to start hunting down this book.  Thanks again!!

B204: Sounds like one of two books by Patricia M. Scarry - 1)Waggy and his Friends 2)More about Waggy (1973). There is a rabbit doll named Bun Bun, plus Lion and Lumpy. Sticky-sweet. 

Possibly Wait for What Will Come by Barbara Michaels. The heroine inherits an old house on the Cornish coast. I was looking for my copy last night so I could check whether it's the one where she finds valuable
furniture and china stored away in the attic, but couldn't locate it. That does definitely happen in one of her books, though. And scones & clotted cream sounds a lot more like the UK than Maine. If it is this one, there's a mystery connected with the disappearance of a girl in the past and a selkie/merman creature.
Well this might by a stretch but it sounds almost like Wait for What Will Come by Barbara Michaels.  Carla inherits an old house in Cornwall from her Uncle.  She travels there and is served Scones and clotted cream by the old housekeeper.  Romance comes in the form of the friendly doctor, the mysterious housekeeper's grandson and a lawyer.  There is a mystery surrounding an ancient curse about mermen.  She finds a couple of barrels of old dishes in the attic that raise enough money to let her stay in England a bit longer.  She ends up staying intending to turn the house into a hotel or B&B and with the housekeeper's grandson who was a famous ballet dancer.
G38 girl inherits house: I found my copy of Wait for What Will Come, by Barbara Michaels, pbk edn 1990 (original copyright 1978). Carla Tregallas, American, inherits the ancestral house in Cornwall - not Maine, but similar rocky stormy coast with fishing villages. The house and estate are very rundown, paintings and furnishings have been sold off, staff let go and so on. In between dealing with the mystery and ancestral curse, Carla looks
for ways to keep the house. On p.197 "she attacked the attic with magnificent energy ... remembering the vogue for secondhand clothes, Carla saw silver, if not gold, in the trunks of old-fashioned garments." On p.202 she gets into an attic room that's been boarded up "filled with objects, every inch of it ..." and opens a barrel that contains "a cup of heavy earthenware, with designs in blue on a white background ... another cup and a small plate with similar patterns." (p.205) This turns out to be Delftware. "The antique dealers arrived bright and early the following morning, and for several days she sweated and strained in the dusty attic, making money hand over fist - or so it seemed to her." (p.220). Sample scones and clotted cream episodes are on pp. 14, 52, 94, and 146, by which time "she was really getting very tired of clotted cream."

Mary Downing Hahn, Wait Till Helen Comes.  Molly moves into a converted church with her mother, stepfather and younger stepsister Heather.  Heather is irresistibly attracted to the cemetery behind the church, while Molly is afraid of it.  Heather bonds with Helen, a mysterious ghost who tries to drown Heather so that they can be friends forever.

Marshall, James Vance, Walkabout, 1959.  Two children survive a plane crash in Australia. They are helped through the desert to safety by an aboriginal boy.
Marshall, James Vance, Walkabout, 1959.  In this story, an American brother and sister en route to a reunion with their parents are stranded in the Australian outback when their plane crashes. A young Aborigine helps them survice.  (The movie that came out in the seventies starred Jenny Agutter.)

T151: Only help I can give is to mention the movie based on a true story, Miracles Still Happen (1974). You can read the viewer comments here.  It takes place in the Amazon, however. The girl gets rescued by following a small stream to a river, since rivers, her father had told her, always lead to a village or a city. Side note: Camille Cosby said about the characters in The Blair Witch Project: "Why don't those idiots just follow the creek?"
David Mathieson, Trial By Wilderness, 1985.  Try this one:  "A girl survives a plane crash off the coast of British Columbia, and then faces survival in the wilderness, a feat which calls upon her courage, her endurance, and her skills."
David Mathieson, Trial By Wilderness,1985.  Maybe this? A girl survives a plane crash off the coast of British Columbia, and then faces survival in the wilderness, a feat which calls upon her courage, her endurance, and her skills.
I am the one who submitted this stumper.  It is definitely *not* Miracles Still Happen, as I am quite sure it did not happen in the Amazon.  And I will look for a copy of Trial by Wilderness, but I highly doubt that is it either.  Amazon has that one listed as a 9-12 age range, whereas the book I am looking for I am quite sure would be in the Young Adult (teen) range.  I will check it out though.  Thanks for the help so far! Any other ideas anyone?
Stephen King, The Girl Who Loved Tom Jordan (Gordon?), 2000?  Sounds an awful lot like this story, except no plane crash. Girl gets separated from Mom & brother on a hike. Mom & Dad are divorcing. Girl huge fan of baseball player- pitcher? Red Sox? She remembers dad telling her once to follow streams if lost. That advice leads her to barren bogs- in Maine of course, this is Stephen King. She survives, much skinnier too.
Thanks for the continued help, but my stumper hasn't been solved yet.  I found a copy of Trial by Wilderness at the library and that is definitely NOT the book I am looking for. And I know it is definitely not the Stephen King suggestion either. I so want to find this one! Any other thoughts anyone?
Susan Black, Crash in the Wilderness, 1980s'  Story of a sole survivor. Sorry, that is the only description!
Gary Paulsen, Hatchet, 1985.  Does this title ring any bells for you? It's about a boy, not girl, and it won several book awards and I know is taught in classrooms, so it certianly would've been available. "On his way to visit his recently divorced father in the Canadian mountains, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is the only survivor when the single-engine plane crashes. His body battered, his clothes in shreds, Brian must now stay alive in the boundless Canadian wilderness." See if it looks familiar.
Margaret E Bell.  This author has written many books about planes and girls in Alaska..or at least I am sure it is her. I read all kinds of Alaskan literature for kids and YA growing up in Alaska. Hope it helps you. You might also try to email an Alaskan library for help.
I read this book in 6th grade, along with The Hatchet and other survival-type books.  It's definitely not any of the currently
suggested titles, although I can't remember the title either.
This plot sounds a lot like a made for TV movie I saw back in the 70s or 80s called "And I Alone Survived." It may have been based on a book that may have been based on a true story.
Ann Elwood and John Raht, Walking Out: A Novel of Survival, c. 1979.  This is the book. The girl's name was Terry, and I've read it a dozen times! It was published by Tempo Books.
I have read this book, and used to own a copy. I can't remember the author, but the title is Walking Out
That book is called Walking Out: A Novel of Survival. I don't remember the names, but I believe there are two authors associated with this book.

G23: Goliath II -- I'm not sure of the title, but I *think* Bill Peet illustrated this and refers to it (along with a picture of Goliath II) in his autobiography (Bill Peet:  An Autobiography)
G23- Goliath II (Walt Disney Little Golden Book #D83)
Not much more information, but here's a citation for the suggested title: Bill Peet Walt Disney's Goliath II New York, Golden Press 1959 "Goliath Was an Elephant"

Because the title you recall indicates an Irishman rather than a Scot, I'll venture to suggest  Annie Bedford, Walt Disney's Little Man of Disneyland (NY:Simon & Sshuster,'55), about a leprechaun named Patrick.
Pretty sure about this one: Bedford, Annie North Walt Disney's LITTLE MAN OF DISNEYLAND New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1955. unpaginated, "A Mickey Mouse Club book. Book introduces Patrick Begorra, an inhabitant of Disneyland." "Patrick the leprechan wakes up one morning and finds BIG PEOPLE all over the place. What does he do now?" "A Leprechaun lives right where Disneyland is being built, he eventually moves in, but no one knows where he lives. DO you?" And I have to say, Patrick is NOT a Scottish name, and Begorrah is NOT a Scottish exclamation (try Sandy Hoots Mon or something).
Little Man of Disneyland. This is a Disney Mickey Mouse Club Little Golden Book with Donald Duck and
a leprechaun on the cover.

I52 has to be related to S178, the stumper about the square king.  I initially thought this had to be something from an Oz book, but the international stories don't really fit.
THANK YOU so much for the comment, at I52, regarding the mention at S178.   The book, Walt Disney's Surprise Package sounds as if that might be just what I am looking for.  After thinking about that book for the past 40+ years, I finally have a title to search for.  And, obviously, my memory of it being a Big Golden Book was/is inaccurate.  I will follow this lead and hope it nets me a copy.  I cannot thank you enough for this lead and the wonderful service you provide for so many.  It is so much fun to read through everyone's memories, trying to match theirs to mine in an effort to help.  Thanks.
Well, good news.  I do know that WD's Surprise Package looks and feels like a Big Golden Book, so your memory isn't too far off, after all.
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My mom used to read us a story/book about a square shaped king named the Mighty, Highty, Tighty.  He wanted everyone in his kingdom to be shaped like a square like he was.  He built a machine and made everyone who was round go through it to make them square shaped.  Everything was going well until new babies were born and they were always born round (like everyone in the kingdom used to be.)  This made the Mighty Highty Tighty very upset.  I can't even remember the end of the story.  But I do remember my mom used to read it off of these ripped out pages from what was probably a very old book.  There were illustrations along with the story as well. She used to read it to us as children during the 1970's, but it may have been as old as when she was a child 1940's Thanks.

A Square World.  I Googled it, and that's what I came up with.  I can't find it in book form anywhere, though.
H. Marion Palmer, Walt Disney's Surprise Package. (1944)  I found the answer based on the hint about Square World.  Thanks.  Name of the Book is Walt Disney's Surprise Package, 1944.  Related answers to S178, I52 in your archived stumpers area too.  Name of story is "The Square World." It is a Golden book.

This sounds like Walter Fish, which is a book that is not exactly for children, but more to make a point.  All of the people in the story "try to help" Walter get back into the water by empowering him to do it himself, instead of giving him the practical help that he needed by simply picking him up and putting him back into the water.  I worked at a home repair ministry camp where we used this book to illustrate that some folks really need practical help to move forward in their lives.

Anthony Boucher, They Bite, 1943. The story you're describing sounds like They Bite, which has been anthologized many times.  For the time frame you're looking at, you might try The 1st Mayflower Book of Black Magic Stories (1974), Wolf's Complete Book of Terror (1979), The Best or All Possible Worlds (1980), or A Treasury of Modern Fantasy (1981).  A man (Tallant) is out in the California desert, circa WW II, spying on a training school for gliders, when he starts seeing "something little and thin and brown as the earth" out of the corner of his eye, which he thinks is just his eyes playing tricks on him. Local legend tells of the Carker family, who had lived out there long ago, and were supposed to have been some sort of man-eating monsters. They are nearly immortal, can only be seen from the corner of the eye, and "they bite" according to one old man he meets. Tallant later kills a blackmailer who knows that he's a spy, and attempts to bury the body at the old Carker place - which is when he finally sees them face on. They look like small, brown, shrivelled mummies - but they are alive and he discovers that they do, indeed, bite.
I found and read that story "They Bite."  It is not the one I was looking for.  The one I read took place in a forest, perhaps in South America.  And the creature did actually bite the people.  It took triangle bites out of them.  It did have a very strange name like Wamagismwak.  It could only be seen from the side (not the front like the stumper title I submitted).  The people sometimes caught a glimpse of its profile, but then it would turn toward them and they would not know where it was.  I do appreciate your suggestion.
Margaret Ronan, Master of the Dead and Other Strange Unsolved Mysteries, 1974. One of the chapters in Margaret Ronan's anthology "Master of the Dead" is entitled WAMAGEMESWAK, about a ravenously hungry spirit that is so thin it can only be seen from the side. In this version of the legend, two white settlers along Maine's Penobscot river buy a stretch of land and are plagued by the Wamagemeswak, who leaves triangular bite marks on them. The creature is a spirit called forth by the Native American tribes of that region in order to destroy all white settlers who come to the land. Many of the tribes consider it "bad medicine" to summon this spirit, fearing the Wamagemeswak will turn on the natives once all the whites are eaten. The two white men in this story are rescued by an Indian girl, who gives them a canoe and tells them to go, after explaining the legend of the Wamagemeswak.
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The Wana-games-ak. After doing a lot of web research I found out that the story I am looking for is most likely called The Wana-games-ak.  It is based upon an Abenaki mythical creature who is so narrow that it is almost two-dimensional.  The mythical creatures are friendly and warn the Abenaki of coming attacks.  In the story I remember reading the Wana-games-ak is mean and bites people.

Iain M. Banks, The Wasp Factory.   I'm fairly sure that this is the one. The copy I read had a vry stark, black and white picture of a wasp in the cover so that would fit, too.
Iain Banks, The Wasp Factory.  Fairly sure this is The Wasp Factory (1984), Scottish writer Iain Bank's first novel (he writes his science fiction under Iain M. Banks). NOT a children's book. I read it years ago as well. Written in first person from teenage boy viewpoint. Boy is seriously disturbed. Mother died long ago. Lives with his father on an island. I recall the plot point of his difficulties going to bathroom, explained by father as damage from an accident(?), really because he was born a female. Not a book like you 'like' as quite frankly he's a sociopath,  but one that does stay with you, also due to being well-written.Was the wasp on the cover in Black & White? - Abacus publishes his books in the UK and they're all stark b&w images.
I was the original poster for this book.  I'm sorry but when I posted this I didn't realize it was for children's books.  I was a little curious as to why you edited my original title.  I understand now.  The solution is correct.  Anyways, thanks for having this service and I hope it was okay to use it to find a book that was definitely not for kids.  Thanks again!!

Try Munro Leaf's Manners Can Be Fun, 1936.
Also by Leaf -- Fly Away, Watchbird! : a picture book of behavior, Munro Leaf, Frederick A. Stokes, 1941.
From the foreword from Flock of Watchbirds:  "This Flock of Watchbirds was rounded up from old favorites that first flew through the pages of The Ladies Home Journal.  They were put together before the war in three separate books Watchbirds, More Watchbirds, and Fly Away, Watchbird, but here they are now all in one flock to watch some of the regulars who are always with us -- like the Thumb-Sucker, the Show-Off, the Bed-Bawler who screams at bedtime, the Nail-Biter, Won't-Wash, and thirty-one others that could be removed to advantage from every home."
#G116--Good Manners Watchbird:  Evidently "This is a watchbird watching" appeared as a series of newspaper cartoons published around 1945-1950, as when my mom babysat she used the phrase to terrorize one of her young charges.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Leaf, Munro.  A Flock of Watchbirds. J.B. Lippincott, 1946, first edition.  Dust jacket has some small rips and tears, including at top of spine.  Front hinge reglued.  Looks a lot better than it sounds, and feels like the real McCoy (because it is).  G+/G.  <SOLD>

P39: keeps sounding like Zeee by Elizabeth Enright.
I have a nice new edition of Zeee here.  It's illustrated by Susan Gaber in 1993 and in As New condition. <SOLD>
the title doesn't ring a bell but i would like to try it anyway. i will be placing an order on your website.
After seeing these two books for sale on-line I thought they might show promise! Both are full of fairies, pixies etc. The  Story Wonder Book, edited by Harry Golding, and Ward Lock's Wonder Book, a picture book for boys and girls. Both books are related in some way. One came out in the 1920's and the other was put out later, maybe 30's.  Hope this is a lead!
I believe the story you are referring to might be a Little Golden Book called Water Babies.  The story is about three water babies named Nixie, Pixie and Trink.  Yes, Trink has red hair and they all lived on water lillies.  I believe my dad still has this book and if I can get anymore info I will be sure to pass it along.  It is also possible that it is just one story in a book of many stories and might be hard to locate.
The original Water Babies was written by Charles Kingsley in 1863, and has been reprinted in various editions with various illustrations since. I don't know which version your grandmother had, but it's probably this story.

C58 Could it be this? I have sold mine. It has just 2 stories. I've just searched Lib Cong and "Buck Dragon fish" in Google to see if I could find out what story  no 2 is about. Doesn't sound like jade lamps. Buck, Pearl S.    The water-buffalo children and The dragon fish; two stories.  il by Esther Brock Bird. Dell Yearling, 1943. 

The more I think about this, it seems like it was the Loch Ness monster in the story and that the people in the story set up the floating toys, like the horse innertube to make "nessie" feel more at home. I cant locate anything about this particular story online though.

Dick King-Smith, The Water Horse.  It's a Loch Ness Monster story, so it might be the one...

Walden, Amelia Elizabeth, Waverly, 1947.  Could this be it?  Hardcover, Morrow Junior Books, New York, W. Morrow, 1947, 285 pages. There is also a mass market paperback edition---N.Y.: Berkley, 1963.  Here's a description: "From blue jeans to dresses....That's how Jane Townsend's life changes when she enters Waverly, an all woman's college in the East. Jane fights against this change, wishing to remain more interested in fixing cars than in dances, and in using her head rather than feeling with her heart. But the school, her roomate and classmates have a tremendous influence on her. And after the first exciting year, Jane realizes that there is more to life than her own small world, and that the boy from back home is not always the right one.....".  Note that the copy they're selling is not cheap---$30 for a paperback.
Walden, Amelia Elizabeth, Waverly, 1947, 1963.  This is a possiblity, though I don't have the book in front of me to check the plot. Amelia Elizabeth Walden wrote a lot of YA books with romance mixed in with sports, as well as plots where the main character is conflicted and torn between tow very different people.
Walden, Amelia Elizabeth, Waverly, 1963, reprint.  I found this on ABE Books. Sounds like your stumper. Cheers, Angelle. Book Description: N.Y.: Berkley, 1963. Mass Market Paperback. Fair. 24mo - over 5" - 5¾" tall.  Sixth Printing. This is a good reading copy of this rare book. All Pages are intact and very readable. the corners are curled on the bottom corner of first 5 pages. There is a price written on the front cover in crayon, a black mark on the spine. and the bottom corner has creases in it.  "From blue jeans to dresses..That's how Jane Townsend's life changes when she enters Waverly, an all woman's college int he East. Jane fights against this change, wishing to remain more interested in fixing cars than in dances, and in using her head rather than feeling with her heart. But the school, her roomate and classmates have a tremendous influence on her. And after the first exciting year, Jane realizes that there is more to life than her own small world, and that the boy from back home is not always the right one...".

I've found a book by the title you name, 'Way Down in Tennessee.  It's by Elvira Garner in 1941.  Tends to be expensive, but I'll let you know when I can find a reasonable copy.  Here's a short description I found:
scarce title by this author/illustrator known for her distinctive style. Red boards, yellow illustrated endpapers,  colored pages alternating with black & white pages. The adventures of two little girls whose proper life in a big grey farmhouse contrasts vividly with the time they spend in a cabin with Aunt Rildy, Uncle Neal, and their ten children.
Dear Harriett, I am thrilled to hear the news that you may be able to find copies of Way Down In Tennessee!! Can't believe it. I have been looking for years. Keep me updated and thanks so much!!!!

Shucks, I was so sure I had this, but I guess I don't.  This very seventies book just came across my desk though, and I was saving it for the New Baby Catalog page.  The pictures are in color though, and there's a picture of dad and daughter painting  a dresser, and mom and dad with coffee, but no scrambled eggs.  Shucks.  Here's the reference anyway:  Jan Grant. Our New Baby.  Pictures by Phillip Lanier.  Childrens Press, 1980.  Ex-library edition, worn and stamped.  Poor.  $5
I think this is Mom and Dad and I are Having a Baby by Maryann Malecki.  But I can only find reference to a revised edition in 1982, and we no longer have a copy in our library, so I can't verify.
Vicki Holland, We Are having a Baby, 1975. I was read this book of black and white photos depicting the changes in family dynamics at the time of a sibling's birth when I was three and my baby brother was on the way.  I remember the part about scrambled eggs especially! I found a photo of the cover-I am sure this is the book!

See Q1
F46 frogs: this reminds me rather of Exactly Alike, written and illustrated by Evelyn Ness, where the girl has 4 younger brothers all alike. It's set in Edwardian or Victorian times, though, so the raincoats don't sound likely.
F46 frogs and Q1 quads: This doesn't look bad - We Four Together, by Helen Weissenstein, illustrated by Egon Weiniger, published David McKay 1947, 191 pages. "Vienna of lovely pastries, charming buildings and old gardens is recaptured in this story of little quadruplets who have an infinite capacity for getting in and out of mischief. Maxel, Poldi, Ferdel and Lisel, three boys and a girl, are fourfold fun, warmth and reqard to their family ... There is a birthday cake too, not four cakes, mind you, a wonderful one with forty candles." (BRD 1948) Is the poster absolutely sure they lived in London?
Yipeee! This must be it!! We Four Together by Helen Weissenstein (David McKay Co.)1947. Setting:Vienna! First chapter- Egon stays with grandmother for a short time and returns home to find Mother has had triplets! Chapter two- fast forward 10 years- "'Don't they look like four cheerful little frogs?' he had asked, and the family had used the name ever since because it was so handy." Book has green endpapers with 4 frogs sitting in a circle on lilypads.
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Book about quadruplets (3 boys and one girl) living in London, England. Their mother made them green raincoats which they wore when they walked in the rain. Their mother nicknamed them "Frog" because she said they looked like frogs in the green raincoats.

see F46
This was alredy solved in it's other location- WE Four Together. Takes place in Vienna!

There is an Eloise Wilkin Little Golden Book called Come Play House (by Edith Oswald, 1948,  LGB# 44); but the most popular of this ilk is Sharon Kane's Little Mommy (1967,  LGB# 569).
Lois Lenski, Let's Play House.  Another possibility that does include Molly and Polly washing the dolls' clothes and hanging them up to dry.  They also take their dolls for a walk, play grocery store with a boy named Peter, and play doctor when the dolls get sick.
Jean Cushman, We Help Mommy, 1959.  This book is about a brother and sister who are helping their mother with daily chores. The girl washes her doll clothes and hangs them on a toy-sized clothes line.

Cachiaras, Dot, We Like To Visit Grandma and Grandpa, Standard, 1975.  "Two children visiting with their grandparents play, work, visit others, and go to church with them."

This sounds like it was excerpted from Hildegarde Dolson's delightful autobiography, We Shook the Family Tree.  One chapter is titled "The First Prom's the Hardest,"  and fits the description:  after Freddie -- who
always wears short pants -- invites Hildegarde to the dance and she's unable to refuse, her mother fixes her dress and (to quote from the book) "listened unmoved to my wild-eyed descriptions of what the other girls were
wearing.  'I don't know what their mothers can be thinking of,' she'd say firmly, making it clear that my chances of getting a pleated red crepe and high-heeled satin slippers to match were as remote as Judgement day." Hildegarde does get to wear a Spanish shawl (formerly decorating the piano), resists the urge to push Freddie off the porch when he calls for her, and, at the dance, meets Fred's tall, handsome cousin.   The chapter concludes with the comment about knowing the boy's family and the reference to Guy Lombardo and long pants.
I'll assume that's it - thanks.
I happened upon your website while looking for author, Hildegarde Dolson, a childhood heroine of mine.  I lived in her
hometown, Franklin, Pennsylvania, and knew intimately many of the places she talked about in her book, we Shook the Family Tree. Fifty five years later, I decided that I had to own that book again!

Fisher, Arleen Lucia, We Went Looking, 1968.  "Recounts in verse the animals seen while looking for a badger."
Though I haven't read the book, it matches the description of WE WENT LOOKING by Aileen Fisher, 1968. Written in rhyme, it describes the animals found while looking for a badger.~from a librarian
I am B320  Badger.  Thanks to you and the retired librarian who posted a note, I did find the book. She is exactly right and I now have a copy from the Tucson Public Library that was being discarded.  I have thought about this book for years and even done some searches unsuccessfully before.    I am so glad I ran into your site and am grateful to you for keeping  it running so well.  Here's hoping lots more stumpers are solved for those looking for a special book!
I had to laugh when the poster of this stumper assumed I must be a retired librarian. I'm only 32 years old!~from a librarian

Liesel Moak Skorpen, We Were Tired of Living in a House. Check the Big Online Bookseller--copies are still available.
Liesel Moak Skorpen, We were tired of living in a house. 1969. I''m sure this is the book the poster is looking for. First the children decide to live in a tree, but they fall out, so then they try a pond, but they sink, then a cave and so on. Very cute. If Harriet doesn't have a copy of this book, I would be willing to give it to the original poster as my children have outgrown it and have no attachment to it. (I really need to thin out the bookshelf- lol)'
One of Doris Burn's books? She wrote/illustrated Andrew Henry's Meadow in 1965 (see Solved Mysteries), and it's due to be released as a film in 2008! However, other possibilities are Burn's The Summerfolk and a book by Liesel Moak Skorpen, We Were Tired of Living in a House, which Burn illustrated. See here for more on Burn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Burn . And this covers a good deal about her life. http://www.stumpranchonline.com/skagitjournal/Washington/Library/Burn/Burn01-BookBios.html
Skorpen, Leisel, We Were Tired of Living in a House, 1970s. We were tired of living in a house so we packed up our coats, and our --- and a frog who was a particular friend and we moved to a cave.  We liked our cave until .the bats came.....or something like that.  Very cute.  New edition listed on Amazon doesn't have original pictures.  I like the original better.'
Liesel Moak Skorpen, We Were Tired of Living In A House, 1969. 'I know this is what you are looking for. The original book was illustrated by Doris Burn. If you read this in the late 70s or early 80s these are the illustrations you will remember. There is a newer printing of the book with new illustrations which aren't, in my opinion, as good. I grew up on this book and still love it. Happy book hunting.
Skorpen, Liesel Moak, We Were Tired of Living in a House, 1969. The original that was printed in 1969, illustrated by Doris Burn.  There is a newer edition 1999, illustrated by Joe Cepeda'
Liesel Moak Skorpen, We Were Tired of Living in a House, 1969. 'I just weeded this story from my elementary school Library Media Center.
Liesel Moak Skorpen, ill.  by Doris Burn, We Were Tired of Living in a House, 1969. This seems to be the correct book. This one is a Weekly Reader version. (Unpaged w/ B/W drawings) A copy is currently on an Ebay store for 30 days, another with a different cover from a seller on ebay. Library of Congress # 79-79485Published by Coward-McCann, Inc NY.

Rosamund Du Jardin, Wedding in the Family.  Du Jardin wrote several series, one with a character named Tobey.
Rosamund DuJardin, Wedding in the Family, Mid - 1950's
I have a feeling I've read this series, although I can't remember the author or titles.  That wedding book had some difficulty with their Aunt Alicia or Great-Aunt Alicia, and the couple was going to live in a Quonset hut.  In another book, the protagonist's boyfriend, Brose, ends up taking some other girl to the prom, so Toby (?)invents a date.  Her little sister reads her diary and realizes Toby is going to be in big trouble, so get the older brother of a friend to be the date.  Does any of this ring a bell?
Rosamund DuJardin, Wedding in the Family, 1958.  From DuJardin's series about Tobey and her sisters Midge, Janet, and Alicia.
Du Jardin, Rosamund, Wedding In The Family, 1958.  Well, I don't know if this is the correct book since her name is Midge, but here's the description:  "During the summer of her sister's wedding, fifteen-year-old Midge finds a special boy herself."
Wedding in the Family - Rosamond du Jardin.  The bride is Tobey Heydon, and this book concludes her series and begins the one on her 15-year-old sister Midge.
HRL:  17 Rosamond du Jardin books have been reprinted by Image Cascade!
That's it! Wow!  Best $2 I ever spent! Thank you all. I'm looking forward to reading these again.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

du Jardin, Rosamond.  Wedding in the Family.   Image Cascade, 1958, new paperback 2002.  New, $12.95

At this link , I saw some sheet music mentioned, from something called Hip Hip Hooray, which includes the song "The Wedding of Jack and Jill."
Haven Gillespie and Abner P. Grunauer , "The Wedding of Jack and Jill".  In the fall and winter of 1929 the Gumm Sisters appeared in three of the "Vitaphone Kiddies" short subjects produced by Roy Mack, including The Wedding of Jack and Jill. The youngest Gumm sister was, of course, Judy Garland."  She didn't sing the song, but you'll get thousands of hits if you search for just the title.  Lyric is by Haven Gillespie and Abner P. Grunauer and music is by J. Fred Coots. If you search for their names, too, you can find places to buy the sheet music and recordings.
"The Wedding of Jack and Jill." A Google search indicates that Judy Garland performed this in a 1929 "Vitaphone Kiddies" short film when she was still one of the Gumm Sisters.   I also found an almost complete transcript from a performance by, strangely enough, the title characters of "Laverne and Shirley" here.

D2--The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll and The Broom Handle and Who Was There by Carl Sandburg.
Yes!!!  That's it!  oh, thank you!

The answer to W30 WITCH ON A VACUUM CLEANER is The Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew, 1969, 1972.
Obvious to you, but..."Wednesday Witch" by Ruth Chew.
Thank you Harriett!  Mystery solved!  The book is now on it's way to me. I can't wait to read it again and share it with future generations!  What a great idea you have on your site!
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I just discovered your site...It is fantastic! I've been searching for a book which I probably read during the early to mid-1970's.  Its about a tiny little witch who rides a miniature vacuum cleaner.  I believe she also has a tiny cat and goes to live in a girl's dollhouse.  I vaguely recall-  so this may not be accurate - that the girl made the witch tiny by cutting  a small picture with her scissors. It was a paperback and most likely purchased through the Scholastic Book Club Sales at my elementary school.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

This is definitely The Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew.
THE WEDNESDAY WITCH by Rith Chew. Double-checked illustrations, and there was the tiny witch in the dollhouse, doing things like putting a chair in the bathtub so she'd feel more at home!
W54  is definitely Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew.  A little girl, Mary Jane, meets a witch named Hilda who rides a vacuum cleaner named James.  Hilda is not very nice, so her cat, Cinders, hides out at Mary Jane's house.  Hilda comes back and makes the cat small with magical scissors and later the witch herself is made small and lives in Mary Jane's dollhouse for a while.
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Boy flies out his window at night on a hoover or vacuum cleaner and says "Home James"; I believe I read this in the early 1970s, and loved it, but cannot for the life of me remember title, author or even the names of the characters.

Ruth Chew, The Wednesday Witch, 1969. A wildly imaginative tale about a mischievous girl, a witch, a talking cat, and a flying vacuum named James.
Ruth Chew, The Wednesday Witch. Two characters (both female)  direct the flying vacume cleaner by saying "Home, James!"  One flies out her bedroom window.
Ruth Chew, The Wednesday Witch, 1969. Its a witch who says "Home James" and a little girl who rides on the vacuum cleaner, but this must be what you're looking for.  Check Solved Mysteries
Ruth Chew, the Wednesday Witch. If the main character could be a girl instead of a boy, this could be the Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew. There is a scene in which the girl in the book, riding on the vaccuum cleaner, says "home James"

W34: Weeny Witch by Ida DeLage, 1968. (Also the author of Beware! Beware! A Witch Won't Share!)
I've been looking for this book everywhere!  I think it is entitled Windy Witch, or perhaps Wendy Witch. It is about a young, kind-hearted witch girl who is scorned and worked as a drudge by her evil witch guardians.  She doesn't fit in; she can't get excited about their wicked schemes or learn to hate the beautiful winged star fairies (moon fairies?) who live up in the heavens.  Sometimes the star (moon?) fairies fly down to earth, (perhaps descending in the moonbeams or in the starlight.)  One evening the jealous hags hatch a plot and manage to capture the star (moon?) fairies in thick nets of cobwebs.  Windy (Wendy?) Witch sees the plight of the fairies and cannot bear it.  She cries, "I'll save you, star fairies!" and uses her ever-present broom to sweep away the cobweb nets.  As the fairies escape, the enraged witches charge at Windy Witch -- but the fairies grab her hands and fly away, taking her up into their ethereal home.  There, before the queen of the fairies, Windy pleads to be allowed to stay with them forever.  Regretfully, the queen tells her it is not possible, since only those born of star fairies may live there.  Then the queen notices the moon-shaped (heart-shaped?) birthmarks on Windy's palms.  The queen exclaims aloud and announces that Windy is not a true witch, after all, but a fairy child who had been stolen at birth by the witches.  Windy is given a pair of wings and beautiful fairy clothes, and the fairies joyfully welcome their long-lost relative back to her true home in the skies.
This is a shot in the dark because I'm only going by the book's description, but it really sounds on target. It could be WEENY WITCH by Ida DeLage, 1968, 48 pages Witches capture the night fairies, but Weeny Witch helps them escape (and finds out she is really a fairy)
Wow!  I am overwhelmed.  Today, after sending my last e-mail to you, I stumbled upon the very book I'd just described to you.  (I was resignedly entering the same old keywords into the same old places, just like I have so many times -- I have no idea why it worked this time!)  Two "miracle answers" in two days!  DeLage, Ida.   Weeny Witch pictures by Kelly Oechsli.  New York : Chelsea Juniors, [1991], c1968.   Series: The Old witch series.  After the witches capture the night fairies, Weeny Witch helps them escape and discovers that she too is a night fairy, stolen years before by the witches.
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Beautiful color and hardcover book, early-mid 70's, about a poor girl who lived with a witch but really turned out to be the daughter of the fairy queen. She had a birthmark of "M" on the palm of her hand. She had no wings until her real mother found her...not sure if moonlight had anything to do with it. I just remember the book was always out as it was everyone's favorite. Would love to share this with my kids. It is not Little Witch that I have seen on here.

See Weeny Witch by Ida DeLage in Solved Mysteries.
Ida Delage, Weeny Witch, Awesome! Thanks so much. We have ordered it from our library. It sounds like the book!

Interpreting Condition  Grades

DeLage, Ida. The Witch's Spell.  Garrard Publishing Company, 1966.  Paperback ex-library copy.  Solid.  VG.  $20

Alan Garner, Weirdstone of Brisingamen, 1960.  This is Alan Garner's Carnegie Award winning The Weirdstone of Brisingamen: A Tale of Alderly. There is also a sequel, The Moom of Gomrath, published in 1963.
Alan Garner, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, 1960/1963, reprint.  It sounds like this book (or the series of book he has written). "Colin and Susan are holidaying in Cheshire. Unbeknown to them, Susan's charm bracelet includes the weirdstone of the title, a powerful stone of magic which the forces of evil seek to gain, while the wizard Cadellin (guardian of a band of sleeping warriors under Alderley Edge) helps her." It went back into print in 1998 so I'm sure there are copies available. Here is a site that discusses the book.

Kurt Vonnegut, "Unready to Wear".  I'm not sure about the tattooed guy, but the out-of-body parade sounds like the story "Unready to Wear" in Kurt Vonnegut's collection Welcome to the Monkey House where out-of-body folks get "embodied" once a year for a parade.
The solution posted for M376 [Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles] should be the solution for S445.
  Also, the story about the people who leave their bodies is definitely from Welcome to the Monkey House, by Kurt Vonnegut.  I looked at a table of contents on line, but couldn't remember the title -- my copy is AWOL.
Kurt Vonnegut, Unready to Wear.  Someone's suggestion of Vonnegut for the second story jogged my memory if it's a Vonnegut story, I think it's his "Unready to Wear."  First publication in the April 1953 GALAXY magazine also in his collections CANARY IN A CAT HOUSE and WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE, plus various anthologizations in sf anthologies.

Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game. Definitely The Westing Game.
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game, 1978.  This is a great book that won the Newbery Award.  (And if you liked this, try a newer one called Holes by Louis Sachar!)
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game.  One of my favorites! All the details match.
This is definitely The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Sunset Towers is the apartment complex in the book and Tabitha-Ruth "Turtle" Wexler is the main character.
#T127--turtle:  You'll get a lot of solutions to this, at least, I hope so, as the title is a Newbery Winner!  The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin.
Hi, I sent in a stumper after hearing about the site on NPR. My brother, taking this as a challenge for himself, solved the mystery for me. My clue word was "Turtle" and I described the book as being about an apartment complex and its residents who were trying to solve a mystery. The book is The Westing Game. Thanks for getting my brother motivated!
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This is a mystery story (at least I think it's a mystery)I read in high school in the early 80's. I have only one memory about it: One of the characters is a woman who is using crutches that she paints everyday to match her outfits. This will be better than winning the lottery (almost!) if anyone can help. Thanks

Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game, 1979
The Westing Game.  Sydelle Pulaski is one of the characters in the book and she does paint her crutches in different colours.
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game.  This is the one!
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game, 1978,1992.  Yes! Oh JOY! I NEVER thought I would know the name of this book! Thank you SO much! I've already been to the library today and checked it out -- can't wait to start it!!!!
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This book's title was The  ____________  Game.  I don't remember what goes in the blank.  It was a chapter book and I would have read it in the late 70s-early 80s.  It was about a group of people that received clues to solve some riddle/mystery. I think the people all lived in an apartment building across the street from a mansion. I also want to say that at the beginning of each chapter was a new clue. I remember the book jacket being black with a house on it.  I think the house was made of bright green bills.  I want to say it was The Money Game or The Playing Game or....

The Westing Game.Can't remember the author, but this book is readiily available, and great.
 I've already been to the library today and checked it out -- can't wait to start it!!!!
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This book was required reading when I was in 6th grade in 1985/86.  The girl and other heirs race to solve a riddle/mystery so they can inherit.  Her dad was a bookie (I didn't know what this was at the time, the book made it seem bad).  In the end she solves the mystery and the dead relative isn't dead after all (concludes in a big house on a hill, where the rich man lived).  Her name possibly starts with a J, maybe Janice?
Thanks!

Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game.Sounds like The Westing Game to me.
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game. My daughter says it can't be anything but The Westing Game.  see solved mysteries for many descriptions.
Raskin, Ellen, The Westing Game,1978. Not 100%, I haven't read this since the 80's, but I'm pretty sure this is the book. I'm sitting here, skimming the 1st chapter and the girl's name is Turtle Wexler, but her father is Jake. Six families are specially selected as tenants for the Sunset Towers Apts. One of the tenants is a bookie, one is a burglar, one is a bomber, and one is a mistake. The will challenges the heirs to a contest to discover which of them is Westing's murderer. Lots of twists and a surprising ending. This was a Newberry Award book and was required reading in our elementary school in 86 or 87. You''ll probably get lots of answers on this.
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game. Definitely this book, as I just read it (because I saw it mentioned on another stumper!).  The girl goes by the name of Turtle.
You solved my stumper!  Thanks so much.  Now the nagging in the back of my brain trying to remember the title is gone  :)   Love your site!

Keep finding more as I get a chance to read the list.  W26 sounds like Whales Go By by Fred B. Phleger and illus. by Paul Galdone.  it's a Beginner Book published by Random House in 1959  I got it from the book club when I was a kid.  Can't remember all the details but a whale is born and he and it's mother travel down the coast
to the winter feeding ground.
Oooo, good find.  Yes, please search for one.

Arnold Shaprio   Illustrated by Pat Paris, What Can I Dream About, 1987.  After months of looking for this book, I found it in a box in the garage!  It is just what I remember it to be and now I can share it with my grandchildren.
Arnold Shapiro, What Can I Dream About?1987  'The poster did not give an approximate year when she read this book to her children, so I am not sure if this one was published early enough to be it, but it seems to fit the description.  It is a rhyming picture book in which little Deborah thinks of all the scary things she might dream about and her mother turns each fear into a funny situation in which Deborah is in control.
Sesyle Joslin, What Do You Say, Dear?  Illustrated by Maurice Sendak It's long shot but the question of what is the mannerly response to a ridiculous situation reminds me of this series. Bad Nose Bill asks you if you want him to shoot a hole in your head. What do you say, Dear? No, thank you. You drop in on the Duchess only it makes a rather large hole in her roof. What do you say, dear? I'm sorry!  There is at least one more book in the same vein called "What Do You Do, Dear? A search by her name has given me a long list many of which are silly etiquette books.

This is Charlotte Herman, String Bean ('72). Harold aka String Bean.
A bit more on the suggested answer: Herman, Charlotte String Bean New York, Young Reader's Press 1973 "Everyone told Harold that he was too skinny, and called him String Bean. Harold tries to gain weight without much success." Doesn't say whether it's in rhyme.
Eileen Rosenbaum, What Daddies Do, 1970.  The stumper requester used the phrase "...Harold Bean, who's smile is wide, who's hat is green." This is NOT String Bean (I own that, too) This is from What Daddies Do by Eileen Rosenbaum. It is a rhyming book of all of the different jobs daddies go to when they leave the house in the morning. Following Harold Bean through the book we find out in the end that he is the ice cream man.

Richard Scarry, Things That Go.  I'm not positive but I believe you are referring to Richard Scarry's Things That Go.  I think he has some variations on that title as well as another book about cars and trucks etc. which is different.....but I think you are looking for the original.  Good Luck!
Richard Scarry, What do people do all day?  1968.  I've just reread my copy of this and I'm sure it matches.  The ocean liner is blue and rescues a boatload of fishermen who get caught in a storm and send out an SOS message. The scene with the motorists stuck in the mud is at the beginning of a story on making a road.  I always liked the pig running after the passenger jet too!

Bilsky, Eva, What Happened After?: some familiar fairy tales continued, 1942.
Mary Norton, Are All the Giants Dead?,1975. I fear this was published too late to be the title sought, but the description sounds similar to Mary Norton's Are All the Giants Dead? From the back cover of the 1997 reprint: "One night, when he should be safe in bed, young James is whisked away by his friend Mildred to the fairy-tale land of Happily Ever After. There Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are middle-aged gossips
 Belle’s husband, the Beast, spends his days hunting dragon and unicorn and Jack-the-Giant-Killer and Jack-of-the-Beanstalk while away their retirement telling yarns about slaying the last of the giants." Perhaps worth checking, despite the date?
Bilsky, Eva, What Happened After?, 1942.After suggesting the Norton title as a possible solution, I came across a catalog listing for What Happened After? some familiar fairy tales continued, by Eva Bilsky, which would be in the appropriate date range.

Jane Edwards, What happened to Amy?. I haven't read this but it has a similar title
I believe this may be your book- What Happened to Amy? by Jane Edwards. The locale is Monterey. The young girl is employed by a mystery novelist and becomes curious about the former secretary!
Jane Edwards, What Happened to Amy? I did read this book and the description fits.  I seem to remember scratchings on paper (like from fingernails).
Thank you everyone for the answer. I have checked the title What Happened to Amy and it is the book that I had read. I have also found a library near me with a copy. I am surprised that I made no progress in my own search for a title like the one that I recalled. I am also disappointed by how inaccurate my memory was of a book that had left such a strong impression. Again, thank you for the answer. Thank you Harriett for this service. I have found many titles that have been pestering my mind for years. I also enjoyed coming up with the answer to many of the requests - too bad I came along with these well after others had already solved the question! I am quick to mention your website to others. And I will keep coming back myself.

Actually, it’s not a Little Golden Book, but it’s about the same size:
Engebretson, Betty.  What Happened to George.  NY & San Francisco: Rand McNally & Co. 1947 12mo.,
cloth, pictorial endpapers. George, the practically perfect pig, has only one fault. What happens to him when he
eats a whole platter of doughnuts? very good in very good dust jacket. <SOLD>

Thank you so much! It was my husband's favorite as a child.
Hi, I am trying to find a copy of a story  about a pig named George who ate too much,  way way too much.  This
would have been out approximatly 30 - 35 years ago.  He ate so many donuts one day that according to his
grandfather, he beleives George just  plain burst.  Thank You
Hello,  I am searching for a childrens book about a pig who eate too many donuts and at the end of the story he floats up into the air and then explodes. I am 44 years old so I'm asumming the book to be 1950's. can't tell u much more than that, but if anyone else was ever read this book I hope they remember more than I do.  I want this so bad!!!!!! please help. if u can.
This is a memory I've been searching for!!! I was read the book anywhere from 1958 thru 1963. It is about a pig and I belive his name is george. he loves donuts, at the end of the story he actually drifts up into the sky and then he blows up! I can't drive by a donut shop and not think of this book. I tell my kids about it but they look as though I must be nuts. I'mm 45 and my youngest are teens now. Please try to help me find my memory!!!!
mother pig bakes all the time. Puts cakes, pies, doughnuts on window sill to cool.  Son pig steals and eats same.  Mother always says, "someday you'll eat too much and explode."  Final pages, pig eats doughnut, explodes, ends up floating on cloud with halo.
You are Spectacular!
I remember it was a small book like a little golden book. It was about a pig who ate too many donuts and exploded through the roof of his house. There was a picture of the pig flying into the air as the house is in pieces like sticks in the air. I am not sure I have the right title. It would mean so much to have this book to rad again and to share with my kids. I had a terrible childhood and this story is a sweet memory for me. Thank you so much!
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I read this book a while back, about a pig who ate TONS of donuts, so many that he exploded!

Engebretson, Betty.  What Happened to George.  NY & San Francisco: Rand McNally & Co. 1947.  Already on Solved Mysteries.
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I want to thank you for your Solved Mysteries entry about What Happened to George. I have been wracking my brain for many years for the title of this well loved book. It was a favorite of my family. It coined the phrase among us...instead of "gorged himself" it became "georged himself" when one of the children ate too much of anything. The book belonged to a cousin and disappeared many years ago but the memory and laughter it brought has lived on. I hope to share it with a new generation.

There's a Little Golden Book called What If?  by Helen Tanous, with illustrations by J.P. Miller (LGB #130, 1951), but I don't think that's it.  The Big Golden Book of the same title is what you seek, written and illustrated by Robert Pierce, 1969.  I've even got one, ice cream and all.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Pierce, Robert.  What If?  NY: Golden Press, 1969.  Yellow pictorial cover, worn at corner and edges.  G. <SOLD>

Could the answer to C53, on Stump the Bookseller possibly be What Katy Did?  With What Katy Did at School to answer the next bit?  By Susan Coolidge.  Just a thought.
C53 - Probably What Katy Did and its sequels by Susan Coolidge (pseud. Sarah Chauncy Woolsey). In the first book Katy has an accident falling from a swing and is paralysed for several years, turning in the process from a hot-headed tomboy into almost a saint and the centre of the family. (It isn't as pious and 'good-goody' as this
makes it sound!). Book 2 What Katy did at School has a recovered Katy and her next sister Clover spending a
year at boarding school and What Katy Did Next  is an account of Katy's trip to Europe and meeting the man
she will marry. For a long time I thought that was it, but there are 2 other titles, Clover and In the High Valley.
Clover opens with Katy's wedding and continues with Clover's own romance; In the High Valley tells of an
English girl, Imogen, who comes to the valley where Clover and her husband and son, plus Elsie (the next sister
down) and her husband and baby daughter are living. Imogen marries Katy/Clover/Elsie's brother and Imogen's
brother marries the fourth sister.
This sounds very much like the Katy-did books by Susan Coolidge.  In What Katy Did, Katy falls from a swing and is bed-ridden for quite a while;  gradually her sickbed becomes the center of the household as everyone comes to her for comfort and help.  Other books are What Katy Did at School, What Katy Did Next, and Clover.  These books first appeared in the 1870's to 1880's but have been reprinted often.
C53 sounds like What Katy Did, the first of five stories about Katy Carr, by Susan Coolidge.  Katy, originally a tomboy, injures her back and is confined to bed; she's miserable until  (after a visit from an invalid aunt she adores) she learns to adjust, and gradually her room becomes the heart of the household.  The sequel at boarding school is What Katy Did at School.  Third volume, What Katy Did Next, takes her to Europe (after which
the series concentrates on her younger sister, Clover).  The early volumes are still in print (and highly popular in England).
That is exactly it! Even the name of the author sounds familiar, now that I hear it. Your web page is delightful! Thank you so much!  I would be very interested in purchasing all books.
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When I was about 10 - I'm 60 now- I read at least one book - there may have been several - that I'd love to see again. I can't even be sure the book(s) was a product of the 19th century. What I remember are bits and pieces of characters and scenes. If you could find the time to think about these bits and pieces and point me in any direction that seems feasible, I'd be very appreciative.
*several girls are traveling together - one orders the waiter to bring more waffles- she seems more experienced or worldly-wise than the others, accustomed to having her whims satisfied
*a bedroom (sitting room?) is described in great detail - Chinese screens, lavish furnishings- it may belong to a girl who is an invalid
*the girls are dressing for a party - there are detailed descriptions of dresses - lace, silk, ribbons, various colors of sashes

G56 girls' series sounds the same as W71 waffles & other memories
W71 (and G56?) Susan Coolidge, What Katy Did at School.  The waffle scene is certainly from this, and I think the other 2 bits are as well. Katy & Clover are being taken to boarding school by their father and meet their cousin Lily (and family). Lily orders the waffles and eats an astonishing number. During a holiday, rather than going all the way home, K & C go to Lily's and the room description and party dress bits that the poster remembers happens there.
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I read these books when I was about 10 (50 years ago). I'm not certain they constituted a series, and I could be wrong on the publication date, also. In other words, I can't be certain of much. What I remember are these fragments: several girls are traveling together and one of them, who is more worldly-wise or experienced than the others, orders waffles to be brought to their table again and again  a bedroom/sitting room is described in great detail, containing Chinese screens and perhaps wicker furniture one or more girls is given a large selection of dresses from which to choose - the dresses are of various colors and fabrics and many have satin sashes.

G56 girls' series sounds the same as W71 waffles & other memories
The selection of dresses sounds like an episode in Adopted Jane by Helen F. Daringer, though that isn't a series book and the other scenes described don't occur in it.  Jane's hostess for her holiday from the orphanage takes  her to choose new clothes at a department store, but Jane refuses them when she hears the cost then the hostess throws a party for Jane, at which all the other girls are wearing white dresses with silk sashes of many colors finally a seamstress comes to sew and "happens" to have enough material to make Jane several dresses.  There are descriptions of the colors and the old-fashioned fabrics such as dimity, chambray, Valenciennes lace.
What Katy did next.  I think there is an episode in either this or the previous one (Katy goes to school) when her cousin Lydia? orders waffles

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Coolidge, Susan M. What Katy Did.  Children's Press, 1968.  Previous owner's inscriptions on front inside cover and front free endpaper.  Issued as part of Library Classics (inexpensively produced) series; pictorial cover.  VG-.  $15 Coolidge, Susan M. What Katy Did.  Little, Brown, 1928.  Previous owner's inscription on front inside cover. Bottom right of paper cover illustration has been torn off.  Some smudging to first few pages.  Nice copy.  VG.  $28

This is What Miranda Knew by Gladys L. Adshead, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones. Plot summary: "A strange little tale of 2 old people who wish for grandchildren & are given 2 babies by a group of angels who eventually take the babies & the old people back where they came from. Miranda, by the way, is a cat."

What shall I put in the hole that I dig?  I don't remember the author, but I do remember this book, in which the girl plants
various things and the plant bears "flowers" that are the same as the item planted - rocks and buttons were the two I remember.  A great book.
Great.  I came up with this refernce: Thompson, Eleanor, Illustrated by Aliki.  What Shall I Put in the Hole That I Dig?
Whitman, 1963 A Whitman Top-Top tale #2496.  A little boy and girl contemplate what th