Loganberry Books
Stump the Bookseller: MN
Home
Book Club
Nostalgia
Catalogs
Book Searches
Blog
Stump the Bookseller
Solved
Mysteries
Most Requested
Books
Collectible Authors
Back in Print
Named for the Book

 
Stump the Bookseller Queries
New
AB
CD
EF
GH
IJ
KL
MN
OP
QR
S
T
UVW
XYZ
Solved Mysteries Catalog
A
B
C
D
EF
G
H
IJ
K
L
M
N
O
P
QR
S
T
UV
W
XYZ
Search Loganberry's Website!
Return pages containing    of these words: 
How to Send in Contributions
 
Book Requestwhen you know
                            the title
Book Stumper
(new format)

when you just
                            don't know what it's called
Solution
when you think
                            you know the answer
e-mail
when you want the
                            free-form method




M8: Monkey, really cranky
Solved: Monkey Trouble

M16: Mole and Car
Solved: How Mole Got His Car
M17: Moon made of cheese
Solved: Squawk to the Moon, Little Goose 
M18: Mouse housework
I am looking for a book that I used to check out from the library in the early 80s.   The pictures were cartoonish and I think the main characters were mice.  I think the book was about how to do different things around the house, but all I can remember for sure is that one of the mice learns to make balls out of socks when they come out of the dryer.

It's from '88, but Harriet Ziefert's A Clean House for Mole & Mouse does have a mouse (& a mole) doing housework. Don't remember whether they do laundry.
I am pretty sure that this is not the book because I read it when I was young (late 70s to early 80s) and I was 13 in 1988.  But thank you for trying!  I have been looking for the book for so long and I am glad I found your website to help me out.
Enid Blyton , Mary Mouse series.  These were somewhat 'comic-strip-like' books about a mouse who was a
sort of nanny/ housekeeper in a dolls house. There are many other possibilities: Alison Uttley's Little Brown Mouse books;  Rosalind Vallance's Tittymouse and Tattymouse books;  Jessie Howe's The Mouse Family at Home  and Michelle Cartlidge's Mouse House and Mousework.
Your website is absolutely fantastic!  I've been looking through it to see if I knew any of the books and it's so much fun to do it!  I was very excited that I knew three of them.  I'm also the person who posted "M18 Mouse Housework" quite a while ago and unfortunately, none of the listed suggestions, except for Jessie Howe's The Mouse Family at Home, have turned out to be the right one.  I can't find a copy of Jessie Howe's book to see if it is the right one.  I think she may also have written books under "Jessie Howe Clark," but I am not sure.  I'll keep checking back and see if anyone else has listed any new suggestions!
The Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter is a book where two mice decide to raid a dollhouse while the dolls are away.  Later on they feel bad and clean up the house for the dolls. See the last page here.


M20: Monkey did it
Solved: Seaview Secret

M24: Matching Triplets
Solved: Roweena, Teena, and Tot

Fannie Burgheim Blumberg, Rowena, Teena, Tot and the Blackberries, 1930, approximate. I'm not certain this is the book as the version cover photo does not match my memory.  I believe my quest is the same as the original requester. I remember this as a favorite from the library about 1943. The colored illustrations were more prominent than the text. I remember different colors for parasols, hats and dresses for the little girls (pickaninnies?) with I believe one picture walking or riding in a surrey to church. I was enchanted with the beautiful pictures. Maybe this was an updated take on the original story. I don't have the foggiest idea about the story. It was the pictures that drew me back again and again.



M26: Mr. Pinky's Button Factory
Just found your wonderful site.  I would like to have a copy of Mr Pinky's Button factory. It was a large format picture/story book that I saw at the library in the mid-50's.  It featured a rotund Mr. Pinky (I think that's his name) who had a button factory on the roof of a city building..The factory gave off a lovely glow at night. My recollection is that this was delightful mostly for the pictures.  I could have the name wrong, but I don;t think so...Any thoughts/help/copies available would be most welcome!!

There is a book called 1 O'Clock in the Button Factory by Beatty, but I don't know if it's the same one referred to.  It is blurbed as "if you don't know what the title means you have and overdeveloped misery gap!" The cast of characters includes Alvin Karpis, a Russian newsman, Haterhton Allen who does business in a bikini, and Dr. Stookey who is studying humor.  It is published by Macmillan.
Maybe Marie Hall Ets' first Mr Penny book? He works in a safety pin factory to support his animals, who eventually take up farming to help pay their way. First published by Viking in 1935, with 2 sequels at least. I
couldn't find much on the first one, though.
Well, the title of this sounds good, too bad there's no plot description: Heal, Edith, Mr. Pink and the House on the Roof  illustrated by Cay Ferry, published New York, Julian Messner, 1941 (ad Horn Book Sep-Oct/41 p.338)
Only because of the title - Mr. Pingle and Mr. Buttonhouse, by Ellen MacGregor, illustrated by Paul Galdone, published Whittlesey House 1957, 32 pages "Wonderful things happen when Mr. Pingle decides to visit Mr. Buttonhouse - and vice versa!" (Horn Book Dec/57 p.439 pub ad) The Heal title sounds like a better bet.
Edith Heal, Mr. Pink and the House on the Roof, 1941. There's a copy of this book for sale on ebay right now, #7041522279.  The synopsis the seller gives is "A very charming story about a rotund Mr. Pink and his button factory that gave off a lovely glow at night."  The book ends with Mr. Pink's realization that zippers were good for some things, and buttons were good for others, and that sometimes people wanted new things, but sometimes the old things are best.



M30: Merry mushroom
I'm looking for a children's book which I had in the early 70's. The main protagonist was called Merry Mushroom, a young mushroom who liked to wander away from home. He got lost in the forest and was nearly at the mercy of an evil red and white spotted toadstool. Some creatures with flames on their heads saved him though, and guided him through the forest to a place where he could sleep until morning when he was able to return to his worried family.

Title sounds right, pity there's no real plot description: Merry Mushroom, A Lore Book, translated from the Dutch, Wendy Wilkin, Sandle Bros, 1972 [22]pp, hb, 8 x 10 inches. A woodland story about mushrooms and toadstools, with pretty coloured illustrations"
Anon, Merry Mushroom.



M32: Middle Button
Solved: Little Rhody

M33: Mythology lite
In late 1950's, early 60's, I read a book from the Young Adult section of the library.  It had a dust jacket that I recall as darkish, perhaps blue or purple with people, maybe the children of the story.  The story was about a boy and girl (siblings?) who spied a wooden door in a culvert as they were passing by in a (carriage?).  They return on foot and upon entering, find Vulcan at his forge.  Reluctantly, he directs them to Pegasus.  They climb upon Pegasus'  back, and he flies to the Elysian Fields.  There is an illustration of Pegasus stretching out his dainty hoof to land gently with the children on his back.  I believe they meet other gods and goddesses also, but I do not recollect the specific incidents. I learned of your site through a visitor to the University of Calgary's The  Children's Literature Web Guide, who saw me post this several times with no luck. I certainly am enjoying your site and I was able to contribute information on the Elizabeth Enright book, Tatsinda.  I have collected her complete bibliography. Thank you for any assistance you and your readers can share.

Elizabeth Goudge, The Valley of Song,1951.  This might well be the one.  Though the main character is a little girl, not a girl and a boy, the adult characters keep turning into children, and at one point the girl and her father as a boy go through a wooden door to meet Vulcan.  They follow this up by a meeting with Taurus, not Pegasus, but it still sounds plausible.
Donahey, Mary Dickerson, Peter and Prue, pictures by Harold Gaze.  Chicago, Rand McNally 1934.  I wonder if it could be this one? The cover pastedown shows a chariot with Mercury leading it. "This story really began when Peter was only six months old, and rolled away, and was lost under a sofa for two hours.." A funny story about two little runaways with magical illustrations by Harold Gaze. Unlike many children's books from this era, Donahey's text still reads well and paired with Gaze's magical illustrations, this book has classic appeal." There's a bit more description on the Solved Page, but the children visit the Moon, and Olympus, and Valhalla, apparently. Gaze's illustration may strike a chord.



M35: Mouse and truck driver
Solved: Big Rig
M37: Mouse in the moon
I am looking for a story that was read to me from a collection around the years 1978-80.  I am 99% sure that the title of the book was The Mouse in the Moon.  I don't remember much about the collection that it was in except that the artwork was not real colorful, and that there was not alot of it.  The story was about a mouse who thought that the moon was made of green cheese and somehow crawled up to it and ate it all.  He realized that there was no more light for them to see by at night and tried to put the moon back. I can't tell you if the mouse had a name, but I do know that I have been searching for this for a VERY long time. I know that the title of the book is not Moon Mouse (everyone always tells me they have found it and give me this book title).  Thank you in advance for anyone who tries to help with this.  If you can tell me what it is, I would also be very interested in finding out how to purchase a copy.
I wanted to let you know that I found the subject content for Mouse in the Moon, and the mouse doesn't eat the moon in that story, so it can't be the one I am looking for.  I believe it will be a hard find because I think it was in a story collection. The story that I read was around 1978-1981.

M37 long shot, since I've never seen the book - Ryerson Johnson "The Mouse and the Moon" E.M. Hale & Co, 1968 Lignell, Lois, Illustrator ?  Or (still not likely) "Merry Mouse And His Trip To The Moon", a "Jolly Book". L Miller & Son, London and Ayer & James Pty. Melbourne & Sydney. 1953,  A mouse and his friends travel to the moon in a space rocket.  Or (rather old)  HOLLEYMAN Jo MOUSE IN THE MOON Sandle Brothers 1st edn 1947
As for a mouse on the moon, I've been surprised how many books I've seen with mice and rocketships, etc., both in the Little Golden/Rand McNally/Tell-a-Tale/Wonder Books variety, as well as others.
I had this book as a child and I still think the title is Moon Mouse. It was about a young meadow mouse who is fascinated by the moon and sits and looks at it every night from the opening of his burrow where he lives with his mother. His mother tells him the moon is made of green cheese. One night he decides to make a journey to find the moon, and he travels until he sees the moon seemingly on top of a building. He climbs to the top of the building and looking in a window, sees an enormous wheel of cheese upon a table which he believes is the moon. He eats and eats and eats, and finally climbs down and returns home. Then he and his mother sit at the opening of their burrow the next night and look up at the sky and the moon is a crescent. The little mouse believes it is that way because he ate it very nearly all up. The illustrations were nice black and white drawings...
Yet another possibility - Gordon, Elizabeth: THE TALE OF JOHNNY MOUSE ; Volland, 1920. Paper Covered Boards, 12mo Little Johnny Mouse, who lives in the attic with the rest of the Gray Mouse family, decides to travel to the moon and sample the green cheese there. Another lovely fantasy with superb color illustrations by the sister of Frank Lloyd Wright (Volland's "Sunny Book" series). Maginel Wright Enright, illustrator.
Evers, Helen and Alf, Moonymouse, 1956, copyright.  I too have been looking for the same book as the poster - where the mouse eats the moon and it's made of cheese and the next night there is a crescent.  Today I came across the name of the Moonymouse.  The cover looks so familiar but I am not able to find out what the inside of the book is about.  Maybe this will help the original poster.  The book the OP is talking about was my absolute favorite when I was 2 and 3.


M39: Magic glasses
Hi!  I don't know if you can help or not, but I thought I'd give it a try!  I'm looking for a book, possibly by Ruth Chew???  All I remember is that the age range for reading this book is probably early
elementary school (1st or 2nd grade), and the book was about a girl that had magic glasses.  I seem to
recall she turned her brother into a squirrel.

This could be Miss Osborne-the-Mop by Wilson Gage. Jody and Dill, cousins who originally aren't fond of each other, spend the summer together. They discover Jody has magical powers when she says "Oh, shut up and be a squirrel" and Dill turns into a squirrel. They make the mop come to life and spend the summer hiding the mop-lady and keeping her happy.  At the end, Jody no longer needs the temporary glasses she has been wearing and they discover that's where her magical power came from. However, this is not a first or second grade book.  This a chapter book, probably upper elementary.
M39: there was a book about magic glasses by Ruth Chew from the 50's...the housekeeper/nanny had a magic bag and could pull things out of it, stare at the object with the magic glasses, and bring the thing to life.  "glasses" were in the title, I'm pretty sure.
I wouldn't say that Ruth Chew is really at a grade 1 or 2 reading level, any more than the Wilson Gage book is. The Gage book does have a boy turned into a squirrel, at least. At the right reading level is Katie's Magic Glasses, by Jane Goodsell, illustrated by Barbara Cooney, published Houghton Mifflin 1965, 42 pages. "When Katie put on her first pair of glasses, 'She could see magic! She really could, just as the doctor said she would.' A story that almost makes you wish that you needed glasses too. Ages 5-8." (HB Apr/65 p.134 pub ad) The story is told in rhyme. No decent plot info, though.


M41: Moon path
Solved: Garden Behind the Moon

M42: Moose, can control the flow of time
I read this book in the early 1970s as grade school student.  I don't remember the author or title but Charles Geer illustrated it (I know his style!) and it was a science fiction book about a moose who could slow down time who was looking for something (Moose unsure what) and asks a bunch of people (some human some not) to help him look.  Two earth children help him.

could this be one of the Miss Pickerell stories, by Ellen MacGregor? They were illustrated by Charles Geerand often had science-fiction elements.



M44: Mother Goose
When I was young in the 50s I had a dear Mother Goose book, cardboard cover, I think, with color illustrations of big-cheeked children in middle-ages costumes.  I have vivid memories of the illustrations and I woudl recognize the book immediately if I saw it!  I have searched ebay and I have seen the pictures of Little Golden Books and Elf books from that time, but I don't think any of them are "it."  Were there any other inexpensive series of children's books in those days?  I have been looking for years and would pay a lot for another copy of that dear book.  Thanks!

There was another series of books in the 1950's that was similar to the Little Golden Books and Elf Books called Jolly Books put out by Avon Publishing.  One of their titles was The Jolly Book of Mother Goose.  A recently solved book stumper, The Magic Key, that was thought to be a Little Golden Book or Elf Book turned out to be a Jolly Book so this may be worth a try as well.
A number of choices: Wonder Books- #501- Mother Goose illustrated by Joseph Hirsh(1946). This was produced with several different covers over the years. Also, Wonder Book of Favorite Nursery Tales #730-illustrated by Peller. These were produced by Grosset&Dunlap. This company also produced Treasure Books. They share some titles.The Treasure Book of Favorite Nursery Tales #856 illus. by Peller. Tell-a Tale books by Whitman has The Bedtime Book # 2475-32 by Mabel Watts (1963). Also: Cradle Rhymes #894 by Gladys Horn (1949)  Humpty Dumpty and Other Nursery Rhymes #2610- by Rod Ruth (197?)  Jolly Jingles # 899-by Florence Alexander(1959)  Little Folks in Mother  Goose #863- illus. by Rachel (1946) Mother Goose #2572- illus. by Charles Clement (1955): Mother Goose #925 illus.by Ellen Fox Vaughn (1950) Mother Goose # 2511-illus. by Lucille Wallace (1958) Nursery Rhymes #857-illus by Louise Altson (1945). Sure hope something in there helps!!
Marguirite de Angeli, Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes, 1953.  I, too, was young in the 50's and had a Mother Goose Book I treasured.  I have since identified the book as Marguerite de Angeli's Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes.  It had a cardboard cover which showed many of the nursery rhyme characters including children in period costume.  Each page includes black & white illustrations (such as a cow on hind legs dancing with a bagpipe player or each of the birds of "Who Killed Cock Robin"). As well there are occasional full-page color illustrations.


M46: Mail-order bride--NOT Lady Betty Across the Water
I am cheating a little here, but I read this probably adult novel at the age of ca 13 and loved it. It belonged to a very old neighbor of my parents, in England, and I've been searching for it ever since. It is the first-person account of a British society girl who takes her maid's place and goes to Canada to marry an unknown prairie farmer, who wants a "mail-order" bride. The book describes the growing relationship, the farmer's new breed of wheat, and ends with the farmer carving a cradle for their first child. I would guess it to have been written between 1910 and maybe 1930--certainly no later. (It is not "Lady Betty Across the Water"!)

Benedict & Nancy Freedman, Mrs. Mike, 1947, copyright.  I read this book years ago and hope that this is the one you are looking for. It is about Katherine Mary who falls in love and moves to the rugged terrain of northern Canada.  The ISBN number is 0425103285.

M48: Mother Goose with bubbles
Solved: Lots of Stories 

M51: Manners
Solved: Rotten Kidphabets
M55: Magic geranium
Solved: Read Aloud Funny Stories


M56: Marshmallow cheesecake with raspberry fudge sauce
Solved: The Island of the Skog


M57: Mr. Wicker's Window
Solved:  Mr. Wicker's Window

M58: Mother dies
I have a stumper that I hope you can help me with.  It is a children's book that I read probably 10 years ago.  I don't know the title or the author of the book, so here's what I do remember:  I *think* the story begins with a woman who is about to die, she is a new mother. The book describes her as writing a note by the light of the full moon and I think she then hides it somewhere for her child to find when he grows up...This part is not very clear, so this may not be from the actual book I want...  All I can really remember  other than that (and these details I know for certain are in the book) is there were 3 children, a chubby boy who wore a propellor beanie, a skinny, tall girl whom I think had glasses and buck teeth, and another boy--a bully who beats up on the other two. This book was probably written in the late '70s, and it is illustrated in black and white. For a children's book, it contains a lot of swear words. I think the author's last name may have started with an "A."  Sorry to be so vague, but that's all I remember.  I really hope you might recognize this book, and that it wasn't something I dreamed up.  ;o)

M58 mother dies: the same query is on the Alibris list, with no success yet, but suggesting that the boy may have been named Beanie as well as wearing one. So, probably not Beany Malone by Lenora Mattingly Weber, published Crowell 1948, which is about a girl, though in the first book, Meet the Malones, the mother has been dead for three years. It doesn't really sound like Ruth and Latrobe Carroll's Beanie, published Walck 1953 either, with Beanie and his dog Tough Enough on a bear hunt in the mountains. There's another Beanie, by Susan B. Consky, published by the Moody Bible Institute, 1951, but that's about Beanie and his dog Scamp on Grandpa's farm.
Ray Bradbury, I Sing The Body Electric, 1969.  See Twilight Zone website.  It's a long shot, but I think you may be looking for "I Sing The Body Electric", a short story by Ray Bradbury in a book by the same name.  Nine year old Timothy, ten year old Agatha and thirteen year old Thomas are left without maternal care until their father buys them an Electric Grandmother.  There was another TV version in 1982 starring Maureen Stapleton.   Agatha resists bonding with the electrical grandma because she fears grandma will leave just like her mother did.  Even if it's not the story you're looking for, it's well worth reading  it's a wonderful story of coming to terms with grief and loss.  There's a very cool part of the story when the electric grandma flies a kite with the kids using "silk" that she emits from a fingertip the same way a spider ejects its web.  Also has references to a poem by Walt Whitman by the same name.  Bradbury borrowed the title and then makes the story his own.  Highly recommended!
John Bellairs, The Figure in the Shadows. (1985, approximate)  I submitted this stumper ages ago.  I now know that I was describing two separate books.  Unfortunately, I still don't know what the first book was (the one about the mother writing a letter by the moon), but the second book is definitely The Figure in the Shadows.



M59: Mark and Kathy King
Solved:  Living in America Today and Yesterday 

M61: Maggie B.
Solved: The Maggie B.

M62: Music and ghosts
I remembered another book...oh no!  This was about a pianist who lived in a grand house.  He asks a very talented student to come and study with him for a while, and she soon starts acting strangely.  It turns out that his wife had died, and her spirit was trying to take over the girl's body.  Music and ghosts and mixed up together.  I read it when I was around 12 or 13, I think.  Maybe called "Music in the Halls" or something like that? Many thanks....

 Is there any chance this is Down a Dark Hallway by Lois Duncan? A young girl successfully applies to a very select boarding school (five students, or so) and the teachers are using the students to channel great works
by dead artists.  The protagonist sleepwalks and channels piano concertos, which the teachers record and then pass on to the public as "discovered."
Oh, that sounds very neat!  I can't believe I haven't read that one - I'm a musician and love spooky stuff, so you'd think I'd have found it by now! But, I don't think it's this one.  I specifically remember this girl - she's about 16-18 proclaiming her love for the teacher and actually trying, in a fairly innocent way, to seduce him, wearing the dead wife's flowing robes (a la Rebecca, I guess...).  He's chivalrous and clever enough to realize what's going on and rejects her advances.  Is there a love subplot going on in Lois' book?  I can't remember other students being there in my book - this girl was just there to practice for 8 hours a day and have constant lessons with him.  But I'm going to look for the book you mentioned and see if that might be it.  I remember it was a paperback, and the mystery title was written in the script reserved for romance novels - all flowy and cascading down the page.
The Inheritor, Marion Zimmer-Bradly, 1980's. This is a similar story. About a psychologist who has a young 17 yo sister called Emily(?)who is training to be concert pianist.They move to a new house in San Francisco which wis haunted.They meet Simon Anstey, godson of the former owner and famous pianist. He becomes romantically involved with the elder sister. There are lots of bits about witch craft, the occult and sacrifices



M63: Montreal series
I read a series of books when I was about 10 - early '60s.  It was a series of mysteries involving a family living in Montreal or Quebec.  I believe there were 3 or 4 children in the family.  I remember stories about narrow streets and the quaint, old-fashioned streetlights - actually ones lit by a match, not electric.  They seemed old to me then so may have been published several years earlier.  Can anyone provide a clue as to the title of this series?

There's A Treasure Ship of Old Quebec by Ethel Hume Bennett, published by Macmillan in the 1930s. "Four children with a natural bent for history spend a happy summer holiday exploring old Quebec, their adventures being given a slight background of mystery and excitement by the existence of certain long-lost heirlooms." But no indication that it was a series.
#M63--Montreal Series:  Just picked up "Mystery in Old Quebec," by Mary C. Jane, Lippincott, 1955.  Doubtful this is it.  The two children, Mark and Kerry, travel to Canada with their father.  Their mother stays home with their little brother, Tim, and they don't figure in the story at all.  With two boys, Louis and Edgar, whom Mark and Kerry befriend, it does add up to four.
Thanks so much for the personal reply!  I haven't checked back on the site for awhile to see if there were any responses.   I don't think that title is right - this was definitely a series, and there was a mystery in each one.  The heirloom part sounds familiar though - I may try to get a synopsis of that book and see if some other parts of it fit the bill.
M63 Montreal series: more of a description of one suggestion, but doesn't pin it down much! Mystery of Old Quebec, by Mary C. Jane, illustrated by Ray Abel, published Lippincott 1955. A 1956 Selection of the Weekly Reader Children's Book Club. Hardcover, 123 pages, 8 1/4" x 5 1/2", Contents: A Room with a Fireplace; The missing Jacket; A strange Message; A daring decision; Rue Sous Le Cap; The French Evening; An exciting Rescue; A New Friend; Voices in the Next Room; At the Foot of the Elevator; The Big Dog; But They are Indians. (The whole story deals with a trip to Quebec City and the adventures following in this ancient city.)
Hilda Van Stockum?, Canadian Summer, Friendly Gables? late '40s, early '50s. This is quite a long shot, since I don't remember the mystery part (seems to me the Mitchell children's problems revolved around school and family, but in one book one of Peter's classmates was stealing or cheating or something, and he and his sister Patsy had to find out who it was because Peter was being blamed), but there is a lot of description and atmosphere. A sample of one book is here.
Hello -- A Google search led me to your site.  I'm trying to track down a  book that sounds like it could be the same one as M63.  Unfortunately, I don't  have any additional clues about the text to offer, but I do remember it had  wonderful black-and-white line drawings.  I think there was one of a sleigh taking  everyone home in the snow.  I hope this provides an additional lead.  I absolutely loved this book--I checked it out of my school library almost every year while in elementary school during the second half of the 1960s.  I never remembered the title, then, either--I had to go find it on the shelf. Thanks for providing an opportunity to finally track it down again.
How about the Canadian -Secret Circle Mysteries from the 1960's? I have never read them, just came upon a reference and thought it might be worth a look!
Hello -- A Google search led me to your site.  I'm trying to track down a  book that sounds like it could be the same one as M63.  Unfortunately, I don't  have any additional clues about the text to offer, but I do remember it had  wonderful black-and-white line drawings.  I think there was one of a sleigh taking  everyone home in the snow.  I hope this provides an additional lead.  I  absolutely loved this book--I checked it out of my school library almost every year  while in elementary school during the second half of the 1960s.  I never  remembered the title, then, either--I had to go find it on the shelf. Thanks for providing an opportunity to finally track it down again.
I've checked out all the titles suggested but none of them fit.



M65: Messy, really really messy
Solved: The Big Tidy-Up

M67: Maria in the meadow
Solved: A Visit to Flower-land


M68: Margot plays violin
There's a book I remember borrowing from the library when I was in grade school (late '60s, early '70s). I don't remember the title (it may have had the word "bells" in it), and the main character's name may or may not have been Margot. It concerned a young girl who played violin. She was preparing for a competition, and either desperately wanted a new violin so that she could play well in the competition, or desperately wanted to win the competition because the prize was a new violin. Eventually she did get the violin. Does this ring a bell?  I would be amazed and grateful if you could give me the name of this book.

M-68 may be A Dream To Touch by Anne Emery.  In that book the main character--Marya--plays a violin and is involved in great competition for first chair.
This looks like the same book as G 48: The Maggie B by Irene Haas.  It's recently been reprinted and is an adorable book.
This is apparently not The Maggie B, which is described on the Solved page.



M70: Marly
Solved: The Special Year 
M72: Moon Man
Solved: Moon Man

M73: Moonface
I would appreciate any information you might have on a story, possibly a native indian legend about a girl called Moonface. It is possible that it might be a legend from another culture aswell.  I don't know if it was published in a book or an anthology.Thanks for any help you might give.

Is this Moonface by Jack London?
M73 moonface: maybe this one? The Angry Moon, by William Sleator, illustrated by Blair Lent, published Atlantic-Little 1970. "Tlingit motifs and an economy of text tell this legend of an Indian boy who, assisted by a grandmother's magic, rescues an Indian girl being held prisoner by the angry moon because she laughed at his ugly face. Ages 7-10." (Picture Books for Children, Patricia Cianciolo, ALA 1973 p.91) There is a children's book called Moonface, by Gerda Marie Scheidl and Antoni Boratynski, translated from the German by Richard Sadler, published Sadler 1971, 31 pages, but I don't have a plot description yet. The library databases only have a subject tracing under Painting - Fiction and Moon - Fiction, if that's any help.
There is not a chance that Jack London's Moonface is the one required. It's a revenge story involving two men, a dog and a stick of dynamite.
Martin Rafe, the Rough-face Girl. (1992) Could the name be wrong?  This is an Algonquin version of Cinderella.
Little Scarface.  I wonder if M73 might be the old Indian legend of Scarface which is told by the Blackfoot, Mi'qmah and many other northern Indian people. It's kind of like Cinderella. There's a great hunter who is invisible, but very nice and all the girls want to marry him. His sister Patience vets possible brides by asking if they can see his bowstring or the shoulder strap on his carry-bag (or the cord on his sled). (In some versions he's called Big Moose, in others he's just the Hidden One). Scarface is called that because her cruel sister throws burning twigs at her when their father is away. Dad believes all the sister's lies why Scarface is burnt, how she lost her hair, etc. Sis has a try at Big Moose, makes something up and loses. Scarface goes in her tattered rags and helps Patience make dinner. When Big Moose comes home she cries out that his bowstring is a rainbow and the shoulder strap on his bag is made of stars. This proves she is pure of heart, and Big Moose becomes visible and warmly greets her as his fiancee. Patience washes her in magic water, curing her injuries, and renames her Beautiful.



M77: Maria can talk
Solved: Maria, Everybody Has a Name

M78: Mystery excavation
Also, I recall a story (more of a middle school reader, or chapter book) about a brother and sister who go on an excavation with their father, and it involves finding dinosaur bones -- I'm pretty sure "mystery" is in the title.

This one is a bit of a stretch, but I have The Mystery of the Flying Skeleton, A Power Boys Mystery.  The brothers help discover mastodon bones during the constuction of a motel in Florida.  Their photographer father is along to take photos. This one is probably late '60s.
Maybe, The Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones, by Mary Adrian, illustrated by Lloyd Coe, published New York, Hastings House 1965 "An easy-reading mystery about two boys and a girl on a fossil hunt in Utah. Information on prehistoric animals is woven into the text, plus a factual supplement. Ages 9-12, grades 4-6, 128 pages." 'Chris and Ken were twins, They had blue eyes, freckles, and bright red hair. This Friday morning, they were cleaning the house and looking forward to a letter from Marty Taylor, their friend down the street, who had gone on a camping trip with his parents to dinosaur country in Utah.'
another possible title is Dinosaur Dilemma, by Lois Breitmeyer and Gladys Leithauser, illustrated by Lois Malloy, published Golden Gate Junior Books 1964, "Mark Speer and Tommy Coleman intended to spend their summer vacation rock hunting until the unearthed what proved to be a huge dinosaur bone."
Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave.  This is probably far out in left field.  But Danny Dunn and his friends go on an expedition in a cave with the Professor and they find a large intact skeleton of a dinosaur.  At one point, they use an x-ray machine to see through walls and they think the Professor is in a cage when really he was standing in the middle of the rib cage of the dinosaur skeleton.
How about Stolen Bones by Joan Carris?



M79: Mouse in a museum
Solved: Norman the Doorman


M81: Mrs. Rigby's Pipe
Solved: Mother Rigby's Pipe


M85: Mickey's Marker
My dad, who isn't in the best of health, asked me to find a copy of a poem he recited as a young boy in the early 1930's called "Mickey's Marker."  It's about a boy whose mother dies, and his efforts to earn the money for a marker for her grave.  It would mean a great deal to him if I could come up with an anthology that contained this poem.  Thanks so much.

According to a page I have bookmarked, American Women Playwrights 1900-1950, something called Mickey's Marker was published in 1930 by a Leota Hulse Black.  Sorry that it doesn't give any more information, but it might be a clue.
Leota Hulse Black, Mickey's Marker. Like the requester's father, I also recited Mickey's Marker.  In my case, it was for a high school prize speaking contest in 1958.  The author is Leota Hulse Black and the piece is a short story, as I recall, not a poem.  A real tearjerker.  But who is Leota Hulse Black?  Have found very little about her on line.'



M86: Mouse defends house from cat
Solved: Mouse's House

M87: My side of the room
Solved: This Room Is Mine 

M88: Melissa
Solved: Melissa

M90: Miss Bickerton's Boarding House
The other day someone told me of a book she had loved since childhood...she is probably close to 60.  All she could tell me that the book was entitled something like "Miss Bickerton's Boarding House", or "....Boarding School", or something like that.  No author, and no other information about the book.  I would imagine that this might have been from the 40's or earlier. Thanks for any clues you might have..or even a title. Bickerton may be an approximation of that name...she was not sure.

Not that I supppose it has much bearing, but Miss Bickerton is a character in Jane Austen's Emma She is a boarder at Mrs. Goddard's (along with Harriet Smith).
Couldn't find anything involving bickerton, but there's Miss Slimmens' Boarding House, by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor, published New York, Ogilvie, 1882. No plot description available though. Less likely is Jenny Wren's Boarding House: a Story of Newsboy Life in New York by James Otis, illustrated by W.S. rogers, published Boston, Estes & Lauriat 1893, still no plot description but the subtitle gives a hint. And just perhaps - Mrs. Leicester's school; or, the history of several young ladies related by themselves by Charles and Mary Lamb, published by Dent, 1920s? "The experiences of Mrs. Leicester's ten pupils herein related differ largely. Miss Louisa Manners, aged seven, tells of a memorable visit to her grandmother's farm, while Miss Ann Withers recounts the dramatic story of how she was changed for the baby of a noble family and how she herself brought about her own downfall. The immaculateness of the telling throughout does Mrs. Leicester great credit." (Books for Boys and Girls, 1927 Toronto Public Library)
Also possible - Becky's Boarding House: a Brownie Scout Story, by Eleanor Thomas, illustrated by Gertrude Howe, published Scribner 1952, 119 pages "Brownie Scouts and their doings make up this story book for girls of 9 to 10." (Book Review Digest 1952)
Metta Victoria Victor, Miss Slimmens' Boarding House, 1887.  Sounds the most likely. Other possibilities include L.T. Meade's The Girls of Mrs. Pritchard's School (1904  also others by this author) Evelyn Everett Green's Miss Greyshott's Girls (1907)  or Mabel Tyrrell's Miss Pike and Her Pupils (1928).



M91: Mystery of Skull Cave
Solved: Skeleton Cave

M92: Mrs. Santa Claus
Solved: Number Two Joy Street


M93: Mrs. Pickerel's Upside Down House
Solved: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

M94: Magic Stove Dial Invisible Siblings
Solved: M is for Mischief

M95: Mud bath
Solved: Karoleena

M96: Mail-eating monsters
Solved:  One Monster After Another

M97: Mystery and Monsters???
SCHOLASTIC PUT IT OUT I THINK, MID 70'S?  HAD VARIOUS STORIES OF HORROR THEMED STUFF! REMEBER THE COVER HAVING A DINOSAUR AND BIGFOOT DRAWINGS ON IT!  THE REASON I'M LOOKING WAS WA STORY OF ABOUT ''THE ELEVATOR OPERATOR''!  THERE'S A PIC OF THE 'GHOST' IN THE STORY TOO! BLACK AND WHITE PIC AT THAT! REMEMBER IT BEING POCKET SIZE AS WELL!!!!  I'M GOING NUTS FOR ALL THESE YEARS LOOKING! THANKS.

I vividly remember the "Elevator Operator" story from a mid-1970's Scholastic paperback called Strange but True: (some number) Amazing Stories.  The black-and-white illustration of the operator terrified me.
This sounds like it could be an answer someone gave for another stumper, STRANGE BUT TRUE; 22 Amazing Stories by Donald J. Sobol  ~from a librarian
c.b. colby, strangely enough!  I remember a Scholastic paperback of this in my 2nd grade classroom. Intended for older than 2nd grade obviously. Lots of ghost stories, some factual (the "Mary Celeste" incident), some rumor-y (Loch Ness monster) Definite "Twilight Zone"/"Ripley's Believe it or Not" feel. Colby was also the author of books about military hardware for budding warriors -- many titles of which "Arms and armor of Our Fighting Men" is the only one I can remember.
I am also looking for a book that seems close to this description... The only thing I can recall is the cover; a painting version of the Bigfoot film taken by Roger Patterson, and other monsters. I also recall that a number of the stories inside were of legendary beasts and animals, including the hoop snake, a weird beast that had legs shorter on one side, and always had to run on the hillsides; & the Jersey Devil. also "strange being" stories like Springheel Jack and the Mad Gasser of Matoon.  If this seems to be the same book, I am crazy to find it as it was one of my favorites between 7th and 9th grades, when I lost it in a move.



M98: Maggie goes to camp
Solved:  Just Plain Maggie

M99: Medieval adventure romance
I do not know whether you can help me or not as I can remember very little about the book.  It is definitely fantasy/adventure type set in mediaeval type ages.  There are horses in it somewhere.  The part I remember is that there is this couple, a man and a woman--they are betrothed or something--but don't know the first thing about each other.  They have to sleep in the same bed but don't trust each other.  They are both warrior types.  He places his sword down the middle of the bed and after they have become friends and been through various adventures the sword is placed at the door.

David Eddings, Belgariad (series of 5), 1980s.  Some similarities in this series to what is remembered by the poster - they are not technically children's books, but when I worked in public libraries (until 1990) the series was bought for 'young adult' as well as 'adult fiction' sections of the library. Can't remember the individual titles, and there was a second series called the Malloreon which too the story further. There is certainly a sword that in the last book of the first series (the Belgariad) 'blushes' when put at or outside the door of the nuptial chamber when Garath and C'nedra finally consumate their marriage.
Eddings, David, Belgariad/ Mallorean, 1980s.  Further info on the two series mentioned:  Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, Enchanter's Endgame. Mallorean: Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, Seeress of Kell
Rosemary Sutcliffe, The Mark of the Horse Lord.  Don't remember about the sword in the bed, but definitely a warrior-like and warring hero and heroine in the medieval The Mark of the Horse Lord. Marketed to teens, but really bordering on adult rather than young adult.  The two were betrothed, but as a ritual the man had to hunt the woman on horseback in the beginning.  Odds are placed in his favor by mounting her on a tired horse and (???) binding her hands???  Anyway, he catches her and she tries to knife him, but he disarms her . . . but that's just how they get together.  They are betrothed as an alliance of clans, etc.  The focus of the book is on the warring over the kingdoms, etc.  Sound like your book?
Sorry, this one is NOT David Eddings.  I know those books backwards and forwards.  The relationship sounds a little similar to the main characters, but those two are never allowed to sleep in the same tent, let alone the same bed.
Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Rose of the Prophet trilogy, 1989.  I'm not sure if these are the books the poster is looking for.They're definitely NOT for children...I would put them in the mature category, but the two main (human) characters are a man and a woman who are betrothed to each other, even though their families are enemies. They spend the three books going on a Great Quest, and they not only start off sleeping with a naked sword between the two of them, but Zohra (the girl) tries to kill Khardan...more than once. The pantheon of the Gods is involved, as well as Angels, Wizards, Djin (one of whom is named Pukah) and demons.  This person might also be remembering a portion of one in Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. I think in the book about Mars, the man who becomes Mars is initially betrothed to a woman he doesn't know, and they are sent to a honeymoon palace, but spend the first number of nights in the same bed with an unsheathed sword between the two of them  I think they both loved someone else. Of course, they end up falling madly in love.  I can't remember what happens next, I do know that he becomes the god of War...  This person is definitely NOT talking the Belgariad or the Mallorean (although those series certainly merit a reading...or twelve), as Garion and Ce'Nedra never actually hate each other.
Tamora Pierce, Alanna. I don't remember the exact episode described, but could this be one of the books in the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce?  She wants to be a knight so originally poses as a boy.  of course as she grows up in later books her cover is blown.  After that romance does come into her relationship with her male companion.
Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness (Alanna) series.  This is NOT the answer to this stumper - I just read the Alanna series and she isn't betrothed to anyone, nor does she sleep with a sword between her and soneome else.
Jennifer Roberson, Sword Dancer.Might this be the first book of Jennifer Roberson's Sword Dancer series?  The plot involves a female sword dancer (warrior/duelist) who hires a male sword dancer to travel with her in search of her brother.  She doesn''t trust him in the beginning of the story but eventually they fall in love.  The sword in the middle of the bed rings a bell with me, and this is the first book I thought of upon reading that detail in the summary submitted by the original poster...hopefully I''m not mixing it up with some other book!
Rosemary Sutcliff, Song for a Dark Queen, 1979. Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary Sutcliff doesn't fit this description terribly well, except for the fact that Boudicca (Boadicea), married unwillingly, puts her father's sword on the bed between herself and her new husband.  Eventually, when she finds that she loves him, the sword is put outside the door.  Perhaps the searcher is mixing this episode with the story from another book (or not - it may well be in the other book, but I thought it couldn't hurt to submit this)



M100: Marine Biology
Solved: "Minnow" Vail


M101: Magic pencil
Solved: Humpty Dumpty's Bedtime Stories

M102: Multiplication tables
I am trying to remember a poem we used to recite in school.  It was about a little girl who studied her tables over and over and couldn't remember the answer to 6 times 9, so her sister told her to call her favorite doll (Maryann) her dear little 54 to help her remember the answer. Next day at school Elizabeth Wigglesworth answered teacher's questions re the problem of 6 x 9 incorrectly, so when teacher asked Dorothy, she thought of her doll and anwered "Maryann".I would love to find the author's name and, of course, the correct language in the poem.  I am 71 years old and it's a chore to force my memory back that far.  Would sincerely appreciate your help.

Right on the tip of my tongue.  Wonderful poem.
Anna Maria Pratt, "A Mortifying Mistake" from Little Rhymes for Little People, 1896.
I studied my tables over and over, / and backward and forward, too / But I couldn't remember six times nine, / and I didn't know what to do, / Till sister told me to play with my doll, / and not to bother my head. / "If you call her `Fifty-four' for a while, / you'll learn it by heart," she said. / So I took my favorite, Mary Ann / though I thought 'twas a dreadful shame / To give such a perfectly lovely child / such a perfectly horrid name), / And I called her my dear little "Fifty-four" / a hundred times, till I knew / The answer of six times nine as well / as the answer of two times two. / Next day Elizabeth Wigglesworth, / who always acts so proud, / Said, "Six times nine is fifty-two," / and I nearly laughed aloud! / But I wished I hadn't when teacher said, / "Now, Dorothy, tell if you can." / For I thought of my doll and / --sakes alive!--I answer, "Mary Ann!"



M103: A mystery involving a girl named Kit
Solved: Mystery of the Pirate's Ghost 

M104: My little chipmunk
This was my mom's "only book" when she was little. After she learned to read she "read it every day."  This was in the early 1940's.  If possible I would like to find a copy.  Thanks so much.

Well, the date's right, anyway, maybe - Chipper, by Hortense Flexner, illustrated by Wyncie King, published Stokes 1941. "Though a real chipmunk sat for his picture in this realistic story, it is written with charm and a pleasant turn of fancy. Chipper was the member of a family who believed in giants and did not trouble to store up supplies for winter. That is, until he had tamed his giant animal who gave him sunflower seeds to carry away in his pouches. While Chipper was sure he had tamed his giant friend, the human giants felt the same way about him. An entertaining story for pet lovers, well illustrated." (Horn Book Sep/41 p.369)
M104 my little chipmunk: another possible title is Cheeky Chipmunk by Helen & Alf Evers, published Chicago, Rand-McNally 1945. "The tale of a chimpmunk who loves to tease but becomes the victim of one of his own pranks."
Could be Scatter the Chipmunk, by Catherine Cate Coblentz, illustrated by Berta Schwartz, published Chicago Childrens Press 1946, with four color illustrations and illustrated endpapers. "Story of the adventures of three young chipmunks and how old Grey Cat tries to catch them on their forays for food. Scatter, the baby in the chipmunk family, is always in trouble. However, a little girl looks after him."
This may be too late into the 1940's (1947), but as a child I had a beautiful book written and illustrated by Marjorie Torrey called Three Little Chipmunks.  Chuffy, Chirpy and Cheeky get into trouble for frightening Mr. Wren's chicks.  Cheeky is wrongly accused and is sent to bed without supper.  When the truth is learned, Cheeky's mother brings him a big bowl of ice cream, and he is later asked to "babysit" the Wren chicks.
McElroy and Younge (American Book Co.), Toby Chipmunk, 1937, copyright.  Hope this helps!  Toby Chipmunk is an early reader which I read in a Wisconsin one-room schoolhouse in the late forties - it's extremely difficult to find (I finally did get a copy) and not cheap! It's about talking, clothes-wearing chipmunk children who live with Grandma Chipmunk in her house in a hollow tree trunk.  A delightful little book.



M105: Mothman, old mose
I ordered a book in elementary school, around 1975, from a school program. The book was probably Scholastic. I thought the title was Mythical Monsters, or something similar. It was a collection of short encounters with 'real' monsters. Stories I remember: Old Mose (a giant bear), Devil's Footprints, and The Mothman. The book was illustrated. The cover was a depiction of The Mothman. I have been unable to track it down. I would appreciate any help you could provide. Thanks

Daniel Cohen, mid-late 70's.  I had that book also.  Can't recall the title offhand, but Daniel Cohen wrote several similar books during this period and they often appear on eBay.  I can tell you it is NOT Supermonsters.
If M105 is indeed a Daniel Cohen book, it's probably his Monsters, Giants and Little Men from Mars -- the date (1975) is right, and apparently this one does cover Mothman; not sure about the other beasties listed in question.



M106: Marnie sea ghost girl
Solved: When Marnie Was There

M107: Millowner's daughter's diary
I recall a children's/teenage book from the early eighties or thereabouts about a girl of around thirteen, an only child, who moves house to the North of England- I think somewhere in Manchester. She finds something under the floorboards of her new bedroom- some sort of diary or document connecting her to a story from the past. The past story, which is possibly told in parallel chapters, concerns the progressive and kind daughter of an exploitative millowner. She tries to assist the workers in some sort of political or charitable endeavour. This story ends sadly. I can't remember the title or author, although the latter's name may have begun with "M". Grateful for any clues.

Mabel Esther Allan, The Mills Down Below, 1980.  It's a while since I read this, but the girl's age & the place would be right.  It was set just before the First World War & she was the daughter of a mill-owner who fought for the mill workers' & womens' rights.  I do have vague memories of it starting with finding a diary.



M108: Mouse wears red
Solved: Friends and Neighbors 

M109: Mabel
Solved: The Adventures of Mabel 

M110: Musical notation characters
The characters were named for musical notations, i.e. G Clef, Allegro.  This book was probably aimed at grade schoolers.  Not much to go on, but thanks for trying.

M110 musical notation characters: this is probably too early and too long, but just in case, Prince Melody of Music Land, written by Elizabeth Simpson, illustrated by Mary Virginia Martin, published by Knopf 1921, 183
pages, hardbound book that measures 5.5" by 8.25", pictorial binding. I have seen one illustration from this, the picture shows a witchy type with caption: "My name is Treble Clef" she piped.



M111: Miles, a character in an enchanting book
Solved: The Ghost of Dibble Hollow


M112: Mystery about the Lost Dauphin of France
Solved:  Mystery of the Other House 

M113: Magical Island
I have been hunting for a book that I read in the mid-late 1970's. It was a story about a magical island (perhaps a wishing island). I remember it as being a beautiful place. I'm not sure how the main character got to the island.  I remember where in the school library it was, it was light green (I think), hard covered, and around a 1/2 inch thick. I wish I could remember more.  Perhaps you have the answer. Thank You.

M113: Sounds like The Green Isle (1974) by Philip Burton, adoptive father of Richard Burton! It's a
romantic fairy tale that takes place in Wales in the 11th century (the Norman invasion). Two lovers seek a place of permanent refuge and there's a beautiful island that they can only see from a certain point on the mainland - when they move, the isle magically disappears. A clever servant figures out that the only way to keep the isle in sight and thus reach it is to take the "vantage point" with them!
M113 This is just a guess, but could it be EVER-AFTER ISLAND by Elizabeth Starr Hill, 1977. A scientific expedition goes to an island (with some of the children of the scientists) and all the stuff of fairytales - elves, mermaids, etc. exist on this island. I have the hardcover, and it has a pale blue cover. ~from a librarian
Maybe - Fairwater, by Alastair Reid, illustrated by Walter Lorraine, published Houghton 1957. "Fairwater was a small island shaped like a sea horse ... a legend, a place too good to be true, too gay, too green, too
neat, too lovely for anyone in the Seven Kingdoms to risk a visit, lest they never come back. The most remarkable thing about it was that it was always Today on Fairwater. Scarcely less remarkable was its Princess Tiran who had suddenly appeared when Lorn the old magician was experimenting with a spell called 'How to Make Girls out of Air.' This is the story of the lovely Tiran with silky hair the color of wind, of Garth who loved her, and what happened when Phooph the glassblower of Croam put a strange glass curse upon Fairwater. The imaginative pictures make it a lovely book." (Horn Book Jun/57 p.222)
M113 magical island: More on one suggested - Ever-after Island, by Elizabeth Starr Hill, published 1977, 119 Pages. "Ryan and Sara Finney were used to exploring remote parts of the world; since their mother died, their fish-expert father had taken them on a number of expeditions. But never to an island that was only a dot marked with an X on a hand-drawn map. And certainly never with as secretive a leader as Dr. Moody Murk, who had already found the bones of a little manlike creature, unknown to science, and who was fanatically looking for the discovery of a lifetime. Ryan was especially curious about Dr. Murk's hoped-for scientific coup when he saw the ship the old man had chartered---strangely like a pirate vessel. And even more curious were the scientist's carefully guarded research souces---strangely like fairy tale volumes!" (from the dustjacket)
M113 magical island: also worth looking at is the Patricia Gordon / Joan Howard book The Oldest Secret, published Viking 1953. The boy in that goes to a magical island with a sunken forest, where he meets Robin Goodfellow and Pan, as well as dangers of various kinds.
M113 magic island: another possible is Children's Island, written and illustrated by Richard G. Robinson, published Dent 1971, 160 pages. "Darley has marigold coloured hair which seems on fire and an imagination which is on fire. His teacher puzzles but his mother accepts. In the tool shed his mind takes him on a journey to the island of tigers and children where realism is confined to the crotchety old Grumkin who is as far away as can be and where the evil monster Vambatta awaits destruction at his hands." (Children's Book Review Jun/71 p.91)
Could this one be Dean Marshall's The Invisible Island?
Definitely not Dean Marshall - The Invisible Island was about children in Connecticut, not a fantasy story.



M114: Mirror is gate into another land
Solved: The Winter of Enchantment

M115: Melinda lived in a little white house
Solved:  The Tale of Custard the Dragon
M116:Magic Boots
Solved: What the Witch Left

M117: Magic book
I remember reading  a fantasy story in the mid to late 70's about a man who buys either an illustrated book or a picture which transports him to a fantasy fairytale land but I cannot recall the title or the author.

The plot sounds like The Never-ending Story by Michael Ende, but the main character in that is a young boy, Bastien, and it was first published in the US in 1983. It's a common enough plot device, though.
Donaldson, Stephen, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever, 1977. Could it be the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen Donaldson?  The protagonist is a leper shunned by his neighbors, cast off by his wife who takes their baby son with her.  He falls and hits his head and wakes up in "The Land" -- a beautiful country with giants and magic, but loomed over by evil Lord Foul, whom Thomas is summoned to conquer -- his white gold wedding ring plays a large part in the series. 


M118:Mrs. +cats
Solved: Miss Lollipop's Lion

M119: My Africa
About 15 years ago, CBS had a 1 hour weekly series that summer called "The CBS Summer Playhouse". One of the episodes was based on the memoirs of the little girl in the story. She and her younger brother were sent to live with their estranged father, who was a doctor in Africa, after their mother's death. They were from England, so I assume the book was probably published there. I'm almost positive that the title of the book the episode was based on was called "My Africa".  I've had no luck in finding out anything about this book, or who wrote it. If the book is anything like the 1 hour episode, it would be a great read!

A similar story, though perhaps not the one wanted is The Toe-Rags: a Story of a Strange Bringing-up in Southern Rhodesia, by Daphne Anderson, published London, Methuen 1989, 373 pages. The narrator and her young brother are taken in by their estranged father's family after their mother vanishes. The brother is favoured, but Daphne is never accepted and is brought up largely by the black servants. Like most Rhodesians of the time, the family is more English than the English, and they reject her partly because they think she may have native blood. It may be too recent, though.
M119 sounds awfully familiar...could it be something by Isak Dinesen?  Do we know what the time period is?
Thank you for your prompt response! I really appreciate your help. The two possible answers given aren't correct. If I remember correctly, the time period the book was set in would probably be the 1930's, or there about. I even emailed CBS, but of course they never responded to my query. I'll keep checking back. Thank you again for your wonderful service!
Elspeth Huxley, The Flame Trees of Thika, 1959.  This might be it! Memories of an Africa Childhood by Elspeth Huxley. A famous book I believe.This was made into a movie in recent times, I remember catching a glimpse of it. I thought it was on PBS. Haley Mills, an adult, had a part.
This isn't The Flame Trees of Thika. In that memoir, the entire family goes to Africa (one parent is not dead) to run a coffee plantation.
This is not a solution, but does offer some more data on the TV episode.  I found a description in UNSOLD TELEVISION PILOTS: 1955 THROUGH 1988 by Lee Goldberg (McFarland, 1990) it's entry #2248 there.  The saliant bits:  TWO WORLDS (a.k.a. MY AFRICA).  60 minutes.  Airdate: 6/21/88. . . Writer: Blanche Hanalis. . . Aired as a segment of CBS SUMMER PLAYHOUSE.  This pilot, set in 1952, stars Carl Weintraub as Dr. Charles Marston, the son of British and American parents, raised in Africa and educated in America, where he marries and raises a family.  When his wife dies, he brings his two children (Jaime McEnnan and Gennie James) to Kenya, where he opens a jungle clinic, aided by his Maasai friend (Joseph Mydell) and a woman doctor from an aristocratic British family (Jenifer Landor).  Shot on location in Kenya. . .  Note that the entry in the Goldberg book doesn't make any mention of a book from which the show (the unsold pilot) was derived, if any. Looking at other entries, he usually seems to do so when appropriate, at least for well-known sources, but I did spot at least one other case where they missed a book I know, and one or two in which they get such a citation wrong in some way, so that's not Goldberg's chief focus.  Maybe there's an ultimate book behind this one and maybe not, but it looks like the odds are against it.  Blanche Hanalis wrote a lot of screenplays, some adapted from books and some apparently original stories.  I can'\''t find her credited in WorldCat with a book under either the MY AFRICA or TWO WORLDS title, nor do I find a book called TWO WORLDS that seems to match the premise described.  Hope this helps a bit, at least.



M120: Mannequin as a Doll
Solved: Bad Times of Irma Baumlein
M121: Mannequins Abandoned Children
Solved: Secrets of the Shopping Mall
M123: Miranda World War II
Solved: Four Story Mistake
M124: Machine peanut butte navy
The book was about a boy who goes on a ?navy ship to build a machine or something. He is hidden under a big cover while he builds and everyone wonders what he is up to. I specifically remember he gives them a needed supplies list that includes peanut butter and jelly among the wood/nails, etc.  When he is done, he has a great --invention or machine--I think?

M125: Miss Pitty Pat?
Solved: Pitty Pat, the Fuzzy Cat
M126: Mr. or Dr. Snell
Solved: Mother Goose


M127: Mother Goose / poetry collection
Solved: Better Homes and Gardens Story Book


M128a: Mockingbird Flight
Solved: Mockingbird Flight 

M129: mythology books
There was a series of books at my public library in the early 1960s with different stories in them - one, say, on Greek myths, another of other mythology-type stories, several of these. From what I remember, they were gray (this is the main memory, other than some of the stories), and I believe they had pictures in black on the cover, and the titles in black on the spine  there were at least 4 or 5 of them, maybe more. Any ideas?

Try Patrick Collum....
Oxford Myths and Legends Series? 1950s.  Oxford University Press published a series of books like this in the '50's:  here's one example: Picard, Barbara Leonie FRENCH LEGENDS, TALES & FAIRY STORIES
1st edition 1955, Oxford University Press, in the Myths & Legends series. 5th volume in the series. 216 pages. Striking full page colour and black & white illustrations by Joan Kiddell-Monroe. Stone coloured cloth. Spine gilt, slightly bumped at tail.  (Is "stone coloured cloth" close enough?)
I think you may be thinking of The Young Folks' Shelf of Books put out by P. F. Collier and Sons. The set may consist of 10 volumes(?). Each dealing with a different theme. Vol 3- Myths and Legends, vol 4-Hero Tales, vol 5- Stories That Never Grow Old.etc. May be worth a look!
Ingri D'aulaire, Edgar D'aulaire, D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths.  I remember reading a grey book of greek myths with the drawings on the front being sort of black lineart. I found it but the cover is different. The one I read was a big hardcover.
There seems to be another one on Norse myths so maybe its the series you're looking for? 



M130a: Mystery
Solved: Meg and the Ghost of Hidden Springs

M130b: magic
Solved: Magic Bonbons

M131: Mortimer
Solved: Ghosts Who Went to School
M132: Make-believe bear and a boy
I think this book might have been published as a Whitman Tell-A Tale" book.  It was one of the favorite books that I read to my boys.  We called in the "Me Bear" book but I cannot recall the real name of the book.  The little boy went for a walk and came back with a bear. It seems that maybe the bear could only be seen by the little boy and not his mother.  We lost this book in a move many years later an all our grown sons have asked about the book because they would like to share it with their sons.

#M122--Make-believe bear and a boy:  A story about a boy bringing a bear home is Benny and the Bear, by Barbee Oliver Carleton, but there is no mother in that and the bear is quite real!  Stories about a boy, his mother, and an imaginary bear are the Blackboard Bear series.
Joan Walsh Anglund, Cowboy and His Friend. This the story of a little boy and his imaginary bear friend.
Knoche, Norma and Daly, Eileen, A Story About Me. (1966)  I am sure that the book you are looking for is A Story About Me, by Norma Knoche and Eileen Daly.  This is a Whitman Big Tell-a-Tale book, and the plot is just as you described: a little boy finds a bear in the woods and brings him home, only the boy's  mother is unable to see the bear. This was a childhood favorite of mine also, and I enjoy reading it to my children.
A Story About Me. The book is definitely A Story Bout Me.  It is my all-time favorite children's book and I still have my original copy.  I especially enjoyed the part where Mom gives them milk and cookies and Me Bear is so shy that he doesn'\''t wave to her until he is at the gate at the end of the walk.  I remember reading this to myself, my younger sister, my two girls and now I look forward to reading it to my Grandchildren someday.  Although I think I could recite it from memory, I am glad I have the book.  The illustrations are priceles.



M133: Merry uses disguises
Solved: The New Moon with the Old
M134: Mexican Family makes soup or stew
Solved: Mexicali Soup
M135: Mrs. ?'s Garden
Solved: Miss Jaster's Garden

M136: Mad about horses
Solved: The Midnight Horse 

M137: Marjorie
Solved:  Marjorie and Co. 
M138a: Mystery series with children at summer house
This is a group of books, dark purple hardbacks.  A mystery series about children who went to stay for the summer at a house at the end of a boardwalk by the ocean.  At the other end was an old rundown house with thick vines and trees in its backyard and the children thought it was haunted.  And old woman with a cane and a dog.  The children were afraid of the old woman, she lost her dog during a storm, the haunted house was cleaned up and a big party was given there by the new owners, and also a captain had a boat moored off of the boardwalk.  This series had nothing to do with boxcar series.  Was always located at this boardwalk.

Jerry West, Happy  Hollisters, 1960s??  Could the series be the Happy Hollisters by Jerry West? There are so many titles in that collection-- HH and the Sea Gull Beach. HH and the Sea Turtle Mystery, HH and the Old Clipper Ship are a few.  Or maybe the Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope,(I think)! BT at the Seashore,BT at Lakeport, BT at Lighthouse Point, and others. Honey Bunch is another old series. I don't know much of this set.
M138 mystery series: this sounds a bit like Captain Ghost (Solved List) but that wasn't a series.
Could this be The Maida Books by Inez Haynes Irwin from the 1940's? The poster gave no indication when these books were read! There is Maida's Little Lighthouse, Maida's Little Island, Maida's Little Houseboat, etc. In M's Houseboat the boat breaks from its dock during a sudden fierce storm and the boat is adrift. It finally runs aground on the island and the children are stranded there for several days. They stay in an old stone house called Stonehenge and they discover a stray dog marooned on the island as well. Many of the stories in this series take place on the large property owned by Maida's father: the Big House where he lives, the Girls House and the Boy's House where the children live--they are on the coast of Massachusetts. There is a dock with the houseboat and the island offshore.The endsheets are illustrated to depict the Westabrook property and the story settings. As a kid I always loved maps and diagrams where I could track the actions as they unfolded!
Could this be the Hilda Boden books about the Marlows? Several titles: Marlows at Castle Cliff, Marlows at the Regatta, Marlows at Newgate, The Two Emeralds. She has other stories but I don't know if the Marlow children are in them- House by the Sea, Treasure Trove, Mystery of the Island Keep. I am not familiar with these books but I came upon them recently- since they were a series I thought I'd give it a shot!
John and Nancy Rambeau, The Mystery of Morgan Castle, 1962.  This is the first book in the series of dark purple books called the morgan bay mysteries.  They are about children who live in morgan bay along the boardwalk and think the morgan house is haunted.  However in it live an old lady with a cane and she has a dog.  Could be what you are looking for.
John and Nancy Rambeau, The Morgan Bay Mysteries. (1962-65)  This sounds remarkably like the Morgan Bay Mysteries, though you seem to be talking about scenes from several of the books, not just one.  These books were hardcover with illustrations in shades of purple.  The first book, The Mystery of Morgan Castle, involves Gabby, Bill and Vinny Summers who live in the seaside town of Morgan Bay.  There is a vine-covered castle at the end of the boardwalk and old Mrs. Wellington lives right next door with her dog (who runs away).  In another book in the series, The Mystery of the Midnight Visitor, the house is fixed up and is the site of a Garden Club party.



M138b: Mac and Tilly fall in love at college
I remember reading this book in the early 1970's in middle school.  It was a paperback book that was probably published in the 1950's-1906's and might have been purchased through a school book club such as Scholastic or Troll.  It was classified as a young adult book similiar to the books that Rosamond Du Jardin wrote.  It was about two people, Mac and Tilly (I think that was the girl's name).   They were next door neighbors and had a love-hate brother/sister like relationship. The book started out with Mac already in college and Tilly finishing up her Senior year in high school getting ready to go the her spring prom.  I remember that Tilly had brown hair and I think Mac was described with red hair. After graduation, Tilly ends up going to the same college that Mac attends and that is when the problems begin.  Mac does not like the boyfriend that Tilly has at college and Mac's college girlfriend is very jealous of Tilly.  I also remember that Tilly lived in a door room and she and her roommate had matching bedspeads and curtains in their room.  I also remember the girls being roused out of bed in the middle of the night for a "Kangaroo Court" and Tilly was ordered to stay away from Mac.  There was also some quirky think about the college having a superstition or saying that when the college bell tower rang the next person you ran into on campus was suppose to be your true love.  The next person that Tilly ran into the day the bells rang was Mac.  There was other types of boy-girl trouble on campus and both Mac and Tilly went home for Christmas break very unhappy with their lives.    The book ended with Tilly going over to Mac's house to take his family a Christmas present from her family and she and Mac realized that they had fallen in love with one another.  I can remember eveything about this book except for the Author and Title!  I would love to track this book down for my collection. I hope that someone will read this and be able to help me.  Thank you!

ARGH!  I've read this one too - and loved it.  It was called something like To Find Your Love, or I'll Find My Love - I remember a little snatch of song that Mac sings at the end when they realize they were  - to quote Sleepless in Seattle - MFEO  (Meant for Each Other)!  Maybe by Mary Stolz?  Maybe not?  Now, you've got ME going crazy!!
Joan Dirksen, I'll Find My Love (1957)  I was not the original poster, but when I read this I remembered the book perfectly.  It drove me crazy for months, but I rooted around in my 50+ years of memory to finally remember a title.  I ordered it ILL and it is the one!! I got chills when I read the first page!  Yes, it is very 50's in tone, but it is really well-written. I am so excited, all I can say is:  "And now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy!!!"



M139: Monster at beach eats people
Solved: The Hungry Sea Monster
2002


M140: mystery-adventure
Solved: Mystery of the Haunted Mine 

M141: Mojo Swaptop
Solved: Mojo Swoptop

M142: Mystery at Lookout Mountain
Solved: Lookout Mystery Series 
M143: the messy room
Solved: The Big Tidy-Up 

M144: Mermaid
Solved: Clelia and the Little Mermaid

M145: Mother Goose
Solved: Silver Pennies 
M146: Mother Goose Rhyme/Fairy Tale book
Solved: Annual Mammoth Story Books

M147: mother with children who have individual requests
Solved: Heckedy Peg 

M148: Mr. greens spaceship?
Solved: Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet 

M149: Magic Boots
Solved: What the Witch Left 

M150: Magic Mirror
Solved: Little Witch 

M151:  Mom, dad, little kid; a day in the life
This is a book from the late 60's early 70's. From what I recall the whole book has an aqua hue and black and white sketching. It's about a toddler aged child who throughout the course of his/her day eats oatmeal with mom and dad, throws a tantrum, and it even includes (and I quote) the child having a "BM" on the toilet. The whole toilet thing really stands out in my memory. I want to say that the book is about dealing with emotions but it's abstract.
2003


M152:  mystery at a girls' camp
Solved: Mystery at Laughing Water 

M153: Me too cried little Davy
Solved: Snowman's Christmas Present

M154:  Moon will wane and wax again
This was a collection of stories that were sort of like fairy tales, but not any of the familiar ones.  One story was about something that happened to the moon, and the main thing I remember is that someone told the moon that from now on, "You will wane, but you will wax again", referring to the cycles of the moon.  Another story in the book was about a princess named Paz, which meant peace.  And from another story in the book, all I can remember is a detail about rabbits growing "rabbit tobacco", which stuck in my mind although it was not important to the story.  Now, I think in this same book there was Oscar Wilde's story, "The Birthday of the Infanta".  But I don't think the other stories from the book are written by him, from what I've been able to find out.  I think this was just an eclectic mix of stories, and I would dearly love to find it again.

This isn't a solution, but rabbit tobacco (lavender) is mentioned in Beatrix Potter's stories.
Sally Patrick Johnson (editor), A Book of Princesses
I sent this stumper in, and I just wanted to note that the solution is NOT the Princesses book edited by Sally Patrick Johnson.  There are lots of wonderful stories in there, but no story about a princess named Paz, (actually, I wonder why it is not).  Also, the story about the moon waxing and waning is not in there.  It could be that the Infanta story wasn't really in the book I'm trying to find - I may be remembering that wrong.  And, the rabbit tobacco detail was in a story about animals (maybe rabbits, maybe not), but I don't think it was a Beatrix Potter story.  Thanks for the ideas though!
George Macdonald , Little Daylight.  Could the 'waxing and waning of the moon' refer to George Macdonald's short story "Little Daylight" about a princess who is cursed by an evil hag at her christening to 'wax and wane with the moon"? I read this as a child in an anthology  I thought it was the 'Princesses' book that I suggested earlier, but could be wrong.
This is the original poster again.  Nope, it's not The Princesses.  In my edition of The Princesses (copyright 1962) edited by Sally Patrick Johnson, the George Macdonald story is called The Light Princess.  Her evil aunt curses her to have no gravity (both lack of physical weight and emotional seriousness).  Her Prince must allow himself to be drowned to fill up a sinking lake that the Princess loves to swim in.  So, that is not it - nothing to do with the moon
waxing and waning.  Can you remember which anthology it was where you might have read a different version of the story?  And really, I'm hoping that the "princess named Paz" clue might ring a bell with someone.  As I remember it, the very first line of the story gave her name and explained that Paz meant peace.  But I have had no success in searching for it.  Does anyone out there remember a princess named Paz?
Rina Singh, Moon tales : myths of the moon from around the world,  1999.  This is just a possibility, since I don't actually have the book to check the details, but I thought it was worth mentioning.  It may be too recent.  When did you read it?  The contents list includes stories about rabbits, the moon, and a princess  no Oscar Wilde, though.  "The greedy man (Chinese) -- The thieves of Chelm (Jewish) -- Anansi (West African) -- Hina (Polynesian) -- The daughter of the moon and the son of the sun (Siberian) -- The rabbit and the moon man (Canadian) -- The sun, wind and the moon (Indian) -- The buried moon (English) -- The moon princess (Japanese) -- Why the moon waxes and wanes (Australian)"
No, it is not Moon Tales by Rina Singh.  Great suggestion, though!  I checked through it thoroughly. I also checked similar books of stories about the moon like Sun, Moon and Stars by Mary Huffman and Jane Ray, and The Buried Moon and Other Stories by Molly Bang.  No luck.  I would have read this collection of stories in the late 1960's to early 1970's.  But I think even books with recent copyrights might have old stories that ring a bell.  But none of these did.
THE BEDSIDE BOOK OF FAMOUS BRITISH STORIES maybe?  1956
Elsie Spicer Eells, Tales of enchantment from Spain, 1950, copyright.  Paz is Spanish for peace, so perhaps at least the princess story was a Spanish folktale. This collection includes: White parrot -- Carnation youth -- Wood cutter's son and the two turtles -- Luck fairies -- Bird which laid diamonds -- Enchanted castle in the sea -- Princess who was dumb -- King who slept -- Prince Fernando -- Lily and the bear -- Sun, moon, and morning star -- Frog and his clothes -- White dove of the city of the Swinging Gate -- Flower of beauty -- Magician palermo.



M155:  Mrs. Hurry
Solved: Little Miss Busy


M156: meatball's  journey
I had a book as a child in the late 70's or very early 80's that was about a meatball's journey. I believe it started out with the meatball on someone's plate and then rolled off, down the hill and began a strange rolling journey to strange places. The only place I really remember was an underground town. I remember it as a strange book, with strange detailed pictures that sometimes frightened me a little bit. I am trying to obtain all the books I had in my childhood library for my children and would love the title for this book. Thanks.

Not quite, but worth a mention:  Barrett, Judy.  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  Illustrated by Ron Barrett.  Atheneum Books, 1978.
Tom Glazer, On Top of Spaghetti. It sure sounds like the storyline, though I can't vouch for the strange detailed pictures.  Be sure to check out the ones with illustrations by Art Seiden (1966), Tom Garcia (1982), or Jackie Snider (1982) - which would be the ones around in the time period you remember.  Newer versions in print have a different illustrator.
This one may be a long shot. Perhaps it was not a meatball that rolled underground. Perhaps it was a rice dumpling from the book THE FUNNY LITTLE WOMAN retold by Arlene Mosel. A rice dumpling falls through a crack in the old woman's house and leads her underground. It definitely would seem scary to a child because there were statues and monsters down there. ~from a librarian
On Top of Spaghetti sounds like your best bet, since the song is a parody of  "On Top of Old Smokey" and generally starts "On top of spaghetti/All covered with cheese/I lost my poor meatball/When somebody sneezed."  The meatball goes on rolling out the door and I believe it eventually gets mushed or smushed.
I'm voting for The Funny Little Woman because of the hill, the underground city and scariness.  Versions I've seen of On Top of Spaghetti don't have the underground sequence or the frightening factor.



M157:  Mr. Mouse with gray tuft which can be felt on each page
Solved: Is This the House of Mistress Mouse?


M158:  Maryjane and Sniffles
Solved: Mary Jane and Sniffles


M159: Ms. jenkins hedgehog friend in garden
Solved: Miss Jaster's Garden


M160: Mice Looking at Cow in Barn from Different Perspectives
I recall it as a children's picture book in which field mice describe (in line drawings) what they see in a barn -- and they've all drawn a cow, but from different perspectives (front, side, top, etc.)  Thanks, everybody, for your help!!!

Sounds like a version of Seven Blind Mice, except it's usually an elephant they're describing.  There's a nice modern version of that by Ed Young.
Thanks for the suggestion.  Seven Blind Mice is similar in theme, but it's not the book I'm looking for.
M160 Have you tried consulting A to Zoo?  Most public & school libraries have this reference book that lists picture books categorized by animals. Worth a shot!
Thanks for the advice.  Sadly, I've checked two different directories of children's literature -- but to no avail.  Surely
SOMEONE must remember this book!?! 



M161: MAGIC SHELL, WILLIAM & MARY?
Solved: William and Mary: A Story


M162: manners
Solved: Manners Can Be Fun


M163: Monty Monk's (monkey) Christmas story
Solved:  Santa Claus and Lili Monk


M164: Magician in colonial America
Solved: Mr. Wicker's Window


M165:  MLQ Purple
Solved: The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)


M166: Merry Little Breezes, stories like Grimm's Fairy Tales
Solved: Bedtime Stories (Burgess)


M167: moon for the princess
Solved: Many Moons


M168: Match Box girl
Solved: Poppy: The Adventures of a Fairy


M169: The Man Who Wrote Dirty Books
Solved: The Man Who Wrote Dirty Books


M170: Mahabharata for Children
I had this book in about 1964; The only way I can distinguish it from the 12 zillion other Mahabharata's for children is as follows: - About 8 1/2 x 11 inches - Hardcover - White cover with pictures of the Pandavas on it - Long - 100 or more pages - Lots of colored illustrations, usually the top 1/2 or 2/3 of the page, with text at the bottom - Some full page illustrations

M171: merry little grig
Solved: The Merry Little Grig and His Good Time


M172: Mexico-donkey- folk art
Solved: ...and Juan


M173: MYSTERY OF HAUNTED WOODS
Solved: Secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain


M174: My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes
Solved: My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes


M175: the magic flying bus
Solved: The Magic Bus


M176: mouse hibernates in jack o'lantern
Solved: Mousekin's Golden House


M177: Mermaid living in sand castle
Solved: The Wishing Penny and Other Fantasy Stories


M178: mouse couple / family in vegetable garden
Solved: The Vegetable Thieves


M179: Mrs. Goose
Solved:  Mrs. Goose series


M181: Muggles and the Periods Family Tree
Solved: The Gammage Cup


M182: Mongolian boy regains family's honor
Solved: The Year of the Horse


M183: Mrs. Grimsby Is a Witch
Solved: Miss Grimsbee Is A Witch


M184: Mystery Motel
Solved: Motel of the Mysteries


M185: Maine Woods' Winter
Solved: The Long White Month


M186: Mouse who lost family
I read this book when I was 7 years old which would have been in 1950.  From what I remember, the book was hard cover and green in color.  It was a story about a mouse family and one of the mice gets seperated from the rest and goes through a struggle to get back home.  The story made me cry then and I would just love to read it again.

M186: Sounds like Walter the Lazy Mouse by Marjorie Flack. See F72. It also reminds me of the movie An American Tail, though I never saw it.
The Grocery Mouse.  The plot involves a young mouse who lives in a grocery store with his large family but is anxious to see the outside world.  His mother warns him of the dangers of the outside.  He is accidently swept outside and travels around searching for food and a place to live. He meets a girl mouse and moves into a tree eventually taking her back to see his family. This is a very cute book-at one point they follow a trail of ants to find food. It was very "vintage" when I received it in the mid-sixties. I have it up in the attic somewhere-if this sounds right, let me know and I will look for it to find the author.
I just found the book.  It is not the one I am looking for.  Thanks.
Could this be Mouse House by Rumer Godden??
Thanks, but it's not the Mouse House either.
Elsa Jane Werner, Patrick the Fuzziest Bunny, 1946.  Could this be the book, it is about a rabbit though not a mouse who gets separated from his family when they go on a picnic, he gets lost and goes through many adventures.  It is a fuzzy wuzzy book?  I had it as a child in the early 50's
Thank you very much, but Patrick The Fuzziest Bunny is not the book I am searching for.  There were no fuzzies and I am sure it was a mouse that was lost.
I seem to remember a series of 2in1 books from 1954 that included My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, unfortunately the reverse side of that is not the mouse book I am struggling to remember. There is one about a mouse (I believe he is dressed russian style) and he has to go out into the snow searching for something? Which made me think of the description for M186. My memory of this series gets alittle vague, perhaps someone else remembers this series better?
I have THE DANDELION LIBRARY,which includes My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, as well as the Russian tale about Trubloff-the Mouse Who Wanted to Play the Balalaika.  The watercolor illustrations of Trubloff traveling with a band of musicians show him cross-country skiing against vast wintery sunsets and starry night skies.There are many wonderfully moving stories and pictures in this collection, including The Three Little Horses, and Johnny Crow's Garden.



M187: Magic babysitter, born during a thunderstorm
Solved: The Peculiar Miss Pickett


M188: Math infinity transcendental aleph null
Solved: Infinity


M189: Monsters are really ordinary objects
It's a wonderful book that flip flops from showing a child going to bed in a dark bedroom--everything is a shade of gray--and the child sees (and we do too) a monster in the corner, like a fire-breathing dragon. On the next page, the lights have been flicked on and we all see that it was just a pile of clothes on a chair with a hockey stick (or something along those lines). The whole book switches back and forth from great gray drawings of the kid's room and the monsters he thinks he sees, to lit rooms where the monsters are revealed to be ordinary objects. I've asked every librarian I know about this and they keep getting caught up in the whole Alligator Under My Bed Mercer Mayer and also Maurice Sendak books. While in my memory the illustrations are similar to those of those men, I am pretty sure the book is not by one of them. I am eager to share this book with my children. I really remember loving it, and my sister has vague memories of it also.

Russell & Lillian Hoban, Bedtime for Frances.  Long shot, but could be Bedtime for Frances.  The illustrations are in shades of grey (and green in *some* editions).  While the story does not center entirely around things looking scary in the dark, there are parts about this, and then Frances will turn on her light and see what they really are.
Hoellwarth, Cathryn, The Underbed, '90's.  Can't remember if this book shows the entire bedroom.
Mercer Mayer, Nightmare in my Closet.  Speaking of Mercer Mayer, could the scary 'thing' have been in his closet instead of under the bed [alligator]
The book is definitely from the 70s--when I was a child.  And I do remember that the format was dark room monster, light room objects, dark room monster, light room objects, etc.  I'm excited to see that people have read and considered my entry--and am holding out hope that it will be solved. Thanks.
#M189--Monsters are really ordinary objects:  Could this be by Judith Viorst?
The Flat Man or The Ankle Grabber.  These are both very short books about the fun of scaring yourself, but not to get to upset because "I know that sound isn't really the flat man scratching at my window to get in, it is just the branches from the tree outside, but I like to pretend."
Ellen Raskin, Spectacles, '70s.  Not monsters in a room, but a child who doesn't like to wear her glasses, but you see, in grey, what she thinks she sees and then, in full color, what it is that the things really are. A favorite of mine!
are you absolutely positive this was a book? because I remember the same thing, except it was on television-- one of those educational kids shows. it was presented like a book-- there was no motion, every camera shot was of a drawing, like the page of a book. the child was afraid of the dark, and made drawings of what all the "monsters" really were and put them on her bedside table so that she could look at the drawings at night.
Munro Leaf, Boo - Who Used to Be Scared Of The Dark. (1948)  In this story illustrated by Frances Hunter, Boo is taught by his cat Alexander to overcome his fear of the dark and other things.  When Boo is looking at things in the dark the pictures are black and gray  when he turns on his flashlight they are colored.  As a child I thought it was a wonderful book perhaps because Boo looked like my little brother!
Ann Hellie, Once I had a Monster,1969.
Ellen Raskin, Spectacles. I think that the poster that suggested Spectacles is on to something as I just recently found that book for my daughter and read it again. There is a gray picture tha looks like a dragon, but when she puts her glassses  on, she can see it is something else entirely and the picture switches to color. Just try to find the book at the library to see if it is what you remember.



M190: monkey banyan clipper
1955-1960.  small picture book (approx 4-5" square) of poems.  One poem included the words "a little yellow monkey in a banyan tree."   I think another poem had "...the clipper came in" (about a clipper ship).  Seems like it was short -- maybe 20 pages?  Thank you.

Carolyn Ruth Eger, Rimskittle's Book(1926)
It was on your stumpers archives page, under MN (for monkey, I assume). How I came across it, by the way, was by googling the "little yellow monkey" etc. phrase, hoping to find the complete poem. It was the unique hit, unfortunately. But I can't imagine how the customer saw it in a 4-5" book in the fifties--the original was a small folio. Maybe what he saw was an anthology of some sort? I am awestruck by the number of mysteries you solve, by the way; and your store looks wonderful. 



M191: Mystery of Missing Silver
Solved: Mystery of the Corbett Family Silver


M192: Museum of Natural History Fiction
Solved: It Looks Alive to Me!


M193: The M....... Family
Solved: The Melendy Family


M194: Mushroom People
Solved: The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet


M195: Maggie Muggins
Solved: Maggie Muggins


M196: Man loses head
Solved: The Man Who Lost His Head


M197: Murmansk
In the 1960s as a teenager, I read a book about a boy from Murmansk, a city in Russia that is north of the Artic Circle.  The novel took place during World War II.  The boy was an orphan  who led a group of children who survived by taking the provisions off dead soldiers during the Russo-Finish War.  It was an incredible work, but I can't remember the title or the author except that I think the title begain with the word, "Children."

These are juvenile novels about the Russo-Finnish War published before 1970.  Do any of them sound right?  Sorry for all the choices, but I couldn't find summaries for most of them. Dave Dawson on the Russian Front, by Robert Sidney Bowen, 1943. Comrades in the Snow, by Julian David [a.k.a. David Loring MacKaye and Julia Josephine Gunther MacKaye] 1941. Ski Patrol, by Roy J. Snell, 1940.  I'll Know My Love, by Pearl Bucklen Bentel, 1955.  Summary:  A story about the courage of the Finns when Russia gobbled up a thick slice of Finland.  It is based on the experiences of a young Finnish drama student at the Playhouse in Pittsburgh whom Mrs. Bentel came to know.
Floyd Miller, Wild Children of the Urals , 1965.  Could this be the same book as O26.  It sounds very similar.



M198: Mary's Scary House
Solved: Mary's Scary House


M199: Mountains/Alps (Swiss?) Boy rescues friend from mystic force
I'm looking for a book that is set in an alpine, mountainous area that may have been the Alps. The story is about a boy facing a great evil force or Bad Thing/monster. He sets off to rescue his friend who is captured or endangered by the evil. I seem to recall the main struggle in the book revolving around the walk back from the enchanted mountain. The protagonist must hold onto his friend's hand, but some spell/force is testing his love for his friend. In the boy's mind, his hand burns as he walks back, but he knows if he lets go, his friend will be lost, taken by the enchanted evil power. Persevering through, his love is strong enough and he saves his friend.

#M199--Mountains/Alps (Swiss?) Boy rescues friend from mystic force:  There is a very similar situation in the short story The Dead Valley, by Ralph Adams Cram.  There are two boys who are friends, but nothing about holding hands, and you would definitely remember the part about the dog.  If you don't remember any dog, this is not your story.
Mollie Hunter, The Haunted Mountain, 1972.  This wasn't about two boys, but about a boy and his father.  It also wasn't set in the Alps.  The boy's father had been missing and the boy up the mountain to save him from a magical force.



M200: Mystery of the Topaz Necklace
The title is something along those lines, but I don't know the author and can't find the title anywhere. The story is about a girl whose mother has remarried a (wealthy?) guy. I think she's moved to a new town and she has a stuffed tiger she's fond of. A lot of the story takes place in a natural history type museum, like there's a party of some sort among the dioramas of cavemen and animals and dinosaur bones. The girl gets a job in the museum gift shop, selling peridots and semi precious jewels. I'm not sure how the topaz necklace fits in, except maybe the rich stepfather gives it to the mother and it gets stolen or something. I'm thinking this book might haven been written in the 50's, 60's, maybe even 40's.

#M200--Mysery of the Topaz Necklace:  Hmmm, doesn't seem to be this one: Secret of the Tiger's Eye, by Phyllis A. Whitney.   All right, so tigers don't live in Africa.  How can you explain Benita Dustin's terrifying experience with one in the garden of her aunt's house in Cape Town? Of course, this daughter of a journalist has considerable imagination,
the kind you'd expect of a girl who likes to read and aspires to authorship herself.  It's not the kind of imagination Joel Monroe appreciates.  He's a fact-loving soul, the last boy on earth probably to believe in ghosts or in disappearing faces at the window, or to feel there's anything odd in a man's thumb being blue.  He's the last boy, certainly, whom Benita wants as companion on the trip she and her younger brother have made with their father, who is writing a book about South Africa.  Oh, once in a while Benita and the guest, son of Mr. Dustin's editor back in New York, do see eye to eye -- on the ugly
injustice of apartheid, for instance.  But when it comes to Aunt Persis' exciting house with its cave and romantic towers and frightening prowlers, or to the mystery surrounding the death of Aunt Persis' adopted son, why, then, the sparks fly.  Logical Joel scoffs at the "notions " of imaginative Benita.  He scoffs on the other side of his face, so to speak, when her writer's
intuition turns out to be only too true concerning the sinister intentions of Mr. Blue Thumb, otherwise known in questionable quarters as Tom Kettle -- a grinning, greasy-haired, sidling sailor whom sensible Joel wants to befriend! Friendship, though, friendship, trust, and respect are the clues to the really big secret in this book.  Here, against the breath-taking background of a highly dramatic country, is a story full of drama as well as of meaning, with scarcely a slack in the sleuthing thrills young mystery fans love.
Possibilities -- Mystery of the Missing Necklace by Enid Blyton (May Fair Books, 1963), or Mystery of the Carrowell Necklace by Eugenie C Reid, (Young Readers Press, 1967).
Betty Cavanna.  It sounds like the kind of plot she sometimes used, though I can't think of a specific book.
How about Mystery in the Museum by Betty Cavanna? I believe the young girl works in the museum shop and I think the mystery revolves around a very valuable missing bracelet. Might be worth a look!
Hi, I posted a stumper a while back called Mystery of the Topaz Necklace. You guys solved it as Mystery in the Museum by Betty Cavanna. I've read it, and while it was good, it's not the book I'm looking for. Mine takes place in a natural history museum in the 40's or 50's or so and is more of a teenage story, Cavanna's is set in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (I'm from Boston, so I especially enjoyed it) among college kids in the 70's. I think this book has fallen off the face of the earth since I know Topaz Necklace is in the title and there are on hits on that phrase anywhere (I wish I'd stolen it from my library when I was reading it 10 years ago before it got weeded! LOL) but if you get a chance at some point I'd appreciate it if you could stick it back into the unsolved archive--hey, you never know! :) 



M201: mysteries
1948.  A series of books I enjoyed in the fourth or fifth grade. Mystery series wherein a brother and sister (as I recall) would be transported into interesting, sometimes scary mystery scenarios, with always a happy ending back at home. Seems there were a few of them - 6-? Always wanted to find them again for my kids - now grandchildren!

Might this be the Trixie Belden series?  As I recall, Trixie solved mysteries along with her brother and her friend and her friend's brother.  There were also other siblings involved I believe, as well as friends.  I *think,* but am not sure, that these were originally published in the 30's or 40's?  And they did always have happy endings, with Trixie (and company) returned safely to her big loving family.
Laura Lee Hope, Bobbsey Twins series.  Perhaps another possibility
Old series?? Curly Tops by Howard R. Garis, (1920-30?)  Penny Nichols by Joan Clark, (1930's), Honey Bunch and Norman by Helen Louise Thorndyke, (1940-50's), Happy Hollisters by Jerry West, (1950-60's)



M202: morning
Oops -- this is a repeat entry.  Please refer to S217.


M203: Mr. Grabbit Rabbit actual title golden book?
Solved: Mr. Grabbit the Rabbit

M204: magic hands discern character
Solved: The Princess and the Curdie


M205: Merry-Go-Round Horse
Solved: Arabella of the Merry-Go-Round


M206: messy woman cleans house
Solved: Read Aloud Funny Stories


M207: Mystery with cockatoo
Solved: Adventure Series


M208: Musical seashell
Solved: The Adventures of Idabell and Wakefield


M209: many animals maybe bears goes in spaceship / rocket
book from early to late 70's, hardcover, color, thick pages.  About I believe a bear who has a rocket ship and there may have been many animals and children? who go into space.  Possibly a polar bear.

My first thought was Moon Bear by Frank Asch but that wasn't published till 1978, maybe a little late for your book.  Here are two other possibilities: #1- Bobby Bear's Rocket Ride by Marilyn Olear Helmrath (1968) "Bobby Bear wants to fly like a robin so he gets a ride on a rocket to the moon and other planets in our solar system."  #2- Lorenzo Bear & Company by Jan Wahl (1971) "Lorenzo Bear launches a space program for animals by building a moon rocket."
This is a very long shot, but maybe the reader is remembering Barbapapa's Ark that is on the solved mysteries page.  Barbapapas are blobby creatures (one of them is rather hairy) who take animals into space in a rocket-type vehicle.  It's from the right time period, too.
Wildsmith, Brian, Professor Noah's Spaceship, 1980, copyright. Picture book with Wildsmith's characteristic semi-abstract colorful pictures, maybe too recent.



M210: Man named Chloroform
Solved: Stars in my Crown


M211: Mother Pie
Solved: Honey


M212: Marooned, Pacific island, Thea
Solved: Baby Island

M213: Mouse adventure/real mice pictures
c.1970  I remember the plot as being fairly simple-a mouse doing various "mousey" things like building a house and meeting another mouse friend. The most memorable feature of the book, though, is that the illustrations are real photos of the mouse in various simple sets.

M213 I think this must be it. I haven't located it yet, but now that I see it is only 24 pages, I'll look again in the morning in the stacks of zoology.  Watts, Barrie.  House mouse.  photos.  Silver Burdett, 1990 [British] 1998  life cycle illustrated with life-size color photos.
M213 No luck finding my copy of Mouse House.  In the search, I ran across 2 other photographic mouse books: Burton The  mouse in the barn, Oxford Scientific Films in a series on Animal habitats, and it shows all kind of mice around the world, so that is not it. Mouse and Company by Lilo Hess is closer: The photos show the life of a deer mouse, including nest  building and baby-raising. "and company " apparently refers to all the other species discussed and depicted.
M213 It might be THE MOUSE BOOK by Helen Piers, published in England in 1966, published by F.Watts in 1968, and by Scholastic in paperback in 1970. It is divided into 3 chapters (and I may not have the chapter headings 100% correct - I'll check my copy) "Mouse Finds a House" "Mouse Finds a Friend" "Mouse Finds Food". If this is the book you're thinking
of, than you may recall that the text goes something like this - Mouse was looking for a house that was not too hot, not too cold, not too dirty, not too wet...etc. And you may recall that Mouse finds a dollhouse to live in, finds a mouse friend, and when they run out of food, a human finds them and puts them in a mouse house with plenty of good things for mice. It is really adorable, and a fun read-aloud. Just be careful that it's by Helen Piers - there's another book by the same title. ~from a librarian
Mouse and Company- story and photographs by Lili Hess. Charles Scribner's Sons (1972) It was a Junior Literary Guild Selection. This might be it!



M214: Mouse lives in department store
Solved: The Great Christmas Kidnaping Caper


M215: Moon path
Solved: The Garden Beyond the Moon


M216: Man changes to snake
Solved: The King With Six Friends


M217: Mermaid made of found objects
An illustrated children's book that I read in the mid 1970's, but suspect it was older than that (maybe 60's).  A little girl spends the summer at the seashore with her grandmother.  I think the little girl was lonely or bored; in any case, she starts spending a lot of time on the beach by herself.  She "makes" a mermaid out of sand and other things (found objects) on the beach.  I think I remember shells and Queen Anne's Lace and seaweed and maybe coral being used for the mermaid's hair and clothes.  The little girl works on the mermaid every day(?), but at the end of the summer, the mermaid swims away.  Or something like that! Thanks for any information you or other readers can provide--this was a lovely little story about letting go when the time is right...

Check the description of Wishing Penny and Other Fantasy Stories on the Solved Mysteries pages to see if it sounds familiar.
I checked The Wishing Penny and the description of The Sand Castle; it's close but not quite the story I'm looking for...The little girl definitely constructs the mermaid herself and decorates her with objects she finds on the beach (no sand castle involvement).  I don't think the mermaid ever speaks, either.  Queen Anne's Lace (the flower) is one of the things the little girl uses to make her mermaid beautiful.  Thanks!
Eleanor Farjeon, Martin Pippin in the Daisy Field.  I may be totally off base here, but I think this *might* be an Eleanor Farjeon story, possibly 'The Mermaid of Ryle' in the above book.
I haven't been able to find The Mermaid of Ryle, but I managed to read some of Martin Pippin on-line; it doesn't have the same feel as the mermaid story I remember.  The story was fairly contemporary (1960s or 70s).  I know it's out there  somewhere and somebody remembers it...
Ainsworth, Ruth, The Talking Rock, London, Deutsch 1979.



M218: millicent magic neighbor girl
Is about a girl who has a new neighbor that moves in named Millicent that can do handstands and is "magical".  That is all my wife remembers.  My wife is now 33 yars old and read it when she was in grade school.

M218 The description made me think of MILLICENT THE MONSTER by Mary lystad, illustrated by Victoria Chess, 1968. It is a picture book, the illustrations are distinctive, and are set in Victorian? time period. Millicent is friends with her next door neighbor (I'm pretty sure that they do handstands together) but she's sick of being a good girl. She decides to become a monster and terrorizes everyone with mean faces, words and behavior. But when her best friend can't stand her, she decides to stop being a monster. However, there's no magic involved. If this doesn't sound right, then I did come across a listing for THE MAGIC OF MILLICENT MUSGRAVE by Brinton Turkle, 1967. The summaries say that Millicent wants a white rabbit but gets tricked by a magician and gets a doll (named Melinda Melee) instead. Millicent and her father travel the world to track down the magician. So, the description doesn't really match, but just in case...  ~from a librarian
Sachs, Marilyn, Dorrie's Book.  Checked my copy of Millicent the Monster, and the previous person posting on this was
right--Millicent does do handstands in the book. If it's _not_ Millicent the Monster that the requester is thinking of, it might be Dorrie's Book.  It is a quirky novel written in diary format, and I could swear that Dorrie moves in next to a family with a bizarre daughter named Millicent.  Unofrtunately, I don't have a copy in which to check it, and any of the bib records that I've looked at don't mention the neighbor.
M218 Darn! I thought I had found it, but it is NOT The magic of Millicent Musgrave by Brinton Turkle.



M219: Mischievous Scandinavian boy with older sister
I read this children's book back in the 1970's.  The main character was a young boy (under 10 years old) and I believe it took place somewhere in Scandinavia.  The boy was always getting into mischief.  He had an older sister who was dating a local boy, and the little boy spied on them coming home from a date at one point. Any help would be great!

Astrid Lindgren, Emil series
I do not think it is the Emil books by Lindgren, as Emil only has a little sister and not an older one who could be dating a boy.  Thank you for the suggestion though.
Maybe Bill Bergson stories by Lindgren!?
Edith Unnerstad, The Urchin.  (Translated from Swedish 'Pysen'.) I don't remember whether there was such a spying episode, but the hero was a mischievous small Scandinavian boy, and did have teenage sisters.
Gunilla Norris, A Time for Watching, 1969. Could this be it?  It takes place in Sweden.  Joachim's best friend is gone for the summer, and Joachim gets into a lot of mischief and trouble.  He is fascinated by a neighbor who doesn't like children, and is a watch and clock repairer.  Near the end, there is a Midsummer celebration, with a dance around a May Day-type pole.  Joachim did have an older sister who went on a date.  I hope this is it - it was one of my favorites as a child.  Good luck!



M220: Mantis
Solved: Knee-Deep in Thunder


M221: mothergooses bedtime stories
I am not sure that is the title but the book if I am remembering correctly is gray with at least 10 different stories Hanzel and gretal,little red riding hood,Hop on my thumb,the little matchgirl,jack and the beanstalk,goldielocks and the three bears,the three little pigs etc. I think the cover was hand painted I know for sure it was a hardcover. I know where it was purchased a place called Kings Castleland. Which was a park for children with a train ride and giftshop it was mostly a picnic area- in Abington Massachusetts which closed and reopened and closed again. I really hope you can find this book for me now that Iam grown I would like to read from the book that my mother read to my brother and I everynight.

Illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, Dean's A Book of Fairytales, 1977.  The 1977 edition of this book has a greyish blue cover.



M222: Motherless boy in New York City
Solved: Portrait of Ivan

M223: Malaysia/Tapirs
Picture book with color illustrations from the 1960s or maybe 1970s.  This may be misleading but my mom thinks it was one of the book of the month club we had subscribed to as Parents Magazine Press (but I don't recognize any of the titles you have listed under that section, other than the few I own still).  My recollection of the story was that it was "a day in the life of" or something about the life of, a little boy who lived in a region where there were tapirs, (maybe he was tending some?) but I believe there were only tapirs illustrated on one page so that couldn't have been the main theme.  I think it was about Malaysia or the Himalayas.   It may have shown season changes or just different angles of life there.  Definitely a story, not a science book.  I remember it being rather large, and seemed more square than rectangular.  But who knows if memory serves correctly.   Incidentally, thanks for the solution to my "red sun" search (R8; The Magician's Nephew)!  I have never posted a "stumper" that has not been solved, and I have posted several!  Thanks so much!

Any relation to T149?  (Still unsolved).
Definitely not related to T149, but I confess that one intrigued me when I was browsing the stumpers and I tried to find it online.  I have a copy of Futility the Tapir.  It is a very simple ink drawing picture book with only a few lines.  Cute art but not the answer to my M223 nor T149.  I'll not give up hope!  thanks....
There are also tapirs in South America.  I vaguely recall there being something about crops and irrigation or watering of the crops, too.  Also a small building (house?) made of natural materials.  Maybe I have the setting wrong - perhaps it is not Malaysia after all?  This one is driving me nuts because I have so little to go on.  But this story is completely responsible for me even knowing what tapirs are in the first place.  Today I try to help support tapir preservation whenever I can.  There are four species left, all endangered.
On M223, I wonder if maybe it was a story in my childcraft books.  I have a set now, 1966 edition, and it is not in that, but neither is Little Black Sambo, and I seem to remember LBS being in my set as a child in the 1960s.  Our old family set was gray binding/different color stripes for each volume, but may have been a couple of years older than 1966.   Maybe your readers can look in their childcrafts and check for a story with a tapir illustration?  If Little Black Sambo was removed, maybe the editors removed and added other stories as well...?  Thanks!



M224: magic bridge, tunnel, castle, fairies
Solved: Loretta Mason Potts


M225: Man locked outside high rise apartment in blizzard
Solved: Cornell Woolrich story
This is a short story; I read it as a teenager, it may have been in a book of stories for teens/young adults. A man lives in a high-rise apt. or penthouse--very high up. A man he knows is with him in the apt.(perhaps a business rival?)The man locks him out of his apt. on a small porch or balcony at night in freezing temperatures and I'm pretty sure a blizzard too. The story goes on to tell how the man is somehow able to get out of this predicament and I think he actually gets back into his apt and confronts the would-be killer (sort of like at the end of the story "The Most Dangerous Game). I remember this was a very suspensful story, have been trying to find the title & author for years.

M225: This isn't quite a match, but it reminds me of the short spy story by The Three Investigators author Robert Arthur - I believe it's called The Midnight Visitor. I read it in the middle-school textbook Impressions from the 1970s. It takes place in a hotel in France and the man who goes onto the balcony is a Russian spy. However, there is no blizzard - just a very well set-up ending. I won't spoil it.
Additional note: The Midnight Visitor is from Arthur's 1964 book: Mystery & More Mystery.
king, stephen, collection of short stories.  this is one of the stories from skeleton crew or another of king's anthologies.
I couldn't help but think of Dean Koontz' The Face of Fear when I read this stumper.  It is no short story, nor for children, but the stumper poster may enjoy reading it, even if it's not what is being searched for.  There is a tall building, a killer, a blizzard, and a chase.  I won't spoil the ending of this one either!
Stephen King, Night Shift (collection of short stories).  Thjs should be easy to find at any library or used book store. I don't know which story it is but I am sure it's one in this collection. Neither the story nor the collection is for children.
I checked out the story "The Ledge" in Stephen King's NIGHT SHIFT, and that is definitely NOT the story. In the Stephen King story, There's a bet involved and the man is aware that his goal is to walk around the ledge even before he goes out there. The story I read is definitely about a man unexpectedly getting locked out of his apt. in a murder attempt, simply to be left out there on his balcony to die in freezing temps, and his need to survive the ordeal. The King story is about a man agreeing ahead of time to walk around the high ledge to win a bet. Any other ideas would be appreciated, I haven't checked out any of the other suggestions yet. Thanks!
William Irish (Cornell Woolrich), Maybe in Phantom Lady collection.  Very definitely a Cornell Woolrich story written under the name William Irish. It may be in the Phantom Lady collection which was a book club selection. William Irish is a key figure in the noir genre. Really fun stuff, scary and chilling. Most of his settings are 30-50s Manhattan. He also wrote the short story "Rear Window" upon which the Hitchcock movie is based.
william irish a.k.a. cornell woolrich, story in AFTER-DINNER STORY collection, 1944.  I don't recall the story, but I agree that it sounds like it could be Woolrich.  One respondent thought it was in PHANTOM LADY "omnibus," and the only Woolrich omnibus to include his novel PHANTOM LADY is also one that includes his novel DEADLINE AT DAWN and the contents of one of his story collections, AFTER DINNER STORY.  So, if the story in question is in said omnibus, it should also be in any edition of that story collection--the original, the omnibus, and/or the pb reprint of the original collection, which was retitled SIX TIMES DEATH.  Unfortunately I don't have any of those handy to check contents right now.
Thanks so much! I have done some research now on Cornell Woolrich, and think the story I read may well be his. Another story of his was described as being about a man who knows that a bomb is going to go off in an apartment building at a certain time  however, he is trapped in the basement of the building and can't warn anyone... I now remember reading this story as well, around the same time I read the one described in my stumper, so I really think that it's cornell woolrich, I just need to find the collection of stories and check it out, I understand that much of his work is now out-of-print. Thanks again.
My high-school lit book had something close to what you're talking about: there wasn't any killer, the man crawled out onto the ledge to retreive some vital business paper that had blown outside and accidentally slams the window shut. His wife had gone off for the evening and he wasn't sure he could wait for her to get home. Ending would be as you remember.
Re:  M225.  The high school lit book mentioned by one of the responders is probably "Adventures in Appreciation," Harcourt, Brace and World.  The short story about the man on a ledge is almost certainly Jack Finney's "An Untitled Story."  I first read it freshman year in high school.  Heart-poundingly suspenseful; I recommend it!
I just remembered something else about M225.  The way the hero got off the apartment building roof -- was it by disconnecting everyone's TV antenna so someone would come up and investigate?  If so, try searching issues of "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine" from the 1980's.  I'm sure I read a story like that, and that's most likely where.



M226: mirror, possession, young woman
Solved: Blood Red Roses


M227: Merry Mack?? Childrens book about a train
A childrens book my mom read to me before I can remember, probably 1973-1978. All I know is, it has a train in it and something to do with me yelling, "Merrymack" or "Merry Mac" or some other spelling of the name. I'd love to get this book for my Mom, for she has such fond memories of reading it to me. I honestly can't believe someone can solve this but I figured stranger things have happened. So prove me wrong, PLEASE!

M227 have you tried this spelling: Merrimac
Nursery Rhyme?, Mary Mack.  Found a nursery rhyme, nothing to do with a train, though:   Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack /
All dressed in black, black, black / With silver buttons, buttons, buttons / All down her back, back, back / She asked her mother, mother, mother / For fifty cents, cents, cents / To see the elephant, elephant, elephant / Jump over the fence, fence, fence / He jumped so high, high, high / He reached the sky, sky, sky / And he never came back, back, back / ‘Till the end of July, ‘ly, ‘ly.
Marian Potter, The Little Red Caboose, 1953.  I'm not certain about this, but it's a possibility.  (It's part of the Little
Golden Book series.)



M228: Maxfield Parrish
I'm looking for a set of books.  As I recall there were 4 that fit in holder which I seem to remember as red. The holder had a picture on the outside of one or more of the books inside. The books were very large, maybe 9"X12".  The books themselves were each a different color--blue, green, red?  I received them as a gift in the early 1950's.  I believe some of the illustrations were by Maxfield Parrish.  The content of the books were nursery rhythms, poems and stories.  The illustrations were very large and I recall being mezmerized by their beauty.  When I see Parrish illustrations such as the Knave of Hearts, it brings me back to those books.

William Baring-Gould, The Annotated Mother Goose.  This seems like a strong possibility  some of the illustrators included in this collection are Parrish, Caldecott, Rackham and Greenaway.



M229: Man Finds Beautiful Fish Who's a Woman
The book I'm thinking of was a large-ish beautifully illustrated hardcover storybook.  It's about a poor man who catches a fish that is so pretty he decides to keep it alive in his pond.  At night he finds that his house is being cleaned and so he hides out to find that at night a woman steps out of the fish's skin and does these things.  One night he burns the scales so she can't transform back.  She informs him that she has to go back to her father, who I think may have some kind of magical powers, although I can't be sure.  He says the man can marry his daughter if he acomplishes certain tasks.  Each time the man completes a task, the father sends him out for another.  The man gets help do do impossible tasks (such as making a gigantic feast I think and something about goats in eggs, although I could remember it entirely wrong) from a genie who he has to sail out into the ocean to meet.  The genie appears to be a large baby but can talk and do magic.  Eventually the genie comes back with the man and beats the father into submission so the man gets the palace and the daughter and all that.  These details are the best I can remember (some of which just came back to me!) so it could be a little off.  The book I think may have been based off of a foreign story and the artwork was distinct too.  Any help is greatly appreciated!

Well, this isn't a perfect fit, since Peter Pauper Press books are pretty small, but it sounds like Turkish Fairy Tales. That one story sounds like "The Fish-Peri." When I searched in abebooks under TFT, I found at least four different translations of such fairy tales, so maybe one of them would fit!
Wow--this description sounds like a bunch of fairy tales got in a train wreck!  At any rate, the fish (usually a seal) transforming into a woman is normally known as a "selkie"  in these tales, burning the selkie skin is usually intended to keep the woman trapped in her human form.



M230: Oops -- double posting -- See M224


M231: men of Grimsby town
Solved: The Mindsweepers


M232: Mystery Solved Surrounding Great Plague
Solved:  Blackbriar


M233:   Magical feathers found in Central Park
Looking for a book I read in the 70's.  It was about a boy in New York City with an Indian grandfather.  The boy finds a couple of large white feathers with symbols on them, a triangle and a circle(?).  The feathers have magical powers.  One of the feathers lands on the boy's shoulder, the other is found floating on a pond in the park, and involved the concept of the boy being chosen by the bird that dropped the feathers.  The illustrations were photographs rather than drawings if I remember correctly.  I believe the book was published in the mid-late 60s, poss. early 70s.

Ivo Duka, Secret of the Two Feathers.  I only vaguely remember this but it's possibly The Secret of the Two Feathers, although I think it was published in 1954.
Secret of the Two Feathers.  I remember the first chapter from my grade-school reader, sometime before 1973; the feathers were black with white symbols on them. The feathers were symbols of rival pirates who died in a duel; anybody who found both could make wishes.



M234: Modern teen transported to Revolutionary Boston
Solved: Mr. Wicker's Window


M235: Man wrapped like mummy in 1940’s film
Solved: The Invisible Man


M236: Madame Snickersnee?
Solved: Little Witch


M237: Monthly Book Club
Solved: Parents Magazine Press


M238: Madame Lupino's Ice Cream Wagon
Solved: Garth Pig and The Ice Cream Lady


M239: Magical Red Book
Solved: Seven-Day Magic


M240: marbles boys' school
Solved: The Richest Boy in the World


M241:  Manners oversized thin white canvas cover
Solved: White Gloves and Party Manners
Manners - oversize, thin white canvas cover.  Looking for a book I remember about manners or how to behave, very general golden rule-type stuff. approx mid 1950's.  black & white sketch drawings (I remember one little long-haired in dress sitting down).  Just a few lines per page, young reading level.  Thank you very much.

A long shot, but Munro Leaf did etiquette books -- Manners Can Be Fun, How To Behave and Why -- with very simple line drawings (almost stick figures) and minimal text.  They were published in the 1940s and 1950s and were still in libraries in the 1960s.  How to Behave has recently been reissued if the person who posted the request wants to see Leaf's drawing style.
Sesyle Joslin, What Do You Say, Dear? OR What Do You Do, Dear?  1960s.  Could one of these classic children's books on manners be what's meant?  Without a dust jacket, one of them could easily match the description, right down to to the illustration of the "little long-haired in dress sitting down."
Marjabelle Young Stewart, White Gloves and Party Manners. The description reminds me of this book, including the illustrations. Good luck!


2004


M242: Monkey named Daniel gets lost and ends up at police station.
My mother, born in 1935, remembers a book from her childhood in which a monkey named Daniel gets lost and ends up at the police station.  She remembers something about him sitting on the counter wearing lots of beads or necklaces.

M243: Mrs. Peach and Mrs. Plum
Mrs. Peach and Mrs. Plum

Anything else to add on this memory?  There are two books featuring Chinese dolls by Eleanor Frances Lattimore called Little Pear (1931) and Peachblossom (1943) ...
Rumer Godden, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  and the little boy doll called Little Plum, in the sequel?  Just a thought.
Rumer Godden, Little Plum.  This book includes dolls called Little Plum and Little Peach (not Mrs.)
Rumer Godden, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  England is the last place Nona Fells wants to be. No one asked her if she wanted to leave sunny India to live in a chilly English village with her aunt's family -- and her cousin, Belinda, just hates her! But when two dainty Japanese dolls arrive at Nona's doorstep, everything begins to change. Like Nona, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are lonely and homesick, so Nona decides to build them their own traditional Japanese house. Over time, not only does Nona create a home for the dolls, but one for herself as well.
There is also a sequel, Little Plum.
M243 Godden, Rumer.  Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  illus by Jean Primrose.  Viking, 1961.  Japanese dolls, last pages of book are dollhouse plans



M244: Merry the Irish Potato
Solved: Merry Muprhy, the Irish Potato


M245: Manners book for Children - 1960's
Solved: Tut Tut Tales


M246: Manuel Images of Earth
Solved: Figures of Earth


M247: Miniature people
Solved: Moominsummer Madness


M248: mural in story
bright vivid colors, about a group of children who paint a mural, the mural has a lion and a bunny and other things.  probably 1970 or earlier - children may be ethnic - book about the size of Where the Wild Things Are.

I wonder if M248 & C267 refer to the same book?



M249:Men in Black who steal time
Solved: Momo


M250: Magic key, young boy finds it
Solved: Adam's Key


M251: Mrs. Tinkle
Solved: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic


M252: Marco Comes Late
Solved: Marco Comes Late


M253: mystery series with Mr. McGooley's rule
I'm looking for a series of children's books that had 3 kids solving "local" mysteries.  There were a brother and sister then another boy, a neighbor I believe.  Once they were housesitting for a guy with tons of photos on the walls and in another book a circus or carnival comes to town. Along the way they make up "rules" that they apply in subsequent books.  One was called Mr. McGooley's rule or something like that.  It meant not everything turns out to be like is seems, don't always suspect the obvious. I hope someone can help, I loved these as a kid and want to introduce them to my children!!

Florence Parry Heide, Roxanne Heide Pierce, Sylvia Worth Van Clief, The Spotlight Club Series:  The Mystery at Keyhole Carnival as well as several others, 1977.  I only read one of this series, The Mystery of the Whispering Voice, by F. P. Heide and Van Clief, published in 1983.  There are several titles, and the ones published in the 1970s were by Heide and Heide Pierce.  There are about 3 kids who form the club, and even though they are such a small group, they are very formal about club procedure, including, I believe, several rules they recall from prior adventures. Other titles all follow "The Mystery of the" formula, and are The Mystery of the Forgotten Island (1983), Midnight Message (1977), Bewitched Bookmobile (1975), and others.
E. W. Hildick, The McGurk Mysteriesseries



M254: Magic gloves seven league boots
Solved: What the Witch Left


M255: Molly
Solved: Molly, Pete, and Ginger


M256: Mr. Do and Mr. Don't
Solved: Pointers for Little Persons


M257: My Very Own Personal Cat Stumper
Solved: My Very Own Special Particular Private and Personal Cat


M258: Mr and Mrs Mole.
Solved: Mrs. Mole's House Warming


M259: Mouse and Rat Neighbors
Solved: Good Neighbors


M260: Miniature civilization in cave
A boy escapes the boarding school? where he’s been deposited by walks in its woods. He finds a cave with what looks like a little city in it. It is impossibly perfect to be a model. Finally he figures out, or the teacher? that he confides in tells him, that it must be a genuine civilization, as suggested by the one thing that is not small--the giant hearth in the middle of the circular city, because fire cannot work on a small scale. The people, whom he maybe never connects with, might have worshipped snakes, or decorated with snake carvings (being so small, they would have been easy snake prey). I read it in the early ‘90s and it’s probably not much earlier than that. Early junior high age.

Wells, Rosemary, Through the Hidden Door. NY, Dial Books 1987.  "Two boys at a boarding school find and explore a cave that contains some inexplicable artifacts - dollhouse-sized remains of a large city.  Are they what's left of a giant hoax or could they be the remnants of a miniature race of people? Suspense builds as they excavate the cave in secret and try to solve the mystery of the artifacts." "Barney's life is a mess. Everyone thinks he's a snitch. His former friends want to kill him. Even the headmaster of his school wants him gone. No one but secretive little Snowy Cobb will speak to him. But after Snowy and Barney discover the hidden cave deep below the earth, the promise of ancient treasures wipe away the threats from above. And when they uncover strange artifacts untouched for centuries, a web of unknowable danger begins to unravel-and Snowy and Barney may not survive."



M261: Magical aunt with cat - not Carbonel
Story about a couple of children who go to spend their summer holiday with an old aunt (poss grandma) who turns out to be a witch.  Think it's set in London and she has a cat.  Originally thought the story was Carbonel but it's not.

Shot in the dark, but could this person be thinking of the books by Mary Norton that were later made into the Disney movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"? The books were THE MAGIC BED-KNOB and BONFIRES AND BROOMSTICKS and were also combined into BED-KNOB AND BROOMSTICK. However, the witch is not related to them.~from a librarian



M262: Mandy and Uncle John
Solved: Mandie and the Secret Tunnel


M263: Missing Cargo
The Missing Cargo. I'm almost sure this was the title. This was a little book (probably a school reader) that I read in a Tasmanian school during the late 1960s. It was almost certainly much older than that! It had a boy who came across some missing cargo in a plane (maybe crashed) and it was set somewhere in the south seas, I think. I do recall he was very fond of pineapple and used to dig chunks out with his knife, and that he found some tinned pineapple. Any suggestions?

Pease, Howard, The Secret Cargo, illustrated by Paul Forster.  NY Dial 1931.  Could be this one, from the title. Subtitle: the Story of Larry Mathews and His Dog Sambo, Forecastle Mates on the Tramp Steamer "creole trader", New Orleans To the South Seas. {Blurb} A padlocked chest on a ship in the South Seas! "Larry Mathews and his dog Sambo stow away and ship off to Tahiti on the freighter Creole Trader. The tramp steamer carries a mysterious padlocked chest that gives rise to Larry's curiosity."
Thanks for that solution, but it isn't the right one. I don't remember any tramp steamers. I'll pursue the Dolphin Readers for the other one though - thanks!
Jean Bothwell, The Mystery Cargo



M264: Mystery on an island offshore
Solved: Adventure at Black Rock Cave


M265: Mom Bunny is trying to find a nice bed for Baby Bunny
Book is about a mom bunny and a baby bunny.  Mom bunny is placing baby bunny to sleep  in a bed of grass for the night.  Along comes Badger and says you cannot let your baby sleep there for the farmer cuts the grass in the morning.  Dig a hole and place your baby there, that is how I sleep and your baby will be safe.  Then along comes another animal and states that that way of placing your baby to sleep is not safe do it our way....and so on.  Until the Mom Bunny realizes that the safest place is in the bed of grass for Mom will always be there to protect you from any harm. The illustrations remind me of the bunnies in "Guess how much I love you".

Sheridan Cain, Good Night, Little Hare. Baby's First Book Club, 1998. "Mother Hare watches as Little Hare settles down to sleep. For his blanket he has the sky, and for his bed he has the soft grass. But Mole warns Mother Hare that Farmer Brown will cut the grass at dawn, so she must find another bed for her baby.  As she searches for a safe place, she is warned by her friends of the countryside's many dangers.  Will she ever find a safe bed for Little Hare?"



M266: miniaturized boys learning survival skills
Two boys are miniaturized, and the book deals with their learning survival in the "jungle" of the yard.  It is NOT The City Under the Back Steps  it was written for more mature readers.  The boys create weapons, harvest food, find shelter, and domesticate "animals" for transportation.  It's a pretty serious book.  I remember there is a spider in it -- although I don't remember whether it was an enemy, or was what they rode for transport.  Unfortunately my home town's childhood library was flooded out, or I would quiz them about it.

John F. Carson, The Boys Who Vanished
Williams, Jay & Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Smallifying Machine, 1969.  The timing is about right for this to be a good candidate, though it's been a long time since I've actually read the book.  The "miniaturized people" plot has been done fairly often (an even more serious treatment, though with few insects that I recall, would be that done by Jane Louise Curry in the series of which MINDY'S MYSTERIOUS MINIATURE is a part).
Lucy Maria Boston, The castle of Yew,1965.



M267: Michigan - cities of
This was a book I read in the 5th grade (1952 or 1953) at the end of the year for fun. The teacher passed out copies to all of us.  I think it was a  relatively thin hard-back, about 8 in. by 8 in. with some colorful pictures.  Each chapter was about a different city in Michigan. The history and important points of each city were simply related, along for the reason behind the city's name.  This book turned me on to history and instilled in me the desire to see more of Michigan.

Just a guess-- Origin of Michigan City and Town Names, compiled by Frances Wood, 1952. "Scrapbooks consist of newspaper clippings, postmarked envelopes addressed to Frances Wood of Grand Rapids, Michigan, photographs of local postal buildings, and postcards of various cities, towns, bridges, and wildlife in Michigan."  (Also, Michigan Place Names, Frances Wood, 1954.)



M269: Magic Feather
Solved: The Secret of the Two Feathers


M270: Mummy, Blind newstand owner
Solved: Ghosts and More Ghosts


M271: Mother as angel
Solved: The Blue-Eyed Lady


M272: mystery set on an island
Solved: Adventure Series


M273: Man eats peas with knife
This was a children's picture book that my dad used to read  to me and I remember loving it (I'm not sure if I loved the book or Dad reading to me...I just remember loving it). It would have been about  1957, but the book could have been one my folks got for my older brother, and if so that would put it about 1952-1954 or so. We lived in Germany at that time, but the book was in English. The one memory that is clear is a man (a fireman?...I'm not sure) eating peas with a knife. (Don't ask me...that's what I remember). I also think I remember that the plot had something to do with a circus or something and that there was some sort of chaos involved. I may be combining two books here, but I also seem to remember an elephant with big ears (who flew?). I want to read this book to my two boys if you can help me figure out what it is. Thanks...

Disney, Dumbo.  The elephant with the giant ears who flies is certainly Dumbo.  The Disney movie was released in 1941, and there have been countless Disney book versions of the story ever since.  It does indeed take place at the circus, and there is chaos when a stunt involving a burning tower that the clowns (who are dressed as firemen) are performing goes wrong and Dumbo has to save the day, so I wonder if this is not the only story you are thinking of.  Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of any of the versions to look at, so I cannot say if one of the characters eats peas with a knife.
Maud and Miska Petersham, The Circus Baby.  I know this is a long shot...it's a picture book about a mother elephant in the circus who wants her baby elephant to sit up on a chair and eat like her favourite clown family. There are several mentions of the mother's big floppy ears. The elephants go into the clowns tent, mother elephant tries to get baby to eat a bowl of beans with a spoon, and they end up destroying the place.  You might be remembering a drawing of the clown family eating...just maybe the father clown might be your fireman?
I'm around the same age and can tell you the rhyme. "I eat my peas with honey./ I've done it all my life./It makes the peas taste funny,/But it keeps them on the knife."  I think (maybe) it was in one of those children's hardcover digests that came every other month. I'll look at the one's I still have and see if I can trace it further. Anyway, maybe you can trace it with the whole rhyme.
I remember the poem too.  I had it in a book of rhymes and/or stories for kids.  I can'\t remember the name though.  I think it was hardbound, maybe an inch thick and had a pink cover.  It also had the Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear rhyme, and another that started with "Peanut sitting on a railroad track" and ended with "Toot toot peanut butter." Hope this helps!
Golden Press, Golden Funny Book, early 1950's, approximate.  My brother and I loved this book as children; several of the poems in it are by Edward Lear, including the one about eating peas with honey.  There are also several TERRIBLY CORNY jokes which we used to think were hilarious!!  Your other book is most likely a Golden Book also; in Disney's DUMBO there is a frantic scene where baby Dumbo is dressed as a baby clown and is to be rescued by clowns dressed as firemen who do all sorts of outlandish things, e.g. spray gasoline on the flames instead of water.  Later on the baby elephant tries to fly, trips over his ears, and upsets the pyramid of bigger elephants.  I think these must be the 2 books you are looking for.  I actually own 2 copies of the Golden Funny Book if you are interested.  DUMBO should not be that hard to find.  Good luck.
Maud and Miska Petersham, The Rooster Crows : A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles, 1945. This book has the poem about eating peas and honey on a knife, as well as Miss Mary Mack, with a picture of an elephant jumping. It sounds like the book you remember. I hope this helped!



M274: Mermaid Baby, Fairy Bear, Ring Around the Moon
Solved: Elves and Fairies


M275: multiplication tables taught in dream
Boy had to stay after school, fell asleep, was taught multiplication tables in a dream. It taught me the tricks of the nine times table. Beautiful illustrations, full color on heavy stock paper (at least, the ones I remember-there might have been others) black library binding? I read it in the 70's but think it was much older. NOT the recent book translated from German, the Mathematics Demon or something like that.

M276: magic rabbit
Solved: The White Bunny and his Magic Nose


M277: Movable Brick reveals something hidden behind it
I am looking for a book that is about a girl or it might have been a boy who comes to live with his grandmother in a new neighborhood. He or she meets new friends and while exploring the outside of his or her grandmother's house they find a loose brick in the front side of her house which is hiding something behind it. The book has the kids on the cover with a red house behind them. That is all i can remember but i know the book was made before the 80's.

Dorothy Sterling, Secret of the Old Post Box,
1961. This is a Weekly Reader book with a plot similar to the description-kids in ''Haven, NY'' searching for ''treasure'' behind fireplace bricks of Revolutionary War era house. Finally find box containing letters from Geo Washington.


M278: Mid 70's kid's book; written in a "how to" style - very funny!
Solved: How To Eat Like A Child


M279: Missing Princes/Tower of London
I am looking for a book I read in highschool in the late eighties. I thought the name of it was "The Tudor Rose" but many searches have not turned up the right book. The main character was a young girl, possibly a servant or minor royalty serving as lady in waiting, who befriends the young princes before their disappearance. May not be connected with England at all though. Thanks for your help.

Marguerite Vance, Song for a Lute, 1958.  This book has a similar plot -- the young noblewoman who befriends the two princes in the Tower.
Shirley Nagel
Shirley Nagel, Escape from the Tower, 1978.  A description I found of this one says it is fiction about a mistreated servant girl to the head jailer of the Tower of London, and how she became involved in a daring escape plan.  But I could not find anything that said who she helps escape, so I have no idea if this is about the little princes or not.  It may have been retitled "Escape from the Tower of London" in a later edition.
Margaret Campbell Barnes, The Tudor Rose, 1953. Margaret Campbell Barnes'The Tudor Rose is about Elizabeth of York, who was the sister of the two "Princes in the Tower," Edward V and Richard Duke of York.
"The Tudor Rose" by Barnes is unfortunately not the correct book. I was able to check it out from the library to confirm that. The book I remember was more of a YA book. Thank you!


2005


M280: mongoose and banana
Solved: Marie Louise's Heyday


M281: Moon Crater People Book
Solved: The Matthew Looney Series

M282: Misadventures of Decent Boy
Solved: Andrew the Big Deal


M283: mystery clues in mailboxes etc.
Solved: Spiderweb for Two


M284: Mother Earth News Store
Solved: The Golden Treasury of Children's Literature


M285: Mommy Store
I am looking for a book.  Mommy Store /Bazaar/Swap? I remember reading this book or short story when I was in grade school (1970s).  It was about two or three children who find a store in which you can buy or trade Mommys.  They end up buying one and of course things don’t work out, so they trade her in for a new one.  They do this several times.  It was a humorous book.  I talked to someone who vaguely remembered a similar story.  She said she thought it was an alley or bazaar where the Mom’s were on display.  This seems right but I’m not sure.   Someone else I talked to mentioned the Movie “Electric Grandmother” which was an adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story “I sing the Body Electric”, but I don’t think this was it, although I guess the store could have been for Grandmother’s instead of Mommy’s but this doesn’t sound right.

Nathaniel and Betty Jo Charnley, Martha Ann and the Mother Store, 1973.  Martha Ann thinks her mother is too bossy, so she exchanges her at the Mother Store.  Illustrated by Jerome Snyder.
Nancy Burns Brelis, The Mommy Market,  1970.  This book did have moms set up in booths.  The kids try several different moms before realizing theirs was the best for them.
For some reason, I remember the kids singing "ta-ra-ra boom de-ay" in this.
I believe The Mommy Market was the Americanized title.  Possibly published in the UK as The Mummy Market.
Now there are three great possibilities...  we need the original stumper requester to confirm which one she remembers!
Nancy Brelsis, The Mummy Market,1966.  I have seen the movie"Trading Moms" based on the book The Mummy Market by Nancy Brelsis.  It is about three children (a girl and two boys) who talk to their friend, who is an old lady, about how they think their mom is too strict and they wish they had a new mom and she tells them about this old place she remembers called the mommy market. The kids go to find it and they go through an ally to get to it. When they get there, moms of every kind are all over the place like at little stations (cooking moms, singing moms ect.) and the children get three coins and find out they have three chances to get the mom that they want. They start out getting a mom that loves nature and camping, then a snappy french mom, and then a circus performer. They end up not liking any of them and want their own mom back but they have used up their three coins so they try several plans of get her back, but none of them work. They end up getting her back in the end. I researched the book and it is out of print.  I hope some of this helps.
The Mummy Market.  I only recall the English title, the American one is either the Mommy or Mother Market. The kids actually have a caretaker they can't stand, who they are able to trade in for a series of mothers, Mimsy, who's chirpy and foolish, Mom, an outdoors enthusiast, and a child psychologist with a series of books. In the end they seem to get their real mother back (tho they don't recall her leaving), and wonder if all the others were a dream.



M286: Manuals for teens and parents
Solved: Flipsville/Squaresville


M287: Mystery/suspense paperback
Solved: Mystery of the Haunted Pool


M288: Magic Map in Shop Window
Solved: The Magic Shop


M289: Merlin awakening; England reverts to pre-Industrial era
Solved: The Changes trilogy


M290: Mettie hides from daddy
Solved: Hi, Daddy, Here I Am


M291: Moon made of green cheese
Solved: Report on the Nature of the Lunar Surface


M292: Monsters
I'm looking for a children's book about 3 monsters. One made clouds, one painted the colors onto flowers, and the third was trying to find her "niche" by attempting to make clouds/paint flowers. I don't remember what her talent ended up being. I read the book in late 70's/early 80's. I think the 3rd monster's name was Mary or Millicent. I read it at the Waterloo Public Library in Iowa, but haven't had much luck on their website.

M293: Man in the moon illustrated childrens' book
An illustrated book I recall from childhood (I was born in 1973). Likely called something like "How the Man (or Old Man) Got On (or In) the Moon" or "The Man in the Moon."  Recall it as a fairly slim volume, with illustrated hardcover, maybe about 8& 1/2" by 11".  Told the story of how the man got in the moon - I think by making a bet or pact with the devil, or being tricked by the devil. Or possibly losing a card game, though my memory may be off on that detail.  The devil was illustrated as a rather well dressed fellow, but with hooves if one was observant.  The devil may have had a top hat and long coat.  I remember a scene in an inn, pub or tavern type environment. And another of a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh in winter. The story and illustrations had a moody feel, and period clothing in the illustrations.  The illustrations as I recall had a bit of almost gothic flavour, earthy tones. The final or near final illustration showed the old man sitting on the moon with just a spider for company - a rather forlorn image.

Sorry I can't find the title yet, but my children and I recall reading this within the last year or so. More plot details -- the man makes some kind of deal with the devil that he can go three ? places before the devil takes him.  He tries to go to places where the devil has no influence.  One is Rome, but the devil tricks him and sends him to the Rome Tavern or Pub.  At last he goes to the moon, where the devil can' t interfere with him because he has no jurisdiction in the heavens.  We can't remember the name of the book, but it is probably filed under folklore.  I can tell you that the Richmond, CA public library owns it, so maybe you could get lucky searching their online catalog.



M294: Muffin Man
Solved: The New Golden Song Book


M295: Mexican Boy Hates Taking Baths
Solved: Angelo, the Naughty One


M296: Magic vial
Solved: Black and Blue Magic


M297: Mouse with flat tire, NOT Ralph
Solved: The Jeremy Mouse Book


M298: Medieval Hugh
Solved: The Hidden Treasure of Glaston


M299: Mindreader
Solved: Inherit the Earth


M300: Man-Eating Jaguar
Childrens/ YA fiction book from early-mid 1970s about a boy in a small, rural village in India terrorized by a man-eating Jaguar. Everyone is afraid to go out at night for fear of being eaten.  Lots of info about Indian gods/goddesses in the story--offerings to the elephant headed goddess to make the jaguar stop. I'm 99% sure it was a jaguar and not a tiger, but my memory could be wrong.

Tom Feelings, Panther's Moon, 1969.  Perhaps? "Bismu, a Himalayan boy, loses his dog to a man-eating panther, is hunted himself, and sees his home and sister threatened by the animal before it is finally killed."
Willard Price.  50s - 60s.  Could this be from the "Adventure" series?  Two brothers, Hal and Roger travel the world capturing wild animals for their father's business.  I remember reading one with a man-eating animal...but I thought it was a lion.  There is a Lion Adventure and a Tiger Adventure though, so both may be worth checking out.
Corbett, Jim, Man Eaters of Kumaon.   Or you could try The man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag also by Corbett
I found a copy of Panther Moon, and that's not the book I'm looking for so please keep those thinking caps on.



M301: mowing patterns
Solved: Sheep of the Lal Bagh


M302: marijuana
Solved: A Child's Garden of Grass


M303: Mystery about a cat inheriting money
Solved: Mystery of the Fat Cat


M304: Mouse on a Unicycle
Solved: The Magic Circus


M305: Mathematics by hand
Solved: The Feeling of Power


M306: mysteries youth
1940's.  Mystery stories about four children about 9-13. They are two boys and two girls.  They are cousins.  I think one title had "Castle" in it.  One book was about a cave.  All the stories take place in England - I think the author was English and may be a woman but I'm not sure of that.

Winifred Mantle, The Hiding Place, 1962.  There's not much to go on here, but Winifred Mantle, who is British, came into my mind when reading this stumper.  The Hiding Place is a mystery/adventure story.  However the "hiding place" of the book's title is not exactly a cave, but a rocky enclosure on a lake shore, reachable only by a causeway.  Mantle also wrote a book about the same characters (who are neighbors, not cousins) called Chateau Holiday, which maybe is the castle the poster is thinking of.
ENID BLYTON, THE CASTLE OF ADVENTURE, 1946.  You may be thinking of Enid Blyton's 'adventure' series - they featured 4 children who I think were cousins - Jack, Philip, Lucy-Ann and Dinah - also a pet parrot called (I think) Kiki. All the books are set in the UK and include 'Castle of Adventure' Valley of Adventure' etc.
Blyton, Enid, Famous Five Series, 1942- 1963.  There were 21 books in this series (Five Go to Mystery Moor, etc.).
Enid Blyton, The Castle of Adventure, etc.  It sounds as though it could be Enid Blyton's "Adventure" series - The Island of Adventure, The Castle of Adventure, The River of Adventure.  Another possibility is the same author's Famous Five series, featuring the adventures of four cousins and Timmy the dog. But I don't think any of those has "Castle" in the title.
Enid Blyton, Adventure Series, 1940s.  This sounds like Enid Blyton. It could be the Adventure series. There are four children, two boys and two girls. There are smuggler's caves in the Island of Adventure. And one of the books is called Castle of Adventure.
M306 Blyton, Enid.  The castle of adventure.    no illus  Pan Macmillan c1946 revised 1988
Laura  Lee Hope, Bobbsey Twins Series.  Two sets of twins, one set older, one set younger, both consisting of one boy and one girl each(not identical.) All four come from the same family and have the last name Bobbsey. Might be cousins but I always thought their parents just had twins twice. Many books of mystries and adventures, dont recall anything more.
It certainly sounds like the Enid Blyton "Adventure" series.  Was there a parrot named Kiki? If so, it is certainly these.



M307: miniature portraits are valuable
Another library book set in England.  A family (it may have been a blended family, or one with a lot of cousins) knows it has valuable paintings in the home (a stone house in the country, or maybe along the beach), but cannot locate them.  The girls start painting miniature portraits of their family, and it turns out that the miniatures already hanging on the walls are what are valuable.  (This is not Barbara Willard’s Storm from the West.)


M308: Mail and monsters
Solved: One Monster After Another


 M309: Maypole
When I was in elementary school, I read a wonderful book about a young girl who is (I believe) sent to live with a stuffy grandmother or an aunt or something.  From her bedroom window, she can see the maypole in the park across the street.  At night, or when it's foggy, she can see goblins or nymphs or some other magical creature dancing around the maypole.  She ends up befriending them, and travels on some sort of waterway with them into their underground world.  The presence of the maypole makes me think the book was originally British in origin, but other than that, the details are fuzzy.  All I can truly recall is how wonderful the book was, and how involved my imagination was in the story.  I've sent a letter to my elementary school already to see if they had any idea, but I never heard back.  I "graduated" from elementary school in 1988, so the book was published sometime prior to that.  Please help.

Cresswell, Helen, The secret world of Polly Flint, 1983.  Polly has to go and stay with her aunt Emily after her father is injured in an accident. On May Day she sees children appear first as shadows and mist, becoming more real as they dance around the maypole, and then disappear. A village has vanished and she goes to find it.



M310: mouse arrives in lakeside town, crashes car
Solved: The Jeremy Mouse Book


M311: Maximilian
Solved: Three Little Bunnies


M312: Mongolian adventures
Book perhaps written in the late'50s or early '60s about two young boys who travel through Mongolia.  They are not with their parents, and they have a series of adventures.

Fritz Muhlenweg, Big Tiger and Christian. About two boys, one Chinese and one Europaean, who travel together through the Mongolian desert.
Rita Richie, The Golden Hawks of Ghengis Khan, 1960s. I think this might be the book you are looking for. It'\''s one of my favorites two boys, an Arab and a Mongol, journey across Mongolia to the headquarters of Ghengis Khan, having many adventures along the way the sport of hawking is very much involved as well as the Arab boys search for his identity. I think there is another book with these characters, but I'\''ve never been able to find it.



M313: Marjorie and Esme
This is a series of children's books written in the 1960's, about a group of kids who ride alot.  Two primary characters I remember are Marjorie and Esme.  Are they still available/extant?

M313 The seeker might look at this website, especially  near the end of its summary of a British series which has a Marjorie and an Esme.
Lorna Hill, Marjorie series, 1948-1952.  This sounds like the Marjorie books written by Lorna Hill (better known for her ballet books), the charaters include two girls called Marjorie and Esme and horse riding is one of their activities.  For more information see this website.
Lorna Hill, Marjorie & Patience series.  These are still available, there is a series of them.  Some have been reprinted by Girls Gone By.
Lorna Hill, Marjorie and Co.  And a number of other books in the same series  e.g Stolen Holiday, The Secret,  No Medals for Guy. They have long been out-of-print, but some are being or have been published by the small British publishing company, "Girls Gone By". Here is a link to the publishers' website, which gives details of how to get Stolen Holiday, and possible sources for a couple of out-of-print books.
I cannot bring up any title right now, but I read a whole series of mysteries back in the 1960's about a group of children who had a riding club. Set somewhere in Tennessee or Indiana or Virginia- there where "hollers" and creeks. Two characters were a teenage boy and his younger sister. Kids in the club were from different socio/economic families and this occasionally figured in. Stories were told from the points of view of different kids at different times. I will keep trying to call up a name for any of these books.



M314: Michael
This was a book called Michael.  It was about an angel with a dirty face.  I bought copies every time I saw them, and gave them all away.  Everyone loved it.  I want to give one to my minister.  It's a little red book, and it was simply called Michael.  Now I can't find it.  Please help.

M315: Motor Court Motel
I read the second one at the same age but the illustrations of two thin adult sisters or girlfriends in dresses & maybe their family, their car & a motor
court motel they stayed at on a road trip appeared to perhaps have been written as early as the 1950s but again not after 1977 at the very latest. I think it had as much as 100 pages and the book dimensions were smaller than the 1st book above. It may have been a series and was old fashioned, quaint, silly and funny about the ladies' adventures.  I'm sorry I don't remember more but if even if only one were ever found, I would be extremely grateful.

Mary Lasswell, Wait for the Wagon, 1951.  This is just a guess, but the description sounds a bit like Wait for the Wagon, one of a series of books about three older friends, Miss Tinkham, Mrs. Rasmussen, and Mrs. Feeley, written by Mary Lasswell.  Some of the others were Suds in Your Eye, One on the House, High Time, and Le''s Go for Broke.  In Wait for the Wagon, the ladies and Old Timer were driving from New Jersey to California in an old restored Cadillac.  They stayed in a motor court and got involved with gangsters.  It is also a slim hardback book, a bit smaller all around than most hardbacks. The books are hilarious, so even if this guess isn't correct, the inquirer can console herself/himself with these.



M316: Magical button, little girl
Solved: The Witch's Button's


M317: Mountain Kingdom Fairy Tale
Solved: Tatsinda


M318: Misty ruins of a castle
Solved: In the Keep of Time


M319: Magic
Solved: Read Aloud Funny Stories


M320: Maggie (Magpie) sticks up for hippie outcast friend
Solved: The Seven Stone / Maggie in the Middle


M321: Marionette-doll, broken leg, plate
Solved: Sara and Hoppity


M322: Mr. Boo
Book from the 1950's which has a Mr. Boo.  I remember my dad reading it as "Mr. Boo, Boo, Boobidy Boo"  I think Mr. Boo might be a bear but I'm not sure.  Thanks.

M322 On Google, there are many mentions of a Finnish classic abt a Mr. Boo. Try this one.  I rather doubt it is the one, but it has been translated worldwide.
Yogi Bear, 1950.I know Yogi Bear was a cartoon but could it possibly been a book also?  The only reason I ask is that Yogi Bear'\''s sidekick was Boo-Boo. In one of the yogi bear songs it says: Yogi has a best friend/Boo-boo, boo-boo/Yogi has a best friend/Boo-boo, boo-boo bear/Boo-boo, boo-boo bear, Boo-boo, boo-boo bear/Yogi has a best friend/Boo-boo, boo-boo bear.Could you have been thinking of a comic book?  Because they made comic books also.  Hope this helps.



M323: Mid 1970's Early Reader Fat Man
I used to think this was a Dick and Jane Book, but it was too late for that.  I was in the first or second grade in public school.  It was around 1975 to 1977.  The book was an early reader with a lot of white space.  I think I remember children in it, as well as a cat and/or dog.  My strongest memory is of a jolly fat man (I think) with a ruddy complexion.  I grew up in lower Alabama.  If you need more info, please feel free to email me.  Thank you.

M324: Magician and doll
Solved: The Magic of Millicent Musgrave


M325: Marsha the other one
Solved:  Marsha


M326: Mission to another planet
Hi, When I was in primary school (about 1985 to 1988), I picked up a small novel written by Marion Zimmer Bradley, or someone who writes a similar theme. The book is set in the future, and is a Science Fiction theme. The book it's self is about a man/boy who gets recruited by a rather desperate doctor to go on a mission to another planet. The guy is a human, and had to be surgically altered to look like the aliens he is going to see. But, not long after he gets on the ship to go to the planet, he is found out by a girl about the same age. She is of the same species as the aliens (I think). Then they both go to this planet and do the mission. because it was a fair while ago, I don't know many more details, except that once the two arrive at their destination, a pretty desolate planet, they encounter strange black creature disguised as a building. They eventually kill this building with wire left lying around from expended rockets (since the rockets used the wire to receive telemetry).  Once again, I am not sure the last part was even in the same book. I think the title had either rainbow or planet in it?

Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Colors of Space, 1961.  "The story revolves around Bart being co-opted to find the secret of the Lhari warp-drive fueling material by surgically changing his appearance so he could pass as a Lhari and having him ship out as a crew member on a Lhari ship that is home world bound."
Marion Zimmer Bradley, the Colors of Space.  This is defininetly The Colors of Space.  But the original poster is right - the last part is from a different book, and not any MZB book I know of.
C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet, 1965. First in a remarkable trilogy. The hero, Ransom, is kidnapped in order to trade him for wealth from the planet.  Not sure where the black buildings might come in, but there are various inhabitants of the planet, living in differing communities.  No wire or telemetry in this one, so it may be the wrong book or you may be confusing a different book, as you suggest.



M327: Mystery at Alice in Wonderland statues in NYC's Central Park
Solved: Mysteriouser and Mysteriouser


M328: Marco and the pigeons
Solved: The Travels of Marco


M329: Meredith seeks father
I'm looking for the author/title of a book I read in the early 1980's in hardcover.  I found it in the Durham, NC public library but haven't been able to find it in the library catalog searching keywords.  The story was about a young woman named Meredith who sought out her father (Andrew or Andy) who had divorced her mother and abandoned her as a baby. They enter into an incestuous relationship while Meredith continues to disguise her true identity from her father; he is unaware of their father-daughter relationship.  I think he is a teacher or writer.  The book jacket had a picture of two harlequin style masks:  one of tragedy and the other of comedy. I appreciate any help you can give in solving this as I've wondered for years what the title of this book is!

Beryl Bainbridge, An Awfully Big Adventure.  I am pretty sure that this is An Awfully Big Adventure. The girl's name is Stella, but there is a character (male) named Meredith. A few years ago this book was made into a movie with Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman. Here is a review:  "This spare little (205 pages) novel doesn't waste a word, yet signifies volumes. The highly honored Ms. Bainbridge, winner of the prestigious Whitbread Prize and short-listed (six times!) for the Booker Prize amply displays what all the fuss is about. She is that good.  The book is hard to categorize. It isn't a coming-of-age, a psychological thriller, a dazzling Peter Pan parable it is all these things and more.  Stella raised in blue-collar, post WWII Liverpool is a troubled and troubling 15-year old who determinedly washed out of school and has been fixed up as a "student" (read gofer) at a provincial repertory company. She has no particular acting ambitions, but is certain she would be very good at it. We get a many-sided view of Stella  as she sees herself and as she is perceived by the people around her. Every scene and every word of dialogue interlocks like a jeweled timepiece. The reader is almost unaware of the ever-increasing momentum until it crashes upon you in a chilling finale. You think Ms. Bainbridge is through with you, but not quite. Just when you think you are utterly and completely emotionally drained, Ms. Bainbridge delivers a final twist, and now you know you are. I was left stunned."  An excellent example of fine prose. Highly recommended.
I think this might be Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery by John G. Brown.  Description:  ..."Years ago, when his daughter Meredith was young, Dr. Thomas Eagen abruptly left his wife and children in an incident that still haunts Meredith well into adulthood. She longs to discover the truth behind her father's disappearance."  No mention of an incestuous relationship, though.  Another possibility that came up when searching just on the name "Meredith" was:  Gatheringsby Marina Rust.  Description:  ..."novel centers around Meredith, a wealthy young woman who is trying to overcome a childhood spent in a dysfunctional family plagued by drug addiction, alcoholism, and insanity. Haunted by the untimely death of her mother, who deserted Meredith and her father, she shuttles between a South Carolina plantation and a Maine vacation home owned by her mother's family."  Again, no incest, but both books have a "Meredith" and a plot about being abandoned by the father.  The only book that I found with a sexual relationship between father and daughter was The Favourite.  I only mention it because the AUTHOR'S name was MEREDITH Daneman.  Description:  ..."A woman whose childhood was marked by the awareness of being her wayward father's favourite must come to grips with her obsessions and incestuous fantasies when the circumstances of his death are revealed."  Could the person asking about this book have possibly confused the author's name with a character's name?
Bainbridge, An Awfully Big Adventure.  oops- didn't say this before, but this book does have the incest issue in it. I think it is accidental- because he abandoned them years before, neither of them realize until too late that they are father and daughter. But I cannot remember for sure. It is possible that one or the other of the characters knew.
James Leo Herlihy, Season of the Witch.  The M329 seeker may be interested in James Leo Herlihy's "Season of the Witch". The story is vaguely similar. Smart-ass hippieish Gloria, 15, lives with vulgar, avaricious, shallow mother. Gloria has never met her real father, a Jewish political science prof, Dr. Glyzwycz. She reverses the syllables to call herself Witch Gliz. Best friend John gets his draft notice and plans to run away, taking Gloria along to look for her dad. They go to NYC, move into a very idealistic communal apartment and Gloria meets her real dad and comes very close to sleeping with him. 60s style naivete is overplayed and a bit caricatured but a fun read nonetheless.



M330: Merry-go-round horse
You just gotta help me. My first or second grade teacher read a story about a merry-go-round horse. All that I can remember about the story is that the pony's name was SATIN (I'm pretty sure), and one night he disembarks from the merry-go-round and takes off. That's all that I remember. It was read to us way back in the very early 1960s, and someone said that she thought that it was from a chapter reader book, like the Dick & Jane books. Can anybody pleeeeease help me so that I can sleep?

M330 A Google entry shows a sold copy of Our New Friends, 1946-47 by  Gray and Arbuthnot as having a Merry-Go-Round story in it. Cover has  boy and girl w umbrella  in the rain
Lois Maloy, Arabella of the Merry-Go-Round, 1935.
Alison Uttley, Magic In My Pocket, c.1969.  I seem to remember there being a chapter in Alison Uttley's collection Magic in my Pocket which was about a merry-go-round horse that comes to life. Don't remember what he was called, though.



M331: Mermaid
1970-1975.  A family visits the beach. The little girl finds a small, green mermaid and takes it home. The mermaid becomes very sick. I believe the family puts her in the tub. Finally they take her back to the beach and let her go.

Carolyn Polese, Something About a Mermaid,
1978, copyright.  Janie and her family find a mermaid at the beach and bring her home.  They don't have a bathtub in their apartment so the mermaid has to take showers.  Eventually, the mermaid gets sick from being out of the water and Janie has to return her to the ocean.


M332: Mother Goose, 70s
I am looking for an in-tact copy of my childhood mother goose book.  It has very distinctive and colorful illustrations of characters in period clothing, as well as birds, cats and dogs. I am missing the first 12 pages of the book, as well as several of the last, so I have absolutely no other information about this book. Since I was born in 1977, and based on the colors and illustration style, I'm guessing that the book is from the 1970s.  Please help me find this book!  I would love to have a complete copy for my own children.

Janet and Ann Grahame Johnstone.  could this be one of the books illustrated by the Grahame Johnstone sisters?  There are many nursery rhyme books by them and they have a very distinctive style.  Rather OTT period costumes and lots of gorgeous little details.
M332 Since there are so many MG books, would it help the solvers if  the searcher gave us a few more unusual titles from the segment she  still owns?



M333: Magic Forest, Lillypad Masks
Solved: The Tree That Sat Down


M334:Mandrake root
Solved: Linnets and Valerians


M335: Messy Mouse tied to an Umbrella
Solved: The Tall Book of Make-Believe


M336: Mud
The description of the book is VERY vague but its sort of a weird book so maybe its possible to find it.  It was a book I read as a kid about 15-20 years ago (so it may be about 20-25 years old) I think that the cover was brown and the story was about a kid that doesn't want to take a bath, if I had to come up with a key word it would be mud, I think that he goes to live in a mud/ dirt world with mud monsters or something of that ilk...The book might have been 10-12 pages long and was for a young child 3-6 years I think.  Does this book exist? I've never been able to find it and it was one I really loved (for some reason as a kid).

Patty Wolcott, The Marvelous Mud-Washing Machine Well, the cover isn't really brown, and there aren't any monsters, but I thought I'd throw this out there because it's an unusual story from the right time, it's very thin, and easy to read (only 10 different words in it!)  The boy in this book is playing, gets muddy, and his mother calls him in to eat.  Rather than go take a bath or wash up, he goes through this large car-wash style contraption that hoses him down and buffs him up.  He comes out shiny and beaming, and his mother praises him endlessly.  The writing is similar to this:  "Beautiful marvelous mud.  Marvelous beautiful mud.  Marvelous beautiful, beautiful marvelous, marvelous beautiful mud!"  Etc.
Robert Munsch, Mud Puddle, 1982.  I'm sure there are MANY books about mud, but here's another one.  Julie Ann keeps getting into the mud, despite her mother's attempts to clean her up.
Robert Munsch, Mud Puddle.  Any chance that this is Munsch's The Mud Puddle?  A little girl just can't seem to stay clean - when ever she goes outside the mud puddle jumps on her and makes her dirty again.  There are a couple of different versions of this one - if the cover doesn't seem familiar, you may be remembering the old illustrations.
Brock Cole, No More Baths, 1980.  Just a possibility.
Judith Vigna, The Little Boy Who Loved Dirt and Almost Became a Superslob,1975.I think this is the one you're looking for.  I remember reading it myself multiple times when I was in about 2nd grade and I loved it! It's about little boy named Jonathan James who doesn't want to take a bath but instead runs away in fantasy to the secret land of the Superslobs (which kind of look like brown mud blobs) where he does't need clothes, does't have to wash his hair or behind his ears. He can throw rotten eggs and write on the walls with greasy pegs, however after too much of this dirty fun, he misses his home, his clean room and the smell of his mother's hair and wants to go home again, even if it means taking a bath.  There is a similar story called Dirt Boy by Eric Jon Slangerup but that wasn't published until 2003 so I'm not sure if that's what you're after here.Good luck!



M337: mormon settlers in salt lake city
One or more books set in salt lake city about a girl and her family in the 1800's.  There were references to father being jailed for polygamy and how angry her mother was when father took a second wife.

M338: Magic Marbles
Solved: The Mystery House


M339: Minnesota Norse exploration
Solved: Door to the North


M340: Mittens
I am searching for children's book, I think called "Mittens." It is about children finding mittens hanging out each morning (secretly made by someone) then discovering the woman who makes them and giving her back (secretly) yarn, depositing it on her porch.

M340 This is THE MITTEN TREE by Candace Christiansen~from a librarian
Jan Brett, The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale, 1996
Florence&Louis Slobodkin, Too Many Mittens.  Just a possibility- this book has red mittens hanging everywhere!
Candace Christiansen, The Mitten Tree,1997.This is definitely what you are looking for.  An old lady knits mittens for kids at a bus stop, and every time she runs out of yarn, she finds a basket of yarn on her porch.  It's a Scholastic book.
Candace Christiansen, The Mitten Tree,1997.This is definitely The Mitten Tree, illustrated by Elaine Greenstein.  The edition I have is a Scholastic book



M341: Mushroom cap women
Solved: The Kindles Find a Home


M342: Miniature Boxed Set
Solved: Tiny Animal Library


M343: Magic Book
I can't remember much about this book.  It was a magic story.  One of the characters was named Bracken.  There was a poem at the beginning of each chapter (I think - I remember there were poems in the book).  It's not much to go on, but hope you have some ideas.  Thanks.

Nichoals Stuart Gray, OVer The Hills to Fabylon (maybe).  This one might be Grey's Over the Hills to Fabylon.  Or Mainly in the Moonlight.  The character named Bracken is a shepherd who loves the princess Rosetta of Fabylon.  Gray put a lot of poetry in his books.  Over The Hills to Fabylon is a collection of linked stories about the people who live in the magical city of Fabylon (it can be instantly transported over the mountains at need) & environs, Mainly in the Moonlight is a collection containing one Fabylon-set story, about the princess' lady who has a message to take to Bracken, and runs into trouble.  Original poster, does any of this ring a bell?
I think you may be right about the book being Over the hills to Fabylon (or Mainly in Moonlight).  I don't remember enough to be  sure without seeing the book again.  I've found copies of Mainly in Moonlight on the internet, but copies of Fabylon are really expensive (over $100).  I'm thinking of buying Mainly in Moonlight since it's affordable, and the title does sound really familiar.  Then I can see if it's what I remember. Thanks for your help.  I've been wondering about this book for many years and glad to finally have a possible answer.  Your website is great.



M344: mystery -  purple illustrations
Solved: The Mystery of the Myrmidon's Journey


M345: Merry-go-round, Carousel, Lonely Pony
Solved: Chester


M346: Machine
Solved: Machine


M347: magical tales book
A collection of stories - 1950s or 1960s -  vague memories:  kids visit a bakery and try frosting the cakes,etc. a boy digs a hole and fills it with water and enjoys it a story of a magic stick.  I used to read this book in our bomb shelter - it was one of a few we kept there (along with all the emergency supplies - water, canned goods, blankets). Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

M348: Macbeth-themed Horror/Mystery Story
Solved: Deadly Sleep


M349: Mister Pockets
I'm sending this for a friend, who has been searching for this book for a few years now, with no success. Any leads would be greatly appreciated. The only things I've found so far appear to be fairly recently published books that don't quite fit the bill. The friend would have been pre-teen around the time he recalls reading the book. Here is the description of the book/title he is searching for:  "I'm looking for a children's book from the 40's/early 50's (believed to be) called "Mister Pockets" for a friend's birthday. He remembers this book was about a man who had hundreds of magic pockets. This will probably be the most impossible search in the world, but who knows? I thought I'd give it the old college try! Thanks."  A websearch came up with another person who seemed to be inquiring about the same book a few years ago, and was responded to that it was "Pocket Dogs," but "Pocket Dogs" looks to be a very recently published book, and not matching the description at all, other than a main character with the same name. The previous poster mentioned that the book was believed to be called "Mr. Pockets," and that Mr. Pockets had a vest with many pockets from which he could produce items to help others, but when he wanted something for himself, the pockets were empty.

created and illustrated by Roy Doty, story by David R. Preston, Uncle Pockets, 1951.  I haven't seen this book, and can't find an online description, so I'm not sure it's the one you're looking for, but it seems promising!  The title is close, the date is within your limits, and Roy Doty has written and or illustrated numerous children's books.  To find out more about Roy Doty, visit his website.
Roy Doty, Uncle Pockets, 1951, reprint.  Just wanted to add to the previous post. Uncle Pockets, the character in Doty's first book, led the 1948 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and was the subject of a hit record by Danny Kaye. You can listen to it by visiting this site:  http://www.last.fm/music/Sylvia+Fine/_/Uncle+Pockets.  Just click the "Play Sylvia Fine Radio."  You might have to click on the little arrows of the player til you find the right song.  From the lyrics, it sounds like the right book.



M350: Mom's Lost book
When my mom was in middle school, she read a book about a girl named Serenity who became an orphan and moved in with her aunt, uncle, and five male cousins, two of whom may have been named William and John.  It was written before 1975 and was a novel.  However, it is neither "They Loved to Laugh" or "I Take Thee, Serenity" (the book was not set during war time).  This book was very important to her and gave her the name for her first child.  However, she cannot remember the title or author.  What I have given is  about all of the information I have gathered about the book.  I have done numerous searches, but have been unable to find it.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

M351: mother's birthday stumper
Solved: The Happy Birthday Present

2006


M352: Maggie in Boston
Solved: A Family for Sarah Ann


M353: Mixed Up Meef
I am trying to find my favorite child's book and for the world can't find it.  My parents swear it was called Zany Zoo, but the books I find online with this title are not the book.  We believe the cover was blue, it would have been written on or before the mid 1970s.  One page, the one I have in memory said "The Mixed Up Meef is Strange to See, His Head is Where His Feet Should Be" or something similiar.  It was a fun silly children's book and I thought the book by Norman Bridwell would be it, it wasn't.  If you can help me locate this book I would so very much appreciate it!!!

William J. Kerr, Zany Zoo, 1955,  might be a possibility.  The subtitle is animal rhymes, and the lines that the reader remembers seems to be that.  The publication date 1955 also fits.
Bridwell, Norman, Zany Zoo, 1963, Scholastic.   Another possibility.  It was also released with the title Crazy Zoo.
Dean Walley, The Zany Zoo, 1972/1973, approximate. The only way to find it is to type hallmark after the title...otherwise it doesnt show up anywhere...amazon has a few for sale too.



M354: Myths and Legends
Solved: The Golden Treasury of Myths and Legends


M355: Maggie
Solved: Just Plain Maggie


M356: Millinery shop
Solved: Polly Poppingay, Milliner


M357: Molly Moves Out
Solved: Molly Moves Out

M358: Milkjug toy soldiers
Hi.So, I'm after a book circa 1942 about some toy soldiers that come alive and they all hate one of them known as milkjug. Possibly called 'After the dark from the nursery' or 'Out of the dark from the nursery'. It was an illustrated book.  Please help!

M359: Maureen Daly Sequel?
Maureen Daly wrote a famous short story called "Sixteen"--about a girl who was waiting for a boy that she met to call her, and she waits and waits and he never calls. There was a short story written by someone who took the boys "side"--an explanation of sorts as to why he never called. I can't remember the name of the story or the author. I don't think it was Maureen Daly. Any help at all would be most appreciated! Thank you!

I found a story online titled "Seventeen - A Belated Response to Maureen Daly's Sixteen" by Ahmed A. Khan.  But it's c.2005 so if you're looking for an older story, this isn't it.
Charles Brodie, Eighteen. (1949)  This is a Scholastic Magazine short story.  I have it (in reprinted form) in front of me as I type. It was reprinted as a part of a Scholastic short story collection entitled  First Love (copyright 1966.)  I also remember it from an anthology from middle/high school (although the text was an older one even in the mid-70's), so I'm sure it was reprinted any number of times.



M360: Miniatures
Looking for a book I used to check out in the library in elementary school - early 80's. It had a white cover, it was about making miniatures with matchboxes, beads, fabric, games pieces, etc.  It had little bears/animals in the pictures in the rooms with the miniature items.

PK Roche, Dollhouse Magic, 1980.  Maybe this one?  It has a white cover that looks like a cross section of a dollhouse, and gives instructions for making simple dollhouse furniture and accessories from household odds and ends.  A sponge becomes a sofa and a broken watch a clock. A spool can be a table base and a toothpaste cap a lampshade.  In simply written chapters, lavishly illustrated with photos and easy-to-follow drawings, the author tells how to start making and finding wonderful things to furnish any dollhouse.  They do use bears in the photos.



M361: Maximillian - small dog with traveling owner
Solved: Mixed Up Max


M362: make-believe closet
I don't remember much about this book other than it was a child who would go into his closet and play make-believe. Whether it was because he was punished or just bored, his closet is where he would go to have fun. I don't think there were any mythical creatures, monsters or magic, just a boy and his imagination. I also seem to remember there being a picture of boxes, either on the cover or on one of the pages. This book was read to us anywhere between the ages of 6-11, which would be 1990-1995. It was a paperback picture book. That's all I know, I'm sorry it's so vague. I'm trying to find this book for my best friend, Christine, whose mom read this to us a lot and passed in 1997. This would be a wonderful gift for Christine, I hope you can help me.

M363: Mystery in a British village with a hoax
About 30 years ago I enjoyed a mystery set in a British village. There was a pompous professor whom the villagers were teasing with made-up lore, like "Hey diddum daddum dee, down to sacrifice goes we."

M364: magic dresser drawer
Solved: What the Witch Left


M365: Mystery Book about a boy named Marvin
Solved: Bennett Cerf's Book of Laughs


M366: Mother in the mirror
Solved: Little Witch


M367: Monkey
Solved: On Cherry Street


M368: mystery about a gold mine
Solved: Mystery Mountain


M369: Miniature babies
This is a book I remember as a child that has tiny miniature babies that ride in a thimble and climb on a trash can to get in a jar of peanut butter.  It was read to me in the 70's or early 80's.  It was a chapter book.

John Peterson, The Littles Give a Party, 1972.  If they were little people rather than babies, as you remember, this book might be worth a look.  It's about small people who live in houses, unknown to the big people. (Just like The Borrowers, probably the inspiration) They use a tin can as an elevator to ride between the walls of the house in which they live , and Tom falls into a jar of peanut butter left open in the kitchen. For Granny's 80th bithday, she is given a thimble to use as a wastebasket.
Patricia Clapp, King of the Dollhouse.  This could be what you're looking for... I loved this book as a kid and the mention of peanut butter brought it to my mind immediately. A King and his family (which includes several babies) move into a little girl's dollhouse. She feeds the babies peanut butter which they love. I think the Queen rides around on a mouse!  See the solved page for more details.



M370: Moose and cat
Solved: Hiero's Journey

M371: Moon ball
Solved: The Moonball


M372: Magic Coin
I'm looking for a children's book for a friend of mine. I'm a librarian and I told her I'd use my "librarian powers" to find it.  :)   This is what she told me about it:  "This is a simpler kids fantasy book about a young girl who gets/is given a small coin that looks different from her country's currency (the pound, it's one of those great UK fantasies).   She doesn't think about it much until her wishes start coming true.   All of the suddenly, her brother winds up with the coin.   I think it's he who makes the connection between the weird coin and the wishes coming true.   All sorts of crazy things start happening in their little town, and they travel around quite a bit to weird and unusual places, until somehow the coin winds back up in the hands of it's owner, and old man.  One of the wishes I recall more distinctly is when the dad had it in his pocket, and he was driving along, and all the sudden he wished for something (there was a traffic cop and he wished he was somewhere else, and suddenly he was, but the car wasn't there).   It taught the kids to be specific with their wishes, because their wishes had impact on other people."  My initial response to this was that it sounded a bit like "Half Magic," by Edward Eager, but she doesn't think that's the right book.  She responded: "I think the book is something about a 50 pence coin. I remember reading this when I attended Primary School in England. I loved the book since it was about a piece of English currency that I loved getting ahold of when I was younger. I hope that helps."  Good luck and thanks!

I don't know the answer, but if the coin is a 50 pence piece, the book presumably is from after February 1971, when decimalized coinage was introduced in the UK.
Dick King-Smith, The Queen's Nose, 1985.  I think this may be the book you're thinking of. The wishes come true when you rub the queen's nose on the 50p coin. The protagonist is called Harmony, and I think she has at least one brother or sister. More recently the book was made into a TV series and I belive that a sequel was written, too.
Edward Eager, Half Magic.  Could Half Magic have been printed in England with the coin a 50 pence piece? (In the US, it seems at first to be a nickel.)  It really does sound like that book--only it's the mother who wishes to be home from a visit, and finds herself halfway home, with no car.  And there are numerous instances of publishers' changing details like that.



M373: Mexican or Spanish boy dressed in white
Solved: Angelo, the Naughty One

M374: Milk horse
Solved:  Thomas Retires


M375: Mighty, Highty, Tighty
Solved: Walt Disney's Surprise Package


M376: Muses (or fairies) in a land of no color
Don’t have much to go on, but I constantly checked out this book from the elementary school library, which would have been in the early 70’s.  From what I remember there are muses, or fairies in a land of no color.  I remember this land was very similar to designs of ancient Greece, that’s why I believe they were muses.   Their job was to inspire, I believe, an artist about colors.  There were parts about painting and crayons.  The book is a hardcover, off-white (maybe white if it was an older publication by the time I saw it).  It caters to about 8 years and younger.  The elementary school has been gone for years now and that’s all I can remember.  Any help is appreciated.

Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles.  For context, also recommend Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. Bradbury returned to this fantasy Mars in other stories not included in this volume ("The Exiles," "The Fire Balloons" and "The Other Foot" in The Illustrated Man, "Night Call, Collect" and "The Lost City of Mars" in I Sing the Body Electric, and "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" in A Medicine for Melancholy).  All are a loosely connected series of stories, but together they paint a world.



M377: Mouse & bullies
I am desperately looking for a book I received for my 5th birthday. It was about a mouse that was playing with a hoop and stick when some bullies took his hoop. He chased them but ended up getting lost. He was alone in the woods and the landscape changed - he thought the tree was a cat's paw and claws, etc. He finally made it home. It was purple hardcover, and I believe the mother mouse was on the front with a very colorful patchwork skirt and bonnet. I think it was published in the early 1980's or late 1970's. It was very well illustrated and the text was for early reading. Please help! I am going crazy trying to figure out what this book is and really want to give it to my little girl for her 5th birthday ~~~

Jane Carruth, Adventure in the Dark.  Tippu the mouse gets lost in the dark after chasing Bully Shrew, who has taken his hula hoop.  After a frightening night outside, a neighbor rabbit finds Tippu and shows him that scary-looking tree stumps aren't so scary in the daytime.  In the end, Tippu and his father go fishing, and find the hula hoop in the water.  The version I have has a purple cover, and while the mother isn't wearing a patchwork apron on the cover, she is wearing it throughout the book and on the title page.



M378: Mrs. Goose's upside down hatbox cake
I sent in a paypal comment for a book but did not describe it in full as I should have. I am looking for a story or book that I read to may children in the early 70's. It is a story about a Mrs. Goose who makes a cake for a church social or fair and who puts it in a hatbox. She forgets that she has put it in the hatbox and then throws the hatbox in the top of the closet. It turns out her cake is a great success anyway even though she now calls it an upside down hatbox cake. Thanks for looking for this book/story.

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 if 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.



M379: Magical neighbors, series of books
It's a series of books, from the mid to late 80s.  It features two(?) children who go on a series of magic adventures, I think solving mysteries and such, but all part of an ongoing narrative.  I think their neighbors are also magic and provide advice.  One story featured a clock, I think, and another had a pivotal scene in a graveyard in a magically connected world, I think.  I remember them being fairly dark, with the kids facing real danger.  The titles were somewhat long.

You're looking for John Bellairs' mystery series that begins with The House with a Clock in its Walls.



M380: Mouse book
Solved: The Mouse Book

M381: Marnie and secret garden
Solved: Mandy

M382: Magic Saturdays
My teacher read a book to us when I was in first grade, which would have been 1980-81. I would swear the name of it was "Magic Saturdays", but I have yet to find a book by that title anywhere!  What I recall is siblings (2? 3? 4? I can't quite remember) find a magic paper bag that only is magic on Saturdays. I believe it takes them to a special island, because I remember them saying "Little bag, little bag, grow longer and longer, and stronger and stronger, and carry us back to our island", and when it was time to leave, they said the same thing except it was "Carry us home from our island".  I can't remember what they did on the island, or if it was always an island they went to. They could have gone somewhere different every weekend, I don't know for sure.  And it's NOT the Enid Blyton book with a similar name.  Thanks for any help, I would love to find a copy of this for my son.

Edward Eager.  I am wondering if this were one of the Edward Eager books.  Unfortunately, none of the titles contains the word "Saturday," and I don't remember anything about a paper bag, either.


M383: Medieval England girl travels to Scotland to rescue father
Solved: Ransom for a Knight

M384: Monkey in window
It's a book about a monkey in the window. Came out in 1980's. I think the monkey was for sale it the window. I could be way off. It could be a dog and not a monkey. Think it came out around the same time as wild thing.

Jean Bothwell, The Borrowed Monkey. (1953)  A long shot, but could this be the one you're looking for?  "Dickon had always wanted a pet and was thrilled when he spied a monkey that nobody seemed to want in a shop window. Dickon was allowed to borrow him for a time but when it was time to return him .....well, there is just enough suspense and excitement before the very satisfactory solution arrives." Illustrated by Margaret Ayer'


M385: Magic oven
Okay, this one had something to do with a magic old-fashioned oven which these kids found in a secret (magic?) playhouse. They made a cookie from a mysterious cookbook for the bully-kid and he turned into a (goat?) At the end I believe the playhouse disappeared...It was an interesting book - I think the kids were new in the country/beighborhood and I just remember it - my 8 year old would love it! Any help - please!

Parker, Richard, M is for Mischief. (1966)  Three children find a magic oven, with two settings "O" for ordinary and "M" for mischief. They cook eggs whose shells turn them invisible, make sugar cookies that turn the bully into either a goat or a donkey and their mother into a chicken.
Richard Parker, M is for Mischief. (1966)  I remember this one from my childhood!  Three children find an odd stove and cookbook in a summer house behind their new home. The stove has two settings on it: O and M.  The most adventurous child decides to try out a recipe for boiled eggs that will make whoever eats them invisible. An old man appears from nowhere to adjust the stove and explains that O and M mean ordinary and mischief.  The food the stove produces is either ordinary or magical depending on the stove's setting. The kids discover that the boy next door is a bully. They decide to make a "mischief" recipe for the bully, but his mother eats it instead. She turns into a hen, the bully becomes a donkey, and the mysterious old man (who doesn't know that the neighbors have been transformed) decides to make the stove a normal one.  The original hardcover edition had illustrations by Charles Geer.  It was then released in 1968 in a Scholastic paperback edition with illustrations by Carol Wilde.  Out of print, bu not hard to find or terribly expensive.  See the Solved Mysteries "M" page for more information.
The title is actually M for Mischief.


M386: Mechanical horse wins Grand national
Solved: Mylor, the Most Powerful Horse in the World
M387: Mismatched socks
Solved: Bamboozled

M388: Motorcyclist travels through time
Set in possibly southern England, a young man who was either on holiday of just travelling on a motorcycle.  He stops at a farm (either for a place to stay or looking for work) and the farmer lets him stay in the barn.  Cannot remember all the details but ends up travelling back and forwards in time.  Finds out this happens every 50 years (peoples names are carved with dates in the barn)  At the end he, takes the farmer’s shotgun, saws of half barrel and going back in time to help someone.  Gets shot but the musket ball destroys his motorcycle helmet which falls away, making the people of the time think he is a devil and has grown a new head.  Something about a witch hunt going on in the past and a witch trying every 50 years to pull someone through time.  Ends up just carving his name with all of the others before part of the barn is boarded up.   The farmer buys him a new helmet, but pretends it is an old one his son left lying around.  Book cover had a man with a motorcycle with roundhead / cavaliers in the background.  Would have probably read this in the 80’s

ROBERT WESTALL, The devil on the Road. (1978, approx) I'm pretty sure this is the one you're thinking of. The main character is a student called John Webster - he stays in a barn while travelling around Suffolk on his motorbike and gets involved with time travel - he goes back and forth to 1647 - the story involves Matthew Hopkins, witchfinder general, a woman called Johanna and a cat/kitten named News. Hope this helps.


M389: Magic teacher calms class
Solved: They're Torturing Teachers in Room 104

M390: Monk
The book is about a sad little monk or brother that lives in an abbey or monastery.  I remember seeing this young boy dressed in a long robe, walking in the woods and sad.  The cover of the book was light green.  I read the book about 1960.

I wonder if this is some version of the 12th century legend of Our Lady's Juggler. You can look this up in a lot of places on line. It's been published several times and it was made into a cartoon by Terrytoons in April 1958, art and direction by Al Kouzel.

M391: Mechanical mouse race
The title was 'Mechanical Mouse Race'. It is not a children's book really though I read it when I was about 12. I remember a man who gambles and loses on horse races and then goes to a party and organises a race between wind up mice. I think (or thought) that the title might include Mulberry Tree but I'm not sure now. It would have been printed in the 1920s-1950s I think.
M392: Mastiff protects chosen child from evil
Solved: The Monk

M393: Me Bear - child gets visit from bear
Solved: A Story About Me

M394: Magic boots and box in drawer
Solved: What the Witch Left

M395: Me too
A children's book which I loved when I was a young child. I was born in 1941, and this was a gift from a close friend who was a teacher.It was about a little duck who always said "Me too!" whenever his siblings wanted to do anything. It reminded everyone of me, becaues I wanted so badly to keep up with my big sister and said Me too! all the time. I know that I memorized most all of the book or certainly could correct anyone who tried to skip words!! I'm guessing I was around 3-4 when I got it. I believe all the illustrations were blacka nd white, much like I recall teh illustrations in Make Way for Ducklings, but it definitely wasn't that book. I keep searching but have had no luck, so was delighted to find your site today.Hope you can help me.

Willis, Fritz, Me Too. (1945)  Here's a link where you can check out the cover to see if it's the right book.
This is not really a solution, but I can remember owning a record as a young child, which told the story of Me-Too the duckling - it sounds as though it was based on the book that you mention. I think it might have been one of the Little Golden Records, but am not sure. This would have been in the mid-1960s, but the record might have come out much earlier.



M396: man builds different doghouses
Solved: Inside and Outside


M397: Man fights witch, saves father
This book is a fantasy novel circa 1988-1991 although it could have been published at a different time.  I had read this book while on deployment to Norway.  The primary plot was of a young man who was trying to find out the secret of his family.  He was an orphan and all he had was a deteriorated bronze shield which yielded no clues due to its condition.  Unfortunately, the family this young man was with somehow managed to offend a witch or sorceress.  Due to this slight, she was going to do horrible things to said family until the young man challenged her.  She then gave him a specific period of time to get ready.  In order to get ready, the young man visits a magician of great renown who can control demons and create life created out of clay.  These clay figures are then put into a special kiln which gives them life.  The demons have the secret and the magician/sorcerer is willing to let the young man apprentice under him to gain said knowledge.  After the period of time is up, the young man, now a somewhat powerful magician, challenges the witch with his creations.  After a titanic struggle, the young man prevails.  He also learns what secrets the shield holds by going out to the plowed field and putting it into the ground.  Up comes his father, who was under the witches curse.  The shield returns to an undeteriorated state and the story ends.
M398: Magic picture frame
I'm looking for a book I would have read in the 1960s about  a group of children and their adventures with a magic picture frame.  When a painting or photo was placed inside the empty frame, the kids were able to enter the picture.  I think the title may have had the word "unicorn" in it, although I might be mistaken about that.  Sorry that's all I can remember, but hoping someone might be able to help.

C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.This is just a guess, but The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, begins with a group of children falling into a picture frame.  The picture in the frame is that of a ship, and, of course, the children land in the ocean, are rescued by the people on the ship, and so off they go on their adventures.
I submitted M398 (Magic Picture Frame) and someone has suggested that it could be C. S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  However, I am familiar with that book and it isn't the one I'm after.
Jane Langton, The Astonishing Stereoscope. I'm wondering if perhaps rather than a picture frame it's a stereoscope, and the children in question enter the pictures that are put into it?  Eleanor and Edward Hall would be two of the main characters, if this is the right book.



M399: Minnesota summer camp
The book I am looking for was one I read somewhere around 1970-72. It was at a summer camp in Minnesota, part of the camp library. It was a few years old, a paperback, with the title "When People Had Tails" or "If People Had Tails" or something along those lines. It had a cartoon drawing of a person with a long, monkey-like prehensile tail on the cover. I do not have an author or date or even a country of publication. It was in English.  The story was that on some date (somewhere around 1910, I think), all human babies all over the world started being born with these long prehensile tails. At first, doctors would just amputate the tail at birth, but after it became clear that this was happening to all babies everywhere, a movement grew to leave the "new" children intact, so a new generation grew up having these tails. The book discussed many of the issues involved in adapting society to accomodate these children,  including the necessity of re-designing clothing and chairs. It followed the tailed children through childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood, when they started taking over society's functions from the older, tail-less people. The reason that I remember it after all these years was that it was not written as a standard science-fiction novel, where you usually just follow a select group of characters through a story like this, but as a "real" history of the period, explaining the changes that had to be made to society as a result of this happening, because naturally the people reading this book all had tails, or were part of the much older generations who had lived through these changes.  I have not been able to find any mention of this book anywhere. If you could track down an author and an ISBN number, I would really appreciate it. A copy of the book would be even better.

H. Allen Smith, The Age of the Tail, 1955.  This is definitely THE AGE OF THE TAIL by H. Allen Smith.  1955 hc from Little, Brown  there was a pb reprint from Bantam the following year.  No isbn, since the isbn system wasn't operating back then, and the book hasn't been reprinted since the 1950s as far as I can determine.



M400: Magical horse
Solved: Mio My Son


M401: Monsters
I am hoping to remind someone of a series of books that I read as a child.  They were the same size and shape as the Mr Men.  As I remember them they were about monsters, that took the forms of every day objects, excepting one feature.  You could tell they were these 'monsters' as there was something odd about the object.  The one particular character I recall best is a carriage clock with webbed feet.  There was another one, a bridge that springs to mind, but the memories are faint. I don't remember them being vicious, or much else, but the fun was in spotting the 'oddity'... I'm in the UK, so I'm not sure if that's relevant, but I am 30 years old so I would think they were late 1970's, early 80's...  Hope you can help?

Are you thinking of Babapapa? Check the link to the website.  Hope this helps



M402: Mountain High
Solved: High Trail


M403: Man dies in sleep while woman dreams
This is a short story written for adults. I read it about 15-20 years ago but it is probably older than that. It was in a collection of short stories from other countries; it may have been translated from another language. In the story, a man meets another person who offers him anything he wishes. He tries to get around the catch of something bad happening to him as a result of his obtaining his wish. He decides to wish that he won't ever be any older than he is on that very day. He's told his wish has been granted. He spends an uneventful evening and goes to bed. The point of view then totally switches to his wife, who is asleep and dreaming that she is on a ship in a very cold place, freezing, unable to get warm. When she awakens she realizes she was so cold because her husband died in his sleep next to her, hours earlier, and his body is completely cold. He got his wish of never being any older than he was that day. Does anyone know the title/author of this tale?

James Stephens, ''Desire" The name of the book is Desire and other stories written by the Irish author James Stephens (he also wrote ''The Crock of Gold''. The story you mention is the title story. The woman dreams of setting out on a sea voyage and ends up stranded out in the artic - the key feature of the dream is cold. When she wakes up her husband has died in his sleep.


M404: Monday's child...
Solved: Princess Gift Book for Girls


M405: monkey banana oil firehouse
A friend remembers being read a story in the early 1950s about a monkey who tries to get into a firehouse because he smells bananas.  The smell turns out to be a paint-thinner that smells like bananas.  It is possible the fireman called it banana oil.  He thinks there was a boy character and a girl character, at least one fireman, and the monkey's owner in the story.  He thinks the monkey ended up being given a banana, and all had a good laugh.

Could this be one of the many Curious George books? It definately sounds like one, and George's owner "the man in the yellow hat" always did look like a fireman to me!



M406: magic tree
Looking for a Scholastic book-1950's or 60's- probably for 8-12 year olds. I believe it had a few stories in it-fantasy-MEDIEVAL setting?-I believe one of the stories was about a boy trying to save his mother-they live in the woods for a while when they have to run away? I thought the story was called The Magic Tree-I have a book called The Magic Tree and Other Stories, but it wasn't the one I was looking for- Can anyone help? Thank you!

M406: The Sword in the Tree by the prolific Clyde Robert Bulla? A lord's evil brother seizes a castle, and the lord's wife and son flee, but not before the son (Shan Weldon) hides a sword in a hollow tree nearby so he can have proof, later on, that the castle is his. Illustrated by Bruce Bowles and/or Paul Galdone. Possibly from 1956.



M407: Monsters in the house cause trouble
Solved: Beastly Rhymes


M408: Mars colony
The book is a YA science-fiction novel, possibly authored/published in the 1950's (I read it several times while in grade school during the 1960's).  A family (including a brother and sister) emigrate to a colony on Mars where they take up residence in a domed house.  The children attend the local colony school and, while on a field trip out into the Martian wasteland, they (and a same age male friend) find themselves having to bail out of the aircraft the students in their class are traveling in.  They have numerous adventures out in the wasteland, including locating an ancient domed underground Martian city.  The book was in hardcover (I didn't encounter paperback books in school until later grades) and contained black and white illustrations.  I suspect the same author also wrote a similar novel about a different brother and sister who, because of an act of bravery, are rewarded with a paid trip through the solar system (each chapter involving a visit to a different planet/moon).  There.  Any assistance you can offer will be appreciated (several friends have suggested Heinlein's Red Planet but, being a Heinlein fan, I assured them that was not the title I had in mind).

Robert Silverberg, Lost Race of Mars.  This is a long shot, since some of your details don't match my memory of the book, but you might want to check out Lost Race of Mars by Robert Silverberg.
This is a wild guess, but could this book be Lost Race of Mars by Robert Silverberg?
M408: Lost Race of Mars by Robert Silverberg? See Solved Mysteries. "1960. Illustrated by Leonard Kessler. Do the Old Martians really exisit? Sally & Jim must find out as their father's life work as a sceintist is at stake. But it's not easy. They are the only earth people on Mars in the year 2017. And no one really wants them there." I remember this sentiment extends to the conceited schoolkids, who are mean and snobbish towards any humans not born on Mars. There's a Mars kitten named Mitten. In Martian newspapers, human ages are converted to Martian years.
Unfortunately (mainly because I appreciate the fast response) but it's not Silverberg's Lost Race Of Mars.  Good guess, though.  I should mention that there was no animosity or indifference shown towards the family by the other colonists.
It's a long shot, but have you looked at the science fiction books by Jean and Jeff Sutton?  They were originally published in the late 50s through the early 70s and, as I remember, there are a couple titles that feature a brother and sister.   The Beyond, Alien from the Stars and The Man Who Had the Power are the titles I remember, although I can't remember the plots, they were good.



M409: Magical twilight world
before 1970...  All I can remember is that some children were playing, found a door and opened it. They fell into another world which was always in twilight and very magical. This was not a scary book. I've never been able to read books that were too scary. It was just very magical. This is the only book from my younger years that I haven't got in my collection. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

CS Lewis, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Part of me thinks that everyone must have heard of this book, what with the recent film and all...so perhaps you have already considered this. But this description sounds so like The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe where four children stumble through the back of a wardrobe into another magical world.  It is dark and snowing the first time they go.
Sorry, but I don't think that this is the answer. The book that I remember did not involve winter at all...just twilight
Do you have any idea what period the book was set in?
LeGuin, Ursula, The Beginning Place. A few details are different, but The Beginning Place is definitely about a magical land where it is always twilight. Two young adults (20-ish) both find a way into the magical land (Tebrabrezi, I think) by crossing a stream in a forest. They meet there in the village, and help the villagers with a problem they are having. My favorite book.



M410: Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Magic Box
Solved: The Magic Grinder


M411: Mexican boy trapped in theater by earthquake
I read this story during the mid- to late- 70's, though it may have been written earlier. I'm pretty sure it was in a school reader.  The story was about a boy in Mexico who worked as a street vendor, selling caramels, gum, and other candies from a tray he carried. It was a hot day, and no-one was buying, so he went into a movie theater to try his luck in there, and to escape the heat. An earthquake struck, destroying the theater, and trapping the boy in the rubble. Another boy, possibly also a street vendor, was trapped with him. The boys gathered the spilled caramels, and divided them so that they would have something to eat while they waited to be rescued. They were, of course, rescued at the end of the story. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

This book is definately from a school reader, I've read it as a child too, but I don't remember the title. Sorry, and good luck.



M412: Mother Nature's Schoolhouse
Years ago I had a hardback book that told the non-fiction stories of various wildlife animals.  It had real black and white photos in it of the various animals being discussed.  Everyday Mother Nature would have the animals come to her "schoolhouse" and they'd learn about each other as she taught.  While they were in school, they were not allowed to hurt/eat each other.  I specifically remember the story and the photograph of the snowshoe hare.  I think that it was a children's book, but maybe not.  I read it in the 60's or early 70's but I'm sure that it was much older.

Thornton Burgess, The Burgess Animal Book for Children.  This book is still in print at Dover Publications. It's also available as a free e-text.
M412: I had this years ago, but the title will be tricky to remember. That's because, in all likelihood, you're thinking of one of Thornton W. Burgess' (1874 - 1965) books, and he wrote at least 170! Mother Nature is the "teacher." The animals tell about themselves in class, but it's clearly more for the reader's benefit than for the characters'. Your best bet is to go to the Burgess website and email them with your question, since the booklist there doesn't make the answer quite clear. Burgess was best known for his Adventures of... series and his Mother West Wind series. What's unusual about the book is that Mother Nature usually appears as a character only in the Mother West Wind series, which consisted of short stories, while this book was a full-length "story."
Thornton Burgess, Looks like you haven't had a confirmation on this from the original poster, but my suggestion (the Animal Book) is definitely the book that has the animals going to Mother Nature's school, learning about each others' habits, and not being allowed to hurt each other in class.



M413: Mr. Fish
Solved: This Can't Be Happening At MacDonald Hall


M414: Mailbox
I remember reading a book sometime in the 1980s about a child that walks past an abandoned or old house and there is a letter in the mailbox for them.  They continue to get several more letters and eventually get a key to the house.  I believe the character is a girl.  I'm sorry that I don't know more about it but it's been quite awhile since I read it.

This sounds just like Seven Spells to Sunday by Andre Norton



M415a: Mole House Friends Visit... You Need
We owned this in hardcover when I was little, probably bought new between 1980 and 1985. It's a large picture-book, with color illustrations, but not bright colors--maybe pencil drawings, which did not fill the whole page.The main character is a small animal, I think a mole. I think he has just moved from a mole-hole into a new house. I keep thinking the title is "Mole's New House". In turn, each of his friends come to visit, and each of them tells him, "This is a nice house, but you need ____" and then each visitor gives something that THEY would want in THEIR house. For example, "Gorilla" tells mole to get monkey-bars, and "Woodpecker" tells mole to get... wood? And someone tells mole to get a garden. Each friend then stays and uses the thing they recommended. It gets noisy and crowded, and I think Mole (or whatever he is) eventually kicks everyone out, and is finally happy.  I distinctly remember that his house is depicted as a mansion; there is a huge staircase... and entryway? I remember a chandelier... (but again, the drawings are pencil, and somewhat "partial")  I remember a character (Gorilla, I assume) eating bananas, and then I think Mole is eating a banana after everyone has left... OR, each character has a "BAD HABBIT"??? Woodpecker is too loud, and Gorilla is too... Well, now I'm just confusing myself! Thanks!!

Margolis, Richard J., Big Bear to the Rescue.I just happened to have re-read one of my child hood books and its the book this person is looking for the title is: Big Bear to the Rescue by Richard J. Margolis  pictures by Robert Lopshire. The book I have is a paperback. copyright 1975 from Scholastic book services  There is not any ISBN number on the book. the story is about: "Big Bear spotted Mr. Mole at the bottom of a dry well and thought that Mr. Mole had fallen there when what really happened is it was just a place Mr. Mole likes to sleep in and his home is underground behind Skunk's house. But Big Bear did not know this so he ran first to squirrel and asked for some rope but then squirrel needed a wheel barrow than when he gets it he will give Big Bear the rope. Well this goes on with the rest of the characters: owl, horse and skunk.  And in the end they found out Mr. Mole was okay and so with the things everyone needed they had a party." The book is 40 pages long and starts on page 5. OH and there is a number on top right hand corner of the cover: TW 3855


M415b: Mice wedding cake
Solved: The Sugar Mouse Cake


M416: Magic Door
I have been trying for a while now to locate a book that my husband read as a child in England in the late 1950s. Set in England the plot involves a group of young schoolboys who find an old door knocker-- when knocked it acts as a time machine- in that the boys are transported to different times in history. My husband particularly remembers when the boys found themselves back in Roman Britain.(he remembers one of the boys having a nose bleed and a cold shield being pressed upon the childs back ) I have exhausted every possible lead to find this book......one suggestion was  a book by Dan Billany titled "The Magic Door "..however I can't track it down... I would be most grateful for any help.

dan billany, the magic door. the book you are thinking of is, I'm sure the magic door. Dan Billany was my uncle and my mother, Joan illustrated it.I still have the original manuscript and drawings but sadly only one copy of the book.



M417: Mother worries about milk jug falling
Solved: Clever Elise


M418: Margy
Solved: Margy

M419: Marmaduke hedgehog
I'm looking for a children's book that was around about 50 years ago.  All I remember is that there were very colorful pictures of a bunny whose name, I believe, was Marmaduke and a hedgehog named Hodgie or Hoggie.  There may have been another animal named Primrose.  My sense is that the animals might have had tea in one scene, so this could have been a British book. 

M420: Mouth of a tiger
As a child, I was born in 1926, I had a book that we were all frightened of.  The cover had a child with it's arm in the mouth of a tiger.  I can't imagine what kind of stories the book contained.  I don't think I ever got past the cover.  I saw a copy in an antique barn in the 70's but I knew that I had a copy.  Of course, I can't find it.  Any help will be appreciated.  The size was at least 8x10.

The full book is by Kathryn Jackson, as well as the story.



M421: Medieval tale revolving around an alchemy stone
Solved: The Trumpeter of Krakow


M422: mystery in the whispering pines
mid 1940s.  someone comes across a large house in a forest that is vacant and left as if the owners just disappeared.

Cornelia Meigs, Mystery of the Red House, 1961. Not the right era, but this book is about a family that comes across a mysterious empty house in the middle of the woods while on a picnic.  There's even a table, laid out for dinner, that looks like people just walked away.  The kids find a note that leads them on a treasure hunt to solve the mystery.  The author wrote her more famous books between the 20s and the 40s, so maybe this is actually a reprint or reworking of an older title?



M423: Mon Cherie
French boy (Etienne?) comes to England to learn ballet. He likes football, too. Dancing partner and best friend is girl who narrates (I think) and on last page he turns collar of jacket up as it;s snowing, taked her hand and calls her "cherie". Book had bright yellow cover with black writing, I think. Story covered years 13 to 16?

M424: Mop cares for 2 Children
Solved: Miss Osborne-the-Mop


M425: Misty of the Moonlight
Solved: Gypsy from Nowhere


M426: Monkey goes hunting
Solved: The Golden Book of 365 Stories A Story for Every Day of the Year


M427: Mice save Santa
I'm looking for a book where mice (2-3 of them I think) save Santa.  I think they live in a dept. store and see Santa abducted.  Then they rescue him.  I loved this book and checked it out in elem. school several times in the late '70's. I'd love to get it for my kids for x-mas.

Jean Van Leeuwen,  Steven Kellogg illus., The great Christmas kidnaping caper.  Dial, 1975.  "In comfortable residence at Macy's during the Christmas season, Merciless Marvin the Magnificent and his gang are convinced that the store's Santa Claus has been kidnapped and determine to save him."


2007


M428: Mrs. Malone storybook
This book is from late 40s, early 50s. When I was a child, someone had given a book to my sister and me, containing as I recall, assorted stories and poems.  The one poem I remember was "Mrs. Malone" by Eleanor Farjeon.  I do not know whether the entire book was an Eleanor Farjeon book, or whether it contained works of assorted authors.  When my grandmother would read "Mrs. Malone" to us, it would make us cry.  Does anyone have a similar memory?  This would have been most likely in the very early 50s, although the book may have been published in the mid to late 40s? Thank you.

Eleanor Farjeon, Mrs. Malone, 1950.  Farjeon published this story-poem as a picture-book in 1950. I'm not sure if the poem is included in her collection "Poems for Children", published in 1951, but it may well be.  The poem is also in Eleanor Graham's "A Puffin Quartet of Poets", published in 1958. The poets are Farjeon, Ian Serraillier, James Reeves and E.V. Rieu. But that may be just a little late for you.



M429: Mr. Tibbets
Looking for book from 50's titled something like; Mr Tibbets toy factory or toy store. On book stumper.

 Mr. Tibbets, I recall a book called The Terrible Mr. Tibbetts (or Tibbets?), one of the TAB/Scholastic offerings in the 60's, but I can't find anything listed in WorldCat.
Was your Mr. Tibbit/Tibbet/Tibbets an English book?  My sister (ca. late '70's?) had an English book (Enid Blyton-type mass- produced W.H.Smith-kind of thing) with the everyday adventures of a middle-aged man who lived in your typical small English place.
I think the Scholastic edition someone suggested is THE TERRIBLE MR. TWITMEYER by Lilian Moore, but I don't think that's the book requested (the WorldCat subject heading record reads "Dogs - Fiction").  Moore's book was originally published in 1952.



M430: Man and his pet seal
Solved: Oscar the Trained Seal


M431: Monument Valley
 I had this book as a child in the early 1970s.  It features drawings of a desert much like monument valley with buttes and plateaus and mesas.  The perspective is from very far away or on top of a mesa.  There are some cowboys or other people traveling across the floor of the valley, but are so tiny, they appear to be dots.  As you flip from page to page, the dots slowly move across the bottom of the valley.  The sky takes up a big portion of the pages, and I seem to recall that there are  constellations that appear to take up much of the top portion of the book. I don't remember anything of the plot, just that these cowboys or other people were traveling across the desert and the somewhat sparse dialog they have as they go.


M432: Monkey and creatures in habitats
Picture book of children observing animals in their habitat.  If I recall correctly, the book is big and orange and has a picture of dark-haired children wearing loin cloths riding on a giraffe.  I believe there is a picture of a boy dressed up as a monkey hanging upside down with monkeys eating a banana, a chameleon, a boy wearing a safari hat and binocculars looking at an ostrich with its head in the sand.  There is a picture of a girl with a fur coat in a cold region observing a white baby seal (or some other polar animal).  It was my favorite book in the 70's so I don't think it's older than '78 and the artwork makes me think it is not older than '65.  Thanks so much for your help!


M433: Machine for war reactivated after years in captivity
I am looking for a sci fi short story about a war machine captured on a planet and after years as a contruction machine is accidently re activated and contaacts the home planet.

Keith Laumer, Combat Unit, 1960.  This short story is about a Bolo tank reactivated for combat after 300 years. It was originally published as 'Dinochrome' in The Magazine of F&SF in November 1960. It has been reprinted in the book Odyssey by Keith Laumer, edited by Eric Flint. A free sample of the book that includes the story can be found here.
Theodore Sturgeon, Killdozer, 1944.  I agree it's probably the Laumer story someone has already suggested, but the mention of "years as a construction machine" makes me wonder if the requestor is (also?) thinking of Theodore Sturgeon's story "Killdozer," in which a bulldozer is taken over by a hostile mental force from a long-dead civilization (not another planet).  If so, that one has been anthologized several times.



M434: Metropolitan Museum adventure
Solved: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler


M435: Molasses
I have looked for a book I had as a very, very young child.  I believe it was a Golden Book but not positive.  The book was about a small white dog - and I think his name was Molasses or either he got into some molasses and made a mess (I was so young, I honestly don't recall).   This book made such an impression on me as a child (about 4 years).....I have never forgotten it........

Wright, Betty Ren, Snowball, 1952.  Could this be it?  The only synopsis I can find:  Story about a white Poodle, Snowball, and how he goes from white as snow to black as coal. The cover is red with a picture of the poodle, Snowball, white on head and back and black on feet and underparts.  Not sure what turned him to this coloring.  It is a Whitman Tell a Tale (Fuzzy Wuzzy) book, which means that there was flocking on some of the pictures.
I remember Snowball.  He turned black after sliding down a coal chute.
DIRTY HARRY, 1965??, approximate.  Harry is a white dog with black spots who does not like to bathe; he goes on a big adventure and gets so dirty that he turns into a black dog with white spots.  When he gets home, his family doesn't recognize him, so he runs to get the scrubbing brush for a bath...you know the rest!!  Sound familiar? (Children's  book)  Good luck!



M436: Mouse
Children's book: I was in early elementary school (1986ish--so I think book is pub between 1973-1988 or something). Pink hardcover thin square book about a MOUSE. A little mouse who goes about her day. She drinks TEA out of lily of the valley petals (they look like cups). I have NO clue what it was called. I don't have a storyline either.

Patricia Coombs, Mouse Cafe.In Mouse Cafe, there is a mouse waitress, I can't remember her name - something like Lollimops. She works very hard and one day meets a handsome gentleman mouse that asks her to marry him.  The size and color of the book match your description.  Might be this!
Celeste Mouse. I think that the book that you are looking for is called Celeste Mouse.  It was a picture book published in the 70's or 80's, in it Celeste Mouse goes about her day, and makes tea.  She was wearing a pink dress.  I don't remember much else about it ,though.



M437: Minature Children in Backyard Adventures
Read it in the early 1980s.  This was an exciting book that catalogued the backyard adventures of two (or more, I think it was only a brother and sister) in their backyard (they were somehow shrunken or made really small like in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids"). I can only recall that their saga was complex and they desperately wanted to return home.  The only memorable clue that I can recall involve the boy's use of a bettle carcass (or some other insect/grasshopper leg) to accomplish some task.  I realize this is not much to go on, but I would really like to get to the bottom of this!

Evelyn Sibley Lampman, The City Under the Back Steps, 1960.  A boy and his cousin are playing on the back steps when they are bitten by a queen ant and "shrunk" to ant size. When they are found by the ants, they are initially taken as "pets" and then they are found to have special talents that can be used by the ants--the girl is wearing a pinafore and the pockets can be used to carry the eggs from place to place. The boy has a pocket knife and can save the scout ants from the deadly antlions. The book takes you through the "day-to-day" life of an ant colony from foraging for food, to taking care of the "nursery".The children forge friendships and help save the colony from an enemy camp. The queen grants their wish to become large again. They are grateful and when they return to natural size, they remember the experience, and quit stepping on ants.
Johm F. Carson, The Boys Who Vanished Here's another possibility.  This one is about two boys who drink an experimental drug, are reduced to insect size, and must trek across a vacant lot to find their way home.  Details people usually remember are:   the boys dress in tunics made from leaves, they eat dried insects found in spiderwebs, when they get home they grow back gradually to normal size over a period of weeks, and there's a rather memorable cover picture of them being threatened by a giant spider.
Sheila Moon, Knee-Deep in Thunder,  1967.  Another possibility is Knee-Deep in Thunder.  The very short CIP data reads: "An unusual stone provokes a journey into an underground world of fantasy where Maris is guided by a dog-sized beetle." Maris is joined by several other insects on the quest though...there's a red ant and a brown ant, another beetle, and (if I recall correctly) a caterpillar. A boy also joins them. I think that one group of ants were the enemy though, and were trying to stop the group.  In the end, Maris returns to normal size...but there was a sequel!
jay Williams, Danny Dunn and the Smallfying Machine.  There is an entry on the D page about the Danny Dunn series, although this one is not mentioned. Danny and his friends Joe and Irene get shrunk by the professor's new machine and have adventure's in Danny's back yard. I read this in the 70's. A possibility.



M438: Miss Mouse's Houses
1960-1980.  This is a book about a mouse who designs houses for other animals - A mansion for a pig, a worm lives in a luxery pear, and owl has a tower room.   I remember that it was hardcover around 8" x 11" and this mouse was designer.   It was beautifully illustrated and very detailed.   It looked like an interior design book for animal houses.

George Mendoza, Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse!, 1981.  Illustrated by Doris Smith. Also published as "House by Mouse" in UK. Long out of print and highly sought after. I have a friend who has one and she won't even let me borrow it!
George Mendoza, Need a house? call Ms. Mouse!, 1980.  This is definitely the book you are looking for "Henrietta Mouse designs houses to fit the special needs of her animal friends."



M439: Monkey soldiers in World War III
Solved: World War III


M440: Modern Three Muskateers
I know it's very little to go on... probably late 70s-early 80s paperback. Was a comic adventure about 3 guys (in the war??) who were kind of a modern Three Muskateers.

I am responding to the M440 stumper about "3 Modern Musketeers"... "little to go on" with... little to go on!  I am sorry I cannot provide author and title, but I do very faintly recall reading a wonderful series of books about a group of men, and I think there were 3 of them, who had been through the French Resistance together.  They had done many brave things and one of them had been tortured (his fingernails had been removed).  I think they called themselves the Animals or had animal nicknames.  One of them I think was called the Tiger.  Anyway, the books were very well written and they covered what happens AFTER the men reach retirement age.  The men end up helping the French chief of police in solving various crimes/mysteries. they also embark on some adventures themselves.  The humor is often dark and the writing is suspensful and "gritty" at times.   Even if this is not the answer to the stumper, I highly recommend these books.



M441: Moomim
Solved: Trouble for Trumpets


M442: Mexican boy pushes carnival ride
A reader anthology (before the 70s) with a story about a Mexican boy who earns money at a carnival by running underneath a merry go round type ride. He wants to buy a serape but he buys something for his grandfather instead.

I can't remember the title of this book either, but the plot sounds really familliar, perhaps I can shed some more light on this.  I remember that the boy made a pot, and wanted to trade it for a parrot in a cage, but the merchant wanted more than just the pot, so he pushed the merry-go-round for money.  He ended up making several trades, eventually having something nice enough to trade for the parrot, but ended up buying a serape for his grandfather instead.



M443: Mickey Mouse, shopping, nephews
Solved: Mickey Mouse Goes Christmas Shopping


M444: Magician's Rose
Youth/Young Adult book - I read it in middle school, probably published in the 70s or 80s.  I'm pretty sure the title had something to do with a magician and roses or flowers...I think the magician might have ended up dying in the end.  I vaguely recall a possible Christian or maybe Christmas undertone to the story - I'm pretty sure it was like The Little Prince with a whole story under the story.  I don't think the magician performed tricks, but he traveled and maybe could grow roses(?).  Please help - it's driving me crazy!

Paul Gallico, The Man Who Was Magic,1966. Perhaps? The edition I saw had a rose on the cover.I haven't read it in ages, so I can't be certain of the details.



M445: Momma bear
Solved: Why Do You Love Me?


M446: Money Game
Solved: The Westing Game


M447: Minstrels
Time and Again, How the minstrel music of olde affects music today.


M448: Memoirs, woman had affair, loved cooking
About 10 or 15 years ago, I read a woman's memoirs-- I cannot remember her name. One chapter in the book dealt with an affair she had as a married woman. After the affair ended, she wrote "for awhile, I was happy." The author also loved cooking and throughout the book were descriptions of her preparing delicious-sounding dishes. There may have been recipes. I would love to read it again. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Rosamund Pilcher, Shell Seekers,1987. A long shot but perhaps this adult book.  Penelope and Richard have a wartime affair.  He dies in the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day.  After she finds out, she remembers him reading to her about "there will be sunlight later".  After the chapter flashback she realizes that she is content and grateful for having known him.  There are passages about meals (roast lamb!) but no recipes that I recall.  The Shell Seekers is a painting by her father, Lawrence Stern.
Reichl, Ruth, Comfort Me With Apples, 2001. This reminds me of Ruth Reichl's  memoirs, most likely the second one, Comfort Me With Apples.  It's a little newer than you remember, but it does have the affair and lots of yummy recipes
Two people have submitted possible answers to the mystery - both good - however, I don't believe either is the book I'm looking for.  As I recall, this woman would have been a housewife in possibly the late 50s, or early 60s. Is it possible to put a "thanks" on there from me, but asking for continued clues from others?
Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County, 1992. Was it The Bridges of Madison County?  Set in 1965 Iowa - a National Geographic photographer has a love affair with a married woman, Francesca.  The book is Francesca's memories as she looks back on that affair.
Theodora Fitzgibbon, With Love, Love Lies a Loss. 1950s??? This rings a bell with me for a series of memoirs by Theodora Fitzgibbon, an Irish writer who also wrote cookbooks. The memoirs detail a bohemian/jet set life during and after WWII - hanging out at the pub with Dylan Thomas, etc.  She has affairs and in fact in the second book her marriage breaks up.  Both very good memoirs, anyway, if you want to check them out.



M449: Molly, Lolly, Dolly, etc.
Solved: A Surprise for Mrs. Bunny


M450: Man, fog, mirrors
Solved: The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag


M451: magic seashell gets hot in saddle bag
Solved: The Twilight of Magic


M452: magic toy ship
Solved: The Ship That Flew


M453: miracle bells chirstmas
Solved: Why the Chimes Rang


M454: man, a million dollars
softcover book probably from 70's   green cover about man who tries to give away a million dollars.

Terry Southern, The Magic Christian. This sounds like it - the plot fits, and the cover is green.
George Barr McCutcheon, Brewster's Millions, 1902. Sounds like this popular novel which has been in print since it's first publication, and made into movies at least five times. Synopsis: New York, 1900. Montgomery Brewster is a man of great potential. Heir to his uncle's fortune, he is a playboy, very much the American equivalent of P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster. However, unlike Bertie, Monty Brewster has a shrewd intellect behind his shallow exterior. Following his uncle'\''s death, he discovers the old man has bequeathed one million dollars to him . . . or, if he is up to the challenge, he can win 7 million by spending the one million dollar inheritance within the space of a year. When Monty decides to go for the big jackpot, he has to keep his plans a secret from everyone -- even though it may cost him his fiance and his friends.



M455: magic potion, mouse
1960s-1970s. This is possibly a Parents Press Magazine book from the late 60s-mid 70s. I can't remember the title or author, but it was about an animal, which I think was a mouse. He was unhappy with the type of animal he was, and went to a place where there were lots of bottles of potions on shelves that turned you into a different animal. On one bottle the label had come off. After imagining what the bottle's contents might change him into, the mouse(?) decided to stay as he was and not take any of the potions.

Kent, Jack, The Wizard, 1971. The mouse goes to the wizard because he doesn't like being a mouse, the wizard gives him a bottle whose lable has fallen off and when the mouse asks "What will it turn me into?" the wizard answers "Something else - that's what you said you wanted to be."  While the mouse imagines what it will turn him into (butterflies are pretty but they don't live very long, turtles live a long time but they aren't pretty and they're slow, bees are fast but they work hard, ants get stepped on, birds sing happy songs but they eat worms, and <horrors!!> what if it turned him into a cat who eats MICE??)  The mouse decides there's nothing the spell could turn him into that he would enjoy being ("Being me has its problems but at least I know what they are.  Whatever I turn into might have bigger ones") and returns the magic spell to the wizard - who is elated that the spell worked (the mouse was unhappy before and now he's happy so the spell changed him).  So the wizard rips all the labels off of all his magic spell bottles and "After that, whenever anyone in Wallaby Wallow felt unhappy with his lot, he know what to do.  He would buy one of the wizard's wonderful magic spells.  They never failed to work--as long as the bottles weren't uncorked."
Kent, Jack (author and illustrator) , The Wizard of Wallaby Wallow,1971. You're right, this is published by Parents Magazine Press!  Unfortunately out of print, but not hard to find.  Also available as an animated film in the Scholastic Video Collection as a bonus story (The Wizard by Jack Kent) on the DVDs "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and More Magical Tales" and "Chrysanthemum and more Kevin Henkes Stories."



M456: mystery, NYC-gang in upstairs apartment plotting kidnapping
Solved: The Kidnapers Upstairs


M457: mountain fantasy quest
Solved: Farthest Away Mountain


M458: magic sled, Victorian, aunt, witch
Solved: Magic Elizabeth

M459: mustard in cake acts as distress signal
Solved: The Fortune Cake


M460: man with green thumb
 I am trying to find a book for a friend.  She is 36 now…so she had it as a child in the 70’s I would assume.  So, printed in or before that time.  This is the only information she gave me… No the man with the green thumb but don't know the name of the book... He lived in a city where he was the only one who knew how to grow flowers and plants, then he got sick and the plant started to die something along that line....

Margaret Mahy. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but you could have a look at Margaret Mahy's children's story anthologies. I think the one with the story about chewing gum might be the one with the story I'm thinking of.
Tistou of the Green Thumbs, 1950s, approximate.



M461: Mr. Whiskers
The book I am looking for is, as I remember it a paper back, chapter book.  It is about a cat called "Mr. Whiskers" (I am ALMOST positive that likes to sit at the front window ofr his house and "read the paper" several times a day.  In the story he refers to "reading the paper" as checking out the comings and going of the neighborhood people and the other animals etc.  That's basically all I remember of the book but I really wnat to find it to share with my children as we talk about OUR dog "reading the paper" all the time!  I would LOVE it if someone knew of this book!

McInnes, John, Mr Whiskers,1961. Just a guess - it was the only chapter book (158 pgs.) about a Mr. Whiskers that I could find, but I couldn't find any description.



M462: Moth People comic
I read a comic book in the mid-late 70's that featured a Conan-type warrior character (bulging muscles, big sword, etc.) A woman (possibly a love interest, or maybe just some princess) was kidnapped by Moth Men, who I remember as being sort of yellowish and/or lavender, with big eyes, curling antenae, wings, and two pairs of human-like arms and hands. The warrior attempted to rescue her, but was too late - the Moth Men had already spun her into a cocoon.  He carried her out of the Moth People's city over his shoulder, still encased in her cocoon. Just at the end of the issue, the cocoon was about to hatch - leaving me to wonder for the past 30+ years who or what finally emerged.  Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Roy Thomas, Jon Buscema, Val Mayerik, The Chronicles of Conan Volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories, 2006, reprint.
I have two possibilities: 1. If this was a story about Conan, she-pirate Belit, and a Killer Moth, in  Conan the Barbarian - "This is the Night of the Killer Moth" / "On the track of the She-Pirate" , Conan #61, Marvel Comics, 1976 then perhaps the answer to your question "what emerged?" might be found in
Conan the Barbarian- "Amra, Lord of the Lions"/"Dwellers in Darkness" , Conan # 63, Marvel Comics 1976 in which Conan re-unites with Belit.
These Conan issues are currently in print in the compilation "The Chronicles of Conan Volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories" by Roy Thomas, Jon Buscema, and Val Mayerik [Dark Horse, 2006]. 2. Killer Moth and his Moth Men, Larva and Pupa, are villains in the Batman series, DC comics.  Killer Moth, aka Cameron Van Cleer, was later called Charaxes.  Killer Moth traps his victims by spinning them into cocoons.  He first appeared in Batman, DC comics #53. He had an encounter with Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, [later called Oracle], in her first appearance in DC Comics #359 (1967) she is 'cocooned' by Killer Moth but is rescued by Batman.  Killer Moth appears in other issues as well The Killer Moth website is here: He-Man, a "Conan-type" warrior with bulging muscles and a sword, appeared in DC comics as well, in the series "Masters of the Universe" 1982-3. I don't know if these 2 characters ever appeared together in a DC comic.
I regret that neither of the suggestions was the book that I've been looking for.  While the main character was of the Conan type, I'm almost 100% certain that it was not Conan himself, as that was a big enough name that I'd have remembered it.  That said, I still ordered a copy of Chronicles of Conan #9, just to be sure, but it just arrived and it's not the one.  It was also definitely not the Batman villain, Killer Moth, nor was it an issue of He-Man.  It was not a single Moth-person, but an entire city of them, in the middle of a jungle somewhere.  (Some of the residents of the city may have been more caterpillar-like than moth-like, eg. multiple arms, no wings.) I've been taking a hard look at lesser-known warrior characters, such as Ka-Zar and Kull, but so far no luck.  Thanks for trying!



M463: Misunderstood girl contemplates mother's death under tree
I am looking for a book I only vaguely remember reading as a child in Iowa.  It is a coming-of-age story about a girl whose mother has died.  In the book the girl liked to go sit under a special tree where she would cry and try to work out her feelings.  She felt alienated and misunderstood by her family and classmates.  I think the tree might be on a hill or in a cemetery.  There was cool green grass under the tree, and perhaps her mother was buried nearby.  I seem to remember the name "Willow" from the book (the name of a person, or place, or just the tree she was under -- I'm not sure), but I might have that wrong. I read this book in the late '60's, so it was written before then.  The copy I read had a plain blue cover and something like charcoal illustrations.  The book is not Blue Willow by Doris Gates.  I've been trying to find this book again for 30 years -- I would be THRILLED if anybody remembers it at all -- it had great significance to me at that time in my life.

Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood, Whispering Willows, 1964. It sounds like Whispering Willows by Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood.  It's about a young teenage girl who lives with her uncle who is the caretaker for Willow Hill Cemetery.  Her mother died a few years earlier.  The book begins when she is about to enter high school and concludes right after she earns her diploma.



M464: Mouse lives in dollhouse and gets to be conductor for train
A mouse (I thought his name was Cricket, but that may be my poor memory) finds a dollhouse or playhouse of some sort, moves in and cleans it up nicely.  At one point, he takes a bath in what I think was a teacup.  A little boy finds him and eventually makes him the engineer for his toy train set.  Please help!

Consuelo Joerns, The Lost and Found House, 1979.



M465: mental hospital patient and employee escape
Solved: Sarah Canary


M466: missing diamond, evil Pan, diamond in staircase of abandoned mansion
I read this book over and over when I was approx. 10-11 (1986-1987).  It was a thin paperback, age appropriate to a 10 year old.  It was a mystery about two children - a boy and a girl I think who uncover some spooky occurences happening in an old mansion.  The upshot of the story is that the goat faced Pan has either come back for or is protecting a diamond hidden in the staircase of the mansion.  Not sure if Pan is just a thief in disguise or the 'real thing.'  Fun book.  Hope you can find it for me.  I've been keyword searching "diamond, staircase, mystery, mansion, haunting..."

Jane Langton, The Diamond in the Window. A brother and sister search for Prince Krishna's treasure in their rambling old house. A statue holding a lamp on the staircase plays an important role.



M467: man's descent into full-blown rabies, short story
I remember reading this book or short story in reading/english class during either middle or high school.  (It's been quite a while since that would have been the mid-70's to mid-80's, and my memory is quite sketchy about it.)  I remember it being fairly short... so either a short story or a novella. The main character (and I believe that there were very few characters other than the main character as I do not remember any) was an adult male.  He either encountered a dog with rabies or owned the dog.  I don't remember whether he destroyed the animal once he knew it had rabies or whether he simply penned/chained it up to prevent it from biting others.  I do remember that he was bitten (possibly when trying to take care of the dog) and contracted rabies himself.  I'm not sure if the setting of the story occurred prior to the development of the rabies vaccine or whether the man didn't realize he had rabies until it was too late for the vaccine.  The story details his descent into the symptoms of rabies until he finally dies.  If I remember correctly, during one of his lucid moments he may have chained himself up to prevent himself from attacking others and spreading the virus.  It talks about his extreme thirst and how he physically cannot swallow water, gagging and frothing at the mouth. That's about all the details that I can remember.  Any information you can provide regarding what the title and author of this story might be would be appreciated.

Stephen King, Cujo, 1981. This is probalby too easy, but could you be thinking of the Stephen King novel Cujo?   The book tells the story of the middle-class Trenton family and rural Camber clan in Castle Rock, Maine. Marital and financial difficulties of the mundane sort plague disgraced advertising man Vic Trenton and his adulterous wife Donna. Their domestic problems are dwarfed by the mortal danger when Donna and her four-year-old son Tad are terrorized by a rabid St. Bernard named Cujo.  The most unusual stylistic element of the narrative is that it occasionally switches to the perspective of the canine title character. Like Kojak from The Stand, Cujo sees humans as extraordinary, nearly divine figures (for example, all adult males), referring to Joe Camber and Gary Pervier as THE MAN, Donna Trenton and Charity Camber as THE WOMAN, and Brett Camber and Tad Trenton as THE BOY.
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937, copyright.  This sounds like an excerpt from the end of Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.  This section has been widely excerpted/anthologized and so might be remembered as a short story.  The main character is Janie.  Her third husband, Tea Cake, is bitten by a rabid dog during a hurricane in Florida.  He deteriorates hideously, with the symptoms the oringinal poster described.  In the end, Janie has to shoot him to prevent him shooting her.
This is a long shot, but I wonder if this isn't the 1968 story "Bite" by by Lawrence A. Perkins. It appeared in Analog science fiction magazine, July 1967. The reason I say it's a long shot, in that story the guy is bitten by a squirrel. He is a doctor and a really unpleasant, ill-mannered person. He refuses to believe he has rabies while he clearly has the signs. Another doctor locks him up against his will. There is an experimental cure for rabies but if the victim lives he might be a carrier and pass the disease to whomever he comes in contact with.



M468: messianic boy given secert to overcome evil
I read a series in (92-93) Jr. High that was printed as early as the 50's or as late as the 80's, it was the story of a messianic young boy, whom is giving the secret power to over come evil.  The power is given in cycles to a new messiah after several hundred years, and the life of that person is extended while they hold the power.  The story follows the boy discovering his gift and him trying to suppress evil.  I think that there was a ring or a sword that denoted his position.

M469: Monster and boy mutual terror
I was born in 1971 in England. My mother read me a funny book when I was very young about a young boy (I think) that would walk around while a monster (I think) would hide and scare him. The (monster) would shout something like this: OOOCHUCKACHUCKACHUCKAWEEWOW, everytime he scared the boy. At the end of the book, the boy hides and scares the monster using the same yell. I remember loving the book as a child and have been searching for it for years. It was most likely produced in England in the late 60s or early 70s. I remember it to be a very short book, probably around 1st grade level. Any help would be appreciated.

I talked to my mother, who used to read me the book. She told me what I remember to be a monster was a polar bear. Also, she said we bought this book at the post office. We would also purchase ladybird books and Rupert books there as well. She said it was made between 1971-1975 and is a very short book. It was definitely made in England and designed for very young readers.



M470: Magical tiger skin rug
Solved: Tiger's Chance


M471: Magical school with doors that lead to different worlds
A boy studies in a magical school where everyone's name starts with A. The garden wall of the school has many doors. Each door leads to a different fairy tale. The boy can borrow the red cape from Little Red Riding Hood. etc.... The book was translated into Chinese and I read it 30 years ago in Taiwan. I would really like to read it again and share it with my kids!   Thank you!

M472: Marriage, sisters (Sara and Delight?)
There were 2 sisters, I think one was named Sara, the other was Delight. Delight was younger and wild and wanted to get married, but her boyfriend's brother was against it, so her sister pretended to be her. I think the older brother's name was Marco or Marcello. I believe it was from the late 70's to early 80's.

Rogers, Rosemary, Love Play, 1980, copyright. I came across this in the Solved Mysteries catalog, but it hasn't been solved.  It is Love Play by Rosemary Rogers (1982):  They have money, power and arrogance--and the world is theirs. Beautiful and unspoiled, Sara Coleville knows she can play their game. Now her fine-bred defiance and brazen masquerades have excited Marco Marcantoni--enflaming the hot-blooded duke's most shameles passions and wildest desires. He vows he will have her, in secrecy and seclusion--to use until all his needs are satisfied. But Sara's innocence is deceptive. And it is she who must ultimately prevail in this world where wealth makes love easy...and passion makes it dangerous.


M473: Mom zoo, Dad park
In the early to mid 80s I had a book with the line, "Mom takes me to the zoo and Dad takes me to the park" although it could be vice versa.  I recall it being a larger than average book.  I believe it also was a "foldover" book where the book contains two stories: one starting from the left side and the other beginning from the back of the book and having to turn it upside down... My mom used to read this to me all the time but she can't remember much else either.

Daniel Wilcox, I'm My Mommy/ I'm My Daddy. My daughter had this book in the mid-eighties. Held one way, it was a story about the child pretending to be the mother and spending the day taking her mom to do the kinds of things they did together. Flipped upside down, it was a similar story about a child pretending to be the father. It was an over-sized book, and the parts about the zoo and park were there.
Daniel Wilcox, I'm My Mommy/ I'm My Daddy. This might be a stretch, but the description triggered a memory of one of my own books from childhood. I'm My Mommy/ I'm My Daddy, published in 1975, featured drawings with the Muppets/Sesame Street characters. It was a two-in-one book in that you flip it over to read the other story, and it was a larger than usual size. A Muppet boy decides to trade places with his Daddy (and the other side had a Muppet girl trade places with her Mommy). I remember that they do go to the park or zoo, Daddy gets a balloon and lets go of it and cries and the boy has to comfort him. I think he also pretends to be scared of one of the animals, and the boy reassures him.



M474: Musical girl in warm black family
Solved: Julie's Heritage


M475: Maze, puzzle book
I am looking for the title of a maze and puzzle book that I had as an adolescent. Here are the details: Publication date -1977 or before; Size and color- About 6 x 9 inches with a white jacket; Cover- The cover drawing was a side view of a man's head. He was wearing a derby hat with a maze running through the hat. The book was geared toward kids about 12 I think. The guy on the cover also had a mustache I think; Length- I think about 180 pages.

Gardner, Martin, Perplexing Puzzles and Tantalizing Teasers, 1969. Well it's not a side view but rather a full face view of his head, but he does have a maze starting at his collar, running through his mustache and glasses, and ending in his bowler hat.  Some of the puzzles include:  Ridiculous Riddles, Five Airy Creatures, The maze of the Minotaur, The Dime-and-Penny Switcheroo, A Dozen Droodles for Nimble Noodles, Sally''s Silly Walk, Folding Money Fun, Solve the Bird Equasions, etc.
I believe this is/was from Dover Publications.
Martin Gardner, Perplexing Puzzles and Tantalizing Teasers, 1969. The book also appeared in a 1988 edition with a lion and a bat on the cover. This version was a paperback.



M476: Mythical creatures, flip the pages to create
I am looking for a book from my childhood (early 1960's). A satirical/whimsical children's book on mythical creatures. The pages were thick cardboard cut in 1/2 or 1/3s so you could flip top middle or bottom part separately. On the left would be a creature: centaur, faun; minotaur, dragon; with the name written vertically (so there were 2-3 letters on each flippable segment. And each flippable segment would have the head/middle/feet of the creature.  On the right was a description. Telling its powers where in mythology it was found and some funny story or anecdote about it.  Depending on how many pages into the book you were on each segment you could mix and match the names/pictures and descriptions in comical fashion.

James Riddell, Hit or Myth. This book is either Hit or Myth, More Animal Lore and Disorder by James Riddell, or possibly a similar book by the same author. Hit or Myth was one of my favorites as a kid. The cover of my copy has a unicorn and lion with the heads mixed up on the other's body. Starts out with a "Rabster" (Rabbit + Rooster) and ends with a "Dranet" (Dragon + Cygnet). The borders of the text page are color-coded so you knew when you had a "real" match, though the "real" matches weren't ever as interesting as the mixed animals.
James Riddell, Hit or Myth, 1949. Lots of fun. It was reprinted in the 1970s. Animals (Riddell did the pictures) include a rabbit, a rooster, a gorilla, a mermaid, and a unicorn. "Illustrated with exaggerated paintings of fourteen animals, the pages halved horizontally so that some 200 different animals may be created." There's apparently a sequel - Hit or Myth: More Animal Lore and Disorder. Not to be confused with at least four other books with the same first three words in the title.



M477: Mornings
Solved: Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead


M478: Mice - neat & tidy
Solved: Good Neighbors


M479: Magic Pencil
I am trying to find a book, I believe it was called "The Magic Pencil", but I may only remember that title because it was *about* a magic pencil. Basic story: A boy finds the pencil, and draws a house on a cliff. He dreams about the house that night. He draws a boy in the house, and dreams about the boy that night. He eventually draws rocks, which come to life when he draws faces with fangs on them - and the story leads to a tense ending. The book was not very large and it had simple line drawings to correspond with the supposed drawings made by the first boy. I read this book at a children's library (pre 1980), and would love to know what it was called and if I can buy a copy in almost any condition. Thank you for your help.

A couple of guesses--  The Magic Pencil, Miguel A Venedicto, Vantage Pr., 1977, 49 pgs., illus.   Or----  The Magic Pencil, Scapa, Scribner, 1976, ISBN 0684148226, 26pg., illus.  "Because Simon doesn't know what to do, Toby helps him draw an adventure every day."
Storr, Catherine, The Magic Drawing Pencil, 1958, copyright.  Originally published in the UK as "Marianne Dreams."  Marianne is sick in bed. She finds the pencil in her mother's sewing box.  Her drawings become more detailed as time progresses. Mark is the boy she draws in the house and he is also ill - yes this is a really tense book and the UK tv series "Escape into Night" which was based on the novel was equally memorable.
Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams.  If it was actually a girl doing the drawing, this would be Marianne Dreams, sometimes also known as Paperhouse or The Magic Drawing Pencil (apparently names of screenplay (?) versions).  Marianne dreams of the boy she draws, draws eyes on the rocks surrounding the house... it's all there.  There's also a sequel called Marianne and Mark.
Most likely Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. See Solved Mysteries. This was made into the British 1988 low-key horror movie, "Paperhouse." To my surprise, I found that that was actually the SECOND filming of the book - the previous one was a highly rated, six-part, British TV mini-series from 1972, titled "Escape Into Night." You can read the IMDb comments here, if you like: http://imdb.com/title/tt0357363/usercomments.
Storr, Catherine, Marianne Dreams, 1958.  I believe you are thinking of Marianne Dreams (see Solved Mysteries). The main character is a girl, but there is also a boy in the story. Still in print. (corrected Author)
Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams, 1958.  I think this may be the book you're thinking of. Marianne is ill in bed. She is given an indelible pencil and dreams every night about what she has drawn. She meets another child, Mark, and the other things you mention are all in the book (the stones etc) Marianne Dreams is still in print (Published by Faber) so should be easy to get hold of.
Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams.  Could this book have been about a girl?  Marianne Dreams (made into a movie called "Paperhouse") is about a girl who's bedridden and draws pictures that she then dreams about.  One is of a house, one of a boy she adds to the house, and one of rocks which grow not fangs but eyes.  The girl and boy have to escape from the house and get to the sea.
I think this is Marianne Dreams, AKA The Magic Drawing Pencil- The rocks are scared of light so Marianne draws a lighthouse so that she and the boy in the dream can get to safety- always thought it was a bit daft of her not to draw a nice big sun!



M480: Mystery Picture Book for Kids
Mystery Picture Book for Kids in the 7 -8y.o range. It featured black and white illustrations on each page containing clues as to where the antagonist was hiding, ex. footprints of soot leading from a fireplace, or a scrap of fabric snagged on a bush, this sort of thing.  The villain we were chasing was a man with a facial hair i believe. I checked this book from the library too many times to remember as a kid in the '80's, so it couldn't have been published after 1986.

Hans Jurgen Press, The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang.  This has pictures throughout the book that you can look at and find clues to help you solve the mystery.
I vaguely remember a similar book in the late 70s--I think it was called "The Black Hand Gang" and was by an author named either Otto or Press.  Maybe that will give someone else a clue!



M481: Months Golden book, Richard Scary illustrations?
Solved: The Golden Almanac


M482: Magical traveling boots in armoire
Solved: What the Witch Left


M483: Marching family, parade, bassoon
The book I am looking for is a children's book. It has been at least 5 years since I've seen it. It was about a book that rhymed. It was about a child/family that started marching in a big parade. One of the people in the family played the bassoon. They marched and wherever they passed, people would come out and join the parade. They marched all over the world until the whole world was marching. I seem to remember some dolphins or whales joining in as well, but I'm not exactly sure about that part. I remember clearly the fact that someone played a bassoon.

This sounds a lot like the Disney movie "The One and Only, Original Family Band" that was released in the mid-60s, starring Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen and a very young Kurt Russell. Could the movie be based on the book you're remembering?



M484: Mountains upside-down, flying pigs, fantasy, boy-girl team
A young boy and girl (friends at school or similar) wind up in a fantasy land where skeleton snakes live underground in tunnels, mountains are upside down and/or move, and pigs fly.  I read this book about 8 years ago, never been able to find it since.  I'm guessing it's a more recent book (I'd hazard a guess at 80s or 90s), and recall it had an illustrated blue cover with depictions of flying pigs on the front and back.  My memory of the actual plot details may be a little warped, but this is the best I can do.  Can't remember the title... can anyone help?!

Diana Wynne Jones, The Dark Lord of Derkholm, The Year of the Griffin.  A long shot but those elements are in The Dark Lord of Derkholm and The Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones.  The boy and girl are magical brother Blade and bard sister Shona. The flying pigs are a prophecy come true that a missing elf prince will return to his brother and father.  The head of the university has an affinity with snakes.  In The Year of the Griffin, the griffin daughter of the dark lord moves a mountain in the Waste in a fit of temper and is sent to school to learn magic.  She meets five other misfits, a prince, the emperor's half-sister, a dwarf, a pirate's daughter and an emir's brother and they all become friends.
I love those books!  Such a good read, even if it's not what you're looking for :)



M485: Magic boots, time travel
childrens book about a girl who puts on magic boots and then travels through time

Two Ruth Chew books, maybe?
Tepper, Sheri S., Beauty, 1991, copyright.  Beauty is a contemporary retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with Snow White and some other fairy tale characters thrown in.  It is NOT a children's book, though, definitely an adult fantasy, because it is very violent and ugly in places.  She has shoes or boots that allow her to travel through time.



M486: "Me too" Golden book?
Solved: Me Too!


M487: Mice find palace in tree
Solved: The Secret Staircase


M488: Motherless girl, lives with father, doesn't fit in, wears bloomers for swimming, kids tease.
Additional details for this book are somewhat vague, her name MAY have been Priscilla, Penelope, maybe not. The kids would chase her, at one point, she hides in the bushes, maybe at the swimming hole.  It was a chapter book, I was a voracious reader, born in '59, so I think I probably read it when I was 10ish.

Grace Allen Hogarth, The Funny Guy.  Maybe this one.  Helen lives with her father and Aunt Cris.  Her mother is in the hospital so money is tight.  She's lonely and does weird things around the other kids earning her the name "Funny Guy".  I remember she eats a caterpillar on a dare.  Not sure if this is the book you're thinking of but I thought it was worth a mention.
Could this one be either 'The Boyhood of Grace Jones' or 'The Majesty of Grace', both by Jane Langton?  Although it's been years since I read either, and I think both parents are alive, there is something about Grace and bloomers in one of the books.
Grace Allen Hogarth, The Funny Guy.  Definitely The Funny Guy. I remember the bloomers incident clearly. Some nasty children from her school steal Helen's clothes while she is swimming at the waterhole.



M489: Mittens taste like fruit in alternate world
The book I am writing about is a children's book.  My first grade teacher read it to the class in 1962.  I can't remember very much of the story.  The thing that stands out in my mind was the kids went down some sort of slide into another country/world, I don't know what it actually was,   but the woman made mittens and other things that were flavored like blueberry and strawberry.  The kids were able to taste the mittens when they had them on.  It this rings a bell to anyone I would love to know what it was.

Well there's "Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Mittens."  'The story of old Granny Glittens, who dyed her yarn with lemon drops and chocolate bars and candy canes, and made Christmas mittens that you could actually eat!'  You can find this story in several old Christmas anthologies - Gertrude Crampton, The Golden Christmas Book (1947) /   Smith, Dorothy Hall, Tall Book of Christmas (1954) / Kathryn Jackson, The Santa Claus Book (1952).



M490: Magical kingdom beyond hedge
Solved: The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles


M491: Moose(?) on boat loses toes because forgot red flannel
My mom got this book when I was five (that'd be 1978) from a children's book club, where she also ordered all our Sweet Pickles books.  The book's main character was a grey moose-looking type of thing (?, but walked upright and no antlers).  I think it was a boy, and lived with its grandmother?  It went out on a boat, and its grandmother (?) had told it to make sure to do _________ (maybe wear the red flannel?) or it would somehow lose its toes.  I remember a mermaid, and that the character did lose its toes, and someone gave it a red flannel (so, maybe it's British?) to wear around its nose...?  Sorry, I know that's pretty vague...

Edward Lear, The Pobble Who has No Toes.  Don't know which edition you read, but this is definitely it.
The Pobble Who Has No Toes by Edward Lear.



M492: Master of Disguise Mystery
Master of Disguise Mystery story set in England. I read it in the mid 90's.  It was included in our 8th grade language arts textbook. It was a story about a female master of disguise who had eluded police for a long time. A police officer was set to catch her. The story starts with an old woman talking to a gentleman on a train. Later they go to a restaurant. After they leave the waiter discovers a note left on their table, begging to call the police because the criminal had been found. The two people go to a subway station, where a fight ensues and the old woman is killed. We are led to believe that she was the master of disguise everyone was looking for, but just before she dies she manages to wrestle the man's mask off and reveals him to be the master of disguise.

Henry S. Harrison, Miss Hinch, 1911.  I think I had the same textbook... the story is "Miss Hinch".  Other stories in the book included "The Monkey's Paw", "The Most Dangerous Game", and "The Problem of Cell 13".
This is indeed Miss Hinch! I read mine in the old children's literature series THE CHILDREN'S HOUR-1953-the Spencer Press. It is in volume 7- Favorite Mystery Stories-p 179.



M493: Malta during WWII
What I am looking for is a children's story published in Britain in the late 1940s. It was about the island of Malta around 1940 when three old biplanes defended the island for two weeks against air attacks from Sicily. This was part of the epic story of Malta and its defence in World War II when the island was almost starved into submission but in fact never had to surrender.  The story was about some children in the island and I remember some details about Maltese features such as the gecko, the churches and of course the raids.  The book MAY have been called "Faith, Hope and Charity", the names given to the three aircraft.  The book is not the historic account by Kenneth Poolman under that name and might have had a different title from that one.  Nor was it "Air Spies of Malta" by Peter Jackson, a very different story. I have tried the British Library catalogue, a specialist dealer in Malta and several other book searches, all to no avail.  I don't know the author, title or publisher, but I had a copy as a child and it sparked off an interest in the country which continues to this day.  I am willing to pay a fair price for a copy of the book in good condition - but at the moment hope is fading, but I will be charitable and keep faith for a while longer yet!

Here is a website on Malta during WWII:  http://www.killifish.f9.co.uk/Malta%20WWII/Index.htm.  There is a pretty good list of books if you click on the link "Books/Video" in the left-hand panel (index).



M494: Mexican fiesta
I am looking for a picture book that I remember from the late 1960s. It was about a party in Mexico -- I think it was a birthday party for a little girl. It had great illustrations that were  exclusively pink, blue, and white.

Ets, Marie Hall, Nine Days to Christmas, 1960. Could this be Nine Days to Christmas?  Not a birthday party but Ceci's first Christmas celebration, complete with pinata. The illustrations are primarily pinks and yellows.



2008


M495: Mystery/detective Sweden young teens
I remember reading this series of books in the 60's. It was located in the library close to the Tom Swift/Nancy Drew stories. It was a series of books set in Sweden (I believe). There was a group of kids (boys and girls) that solved mysteries. They rode around town on scooters but they were all under 16. I remember thinking at that time that they weren't old enough to drive. They got locked in basements a few times. It's been so long that that is all I remember.

Holmberg, Ake, Tam Sventon, private detective, 1960, copyright.  Could it have been the Tam Sventon series? Tam Sventon, private detective, Tam Svemton, desert detective, Tam Sventon and the silver-plate gang, Tam Sventon and the discovery P3x.
Erich Kaestner, Emil and the Detectives, 1934, copyright.  Possibly Emil and the Detectives and the sequel, Emil and the Three Twins? Set in Germany. "Emil is travelling by train to Berlin to holiday with his cousins but he falls asleep and his precious money is stolen. Emil sets out to catch the thief, helped by a large number of small boys." I seem to remember one of the Detectives having a motorbike, and also thinking he seemed too young to drive.
This could very well be the detective series by Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking author) featuring Bill Bergson: Bill Bergson, Master Detective, Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue, Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously.  One of the girls is named Eva Lotta! I loved this series!!
Karin Anckarsvard, 1960, approximate.  I'm guessing this is the series by Anckarsvard (who has two dots over the last a in her name).  The Robber Ghost, The Mysterious Schoolmaster, Madcap Mystery...(there might have been a couple other titles like Rider by Night and the Riddle of the Ring).  The first book is about Michael and Cecelia, two Swedish friends who solve a mystery about their teacher. (He's a spy, I think.)  In subsequent stories, other friends join the group. In Madcap Mystery, Michael definitely rides around on a motorized scooter.  I think they do get locked in a cellar, or a cave, or a basement in each book!



M496: MOON, MOONBEAMS, OUTER SPACE, ASTRONAUT, ROCKET theme
This is a children's story book, purely fantasy, with drawings of an astronaut and other kids going to the moon and specifically, a soda fountain. This could be a Golden Book or an I Can Read Book; I believe it had a glossy cover. This is NOT a factual book about outer space or science.

Mae Blacker Freeman, You Will Go to the Moon.   You could check this one. We don't have it any more, but I seem to recall something about a soda fountain in it.


M497: Merlin wakes up after modern war
It's a book for young readers, maybe 200 pages, that was probably published in the 1980s.  The plot has something to do with the wizard Merlin waking up and emerging into a fictional modern (maybe a post-nuclear holocaust?) world when the crystal cave in which he has slept for centuries is broken open by a war.  I think Merlin might have amnesia, and doesn't remember who he is.  And I vaguely think that the title has the word "winter" in it, but I may be wrong.  I've been trying to find this book again for twenty years.  If you can identify it I'll be totally impressed.

Pamela Service, Winter of Magic's Return / Tomorrow's Magic, mid-80s.  You're looking for this fantasy/sci-fi duet.  Arthur returns as an orphaned schoolboy in a world covered in ice and snow. Another boy, who has a reputation as being a problem is a returned Merlin. Along with a girl from the orphanage, the three battle Morgan le Fay, who wants to rule this icy world.
Peter Dickinson, The Weathermonger,  1969, copyright.   Rings enough bells to punt this as a possible solution - it involves a confused Merlin in the modern world, a title with "Weather" rather than "Winter" and was a '70s book rather than an '80s.  And of course you should read it if you have not yet had the pleasure of doing so.



M498: Mexican boy earns a parrot
Mexican boy goes to the marketplace with his family and sees a parrot he wants to buy, but he doesn't have any money.  He spends the day trading one thing for another and finally working to turn the merry-go-round to earn a ride and 10 centavos so he can satisfy his bargains and get the parrot.  No idea of the title.  Great children's story with colorful illustrations.  THANK YOU.

Same as M442: Mexican boy pushes carnival ride: "A reader anthology (before the 70s) with a story about a Mexican boy who earns money at a carnival by running underneath a merry go round type ride. He wants to buy a serape but he buys something for his grandfather instead."  I can't remember the title of this book either, but the plot sounds really familiar, perhaps I can shed some more light on this.  I remember that the boy made a pot, and wanted to trade it for a parrot in a cage, but the merchant wanted more than just the pot, so he pushed the merry-go-round for money.  He ended up making several trades, eventually having something nice enough to trade for the parrot, but ended up buying a serape for his grandfather instead.
Thank you for remembering!! I now remember that the parrot kept screaming something-- maybe whatever it was is the title of the story?  It also seems correct that the story appeared in a school reading series..."Peacock Lane" is running through my head...there were also "Better Than Gold" and "Meadow Green," but I don't even know if this is the right series.
I don't know the title, but I do know some of the story. The Mexican boy trade his bowl, which he made himself, for the parrot, but the owner says that's not enough; he says he will either take six more small bowls, or one of the large water jugs made by the boy's father. The father is willing to give his son a jug if the boy can get him a serape. There may be another swap or two, the boy is very discouraged, but then finally starts pushing the merry-go-round to earn money for one of his swaps.  Needless to say, everybody ends up with what they want. Hope this helps.
Contributor in green: do you remember if the story was in an anthology or was a separate book?  Does mid-'70's sound about right?  I can just HEAR the parrot in this story!
All I remember is that the story was part of our elementary reading books, around 1970, up in northern Ohio, can't recall any more than that. It did have several rather colorful pictures, the one of the boy with his orange bowl, walking away sad, resolving to make more bowls, is rather moving. Sorry I don't know much more.


M499: Metal-suited alien on earth with girl
A book I read in the 1970s - YA sci-fi, I think, about a girl who ends up interacting with an alien who constantly wears a suit/armor made of metal (iron?).  Don't remember if they were searching for something, running away from something or what - but at one point the alien has to defend them against an attack, which he does by removing his gloves & shooting out energy.  At the end, when the girl agrees (to go with him?), he removes his mask/helmet & reveals that he is composed entirely of light/energy - and she is changed to match.  They fly off then...  A hardcover book from the library, & I don't remember any useful details like title, author or character names  :(

Keeper of the Isis Light.  Longshot, but is about a girl who interacts with her Guardian, who is a robot/android. He has changed her appearance over time so she can live in her alien environment--and she does go off in the end away from the humans. Seeker can look at all the other mentions of this book on the solved page to see if it's the one.


M500: Man with a pumpkin for a head
Solved: The Marvelous Land of Oz


M501: Man in the moon explains thunder and lightening
My mother read me this book in the late 1950's or so.  I remember it having a blue cover with a man resting in or on the moon.  Inside it had pictures of babies inside clouds who were playing and bumping their clouds togather and causing thunder.  There was another character in the book who shined a big flashlight and this caused lightening.  I think the book was called "The Man in the Moon" but I have searched for this to no avail.   It was a very non threatening explanation of thunder and lightening storms.

Caroline H. Mallon, Mary Gehr (illus), Story of the Man in the Moon, 1945, copyright.  A delightfully illustrated story giving an introduction to the Happy Little Clouds, Thunder and Lightning, Grandmother Rain, and Mr. Wind. A fantasy written to remove children's fears of thunder, lightning, and storms. Published by The Children's Company, Chicago.


M502: Mouse Trapped on Island
Solved: Abel's Island


M503: Magic apple
Solved: The Apple Stone


M504: Mother "Kidnaps" Daughter??
Solved: Where It Stops, Nobody Knows


M505: Mother animals talk to their babies
I am looking for a children's book that was read to me in the late 50's , early 60"s.  It was a series of animals talking to their babies, the verse on each page was something like "When mother cow says "moo, moo, moo", do you know who she's talking to?  That's right, she's saying to her baby "I love you"  and so on thru all the animals.


M506: monkey stung by bumble bee
1984?, childrens.  Large purple hardback collection of short illustrated stories. Very early reading level, the first book I remember reading on my own. First story is about a monkey who runs around a large tree and is chased by a bumble bee. The monkey is eventually stung. Distinctive text were the words, "Oh! Oh!"  Another story was about a young boy whose family moves to a new town. The boy is very sad because he left his friends behind, and possibly left his pet turtle behind. Or, he finds the pet turtle in the new town. Either way, a turtle is involved. One picture in the book: Mom is on the left, pausing from vacuuming, to pat the boy on the head. She has short red/brown hair, has a locket on, and is wearing a house dress.

ed. leland jacobs, the read-it-yourself storybook.
   You are remembering two stories from The Read-It-Yourself Storybook. The first story is by the editor Leland Jacobs and is called The Monkey and the Bee. The penultimate story is by Janet Deering and is called Eddie's Moving Day---Eddie loses his turtle in town #1 but the moving men find him and bring him to town #2.


M507: Magical Ring
I am looking for a children's/young adult book about a brother & sister who find a magical ring, I believe in their Aunt's attic. They make wishes using the ring, but nothing ever turns out the way they expected. I think I read it in the 1970's & assume it was written then.

C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew,
1955, copyright.  Plot-wise, this is the first book in the Narnia series, although it wasn't the first to be written.
E Nesbit, The Enchanted Castle.  Not an aunt's attic, but if it's not ''The Magician's Nephew'', it might be this one.


M508: mice living in a tree
Solved: The Secret Staircase


M509: Monkeys Get in Trouble in a Treehouse
This book was about a family of 4 monkeys. The mother and father wanted to go out on a date, so they hired a teenage monkey babysitter. The babysitter arrived and the parents left, and the babysitter hops on the phone. She talks on the phone all night and does not pay attention to how much trouble the little brother and sister monkey are getting into. At one point the two siblings make a banana milkshake in a blender and it splatters everywhere. At another point in the story, they create soapsuds (I forgot how) and the suds fill most of the treehouse, but the babysitter still doesn't notice. I believe this book was published in the 1980's. The treehouse itself really sticks out in my head because it was very colorful and detail-oriented. This was my sister's favorite book and I would love to buy this for her!

Standiford, Natalie, The best little monkeys in the world, 1987, copyright.  When their parents go out to a party, two little monkeys make mischief while their baby sitter thinks they are being good.  Illustrated by Hilary Knight.
Eileen Christelow, Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek.  This one came out in the 90s, so it may be too late.  There's definitely a babysitter chatting on the phone, and monkeys getting up to mischief though.
Natalie Standiford, Hilary Knight (illus), The Best Little Monkeys in the World, 1987, copyright.  Two little monkeys get into mischief while their oblivious babysitter chatters to her friends on the telephone. They coat the kitchen with blender-propelled banana shakes and run the bathtub over, but clean up before their parents return.
Natalie Standiford and Hilary Knight , Best Little Monkeys In The World, 1987, approximate.  This is the book you are looking for the illustrator is the same one who illustraed the Eloise books.


M510: "Masterpiece", painter father, long lost grandfather
I am looking for a book I had when I was little and growing up in the 1960's.  It was a hardcover children's book.  It is about a boy named Tim, (I think) who lives by the sea with his father and mother and a baby - who is always called "the baby."  The father is a wonderful painter, but they are very poor, he never seems able to sell his paintings.  There is always worry and the mother cries - not enough to eat, etc.  The dad has been working on a great "masterpiece."   Tim's paternal grandfather disowned the father when the father decided to become a painter.   Tim, who is too poor to buy books, spends a lot of time at a bookstore reading and sometimes helping out.  The bookstore owner hangs some of the painings in the store.  Over time, an old man starts visiting the bookstore and makes an aquaintance of some sort with Tim ( I can't remember if they talk or  if Tim is just noticed) -- it turns out that he is the long lost grandfather, full of regret and lonely - sorry to have pushed his talented son away.  He buys all the paintings and then reveals who he is. A very happy ending.   The book has beautiful pictures in wispy watercolors.  I thought the book was named with the word "Masterpiece" in it.   If you can help me, I'd really appreciate it.

Edward Ardizzone.  Hi, this is probably a longshot, but your description reminds me of the "Tim" books by Edward Ardizzone. Tim is a young boy who lives a the seaside with his mom and dad, and maybe a baby.  There are a series of books extolling his adventures, most of which are related to the ocean or boating.  The illustrations are by the author, and they are definitely delicate watercolors.  I tried to find a "Tim" book with your plot description, but was unlucky looking at Amazon.  Many of the Tim books are out of print, but there are many used copies available on the Internet, I bought a set myself last spring when I first discovered this site!  Anyway, your plot description sounds vaguely familiar to me, and I think I am about your age, so good luck, hope this gives you a place to start.
Edward Ardizzone, Sarah and Simon and No Red Paint, 1966, copyright.  I had to track down the book on our shelves to find the title, but the previous solver is correct, this is an Edward Ardizzone book, specifically Sarah and Simon and No Red Paint.


M511: Mother Goose book
Mother Goose's Silly Nursery Rhymes?  I was reading this in the early 80s / late 70s.  The cover had a blue background.  I remember some of the following rhymes in it:  * "Little Robin Redbreast came to visit me. This is what he whistled, 'Thank you for my tea!'"  * "Hickory Dickory Dare, the pig flew up in the air. The Man in Brown soon brought him down..." There was a cartoon picture of a man (in brown) aiming an elephant gun at a pig in a hot air balloon.  * There was a rhyme that I don't remember, but a cartoon drawing of a man and wife and dinner; he was thin, she was heavy, but before him was a huge plate of food, and before her, a plate with a few peas on it. (The rhyme was about irony or something.)  Also, Jack Be Nimble, Miss Muffett, other common ones.  Hope you can de-mystify this for me... this was my favorite book as a little girl, and I hope to be able to read it to my children someday.  The drawings were so fun, too!

Addams, Charles, Charles Addams Mother Goose.  "New Yorker cartoonist (and creator of the altogether ooky Addams Family characters) Charles Addams tampers with tradition to great effect in The Charles Addams Mother Goose, first published in 1967, and now reissued as a deluxe edition. While Ms. Goose's original nursery rhymes remain unchanged, Addams casts his spell on a selected few poems with new visual twists. A less wholesome, more anemic Mistress Mary has never been seen, and her bare-lightbulb-lit basement garden of mushrooms and heads of "pretty maids all in a row" is quite unsettling. Jack Sprat and his wife are, of course, cannibals. Nine-day-old porridge is disgusting... so naturally a witch is the porridge preparer, and goblins are the only ones who would like it "nine days old." Humpty Dumpty's story, on the other hand, feels a little cheerier than the original: rather than leaving the egg irreparably broken, the illustrator shows a dinosaur hatching! Tee Addams, Charles Addams's wife, writes an insightful introduction for this lovely, oversized edition, and the book closes with a scrapbook of family photos and pictures of Addams's earlier work. Kids familiar with Mother Goose's rhymes will be delighted (and perhaps only slightly terrified) by Addams's playful interpretations."
Hilary Knight, The Hilary Knight Mother Goose.  This Mother Goose could be the one you're looking for.  It has a blue cover and delightful, humorous illustrations.


M512: Mystery at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge Massachusetts
Solved: Mystery at Old Sturbridge Village


M513: Modern Magic?
Here's the book- it was read to me in 1990 (and I don't think it was too old then).  It's about this orphan boy in a medieval fantasy world who gets blackmailed into going on this adventure with a "wizard" (the wizard does this by makes a wax voodoo doll of him).  As you read the book you realize that the wizard is actually good and is interested in magic.  This magic turns out to be everyday technology from our age (long forgotten of course).  For example his "spell of magnification" is actually a magnifying glass.  At the end of the first book they find a prophet/oracle which is turns out to be a computer.  Not giving you much, but any help is appreciated.  Thanx.

Robert Newman.  This sounds like it could be one of Newman's books--either "Merlin's Mistake" or "The Testing of Tertius".  In the first book, Merlin gives teenage Tertius the gift of future knowledge...he end up going on a quest with a couple others and uses his knowledge, but everyone else thinks it's magic because they don't understand science. The second book is a sequel, and I'm a little vague on the details, but a computer definitely fit into the resolution.

SOLVED: Peter McGowen, The Magician's Aprentice, 1987. Figured it out, finally came across the book in question!  This is definitely it.  It is a trilogy and now I can read the whole series: Magician's Apprentice, Magician's Challenge and Magician's Company. 



M514: Man and teddy bear parachute out of WWII airplane
I also remember that the man took the bear with him where ever he went and had various matching clothes for him and the bear. He served in WWII in the british air force I think and had the bear in a matching flight suit. On day he gets shot down and he and the bear parachute out. He loses the bear for awhile after that, but finds it in a bar years later.

William P. du Bois, Gentleman Bear, 1986, copyright.  "[William P. du Bois'] "Gentleman Bear" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986) described the adventures of Lord Billy Browne-Browne and his constant companion, Bayard the teddy bear, at the Olympics, meeting Hitler and getting shot down in an airplane." [see NY Times 7 February 1993: "William P. du Bois Is Dead at 76; Author and Illustrator for Children"]


M515: Magic coin purse
Solved: Queen Zixi of Ix


M516: Mystery / crime thriller
Solved:
My Sweet Audrina


M517: Mother Eve / spaceship crash / Utopian society
Solved: Eve's Rib


M518: Multicultural orange book with asian boy taking whole ocean into cheeks
I am looking for a book from my childhood (I was born in '69, and I'd guess the book was not new at the time I recall it, maybe by 72 or 73).  Here's what I remember: the color orange (either from the hardcover or the internal illustrations), the sense that the book featured children from all over the world - that the point was to feature each country and a little bit about its culture - and there was an asian boy who swallowed the ocean in it (and, no, it's not the fable of the 5 or 7 chinese brothers, which I also have obtained) and I also vaguely remember a blond dutch girl with pigtails.   I remember the illustrations swirling across the page - not being traditionally laid out.  My little brother has almost the precise vague memory I have, so we're no help to one another, although we've discussed it periodically over the years and BOTH would be thrilled to recall it.  Thanks!

Childcraft Volume 5.
  Could it have been one of the Childcraft volumes?  There were some with orange covers, and Volume 5 was a book of stories from around the world.  More info here:  http://www.valerieslivingbooks.info/1949.htm .
I've located the recommended book online, and while the cover doesn't look familiar to me, it also doesn't look unfamiliar to me (if that makes any sense).  Once I've reviewed it, I'll update whether it is or is not the right answer.  I don't recall the book of my memories being multiple stories like Childcraft Vol. 5, as opposed to just one, but we'll see….


M519: man sends family across country in jeep after civilization ends
This is a book likely written in the 70's.  About some clamity or another that results in widespread devistation in the US anyway.  After many years, one old timer wants to send his son or daughter out to see what is left, and he tells them to get a Jeep, which they have to fix after 30 years or so of sitting, and make or take bows and arrows with them.  All I remember.

George R. Stewart, Earth Abides.
  This is a perennial query on book search boards - nobody ever remembers the title!  It's the one about mankind being virtually wiped out by a plague.  The hero is immune because he has been bitten by a rattlesnake.  A few survivors settle in the San Francisco area, and the incident you describe occurs late in the book.


M520: Magic armoire grants wishes
I am looking for a favorite book from my childhood. It was hardcover, large (8.5”x11” perhaps) and possibly from the late 70’s.  The story was about three or four siblings and a magic armoire.  Each sibling would wish for something, and poof!  Out it would come from the armoire.  If memory serves, the brother asked for a super-duper hot rod racing car, and one of the sisters asked for the contents of a candy store.  The final request was for an elephant that would change colors (I think) and the emergence of the elephant caused the magic armoire to break.  It was a short book filled mostly with illustrations.  Now that I have a little one of my own, I’d love to read the book to him.  Good luck!

Fix, Philippe and Rejane, Pink Elephant with Golden Spots.
  Look under Solved Mysteries for this book and see if it matches.


M521: Mystery about Washington's autograph
This is a book I read around '69 - '71. It is a mystery. I remember the girl liked riding bikes and the movie Little Women with Katharine Hepburn and she and her friends solved a mystery around George Washington's autograph. He signed his name Go Washington and it took them a while to figure it out. I think it might be the Ghostly Trio but I am not sure. It probably was a scholastic book club book.

Nancy Woollcott Smith, The Ghostly Trio,
1954, copyright.  The book you're looking for is The Ghostly Trio by Nancy Wollcott Smith. Published originally in hardcover in 1954 by Coward-McCann, it had Scholastic paperback printings in 1968 and in 1974...luckily, it's not a hard one to find!  "Three young people form an exploration club exploring deserted homes trying to find ghosts. What they find themselves in is an old mystery involving a forger and a possible authentic letter from George Washington."


M522: Merfolk/Pisces world jeopardized by Sagittarius war
1991-2004.  Several years ago, I stumbled across a paperback book.  I dearly loved it and got rid of it.  Duh in spades.  I'm searching desperately for it.  My problem: I can't remember the author, title, publishing date or anything else.  All I remember is the cover and how much it was about Zodiac characters and how beautiful that the merfolk were.  It's a sci/fi fantasy romance.  I remember the plot line: On the cover there was this beautiful pastel ocean with two merfolk swimming in it.  They had long silver hair.  Ocean was blues, greens, mauves, looked like colors of the rainbow.  I think there was a holographic Zodiac wheel.  There were three long chapters which may have been named.  Chapter One: The Pisceans/merfolk are faced with a war by the fire sign, especially one in particular who believes it will be easy to vanquish the Pisceans. There are two protagonists, lovers, male and female merfolk. Everyone is preparing for war.  Chapter Two: War. The evil fire-mage, who was a  Capricorn-Cancer-Sagittarius type, who lived on top of this mountain and was totally unsympathetic to the merforlk, attacks the Pisceans/merfolk. The lovers are separated.  Chapter Three: War wages and the Pisceans fight hard. Casualties are heavy. Finally the war is ended and the enemy is defeated. The merfolk lovers are reunited.  There were no time spans, ie. it didn't happen in 200 hundred years later or anything like that.  This book reminded me of Pat Wallace's book "House of Scorpio", because there was Zodiac intertwined between the House of the water sign vs The House of fire sign.

I was going to let you know that M522, my book that I’m trying to find, does not have the words: mermaid, merfolk, selkies, or anything like that in the title. I may not have told you that before. I’m still hoping someone can solve this. Thanks so much.


M523: Mouse, a grulla stud
Solved: The Glad Season: Boyhood in the Cariboo of British Columbia


M524: Morphing Ink Spot Picture Book
I believe it had a brown cover.  Hardbound.  Don't remember it having any text.  An inkwell gets knocked over and the ink morphs into amazing pictures on each page.

Shaw, Charles, It Looked Like Spilt Milk.
  This sounds like it might be "It Looked Like Spilt Milk".
Charles Shaw, It Looked Like Spilt Milk, 1947, copyright.  Could it be It Looked Like Spilt Milk even though all the details aren't the same? The background is blue and the shapes end up being clouds.
The book as described isn't "It Looked Like Spilt Milk".  Just yesterday, that book was read at Children's Story Time in the Public Library.  It was about clouds and there were words.  (Pages were dark with white pictures, not the reverse.)
nope.  the book i'm after had much more intricate pictures, and i don't believe there was any text.


M525: money cat mysterious house
Solved: The Money Cat 

M526: Man finds portal to other world in his yard
A book I started reading in the early 90s. from that period or maybe from the 80s. Sci Fi/Fantasy about this man who when excavating around a mound in his yard (must be kind of rural)(not sure whether it is US or UK could possibly have a celtic background) he discovers a opening into an underground stone room (cairn?). Inside this room is a stone lipped pool of (glowing?) water. when he tests how deep the water is he discovers that his feet go through the water and a couple of feet below what appears to be the bottom of the pool he feels dry sand. When he lays down in the pool he "falls" the two feet onto a warm sunny beach and can't see the portal from the other side. He can locate it though and finds he can go back and forth. He begins to stock "his" beach with supplies to attempt to explore the beach and the forrested hills he can see inland. He stocks up with food, camping equipment, guns and even a motorcycle. He begins to explore inland into the hills and ..... I lost the book!  It was a adult paperback, I believe it was possibly the beginning of a two or three book series. It's been bugging me for a long time now. Oh when he starts out somehow he runs into some kind of trouble and loses his motorcycle and ends up on foot in the hills. Well thanks in advance if anyone could help.


M527: Mystery, "The Dove" by Wilson Tucker?
I am looking for a mystery that I last read in 1958. It was hardcover, grayish in color and MOST OF ALL it had a small embossed GOLD DOVE on the upper half of front cover. The story ended in a cemetary with the identity and capture of the killer. The story by author Wilson Tucker "The Dove" comes very close to fitting this description but the 1st edition cover is not in any way the same. I thought the my description might be another book altogether but so far it seems it might just be another later edition. The original publishers were the RHINEHARDT pub co. USA and the CASSELL and co. of London UK.  Lastly and again I am absolutely-beyond a shadow of doubt-positive about that small gold dove on a gray hardcover.  I have been looking for some 44 years for this particular hardcover but no luck.


M528: Mail-order detective school
Searching for a young adult book about a girl who signs up for a mail-order detective school and becomes an apprentice to a detective.  She ends up solving an arson.  Thanks!

Ellen Raskin, The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues,
1975.  OK, I know this is really a stretch, and some of it doesn't fit exactly with what you said; but the "apprentice to a detective" scenario does remind me of The Tattooed Potato.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tattooed_Potato_and_Other_Clues.  A young woman named Dickory Dock answers an ad looking for a painter's assistant, but the painter, Garson, turns out to be sort of a detective as well, and she ends up helping him solve several cases.
Carol Russell Law, The Case of the Weird Street Firebug: A Mystery for the Mail-Order Detective, 1980, copyright.  While taking a course from the Dangerfield Detective School, Stephanie searches for an arsonist she believes is setting fires in her neighborhood. Illustrated by Bill Morrison. Front cover of paperback edition shows Stephanie standing in front of a burning multi-story building, with ladders, firemen, streams of water, and large cloud of smoke. She is wearing a reddish zip-front jacket, and has dark hair in two ponytails tied with red ribbons. She is writing on a small notepad, and looking sort of sideways at a man who is at the bottom edge of the cover. He is wearing a trenchcoat with the collar turned up, a hat pulled low over his eyes, and has one hand up, either shielding his face or adjusting his hat.


M529: Mexican boy sells caramels, earthquake destroys theater
Resub M411.  Mid 1970's elem reader. Boy works as street vendor in Mexico selling caramels. One hot day, he enters a theater to try sales/cool off. Earthquake destroys theatre - boy trapped inside with another boy, also a vendor? Boys retrieve scattered caramels and...? to eat while awaiting rescue.


M530: Migrant makes iodine polka-dot dress
Solved: Theresa Follows the Crops


M531: Mean boy has bad dream about dragon, wakes up happy
Christian children's book early 80s.  Story of a mean little boy who is sent to his room and falls through a hole in his floor (under the bed?).  He is dreaming.  There is an evil dragon who is supposed to represent Satan.  At the end he learns about God and wakes up with a tear in his eye & happy.


M532: Mexican Village?
Author has latino? surname.  The story is told from the point of view of a young man returning to his childhood village, a stereotypical sleepy mexican? town. The two anecdotes that stuck to my memory are: 1) about the fellow villager who when he comes back acts like a rich man but is actually a public restroom attendant in the big city that the narrator inadvertantly witnesses rousting drunks from the premises and 2) the hilarious tale about when a budding lass disappeared with a gypsy boy and how the town matrons hysterically urged the men to search for her. The men do so in a tired same old same old manner, with the head of the visiting gypsy clan as an accomplice; they actually just sat under a tree out of sight of the women reminiscing and passing round a bottle of tequilla. When they returned the children had been found and the clincher was the girl triumphantly stating that "..he showed me his rabbit!", causing some of the matrons to faint.The gypsy boy had a pregnant pet rabbit that was about to give birth.


M533: mystery book search (Resub. of M527)
I am looking for a hardcover mystery book which is gray colored that has the image or stamp of a GOLD DOVE on the front of the hardcover itself {there was no jacket of any kind}. I last read this mystery in 1959. I have forgotten the title and author. It was more than likely published between 1930 and 1960 approximately. I seem to remember that it took place in the northeast USA and could have been a women author. The only other fact I faintly remember is that it seems to end in a cemetary behind a row of gravestones.

Craig Rice.
  Could it possibly be The Time-period Bird MurdersThe Sunday Pigeon Murders (1942), The Thursday Turkey Murders (1943), and The April Robin Murders (1958) all by Craig Rice, the last with Ed McBain.
Note: the original requester of this stumper has called Loganberry to say that he is giving up on his search, and no longer needs to know the title of this book.


M534: Mystery Castle/Mansion on Island
Solved: The Haunted Spy


M535: Miss Hintamaster and Miss Toothpick
I am looking for a book I had as a child in about 1944 to 1946.  It was a thick story book that had a story about Miss Hintamaster and Miss Toothpick.  The story was about their bad manners including arriving at someone's home, uninvited, right at dinner time.  I hope you can find this book.

Rowena Bennet, Sally De Frehn (illus), Lots of Stories,
1946, copyright.  Found this one on the Solved pages. Miss Hintamaster and Miss Toothpick are paper doll "old maids" cut from advertisements on How to Get Thin and How to Get Fat, and they appear in the story "Mother's Game". Other stories in this book include A Golf Ball Goes to School, Lucy and the Leprechaun, The Little Red Goblin, Big Ruth and Little Ruth, Peter and the Pumpkin, Down the Chipmunk Hole, Grandma's Story, The Unhappy Fir Tree, and many others. Cover is grey, with a picture of a smiling little boy in a yellow shirt lying on a throw rug, with a bowl of soap bubble mix and a bubble pipe in his hand. Illustrations from some of the stories appear in soap bubbles around/above him.


M536: Magical night, man in the moon, purple velvet grass
Solved: When the Sky is Like Lace


M537: Mute Girl with Boy on Quest
All I know is the ending. They finally end up on the other side of a mountain and the girl is able to speak after having been mute for the entire book. May have had a horse along. Read in early 90s, thought it was Lloyd Alexander, but doesn't match any of his. Probably fantasy. Hint of romance.

Piers Anthony, Caterpillar's Question.
  This seems like it could be a match (a favorite of mine, though it never seems to get great reviews). "A young art student and a mute, accident-scarred girl become trapped in a frightening otherworld where an alien civilization seeks their extermination."
Gardner, John, In the Suicide Mountains, 1977, approximate.  It's been awhile since I read this, but it seems that one of the characters elected not to speak through most of the story.
Thanks for the responses, but neither of these is the correct book. I'm positive it didn't include aliens or suicide, and I believe this is before I was reading any books in the adult section of the library. Additional details: I seem to recall some sort of mental communication, either between the girl and the boy or between the girl and a horse (which is why I think there might have been a horse along). I don't think there was anyone chasing them, or any particular evil that they faced. It was more a matter of getting to their final destination and what they learned along the way. This is not Seaward by Susan Cooper, although based on the description of that one I thought it might be the one. I'm afraid it's also possible that I'm combining books in my head.
Smith, Sherwood, Wren to the Rescue.
  A long shot, but could this be Wren to the Rescue?  There is a quest and the girl in it is mute for part of the quest, but it's because she's taken on the form of a dog (which becomes increasingly problematic because the longer she maintains it, the greater the risk she won't be able to resume her own form).
Robin McKinley, The Healer, 1990, approximate.  This sounds kind of like Robin McKinley's short story "The Healer" where Lily, the heroine, is mute, and a man comes to her village and offers to take her to his master so that his master can cure her.  They do go into the mountains of Damar and they do ride horses.
Alexander Key, Escape to Witch Mountain.  Not sure this is the right one, but the two kids Tony and Tia are trying to escape, they've got special powers, and they do finally make it to the mountain. Tia is mute but they can speak mind to mind.
McKinley, Robin, A Knot in the Grain and Other Stories, 1994, copyright.  This sounds like it could be the short story "The Healer" from this collection. Description: "Lily - the mute heroine - meets a fallen mage who can understand her thoughts and eventually helps her regain her voice." I hope this helps. - Children's Librarian
I've eliminated Robin McKinley for sure, and I'm pretty sure it isn't Escape from Witch Mountain (but will double check). I haven't had a chance to check on Wren yet. Thanks for the continued suggestions!
Mary Brown, The Unlikely Ones.
  Tis is a very long shot - the heroine isn't mute, but wears a mask and doesn't talk much. "Thing, the central character, is a young woman who is the friend and protector of animals who have had a jewel bonded to their bodies, and she can speak their various languages...They meet up with other characters, including a cursed knight and a unicorn with a broken horn."
This really does sound like "Escape to Witch Mountain". Tony and Tia are an orphaned brother and sister who are telepathic although Tia can't speak out loud. They are running from Lucas Deranian who pretends to be their uncle so he can use their powers. Father O'Day helps them escape to a mountain inhabited by their people. The two can also communicate with animals. At the end, Tony calls someone whose voice over the telephone makes him realize what Tia would sound like if she could speak aloud.
It isn't Wren or Escape from Witch Mountain (the boy and girl weren't brother and sister). It isn't The Unlikely Ones either. I'm starting to wonder whether it might be a Madeleine L'Engle book, so I'm going to take a look at some of those next.
Hoover, Children of Morrow
This is similar to Witch Mountain--about two children named Tia and Rabbit.


M538: Monkey steals hats/caps from a peddler
Solved: Caps for Sale


M539: Mother of Teen Girl Dies of Cancer
Looking for a book (teen reader age-range) that I would have read in the late 70s-early 80s.  A teenage girl's mom dies of cancer.  Details I remember:  The mother's illness started as a sore throat; she eats a bunch of cough drops and "trails wrappers" around the house for several weeks until she finally sees a doctor. I think the mom worked at home, maybe as an artist or writer?  She might have been a smoker who got lung or throat cancer.  After a long illness, the mom dies in a hospital bed right when the girl was sent to the cafeteria to get coffee for the adults; she walks back into the room where her mother has just passed, knows immediately that it's happened, and drops the tray of coffee all over the floor.  She sits with her mother's body for a little while, and jumps when her mother's arm moves and "glides down her side"; for a moment she thinks her mother is still alive, but a nurse explains that's just the way the body settles right after death.  Later she goes to the grave and runs her fingers through the grass and imagines she's talking with her mother.  The girl might have had a sibling who was dealing with the death very badly, distracting from the girl's grief.  I think the story might have been told in flashbacks, but the death scene really stuck with me, more than the rest of the story.

Lurlene McDaniel. This sounds like it could be one of Lurlene McDaniels books. Most of them are about terminal illness. possible titles: Somewhere Between Life and Death, Mother Please Don't Die, Mourning Song... look up a list of her books online and see if any ring a bell...


M540: Mystery of Blue...?
Solved: Blue Mystery


M541: man and wife find and keep a merbaby
I read this in the mid to late 80's, it was a hard back cover.  A man finds a merbaby and takes it home to his wife.  They keep it for awhile but eventually give it back to the mermaids.  I remember really enjoying looking at the illustrations which were quite dark.

Margaret and Mary Baker, Garth Williams (illus), The Lost Merbaby; in The Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies,
1927, 1951, copyright.  The story "The Lost Merbaby" was written in 1927, and has appeared in several anthologies. However, your dating to the 1980's suggests that you probably read the 1979 reprint of the Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies (edited by Jane Werner, and beautifully illustrated by Garth Williams). Other stories/poems in this book include: Singeli's Silver Slippers, The Brownie in the Garden, The Pixie's Scarf, The Cannery Bear, A Goblinade, When a Ring's Around the Moon, The Fairies, The Bored Goblins, Halloween Song, Where Hidden Treasure Lies, and others.
Margaret and Mary Baker, The Lost Merbaby.  This story can be found in the anthology "The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies," edited by Jane Werner and published in 1951. The book was reprinted in 1999.


M542: Monsters have a contest, only little blue monster left at end
A kid's book from the 70s; might be a Big Little Golden Book; about an island of monsters, who have a contest to see who is the best. There is a little blue girl monster that has no talent. At the end all the other monsters fight and disappear fighting leaving the little blue monster alone and happy.

Ruthanna Long, The Great Monster Contest,
1977, approximate.  I believe you are looking for "The Great Monster Contest" by Ruthanna Long.  It includes the monster Jurgles and her best friend Boomer.


M543: Man helps sick animals and they build a house
Solved: Uncle Bumble


M544: Mouse shipwrecked; survives winter in a cave
French mouse (Pierre?) is shipwrecked; prepares to spend winter in a cave, where someone has left a pocketwatch and book; he passes time reading and missing his wife (Lucy?); Spring arrives and he is able to build a boat, sail home to Lucy; she awaits him on a chaise.  c. 70's?, light purple hardcover.

Perhaps you are thinking of Abel's Island, by William Steig?


M545: Maple sugar
50's or 60's, childrens.  I am looking for an old school library book for my sister.  It is about a boy who for some reason has to go and live with his grandfather and he teaches him how to tap maple sugar ... this book was the first book that she really, really enjoyed and helped her become the reader she is today.  I would love to surprise her with a copy of this book.
Okay, this is what I found out ... it was an old library book, and it might have had a blue cover.  The boy and his family took a vacation and grandpa taught the boy how to make maple sugar.  It might have been in Maine.

Virginia Sorenson, Miracles on Maple Hill,
1957, copyright.  A family with a boy and girl move into the grandma's house and a neighbor Mr. Chris teaches them how to make maple sugar.
Thank you for suggesting Miracles on Maple Hill.  While the story sounds somewhat similar, this is not the book we are looking for.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy,
1999, reprint.  This is from the 1960's and sounds similar to the book you are looking for.  It has a female leading character, not a male, but the cover (of my 60's edition) has the girl and her grandfather making maple sugar.  The girl had to leave her relatives and live with her grandparents in Vermont--it's a memorable book...hope it is the right one!


M546: Mouse In Natural History Museum
A small creature (a mouse, I think) enters a natural history museum and discovers that at night the animals come alive and tell their life stories.


M547: Mute Orphan Pickpocket Watches Dreams?
Solved: The Half-a-Moon Inn


M548: Medieval page, girl
Solved: The Maude Reed Tale


M549: Miss (someone) the Broom
Solved: Miss Osborne the Mop


M550: Mystery resort pig duck
This is a mystery book where all the characters are animals, including a pig and a duck.  I believe it takes place at a hotel or resort.  There is a part when one of the characters is served a meal and his potato chips get soggy with pickle juice and there is a dirty duck feather on the plate.  Thanks!

Walter R. Brooks, Freddy and Mr. Camphor.  Any time I hear "mystery" or "detective" and "pig" in the same description, I immediately think of Walter Brooks' "Freddy" books. There are 26 books in the series (originally written between 1927 and 1958), and most of them have been reprinted. The mention of a hotel or resort makes me think of "Freddy and Mr. Camphor," in which Freddy the pig detective decides to relax for the summer by taking a position as caretaker of a large estate. Freddy thinks his new job as caretaker of the wealthy Mr. Camphor's lakeside estate will be pretty easy. However, when strange things start happening around the house, Freddy must use his detective skills to get to the bottom of things. Front cover shows Freddy relaxing in a lounge chair on the deck of a houseboat, underneath a striped awning. Another possibility might be "Freddy Goes Camping," in which Freddy the pig helps his friend Mr. Camphor cope with a visit from his two difficult aunts, while also dealing with some far-from-friendly ghosts who have taken up residence in a nearby abandoned hotel.
Brooks, Walter R., Freddy Goes Camping, 1948, copyright.


M551: Martyrdom of St. Elphege
A friend is trying to remember "a historical novel written sometime in the 1950s or so, US publication, set in 9th or 10th century England, and involving the martyrdom of St. Elphege (which happened in 1012, BTW.)  Hero's name, I think, is Thorkill or some variant thereof."

I'm not sure if this will help or not, but the first author I thought of after reading your search was Madeleine Polland.  I tried looking her books up online, but very few have any kind of synopsis. Still, it might be worth looking into.  Good luck!


M552: mouse who lived in a guitar
Solved: Sylvester, The Mouse with the Musical Ear
2009


M553: Merry Go Round in Forest
Two children find a merry-go-round or carousel in the middle of the forest.  It had white and red candy stripe poles, I think.

Marie McSwigan, Five on a Merry-Go-Round.
  This is a stumper that was recently solved for me. A family has to live on a merry-go-round during a housing and job shortage during World War II.
Lathrop, Dorothy Pulis, The lost merry go round, 1934, copyright.  Three children wander into the forbidden Flittermouse Wood, where they find an enchanted merry-go-round and are taken on adventures by the merry-go-round animals.
Marie McSwigan, Mary Reardon (illus), Five on a Merry Go Round, 1943, copyright.  If the children and their family (the Sloans) lived in the merry-go-round during a housing shortage, then this is the one you are looking for. One version of this book has a blue cloth cover with the title and author's name in red. In the center, also in red, is a circle containing two of the carousel horses: one being ridden by the boy, the other by the girl.
Sorry, none of these are the books (I got them through inter-library loan just to check).  This book seemed more contemporary... such as written in the last 50 years?  I recall it being large (bigger than a sheet of paper), white (I could be wrong about that), with bright, paint-stroke-like illustrations.  The merry-go-round in the forest had barber-pole stripes.


M554: Moon's phases compared to losing a tooth
childhood books read to me in the 70's. little girl wants to know why the moon disappears & reappears. Somehow the explanation given involves an analogy to losing a tooth.

James Thurber, Many Moons.   A search for "Many Moons"+Thurber will bring up a transcribe text of the story.
That is the classic James Thurber tale Many Moons. You'll get lots of responses to this.
Thurber, Many Moons.  Long shot, but it might describe Thurber's charming fable about a princess who cries to have the moon. The kings' wise men fret about the problem, but it's the court jester who solves things by giving the princess a tiny gold moon on a necklace, then explaining why it's still up there in the sky. It's the princess herself who figures that, as she gets new teeth to replace lost ones, so therefore the new moon replaces the old lost one. It's a charming story full of wild details including blue poodles. Hope this helps.
James Thurber, Many Moons.


M555: Mystery, girl, house, old lady
Solved: Ginnie and the Mystery House


M556: Man Living Inside Peanut
I read this children's book in the 80s to early 90s.  I do not know the actual publication date.  The book explains to a child what is found when you split a peanut in half.  Inside the peanut, on one half, is a little bean sprout.  It sticks out of the top of the peanut when it is whole.  The bean sprout looks like a little moustache and hat.  It is explained that an old man is asleep in bed inside every peanut.  You can see his moustache sticking out over the covers.  It also says that he has the covers pulled up under his chin and a hat on.  This was possibly to keep warm because it was winter.  You can find a crease down the middle of the blankets from his nose to his toes.  I thought for a long time that the book was called The Old Man in the Peanut.  I am now not sure that that is the true name as I have been having great difficulty finding it.

This is not a solution, but when this query was first posted, I immediately recognized the story. I remember hearing a fellow teacher tell this story to her class when she was giving a lesson on George Washington Carver. (I remember even more details of the story.) The same day the query was posted, I stopped this teacher between classes and asked her where she heard the story. She laughed and claimed she made it up, had not read it. Now, human memory being what it is, I don't know whether she heard it as folklore as a child, or just has a great imagination, but I've waited several weeks for someone to come up with a book response for this question, before deciding to post this non-book response, hoping it might jog someone's memory.


M557: Mother and aunt are witches
Solved: Enter Three Witches


M558: Mystery novel, female reporter afraid of contracting necrotizing fasciitis
Looking for an mystery novel where the protagonist is a female reporter who is afraid of contracting necrotizing fasciitis (this is actually funny). I do not remember much else about the book, but I think the cover was drawn in an old-school "Marvel Comics" style.  I think she may have had a cat.

Sparkle Hayter, Nice Girls Finish Last, 1997, approximate. This is definitely one of the hilarious Robin Hudson books. Robin works for a news network when she's not solving murders, lives in NY, has a cat, and always checks herself for necrotizing fasciitis before going to sleep.


M559: Mediterranean Sea fills in when Gibraltar land bridge erodes
Solved: And the Waters Prevailed

M560: Mouse searches for father
Solved: Timmy Mouse


M561: Mother Goose book, Yellow cover, two children on hobby horse
Solved: Dean's Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes


M562: Mystery re princess and fountain
Solved: Family Sabbatical
Children's book from 50's, maybe later.  3 or 4 kids taken to France(?) by parents for a year. Kids think will have no school,  but  (German?) nanny is hired. Language difficulties cause much confusion (eg. fire caused by the kids). Kids solve mystery re princess (now old) & hotel fountain

Carol Ryrie Brink, Family Sabbatical.
  Could this be Family Sabbatical? I don't remember details, but the Ridgeway family (Susan, George, and Dumpling), whose father is a professor on sabbatical, go to France.  They have a governess named Mademoiselle (and instead of learning French they teach her American slang), there's something about a valuable doll, and they meet a princess.
Hurray!  We have a winner.   It is indeed Family Sabbatical.  My daughter is over the moon at finding out the title.  Thanks so much!  We never would have figured it out without help.


M563: Moon's first born travels to earth with his ambassador father
Solved: Crisis on Conshelf Ten
This was a book I read in probably the late 1980's. In the future the moon is sparsely populated and political tensions are high between it and the earth. The moon mines minerals to ship to earth in trade for supplies, but the moon is far more dependent on the earth, and the earth takes advantage of this. The ambassador speaking for the moon travels to earth for negotiations and brings his son along, the first human born on the moon. I remember him being around 15-16 years old. He's amazed at how much water is on earth and can't understand why the earth wouldn't willingly share since they have so much. Living his entire life on the moon his legs are not used to the full gravity of earth and when he discoverers a swimming pool (something unheard of on the moon) he ends up spending much of his time on earth there. He meets a girl (I believe) and they become friends, each sharing what they know of their own worlds. Meanwhile negotiations with the earth over the moon's status are breaking down and his father reveals to him that the moon has been stockpiling water in anticipation of breaking away from earth.  Eventually this happens and the boy and his father return to the moon.  Obviously lots of politics in this book, although it was aimed at young adults. I believe it's a series of 3 books (or perhaps more) and they return to earth in the second (and possibly third) ones again.

Monica Hughes, Crisis on Conshelf Ten,
1975, copyright.  In Crisis, moon-born Kepler Masterman visits Earth for the first time.  The hotel doctor advises him to spend time in the hotel pool.  Kepler learns to scuba dive and ends up in Conshelf Ten, an experimental ocean community.  His father is the Moon Governor.  The sequel is called Earthdark.
Monica Hughes, Crisis on Conshelf Ten, 1975, approximate.  This sounds like Crisis on Conshelf Ten.  There was also a sequal called Earthdark.  Here are some links with (very) brief summaries and some pictures of the book covers: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/monica-hughes/crisis-on-conshelf-ten.htm; http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/monica-hughes/earthdark.htm.
Monica Hughes, Crisis on Conshelf Ten.  Thank you so much, this is it! Another book that has eluded me for years has been solved again in less than a week! That's two for two! :-) For other internet readers out there, there is a slightly more detailed description at http://www.uleth.ca/edu/runte/ncfguide/mhughes.htm#crisis.


M564: "Melissa" in the title
My mom remembers reading a book when she was young. She doesn't remember much except:

-She was young when she was reading it (btwn 6 & 10) -An "old" book in the late 60s -A chapter book -A girl in the book was named Melissa -Title had "Melissa" in it -There was a black cat in the story.

Susan Meyers, Melissa Finds a Mystery
, 1966, copyright.  A possibility, because it was widely distributed: "A young California girl, spending the summer in New England with her eccentric maiden aunt, is confronted with a mystery involving the house her ancestors have lived in since before the Revolution." Winner of the Dodd,Mead "Calling All Girls" Award, 1966.
Maybe "Taffy and Melissa Molasses" by Carolyn Haywood?  I don't remember if there's a black cat, but there's definitely a Melissa. And I might be mixing it up with another Haywood book, but I think there's two girls and a box of kittens on the cover illustration. (The other title I thought of turned out to be a Melinda, not Melissa.)
If the girl in the story was black, it might be Melissa and the Valley Belle by Lola F. Tague (1965). It's about canal boats in Indiana. There is also a book called Taffy and Melissa Molasses by Carolyn Haywood, about three friends who share a summer's worth of adventures in Maine. That didn't come out until 1969, however. The only other Melissa I know of is Taylor Caldwell's, and that's more for teens or young adults.
Elizabeth Ladd, Meg and Melissa, 1964.  Meg and Melissa is one of the books about Meg who lives on a boat with her brother in rural Maine. In this one there's a mystery of some kind. Meg and her brother are orphans. There are several books in the series including Meg of Heron's Neck and Meg's Mysterious Island. Meg and her brother have a couple of cats. I can't remember if they are black.
Ethel Parton, Melissa Ann.  A possibility - this was first published in 1931, and set in the 1820s  but was available in the 1960s and I read it then. There are cats in the story, though the one I remember is yellowish rather than black - there might be a black one too, however.
Elizabeth Ladd, Meg and Melissa.  Just wanted to add a "yes" to the Meg and Melissa suggestion.  Meg is featured in several books, and she definitely has a black cat, who is named Repulsive. (There's also a black crow.) Melissa only appears in this one title, where  Meg is hired to babysit her for the summer. Melissa has just lost her father and is stuck with her aunt--who seems to hate all children and is trying to avoid any contact with the outside world. It turns out that Melissa is the heir to a very large fortune, so Meg, with a little help from her brother, tries to figure out what's going on.
Forbus, Ina B., Melissa, 1962, copyright.  Would a gold-red cat do?  Melissa, by Ina Forbus, is a lovely girls' book, set in the early 19th century.  An orphan, Melissa is sent by her grandmother and Uncle Will to live with other relatives, while she attends high school.  She soon learns to love her Aunt Betsy, a classical pianist, her Uncle Horace (a lcoal college professor), her cousins Freddie and Arthur, and the family cook, Hyacinth.  But cousins Irene and Henrietta (with whom she has to share a bedroom) prove harder to win. But win their friendship she does.  She finds a natural love - and talent - for piano music, and rescues a (when washed, a red-gold) kitten, which she names Tinkie. This is a charming book, even if it is not your mother's Melissa! (This is also listed under the book's title, Melissa, in the solved stumpers section.)


M565: Monster Mansion Halloween Illustrated Childrens Book
Solved: Marc Brown's Full House
Halloween/Monster Mansion theme. The illustrations in the style of Maurice Sendak or Mercer Mayer. It was a side view of the mansion where you could see inside the rooms. Different monsters were doing things in various rooms. It looked related to "7 little monsters". Published early 80s.

R.U.Scary, Is There a Monster In the House
, 1995.  A Sesame Street lift-the-flap book, featuring Grover walking around a spooky-looking house.  Sample:  "Is there a monster in the kitchen? Fixing kitchen sink! Monster in the parlor?  Miss her if you blink!"
Dean Walley, Don Page (illus), Lamont the Lonely Monster.  Possibly this one? A Hallmark Playtime Book with Lift-and-Look Surprises, published during the 1970s. About a kind but lonely monster named Lamont who goes searching for a friend, but everyone is afraid of him. A little boy directs Lamont to Monster Mansion, where he is warned to stay away from the terrible Uriah the Heap. Lamont wanders through the mansion, meeting a skeleton, vampire, werewolf, witch, and ghosts, before finally encountering the horrible Heap - with whom he becomes the best of friends.
Thanks everyone for the help! I looked into the "Lamont the Lonely Monster", unfortunately that is not the book. The R.U. Scary one might not be it either (that was published in the 90s). Perhaps I can add some more detail. This is from my memory as a child. I've literally searched through thousands of books with no luck. The book was hardcover. It had a dark cover, black with other details. The interior had a pattern with purple and black (maybe orange) I think. The book was quite large 12 x 9. It had full page illustrations, with a lot of detail. Characters I remember were a vampire and a witch. There were several other monsters too though. I remember a page with a balcony with Wrought-iron.. and dungeon/basement page. The illustrations took up both pages with the house (or castle) cut in half so you could see inside. There was a lot of detail. The characters took up maybe an inch or so on the page. I had the book in the mid 80s. This is one of my only memories from my childhood. Many thanks to everyone who has helped, I greatly appreciate it. :D
Alastair Graham, Full Moon Soup: or the Fall of the Hotel Splendide, late '80's, early '90's, approximate.  This is a wordless picture book that tracks multiple stories. It features ghosts, wherewolves, aliens, a gorilla, and various mayhem. All are shown from a cut-through drawing of the hotel so you can see the changes that take place over time in the same rooms.
So sorry it is not "Full Moon Soup" :(. That book fits the description so closely though. The book would have been published in early/mid 80s late 70s. Many thanks for trying :).
Brown, Marc, Marc Brown's Full House
, 1977, copyright.  Could you be thinking of this book - cover shows front door with monster's hand reaching out - tag line "what do monsters do in the privacy of their own house".
Marc Brown, Marc Brown's Full House, 1977, copyright.  That's it!!! Thank you so very much! I must have gotten some of the details mixed up with another book. The slip cover threw me off the most. The book I had as a child was missing it. I feel complete in a way now. I've spent hundreds if not thousands of hours searching for this book over the past decade. I had even started writing/illustrating a children's book with a haunted house theme (to help fill the void). Thank you again for helping me find this! :D


M566: Magic Key
This book was published by Rand MacNally (?) in the early 1950's.  It was about two children who entered a fairyland by using an old key in a keyhole that they found in a rock in the forest.

George MacDonald, The Golden Key
.  Sounds like The Golden Key, which starts with the boy Mossy's search for a magic key found under the rainbow. When he finds it, he and his female friend Tangle go seeking the door the key will unlock, the Land From Which Blessed Shadows Fall. They get help from the friendly Old Men of the Sea, and the Earth, and the Fire, and a wise woman who raises fish which become angels. The search takes either a day and a night, or all thier lives.  Hope this helps.
Mary Francis, The Magic Key, 1952, copyright.  This book was published by Avon and is a Jolly Book. The children, Tom and MaryLou, put the key into the rock and enter fairy land. They meet an elf named Gruffy and attend the Queens party along with all the rest of the forest creatures. They fall asleep during the party and they awake beside the big rock when they hear mother calling them. Tommy still has the key.
George MacDonald, The Golden Key.  This sounds likely - the complete text is online at http://www.mrrena.com/misc/GoldKey.shtml, so easy to check.


M567: Magic items found in trunk
Solved: What the Witch Left
A children's book from the 70's, I believe. I think I read it in about 5th grade, which was 1974-75.  A girl finds magic items in a trunk or chest. With a friend, she explored the items. The one I clearly recall is the magic boots. When worn, each step takes the person several miles. The girl wears them with her friend-they each wear one, and with their arms around each other, travel long distances together. I don't recall any of the other magic items, I don't know if I ever finished the book. I believe the girl was around 9-11 and lived in a town or city. There may have been a raincoat-or I'm just remembering the rainboots... I think there may have been 7 different items. I've always wished I could re-read or finish reading this book! Thanks anyone who can help!

Definitely What the Witch Left by Ruth Chew.  Probably the most requested book stumper of all time!
I looked up the book and recognized the cover immediately! Thanks, I might have found it from the other requests, but didn't remember enough of the story to know it was the same one I wanted to find!

M568: Melody Lane
Melody Lane, heroine.  Garth, hero.  Approximate date of publication, 1940's.  Author MAY have been Grace Livingston Hill.  Melody Lane arrived mysteriously at an orphanage as a baby. Garth, 5, looked down at her and said, "When I grow up I'm going to marry her."  Following life's trials they marry.
Extended description: I had the privilege of suggesting a name for my baby sister and my mother accepted it!  That was in 1959.  My sister will be 50 at the end of the month.  I'd love to be able to give her a copy of the book from which I got her name.  However, I don't remember the title or the author.   The heroine was Melody Lane.  She arrived at an orphanage as a baby.  They named her after the street they lived on, I think.  A 5-year-old, named Garth, leaned over her basket and said, "When I grow up I'm going to marry her."  He did marry her when he grew up.  However, this was after Melody Lane experienced a number of trials and tribulations in the city where she had gone to "spread her wings."   I wonder if anyone has heard of this book.  It was old even in 1959.


Lilian Garis, Melody Lane Mystery Series
, 1930s, approximate.  There was a series of mysteries called the Melody Lane mystery series.  I'm wondering if this is where the name came from although the remembered story line doesn't fit.

M569: Mouse named Lady Greensleeves who solved mysteries
The story involved a little mouse named Lady Greensleeves who, with her maid, solved problems or mysteries. My friend checked the book out of a library sometime around 1968-1970, and it was an older book back then. She doesn't remember the title or the author.

Des Chesnez, Baroness E. Martineau , Lady Green Satin and her Maid Rosette: The History of Jean Paul and His Little White Mice, 1873, copyright. Is it possible youre thinking of Lady Green Satin and her Maid Rosette?  It was first published in 1873, but was republished several times after that  the latest being in the 1940s.  The main character is NOT the mice but a little boy named Jean Paul - Lady Green Satin and her Maid Rosette are his two pet white mice, that he dresses up in tiny outfits to look like a lady and a maid, whom then perform for him.  "This delightful fairy tells how the two little white mice came to be Lady Green Sleeves and her maid Rosette  how Jean Paul taught them to perform wonderful tricks on a small white board, which he called his theatre  how, when times were bad and he could get no more money exhibiting Lady Green Sleeves among the Pyrenees, he left his home and made his way to Paris.  The story tells us how after many days the little fellow came to the great city  how he thought that he could sleep in the streets and found that he could not  how he gained his lodgings for two sous a night, and then went and came cold, wet, hungry, and sometimes very happy because Lady Green Satin and her maid Rosette had performed so well that he had gained good friends, and, best of all, had gathered many sous to send to his dear mother and sisters.  The story is charmingly told."  No indication of any mystery to be solved, but the title was so CLOSE to what was being described in the stumper that I couldnt help but submit this.  Good luck!
I just stumbled on to your site for the 1st time while looking for info on The Littlebits(a book from my childhood that Im currently reading to my 7y/o) and saw this stumper highlighted. Coincidentally, I am absolutely sure that I glanced through a book about a mouse detective named "Lady...." in our church library on Sunday but decided my son already had plenty to check out this week. In fact, I think there were several similar books there. I will post back after I check out the exact title and author the next time Im in church.
Des Chesnez, Baroness E. Martineau , Lady Green Satin and her Maid Rosette: The History of Jean Paul and His Little White Mice. Lady Green Satin and her Maid Rosette is indeed the book my friend remembered. I have obtained a copy, and she was delighted. Thank you all so much for your help.

M570: Magician, suitcase, ballerina, crocodile
Can't remember the title or author.  60's or 70's in date?  Illustrations very similar to Sendak.  A man/monster/magician arrives at a guesthouse carrying a suitcase.  There is a notice on the guesthouse saying 'closed indefiinitely'.  Odd things happen - crocodile in bath, ballerina in cupboard etc. help!

This doesn't match your description entirely, but there are enough similar elements to make it worth mentioning.  Mercer Mayer's The Wizard Comes to Town was originally published in 1973, and I've always thought his illustrations were a bit like Sendak's.  In this story, a wizard named Z.P. Alabasium rents a room at Mrs. Begg's boarding house (the sign outside says "Room for Rent. No tuba players allowed"), and soon after strange things happen in the boarding house.  Weird creatures appear, there are reptiles in a guest's bed, and Mrs. Begg is turned into a ballerina briefly.  Even if this is not your book, it's a fun story!
Mercer Mayer, Mrs Beggs and the Magician/ The Magician Comes to Town 1973, approximate. Thank you so much - its amazing how wrong the details of my memories were! but this is definitely the book.  Having had a search around based on your comment I found out that when I had it it was called Mrs Beggs and the Magician and later had its title changed - which is probably why the 'Magician comes to town' title didn't leap out at me in previous searches.

M571: mother and daughter making a doll from fabric circles.
I'm looking for a book for my sister-in-law.  Would have been read to hear in the late 50's/early 60's, but it could be an older book than that. She describes it as a book about a mother and daughter making a doll from fabric circles (circles called yo-yo's?).

M572:  Murmur-maids (girl goes undersea)
A chapter book that would have been published no later than the early 1970's.  A girl meets a friendly sea creature who takes her underwater and introduces her to other creatures, including some "murmur-maids" (or mermermaids?), which I believe looked like manatees.

Howard, Joan, The Summer is Magic, 1952, copyright. This is a long shot, but in the book Jill and Ronnie have an undersea adventure.  Its been a while since I read it, but it was the first thing that came to mind when I read your post.  

I dont think it can be The Summer is Magic.  Im pretty sure there was only one kid in my book.


M573: Marne, rowboat
I am looking for a childhood story released about the same time as The Ghost of Opalina. It is about a younger girl named Marnie/Marne - who visits her grandmother in the swamp (I think) and the adventures she has while there. If I remember correctly a rowboat is central to the story as that is what she uses to get around the swamp. That's about all I can remember.

Joan G Robinson, When Marnie was there, 1967, copyright. A girl is sent to stay with an elderly couple in Norfolk and plays by herself in the sand dunes and waterways.  She meets a girl called Marnie who turns out to be a ghost.


M574: Monster eats kid's stuff because kid won't clean
Me and my sister read this book when we were young (1980's) and I have no clue what the title is. It's about a kid that won't clean up his stuff so this monster (i'm pretty sure the monster was called "the grunk") would eat his stuff. I think the monster lived in the basement maybe.

Dr. Seuss, I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today and Other Stories, 1969, copyright. This is a long shot, as the description (toy eating monster) isnt even close. But the name of the monster makes me wonder if youre combining details from several stories? In the story "The Glunk that got Thunk", a little girl "thinks up" a monster (called a Glunk) who becomes all too real and begins running up quite a long-distance telephone bill by calling his mother and giving her a very long (and disgusting) recipe for Glunker Stew. Finally, with the help of her brother (the Cat in the Hat) little sister is able to un-thunk the Glunk. Other stories in the book are "I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today" and "King Looie Katz".
Doug Jamieson, The Grunk, (c) 1973. This book sounds right, my husband remembers reading it as a child and the title fits.
Stephen Cosgrove, Bangalee, 1978, copyright. (a Serendipity book) Two descriptions of the book: Bangalee tries to persuade the other kritters to change their messy ways before the dreaded grunk arrives.
Stephen Cosgrove, Bangalee, 1976, copyright. Reminds me of this one: "A wonderful tale about Bangalee, the cleanest Kritter in a very confused land, who becomes a hero with his clean ways when Grunk, a monstrous-garbage eating beast, comes foraging at their door. The moral to the story being: So, If your room is messy and cluttered with lots of junk, Better clean up your room like Bangalee, ''Cause here comes the Grunk!"


M575: Mystery, Intermediate Reader, Charleston, Ghosts of Presidents, Mandy, Adventure
 Historical fiction mystery series with a 10-14 year old heroine named Mandy (? or similar) I believe it was set in 19th c, definitely American. Pretty girl grew up poor, father died, separated from mother. Eventually reunited with mother who remarries father's brother--long lost uncle is very rich!

Lois Gladys Leppard, Mandie series, 1980s, 1990s, approximate. At least 40 books in this series.  Most are set in North Carolina but number 7 is "Mandie and the Charleston Phantom."
Leppard, Lois Gladys, Mandie series. This sounds like Leppards Mandie series.  Theres a webpage devoted to the series (with pictures of the book covers) at  http://www.mandie.com/mandie.htm
Lois Gladys Leppard, Mandie series, 1980s, 1990s, approximate. At least 40 books in this series.  Most are set in North Carolina but number 7 is "Mandie and the Charleston Phantom."
Lois Glady Leppard, Mandie series. The Mandie series of books are a popular series by Lois Gladys Leppard.  There are forty books in the main series plus there are several special books.


M576: Mystery Antique Shoppe

This is a book about two children (brother and sister) who discover a Mystery about two Marionette figures in their fathers antique shop.  The mystery begins when they discover one of the figures has a note inside it.  The figures are from Marie Antoinettes time period.   One is playing the piano and I believe the other is at a writing desk.  It takes place in the 1940-1950s.

Robin Gottlieb, Mystery of the Silent Friends, 1964, copyright. Ninas father owns an antique shop.  In the shop are two mechanical dolls from Switzerland, a boy and girl who draw a series of pictures. Nina has named them Henri and Henriette because the boy doll writes the name Henri Bourdan.   Two men try to buy the dolls which sets Nina and her best friend, Muffin, off on a search to figure out why they are so eager to buy the dolls.  The men want to buy the drawing dolls because they have the 3rd doll in the set, a girl who plays the piano.  The pictures that are drawn and the music that is played are clues to finding a treasure left by the mans grandfather.
Robin Gottlieb, Mystery of the Silent Friends, 1964, copyright. What secret lies hidden in the mechanical dolls? Why are two men so eager, suddenly, to buy them? Nina has always loved her fathers antique shop and the dolls have always been her friends. So goes the story about three mechanical dolls. One is an artist, the other writes his name. The piano player doll is mentioned later in the book. Hope this solves a mystery!
Gottlieb, Robin, Mystery of the Silent Friends, 1973, copyright. It was actually sisters, but I feel sure this is the book.
Robin Gottlieb, Mystery of the Silent Friends, 1964, reprint. I remember this one! (It took some searching to find it though.) I believe that the first two dolls and the antique shop belonged to a grandfather or great-aunt of the two children, and the mystery was that each of the dolls had a clue to an amazing treasure.  The girls (and I think they were girls, not a brother and sister) had to figure out the final clue...which they couldnt because they didnt have the third doll.  They eventually find it in the possession of a reclusive older friend or relative, and solve the mystery.
Robin Gottlieb, Mystery of the Silent Friends, 1964, copyright. The book youre looking for is Mystery of the Silent Friends by Robin Gottlieb. 12 year old Nina Martin and her best friend discover the secret that the two mechanical dolls (Henrietta, who draws and Henri, who writes)in her fathers antique shop... have been hiding: while each were programed to draw/write three things, theyve been fiddled with to make them draw/write a fourth thing which is a key to a treasure! A man arrives in the shop trying to buy the pair...it transpires that the dolls are part of a trio, and he has the third, a girl doll that plays a spinet. Nina suspects that hes not what he seems, and shes right!
Robin Gottlieb, The Mystery of the Silent Friends, early 1960s, approximate. Ninas dad owns an antiques store in Manhattan.  Ninas favorite items in the store are a pair of French automatons named Henri and Henriette which have been unsold for years.  So when suddenly two men come separately into the store inquirng about the automatons, Nina is suspicious.  She and her best friend Muffin try to figure out why the men are each so interested in Henri and Henriette.  I think its Henri who, when turned on and working properly, can write a letter and that the solution to the mystery is in the letter.  I also remember that the DJ picture of the two girls in the darkened store used to scare me.
Robin Gottlieb, Mystery of the Silent Friends. This sounds vaguely like Mystery of the Silent Friends, though some details are different.  Nina'\''s father owns an antique shop, and has two automata - antique dolls that move.  One draws, one writes (and, later, one that plays a piano is found).  The mystery turns up partly because the doll that writes suddenly writes something he had not written before, so in that sense it could be considered that he had a message hidden inside him...
M577: Mystery of lost opals, college setting, 1940s, romance
Solved

M578: Multi colored chapters/sections
The book is a children's book that definitely contained some Aesops Fables and might have had some Mother Goose stories too.  Each chapter/section was printed on colored paper (I definitely remember pink, blue, and yellow sections) and the book was quite thick.  I think it was a paperback.

M579: Magic Catalog Children's Book
A 70's book in the form of a catalog.  It gave descriptions of magical items such as a doorway that made you all clean as you walked through it, an invisibility coat, a room cleaner, etc.  There was an order form at the end that you were to hide in a hollow tree.

Bridwell, Norman, THE WITCH'S CATALOG (or Norman Bridwell presents The Witch's Catalog). Years ago I looked for this book from my childhood. It's THE WITCH'S CATALOG by Norman Bridwell. I know my copy was from Scholastic Book Club (TJ 3570). The book is very imaginative and a lot of fun.~from a librarian
Norman Bridwell, The Witch's Catalog. I already sent in that the answer to this was THE WITCH'S CATALOG by Norman Bridwell, but I wanted to let you know that someone has posted the whole book online at http://www.ladybridget.com/p/catalog.html in case the person wants to take a look.~from a librarian


M580: Bookstumper key words: series of books, 1st medeival, lover named "Yaffle"
This was a series, read in the '80's but is older. The first book involves a young sheltered girl with a tyrannical father. She is sent to her Aunt's keep, learns strength & independence, meets & marries a young man with a red feather in his cap whom she calls "Yaffle".  The feather reappears later.

Barbara Willard, The Lark and the Laurel, 1971, copyright. I was wrong about the red feather.  It was a red cap.  I found the book using the key words "Aunt", "Yaffle" and "Keep"  Thank you anyway!  It was fun to find this site, and I will return!

Barbar Willard , Mantlemass series.This is Barbara Willard's Mantlemass series. Lewis Mallory is Master Yaffle and he marries Cecily Jolland - their story is told in The Lark and the Laurel, the first book written though not the first chronologiocally. In reading order the books are --The Miller's Boy, The Lark and the Laurel, The Sprig of Broom, A Cold Wind Blowing, The Eldest Son, The Iron Lily, A Flight of Swans, Harrow and Harvest, Keys of Mantlemass. The last one is about 10 short stories, which fill in a few gaps between books, one set before the first book, and a couple set after  the end of the last.


M581:Magical shop cures villagers' misdeeds
Solved: Mr. Blossom's Shop


M582: Mouse and Hedgehog Children's Book
It's a young children's book, possibly published in the late 1980s or early 1990s (or before), mainly pictures, probably just a couple of lines to each page. It was a large square shaped book, with few pages, like many of those types of children's books. Throughout the book the mouse is making a mess out of everything the hedgehog is doing (in a fun sort of way).
Each page was about a job that the hedgehog wanted to do. For example, one said "Today I'm going to be a postman". "Me too" said the Mouse. And so it carried on with other jobs (baker and fireman were in there). In the end the hedgehog is setting up a mousetrap and mouse says something along the line of "you wouldn't hedgehog. Would you?" The last page shows the hedgehog and mouse lying in hammocks with a forest in the background. I have had several suggestions about it being a Beatrix Potter book, but having checked it is definitely not. Many thanks.

Dunbar, Joyce, Happy Days for Mouse and Mole.A shot in the dark, but could it be one of the Mouse and Mole books by Joyce, in particular, HAPPY DAYS FOR MOUSE AND MOLE?The cover shows them in a hammock.~from a librarian


M583: Mr. Vinegar
The Story was about Mr. Vinegar. There was a lot about the North Wind and a stick which would "do tricks" it once said "stick stick, knock knock."

Possibly Stories That Never Grow Old, ed. Watty Piper? See the Watty Piper page at http://loganberrybooks.com/most-piper.html .
You have two different stories here:  The Lad Who Visited The North Wind, and Mr. Vinegar.  Was this a collection of fairy tales?


M584: Mrs. Wiggly and the Alligator
My dad used to read me a book about a lady I think by the name of Mrs. Wiggly and the alligator who came to her house that she outsmarted. Circa 1975

Howard Garis, Uncle Wiggily. Could this be one of the Uncle Wiggily stories?  Although there's no Mrs. Wiggily, there are female characters such as Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, his housekeeper.  One of the regular antagonists is Skillery Skallery Alligator.  The stories have been published in various editions for more than 75 years, and a number of the texts are available online.  

Betty MacDonals, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle,1950's.This sound like it might be one of the very funny Mrs. Piggle- Wiggles books by Betty MacDonald. There were several. I read them in the 1950's.
Joanna Cole, Cousin Matilda and the Foolish Wolf, 1970. This is a bit of a stretch, but if it could have been a wolf rather than an alligator, this could be it.  She outsmarts the wolf by saying where she'll be, but when he gets there she has just left.  She finally gets rid of him by saying she's going to go to the roof and look at the stars, and the wolf falls off the roof.  It's a Whitman Tell-a-Tale book.


M585: Mice who Live in a Tree
Solved: The Secret Staircase
This is a children’s book I read in the 80’s. It has two little mice who live with their large family in a big tree. There is a LOT of drawing in this book. Every inch of the page was covered with knick knack’s. The story goes that they find a door behind a book case. It brings them into another part of this big tree that used to be a castle for the mice’s ancestors. They try on old clothes and run around in the different rooms that are lavishly decorated. They wonder why its closed off. The story ends with them wearing the clothes doing a dance and song for their family and everyone wonders where they got such great costumes. They have this wonderful secret by themselves.


Jill Barklem, The Secret Staircase.
   This beautiful book is part of the Brambley Hedge Series, all illustrated in incredible detail by the author. Two young mice, Primrose and Wilfred, discover a whole set of secret rooms in their giant oak tree home, while looking for costumes to wear at the midwinter festival.
Jill Barklem, The secret staircase  (Brambly Hedge series),1983, 1999. This sounds like THE SECRET STAIRCASE one of the Brambly Hedge books by Jill Barklem. Wonderfully detailed pictures.~from a librarian.
Barkelm, Jill, The Secret Staircase,1983, copyright. Defintely this book by Jill Barkelm, part of the Brambley Hedge books - the whole house is busy getting ready for a midwinter party.  Wilfred and Primrose want to practice their party piece and look for a quiet place.  Primrose's mother tells them to go practice in the attic - where they find the secret staircase full of wonderful costumes to try on and all sorts of other treasures.
Jill Barklem , The Secret Staircase, 1980's. Maybe one of the Brambly Hedge books by Jill Barklem. The pictures are very intricate.


M586: The Mark of Princes
There’s a historical novel I read as a child, set in an imaginary European country of about three hundred years ago, where I can’t remember either the author or the title. Actually, it concerns two invented countries, one of which (much the larger of the two) was known as the Mark of Princes, because it had been divided into many principalities, and only recently united by a pair of brothers, who had each ruled as kings in turn. Part of the background of the story is rivalry between their four sons over which should succeed them, since for various reasons each has a claim, and since neither had been designated as heir before their fathers had died. Because they know that none of them is likely to be successful as king without the support of his brothers or cousins, when the main part of the story begins they’re still running the country between them and none of them has yet put forward a claim. The name of the eldest prince is Clovis and the youngest (I think) is called Boris. The other country is a neighbouring mountain duchy, small but rather wealthy, with a young orphaned heiress, and the story starts to focus on the rivalry of the various princes as to which of them will marry her – at least partly because in practice the claim to his own throne of whichever of them “does” marry her is likely to be strengthened considerably. After the introductory chapters, the story is mostly told from the young duchess’ point of view. There’s a foreign professional politician who arrives in the duchy half way through and becomes the duchess’ advisor, and suggests various seemingly innocuous reforms to her that actually cause complete mayhem, I seem to remember. Anyway, I read it as a child, back in the late 70s, but never came across it since. I think it was probably published in the 50s, but I can’t be sure – it might have been any time before the seventies.

Ann Lawrence,  The Half-brothers,1973, copyright. In an imaginary kingdom in the sixteenth century, four half-brothers court a young Duchess named Ambra,whose rich lands would be an enhancement to their own.Only one of the three princes was willing to accept Ambra's terms, that his own inheritance be given up to prove that it was she who was desired rather than her lands,and so Prince Clovis won the girl he truly loved.


M587: Mother Goose from the 1960's
Pre-1970, childrens'. I've been looking for MY childhood Mother Goose book for quite awhile now.  I've tried different combinations of Google searches and so on, and I think I've seen just about every book of nursery rhymes out there, but none of them are MY book.This is what I'm sure of:  it had to have been published before 1970, and I'm guessing it was from the '50's through the '60's.  It was a large but not-too-thick hardcover (rather than something like a Little Golden or Elf book), probably without a dust jacket since we had it covered with our own paper cover.  That's half the problem--I remember the paper cover better than I do the real one, or the actual title (although it was probably something like Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes) or author.  About all I can remember of the cover was that it was dark--I'm thinking dark blue. I'm pretty sure that a lot, if not all, of the illustrations were black and white, and not full page.  There MAY have been a special section in the middle with numbers and letters, but I may have that mixed up with another book.  It was a little bit on the serious side--meant for children, but not cartoonish. It wasn't The Tall Book of Mother Goose, or Tasha Tudor, or any of those famous ones.  But it was MY book, and I'm hoping some day I'll come across a copy, or find a description that matches.
M588: Map Wrapped in Oilskin
I read this as a child in the mid 1980's about some kids that are following a map they found that was wrapped in oilskin.  I remember at one point one the boys has to hide in an apple barrel.  A big storm hits while they are searching and destroys one of their homes. Its not Treasure Island.


Arthur Ransome, Peter Duck. Possibly Peter Duck, or another of the Swallows and Amazons series?  From an online description:  "Every single event in the first book seems to be reproduced here, but on a much greater scale: the ships are now full-sized, the lake is drowned in an ocean, the island can no longer be swimmed around, the petty thieves have turned into murdering thugs, and England's summer rains are drenched by a tropical storm."


M589: Mannequin as life size doll

Children's or YA: I read 1975-1980. A girl (who I think considers herself homely) wants a life size doll (because a friend has one?). Maybe a focus on the way the doll's eyes close, but I might be combining book memories. She acquires (or wants to?) a (redheaded?) mannequin as a doll. Anyone?


Brink, Carol Ryrie, Bad Times of Irma Baumlein, 1972, approximate. Not certain about the red hair, but Irma claims to have the biggest doll in the world and ends up taking a mannequin to support her claim.

Carol Ryrie Brink, The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein. Sounds like it could be this one. 

Carol Ryrie Brink, Bad Times of Irma Baumlein, 1988, copyright. Irma brags at school that she has "The Biggest Doll in the World", then must figure out a way to prove it when her classmates vote her doll to be displayed at a school festival, sure that if it is as great as Irma says, they will win the grand prize.  She smuggles a mannequin from her family's department store to school and gets into a lot of trouble! 

Brink, Carol Ryrie, The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein, 1972, copyright. Irma's lie about having the biggest doll in the world leads her into deeper and deeper trouble.

Carol Ryrie Brink, The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein. Originally titled "Irma's Big Lie." Trying to impress a classmate, Irma claims to have the biggest doll in the world, with "cerulean blue eyes and hair the color of ripe oranges." She must then go to outrageous lengths - including stealing a department store mannequin - to support her story.

Carol Ryrie Brink, The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein. I can't think of any other books where the girl has a mannequin for a doll.

Carol Ryrie Brink, Bad Times of Irma Baumlein .This may be BAD TIMES OF IRMA BAUMLEIN, also published as IRMA'S BIG LIE by Carol Ryrie


M590:Map, Animal Tracks in Inside Cover

Book from late 1960s, early 1970s. A story about a lion (?) and possibly some other animals. The most intereting thing was the inside cover, white background, which showed a map of little animal foot prints walking through a meadow with a willow tree. Someone blowing on a dandeloin (?). thanks!


M591: My Clubhouse is Better than Yours

Children's book about a group of kids who leave their homes and build glorified clubhouses in a field...it starts with just one kid building a house but soon the field is overrun by kids with their own clubhouses, and they are all really extravagant contraptions. HELP!!!!!


Doris Burn, Andrew Henry's Meadow, 1965, copyright. This is definitely Andrew Henry's Meadow. Andy likes to build and invent things, but his family doesn't appreciate the mess, so Andrew takes his tool box and moves to a distant meadow and builds himself a home. He later builds houses for his friends from town, when they find him and admire his fanciful house.

Burn, Andrew Henrys Meadow, 1965, approximate.Could it be anything else?


M592: Mystery Date

mystery/romance published before 1979. y/a?

Female protagonist is asked to impersonate someone she closely resembles whose name is Erica (titian?) and who is a "perfect size 9" money involved. Two half brothers, one whose name is Adam (dark hair). Love ensues, mystery solved after much danger


Amelia Walden, To Catch A  Spy, 1976, copyright.This is a description of the book: "An intricately plotted spy thriller in which excitement is maintained until the final discovery-- a surprise to the reader and to Sally Templeton, the eighteen year old counterspy. Sally Templeton, a CIA worker, arrives at the Buxton estate to become, in disguise, Erika Buxton. Erika was a suspected spy who was killed in a plane crash in Africa. Erika's novelist-stepfather has consented to work with the CIA in an effort to discover what Erika's involvement was. Sally passes several severe tests, including having to face and be with two of Erika's childhood companions, Adam and Verne."


M593: Mother Goose Revisited
Mother goose type anthology, oversized book, 50+yrs ago, the goops, little red hen where hen picture and others are inserted into the text, marmalade is tasty  but the king wants " just a little bit of butter for my bread", odd drawings possibly different illustrators throughout.


Better Homes & Gardens Story Book, copyright. See Anthologies or Most Requested.  The Goops, the Little Red Hen with pictures substituting for words -- these are in there!

Most likely Better Homes and Gardens Storybook, volume 1. See Solved Mysteries AND, especially, the Anthology Finder for the cover and contents.

http://logan.com/harriett/most-anthologies.html What tipped me off was the bit about the Little Red Hen - it's something of a rebus, but not as complicated as some rebuses.

Better Homes and Gardens Storybook.

Anthology, The piece remembered about the king who wanted a "little bit of butter on his bread" makes it a poem of A.A. Milne, the entire poem can be found in When We Were Very Young and is entitled, "The King's Breakfast."


M594: Mouse Seamstress
Book is about a little mouse who can sew, she sews beautiful dresses , i remember a yellow one with robbons on it she lives in a little house, maybe in a tree or underground.

(M594 - reposted)

M596: A Mirror for Katherine 
I am looking for a book that I read in the 70's.  It was a teen or pre teen novel in paper back.
The main character was a teenage girl who saw a portrait that look exactly like her.  I believe she saw the portrait in a store but, it could have been an old family garage.  Anyway, she sees the portrait and finds out that it is her great great grandma or great great great grandma.  She then proceeds to go back in time to experience her grandmother's previous life.  The past life section of the book is quite detailed and takes up a large portion of the story. After she has experienced the past life, she wakes up on her living room couch with her father there.  He is worried about her and says that she has had a seizure and that the seizure lasted 15 minutes or so. The main character lived out the entire life of her relative in a 15 minute period during her seizure.  I believe the teenage girl's name was Katherine.  They title may have had the word mirror or portrait in it. I have no idea who the author is.  That is all I can remember at this point.  I have been looking for this book for years.  It was one of my favorites as a young teenager. Thanks so much for you help!
Sherburne, Zoa, Why have the birds stopped singing?,1974. I loved this one too.
Marlys Millhiser, The Mirror,1980, copyright."A 20-year-old Boulder girl stares into her grandmother's Chinese mirror on her wedding day in 1978, faints and comes to in her grandmother's body--in 1900--about to be married to a miner. As she moves through life, even giving birth to her own mother, she becomes known as a fairly decent seer. Had she paid more attention in school, she would have been a great one."There are many details that fit but not all. Shay goes back in time after looking into a mirror right before the wedding of her grandmother's (Brandy) wedding in 1900. Shay and her grandmother actually switch places in time. The first half of the book is in the past with Shay living her grandmother's life and then in present time Brandy is living her granddaughter's life - waking up in the middle of nowhere - alone and pregnant and very confused. This was rereleased in 1997 and may still be in print. Great story - on of my favorites!
Sherburne, Zoa, Why have the birds stopped singing?, 1974, copyright.Absolutely definitely this book - Katie has epilepsy (largely under control).  On a school trip she sees a portrait of her great great great grandmother (named Kathryn).  Katie misplaces her medication and has a seizure, during which she travels back in time to become Kathryn, who also suffered from epilepsy.

M597: Mr. Vinegar's Glass House & Other Stories
A collection of childrens stories. Probably Aesop's Fables, Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm. The book is a hard cover with cloth approximately 6'X 8" White with colorful drawings of characters with in the book. One of the stories is Mr.Vinigar, one about living in glass houses.

Flora Steel (Illus. by  Arthur Rackham), English Fairy Tales, 1918.White cover, lovely illustrations, most b/w, some color.  Lots of quite randomly selected stories as described, including Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar.


M598: Mom Invents Alarm Clock Blanket Lifter to Wake Up Lazy Kids
All I remember about this book is that the mother [maybe some sort of animal? cat?] had a lot of lazy kids and to wake them up she invented this mechanized blanket lifter that went into action when the alarm clock went off.  I would have read it in the early 80's.  "Lazy" or "Kittens" in title?

I believe I know exactly the book you are talking about. I believe it is in a box at my parents' house but unfortunately I can't remember the name of it for the life of me. I do remember that it is hardcover with a purple edge and white/black pictures on the cover. I believe all the pictures in the book kept the purple/black/white theme with maybe a red or one other color thrown in. The book itself is horizontally, rather than vertically, long, if that makes any sense. The mother also drives the children to school in a train sort of thing and I think she invents lots of other things too.  I think the family are badgers or aardvarks or something like that. I won't be at my parents' house for a month or so, but I'll try to remember to look for the book when I next visit. Good luck and sorry not to be of more help!
Fernado Krahn, The Family Minus, 1977, copyright. I asked my mother to look for me I'm the one who recognized the book, but couldn't remember the title.
Fernando Krahn, The Family Minus, 1977.


 M599: Mail-order book series  in 1970 or 1971
Non-Fiction children's mail-order book series  in 1970 or 1971.  The books were probably on a 3rd-5th grade reading level.  They covered subjects such as Native Americans (although most certainly called "Indians" then); U.S. Presidents and the like.   Hard-cover, divided into chapters. 40 pgs or so.

M600: Medieval girl, castle, garderobe, onion soup, pointed headress
Solved: The Maud Reed Tale. 


M595: Magical Gifts
(stumper reposted) my description started with the phrase MAGICAL GIFTS and the book is about a group of girls, each who receives a magical item to go with a personal talent...the only one I remember for sure is a girl with cropped black hair who has a belt (or girdle) that makes her invisible so she can be a thief.

M601: Mickey Mouse Haunted Mansion Book with Reader
I am looking for a Mickey Mouse haunted mansion book with reader that would have been published in the 1970's. It has a hard cover with a picture of the haunted mansion. It also has a "record" like reader on each page that allowed the story to be read to you along with sound effects.

Walt Disney Productions Presents The Haunted House, 1976. I don't know if this is what you are looking for - the book has Mickey, Donald and Pluto on the cover in front of a haunted house, and there is a Fisher-Price audio cassette in a pocket on the back of the book for reading along.


M602: Magic toy, white stuff, smell
I remember a book where there is a magic toy or something which opens up and inside there is a magic white hard stuff, that sort of melts away gradually as the book goes on. Perhaps a girl has this thing. And it - well, either grants wishes or sth. It was fragrant - had a strange and pleasant smell.

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley, Black and Blue Magic. I wonder if it's Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. That has a pearly magical ointment in a silver filigree bottle.

 M603: Multiple Personality Satanic cult fiction
I read a book about 12 years ago about a little girl who had multiple personalities to deal with abuse by her father during satanic rituals in a cult of some sort.  I believe each chapter was from a different personality perspective.

There were a lot of books like this published in the last 20 years.
Chase, Truddi, When Rabbit Howls, 1980s? May or may not be the one you're looking for, but it popped into my mind.


 M604: medieval children's fantasy in which characters' souls are trapped in their portraits
The story was set in some quasi-medieval world. A baron (or somesuch) marries a beautiful witch who traps the souls of the other people living in the castle by drawing them. The process is only complete when she puts the 'eyes' into each portrait.

Roald Dahl, The Witches, 1983.I don't know about the eyes thing, but this sounds like it might be it.

M605: Mousekin question
I have some early Prentice Hall books by Edna Miller, in her MOUSEKIN series. They do not have a "number line" or a stated edition (like 1st edition) but they have the letter "J" in lieu of any "numbered edition". What does the "J" mean - is this a 1st edition before they used "number lines".   One book dealer said that the "J" was a first edition, but I cannot verify that with anyone as yet.

M606: A mouse named Rosemary

SOLVED: Kid Sister


 M607: Missing Apple Tree Shade
Circa 1970. A town wakes up to find its bridge missing, then something else, then the shade from the apple tree. Someone finds a hidden door in the side of the cliff and everyone goes in and they find a vast underground workshop where a grumpy old man has taken the town's items to repair them.
 M607a: Minature Boy Flies With Bird
Approximate date: 1950. A boy shrinks small enough to ride on a birds back.  His father builds a little passenger cabin that straps on to the bird and they fly away to various adventures including one with a business owner who gets his workers pay back every payday with a pinball machine.  I was in grade school when I read this (c. '63-68).  It was a hardback and seemed rather old at the time.  Our school did not have many new books.  The boy eventually returns to normal size at the end of the story.  I believe he shrank after falling down the stairs and returned to normal size after falling into the sea.  The impact caused the change.  The illustrations were line drawings.

The Fabulous Flight by Robert Lawson, 1949. Lots of political humor.


M608: Mud and dresses
I remember a picture book from the 40s or 50s showing a little girl who plays in the mud and washes up, getting mud all over the bathroom, then changes into a dress of another color.  The scenario is repeated over and over as she changes into red, blue, and yellow dresses.  I remember feeling very satisfied as the rooms are repeatedly cleaned and the little girl continues to be dressed in coordinating dresses, socks and shoes!

Tomie DePaola, Marianna May and Nursey. 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."  I hope this is the book you're looking for!

2011

M609: Man runs a bath of hot water which overflows and floods his house
Circa early 1970's?  Narrated by Bill Cosby? The man gets distracted by a phone call possibly and leaves the water running. If I remember correctly it came with a plastic 45 record that you could play along. I've searched for "Too Much Hot Water" and "Water, Water Everywhere" No luck.

Sesame Street, Gordon of Sesame Street Storybook, 1972. I think this might be the book - it contains a story called "A Lot of Hot Water". This story was previously published alone as "Gordon of Sesame Street Tells a Story : A Lot of Hot Water". The only summary I can find is this "Lonesome Lewis, the title character, gets into a lot of trouble because he doesn't like people and refuses to ask for help."
Matt Robinson, Gordon of Sesame Storybook. Followup to the solution I previously submitted - I thought some images might help determine if this is the right book. The cover of the storybook is at http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Gordon_of_Sesame_Street_Storybook and the standalone book cover is at http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/A_Lot_of_Hot_Water  (this one apparently did have a record with it.)


M610: Margarita/Margaret sent to live with orchid-growing English uncle
SOLVED: Ruth M Arthur, Portrait of Magarita, 1971.

M611:  Mice
A children's book or young adult-type mini-novel because it had chapters. It was hard back with illustrations in black and white or maybe blue and white. It involved mice. There was a performance of a play/opera/ballet, and a mouse named Lily who sat on a swing/ trapeze in front of a moon.

Frank Asch, Pearl's Promise, 1984. I think you are looking for Pearl's Promise by Frank Asch. It is out of print. I have read it as a read-aloud to my first graders from our school library. Pearl promises her brothers she will never leave them to face the prospect of being fed to Prang the pet store snake. But she is purchased by a boy. As she is being taken from the mouse tank, she promises to return and save them. She does become very attached to her new owner, but cannot forget her promise, so runs away to go back to the pet store and save her brothers. Along the way, she has many adventures, including an evening performance in an abandoned theater. The audience of mice all sit on the tops of the seats and pay with bits of food. Here is a link to a summary of the plot: http://www.suite101.com/content/great-books-for-kids-with-mouse-heroes-a271561'

M612:Medieval Series historical fiction chapterbooks
Series of related books by one author through several decades.  Different generations of a family- not always the same characters. Each book had a different focus: London and guilds, Caxton and the printing press, Wool merchants and taxes, YA or Child

Cynthia Harnett, The Wool Pack, and others. Sounds like Cynthia Harnett's books, though they are not all about the same family, or linked except by all being historical novels by the same author. But the plots sound like those you describe. 'The Wool Pack' is about the mediaeval wool trade. 'The Load of Unicorn' or in its American edition 'Caxton's Challenge' is about the beginnings of printing. 'Ring Out Bow Bells' is about guilds in London and includes Dick Whittington as a character. Another book, 'The Writing on the Hearth' is about 15th-century education, and witchcraft accusations. 'Stars of Fortune' is set a little later, in the Tudor period  and 'The Great House' in the 17th century.
Cynthia Harnett. It's hard to list all of Cynthia Harnett's books by title because they were released at various times with different titles. The titles were: The Great House (1949) The Woolpack (1951) (also released as Nicholas and the Wool Pack, also as The Merchant's Mark Ring Out Bow Bells! (1953) (also known as The Drawbridge Gate, also known as The Sign of the Green Falcon Stars of Fortune (1956) The Load of Unicorn (1959) (also known as Caxton's Challenge, also known as The Cargo of the MadalenaThe Writing On the Hearth (1971)
Cynthia Harnett, The Wool-Pack,  The Load of Unicorn. Definitely the series you are looking for.
Cynthia Harnett, This could be 4 books by Cynthia Harnett - not a series as such, not about same family though a few minor characters reappear in some books. The Wool pack (US title Merchant's mark)- about wool trade, Load of Unicorn (Caxton's challenge)- Caxton and printing, Ring out Bow Bells (Sign of the green falcon)- London at time of Dick Whittington, Writing on the Hearth (Cargo of the Madalena)- Wars of the Roses.
Cynthia Harnett, various: Wool-Pack, Load of the Unicorn, 1937-1971. The books you describe sound like they might be the work of Cynthia Harnett. The Wool-Pack (1951), about the wool trade, won the Carnegie Medal  Load of the Unicorn (1959) was about printing, The Great House was about architecture (1949, etc. )
Norah Lofts, The Maude Reed Tale. Another possibility: Norah Lofts wrote many memorable books (1940'\''s-1970'\''s. approx) set in various old houses, telling the stories of many generations of the families in the houses.She excerpted a few and published them as children'\''s books, including The Maude Reed Tale, which is about a family of wool merchants.

M613: Middle Grade Sc-Fi: new planet's grass cuts feet
SOLVED: Jill Paton Walsh , The Green Book, 1982, approximate.

M614: Mrs. ? goes to outerspace
SOLVED: Ellen MacGregor, Miss Pickerell goes to Mars.

M615: Monkey has problem tail that won't curl solved by a pretzel machine
SOLVED: Alice Sankey, Marcus - The Tale of a Monkey.
M616: Marzipan Pig army
My husband (born 1951) remembers very little about this book.  Says he was five? Something about an army and Marzipan pigs?? It is NOT the one written by Russell Hoban.

M617: mouse, children, magic words, thank you and please
Little book (golden book?) about a mama mouse and her mouse children where she is teaching them about saying thank you and please. Lines I remember: "remember children"/ "there never were in all this world such magic words as these"/ "your thank you and your please"

M618: Murderous Uncle at Mansion or Castle?
1981 Grade 7, boy and sister go with mom to live in castle with scary uncle.  By the sea?  Squeaking doors and floors at night, somehow to uncle's advantage to murder children.  Convinces mom to leave?  Boy left alone?  Barely outsmarts uncle?  Sorry to be so vague.  thanks!

Rohan O'Grady (real name was June Skinner), Let's Kill Uncle
, 1963.
Rohan O'Grady, Let's Kill Uncle, 1960's. Possibly this one?  Orphaned Barnaby, heir to a fortune, is sent to a remote Canadian Island to live wth his uncle.  No one believes him when he tells them his uncle is trying to kill him, except his friend Chrissie.  Together they come up with a plan to kill Uncle before he kills them.

M619: Millicent May/Mae, tantrums
SOLVED: Adelaide Holl, One Kitten for Kim.

M620: Mr. Cook, toy store, cats
Old book about Mr. Cook, owned a toy store, had a cat that children came to visit. Cat had kittens, children adopted the kittens.

Lee Richardson,
Sophie's Surprise, 1983. In the book Sophie's Surprise a toy store owner finds a hungry stray cat and brings her into his shop.  Not sure if his name is Mr Cook.  She gives him a surprise gift on Christmas Eve.  Lovely sepia sketches.
Dorothy Grider, Peppermint. Could it be Peppermint?  It was Mr. Dobby's candy shop, not a toy store, but it sounds like it might fit.

M621: Mr. Puffin takes a walk?
Title: (might be) Mr. Puffin takes a walk.
Publish date: (around) 1940s. Children’s Picture Book – Mr. Puffin goes for a walk after his breakfast. He passes a fountain – It might be a fish or dolphin fountain. This was the first book I ever read and I have been desperate to find it for years. I read it when I was approximately 4 or 5 years old in the 1940s. I am now 67 year old.

Richard and Florence Atwater, Mr Popper's Penguins, 1938. A bit of a stretch but couldn't resist this guess.  Book begins with Mr Popper (also 6 letters) walking home after work (big illustration)  Soon the penguins begin arriving out of crates and into bath tubs. (water creatures?) Just delightful!     
Robert Hartman, Mr Buffin-not sure which book, 1940, approximate. Bobby Robin and the Worm, a Mr Buffin book was the firt book I remember reading.

I recently posted a Book Stumper:- Mr. Puffin takes a walk, which has now been archived. However  I received a reply from R Hartman, who says that the book might be 'Mr. Buffin'. Apparently there are several books in the series. This hasn't really answered my query so anymore info would be welcome.
We'll keep trying!


M622: Mine explored by group of young boys
This was a story I read in a children's multi-volume anthology, probably from the 50s or 60s. I just remember the boys climbing down the mine shaft, and maybe having trouble getting back out. I seem to think they were on some kind of scavenger hunt. I also remember an image of a water tower. Thanks.

Enid Blyton, The Island of Adventure,
1944. For Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack, the holiday in Cornwall is everything they'd hoped for—until they begin to realize that something very sinister is taking place on the mysterious Isle of Gloom. But they're not prepared for the dangerous adventure that awaits them in the abandoned copper mines and secret tunnels beneath the sea.

M623: Man and Seal Live Together
1978 or 1979, juvenile. The basic story is about a man. He’s a very rich man – perhaps the owner of a factory or a big building. He gets burned in a fire and ends up retreating from society because of the scars. He automates his factory – or building – to the point where he lays everybody off  now it’s just him in the building. He goes out at night when everybody else is asleep and comes across a zoo that has been emptied out, all except for a seal that has somehow been abandoned. He befriends the seal and takes it back “home” with him. He nurses it back to health, builds a huge tank for it, and basically heals a part of himself in the process of taking care of the injured animal. 


M624: Man transported to alternate earth
SOLVED: Frederic Brown, What Mad Universe, 1949. 


M625: Myths/Legends of Old West
Date: 1974 or earlier. I am looking for a book about myths and legends of the old west that I used to borrow from my grandfather.  I don't remember the title, but it was hardcover and had (I believe) a yellow dust jacket. One of the stories was about the lost Dutchman mine.  Another was about the Indian woman stranded on an island for 18 years--the same woman whose story was told in the book, Island of the Blue Dolphins.  My grandfather died in May 1974, so the publication date had to be before that.  Can you help me find this book, please?  My cousins say they haven't seen the book since our grandfather died and don't remember the title.

Island of the Blue Dolphins was based on the story of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, baptized Juana Maria after her rescue. I found several books of legends that mention her but they are centered in California and therefore don't include the Lost Dutchman Mine.


M626: The Magnafacana
SOLVED: Wendy Lichtman, Blew and the Death of the Mag, 1975.

M627: Maine setting
Maybe a Scholastic Book, 1960's. Set in Maine. A brother and sister in Maine. They have an aunt who goes to visit after the death of her elderly mother, for whom she was the caregiver. Aunt falls in love with a local. A pond, deer - the children find one in the woods injured - moose, loons -the usual Maine suspects.  The central drama of the book, if I recall, is the wildlife area is threatened by individuals wanting to buy it (not sure about that).

Have you checked the books by Elisabeth Ogilvie? She wrote a bunch of teen-romance type books between 1950 and 1970 set in Maine.  It may be one of hers.
Virginia Frances Voight, Mystery at Deer Hill, 1958/1960. This is a better-than-average YA mystery from Scholastic, which I really enjoyed when I discovered it at a thrift shop a few years ago. April's parents send her, against her wishes, to spend the summer with her aunt, who is renting a cabin in Maine. The boy in the story is not her brother but a local boy she meets there. Everything else is as you remember it: the wildlife, the mystery, the aunt's romance with a neighbor.

M628: Moon falls from the sky, owls pick it up
SOLVED: Cat Stevens, Teaser and the Firecat.

M629: Millicent the Monster
The copy I read when I was a kid had a spell in the back - separate from the story, instructing the reader to copy this spell to become a witch, roll it into a scroll, and stick it in the hollow of a tree. So I did. Now I can't find the book. Anyone ever see the same? Help locate this print?

Norman Bridwell, The Witch's Catalog.
Not sure why this stumper was titled Millicent the Monster, but that was a Scholastic Book Club paperback by Mary Lystad that the poster may have read around the same time. The book that you roll up is another Scholastic Book Club paperback called THE WITCH'S CATALOG by Norman Bridwell.

M630: Mystery Boy Old House Locked Box Key Aunt
SOLVED:
The Children of Green Knowe. This is definitely the one I remember - or vaguely remembered. I picked it up yesterday and started reading and it brought back some memories.  Amazing service - thanks ya'll

M631: Magic Tales? One book; A collection of stories
One story about Heebee Jeebee the merry old witch and Wingoo Wangoo the jolly old wizard going to a party. Another about an ogre who stole someone's belt and wore it around his hand like a bracelet. Another about 2 kids that landed on a cloud and met the elf that lived there.

M632: Murdered Family
It's a book about a woman (whom as a little girl) her mother, little sister and baby brother were all murdered one day walking home along their country lane. 20 years later the murderer is let off on parole. The story also looks at the babysitter, whose mother who dies when her hair is caught in a pool drain on holiday in Greece. It also cuts to a man who ends up in a train wreck after trying to find out if his ex girlfriend's son is his.

Kate Atkinson, When Will There Be Good News?
, 2008. One of my favorites. The man (Jackson Brodie, private detective) later teams up with the babysitter (who rescued him from the crash) and a large dog when the grown-up murder survivor goes missing. Part of Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series.

M633: Mystery Boy Old House Locked Box Key Aunt
Read this in 3rd grade- 1981 -which means the book is older. Boy, who stays with his aunt. She lives alone in an old house near a swamp, or forest. The house is filled with old strange things. He finds a box and the mystery is finding the key.  Or, the other way around.  Has the key - finds the box.

M634: Mystery, brass bed in attic, secret passages
Childs book ? early 1900 setting, row houses, recent move to house, brass bed in attic, secret passages, mystery.

Nina Bawden,
The House of Secrets, The Secret Passage, 1963, approximate.This must be the book although its set in the 1960s.  Three British children who were raised in Kenya were sent to England to live with their aunt after their mother died and their father had a breakdown.  The children discovered a secret passage to the next house, which was full of treasures and had a brass bed in the attic. House of Secrets is the US title, The Secret Passage is the British title.

M635: Mermaid, hand sized, gets caught by 2 children and put in jar
Had to be published no later than 2000. About 2(?) children who find a very small, hand sized mermaid in either a stream or pond during wintertime and they catch her, she's gets very angry about being caught, they eventually release her. Saved her from a fish I think, very haughty at being caught.

Val Willis, The Mystery in the Bottle, 1991, approximate. Could it be this one? Bobby finds a mermaid at the beach, puts her in a bottle and brings her home. He releases her in his bathtub, where her attitude causes him lots of trouble. No girl that I remember, but the haughty attitude was there.
M636: Monsters riding motorcycles
Older collection of stories (maybe 3-5?). One is about monsters that ride motorcycles. One might be (but might not be -- I think it was in the same collection) about blowing oddly shaped bubble gum bubbles. It's a red book. Updated: It was hard cover. There was a monster who was very small and young. In his monster society, upon a certain birthday the monsters received motorcycles (perhaps known as dirt bikes, motorbikes, etc.). He was worried he wouldn't get a motorcycle because he was so small. He saw his bigger brothers and friends playing on their motorcycles and really wanted to join them. He really wanted a motorcycle. At his birthday party, there was a delicious looking cake. It was long and narrow--looked like a cake version of one of those big sandwiches. This cake was partitioned into perfectly sized slices, all of which were different colors. Some of the slices were being passed around to the various party goers...but most of the cake was still intact. The monster ended up getting a small bike just fit for him. Also in this book was a wonderful bubblegum blowing machine. The machine would blow bubbles of different sizes and shapes. Some were huge, some little. Some cuboidal, some round.

2012

M637: Mystery with  young boy, girl and a crow
Looking for book read to my son's in the early 80's (library books- chapter books ): The story is about a boy (I seem to remember his family is in the background ) and a girl visits or he meets a new girl in town- summer vacation I believe- they also befriend a crow (maybe it flies in the boy's bedroom window? Brings shiny stuff with it?) They discover a key and a mysterious wall in town with a mysterious door.

Mary Calhoun, Magic In the Alley, 1970, approximate. This one may be too old, but just in case...  Cleery finds a mysterious box in an old junk shop, and buys it. Inside, there are seven mysterious objects. When she sprinkles a stuffed crow with the powder in a silver salt shaker, he comes to life!  Soon Cleery, Crow and Knobs, her friend, are having a summer full of mystery and magic.  (if it's not the book, it should be one you enjoy.)
Jane, Mary C, Ghost Rock Mystery, 1950s, approximate. This reminds me of the Ghost Rock Mystery by Mary C. Jane, who also wrote Mystery in Old Quebec and other YA suspense type books. A brother and sister go to visit/help their widowed aunt and cousin who are trying to run a boarding house in a spooky old house. There is supposed to be a haunted rock nearby which turns out to be "haunted" by the sounds of smugglers footsteps echoing out of the rock through an undergound layer of granite. The kids find a crow that seems to speak a mysterious language - turns out the crow belongs to a local Frenchman and speaks French. Could this be what you are looking for?
Elizabeth Ladd, Meg Elwell series books, 1960's, approximate. Could you be looking for one of the Meg books written by Elizabeth Ladd which were set in Maine?  Meg lives with her aunt and uncle and has a cat and a crow for pets.  Her crow is always getting into mischief and mysteries are solved.
M638: Mystery solved when lake drains
SOLVED: Wylly F. St. John, The Secrets of Hidden Creek.

M639: Magic red umbrella girl travels world
I remember this picture book from early 1980s but could be published earlier. Young girl with RED umbrella that magically transports her all over the world. Vivid memory of picture of the mosque in red square, Russia. I think she wore red Wellington boots. I'm based in UK if that makes a difference.

M640: MG sports car, logging truck
A boy was taught to drive by his Uncle (father?) in an early MG sports car. Some time later he acquired an ancient logging truck to rebuild. The logging truck had lots of clearance and drove the back wheels by chains. Along came a huge flood which stranded the village, but the logging truck was able to get through the waters and rescue everybody.

M641: Multiple endings children's book
1960s-1970s. I’m not sure how to describe this book.  If I remember correctly, it had a dial or spinner on the cover.  You chose a number and it would open to that part of the book. You kept coming to new choices to determine where the story would go.  I *think* it involved children and possibly outer space or a spaceship or alien.  I wish I could remember more – it’s driving me crazy!  Maybe it rings a bell with someone?

This does ring a bell.  I think one of the books was about visiting Mayan ruins, and trying to solve what ended their civilizations.  One choice was that aliens took them away. 
Edward Packard, or R.A. Montgomery, Choose Your Own Adventure series. Sounds like something in this series, which was published by Bantam books. There were quite a few books, and several authors including the two mentioned above. Packard is perhaps the most likely author if it was science fiction.

M642: Monkey types life story
A book released 5+ years ago. Story about a monkey who woke up after being shot, and knew how to type. He begins to type his life story, which spans several timelines I think it takes place in India. the cover features a monkey at a typewriter.

Cheeta (with the help of James Lever), Me, Cheetah, 2008. It isn't an exact match, but how many monkey autobiographies can there be? This one might be worth looking into. There are at least three different covers. The first one (titled Me Cheeta: The Autobiography) shows a photo of Cheeta against a dark background with his hands resting on a table or shelf in front of him. The title is in block lettering over Cheeta's head. A later printing (titled Me Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood) has a slightly different version of the same photo on the cover (less centered) and the title in pink cursive lettering above Cheeta's head. The most recent cover is red with a spotlight in the upper left corner, shining down, and stylized grass along the bottom. There is a picture of Cheeta covering his eyes. Behind him are black-and-white pictures of some of his co-stars. Either of the darker covers with Cheeta's hands resting on the tabletop could easily be misremembered as him typing.

M643: Mighty warrior and his army defeated by ants
Children's book about invincible warrior finds woodcutter who tells of army that he can't defeat. Amused, warrior lets woodcutter live and promises him his mighty axe if he's right. Warrior attacks giant earth castle, out of which come ants. Soldiers tear off clothes and run away. Woodcutter gets ax.

M644: Mid to later 1950's childrens story book
About a baby bird, a robin I think, that is looking for it's nest.  The baby bird (thick cardboard) was attached to an elastic, and on every page there was an opening into which the bird would go while the words were read.  Then you had to 'pop' it out to turn the page and continue.


M645: Mother and daughter move to Canada
I am trying to locate a book I read back in 5th grade, will be older than 1985..This is a hardcover book, and a mother and daughter have falllen from the graces (have disgraced) the royal court in France, maybe between 1750-1800. They are being sent away to New World, either Canada (or Louisiana).

Sergeanne Golon, Angelique.
I think this is one of the later ''Angelique'' books by Sergeanne Golon. After leading a reolution in France, she escapes to America with her daughter, aboard a ship with (I think) Puritans.

M646: Magic boy dog flying
This was a strangely disturbing book with real pictures in it.  Skinny nerdy boy (with red hair?).  Boy was involved with magic - don't know if it was real or imagined.  There was a brown-and-white dog with big floppy ears.  I remember a picture of the dog flying with a cape on.  That's all!

M647: Mouse looks for home
SOLVED:
Kathryn and Byron Jackson, illustrated by Richard Scarry, Mouse's House.

M648: "Mrs. Persnickety"
I'm looking for a children's book that I thought was called "Mrs. Persnickety".  It would have been around 1968 and it was about a woman that cut her sandwiches from left to right.

M649: Mr Perkins
This was a story read to me when between 1973 to 1979 about a boy and his dog Mr Perkins.

M650: Mouse changes each night
Mouse changes each night into a larger animal-cat, lion, etc. Illustrated book I read in the mid to late 70's about a boy who finds a mouse that turns into larger creatures each night. End suggests the mouse eventually becomes a dinosaur/dragon and leaves the boy's house, never to be seen again.
Updated: I had sent in a book stumper but ran out of room in the paypal description box. I'm hoping I can fiind out more about the book in question and that these other details will jog someone's memory. This was a children's picture book from the 1970s or slightly earlier, hardcover, with a picture of a mouse on the cover. I believe the mouse was sitting up on the right side of the cover looking left, illustrations were pen/ink and watercolor, book was a gloomy grey/blue and black, I believe the title had "Max" in it or "Maximouse", or even "Mysterious Maximouse" (it's not ManxMouse). The story is about a boy who finds (or possibly gets from the pet store) a mouse that he keeps as a pet. Every night after the boy goes to sleep, the mouse changes shape, and the next morning he finds that the mouse has transformed into another animal, getting progressively larger (first a cat, the next morning he's a dog, the day after, he's a lion, and so forth) until one day the mouse is gone. The illustration at the end suggests that the mouse had possibly turned into a dinosaur or a dragon (it shows a large creature with a long tail and spikes down its back walking out the door - you can only see the back end of the creature). The last line may have gone something like "but what did he turn into next, who knows?" or "we may never know". If I recall correctly, the text rhymed like children's poetry. For whatever reason I can't get this book out of my mind. I had borrowed it from my local library as a young child and for the life of me I can't remember the exact title, and I've been searching for the book for decades now. Thanks so much for any help you can give!


M651: Mouse and weasel on search for missing aunt
SOLVED: Mary DeBall Kwitz, Shadow Over Mousehaven Manor
M652: Monster plant (children's picture book)
I know you've received a lot of strange requests over the years, but this is probably the weirdest yet. I have a very vague memory, must have been four or five years old (early 1990's) of coming across a picture book about a plant monster.  It was thorny and viney ... I think early in the book it lived in a glass planter, but it got bigger as the book progressed ... I think near the end of the book it killed or injured the kid that was the main character ... I think there was blood? but don't recall for sure ... I don't know if I actually finished the book, because it really disturbed me ... I forgot (repressed?) all about it until recently, when I remembered it in a dream (had the same dream multiple times, hoping it WAS a memory and not an invention of my brain!) ... I've Googled around but can't find this particular book.I don't remember the title or fthe author, though I think there's some name that begins with K (author? illustrator? the name of the plant monster?) ... the illustration style was very simple, just the subjects on white, no background, simple color-filled-outlines drawings (not watercolors or anything elaborate) ... wish I could AT LEAST think of an illustrator that matches the style ... Shel Silverstein (The Giving Tree) is close, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't her.... I know this is quite a bit of a reach, and it's possible that the book doesn't even exist ... but I want to know!

H. A. Rey, Elizabite. Not all of the details match, but is it possible that the book is Elizabite, about a carnivorous plant?  The idea might have been scary enough for a four or five year old that the stumper requester is remembering it as scarier than it was!
R.L. Stien, You're Plant Food!, 1998. I am not sure if this is the book you were looking for, it's obviously not only a picture book, but it does have pictures in it, just as you described, or my copy did at least. I read it when I was younger and as far as my memory can tell it matches your description quite well. I hope you find what you are looking for!
James Flora, Great Green Turkey Creek Monster. I'm pretty sure this is it! The plant is the Great Green Hooligan Vine. Little boy Argie Bargle saves the town with his trombone. The pictures are black and white with the evil vine in green.

M653: Mother in desert is dying
I read this short story in the 1980s - maybe in hardback compendium. Maybe an illustration. Mother (pioneer? outback?) is stung or bitten. Her husband is away and she thinks she will die within the day. Prickly pears were involved. She makes provisions for the children. Possibly leaves a note...

There is a very similar story in an episode of Little House on the Prairie, "A Matter of Faith". I don't know if it appears in any of the books or not. Caroline is injured by some baling wire Charles left carelessly around. She stays home to make pies for a church festival while the rest of the family go camping. The injury becomes infected and Caroline almost dies.

M654: Mystery, boy faints
I'm looking for a children's book I read in the mid in the 1980s when I was in the 5/6/7th grade. It is a mystery book about a boy and hidden gold treasure. The boy faints or loses consciousness. When he awakes, he is back in the past (maybe in the 1800s or 1900s when they have covered wagons etc.). The people start calling him Zeb or Zed and he has some sort of a fever, which is causing him to lose consciousness. The boy goes in and out fromt the past and present throughout the book and is starting to put the pieces together about a missing gold treasure that was never accounted for. I don't remember much more of the plot only that the boy ends up figuring out the mystery in the past as Zeb or Zed and finds out that these gypsy's actually hid the treasure and tried to leave town in a wagon where they painted the gold over to look like candles so that no one would find the treasure. I don't remember title or author. I read this as a paperback book in the mid to late 1980s.

Lorimer, Janet, Mystery of the Missing Treasure,
1987. It's been a long time since I've read this, but I'm pretty sure it's the book you're looking for. A couple of boys are searching for a treasure hidden about a hundred years earlier in their town by a strange man called Captain Scalawag. They get some of their information from the diary of a woman who lived there at the time. The only person who might have seen where the treasure was hidden was a boy about their age who died of a serious illness around the same time. One of the modern day boys starts seeing the boy's ghost and even having time travel episodes where he sees things from the dead boy'\''s perspective. The dead boy did see what happened to the treasure but couldn't tell anyone before he died because he was too ill.

M655: Mr. Milligen and Peter?
A boy visits a neighbor on a rainy day, an artist, and is encouraged to draw on the easel, and have a cookie to be dunked in hot chocolate.


M656: Mr.Flibbityjib?
SOLVED: Gertrude Crampton, Noises and Mr. Flibberty-Jib, 1947.

M657: Multiple endings children's book
Date: 1960s-1970s. I’m not sure how to describe this book.  If I remember correctly, it had a dial or spinner on the cover.  You chose a number and it would open to that part of the book. You kept coming to new choices to determine where the story would go.  I *think* it involved children and possibly outer space or a spaceship or alien.  I wish I could remember more – it’s driving me crazy!  Maybe it rings a bell with someone?

Choose your Own Adventure book - not sure of exact title or #.
Dr. Lee Mountain, Dane Love (illus), Space Carnival - The Story Behind Our Space Trips, 1970. From the front cover: "Read the first page. Spin the spinner. Story continues on designated page." Cover is white with a multi-colored, functional spinner located on the lower left portion. Main cover picture is a black-hole-looking swirl with several people disappearing into it. Front figure is a boy with brown hair, wearing blue pants, a blue-and-white striped shirt, and a clear bubble-type "space helmet." Further in is a girl in a green dress, also wearing a helmet. Right edge of cover is marked with color-coded and numbered tabs. At top left of cover is the Spin-A-Tale logo which says "Another Spin-A-Tale Book - A book of over 600 different stories." This seems to be a pretty scarce book - good luck finding a copy!

M658: Miniature lady
TitleGuess: Pickely. I am looking for the name and title (or to purchase if available)of an out of print book called "Pickely". I am not sure on the spelling...........pickelee, pikely, pickily, etc...  All I was told is it is a story about a miniature lady (woman).  I hope you can help me out.  This is a book my boss has fond childhood memories of and I'd love to purchase it for her.

Phillippe Halsman, Piccoli: A Fairy Tale, 1953. This question comes up pretty frequently. The book is hard to come by.
Philippe Halsman, Piccoli, 1953. Piccoli is the story of Piccoli Sogni (little dreams) a tiny girl who lives in a matchbox. A stranger gives her as a gift to a sad young boy. She helps to inspire him creatively. See the "Solved Mysteries" pages for additional details. Good luck! This is a scarce and expensive book!


M659: Mythological creatures and monsters
Children's paperback (8"X8" approx.) book circa mid 80's about mythological creatures & monsters.15-20 pages. Front cover was blue and pictured was a cyclops sitting on a mountain. Each page illustrated a different creature and below it was a description of it (bigfoot, cyclops, siren, minotaur etc)

M660: Mischievous redheaded boy with freckles
Series of two or three chapter-length books about a mischievous redheaded boy with freckles and a wide smile.  Can't remember anything about the storyline, but I don't think there was magic involved.  There may have been one book cover with the boy wearing a pirate eye-patch. Circa 1960s (I think).

West, Jerry.
I wonder if this poster is thinking of one of the Happy Hollister books. The middle child, Ricky, is red-headed with freckles. The children dress up as pirates in the 3rd book, The Happy Hollisters at Seagull Beach and maybe in some of the others. There are 33 books in the series, published from 1953 to 1969 and were chapter books similar in length to the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys books.
J.D. Fitzgerald, The Great Brain, 1960s, approximate. This sounds like the Great Brain series.  Great Brain, Great Brain returns, More Adventures of the Great Brain. Takes place in 1890s Utah, about some brothers and their friends. The great brain is the nickname of one of them, who always comes up with some kind of money making schemes.
I appreciate the answers, but these are not right.  These books were about one redheaded boy (not a group of children) who was drawn in a more cartoonish way on the front cover, with a long face, freckles, large teeth (big smile), and a shock of red hair. 
Lindgren, Astrid, Pippi Longstocking, 1950. Is there any possibility it was a girl, not a boy?

M661: Mouse eats paper valentines; gets sick
Children's book I read in 80s. Cartoony illustrations. I think it had 4 stories within. In one, a mouse eats paper Valentine scraps after kids(?) making them have left the room; he then gets sick from eating the glue/paste. Illus. of mouse lying on his back with scrap of red/pink paper on his belly.

M662: Mythology
1980's ?  1970's ? This was a paperback book, about 5"x6" in size.  I believe the publisher was Scholastic.  The cover showed a charioteer and his horses, in black, against a yellow, orange, red sunburst background.  I believe this was to represent Apollo.  The book was a collection of Greek and Roman Myths.  It contained stories about Argus, Cyclops, King Midas, the Gorgons, Callisto (the big bear/dipper), Persephone and the pomegranate seeds, Arachne, Perseus,Prometheus,etc. Some of the myths were illustrated with line drawings.  The stories were short and to the point.  Each took only a few minutes to read aloud.  

Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire, D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. The cover art sounds like the D'Aulaires' book, although the size given is pretty small even for the Scholastic edition.
My stumper is NOT solved.  I am familiar with the D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths.  It is a large book with pastel drawings.  The paperback book I'm desperately seeking is as described - about 5x6 with black line drawings.
Thanks for letting us know! We'll keep trying.
Gustav Schwab, Gods and Heroes, 1946. I wonder if this wasn't some scaled-down edition for kids. This also has an orange cover with a charioteer and his horses, done in classical Greek style. My edition is a large hardcover first edition, but it's been reprinted many times.
Mary Pope Osborne, Favorite Greek Myths, 1989.

I appreciate the efforts of everyone who is trying to help me but it is not the Gustav Schwab book nor the Mary Pope Osborne book.  I'm sure it was a mass produced book for kids.  If it wasn't Scholastic, it was Troll.


M663: Miller's Son in Children's collection
 Date: c. 1900. In 1973 I read an old book containing European children's stories.  In one story a boy gets a job at a grain mill and is not accepted there.  He returns later when he finds out that he has inherited the mill and they accept him with a song.  In another story a boy is working for a man in a village and unknowingly helps the man rob a house  the man uses a ladder to enter the second story of the house.  Someone shows up and they flee.  Days later the boy returns to the village, is forgiven, and continues to be friends with the girl who lived in the house.

M664: Medieval Play
Date: c. 1960. In 1972 I read a children's medieval play.  A king and queen have their court in a castle.  The people in the town are poor and hungry.  A magician, who can't really do magic, arrives.  He claims he will make soup by magic and tells people to come, each bringing an ingredient for the soup.  When they show up, the villagers are impressed with his "magic" and fail to notice that everyone brought a food item for the soup.

Stone Soup. This is a classic folktale with many variations.
Stone Soup. This sounds like a version of the folktale "Stone Soup."
Kamerman , Sylvia E, Children's plays from favorite stories royalty-free dramatizations of fables, fairy tales, folk tales, and legends.1959, approximate. The orinial poster doesn't say whether the play was a single story volume or in a collection of plays.  This one includes a variant of the stone soup and was published in the right timeframe.  It was reprinted at least once in 1970.

M665: Mermaid Fantasy Book
SOLVED: Katherine Roberts, Song Quest


M666: Melissa in captivity, boy, four Seasons
the book i am looking for is from late 60's-70's. It had a boy, who found a girl called Melissa. They had to outwit the Four seasons who kept her captive. He tries to bring her into his world, but i think she dies & they only have a certain time they can meet .
World and guarded by the Four seasons, you know, Winter, Summer, Autumn and Spring. The best i can remember is that the boy slips in and out of her time, whilst having to avoid the Seasons, i remember they are none too friendly. Melissa as far as i remember NEVER is freed, though they try and try hard, if i remember she  is dead ~ but maybe not. Anway went onto your site to see how i would  find an answer to this  connundrum and  realised i wouldn't have a clue. This is so important to me, this book, i read it when ill as a child and am now very ill and adult. I want  so much to  read it again.

Victoria Walker, Winter of Enchantment. This is a possibility: Through a magic mirror Sebastian travels from his Victorian world of winter snow and Mrs. Parkin to a magic world of Melissa, Mantari the cat, a wicked Enchanter, and many other exciting people.
Victoria Walker, The Winter of Enchantment, 1969, approximate.
Victoria Walker, Winter of Enchantment. Yes, I also think it sounds like Winter of Enchantment by Victoria Walker. It was out of print for many years, but recently reprtinted by Fidra books. They have also reprinted the sequel - The house called Hadlows.

M667: Moon, ladder, punching moon to dislodge
Cautionary, creation, just-so picture book re why moon has marks. Someone wishes for moon and village tries for it. One pic is man at top of ladder pummeling moon to dislodge, marring it. Story ends badly, people falling, village beggared, hubris. People are African (?). Tones of sepia.

M668: Mother Goose, clay figures
SOLVED: Sing a Song of Mother Goose by Barabra Reid.

M669: Magic fairy underwear/magic remote control
A collection of short stories, circa '93 or '94, including one story about magic underpants made out of a fairy patterned material which shrink when boy jumps in a creek, and magic remote control which makes people eat in reverse when Rewind is pressed.

If I'm not mistaken, the first short story is called 'Wunderpants', from the collection 'Unreal!' by Paul Jennings. The second story described is 'Spaghetti Pig-Out' from 'Uncanny!' by the same author.

M670: Mother, daughter, carved pencil box, cafe
SOLVED:  Lillan by Gunilla Norris. 
M671: Moth in toothpaste?
Children's chapter book from 24ish years ago. The moth's in the book were mean & in the book the character once used toothpaste and in the paste were moths. I think there was a moth king in it. The child may have been on the side of fairies or butterflies. Something about the dust when killing moths.

Lynne Reid Banks, The Fairy Rebel, 1985. A fairy defies the queen to help a human couple have a baby girl. Years later, the evil queen takes revenge, using wasps to harass them. Wasps appear in the girl's cereal box and in her toothpaste. In the book, fairies turn to dust when they die.

M672: Man finds skeleton in green dress
Ghost anthology. Story of a man staying in a mansion or hotel all is not what it seems. He awakes to find the building decaying. He finds the skeleton of a woman in a green velvet dress.

Bernhardt J. Hurwood, Chilling Ghost Stories, 1973. Contains ''The Woman in Green Velvet''. Lucy is en route to Provincetown for Thanksgiving  poor weather forces her to shelter at ''Old Graystone Inn'' sees specter of woman in moldy green velvet  in the morning finds skeleton in velvet  inn abandoned, only her own footprints, etc.

M673: Medieval romance "troll" & wife meet main character at court?
I read a medieval romance and I can remember very little of it, but there was a scene where the hero takes his (bride? betrothed?) to court. She chats with a beautiful woman, and there is a brief description that to the rest of the room they make a striking picture, as they are both very beautiful but they are almost opposites in coloring. As they chat, the stranger asks our heroine to guess which man is her husband, and after a little while she gleefully points out her husband. Our heroine is surprised that this beautiful woman is married to a not-very-handsome man. The stranger laughs and says something like "I know, he's a troll" but she is happy and looking at him lovingly when she says it.

Penman, Sharon Kay. Here Be Dragons, 1985. I remember the scene you described perfectly. I think it's from the book Here Be Dragons.

M674: Merlin trapped in a tree, adventures with two kids
SOLVED: Ruth Chew, The Magic Cave.
M675: Mother tells story to young son, son tells story to aging mother
SOLVED: Robert Munsch, Love You Forever, 1986.

M676: Medieval knight leaves little girls in castle
SOLVED: Dahl, Virginia, The Baron's Booty.

M677: Male fox and friends
Bk mid 1960's story bout male fox and his friends and their antics in the woods. friend mole  had a stone for a compass for use underground It changed color or temperature to indicate direction.later in the story, the friends discover a vixen trapped by gypsies they rescued her. 2 fox heads on cover. 

M678: Mystery, Killer gives Clues, Football Card, N(Au)sea, Gold Urn
Book published before 1999. It was a book about a killer who invites a bunch of people to dinner. The people are given clues, all of which are about blackmail. One person gets a baseball or football card. Another gets something with the word nausea where Au = gold. Might be an urn/gold vase on cover.

M679: Myths and Legends
Myths and legends hardcover from (I guess!) the late 70s to early 80s with fantastic illustrations, probably paintings -- a collection of stories which included Theseus and the Minotaur, Beowulf and Grendel, Perseus and the Gorgons, and Bellerophon and Pegasus. I'm thinking it also had the stories of Daedalus and Icarus, the Cyclops, and the Trojan Horse. what was most noteworthy about the book was its illustrations -- the paintings were vivid and wonderful. I particularly remember the painting of the Minotaur (I think the Minotaur story was the first one in the book).it was a big hardcover, say 9x12".


White, Anne, Golden Treasury of Myths and Legends Adapted from the World's Great Classics, 1959, approximate. It's older than the 1970s, but The Golden Treasury of Myths and Legends, illustrated by the Provensens, has memorable illustrations and includes the stories mentioned.
Morris Schreiber, Stories of gods and heroes  famous myths and legends of the world, 1960. This is another possibility for you.  It has all the stories you mention and is large (9.5 by 12 inches). However the Theseus story has no illustration of the Minotaur. 
M680: Mouse and Hedgehog want fresh milk
Children's book around in mid-70s. A mouse and hedgehog decide they want fresh milk.  Go to farm and get pail of fresh milk.  Cow spots them and shouts "a mouse, a mouse"!


Tim mouse visits the farm by Judy Brook perhaps?

M681: My Favorite Book
My book's name is My Favorite Book.  There is no other information of any kind.  Curious.  It is a childs book about God.

Title: My favorite book. Corp Author(s): Good Will Publishers. Publication: Gastonia, N.C.: Good Will Pub.; Year: 1973

M682: Maze allows children to travel back in time
There's a maze. When the kids walk the maze, they time travel into the past. In the past, the maze is a hedge-maze with a sun dial in the vented. There is also a cat that shows them how to walk the maze at one point.

Parsley Sage, Rosemary and Time by Jane Louise Curry. Rosemary is the girl, Parsley Sage is the cat, and time is what they find in the thyme patch in Rosemary's aunt's garden.  Rosemary ends up back in the late1600s, where she meets a girl named Sibby who has also traveled through the garden and a baby named Wills. They encounter an elderly woman who knows what the thyme patch is, but who is being persecuted as a witch by the townspeople. Everything ends well though! If it's not this book, you could also try Lavender-Green Magic, by Andre Norton. It has a similar plot.
"The Last Universe" by William Sleator. "Fourteen-year-old Susan feels burdened by her parents’ expectation that she will provide help and companionship for her older brother, Gary, an invalid who is wheelchair-bound and becoming progressively weaker. Exploring their large garden, they discover that entering an often-invisible maze enables them to travel to other times and different versions of the present reality. When Gary insists that they search for a place where he is cured, Susan acquiesces, despite the warnings of the enigmatic gardener and her own good sense."
Mazemaker by Catherine Dexter, 1989.  A girl named Winnie and her friend, Harry, discover a maze that has unexpectedly appeared on the grounds of their school. Winnie is especially fascinated by it. When she sees a cat disappear after entering the center of the maze, she has to investigate. What Winnie discovers is that there is more than one maze, and the maze at the school links to a garden maze in the past.  Winnie’s time-traveling gives her the opportunity to help correct past wrongs in her town.
This sounds like The Time Garden by Edward Eager, about kids who time travel. There is also Half-Magic, which has a talking cat, by the same author.
Lavender Green Magic by Andre Norton: Eleven-year-old Holly Wade and her twin siblings, Judy and Crockett, are sent to live with their grandparents in the small town of Dimsdale, Massachusetts when their father is declared missing in action in Vietnam. Dimsdale is nothing like Boston; there are only two other African-American children in the entire school. Even worse, Grandpa and Grandma Wade live in an old junkyard! While exploring one day, Holly, Judy, and Crockett wander into an overgrown hedge maze--and find themselves transported back in time to Dimsdale's past.
Can they right an ancient wrong and free the town of Dimsdale from a witch's curse?

M683: magic pen, sick boy uses to draw, then dreams
This book is ~1955-1968,  An invalid boy is given a 'magic pen' that, when he draws, he dreams about. He starts out with a stick house and boy.After he dreams about  what he's drawn, he adds more things to make the boy more comfortable. He ends up drawing the pen to give to stick boy & it disappears

This sounds like a fuzzy memory of a common stumper: Marianne Dreams, by Catherine Storr. See solved stumpers.   Marianne uses a magic pencil to draw a house that appears in her dreams.  A boy, also an invalid, appears in the house — she draws furnishings and food for him to use in the dream.

M684: Mom and son go shopping
Trying to remember a kids' book from my youth. I think it must have been 50s/60s era. A mom takes her son (I think) shopping, and they buy a sunsuit, sandals, and some other summer clothes, then have the "parcels" delivered to their home by the department store. Nothing major happens, but it stuck with me.


“New Clothes” by Lucy Sprague Mitchell.  It’s included in The Read-to-Me Storybook compiled by the Child Study Association of America and illustrated by Lois Lenski, 1947.

M685:Montagnes of France
Children's book (100-150 pages or so?) about a child/teen who travels to France to live with a relative for a summer. The title of the book is something about montagnes (Mountains in English). Throughout the book the child learns french words and by the end writes a letter home completely in french.


SOLVED: The Avion my Uncle Flew by Cyrus Fisher. I just sent a payment in to help me find a book but I just found it. Never mind!
Sounds like a great book! Thanks for sharing with us.

M686: Mother taught daughter and friend ABC from gravestones Under the Willows?
Period older story of girl who lives near a cemetary & remembers dead mother who had taught her and her best friend to read from tracing letters on gravestones.Segregated highschools- her friend goes to school for African American kids. Girl Tess? Thought title Under the Willows, no luck with that.

M686 is Whispering Willows by Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood.

M687: Mirror to underwater world
Solved: The Mirrorstone

M688: Man and children ride in balloon
90's? Children's picture book. My daughter swears she had a children's picture book that we can't seem to find. The cover was navy blue and had a hot air balloon with a man and some children (maybe) floating over a town by the sea. From the art, it looked Dutch but it wasn't a Dutch book. The story began with the man telling a story to the children about the town. The town was thriving but the people revolted and tore down the king's statue. An evil prince or another evil king came to the town and took over while the citizenry stayed in their homes out of fear. At some point, they go into the woods with pitchforks and torches. The art is vivid but the story here is not. Eventually, the good king returns and all is well. Any ideas what book this is? It may be a Christian children's book.

M689: Monster in the Basement
This book is about a monster in the basement of a house who ends up befriending a boy, he brings the monster food and everything in the basement. This book was blue covered with sketch drawings and was probably from the 60's or 70's.

It's a girl, not a boy, but this book sounds quite a bit like "No More Monsters for Me!" by Peggy Parish.  It's an I-Can-Read book.

M690: Mermaid in the bathtub
The basic story is that a family finds a small mermaid at the beach. They bring her home in their beach bucket and  put her in their bathtub. For awhile everyone is happy, but then the mermaid starts to get sick. The family ultimately takes her back to the beach and sets her free. The illustrations are black and white and are quite sweet. The copy that we had did not have a dust jacket and had a simple blue hard cover. I know that I cannot be making this up because my sister remembers this book as well. I believe, based on my recollection of the clothing of the illustrated family, the book was from the 1970's. I now have children of my own and would love to share this book with them, but I have idea what the title or author might be! Any help would be most appreciated!

This certainly sounds like Wet Magic by E. Nesbit.




N1: Norway
Solved: Ola

N2: North with Basil and Sage
I'm looking for a book from the 70's. It's probably best described as being about hippie kids with names like Basil and Sage. I think "North" was in the title but am not certain. The story was about their daily lives, playing in the woods, etc. I'd love to find it, as the vagueness of the memory is driving me batty! :-)

N2 north basil sage: probably too late, but matching some of the criteria is Rain And I, by Dorris Heffron, published Macmillan 1982, 157 pages. "Set in the 1960s, it concerns Rain, the adopted daughter of Jim and Dot, and Apple, their practical, outgoing, natural daughter. "It's all about how we grew up in the West, but where we always wanted to be was in the East." The family endures hard times; Jim is often out of work and drinks too  uch, in the early days. ... But neither extremes of poverty nor comparative affluence affect their loving family relationship or their eccentric, enjoyable home life." (Children's Books of the Year 82 p.55)



N11: No, no, no!
My mom and I are collecting our favorite children's books for when I have kids, and there was one I particularly loved as a little kid (this would have been in the late 70's) that neither one of us has been able to remember the name of.  It featured funny, untrue explanations of how things work followed by, "No, no, no!"  and how things actually went.  The only segment I remember was one about how food gets to the grocery store.  The fake explanation was that the grocery store employees go to the basement at night to make the food, accompanied by a color cartoon illustration of someone trying to push an entire pumpkin into a can.  The next page said something like, "No, the people who work at the grocery store go home to their families at night!" and had a sentence about how food actually gets to the store.  I think this was a small, thin book.


N12: Nantucket adventure
It's a book that takes place in the 1600 or 1700's on the island of Nantucket.  There's a boy named Tristan and a girl too, and they have a friendship and some sort of adventure.

Could this be Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken?  I think the boy's name was Dido or something though.  I know this book is now available; it was out of print for ages.
I think the boy is named Simon; the girl is Dido Twite, and there's a ship's captain and an imposter aunt and those darned Hanoverians, again--doesn't sound like that's the answer, but it's a great book anyway!
Not as much information as I'd like, but maybe: Lawson, Marie A. THE SEA IS BLUE NY Viking, 1946 "Warm story of an orphaned boy, the son of a sailor, who comes to be raised by his kind Uncle and cousin. His only memories of his real parents are the lavender smell of his mother and salty-sea foam smell of his dad. Charming illustrations by the author." "Salty, breezy story of Nantucket where boys went to sea in merchant ships"  Here's another: Stackpole, Edouard A. Nantucket Rebel.  New York, Ives Washburn     1963. "The adventures of Stephen Starbuck, who returns home after a long whaling trip to find Nantucket on the brink of the Revolutionary War. His best friend and girl are both Tories." cover art and map by Charles Geer.
Children's names not mentioned, but there's Father's Gone A-Whaling by Alice C. Gardiner, published by Doubleday 1920s? "The everyday experiences of some children of Nantucket a hundred years ago (ie early 1800s) during the three year absence of their captain father on a whaling expedition. The story is slight but most pleasing, the incidents being such as would thrill small boys of any generation, while the background and characters are authentically drawn." (Books for Boys and Girls 1927 Toronto Public Library)
Wow - I'm actually reading Nightbirds on Nantucket right now!!! This is not the book you're looking for though - the girls names are Dido Twite and Dutiful Penitance, and the boy's name is Nate. Simon is the boy from the two previous books in the series, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Blackhearts in Battersea.
Another possibility but not much information, and probably a contemporary story - Mystery at Pemaquid Point, by Mary C. Jane, illustrated by Ray Abel, published Lippincott 1957 "In a Maine village a boy and a girl track down an arsonist and a thief. Ages 8-12." (Horn Book Oct/57 p.355 pub.ad)
not very definite, but perhaps The Secret of the Sea Legacy, by Emily Raimondi, published Vanguard 1974 "A fast-paced, delightful mystery set in Nantucket tha provides good background of early American whaling days." (HB Oct/74 p.110 pub ad)
Have little to go on- Armstrong Sperry's Danger to Windward-(1947) "Nantucket just following the War of 1812 is the setting of this exciting whaling adventure."
Marie A. Lawson, The Sea is Blue,1946.  I wanted to mention that the name of the boy in The Sea is Blue is Timothy, not Tristen. So possibly the name was confused or it is a different book. Hope that is of some help!


N14: Navajo Prayer Stick
Solved: Blue Cornflower 

N15: Nesbit reference
If anyone knows this, I will be severely impressed. "The Phoenix and the Carpet" mentions "Cyril, who had read 'The Eyes of Light' and intended to talk like Tony as soon as he could teach Robert to talk like Paul."  His sister, Anthea, recites poems about baby animals to their little brother.  Does anyone know if these are actual sources, or made up?  Just two pages before, a book titled "The Golden Age" is mentioned.  I believe that is an actual book, though I may be confusing it with a later book about British children with a similar title.  Certainly "The Water-Babies," mentioned later in the text, is a real book, by Charles Kingsley, though I've never tried to get the Edwardian musical version mentioned here.  And what would no doubt be a snap for the makers of BBC's "Masterpiece Theater" might prove impossible for a clueless American.  I've looked for "The Eyes of Light" everywhere and found only two books by that title, both much too recent to be the pre-1905 children's fiction mentioned here.  As for the baby animal poems, I wouldn't have a clue.  Someone should really do an annotated
version of "The Phoenix and the Carpet."  I wrote to the webmaster of a site for "The Railway Children" as well as the E. Nesbit Society about "The Eyes of Light" but didn't ask about the other things.  So far they have not answered.

The Golden Age is the title of a book by Kenneth Grahame (who also wrote The Wind in the Willows). It is a collection of children's short stories and was published in 1895  I think so would fit in with the timing for Nesbit's book.  The blurb on my copy said that 'it was a huge best-seller when it was first published'. I've had some further success with this one - I'm curious about it too! I searched the pre-1920 catalogue in the Bodleian library at Oxford University, UK.  It came up with a book called The Eyes of Light by Arthur Moore, published 1901.  It gives no further info and there are no other books listed by this author, however the shelf reference for the book links it to the stacks where a major collection of children's books is held, so I can only assume that this is the title being looked for.
Thomas Babington MacAulay, Lines Written in August, 1850's? 1860's? See poem hunter website.  Very long shot. Poem refers to fairy queens that rule our birth. "Still Fay in long procession followed Fay / And still the little couch remained unblest: / But, when those wayward sprites had passed away, / Came One, the last, the mightiest, and the best. // Oh glorious lady, with the eyes of light / And laurels clustering round thy lofty brow, / Who by the cradle's side didst watch that night, / Warbling a sweet, strange music, who wast thou?"



N16: No, Lila, No.
Hiya. You came through for me on "Best Friends," so here's another...we think the title is "No, Lila, No." I read it in the early '70s. Lila's parents die, and she goes to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. The aunt is persnickety, and Lila can never do anything right in her eyes. The cousin tries to help Lila by mouthing "No, Lila, no," whenever she does something wrong. Any ideas?

Florence B. Michelson, The Defiant Heart, 1965, approximate.  "no, Lila, no" is what her cousin said when Lila was about to get into trouble.


N18: Nicholas
I am looking for a series of books I remember from my youth which were stories about a boy called nicholas. I think that they were european books and they were set mostly in the school he attended. I remember one in particular where his school class visited the seaside. The stories were accompanied by these really great line illustrations where the characters looked a bit like stick men. Can anyone please help?

N18 - Goscinny (of Asterix fame) wrote a series of 2 or 3 books about a boy called Nicholas which might be what  is being looked for here
The suggested books are by Jean-Jacques Sempe, illustrated by Rene Goscinny, written in French. Titles include Le Petit Nicolas, Petit Nicolas et les Copains, Vacances du Petit Nicolas, Recres du Petit Nicolas, etc. They describe, in simple French, the everyday adventures of Nicolas and his friends at school, at summer camp, at the seaside and so on. They are said to be very funny, and are in print. Pictures of the covers can be seen at Amazon. The illustrations are very cartoony, but not as simple as 'stick-men'.



N20: Noisy Family
Solved: The Tuckers: Trouble on Valley View


N21: Nickel or shiny pennies
Solved:  A Penny for Candy

N22: New England Farm Experience
Solved: The Fields of Home

N23: Noon day rocket
Solved: High-Noon Rocket

N24: Not Brink's Pink Motel
Solved: No Children, No Pets

N25: Nautical book
Solved: Captain Kitty

N26: Night of the Lemures?
Solved: Night of the Lemures
N27: Nepal or Tibet
Solved: Daughter of the Moutains
N28: Neighbors Band Together During Bad Winter Storm
I read this book in the early 60's.  The main character was a boy.  This town was experiencing a very bad winter storm.  I believe some of the neighbors had to come and stay in the boy's home to pool resources.  It seems to me like they were eating baked beans.  One line that sticks out in my mind is when one of the adults said, "Spring is just around the corner.  The trouble is--which corner?"

Cooper, Susan, The Dark is Rising. There is a similar plotline in The Dark is Rising, where the people from
the town are forced to stay in the "manor house" during an unusually bad winter storm.
Cooper, Susan, The Dark is Rising.I suggested this title, but noticed afterwards that it was read in the 60's, so don't think that could have been the one.  Sorry.
Edward Fenton, Phantom  of Walkaway  Hill, 1961.  The date (1961) for Phantom  of Walkaway Hill by Edward Fenton might be right and there is a big snow storm but I am not sure the neighbors pooling resources is here! In this book 12 year old James goes to visit cousins in the country. Everything is fine until a big storm occurs that causes a power outage and then strange things begin to happen!
It is not Walkaway Hill- big snow storm but no neighbors in this one!


N29: Nursery rhyme
Solved: Jemima
2002

N30: Naughty kittens
Solved: The Kitten Twins


N31: Noahs Ark rhyme
When I was little (early 1970s) my Mom used to read me this book and I would like to read it to my kids.  I think the name was Noahs Ark but I can't remember the end of the book.  it starts like this: Once upon a time they say, the rain came down day after day.  Falling falling from the sky til not a spot on earth was dry.  So Noah built an ark so wide so he could put the animals inside.  It says something cute about each animal  terribly late the hippopotamus comes thru the gate, etc.

This might be One Wide River to Cross, (1966) by Barbara Emberly. I do not know if there are rhymes but Emberly's Drummer Hoff used them! Good Luck.
Dorothy Bell Briggs, Noah's Ark. (1942)  Your mom probably had this read to her too - my mom said she had taught me to memorize the text and this was in the 40's. I just googled the opening line.


N32: Native American youth travels to Yellowstone
Solved: The Black Spearman: A Story of the Builders of the Great Mounds

2003

N33:  night parties, San fransisco
Solved: Night People


N34:  North Wind
Solved: The Boy Who Went to the North Wind


N35:  no breakfast tomorrow!
I am looking for a story, included in an anthology of children's stories, about a boy who by some series of events was sent to live on some type of farm, where he was forced to work.  What I distinctly do recall is that on the first morning when he came down for breakfast, he was refused food by the owner, who pointed to a sign on the wall of the dining room which said "No Breakfast Tomorrow," I believe.  This anthology may also have included The Tinder Box, which I recall having wonderful drawings of the three rooms guarded by increasingly large dogs, the smallest of which had eyes the size of saucers, and the largest of which had eyes the size of millstones.  It was an oversized book, as I recall (but then I was an undersized age).
Hi, I just sent in a request dealing with a story from an anthology of children's stories about a boy who left home and ended up on a farm, and who was never served breakfast.  But I think I got the sign wrong.  Instead of saying "no breakfast tomorrow," I think it said "Breakfast tomorrow, but not today."  The consequence was the same; the proprietor never served breakfast.  Also, my recollection is that the boy had to work hard in the grain fields from sunup to sundown.  Can you add this to the description, please?

This isn't actually a solution, but it sounds so familiar to me:  I believe they actually say, "Always breakfast tomorrow, but never breakfast today."



N36: NATIVE AMERICAN MAN
Solved: Soul Catcher


N37: Nip and Tuck
Solved: A Hat-Tub Tale


N38: Nightingale
Solved: Jorinda and Joringel


N39: nouns are just the names of things
Solved: A Living Grammar


N40: Northwoods dog and cat story
Solved: King and the Princess


N41: nature watcher's night time observations
Book has several different essays/chapters which discuss the fascinating creatures and critters the auhor encounters during nights spent observing wildlife/natural habitats.   The author travels to different parts of the world to do this.  I recall one essay on a kind of insect that only comes out every seven years or so from the earth, and only during the rainy season, and lives only long enough to mate and to burrow into the earth again. Each chapter is about a different creature.  I vaguely recall one chapter having the auhor traipsing across a frozen field to observe some kind of night mammal.  The title may have the word NIGHT in it.  I remember being fascinated by this book.

Gerald Durrell.  Possibly one of his books about his experiences as a naturalist  e.g. The New Noah, The Overloaded Ark or A Zoo in My Luggage.
N41 Is it ths? I haven't  gotten it out to look for specifics: Berrill, Jacquelyn.  Wonders of the woods and deserts at night.   illus by Jacquelyn Berrill [scratchboard]. Dodd, 1963. Berrill has also written Wonders of the fields and ponds at night.



N42: New Foundland dog
It is the story of a New Foundland dog who is a mascot on a fishing ship in the North Atlantic off of New Foundland.  I read it when I was in the hospital around 1954 or so. It inspired my love of Newfies, but I have not been able to find the book under that name.  I heard your interview on NPR and thought I would seek your help in locating this book.

Natalie Savage Carlson, Sailor's Choice, 1966.  Perhaps? Set in Newfoundland, featuring Sailor, the Newfoundland dog. His owner is a sealing ship captain who lives in a region where dogs aren't allowed. He promises the local constable that he'll find a new master for Sailor-or he'll move his entire house across the bay. Meanwhile, the Captain takes Sailor sealing. Jamie, a boy who thinks he wants to hunt seal, stows away on the ship. He and Sailor bond.
Oops! Wrote too soon! Date is wrong.
I found a couple of books you may want to check.  The first is The Great Island: a Story of Mystery in Newfoundland, by Clare Bice, published 1954.  It was 103 pp. and illustrated. I do not know whether it features a dog or not.  The second obviously does, judging from its title, Storm, Dog of Newfoundland, by Anthony Fon Eisen, published 1948.  234 pp.  Summary: "A tale of young love along the coast of Newfoundland and down on the Labrador.  A romance that was saved by a big, beautiful and intelligent Newfoundland Dog."



N43: Normandy Village
Solved: A Village in Normandy


N44: Nancy and Plum
Solved: Nancy and Plum

N45: Nothing Like Dancing
I am looking for a book about a donkey and a goose (?) who start a family together.  When I used to read it to my pre-K classrooms in the late '70's it was already not a new book.  The illustrations are Steig-like, but it is not by William Steig.  In the book is a line my wife and I have clung to for many years: There is nothing like dancing to improve family spirit.  Any ideas?

N45 Will check in the morning on this one: Snow, Dorothea J,  No-Good, the dancing donkey. illus by Esther Friend.  Rand McNally, 1944
N45 No-Good the dancing donkey -  there is a very  cute donkey who wants to do nothing but dance, but I don't see a single goose, and certainly nothing about starting a family with one!!



N46: Native Americans in Northeast US
This library book was a favorite of my friend, who read it as a child in the 1960s.  It was about native Americans in the northeast U.S.  They lived in log houses and gathered tree sap; there was a great deal of snow.  Thank you again for your wonderful site!

N47: Noah's Arc
Solved: The Ark


N48: Nap preparation for a girl
Solved: Debbie and Her Nap


N49: Nesting Doll
I am trying to find this book for my mother for Christmas. She was a small child in the early 50's which is when she had the book. From what she can remember it is about a little girl who wants to buy a doll for her 6 sisters for Christmas. She finds a doll but really wants it for herself and only has enough money for one doll. she drops the doll and it breaks open into 7 dolls total.  My mother however does not think that they mention the word nesting doll though. Please let me know if you find anything. Thank You

PAMELA BIANCO, THE DOLL IN THE WINDOW, 1950s



N50:  No No Natalie
Solved: No, No Natalie

2004


N51:  Nelly
Solved: New World for Nellie

2005


N52: Night Animals
Solved: Mystery In The Night Woods


N53: No Shame to the Eggs
Solved: Demu Trilogy


N54: New Haven, CT. HS Boy
Solved: Bertie Takes Care

Roger Eddy, The Wordly Adventures of a Teenage Tycoon, 1971?, reprint.  The solution to N54 (Bertie Takes Care) isn't the real solution. The incidents described in the stumper are from the book "The Worldly Adventures of a Teenage Tycoon" by Roger Eddy, put out by Scholastic in the late 60s/early 70s and easy to find on-line for about $7-$8. It was abridged from Eddy's previous book "The Bulls and the Bees" published in the 50s and harder to find than "Teenage Tycoon." It would be easy to mix up "Teenage Tycoon" with "Bertie" because both books were put out by Scholastic at about the same time, both had the same format (series of short stories about a the antics of a teenage boy), both had the same nostalgic and humourous feel. Probably a lot of people (including myself) read the books at about the same time and at the same age and so get the two memories mixed together.

N55:  New Amsterdam
SOLVED: Eric's Girls, 1949.

N56:  New York City Stone
Solved: Stoneflight


N57:  Nursery stories
I was born in 1944, and the book I remember from my very young years was a collection of nursery stories.  This book was most likely passed down to me from my older sister, who was born in 1938.  This large hardcover book was in color, and the image I recall most vividly from it showed bears lying dead in the woods after being shot!  I believe the hunter with his gun was also portrayed in the picture. I'm not sure if this was a very politically incorrect ending to the Three Bears story or what, but it certainly had a deep impression on me.  I also believe the bears wore human clothes. Thanks.

N58: Nursery Rhymes--Watercolor Illustrations?
 Late 70's or Early 80's.  I am looking for a specific collection of nursery rhymes that were probably illustrated with watercolors.  The book was rather large, and I believe the cover was primarily yellow.  It contained classic rhymes like "The Muffin Man" and "Hickory-Dickory-Dock."  The version I'm looking for also had one rhyme about a little man who dressed in blue clothes and had a blue hen who laid blue eggs.  He may have had another blue animal, like a pony.  The second example that I remember is not the rhyme but the illustrations--they had a very dark, almost ominous feeling to them.  It was a community of fairies that lived amongst some toadstools.  They rode snails and perhaps other creatures.  I seem to remember their community being attacked by some sort of insects--either ants or grasshoppers--and most of the fairies were battling against the intruders, while others were fleeing for their lives.  I believe this third rhyme was in the book as well--"Rock-a-Bye-Baby."  I seem to remember some very wispy, dark illustrations.  I feel that the baby was high in the branches of a tree, swaddled in white cloth, and the mother was down below, almost hopelessly staring up at the baby, waiting for it to fall.  If anyone recognizes this SPECIFIC version of nursery rhymes, please let me know!

Nursery Rhymes--Watercolor Illustrations?  By coincidence, I've also been searching for a nursery rhyme book I had in the 1970s with very distinctive illustrations like the ones you mentioned. The illustration of the elfin-like creatures riding on snails under the toadstools is unique and the book may be Dean's Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes by Janet & Anne Grahame-Johnstone, probably the 1965 edition.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it's the book you have in mind.
I'm trying to find a copy to see if it's the right one--thanks for your efforts!
I acquired a copy of the Dean's Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes last week. Looked through it but couldn't find your references to the rhyme about a little man dressed in blue clothes with a blue hen laying blue eggs.



N59:  Nazi spies in boarding school
Solved: Mystery at the Villa Bianca


N60:  Nail polish no-nos
Solved: The Saturdays


N61: Naughty fox with Rasins
Solved: Reasons and Raisins

N62: Nothing ever happens to me
Solved: Nothing Ever Happens to Me!


N63: Number 1
This kid's book might have been published between 1966-1973 (when I was a kid). The story is about the number 1...he is in search of a friend, but as he approaches the other numbers, they look down on him for being a "lesser number". The numbers are cleverly drawn....the "twos" are swans...the "fours" are violin players. The story ends up with the dejected number 1 meeting zero, who also has the same problem. But sitting together, they become the number 10, and suddenly they are greater than all the rest, and the other numbers realize the folly of their ways and befriend the pair.

HRL:  I haven't read it, but here's a stab:  Ionesco, Eugene. STORY NUMBER 1. Illustrated by Joel Naprstek. Harlin Quist, 1978.
Thanks for the possible answer on N63 "The Number One", but the Eugene Ionesco book was not the one I am looking for. Please post this so people will continue trying and know that it is not solved.
Carol Kendall, The Whisper of Glocken.
Someone recently posted a guess on my entry "N63, The Number One". They guessed Carol Kendall, The Whisper of Glocken. Unfortunately for me, this is wrong.  A possible extra note..."the illustration style is loose and sketchy with hatchmark shading, an almost child-like illustration style".



N64: Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison.  Historical fiction about a young governess confined at Newgate on a false accusation of theft.  Befriended by a doctor who helps her to escape to America where she works as a governess for the doctor's wealthy brother.  The brother is a Tory; the doctor a Patriot.  Eventually the girl must choose.  I believe the title was the girl's name -- Katherine or Catherine and a last name (Bretton?  Tretton?).  I recall where I found the book in the children's library and believe the author's name began with a letter early in the alphabet.

Audrey White Beyer, Katharine Leslie, 1963. This wonderful book is Katharine Leslie, a long-time favorite that a dear friend located for me after hearing me pine for it for years. The Newgate prison chapters make one feel as if they are right there with the heroine. Glad I couldn't sleep tonight and saw this stumper!
Audrey White Beyer, Katherine Leslie. THANK YOU!  That's it!



N65: no animals in the future - 1981/1982 story
Solved: The Girl Who Slipped Through Time


N67: Nellie and flying crocodile
Solved: Nellie and Her Flying Crocodile


N66: naughty kitten
The storybook that I'm looking for is from the 1950's and included a particular story/poem and I believe its title was "Tom Kit The Terrible Tom Cat."  In the story, Tom says, "No one ever tells me what I may or may not do.  I do just what I want to and I'm always going to."  This story was approximately 2 pages long and, in the end, Tom decides to be a good little cat.  I believe there was also a story about a train in this collection.  I'd be thrilled to learn the title of this collection - can you help?

N68: No Prize for Henry
NoPrize for Henry     I'm searching for this children's book from the late 60's or early 70's . Henry goes to the fair and tries all the races while his friends eat all the good food & have all the fun.   Henry is focused only on winning a prize and after each race he loses the author would exclaim "no prize for Henry!!".  In the end Henry is able to enter the final competition, a pie eating contest, while his friends are all just too full to even try.  Henry wins his prize afterall, he eats the most pies.

Jean Bethell, Sergio Leone, Hooray for Henry, 1966. 



N69: Native American kid visits elder
I'm in search of a children's book (age 3rd grade?) that I read back in about 1965, and I've never been able to find it since. I always remembered the title as "The Shaman's Last Ride," but no such book seems to exist. It was about a boy who visits an aging Native American relative and (though he resists at first) he learns how to do a number of traditional Indian things he never dreamed possible. The elder, among other things, teaches him how to run for miles through the desert without swallowing a mouthful of water (if he swallows the water during the run, he has failed the task). And later, the boy may learn to run with a pebble in his mouth? The boy accomplishes this and earns the respect of his relative and the pride that comes from doing a difficult job well. It's probably not a very good book, but it made quite an impact on me. If you could find it, I'd be so appreciative! Thanks!

Baker, Betty, The shaman's last raid, 1963.  illus by Leonard Shorthall, published by harper & Row
Baker, Betty.  The Shaman’s Last Raid.   illus by Leonard  Shortall.  Harper, 1963. Ebon and Melody, modern twin  Apaches get a taste of tradition when great grandpa visits and get a  chance to be in a movie being filmed.

 Interpreting
Condition 
Grades
Baker, Betty.  The Shaman’s Last Raid.   illus by Leonard  Shortall.  Harper, 1963.  Exlibrary in pictorial  library binding, good; pages very good.  G+  [YQ31093]  $7


N70: nursery rhymes
Please help me find childhood large and heavy and maybe 500-1000 pages. hundreds of classic stories and lots of beautiful illustrations.  I was born in 1953, hundreds of nursery rhymes, stories, snow white, alladin, aesops fables,poetry & rhymes first then stories, hans & silver skates. The first couple of hundred pages are all nursery rhymes, Crooked man, pease porridge hot, Old King cole, every rhyme I have ever heard. Then the stories come. Snow White,and Snow White & rose red. Mr Vinegar man, Aesop's fables, Literally hundreds of stories. Beautiful illustrations, can't remember if they were black and white or color, but something tell me they wer color. Beige cloth cover, nothing on it maybe gold letters. Thank you ,bless you.

Margaret Martignoni, The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature, 1960.
Got an answer that maybe the book I am looking for was Illustrated Treasury of Childrens Literature by Margaret Martignoni. I bought the book and it was not it!!! Darn. I think my book was from the 30's or 40's It had a lot more stories and the writing was very tiny on the pages. Can you add some of this to N-70? Thanks so much!!
Arbuthnot Anthology of Children's Literature.  This isn't a perfect match but it's probably worth looking into... This book is actually a collection of three books- 'Time for Poetry' 'Time for Fairy Tales Old and New' and 'Time for True Tales and Almost True'.  These books were originally published in 1952 and 1953 and there have been several reprintings of the Anthology since then.  I don't know if the content has changed with the reprints but the copy I have contains many of the elements the poster is seeking.  Specifically, it is very large, about a thousand pages, the print is small, and it contains a huge number of poems, nursery rhymes, fables, and stories.  The first section contains 195 pages of poems and nursery rhymes, the second section has 389 pages of stories and fairy tales, and the third section is 419 pages long.  It does contain Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, Aladdin, Mr. Vinegar, and Aesop's fables along with literally dozens and dozens of other stories- too numerous to list.  Many of the stories are excerpts from famous books.  On the negative side, Hans and the Silver Skates is not in this book (in my edition, at least), and the illustrations are minimal.  No color illustrations, all black and white, scattered through the pages.  There's so much text there's not room for a lot of illustrations.  A later edition might be more heavily illustrated, however.  My copy is a sort of muted bluish-teal color with cloth binding so it's probably not the edition you are seeking.  I hope this is helpful.  If you can remember any other specific stories I would be happy to check my copy to see if they are included in this book.
Thanks for all your checking. It is not the Arbuthnot Treasury either. The nursery rhymes were first with illustrations and then the Cinderella, snow White and Rose red, then Aesops Fables toward the back. The regular stories did not have illustrations. Hoping we will get it solved someday.



N71: North American folklore
A book about North American folklore or folktales which had beautiful illustrations including a picture of nude Amazons on the cover or possibly inside the cover and a picture of a young spirit girl rising from the crushed remains of her body.  We also remember a story about Billy the Kid.  We read this book in the mid-1960s.  We believe it had been loaned to our local library (Richmond, Surrey, UK) from a library in the USA.

The Editors of Life, The Life Treasury of American Folklore. (1961)  The Life Treasury of American Folklore has everything the poster asked for:  beautiful illustrations, including nude Amazons (p. 22) and a young spirit girl rising from the crushed remains of her body (actually her grave, p. 69), and a story about Billy the Kid (p. 232). It's almost certainly the book he's looking for. All of the paintings were by James Lewicki. Publisher: Time Incorporated, New York.



N72: Norwegian brothers, ski race
This story was in a 6-8th grade reader ca. 1960, in any case before 1962 when I finished grade school. The plot was vaguely similar to "Screwball" in solved mysteries; two Norwegian brothers, one possibly named Nils; one brother, athletic but careless; the other brother, a master craftsman but not as athletic. In the end, the second brother lends his skis to the first brother, who ends up winning the race. No idea of the author or book publisher, but any clues would be greatly appreciated, by me and my brother.

Hans Christian Anderson.  I talked to my mom about this book.  I think it may have been set in the Netherlands and involved an iceskating race and not a ski race.  When I asked her, she immediately said the title was "Hans Christian Anderson," though it may have also been written by him.  Anyway, I know this is not much help, but good luck in your continued search!
Mary Mapes Dodge, Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, 1865.  In the one about the skates, a Dutch brother (Hans) and sister (Gretel) work toward two goals, finding the doctor who can restore their father's memory (in coma for 10 years) and winning the competition for the silver skates. Good book.
Mary Mapes Dodge, Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates.  Could this be a partial memory of the classic Hans Brinker--which includes Holland, skates, a race, and the name Hans, although not Andersen?
Mary Mapes Dodge, Hans Brinker.  You're mixing up two books here, I think.  Your second paragraph pretty clearly refers to Hans Brinker, by Mary Mapes Dodge, set in the Netherlands.  As for the Norwegian references, there was an author named Aimee Somervelt (sp?) who wrote several books in the 1960s dealing with Norwegian children.
Mary Mapes Dodge, Hans Brinker.  Any chance it was a story from this classic?  Subtitled "The Silver Skates" -- should be readily available at your local library for your inspection.
Need a copy?  Just ask. I have plenty...
That's not the one--Norwegian, not Dutch, skis, not skates, a short story, not a book (that I've never read). Though it is possible, of course, that the author "borrowed" from Hans Brinker.


2006


N73: New kid (animal) finally accepted
Solved: Phil Mendez's Kissyfur of Paddlecab County


N74: Nanny
Book about girl who becomes a nanny, I think it may be a harper/collins/lions teen track book, befriends a single mum who lives in government housing, her mother had also gotten her work in a restaurant, she was fired from this, then found the nanny job - think it is set in England.  She likes edwardian/victorian clothing.

N75: Nothing to concern yourself with
Solved: The Wizard Comes to Town / Mrs Beggs and the Wizard


N76:  necklace
 '50's-early 60's.  little girl bakes a cake and looses her necklace in the cake, she finds the necklace when they eat the cake. as i remember the book was hard cover, seems to be a light blue, and had several stories in it.

N76: Hardly the same details, but Homer Price is a possible book to check. See Solved Mysteries.
It was not Homer Price, the pictures were colored,The pictures were kind of like the pictures in the old Dick and Jane books. thanks. 



N77:  nursery rhymes
For some time now I have been looking for one of my favorite childhood books.  Unfortunately, my memory doesn't serve me well so I only know have a few vague details and one of those details is not the name of the book.  The book was large (perhaps 14" x 11"), yellow cover, and contained popular nursery rhymes...such as The Cat and the Fiddle, The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Mother Hubbard and so forth.  I can't for the life of me remember what was on the cover.  But, I belive the woman who lived in a shoes was the first rhyme. The most of the characters were elven. Meaning all of the characters were drawn to look like elves.  I was born in 1971 and I would say we had the book when I was between the age of 7-10.  The illustrations were wonderful! Very colorful and fairy tale like...with lots of elves and pixie looking characters.  Thin pointy features. I have searched and searched and I cannot find the book anywhere.  With such few details I'm sure you can understand why.  That said, I though I might pick your brain anyway.  Thank you SO much for your time!!

Elves makes me think of Garth Williams illustrations, but I'm not sure these stories are part of either Tall Book of Make-Believe or Golden Treasury of Elves and Fairies.  Just in case, though, check out the Jane Werner Most Requested page, and the Anthologies Finder, to see if anything looks familiar.
Grahame Johnstone, Anne and Grahame Johnstone, Janet, Mulberry bush book of Nursery rhymes, 1974.  This is only a possibility but I was born in th same era and had a Dean gift book of nursery rhymes that was illustrated by the Grahame Johnstone sisters.  The illustrations do have a rather elven look - with beautiful old fashioned pictures and lots of extra details.  It is hard to find specific titles by them as lots of their books were published in the gift book format - and so are not catalogued properly in library indexes. I have not seen the Mulberry bush book of Nursery rhymes but it is a possibility. Here's a link to a sample of their work.
Grahame Johnstone, Janet & Anne, illus., Dean's Mother Goose Book of Rhymes, 1977.  This large yellow book has the contents of three previous books: Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes, New Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes, and Gift Book of Pussy & Puppy Nursery Rhymes.  The cover has two children (boy and girl) riding hobby horses.  The blond boy has a saber in his hand and a plumed hat on his head, and the brunette girl has one arm thrown up in the air.  It does contain all the nursery rhymes you mention, but the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe doesn't appear till page 143, so this might not be the right book.  In the illustration for that rhyme, the house looks rather like a Dutch wooden shoe with a thatched roof, and the mother and most of the children are in the foreground being served some broth by an older girl, and one of the children is being whipped with a wooden spoon.



N78:  nursery rhymes
I am looking for a large hardback book of nursery rhymes. The illustrations were sketches in green and orange...I believe. I was born in 1975 but it may have been my mothers who was born in 1955. I wish I could remember more. Thank you for any help. I have looked on amazon-ebay-libraries and used book stores.

Always check out the Anthologies Finder to see if anything looks familiar.   Look at the Childcraft set in particular, in case you're remembering just one of a set.
My Book House Series.  I don't have these anymore I gave them away. One was nursery rhmyes. Others were children's fairy tales, fables, and tales from history. They are numbered like an encyclopedia, and are navy blue hardback with gold lettering, the cover of each book had a beautiful old color plate and inside were orange and blue? green? drawings. I think the copyright was 1930's and was not the first edition. Good Luck.



N79: Nefertiti Caravan
Solved: Samantha's Secret Room

N80:  New [bear] for Christmas
Solved: Bah! Humbug?


N81: NY Library
1970-1985?  I remember reading in the New Yorker magazine a short story about a library that had information on everything.  The library even had information on the visitor's parent's china pattern.  I have tried to find the story in the New Yorkers and I have tried to find the story in indexes of short stories but I have not been successful.

Borges, Library of Babel.  N81 sounds as though it might be Borges -- maybe the Library of Babel?  It doesn't have the china pattern element, but it seems like something that the New Yorker would have published.  Shameless request: if you are reading this solution, please take a look at O44 from the Stump the Bookseller Archives and see if you have any ideas!  Or any memory of any children's story about a mirror that shows people as they really are. Thanks...
Just a thought: the complete New Yorker has been released onto searchable DVD rom...


N82: Night creatures and teenage girl
Solved: The Night Walkers

N83: No paintings on your walls
In the early 1960's, my dad used to read a book to me about someone who visited a king or wealthy mansion owner.  The person on the tour of the castle would tell the king or owner:  You  have not paintings on your walls, you have no carpets in your halls, you have not knockers on your doors, you have no rugs upon your floor.." and so on and on... I have no idea who the author is or the title...  help if you can...
N84: Night ride/night drive
Solved: Night Drive

N85: Nasturtiums growing over house mistaken for fire
Nasturtium plants grow over a cottage and when they flower (bright red!), someone thinks that the cottage is on fire and calls the fire brigade.  Available in Australia in late 1960s/early 1970s.

Patty Wolcott (author), Robert Binks (illustrator), The Forest Fire, (1974). An Addisonian Press book, published by Addison-Wesley in 1974, this story tells the tale of some forest animals who mistake some bright flowers for a fire.


N86: Native American boy, two worlds
Solved: When Legends Die


N87:  NYC sci-fi doom
Looking for a science fiction book, probably from the 1980s, where the earth was doomed following the release of something into the atmosphere that was supposed to be beneficial but had unintentional irreversible consequences. The story tells about a person that stays in New York City to care for someone with a terminal disease. Some of the other details I remember are travelling upstate (Westchester County?) in a car armoured to protect it from thugs looking to steal gasoline; and there was something at the end about a famous building in NY (Chrysler?). Scanty details indeed - thanks for any help you can give.

Diane Duane, So You Want to be a Wizard, 1983, approximate.  Could this be So You Want to be a Wizard?  It starts out in our world, with two kids--Nita and Kit--who each find a mysterious book which teaches them wizardry.  In their training, they are transported to an alternate version of New York City, where everything is either dead or dying from some kind of magical poisoning of the atmosphere.  Only mechanical things still exist, but they're alive and need gas to live.  The final showdown is near the Chrystler building. I don't remember a trip to Westchester, but it could have been in there!  This is the first book in a series of six or seven, the latest one was published in 2005.
This was definitely not a children's book;  much darker. The ending as I remember has a glimmer of hope, but not much. But thanks for the suggestion.



2007

N88: Nesting doll(s) for christmas present
I'm not sure when the book was actually written, but I read it in the late 70's or early 80's.  The main story was about a little girl who had several sisters at home, and she had to buy Christmas presents for all of them.  I believe the family was fairly poor anyway, and then the little girl lost most of the money she had for presents.  She went back and looked everywhere in the snow but could not find the money.  Finally, she discovered a nesting doll in a store.  She had enough money left to buy it, and there were just enough dolls for each sister to have a present.  The pictures were very beautiful, somewhat Victorian-era-looking.

I submitted an entry for Stump the Bookseller, and I just happened to be scanning the website and came across another submission that looks very much like one of mine (N49:  Nesting Dolls).   The details of my entry differ somewhat from the other person's entry, but it is still obviously going to be the same story.
Bianco, Pamela. The Doll in the Window.  New York: Walck, 1953. I have this book and it is definitely the one described.  Pamela Bianco is the daughter of Margery Williams Bianco, author of the Velveteen Rabbit.

 Interpreting
Condition 
Grades
Bianco, Pamela, Doll in the Window, illus by Pamela Bianco, Oxford  University Press, 1953, exlibrary; no dust jacket; rebound in library buckram with picture,  very slight wear & soil; pages, especially 1st ones. show use; some  have tears at bottom inner margin       [AQ1046]


N89: nature essays
Measuring Rod?, 1961. nonfiction. Book consists of about ten short essays, some, if not all deal with nature in a lyrical as opposed to a scientific way. The first essay is titled "Measuring Rod" and describes the English countryside near Carlisle. Another essay deals with "the greenwood". For years I had been convinced that the title of this first essay was used as the book title but exhaustive searches under this title have proved fruitless. The book was published in Britain and all the essays were by the same author. The book contained no illustrations.


N90: nighttime walks
This has been driving me crazy; hope you can help. Book was written for perhaps 5th-6th grade reading levels and narrator was a parent who took nighttime walks in the nearby woods with their children, as I recall, mostly in the winter.  Few BW pen & ink-type illustrations peppered the book. They discovered all manner of nature by being still and observant - sounds, footprints, etc.  Library book; size was about 5x7" and perhaps 75 pages long.

Francis Hamerstrom, Walk When the Moon is Full,1975.Card catalog description: "The author describes thirteen moonlight walks with her children and the nature observations they made."
Jane Yolen , Owl Moon,1987.A girl and her father go owling on a moonlit winter night near the farm where they live. Bundled tight in wool clothes, they trudge through snow "whiter than the milk in a cereal bowl" here and there, hidden in ink-blue shadows, a fox, raccoon, fieldmouse and deer watch them pass. An air of expectancy builds as Pa imitates the Great Horned Owl's call once without answer, then again. From out of the darkness "an echo/ came threading its way/ through the trees."
The book described here is not Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, which has full-color illustrations on every page.
Francis Hamerstrom, Walk When the Moon Is Full, 1976. I read this book to my girls when we homeschooled many years ago. It was one of our favorites.
francis hamerstrom, walk when the moon is full, 1975. figured it can't be cause so relatively recent & popular, but what the hey...



N91: nine toed ninny
My mom remembers having a children's book that she thinks she got as part of a grocery store promotion. The story was about a boy who wished his little sister would turn into a nine toed ninny. I think she does and of course he's sorry. We would have had this back in the 60's to 70's.

Bertie's Little Brother, 70s, approximate.  The book came with a record, and Bertie's Little Brother (not sister) does turn in to a 9 toed ninny at the end of the book. It's been a running joke with my older brother and I for the last 25 years.


N92: nanny takes care of 2 kids
This was a children’s book that I read in the 70’s and my memory of it is pretty vague.  Its about a nanny who took care of 2 kids – a girl & a boy.  I think the nanny’s name was Ana (or Anna).  They possibly lived in New York in a brownstone (there were pictures of a house resembling a brownstone), at the end of the book Ana (?) leaves to go back home – she leaves on a ship and they see her off.  It was kind of sad….any suggestions would help!  Thanks.

Rumer Godden, The Kitchen Madonna,1967. Could this be it?  A Polish (?) housekeeper looks after a brother and sister in London, not NYC.  The boy goes to great lengths to make an icon of the Madonna to help her overcome her homesickness.

Catherine Christian, Diana Takes Charge. Could it be this one? Diana Tremaine (who seems to be about 18 or so) is left alone in London to look after her two much younger step-brother and step-sister, Hal and Audrey for a year. Her mother and their father, newly married, have gone out to Australia to find out if a family farm out there is viable.

Along the way Diana meets a neighbour's teenager Sally who is a keen Ranger (in the Girl Guides) who helps her with her new duties, and gets her more interested in Girl Guides as well.



N93: night is falling, bang
Solved: Seals on Wheels


N94: Noah's Ark cow sprouts fins
I'm looking for a picture book, probably printed in the early to mid 60's, about Noah's Ark.  There is no room on the ark for, I believe, a cow, so they tether the cow to the back of the ark.  The cow swims along for the 40 days, through rain and weather.  When they reach their destination, the cow has sprouted fins,  and has turned in to a sort of sea cow, or manatee, or something. I believe the illustrations were done in a wood block style, and the predominant colors were blue and green. This will be the second stumper you've solved for me (hopefully!), not to mention the hours I spend reading about other books I've forgotten.  Love your site.  I recommend it ALL THE TIME.  You probably get sick of hearing this.

Farber, Norma, Did you know it was the narwhale?, 1968. The unicorn helped Noah load all the animals but as there was no room for him aboard the Ark, he was towed behind in a life preserver--and became a narwhale by the end of the voyage.


N95: Noble/royal boys, Indochina, coming of age
Solved: Prince of the Jungle


N96: Naughty girl kidnapped by witches
Solved: Wickedishrag


N97: Nail, the
The book customer is desperately looking for, she thinks, is called THE NAIL, but nothing turned up in my searches. She is 70 years old and read when she was around 8-10 years old. It is about a boy with a nail that gets him by in life.  It was a thin book, and that's all the info. I have. Thanks.

swedish folktale, nail broth? i don't know the title, but i had this on vinyl as "danny kaye tells stories from around the world"  a swedish folktale about a hobo that travels around and makes "nail broth" at peoples houses with their ingredients and his "magic nail"   hope this helps!



N98: Nanny, best friend
Solved: The Friend


N99: Native American girl faces smallpox, forbidden love
Solved: To Spoil the Sun


N100: Nanny makes soda from bath water
I'm looking for a book for my aunt.  It was read to her when she was in elementary school in the 70's.  All she could remember was that the kooky nanny made soda pop out of bath water.

The Peculiar Miss Pickett. See Solved Mysteries.
Carlsen, Ruth Christoffer, Mr. Pudgins, 1951, copyright.  Could this book be Mr. Pudgins, a highly sought after book (see also Solved Stumpers)?  It's a chapter book about Mr. Pudgins coming to babysit.  There are various adventures, but the chapter your mom may be remembering is called Mr. Pudgins Turns Plumber.  The children built a lemonade stand one July day, but the cold water wouldn't run.  So Mr. Pudgins fixed it and all the faucets in the house ran with soda pop (grape in the bathtub, orange in the lavatory, root beer in the basement, limeade in the kitchen).  They had to cook their dinner in soda pop.  Other chapters include The Flying Bathtub and The Circus.



N101: Native America time travel authors
I am looking for authors of time travel native america/indian books - travel from this century to the indian era.

Sheila Moon, Peter Parnall, Knee Deep in Thunder, 1986, reprint.  The hero and heroine have bug friends and fantastic adventures, but they also visit an archetypal Native American village, and their home life speaks of the historical Native American experience.



N102: Nursery rhymes songbook
I am looking for a songbook that has an orange-red hard cover and contains Nursery Rhymes set to music.  All of the illustrations are silhouette illustrations.  It was probably published between 1900 and 1935.  I have no recollection of the writer/illustrator.


N103: nature brother sister farm exploration
Illustrated nature book from 1970s, 1980s? with a brother and sister exploring the surrounds of their farm.  They peek in on various animals, insects - waterboatmen (insects that walk on water, is one I remember).  Another page has an illustration of a shrike (bird of prey that impales its catch on thorns).  Brother and sister are pretty young.  Text is in English but they may be French kids.

Marlier, Marcel, Mark and Michelle.  This sounds like Mark and Michelle on Vacation or one of the other Mark and Michelle books by French author/illustrator, Marcel Marlier.



N104: Notes mysteriously left around town during summer vacation
Solved: The Long Secret


2008


N105:  non human family creates fictional uncle
Solved:  A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair


N106:  Naughty baby
It's a book I read my daughter in the late 1980's early 1990's. It's about a naughty baby that swings from the chandelier, gets measles or spots?, runs away from home out in the woods where wolves were I believe and his mother finds him and wraps him up tightly and holds him close etc. and it all starts over again. We thought it was "The very Naughty Baby" or "The Bad Baby" something on that order. It was written in rhyme and the drawings were rather crude. The Baby and Mom were rather homely but the story was very cute.

Barbro Lindgren, The Wild Baby.   
Perhaps The Wild Baby?  I can't remember the exact details of this book but it sounds like what you might be looking for.  The baby is constantly getting into trouble and bizarre situations and the mother keeps rescuing him.  There are at least two sequels:  The Wild Baby goes to Sea and The Wild Baby Gets a Puppy.  My children enjoyed this author's "Sam" books but they are for very young children.
Barbro Lindgren, illustrated by Eva Eriksson, translated by Jack Prelutsky, The Wild Baby, English ed. 1981, Swedish, 1980, copyright.  I also think this must be the right title.  I happen to own this book because my son was always on the escape and into trouble and the story clicked in a big way for both of us.  Although their Sam books are still in print, this one isn't.  As to the requestor's memories, here are some of the similarities: "He crept into her room one night, she snored and didn't hear, and softly as the slyest cat he climbed the chandelier.... afterward at lunchtime, baby Ben grew very ill.  He had spots and dots all over with a fever and a chill."  On a walk he sneaks away, mama can't find him, she's distraught, "Then suddenly, out popped his head, 'A wolf just licked my face,' he said.  'I licked him back, he ran away, we won't see him again today."  She hugs him, they're happy, "She bundled home her baby Ben...of course, he's since run off again."


N107:  New baby story book
I remember a book handed down to me from my mother.  I am pretty sure the copyright was in the 50's.  If I remember correctly is was a big white book with many stories beautifully illustrated.  I am almost positive Eloise Wilkins had illustrated some of these stories.  One of the stories that stands out to me in this book is The New baby.  I remember a child looking out the window at a big delivery truck and then found out they were delivering a bed for the baby.  I am almost thinking this could have possibly been a golden book collection?  I can't really remember the other stories because I like this one story the best.  I would love to find this book again and read the stories to my daughter.  Hope you can help! : )

Various, A Treasury of Little Golden Books, 1960, copyright.  This original edition of the Treasury had a whitish cover with the letters of the title drawn as tree limbs or sheafs of wheat.  Later printings have pink or other-colored covers with different lettering.  Ruth and Harold Shane's 1948 Little Golden Book "The New Baby", illustrated by Eloise Wilkin, is included in the Treasury.  The delivery man actually brings a box containing a portable folding bathtub, a "bathinette", a now-extinct piece of baby equipmemt.
Ruth and Harold Shane, illustrated by Eloise Wilkins, The New Baby.  The little boy gets a new bed so the baby can have his old crib. That's what the delivery truck is bringing (also a pram, etc). Aunt Pat comes to stay with him when the baby is born, not that the book says anything about birth or hospitals. This is a Little Golden Book. This is a reprint of an earlier version with different illustrations. I remember in the earlier version, Aunt Pat looked about 80 years old!
Ellen Buell, A Treasury of Little Golden Books.  I had the book you're looking for as a child-- it's A Treasury of Little Golden Books.  There are various editions (I think mine was from the 60's) but I know the new baby story was in the 1960's edition and the 1976 edition, possibly others as well.  Other stories in the anthology include The Pokey Little Puppy and Mister Dog.


N108: 1950s primary school text book natural history
The book I'm seeking is an old school text book remembered from primary school here in the UK in the 1950s.  It was about the natural world.  The thing I loved were the diagrams, which showed the relationships between things in what I suppose are called tree diagrams: food chains, relationships between types of plants etc.  I don't think there were any colour illustrations - just these beautifully set-out diagrams, with the names (I think) in linked boxes.  It was for quite young children, so the terms used were not botanical Latin or technical.  It was a hard backed book, about octavo sized, with (I think) brown or tan or yellow boards.  I'm sorry this is rather vague - I'm having a problem both with dredging up the memory and with finding the right words to describe what I do remember!  Anyway, there's an outside chance you or someone might know the book I mean, so thanks very much for your fascinating site.


N109: 1930s picture book modern life Cook and Jane
I think I've posted this before but can't find it. This was a large format picture book. My mother recalls having it in her childhood so it has to have been published by the mid-to-late 1930s. She thinks it was called "Modern Times" and featured all sorts of modern things like trains, automobiles, etc. We both remember that the family moved to a new house (out in the country?), and when they arrived, Cook and Jane had arrived first and everything was unpacked and lovely. It seems to me that there may have been two different books, one with modern modes of transport and another about the family. Watercolor illustrations, I think.


N110: Native American author
Solved: The Miracle Life Of  Edgar Mint

N111: nonfiction book about drugs, late 1960s
Solved: Turned On.

N112: Nellie Gray, Star Bright
1960s - maybe, childrens.  I read this book when I was very young.  It's about a boy who spends time on a farm/ranch while his father is away.  The farm/ranch has horses, but the boy -- I seem to remember his name is Dave -- doesn't know how to ride, but says he does.  His first encounter with a horse named Star Bright makes this readily apparent.  He learns to ride while he's there, starting off on a gray mare named Nellie Gray.  He meets a boy named Pete, and they have a friend who's a girl, but I can't remember her name.  There's a snobby girl who boards 2 horses at the farm.  I don't remember her name, but she has a chestnut horse named High Boy and a palomino named Golden Boy.  She and "Dave" become friends by the end of the book.  There are 2 particular incidents in the story that I remember:  The first is where Star Bright somehow gets out and colics on green apples.  Everybody is up most of the night trying to keep him up and walking so he doesn't lay down and roll.  The other is where High Boy gets out during a snow storm and "Dave" is the one who finds him.  At the end, "Dave's" father buys Star Bright for him.

Timber Trail Riders.
  I read this story a long time ago.  I don't know the exact title but it was part of a series called Timber Trail Riders.  I think there was a mean groom in the story called Bo who was jealous of Dave and the reason Star Bright bucked off Dave when Dave first rode him was because Bo had put a burr under the saddle blanket. Bo's evil ways were eventually discovered and he was let go.  There were many other stories in this series.
Michael Murray, The Texas Tenderfoot (Timber Trail Riders), 1963, copyright. This is absolutely the book, one of favorites of the whole series.


N113: Nursery rhymes and stories, Little Red Riding Hood cover
My grandfather gave me a book he found about 1958 (I do not know what year the book was published).  It was a red book (kind of a cloth cover) with a picture of Little Red Riding Hood on the front, a somewhat smaller picture of her in the center on the front of the book. The book was a volume of nursery rhymes and stories and it appeared to be part of a set.  He always told the story of finding it at the local dump and picking it up and giving to me.  Well, years passed and I let my son use the book, but ultimately I lost it in a divorce.  I would give anything to find a copy of this volume.  It contained one rhyme in particular “I Had a Little Doggie” who used to sit and beg, but doggie fell down the stairs and broke his little leg……etc.  The pages were kind of glossy with bright illustrations.  Can your readers provide any assistance?  I greatly appreciate it.

Walter Hervey & Melvin Hix, eds., Horace Mann Second Reader,
1909.  I found "Little Doggie" on page 31 of this, which is up on line at Google Books. It matches the rest of your description other than the copyright date. If this isn't it, it looks like a nice book nonetheless. My grandmother was an actress and used to recite "Little Doggie" at her poetry readings, live and on radio, and Mom taught me the first two verses -- I never knew there was anything more to it until I found the complete poem on line. Good luck!
Well, I don't believe this is the book I'm looking for, although it appears to be a wonderful edition.  The book I had featured glossy pages with colored prints and I would guess the date to be between the 40's and 50's.  It seemed to be part of a set of books, but I distinctly remember it was red with Red Riding Hood on the front.  The Horace Mann Reader says there was an indian with a bow.  Thank you for the information, though!


N114: "Night of the Comet" Magic Magician Statues
Solved: An Older Kind of Magic

N115: Nicholas
1960's, childrens.  The story of a boy named Nicholas (I think). I can't remember much except he goes to a strange land and has dinner at a table with a Queen and I think that they drink from a goblet.

Beatrice Schenk De Regniers, May I Bring A Friend?
1965, copyright.  A well-mannered little boy, frequently invited to visit the king and queen, always asks to bring a friend--and the friends are always wild animals--and always well-behaved. Every day for a week a young boy is invited to tea with the king and queen, and every day he brings a different friend, including a seal, a hippopotamus, and several lions. Winner of the 1965 Caldecott Medal.


N116: North to Salonika
1950-68, juvenile.  All I remember of this book is: a young man or teenaged boy awakens on an Italian coast.  I think his name is David.  He finds some oranges.  He manages to take a boat to Greece.  He was told (apparently prior to the story's beginning) to go north until he reaches Salonika.  That's all I remember, a teacher read it to my 4th grade class.

Anne Holm, North to Freedom (I Am David).
  David is a boy in a concentration camp who for some reason is allowed to escape.  His first stop is Salonika, but his eventual destination is Denmark.  There's a description of the book here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_David.
James D. Forman, Ring the Judas Bell, 1967, copyright.


N117: nursery rhyme book
The book is a nursery rhyme book.  It had a blue background on the hardback cover, I want to say it had a picture of a man in the moon that had really long wispy hair and a long pointy nose....although it could be inside on one of the illustrations.  The rhymes were old rhymes, my mind goes blank...one about "bonnie Charlie with long blond hair",  "born on Monday, married on Tuesday, ...died on Sunday", "lavender's blue my love", "gray gander", "there was a little girl who had little curl, right in the middle of her forehead", "jack sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean"...etc.  Just to name a few...what I remember about this book was it had gorgeous illustrations in it.  Mostly of an English or British nature, probably depicting the late 1700's for the most part.  I got this book in the late 70's.  The people or animals in the book were dressed in 18th century attire usually from what I remember.  There is one picture I remember in particular that was of a boy giving what appears to be a queen a golden pear off a tree.   Another was of a white long haired cat sat on her rump in a  pink dress and petticoat with a burn hole in it from a lump of coal.  The Jack Sprat pic was of him and his wife sitting at a table eating...the gray gander was of 2 or more geese flying across a moonlit sky with a young girl riding one of them.....  I hope that is enough, or not too much.

Maybe something illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone?  There were a lot of "Dean's Book of ...."
Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone, Dean's New Gift Book of  Nursery Rhymes, 1971.  When I read this post I immediately thought of the Dean's book, and then was reassured to see someone else had thought that too! I still have this one, but it is at my parent's house, so can't look to see what's inside, but has a boy and girl dancing on the front and is pale blue. i think the moon may have been on the inside of the front cover? And they all have lovely pictures. This may not be the exact one you're looking for, but I remember we had a pink Deans book too, so there are a few different ones around.
You can see some illustrations from the Grahame Johnstone sisters on this web page http://www.oklahoma.net/%7Esilvrdal/j&a2.html.  As the first person said many of their books are gift books and hard to find the titles of.  A couple of the larger volumes they did are: Mulberry Bush book of nursery rhymes (1974); Deans Mother Goose Book of Rhymes (1977); My best book of Rhymes (1974).  I have several of their gift books, only one of verse - and the image with the golden pear sounds very familiar.  I also have another book that may fit if the illustrations weren't full colour - it had the A Apple pie poem in it as well as many other older traditional rhymes like you mention.  I'll check when I'm home later in the week.
Hilary Knight, The Hilary Knight Mother Goose.  This sounds like Hilary Knight's Mother Goose book.  A delightful book, with witty illustrations in Knight's characteristic style.  The illustrations are continuous from one page to the next.  Cover is blue with Mother Goose reading to two children.
Did it have the music for the rhymes in it? I found A TREASURY OF ENGLISH NURSERY RHYMES W/MUSIC (1988) on ebay that sounds kind of like the one you suggested.
Bummer, still not it.  I checked all the names and authors of what was suggested and they arent the right ones.  Thanks for trying.
Hi, I apologize in advance if this isn't encouraged or welcome...I am looking for the same book as one of the current submissions. I also have a few more poems or stories that I remember; I believe it to be from the same book. It was a thick book given to me by my Grandmother in the very early 80s. It contained a lot of "dark" nursery rhymes and short stories, and poems. It was black and white and had some illustrations. Additional rhymes/short stories/poems I remember: The Velveteen Rabbit, The Princess and the Pea, Three Blind Mice, Little Miss Muffett, Monday's Child Is Full of Grace, Solomon Grundy. Thank you.


N118: Nursery Rhymes from 80's-90's
I don't remember much except the beautiful and intracate drawings. Twinkle Twinkle was about 3 pages long and The House That Jack Built was even longer. My most vivid memory was Who Killed Cock Robin, the poem was bordered by the birds. I believe an owl was on the front along with other characters.
The book was hardcover and I believe green and I faguely remember it being called "Illustrated book of Nursery Rhymes" as creative as that is...


N119: Night it Rained Toys
1960, childrens.  Childrens Christmas book first words, On a cold Christmas eve, far away, long ago it didn't rain rain and it didn't snow snow, but it did something special ... for the girls and the boys for that was the night.  The night it rained toys.

Dorothy Stephenson, The Night it Rained Toys,
1963, copyright.  Illustrated by John E. Johnson. The original front cover is blue, with a gold sillouette of an umbrella stamped across it, and gold line-drawings of falling toys, including a teddy bear, a doll, a ball, a block, and a wooden pull-horse on wheels. The book was reprinted, and a later cover shows a king holding up an umbrella, while toys, cookies, and candy rain down around him.


N120: New Deacon Primer Third Grade
James Fassett, 1921-1927, primer.  It has a dark blue cover with an orange circle in the middle containing the image of a child/children.

2009


N121: 1975-ish 4th grade reading textbook with excerpts from Giant Peach, Black and Blue Magic, ee cummings
Illustrated elementary textbook/reader from around 1974 or 1975.  4th grade (?) contained excerpts from Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Black and Blue Magic, ee cummings archy and methibel, Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, and others.

N122: new grad becomes women's page editor

Solved: Sally and Her Kitchens & Sally and Her Homemaking
I am looking for two books, published I think in late forties, maybe early fifties about a young woman who goes to work for a newspaper and ends up being the editor of the women's page (after having majored in home economics?).  She's always hunting down recipes, etc. In the second book she gets married and so the book talks about her setting up housekeeping and entertaining as well as her work on the paper.  I got these books from the local library when I was about twelve and I loved them, but I don't remember either the author or the titles!  Thank you for your help.

Leonora Mattingly Webber, Beanie Malone.
   I may be totally off the mark here, but any chance that this is a reference to the Beanie Malone Series??   I seem to remember she had a knack for cooking and housecleaning, and she did get married in one of the later books of the series.
The mystery has been solved: Sally and Her Kitchens and Sally and Her Homemaking.  [Additional information: these books were written by
May Worthington, and published in 1939 and 1941, respectively, by Dodd, Mead & Co.  The subtitle for Sally and Her Kitchens is "The story of Sally Lewis' career in home economics."
N123: Nick moves to England, plays rugby
Paperback chapter book (middle-school level?) about a boy named Nick who moves with his brothers and parents to England when his father's job is transferred. He hates it at first and is teased about his name but learns to play rugby and conkers and becomes happy in England.

Joan Carris, Hedgehogs in the Closet.


N124: Noah's Ark, Parody, Spoof
Adult/Young Adult book, read about 10 yrs ago.  Tale of Noah and the ark and the flood.  Reminded me of the old Bill Cosby routine.

Minot, Stephen, Surviving the Flood, 1987. Noahs youngest son, Ham, at the age of 900 years, decides to set the record straight as to what really happened aboard the Ark during the Flood.

Thanks, I went looking for a recap of the plot or some further indication this is the book I was thinking of .. the title doesn’t ring a bell with me ..  but I am sure you are right, so thanks!!!!!!

Some other modern takes on Noah, in case the one suggested is not it:  THE ELEPHANT AND THE KANGAROO by T.H. White  NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE by Timothy Findley  and THE LOG OF THE ARK by Kenneth Walker and Geoffrey Boumphrey.
N125: Number One
Book is about the #1. He is looking for a friend. He goes to all the other numbers, 2, 3, 4, etc to try and find a friend. All of them are either too busy or too snobby. The book ends when # 1 runs into the number zero, also lonely. Together they make the # 10 and find friendship. This book is at least from the 70's. My recollections may not be totally accurate, but hopefully this is enough for someone to spark a memory. It is about the number 1. He is lonely and looking for a friend. He goes to all the other numbers, 2, 3, 4 and so on to try and find a friend. All of them are either too busy or too snobby to pay him any attention. The book ends when # 1 runs into the number zero, also lonely. Together they make the # 10 and find friendship. I have searched fairly exhaustively on the web. I did find a book from the 60's by Paul Rand called "Little 1". This is not the book I am looking for. I hope someone can pull this out of thin air for me. Thanks!


Rand, Ann and Paul, Little 1, 1961
.I didn't see this answer posted, so I was afraid it didn'\''t go through. It sounds just like LITTLE 1 by Ann and Paul Rand, 1961, republished in 2005.~from a librarian
Ann & Paul Rand, Little 1, 1962, 2005 reprint. The summary of lonely 1 meeting a friend in 0 matches the description for LONELY 1.~from a librarian


N126:New-Fangled, Technology , Invention

Hello, I am looking for a children's book from the 1960s that had a title, I believe, that included the words "new-fangled."  The book is about a family's visit to the 1876 Centennial Exposition, and I believe it was published by Scholastic Books.  It described the new telephone, automobile, etc.


Caroline D.Emerson, Father's Big Improvements. Worth a look?

Father's Big Improvements, 1962.

Maybe Father's Big Improvements?  "Horseless carriages! Talking boxes called telephones! Water running out of a faucet! What is the world coming to? Mother calls it newfangled nonsense--Father says they are all big improvements that he must have!"


N127: Norwegian/Swedish farm, boy named Noah
Noah, a boy who lived with his parents and older siblings on a farm in rural Norway (or Sweden). Near the start of the book Noah'\''s father returns from a journey to the nearest town, he has travelled on foot, and it has taken him several days or even weeks to make the journey. The story was set in a time before electricity and when all work on farm was still done by hand, so possibly early 20th Century? The seasons and landscape were central to the story. It was a wonderfully warm and endearing tale of life. Some parts of it were harsh, the weather conditions during the cold winter, and the hardship of tasks like cutting timber, and so on. But the story was heartwarming. The autumn harvest described in the end chapters stand out in my memory. I think the book was an account of one year, though this may not be correct. It was a secondhand novel I read in 1983, so probably published in the 1970s or earlier. It may have been a translation into English.

Maud Reutersward, Noah is My Name.


 N128: Novel referencing Buddy Holly
Read a great road novel in the early 90s referencing Buddy Holly. Its about a kid who tries to save the life of a child crossing the road. He fails, and so begins his journey to the famous site where Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (et al) died.


 N129: Notre Dame gargoyle
1960's. Unhappy American girl in Paris is befriended by a native boy and they meet at Notre Dame by a gargoyle they call "Charlie". Maybe a pink cover with a profile of a winged gargoyle.

Corbin, William, The Prettiest Gargoyle, 1971. Unhappy at being in Paris where everyone else in the family is involved in special projects, a thirteen-year-old American boy decides to quit school and become an authority on gargoyles.


 N130: Naughty bear cuts girl's hair off and she cries
SOLVED:
The Lonely Doll Learns a Lesson

2011


N131: Nursery rhyme journey

SOLVED: WantedA King


N132: Naked girl, turtle
Little naked girl goes to a house with a real tall door and sometime in the story rides a turtle. It was read to me in grade school  year 1960’s. Asked teacher and doesn’t remember the book. Thanks for your help, I can’t remember anything else except I loved the book.

Dare Wright, The Little One,
1959. If you remember the illustrations being photographs, your book is probably The Little One.  Turtle rescues a doll named Persis from an old house with a big door.  She goes outdoors and takes off her clothes in the sun, falls asleep, and is found by two bears named Nice Bear and Cross Bear.  Cross Bear doesn't seem to like like her until she falls out of a tree trying to get honey for him.


N133: Needle shaped mountain
SOLVED: Terry Nation, Rebeccas World - Journey to the Forbidden Planet.


N134: Near future guy drives camaro
Young adult science fiction novel from the late 70s early 80s.  Near future guy who drives a camaro when everyone else drives electric cars.  He secretly grows vegetables and raises rabbits in his basement.  At the end the government catches him, but he is put on a plane to utopia or something.

Missing Persons League

2012

N135: Not very often... we better hide!
I'm looking for a children's book in which one of the character's has a catch phrase "not very often," which prompts the other characters to shriek "We better hide!!!". I've searched for many variants on these phrases, and can't find anything.  The main character may be a baby bird.   ???

N136: Nursery rhymes, stories, including "Pickty Pickety Pocket"
I am looking for a book that I used to read to my children about 15-20 years ago. It had several stories and nursery rhymes including the following (as best I can remember): "The House that Jack Built" & "This Land is your Land" & "Theres a Hole in my Bucket" & "Pickty Pickety Pocket"

N137: Nobody Loves Fritzi (?)
SOLVED: Suzanne Wilding,
No Love for Schnitzel


N138: Necklace/pendant makes boy shrink
A boy living in England, lost a model boat he built.He went searching for it and found a necklace that shrinks him. He meets a boy who with wide set eyes. The boys father says he should see the magician, who he finds out has his same name. On his way to see him he saves the queen.

Ian Kellam, The First Summer Year, 1974.

N139: Neighborhood dog
Homeless dog goes from house to house getting food & love from the neighborhood.  One lady gives him mutton.  I think he was a black dog.  Kids book from late '60's to early '70's.

I remember that one, it's mainly three women who take turns throughout the day tending the dog, but for some reason none of them adopt him as her own. Eventually the dog is picked up by Animal Control, as he has no license. The three women realize they do miss him, decide to share ownership, and it ends with all three going to the shelter to claim him. Hope this helps.

N140: Nursery rhyme 2 volume set
SOLVED: Richard Scarry,
Things to Know

N141: Night cloaks
SOLVED: Lloyd Biggle, Jr., The Botticelli Horror, 1960.

N142: Nuclear Survival Boy/Girl
This was read to my 6th grade class in 1988-89. A normal boy (middle or high school aged) takes a standardized test at school that was given by the government to identify intelligent children who could do some government special mission. He fell asleep during the test and woke up with just enough time to fill n the bubbles, without reading the questions) and turn it in. He answered all the questions correctly and was selected to be part of the government-chosen group. The same boy (I think) was walking home when a nuclear bomb hit. He had just enough time to find a very deep basement room, in a hotel I believe, and stock the basement room with food and soda from a reception of some sort. He and a girl made it to the basement just before the bomb hit. They suffered severe vomiting that was described as mild radiation sickness. When they finally emerged they met some rough men and disfugured women, with one man describing the girl who survived in the basement as not damaged by radiation as many of the other women were. I believe this was all part of the same plot. We never finished the book so I am not sure of the ending.

Updated: Siegel and Siegel, Firebrats. I have found that this description is really the plot for 2 different books.  The second book is Firebrats by Siegel and Siegel.  The first part of the description is from a book that I am still looking for.
Donald Wismer, Starluck. The first part about the test-taking sounds a lot like Starluck...Paul takes a test and basically fills out the circles in patterns--which gives him the highest score of all the test takers.  It's science fiction, so no nuclear bombs. The government turns out to be evil though, and they send someone to kill him. He escapes and joins some rebels.  He learns to fight so the group he's with can change things.






 
 
Stump the Bookseller Queries
New
AB
CD
EF
GH
IJ
KL
MN
OP
QR
S
T
UVW
XYZ
Solved Mysteries Catalog
A
B
C
D
EF
G
H
IJ
K
L
M
N
O
P
QR
S
T
UV
W
XYZ
Search Loganberry's Website!
Return pages containing    of these words: 
How to Send in Contributions
 
Book Requestwhen you know
                            the title
Book Stumper
(new format)

when you just
                            don't know what it's called
Solution
when you think
                            you know the answer
e-mail
when you want the
                            free-form method


 
Home
Book Club
Nostalgia
Catalogs
Book Searches
Blog
Stump the Bookseller
Solved
Mysteries
Most Requested
Books
Collectible Authors
Back in Print
Named for the Book

3/14/13
email