LOGANBERRY LEGACY
Now here's a classic that certain baby boomers remember clearly and fondly: 365 Bedtime Stories. One story per night about What-a-Jolly Street for a year! There are other books with similar titles, but this is one most remember (see the Anthology Finder for different versions of this title). I do get it from time to time, so let me know if you want one!

BIBLIOGRAPHY
* designates a title still in print
365 Bedtime Stories. Illustrated by Jill Elgin. Whitman, 1955.
365 Bedtime Stories. updated by Eileen Daly.  Illustrated by Jill Elgin, cover art by Carolyn Bracken.  Merrigold Press, 1955, 1981. Paperback. 
Academy Summer. Harper & Brothers, 1961.
Champions Don't Cry.  Harper & Row, 1960.
Dog for Joey. Harper & Row, 1967.
Gold Medal.
Nan Hanna Barbera's Fred Flintstone's Bewildered Baby-Sitter with Pebbles. Whitman, 1963. Top Top Tale #2460. 
Knight Came Running.  Illustrated by Jim Tadych. Whitman, 1965.
See Yourself in Print: a Handbook for Young Writers.
Hawthorn, 1968.
Sir Gruff: The Woolly Dog. A Fuzzy Wuzzy Book. Whitman, 1947.
The Strange New World Across the Street. Avon, 1979
Then Came November.  Whitman, 1963.
The Three Fuzzy Bears. A Fuzzy Wuzzy Book. Whitman, 1947.
Unchosen.  Harper & Row, 1963.  Scholastic, 1969.
Yogi Bear Takes a Vacation Racine. Whitman, 1965.
Young MacDonald On the Farm.  Illustrated by Theresa Kalab. Whitman, 1948. Cozy Corner Book #2085. 

Nan Gilbert and Eileen Daly.  365 Bedtime Stories.  Illustrated by Jill Elgin with cover art by Carolyn Bracken.  Merrigold Press, 1955, 1981. Paperback.  First few pages have very mild water damage, and almost a dozen illustrations have color marker embellishments.  Occassional pages note birthdays and anniversaries in black marker.  This odd paperback reprint is even harder to find than the original! (pictured above, third from top) G.  <SOLD>

Gilbert, Nan.  Sir Gruff: The Woolly Dog.  Illustrated by Florence Sarah Winship.  A Fuzzy Wuzzy Book. Whitman, 1947.  Taped with clear packing tape on inside hinges and spine, edges worn.  Interior clean and still fuzzy.  G.  $15

Out-of-print books are harder to stock than new books, and some are hard to find, period.  If the title you are seeking is not listed for sale above, that probably means that I am currently out of stock.  However, I am always on the lookout for books, and will gladly quote you when I do find your coveted book. To add your name to my Wants Files, simply fill out a Book Request Form and I will e-mail you when I have a copy in stock.  Thanks.

If this is the one about What-A-Jolly-Street, then my check is in the mail please hold it for me. Thanks.

this bok contains 365 stories one for each day of the year its about a street nicknamed What-a-Jolly-Street the name was Trufflescootems Boulevard. a really fun book from when i was a child would like my six children to enjoy some of the same things that i did Thank you for trying to help find this book.

I have been searching for this book for many years, and now that I have 4 grandchildren, I would love to have it. The title is 365 Bedtime Stories and it recounts a year on What-a-Jolly-Street {thus the "365"}. There is a map on the first 2 pages of the book showing the homes of the vaious characters on What-a-Jolly-Street; a couple of the names I remember are the Barrets and the Browns. I read this book many times over in the early fifties, and would love to pass it down to may grandchildren. Thanks for any hlep you can give me.

Also, I loved reading about all the people who were interested in the 365 Bedtime Stories book.  I have a copy of it myself that I loved as a child, and would read the page-a-night for the day of the year (and sometimes read  ahead a few pages).  I re-read it several times, and now I have a 15 month old daughter that I am going to start reading it to on  January 1 of 2001. I hope she loves it as much as I do.

I had a 365 Bedtime Stories book prior to 1955.  My mom thinks she bought it sometime between 1949 and 1951 and I know it was not the What a Jolly Street book.  I am almost 100% certain that one of the stories in the book was about Flower Fairies.  My mom said she thinks the cover was mostly pink and yellow.  Any ideas?  I would love to find a copy of the book I had.

I saw this on your stumpers list and I yelled so loud in my office I'm sure people thought that I was nuts.  (I work in a museum library-quiet place)  I looked on eBay and they didn't have it at this time.  Any other suggestions.  This is the exact one with Mrs. Apricot and What a Jolly Street.

Although there are several books by that name, this one follows the lives of children who live on What A Jolly Street.

Love to share this with my children, many happy memories. Please email me if you run accross a copy.

been looking for this book please help

I have been frantically searching for this book for months and today thought to do a Google search. Bingo! I'm amazed and thrilled that so many other people remember it as well as I do. I remember being home sick from school and reading this book from cover to cover. I would love any relatively intact copy to share with my 17-month-old son  please notify me if one becomes available. Many thanks!

The New Girl:  I really liked this story so much me and my friend are making a project on it

I am looking for the Whitman Publishing book 365 Bedtime Stories about the families who lived on What-A-Jolly-Street also known as Trufflescootems Boulevard. This was a great favorite in our home and I would dearly love to get another copy of this book for our family library. I have looked high and low and only find the tattered remnants here and there in junk shops and sadly, they are in worse shape than the well-loved remnants I have already.  If possible, could you let me know if it is available and the condition and price of said volume of childhood joy? 

This is the only book I had as a child.  My mother gave it to my sister's kids and they destroyed it.  My mother is gone now, but I need the book. Thank you

Saw the picture of the book on the "Most Requested Books" category and realized this was the one I've been looking for.  Would like to find out what you have available, if any.

I am interested in up to four copies of this book, depending upon condition--I beleive it was reprinted in the early 80's because I saw it at a TG&Y store in paperback, but was too poor at the time to purchase it--and I've regretted it ever since.

A copy of this favorite childhood book just arrived from you in the mail. These stories have now gone through three generations, and it's still as sweet and interesting for our youngest family members as it was for oldest when they were children!

I just received the book.  Thank you so much for notifying me about the copy and sending it out so promptly!  My mother told my daughter not to let any kid's touch it......I said that it was there to be touched, read and enjoyed.  I know that if by some circumstance, we love this copy until it falls apart like our first copy, I can contact Loganberry to search for another. 

Labor Day is the first Monday in September, the seventh!  That means the year covered in Nan Gilbert's book is 1954.

"Oh, it's the book!"... is what I shouted, as I recognized the cover of one of my favorite childhood books. Searching on the net, at 1:30am. A wave of memories came flooding in, Of this book I recieved at Christmas about 1965. Reading the comments here, I was suprised that there were others like me, who had such fond memories of this wonderful book. And thank you to all, whose memory served them better, or are blessed to still have a copy, and mention the darling "residents of What-a-Jolly-Street, Mrs. Apricot, and Tumbleweed Tommy! I loved reading the story, about the 10 candy apples, and (if I recall) the children had recite a ryme(like the "ten little indians)  before they could take an apple. I would love to own this book again. Sadly I know the demise of my original copy, that I had till I was 17yrs. old. It had lost it's front & back cover, & It ended up in the bottom of a  tall box, in the attic. I thought about digging it out but never did. I have regretted it ever since. The thought that I might own this book again brought tears to my eyes. Please find me a copy!

I am looking for a book that I remember having in the mid to late 1960's when I was only about 7 or 8. I remember it being some kind of a story book that I believe had a story for every night (although I may be mixing this up with another book). Somehow I also seem to remember the pictures being by Tomie DePaola, although I'm not too sure about that either.  One thing I distinctly remember was that this book was about the same group of children and one of the stories was about one of the children losing something and another one purposely throwing their own belonging, believing that finding the one item would lead them to the other.
In my tattered copy of 365 Bedtime Stories to Read Aloud, which is listed under Most Requested Books here, the November 2 story has Jack and Jerry hunting a lost marble by throwing another marble after it.  This is a book with a daily story about the same group of children, though Tomie DiPaola wasn't the illustrator (at least of the 1955 edition).  Btw, I want to thank this site for identifying this book for me!  Mine is missing the covers, title pages, and last 5 stories, and I never knew it was written by Nan Gilbert, author of my junior-high favorite The Unchosen.  I'm enjoying this site so much.

I recieved this book as a child in 1963 i read and re read it many times. I lost that copy in the early 70's but found another at a local woolworth.  Unfortunatly that was also lost.  I want to buy one a.s.a.p. I love the book and the memories it brings. The tumbleweed still lingers in my mind.

I have been looking for years for this book, as I too have fond memories of reading it as a child. Your website is GREAT!!! I had the one with the lady in the rocking chair. Has anyone seen that cover?

I don't feel so weird for searching for this book for
years.  I eventually found it in a church rummage sale for .50!  Unfortunately my kids were totally uninterested.  Everyone enjoy!

My Grandmother has this book, and now that I have a child of my own, I would love it too!  I actually think she would let me have it, but there are other grandchildren to consider (all but one childless for now!).  I have found other earlier books with the What-A-Jolly Street on ebay, but no mention of Nan Gilbert...not sure if they are the same stories or not, but the Nan Gilbert's certainly are more recognizable and go for a lot more money.  They are all published by Whitman of Racine WI.  If I ever get ahold of one, and the other I remember from childhood, I will compare and let you know!

I just received my book this past Saturday 09/14/02.  Thank you so much for selling this book to me.  Just looking through the book takes me back to  my childhood when my dad use to read these same stories to me and my sister.  I can't say thank you enough for giving me such a wonderful gift.  Hopefully, I will be able to share these meaningful
stories with my children one day.

I was on vacation and started searching the net to find out what the title of a book was that I had as a child. Somehow I ended up at your site. What a great site. I now know it is normal to be looking for a book from your childhood!!! There was the book - 365 Bedtime Stories by Nan Gilbert. The book I was looking for has a rocking chair on a  porch.... could you tell me what determined the different book covers? I have seen ones with the granny in chairs ( 2 versions). Is the rocking chair book harder to find?
[Yes, I think the porch picture with 7 children is less common than the living room picture with 4 children.]

I'm so excited about finally discovering the title and author of this book.  My sisters and I have often discussed it and all of us remembered it so fondly and wanted copies of it for our families.  Now that we know the details we can begin to find copies. Please let me know when copies come in.  I'll want to get more than one copy as I want to get the book for gifts.

In the early 1960s I read from this book regularly.  Repeatedly.  Would love to get a hold of a copy for my 6-year-old.  I came across this site while remembering the odd street name, Trufflescootems Blvd.  Or was it Trufflescootums Blvd?

I was fortunate enough to find a copy of this book, and hoped my 6YO son would love it as much as I did. He does!  In one night we read all the stories for January (I got the book in August) and we would have gotten farther except he insisted on hearing every story about Hustle-Bustle the parrot twice. Before he went to bed he went outside and hollered, "Mareeee! Peeeeter! Mary Looooo!" Once we get caught up, though, I suspect he won't  stand for hearing only one story per night!

I very well remember "what a jolly street"!  And often when things get crazy, we giggle and say, "what a day on what a jolly street!"  I got a warm feeling just seeing the cover again.  I know they are out of stock and VERY hard to find, but I would love one if you get it. Thanks!

I received this book in 1965 or 1966 from a babysitter (I was about 5 or 6), who was getting rid of her childhood books. Discovering this site is like taking a trip back in time!  I remember this being my favorite book for several years until I was about 8 or 9. I am not sure what happened to the book, but the last time I saw it was sometime during my teens (my mother probably threw it out).  I wanted to be one of the kids on What A Jolly Street and was endlessly entertained by their adventures, pets, and Mrs. Apricot's stories.  My favorite was her tale about Kate Shelley thanks for much for reminding me of the name!) and how she stopped a train from derailing during a bad storm.  I also remember a story about how two of the girls (ages 6 and 8) reason that if they both babysit together, it's the same as a 14 year old girl (6+8=14) babysitting Wow, times were so much simpler and more innocent when I received this book.  My kids are 10 and 12 now, and probably too old for it (and it might seem dated to them), but I'd like to get a copy for myself just the same.  It brings back so many fond memories.  I had no idea this book was in such demand.   No one I ever mentioned it to had ever heard of it.  Let me know how much I need to send to get a copy.  Thanks so much!

My mother read to us every night and the one book I remember clearly is "What a Jolly Street".  Our mother instilled a love of reading in us by continuing to read to us up until our teen years.  Our mother passed away on May 1, 2004, and with Mother's Day coming up this weekend, I have decided to order "What a Jolly Street" for myself to share with my children, ages 9 and 5.

365 Bedtime Stories. Oh what a jolly street.  Still living in hope this wonderful book will turn up in my parents attic.When I left home at 19 (I'm 50 now!) I asked my mum to find the book so I could take it with me....I'm still searching. Wonderful to see so many others with happy memories of this book. Thanks. Gillian Cheshire. UK

365 Bedtime Stories.  Growing up in Sri lanka (then known as ceylon), I read this book in the 80s, although it entered our family llibrary in the 70s.(I couldn't read then). The moment I reached the USA in the 90s, I felt I knew wverything about this place, the holidays, their history and the traditions etc. What an amazing reading experience.

Nan Gilbert, 365 Bedtime Stories.  When I was a little girl, I had the 365 Bedtime Stories book. I had the book with the front cover of the older woman sitting on the front porch surrounded by the neighbor children intently listening to her stories. I would read the story that was on my birthday over and over. The illistrations were wonderful. As I got older I lost track of this book, and would love to find a copy of this lovely book for my children and future grandchildren.

Nan Gilbert, 365 Bedtime Stories.  Today I received a copy of this most cherished book of my childhood. I had a rather troubled upbringing and reading one of these stories every night before I went to bed let me know that there was another way to live and that there were happy families. My fondest memory was the story of Mrs. Apricot as a child hiding her sewing behind her book of Bible stories on Sunday and then getting caught when she tried to shut her sewing in the book. What a great lesson in honesty that really reached the minds of young children! I believe I was about 8 when I received it. My copy was gently loved by a little girl in Vancouver, BC who beautifully colored in some of the illustrations. Somehow, that makes it more special as I know she loved it as much as I did. I really look forward to reading it to my grandchildren.

Nan Gilbert, 365 Bedtime Stories.  My mother read this book to me and my brother at bedtime. I really loved this book when I was a child. The booke was lost in later years when we moved out of state. I have been looking for this book for years. I wish I had this book when my children were little. I have told them many time about Oh what a jolly street. I am thrilled that I have been able to find  this web site and am able to get a copy of this treasured book. I had the one with the children and Grandma sitting on the front porch. I can't wait to get a copy so when I have grandchildren I can read it to them. 
 
 

I don't know the title or author of the book I am looking for, so I'm sure it will not be easy to find. I read it in the late 1950's or early 1960's.  I don't think it was a "bedtime story" book, although my mother read it to me at night and it was quite thick. It was about a neighborhood of children who visited each other every day.  On the inside covers there was a map of the neighborhood showing the different streets, houses, the school, park, etc.  I think it was divided into 365 days and there was a different story for each day describing where the children went and their adventures.  The best part was following the map as they traveled through the neighborhood!  It wasn't the "Neighborhood  Stories" by Ginn.  Thanks for any help you can give me.

Thank you again for notifying me that you had a copy of 365 Bedtime Stories. I have been looking for this book for many years. It will be a wonderful Christmas gift - to myself! The inscription from Santa Claus is an extra added bonus.

I have a copy of the book in very good condition.  I think it is only missing the last page.  I LOVED that book when I was a child....it was a place to which I could escape.  I recently dug it out and started reading a few pages again.  It was like traveling back in time.

I am looking for a copy of 365 Bedtime Stories by Nan Gilbert.  My brother has a copy, but a few pages were torn out by another angry brother 30 something years ago.  I would like to copy the missing pages for him and have the book to read to my children.  Please let me know if you have a readable copy.

This web deal is the most wonderful thing!  I have been looking for this book for about 15 years.  My cousin Chris and I both received a copy for Christmas in the late 50's.  I loved mine--the monkey Beppo, Timmy and his pony, and whoever had the mischevious puppy Pal, and the little girl who learned to love washing dishes by pretending that the silverware was something else... The cover of my book was slightly different than shown on your website  Mrs. Apricot was surrounded by children, but she was in a rocker on the front porch of her house, with warm light glowing out from the windows.  I'd do just about anything to have a copy of the book...please, please, please notify me if you get one!  Thanks so much for your website, and to all the other readers who shared their memories of this book that I never thought I'd see again.

I'm looking for a book we had as children during the mid 60's called 365 Bedtime Stories.  I'm sorry I don't have publisher information. The hardback cover was illustrated and the inside front and back covers had a map of "What A Jolly Street" showing the houses where the characters lived.  One family, with a little girl named Ruth, had a pony name Rusty.  Another family had a brother and sister who owned a golden collie named Butch.  Mrs. Apricot lived at the end of the street. Each story was only one page in length and had a calendar date at the top. Please let me know what you can find.

I have a great friend who's a new Mom. She loved a book called 365 Bedtime Stories where all the tales take place on What-a-Jolly Lane. Does anyone know of such a book?

I'm digging around to surprise a great friend who has fond memories of the book on "What-A-Jolly Lane"...and two young children.  Your site has narrowed the search......and I thank you.  Let me know if you find a copy.

This book was so dear to my heart and such a part of my childhood!  As an only child Mrs. Apricot, these 8 families with all the kids and pets and adventures were my dream! Oh how I longed for What-A-Jolly Street! How marvelous to know that others loved them the same way.  Too bad this book can't be reprinted for all the little ones out there to enjoy, and all of us not so little ones to treasure again!

I would love to read this book to my grandchilren--I remember wanting to live on What-a-Jolly Street!

In my tattered copy of 365 Bedtime Stories to Read Aloud which is listed under Most Requested Books here, the November 2 story has Jack and Jerry hunting a lost marble by throwing another marble after it.  This is a book with a daily story about the same group of children.  Btw, I want to thank this site for identifying this book for me!  Mine is missing the covers, title pages, and last 5 stories, and I never knew it was written by Nan Gilbert, author of my junior-high favorite The Unchosen.  I'm enjoying this site so much.

I had a book as a child that I read over and over that was a collection of stories about children.  There was one I remember about a girl crossing a train track in a storm to keep a train from derailing.  The book originally had an illustration of a grandmother-type on the cover with children around her I think.  I would love to get a hold of a copy of this.  The book may have been published in the late forties or sometime in the 1950's as it came from a woman who used to watch me as a child who had older children in the early sixties.
I think this once again is Nan Gilbert's365 Bedtime Stories to Read Aloud from the Most Requested Books section!  The pages for March 20 and 21 are Mrs. Apricot's story of Kate Shelley crawling across the bridge to prevent the train derailment.

The story is about 3 teen girls, all who have problems fitting in, and about how they cope. The narrator is slightly overweight & shy, one friend is skinny, the other quite overweight. The first girl goes on a crash diet & gets a boy pen-pal, the fat one becomes somewhat loose morally, & there are dogs & a ski trip somewhere in the story.
This book is  The Unchosen, and I think the author is Nan Gilbert.
Yes, Nan Gilbert (of 365 Bedtime Stories fame) wrote The Unchosen, and this is it!

What is it about this book?  When I was a kid in the early 1970's, a big book around the house  had silhouette illustrations and a story for every day of the year.  I read it over and over, but half of the book was completely gone.  Is this the book?  I hope so!  The two stories I remember was one illustrating a little boy who cut his hand and rushes to bandage it, but he is in such a hurry he spills the iodine.  Thus "Haste Makes Waste," the first time I had ever heard of this.  The only other story I remember had to do with black snow.  Are these stories in this book?  I would hate to buy it (and take it out of the hands of such desperate nostalgic people) if it is not the one I have been looking for!

What joy I feel reading the letters about 365 Bedtime Stories on Valentines Day 2002.  I'm Nan Gilbert's daughter; parts of my life are in The Unchosen and Academy Summer.  The bedtime stories book was part of my childhood, stories my mother wrote about family experiences and such back in the 1940s. I'm glad to know your website exists.

I love your website.  It has the only info I've found on Nan Gilbert.  I am yet another baby boomer trying to find an intact copy of 365 Bedtime Stories, illustrated by Jill Elgin.  The copy Santa brought me when I was four, now much beloved by my six-year-old daughter, is in four pieces, and missing all of October, and some September and December.  I have already lost several copies on e-bay, and the one on their now has the wrong cover, and apparently has a high reserve. 

I, too, remember these stories from my childhood forty-odd years ago.  I  have a dog-eared copy which I now read to my youngest every night.  While I'm sure this is the same book about Tumbleweed Tommy, What-a-dog, Rusty, Beppo, etc., my copy has a cover different from that illustrated on this website.  I have attached a scan of it and wonder which cover is older. In my copy, the story for May 29th speaks about Memorial Day and the children's relatives who were soldiers in the Civil,  Spanish-American and the World War (singular).  Since there was no mention of WW-II, I thought perhaps the book predated that. My copy has both covers more or less intact but no spine.  Also the copyright page is missing.  Any thoughts?

Do you have any history on the Whitman Publishing 365 Bedtime Stories books?  I have noticed that people have been selling those on Ebay but seems like I keep seeing pretty much the same years being sold--like maybe 1938, 1944, 1951, 1955.  Did Whitman publish one a year and were they all different?
[I believe there is only one Whitman novel about What-a-Jolly Street, published in 1955 (two different cover arts, and one reprint in 1981).  There are other story books by the same title, but by different authors and illustrators, and completely different stories.  See the Anthology Finder for more examples (and pictures!).]

I am 40 and have a brother who is 50.  When I was about 10, I discovered this book in our basement, presumably having been my brother's.  I enjoyed reading the stories over the next two years.  We then moved and the book disappeared for many years.  I finally rediscovered it in an unpacked box (again in the basement) sometime after I
graduated from college.  I brought it with me to my own home.  It had always been missing a few pages and now the spine was in tatters.  I taped it to hold it together.  It has survived several moves and now sits in my home library.  I have 18-month old twin daughters who I read to every night and would love to find an intact copy of the book.  I suspect mine is the 1955 edition (but it is missing all of the beginning pages that would probably contain the author's name and copyright info.).  Thanks for this great website and for the chance to share my own experience with this wonderful book!

I'm glad that I found a forum that has some info about Nan
Gilbert.  I first found the book The Unchosen at our neighbor's garage sale years ago, and I read it to pieces.  Even though it was written in the 1960's, it still has relevant topics to share in today's world.  Unfortunately, my paperback edition fell apart, but I was lucky enough to find a hardcover edition for sale.  I love that book!

My favorite days were when Timmy lost the wheelbarrow in the sand box and his pony ate too much watermelon.  I remember many precious days spent "living" on What-A-Jolly Street and would love to own a copy of this special book again.  One of my biggest motherhood regrets is that I didn't have the chance to read the book to my own children because it fell apart from so much handling and love!  I have bid for several of them on Ebay, but always get outbid.  Please let me know if you run across another copy - I would be very interested in purchasing it for myself and my future grandchildren.  (I have found other copies but they are priced upwards of $50 and I can't pay that much!)

As a child, my mother read stories to me from a book my parents had brought out from the United States with them.  I believe it was called 365 Bedtime Stories or something similar.  The book contained the story "Scratchy Spider and the Eight Cream Buns" - our all-time favourite.  A search of the web brought me to your link and it may be that one of the Nan Gilbert anthologies you have contains this story. As I stupidly and selfishly contributed the book to the 'library' of a backyard clubhouse when I was nine or so years old and never retrieved it, nor had the courage to confess my crime to my mother, I'm very desirous now of making restitution for the above crime.  Would you please tell me if either of those anthologies  is the right one?  And if not, do you have an anthology that does have the story?  I am aware that you may not ship to Australia, but my sister lives in the USA and the book could be shipped there. Thanks ever so much for your help.

My Grandma and her husband are now deceased. They 
both are missed dearly. I work down the street from the house she raised her children in, and the house we played in as children. Although the new owners have changed the house a bit it still gives off a warm home feeling. My Grandma was  wonderful, smart and witty. My best memories as a child comes from inside her house. She always thought I'd write someday and wrote a note inside the book, See yourself in print. To Stephanie, Maybe now, maybe later.... Love Grandma. 

Nan Gilbert, 365 Bedtime Stories.  I can't believe I finally found the name of this book! It's wonderful to know so many other people remember it and loved it, too.  It never occurred to me until today to even search for it on the Internet. I have thought about this book many times through the years. I have no idea what happened to my copy. I would love to have one! As an only child, I was fascinated by the stories of these children, some of whom had large families.  Even though the stories were a little outdated when I read them (early 70's), I loved them so much. Now I wonder if I read any of her other books!

Nan Gilbert, 365 Bedtime Stories.  I was a boy about seven years old when my aunt gave me a copy of 365 Bedtime Stories for my birthday. I'm now 57 and I still treasure it. It's somewhat worn but I wouldn't part with it for the world. I still pull it off my shelf when modern life gets too much for me. Thumbing through it helps me remember the happy childhood I had during the mid 1950s when my dear ol' dad was still alive and times were good. People were kinder and more considerate then. Few of the children of my generation were as disrespectful and foul-mouthed as so many are today. I'm particularly fond of the illustration on the back cover, the one with the girl walking hand in hand with the little boy who's reaching for a kitten. The yard behind Mrs. Apricot's house is alive with the soft glow of fireflies. The night seems to whisper "Come on in. It's a great evening for a stroll." The neighborhood where I grew up was not as dangerous at night as most are today. It's such a shame that our society has deteriorated in this respect.