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E1--Sounds as though it may be The
Secret of Crossbone Hill by Wilson Gage.
I don't want to be discouraging, but I also
don't want to see someone go off on the wrong track. I read The
Secret of Crossbone Hill over the weekend and I
don't think it's the solution to the book described. The
Secret of Crossbone Hill is about a brother and
sister, spending their summer at the beach in South Carolina
with their bird-watching mom and researcher dad, who think
they've found a pirate's treasure map woven into a bird's nest.
They go through a series of adventures before they find out it's
actually a map showing where a certain kind of rare bird is
nesting. The box they find containing what they think is
treasure contains undeveloped film, lost by an old man whose
hobby is bird-watching and who has been photographing the birds.
I'n not a 100% sure, but E1 sounds vaguely
like one of the Happy Hollister books, The Happy
Hollisters and the Sea Turtle Mystery. All the
details don't exactly match, but the time would be right. The
six siblings, boys and girls, are visiting in Florida and solve
a mystery on Sanibel and Captiva islands. It involves Indians,
and criminals who try to scare the children away. I don't
think there were any skulls involved.
Might this be The Secret Raft
by Krantz?
A few possibilities to add to the mix: Barbour,
Ralph Henry, Mystery on the Bayou NY
Appleton-Century 1943, hardcover, 237 pages, illustrated by
Thomas McGowan. Sackett, Bert, Hurricane Treasure: the
Secret of Injun Key Random House 1945, 298pp.
adventure story, juvenile mystery, "novel set in the Florida
Keys Novel of a boy trying to save his father's land in the
Florida Everglades. Map endpapers" Though the boys here look too
old to be frightened off by a skull. Urmston, Mary, Swamp
Shack Mystery NY Doubleday 1959 illustrated by Grace
Paull, "Further adventures of the Arnold children; Roger, Clayt,
Dunc, Red, Mark, Linda and Judy." juvenile mystery
Yet another possibility: The Secret
of Mound Key by Robert F. Burgess,
illustrated by Vic Donahue, published Cleveland, World 1966 "A
hunt for buried pirate's treasure leads two boys into
adventure they never expected. The exotic swamplands, shell
islands and blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico offer adventures
of their own. An unusual story of Florida coastal waters. Ages
9-12." (Horn Book Feb/66 publishers ad p.105) More on The
Secret Raft by Hazel Krantz, illustrated by
Charles Geer, published by Vanguard 1966, 190 pages "Opens
as an everyday adventure story of scatterbrained, impulsive
Howie Blake and his friends the Matson twins. Starting with an
early morning jaunt to see a sunrise on the river, the 3
children discover what they believe to be a trio of foreign
agents. On a home-made raft they trail their quarry up the
river into the forbidden, dangerous swampland, only to find
that their 'spies' are actually a professor with two medical
students engaged in antibiotic research on an uninhabited
island. Later the children return and help with some of the
chores; they are introduced to the painstaking methods of
scientific investigation and the joys of eventual success."
Same as C56? Zapf,
Marjorie. The Mystery of the Great Swamp
I wonder if E2 could be The Garden
Behind the Moon by Howard Pyle.
This wasn't a Howard Pyle book. It
was a picture book, and the illustrations were in bright
primary
colors. I remember the boy went to
bed, and the elf woke him up. I *think* they rode a
rocket to the
moon, but I'm not positive. (If
not, how did they get there?) They painted stars all
night, and then when morning got near, the elf took the boy
back home. I remember a two-page spread picture of
stars, all with elves on them, holding tin pails of paint and
little whitewash brushes. And were they singing?
They might have been singing, too. Aarrgghh!
The Starcleaner Reunion by Cooper
Edens, published by Green Tiger 1979 - if it is a reprint
of an earlier book? * Later - nope, doesn't look like a reprint.
Not much to go on but the title - Paul's
Trip
With the Moon, by E.W. Weaver, published New
York, Merrill 1912 (c.1899) 92 pages, blue pictorial cloth
cover. This looks too late - The Moon Painters and Other
Estonian Folk Tales by Selve Maas,
illustrated by Laszlo Gal. It was published by Viking Press,
1971, 143 pages, beautifully illustrated throughout with nicely
rendered pencil drawings. 15 tales plus a glossary of terms.
not much to go on, but perhaps Karl's
Journey to the Moon, written and illustrated by Maja
Lindberg, translated from the Swedish by Siri Andrews,
published New York, Harcourt 1927. "A slight but pleasing
modern fairytale. Its illustrations in
clear, beautiful colors and interesting design make of it a
delightful picture book." (Children's Catalog 1936 p.406)
Something about this description makes me
think of an old book I had as a child, Greta in
Weatherland. A little girl goes out on a dark windy
rainy night, opens up her umbrella and is swept away to magic
land where weather is made. One illustration has elves or gnomes
hammering out sunbeams.
Twinkletoes. I'm the
original poster of this stumper, and my Mom finally thinks she
remembers what book I'm talking about! She says it was
called Twinkletoes, but doesn't have any other
information. I'm sure I would recognize it immediately
if I saw it. How about it, Harriet? Can you finish
the puzzle?
Well, there's a Shirley Temple's
Twinkletoes from 1936, and a Tiny and
Twinkletoes from 1978 by Audrey Tarrant, and
also Twinkletoes by Gwen Evrard, Colleen
Moore and Thomas Burke.
E2 elves: going only by the title, maybe Twinkle
Toes
and
his
Magic
Mittens by Laura Rountree Smith, illustrated
with
full
page plates in colour by F. R. Morgan, published Whitman 1919,
thin octavo, pictorial cloth boards, decorated endpapers, 6
colour printed dustwrappers, "from the elusive "For All Children
from 5 to 10" series, an exceptionally rare title."
#E4-A: Eileen and Eddie. The
only fairy story with cars which comes immediately to mind is The
Gnomobile by U. B. Sinclair, only in that
one, it was the humans who drove the gnomes around, not the
other way. And if
you read it at six, you're truly a
genius: it's about twelve-year-old reading level.
Disney made a movie of it. Karen Dotrice and Matthew
Garber, from "Mary Poppins," played the two kids.
Possibly The Cinematograph Train
by G.E. Farrow (once well-known as author of the
Wallypug books), illustrated by Alan Wright, published London,
1904. Bobbie and Evelyn go to the cinematograph (the famous
first moving picture showing a train rushing toward the
audience) and find themselves on the train station platform.
This is Dreamland Junction and they take the train to Fairyland,
where a they are met by an odd little driver with a
"well-appointed motor-car". He drives them
to meet the Queen of the Fairies - they and the car shrink as
they go, to fairy-size. The humour is whimsical and could be
called dry. "A stuffed Griffin with a cold is such a stupid
thing to be" laments one creature from Nightmare Forest. Fairy
baking powder is put into cakes which make those who eat them
lighter than air so they can levitate and escape from the evil
giant Mam-on who keeps his subjects as slaves. The names aren't
quite right - but there's a Prince Eddie in another story, who
becomes a Fairy Tale Prince for a while, and discovers it's
harder than it looks.
McGraw, Eloise, Sawdust in his
shoes,1950. This
is not a short story, but the young man here runs off to join
the circus and this sounds like one of the chapters.
E6 elephant dung: another possible title is
Elephant Tramp, by George Lewis as told to
Byron Fish, published Little Brown 1955. "Lewis was only 16
when he ran away from home and got his first job as a pony
'punk' just to be near elephants. His greatest ambitions were
realised when he took over, at varying times, the two biggest
and meanest tuskers of them all - Ziggy and Tusko. The book is
full of elephant lore and experiences funny, dangerous and
disastrous." (HB Apr/55 p.132) Again, it's a book, not a
story, but it could have been excerpted.
This is absolutely NOT Sawdust in his
Shoes by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. I know and
love the book, and there is nothing about elephants in it at
all.
Spangle. Searcher is
looking for a short story about a man in a circus who sweeps up
after the elephants, gets teased, and turns the tables in a Tom
Sawyer's painting the fence trick. Check out the book
titled Spangle. This is NOT a short story but a
very thick and heavily researched fictional account of circus
life. It is "gritty" and NOT for children. However,
the elephant dung story appears in the book in slightly altered
form and I think the book has lots of references and notes at
the end, so it may point the searcher to the original story.
Some possibles - the first doesn't look
bad: Harter, Walter, Osceola's Head and Other
American Ghost Stories illustrated by Neil Waldman,
Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall 1974, 71 pgs ISBN
0-13-642991-2, "Juvenile. Ten stories present the
historical backgrounds of ghosts still haunting Valley Forge,
the White House and other places in the United States." Baker,
Betty, ed. Great Ghost Stories of the Old West
Four Winds Press 1968 "A collection of eight eerie, spooky,
mysterious, and terrifying ghost stories for young readers that
proclaim that ghosts followed the Westward trails of America." Smith,
Susy, Prominent American Ghosts Cleveland, World
Publishing 1967 blue cover with black lettering, illustrated by
photographs.
Another one is Ghosts that Still
Walk: Real Ghosts of America by Marion Lowndes,
illustrated by Warren Chapell, published NY Knopf 1941 "Sixteen
stories of friendly, famous ghosts that still come back in
America." The picture of the cover shows a large
bare-limbed tree, with a steep-roofed house in the bush behind
it, rather dark.
E9 early american ghost stories: more on one
suggested - Osceola's Head and Other American Ghost
Stories, by Walter Harter, illustrated by
Neil Waldman, published Prentice-Hall. 71 pages. Contents
include: THE GHOST AT VALLEY FORGE, BLOODY HANDPRINTS ON THE
WALL, JAMIE DAWKIN'S DRUM, OSCEOLA'S HEAD, THE HOUSE THAT HATED
WAR, THE ACTOR WHO WOULDN'T STAY DEAD, THE GHOSTS OF FOLEY
SQUARE, THE GHOSTLY INHABITANTS OF FORT MONROE, THE WITCH IN THE
POND, THE MYSTERY OF THE GOLD DOUBLOONS. I don't know anything
about
American ghost lore, so I don't know if
these correspond to the remembered stories or not.
Ford, Jenifer, The House in Hyde
Park, 1956, illus by
Joan Robinson. I know this is a long shot.
Shaw, Jane, Susan's Helping
Hand. Children's
Press 1960. A bit doubtful about this - some editions do
have a pictorial
cover showing a boy, a girl and an English
bobby, but the cloth is usually green, and Children's Press
usually only had a frontispiece illo, not plates throughout.
Plot description is that Susan's habit of being helpful leads
her into trouble.
L.E.Tiddleman, A Bright Little Pair (1913
approximate) Definitely the book,but comes in different editions
with different pictures on front.
Esther Hautzig, The
Endless Steppe.
Set in Siberia. A likely possibility.
Thanks, but I'm certain that it's not The Endless Steppe.
This is only a possibility, as I don't
recall plot details, but you might try The Ark or
Rowan Farm by Margot Benary-Isbert.
Could this be When Hitler Stole Pink
Rabbit?
Anne Holm, North To Freedom. This could be North To Freedom.
That
story
is
about
a boy named David. I probably read it somewhere around 1970-1972.
This doesn't sound like The Ark
or Rowan Farm. the family in The Ark has
been displaced from their home in Pomerania and is forced to
relocated to a city somewhere else in Germany later they
move to a farm outside the city and Margaret, the oldest girl,
helps breed dogs. There is some mention of them living in
refugee camps, but that happens before the book starts.
Lois Lowry, Number the Stars. Could this be Number the Stars?
"Ten-year-old
Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think
of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in
Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi
soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are
"relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family.
Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save
Ellen's life."
Levitin?, Journey to America
Ian Serraillier, Escape from Warsaw Escape from Warsaw is about two sisters and a
brother who escape from their bombed-out house in Warsaw and end
up in several displaced-persons camps in Europe, trying to find
their parents. Much of the story is told from the point-of-view
of the older sister, Ruth. My copy was published in 1963 by
Scholastic, and the cover shows the children walking through
snow.
Christine Arnothy, I
am fifteen and I don't want to die, 1956,
copyright. I haven't read this in a long time, but I
think it fits the description.
Marietta
D. Moskin, I Am Rosemarie, 1970, approximate. As I was
writing a comment here about this book as a possible solution,
the name suddenly came to me! I was a weird kid and read
everything about the Holocaust that I could get my hands
on. I remember specifically ordering both I Am Rosemarie and
The Endless Steppe from the Weekly Reader book selections we used
to get in school. Not sure which one had the blizzard, but
I will mos def be rereading them both, and then sending them on
to my neice, who's another slightly weird kid. :)
James Ramsey Ullman, Banner in the
Sky, 1956, paperback
1967. This sounds like it. It involves climbing a
mountain in Switzerland called the Citadel in the 1860s. I
believe its based on a true story about climbing the
Matterhorn. It was a Disney movie in the late 1960s-early
1970s. I checked imdb.com and another name for the book
and/or movie seems to be Third Man on the Mountain.
Please note that E-60, "Banner in the
Sky" was not the solution.
Beverly Cleary, Ramona and Her
Mother, 1980s.
This may be way off, but Ramona Quimby had a stuffed elephant,
named Ella Funt, that she carried around with her. In Ramona
and Her Mother, she sews her a pair of pants.
She had had Ella Funt for a while, so there may have been a
spaghetti stain on her somewhere, I don't remember.
Norma Simon, Elly the Elephant, 1962, reprinted 1982. This is just a
possibility - I can't find a picture of the cover
anywhere. Two summaries: "Wendy and her beloved Elly are
inseparable until the toy is left at school one day." And "Wendy
tells incidents in the life of her nine-year-old toy elephant
who goes to school with her, but never grows older." Hope
this rings a bell.
E66 Shot in the dark, but it could be ELLY
THE
ELEPHANT by Norma Simon. Wendy loves her toy
elephant (one summary said she sings to it?), and then one day
she leaves it at school. I couldn't find a picture or further
summary, so I'm not sure if this is a match~from a librarian
Thank you for the suggestions! I obtained copies of both
Elly the Elephant and Ramona and her Mother, but
unfortunately, neither is the book I am looking for. I
believe my book has more pictures (perhaps in color) than Ramona
and Her Mother, and is not long enough to have
chapters. Also, my book feels more modern than Elly, and
I'm fairly certain is written for a slightly higher reading
level.
Nancy K. Robinson, Oh Honestly,
Angela!, 1991,
reprint. "Kindergartner Angela has her problems, also. She
takes her favorite stuffed elephant to show and tell, only to
find out that she is expected to donate it to the school's
Christmas drive for the needy."
I revisited the site for the first time
in a while, and the stumper is now listed as Solved: Oh
Honestly, Angela!However, that is not the book. In
my book, unlike this one, the little girl and her elephant are
the main focus of the book.
Did the elephant go to visit its cousins
when it was misplaced by the girl?
Another poster asked, "Did the elephant go to visit its
cousins when it was misplaced by the girl?" This doesn't
sound familiar to me, but it's been well over 20 years, so
it's possible. I would appreciate it if you would share
the title of the book you're thinking of, if you know
it. Thank you!
Mercer Mayer, There's An Alligator
Under My Bed.
Sounds like this Mercer Mayer classic. Also, 3 of these
stories were published together as There's Something
There (alligator under the bed, monster in the
closet, something in the attic), so that could be the collection
you mention.
Some commented in the stumper, but it's
the correct solutionThe book I am looking for is not a
collection of 3 books. It's a textbook.
[I just noticed this Alligator
stumper is filed under E. I have no explanation
for that. But I'll keep it here so the original requester
can find it.]
E83 Shot in the dark, but it might be worth
looking into THE WITCH DOLL by Helen Morgan~from
a
librarian
The book was probably from the eighties or
even early nineties. It was about a girl might have lived
in some sort of orphanage or something. She gets this doll
and it turns out to be evil. She and a friend bury it in
the woods one night, and the doll is back in her room in the
morning, covered in dirt. The cover was dark, with a
dark-haired girl looking frightened as she held up a blonde
doll. I think that the name of this book is a girl's first
name.... And although i may be wrong about this, I think that it
may be an "A" name, like Anabelle....
The book Im thinking of (see below) is Annabelle
by Ruby Jean Jenson: "bandoned by her mother and
neglected by her emotionally distant father, a little girl is
drawn to an old derelict mansion in the woods near her home. To
the lonely little girl the house is her very own castle and it
seems to call out to her with a ghostly chorus of voices. Inside
she finds a family of dolls that welcome her along with a
strange portrait of a woman who smiles down on her like the
mother she lost. But this house is no playground. It echoes with
the memories of a tragedy that took place nearly a half century
ago and the event is still being played out by forces beyond the
grave. Dolls come to life, seeking to protect a mysterious girl
named Annabelle and a ghostly wraith stomps through the old
mansion, crazed with a demonic rage... Ruby Jean Jensen delivers
a creepy haunted house chiller with her trademark style and
resident killer dolls. A must for Jensen fans and a fun read for
horror lovers."
Ruth Arthur, A Candle in her Room, 1966. Sounds like Ruth M. Arthur's A
Candle in her Room to me. The girl in the book
moves into a new house and (I think) finds the doll, either in
the attic or in a hollow tree. The doll's name is Dido,
and she is evil. Somehow, she convinces the girl to do
magic. I remember the girl burying Dido and trying to burn
her...and both times she comes back. I don't, however,
remember the resolution! The cover has a picture of a girl
standing over a bonfire, poking it with a stick.
The plot of the Evil Toy
returning sounds a bit like Steven King's story about an evil
clockwork monkey. I do recall both the Twilight Zone and Night
Gallery featured dolls bent on revenge against an evil father
figure--the NG one was quite terrifying with her dark eyes and
big teeth! She did have blonde hair, would this be similar?
Tony Brice, Little Bobo and His Blue Jacket. Also published as part of the Rand McNally Book of Favorite Animal Stories
E86 (and E94???). Clevin, Jorgen
, Pete's first day at school, 1973. This
must definitely be the solution to E86 and it could be the
solution to E94. The cover shows Johnny and Pete - and
Pete is a regular large elephant, so his size could have come
into the story. Pete, the elephant, has happy experiences
on the first day of school. "Johnny and Pete live at
number 14 Flower Street. Where do you live? Shall we say hello
to them? That red knob is the doorbell. Press it with your
finger and say : dingalingaling." Pete the elephant goes
to school for the first time. Reader answers questions at each
stop-light. Final story page has a 'blank' TV screen with a
message seen only when held up to the light !Cover is indeed
white as remembered
The description of E99 in the book stumpers
sounds to me like Five Run Away Together by Enid
Blyton. I read a series of maybe four or five books
in the early seventies, though the books would have been written
earlier I think Enid Blyton's famous five series was reissued in
the early seventies, in paperback editions published by Knight
books. The series (of 21 books in total) was first written in
the late 40s to early 60s. The one I think it is would be Book
3. in which a family of children, I am pretty sure
English The four children in the series are English:
Julian, Dick, Georgina (who wants to be a boy and prefers to be
called George) and Anne find a secret cave. I recall that
the entrance to the cave is facing out over a steep isolated
cliff so is mostly unknown, but they find it by a little hole in
the ground, which goes down through the top of the cave. They
build campfires and the smoke goes up through the hole. This is
what makes me think it could be this book. In Five Run
Away Together the five stumble across the cave quite
by accident, when one of them falls down the hidden hole in the
ground. Further exploration reveals that the cave cannot be seen
from the front entrance in the cliff. Also, when a fire is lit,
smoke escapes through the roof hole. There were
probably some mysteries involved, but I do not think it was a
mystery series per se. Well if it is this book, it is part
of a mystery series, so perhaps I'm wrong... would be my
suggestion though!
Blyton, Enid, Five Run Away Together (Famous Five #3), 1944. I have read this book
and I think this is the one the requestor wanted. Four
children and a dog go to a uninhabited island and find a cave
with a hole in the ceiling. They lower their stuff through
the hole and lower themselves through it too, to save them
having to climb the rocks to the front entrance near the
beach. (which can't be seen from the mainland).
They Found a Cave. I
can't remember who wrote this book, but I read it back in the
60s. 4 or 5 children find a cave - I recognise the description
with the secret entrance in the top, and run away to live in it
-I think one of them was called Nancy. Only problem I think it
was set in Australia.
Ransome, Arthur, Swallowdale,1931.
In
Swallowdale
(the
second
of the Swallows & Amazons series), the Walker
family find a secret cave in the cliff-side of a valley in the
English hills. (re other postings, note that one of the Amazons
is Nancy).
Scott O'Dell, Sing Down the Moon. (1970) Fourteen-year-old Navaho Bright
Morning and her friend Running Bird are kidnapped by Spanish
Slavers and sold. Bright Morning later escapes, but when she
returns, she finds her village under occupation by the "Long
Knives", or American soldiers. The Americans force the Navaho
out of their lands, and onto the Trail of Tears.
Before 1988, approximate. This was a wonderful store of
escaped (or freed slaves) living in the hills. The only parts I
clearly remember is an older woman painting an apron for the
protagonist. The picture was of the protagonist wearing the
apron, so it went on for infinity. Eventually they end up
joining Indians in the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. It was a
children's book, with chapters that I read in 1988.
Dolores Johnson, Seminole Diary:
Remembrances of a Slave.
(1994) Might this be the one you're looking for?
"An African American woman and her daughter find the diary of
Libbie, one of their ancestors who was sold into slavery. The
diary describes how in 1834 Libbie, her father, and her sister
escaped from their cruel master. The family is eventually taken
in by the Seminoles. Unfortunately, their peaceful new existence
doesn't last long as the United States government forces the
Seminoles to give up their land in Florida and move to a
reservation in Oklahoma. Illustrated with oil paintings."
McGraw, Eloise Jarvis, Mara,
Daughter of the Nile,
1953. I wonder if this book is Mara, Daughter of the Nile
Mara is a slave with powerful friends. She works as a
double-agent spy and eventually earns her freedom.
Could you possibly be thinking of Mara,
Daughter
of the Nile by Eloise McGraw?
Definitely
not Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.
Co-incidentally, I was re-reading that one this
afternoon, and it doesn't match at all. Main characters
in that one are Mara, a slave, and Sheftu, a nobleman.
Could this maybe be The Mystery of
the Silent Friends? The three dolls in that one are
anamatronic not haunted, but they are at the centre of the big
mystery in the story. See solved mysteries for more details.
Seon Manley and Gogo Lewis, The
haunted dolls: an anthology, 1980. Doubleday, 1980. Christie, A. The
dressmaker’s doll. Timperley, R. The peg doll. James, M. R. The
haunted doll’s house. Blackwood, A. The doll. Jerome, J. K. The
dancing partner. Danby, M. The grey lady. Andersen, H. C. The
steadfast tin soldier. The Doll’s ball. Hawthorne, N.
Feathertop. Tapp, T. The doll. The Life of Aunt Sally, alias
Blackmore, alias Rosabella, alias Amelia, as related by herself.
Pearce, J. H. The puppets. Manley, S. The Christmas of the big
bisque doll. Crawford, F. M. The doll’s ghost.
There's a book THE HAUNTED DOLLS: AN
ANTHOLOGY selected by Seon Manley and Gogo
Lewis, 1980. The stories include: "The Dressmaker's Doll"
by Agatha Christie, "The Peg-Doll" by Rosemary Timperley, "The
Haunted Doll's House" by M.R. James, "The Doll" by Algernon
Blackwood, "The Dancing Partner" by Jerome K. Jerome, "The Grey
Lady" by Mary Danby, "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" by Hans
Christian Andersen, "The Dolls' Ball", "Feathertop" by Nathaniel
Hawthorne "The Doll" by Terry Tapp, "The Life of Aunt Sally",
"The Puppets" by J.H. Pearce -- "The Christmas of the Big Bisque
Doll" by Seon Manley, "The Doll's Ghost" by F. Marion
Crawford.~from a librarian.
Seon Manley and Gogo Lewis, The
Haunted Dolls: An Anthology,1980. I'm certain that The
Haunted Dolls: An Anthology is the book you want. In
addition to the details provided by other contributors, I would
like to mention that the cover is indeed pale green in color.
Jane Langton, The Diamond in the window. I'm wondering if you're referring to The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton. There is one chapter in which the two children (who are orphans being raised by their uncle and aunt) are trapped in a world behind a mirror that reflects their own images as they grow older.
Nancy Woollcott Smith, The Ghostly
Trio, 1970s. This was
a Scholastic Book Club book that I read way back in the
mid-70s. All I remember of the plot is three friends, two
boys and a girl, exploring (and breaking into..even though they
didn't take anything or do anything) summer homes. At one
point, there's groaning in one of the houses, and the kids have
to figure out if it's ghosts, or a more logical
explanation. I think one of them had some connection with
the cottages--maybe the parent was a caretaker?
Flashlights figured prominently, for some reason. Just a
possibility! Good luck.
Margaret Goff Clark, Mystery of the
Missing Stamps,
1967. Could it be this one? Mark's new stepfather is
the caretaker for a summer camp. (Think cabins in a resort area
that families rent for the summer, not sleep away camp.)
His new friend, who works as a busboy at the restaurant, is
accused of stealing. Along with jewelry and other portable
things, a valuable stamp collection goes missing, and Mark is
determined to discover who's doing the stealing and prove his
friend innocent. There's also a younger girl, staying at
one of the cabins, who becomes involved in the mystery. At
one point, there's something about the lights going out and the
sign for the camp being changed as part of the mystery.
Maybe worth a try!
No, I don't recognize either suggested solution. It seems that
the name of the summer cabins might have appeared to be tar pin
et pin dar, because of some of the light bulbs being out on the
sign.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away Lake. While the story is not quite the same, "tar pin
and pin dar" could be "Tarquin et Pindar" written in Latin on
the "philosopher's stone" discovered by Portia Blake and her
cousin Julian. The abandoned summer cabins are there on
the swamp that used to be a lake but I don't remember the
lights. See the Solved Mysteries for more.
Condition Grades |
Enright, Elizabeth. Gone-away
Lake.
illus by Beth and Joe Krush. Harcourt Brace and
World, 1957. Ex-library edition with usual marks
and edgewear, but interior and dust jacket both very
clean. VG-/VG+. $12
Enright, Elizabeth. Gone-away Lake. illus by Beth and Joe Krush. Harcourt, 1957, 1990, 2000. New hardcover edition. $17 |
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Alison Farthing, The Mystical Beast. This is the one! Check it out in the
solved stumpers.
The Junior Classics The stories you mention are all in the ten volume Junior Classics,complete with the unuusual endings, and the tenth volume is an index. My set is more colorful than you describe, though. They were given away with Collier's Encyclopedias in the 1950s and 1960s.
Condition Grades |
Martignoni, Margaret E, series editor. Collier’s junior classics. Collier, 1962. 10 vols, cloth, each a different color; linen interior hinge; all good, with all pages good; vol 4 has a 3/8’ dig in spine; child’s name The young folks shelf of books. [NHQ19915] $80 plus postage |
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Putnam, Polly, The Mystery of Sara Beth, 1950. I loved this book as a kid! The twins, Sara and Beth, are from a poor family that has recently moved to a cold climate from a warm one. Their family can only afford one new coat for the girls, so they take turns going to school, pretending to be one girl named Sara Beth. Another girl at school figures out their secret by noting inconsistencies in their behavior, which as you said, changes constantly. For instance, one of the girls loves the class pet, a guinea pig, and her twin is afraid of it.
E147:
Englishwoman goes to France in search of family history
Book from my school library--must
have been 1950s or early '60s. Middle-aged, unmarried
Englishwoman goes to France searching for family history from
clue in old photo album--picture of a girl in a garden
restaurant? She got a new dress made by sister
seamstresses and learned about father's past.
I think E147 is Family Album by Antonia Ridge. Dorothy Durand goes to France in search of her father's family following clues in her father's photo album. There is a photo of his family's hotel/restaurant in Nimes. She eventually meets up with her cousins who are ribbon makers in Saint Etienne. The dress is made for her cousin Catherine before she sets off on a round the world trip.
Johanna Johnston, Edie Changes her Mind,
1964, copyright. You
were close - these are the "Edie" books by Johanna Johnston
(apparently written about her own little girl).
F20 fish: two really
long shots - The Magical Cupboard, by Jane
Louise Curry, Atheneum 1976, involves an orphan called
Felicity in a dreadful 18th c. orphanage run by nasty Parson
Grout, who steals a magic wooden cupboard that lets Felicity
into modern times. Then there's Fish, also titled
A Boy Called Fish, by Alison Morgan,
Chatto 1971 about a boy whose birthday, school desk, and even
name belong to someone else, and the dog he cares for.
Eleanore Jewett, Felicity Finds a
Way, 1940s/1950s.
Another very long shot all I know about this book is the title,
and that it was set in post-Revolution New York, and is a book
for young people. Almost certainly not the Alison Morgan
book in any case apart from the fact that the central
character is a boy, it does not have a similar plot.
The Little Countess. This is definitely a book
called "The Little Countess". I read it in the early
60's. It's actually Fish's elder sister who inherits the
title from a distant relative and becomes the "little countess",
but the book is more about Fish - Felicity Imogen Stanley
Holmes. They were poor and are suddenly rich! If
anyone can supply the author's name ....?
Frances Cowen, The
Little Countess, 1954. It was a good read for
a young teenage girl in the late 50s/early 60s. Wonder how
it would read today????
Louisa May Alcott, Flower Fables. A collection of six original fairy tales
written by the acclaimed Louisa May Alcott. These stories are
part of a large body of fantasy fiction the author wrote
throughout her career. Each story features adventures of elves
and fairy sprites in fairyland and are imbued with the lushness
of Alcott's love of the natural world. Each story is between 12
and 18 pages with full page illustrations.
Cicely Mary Barker, Flower Fairies books
Cicely Mary Barker, Flower Fairies series. A possibility.
Maybe Fairy Elves by Robin
Palmer
and Pelagie Doane (1964)
Maybe The Adventures of Snugglepot
and Cuddlepie by May Gibb (Gibbs?) 1940's- I
think there are newer reprints.
Not the same book, but
a similar idea - perhaps a series? Dale Payson, Magic
Castle
Fairytale Book New York, Random House 1978 8vo over
9" illustrated board covers that open up to reveal on the left
side - paper pages for the three fairy tales included, which are
The Golden Goose, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rumpelstiltskin, and
Sleeping Beauty. On the right side the boards unfold again to
reveal pop-up castle. In a separate envelope are paper cut-out
characters to go along with all the stories. Paper engineering
by Ib Penick.
there was a short series of toy/books
published in the mid-late 1950s called Playbooks, of fairy
tales, including the Three Bears (but not Wizard of Oz, which is
copyright) which opened to show a box containing little plastic
figures of the characters and some props.
F28 fairy tale figurines: more on the Playbook
series - published New York, Playbook 1958, each book being
approx 6x4", with the fairy tale in a 12 page front section, and
the figures in a box/hollow book after that. Titles
included Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and
the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Three
Little Pigs, and Hansel and Gretel "with true-to-life
playfigures", slogan - "read the books, play with the figures".
We have this book somewhere in our
family! My nan used to have it and it was exactly as you
described - the figures were for looking at = couldn't play with
them. On the opposite page were little nursery rhymes
stories associated with each scene. My nan gave this book
to one of my cousins so I'll email her and find out the name and
publisher! I'm looking for a copy myself!
Fairykins Story Book, 1962. After much searching I think I found the
book the original poster was looking for. It was
made by Marx and an image can be seen here.
This possibility The Cherrys on Indoor Island by Will Scott, published by Brock Books in England, 1958 "The 'happenings' in the Cherrys books could be those of any family - and the neighbours join in. On this wet day the house becomes a desert island crowded with incidents!" (Junior Bookshelf Jan/58 ad) Other titles include The Cherrys of River House (1952), The Cherrys to the Rescue (1963), The Cherrys and Company (1953), The Cherrys' Mystery Holiday (1960), etc.
#F35--Flood!: One of Lois Lenski's
more obscure titles is "Flood Friday." Since
it is based on a true story which took place in Connecticut in
1955, it is doubtful there's anything about going to town in a
wagon. One story set in rural America in the past was "Our
Vines Have Tender Grapes." This was a movie
around 1946, part of which dealt with farm children in a flood.
Another guess, but F35 could very well be An
American Ghost by Chester Aaron. I haven't
read it, but I have seen the TV version. The plot concerns a
pioneer brother and sister who are left alone on the family farm
while their father takes their mother into town to have a baby.
While they are gone, there is a huge flood and the children't
home washes away down river. They still have some animals, and
later a cougar takes up residence in/near the house.
F35 flood: a long shot, but could it be Champ,
Gallant Collie, by Patricia Lauber,
published Random House 1960? Champ is left to guard the farm,
the river floods, and a mountain lion menaces the farm animals.
No idea if
there are children at home as well, though.
F35 flood: the Chester Aaron title,
An American Ghost, has some differences. According
to a review, the main character is a boy alone, the story is set
in the 1800s, and he is "left in charge of a Wisconsin farm
house which is swept away down the Mississippi with him inside
it. Alone? So he thought until he discovered a mountain lion
caged in by a fallen tree at one end of the house." (Children's
Books of the Year 74 p.61)
F36 fairies take girl: could it be Joan
in
Flowerland, hardcover, by Margaret Tarrant and
Lewis Dutton, illustrated by Margaret Tarrant, published
Frederick Warne, no date, 60 pages. "Joan is a little girl who
believes in fairies, and when the gardener tells her that the
best place to find them is among the flowers, she goes in search
of them. Tinkler the elf acts as guide and Joan makes some
wonderful discoveries." The fairies in Annabel and Bryony
(Solved List) are military and take prisoners at times, but the
children get into fairyland through a flower, not by falling
asleep, so it probably isn't that one.
Haldeman, Linda, The Lastborn
of Elvinwood,1978.This charming novel has enough
elements in common with the requester'\''s stumper to be worth
investigating. English actor Ian James follows his local
vicar into a wood, discovers a tribe of tiny faerie folk
dwelling there, and is charged by Oberon to aid in finding a
bride for the last prince of Faerie -- a task which may involve
facing down Merlin himself, and casting a spell over the infant
daughter of a visiting American family. There are more
parallels to the poster'\''s description than this summary may
suggest, although the match isn'\''t perfect in any event,
however, Haldeman is a superb writer and the book well worth
seeking out. The date given is for the original hardcover
edition
there was an Avon paperback issued in
1980.
Ullman,
Barb Bentler, The Fairies of
Nutfolk Wood. I'm not positive, but this sounds like The Fairies of
Nutfolk Wood. A young girl moves with her mother to a trailer in
the woods and I think visits fairies when she falls asleep. The
cover has a picture of a tree or tree stump made into a fairy
house. At any rate, it's a charming story and worth checking
out.
#F41--Future Forest Cities: Part of
the description reminds me of a chapter from E. Nesbit's The
Story of the Amulet and part of it reminds me
of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Green Sky
trilogy but it's probably neither one.
perhaps - A Time to Choose: a story
of suspense, by Richard Parker, published
Harper 1974 151 pages. "When Stephen Conway, aged 17, borrowed
his father's car to transport props and costumes for his school
play, he not only dented a hubcap but caught a glimpse of an
uncanny, bright vision in the windshield. So began the strange
adventure of a youth caught between two words existing
simultaneously on the banks of an English river: the 20th
century world of overpopulation, traffic and pollution; and a
future world of idyllic, communal living and skillful
utilization of water and wind power. Stephen and classmate Mary
Silver soon found themselves able to leave and enter the 'brave
new world' but ultimately had to make a choice - to live there
permanently or to stay in a world of indifferent or nagging
parents, and school examinations." (HB Aug/74 p.385)
F41 future forest cities: another possible
is The Magic Meadow, by Alexander Key, published
Westminster 1975 "Five young hospital patients escape to a
delightful future. Ages 10-14." (HB Apr/75 p.196 pub ad)
Post #F44. It seems to be the same
book that I am diligently searching for. The story of the
ill mother was about the big or little dipper. The theme
of many stories were of how things "became" like the story of
spring (?)or was it the wind and good character or
values/morals. If memory serves me well, Midas and
the Golden Touch was included, and there was the story of the
little pine tree whose needles became something else. I
can almost see the beautiful illustrations but too vaguely to
describe. It was a favorite book to trace from! I
also remember a story of Anderson's Red Cap. I
just stumbled onto this site which is simply fantastic. I
have been glued here all night and have decided to move in. :
) Back to reading the posts!
I believe it is Folk Tales Children
Love... tadaaaaa. Good night now. Safe
tomorrow
Barbara Leonie Picard. I'm guessing
this is a collection by Barbara Leonie Picard. She wroteThe
Faun and the Woodcutter's Daughter, but the other
stories aren't in the book by that name (which are all original
stories by her). However, she did also retell a lot of
fairy tales and legends as well as write her own, so it's quite
possible she's got a collection out there that contains them
all. A more traditional collection by someone else wouldn't
include The Faun and the Woodcutter's Daughter,
however (which is what I'm pretty sure the first story is).
I don't know the name of the book, but the
story about the swans is The Wild
Swans by Hans Christian Andersen
Maybe adding that title to searches would yield some results?
I am looking for the same book. The
book also has a wonderful story about a male spider trying to
entice a shy female fly into his web. I cherished this
book as a child and would also love to find it.
Thanks!!
F48 funny animal poems: I guess My Pop-up Funny Animal Poems, by Ronne Peltzman, published Zokeisha 1985 would just be too obvious?
Enid Blyton, Mary Mouse series. Not 100% sure of this as I don't have any
copies to check. They were small strip books with thin
card covers approx 8 inches long by about 3 inches high with 2
boxed line drawings to a page with text underneath. The
clothes pegs were often dressed in sailor uniforms & Mary
Mouse worked for them. They are very collectible now.
Possibly The Big Book of Pegman Tales
by Ella McFadyen. Plot summary: "Contains
favorite stories with an Australian flavor from Pegman
Tales and Pegman Go Walkabout. Carved from
clothes-pins, the Pegmen become animated and go on a sea
voyage."
Any chance this is Elves and Fairies? Check it
out.
No, I am afraid that is not the book. This book had
beautiful fairy's on the cover. I believe there is fire in the
center with female fairies flying around it .The story about the
spider inviting the fly into his parlour is the only story I
remember. I recall it may have been more of a
rhyming book and extremely whimsical. Thanks for the prompt
reply!!!
Howitt, Mary,The Spider and the Fly (poem only). I don't know the exact book
the poster is looking for, but the poem about the spider and the
fly is in many collections and can be read
here.
Here's a possibility! Treasury of
Stories and Verse (no author or editor) Gallery
Books 1989. If this time frame is too late- this book was
originally published as Hilda Boswell's Treasury of
Poetry, Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Children's Stories and
Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. The
first or third may be a lead! Good luck.
This might be it! Fairies on cover and The
Spider and the Fly covers 4 pages, lavishly illustrated. Treasury
of Stories and Verse-1989- Gallery Books. It seems
to be a collection drawing from three earlier sources: Hilda
Boswell's Treasury of Poetry, Hilda Boswell's Treasury of
Children's Stories and Hilda Boswell's
Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. Hope this helps!
F72: This is a long shot, but I'm reminded
of Walter the Lazy Mouse(1937) by Marjorie
Flack. He gets accidentally abandoned by his family
because he's so slow to follow them at anything they practically
forget he exists. He has to fend for himself and takes up with
the creatures at a pond, including three forgetful frogs, who
inspire him to pull himself together and stop being so lazy (so
he won't wind up as backward as them, maybe?) He gives them
names, since they have none, and tries to be their teacher. He
finds his family eventually.
If you put Percival and frog in Google you
get over 1000 items, so I decided not to take the time to see if
by any chance it would yield the answer to F72. What other word
could we add? {Of course it may be the Flack, but I've sold both
my copies.]
FYI, the three frogs in Walter the
Lazy Mouse are Leander, Lulu, and Percy.
Bill Brittain, The Wishgiver, 1983. "The Devil and ..." stories are prominent
in American folklore, however, this description put me in mind
of a fantastic story of wishes gone awry. The original
edition of this book features b&W drawings. I haven't
read this book in a long time, so if it doesn't work out, you
might also want to try looking for the many variations of
Bearskin.
Possibly The Devil and Daniel
Webster,by Stephen Vincent Benet?
mean jake and the devils, 1981.
Natalie Babbitt wrote and
illustrated THE DEVIL'S STORYBOOK and THE
DEVIL'S OTHER STORYBOOK. These are collections of
short stories, but the one you're looking for might be in them.
(In any case, they're wonderful.)
I remember a book about a girl who went to
boarding school. The main character was Lovey or Luvvy,
and the book may have been called Lovey's Girls
or Lovey and the Girls. It sticks out in my
mind because I seem to remember that the main character was not
quite perfect, in fact, there were sticky issues in the book. .
. . LOVE THE SITE!
Beth Gutcheon, The New Girls, 1979. Not a match, but maybe would be
satisfying to you. This one comes a bit later, and does not have
the blue radio incident, but has many other similarities. Here
is the synopsis from HarperCanada Books: The New Girls
is a resonant, engrossing novel about five girls during their
formative prep-school years in the tumultuous mid-sixties. Into
their reality of first-class trips to Europe, resort vacations,
and deb parties enter the Vietnam War, the women's movement, and
the sexual revolution. As the old traditions collide with the
new society, the girls lose their innocence, develop a social
conscience, and discover their sexuality -- blossoming into
women shaped by their turbulent times. Characters names are:
Jenny, Ann, Sally, Lisa, and Muffin
I enjoyed playing Stump the Bookseller,
and fortunately, the Bookseller won! I appreciate the
information and now know what to look for.
There is a series of books by Don
Arthur Torgersen about Tumble Town and it's inhabitants.
One of the titles is The Troll Who Lived in the Lake.
The cover is blue/green and shows the troll sitting in the lake
with just his eyes above the water line. Most of the
illustrations are done in a green/blue hue. It's about a
troll who is angry because a group of boys has started fishing
in his lake and they've taken all the fish. The water has
turned slimy and the troll isn't happy living in his lake
anymore. Grandma Troll gives him "fifty fresk frisky fish"
from her lake to restock his lake, and he returns the bikes and
fishing poles that the boys abandoned when he scared them
away. The kids promise not to take too many fish and not
to litter, and the troll promises not to scare them
anymore. Could this possibly be the book you're looking
for??
The main character, I'd like to say was a troll, but it could
have easily been a different made-up creature though. He was
pictured on the front of the book too. (Could've been a she
too). He or she has long hair or fur all over, and I seem to
remember his name might have been something along the lines of
Furry,Hairy, or Wuzzy or Fuzzy (yes I am aware of the fuzzy
wuzzy books- I don't think those are the same…) This book
already looked old when my teacher read it( early 90's). I
remember it was smaller than a picture book- novel size I guess.
There were probably only 5 drawings in the whole book. I have a
feeling this is going to be a rare story that not that many
people know about. I'm pretty sure he was a 'nice guy' he
could've been sad too. I remember the story taking place where
there is a forest, or nature, and there might have been a gate
with a key to unlock it that was given to the "troll" by a
fairy…This gate/key/ fairy part is the most vague info- I'm not
sure if I'm remembering that part perfectly clear. And then of
course there's the part that I remember the best- (these are the
only 2 parts I remember, my whole class loved it when the
teacher read it though, which was odd, because usually children,
younger ones anyway, need more pictures than what this book had
to keep their attention, we loved that book! I remember the
whole class would all yell the name of the main character
together- if only I could remember what that was?) ok the
part I remember best- This "troll" he or she, goes underwater.
At first he was scared, then he finds he can breathe (how this
all comes about, I don't remember) The feeling I got each time
she read it to us (I love books) was that when the "troll" went
underwater it was safe, quiet?, dark - I seem to oddly remember
specifically that it was dark underwater- or something black.
also it was warm underwater and it's possible that the "troll"
could be a bear. my book might be very old, but sometimes good
stories get printed again, or rewritten by another author, and
the covers of the books change all the time. This was probably
an easy reader, beginning chapter book. It's possible that it
might be a part of a collection of stories somewhere, not too
likely though. Thanks for listening to me! In
response to The Troll Who Lived in the Lake - It's
possible that this is my book, …I don't remember any trash or
environmental issues…but it's possible. I guess I would have to
get the book first and read it through to find out…I know that
if I read a whole book and not just an excerpt I would know if
it was my book or not. I'll let you know, and thanks soooo much
for taking the time out to help me with my stumper!!
I couldn't find the specific book
referenced, but the Loganberry
Most Requested Anthologies page lists compilations
that contain the stories you're looking for. Folk Tales
Children Love, edited by Watty Piper, published
by Platt & Munk in 1934, has "How Bunny Rabbit Caught the
Sun," and Eight Nursery Tales, a 1938 title by
the same editor and publisher, has "Little Black Sambo." The
1950 edition of Better Homes and Gardens Story Book,
edited by Betty O'Connor, apparently has "Little Black
Sambo" as well, though some later reprints do not.
Don Camillo? Guareschi, Giovanni
Trans by Una Vincenzo Troubridge The
little world of Don Camillo illus
by Guareschi? Grosset &
Dunlap c1950
Sorry, but this series is not the Don
Camillo one. Those books are aimed at adults, not
children, and Don Camillo didn't ride a donkey. [I'm
guessing this is from the original poster, but can't tell]
I made the original request and I think little
world of don camillo may be correct. the "little world"
phrase in the title lights up a few neurons...... do you have
a copy in stock ?
I still think the friar on the donkey is NOT
Don Camillo. Those books were very political and mature,
and not aimed at children, plus
Don Camillo didn't ride a donkey. But the reader may be
conflating a couple of different books.
F85 This might be CIRCUS IN THE MIST by Bruno Munari. It was reissued within the last few years by an Italian art society/publisher (Edizioni Corraini). Just be sure to get the English language edition! The pictures I remember best are the cat's eyes and the headlights. However, maybe you could inter-library loan it through your library to make sure it's the right one. ~from a librarian
Kenneth Flint aka Casey Flynn, Gods of Ireland Vol. I & II, 1991. This seems like a likely prospect -- Mr. Flint (aka Mr. Flynn) has also written a number of books about Irish mythology/history under his own name, dating back to the mid-eighties, so even if this doesn't pan out, you might still want to check out his other works. "The peaceful Nemedians have crossed vast seas in search of a new home. At long last they discover a lovely green isle and decide to settle in its single beautiful valley-already, mysteriously, equipped with huts ready for occupation." Two books: "Most Ancient Song" and "The Enchanted Isles" -- the third was never released.
Check out the Ponsot/Segur collection on the Most Requested Anthologies page
to see if that rings a bell.
Marie Ponsot, trans., Adrienne Segur, Illus., The Golden Book of Fairy Tales,
1958, approximate. The Golden Book of Fairy Tales is
MOST definitely the book described here! There is a 1999
reprint commonly available at a reasonable price.
Lillian Beckwith, The Hills is Lonely, 1959. Just a guess. This site might help.
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle,1945. Long shot, but could this be Shadow
Castle? It is a girl, not a boy, but she does go out in
the woods and after a tunnel and some other things, meets a
fairy and "travels" (through his stories) into a land of fairy
royalty.
Jane Werner, Giant Golden Book of
Elves and Fairies,
1951. Simon and Schuster, New York. Pictures by Garth
Williams. One of the stories in this oversize (13" x 10")
anthology meets this description. Does you remember
illustrations? This book is lavishly and beautifully
illustrated. See Most Requested
Books.
Not sure but Mistress Masham's Repose
by T.H.White?
Someone sent in a solution to another stumper that sounds vaguely reminiscent of this one, though the person who owns the house is a woman, not a man: Mrs. Caliper's House by Muriel Cooke and Headley & Anne Harper, illustrated by Sherman Cooke, NY Knopf 1943, 63 pages. "Nonsense picture story book about Mrs. Caliper, who was so very friendly that she invited everyone who came along to live in her house. Rooms were added for the farmer, the milkmaid, the small boy Peter, and at last for the old lighthouse keeper. Finally rooms had to be built on top of the house, which made it possible to expand almost indefinitely."
Just in case, I checked the Ponsot/Segur collection, but
there are no dark post-scripts included there. At least, not
in the recent reprint.
The Enchanted Book. I
think I have that correct book, but I am not certain it
may have been among Hans Christian Anderson's tales. I
think the stories were compiled by another editor. I too loved
that book and repeatedly checked it out from my local library
over very many years. I would love to have a copy in my
book collection. My two favorite stories from it were The
Twelve Swans and Dwarf Long-Nose. I hope you find your
book.
Marie Ponsot, trans., Adrienne Segur, Illus., The Golden Book of Fairy Tales,
1958, approximate. I think the original respondent was
incorrect in ruling out The Golden Book of Fairy Tales.
It is EXACTLY as described here! The illustrations are as
described and all the stories mentioned are in this book.
Sleeping Beauty DOES have a dark coda; when the prince turned
king goes off to war, his mother (an ogress by birth) decides
she wants to EAT the little grandchildren and asks the cook to
prepare them (a day apart), but is fooled by the cook with a
lamb and a goat. Then the ogress decides she wants to
eat the queen and the cook serves her a deer. One day,
the ogress discovers the hidden queen and her children alive
and decides to kill them in a basin of snakes, vipers, toads
and spiders. Her son returns home and the ogress jumps
into the basin instead.
F96 (and F93?) Adda M. Sharp and Epsie Young, Gordo and the Hidden Treasure, 1955. I was just looking over this at my parents' house at Christmas I loved this book. A boy _raccoon_ travels in search of the "golden treasure" his father had, I think, told his family of (presumably the father had died, I don't remember). He asks lots of animals if they know where he can find the treasure (I think he may even say it's his "father's treasure") I don't recall if there was a cow, but I don't think so. It takes place in the Southwest, crossing over into Mexico, apparently. I remember the sometimes colorful illustrations of pinatas, a bell tower, a ringtail, a kangaroo rat, a boat and market filled with flowers, maybe a beggar . . . In the end Gordo happens upon a cornfield, and it turns out that ears of corn were the "golden treasure" of his father.
David Cory, The Magic Soap Bubble, 1922. I'm not certain this is the book
that you are looking for because I haven't had time to finish
reading it. However, there are fairies and elves, etc., in
the story. It's about a boy who is taken to a magic land
in a soap bubble. Published by Grosset & Dunlap.
1946 -1952. Sorry,
can't name book but F101 and F144 I think both of these
might be looking for the same thing. F101, the book was
large with a smooth illustrated board with a white background,
illustrated on the back cover as well? inside had
fairies sliding down water slides made from narrow leaves fed
from raindrops above? Were the coloured cloths bits of
spiders webs coloured by sky and sunlight? No story as I
recall, just pictures - if there was any text it was minimal
and in the full page illustrations. Also fairies riding
in a cart pulled by ?ants?
I don't know anything about the books in
question, but the illustration sounds like it could be from "Snow
White
and Rose Red." Perhaps this detail may jog someone
else's memory.
Andrew Lang. Andrew Lang wrote
around 20 fairy books such as The Red Fairy Book, The
Violet Fairy Book, The Blue Fairy Book, The Orange Fairy
Book... you get the idea. They were fairy tales and
the covers are along the lines of what's described, though I
don't recall the exact one mentioned. Some of them are in print
but others are not.
Jenny Seed, Peter the Gardener. An 'Antelope' book. I haven't read it since I
was a child, and can't remember if it contains the phrase you
mention. However, I think it is of about the right reading
level and it is about a boy called Peter who has a garden.
F109 I just read some of Yates A
place for Peter and decided it is NOT that one.
Well, Peter the Gardener
wasn't published till 1966. I found another possibility,
though: Peter and Penny plant a garden by Gertrude
Dubois, published 1936, 210 pp. and illustrated. I
found this description. Maybe it will help jog your memory
or rule it out. "Dark green cloth w/orange spade/leaf
design/lettering, flower Illus endp, TP vignette, & small
illustrations throughout text, which is organized by month,
starting w/September, index. A story format for a garden for
pre-teens." If this isn't it, though, don't give up - it's
just harder to find older books as they don't have good
descriptions and keywords in the library databases (yet).
I remember this story-believe it was
Japanese? the baby is a girl who turns out to be a princess?
Can't remember the title, sorry!
There's a similar Japanese
tale about a fairy princess found in a bamboo stalk. The famous
Momotaro story is about a fisherman who catches a giant peach
with a child in it, but here it's a boy.
I do not have the book to check for you but your memory of the turquoise and orange illustrations ( HoJo's color scheme) make me think of the Elson-Gray Readers that were used in the 1930's! Put out by Scott Foresman, they were the precursor to the Dick and Jane (New Basic Readers) series.You might want to locate Book One in the series! Good Luck- Oh! Another set of books to check out-Child Library Series, companion to the Elson-Gray set- same coloring- extends the lessons and vocab of the Basal reader. Locate Book One in this series as well. Hopefully one of these "seeds" will bear fruit!
Fairy Tales, 1950s.
This is the title of the book, and I would love to have a copy
if it's available. It was published by Whitman in 1950 and has a
glossy hard cover with some of the characters from the stories
on it, most prominently Puss in Boots and a castle in the
background.
I have a Whitman book called The
Magic Realm of Fairy Tales with copyright dates
ranging from 1944-1968.While it has some of your stories- not
all are present-- However at the back of the book they list some
of their other offerings. There is one called Favorite
Stories- a collection of the best-loved tales of
childhood, illustrated by Don Bolognese, Betty Fraser, Kelly
Oechsli. Maybe this one is worth checking out!
Anderson, Hans Christian, Thumbelina, 1953. This is a Little Golden Book
illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren. I haven't been able to
locate my copy to confirm this, but my memory is that the
Tenggren depictions of the little flower people at the end of
the book (one of whom, the king, Thumbelina ends up marrying)
had them sporting fairy-like wings and wearing little
upside-down flowers on their heads. I bet this is the book
the requester recalls.
Hi, Harriett.....This is F144 e-mailing
you with a bit more info about the book I'm longing to
find. I'm remembering that the little fairies were
sitting by a tree with a door in it.
WALLACE, IVY, POOKIE. I wonder if it might be this old favourite
about a bunny named Pookie. There are certainly lots of fairies
in the story and there is an illustration of a tree trunk
opening into a little room. It has recently been republished
after years out of print.
BARKER, CICELY MARY, FLOWER FAIRIES.COULD IT BE ONE OF THE MANY BOOKS IN THE FLOWER
FAIRIES SERIES? THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE EXQUISITE.
MANY OF THE BOOKS ARE COLLECTIONS OF POEMS BUT I THINK SOME OF
THEM ARE STORIES. THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR MANY MANY
YEARS.
Sorry, can't name book but
F101 and F144 I think both of these might be looking for the
same thing.
These are just guesses since I don't have copies of the books to check the stories/poems you mentioned-- Fireside Fairy Tales: profusely illustrated: a popular and interesting collection from all sources / Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry & Co, ?1890-1899 / Illustrations and engravings by H Tuck, Kate Greenaway, Harrison Weir, Lizzie Lawson, E Sears, Richard Samual Marriot, Thomas Cobb. Notes: fairy tales, stories, and poems. Fireside Stories. Veronica S Hutchinson, ill. Lois Lenski/ Putnam, 1927 / Minton, Balch & Co., 1927 {Lois Lenski has a very distinctive style - just check the internet for examples of her illustrations and you should be able to rule this book out if the illustrations don't jog your mom's memory}
I was in the archives to see if I could solve anything and ran
across A153 which sounds a lot like the book I'm looking for. I
don't remember the raft or the map but the rest sounds the same.
Harriet Weed Hubbell, The Friendship
Tree, 1962. I
haven't read this book and can't find an online synopsis, but
the title and date certainly match. Published by T.
Nelson, 217 pages. I hope it's the book you're looking
for!
Sorry, it is not Hubbell's The Friendship Tree I
remember it as a fairly large book, maybe 9x12 with about 40
pages or so. Colored pictures to the edges of the pages and
about 6 - 10 lines of text on each page. I have found three
authors using the title but they are all novels, not children's
books. Thank you so much for trying to help. From the lack of
recognition, I'm afraid this might be a lost cause even with
someone else on this list looking for the same book.
I have been looking for this book for
several years. My sister and I used to check it out from
the small library in my hometown in Michigan back in the
1960's. It must have been published in the 40's or 50's as
the copy we used was showing its age. Is it possible that this
is a book from Canada or England? As I recall the
illustrations seemed to be influenced by Milne. I hope someone
can find this one. I would like to by a copy for my
sister.
I am the original poster and it is highly
possible that this is from a Canadian publisher as my mother
was Canadian and brought this book with her when the family
moved to the States. Hey, that's three whole people who
remember this book!
Friendship Valley by Wolo.
NY:
William
Morrow
&
Co,
1946.
A
story
packed
with
illustrations
about
a
variety
of
animals,
large
and
small,
who
work
together
to
make
a
home
after
the
tragedy
of
a
forest
fire.
Endpapers
are
a
pictorial
map of "The Little Lake and Friendship Valley," color pictorial
paper over board.
Friendship Valley is
definitely the book being sought! A group of small animals
(badger, woodchuck, racoon family, squirrel, hedgehog, and frog)
escape a forest fire by floating downstream on a raft.
They rescue a kitten and establish a new home at the base of a
large pine tree. Dorinda the squirrel loses all of her
belongings by helping the racoons save their babies. When
the key to their storehouse is lost at the bottom of the lake,
Meedlepoo the frog, who is too small to do much work, saves the
day, leading the badger to conclude "that the smallest one among
us is just as needed as the biggest one." With profuse
illustrations in black and white and in color, this is a
wonderful book.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth. Could this be it? Sally is sent to live with
her Aunt Sarah while her parents are away. She find a diary
written by another Sally who lived in the house when it was new
( in the Victorian era) and talks about her doll, Elizabeth who
she thinks is magic.The modern Sally is somehow tranported back
to the Victorian Sally's time and lives the episodes out of the
diary. Eventually this leads the modern Sally to find the
doll , Elizabeth, in the present.
Elisabeth Lansing, Lulu's Window. I think you are looking for Lulu's
Window. Young girl has to move to a new town and new house
with her father who is a minister. She doesn't want to
move, and is treated meanly by other girls in the town who are
unhappy that she has replaced "Lulu" the little girl who
previously lived in the house. She finds Lulu's diary, and
eventually Lulu's secret room and makes friends with the local
girls.
O'Dea, Marjory, Of Jade and Amber Caves, Heinemann 1974. I'm actually suggesting 2 books: Six Days Between a Second is the first, published 1969, but the title of the sequel sounds closer to what's being sought. The blurb for the first "Would you recognize a basilisk if you saw one? And what would you do if you discovered that a tribe of them had come to live in your district and was threatening to poison the water supply? The place is Canberra, where the Collard children are faced with the problem of saving the city from extinction. With the help of other creatures - unicorns, fabulous bees and dolphins and, best of all, Burleigh the Gryphon, they ... but read about it for yourself!" The second says "But much has changed ... the children are a few years older (and perhaps shrewder) and the fabulous animsls they meet have their worries too. There could be something wrong with their fantasy world, which older children and adults will realise is not so far removed frou their own contemporary Australian one." The list of characters includes the Collard children: David, Barbara, Genevieve and Peter, Dryads (named Semolina and Vermicelli), Ermines (Tirian, Miniver, Regis), Unicorns (Bucephalas and Onegar), Dolphins, Basilisks and Bees. The endpapers of the second book have memorable spectrum-tinted maps.
Sounded like it might be the Segur/Ponsot Fairy Tale book,
but I don't think it has all the stories you mention. Check
out the Anthology Finder to
see if there are any other possibilities there.
World's Best Fairy Tales.
Reader's
Digest published this 800+ page fairy tale book in 1967, 1970
& 1977. (Beginning in 1977 it also appeared as 2
volumes.) While the cover doesn't really match the
description of the vines and people hiding, all the stories you
mentioned are in this book. I don't know what the
endpapers look like. I found lots of copies for sale
online, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding a picture of
the cover to compare to your memory. Here's a complete
contents list from the 1967 edition. It should be the same
as the later editions. Contents: Pied Piper of Hamelin --
Snow White and Rose Red -- It's perfectly true! -- Tom Thumb --
Nightingale -- Chicken Little -- Frog Prince -- Cinderella --
Princess and the pea -- Ali Baba and the forty thieves -- Golden
goose -- Why the sea is salt -- Ugly duckling -- Jack and the
beanstalk -- Two frogs -- Snow queen -- Six sillies -- Hedgehog
and the rabbit -- Thumbelina -- Sorcerer's apprentice -- Red
riding hood -- Little mermaid -- Five wise words -- Goose-girl
-- Beauty and the beast -- Town mouse and the country mouse --
Snow White and the seven drawfs -- Tinderbox -- Little fir tree
-- Bronze ring -- Three billy goats gruff -- Boy who kept a
secret -- Magic kettle -- Jorinda and Joringel -- Puss in boots
-- Emperors' new clothes -- Billy Beg and his bull -- Little one
eye, little two eyes and little three eyes -- Red shoes --
Steadfast tin soldier -- Snegourka, the snow maiden -- Three
little pigs -- Shoemaker and the elves -- Doctor knows it all --
Six swans -- Dick Whittington and his cat -- Rapunzel -- Aladdin
and the wonderful lamp -- Three bears -- Rumpelstiltzkin --
Golden-headed fish -- Hansel and Gretel -- Brave little tailor
-- Gingerbread man -- Horned goat -- Seven Simons -- Little
match-girl -- East of the sun and west of the moon -- Musicians
of Bremen -- Blue beard -- Princess on the glass hill --
Half-chick -- Sleeping beauty -- Magic carpet -- Jack the giant
killer -- Twelve dancing princesses -- Little Claus and big
Claus -- Colony of cats -- Sindbad the sailor.
Manson, Beverlie, Fairies' Alphabet
Book, Doubleday,
1982. "An illustrated alphabetical introduction to fairy
folk." If you're not talking about Cicily Mary
Barker's famous flower fairies, and I don't remember any
of them being in a bigger format, then this is a
possibility. The description says it's 29 cm long, which
is about right, and Doubleday has book clubs though I'm not sure
if they're affiliated with any of the clubs that sell in the
schools.
F179 Just some possible leads: FAIRIES'
ALPABET BOOK by Beverlie Manson; A
FLOWER FAIRY ALPHABET by Cicely Mary Barker
~from a librarian
Cecily Mary Barker, Flower Fairy
Alphabet. Barker
produced several illustrated books of fairies in costumes that
rather cleverly mimicked different flowers. She was
English, and I believe she is much better known in the UK. I
loved this book as a kid, and can even still recite some of the
poems from the facing pages opposite the illustrations.
Barker, Cicely Mary, A flower fairy
alphabet, 1985.
Blackie (London) published an issue of A flower fairy alphabet
in 1985.
Folk Tales, 1900's , John S
Swift Co. I found a book that had 3 of your four stories,
as well as several unusual titles. Are you sure The
Selfish Giant was in your book? If so, this isn't the one
you're looking for. Contents: This is the house that
Jack built -- The old woman and her pig -- The story of the
three little pigs -- Scrapefoot -- The three bears --
Johnny-cake -- Henny-Penny -- Lazy Jack -- Mr. Vinegar -- Jack
and the beanstalk -- The history of Tom Thumb -- Whittington
and his cat -- How Jack went to seek his fortune -- The
Hobyahs -- Mr. Miacca -- The three wishes -- Teeny-tiny --
Cinderella -- Beauty and the beast -- Puss-in-boots -- Toads
and diamonds -- Drakesbill -- The twelve months -- The elves
and the shoemaker -- Bremen town musicians -- The fisherman
and his wife -- Sleeping beauty -- Hansel and Gretel -- The
frog prince -- Snow-White and Rose-Red -- Little one eye,
little two eyes, and little three eyes -- The golden goose --
Snow-White -- Mother Hulda -- The queen bee -- The wolf and
the seven kids -- Rumpelstiltskin -- The blue light --
Thumbling -- Billy goats gruff -- The pancake -- The doll in
the grass -- The lad who went to the north wind -- The sheep
and the pig who set up housekeeping -- The princess on the
glass hill -- Why the bear is stumpy-tailed -- Why the sea is
salt -- Boots and his brothers -- East of the sun and west of
the moon -- The straw ox -- The flying ship -- The turnip --
Fulfilled (A legend of Christmas Eve) -- The mirror of
Matsuyama -- The tongue-cut sparrow -- The little half-chick.
Unfortunately, "Folk Tales" does not seen to be the book I am
looking for.
Andrew Lang, The Blue Fairy Book. I immediately thought of this book when
I read your post. There are many unusual fairy tales found in
this plus some more adult versions of some familiar ones like Sleeping
Beauty. I found a site with a list of the titles that I'll
try to paste here: The Bronze Ring, Prince Hyacinth
and the Dear Little Princess, East of the Sun and West of the
Moon, The Yellow Dwarf, Little Red Riding Hood, The Sleeping
Beauty in the Wood, Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper,
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, The Tale of a Youth Who Set
Out to Learn what Fear Was, Rumpelstiltzkin, Beauty and the
Beast,The Master-Maid, Why the Sea is Salt, The Master Cat or
Puss in Boots, Felicia and the Pot of Pinks, The White Cat,
The Water-Lily. The Gold-Spinners, The Terrible Head, The
Story of Pretty Goldilocks, The History of Whittington, The
Wonderful Sheep, Little Thumb, The Forty Thieves, Hansel and
Grettel, Snow-White and Rose-Red, The Goose-Girl, Toads and
Diamonds, Prince Darling, Blue Beard, Trusty John, The Brave
Little Tailor, A Voyage to Lilliput, The Princess on the Glass
Hill, The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou, The
History of Jack the Giant-Killer, The Black Bull of Norroway,
The Red Etin. The Selfish Giant isn't listed but I'm
sure this is what you are remembering. The original books had
the most beautiful illustrations, woodcuts I believe. There is a
whole series, The Red Fairy Book, The Orange Fairy Book,
The Lilac Fairy Book, etc. so the one missing story
may be in one of them. My library had about 6 or 7 in the series
and I absolutely loved them. I hope this is what you are looking
for.
Hitchcock (ed) ?????? Don't
have any for-sure answer on this, but I would be looking at the
various "Alfred Hitchcock" story collections if I were
you. There were AH's tales of mystery, AH scary stories,
etc. They were bound as oversize hardcovers and aimed at
juvenile audiences, but had many scary moments. I
definitely remember that story (oh, by the way, it WAS the cat,
not the sister...and I seem to recall the presence of another
child...friend maybe?) and it unsettled me, also.
Wish I had more info hope this helps a bit.
Watson, Jane Werner, Jolly Barnyard, Golden, 1950.
F195 It is not Bedford, Annie
Norton.The jolly barnyard. illus by Tibor
Gergely Little Golden #67, 1950.
The farmer starts out giving each animal something special since
it is his birthday. It is also not Gale, Leah. The
animals of Farmer Jones. illus by Richard
Scarry [earlier editions illus by Rudolf Freund]. Golden 00-52
no copyright or publication date given. eating time for
farm animals & humans - It starts w the amimals
calling for Farmer J to come and feed them
Angela Carter, Heroes and Villains.
I've only skimmed Heroes
and Villains (many years ago), but the plotline
described here rings a bell. There's a synopsis here.
A Very Private Life.
Could it be A Very Private Life? The plot sounds
pretty accurate, about a girl called Uncumber who leaves her
home... thingie and finds the outside world, and I remember that
the cover was yellow as well.
Vonda N. Mcintyre. Rather a long
shot, but this reminds me of a short story/novella by Vonda
Mcintyre. I unfortunately can't recall the title,
but it had a similar plot. It was fairly dark though...the
teenage daughter was sent out deliberately to become the
mistress of the (wealthy) man she met. He gave her pretty
clothes and jewels and I think a pet bird, but when she gets
sick (as all the shanty town residents eventually do because of
radiation) she goes home again. I got the impression it
was set in the same world as McIntyre's Dreamsnake,
but inside the domed cities instead of outside on the plains.
Nope, it's not Devlin's How Fletcher Was Hatched.
Oxenbury, Helen, Pig Tale, 1973. Yes, I know this is older
than the requester posted, and it doesn't have any character
named Fletcher in it, but please look at it anyway. The
similarities are such that perhaps your poster is remembering it
and another book they had. Hope it helps.
Hans Wilhelm, Pirates
Ahoy!, 1987, copyright. This Parents
Magazine Press selection is the delightful book described
here. Fletcher (yes, a pig), on a slow morning on the
farm finds an old wagon that the animals pretend is a pirate
ship. They crash it into an apple tree and spy a bus
coming down the road. They commandeer it, all get ice
cream but decide it isn't fast enough. SO, they find a fire
engine. They come to a circus, so they climb up the
firetruck's ladder and fall into the tent, where they stage
their own circus. But they decide they still need a
ship, so they find an airplane. They do a few loops
(turning green and looking ill), then crash into a mud puddle,
right back on the farm, where they get bored again. The
illustrations are adorable; I love the bored animals lazing
around (one pig standing on his nose on the fence)!!
possible east of the sun and west of
the moon? the bear lives in a castle though,
but the girl does ride on the wind.
asbjornsen and moe, The White Bear
King Valemon.
This sounds something like a Norwegian fairy story which is best
known in the version published by the 19th century collectors
Asbjørnsen and Moe, who are Norway's parallel to the Brothers
Grimm. In their version the bear is a prince who has been
bewitched, and can be a prince only for part of each day. After
some failed attempts with her older sisters, he gets the
youngest princess in a kingdom to go with him, but is separated
from her. She undertakes journeys to try to get back with him
and is eventually successful, so the curse is overcome. This
story has a lot of overlaps with the story known as East
of the Sun and West of the Moon which another reader
suggests that one was also published by Asbjørnsen and
Moe. Both stories include many element which can be found in
many folk tales, fairy tales and legends from many cultures,
however. But Asbjørnsen and Moe do not give their princesses the
name Frida in either case.
Huber, Salisbury, O-Donnell, After
the Sun Sets,
1938,1953,1962. I think that in this version of East o'
the Sun, West o' the Moon the heroine has the name Freda. (I've
been doing an exhaustive search for the 1938 version - I think
that's the one my grandmother handed down. Can't find that
version, so I can't verify for sure.)
Margery Bianco, The Good Friends, 1934, copyright. Could this be The
Good Friends by Margery Bianco. It is a
chapter book but has many illustrations. The animals all have
personalities and are helped by a girl named Mary. They hide
from a Humane Society officer and the horses hire themselves out
to earn food.
Hi: I happened to be looking
for the same book as F207. I don't think you found the right
book. The book this individual is talking about was published in
England I believe. (I was a child living there when I read it.)
I read it in the early 60s. It was a smaller picture book,
probaby 6 by 9 inches. It was brown. I think the drawings were
in brown ink. The publisher published a number of children's
books along this same model. It's a very sweet story about
a group of somewhat lame older animals that all pitch in. The
horse digs the hole, the pig picks up the plant gently. They all
get worn out and sore. I am sure it's out of print. Well, just
thought I'd flesh it out for whoever submitted the request.
Nila Mack, Let's Pretend, 1948. This sounds like Let's Pretend again! See the Solved Mysteries for more info. The book starts with Cinderella, and includes The Leprechaun, Childe Roland, Princess Moonbeam, and Rumpelstiltskin.
Rumer Godden (author), Adrienne
Adams (illustrator), The Fairy Doll,
1956. I don't own a copy of this out of print book, and I
can't find a detailed online synopsis, but I think that this may
be the one you're looking for. Here's what I remember.
Elizabeth is the youngest child in her family. She is
clumsy, easily distracted, uncertain, and is still riding a
tricycle because she can't balance on a bicycle. When a
Christmas presentation to an elderly relative goes awry
(Elizabeth drops the gift and it shatters), she is given the
Fairy Doll from the top of the tree. She makes the doll a
home and the doll gives her the confidence she needs to succeed
at various endeavors. This story was reprinted in 1984 in
the book Four Dolls by Rumer Godden
(illustrated by Pauline Baynes). It was also
reprinted in 1998 with illustrations by Penny Ives.
If the illustrations are important to you, you'll probably want
the original version.
Godden, Rumer, Fairy Doll
Rumer Godden. I had this
story in a collection of four stories about dolls by Rumer
Godden. I don't remember what the story was called, but two of
the other stories in the book were Impunity Jane and
The Story of Holly and Ivy. I think it might have
been called something like The Fairy Doll. I
think the doll is actually a Christmas ornament and I think she
belonged to the little girl's grandmother. The little girl is
the youngest in her family and feels she isn't good at anything.
She is also clumsy and her siblings pick on her about this. She
makes the doll/fairy a house in her bicycle basket and uses
various natural things (acorns, dandelions, etc) to furnish the
house. I was given this book in England in the late 80's. It was
paperback with a red cover, possibly a Penguin book. Hope this
helps.
Rumer Godden, The Fairy Doll. Might be this one- a little girl is given
the fairy doll off the top of the Christmas tree. She
plays with it and makes a little home for it. It gives her
confidence to learn how to rider her bike and become more
independent.
Rumer Godden, The Fairy Doll. Elizabeth is the youngest of four and
feels like she can't do anything (like riding her bike or
getting her schoolwork right), until she starts taking care of
the Fairy Doll and gains some confidence. She does make
her a house in her bicycle basket.
Rumer Godden, Fairy Doll. I'm pretty sure this is it. Elizabeth is the
youngest in her family. She's also the clumsiest and least
confident of her cruel siblings. Then she's given the Fairy Doll
from the Christmas Tree. As she cares for the doll, creating a
miniature world, she gains confidence (and learns to ride her
bike).
Eleanor Frances Lattimore, Fair Bay.
I used to have this book
and I recall the dustjacket as being just as described
here. The storyline fits, too.
I landed at this web
page because I too am looking for the same poem about a
feather. As I recall it went something like "If you find a
little feather, a pretty white feather, a soft and tickley
feather, pick it up and put it in your pocket. A feather
is a letter from a bird that says think of me, remember me
always or at least until the little feather is gone"...or
something like that. And I do think it was in a childrens
lit book because I was in college at Cal State Long Beach at the
time and the book belonged to a friend at school. This was
in 1966.
lee bennett
hopkins, zoo! a book of poems, 1971, copyright.The poem is by
beatrice schenk de regniers and is in zoo!a book of poems, but
that book does not contain the ice cream poem. i hope this helps
some.
Allan Jahsmann, Little Visits With God. (1959) Sounds like it could be this. There was also a second book called 'More Little Visits With God'. Described as 'devotions for families with small children', each one-page story had an illustration and suggestions for parents and children to discuss the moral of each story.
Elizabeth Gordon, Loraine and the
Little People (series). (1930's) Possibly one of the books in
Elizabeth Gordon's "Loraine and the Little People" series?
These books were originally published in the 1910's, but were
re-issued by Rand McNalley in the 1930's. Titles include
"Loraine and the Little People" (illus. by Penny Ross), "Loraine
and the Little People of Spring" (illus. by Ella Dolbear Lee),
"Loraine and the Little People of Summer" and "Loraine and the
Little People of the Ocean" (both illus. by James
McCracken). These beautifully illustrated books feature
short stories about a young girl named Loraine and her tiny
fairy friends. "Loraine and the Little People of Summer"
contains seven stories, including one called "The Flower Gown
Maker" - perhaps this is the one you are looking for? The other
stories in this book are "Queen O'Weeds", "The Moss Carpet
Weaver", "The Shaker of Seeds", "Queen of Loving Thoughts", "The
Commodore", and "The Master Colorist."
CS Lewis, The Silver Chair. (1898-1963) Two english children undergo
hair raising adventures as they go on a search and rescue
mission for the missing prince Rilian, who is held captive in
the underground kindom of the emerald witch. Depending on
which print you had, the cover illustration may have had a
picture of the witch who turned into a brilliant green serpent
and threatened the two children. Also, the second book you are
thinking of could be another of the series The Chronicles of
Narnia, such as The Last Battle
Unfortunately, that solution that was offered is most certainly
NOT the answer to my query. I know the Silver Chair
story well, and the book I was looking for is not a second world
Fantasy story.. it is a straight forward Science Fiction story,
as I stated... there were robots and blasters and all the rest..
Futuristic City, space ships, etc, etc etc... And the
serpent was coming out of a long grass swamp... very important
to the picture! As per my description, the books were
short (30 pages maybe), not anywhere as long as even the
shortest Narnia book.
Carolyn Haywood, Snowbound with
Betsy. Definitely
the one. It's on the Solved Mysteries page as well.
Haywood, Carolyn, Snowbound with
Betsy. (1962) The most
popular of Haywood's umpteem novels is Snowbound with
Betsy. Betsy, Star and their parents have unexpected
guests just before Christmas, when a mother and her two children
are stranded in town during a blizzard and Betsy's parents take
them in. The story kept me so enthralled the first time I
read the book that I distinctly remember lying on the living
room couch with the book in front of me.
Richard Laymon, Sounds like it could be one of richard Laymon books, horror genre for adults and young adults. Quite full on but not my cuppa tea. OR it could be The Fog by Frank Herbert.
George Jonsen, Author, John O'Brien Illustrator, Favorite Tales of Monsters and Troll. One of my all time favorite picture books. I recognized it instantly because of the excellent John O'Brien illustrations. It contains the Three Billy Goats Gruff, a story about a man who uses a pet bear to scare trolls, and a tale of the youngest woodcutter's son who squeezes cheese to outwit a troll. The illustrations are full of tiny Bosch-like details of little creatures who inhabit the hair and clothing of the main characters. The illustrator also produced a coloring book of fantastic creatures that you might want to check out!
Mel Ellis, Ironhead, 1968. The title is the name of an alligator that is part of the book as well as snake collecting and large rattlesnakes. Originally published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Reprint in paperback in the 1970's.'
Stephanie Tolan (author), The
Great
Skinner Getaway, (1980). This could be The Great
Skinner Getaway or The Great Skinner Homestead. In the
first one, the Skinner kids' father comes home with a huge
camper/motorhome and announces the family is going to travel
across the US. The four kids are not happy about it, and
their mother isn't too thrilled with the idea either. The motor
home breaks down in the middle of nowhere and the family has to
figure out what to do. Because they have to work together, they
become closer. In the second title, the Skinners have
decided to spend some time (maybe just the summer, maybe a
year?) in the broken-down mobile home and the kids detail the
humor of it while wanting to get back to civilization.
There are two other books about the Skinners: The Great Skinner
Enterprise and The Great Skinner Strike. (I''m not giving a
great description, but I do think these are the books in
question!)
Richard Powell (author),
Pioneer, Go Home. I think this must be the book you
are looking for - the details fit, and if this isn't it, then RD
must have put out 2 very, very similar stories right around the
same time!
F248: Possibly the fairy tale board book
series by Oscar Weigle and illustrated by T. Izawa
and S. Hijikata. (Not all include Weigle's name.) They
began before 1970 and ran for years. The different titles
sometimes include the phrase A Living Story Book
or some variation of Puppet Book. Two stories I
remember - with the original "sad" endings -were The
Little Match Girl and The Red Shoes.
If there are other authors of fairy tale board book series done
with puppet photos and holograms, please do tell - I'd like to
track them down too.
Shiba Productions, The Fairy Tale
Treasury In Living Color. (1966) Blue cover with hologram of
Cinderella getting out of her pumpkin coach. Fourteen
stories as follows: Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, Little
Red Riding Hood, Tom Thumb, Sleeping Beauty, The Ugly Duckling,
The Golden Goose, Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp, Goldilocks and
the Three Bears, The Little Match Girl, Pinocchio, Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs, Puss in Boots, and Hansel and Gretel.
Beautifully illustrated with the charming puppets of Tadasu
Izawa and Shigemi Hijikata. A rare and expensive book.
Elizabeth
Coatsworth, Runaway Home, 1942. Check Solved Mysteries.
I'm sorry to say, Runaway Home by
Elizabeth Coatsworth is definitely NOT the book that I'm
looking for. I have a copy of that book, and while the Harding
family's car does break down in the desert, they are only
stranded for a few hours before help arrives. There is
no lengthy survival ordeal of several days, nothing about
sucking moisture from strips of cactus, collecting dew, eating
crayons, or one of the boys making the long walk to get
help. As I said, I think the style of the book and/or
illustrations may have been similar to that of Runaway
Home. The setting may have been slightly more
recent - 1950's or 1960's possibly. Thank you for your
help.
Reader's Digest. in
1993, at seventh grade overnight camp, I read this story from a
photocopy (bedtime story) - it was a Drama in Real Life article
from Reader's Digest. On the WWW, I found one mention in a
blog from someone else who remembers it, but it doesn't look as
if RD has put up old stuff.
I too remember this story, and as other
person mentioned, I also believe it was a Readers Digest
"Drama in Real Life" story. I remember that they were
taking about which crayon colors tasted best when they were
eating them.
I remember a "collecting dew on hubcabs"
storyline and would've read it in the 60s... a scholastic book
maybe?
Evan
Wylie, Ordeal in the Desert, November 1959. This was
published in Reader's Digest and reprinted in one of those
"Drama in Real Life" paperbacks. Someone mentioned in in
their blog here: http://astoriedcareer.com/2008/03/where-it-all-began-for-me.html, which is all the details I've
been able to find about it, but it was originally in the
November 1959 issue of Reader's Digest.
Date: 1960, approximate. This was definitely a Readers' Digest story. My wife and I both
remember it vividly. I'm pretty certain it was Death
Valley, and the people used the crayons as lipstick. I'm pretty
sure also that the hubcap episode may also have been about their
having to drink their own urine at some point.
This isn't an answer, I'm afraid, but the
only two copies of Full Fathom Forty listed on
Worldcat are in the British Library and the University of
Oxford. Perhaps you could email them, or have a friend in
the UK check for you?
Sybil Burr, Full fathom forty. Thanks, Harriet! That's
got me much further on than ever before. I'll get tracking
in the UK... Happy New Year!
Paul Gallico, Jenny. Isn't this "Jenny" by Paul Gallico? There's a
description on the I-J solved page, see if it matches.
Paul Gallico, The Abandoned. Other readers have mention's Galico's Jenny
-- but the book was first published under the title The
Abandoned.
William R. Burkett, Jr., The
Sleeping Planet,
1967. Sure sounds like Wm Burkett's SLEEPING PLANET
see for instance this
review.
Sounds like it might be by A.E. Van Vogt.
There is something about it that puts me in mind of The
Weapon Shops of Isher, which you might also like. If
no one can identify your book, although I'm sure somebody will,
maybe you could write to Gardner Dozois who is the editor of Asimov's
Science Fiction Magazine. He will almost certainly be able
to tell you. The book sounds like real Golden Age stuff, his
specialty. Luck to you.
Re the second comment under the F260 query
-- Gardner Dozois retired as the editor of "ASIMOV'S
SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE" back in 2004 and was replaced by
his associate editor, Sheila Williams.
Cornelia Drexel Biddle, My
Philadelphia Father,
1955. This is one book that features alligators kept by a
family frozen, and then thawed out. The book is a memoir
by Biddle of growing up with an unconventional father, Anthony
Drexel Biddle. He kept a boxing ring in the barn where he
boxed with prizefighters, kept alligators as pets in pools in
the conservatory of his house, organized a movement of Biddle
Bible classes, etc. At one point in the book, a maid opens
the doors and windows of the conservatory to let it air out, but
it is during winter and the alligator pools freeze over.
The family thinks they are all dead, but when they stoke up the
fires in the conservatory and heat it up, they begin to
stir. This book was the basis of the 1960s Disney musical
"The Happiest Millionaire," with Fred MacMurray as A. D. Biddle
and Lesley Anne Warren as Cornelia.
I think I had a partial solve on my F262. I thought the book I
had was Disney. And since it sounds like their was a disney
movie associated with an old book I think i had a short disney
book based on the "Happiest Millionaire." I think its a
partial solve then because I'm pretty sure the book was not
either of those titles. Maybe it doesn't even qualify as a book?
thanks.
Tony Wolf, The Woodland Folk Meet the Giants, 1985. This is from a charming series called the Woodland Folk: The Woodland Folk Meet the Giants, Meet the Gnomes, Meet the Elves, The Woodland Folk in Fairyland, In Dragonland.
Condition Grades |
Wolf, Tony. The Woodland Folk Meet the Giants, illus by Tony Wolf, Rand McNally, 1983, glossy boards, some wear; pages very good, Woodland folk [NQ 16060] $10 |
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Bishop, Hamilton, and Bowman, Nan, Sarah,
and
Clare:
Letters
Between
Friends, 1980. I've only read a short excert so I'm
not certain, plus the date is later than you remember, but this
book does involve three female friends who are struggling ten
years after college. All three had married and then been
divorced. The letters were written in 1976 and the book
claims they are real letters from real people.
Responding to suggestion that this is
Nan, Sarah and Clare- thanks very much for the thought, and it
does sound amazingly similar, but that's not it. I know I read
it a camp counselor's tent, when I was a camper, which
was definitely makes it around 1959-1960. I'm also
pretty sure it was not told as letters
The Fearless Flycyle. Could
this be it? I can't find a description online, but I
vaguely remember the story from my childhood. Could the
author's name be Ormerod?
Are you thinking of The Furious
Flycycle by Jan Wahl (1968) (Ormerod's first
name is also Jan)? Here's the description - "Getting the
idea from a great inventor who has settled in his town, a young
mechanical wizard invents a device that enables him to fly his
bicycle on a rescue mission which makes him a great hero."
There's also Alexander's Flycycle by
Elizabeth Rose (1967) -- "An unsuccessful inventor makes a
final attempt to build a novel and successful invention."
Neither mentions an aunt so I don't think they're the correct
books.
Leo Rosten, The Story Behind
the Painting, 1962. Possibly (based on title and
date)
V.M. Hillyer and E.G. Huey, A
Child's History of Art: Painting, 1951. This might
be the book you are searching for. It describes the
history of painting, from cave paintings up to "modern" painters
like Hopper and Rivera. 33 chapters. All the illustrations are
in black and white. It is part of The Calvert Home School
curriculum. Written in a bright, lively style that appeals
to children. However, there's no index and no table of
contents, which makes searching for information on a particular
artist difficult.
could this be T.H. White's Mistress
Masham's Repose? The tiny people are more
Lulliputian than fairies, but the circumstances and the setting
is the same.
Jean Fritz, Magic to Burn, 1950's.
I
think
the
book
you are looking for could be Magic to Burn by Jean
Fritz. The trips were by plane and car, not by train, and
the children were Americans on a visit to England with their
parents.
Macaulay, David, Motel of the
Mysteries, 1979,
copyright. Could this be it? David Macaulay, Motel
of the Mysteries,1979. It is the year 4022,
all of the ancient country of Usa has been buried under many
feet of detritus from a catastrophe that occurred back in 1985.
Imagine, then, the excitement that Howard Carson, an amateur
archeologist at best, experienced when in crossing the perimeter
of an abandoned excavation site he felt the ground give way
beneath him and found himself at the bottom of a shaft, which,
judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from an archaic
doorknob, was clearly the entrance to a still-sealed burial
chamber. Carson's incredible discoveries, including the remains
of two bodies, one of then on a ceremonial bed facing an altar
that appeared to be a means of communicating with the Gods and
the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in the Inner Chamber,
permitted him to piece together the whole fabric of that
extraordinary civilization.
Jonathan London, Into This Night We
Are Rising, 1993,
copyright. A long shot, but when I search for books about
children who dream of flying, this comes up. It describes
a night-time dreamworld where children fly through the air,
stuffed animals talk, stars sing, clouds can be used for pillow
fights, and space is a vast playground. Another one that
might be worth checking out is "Tar Beach" by Faith
Ringgold (1991) about a young African-American girl who
dreams that the stars lift her up to go flying over all of New
York, claiming everything for herself. I think she takes
her little brother along with her on one of her flights.
Donaldson, Lois and Bilder, Arthur K., Skyjets for Fliers of Tomorrow,
1954. This could be the one. I've seen a picture with a
boy and girl wearing flying jetpacks on somebody's blog.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_t4oY2AFkthw/RhMOI_yYdhI/AAAAAAAAAcg/lDrobwkXLe8/s320/index.jpg.
Carol Ryrie Brink, Caddie Woodlawn
Could the dog have been named Tip instead
of Tag? My first grade readers for the 1962-63 school year
featured siblings Jack, Janet and Penny, their cat Mitten and
dog Tip.
This is not a solution, but should help the
confusion on this title. I am -also- looking for the 1st
or 2nd grade reader with a dog named "Tag" -- googling that is
what got me to your page. The dog in this reader was
unquestionably named "TAG"... I was born in Chicago,
started school in N.Wisconsin in 1966, and was already quite a
reader... I could not understand WHY these kids all said "Tag"
(and "bag" and "wagon," for that matter!) with a looooong "A" -
Even at 5, I was taken up short by dialect. Long story
short, I tell you all of this to verify that the dog was "Tag,"
and it has been nigh impossible to track it down. The
children in these stories? Who knows... I only -really- liked
the dog! BUT, the girl -may- have been "Susan" -- no
guarantee on accuracy there. Hoping this shows up
somewhere. Thanks so much!
Harris, Creek and Greenman, Dot and Jim,
Primer, 1964,
approximate. There was a first-grade series featuring Dot,
Jim, and their dog Tag. I had this in California in
1966-67.
Anna Perrott Rose, Room for One More, 1950's, approximate. I read this many
years ago when I was about 12. What I remember is that one
of the adopted children was named Jimmy John and he had some
kind of disability that made walking difficult. He became
active in Boy Scouts. This was made into a movie with Cary
Grant. I wonder if this is what you are looking for.
Murphy, Frances Salomon, Ready-Made
Family, 1953,
copyright. The book I'm thinking of is Ready-Made
Family, which was published as a Scholastic
paperback with a green cover in the mid-1960s. But it's
about three foster children--Hedy, Peter and Mary Rose--not
four. The copyright is 1953.
I'm not sure whether you're looking for a
true story or a novel, so I have one suggestion for each.
"19 Steps Up the Mountain" is the true story of
the DeBolt family, but there's a vintage Scholastic novel called
"Readymade Family" by Frances Murphy,
about three siblings that get adopted together--that may be
closer to what you describe. There is an older girl named
Hedy, a slightly rebellious boy (I think his name is Pete), and
a younger girl. Hedy worries about "corporal punishment"
and about being sent away, especially when Pete misbehaves, but
eventually they all adjust to each other.
Could the person be thinking of READY
MADE FAMILY by Frances Salomon Murphy, 1953,
Scholastic? Three sibling are unwanted by their relatives, and
are passed from family to family. Finally they are taken in by a
wonderful foster couple. Mary Rose is little and lovable, Hedy
is helpful,
but they're afraid Peter's behavior will
drive the couple away.
Frances Salomon Murphy, Ready-made
Family.
http://www.librarything.com/work/702581. My copy is from
1973, but I think it was written in the fifties. Cover image in
link.
Helen Doss, Really real family. Take a look at my solved stumper of "Really
real family" to see if that rings any more bells.
Anna Perrott Rose, Room for one more, 1954, copyright. You said "4 adopted
children", so this may be incorrect, but I have two
thoughts. First, Cary Grant and Betsy Drake portrayed the
true couple George (Poppy) and Anna Rose, a couple with three
children who became foster parents to three more children. The
movie was based on Ms. Rose's book of the same name.
Second, you may wish to check out the book, Adoption
Literature for Children and Young Adults: An Annotated
Bibliography (Bibliographies and Indexes in Sociology),
by Susan G. Miles.
Murphy, Frances S., Ready-Made Family,
1953, copyright. Here's a
possibility. The kids in this story are in foster
care. The oldest girl is determined to do everything just
right so that they might be adopted. The story is a little
older than posted - 1953 - but still might be the one.
Noel Streatfeild, The Children on the
Top Floor. Four
babies are left on the door step of a famous television
personality and he adopts them. I can't remember if any of
them were brothers or sisters. The children star in
commercials and when they get older become involved in different
aspects of show business. One girl gets interested in
costume design, another girl acts in movies and one boy becomes
interested in camera work. I read this in 7th grade in
1970-1971. I'm not sure when it was published though.
Sounds like FUNNY BUNNIES by
Robert Quackenbush, 1984. While Lucy is out swimming,
bunnies crowd into the hotel room.
Cyndy Szekeres, Learn to Count Funny
Bunnies, 2000,
copyright. If it weren't for the date being off, I'd think
this was the one. Wilbur Bunny is all dressed up to greet
(and count) the parade of family members arriving at his home,
to celebrate the birthday of Baby Bunny. Another possibility, if
not for the date, is Szekeres' "I Can Count 100
Bunnies, and So Can You!" (1999) in which Wilbur
counts and introduces the 99 members of his extended family, as
they arrive to greet the newest addition to the family -
Wilbur's baby sister, Sweet Petunia. If there is any chance you
could be off on the date, these might be worth a look.
Jill Barklem, Brambly Hedge: Autumn
Story, 1980,
copyright. The Brambly Hedge books were published
in England in the 1980s and may possibly be what you're looking
for. Each one is about a different season. The Brambly Hedge
website (http://www.bramblyhedge.co.uk/) may help you determine
whether these are the ones.