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Book Request
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G4: Grandfather Stories
Solved: Grandfather Stories


G8: Cornwall
Solved: Green Smoke

G10: Good and Bad Girl
Solved: Goody Naughty Book


G11: Good Morning, Sun
Solved: A Good, Good Morning

G15: Golden feather
Solved: The Jungle of Tonza Mara

G17: Ghostly playmates, anthologized short story
Solved: Ten Tales Calculated to Give you Shudders 

G19: Girl thinks she has other life
Solved: Mrs. Razor


G21: Girl lives with grumpy grampa
Solved: The Family Tree 

G22: Genie & beeswax
Solved: Do Not Open

G24: Goldilocks
Solved: Naughty Little Goldilocks 

G25: Growing Up
Solved: Growing Up

G27: Goober family
Solved: Goober Village


G28: Ghost Felicia, with baseball bat
Solved: The Ghost in the Swing 
G30: Greek History

Solved: The Illiad and the Odyssey 

G31: Gruesome scary short stories
Solved: Horror Tales: Spirits, Spells and the Unknown

G32: Gnome who grows geraniums
Solved: The Little White Horse


G34: Grettir the Strong with creepy pictures
There are many versions of the Norse (?) legend of Grettir--Grettir the Strong, Grettir at Thorhall-stead -- but I haven't come across the one I remember.  It had creepy, heavy-lined illustrations like woodblock cuts, in the style of the cover illustration on Tales from Silver Lands, and there may have been other stories in the book.  Not much later than 1970 and probably earlier.

This book sounds like one I read when i was a child (early 80's).  It was a large hardback with a pale purple cover and featured gruesome scaninavian fairytales. It had very distinct (and quite scary) illustrations  back and white "wood block" style line drawings at the top of the pages and full-page colour ones too. I remember a story about a clever cat outwitting a hideous troll,  a princess riding on the back of the 4 winds to find her missing prince and a story about a priest and a wolf. hope some of this rings a bell
G34 grettir the strong: Tales From Silver Lands, the book mentioned as having similar illustrations to the one wanted, has woodcuts by Paul Honore. Allan French did a retelling, Grettir the Strong, illustrated by Bernard Blatch and published by Bodley Head in 1961. Robert Newman did one, also called Grettir the Strong, illustrated by John Gretzer, published Crowell 1968. There are several others that don't appear to be illustrated. I couldn't find any collection of Norse or northern tales illustrated by Honore specifically.
French, Allen, The Story of Grettir the Strong, 1908. Allen French's retelling of the Saga of Grettir was first published in the US in 1908. It had a colour frontispiece, a colour vignette of Grettir on the title page, three other colour plates and three black and white plates. The colour illustrations are signed by F.I. Bennett, and dated 1908. The black and white plates are by a different illustrator, and are signed CAB and dated 1908. This edition was reprinted several times. In later printings the colour frontispiece is also used as the dust jacket illustration. The most recent printing I have seen is the twelfth printing, dated 1966. In that one the three black and white pictures by CAB are omitted entirely (they are no longer included in the list of illustrations at the front of the book). The five pictures by F.I. Bennett are retained, but are printed as black and white drawings only, except for the cover picture, which is in full colour on the dust jacket, but in black and white where it is used as the frontispiece. The British edition of Allen French's retelling of the Saga of Grettir was published in 1961, with new black and white illustrations by Bernard Blatch. I don't think it was ever reprinted, and it was sold mainly in the UK.One of these could be the book your reader is looking for.
Jones, Gwyn, Scandinavian Legends and Folk-tales, 1956, copyright. I believe this is the book that is most likely to be the one your reader remembers.
It is a collection of legends that included the story of Grettir the Strong. The illustrator is Joan Kiddell-Monroe. The book is one of an extensive series of collections of myths, legends and folk-tales for young readers published by Oxford University Press in the 1950s and 1960s. All the books were illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe, but several different writers wrote the books.



G35: Goblin eats children's feet
Solved: Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep


G36: Grimm's anthology
Solved: Anderson's Fairy Tales

G37: Grimm's anthology--yes, another one!
I am trying to locate a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales because of its wonderful water color and pencil illustrations.  Of course, I don't recall the artist's name, which is why I am writing to you. First, a description of the book.  It was my father's when he was a child (late 1940s), so I am assuming it was published sometime before then, possibly 1920s or 30s.  The book was a hardcover, large-ish in size (let's say 9" by 13") and had no dustjacket (my memory might be fuzzy on this point).  It's possible the jacket was lost, but the hard cover was illustrated with a scene from Beauty and the Beast.  The stories were the old Grimm ones: The Goose Girl, Snow White and Rose Red, Pied Piper, etc. but I suspect the collection of stories was not complete, merely representative, because the book was about 175 pages and illustrated with small and full page illustrations.  I assume a complete collection would be much larger.  Our copy was in English. The stories were not edited for children's delicate sensiblities: I well recall in the Goose Girl that the horse's (Fala?) head is cut off and hung on a wall. Next, the illustrations.  They are art deco in style: wavy parallel lines for hair, delicate ankles and joints on the figures, simple rounded lines in the clothing.  I suspect the artist is either Dutch or Scandinavian because the characters tended to be shod in clogs, which is why the delicate ankles are memorable.  The water color illustrations tended to be large, full-page size and softly colored in muted shades.  I don't recall any vibrant, bright colors, but remember that rich deep reds & blues, pale pinks and greens and such were the norm.  Characters' faces were not very detailed--a few lines conveyed an expression.  Throughout the book were smaller (about 4" high, give or take) black & white illustrations that were probably pencil or charcoal drawings.  The artist was not Rackham, Cruickshank, or Maxfield Parrish. And that is all I really know at this point.  Any suggestions or ideas would be very welcome.  Thanks.

Gustaf Tenggren, illustrator, The Tenggren Tell-It-Again Book. Parts of the description seem to fit so well with this one  Gustaf Tenggren is Scandinavian, my copy of this book is vibrantly illustrated, although all the drawings are in color, even the smaller ones (but before relocating it, I also thought the smaller drawings were black etchings). The main difference is that not all of the gruesome aspects are present. Falada is taken to a distant part of the stables instead of having her head whacked off and displayed...BUT the description gave me a very vivid memory of yet ANOTHER anthology. You may be remembering two different books, this one and the more gruesome one that I also have a memory of. Check out this website on Tenggren and for some other illustrators, like Kay Nielson go to this website.
I am the person who posted the original query and want to respond to the suggestions posted as possible solutions. To wit: Thanks for the suggestions, but I am sorry to say that after checking out the links you provided, neither of the illustrators you suggested is the one I am looking for.   Furthermore, it was definitely one book (not two that I might have confused) and Falada was also definitely beheaded, hung on a wall, and talking to the Goose Girl.  For what it's worth, I absolutely loved Tenggren & Nielson's work (thanks!).  I am browsing the book website on which you had found them and think it might have been John Bauer (his trolls and hags look very familiar)... Here's hoping.
Everywhere I look at books I'm trying to find answers to these stumpers!! I'm going buggy!!!! Is it possible that your book is one of those collections that has multiple illustrators?? Today I came upon The Platt & Munk Treasury of Stories for Children. It contains Goose Girl in which Falada's head is hung on the wall and he speaks. The illustrator of the story is Eulalie-- but the artwork is very different from her colored work in the Bumper Book,- rather it is simple black and white line drawings that may have a hint of the art deco to them. Other stories had other illustrators: Lois Lenski, Tasha Tudor, Margaret Hoopes,George and Doris Hauman. This particular book does not have The Pied Piper so it is probably not the one you are seeking. However, under the acknowledgements it is stated that Goose Girl comes from Famous Fairy Tales, edited by Watty Piper and illustrated by Eulalie and others- Copyright 1922,1928, 1933 by The Platt & Munk Co. Sure hope this helps! Oh! Someone has stated that Famous Fairy Tales is number 95 of the Platt& Munk Star Book Children series. For those people hunting for series of books this may be a useful bit of information!
Illustrated by Fritz Kredel. Translated by Mrs. E.V. Lucas, Lucy Crane and Marian Edwardes, Grimms' Fairy Tales. I am pretty sure this is the book you are looking for.  I have it sitting on my shelf. There are both colorful pictures and some just sketches (mine are in red and white).  The stories are pretty gruesome, including a talking severed horse head named falda.  Most of the stories include some death or dismemberment.  Some other titles, if this helps, are: The twelve Dancing Princesses, The Three Spinning Fairies, King Thrushbeard.
Marie Ponsot, Translator, The Fairy Tale Book:  A Deluxe Golden Book. (1961)  Recently rereleased in the early 2000s, I still have my orginal copy.  Battered and beaten, with the cover all but destroyed, the illustrations are as fresh and lovely as the day it was given me.
Grimm Brothers, Grimm's Fairy Tales,1929.The original copyright of this was in 1919 by the Platt & Nourse Co., Inc., Copyright 1929 is Platt & Munk Co. Inc. I think this is the same book mentioned in the original query.  It has an orange cover with a black Sleeping Beauty illustration and line drawings throughout.  The art deco look and the clogs are all there. The first story listed is Rumpel-stilts-kin and the last is Clever Grethel.  These are the gory oldies for the most part.  I have no idea who the translator is.  The last page notes that this series was published as "The Star Books for Children: Happiness on every page".  I hope that helps.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, Hansel and Gretel and Other Stories by the Brothers Grimm,1925.Your description of the illustrations reminded me of Kay Nielsen'\''s haunting style, and he seems to be from the right era. This collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales includes "The Goose Girl".



G38: Girl inherits house
Solved: Wait for What Will Come

G39: Greek mythology
Solved: Children of the Dawn


G40: Gaynelle
Solved:  Willful Gaynelle 

G42: Giant needs glasses
Solved: The Book of Giant Stories 

G43: Girl with lots of dogs
Solved: Nine Friendly Dogs


G44: Geraniums in windowboxes...
Solved: Little White Horse

G45: Girl with dogs
Solved: Nine Friendly Dogs

G46: Goose girl story
Solved: The Girl Who Sat in the Ashes 

G47: Green ink
Solved: Gruesome Green Witch

G48: Girl and brother on boat
Solved: The Maggie B

G49: Gergely book?
Solved: The Golden Book of Nursery Tales
YES! IT WAS THE GOLDEN BOOK OR GOLDEN TREASURY OF NURSERY TALES!  It contained such titles as:  The Hollow Tree Store, The Boasting Bamboo, The LionHearted Kitten, The Golden Key, The Magic Pot, The Three Sillies, Silly Will, The Three Pigs, The Cap Mother Made....etc. etc.  The illustrations were COLOR.


G50: Grandmother's garden
A little girl is sent to stay with her elderly grandmother, in an old country house. She spends a lot of time in the garden where she meets various famous people from the past. I remember Joan of Arc in particular. I read and re-read this as a child and must have remembered the title wrongly as I have never been able to locate a copy.

A possible is Castle of Comfort, by L. Atherton, illustrated by S. Findley, published London, Faber 1958, 153 pages. "Ten year old Nell has the happy knack of going into the past through the door leading into the flower
garden. Her home, the Castle of Comfort, then becomes the setting for various historic scenes, and is intended, with Nell herself and her family, to be a focus for each bye-story." (Junior Bookshelf Mar/58 p.64) It does
seem that the historic scenes are all loosely connected with the house, though, which this a less likely match.
G50 grandmother's garden: there is a book called Grandmother's Garden, by Hazel Cook Corcoran, published Parthenon 1961. No plot description as yet, but it seems to be fairly rare and there is no LC listing.
I started to read a book once in school called Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Time (I think) about a girl in a garden to which something magical was about to happen related to the thyme plant when the teacher consificated to book and I never got to finish it.
Edward Eager, The Time Garden, 1950s.  Someone suggested that your book might be Parsley Sage Rosemary and Time, but it probably isn't--that book takes the girl only goes back to Colonial America. In the Time Garden, though, there are 4 kids staying with an elderly woman, and they travel back in time to meet famous people from the past--Louise May Alcott and possibly Joan of Arc. It's worth looking at--paperback is still in print.
Trevor Meriol, Sun Slower, Sun Faster, 1957.  "Two modern English children go back into their countries past and live historically significant religious periods." I'm not sure if this fits- might have possibilities.
Hazel Cook Corcoran, Grandmother's Garden, 1965. This is a small book of poetry.  I have this book and the companion book  The Garden Grows, pub. 1970.  Both are signed by the author.  I am trying to find out more about the books and author.



G51: Girl finds secret room in new house
Solved: Ten Kids, No Pets

G52: Griffin
A story about a Griffin who hatched an egg.

Bill Peet, The Pinkish Purplish Egg.  Probably this book, but I believe the griffin hatches FROM the egg.
If the griffin hatched FROM an egg this would be The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg - Bill Peet 1963 and still in print. Maybe Could you be getting it mixed up with Horton Hatches an Egg?



G53: Girl from planet of water
Solved: Martin and His Friend from Outer Space

G54: Girl with wolf friend
Solved: String of Time

G55: Girl pilot mystery
Solved: Linda Carlton, Air Pilot

G56: Girls' series
Solved: What Katy Did
G57: Ghostly love

Solved:  Tryst 
G58: Gillian, Gilly, Gill

Solved: Witch of Redesdale

G59: Glow in the dark-Mice
This is a story about a little mouse, maybe a mouse family and the illustrations are in Glow in the Dark.  The little street lights glow.  My husband had this when he was young and has no idea what the name of it is.  Would love to surprise him with it!

Kraus, Robert, Night-Lite Storybook, Windmill, 1975.  A long-shot:  I have two Night-Lite Calendars, both illustrated by N. M. Bodecker, which have various tiny animals (hedgehogs, rabbits, etc.) in assorted settings. The signs, lighted windows of houses, etc., in the pictures glow in the dark.  Illustrations are copyright 1972 by Bodecker for Night-Lite Library, but the only book showing on a google search is Kraus's Night-Lite Storybook (and Kraus's publishing house, Windmill, was the one that issued the calendars).



G60: Giant man and little man exchange houses
Solved: Benjamin Budge and Barnaby Ball

G61: Girl from Mars
Solved: Star Girl

G62: Gingerbread Boy and Three Kittens
My sister and I are trying to find a book that our Mother used to read to us as children.  We have a portion of it but the cover and first 15 pages are gone. You can find two scanned pages here and here.  The book is 60 pages and includes stories such as: Little Red Riding Hood, Henny Penny, The Gingerbread Man,  The City Mouse and the Country Mouse,  The Three Little Kittens,  The House that Jack Built,  The Three Little Pigs.  We think it use to have the three Billy Goats Gruff also  Any Ideas?  Thanks!!!

I am wracking my brains over G62 ...I absolutely *know* those pictures - I will get back to you if and when I can find my copy.
My college-age children and I all agree that the illustrations look very familiar!! I am inclined to suggest Gateway to Storyland by Watty Piper (late 50's edition) which was mine as child that I kept for my children.  It's up in the attic--I just went to check, but it's about 130 degrees up there and I didn't find it immediately and had to leave!! I'll try to check later.
Ok, it cooled off and it looks like I sent in a false lead--it is NOT A Gateway to Storyland.  I still think I KNOW those illustrations--could you tell me a little more info--what are the dimensions of the book and what was time frame you first had the book?  I looked thru all the books I have here with no luck--but there is a falling apart book of Mother Goose at my mom's that I'll check next time I'm home.
Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.  I think we had this book as children too.  Those pictures are definately familiar.  I would try Mother Goose.
Just a suggestion! I have a book called Favorite Nursery Tales that is similar to what you describe. It is smallish- 62 pages
long. It has all the stories but Three Little Kittens- but there are some poems along the way. The book is put out by Golden Books and the illustrations come from Little Golden Books. Mine is a 1970 edition. There is an edition from 1963- perhaps that resembles your long lost book.(I have never been able to pull up your pictures to see what they look like!)


G63a: Ghost story turns out to be amnesia
can't remember much. I don't believe this is a Nancy Drew mystery. Bunch of kids rent old house for summer. See lady "ghost". She turns out to be a girl that is being drugged and has lost her memory. She is being kept in this little room/cabin? After they rescue her they all go on this boat-her Dad's? In the beginning the kids-teenagers-go up to the attic of this old house and find boxes with old clothes in them-this is where the lady "ghost" got her dress that she wears to "haunt them" Sorry it's not much!

Sutton, Margaret,The Haunted Attic, 1932.  I can't remember the entire plot of this Judy Bolton mystery, but this might be the one.
This is not the Haunted Attic by Margaret Sutton.
You mistakenly classed one of my stumpers as "solved". This story is not The Haunted Attic by Judy Bolton as somebody clearly stated. I have also read that story-a couple of days ago-and it is not the book that I am looking for. Can you please put it back under "unsolved"? Thanks!
Jean McKechnie, Penny Allen and the Mystery of the Haunted House, 1950.  The Allen kids discover a girl hiding in the cabin they're living in. She has been drugged and has amnesia. It turns out she was kidnapped by a man who then drugged her and tried to convice her that he was her father. The kids go in search of the girl's identity and her real father. They travel along a river in a cabin cruiser, pursued by the kidnapper and his gang. In the end she's reunited with her father.
Margaret Buffie, The Dark Garden Probably not the book you're looking for, but enough of the details match that it's a possibility.


G63b:  Girl Named Lemon
All I can remember about this one is that there is girl named Lemon in the story and another possibly named Fern. They  live on a farm and they go to the fair.That's the extent of my memory.

I don't remember a Lemon in Charlotte's Web, but that's what I think of when I think of Fern....
Elizabeth Enright, Thimble Summer, circa 1939.  Thimble Summer is about Garnet, who lives on a farm in the Depression, and her friend Citronella (which you may be remembering as Lemon!). It includes a visit to a fair.  It was a Newbery winner and should be easily available.
Elizabeth Enright, Thimble Summer,1938.  Could it be Citronella, not Lemon? The other main character, named Garnet, has a pig, which might have led to the association with the name Fern.



G64:  glass-blowers children
Solved: Glassblower's Children
G65: Girl's rejection of her doll

Solved: Elizabeth
G66: Girl who visits aunt and gets a doll

Solved: Merry, Rose, and Christmas-Tree June 

G67: Glassblowing apprentice
Solved: The Blowing Wand

G68: Girls Shelling Peas in front of fireplace
Solved: Childcraft

G69: Girl-Silver Streak Hair-Outerspace
Solved: Martin and His Friend from Outer Space


G70: Girls Travel From Germany-America 1940's
Solved: Toward Freedom 
G71: Girl obsessed with Woody Allen and old film "Laura"

Solved: The Rise and Fall of a Teen-Age Wacko 

G72: Girls play dress-up in attic
Solved: Once Upon A Time In The Meadow
2002

G73:  Girl Looking for adoptive mom squiggly polka dot
Solved: A Home for Penny

G74:  Girl with Favorite Color RED
Solved: Ann Likes Red 

G75:  Goose carries book under wing
Solved: Petunia 
G76: Ghost called Chloe

Solved: The Otherwise Girl

G77: girl with glowing eyes

SOLVED: Glen Cook, Doomstalker.


G78:  Grandpa's Farm
Solved:  Just Right 

G79:  Golden Book
Solved: Little Mommy 

G80: Girl must become a witch to find lost brother
Solved:  The Changeover 

G81: Girl Gets Back on the Horse
Solved: Gypsy from Nowhere 

G82: Gazing Ball
Solved: Jane-Emily


G83: Girl
Solved: Patricia's Secret 
G84: Girl living in a hotel

I read this probably in the late 1970's, early 1980's.  It is about a girl who is living in a hotel in NYC with (I think) her grandparents.  I think it takes place in the 50's or 60's, but I'm not sure.  One part I remember is that the girl goes into a shop and there are the "see-no-evil, speak-no-evil, hear-no-evil" monkeys for sell, and I think they are mechanical.  I know this isn't a lot to go on!  I remember I loved this book, but I don't remember any more details.

G84: Mystery of the Silent Friends (1963, in Solved Mysteries?) The details don't quite fit, but there are both "no-evil" monkey sculptures and very old automatic dolls on platforms. One wrote, one drew a picture of a chalet and one played a harpsichord(?) I remember begging my mother to find dolls like that. Of course, who knows if dolls like that were ever common even in the 19th century - and there I was, asking for them in the late 1970's!
Ruth Sawyer, Rollerskates, 1960s?  Rollerskates is about a ten-year old girl living in an hotel (or possibly an apartment building) with two elderly relatives.  It tells of her adventures over the course of a year, and all the unusual people she be-friends.  However, it is set in late 19th / early 20th century rather than the 1960s.
Eloise at the Plaza, children's book series.
M.B. Goffstein, Daisy Summerfield's Style.  I just reunited with this book myself!  I'm pretty sure it's the same one you are looking for.  What I remember is that somehow this girl is supposed to be going one place, but she switches luggage(?) or luggage tags with a girl named Daisy Summerfield, goes to a different place and kind of takes on a new identity.  I remember her being in nyc also, and the store with the monkeys is an art supply store.  She wants to be an artist and she buys soapstone(?) and carving tools.  She carves figures with moveable parts, and I think in the end she ends up selling them.  I also remember that in order to have this fantasy life, she has to carefully budget the money she had for whatever it was she was really supposed to be doing.  I can't remember the ending though!



G85: Giant befriends children
Solved: Selfish Giant 

G86a: Girl and family move to new town
Solved:  Me and Fat Glenda 
G86b: Greek Myths with Phryxus and Helle on cover

Solved: Enchantment Tales for Children


G87: girl, neglected house, cookie shop
Solved: The Tiny Little House 

G88: Girl has mentally challenged twin sister
Solved:  Me Too 

G89: Giant befriends children
Solved: George the Gentle Giant

G90:Gray and Red Squirrels?
Solved: Miss Suzy
G91: Grandmother and Grandmother Rabbit

Solved:  Humbug Rabbit 

G92: Ghost or Astral Projection
Solved: Who Says So?


G93: girl visits medieval times
Solved: The Beginning Place

G94: gobbledy gook buns
Solved: Stories for Bedtime


G95: Girl buys raft, runs away to island
Solved:  The Secret Summer 

G96: Girl searching for Favorite Day of Year grows up, marries, has baby discovers her favorite day...baby's birthday!!!
Solved: Very Best Day for Every Little Girl 
G97: Greensleeves

Solved: A Spell is Cast

2003

G98:  Girl plants buttons that grow
Solved: What Shall I Put in the Hole That I Dig?


G99:  Giant brothers
Solved: Giants Come in Different Sizes


G100: girl dances to heal legs
Solved: Little Ballerina


G101: Gray Wolf Stories
Solved: Gray Wolf Stories, Indian Mystery Tales


G102: Greek or Gypsy girl and donkey
Solved: Nobody's Girl


G103:  goblin boy saved by girl
Solved: Lots of Stories


G104:  goblins mine gold
Solved: The Princess and the Goblin


G105: girl dresses as boy, nighttime adventures
Solved: Hilary's Island


G106: green meenies / snail whale
Solved: Seals on Wheels


G107: Gazebo Summer Two Children Time Travel
Solved: The Swing in the Summerhouse


G108: Girl finds abandonded cottage
Solved: Mandy


G109: Girl goes to Louisiana swamp to teach
Book I read in the fifties, about a girl who becomes a teacher or substitute teacher in a very backwoods part of the Louisiana bayou country. A boyfriend may be involved. I think New Orleans enters into it too somehow, either a visit there or a cousin named Isabel who lives there.

G109 might be The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
Gene Stratton-Porter writes of Indiana, I think.
Cid Ricketts Sumner, Tammy series.  1950s-60s.  A possibility: Tammy Out of Time, Tammy Tell Me True,  Tammy and the Millionaire
CS Lewis, The Magicians Nephew.  Most of the things you talked about are in this story.



G110: Good said Old Elephant
Solved: Another Day


G111: Girl with freckles threatens to hold breath until she turns blue
Solved: Katy Rose is Mad


G112: girl moves to country and gets horse
Solved: For Love of a Horse


G113: girl and horse
Solved: The Horsemasters


G114: Girl plays with "boy's" toys
Solved:  Nice Little Girls


G115: Golden Key
Solved: The Magic Key


G116: Good Manners
Solved: Watchbird


G117: girl follows spiderweb underground
A girl befriends a spider, who lends her skeins of web to lead her through an underground place - home of ants?? 1930s?

Lampman, Evelyn Sibley, City Under the Back Steps.  Maybe? Not exactly right but: Craig and his cousin Jill have been reduced to minute size and taken prisoner by an ant colony in punishment for stepping on one of its members. Down beneath the ground they are herded, down to the city under the back steps, where the haughty and Queen ruled with an iron hand, each of her subjects with a vital task to perform. Craig and Jill are put to work!
G117 Didn't the  princess and Curdie follow something like that through a tunnel? Or a wild guess Lampman The City Under the Back steps?
George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin, 1872.  I agree that this sounds like the story of the princess and her friend Curdie, who followed an invisible magic strand to escape the goblin'' underground lair.  Loved that book!



G118: giants
Solved: The Book of Giant Stories


G119: Girl works too hard no time to find friend stops time
Solved: Little Babs


G120: Ghost named Gus
Solved:  Gus Was a Friendly Ghost


G121: Green Thumb
Solved:  Tistou of the Green Thumbs


G122: Giant Golden Book of Fairies
Solved:  Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies


G123: ...Goes to Bed Early
Solved: Genevieve Goes to Bed Early
Golden Book, Sept.20/07. 'I have that book with that story though I'd have to search for it. Its a large pink book with many stories and verse in it. Genevieve goes to bed too early bcz she misunderstands what her dr. wants her to do..so she goes to bed earlier each night by one hour. Her Dr. figures out a way to get her to wake up at the proper time. I can't remember off hand but probably by going to bed one hour later each night too until she's at the proper time. I'll try to find it. I've had this book since I was a little girl and I'm now almost 48 and read it to all of my own 4 kids.


G124: Girl's Adventures in the Other World
Solved: Knee-deep in Thunder


G125: girl changes clothes
Solved: Mary Changes Her Clothes


G126: Glasses, Peggy doesn't want
"Peggy" finds out she needs glasses and doesn't want to wear them.  I think I remember a line "But I don't want to wear glasses, wailed Peggy"; but in the end all her friends tell her how nice she looked with them.  The book would be from the late '50s or early '60s because the one time I read it was some time before I got glasses and I thought it was pretty lame at the time.  However, it was what I remembered in the shock of having to get glasses myself, and so that was what I remembered every year for years afterward when I had to get stronger glasses.  I tried to track it down in the Library of Congress during breaks while I was doing "real" research there recently but had no luck.  Thanks!

No exact title, just a suggestion. I recently found a book my daughter remembered about a little girl who needed glasses by googling : booklist for children about wearing glasses and then went through and researched each book on the list until I found the right one. there is a list at: littlefoureyes.com/ books-for-kids/  . Hope this helps.


G127: Girl living with mother
i read it in the early '60s, but it may have been written earlier.  a young girl living w/ her single mother--buying groceries-- discovers the kosher butcher and begins buying meat there, but doesn't tell her mother (they're not jewish) . . .

G128: goose who dies and everybody is sad
Solved: Go Tell Aunt Rhody


G129: Goose on Skates
Solved: Skating Gander


G130: Giant Golden Fairy Book
Solved: A Day in Fairy Land


G131: Ghost Children, One Named Lucrece
Solved: Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden


G132: Girl Magician
Solved: The Rescue of Ranor


G133: Ghosts tell their story
Solved: The Sherwood Ring


G134: Go Go's Car Breaks Down
Solved: Gogo's Car Breaks Down


G135: Gorilla in Central Park Zoo
Solved: Gorilla Baby: the Story of  Patty Cake

G136: Golden crown?
I'm looking for a book, but have little information. It was read in school to fourth- or fifth-graders over the course of a couple of weeks, so it's book-length. It was probably a fantasy novel. It included, probably at the beginning, a boy sitting on a bench, and also involved a golden, or more likely silver, crown (chair?). Magical things happened. Any help you offer will be greatly appreciated.

C.S. Lewis' Narnia series includes a title called The Silver Chair...
This is a long shot: The Silver Crown by Robert O'Brien. It was originally published around 1968.
Robert O'Brien, The Silver Crown, 1968.  I'm guessing this one rather than The Silver Chair by Lewis, because the latter is easier to find.  "Ellen awakens one morning with a mysterious silver frown on the pillow beside her. What magic powers it possesses she has not yet discovered, but the sudden changes in her life are unmistakable: her house is burned down, her family has disappeared, and a man in a dark uniform is stalking her. Can Ellen ever find her family? Can she use the power of the silver crown to thwart the powers of darkness? What diabolical force hides inside the mysterious castle in the woods?
I'm inclined to second the recommendation of The Silver Chair.  I don't recall where the children are when they get pulled into Narnia in this book, but they are sitting on a railway bench when their adventure starts in The Last Battle.  Sounds as though the requester may be combining these two titles into one.
c.s. lewis, the silver chair. i agree.  the book starts out with "jill pole" sobbing on a bench or something behind the school.  "eustace scrubb" finds her.  they run away from the mean kids at school by going to narnia, half on purpose, half-accidental.
Charnas, Suzy McKee, The Kingdom of Kevin Malone.  This is a contemporary fantasy that begins in Central Park, then moves into an odd sort of alternate setting in which teenaged Kevin is both prince and anti-hero.  Not a perfect fit for the posted description, but close enough to be a distinct possibility -- and if not, there's a small chance that Charnas' other YA trio, a trilogy beginning with THE BRONZE KING, might be the right answer.



G137: Girl wears the same dress to school every day
Solved: The Hundred Dresses


G138: Girl trapped in castle
Solved: The Homeward Bounders


G139: Girl visits mars/moon colony, stays
Solved: Journey Between Worlds


G140: girl tacked to floor
1914-1916.  "It is about a little girl who refuses to stay home so her mother tacked her dress to the floor. The picture shows a circle of tacks and wisps of fabric on the floor to show where she had been." This query came to my library  the patron is trying to find this book for her ninety-something yr. old mother.

G141: grandfather, granddaughter, wheelchair
Solved: A Special Trade


G142: Grandfather teaches grandbunnies to paint
Solved: Grandpa Bunny Bunny


G143: Girl visiting seaside town wants to become a potter
Solved: Kathy and the Mysterious Statue


G144: guy who blows smoke rings in the shape of Qs
Solved: Moe Q. McGlutch, He Smoked Too Much


G145: Girl receives Mom's Diary
Solved: Memo: To Myself When I Have A Teenage Kid


G146: Girl riding horse in Hawaii
Solved:  Pam's Paradise Ranch


G147: girl kept awake by grandfather clock
This is a book I used to read in the late '60s to early '70s.  I vaguely remember it being about this girl who can't sleep one night and is kept awake by a grandfather clock marking off time hour by hour.  The author used the words "Tick tock, tick tock, BOOM BOOM! to describe the sound of the grandfather clock.  I know this is not much to go on, but hopefully you can help me.

Rebecca Caudill, Time for Lissa.
  It's about a little girl who wants to be adopted and the clock figures very prominently in the book.


G148: Girl finds out she's a fairy
Solved: No Flying in the House


G149: Girl goes back in time to Victorian family with 7 sisters
Solved: The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden


G150: Girl is a Tour Guide at the United Nations
Solved: The Highest Dream


G151: Girl (teen) has girlfriend who hates being tall, but ends up modeling
Solved: Dinny Gordon, Freshman


G152: Girl thinks she will die, finds love and does not die
Solved: Blue Castle


G153: Girl finds boots in drawer and each step takes her a mile
Solved: What the Witch Left


G154: Girl who liked Unicorns
This was probably an Apple paperback book or similar. I had it during the late 80's - early 90's. The main character was a girl in grade school and she adored anything to do with unicorns and I think rainbows. She had unicorn and rainbow stickers, unicorn purse, earrings?, backpack?, possibly a journal or book with a unicorn on it. She had another girl as her best friend and they had a falling out but made up in the end.  I *think* that there was a sub-plot about an old woman who lived nearby or across the street in a creepy house, and the girl and her best friend were scared of the house and the old lady and thought she was a witch. The girl who liked unicorns might have had to go and visit the old lady for some reason.  In the end I think the girl who liked unicorn gave her best friend some item with a unicorn on it. Please help!! I lost many of my childhood books but have managed to find out the titles of all except two! Thanks so much!

Rainbow Brite.  Wasn't there a big toy merchandise collection of toy unicorns for little girls in the 1980s and early 90s, called Rainbow Brite?  Or was that just horses?  This sure sounds like a book based on those toys.
Thanks for the suggestion, but it was definitely not Rainbow Brite. It was an Apple Paperback book.
Coville, Bruce, Into the Land of the Unicorns: the Unicorn Chronicles Book 1.  NY Apple Scholastic 1994.  Right at the tail end of the possible period, but anyways, the right publisher and topic. "The story of a young girl destined to save a gentle land from the dangerous, evil hunters trying to destroy it." "Fantasy and mystery combine when Cara is forced to flee Earth, clutching her grandmother's amulet and carrying a message for the unicorn queen." There's a dragon and something called a Squijum.
Patricia Reilly Giff, Polk Street School series, '80's, approximate.  Emily Arrow is in the second grade at Polk Street school. Other characters are Sherri Dent, Richard "Beast" Best and Matthew. Emily has a rubber unicorn, Uni, perhaps an eraser.  Uni accompanies Emily on quite a few adventures.  I don't remember much reference to rainbows, but there is definitely a spooky book about an old house in the series, and Emily has a falling out with her best friend, Dawn, in another book.  Probably the best known books in the series are SNAGGLE DOODLES and THE BEAST IN MS. ROONEY's ROOM.  Hope this helps.



G155: grape purple faucets
Solved: Mr. Pudgins


G156: Grump family/stick&stone soup
Solved: Little Brute Family


G157: Girls Write story about dolls, and wear big Easter hats
Solved: Two Are Better Than One


G158: Goose gets coat caught in door
Solved: To Market To Market


G159: Girl Finds Love with New Guy
Solved?: Ask Annie
I read this book when I was in middle school.  It is set in Northern California.  The lead character is a girls in high school who has lost weight.  She takes over an advice coloumn in the school paper. A new boy, with dark hair, and a exspensive car arrives.  He is hostile towrds her. He is also secretly writing an advice column in the school paper.  The cover of the book shows a girl sitting at a typewriter chewing on a pencil, a boy with dark hair is standing behind her.  I think it was published in the 80's.  Thanks for your help, I would love to get my hands on this book.

G159 This is DEAR LOVEY HART, I AM DESPERATE by Ellen Conford ~from a librarian
Ellen Conford, Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate, 1975.  Could it be the book Dear Lovey Hart, I am Desperate by Ellen Conford?  In Conford's book, the main female character, Carrie, secretly writes an advice column in her school newspaper. The description of the cover also seems familiar as well.
Ellen Conford.  I haven't read these in a while, so I'm not sure if some of the details fit, but Ellen Conford wrote Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate and its sequel We Interrupt this Semester for an Important Bulletin.  Girl writes advice column for high school newspaper and tries to impress cute guy who's also on the newspaper staff.
This is incorrect. I have this book and the character is not a girl who was overweight. "lovey heart" is also set on the east coast, in New York, not California.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl, 1950's or 60's?  This may be the book that you are looking for.  It has to do with a girl writing for her school newspaper, and it takes place in Northern California or Oregon.  It has been a long time since I have read it.
Suzanne Rand, Ask Annie, 1982. This is one of the original "Sweet Dreams" paperback teen romance series.



G160: garrote Spaniard Italian travelers canyon
A tale of three travelers in the American West: a Spaniard, and Italian, and an American (I think).  They meet by chance and end up talking about the way each would fear dying the most.  One of them feared the garrote, the others I forget.  They then separate and sure enough, each of them meets his death in his most dreaded way.  I recall the title being "Faith Hope and Charity" or perhaps the sections were so named.  It was published prior to 1970 and was likely a lot older - I read it in grade school in the 70s and the book was old then.

Irvin S. Cobb, Faith, Hope and Charity, 1930.  Sounds very much like Faith, Hope and Charity by Irvin S. Cobb. I have this short story collected in a book called 101 Years' Entertainment: The Great Detective Stories 1841-1941, edited by Ellery Queen. I have a vague memory of this possibly having been done as a 'Twilight Zone' or similar show episode.



G161: goats, twins
Solved: Twin Kids


G162: Game book
This childern's book that was published in canada and is rumored to be out of print. It has illustrations in it that resemble a mysterious land. The book has games  that may include a large mountain. It has games to play in it and one is called 'bouncing around the room'. There are supposedly lizards and mockingbirds in the book.  A version someone saw at a garage sale was printed in 1982.

G162 This is a shot in the dark, but since no-one else has answered, I figured I'd try. Could it be one of the Kit Williams' books, possibly MASQUERADE? The whole book is posted online.  There was a treasure hunt involved. ~from a librarian 



G163: Gypsium or Jypsium Island?
translated from French, 1960s.  Serge's foster sister disappears from the docks in a southern French port. Several years later he meets an older teen who has escaped from an island in the Atlantic shrouded by fog, where kidnapped children are used to mine gypsium or jipsium or something like that.  Serge is planted as a spy, finds his sister and other children have had their memories wiped, use dog carts for transport.  Eventually the authorities raid the island and break up the conspiracy.  It was translated from the French, and had a motif of using gypsy signs for communication.  Any ideas?

I think I know this book, but of course author and title currently elude me.  The spy kid meets some girls who live in the only painted house on the island, and there is a man named Eugene who runs a sort of general store.  The medium of exchange is called krinks, and the children sing a song "Earn krinks for Eugene to drink a-drink drink.  Maybe this will trigger someone's memory that's better than mine.
Grattan, Madeleine, William Pene du Bois. Jexium Island. Viking, 1957, 1st b/w title page and chapter designs by artist 184 pp. . Drawn from memories of a childhood near the banks of the Garonne and inspired by tales of the Resistance. The heroes crack a ring of kidnappers who capture children to work on a North Atlantic island of jexium deposits. An uneven but memorable book.
Trans. from the French by Peter Grattan, Jexium Island (1957)  I am so delighted to "return the favor" someone did for me, and identify a stumper!  I am sure this is the book you are seeking.  It has black and white illustrations by William Pene du Bois, and is the story of Serge, who makes his way from France to the coast of Newfoundland to search for his kidnapped foster sister Angele.  There he finds many children who have been captured to work on an island of jexium deposits.
Grattan, Madeleine, Jexium Island (1957 approximate) Illustrated by Wiiliam Pene du Bois



G164: Golden Witch Belinda
Solved: Timothy and the Two Witches


G165: girl dreams her adventure
Solved: Diamond in the Window


G166: girl with doll writing on the mirror with lipstick
Solved: The Lonely Doll


G167: gypsy and factory
Solved: Nobody's Girl


G168: Green Lantern and the Sargasso Sea
Solved: Land of the Lost


G169: Grolier's Children's Encyclopedia
Solved: The Book of Knowledge


G170: Ghost (nice ghost) in elevator
I'm looking for a book about a ghost who lived in an old-fashioned elevator.  He was friends with the elevator operator, and he made creaking noises that sounded like the elevator. At some point the elevator is automated (or maybe closed down and the ghost moves to an automatic elevator?).  Without his friend's company the ghost fades until he's nearly invisible, but he still makes the creaking noises.  One day a little boy hears the noises and discerns the ghost. They become friends, and the ghost regains some of his visibility.  I would really appreciate if someone can find this for me.

G171: girl making bobbin lace
Solved: A Pocket of Silence


G172: Griffin is hatched from an egg
Solved: The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg

G173: Grandfather by the Sea
Solved: Stina


G174: girl with esp
Solved: A Gift of Magic


G175: grandmother's christmas
I am looking for a Little Golden Book that has a little boy & girl going to their grandmother's house at Christmas.  One page shows a manger in front of the tree with the children looking at it.  Another page has the grandmother taking gingerbread men out of the oven while the children are looking on.  I was born in 1953 and remember it being one of my favorites but search as I have, I can not find it.  Do you know of such a book or did I dream it?  For some reason I believe it may have been illustrated by Eloise Wilken but I don't know why I think that.  I remember the children being just beautiful with those typical Eloise Wilken eyes. If you have any info or know of a place where I might continue my search, I would be most grateful.

Marion Conger (illus. by Eloise Wilkin), The Little Golden Holiday Book,  1951.  This is just a remote guess, depending on how definite your memories are, but your description reminded me of this book, which has Peter and Mary going through the year with the different holidays.  For Thanksgiving, Mary's grandparents come to her house and there's a picture of her watching Mother take the *pumpkin pies* out of the oven -- they are the color of gingerbread and she has baked a small one herself "for Gramps". (The stove is old-fashioned with a big copper kettle on top.)There are several pictures in the Christmas section  one is double-page and has Mary in front of the tree, looking at a creche on a small table next to the fireplace. ?? There's a short description in the Solved Mysteries section. Hope this helps...
Wilken, Elosie, Baby's Christmas.  This sounds an awful lot like Baby's Chrsitmas by Eloise Wilken, except I don't
think they go to Grandma's. I think all of the Christmas activities take place at "Baby's" home. In the original version of this book the illustrations were absolutely gorgeous!
It's NOT Baby's First Christmas (I just checked multiple editions of that one) but I do remember the book. The children are facing the creche, holding hands, with their backs to the reader. . . I think it probably is Wilkin although it could be Tasha Tudor . . . I'll find it, it's around here somewhere!
It may be the Golden book Christmas in the Country.  Betty and Bob, along with their parents, travel to visit their  grandparents in the country for Christmas. Betty strings popcorn and cranberies in the kitchen for the Christmas tree which Bob chops down in the pasture. It was published (I think) in the late 1950's the illustrations place the story around the turn of the century. The story ends with imagining the animals in the barn getting ready for Christmas.
Marcia Martin, illus. by, Waiting for Santa Claus, 1952.  A Wonder Book.  This doesn't match exactly but it's very close.  Three children, Bobby, Sally, and Baby celebrate Christmas with their parents.  There's a picture of mother taking gingerbread cookies out of the oven and a picture of Sally and Baby looking at a nativity manger under the tree. They also go shopping for ornaments, sit on Santa's lap, and pick out a tree with Daddy.  For Christmas Bobby gets a red scooter, Sally gets a doll and a sewing set, and Baby gets a 'big brown Teddy bear with black shoe-button eyes''  Grandparents come later to visit and have a big turkey dinner.  At the end the children say "Oh, we can hardly wait until next Christmas!"



G176: Girl takes refuge under willow tree
Solved: Blue Willow


G177: Giant dog puts out fire with potato
Solved: Otto and the Magic Potatoes


G178: girl steals netsuke elephant
Solved: Lillian

2004


G179: Girl breaking into acting/stage mother
Solved: Confessions of a Prime Time Kid


G180: girl finally able transform after finding an old woman in the desert
Solved: Red Sun Girl


G181: Girl disobeys, wanders into forest after colored flowers and is lost
Solved: The Gunniwolf


G182: German-American boy harassed during WWI
Solved: A Nice Girl Like You


G183: Girl falls asleep and goes to fairyland
Solved: Once Upon a Birthday


G184: Girl has pet sloth
Solved: Julie's Secret Sloth


G185: Girls find route through garden maze
Solved: Lavendar-Green Magic


G186: Girl haunted or followed by a red fox
Solved: Nightmare
First off I think your site is Wonderful! I've browsed and browsed... but I've had no luck finding what I am looking for. :-)  Okay.. I remember a girl who keeps seeing a red fox. It apprears to her in the woods and on a road? and maybe even in a city? It's as though it is haunting her, or following her. She is really afraid about it and sees glimps all the time. Seems as though she meets a psychic perhaps and is told something about the red fox.. but I just don't remember any other details. I really hope someone will have a clue!! Thank You!
I forgot to add that I read this around 1981 so it was probably published in the 70’s sometime I’m thinking.

I am the Original Poster....In Addition: The book was a paperback, It may have been in night colors, deep blues and/or pine greens. A girl in the woods looking rather upset and a fox near a tree in the background. (I'm going on a 23 year old memory, Please bear with me..Thank You!)

sigh* This has been posted quite a while and no one has a clue? Thanks anyway!
Hyman, Trina Schart, How Six Found Christmas, 1969.  Okay, this is a long shot but the description of the cover reminded me of this book. The girl is in the snowy woods and there is a fox peeking out from behind a tree.  The background is dark green.  But the girl and the animals are searching for Christmas because they have never seen one so while the anxiety is there the story doesn't sound the same.
Andre Norton, The white jade fox. I know this is the wrong colour, but the psychic elements and the atmosphere described brought this book to mind.
I am sorry to say that neither one of these is the book I am searching for, I really wish I could remember more about it, sometimes I think that something is about to surface, but is gone before it formulate's in my mind. Thank you for trying! The Search Continues!
Severn, David, Foxy-boy, illustrated by Lynton Lamb (US title The Wild Valley).  London, Bodley Head 1959.   This may be a bit early, however Severn's books do sometimes have supernatural or unsettling elements to them. "When nine-year-old Phillippa arrived to spend her holidays with her godmother at Lilliput Castle, she was disappointed to find that the other children had moved away, and the prospect of a long holiday with only Kitty and Prudence as her companions was not a very exciting thought. The two women share of the work at Lilliput Castle between them  Kitty, Philippa's godmother, worked outside, on the farm and in the garden, while Prudence enjoyed doing all the household chores, the cooking polishing and cleaning. So Phillippa was left to amuse herself, and it was during one of her solitary walks in Wild Valley that she first saw Foxy-boy. Was he a Fox or a boy? What was he doing in the Valley? And would Phillippa ever be able to get near enough to him to find out?" Hey, this might work for G54 girl with wolf friend, too!
Unfortunatly, Foxy-Boy wasn't it either. If I recall correctly, I think the girl may have become a fox in the end, but I'm not ever 405 possitive about that. Thanks for trying!
I. M. Chilton, Nightmare
, 1971, approximate.  I think this might be the book you're searching for  -- I looked for it for years too!  Girl is in motorbike accident and gets sent back in time as an old woman in a forest.  She finds a fox tail, which she wants to sell to have food for the winter.  The fox (evil spirit) starts haunting her.  She travels back & forth in time, trying to convince everyone in her 'real world' that she's not crazy.
L.M. CHILTON, NIGHTMARE, September 1971, copyright.  95 page short story excellent.



G187a: Giant Creatures Sea
Solved: Just So Stories


G187b: gaelic magic novel
Solved: The Grey King


G188: giant cleans statue with toothbrush and serves big breakfast
I'm looking for a book about a giant who cleans statues (in England maybe?) with a toothbrush and at the very end serves a "giant's breakfast" to all the town kids.

Frank Herrmann, Giant Alexander series.  One of these?
G188 It may be one of the series but it is not Herrmann The giant Alexander in America. He holds a little friend Timmy in his shirt pocket - if that helps identify the book as one of the series.



G189: girl who appreciated nothing
I remember the story from the 1950s as being about a little girl who didn't appreciate anything.  One night the sheep came and took away her wool blanket and then the next night the trees took their wood away (her house).  I remember someone or something took her flying through the night to show her what the world would be without the gifts of the animals and plants.  I remember the pictures as being dark.  I have searched and searched for this book.  I hope so much to find it.  Thank you for your help.

See T59 for some suggestions.
Lucy Sprague Mitchell, The Golden Book of Nursery Tales (Silly Will), 1948.  This sure sounds like "Silly Will" by Lucy Sprague Mitchell,  except it's a little boy, instead of a girl. But it does have the  same theme of ungratefulness, with the trees taking back the wood from his house, the sheep taking back their wool, the goose taking back the feathers from his pillow, etc. This story appears in The Golden Book of Nursery Tales (A Big Golden Book) published by Simon & Schuster in 1948. The illustrations are black and white, except for one full-page color picture of Will standing naked & shivering in front of where his house used to be, at night, with all the animals and the trees in the background.  Picture is in dark tones.  The story was also published in The Here and Now Story Book pub. by E.P. Dutton & Co.



G190:girl finds old diary
Solved: The Velvet Room


G191: girl's family owns furniture factory
Solved: After the fortune cookies


G192: Gentle Giant Book Don't Know Title
HI! A good friend of mine had a book she loved growing up (this was in the 70s) about a gentle giant who was afraid of a neighboring giant. So he invites him to dinner and the gIsnts wife plants a rock inside the bread. The Gentle Giant accidentally gets the rock, but the scary giant sees he can eat rocks and decides he is probably stronger than he is. Do you know this story and how I might get a copy to surprise my friend? Thanks!
There is a new book titled: Mrs McCool and the Giant: An Irish Folk Tale that has the same plot line. But I am looking for the original picture book from the late 60s to early 70s.

Here are two to look up on the Solved Mysteries pageGeorge the Gentle Giant by Adelaide Holl (1960) and Arnold Lobel's  Giant John (Harper & Row, 1964).
G192  Your friend may be thinking of THE BIGGER GIANT: AN IRISH LEGEND retold by Nancy Green, illustrated by Betty Fraser, 1963, 1966. Scholastic Book Club put out a paperback version. It may also be worth looking at FIN M'COUL by Tomie DePaola but it looks like it may have been printed in 1981. If not, it may help to know that the smaller giant is Fin M'Coul (or Finn MacCoul), his clever wife's name is Oonagh, and the bigger giant is Cucillin.~from a librarian
The story is called "Fin M'Coul," and it appears in They Were Brave and Bold (Book 5 of the Wonder Story Books readers). This book also contains the stories Pecos Bill, Beowulf, The White Cat, Sinbad, The Girl Who Hunted Rabbits & others.  Cover is dark blue, w/ Pecos Bill riding Mtn Lion on front cover, old man on flying tractor on back cover.  Fin M'Coul also appears in Celtic Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs.  Hope this helps.



G193: girl sent to live w/hippie-like relatives for summer
I read this in late 70's when I was around 12.  It seems like the title had the words 'secret' or 'summer' in it.  A girl is sent to stay with a hippie-type aunt for a summer and meets another girl.  There was something magic or secret they discovered and at the end of the book the friend dies. Seems like there was a man named Lewellyn who was her mother's boyfriend or her uncle.  I'd love it if anyone recognizes this.  It was a terrific book. Wish I could remember more of the particulars of the story.

I keep thinking of Ghost Garden by Hilda Feil, but I've never read it, so can't say for sure.  There is a good description under "Solved Mysteries."
The book definitely isn't Ghost Garden by Hila Feil.  In the book described, the girl who befriends the hippy girl is very straight laced.  She goes to the hippy's house and the girl has an enormous room which she can skate in - but she doesn't have her parent's love.
Konigsburg, Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth.  I know that the description doesn't immediately fit, but I think this is the book you're thinking of.
This is not Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth... and Me, Elizabeth which takes place during fall and winter in a large city, probably New York. It sounds more like The Birds of Summer, but in that book the children's mother is the one who is hippie-like and they live with her.  Set in the 1980s, the novel tells the story of Summer Mclntyre, who lives with her mother. Oriole, and her sevenyear-old sister, Sparrow, in Alvarro, California. Oriole harbors romantic visions of getting back to nature and living the simple life, but she depends upon welfare to raise her family. The Mclntyres live in a wooded area in a trailer that they rent from their friends and neighbors, the Fishers. The Fishers own some greenhouses in which they grow strawberries and tomatoes to sell in town.
Mary Francis Shura, Maggie in the Middle (The Seven Stone)  I remember this book, the friend's room is painted blue with astrological signs or starts on it.  She learns about runestones from one of the friends too.
Wylly Folk St. John, The Ghost Next Door (1981, approximate)  I remember clearly the owl with "love" in its eyes.  The girl went to visit family and met the ghost of her half-sister who had drowned.  There was an owl figurine which her sister had made that solved a mystery.



G194: Girl discovers she is half fairy
Solved: No Flying in the House


G195: Girl in Hospital - head injury
Solved: Kristy's Courage


G196: Green Dress
This book I'm remembering may have had "green" in the title, like "The Green Dress,"or something like that. Anyway, I seem to recall a girl being peeved because she had to wear a used dress or coat. I think it had something to do with her grandmother: either the dress or coat was made by the grandmother, or it came from a trunk in her grandmother's attic. And while the girl was peeved at the prospect of having to wear it (instead of getting a new one, maybe?), it somehow turned out to be a good thing. That's all I can remember. Hope you can help. This book has been stuck in my mind for years. I actually have a mental image of myself standing in the library at the shelf, flipping through the pages.

Rachel Field, Polly Patchwork, ca 1928.  This might be Polly Patchwork, a short story included in The Junior Classics Volume 6,  1958 edition.  Polly is a little girl who lives with her grandmother.  They are very poor, and the grandmother makes Polly a dress out of an old patchwork quilt, telling Polly stories about family members who contributed squares to the quilt.  When Polly wears the dress to school, the kids make fun of her, but in a spelling bee Polly looks at one of the squares and gets help from an ancestor in spelling Mississippi.
Hmmm ... That sounds like it should be it, but I don't think it is. I distinctly remember "green," as in a green dress or coat.
I don't remember the title or author but the story I'm thinking of was part of a larger book like a reader.  The girl's family might have been Quaker or Amish or something like that because she says that her mother knew how to make beautiful dresses without ruffles or trim.  Another family loses their home (a fire?) and the girl volunteers to give her dress away.  Her family is surprised but she actually means to give her everyday dress so she can wear her new green one.  Her grandmother makes her fetch her new dress to give away and she grumbles to herself because her everyday dress should be good enough for that other girl.  The story had a turn-of-the-century feel like a Laura Ingalls Wilder (although it was not the Little House series).  Hope this is the story and gives a few more clues.
I remember reading a bioliography of Susan B. Anthony that describe that story.  It also had a story about her working in her father's thread mill, and seeing it as unfair that young girls work hard and their father would take their earnings.  She had gotten the job after wishing on a star for something excited to do.  Also after she gave away her new dress she actually felt happy because she didn't need to worry about keeping her new dress prefect.  It seems that I remember the bioliography as part of a nonfiction series of varies American heros, Presidents, Presidents wives or mothers.  Hope this help.
Monsell, Helen,  Susan B. Anthony : champion of women's rights This is the story that I was thinking of but I don't know if the dress was green.  The grandmother is the one who tells Susan B. Anthony that she can't give her old dress away.  The girl who receives the new dress just had her mother die after a long illness so the mother had not been able to take care of the family for a long time.  At the end, Susan is happy because her old dress is comfortable and she wouldn't have been able to jump across the creek if she had been wearing the new one (for fear of getting it dirty).



G197: Girl hides china doll from her mother in closet
Solved: The Secret in Miranda's Closest


G198: Girl survives a 1920s-era fire in Berkeley or Oakland, California
Solved: Julia and the Hand of God


G199: Girl with a newborn baby sister named "Star"
Solved: Betsy and Billy


G200: Girl and a circus
The book was about a girl and a circus.  I think the girl's parents were circus performers (trapeze artists, maybe?) and she was a bit of an oddball among her peers at school because of this unusual lifestyle of hers. I seem to recall New York having something to do with it. Like, maybe that's where she lived, or it was the city the circus was performing in.

Carolyn Haywood, Betsy and the Circus
Make-believe daughter, 1972.  I'm not sure why this one comes to mind, but you can see a copy of it on this website.  It's about three friends, all named Matilda (except they have different nicknames), and I'm pretty sure one of them has some kind of oddball family background such as being circus performers.



G201: Girl with polio uses horse to stop burglar
Solved: Tall and Proud


G202: Girl Scout Camper with prized white swimming suit
Solved: Just Plain Maggie


G203: Gingerbread Stars
Solved: Mary Poppins

G204: Girl- A very long neck
Solved:  Struwwelpeter: Phoebe Ann


G205: Girl lives in trees and meets girl who lives underground
Solved: Green Sky Trilogy


G206: Girl gives stolen doll to thief for Xmas?
Book about a girl who is given a beautiful new doll. She shows the doll off to a poor girl, and the doll is later stolen.  I can't recall if the poor girl actually stole the doll, or if the other girl only thinks that she has done so. The doll is later returned anonymously, and the first girl gives the doll as a gift (possibly a Christmas gift?) to the poor girl.  I read this book in the 70's, but believe it was older - possibly from the 40's or 50's.  I seem to recall a blue cloth-covered binding, and I think the words Christmas and Doll may have been in the title.  However, there are several books titled The Christmas Doll (or Dolls) currently in print, which are definitely not the one I'm looking for. Thanks for your help!

That sounds so familiar... but it's not Best Loved Doll or the others I just checked....
Barbara Chapman, Santa's Footprints, 1948.  If this is the same book you people solved for me some time ago!  It sounds very similar to the short story The Wonderful Mistake.
Thanks for your suggestion, but I just looked up The Wonderful Mistake, and I'm afraid that's not it.  In the book I'm looking for, the first girl (not rich per se, just middle-class) is given a beautiful new doll, and invites her friends over so she can show it off. The poor girl is somehow invited also, though I don't think she is liked by the others. Possibly the first girl's mother made her invite the poor girl? Or maybe the girl just invited her whole class and the poor girl tagged along? Anyway, the doll disappears, and everyone assumes the poor girl stole her - which she may have done, I don't recall. The doll is later anonymously returned to its owner, but the first girl meanwhile gains some understanding of or sympathy for the poor girl. She decides (perhaps with some urging from her mother or some other relative?) to give the poor girl one of her own dolls, and selects the new one, rather than an older (but well-loved) doll. She might even have dropped the doll off anonymously for the poor girl? The story takes place during the winter time, at or shortly before Christmas. I seem to recall the first girl walking home through a light snowfall after giving away her doll.  The book itself was fairly small, I think with a blue cloth-covered binding, and the writing on the cover may have been in silver.  It was mostly text, but I think there were small line drawings on the first page of each chapter, above the text. There may have also been some larger line drawings scattered throughout the text, but I don't think there were any color pictures. (Despite the choice of keeping the old, well-loved doll, this is not The Best Loved Doll, either.) I'm almost positive that the book was a single story, not a collection of short stories. Thanks for your help!



G207: Gothic pre-teen books
Solved: The Wish Giver


G208: Giant egg turned into house
Solved: Present from a Bird


G209: Goodnight mother I love you
This is a children's book that I read to my daughter at bedtime every night in the late 1970s so it had to be published begore then.  I think it was about getting ready for bed or going to sleep.  One of the lines in the book was "goodnight mother, I love you."  We cannot remember the title, author or other information.  We would like to find the book.  Please help!Thank you.

This seems too obvious, but could it be Goodnight, Moon?  It's been years since my son and I read it, but maybe?
What a wonderful tribute to Goodnight Moon, but the words "I love you" do not appear in the book.
Thanks for the reply but unfortunately it is not Goodnight Moon.  My daughter did remember that on the page that said "goodnight mother, I love you" was the picture of a little girl in bed telling her mother goodnight.  She also remembered that it was not a "Golden Book" (it was smaller in size) or hard bound book.  Any and all input is appreciated.  Thanks.
Lynn and Mandy Wells, The Goodnight Book (1974)  The book The Goodnight book published by Tell a Tale books in 1974 by Lynn and Mandy Wells.  Starts out "Goodnight Red sun, goodnight stars, goodnight bus goodnight cars...
Lynn and Mandy Wells, The Good Night Book, 1974, copyright.I have this book -- it too was one of my favorites as a little girl and it took me a long time to track down a copy. It's about a little girl getting ready for bed and she's saying "Good night" to everything she sees like the sun, the things and people she can see out the window. Then she says hello to her bed and good night to her stuffed animals and her baby sibling then she says "Good night, Mother. I love you!" and a few more good nights before she falls asleep.



G210: Green Glassy
This is a story in a children's book from 1930s-1940s. Regular cloth bound not picture book or golden book but did have black and white drawings. Story concerned a wonderful green glassy/glassie which was a snow globe I think.  I read or had read to me in late forties. There were a number of stories in book, I dimly recall ones about mice and roller skates but that's all, unfortunately. I would love to find this old book again!

Just wanted to add that I think the Green Glassy of the story title, which I believe was a snow globe, had inside of it the figure of a bear. I remember being awed by the the b&w illustration of the bear inside the snow globe (I was 5 or 6 I think).  I am still hoping someone remembers this story.
Mary Grannan, Just Mary Stories.  Just Mary was a radio personality in Canada.  This book which has both the skating mice and the Bear in the Glassy is a combination of two of her books - Just Mary and Just Mary again.



G211: Girl visits grandparents at farm
Solved: Understood Betsy


G212: girl on vacation falls in love with older man
I read this book in hardback about 5-6 years ago. Female author. A young (British?) women falls in love with older gentleman on a mediterranean island (Greek island I think). They are passionate for a few weeks but at the end of her vacation, they separate but with a feeling of pleasure not devastation.

Try looking at some of Joan Aiken's adult novels from the 1970's - there was one that seems similar - the girl was a musician or music teacher and there was some kind of mystery subplot.
The Greengage Summer.  I'm not sure of the author, maybe Penelope Mortimer.  I think this could be your book.
Greengage Summer is by Rumer Godden and is definitely NOT the book you are searching for.



G213: Girl who turned into a cloud.
This was a little book (probably a school reader) that I read in a Tasmanian school during the late 1960s. It was almost certainly much older than that. It had a girl (I believe a Victorian child) who somehow trned into a cloud. She rubbed her slippers/shoes/boots together and found out they didn't squeak.


G214: girl hits head on sundial
I wanted to re-read this mediocre book because it had an intriguing plot.  I remember the name as Stitch in Time? Slip in Time? 1989?  I can't find it and I obsess about it.  Just found this sight.  The girl, a travel agent, gets fired and spends the weekend doing a re-enactment, mystery weekend at a new B&B with her girlfriend.  She hits her head on a sundial and is transported back in time.  Thinking that people are taking the re-enactment too far, she is annoyed with her fellow guests who are investigating a real mystery which had happened in the house years ago involving a stolen necklace.  After finally believing that she WAS transported in time, she hears her new love interest humming the Beatles' Hey Jude and is really confused. Nice plot.  Worth one re-read.  It's the not being able to find it that makes me crazy. It's not Galbadon or Weyrich or Deveraux.  I've posted this in many places and no one's ever heard of it.  PLEASE HELP ME FIND THIS OKAY BOOK.  I can't even remember why I liked it, but I will not rest until it's located.

Flanders, Rebecca, Yesterday Comes Tomorrow.  Harlequin 1992.  I'm dubious about this one, but it's the closest I've found so far. "It began as a simple mystery weekend. Then the present and the past merged, and Amelia Langston was back in 1870 on the Aury Plantation with Jeffrey Craig, the prime suspect in a murder. There she discovered everything that had been missing from her life...excitement, adventure, rapture with the man of her dreams...Jeffrey. Was this a fantasy or a frightening reality?"
Thank you for your help and the attempt at a solution.  I don't believe that there was a murder and it didn't have a plantation.  It was almost from a Victorian time.  I have other details, too if it helps:  There was a nutty professor in the book who invented things.  He made a kind of washing machine and a toilet.  As the book unfolds, you learn that the professor had also come through the sundial.  He wasn't inventing things, he was re-inventing things.   In the story there were 2 brothers.  The hero was the black sheep of the family.  When the girl had gone back in time she knew some of the characters and the plot of the mystery regarding the stolen necklace.  She was very suspicious of the black sheep brother.  I really believe that the word Time was in the title.  I thought the name was A Stitch in Time.   The girl had been fired as a travel agent, but had received the invitation to a murder mystery weekend at a new B&B.  She brought her best friend.  Every other guest for the weekend had a title.  She was called the Mysterious Lady.  She thought that she was gypped.  It turns out she was playing herself in the mystery.  I come home from teaching every day and I look to see if one of your readers remembers.  I have faith in your site!  It'll happen.  My sister is sending a couple stumpers your way, too.



G215: Girl in harrowing situations
Solved: Terrible, Horrible Edie


G216: Girl gives her clothes away
I am looking for a story of a girl who is walking through the woods. Along her way she runs into many other people who are less fortunate than she. She ends up giving her boots to someone, then her coat to someone else (etc.), and finally gives her underware away to the last needy child. She is naked in the winter under the stars, but feels warm. This story was in a collection of short stories, before 1980.

..., Gold Heart (Guld Hjerte).  I just read an interview with the director Lars von Trier who said that all of his movies are influenced by a book called Gold Heart -- I wonder if it's the same one? "It tells the tale of a little girl who lives in a lonely cabin in the woods who one day goes out into the forest and gives away everything she has. In the end, broke, cold, and alone in the woods, at what should be her deepest moment of despair, a mysterious power favors her with wealth  and the boy she gave her sweater to turns out to be a prince, who marries her for her kind heart."
G216 Poster may want to see a picture of a Danish version on which a filmmaker based a movie (online here).
Grimm, Star Money.  This should be in any full collection of Grimms fairy tales.  it may be under a different name but Star Money is the title I've seen.
Grimm, The Falling Stars, 1985.  Illustrated by Eugen Sopko.  A beautiful picture book version of Star Money by Grimm.
May be out of print as I got my copy years ago.  It is a great story for the Christmas holidays. The story of Star Money is used in many Waldorf schools around that time of year.



G217: girl living with scottish american relatives
This book was a hardcover I borrowed from the library. It must have been printed, or reprinted, in the late 1960s, because the cover showed a teenage girl with long straight hair and wearing a shift-style minidress (or maybe it was a boxy-style coat) standing in front of a door. Her parents had died, and she went to live with distance relatives in a mountain town. Although her relatives lived in America, they still kept to their Scottish customs and celebrated the holidays differently. This book was the first time I encounted the word “haggis.” 

G218: griffon tears alchemist short stories
Solved: The Chewing-Gum Rescue and Other Stories


G219: Girl cares for dolly that has "Mumbledy Bumps"
Solved: Little Mommy


G220: Glass-bottomed airplane
Solved: School in the Sky


G221: Grutchy
circa 1948. The most vivid character is a grumpy gnome named 'GRUTCHY'.  As I recall, he's a Silas Marner miser type who is transformed by caring for a young child. Beautiful illustrations include a magnificent sunset.

G222: Golden Key
Solved: The Key to the Treasure

2005


G223: girl who helps lion and swallows a bee
I read this book in New Zealand in 1962 or 1963, so it's probably British. I don't know whether it was published in the 20th century or earlier (I was only five when I read it).  A little girl meets up with a lion who has injured itself with, I think, a can opener.  She helps it out.  In another incident, she swallows a bee and is so startled she falls into a pond, where she finds an upside-down world. I can't remember whether this is a single story or a chapter book.

If the original poster is still looking (it's been a while, I know) I think that this book is probably The Curious Adventures of Tabby, by E.H. Lang. If I remember correctly, it contains several stories--I specifically remember the one with the girl falling through the pond, and I believe there was another with her doll coming to life. It's a tough book to find but there's a listing on WorldCat with a brief description.


G224: Girl old house jewel theives
Solved: The Secret of the Emerald Star


G225: Girl refuses bath
You did it before and I hope you can help me again.  My daughter remembers my mother reading a book of sttories.  One story was a girl that refused to take a bath and woke up in a pigpen. She says not Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. This would have been early to mid 60's but if it was my book it was 40-50's.

Brown, Margaret Wise, Margaret Wise Brown Storybook? 1950s?  In this large Golden book of stories (the name of which I can't remember exactly, but I have it at home) is a story about a little BOY who doesn't want to take a bath.  He goes outdoors to see how the cat, the pig, etc. take their baths and in the end decides to be a little boy and take a bath in the bathtub.  Might be what you're thinking of.



G226: Giants eating trees like broccoli
I can't, for the life of me, remember the title of a book I loved as a child (1970s).  The only thing I really remember was that a giant (ogre, or some other sort of mystical creature) was talking about eating trees like his little human friend ate broccoli.  Some women on a mailing list I belong to suggested "The Friendly Giant" but it wasn't the right book.  I'm hoping someone can help me as I'm starting to believe I made this book up!  Thank you so much!!!!

James Thurber, The Great Quillow,  1973.  perhaps...
David L. Harrison, The Book of Giant Stories, 1970's.  The book cover is green with a giant on the front.  It contains three different stories about three different giants.  I also had this book as a child in the 70's...I hope this is the one you are looking for!



G227: Ghost/Monster/Ufo book series
Solved: The World of the Unknown:  All About Ghosts


G228: Grandma Rabbit
Solved: Leo The Lop Series


G229:girl in apartment with broken leg
Kids' book from late '70's/early '80's about a girl who has moved to new apartment complex with mother. It's summer, she knows no one, has a broken leg, wears key around neck, bored,  sort of a juvenile "Rear Window".

G230: Girl wins essay contest to get bike
Solved: Nothing Rhymes With April


G231: Ghost story; 2 brunette children; frozen lake
Solved: All On a Winter's Day


G232: Girl goes to visit best friend in California
Solved: Hollywood Dream Machine


G233: girl marries school teacher
It's a book I read several times while in High School- (1969 to 1973) About an early 1900's(?) family (travelled by horse drawn wagons) and a young girls coming of age. She's a student in a one room school house, the new male teacher is living with their rather large family (farmers ?). They are friends and then she starts to "act up" in class (to get attention???) Later they marry and raise a family of their own. also includes story line about a poor friends relationship with her brother who married into a socially prominate family. For the life of me I can't remember the tilte or the author, but I believe the name began with a W. (Not: Little house on the prairie!!!)

Jessamyn West, Leafy Rivers. Not 100% sure, but a possibility.



G234: Girl, horses, murals, New England, growing up
Solved: Pounding Hooves


G235: Green and purple cookies
a young girl, possibly a witch, bakes green and purple cookies for parent night, because she has no parents--i think.

Late 70's.  It was definitely a witch, and I think she was trying to be a little girl.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch. I don't remember Minikin (Minx) baking cookies, but thought I'd suggest Little Witch anyway. Maybe the stumper requester could look at Solved Mysteries, to rule it out?
I remember this book too, but unfortunately no more details.  I think you're right that the witch baked these green and purple cookies for Parent Night or Back-to-School Night.  I think the rest of the parents who were there found them very unappetizing (they were lumpy and misshapen too).  The witch might have been hiding the fact that she was a witch, and trying to go to school like an ordinary girl -- that might be why she didn't ask her parents to make the cookies, because either they didn't know or didn't approve?  I would have read it in the 70's.



G236: German boy has adventure
Solved: The Quest


G237: Girl caught by indians ends up as seamstress
Solved: Calico Captive


G238: Ghost, frozen
Several ghosts are searching for a treasure(?) and one must cross a river to a cave to look for it.  There is a shark in the river and the water is so cold that the ghost freezes and icicles form on his body.

G239: Ginny
Solved: Ginnie and the Mystery Doll


G240: goose stuck in door
Solved: To Market, To Market


G241: Grandmother's lap
Solved: Grandmother and I


G242: Girl with Mirror who gets pulled back in time
Solved: Mirror of Danger (Come Back Lucy)


G243: Girl In a Haunted House??
Solved: Haunted Dollhouse

G244: Ghosts at Grandma's house
Solved: Monster Night at Grandma's House


G245: Girl who drinks salt water
Solved: Someday Angeline


G246: Ghost Story Sarah Grey Haunted dreams
Solved: A Sound of Crying


G247: Good Dragon versus Evil Witches; blue pudding
Solved?: The Mystical Beast
Some kids go down a manhole and end up in another world, where there are lots of evil witches who are trying to kill off a dragon-I seem to remember that he is the last dragon alive. One of the boys who is very full of himself manages to get captured by the witches in the witch house when the kids are all snooping around there, and the witches lock him in a big cage, possibly to eat him later (I'm not sure), or to use him as bait to lure the good dragon there. The other kids set off to find the dragon, and when they find him they discover that his magic has grown quite weak, and he may only be able to battle the witches with the children's assistance. He has enough magic left to make them a meal; a delicious blue pudding unlike anything they've ever had. (This is not a key element to the book, it just stuck in my head for some reason). That's all I can remember!

G247  Storey, Margaret.  Timothy and two witches.  illus by Charles W Stewart    Dell Yearling, 1966. popular British story about children, witches, a dragon
This book is definitely not Timothy and Two Witches, due to the plot explanation on the Solved page. This book is written for an older age group, but I can't remember the name... :(
I bought Timothy & 2 witches - definitely not the right book :-(
Alison Farthing, The Mystical Beast. I think this may be the same as "E108: Evil witches, good dragon" which seems very similar--right down to the blue pudding.  Someone posted there that it was The Mythical Beast.  Worth checking out, I would think.



G248: grade school kids doing activities at home, school
1950s,1960s,1970s (not sure of year - style seems similar to Dick and Jane, but kids are a little older and writing is aimed at readers that are a little older than Dick and Jane, maybe 1950s, but I was born in 1970s) book or books - probably several stories or at least several chapters in each book, hardcover; some of the stories... two kids holding suitcases, maybe getting ready to go to Grandma's house; a girl gets to go with her father to his work for a day at a television studio; boy and girl get to build a bookcase; kids help mom and dad with yardwork; girl at school learns about morning glories and how they open up in the morning; these were hardcover books, larger, thicker, and more substantial than something like Goldenbooks; more in depth and for older age reader than Dick and Jane books; wholesome sort of stories


G249: Girl wants curly tailed puppy
Solved: Two Stories About Wendy
Two Stories About Wendy

G250: Girl learns she can become bird
This short story was part of an anthology, probably for teen girls. I read it in the  mid-70s, but my father had bought it used, so I don't know when it was published. In this story, a girl (late teens, maybe) feels very different from her family but doesn't know why. She's alone somewhere, maybe at an inn, and meets a somewhat mysterious couple. They inform her that she comes from a different place (another planet?), was adopted, and can transform herself into a bird. The girl at last knows who she is and where she belongs. You think she's going to become part of the strangers' world, but at the end of the story, she flies across a lonely sky with powerful strokes--back to her adopted family. This story has stuck with me all these years. I don't recall the title, author, or any other stories in the book. I'd appreciate your help in identifying this short story.

{Young Mutants} or {Young Aliens}, 1984.  I don't remember anything about a teenage girl anthology, so this story appears to have been printed in a book of short stories with a different focus. Regardless, it's there.  This story is either part of Young Mutants (possible) or Young Extraterrestrials.  Contents at the bottom of this webpage. Young Extraterrestrials cover (big).  Young Mutants cover (big).It could also be other books in the Young series, but I think it's one of those two.
Series listed here, although I disagree with the review content.
Brock, No Flying in the House.  This story is about a girl who feels different and finds out she's a fairy (she can kiss her elbow). There's a little magical dog as well.
Kris Neville: Bettyann (1970). This is indisputably the science fiction classic Bettyann. When a "car accident" (actually a spaceship crash, I think) kills her parents and damages her arm she's adopted by an old couple. As a teenager she has an instinct to heal sick people. Her real family find her and tell her everything. They are shapeshifters and show her how to restore her arm. They take it for granted she will want to come back with them, but she changes into a bird and flies back to her earthly home.  It is somber, as you said, but beautiful. There is a sequel called Bettyann's Children.

Thanks to the people who have sent suggestions. The book definitely isn't No Flying in the House. The story I'm thinking of is fairly somber. I'll try to find a copy of the Young... books. They sound promising.



G251: Girl with coin purse at candy store
Solved: Geraldine Belinda


G252: girl on train
i am looking for a book written  possibly in the  30's, 40's or 50's.  it was read in school. it was about a girl on a train, who is handed a bag of jelly donuts, possible given to her by the train conductor. it was written in some form of italic print, like the fancy victorian calligraphy. thats all i know about the book.  i know i dont have enough to go on , but it may remind someone of it, and they may have more clues. i would love to have a copy of this book for my sister.

Palmer Brown, Beyond The Paw Paw Trees, 1954. This is a long-shot but there is something like this in Beyond the Paw Paw Trees by Palmer Brown, from 1954. The girl's name is Anna Lavinia, she travels on a train and is given, I think, some kind of food by an old woman. Whether or not it's jelly donuts, I can't confirm right now, since my Mom has the book. Do "lavender blue days" a cat named Strawberry and floating down to the ground with an umbrella after jumping off a cliff sound familiar?
Dorothy Canfield, Understood Betsy, 1930's, approximate.  In this book, there is a chapter where Betsy and Molly go to the fair and the people they are supposed to ride home with leave without them.  Betsy earns the money for train tickets by running the donut booth so the girl can go to dance with her boyfriend for an hour.  When the girl comes back, she hands Betsy a bag of donuts.  "Take all you want," she says.  "Momma'll never miss 'em."  Later on, the 2 little girls are riding on the train and eating the donuts.  Maybe this is your book?



G253: girl in painting, boy's broken leg
This is a book I read during the sixties or seventies. I have absolutely no recollection of the title or author. The story concerned a boy confined to bed with a broken leg. Hanging in his bedroom is a painting. It turns out that the girl in the painting is actually there as a punishment for bad behaviour. (I think she was put there by her Grandfather) and she can only be freed by being kind to someone. She takes the boy on all sorts of adventures, but the only one I can remember concerns a sea trip, when a merman tries to persuade her to stay with him, but she refuses because of the boy. I particularly want to find this book again, because I seem to remember that the last few pages were missing when I read it for the second time, and I cannot remember the ending.

Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams. The link has a synopsis of the story.  Doesn't quite match the description in the stumper, but some how it feels like it might be the book being looked for.  I read the book a while ago.  Our local library no longer has a copy, but wasn't a movie made of it a year or two ago? Link.
Thanks for the feedback, but this book is definitely not Marianne Dreams. I do remember Marianne Dreams though, as it was a TV series in England during the Seventies, and I was disturbed by the rocks with eyes. I also thought it silly that she drew a lighthouse as a light source to aid their escape, instead of a constant source of light.



G254: Girl adjusting to farm life
Does anyone out there know of another book of this genre that is not one of the following? The house of the fifers by Rebecca Caudill, The wonderful year by Nancy Barnes, Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Homemade year by Mildred Lawrence, Katie Kittenheart by Miriam E. Mason. I am anxious to find a particular book that I read in Indiana as a child in either 1964 or 1965. The memory of it has haunted me all these years, but as with my last stumper, my remembered details are unfortunately very vague. The story (similar to the above titles) is of a plucky teen or pre-teen girl who is sent to live on her relatives' farm. There is a struggle of adjustment to a very different way of life,  homesickness, and much growth and change take place in her life. The theme, I've discovered, is a fairly common one, hence I've read all the above books recently in my search for "the one".  It also seems almost like an imitation of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. It's  more of a young adult book, not aimed at young children.  My overall impression is that it's written earlier than the early 1960's, even 1940's possibly. I think it takes place in the 20th century, or late 19th at the latest.  It did not have a sparse feel, but the prose seemed intense and crowded with emotion and detail about farm life. I don't think it's a slim book and I don't remember any illustrations.  I have dim recollections of hoards of cousins surrounding the girl, and almost goading her on. Sometimes I think I remember the name "Judy" or even "Julie" or "Kate" being the heroine's name.  There is a wholesome feeling of "berries and gingham" about the book. An orchard may appear in it. I am quite sure the author is American, and because I was living in Indiana at the time, I am wondering if she/he could be either one of the Indiana authors, Mabel Leigh Hunt or Miriam E. Moore?  Other books by Rebecca Caudill or May Justus could be possibilities. I've been checking but nothing sounds right or not enough info.  Any ideas would be much appreciated!

Kate Seredy, The Good Master. How about this or The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy?
Kathryn Worth, They Loved to Laugh. A deluge of ripe apples is Martitia's introduction to the five fun-loving Gardner boys when their father, Dr. David, brings the sixteen-year-old orphan girl to the hospitable Gardner home in North Carolina.
They Loved to Laugh. This is about a young girl, Martitia(?), who goes to live with relatives who have a house full of boys. Her aunt always says, "Every tub must stand on its own bottom" and the boys make her think she is eating dog meat.
Daringer, Helen F., Adopted Jane.  Wonderful book about an orphan who goes to stay with an older woman, then stays with a lively family on a farm and has to decide if she will stay there or return to the woman.
Thank you.  They loved to laugh could indeed be a possibility and it's good to know that it's been reprinted.  I will obtain a copy very shortly & will respond further then.  I had considered Kate Seredy's books before, but the descriptions don't sound right nor the Hungarian setting.  I am very sure this story takes place entirely in the USA.
Carol Brink, Caddy Woodlawn. I wonder if this MIGHT be "Caddy Woodlawn"?  Caddy herself lives on a farm with her siblings however, some cousins from the city visit, and there's a lot of adjustment and "growing up," including "goading" of each other. (As I recall, Caddy's a tomboy and the girl cousins aren't, which leads to problems.)  The "mood" and time you described seemed right, so I wondered if maybe your memory had inadvertently "reversed" the plot, remembering the more common plot where the protagonist goes to the cousins' farm instead of having cousins come to hers.  Since you've tried so many other books with no luck, I thought I'd suggest this.
Louisa M. Alcott, Eight Cousins. A long shot -- but perhaps this is it?  There is a hoard of cousins ... the pre-teen Rose is left with her uncle, there is a great deal of health-regaining and romping about.
Thank you for these additional tips!  I will give Adopted Jane a try and take another look at Caddie Woodlawn and also the sequel Magical melons.  I had dismissed "Caddie" for the very reason you stated, but one never knows how memory can play tricks!
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables. This is probably a long shot, as it's such a well-known book, but is there any chance this could be Anne of Green Gables or one of its sequels?
Irene Hunt, Up A Road Slowly.  This one kind of fits. The character is named Julie. She goes to live with her aunt after her mother dies. The book covers her life from age 7 to age 18 or so.
Louisa May Alcott, Eight Cousins.  This is a far out in left field suggestion but it does involve hoards of cousins.  Rose is orphaned and is sent to live with her father's aunts in San Francisco.  She befriends her 7 boy cousins and they have adventures that include sailing, gardening, visiting the country, etc.  She spends a great deal of time adjusting to her new life since she has spent most of her life in a girls' boarding school.
Thanks for more suggestions.  No, it's not Eight Cousins or any of L.M. Montgomery's books.  My sense is that the author is much more obscure and that's one reason I can't pin down this book.
What about Jennie Lindquist's books: The Golden Name Day, The Little Silver House, and The Crystal Tree? Maybe too young, but have the feel that you're looking for. Nine-year-old Nancy is sent to live with her Swedish grandparents for a year. I wanted flowered wallpaper and a sewing basket for years after reading these books.
Elizabeth Witheridge, Never Younger, Jeannie, 1963.
Wow! It's great to have so many possibilities and to re-read and get acquainted with some excellent books.  I am working my way through all your suggestions.  Unfortunately, I know now that my long lost book is not either of the Caddie books, which are simply wonderful stories.  In fact, I am wondering if my unknown writer writes as well as some of these others.  I think my adult self may be alot more critical of a very sentimental, sweet, and even overwrought story which I suspect I am looking for. It may also be written even earlier than I think - two reasons why I am doubtful about Up a road slowly which is next in line.  Thank you again to everyone, and I will continue to keep you posted.
Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs This is a total long shot. Only part of this book takes place on a farm. The protagonist's name is Judy & she is an orphan. She did wear gingham uniforms in the orphanage... She is older when she is on the farm-- she is sent to college by a mysterious benefactor. The book is epistolary, very sweet & wholesome. Something about your description triggered thoughts of this book. As I said-- a long shot. But a good read anyway!
No, it's not Daddy Long Legs although it was a fun read - skimmed through the online version and want to come back to it later. I'm still waiting for more of your suggestions to arrive in concrete form as ordered books. Alas, need to be reading nothing but school books before too very long, so all this enjoyable detective work will have to be put on hold for awhile!
Never younger, Jeannie just arrived today.  There is nothing familiar about the look of it, but just in skimming through the text it certainly has the "right feel", as does Up a road slowly.  I have now also had a chance to glance through the Lindquist books - yes, they look too young & the stories don't fit what I remember, but am sure they are a delightful read. Like a number of other readers/contributors to this site, I am beginning to wonder if my memory hasn't juxtaposed two (or more?) books, so still not solved with the books to date. This is a truly remarkable service you offer, Harriett, and I thank everyone for their interest & patience.
Alice Lunt, Eileen of Redstone Farm, 1964.  Probably not it, because this one takes place in Scotland or England, but otherwise it sounds similar.
Thank you for continuing to take an interest in my archived post!  I will order a copy of Eileen of Redstone Farm - you just never know... although you'd think I'd be able to remember this title since my name is also Eileen! I have enjoyed reading these books with a similar theme.  I did read They loved to laugh and thought it was a moving and well-written book, with a very similar feel to what I'm looking for, but alas not the one.  Of that I am very sure.
Frances Salomon Murphy, Runaway Alice. This could be it - Alice is an orphan who goes to live on a farm as a foster child.
Mabel Betsy Hill, Along Comes Judy Jo.  (1943)  Has the gingham and berries feel, but not sure if it's really a farm story or not.  Might be worth a try...
This isn't by any chance Bluebonnets for Lucinda, is it? Written by Frances Clark Sayers and first published in 1934 with illustrations by Helen Sewell. That is long out of print. One chapter was reprinted in pre-1966 Childcraft, the one where Lucinda's been told to stay away from the foul-tempered geese, but she finds that if she plays her music box the geese become interested in the music and calm down.
Once again, I do appreciate more suggestions for my post.  It still haunts me and I fear my memories are just too vague.  "Runaway Alice" and "Along comes Judy Jo" are charming books but not the one. "Bluebonnets for Lucinda" is not it either.
Gates, Doris, The Elderberry Bush. (1967)  Could you be looking for The Elderberry Bush by Doris Gates?  I am not sure what this book is about, but I have the dimmest memory of gingham and/or berries. Good luck!
Thank you again but it's not "Eileen of Redstone Farm", although you're right - it's similar, but the setting is wrong.  It's not "The elderberry bush" either, published too late.  I know I didn't read it any later than 1966. I think I need to be hypnotised for this one!  The name Pat, Patsy, or Patty seems to ring a faint bell also.  She may have been one of the cousins and Julie or Judy was the heroine or vice versa.



G255: Goodnight baby book
Solved: The Goodnight Book


G256: Greenland Falcon Crusade
This was a new book in the elementary school library in the late 60s/early 70s. Main character was a falconer, caring for a Greenland falcon (white falcon) while on Crusade. Cover might have been green.  Chapter book - I read it in 7th or 8th grade probably.

Rita Ritchie, Ice FalconThis sounds very much like the sort of book Ritchie wrote - it's not The Golden Hawks of Genghis Khan, so Ice Falcon may be a possibility, although I can't recall anything about it specifically.
G256. This book may be the one:  Knox, Esther Melbourne    Swift flies the falcon; a story of the first Crusade.    illus by Ruth King    E M Hale    1939   England - 11th century   Gareth and his sister Margaret [Meg] and some helpers spend many months with scarcely any provisions travelling from England to Jerusalem searching for their father, a Crusader. The pet falcon with them was a big help.
I'm the original poster and it's neither Ritchies' ICE FALCON, which I own and is set wholly in the north, nor the other which was only printed once, AFAICT, in 1939.  The book I'm trying to find was *new* in approx 1970-72.  THe school library copy was brand new with no dust jacket but a picture of the  falconer on the cover holding his white falcon.  He was in the Holy Land for most of the book, IIRC (which I may not).  Don't remember any family members being involved, either.  Just the falconer.  And a bit where he explained 'falco greenlandicus' to a Saracen.
S F Welty, Knight's ransom, 1951. Young Vahl Thorfinnsson, falconer to the son of the Duke of Burgandy accompanies Crusader's to Turkey on Crusade Expedition. To release the noble knights from bondage, he fights pirates & icebergs to obtain 11 Greenland falcons for the Sultan of Turkey.



G257: Girl travels through 7 lands of the rainbow
Solved: Once Upon a Rainbow


G258: Goblins on the Hunt
This is a poem that was in a book of collected children's poems and short stories. Must have been from the mid-1970s or earlier. Possibly three other works included were: The Goops, The Owl and the Pussycat, and Wynken Blynken and Nod. The Goblin poem repeated the main line frequently but I don't remember anything else about the poem except for the vague idea that it was telling children they had better behave. A prime line in the poem is: 'the goblins are going to get you if you don't watch out'.

G258 I don't know which collection the person is thinking of, but the poem could be James Whitcomb Riley's "Little Orphant Annie" also published as "The Gobble-uns'll Git You Ef You Don't Watch Out!".
Don't know the book, but the part about the goblins sounds like James Whitcomb Riley's poem Little Orphant Annie ("An' the Gobble-uns'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out!").
James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916), Little Orphant Annie, 1900. I think this is what you are looking for. It is a poem, and the refrain repeats the line "An' the Gobble-uns'll git you Ef you don't watch out." It tells what happened to children who didn't behave. For example, "Wunst they wuz a little boy who wouldn't say his prayers...". You can find the poem here http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem1703.html Sometimes you see it as LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE, and with the spelling corrected and not in dialect.
James Whitcomb Riley, Little Orphant Annie. This sounds like the refrain to Little Orphant Annie: "An' the Gobble-uns'll git you / Ef you / Don't / Watch / Out!"   The poem is online here.  I have no idea which anthologies it's in, but this should help a little.
Jane Werner (ed), The Big Golden Book of Poetry,1947.I betcha it's this one. I was looking for this same book, now that I have a two-year-old. I remember the James Whitcomb Riley poem (Little Orphant Annie). The artwork on that page used to scare the bejeebers out of me. I liked There Once Was a Puffin, especially. See here and search for Werne.



G259: Gulag
Sovled: Coming Out of the Ice


G260: green magic
Solved:  Green Smoke


G261: gold buried in middle of road
Hello, I sure hope that someone out there has the answer to my query. I have memories of reading some awesome fairy tale books (it sure seems like there was more than one; perhaps a series of three?)  My memory is fuzzy, but one part that sticks out in my mind is of someone burying a box of gold in the middle of a dirt road.  Not much to go on, I know; I've been searching this notion for years.  I do remember that the illustrations were quite enchanting, and perhaps the stories were not American.  I would appreciate ANY help.  Thanks!

James Stephens, The Crock of Gold, 1920s.  "Meehawl MacMurrachu's old skinny cat kills a robin redbreast on the roof one day, forging the first link in a long, peculiar chain of events. For the robin redbreast is the particular bird of the Leprecauns of Gort na Gloca Mora, and the Leprecauns retaliate by stealing Meehawl MacMurrachu's wife's washing-board, and Meehawl asks the Philosopher who lives in the center of the pine wood called Coilla Doraca for advice in locating the washboard...and the chain leads on and on, up to Angus Og himself and to the country of the gods. Unique and inimitable, this is one of the great tales of our century." Could this be it? It's a great book - well worth a read anyway!
I don't know the book, but the story reminds me of the folk tale The King's Highway. A king builds a new road, and decides to have a contest to see who can travel the road the best. The contestants complain that there's a pile of rocks in the road finally one weary traveller comes carrying a box of gold that was hidden under the rocks. He wins, of course, because "he who travels best is the one who smooths the way for others." 



G262: giants and fairies
Solved: First Fairy Tales


G263: Ghost and rat living together
Solved: Gus Was a Friendly Ghost


G264: Girl Scout, black, miniature tent
Solved: Bright April


G265: Gargoyle door knockers to kingdom
Solved: Shadow Castle


G266: German girl after WW II
This is a chapter book set in Germany just after the war (I believe WW II). The main character is a girl of about 12 whose twin brother has died. The cover (of the library book, anyway) was dark turquoise with orange figures on it--I seem to remember the cover better than I do the book.

Margot Benary-Isbert, The Ark.  Definitely the book.



G267: Girls and Horses, matching
Born in '67 I read this book in the early 70s.  The book was extra tall; about 3 girls (blonde, brunette/black and redhead/brown haired) meeting 3 horses with matching colored hair.  They travelled in a whale shaped submarine with red and white stripes, passing a land where balloons grew from the ground, and there also was a dark haired circus? man with a moustache.

Piet Worm, Three Little Horses At The King's Palace.  This book is extra-tall, features three girls and three ponies, one of each with red/brown hair, blond/white hair, and black hair.  There is a circus man with a mustache in this book, but no whale-shaped submarine or land with balloons.  However, there was a prequel to this book called Three Little Horses and that might have those things.



G268: girls first tooth to diamond
This book is about how a girls first lost tooth is later used as her diamond engagement ring. It may involve the tooth fairy as well. I read it when I was around 8. I was born in 1964.Seems like I remember the teeth of young girls being taking to a place where they were put into fire and changed into diamonds. Thank you so much for looking!

Otto Whittaker, The true story of the tooth fairy (and why brides wear engagement rings), 1968.  "Because a little boy and girl share their humble supper with a beggar, they become the tooth fairies responsible for the money left whenever a child loses a tooth and for the diamond engagement rings brides wear."



G269: Green statue
Solved:  Stranger from the Depths


G270: Grandmother's viewpoint
The book is one my wife read as a young girl, so dates from the mid-seventies or earlier. It features a young woman who goes back in time and switches places with her grandmother. Her grandmother had been raped at one point before the switch, and given birth to the girl's mother, Penny. She had attempted to abort the pregnacy, but the botched result left Penny sickly and weak. The girl lives a good amount of time as her grandmother, who is something of a 'black sheep' in the family and shunned by the rest. She eventually returns to her present.

Marlys Millhiser, The Mirror, 1978.  This might be it  a similar query was posted on anothr forum.
Marlys Milheiser, The Mirror
Marlys Millhiser, The Mirror, 1978.  The night before her wedding, Shay Garrett and her grandmother, Brandy switch bodies, sending Shay back to 1900.
I hate to disagree with the solution to this stumper, but I know The Mirror well (I even have an autographed copy!), and while the plot of the stumper is close to The Mirror, there are several signifigant differences between the two, and I do not believe that this stumper is solved. The daughter and the grandmother switch places in the stumper story AND in The Mirror, but those are the only two things the two books have in common. Here is what happens in The Mirror. First, the name of the two women who switch places are Shay and Brandy. Shay is the modern girl, just about to be married to a guy named Mark, and she switches places with her grandmother, Brandy, the old fashioned girl, on the eve of her wedding.  Second, the grandmother, Brandy, was never raped. The Mirror is very clear on the fact that Brandy was a virgin when she was married. (The doctor comes to examine her on her wedding night, because, by that time, Brady now has Shay's soul, and Shay is a bit dizzy and faint. In comes the doctor, who states very cleary that she is a virgin, and that her new groom has nothing to worry about.) Brandy (who is really Shay), marries Corwin, a Welsh miner, who is killed in a mining accident. Then Brandy/Shay marries a man (who is one part of a pair of twins) and she gives birth to a daughter named Rachel, who turns out to be Shay's mother. Shay never returns to the present day, and Brandy never returns to the 1900's. Shay is a modern girl with modern ideas living in the 1900's but she is not a black sheep, nor an outcast. Brandy, in the modern time, adjusts to living there, and ends up marrying Mark, the man Shay was originally going to marry. And that is the plot of The Mirror! If the original stumper stongly remembers a rape and an attempted abortion, a black sheep issue, and a return of the charactesr to the right year, then perhaps the stumper is asking about a different story than The Mirror.
Are you sure that the Mirror isn't the story?  In the story I remember (but didn't remember the title of), the grandmother Brandy wasn't raped, but Shay was pregnant when the switch was made, so Brandy had to go through the pregnancy.  Penny was the baby Shay had with the miner. From her 'future' she knew the baby wouldn't live to adulthood, so she tried to avoid getting pregnant (with a copper penny).  The baby was sickly and died after a few weeks.  Shay wasn't sickly then, but later had TB for years.
The Mirror (possibly).  Your description of the book definitely sounds like the plot of The Mirror to me, but the orignal stumper didn't. I had forgotten about the baby Penny, who died early on. It could be that the orignal stumper had remembered the baby being born of rape, even though she wasn't. Maybe the original stumper can shed some light!



G271: Girl discovers dolls
Solved: The Mystery of the Silent Friends


G272: Girl Locked in School
This is a story about a school aged girl who leaves her homework or some paper that she needs at the school where she goes.  She goes back to the school to get it an hour or so after school has ended and ends up getting locked in the school.  Perhaps in the janitors closet?  I know at some point as she goes into the empty school just the janitor is there and then he locks up the school I believe she tries to get out a window in the janitors closet or something.  Older book probably 70's

Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library!  Just a guess -  it's been years since I read it.
Catherine Woolley, Chris in Trouble, 1968. This could be Woolley's second book about Cathy Leonard's little sister Chris.  One day, she and a friend go inside her school when they're not supposed to and accidentally leave their dolls in a classroom.  They're locked in the school and have to climb out a window to get out.  Later, when Chris tries to retrieve the dolls without being seen, she tries to avoid the school's janitor.
Catherine Woolley, Chris in Trouble,1968.Could the book be Catherine Woolley's Chris in Trouble (part of her Cathy Leonard series)?  Nine year-old Chris gets into difficult situations one weekend such as sneaking into her school with a friend and then accidentally leaving their dolls behind.  There's a janitor they try to avoid.  And Chris has to avoid him again when she tries to retrieve the dolls undetected.



G273: Green man
Solved: The Giant Under the Snow

G274: Green boy with wings
I saw a book at a bookstore about a decade ago. On the cover was a girl with brown shoulder length hair, dressed in white clothes and holding a white orb in both her hands. She was standing on a giant leaf which was floating in water and being pulled by a green boy with dragon or faerie wings, and long black hair. The back of the book said that the girl was a princess and I think the boy was her pet, I'm not sure. There was also a sequel or a prequel to that book, which showed the boy flying in the air, and bellow them you could see the princess girl and a guy in armor next to her, and both of them were looking up at him. I hope that's enough to go on.

Norton, Andrew, Flight in Yiktor.  The "girl with orb" book is Flight in Yiktor, and the "boy flying while others watch" is probably Dare to Go A-Hunting.
Andre Norton, Flight in Yiktor, 1986.  The cover is as described, and it is one book in a series, but the plot is a little different: the girl is a sorceress and the green boy is a former slave she has rescued.



G275: girl who rides polo ponies
Solved: Red Embers


G276: girls trade places
My mother remembers reading this book when she was in grade school in the early 30s. A county girl trades places with a city girl.

G277: girl moves to inn meets ghost girl
Solved: The Haunting of Cliff House


G278: Gutman, Bessie Pease
I have a vintage children's book with full page illustrations by Bessie Pease Gutmann.  Majority are rhymes, with the following stories...  Mother's Helpers, A Fox's Cleverness, Teddie, The Helper, The Ghose in The Garden, A Visit to Nurse.  There are also full page illustrations/poems by F.W. Home.  Please let me know if you have any information or help on this book as the cover and first few pages are missing.

I'm not sure which book you have....  But here's a bio and bibliography for Bessie Pease Gutmann.



G279: GIRLS RAISED BY OLDER BROTHER
Solved: Rosemary


G280: Gray kitten
Solved: Peppermint


G281: girl can "see" connections between people
I read a science fiction novel in the 1980s or 90s (although I am unsure of the publication date) about a race of people who had supernatural "talents," and one of the main characters (a girl or woman, I believe) had the ability to "see" connections between people as visible bands or strings connecting each other.  A stronger bond such as a mother/daughter relationship had a brighter, stronger band wherease a more casual acquaintance appeared as a thinner, weaker band.  My memory is hazy, but I think the people were leaving their hometown or planet for some reason, either evacuating or being exiled.  I'm afraid that's all I can remember, any leads would be great, thanks!

Zenna Henderson, The People.  Just finished reading the G281 stumper and have to say this sounds a lot like "The People" stories (I read them as short stories but I think they were all gathered into a book) by Zenna Henderson.  I read them a LONG time ago, 1960s, I think, so date does not fit, but everything else does.  A race of people with various powers must evict their planet and they crash-land on earth and are scattered.  The stories follow the experiences of the various alien characters and their encounters with the people of Earth. Written in a style that is both highly realistic and beautifully sensitive.  Don't remember the character who can see connections between people, though.  There was a boy who was learning how to fly who fell in love with an Earht girl, there was a baby named Lala by its finders, there were many others.  Even if this is not the solution, I consider this series as one of the best science fiction series of all time and definitely worth any reader's attention.
Orson Scott Card, The Memory of Earth.  A possibility: the first book of the Homecoming series. One of the girls in the book (Luet?)sees connections between people, and the characters have to leave the city of Basilica. (and, eventually, the planet) Other characters are called Nafai, Wetchik, Shedemei.
Zenna Henderson, Pilgramage/ The People Stories, 1967 - 1987.  This would be my first recommendation.  When one of the People comes of age, their natural "talent", or "gift", such as healing, sensing metals, "lifting" (flying) becomes apparent. The people must leave their disintegrating planet, and the ties between mother and daughter, and  husband and wife figure strongly in the decisions made for the evacuation. The grandmother in particular senses the ties between the women in her family, and how they change when her grandaughter realizes her love for a young man is as strong a tie as the love of her birth family. This is a compilation of short stories previously published in other sources. The complete People collection is published as Ingathering: The complete People stories of Zenna Henderson.
Zenna Henderson, The People - No Different Flesh.  The name of the short story in the series that deals with the evacuation of the home planet is called "Deluge," originally published in 1963.
I think this is not a People story. I've read Ingathering (all the People stories, including unpublished ones), and there's nothing about being able to "see connections between" people. Possibly part of the reason it sounds like Henderson is that the first People story is about a woman who discovers she is a "Sorter" -- she can see *into* people, into their deepest psychological processes. (In later stories, we find Sorters can rearrange and erase people's memories, too.) My guess is that the Orson Scott Card book is it. Thanks for having this service!
Orson Scott Card, Homecoming.  This is the book you're looking for.  There's a series of six books, but it's in "Homecoming" that she can see connections.  Gold strands for some, silver for others.  Still available in paperback.  I always remember that description. :)



G282: Garden where girl finds different mothers
Solved: The Mummy Market


G283: Ghost in the Garden
Solved: Ghost in the Garden


G284: Gun
Solved: The Hole Book


G285: girl is jealous of her friend
this story was read by captain kangaroo frequently (1960s).  I can picture the illustrations of 2 young girls, one with a ponytail and one with short hair...rather large heads.  One main character was always jealous of her friend.  The story took place at school and I think at the main character's home.  Her mother perhaps babysat for the 2nd girl. I thought it was written by charlotte zolotow...by it is not.

I'm wondering if this could be one of Janice May Udry's books? I believe her books were read on Captain Kangaroo a lot. I'm not sure which one it is, however. At first I thought it was Let's Be Enemies, but that's not it.
You may want to look at the books by Phyllis Krasilovsky, as well. Hope it helps.
I still haven't found this book----more memories of book the main character would alway try to do things but did it wrong...her friend always did it right...thus the jealousy



G286: Girl runs away and becomes witch
Solved: Wickedishrag


G287: Girl Involved in Hit and Run with Delivery Truck
A girl hits and kills a little boy in a delivery truck that she uses to deliver flowers for her summer job.  She’s scared so she drives away, then finds out that the boy died.  She’s haunted by the secret that she keeps throughout the summer, and eventually she tells her boyfriend what she did.

Lois Duncan, I Know What You Did Last Summer,1973.  Possibly? Julie, her boyfriend, and 2 friends hit a boy on a bike while driving back from a picnic and later find out he died. Julie wasn't driving, they were in a normal car and Julie doesn't work at a flower shop, but the person who stalks the friends a year later figures out who she was by asking at the flower shop where she ordered yellow roses for the boy's funeral and sent them without a name. Her boyfriend was in the car with her and thus knows all about it, but he leaves town soon after and doesn't come back until a year later, and at the end they decide together that they need to come clean about the hit-and-run.
Lois Duncan, I know what you did last summer.  There is a similar situation in this book but there are four people involved in the hit-and-run that kills a boy on his bicycle. Julie and her three friends take a vow of secrecy but she receives a mysterious message saying "I know what you did last summer."  Suddenly all four of them become targets of revenge.
Hope Dahle Jordan, Haunted Summer, 1969.  I am absolutely positive the book you are looking for is Haunted Summer by Hope Dahle Jordan. Rilla Martin is a teenage girl who is working a summer job delivering flowers to save money for college. On a rainy night she hits something and it turns out to be a boy on his bike. She takes him to the hospital and runs away and they think she is a boy. She feels guilty all summer and tells her boyfriend. He eventually convinces her to go to the police. The boy does not die.


2006


G288: Goldfish
I am looking for a book I read about 15-20 years ago. It was novel about a goldfish, who was dumped into a pond (back yard pond that gets drained maybe??) by his owner and has a very interesting adventure in the real world. He meets a lady goldfish, almost gets killed a few times. I think I remember the lady fish being killed by a water bug...The whole story centers around the goldfish.

I am also looking for this book...my recollection was that a goldfish gets into the wild somehow (I want to say he went down a drain or was flushed, although this is hazy) and has to learn how to survive. He has all kinds of adventures and is nearly killed several times (I remember vividly a scene with a pike lying in wait for him, hanging in the water below him).  I also remember that he meets a female fish who is nearly eaten by a water bug at one point. I probably read this in the early-mid 1980s, so it was published by that time.  I remember the cover as being white, with a pen-and-ink drawing of a goldfish swimming around a water plant. 
Daniel Pratt Mannix, Troubled Waters, 1969. Goodreads forum just solved query about similar book. Person who was looking may have been the hunters here.
Daniel Pratt Mannix, Troubled Waters, 1969. The story of two goldfish, Buck and Roe.  Buck escapes from a backyard pond into a polluted river.  He meets up with Roe and they make their way to a less polluted tributary, meeting up with several adventures along the way.  Intended as an allegory about the dangers of pollution, with information about all the trophic levels of our streams and ponds. 


G289: Gregory
Solved: Gregory, the Noisest and Strongest Boy in Grangers Grove


G290: Girl searches for Golden Rule
A little girl is on a journey searching for the meaning of the Golden Rule.  I think her name is Zelda.  She may even travel to Outer Space.  It's likely this book was written in the 1950s or 60s.

G291: girl runs away to become pirate
Solved: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle


G292: girl and fairy
I'm looking for a chapter book I read in Elementary school about a relationship between a girl and a fairy. I remember at the end of the book the fairy uses all of her power to create a child for the girl who is now a woman and wants to have a baby but can't. It seems like the fairy also chooses specific attributes for the baby like red hair, blue eyes, etc. Please help!

Lynne Reid Banks, Fairy Rebel, 1988.  The fairy gets the colors mixed and has to do an emergency fix to make sure the baby doesn't have blue hair. Later there is trouble with the Fairy Queen who had forbidden contact with humans.
Lynne Reid Banks, the Fairy Rebel, 1985.  My daughter and I believe this is the book.  The name of the fairy is Tiki and she helps Jan have a baby.  This makes the queen fairy very angry.
Lynne Reid Banks, The Fairy Rebel Your description about the fairy using her power to create a child for a human sounds a lot like this book. The fairy is punished by the (bad) fairy queen for helping a human. I don't think there's anything about the human woman knowing the fairy as a child. We do, however, get to see the child the fairy creates for the woman grow up to about the age of 10. I read this book in the early 90's in upper elementary school.



G293: Gremlins in the cockpit WWII
Solved: The Gremlins


G294: girl survives alone ingeniously - shipwrecked?
The book was about a girl who was left alone by mistake for at least sevral months.  Maybe a shepherdess?  She had a hut, a pencil stub, a very few things and was ingenious about figuring out how to survive and get rescued.  I think the late 50s maybe.

Scott O'Dell, The Island of the Blue Dolphins, 1961.  The pencil stub is out, but this Newberry winner is the best girl Crusoe tale ever, based on the true story of a Native American girl who managed to survive alone on an island off the Californian coast for 18 years. Magic!  Some images which may help: as her people are being evacuated from the island, she dives off the boat and swims back to be with her brother - who dies shortly afterward;  she makes a beautiful dress of green-black cormorant feathers;  she tames a feral, wolflike dog (and then his son) who keeps her company and helps her hunt. There was a spate of wonderful lone child survivor stories I read growing up in the 60s and 70s... others include Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry, My Side of the Mountain and Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George... great stuff!
Monique Peyrouton de Ladebat, The Village That Slept, 1965 (American ed.).  Could this be The Village That Slept?  The girl is not alone -- there is a boy and also a baby, all victims of a plane crash in the Pyrenees.  They find shelter in a recently deserted village, and eventually find a dog, cow, sheep, and chickens too.  Their names (which at first they don't remember) are Lydia and Franz.  They are ingenious at surviving, and after a year or two are found and rescued.
Mazer, Island Keeper, 1982, copyright.  Not sure if this is it, but plot is similar to your search.
Brink, Carol Ryrie, Baby Island. Re G294, this is quite a long shot, because the most important detail, the fact that your heroine is alone, doesn't match, but several other things do.  Could you maybe be thinking of "Baby Island" by Carol Ryrie Brink?  In this book, 12 year old Mary and her 10 year old sister Jean are stranded on a deserted island with four babies under the age of 2 after the ship on which they were passengers begins to sink.  While drifting in a lifeboat, Jean's disorganized pockets turn up a stubby pencil, among other odds and ends, and the girls discover a good supply of canned food in the lifeboat, including canned milk, which they feed to the youngest baby, Jonah.  When they run aground on the island, they find things to eat like bananas, coconuts, crabs and clams.  They build a teepee out of the lifeboat's sail, and ingeniously construct other things like a pram that they can pull the babies around in, and even make dishes out of coconut shells (think Giligan's Island minus the idiocy).  Jean starts writing letters to their

Aunt Emma by putting them in the empty food cans and letting them float away.  They discover a hermit named Mr. Peterkin living in a hut, which he somewhat reluctantly shares with them after a storm destroys the teepee.  They are eventually rescued by their father and the fathers of the babies.  This little gem was originally written in 1937, and was reprinted by Scholastic Book Services in 1965, which is when I found it.  As I said, this is a long shot, but the pencil stub, the hut, the very few things and the ingenuity all match.  Good luck with your search! 



G295: Girl with upstairs male neighbor
Solved: My Pal Al


G296: Good Times Club
Solved: Kendall's Second Reader


G297: Golden Key
I somehow paid for this before I posted any information.  This is what I have.  It is a story about a golden key (but it is not the book entitled “the golden key” by George MacDonald.)  In the book the key leads to a world under the sea, where the children involved encounter a mermaid who shows them how to use the key.  The illustrations I remember are silhouette illustrations (like those silhouettes in Arthur Rackham’s illustrated books.) This is vague, but all I have right now.

Joan Aiken, A Necklace of Raindrops, 1968.  Could it be a story from the collection A Necklace of Raindrops?  It has the silouette illustrations, but it's a series of short stories...with children in magical situations.



G298: girl makes beautiful hats for dolls
Solved: Polly Poppingay, Milliner


G299: Girl with red hair
Girl with red hair, lives in the country, neighbor boy teases her about her hair.  She mail orders fabric to make a dress, is initially disappointed in color, but ends up pleased.  She and the boy eventually make friends.  I read this in the late 60s-early 70s.  It is not Anne of Green Gables.  Thanks for the help.

Elizabeth Hamilton Friermood, Circus Sequins, circa 1968.  A real longshot!  From what I remember, the girl in this book has flaming red hair, which people make fun of.  She's good with horses, and somehow ends up in a circus as a bareback rider, where she makes a green dress which shows off her red hair and everyone thinks she's beautiful.  At the end of the summer, she has to decide if she should stay with the circus or go back to the country and marry her boyfriend, who had supported her through all the teasing.  Maybe worth a try, anyway!

Thanks for the suggestion, but I know that's not it.  The fabric for the dress was the same color as a leaf the girl found (I think) and was intended to match her hair, so it's some variety of brown/reddish brown.  Definitely not green.  And I think the girl is of the 10-14 year old range, not marriage material.  Thanks for helping.

I've been looking for this book for years i remember the girl with red hair freckles plays in the woods with her friend, barefoot has her first period talks with a southern accent written in the 60's or 70's.



G300: Gertrude
Solved: Gertrude's Child


G301: ghost story collection, possums, snakes
Solved: Tales of Terror


G302a: geese that come out of barnacles
Solved: Where the Wild Geese Go


G302b: girl, a toy pig and knight
The girl is in a new house (for summer vacation maybe?). I think she finds these toys there. The pig and the knight "Sir Something-or-other" come to life, and at some point they go to a magical land...I can't really remember anything else about the actual adventure. I think it was a Scholastic publication, but can't be sure. The copy I had was paperback and light pink in color. I read it around 1993.

C.S. Adler, Goodbye Pink Pig. Worth a shot- the girl has an unhappy home life and imagines adventures with her animal figurines.



G303: girl gets hit by car
I read this book sometime is the early to mid 80's. I'm almost positive it is not Kristy's Courage. From what I remember the girl was riding her bike or walking and a car hits her. She gets hurt bad and has to learn to speak and walk again,.I remember in the book that she had a brother who had some problems dealing with his sisters accident.I believe toewards the end she recovers somewhat and runs a race or just runs.I have been trying to remember the name of this book for about 10 years now and I can't find anything about it.Hope I'm not imagining it!

Cynthia Voight, Izzy Willy-Nilly, 1986.  This is probably not the book, but there are some similarities. The girl was in a drunk-driving accident, and had to have one of her legs amputated at the knee. Have a look online and see if this is the book.
Babbis Friis, Kristy's courage, 1965.  Translation of a Norwegian book (Kjersti) and published by Harcourt, Brace & World in the US.  A little girl has problems adjusting to school life after an automobile accidnt disfigures her and causes her to have a speech impediment
I checked out those two books and neither of them are the book.  I also remembered a few days ago that the girl was a cheerleader before her accident.
Barbara Conklin, I Believe In You, 1984.  This could be the book that you are describing. Some parts don't match, the girl's brother isn't bothered by her accident and she wasn't a cheerleader. I can't remember for sure how she had the accident but in this book the girl's name is Penny Snow and she injured her hip and leg. She used to be a great swimmer. She's afraid to exercise in any way now because she used to be great at all kinds of sports and now she would be average or less. She goes out to Oregon to help her grandfather move to a rest home, meets a boy who teaches her how to believe in herself and how to run. She competes in 6 mile race at the end. It's #67 in the teen romance series Sweet Dreams. Hope this helps.
Could this be a nonfiction book?  I remember a true story - very inspiring - of a young girl named Kristie or Christy or Kristy (!) who was hit by a car while walking or running.  I vividly remember she was knocked out of her shoes.  The books told of her rehab, and relearning all the basics of living.  I'll do some sleuthing and see if I can find it.  I think the title was just the girl's name.
Funny! I just got off the phone with my mother and she said it WAS a non fiction book, but she couldn't remember the name either. Thanks!
Barbara Miller, Kathy, 1980.  The Millers were a typical American family until the day a speeding car left 13-year-old Kathy critically injured, in a coma from which the doctors said she might never recover! How Kathy won back her health, gave her family the gift of faith, and ran in an international marathon less than six months later.
Collins, Joan, Katy, 1982.  This book tells the story of actor Joan Collins daughter Katy, who is injured in a bike accident and deals with her rehabilitation.  I remember reading it when I was about 10 or 11 near the time of publication.



G304: girl in San Francisco Charm School
Solved: The Mystery of the Chinatown Pearls


G305: girl frees fox from trap
I read this in the early/mid 80's. The story was about a girl (pre-teen?), possibly on an Indian Reservation somewhere, with a school or summer camp. There is a mountain nearby, and I think someone who lives up there. The girl may be a visitor or care-taker. Anyway, she finds one day a fox (I think) trapped in a hunters' jaw/claw type trap and frees him.

G306: Good King Awkward
The title is GOOD KING AWKWARD but I've never been able to find it anywhere.  This is a pop-up book, published sometime in the late 60s/early 70s, about a King who wants to learn magic.  The opening lines are, "Good King Awkward from the magic land of Nix/Had a powerful ambition to be good at magic tricks./But although he practiced magic day and night without a stop,/Every trick he did in public was a failure and a flop."  I will be the hero to my entire family if I can find this.

Albert G. Miller, The Pop-Up Tournament of Magic,1968.



G307: guards
Searching over 10 years for this book and not a single lead! A teacher and her students go to the park to see grass, which is almost unknown in their time (perhaps after a war, not sure).  Rain starts to fall and they take shelter in a shed.  There they are kidnapped by a group of dark men and taken to a huge fortress or compound.  They are provided with very little food and no reason is given for why any of this is done.  One by one the children are killed by means of various traps.  I remember some of the children go swimming in a pond and something closes over the pond, drowning them.  Again, no reason is given. The teacher struggles to keep her class alive.  The men are guards that prevent them from escaping but do not actively hurt them or speak to them.  I also remember the children watching the guards have sex with each other in the breakroom (yes, I am serious, I swear) and the teacher being happy to hear this because it means the guards do have human needs.  Eventually an older teen who claims to be the only living member of a previous class falls in love with the teacher and helps them escape through a tunnel.  Expect he might not actually be a former student, there's a chance he is just a guard sent to lead them into death- the book ends with them going through the tunnel.  The cover of the book looked like a black and white marbled children's notebook and it was a hard cover. I believe it was probably published around when I read it but I'm not sure.  I am sure there was no reason given for the events- it wasn't about population control or war.  It may have been part of a series considering the ending.  It was in the children's section and read like a young adult book, through rather more dark and scary then most. If anyone has any idea for even a possible lead, I'd be forever grateful! Overall, the plot of the book was sort of like the book Cube, with mysterious events and no reason behind anything...

Irene Schram, Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down, 1972, copyright.  This was positively identified on another board as "Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down" by Irene Schram. Plot summary: "Our whole class of students was on the grass, in the park, for a picnic: it was April and time for a picnic after a long winter full of weeks and months of rain, boring rain. From this innocent opening Irene Schram builds a terrifying tale about a concentration camp for children. Like William Golding's Lord of the Flies, with which it will undoubtedly be compared, Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down creates an extreme situation -- half nightmare, half history -- to reveal the anxieties and terrors of children growing up today. The children are fifth-graders in a typical city; they are forced by a storm of pollution to take shelter in a park building, where they are captured, then transported and imprisoned, by robot-like guards. Their struggle to survive in their new environment -- which has many parallels to the world they are growing up in -- is told mainly through the children's eyes and imaginations. Ashes, Ashes is a spell-binding fantasy that is based on the real lessons city children must absorb daily from their immediate surroundings (drugs, welfare hotels, pollution, random terror, abandonment) and from the menacing world beyond it, where geography is blight and hunger, and arithmetic is body counts. This is a novel about how children perceive, struggle against, and adjust to the nightmare of our history."

G308: ghost stories or scary stories

 1963-69, This book was oversized.  the front cover had maybe 6 to nine boxes with a different symmbol or picture in each.  I believe it had Alfred Hitchcock's name in title.  One of the stories was about a spurned woman who came back as a ghost made of water and was frozen in the end in a walk in freezer.  Another story concerned a haunted or abandoned house found by some kids.  I think there were about 10 to 12 stories all told.  Book was hardcover and did not come with a dust jacket.  The Sherlock Holmes story "The Speckled Band" may have been included.

Alfred Hitchcock (nominal editor), Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful, 1961.  The first story described is "The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall" by John Kendrick Bangs.  This has been anthologized many times, but the only appearance of it in a Hitchcock anthology is in HAUNTED HOUSEFUL.  I think the second story listed may be "Let's Haunt a House" by Manly Wade Wellman, which is the first story in the anthology.  It also contains one Sherlock Holmes story -- "The Red-Headed League."  The cover as described isn't the cover I'm familiar with, but there may have been other editions.
Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted House, early 60s.  Hi, I may have the solution to the G308 stumper.  Title may be Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted House.  I was a little hesitant to submit this as a solution because although the stumper's description of the book's date, size, number of stories, etc., all fit, the description of the cover does not.  My cover had a very scary illustration of Alfred Hitchcock's face coming out of the door of a obviously haunted house.  The cover art frightened me more than any of the stories!  Don't recall many of them but one that comes to mind is about some children convinced that a woman- perhaps an aunt, perhaps a nanny- whose name was "Wasywich" or similar, is a witch.  A black and white illustration to that story showed a thin woman with piercing eyes accompanied by some children. I am not sure but the Sherlock Holmes story called "The Red-Headed League" may have also been included in that book.



G309: Girl, Male Best Friend and the Moon
I used to check this book out constantly as a teenager (about 10 years) ago but cannot remember the title or author.  The book is a young adult, coming of age book.  The cover features a girl sitting with a bright full moon in the background and that leads me to believe the word "moon" is in the title.  The main character, a teenaged girl, grew up with her male best friend.  However, their friendship becomes strained over the summer.  There is an underlying romance that neither has addressed and they become distant.  She works as a waitress over the summer and he starts to date a popular girl.  The main character gets jealous.  I believe, the main character's mother is dead and the father is raising her and possibly a sister.  I also think there is a character, either the main character or the boy, with a name that begins with the letter "C".  At any rate, they get together at the end.

Robert A. Heimlein, Menace From Earth.  Many of the details sound like the novella/long short story "The Menace From Earth." Others sound like details from other Heinlein YA stories and novels. These have been fequently anthologised.



G310: Game of Life and Beelzebub
Solved: Big Joke Game

G311: Girl at summer stock theater
Book stumper request: Betty Cavanna-type novel about a teenaged girl participating in a summmer stock theater or festival.  She learns about herself (gains confidence) and I think there's a little romance.  Probably from the early 60's.  The copy I remember had a blue and white cover with a drawing of her in front of the theater stage. Thanks for any help you can provide!

Lyn Cook, Pegeen and the pilgrim, 1957.  How about this one? I also vaguely remember a blue cover on the original. It was reprinted by Tundra Books in 2002.  Here's a synopsis from their website:  Twelve-year-old Pegeen lives in the sleepy town of Stratford. Money is tight since her father’s death, and she must help her mother run a boardinghouse. She even has to share a room with old Mrs. Leonard. Pegeen’s dreams of becoming an actress seem hopeless. Then an extraordinary thing happens – a Shakespearean festival is planned for Stratford. As the festival develops, so does Pegeen. She learns a great deal about Shakespeare, the boarders at home, and her circle of friends, including the mysterious pilgrim, Mr. Brimblecombe
Betty Cavanna, Stars in Her Eyes, mid-1950s.  Girl was named Magda...her Dad hosted a TV show in NYC and she wanted to be in the business.  Worked as a waitress on Cape Cod around the summer stock areas
Helen Dore Boylston, Carol plays summer stock, 1940s.  Maybe one of Helen Dore Boylston's series of 4 Carol books?  US titles are - Carol goes backstage, Carol plays summer stock, Carol on Broadway and Carol on tour. UK titles are - Carol goes on the stage, Carol in repertory, Carol comes to Broadway, Carol on tour.  I think they all have dustjackets with one colour surround and picture of Carol in the middle - can't remember which, if any, is blue. Although these are '40s not '60s, they were reprinted fairly often and I am sure would have been around in the '60s. Carol does quite a lot of growing up over the 4 books, and there is a romantic interest.
Janet Lambert, Up Goes the Curtain, 1946.  Maybe? This is one of the Penny Parrish books. She spends part of it working in summer stock, and then gets to be in a Broadway show, where she meets Josh MacDonald, the stage manager.
Betty Cavanna, Two's Company, 1951.  I think this book may be Betty Cavanna's Two's Company, in which the heroine does summer theatre in Williamsburg Virginia.
Marjory Hall, Straw Hat Summer, 1957.  Could this be Straw Hat Summer by Marjory Hall? Gail becomes interested in the theater when a summer theater group rents her family's barn to put on plays. Our copy has a picture cover with Gail standing and looking at the barn/theater.
Wow! You've already given me so many great ideas, and I'm off to investigate.  Straw Hat Summer sounds very familiar, and led me (through a mistyped google search) to the 1957 title Straw Hat Theater by Mickey Klar Marks...I'm also going to track down Summer Stock Romance (aka Polly's Summer Stock) by Elizabeth Wesley (Adeline McElfresh).  There are more possibilities than I'd anticipated!
Virginia Hughes, Peggy  Lane series.  I think this is a long shot, but there is a series of Peggy Lane books - Peggy Find the Theater, Peggy Plays Off Broadway,  and others that I can't recall, but one of them is about summer stock.
Rosamond DuJardin, Showboat Summer, 1955, copyright.  This is about twin girls, not just one girl, but could it be this? From the description: "A summer vacation aboard the Harwood College Showboat was an exciting prospect for Pam and Penny, the twins of Double Feature. To Penny, it meant being with Mike who had a job on the tugboat that pushed the old Regina from town to town along the Ohio River. To Pam it meant a chance to act, and perhaps a leading role in one of the gala showboat performances."
Tiffany, One Summer in Stock, 1947, copyright.  Here's another possiblity (I have this in my little bookstore, but haven't read it.)  Main character is Nan, and it appears to be a typical late teen romance novel of the 1940s-1950s.

Eleanor Shaler, Gaunt's Daughter,1957, approximate. Could it be Gaunt's Daughter?  The girl's mother, a theater actor, dies and to avoid moving in with her mother's Quaker relatives, she gets a summer stock job.  Turns out her estranged famous father is going to be there too.  At the end she has a family emergency with the Quaker family and gives up her father and the play to go to the hospital.



G312: girl with witches
I checked this book out at the library from the kid's section in the mid '70's. It was a hardcover about a girl that somehow ends up in the woods and spies on a group of witches.The witches may have been gathered around a bonfire or a cauldron.the girl gets noticed by the witches, and that is where my memory ends. I vaguely remember her riding on a broom with another witch. I think the witches were friendly. I think the cover of the book was of a scene at night, with one or more witches flying on broomsticks.

Witch's Sister by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, maybe? "Lynn's growing conviction that her sister is learning witchcraft from a neighbor reaches its peak when Lynn, her sister, and brother are left for a weekend in the neighbor's charge." I never read it, but ever since I heard a few details mentioned on the TV show Big Blue Marble, it's stuck with me.
It's not Witches Sister. That book is too new. The book I'm looking for is from the early '70's.
I haven't read The Witch's Sister by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, but it was written in 1975, so it's certainly worth examining.  It was reissued in paperback editions in 1993 and 2002, which may be why you think it's too new a book to be the one you're searching for.
I don't think it's Witch's Sister, either.  There's only one real witch in that book:  Mrs. Tuggle, although, she's trying to get Lynn's sister to become a witch as well.  No forest scene either.
G312 How abt this prequel to Witch's sister? I just cataloged it  yesterday: Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Witch water.  illus by Gail Owens. Atheneum, 1977.   Lynn is afraid her  friend “Mouse” will be made into a witch by Mrs. Tuggle - juvenile  fiction by an award-winning author
Is the poster really sure it's Witch Water or any in Naylor's series?  It's been a long time since I read those books, but I read them repeatedly way back when, and I don't remember any friendly witches (or, again, any real witch other than Mrs. Tuggle) or any broomstick riding.  Mrs. Tuggle's thing seemed to be more about control over people than about broomsticks.
Thanks for all the suggestions! I checked all the books by Naylor, and none of them are the one I'm looking for. I believe the cover showed a night scene of the sky, with a big moon, and a witch flying on a broom. It was also a pretty short story.
Patricia Coombs, Dorrie and.....   Could the girl actually have been a witch herself? Then it might be one of the Dorrie books by Patricia Coombs.
Chew, Ruth , The Wednesday Witch.  Could it be one of the Witch books written by Ruth Chew?  The scene you describe sounds familiar to me.  I read many of her books in the late 70's-early 80's and they were quick and easy to read. The cover for the Wednesday Witch also seems similar to your description - except the witch is on a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom.
I checked both of the above books- neither one is the one I'm looking for. I think the cover may have had more then one witch flying on a broom.
Adrienne Adams, The Halloween Party,1974.Is there any chance at all the main character was a little boy named Faraday (kind of an androgynous name)?  Your description made me think of The Halloween Party, and A Woggle of Witches, both by Adrienne Adams.  The cover shows a witch on a broomstick, flying across the moon with gremlin children behind her.



G313: Girl is a prisoner on the moon
Solved: Ann in the Moon


G314: Golden eggs
the book was one in my elementary school  library around 84. It was about two sisters who had a goose that laid golden eggs, and it gave them just enough money to make a pot of vegetable soup. then the king or someone like a king or maybe a queen stole the goose, and force fed it rich food so it would lay more golden eggs. The illistrations were beautiful. Thanks for any help.

G315: Ghost Stories
Solved: Fifty Great Ghost Stories


G316: Girls in a boarding school
Solved: Hey, Dollface


G317: Gingerbread Man AND....
Title of this book is "The Gingerbread Man and Other Stories" It is illustrated, oversize. It contains "Little Black Sambo" Pub date is probably 1930-1934. KEY ITEM: Must contain a story about an bearded elf or gnome named "Mr. Popinjou". There is an illustration of this elf sleeping with his beard sticking out over the sheets.

G318: Girl Takes Care of Retarded Sister
Solved: Risk n' Roses


G319: Girl and purple maid
Solved: Shadow Castle


G320: Gladiator wrapped in cape
I am looking for a book for my father that he had read to him in the 6th grade in 1945.  It was a young adult book about a gladiator who was a prince? who fought with a net and triton and in the end he is killed and wrapped in his own cape.  He thinks the title of the book was "the scarlet something" or "the red something".  He thinks the "something" is a cape or tunic.  It is definitely not "The Robe" or "The Red Cape" by Britten.  Thanks for your help.

Rosemary Sutcliff, Mark of the Horse Lord  & Warrior Scarlet.  This is a long shot, but the description reminds me a little of Sutcliff's Mark of the Horse Lord.  It's about a gladiator who impersonates the prince of a British tribe and dies in the end (not wrapped in cloak though, and I don't remember if he was a net-and-trident fighter).  Warrior Scarlet is not about gladiators, but involves a red cloak (I think) and is by the same author.
While The Mark of the Horse Lord is about Phaedrus, a gladiator in Roman Britain who impersonates the lord of a northern tribe and nobly dies for "his" people, it was published in 1965, twenty years too late for the stumper requester.  Warrior Scarlet was written in 1958 and is also unlikely to be the book sought, particularly since there's no gladiator in it.  Warrior Scarlet is about Drem, a disabled boy (withered arm) who has to kill a wolf in order to attain manhood and the right to wear the warrior's scarlet of his Bronze Age tribe.
I'm sorry I don't have the answer, but I can tell you that the book you're looking for is probably not The Crimson Cloak by Lois Montross (1924), which is a volume of poetry.  It is also unlikely to be The Red Cape by Rachel M. Varble (1928), which is described online as the story of "A little girl [who] is taken into a peasant's home."



G321: Ghost story, twins, a doll, or diary found beneath tree?
Desperately looking for a book an English Teacher once loaned me that I read in the late 1970's... had to be published prior to 1978. If my memory serves me right it was a ghost story involving twins, a doll or a diary found buried under a tree. The story took place in the past, possibly victorian/early 1900's? I want to say the cover was purple and that the young girl, main character's name, was Rose or another older/classic name like that... I was in high school during my reading of this book so it wasn't a book necessarily for children, it was pretty scary. The title my have been a name of a girl and/or have the word "twins" in it? Additionally, this wasn't a super old book at the time of my reading... Sorry, I can't remember more, I know this is pretty vague. THANKS!

Might be Janet Lunn's Double Spell. It was originally published as Twin Spell.
Lunn, Janet, Double Spell. (1968) also published as Twin Spell.  This features twins, ghosts and dolls, however the twins are named Jane and Elizabeth and they buy the doll rather than find it under a tree.  Strangely attracted to an antique doll, twelve-year-old twins buy the toy and soon find themselves haunted by powerful and tragic memories of ancestral twins who had also been owners of the doll
Lunn, Janet, Twin Spell. (1968)  I think this is it. See the "Solved Mysteries".
Lunn Janet, Twin Spell, 2003, reprint. I am really certain that the doll and twin part of this stumper refers to Janet Lunn's Twin Spell, reprinted later as Double Spell.  It is a haunting book about twins Jane and Elizabeth who live in Ontario Canada and find a doll in an antique store which inexplicably seems to belong to them.  After they move into their Aunt Alice's mysterious old house, they begin finding themselves sharing the past experiences of two other twins, Anne and Melissa, who were their ancestors and lived in the house (which was smaller and did not have new additions built on it then) many years before.  They also have visions of a frightening girl named Hester who seemed to hate the earlier twins.  In the end they solve the mystery and discover that Anne had died in a fire (in a room they now use as an attic) that had been accidentally started by her cousin Hester, and that it is the ghost of Hester who is haunting the house.  They discover this just in time for Elizabeth to save Jane, who is trapped in the attic with the ghost.  I think the original stumper may have mixed up the plots of two different books by Janet Lunn.  She also wrote one entitled The Root Cellar in which the main character is a girl named Rose, who finds an old root cellar in the ground which leads her to ghostly experiences with a long ago family on the farm where she is staying. 



G322: Green pitcher short story
The boy gets a green pitcher as a gift from his grandmother for his birthday and is very disappointed, until his mother uses it to make all kinds of good things.  This is a short story that was included in compilation of short stories, book from 1970 or earlier with a brown or green cover (possibly a Boy Scout book of some kind but not at all certain).  My brother read this over and over as a child and it made a huge impression on him, trying to surprise him with a copy but these are all the details I have.  This will be a tough find and I appreciate your help!

Kathryn Jackson (author), Richard Scarry (illustrator), The Strange Pitcher. (1955)  Possibly this one?  A little boy receives a strange pottery pitcher from his grandmother who lives in Italy.  The pitcher is made of pottery, "with odd-looking leaves on it, the colors of fruit, and fruit that was the color of leaves."  The little boy doesn't like it, but his mother says it matches with their dishes, and uses it to serve orange juice, milk, chocolate milk, or lemonade at their meals.  "Day after day, the little boy poured good-tasting things from the pitcher, and by and by, it didn't look strange any more."  Finally, he writes to his grandmother thanking her for the beautiful pitcher.  This story can be found on page 11 of The Golden Book of 365 Stories: A Story for Every Day of the Year (A Big Golden Book).  It is the story for January 6th.  Please note that this book has been reprinted numerous times with at least three different titles and covers.  The two other titles I've seen are: The Bedtime Book of 365 Stories: A Story for Every Day of the Year OR Richard Scarry's A Story A Day: 365 Stories and Rhymes.  Unfortunately, the pitcher isn't green (though it does have green on it), and while it is a gift, the boy doesn't receive it for his birthday.  Also, none of the covers I've seen for this book are brown or green---I've seen blue or white covers with pictures of animals or children on them.  So you may be looking for a different story in a different book---or your memories may have faded over time.
The more recent versions of The Golden Book of 365 Stories: A Story for Every Day of the Year may not be exactly what you remember.  Here's an online description: "Reissued after many years, this beautiful collection offers a year's worth of original stories and poems, including new selections for Hanukkah, Martin Luther King Day, and Kwanzaa."  Unfortunately, I can't figure out exactly when the changes were made!  I can tell you that the edition I have (from 1969) does contain "The Strange Pitcher" but I can't vouch for any edition later than that.


G323: Grand picnic
I've looked for this book FOREVER!!  I don't remember much about it, except a beautiful full-color illustration of a picnic in the woods with everything you could ever want to eat laid out before you (perhaps even on the ground).  There were desserts, including cakes and pies of every sort.  I would have had this book no later than 1963.  It may have had a red cover.  It may have involved bears.  It's not Teddy Bear's Picnic.

There is a page that sounds a lot like this in the book about the Yami of Yawn, with the main character Wide-awake Jake. Might this be it?
Thanks for the response, unfortunately "Wide-Awake Jake" (c. 1974) cannot be it, because I owned this book pre-1963.  My book may have been an anthology.  I have already checked the "Little Brown Bear" books.


G324: Girl's planet has almost no metal
Solved: This Star Shall Abide


G325: Girl from advanced race
Solved: The Far Side of Evil
G326: Girl and boy hide horse out West

Solved: Hold the Reign Free

G327: Girl tests witch's ingredients
Solved: Little Witch

G328: Girl meets girl named Wisteria
My elementary school had a series of reading exercises, divided into colors by reading level. Some were fiction, others not, but all were designed to improve reading comprehension.  One of the stories involved a girl entering a secret world through her garden. She meets a girl who says she was allowed to choose her own name -- Wisteria -- and is surprised that the other girl could not choose her own name.  Any help on the story or even the reading comprehension series is much appreciated.

This might help a little:  SRA Reading Series cards/booklets were once organized by color (I remember from the 1960s.)
SRA Reading Laboratory.  You are after the SRA Reading laboratory - there were several editions of these - I'm not sure which one you are after.  We had different boxes of stories for different grade levels. they're still being made by McGraw-Hill.
Ghost Cat.  i read a book called ghost cat that seems kind of like the one you described the one girl from the futer goes through her garden and finds a girl from the pasti dont remember much else about it but i think it was from a color coded series of some sort hope that helps


G329: Goat family goes to carnival, littlest gets kidnapped
It's a book about a goat family who go to a carnival/amusement park, and the baby goat gets kidnapped while there.  (By other animails other than goats I think).  I belive it was published in the mid to late 70's?  It's written in comic book/storyboard format and the older sister is on a ferris wheel when her sister gets kidnapped and she loses her ice cream.  Thanks for offering this service!

Watson, Nancy Dingman, The birthday goat. (1974) The Goat family enjoys its outing to the Carnival until Baby Souci goat is kidnapped


G330: Girl runs away, meets old sheepherder
Solved: Runaway Girl


G331: Girl merges with wall
A young woman learns how to merge with solid objects. In one chapter she practices making her hand melt into a table. In another chapter, the woman who invented the wall-merging technique steps out of a wall, naked (since you can't merge clothes with walls), to confront the main character. There may have been talking cats in it, or that may have been a different book...

Could this be one of the Star Ka'at books by Andre Norton?  They were published in the 70s.  I don't remember much of the storyline, but the cats talked and were actually aliens.  They met a boy and girl on Earth, who helped them either fit in or get home. (My sister actually read the books, I think I just skimmed them.)  The cover of one of them had a girl imerging from a wall.  the illustrations were grey and misty-looking. Might be worth checking out, anyway.
Judith Goldberger, Looking Glass Factor. (1979) This book is in the solved mysteries section.  I read it a couple of years ago after reading the description when another reader was looking for it.  I am sure this is what you are looking for.  It is available at ABE and through interlibrary loan.


G332: Girl wins geography(?) test to earn trip
Solved: Patsy's Best Summer


G333: Girl meets French boy Joel
I probably read this young adult novel in the mid 70's.  It would have been fairly contemporary then.  A girl (American or English) goes to France (Brittany or Normandy) - I can't recall if she is an exchange student or visiting relatives - but she meets a local French boy named Joel and they begin a romance.  I believe she returns home and they continue the romance, long-distance.  It was very well written and made a great impression on me as a young teen.  Wish I could read it again and have a taste of my adolescence!  Any tips, clues, or info much appreciated.

The description reminded me of a Ruth M. Arther book, but I couldn't find a title to match.  Does that author sound familiar to the original poster?


G334: Girl and elephant
A little girl(rag doll?), along with her elephant (w/polka dots)pal, learns to use the potty.

Nicola Smee, The Tusk Fairy. (1994)  Not sure if this is your book, but your description made me think of this one.  It was one of my daughter's favorites when she was little.  The elephant isn't polka dotted, though. But the girl is often wearing polka dot pants.  The grandma crocheted the elephant as a birth present for the girl, and it did everything the girl did - including learn to use the potty.  One day something dreadful happened to the elephant, but the grandma was able to fix it up.  Great Book! Even if it's not the one you're looking for!
Astrid Lindgren, Bill Bergson, Master Detective, 1946, copyright.This is from one of the Bill Bergson series of books, I don't know which one. Two groups of friends, the White Roses and the Red Roses, "war" over possession of a stone which they alternately hide. Other titles are Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously, and Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue.


G335: Girls school adventures in 1915
Solved: Luvvy and the Girls


G336: Girl designs dress for dance
Solved: Date with a Career

G337: Ghost rescues girl
I believe that this book was published in the early to mid-1990's.  It is about a young girl who is seriously hurt by a robber who broke into her house.  A male ghost rescues her spirit?(or something) and transports her back to his realm.  They have serveral adventures but I don't really remember exactely what they were.  I do remember that one of the friends of the ghost was name Iceman.  I know this is not a lot to go on, but I hope someone can help me.
G338: Girls is raped and kills attacker
I read this book when I was about twelve.  I think it was set during the civil war.  A young girl (I want to say her name is Mattie) is raped by a neighbor (I think his name is Ray Beard) when she is left home to babysit.  She shoots and kills the neighbor and has a difficult time recovering from the attack.  She marries a young man toward the end of the book.

Betty Sue Cummings, Hew Against the Grain,1977.This book is about a young girl named Mathilda.  It's set during the Civil War.  Mathilda's family is divided by the war.  She is attacked and raped by a neighbor during the last year of the war. Mathilda kills her attacker and learns to heal with the help of her grandfather.


G339: Girl from city goes to live in country
Solved: The Long White Month


G340: George
This will probably be difficult because I don't have many clues.  It is the first book I ever took out of a public library, probably in either 1959 or 1960.   It was a children's illustrated book about a dog named "George" who lived in the city. I believe the character of George was humanlike. He might have spoken and stood on two legs and worn clothes.  That's all I can remember about it.  I do remember that I loved the book and can recall sounding out the name "George" as "Gee-orge."  The library was in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Cora Annett, The Dog Who Thought He Was A Boy. (1965)  Ralph the dog wanted to be a boy, so the family let him.  The son finally got sick of not having a pet and told the dog that he was a dog.  Maybe the father's name was George?  The dog did wear clothes, go to school, etc.
Nope, nobody in Arnett is named George. I just read the whole book.
Phyllis Rowand, George Goes To Town, 1958. I dont think he wears clothes, but the dog's name is George, and the book is from the correct time frame.  Might be worth investigating, anyway.  Phyllis Rowand also wrote an earlier book about him, simply titled "George" (c. 1956)



G341: Greenish-blue book of fairy tales
I was looking for a hardcover book of fairy tales from the late sixties to early seventies.  The cover is greenish-blue and it has pictures of fairies all around the outside.  The pictures in the book are beautiful (characters are not done in the Disney-style). Some of the stories in the book are: Cinderella, Aladdin, Hansel & Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, etc.)  There is a picture of Cinderella in the ballroom wearing a dress with pink roses all over it.

Ottenheimer Press, My Giant Story Book. (1971) I'm pretty sure this is the book.  It is on the solved pages already (it was my original stumper!) and all the stories are there plus the Cinderella has the big flowers on her pink dress at the ball.  Only thing different is the cover but the book I received when I ordered was a completely different cover than I had.  Hope this is it.  Worth checking out.
Thank you, but I don't think it's "My Giant Story Book".  It looks like that one had Little Red Riding Hood in it, but the book I am looking for did not.  Thank you anyway.


G342: Girl becomes jealous of exchange student
Hard back book from the sixties, but think it was set in the fifties.  Illustrations were Trixie Beldenish.  Story is about a teen and her family who sponsor an international exchange student from Spain or Mexico.  At first she's excited because she thinks of how she and her exchange student friend will be like sisters.  But she becomes jealous of the girl's exotic beauty, sweet nature, and popularity.    The sponsoring girl has to learn a few lessons about her true nature.

Francine Lewis, Polly French and The Surprising Stranger,1956. My copy of this book is a Whitman glossy edition with illustration that look Trixie Beldenish.  Polly French's family host an exchange student from Peru.  Her name is Lita Barrios.  She is older than Polly but in the same grade because of the language difference.  Lita fits in well and Polly is jealous of her.
This sounds like it could be Cathy and Lisette, by Teresa Crayder, published in 1964. Cathy is excited for the exchange student from France to come and stay with her family, but quickly becomes jealous of Lisette.


G343: Girl candles ocean Japanese
A Girl who lives by the ocean and lights candles. My memory is that some how she is not free and has some connection with Japan. Not sure if set in Japan or by a Japanese Author. Childrens book read to us in the 1960s in Australia. Would love to get a hold of this book.



G344: Ghost in a Haunted House
Looking for a narrated (cassette?)and illustrated childrens ghost story from early to mid-70's... told in first person (male narrator, monotone).. he was looking for the source of some noise in this dark house, alone, at night.  Each spot he looked and didn't find the thing making this noise, an echoing ghost voice in the background would say "No One was Therrrre".   The closer the narrator got to the "ghost" the louder the voice got.. finally I believe he looked in the Closet.. and the final line was this ghost saying loudly "I Was There".   I don't remember the title or author/narrator but I remember it really used to creep me out.  The picture book had these abstract oil paintings, not drawings or cartoonish pictures. Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.


G345: Girl's clothes walk away
Book about a girl who never picks her clothes up off the floor.  So one day her clothes get up and walk away.  I remember something about how she maybe wore a potato sack to school because she didn't have any clothes.

Girl's clothes walk away  - I've never read this one, but the description of the book The House That Had Enough by P. E. King (1986) says: "Tired of being mistreated, Anne's furniture, clothes, and house decide to leave until she promises to take better care of them."



G346: Girl's Underworld Travel, Life Candles & Lanterns
I'm looking for a novel (it had a few illustrations) about a preteen or teen girl, possibly Native American, who journeys to an underworld, where she finds that all people and animals have life clocks in the form of candles, or lanterns that burn down as we age. Animals such as turtles figure prominently. I can't remember much more, something about choices and consequences. It was a very strange, mystical book, and I'd love to know what it was. I read it in about 1976-77, I think it was new-ish then.

I wonder if the person is thinking of one of Sheila Moon's books?  It's not KNEE-DEEP IN THUNDER, but there were a couple others feature a girl who seems to be Native American in a strange world on a quest with animal friends. I think the girl in all of them was named Maris.  I read them in the late 70s, which is the right time frame for the OP.



G347: Ginger, Nurse, Litttle Golden Book
Solved: Pepper Plays Nurse


G348: Girl Grows Pansy Garden in Yard
Around 1971, a book about a young girl growing flowers in her yard and I remember pansies. At one point she had to go out in the pouring rain with her slicker on and take care of the seeds so they wouldn't wash away. I thought it was the book "In My Mother's Garden" but that was written in the 90's. This was definitely before 1972. Illustrated.

J. David Townsend, The Five Trials of the Pansy Bed
, 1967, copyright.  I believe this is the book you're looking for -- it was a favorite of mine when I was growing up.  A little girl grows pansies through various trials.  Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.  You can see a copy of the cover at: http://www.hyman.pagebooks.net/  Hope this helps!

G349: Growing pains

I thought it was called "Growing Pains" but when I do a search for "growing pains" I get something else.  It was actually a collection of short stories with little life lessons and the illustrations look very much like those of eloise wilkins (though I don't believe she did them).  sorry this is all i have to go on.

Florence Taylor, Growing Pains.  This one is probably it, with various life lessons and illustrations by Lucile Patterson Marsh. 



G350: Go-cart race in airport
Solved: Drag Strip Challenge


G351: Ghost story teenagers & rituals
I read this book when I was about 11 back in 1981 & it was definitely set in modern times -  I'm English but don't remember if the book was. The characters were (a group of?) teenagers & it was set in a house haunted by a malevolent spirit. There may have been a poltergeist involved beacause I clearly remember a wardrobe falling onto a character & pinning them to the bed. One character used to use rituals to try to ward of the evil spirit or to help them calm down? It was a very dark novel aimed at young adult readers. Not quite sure why I'd like to re-read this but it's just one of those books that has stuck in my brain!!!!

Joan Aiken, The Shadow Guests, 1980.  This could be The Shadow Guests, by Joan Aiken. The main character's name is Cosmo, and he is sent to England to live with a cousin who teaches at a university. I remember that he was visited by spirits from the past, and there's a dark family secret too.



G352: Gretchen
Solved: Thirteen


G353: Giant
I am trying to find a book but I do not know the title. My sister read this book in elementary school which she attended from 1974 to 1980. The story is about a giant. The cover and pages of the book are blue. Possible picture of feet on cover of book. Story line might be that the giants feet/legs were mistaken for tree trunks.

G354: Girl travels to Victorian times
Solved: Elizabeth, Elizabeth


G355: Gray Rabbit Named Annamarie
Solved: Big Big Story Book


G356: girl who puts butter on fence
Solved: Bony Legs


G357: Girl turns into tree
I can't remember very much about this one, I don't even know if it's a book or a short story or mythology or what.  I just remember this girl turns into a tree and someone cuts her (like cuts off a branch or something) and she bleeds, but she can't scream or anything.  It was a bit dark.

G357: Sounds like the short Greek myth of Dryope, who picks flowers off a tree, which bleeds (it's a nymph) and Dryope is punished by being turned into a tree herself - but not before she has the chance to tell her family to warn her baby never to vandalize plants.
It probably was a version of that myth, I don't remember a baby and I swear someone cut her after she turned into a tree, but it was probably just the version I read (someone taking liberties or something). Because I'm pretty sure it was a myth, or maybe it was a fairy tale?



G358: Girl goes to summer camp
Solved: Just Plain Maggie


G359: Gargoyles and witches
Solved: The Farthest Away Mountain


G360: Girl raised in complete darkness
Solved: The Day Boy and the Night Girl


G361: Girl Ghost
Solved:  Haunting with Louisa


G362: George Washington
1957-1958.  I am searching for a book that I remember my second or third grade teacher read to my class about 1957-58. I know the title is NOT The Cabin Faced West, nor is it George Washington's Breakfastby Jean Fritz.  The story is about a pioneer girl who is at home alone due to a pioneer sort of emergency. The girl serves breakfast to General George Washington. I distinctly remember the girl served Virginia ham. She does not realize that she has cooked breakfast for George Washington until the end of the story.  This might have been a story in a reader series or a picture book. I just remember I loved that book and would dearly love to read it again. I'm hoping someone out there is about my age (57) and remembers the story.

Lutie A. McCorkle-(Sheldon Basic Reading), The Little Cook- (Story Caravan), 1957.  Oh,think I can help you with this one. It was my reader too and I looked forever on the internet trying to find it until I stumbled on it by accident. The story is The Little Cook about a girl who has to stay home while her family goes to George Washington's Parade. She ends up unknowingly serving him breakfast on his way there. And He tells her to tell her family that she met him before they did. There are many other wonderful stories in this book that perhaps your teacher may have also read to you so it's worth checking out the Story Caravan.



G363:Girl helps ghost change past
Solved: The Ghosts


G364: Genie
Solved: Fairy Tales (Hadaway)


G365: Greek Juke Box
The book I am looking for was a favorite of mine as a child ( in the 70's). It was purchased in either Australia or England.  The story is set in Greece by the sea and is about a brother and sister who's father( i think) plays music in a taverna.  The owner buys a juke box ( called a Rock ola, I think) and at first everyone thinks it's great because it plays all night without getting tired and needing a break.  However, as the story goes on they can't turn the jukebox off and the town grows tired of hearing it.  They finally thow it into the ocean and then the musician starts playing again and everyone is happy.  The book is richly illustrated.

William Papas, Tasso, 1966.
This is definitely Tasso by William Papas. I bought my copy a few years ago, having remembered it being read to me during library time at school, in Australia, back in the late 70s.



G366: Gypsy Cat San Francisco
This book I read in the late 70s (I was probably 8 or 10) and it was set in San Francisco. I want to say the main character's name was Judy, and I definitely know there was a scene where her mother had baked a cake for some reason and she was grating chocolate over the frosting (we have a similar recipe in our family).  Anyway, it seems there was a mystery involved and there was a "gypsy cat" who had a gold hoop earring in one ear. I can't remember more than that except to say that I remember learning that SanFran was hilly, foggy and filled with old Victorian houses. Gosh I hope that's enough!

Byars, Betsy, Rama, the Gypsy Cat, c. 1966, reprinted by Scholastic
This could be The Mystery of the Green Cat by Phyllis Whitney (1957).  I read the Scholastic edition during the 1960s.  It was always one of my favorite books!  It is definitely set in San Francisco. The names of the children involved were Andy, Adrian, Jill, and Carol.  If you think this could be the book, then you should check the official Phyllis A. Whitney website for the full plot description.
I wonder if you're combining two different books by Catherine Woolley Ginnie and the Cooking Contest and Ginnie and the Mystery CatGinnie and the Mystery Cat has friends Ginnie and Geneva in Europe, traveling with their families.  There's a statue of a cat with gold hoop earrings that they're carrying around that people keep trying to steal.  No cakes or San Francisco though.  In Ginnie and the Cooking Contest, there's a bake-off that Ginnie's participating in that has a chocolate cake and grating chocolate.  I think the contest is in San Francisco, but I'm not sure.  No cat though.  Both these books came out in the 1960s.  Good luck!



G367: Girl shrinks, enters brainbox
A girl behaves like a brat at her birthday party. She twists a ring on her finger and faints/shrinks; she shrinks so small that she enters her own body. She visits various places in herself including the brainbox which is a machine operated by a fat little man and is malfunctioning to give her an earache. She visits many other surreal locations in her body/head area and the brainbox operator is her guide. Eventually, I believe she is chased out and when she returns to normal size/comes to she is thankful for her family. I read it sometime in the late eighties /early nineties (85-9?), and I think the title was either "The Brainbox" or "<MainCharacter'sName> and the Brainbox."

Kristal, Keren, The Brainbox.  London: Methuen Childrens, 1987.  "Kiki shrinks during her birthday party and has the opportunity to travel inside someone's brain."
That's it! I've been looking (albeit not very hard) for years. My childhood is reclaimed. Thank you so much.



G368: Green Oobly
All I can remember from the book is a phrase "green oobly."  I might not even be spelling it right.  I think the phrase was referring to sneezing/snot.  I read it when I was a kid, but it might not be a kid's book.  I know that it wasn't the Dr. Seuss book about the oobleck.  I vaguely remember the dad is the one who said the phrase and I think the daughter had a friend over during dinner when the conversation came up.

G369: GIANT
Solved: The Tall Book of Christmas


G370: Girl uses imagination to cope with life
I read this book in the early 80's.  It was probably published shortly before I read it.  It is about a young girl (middle school aged?) who has an incredible imagination.  Each chapter is an incredibly detailed day dream spurred on by something that happens in her life.  The only two I recall are (1) she rides a ferris wheel and imagines she is an astronaut and (2) she is in a school debate and imagines she is the President of the US or is running for election.

Ellen Conford, Dreams of Victory



G371: girl pumpkin patch mouse
I think I owned this book around 1971. It's about a little girl who goes on a school trip to a pumpkin patch, where the children are each going to pick a pumpkin for Halloween. The little girl finds a pumpkin she likes, only to discover a mouse living inside. She decides to leave the pumpkin so the mouse can keep his home and leaves emptyhanded.

Mousekin's Golden House?  See Most Requested.
The book described is NOT Mousekin's Golden House.  In that book, Mousekin is a young mouse who finds a discarded jack-o-lantern in the forest, in which he takes up residence.  He fills it with seeds and fluff, preparing for winter even though the other forest animals think "that house will never do".  However, as it grows colder, the mouth, eyes and nose of the jack-o-lantern slowly close to make a fine, cozy home for a mouse in the snow.  Though it is a beautifully illustrated, poetic book, there are no human characters in Mousekin's Golden House, nor does it follow the plotline described by the requester.



2007

G372: Girl's Birthday Party
Solved: Debbie's Birthday Party


G373: Gangster-like Mice
Solved: The Roquefort Gang


G374: Ghost Girl
Solved: Stonewords


G375: Girl, room
I read this book in the late 70s or early 80s. It was about a girl who was the eldest child in her family and was desperate to have her own room, as she was tired of her younger siblings constantly touching her things and breaking them. One of her most prized possessions was her copy of 'The Lord of the Rings'. So she moves into the cupola in the roof. She gets up there by climbing a ladder.

Maybe not A Room for Cathy by Catherine Woolley - see Solved Mysteries - but worth checking. (Cathy would be too young to be reading Tolkien, I think.)
Jean Little, Look through my window, 1970. The mention of Tolkien makes me think of Jean Little. Might this be Look Through My Window, in which Emily moves to a new house and claims an attic room for her own? Or possibly another Little title, maybe Kate? Although I'm pretty sure the room features mainly in Look Through My Window. There's a little more description under the Solved Mystery for Lulu's Window.
Enright, Elizabeth, The Four Story Mistake, 1942. Not sure about this one. I vaguely remembered this book, so thought I'd try some searches. I found a book which has a girl with siblings and a cupola and was a popular book, so worth a look. "The Melendy family moves to a house in the country where a secret room, a cupola, a stable, and a brook provide Mona, Rush, Randy, and Oliver with adventures far different from the city life to which they are accustomed"
Another long shot...but could it be The Velvet Room, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder?  Robin's family moves a lot (I think they may be migrant workers).  In their latest home, she finds a deserted mansion, with a library full of books.  She finds a way in, and spends much of her time reading the books I remember either a cupola or a glass window-seat where she spends most of her time in the house.  The book was originally published in the late 60s/early 70s.  It's worth a shot!
Park, Ruth, Callie's Castle, 1974.  I'm pretty sure this is the one. It was highly commended by the Children's Book Council of Australia in the awards that year.



G376: Gilead magic cats  NOT Ace Astro
Solved: Once Upon a Saturday


G377: gum
Solved: The Affair at 7 Rue de M


G378: girl raised by aunts after mother disappeared
Solved: Emily of New Moon


G379: goldilocks
Solved: Beware of the Bears


G380: Girl with cereal box fantasy land
Solved: Armitage Armitage Fly Away Home


G381: George Mouse
My mom said she bought a little book for me when I was a baby (1967), and the only line she can remember from it was "George Mouse was a Happy Mouse." She said it had a little handle on it, and I used to carry it around with me everywhere. I don't recall it at all, but would love to find it and see if it triggers a long-ago memory.


G382: Ghost short stories
Solved: The Phantom Cyclist and Other Ghost Stories
Phantom Cyclist and Other Ghost Stories


G383: Girl travels back in time to Colonial Williamsburg
I can't remember much about this book, just that I read it when I was young (sometime probably between 1978 and 1989), and it was about a girl who somehow traveled back in time to Colonial Williamsburg.

Barbara Michaels, Patriot's Dream. If it was an adult/YA book, this might be it. Standard Barbara Michaels fare - our heroine is living in Williamsburg, falls into  a time-travel/out of body experience.  Goes back to the Revolution.
I can't remember much about this book, just that I read it when I was young (sometime probably between 1978 and 1989), and it was about a girl who somehow traveled back in time to Colonial Williamsburg. This sounds like it could be PATRIOT'S DREAM, by Barbara Michaels, aka Elizabeth Peters, not a juvenile book, but one of my favorite novels by this author.  It is set in the early to mid 1970's, it may even have written in 1976, given the patriotic theme.  A young woman in her 20's is staying with an elderly aunt and uncle in current-day Williamsburg, but has dreams that are very real, about her Revolutionary-era ancestors.  It is part mystery, part time-travel/fantasy, part romance, as Barbara Michaels does so well.  There was also a sequel.
Cynthia Blair, Freedom to Dream, 1987.While this isn't Colonial Williamsburg, it is a time travel back to Colonial times.n accident hurls modern Philadelphia teenager Katy Morris back to Philadelphia in 1787 where she meets Abigail, witnesses the making of the Constitution, learns what daily life in Constitutional days was like, and begins to appreciate her 1980s lifestyle.
Janet Lunn, The Root Cellar, June 1981. I can't remember if Colonial Williamsburg was in this book but to quote the synopsis on the back cover of the book: "Rose Larkin is lonely and unhappy when she moves in with relatives who live in an old Ontario farmhouse (this part takes place in the present).  But amazing adventures await her when she discovers that an old root cellar is her entrance to the world of the 1860's.  Here she makes friends and gets caught up with them in the excitement and chaos of the Civil War across the border."
Could this one be Another Shore by Nancy Bond? Originally published in 1988, it doesn't take place in Williamsburg but in Louisburg,Nova Scotia. Here's a blurb--Lyn Paget is spending the summer before college working as a serving girl at the reconstructed 18th-Century Nova Scotia port town of Louisbourg. She researches the life of a young girl of that time period named Elisabeth Bernard to give her character a real base. One day she blacks out and awakens to find that it is 1744 and that others regard her as the original Elisabeth. Struggling to understand what has happened to her and to survive, Lyn/Elisabeth discovers that she is not the only person to have slipped back through time, and the others have been unable to find a way back to the 20th Century. I'm a fan of the time travel genre and this is one of the best I've read.



G384: Golden bird illustrations
"I remember from when I was very young - probably around 1970 - going to the summer club at the local library and having the librarian read a number of stories to us. One in particular which I remember had beautiful illustrations which the librarian used to hold up for us to look at. I have various memories of the story, but to be honest I'm not sure that I'm not mixing up more than one tale, so I'm going to focus on the illustrations rather than confuse things. The story was about a golden bird - maybe a firebird or phoenix? - and I suspect that what I'm remembering is a particular version of a folk or fairy tale. The illustrations were mainly silhouettes of fantastical landscapes - castles, bridges, etc - and people, and then the bird itself - very ornate and beautiful, which I remember as being in colour (predominantly gold). I guess this is so vague that I would question the memory even more, except that while at university I visited the house of a friend's parents, and they actually had several of the illustrations as framed prints on their walls. Unfortunately, neither she, nor her sister, nor her mum, knew where they were from - they belonged to her dad who wasn't there at the time - and we drifted apart not long after that so, having had a tantalising glimpse of my childhood memory, I never got to pin it down. I've searched several times on the internet, but never managed to get any closer..." Thanks for your help.


G385: Girl caught using tea set
Solved: The Cabin Faced West


G386: Girls' gold dust link to life after death
Solved: The Ghost Garden


G387: Girl wins horse in competition
Solved: Becky's Horse


G388: Giant terrorizes rural area
Solved: Abiyoyo


G389: Girl joins birds in trees
Solved: The Tune is in the Tree


G390: Girl grows up, NY
About 5 years ago... or more... I read a book that I want to find SO bad!!!! I'm not sure on the year, and I have no idea the title, or author... But I can give a great basic summary... lol... You'd think if I could remember the book so well I should be able to remember the book!!! Ok, here goes.. The book starts out when the girl (later lady) is little. Her and her parents move to NY or just LEFT NY... And she had a bad dream. Well, one time her mom brought fairy dust.. (or something like that) and sprinkled it on her. (Her mom was usually a bi***~) Fast forward a few years and President Kennedy gets killed and her mother is devastated. One Halloween she went out to trick-or-treat and ended up getting raped (or almost getting raped) in a dark alley and her mom got mad at her b/c she was late or got dirty or something. Few years later she gets sent to a girls school. The girls are hateful and she hates it there. At some point she gets pregnant and goes to have an herbal abortion. She was riding in the car with some guy after taking the herbs when she started bleeding horribly and having terrible pains. After this she runs off with some guy.. Her boyfriend, a hippie-ish guy, and they sleep in his van in sleeping bags. They go rock climbing and explore the US. One day it starts raining/ storming while he is up on a mountain and he slips and dies. Years later it talks about her being married to an author and living on the beach. Ok, now looking back... It might be horribly hard to figure out that book... But if anyone could help me I would be SO relieved! I read it while I was still in highschool... and I think I needed to grow up a little.. Now I want to find this book so bad.. it's killing me!!!! If anyone knows what the book is then PLEASE let me know! Thanks!!!!

Wally Lamb, She's Come Undone. I don't remember the details but sounds like the general flavor of this book..



G391: Girl finds "rock" egg
A little girl goes to visit either her Aunt or Grandmother for the summer.  I think the Aunt/Grandma lives in an English Cottage.  The little girl finds a large rock in the backyard or garden. By the end of the summer, she discovers that the "rock" was actually a large egg when it hatches into either a dragon or a dinosaur.

Helen Creswell, A Gift from Winklesea. I'm fairly sure it's out of print, but it rings a bell. Could this be it?



G392: Give "What For" to scary animal
read in the 1970s. This is a book or story my older sister remembers and is dying to find, so I would like to find it and surprise her. What she remembers is that an animal hears a scary noise and decides to find the animal who is making the noise and ''give him what for''. As the first animal goes in search of the scary animal he meets up with additional animals who join the search and are 'going to him what for' -- that phrase is sort of a refrain through the book. And for each new animal they recruit, the story grows as to how scary the animal is and I guess the horrible things he did/could do. At the end (when they've sort of gathered a mob to get the scary animal), it turns out it was a little baby owl. She doesn't remember if there were any pictures and it may be a story in a larger compilation. She said it was sort of for around age 5. She was born in 1968, so the story was around in the early 70s. I was born in 1978 and have no memory of the story, if that helps.


G393: Girl who other kids think is a boy
Solved: Nice Little Girls


G394: Girl takes ballet to strengthen legs
Solved: Little Ballerina


G395: Girl checks out presidental bombshelter
Solved: Strange Tomorrow


G396:Girl takes care of doll, learns responsibility
I had a small cardboard book as a child (I was born in 65) about a girl that offers to take care of a raggedy ann (or similar)doll for her friend while the friend goes on vacation.  She drags it around, and totally wastes the poor little doll and has to give it back to the friend.  It is about responsibility.


G397: Girl moves to Australia, sheepdog
Solved: New Patches for Old


G398: Girl, pier jumping pattern
Solved: Up the Pier


G399: Girl sees invisible people, bells
Solved: The Secret World of Polly Flint


G400: Girl works in aunt's bakery
Solved: Don't Ask Miranda


G401: Girl slays dragons
Solved: The Hero and the Crown


G402:Grouchy teddy bear cuts foot
Solved: Edith and Big Bad Bill


G403: Girl falls in love with "bad" boy
Solved: Sex Education


G404: Girl worried about being replaced by doll
This is a book with striking black and white illustration, probably published in the mid to late 1970s,  when I was a child. The protagonist is a young child and her parents bring home a doll (or doll robot thing) that the girl finds threatening because it's so perfect - it behaves nicely and politely, etc. She feels that it is beginning to win over her parents' affections and that there is no place for her. At some point she runs away and there's an illustration of her up on a hill, at night, hiding under a large power tower. I think her parents come to retrieve her, and if I remember correctly the doll is eventually destroyed, perhaps short-circuiting in water or something. So many images from this book are emblazoned on my brain; I'd love to be able to find it again. Thanks!

Mahy, Margaret, Raging Robots and Unruly Uncles. The start of this stumper sounds immensely similar to this book, but Prudence doesn't return home. She joins up with her cousins (who have been chased from their home by an evil robot, just as she has been chased out by an overly perfect doll) to start a business, then they eventually rescue their fathers from the doll and the robot.
Nope, sadly Raging Robots and Unruly Uncles is not it. I think think the fact that the book is entirely (I'm *pretty* sure) black and white may be a key clue since it seems to me that most books for children have at least some color in the illustrations. Also, this is really a picture book, not a "chapter" book. Thanks for trying!



G405: girls solves mystery, inherits before other heirs
Solved: The Westing Game


G406: giant bugs in Scotland
Solved: Buzzbugs


G407: girl and grandfather go fishing
Okay, so I remember this book from when I was a kid. It was about a little girl and her grandfather, and I want to say they might have gone fishing? Because I can remember an illustration of them with their pants rolled up walking through water...I was born in '74 and I remember the illustrations being a tad creepy. Help!

Lapp, Eleanor, In the Morning Mist, A. Whitman, 1978. Just a guess since I don't have the book, but the description reads,  "A young child and her grandfather set out on a fishing expedition and find the countryside transformed by the morning mist."  I'm thinking that maybe the mist gave the illustrations you remember a creepy feeling.



G408: Girl runs away to island and gets stranded for the winter
Solved: The Island Keeper


G409: Ghost children
I think this book came out sometime in the 80's.  This is a book about a brother and sister who encounter two ghost children in the garden. The ghost children have traveled to the future to get help. The future children discover that the ghost children actually died in a fire a long time ago, so they drink this potion the ghost children give them, and they go back in time to help save the children from the fire. I think the cover of the book had a boy and girl sitting on a bench in the garden looking at the ghost children standing a few feet away.

Antonia Barber, The Ghosts. The children create a time-travel potion with herbs from their garden.   A memorable part of the book has the girl walking down a burning staircase hand in hand with someone, and surprised that the flames don't burn.  She realizes the man with her (a solicitor?) is absorbing the pain as penance for not protecting the ghost children the first time around.  In the end, they check the local cemetery and see that the monument is different.
Antonia Barber, The Ghosts, 1969. I believe this is THE GHOSTS, by Antonia Barber.  A movie called "The Amazing Mr. Blunden" was made, based on this book.
Antonia Barber, The Ghosts,1969, 1993. While staying at a rundown English country house (their mother has been taken on as caretaker), siblings Lucy and Jamie meet the spirits of Victorian children, George and Sara. By using a magic potion, Lucy and Jamie are able to travel back in time 100 years to save the George and Sara from a tragic fire.  Through one of those odd little time-travel paradoxes, Sara later turns out to have been the great-grandmother of Lucy & Jamie.
Barber, Antonia, The Ghosts, 1969. Definitely this book (also made into a tv series called the Amazing Mr Blunden).  The brother and sister are Lucy and Jamie - the Victorian ghosts Sara and Georgie
Antonia Barber, The Ghosts, 1969. '"Lucy and her brother stood in the garden and watched two pale figures -- a girl and a boy -- coming toward them. That was the beginning of a strange and dangerous friendship between Lucy and Jamie and two children who had died a century before. The ghost children desperately needed their help. But would Lucy and Jamie have the courage to venture into the past and change the terrible events that had led to murder?"
etc.
sounds like one of the Green Knowebooks by L. M. Boston. the books are still in print - it should be easy to see if one of the series matches your recollection.
Peck, Richard, Voices after Midnight. If that other book isn't it, try this one.  A brother and sister go back in time and save another brother and sister from a fire.



G410: Girls, palominos, whippoorwill
This hardbound book was at my local library between 1970-75, and it was probably about 20 years old then. The setting was in the country and the era is somewhat hard to place, since the details I remember are about two girls playing in woods, field, and barn. A girl, probably pre-teen, wanted a horse, and some new folks moved to a nearby farm or ranch with several palominos (possibly breeding them or starting a riding school).  Around the same time she had a new friend, a girl who had recently moved to the area - but I think not closely connected with the palomino people.  At the end, the girls were going to have the chance to ride or take lessons.  But most of the story was about the friend coming over to spend the night, listening to a bird (I think a whippoorwill), playing at a stream in the woods, riding a wheelbarrow or toy red wagon down a steep hill by the barn.

Tizz , Elisa Bialk. Could this be the Tizz series?  They were short books, about 3rd or 4th grade reading level.  I last read them in the early 70s, but Tizz was a palomino pony in a riding stable, and (I think) the girl who was the main character had just moved to the area.  I remember there were at least eight or ten volumes.



G411: Graveyard "scary" story, Childcraft
There is a story in childcraft that I vaguely remeber from my youth that I would love to know of the name of.  I can give you very little information to go on.  It was in a childcraft book in a pre 1970 edition, probably a much earlier addition.  The story, to my knowledge, never appeared in later versions. It was a "scary" story of some type.  It may have involved a grave or maybe a graveyard, but I am not sure. Any guesses?

The Old Man With A Bump, 1964. How funny! I'm visiting my mom, who still has our set of Childcraft volumes. The story you're looking for might be The Old Man With A Bump. It is from The Dancing Kettle and Other Japanese Folk Tales, and it is "retold by Yoshiko Uchida. It appears in volume 2, "Stories and Fables," in the section named "Tales From Other Lands." An old man has a large bump on his right cheek. Every day it grows bigger, and no doctor can cure it. One day, the old man shelters in a hollow tree during a storm. He hearns many, many ghosts and spirits walking toward him. He is terrified! The spirits begin to dance, and the leader calls for someone who can dance better. The old man jumps out of the tree and begins to dance. The spirits like his dancing so much that they ask him to come back the following night. To ensure that he will, they decided to take something precious from him as a forfeit. After much discussion, they decide to take the bump, since such bumps are said to cause good luck. The old man went happily home and celebrated with his wife. Next morning, a greedy neighbor with a similar bump came over to borrow some food. When he heard the story, he decided to copy the first man's actions. He told the spirits that he was the same man, but they hated his dancing. They scowled, and frowned, and told him, "Here, take back your precious lump." So the greedy neighbor had to go back home with a bump on each cheek. "Ohhhh," he cried, "Never again will I try to be someone else."
Sol Stember, The Monster's Grave. 1966. I wonder if you are thinking of a story in the "Scientists and Inventors" edition of the Childcraft library of books.  It tells the story of young Heinrich Schliemann who goes to a graveyard after his father told him a story about a wicked man who is buried there and sticks his foot out of the grave.  Heinrich finds the gravestone, says "Hennig! Show me your stocking!" and then is scared to see a light coming towards him.  It turns out to be his father looking for him.  Heinrich grows up to find the lost city of Troy and is considered the rather of archaeology.
Henig. I remember a Childcraft story about an evil man named Henig who wore green stockings.  When he died they said he would never show his stockings again, so each year his leg came out of his grave.  Very spooky. Could this be the story you remember?'



G412: Giants talk to boy on rafters
Solved: The Book of Giant Stories


G413: Girl lives with sewing spinster aunt
A young girl goes to live with her aunt and the aunt makes all of her school dresses from the same bolt of cloth because it is economical. The children at school tease her for wearing the same dress every day when she is really wearing a clean dress each day. On the way home from school the girl stares longingly at the beautiful dresses in the general store or mercantile window but knows she will never wear anything that beautiful. She gets tired of the teasing and begs her aunt to wash all of her dresses and have them hanging on the line so she can prove that she has more than one dress. When she arrives home that afternoon instead of her identical dresses hanging on the line the dresses she has been admiring in the store window are there. I also remember in the book that she made a game of her chore of washing dishes by imagining that all the dishes and silverware were people and were swimming in the soapy water. The time period of the book would have been an era when it was common to have a water pump at the kitchen sink but water would have been heated on a wood stove. I read this book in the early 1960's from the school library or the bookmobile. It would be on a 5th grade reading level and would be considered a "chapter book" today.

L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, 1908. Could this possibly be one of Lucy Maude Montgomery's books? She has so very, very many, and it's been at least 15 years since I've read the books.  In Anne of Green Gables, Anne has a few dresses made by Marilla - all of the same design but made from different fabrics.  And, Matthew, purchases a dress with puffed sleeves for her that she just goes ape over.  Of course, LMM wrote so many other books about so many other characters that it's hard for me to remember them all.  It just sounds vaguely familiar.  I'm sure there are LMM fans with far better memories than mine who can set me straight if I'm wrong.  Good luck in your search!
I am the originator of the book stumper request. The book I am searching for is not one of the Anne of Green Gables series. I have read the series and that is not the book I am searching for.
Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Not sure about this, but it's worth checking out - I flashed on Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm when reading your stumper.  My memory of the book is fuzzy, though.
Eleanor Estes, The Hundred Dresses, 1944. Could be this -- The book is about Wanda Petronski, a poor and friendless Polish-American girl. Her teacher, outwardly kind, puts her in the worst seat in the schoolroom and does not intervene when her schoolmates tease her mercilessly. One day, after they laugh at the faded blue dress she wears to school every day, Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses.



G414: Girl and elderly man take walks, red geraniums
Solved: A Special Trade


G415: Girl who wants to ride horses
Girl doesn't want to be ladylike, she wants to ride horses. This is a first book in a series of books ( I believe there were three or four in total) about a girl whose family owned a ranch. The girl loved to ride horses, but her mother wanted her to be ladylike and was very glad when her husband bought a house in town so the girl would have to give up her tomboyish ways. But the girl gets to go back to the ranch on weekends, and one weekend there's a new horse that the girl falls in love with and rides. At some point she runs away because she has heard that the owner of a wild west show is looking for new talent, so she and the horse find him and then end up racing his daughter( who is one of the stars of the show) and winning so she's offered a spot in the show. I remember the girl being very surprised that the show owner's daughter was still able to be ladylike and ride horses, and I specifically remember a line about how much food she was able to eat, but she still managed to be dainty about it. I read this in the late 1980s/early 1990s and I believe that it was written sometime around then. Any insight is greatly appreciated!


G416: Ghost boy named Miles
Solved: The Ghost of Dibble Hollow


G417: Girls at Camp
I read this book in the early 60's.  It was about a girl who went to camp.  I believe that girl's nickname was "Collie" or something like that. What I am sure of is that she met a girl at camp named "Penelope."  That's about all I remember.  Can't wait to see your response!  I've thought about this book several times in the past few years.  When I go to antique shops or used book stores, I look at titles to see if anything rings a bell but so far nothing has.

Scott Corbett, Pippa Passes, 1966. Pippa (short for Penelope) is a famous child star. She's not happy  though, and when she gets a chance to be a "normal" kid (by joining two sisters on a train to summer camp) she jumps at it. She bribes/threatens/begs the sisters to help her cut and dye her hair, and call her their cousin. Once at camp, she makes friends and decides to star in the camp production...which makes her realize how much she enjoys acting.  I think one of the sisters is "Callie".  Could this be it? The other camp book from that time period that was popular is Laura's Luck by Marilyn Sachs.  I don't know if there was a Penelope in it though...
Dorothy Maywood Bird, Mystery at Laughing Water, 1963. I am sure that this is the book you are looking for, as it is a favorite of mine! Laughing Water is a camp for girls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Collie is one of the campers and is known for her fudge making talents. The mystery revolves around Phyllis, the main character, and Penelope Castor, also known as "Beaver." As a baby, Beaver's great-grandfather was found by a trapper named Castor. The baby was wandering in the woods around Laughing Water, during a forest fire, clutching a garnet eardrop in his hand. The trapper and his wife kept the baby when they couldn't find his family and named him Jacques Castor. The campers hunt for clues as to his original family. A wonderful read by a fabulous author! Two other books by this author are Granite Harbor and The Black Opal, both set in Michigan, also.



G418: Genetics and hair/eye color
I am looking for a large hardcover book, circa late 1960s or early 1970s which I believe was all about the body.  I remember one page in particular that dealt with hair and eye colour and a description of how genetics worked in children's terms.  I remember a drawing of a girl with red hair and green eyes and a picture of her parents, her parents' siblings and grandparents and it showed how she ended up with red hair.

Joe Kaufman, Joe Kaufman's How we are Born, How We Grow, How Our Bodies Work, and How We Learn, 1975. I'm pretty sure this is it.  This is an oversized (it would have to be to accomodate that long title) book from Golden Books. Pages 14 and 15 have the information on heredity and genetics with the picture of the red-haired child with his ancestors. There are 91 more pages of profusely illustrated biology and anatomy for kids in this book.



G419: Ghost story, cemetery under man-made lake
Looking for a book I read as a kid.  Not sure when the book was written, but I read it in the 1990's.  It was about a town that was moved to create a man made lake, with all of the old buildings underneath the water.  The graves in the cemetery, though, had not been moved like they were supposed to have been, and were underneath the lake.  It was a ghost story about the people in the graves.  I remember a part where someone was scuba diving in the lake, looking at all of the old houses submerged underwater, and he/she was scared off by ghosts under the water.  I also vaguely remember a part where a woman and her friend used some sort of metal pole to stick in the ground in the new cemetery above ground, to see if they could tell if the bodies had been moved, or if they were still in the lake.

I know I read this book too!  Could it be Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright?  I think there's a bit where they see the church spire under sticking out of the water.  There are no ghosts in either this or the sequel though.  There was another book that reminded me of Gone Away Lake when I  first read it...I think the title was something like "The Riddle (or maybe Secret?) of the Stone House" and the authors last name was in the W-Z section of the shelves. I think that had a lake with the tops of buildings and an old tree sticking out of the water.
I don't know the book, but there's a list of "drowned town" fiction here that may list it: http://beyondrivalry.blogspirit.com/archive/2006/08/29/drowned-towns.html
-- maybe Mollie Hunger's The Walking Stones or Michael Shea's The Color Out of Time, since those two at least are described as novels with supernatural elements?
It's definitely NOT Gone-Away Lake - there is no lake at Gone-Away lake anymore (hence the name), just a bog.



G420: Gift of strawberry to little blind girl
A little blue children's book (approx. 4" x 4"). A young boy gives a strawberry to a little blind girl. Maybe 10 colorful pages.

 A Present for the Princess. Definitely the one.  It was also included in a collection of about four stories that we had years ago (can't remember the name of that one though).
I'm not sure if this is A Present for the Princess or another but similar book, unless the original poster has the roles reversed. It was a Little Golden Book about how the royal family was going to be coming through town, and a little blind boy (I believe he was a gardener's son) had it in mind to grow her the perfect strawberry. He did, and she ate it and kissed him and he blushed and it was so cute. She was getting all these lavish gifts, but she liked the strawberry best.
This sounds like A Present For The Princess (A Rand McNally Tip Top Elf Book #8425) by Janie Lowe Paschall. A young boy who's blind wanted to give a princess something special. He planted a strawberry plant and grew it with the animals' help.



G421: Girl with guitar on spaceship
The book I am looking for was a children's/juvenile fiction title that I read in the early 1980's.  I found it in the library in the childrens/teen section back then.  The publication date would have been before 1984 for sure, probably late 70's or early 80's, but I can't be sure.  I can not remember the title... It was something like "Can you feel the music?" Or "Can you hear...."  I am not sure what.  But I remember the title seemed ironic. The book cover had a girl with a guitar on the front, sitting cross-legged, I think.  She was an American Indian, I think.  She was trying to reach her brother who worked for a space agency. The world was suffering some kind of dramatic weather/geo change, and the only chance of survival for humanity was to escape on a spaceship. I don't think her brother made the ship... Jeep accident, I think. She reached the spaceship, and the ship's captain agreed to take her on because of her heritage would add to the gene pool. She is the odd woman out, doesn't have a mate on board.  She's younger than the other crew members and uneducated.  They were chosen for their fields.   She plays guitar, I think, and paints a window on the spaceship walls so she can has a view. On the spaceship, she butts heads with the captain and eventually leads something of a mutiny against him. He was very rigid and scientific, she was very much a spiritual, free spirit. But circumstances I can't remember cause her and the captain to team up together in exile and they fall in love as he loosens up and she grows up.  As a result, he wins back his crew and eventually they go back to rebuild Earth, which was drastically changed.

Anabel Johnson, An Alien Music. This is the book you are looking for.



G422: Ghost soldier, presents under pillow
The book/ghost story is about a young girl who visits her aunt up in Northern NY or North and her aunt is an antique collector.  The first night the girl meets a young man in the hotel's garden.  Not knowing the young man is a ghost who is getting ready to go into battle (either American Revolutionary or Civil War). When she comes back from her meeting she finds a rose/flower underneath her pillow.  The next morning her and her aunt go out and the girl comes back and finds expensive jewelry under her pillow.  She meets the young man again and soon finds out that he is really a ghost.

Elizabeth Pope, The Sherwood Ring.  This book is about a young girl who goes to visit her uncle in upstate New York and meets the ghosts of Revolutionary war soldiers.  I believe that one of them gives her, or leads her to, the ring of the title.  I think the girl's name is Peggy.
Unless the original requester really messed up the details, this book isn't THE SHERWOOD RING.  No flower under pillow, no ghost preparing to go into battle, no aunt...
This is not the book.  The book I am talking about was written in the late 1960's or early 70's. It was a story in a book that contained other ghost stories that I do remember.  The details I have submitted regarding this are accurate.
Bruce Coville, The Ghost Wore Gray, 1988. Sixth-grader Nina  Tanleven convinced her architect father to let her best friend Chris go with them to stay in the old  inn he's restoring. On the afternoon they arrive, the girls find a faded Civil War photograph of a  very handsome Confederate soldier. Nina and Cris are stunned when the ghost of the young soldier suddenly appears at the dinner table that night! They  realize he's the ghost who they've heard haunts the  inn. When he appears to them  again--no one else can see him--Nina and Chris know that  the ghost is trying to tell them something. But  what? To find out, the girls begin investigating  the old country inn. And soon they are swept up in  a frightening mystery that began more than one  hundred years ago--a mystery involving danger, greed,  a hidden room... and a buried treasure!



G423: Girl gets kidnapped
Solved: Last Seen on Hopper's Lane


G424: Gypsies, dolls
Hello! I'm looking for a book my grandmother had--I would have been reading it in the 70s, but it's most likely from the 40s or 50s. It about a little girl who gets two little dolls, on blonde, one brunette. One of the dolls is I think named Annabel (or Abigail?). One is in a red dress, the other a blue dress. At some point, the little girl ends up away from home with her two little dolls, and she ends up with a caravan of gypsies who give her a meal that the little girl is shocked to find that she's meant to eat with her fingers. She talks to the dolls, and they might talk to her or each other--the dolls have characters, anyway. I hope you're able to help. Thanks you!

G425: Girl and horse
Solved: A Very Young Rider


G426: Grandpa Tyler, old man reading a book on tape, with a paperback book. 1980's children's series
There were a series of children's books in the 1980's that my sister used to buy me.  They were paperback books with cassette tapes that read along with you.  There were usually two, maybe three stories, in each book.  There was also a song that went along with the book series called Creativity.  It went, Cre-a-tive-it-y, is a part of you and me, I want to be creative just as much as I can be.  Then a narrator sounding like an old man's voice, came on and said, "Hello, I'm Grandpa Tyler, come on in and sit a spell."  Then he would start the story.  The only story I remember was about a little boy who invited his teacher up to his tree house that he built.  The boy built the tree house in his backyard out of an avocado tree.  He sold the avocados to pay for the lumber and construction of the tree house.  He also had a refrigerator in the tree house, which I thought at the time was the coolest thing in the world.  I can't remember was this series was called, or how to even go about finding it, but I'd love to get my hands on the books and the cassettes.

G427: Grumpy boy, farm animals, Norwegian accent
Solved: The Little Boy From Shickshinny


G428: grandpa tells a scary story to his grandson
Solved: Grandpa's Ghost Stories


G429: Girl is dirty/lazy and gets washed by house
Solved: The Richest Sparrow in the World and other stories


G430: Golden retriever in shelter takes care of other animals
Solved: The Visitor


G431: Girl gets hair cut for picture for mother
This was a children's book where a girl gets her picture (dagguerotype?) taken for her mother by a man (or boy?) in the woods who is a friend. She cuts her bangs in a scallop for her picture and has to save up money to pay for it. Her mother may be sick, or it might be for mother's day or a birthday present. I think it was illustrated, but not in many colors. Sorry for the confusion here...any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I just read this old scholastic paperback- it is definitely Myrtle Albertina's Secret by Lillian Pohlmann-illustated by Erik Blegvad (in black and white)! The picture is a birthday present for her mom. The story also involves a mystery about missing gold nuggets from the mine where the father works.



G432: ghost knight in castle with moat
A guy with glasses moves into castle with moat, and there's a ghost of a knight in armor that moves around.  The book is probably from the 60s or 70s.  The illustrations were sort of dreamy.

Bendick, Jeanne, Good Knight Ghost, F. Watts, 1956.  Don't have a plot description, but the title looks promising.
This is definitely THE HAUNTED SPY by Barbara Ninde Byfield, 1969. The illustrations are great. There are other books about the spy and the
ghost, but this first one is the best.~from a librarian.



G433: Girls with large heads, friendship stories
Series from 80's or early 90's that featured cute little girls with somewhat large heads.  There was a brunette and redhead (had her hair in a bun with whispies aournd her face?), and there always seemend to be puppies or kittens with them.  Books were about friendship. In one book a girl (the brunette? she carried books in a strap) was scared to go to school and the other girl's helped her, in another a girl got sick (redhead?) and the others helped her feel better. Books were hardcover.

Joan Walsh Anglund, various books. The illustrations sound a bit like Joan Walsh Anglund: http://logan.com/loganberry/most-anglund.html'.
Delton, Judy, Pee Wee Scouts, 1988-2000. The cover illustrations seem to match your description as do the helpfulness of the kids in the books.



G434: Garden story?
I am looking for a book or story from my childhood (would have been published before 1977 for sure.) I know there were several female characters and I am positive that one of them went by the name "Maeve." Another might have been called "Felicia" or "Felicity." I think they were miniature and/or lived in a garden. It's possible that they might have been flowers or gnomes. I believe they could only talk to each other. I am looking for anyone who might remember this (it has been driving me crazy!) Thanks so, so much.

Mary Chase, The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden.  I wonder if it could be this one again. Maybe it's Maude, not Maeve? Perhaps look at the solved stumpers? There is that business with the leprechaun in the garden...



G435: girl in NYC gets flying horse
Solved: Lyrico: the only horse of his kind


G436: Grandmas and grandpas, not Alice Low's book
This is a funny story, because for 20+ years, I had fleeting images of a picture book, having to do with little boy and girl visiting grandma and grandpa.  After extensive searching (of course, no title, author, illustrator), I found Alice Low's book Grandma's and Grandpa's.  This was the book, almost!  I found just about every one of those images in this book, with a few exceptions.  I tracked down Ms. Low, spoke to her on the phone, where she confirmed that my memories were of her book, however, a few of the images were not.  The missing images area:  (Picture book) Little girl in the attic, she has short brown hair, tries on grandpa's old raccoon coat, makes funny face, collar up around her face.  Also, mother (or grandmother) making cake, little girl licks the bowl (chocolate).  Publishing would have been prior to mid-60's.

Betty Ren Wright, Grandpa's House, 1959, copyright.  Oh my goodness.  This was one of my very favorite childhood books.  I have it sitting right here in front of me.  Everything the poster describes is in the book exactly - except there is no little boy, just a little girl and the dog, fuzzy Tim.  Several of the pages have flocking, so when the little girl tries on the coat, you can actually feel the fur.  "I like to go to Grandpa's house and sit in Grandpa's chair.  It's big and fuzzy - soft and nice And I play Grandpa there."  This was from the  "Fuzzy Wuzzy Series" of books from Whitman Tell-a-Tales.
Mary Phraner Warren, The Treasure Trunk.  This is a Junior Elf book that might be the one you're thinking about with the little girl and fur coat.  A brother and sister go through a chest in the attic.  The girl does have brown hair but I'm not sure the coat is a raccoon coat.  As for the chocolate cake picture, I remember a thin cookbook that had a similar picture on the cover- maybe a McNess cookbook?
Eleanor Estes, The Moffats.  I seem to remember a scene in either "The Moffats" or "The Middle Moffat "  where the little girl dressed up in an old raccoon coat.   I think I read these books in the sixties.
Betty Ren Wright, Grandpa's House, 1959, copyright.  Just a quick addendum on this - in some of the pictures the little girl is wearing a typical puffy sleeved '50's dress but in others she is wearing a cowboy suit.  With her short hair she looks somewhat masculine in the cowboy getup so maybe if this is the right book that is why the poster is thinking the book has both a boy and girl visiting the grandparents.



G437: Girl with very curly hair wishes for sunflower instead
I am looking for a book I read to my daughter in the 1980s about a little girl who had very curly hair and fought and cried with her mother about getting it brushed. She wished her hair was a sunflower instead. But, when she got her wish, the bees buzzed her head and the petals fell out and it was too heavy for her. I remember a phrase something like "Rotten, snarls! Rotten curls!" (or maybe with the word tangles) I think it might have been mostly a pen and ink illustration as I don't recall full-color. I also don't remember it being a "new" book when we got it from the library so maybe it was published in the late-70s? I would have been reading it around 1986.

Fitschen Dale, Rotten snags! Rotten hair!, 1975, copyright.  A little girl is tired of her snarled hair but learns that there are things worse than tangled locks.



G438: "goony goony goony and i'll never go to bed"
My mom remembers reading a book to us when we were kids, probably in the 70s to early 80s.  All she remembers of it is a quote that goes something like this: "I'm goonie, goonie, goonie, and I'll never go to bed!".  It could have been spelled "goony" also.


G439: Green-ink young adult book, witch and tree
A young adult book about a tree and a witch. I believe there is a boy and a girl and the witch was bad/evil. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the storyline.  However, the thing that I remember most about the book was it was printed in green rather than the more common black ink. It was a hardback and I read it in the mid to late 1980's although the book could have been printed earlier. Any help in figuring out the title of the book is appreciated!

Coffin, Patricia, The Gruesome Green Witch, 1969, copyright.  It must be this book - it's the only one I know with the text printed in green ink!  "Two schoolgirls, Puffin and Mole, discover a magic land entered through a closet. They have various adventures, do their homework in Merlin's concentration cave, where answers are caught as they bounce off walls, attend an undersea party presided over by Neptune, with Cinderella, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy among the revellers, then Puffin incurs the wrath of the villainous, gruesome green witch (who turns her enemies into statues) by seeing her back, and Puffin's brother is captured when the girls bring him into the land so he can profit from the concentration cave. But eventually the witch is conquered by a magic brew which Puffin slips into her tea, and melts down into a pile of green rags."



G440: Girl with rag kidnapped by captain in alternate world
I'm trying to remember the title to a book my brother and I read when we were young (70's). My brother remembers it was a story about a little girl with a rag (not a rag doll but a rag). He believes she was transported to another world where she meets a captain who she doesn't know at first is bad but he kidnaps kids and takes them to a place where they are used as slaves. It was, we believe, a hardback book with a dark blue cover.


G441: gryphon/griffin with old knight
Solved: Sir Tobey Jingle's Beastly Journey


G442: Girl plays with doll in the sand
Solved: Ukelele and Her New Doll


G443: girl stops burglers in department store
An English book from the 40's or 50's where a little girl stops burglers in a department store by pushing the escalator button.  Her family gets a new washing up machine as a reward.


2008


G444: Girls at Boarding School
Solved: Luvvy and the Girls


G445: Generations of women and a sapphire necklace
This book started out with a main character, i believe her name was Elizabeth waiting to meet her Grandmother at a portrait gallery and she is supposed to be writing an article.  It traces her ancestry back from a woman who falls in love with a bandit, someone who enters a loveless marriage with a Viscount because her true love was a clergyman, to someone on the Titanic.  The story ends up full circle with the current woman and the introduction of her man.

Could you be thinkining of Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley Sagas (books that 'stood alone' outside the teen series)? Either "The Wakefields of Sweet Valley" or "The Wakefield Legacy"? The only reasons this comes to mind is that you mentioned the writer/granddaughter is named Elizabeth and the book covered several generations of women.
This book definitely was not the Wakefield Legacies as mentioned.  I read those too and it wasn't it.  Pulling some more from my memories; one of the women fell in love with a convict who was banished to Australia. The other woman was in love with a vicar but forced to marry a Viscount against her wishes.


G446: GIRL, ATTIC BEDROOM, BIRTHDAY PARTY
A girl lives with her grandmother and widowed or divorced mother; her bedroom is upstairs or in the attic and it's been remodeled, possibly with paneling, in preparation for a birthday party/slumber party she plans on hosting. The paneling in the bedroom could be blue; I may be thinking of a real life classmate who had a blue paneled bedroom. It is NOT the same book another person posted about a blue paneled bedroom.

Catherine Woolley, A Room for Cathy,  1956, copyright.   4th-grader Cathy Leonard is looking forward to having her own room in her big new house after sharing a room with her younger sister Chris for so long.  She's thrilled with painting it yellow and at how lovely it is when newly-furnished.  She can't wait to show the room off to all of her new friends.  When her family suddenly decides they must rent out rooms to save money, Cathy is devastated at having to give up her room and share Chris's.  She considers moving up to the attic.


G447: girl, bumps head, back in time, befriends mother
Solved: Hangin' out with Cici


G448: Girl, Lion, Tea Party
Solved: When the Sun Rose


G449: Girl battles for boy's attention
I read this book when I was 10 or 11 years old.  It is a coming of age, comical story about a plain-looking brunette girl who tries to gain the attention of the perfect boy at school.  Her nemesis is a blonde girl who she perceives as being "perfect."  They have an ongoing rivalry.  I only remember one portion of the rivalry described, in which the brunette girl compares the blonde's gorgeous natural curls to the botched job she did with her mother's curling iron before going to school.  I remember that she finally goes on a date with the boy at some point, to a pizza parlor, and she saves the straw he drank from.  I don't know why this book resonated with me so much at the time, but I've got to find it and see what the rest of the story is!

Betsy Haynes, Taffy Sinclair and the Romance Machine Disaster, 1987, approximate.  This is definitely one of the Taffy Sinclair books (I remember the straw incident which was shown on the cover) but I am not completely sure it is this particular volume.  The author is the same for all the books though, so you should be able to find it.


G450: Grimm's fairy tales
i received the book in 1948 or 1949, it was a beautiful hardbound grimms fairy tale book..most memorable about the book were the very beautiful color plates.  i appreciate any effort you can expend to locate this beloved book.  thankyou.

The Brothers Grimm, Grimms' Fairy Tales, 1945, copyright.  My Grosset & Dunlap edition has a red cloth cover with the title in gilt on the spine.  It has beautiful color plates and small red-ink illustrations throughout the book by Fritz Kredel.  It's size is about 5.5" x 8.5".


G451: Girl sells pies during Gold Rush
Girl crosses the country in a wagon train with her family during the Gold Rush. She falls in love with the guide but he has to take the wagon train back. Her father dies crossing the prairies, and as the oldest, she takes care of the other children. In California, they sing for gold and end up making a living baking and selling pies. That's where the guide finds her in the end. I read this a lot during the early-mid 70's, but I'm not sure how old it was.   Thanks for any help!

Cushman, Karen, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple, 1998.  When California Morning Whipple's widowed mother uproots her family from their comfortable Massachusetts environs and moves them to a rough mining camp called Lucky Diggins in the Sierras, California Morning resents the upheaval. Desperately wanting to control something in her own life, she decides to be called Lucy, and as Lucy she grows and changes in her strange and challenging new environment. Here Karen Cushman helps the American Gold Rush spring to colorful life. I just read this book and thought it was funny and fabulous!
To the requestor for G451: for what age group was the book you are looking for written?  Is it a children's book, young adult, or a romance novel?  The plot actually sounds similar to "Boom Town" by Sonia Levitin ("Young Amanda's family has survived the three-week stagecoach trip to California and now the boisterous brood is putting down roots near the gold fields, where Pa pans for a fortune. Eager to make the best of their conditions, Amanda improvises with primitive equipment to turn out pies that she can sell to the miners. When she expands and buys more pans, she recommends to the peddler that he set up a trading post, and the boom begins. Soon she's suggesting that others start a laundry, a livery and other businesses that result in a bustling town. Sparked by a historical report of a 'young lady' who earned $11,000 selling pies, this spunky story makes information about westward expansion pulse with fun.") except that the dates are WAY off - Boom Town wasn't published until 1998.
The Singing Boones.
Dale White, The Singing Boones, 1957. Dale White (a pen name for prolific writer Marian Templeton Place) wrote this folksy, clean romance and adventure story of a rambunctious family who traveled to Californy in 1852, hoping to strike it big in the gold mines.  But for this family, coming West late in the Gold Rush,  the real gold turned out to be their combined  voices.  Exhausted, homesick goldminers willingly paid out gold dust and nuggets for wholesome entertainment.  Yes, there's a romance between the eldest daughter Ellen, and the scoutmaster, Jed. And, yes, it ends very happily. It's a very nice book - but tres expensive!


G452: Girl Lost Her Red Shoe(s)
Solved: It Happened to Anita


G453: Girl and horse recover together
Solved: Tall and Proud


G454: Grizzly in Colorado
Solved: Scarface: The Story of a Grizzly


G455: Girl goes to country, searches for lost item, finds it near end of book in trunk behind attic baseboard
Sometime before I graduated in 1977 (perhaps long before) I read a book about a girl (I think a teen) who goes to the country for some reason to live with aunts? aunt and uncle?  some older people anyway.  She is somewhat of a loner and I believe did not want to be there.  I do not remember why she was sent or goes to the country to live.  She does make friends with a young boy about her age.  I believe there may have been another girl she made friends with also.  At the same time there is a dual story line about something that has been lost or misplaced at the house.  Whatever it is they are looking for is found near the end of the book in a trunk hidden behind the baseboard of an attic wall.  I do not remember what was in the trunk, but I think it may have been a doll of some sort, maybe china.  It could have been china dishes or a special necklace or something precious.  Whatever it was she was glad to have found it and the older people were too.  I have a vague recollection the book was hardcover and had a girl on the front with a tree also.  I don't remember the name of the book, but think that maybe "attic" was in the name because I do remember thinking while I was reading the book that they were going to find it in the attic.  There are no ghosts, dolls coming alive, time traveling or anything like that in the book.

Margaret Sutton or Carolyn Keene.  Hi, I know this is vague, but perhaps enough information.  Some of the details given in  stumper #455 match one of the Judy Bolton mystery series stories, although I don't remember which one.  The books were by Margaret Sutton.  Also, those old Nancy Drew mysteries by Carolyn Keene seemed to be full of mysterious things hidden up in attics!
This book is The Wonderful Fashion doll by Laura Bannon. Debby and her mother go to live on a farm that has been in the family for generations, and Debby discovers a letter from her Great-great-great grandmother, Deborah, regarding a doll that she treasures so much that she hides it at night.  Deborah eventually goes away to England, and Debby wonders if the doll might still be hidden somewhere in the old house.  She befriends a young neighbor boy, and together they explore, looking in the trunk of an old tree among other places.  Eventually the doll is found  in the baseboard in the attic.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy, 1917, approximate.  The going to the country part sounds like Understood Betsy, but I think the treasure found at the end were some missing kittens...obviously not lost for very long!  Still, it might be worth checking.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth.  This sounds like it could be MAGIC ELIZABETH, a popular request/inquiry.  Check the solved stumpers page.  I found and reread this one myself recently.  Sarah has to stay with great-aunt Sarah in an old Victorian while her parents are away. She befriends a little blond girl who lives in the apt. building next door.  Sarah dreams about a doll who went missing years ago, belonging to another Sarah who used to live in the house.  There is an old chest of period clothes and doll clothes in the attic.  The doll is eventually found tucked down under the eaves of the attic where a mischevious cat hid it many years before.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth.  Sally has to stay with her Aunt Sarah while her parents are away.  She sees a painting of an old-fashioned girl and doll and dreams about them.  She finally finds the doll hidden in the attic and discovers the girl in the painting is her Aunt Sarah.
This book is The Wonderful Fashion Doll by Laura Bannon.  It's about a girl named Debby who goes to live in a farmhouse that has been in her family for generations.  Her great, great, great grandmother  had written a letter to a cousin describing how she had hidden her doll in the house, and when Debby finds the letter, she tries to find the doll's hiding place.  She meets a boy who lives nearby, and becomes friends with him, and they spend a lot  of time playing in a hollowed out tree.  Debby finally finds the doll behind the baseboard in the attic of the house.
Thank you so much for the responses to my enquiry about this book.  I'm certain that it is not a Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew) book and I found a site that has synopses of all of the Margaret Sutton books.  None of them seemed to be the book.   I'm fairly certain it is not Understood Betsy although that sounds like an adorable book.  It could possibly be Magic Elizabeth, but the apartment building part makes it seem unlikely as I am certain it was in the country, although I do think I may have to find that book also as it sounds very sweet.  I did read all (and I do mean ALL) of the solved books entries before making my enquiry.  I discounted The Wonderful Fashion Doll because one line described it as a "Barbie type doll" which made me think that wasn't the book.  It was defnitely not a "Barbie" doll.  However, this description makes me wonder if that poster simply meant it was not a "baby" doll and simply a doll shaped like an adult.  I will see if I can find The Wonderful Fashion Doll and see if that it is the book.  Thank you all again so much for your help!
Calhoun, Mary, Katie John series.  a long shot, but you might want to check the Katie John books. Not many of the clues match, but it is worth a look.


G456: Going to bed "an hour earlier every night"
Solved: Genevieve Goes to Bed Early


G457:   Girl With Separated Parents
New York Girl???  '40's  juvenile book.   This book was described by an older friend who read it in her youth, it is about a girl/young lady whose parents have separated or divorced and an interfering relative? In the end the parents reconcile and all is well. The story sound too sophisticated for the midwest, probably set in a city like New York in the late 40's early 50's.

L. M. Montgomery, Jane of Lantern Hill.  One of the "other" books by the author of Anne of Green Gables.  Jane lives in a city in Canada with her mother at her wealthy grandmother's house and doesn't know her father or anything about him.  The grandmother was the one who meddled and ruined the marriage.  Eventually, Jane meets her father and goes to stay with him in the East.  At the beginning of the book Jane tore a picture of a man out of a magazine because the man looked like someone she would like to have as a father; it turns out that the picture was in fact of her father.  (I'm being a little fuzzy on details because it's been quite a few years since I read this).
L. M. Montgomery, Jane of Lantern Hill.  (Resubmitting because I just noticed the message about missing updates) This is by the author of the Anne of Green Gables books.  Jane lives with her mother and grandmother in a city in Canada, and knows nothing about her father.  She finds a picture of a man in a magazine and thinks she would like to have a father like him; turns out it *is* her father.  She gets to go and visit him in his home by the ocean, and loves him.  It was her grandmother who caused trouble in the marriage.


G458:  German Gerry
English boarding school girl named Geraldine is tormented for having a German name. The other students call her "German Gerry" (Gerrie?)

Christine Chaundler, Just Gerry.
Just Gerry.
  I don't think this is the right book although the title seems right. When I researched the book, it seemed to be about an Asian child. The girl I remember was an English girl at boarding school. Of course, the Ebay seller could have made a mistake. Any more ideas? Thanks. Been looking for years!


G459: Grandmother vs. Hipster family
Solved: Mirror of Danger

G460: girl goes for walk with grandpa and gets chased up tree by bull
Solved: Ultra-Violet Catastrophe


G461: Girl taken aboard ship, helps find Captain's twin brother
Solved: American Dreams Series (Into the Wind, Song of the Sea, Weather the Storm)


G462: girl and boy become friends, he is killed in woods
Solved: Autumn Street


G463: Girl Substitutes Cabbage/Lettuce for Moon
Solved: Cabbage Moon


G464: Girl lives in wilderness cabin with family not her own
Solved: Song of the Voyageur


G465: girl and human race live in cars
I think this book is from the 1970's and the only things i remember are as follows: its a story about a girl who questions the fact that the entire human race cannot walk, but they all "drive" in their own individual "cars". as the story progresses, the girl realizes that all she has to do is get out of the car and move her legs and can walk on her own. i thought it was called the endless sidewalk, but i cannot find anything with that name and think i am confusing it with the sidewalk never ends which is not the same book it is driving me crazy!

Jaqueline Jackson, The Endless Pavement.
  Josette wants to find out what it's like beyond the endless pavement and decides to get out of her personal car.
Jackson, Jacqueline, The Endless Pavement, 1973, copyright.  "Living in a time when people are the servants of automobiles and ruled by the master auto of the planet, Josette longs to leave her rollabout and try her legs."


G466: girl who sees mother in magic mirror
an old book about a lonely girl who lives with a woman (maybe a foster or step mother or something, but she's mean) and looks into a mirror and sees her mother and talks to her.

Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch.   Sounds like Little Witch.  See Solved Mysteries for description.
Little Witch.  Sounds like Little Witch to me!
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953, copyright.  If the girl is living with a wicked witch, and the mother in the mirror turns out to be a fairy, trapped by the witch, then this is proably the one you are looking for.  See Solved Mysteries for additional details - this is a popular book, and has been asked about many times.
Traditional, Mother in the Mirror / The Mirror of Matsuyama.  This is a long shot, but your description reminded me of a traditional Japanese story you can probably find online, about a girl who thought her dead mother contacted her through a mirror. This story is related to Shinto tradition in which a mirror holds the image of the goddess that created everything.


G467: girl in hospital names paper doll Mia
Solved: Bettina's Secret


G468: Girls uses dolls to send messages
I'm looking for a book for a patron possibly set during World War 2.  It was read to her as a child.  It is about two girls who are friends and they use dolls to send messages.

Carol Ryrie Brink, Two are better than one
.  Could this one be the same as F309? There is less information given, but the girls, Cordy and Chrystal, do send their dolls to each other with the next chapter of the story they are writing. Wouldn't have thought of it if I hadn't just answered F309!


G469: Girl tries to save baby owls
I think this book was published in the late 60's or the 70's.  I believe the girl, and possibly her brother, were visiting their grandparents.  They find a nest of owls.  Unsure why, maybe logging, but the owls are in danger and the kids decide to move them.  The mother owl attacks the girl when she is taking the owlets out of the tree.  Thank you for your help.

Bertha Crow, Hootlet Home,
1964, copyright.  A long shot, but might be worth a look.  A little owlet falls from the nest and is found by a little girl named Pansey. As it grows up she finds the best place for her pet is back in the wild where it came from. Lovely pictures of owlets and the grown horned owls.
A.C. Stewart, Ossian House, 1974, copyright.  This isn't an exact match, but in Ossian House, John visits his grandfather in the highlands of Scotland and meets his cousins and a local girl, Catriona.  There is an owl's nest that the other children are protecting, but John takes one egg out before he realizes the situation, and then climbs the tall tree again to put it back.  The owl shows up and seems to be attacking him (he falls out of the tree). After that he and Catriona keep an eye out to see if the eggs will all hatch, and climb nearby trees to look into the nest.  The story also contains a lot of historical information about the 17th-century Covenanters, who fought religious wars in Scotland.
Jean Craighead George, There's An Owl in the Shower, 1995, copyright.  I haven't read this since I was in elementary school myself, but it seems like it fits: the children live in a logging community, and know that the owlets face danger from logging, and try to save them. I don't know if the mother attacks them in this book, but the author has written about birds of prey in other books, and it's happened there (in My Side of the Mountain, for instance, a boy steals a young falcon and his mother attacks him), so I wouldn't be surprised if it happened in this book, too.


G470: Girl loses doll, eventually finds her in jar of jelly
My mom talks about this book being read to her as a little girl in the 1950s.  She remembers the cover was a pinkish color.

Phyllis Mc Ginley, Helen Stone (illus), The Most Wonderful Doll in the World,
1950, copyright.  I don't know about the jar of jelly, but when I search on "lost doll" books from the fifties, this one keeps popping up, and there is an edition with a reddish/pinkish cover. There is also an edition with a green cover, and there is a dust jacket with a full-color picture surrounded by a green border.  "The classic tale about imaginative Dulcy and her beloved doll Angela, who Dulcy loses soon after she get her. When Dulcy finds Angela, she's not at all like the doll Dulcy remembers, but that won't stop Dulcy from hoping to find the doll of her dreams." Cover illustration is the little girl (in a 40's-style polka-dot dress, complete with pinafore and big hair bow) taking a doll out of a box, with two additional dolls lying on the floor in front of her.
Johanna Johnston, Sugarplum.  This is most definitely "Sugarplum".  The doll getting lost in the jar of jelly is a classic part of this book.  It is remembered fondly by many and somewhat pricy because of this.  There is a sequel, "Sugarplum and Snowball".
Johanna Johnston, Sugarplum.  I'm pretty sure the book where the doll is locked in a jelly jar is Sugarplum.  Brace yourself; it's expensive!
Johanna Johnson, Sugarplum.  Might be the one, see solved stumpers...
Sugarplum.  The cover has her peering out of the jelly jar.


G471: Girl raised by aunt after mother dies
Solved: Up a Road Slowly


G472: Ghost helps girl hide underground from fiance
Young girl on family land hiding from her fiance who is working on the land, she goes into some underground tunnels and ends up getting locked in.  In complete darkness she lives down there for a long time with the aid of a ghost  "Jackie" (i think that's the name) who may be some friend of the family who passed on.  Later she gets out to find out her fiance married her sister and she cons him into going underground where he meets his demise...?


G473: Greedy pig gets stuck in hole of sty
A big, thick, yellow with green dots book. A collection of children's stories, one of which was about a greedy pig who kept sneaking out a hole in the back of his sty to eat acorns. One day he ate so many that he couldn't fit back through the hole and got stuck. The farmer found him hanging out the hole. The illustration on the front of the book was on a white background and was of the greedy pig's rear end sticking out the hole in the sty. I believe there was also a story about a green cat in it too. It was during the 80's that I owned this book, so I imagine it was published in the 70's, but not sure.

Arnold Lobel, Small Pig, 1969. This doesn't match your description exactly, but Small Pig is about a pig who loves to eat and sink himself into mud puddles. After the farmer's wife vacuums up his mud puddle, Small Pig escapes to the city. He mistakes wet concrete for mud and gets stuck in it, then is rescued and returns to his mud at the farm. The original illustrations are mostly green/brown/blue. This story is in several anthologies of children's books.


G474: Girl, YA, ranch, horse, actor, film movie
Solved: The Luck of Texas McCoy


G475: Girl finds spellbook in attic
I'm looking for a book published in the 1970's about a young girl who finds an old spellbook in a turret / round attic room. I think she has or finds a bird (a crow?) and a black cat as well. She reads the spellbook and starts learning the spells secretly in this attic room. I loved this book as a child and would love to get my hands on a copy.  Based on the descriptions I read on your site, I don't think it's the Little Witch book.

E. W. Hildik, Active Enzyme Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch.
  Allison finds an old book of spells, and teaches herself witchcraft. At some point she pulls in her sister and tries to form a coven.
E. W. Hildick, The Active-Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch.  This might be the book.  Allison does find an old spell book, and I'm remembering an attic.  The title comes from the fact that Allison has a tendency to substitute ingredients for the spells.


G476: Girl never gets older
I’m looking for a book that I read when I was a kid, but I can’t remember the title or author of it, and I was wondering if anyone could help me.  I’m sure I read it before the year 2000, so it had to have been published before then, but I suspect it was published at least a decade or two earlier.  Here’s what I remember of it, although the details are a bit fuzzy.  The book begins with a girl and her mom.  I believe that the dad was not present in the story.  I think that he had died, although it could have been a divorce.  The girl and her mom are driving around on a snowy day and run into another girl.  They end up bringing her home with them.  Throughout the course of the story, they find out that this girl saw her family die when her house burned down many, many years ago.  Since that time, she has never gotten any older, and she still has a burn on her leg from the fire, as fresh as the day she got it.  She can go back and relive those memories of the fire, and I believe that she somehow takes the girl she’s staying with and possibly the girl’s boyfriend back into the memories with her.  I don’t remember the ending well but I believe she has to work through these memories somehow.

This sounds a little like a Lois Duncan book...but searching through the descriptions of her titles, I can't find the right one.  Maybe this will help though.
Lois Duncan, Lost in Time, 1986.  This sounded familiar to me when I read the stumper although it is a long time since I read the book and I don't have a copy to verify the details - I recall that the book was about a girl whose father had remarried - his new wife has 2 children (girl & boy) - I seem to rememebr that it was they who did not age, and there was something to do with their home having been burned down years before. I think it was set in Louisiana, if that helps!
Locked in Time isn't it, and I can't find another Lois Duncan book that seems right.  Thanks for your help though!  I think the book I'm looking for would be for slightly younger readers.  It would have been perfectly acceptable for a 5th or 6th grader to read.  Here are a few other random scenes I remember in case they help anyone remember.  In one, the girl who never gets older talks about having to move from place to place every few years so no one will start to question why a young girl never appears to age.  She has to change the style of her clothing the way she acts, etc. as she stays the same but everything around her changes.  The other scene I remember is really random, but I'll put it out there just in case it jogs any memories.  The normal girl and her boyfriend are getting ready to go back into the memory, and the (relatively new) boyfriend is giving her a back massage to try to relax her, and she is very embarrassed about the fact that he might feel her bra strap through the back of her shirt.  And the book might begin with the girl looking out her bedroom window on a snowy day.  I don't know why I remember that, but I would really love to find this book, so anything that might help...
The child who never gets older having to move around and be a bit clandestine so not to have people get suspicious is (oh, you're going to love hearing this) in several stories, one I'm sure is by Ray Bradbury and I can't think of the name of it -- the other is Jeffty is Five by Harlan Ellison, but that's about a boy. And I believe there is at least one more.
The Bradbury story is "Hail and Farewell"-it's in "S is for Space" for one.  I have no idea what the requester's book is, though.

Kathryn Reiss, Pale Phoenix. This is the right book, no doubt about it!



G477: Girl makes friends with witch who was left by family turns into turtle
A girl becomes friends with a witch who was left in a deserted house nearby. Goes home with the girl, takes the form of maybe a turtle? Goes to school with her and helps with her daily struggles (mean kids, test).  Maybe the witch/turtle name is Merlin?? It maybe also could be Max??? Not sure though.  In the end the witch's family comes back and takes her with them. Read this back in early 80's. Have googled nonstop!! Can't find the name of it!! It is a small chapter book, probbaly considered juvenile. Thanks for any help!!

Florence Laughlin, Sheila Greenwald (illus), The Little Leftover Witch
, 1960, copyright.  Ok, so this is a total longshot, but it might be worth a look: When her broomstick breaks on Halloween, little Felina is stranded in the "human world" for a year, until her witch family can return for her the following Halloween. She is found in a tree by Lucinda Doon, a human girl her own age, and Lucinda's family takes her in. At first, Felina is naughty and troublesome - what one would expect from a young witch - but through love and patience, the family is able to transform her into a normal little girl. Multiple reprints.
The weirdest thing: just as I posted this solution, I realized that Harriett had placed a copy of The Little Leftover Witch right next to the computer for me to post as available to buy.  How did she know?? :)  (She tells me this book comes up often, and is already on the Solved pages, but still -- weirdest coincidence!)
I don't think this sounds like The Little Leftover Witch at all--the little witch's name is Felina, she moves in with the Doon family, there's nothing in it about turtles, and in the end they adopt her (she doesn't return to the other witches).  You might want to leave it open for other suggestions?
We don't consider this one solved yet, we just post related books for sale to let everyone know that these are available for purchase.
Just in case the posted answer isn't right (I love THE LITTLE LEFTOVER WITCH, but I can't remember a turtle in it) try this: GENIE AND THE WITCH'S SPELL by Alice Low, 1982. The witch's name is Merlina, and Genie and Merlina help each other with the troubles they are having in school.  I've been trying to inter-library loan a copy to confirm it, but haven't received it yet.~from a librarian
Alice Low, Genie and the Witch's Spells, 1982, copyright.  I haven't read it, but I think "Genie and the Witch's Spells" by Alice Low is a likely choice. Some additional plot information: "Genie has a hard time with her school work until she and Merlina, a witch who has trouble learning her spells, enter into a partnership to help one another. Failing math, science, and history, Genie agrees to tutor the witch-girl, Merlina, in exchange for some quick-learning magic spells that turn Genie into an overnight whiz-kid."

 Interpreting
Condition 
Grades
 Laughlin, Florence.  The Little Leftover WitchIllustrated by Sheila Greenwald.  Macmillan, 1960.  Hardover with protected dj.  F/VG.  $75.
 



G478: girls who are friends - one rips the dress of the other
Solved: Ellen Tebbits


G479: girl in 1930's or 1940's living with aunts - book concerns a dress
Book from the 1980's, I think, concerning a girl who goes to stay with her aunt/s.  They are very austere and dress her plainly, but she has a cousin or second cousin who is very pretty with blonde curly hair and lots of nice clothes.  The girl is jealous of her cousin.  She somehow ends up with a "couture" dress, which doesn't really suit her (although the cousin says it's a pretty dress), and at the end of the book she has a dress made by her aunt which really suits her (I remember the cousin said something like "you look pretty" rather than "the dress is pretty" and that was significant).  The main character may be called Adelaide or something like that.

Berthe Amoss, Secret Lives,
1981, approximate.  I'm pretty sure this is the book you are looking for. The main character is a girl named Adelaide Aspasie Agnew (Addie for short) and she lives in 1937 New Orleans with her two elderly aunts. The main plot of the book is her trying to find out about her mother's life and how she really died. Her aunt makes over one of her mother's old dresses for her to wear to dancing school, but it looks terrible on her ("It's a Lily Dior!") At the end of the book, her aunt makes her a pretty dress to wear. This is one of my all-time favorite books!


G480: Ghost story
Solved: Jane-Emily


G481: Girl moves to farmhouse, aunt's house changes number
I remember only a few details about this book.  It was read to my class in elementary school in 1968-69.  I believe it was by a Tennessee author, set in the 1920s to 1950s.  All I remember is that it was about a young girl who moved to an old farmhouse with her family.  She picked a bunch of daffodils for the kitchen table.  Her bedroom was in an attic-like space with a chimney rising up from floor to ceiling. In this chimney she discovered a loose brick which she was able to remove and use the space inside to hide her personal treasures.  In addition, I remember a later part of the book where the girl must go to the city and stay with an aunt.  For some reason, the aunt's house number must be changed from 112 to 113.  This causes major trauma.  These are the only details I remember.  Thanks for your help.

Frances Fitzparick Wright, The Secret of the Old Sampey Place,
1946, copyright.  One of my favorites!  This was the first book of a 5-book series about Judy Jemison:  Surprise at Sampey Place, Number 11 Poplar Street, Poplar Street Park, Daybreak at Sampey Place.  Judy starts out as a 10-yr. old when her family (sometime in early 1900's?) moves into a farmhouse left to them by her Great-uncle Eben.  In her attic bedroom, Judy discovers a jewelry box and old letters behind a loose brick in the chimney, a discovery which leads to her family holding onto the farm forever.  Later books involve Judy's growing closeness to her wealthy Great-aunt Maria who lives in a town 40 miles away.  The Poplar books are about Judy's long visits with her.  I think these books were loosely-based on the author's own childhood.  I loved reading them as a for their realistic detail about farm children's work and play, and their family bonds. On some online book sites, this series has been described as "Christian" but they're not overtly religious at all.


G482: Ghost siblings afraid of people, hide in their house
Solved: What the Wind Told


G483: Girl's doll stolen, returned
Resub of G206. Girl has new doll, shows it off to her friends. Doll is stolen - poor girl suspected. Doll later returned. Girl gives doll to poor girl - possibly anonymous xmas gift? 1970's or older, few pictures - maybe some line drawings? Poss. blue cover? I don't think it was in an anthology.

Is this book called A Doll For Gina?
Solved:
The Christmas Heart


G484: Girl, maple tree, cousins farm
Solved: Understood Betsy


G485: Grumpy little girl
Solved: Lisa and the Grompet


G486: Girl Presumed Drowned
Solved: The Color of Hope


G487: Ghost cat plays with real cat brother sister at Aunt's house mystery
I read this mystery 1976-1980.  Sister and brother go to stay with their Aunt and Uncle, maybe  in England?  Pet cat (maybe orange) is always playing with what turns out to be a cat ghost.  Possibly some child spirits involved. Huge key to solving mystery is that Old English "s" was written as "f".

Beagle, Peter S., Tamsin,
1999.  Could it be Tamsin?  This is a much later book, but the cats are correct, and if memory serves, so is the s/f issue.
Gallico?  This is a long shot, but could it be one of Paul Gallico's cat stories?  He wrote books about cats, and he also wrote some mysteries, therefore, ...?
Just read the comments on my stumper and both are definitely not the answers. 
Tamsin-definitely published too late.  The cat/ghost cat was not really the focus of the story, just what made the kids realize there were ghosts present.  The story wasn't so much about cats, they were just how the kids got involved in the mystery. It was more about making something in the past right by clearing someone's name.


G488: Girl catches leeches with legs to buy Dickens book
Solved: An Australian Childhood


G489: Girl from Canada, pet rat Rosemary
This book is for adolescent ages. A girl has a pet rat named Rosemary. She is from Canada and some of the other kids call her "Canuk" (slang for Cananda") & pea soup and johnny cake. I may be combining 2 stories. I read it in the late 1960's or early 70's. Thanks!  :-)

Kid Sister?
See Solved Mysteries.


G490: Girl's stepmother paints bedroom pink
The book I'm looking for was my mothers, but I adored it.  I would guess somewhere 50's-70's it was written.  It's about a girl (who I think is called Cathy) who's mother has died and her father has remarried a lady named Barbara who is really nice, but the girl has issues.  Parts I remember are that the girl has a room she would love to redecorate, it's faded yellow with bluebirds on the paper.  Barbara throws her a birthday party, and as a surprise, paints the girls bedroom pink.  If you could help, that would be awesome!

Nancy W. Faber, Cathy at the Crossroads,
1962.  I loved this book too.  IIRC, there's a subplot involving a boy at school (Jonny?); Cathy likes him and is embarrassed to play opposite him in a class program about Miles Standish.  "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" is her big line, which her stepmother helps her practice.  (The sequel, Cathy's Secret Kingdom, is on the Solved Mysteries page -- if I hadn't stumbled on it there a while ago I'd still be trying to identify this book myself!  :)  )


G491: Girl, messy room
Solved: The Big Tidy-Up


G492: Girl growing up in tsarist Russia
Solved: Anna


G493: Girl in bed, counting sheep, poodle
Solved: Susi: A Little Girl Who had a Wonderful Birthday Party

G494: Girl visits relative in Florida and solves mystery
I read this book in the 70's about a young girl who goes to visit either her Grandmother or Aunt who owns a little pink hotel in Florida and she solves a mystery. I believe it was called something like Calypso Motel and it had a pink cover. Not The Pink Motel book.

Hooker, Ruth, The Pelican Mystery,
1977, copyright.  Patti & Grant come to stay at a beachside motel in Seashell Key, Florida as their mother is recoving from a long illness. While there they help the owner's daughter find her lost pet pelican and stumble upon a mystery the police have been trying to solve for years.
This sounds close but the little girl came to Florida alone. Keep them coming!!
Mildred Lawrence, Sand in Her Shoes,
1966, reprint.  Could it be Sand in Her Shoes by Mildred Lawrence? I can't remember the details, but I know my sister and I loved this book and got it confused with The Pink Hotel when we were looking for it years ago. Mildred Lawrence also wrote Peachtree Island and Indigo Magic, some other childhood favorites.
Lillian Pohlmann, Calypso Holiday, 1959. This book has a pink cover and the cover picture is a yellow carriage with two children in it behind a driver.  It is about a girl named Gay Carter who goes to visit her Aunt Clara in Nassau for the summer. She and her friends helps her uncle look for gold treasure.


G495: Girl steals pink glass elephant
Gillan or Gillian.  Scholastic book from the 60s or 70s.  About a little girl from Sweden, I think. It was translated from another language. The girl's mother (a widow or divorcee) had started dating again, a man the girl didn't like.  The girl stole a pink glass elephant to give her mother.

I'm afraid this might not be too helpful, but I'm sure I read this back in jr. high, and for some reason I've always thought the book title was the girl's first name. Of course, I also thought it was Lilith (or something similar, like Lily or Lillian) - but now that I'm trying to look it up, I can't seem to find anything promising under those names.
Gunilla B. Norris, Lillan.   This is definitely the book.  Your memories about the name made me think of it.  There's a lot of info about it in the solved mysteries section but basically it's about a little girl named Lillan whose parents are divorced and how she deals with it.  There is a part where she pockets a small pink elephant that she desperately wants to give her mother but she returns it.  It's Lillan, not Lillian (no second i), that's why you couldn't find it in a computer search.
Norris, Gunilla Brodde, Lillan, 1968, copyright.  Looks like this must be the one: "During the year following her parents' divorce, a sense of financial and emotional security gradually returns to a ten-year-old Swedish girl as she learns to accept her mother's new beau."
Gunilla B. Norris, either Lillan OR Lillian (Looking this up on a used book site, I see the title spelled both ways.)  Published by Scholastic, New York, 1970.  "It's not the end of the world!" Lillan's mother says. But it seems that way to Lillan. Papa has left them, and everything is so changed."  Another description:  "During the year following her parents' divorce, a sense of financial and emotional security gradually returns to a ten-year-old Swedish girl as she learns to accept her mother's new beau."


G496: Green book, short stories
Solved: Everyday Story Book

G497: Girl finds boy prisoner in catacombs, set in early times
This is a book my sister read in the early 1990s from the library, a very old copy. She thinks it was set in the early centuries a.d.  All she remembers is a girl/teenager, possibly of royalty or higher class, who found a boy being held prisoner in the catacombs, and sets out to free him.

Le Guin, Ursula, The Tombs of Atuan.
  This is a possibility. There are some good descriptions on the solved mystery page.
LeGuin, Ursula, Tombs of Atuan.  You will no doubt get dozens of responses to this Stumper.  Arha, a priestess-in-training, discovers that Sparrowhawk, a mage, has become lost in the sacred catacombs of Atuan.  With his help, she learns the truth of her religion, and decides to free him.  The previous book in the series is "Wizard of Earthsea," and the 3rd book is "The Farthest Shore."  Both of those books focus on Sparrowhawk.  There are also a few sequels beyond "Farthest Shore."
Le Guin, Ursula K., The Tombs of Atuan, 1971.  The details MIGHT fit "The Tombs of Atuan", the middle book in the Earthsea trilogy.  It was set in a fantasy world with wizards, not "a long time ago", but the fantasy world was sort of primitive and might have just seemed like a historic setting. (It's easy to check online and see if this is the right book, since it has its own Wikipedia entry.)
Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three, 1964, copyright.  This book seems to fit the criteria.  Princess Eilonwy finds Taran the assistant pig-keeper in the catacombs of Spiral Castle.


G498: Grandmother makes several dresses from same material
Little girl lives with grandmother who takes in laundry. Very poor. Kids at school tease her so grandmother makes several dresses from the same material. I think there's something about a Chinaberry tree too. It's not "The Hundred Dresses." Read in late 50's.

Rachel Field, Polly Patchwork.
  You may be mixing up two stories or misremembering this one.  There's a chinaberry tree in Polly Patchwork, where the grandmother makes Polly a dress out of a patchwork quilt. There was only one dress in this one.


G499: Girl runs away, lives in woods, obsessed with human skeleton
SOLVED: Jean Renvoizé, A wild thing.

G500: GIRL TRIES QUEENSHIP BECOMES GARDENER
Solved: The Half-Brothers


G501: Girl's mom diagnosed with cancer
The book I am looking for is one that I had in the laster 1980's.  It is about a girl whose Mom is diagnosed with cancer.  She is into gymnastics I believe or it could be ballet and her Mom dies I believe like Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  I believe it was published by Scholastic but am not sure.

Patricia Hermes, You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye.
  "Hearing the unbearable news that her mother is dying of cancer, thirteen-year-old Sarah Morrow throws herself into her gymnastics and tries to forget the situation until she and her father can come to terms with their impending loss."


G502: Girl with one dress kidnapped by witch
Story was about a little girl who only had one dress for school so she had to wash it every night.  Somehow, she ended up living with (or was kidnapped by) a witch. She kept seeing something out of the corner of her eye. She figured out somehow to say "I Love You" and then her family appeared.

Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch,
1953, copyright.  Little Witch again, as seen on the Solved Mysteries pages. Little Minx is forbidden to bathe or go to school, and when she stares into the mirror she frequently thinks she sees someone out of the corner of her eye that she is just not quick enough to see. When she decides to enroll in school, the nice teacher instructs her to bathe and wash her only dress before she returns the next day.
You might be describing two different stories. I recall a Joan Aiken story about a girl with one dress: it was rather tight and she was afraid she was tear it, so she washed it while she wore it, and hung herself up to dry, where she was discovered by a friendly witch.  The other half sounds like Little Witch, by Anna Bennet. The little girl had been kidnapped by a witch, and got her mother back by saying "I love you" to her reflection in the witch's mirror.
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch.  See Solved mysteries.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.  Definitely this one. See solved mysteries for more details.
Little Witch by the late Anna Elizabeth Bennett. See Solved Mysteries.
Bennet, Anna, Little Witch, 1953, copyright.  I think the book you are looking for is Little Witch.  Check the Solved Mysteries section.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.  details match almost exactly.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.  It sounds a bit like "Little Witch"-Minx, Madame Snickasnee the Witch's daughter, secretly goes to school during the day while the witch is asleep.  At night she gets ready for school, and sometimes has her school friends over, while the witch is making her 'rounds'. She is not actually the witch's daughter but the daughter of a fairy whose faint image appears in the mirror to Minx (she just catches glimpses of her).  I don't remember if she washed the dress every night-but she goes home with a friend from school and the friend's mother gives her the first bath she'd ever had, changing the water several times till it quit going black from the dirt.
Anna Elizabeth Bennet, Little Witch.  If this is "Little Witch", it's on the solved pages. Minikin hates being a witch's child. She's really the daughter of a fairy who was enchanted into a mirror by the same witch who pretends to be her mother. She keeps seeing her real mother in the mirror and in the end frees her from the enchantment by saying, "I love you".
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953, copyright.


G503: Ghost and mouse in the attic
Solved: Gus Was a Friendly Ghost


G504: Girl sent to live with cousins on farm
Solved:
They Loved to Laugh


G505: Girl raised in complex away from people
This has been driving me crazy . . . A girl raised in some sort of complex away from other people, or maybe just boys, I can't remember, and then she meets a boy and sees him on a security screen like thing and ends up running away with him. It's very fuzzy, and I read it maybe 10 years ago.

Michael Frayn, A Very Private Life.
  This book contains a similar episode where a girl from an isolated community sees a man on a screen and goes in search of him.  If the heroine's name is Uncumber, this is the one!
Ruth Rendell, The Crocodile Bird.  Possibly this one?  Liza's mother deliberately raises her in isolation, but she makes friends with the garden help and ends up running away with him.  (Not a children's book.)
Pamela Sargent, Alien Child, 1988, copyright.  This is a science fiction book. A girl is raised in isolation by a furry, cat-like but sentient alien. She discovers, by seeing him on a screen, a boy (blond, with a Scandinavian name like Sven) also in the complex, raised by another alien. They learn they were originally frozen embryos thawed by the aliens. At the end of the book the boy and girl leave the complex intent on finding other people and they want to eventually return to thaw more embryos and raise more humans.
Keith Roberts, Molly Zero, 1980, copyright.  Since you said memory was fuzzy -- MOLLY ZERO does involve a girl in a strict near-future communal indoctrination school sort of thing who runs away with a boy from that school (both boys and girls attend the school but generally do not mix).  I don't recall anything about her meeting him via security screen however.  (And this is only the first quarter or so of the novel, which goes on to describe their mostly-unpleasent adventues on the run in dystopian near-future England.)


G506: Girl sent to relatives with note pinned to her
This book is from the mid-1960s to early 1970s. It is about a little girl, approximately 9 years old. She lives in the city, and due to some family problems, she is sent to live with some relatives with a note pinned to her person. The note is torn during travel, and the part that the little girl [rest left out].

Joan G Robinson, Charley,
1969.  a.k.a The girl who ran away.  Doesn't something similar to this happen in Charley - she is sent to live with one aunt but something happens and her aunt puts her on the bus or train to the other aunt with a note.  Something happens to the note and she only reads part of it about her aunt not wanting her - but she misreads the intention behind it?
Robinson, Joan G., Charley.  Charley's parents are away overseas and her Aunt Emm is looking after Charley and her brothers.  Charley doesn't get on well with her aunt.  One brother is going away on holiday, and the other, who has been ill, is invited to the seaside along with her aunt.  Charley is sent to stay with her other Aunt Louie.  When she goes to catch the coach to Aunt Louie's house, Aunt Emm realises Charley doesn't have a label for the luggage - she tears Aunt Louie's address off a letter and gives it to Charley.  Charley reads the following text on the back of the scrap of paper "I don't want Charley.  You know that. It's the work. Really I've got my hands full already.  If it could"  Charley thinks that Aunt Louie doesn't want her and runs away instead of going to her house - living in the woods for a week.


G507: Girl has a secret life under a willow tree
This is either a picture book or a children's book about a girl who has a sort of secret fort under the low hanging branches of a willow tree in her yard: she has tea parties there and various other activities.   I read this as a child in the mid-sixties.

Shirley Hughes, Sally's Secret
, 1976, approximate.  Sally and her friend Rose have a teaparty in Sally's garden hidey hole after her cubby house indoors is tidied away. They dress up for a high tea party and are visited by a cat, bird and ladybug.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth.  This is such a long shot because the book is so much more than the tea parties that "old" Sally had under the tree with her "friends", but I thought I would suggest it anyway.  Sally goes to stay with her strict Aunt Sarah.  She learns the story of another Sally who lost a precious doll one Christmas Eve, long ago. Sally begins to hunt for the doll in the attic and "travels" back in time to remember the other Sally. Several of the memories center around playtimes under a willow tree.
No the book is not Sally’s Secret but thanks for the guess.  The girl in my book is alone under the willow branches which droop all the way to the ground and hide her.  She takes refuge under the tree for reasons that I don’t remember.  I am now sure that this is a picture book.  It must be from the 1960’s.
Patricia Lee Gauch, Christina Katerina and the Box
.  This could be Christina Katerina and the Box  I have no idea when it was published but I loved the story as a little girl growing up in the '70s.  About a little girl who drags a refrigerator delivery box under a tree in their front yard and plays in it for several weeks, much to her mother's chagrin.  Christina pretends to have a tea party there, a pirate ship, a ballroom... all sorts of adventures.

2009


G508: Girl gets new room and then must give it up
Solved: A Room for Cathy


G509: gypsy
childrens.  boy, dog, responsibility, gypsy dancing in old, vacant house, boy lends her his radio for dancing, one day she is gone, but she leaves his radio there.  (NOT Gypsy Summer by Wilma Yeo).


G510: Ghosts Foil Burglars
Solved: Georgie and the Robbers


G511: Girl with Pets Lives on Boat
Solved: The Maggie B.


G512: girl enters beauty contest
its about a girl who is in a beauty contest. read it in the early 90s. i remember there was a guy named andy that was described as being cute, having gray eyes, he had a crush on her. her mom worked at a pottery shop or flower shop, cant remember. on the cover, i think her foot was in the toilet.

Alida E. Young, Megan the Klutz.
  There are a whole series of these (all with variations on the klutz name), but the orginal is out of print (i think) so I can't find the cover, but i think it was a real picture (not an illustration) of a girl with her foot in the toilet.


G513: Girls play make-believe (or do they?) about fairies
Solved: Afternoon of the Elves


G514: Girl w/rings that control dragons
This was a series of two YA fantasy books. I read them in Jr. High, so they probably came out in the early '80s. I have no idea about title or author. Here are the things I remember:  Two male kids/young adults are travelling (no idea why). At one point they fall into the clutches of a group of witches (though I think they don't know that). Turns out the young girl witch has a ring that can summon/control a earth dragon and her scratching at it causes some tremors during the dinner the 5(?) people are having. I remember later they have found a second ring and I think I recall the witch girl (who goes off with the boys) running around a battle scene lighting fires and summoning the dragons. The only other incident I recall clearly is that at some point the group (2 guys and girl) arrive at a wizard's (?) home. One of the guys is given a test in which he has to nail a board to a wall using enchanted nails. When he hammers the nail in, it magically turns around and comes out of the board, point-first. He finally figures out he must put the nailhead against the wall and hammer down on the board.

Graham Dustan Martin, Giftwish and Catchfire
, 1976, approximate.  The two books you are looking for are as listed above, although you've got some details wrong.  The first one is Giftwish.  Even is the 15ish traveler who is escaping being sacrificed to keep an evil down.  He gets across the magically sealed border to the neighboring land where he meets the kindly wizard Caperstaff and passes the tests, including the one with the nails.  (I remember I thought he was very clever to figure that out.)  The other two tests were finding a ring ("Evan looked everywhere for that blessed ring..."  ) and a sort of geometry problem involving a person climbing a mountain.  Caperstaff says he's the one to fulfill the prophecy and sends him out traveling with a small armed escort - perhaps that's why you remember two travelers? - the leader of the escort was Tatterbeg.  Anyway, they wind up caught by the Witch Magwick, whose apprentice/daughter is Catchfire who takes to Evan and frees him, and uses the earthdragon to bring down Magwick's castle.  Further adventures follow with Even eventually besting the Necromancer and becoming king of that land.  The sequel Catchfire follows from that, and includes discovering that the other ring that Catchfire has, the one that controls weather, is actually the ring of the dragon of the air, Whirlwind, and they have to deal with the people in Evan's country where things are really going wrong, and Catchfire is needed to heal the princess there, because they're linked and Catchfire has all of Starfall's spirit now.  They were split into two and need to become one.


G515: girl and her mother silver dollar room
Solved: Bonanza Girl


G516: group of girls form story writing club
Story about a group of girls who form a story writing club. Girls names are Erin, Verity, Priscilla... They come from different backgrounds - one is only child, one has a big family, one's parent remarries and they move to a new house called Lynwood. Possibly written in the 50s. They put together a book and have it bound with their pictures on the first page.

Clare Mallory, The Pen and Pencil Girls,
1945, approximate.  This is Clare Mallory - The Pen and Pencil Girls. They are Audrey, Erin, Priscilla, Norma (known as Berry) Vere and Gaynor (Gay). Vere and Gay are stepsisters - they are the ones who live at Lynwood.


G517: Godmother Reina, girl Kitten, London mystery
Solved: Stairway to a Secret


G518: Girl hides in Trafalgar Square and runs away to find dad
book from probably the late 80s or early 90s. I had book club & I got hardcover books each month (2 of these I remember were Almost Fifteen and Going on Sixteen). The girl wants to find her dad who I think lived on highland moor?) pretends aunt named elsie bloomer in wardrobe at theater at one point.

Betty Cavanna
?  You might want to look for a list of books by Betty Cavanna and see if any of the titles look familiar, although one book you mentioned is by Marilyn Sachs.  Years ago (early 1980's) I used to get Nancy Drew books through a book club, and when they ran out of ND books to send, they started sending Betty Cavanna books instead.
Don't know the book but I'm fairly certain the book club was the Weekly Reader Books -- Especially for Girls. Couldn't find a list of their books but a quick search of the two phrases in google brought up a number of pictures of covers, which might give you what you need. Good luck!


G519: Ghost girl in new house
Read this in the late 70's from my grade school library.  A young girl, siblings and parents move to a new house.  Turns out there is a friendly ghost of a young girl (named Jade? Jaina?) there, she only interacts with the girl.  I believe the ghost girl has long dark hair in pigtails.  The girl also befriends the neighbor who is an older woman. People think and gossip that this woman is a witch.  The neighbor has strawberries growing in her yard.  They're delicious, but the neighbor is an awful cook.  The local fair is coming up.  The girl convinces the neighbor to take cooking lessons from her mother and enter her strawberries in the jam contest.  The girl also decides to do a parade float with "Jade" riding it as a beautiful princess, and she will make it look like she's made an elaborate hologram machine "projecting" Jade, who will kind of appear and disappear.  The neighbor wins the jam contest.  Something goes wrong at the parade -- I think Jade (who is quite timid and really didn't want to do it) has a cat on her lap for the float, and someone's dog jumps up and attacks it.  This creates a huge commotion, and Jade vanishes and doesn't come back.  But a week or so later, another new family moves in the neighborhood with a young girl who is the spitting image of Jade -- her name is Jane Sheets (why I remember that, I don't know!).  The book ends as she meets the girl, they talk a little, and Jane looks at the girl's house and says something like "wow ... it's so strange, but I feel like I know this place ..."

Hendrich, Paula, Who Says So?
, 1973, approximate.  You have a good memory for details!


G520: Giant named Gene, concerns some kind of magic (adult fiction)
Solved: The Man in the Tree

G521: Gnomes smoking meerschaum pipe
My hubby read a book that belonged to his grandmother, (pre-60s children's book) about gnomes who smoked meerschaum pipes, and there was a war with pirates and rats, and limburger cheese was the weapon. Meerschaum was memorable because he had to look it up in a dictionary. Help! His grandma passed.


G522: Girl accidentally marries, breaks family curse
Solved: The China Garden


G523: girl loses favorite toy in potato sack
picture book.  young girl lives w/mother.  has favorite stuffed toy. looks like knit lizard maybe? not sure. girl always misplacing things...shoes mittens etc.  she goes on errand run with mother to grocery store then fish market but then lost toy.  go back to grocery store no luck. girl sad.  toy ends up in bottom of potato sack when they are unloading groceries.  colorful fun pictures.  read it in the 80's.  toy might be named moe?  thanks sooo much!!!

Kay Chorao, Molly's Moe
, 1976, approximate.  I think this was one of Kay Chorao's first books.  Beautifully illustrated with pen and ink.

G524: Grandma (who is very resouceful) comes to live with family
Solved: Best Friend

G525: Girl lives in Florida (keys) and gets caught in a hurricane with her girlfriend
1960's, childrens.  This is a story about a girl who lives in Florida, probably off one of the keys.  Her family is poor, and she tries to help make money by finding and selling driftwood.  A new family moves into her neighborhood.  The new family has a young girl the same age, and the two girls become friends.  The new family is poor, and the girl shows the new girl how to find driftwood to sell.  The two girls get in an argument about who found a bunch of driftwood first.  They get caught in a Hurricane together and then realize how silly their argument was.  Enjoyed the book as a young girl. Would like to see it again.

Dorothy Ball, Hurricane: The Story of a Friendship
, 1964, copyright.  I wasn't able to find a description of this anywhere, but the title sounds like a possibility!

I purchased a used copy of Hurricane: The Story of a Friendship, 1964, copyright, but that isn't the story I was looking for.  In Hurricane, The Story of a Friendship, the main characters are boys, one black and one white.  It looks interesting, but unfortunately, it's not the book. Two young girls are the main characters in the book that I am looking for.  I'll keep looking.  Thanks for trying.

The first author I thought of when I read this was Marjory Hall. I can'\''t find a specific title that matched the description, but it's a long time since I read it!
 
I found some books from Marjory Hall, but none of them are what I was looking for.  Marjory apparently deals with historical young women figures from the Revolutionary War Era and shortly thereafter.  Thanks for the suggestion.  Ill keep looking!

 I remember some more details about the story. This girl and her best friend are always searching the beaches for ambergris, which is produced by whales, used in perfume and is very valuable. I think the one girl's name is Mary and the other girl's name is Mandy?  Mandy finds a bunch of firewood, and the two girls get into a fight over who found the wood first. Both families are very poor.  The hurricane hits and the two girls get stranded together.  Mary's home is still standing, but there is sand all over the floor.  Mary's Dad makes Mary apologize to Mandy for the firewood incident.  Not sure of the exact order of the events, but the friendship between the two girls is restored.


G526: good flowers and an evil candle-snuffer
1940's possibly, childrens.  This was a story from my father's childhood.  I believe it came from treasury collection. It was about flowers that come to life in a house and a candle-snuffer comes to life and tries to catch them.

G527: Girl sells greeting cards to keep horse
Solved: Horseshoe Hill

G528: Garden, girl, pond, school, grandfather
1920-1945, childrens.  I once owned this book but can't remember the name or author. It was green hardcover and about and inch or two thick 6 x 8 book. I remember the young girl felt alone and would stop at pond in the woods on her way home from school.


G529: Golden Book, summertime
Solved: Fun with Decals

G530: Girl Finds Cave, Rides Bicycle, Loses Weight
Book about an overweight girl with beautiful older sisters who discovers a cave (or beach??) one summer and rides her bike there every day.  By the end of the summer she's thin from riding her bike so much.

I recall this plot in what I thought was a short story but it might have been condensed from a book. I read it in either Teen or Seventeen magazine circa 1970-72. What I recall is that the girl not only is overweight, but shy and cares nothing about her appearance, perhaps even thinking her beautiful sisters to be frivolous for caring so much about theirs. She becomes friends with another shy girl. Her friend isn’t overweight, but equally dowdy and uncaring about appearance. Together they take long bike rides every day during the summer. One day after school has started a boy comes up to her and says something like I’ve been staring at you trying to figure out what’s different about you. I just figured it out. You’re not fat anymore. She’s stunned and rushes home, strips to her underwear and stares into the mirror where she discovers it’s true. She attributes it to the long bike roads and that she and her friend usually just took fruit for snacks. She calls for her sisters and mother and they can’t believe it. The girl always wore shapeless clothes so neither she nor her family had noticed they had gotten looser. With her face thinner they can see she has beautiful bone structure. She might have worn glasses too, that concealed the beauty of her eyes. Her sisters bring her their beautiful clothes to try on and everyone fusses over her while stares into the mirror in disbelief. I recall the story ending with the girl becoming popular and as meticulous about her appearance as her sisters. She and her summer friend drift apart because they no longer have anything in common.


G531: Girls Reading to Become Witches
Solved: Headless Cupid

G532: Graveyard on the front Cover
I am looking for a book I read in 1999. It was paperback and had a Graveyard onthe front, I believe.It was about these twins who ran a mortuary and controlled demons. The sheriff (John Sutton, i think) and a professor, were trying to stop them. The evil twins were able to raise the dead


G533:  Great Mumbo
Solved
G534: 
Solved: Ghost  Hotel

G535: Grandma Story Time
 I am looking for 2 books that my Grandma use to have. One was a book of poems... it had Lewis Carroll's Lobster Quadrille and The Walrus and The Carpenter, Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussy Cat, Mr. Nobody - author unknown and others. It was a hard cover. All the pages were illustrated.

The story book was mostly about animals. One was about a rabbit and choosing what color wheelbarrow to buy. One was about a mouse and she went for a picnic and use her umbrella to get berries, hid from a fox and crossed a stream. One had to do with fairies, another was about some animals that didn't want to wash their dishes and then ending up having to bring in snow to melt to use as water since the pipes were froze. I remember that one of the books had a boy and girl on the cover using a swing from a tree on a little hill. All the pages were illustrated. There weren't that many pages. Not sure when the book would have been published but I would guess before 1995.


G536: Girls to Witches
Book from the mid-1970s about two girls who were reading a book about how to become witches and performing the tasks needed to become a witch - one of the tasks was walking on the furniture in order to not touch the floor.  I think another task involved a frog.

Konigsburg, EL, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and me, Elizabeth , 1967, copyright. Definitely this one.
E.L. Konigsburt, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth and Me. That was the title of the English edition. I think the original American one had a longer title - possibly Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth.
Snyder, Zilpha Keatly, The Headless Cupid, 1971, copyright.


G537: Grey Horse and/or Hat
I was born 1958, so probably from 50's or 60's about a man who came to town on a horse and knocked all the buildings down. I think his horse was grey, or his hat was grey, something was grey!  and he knocked down the church and all the buildings as he rode through town.  That is all I remember of the story.  My memory is more of the graphics.... things were outlined in black with bold blocks of color:  for example, a tree would be a green circle outlined in black - very simplified. I designed a biz card for my brother based on this book (at least I think that was my influence), you can see it here:
http://citystreetproperties.com/ Thank you!
G538: Greyhound  Dogs
It's a book I read in the Mid-late 60s about a brother & sister around 12 years old.  With the help of a group of stray dogs (greyhounds, I believe) they solve a crime or mystery in town.  They get to keep all the dogs at the end of the story.  Also the boy sprains his ankle towards the end of the book & the doctor makes a house call.  The kids mother doesn't want the dogs on the boys bed because they may hurt his sprained ankle.  Also the boy sneaks turkey to the dogs when he gets dinner in bed because of his ankle injury.

Betty Cavanna, The Black Spaniel Mystery. Are you sure it was greyhounds?  Betty Cavanna had a book that sounds similar, but with black cocker spaniels. Most of her books were romances, but this was a slightly younger mystery, with a brother and sister as the main characters.  I don't know if she wrote any other dog mysteries, but it might be worth looking at.


G539: Girl Who Doesn't Talk
 New Zealand book, about a girl who barely talks (may have given it up entirely) who meets an old woman who features heavily in the book. There is some lovely bits said about the destroyed bird population of New Zealand. Believe she had quirky family.

Margaret Mahy, The Other Side of Silence.Could this be the book?'
Margaret Mahy, The Haunting. Margaret Mahy's the Haunting is a New Zealand YA fantasy featuring a girl who doesn't talk, but I don't remember anything about birds
Margaret Mahy, The Other Side of Silence. I'm pretty sure this is it. It fits in every detail. A wonderful book.


G540:Girl & Brick House
Solved Katie John

G541: Girl lives with family of pandas
 My wife believes she had this in the late 60's or early 70's, and thinks it was about a girl living with a family of pandas. The book was possibly illustrated with photos rather than drawings, and one picture my wife remembers is of the girl in the kitchen with the panda parents.

G542: Girl saves blind prince
Solved:
Pigs Don't Fly


G543: Girl and her dog have telepathy
Children's novel about a pregnant woman and her dog who encounter something supernatural. When the baby girl is born, she has the power to communicate with the dog. I cannot remember anything else about the plot. I think it was a short novel, written before 1985, possibly for ages 8-12.

William Sleator, Into the Dream,1979, copyright.This sounds similar to Into the Dream (which already appears in the solved section). A pregnant woman and her pregnant dog witness a UFO landing while staying at the Stardust Motel. When the child (Noah (a boy, not a girl)), is born, he and one of the puppies (Cookie), are telepathically linked. The main characters are actually a girl (Francine) and a boy (Paul) who are being sent messages in their dreams indicating that the young boy is in danger and they begin a search to find him.


G544: Glass Hill Princess, other stories
1950s children's stories. This full-color collection featured stories about The Five Chese Brothers  the Princess on the Glass Hill and the knight on the horse (three times, three colors) who rides up the hill and returns the apples  a story about the Pennsylvania Dutch  about a frontier family who made friends with a hostile Indian by giving him apple pie  a swiss boy and his alphahorn  a costume party  a family whose luck ran out until they realized they had nailed their horseshoe upside down  and more.

G545:Glass Hill Princess, Chinese Bros, Collection
1950s children's book.Though I enjoyed full-color illustrated book as a child in 1980 or 81, the book must have been from the 50s or so. It was an anthology. Some of the stories I remember were the 5 Chinese brothers.[I know, its also listed separately here.] It had the story of a princess on a glass hill and the three apples she throws after the knights. It had a story of a woman baking an apple pie for an Indian who was menacing her frontier family. It had a story about Pennsylvania Dutch. It had a story about kids going to a costume party, where 2 boys dressed as the front and back end of a horse.) I think there was also a story set in Switzerland, with a kid blowing an alphahorn. I think also there was a story of family whose luck was running out because they had hung their horseshoe upside down.
It's possible I'm conflating two diffrent books. The earliest of childhood memories can be so powerfully hazy! But I would be ever so grateful to discover these books again. These memories have haunted me, in a bittersweet way, for nearly thirty years.


G546: Girl Moves to Pink House
Read book as a child in the sixties;a girl who had to move to a new home and she did not want  to leave her old home and friends;very impressed when her family drove up to the new house, which was white, but appeared pink due to the tree blossoms-maybe cherry.Maybe a mystery. Maybe house  in title.

Christine Govan, The Pink Maple House, 1950, copyright.Two girls are afraid that when one moves away from their neighborhood that their friendship will end.  A visit from the friend left behind helps both girls.  This is a hard-to-find book which is out-of-print.
Carol Ryrie Brink, The Pink Motel, 1959, approximate. Possibly The Pink Motel? "When Kirby, Bitsy, and their parents inherit an unusual and very pink motel in Florida, they find it filled with eccentric characters, mystery, and adventure."
Orgel, Doris, Cindy's Sad and Happy Tree, 1967, copyright. This probably isn't the book you're looking for, but it does involve a cherry tree.  Cindy's Sad and Happy Tree is about a girl who plants a tree to replace the dead elm in her yard.  The sales tag for the tree the family buys to replace the elm is misprinted and says "Weeping Cheery Tree."
Govan, Christine Noble, The Pink Maple House, 1950, copyright. I am pretty sure this is the book you want - I distinctly remember something about the title coming from the fact that the sun through the leaves of the maple made the house look pink.  The author, Christine Noble Govan, wrote many mystery novels, though I am not sure The Pink Maple House was a mystery itself.  "Eight-year-old Polly was unhappy at the thought of moving away from her best friend, Jenny, although she did like the idea of living in a larger house. The house turned out to be all she could desire and the telephone and week-end visits with Jenny solved the problem of their separation.  The new school was not bad except for one girl, Tilly, who was fat and quarrelsome and managed to make Polly's life miserable. In a highly sentimental, tearful scene Polly discovers why Tilly is the way she is and how sordid her life is as compared with Jenny's and Polly's. There are some good family relations but the whole story is too sentimental to have much value. Not recommended." - from a period reviewer  if only they could know in retrospect how beloved (and expensive!) this book would become!

Govan, Christine Noble, The Pink Maple House, 1950. Definitely the correct answer.  Here's the relevant section from the book: "In the first place the maples had turned and were the loveliest shade of goldy pink, imaginable.  The morning sun shone through the leaves.  They seemed made of very thin pieces of some sort of rosy precious stone.  Polly knew that she had never seen anything as beautiful as those trees in all her life.  "Look!  They're pink!" she cried.  "They're rosy pink!  And---the house is rosy pink too!"  Mr. Trent threw back his head and laughed at that.  For the house was white, a bright and sparkling clean white like sun on the fresh snow.  But where the sun shone through the pink leaves there was a pinkish glow, all across the front of the big freshly-painted house..."Oh!" breathed Polly.  "It is the most beautiful house I ever saw.  My beautiful, beautiful, pink maple house!" 

Most of the rest of the details match as well---Polly Trent, her brother Jonathan and their parents move to the new house, and she's sad because she's leaving her best friend, Jenny Spears, behind.  The book is not a mystery, but it's likely that the original stumper requester is misremembering that part.


G547: Ghost Girl Principle Cemetary
Read book in the 80's. A girl goes to visit a realitive (?) and their daughter went missing years before. This girl starts seeing a ghost. She figures out that the principal accidently run over the missing daughter and buried her in a fresh grave and never told anyone. She's found and has a funeral.
'

Someone was asking about this one earlier (archived stumper S636)
Stumper S636 (now archived) is a query after this same story. I am sure I've read it, but still can't remember the title. I keep thinking the author's name started with an L. Larsen?

Bolton, Carole, Little Girl Lost,1980, copyright.Found this from Kirkus Review:  "At age four, Carrie Hobart vanished without a trace, and a massive police search failed to find her. A year later, her parents had another daughter, Elizabeth. The father then vanished. For 20 years, the reclusive mother has worshipped the memory of the lost girl, keeping the nursery intact, marking each anniversary of her birth and disappearance, openly longing for her return. Says sister ... More Elizabeth, now 19 and narrating rather stupidly, ""Except for that shadow over my life. . . I guess I had a fairly normal childhood."" A newspaper article prompts Elizabeth to investigate the cold trail. All clues lead nowhere until, under hypnosis, Elizabeth is carried (ho ho) back to infancy and before, when--prepare yourself--she was Carrie in another life. This is a fairly normal novel except for that and other such nonsense. As for Carrie? Dead. Hit by the school principal (then a mere teacher) on his way to an assignation. Stuck in the trunk and buried later. On his deathbed he tells where the little bones are."
Mary C. Jane, The Mystery of the Red Carnations.I know this isn't the book you're looking for, but it might be worth mentioning, just in case this author did another, similar title. In Red Carnations, a new family moves to town, and there is a cemetery down the street. Every year, on a certain date, someone places red carnations on an anonymous grave. It turns out that the young man buried there was the brother of a local teacher, who was killed in a motorcycle accident. She didn't want to admit he was her brother for some reason (drug use, maybe?) . The school principal is somehow involved, either as the teacher's boyfriend or maybe the cause of the accident. Anyway, probably not your book, but there are some similarities, so...
Bolton, Carole, Little Girl Lost, 1980, copyright. Found this from Kirkus Review:  "At age four, Carrie Hobart vanished without a trace, and a massive police search failed to find her. A year later, her parents had another daughter, Elizabeth. The father then vanished. For 20 years, the reclusive mother has worshipped the memory of the lost girl, keeping the nursery intact, marking each anniversary of her birth and disappearance, openly longing for her return. Says sister ...More Elizabeth, now 19 and narrating rather stupidly, ""Except for that shadow over my life. . . I guess I had a fairly normal childhood."" A newspaper article prompts Elizabeth to investigate the cold trail. All clues lead nowhere until, under hypnosis, Elizabeth is carried (ho ho) back to infancy and before, when--prepare yourself--she was Carrie in another life. This is a fairly normal novel except for that and other such nonsense. As for Carrie? Dead. Hit by the school principal (then a mere teacher) on his way to an assignation. Stuck in the trunk and buried later. On his deathbed he tells where the little bones are."


G548: Girls at boarding school
old book, leather bound?  girls at boarding school.  one loses a tooth and hopes the tooth fairy will come. her teacher secretly leaves money under the pillow. they also have paper dolls with back stories in a dresser drawer.  How will I know when it's solved?

Nordstrom, Ursula, The Secret Language, 1960.This would be it!


Eleanor Shaler, Gaunt's Daughter,1957, approximate'. Could it be Gaunt's Daughter?  The girl's mother, a theater actor, dies and to avoid moving in with her mother'\''s Quaker relatives, she gets a summer stock job.  Turns out her estranged famous father is going to be there too.  At the end she has a family emergency with the Quaker family and gives up her father and the play to go to the hospital

Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language.This is definitely your book.
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language. This is The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom. Great book. I believe it's out of print, but it's not hard to find.
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language.1960, copyright. Sounds like "The Secret Language". Everyone always remembers different parts, but it's such a good story. Two eight year old girls become best friends at boarding school.
The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom. See Solved Mysteries.
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language.Both details fit this very leebossa book about Martha and Victoria at boarding school.
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language. Possibly this. You can find a synopsis online.
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language, 1960, copyright.
Nordstrom, Ursula, Secret Language, 1960s, approximate.Victoria North is homesick at boarding school, until she meets Martha.  They have a secret language (leebossa, ick-en-spick), dress as ice cream cones for Halloween, and eventually get a nice housemother, Miss Denton, to replace harsh Miss Mossman (and her whistle).
Ursula Nordstrom, The Secret Language.I sent a reply for this one when it first went up, but I don't see any answers to it in the Dec. 2 updates--so resending it.  This is definitely The Secret Language--the dolls in the drawer and the tooth part both fit.


G549: Grammer at the Chalkboard

Looking for a novel (pre-teen/teen)  that has a section about a boy in a class who is asked a grammar question on the board. The question is about a MOOSE with a CAMERA - and - due to the dangling participle - hilarity ensues. Perhaps by Brian Doyle - but can't seem to find it. Please help!

Brian Doyle, Angel Square. Also in the collection "The Low Life."


G550: Girl on European School Trip -An Affair

1972-76 juvenile book. Nan? takes a trip with classmates to France? Starts noticing a mysterious and suspisious man.  Visits a restaurant in Montmartre? follows man and is kidnapped in an alley way.  She is transported to Albania? on an airplane with mysterious man who is also tied up.  Lots of intrigue and adventure.  There is a boat on a lake and she escapes with mysterious man.  I thought the title had the word affair in it but not sure.  This was my favorite book when I was a teenager.

Dorothy Gilman, The Unexpected Mrs Polifax, 1985, reprint. Not all of the elements match, but the truly unusual ones do. Mrs Polifax is an older woman who decides to volunteer for danagerous CIA assignments. She does get kidnapped, she is transported by plane to Albania with another person, and she the other person and a mysterious stranger have a harrowing escape by boat across a lake.
Dorothy Gilman, The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax. I wonder if the poster is confusing the French/Montmartre kidnapping/Nan book with The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, which has the tied up on an airplane/Albania/escape by boat plot. Mrs. Pollifax shows up at the CIA and offers to be a spy. She ends up actually getting a mission in Mexico. When she goes to meet her contact, she is kidnapped along with another CIA agent and taken to Albania to be interrogated. She and her fellow agent eventually escape, along with a third prisoner, and find a boat and sail out of Albania.
I have read the Pollifax books and the plot is similar but I read this book in high school so it must have been written around the late 60's or early 70's.  It definitely was about a high school girl and her classmates on a trip to Europe.  I may not have the exact country correct, but it was an Eastern European country.


G551: Goat cut's Santa's Beard
 Willy Whiskers, 1980's.This book was about a goat that loved his whiskers. He was jealous of Santa's beard so one night he hid in the bushes, jumped out and cut it off with scissors. I think his name was Willy Whiskers. The book came with a tape that had a song on it. "Willy, Willy Whiskers, your beard is such a sight. Farmer, Farmer Gilly had to stay up half the night..." or something like that. The book was white and made of a thick paper with a staple binding(i think). I remember one picture where he is holding the scissors. I think in the end he feels bad and cuts his own beard off and gives it to Santa? I got it in the late 80's-early 90's. Thanks for your help :)

G552: Girl, doesn't realize a ghost
 Young adult book that probably came out in the 90's - starts off about a girl who is in a faraway town and doesn't realize how she became a ghost. She looks through the bushes at some boys who were mean to her and then wanders off into the town, I believe. Cover shows her location and ghost.


Diana Wynne Jones, Time of the Ghost, 1981.This is a long shot, but your description reminded me of this book: a girl finds herself as a ghost without knowing quite who she is or what happened to her.

Diana Wynne Jones, Time of the Ghost. Not sure if it's the right book, but there are a number of similarities (the heroine realizes she's a ghost, but isn't sure who she is or how she died  at one point she observes a group of boys).

G553: Ghost Stories from the 70's for Young Adults/Children
Book had maybe 8-10 ghost stories.  One story had a young couple who stop at a house on a rainy night and the old couple give them a kidney-shaped table.  The next day they find the house is old burned-out shell.  Another story, about a dead race car driver driving the truck tranporting his casket.


G554: Greyhound in WWII

Solved: The Greyhound


G555: Giant in a Dress
Solved: A Sweetheart for Valentine


G556: Government bans emotions; people pay to see little boy with emotions on display

Emotions banned.  Boy (slow?) with emotions displayed to public; made happy by treats/new goldfish; sad by killing goldfish or mentioning parents. Adult  rescues him but can't deal w/ emotions;  decides gov't is right; returns him and submits to reeducation. Older story.


G557: Gothic Reincarnation Romance

I'm looking for a book that I read years and years ago. It would have been published in the 60s or 70s...possibly the very early 80s. It was about a fairly newly wed wife whose husband is spending most of his time locked away in...a lab or a basement work place maybe? Anyway, this woman comes to realize that they are reincarnated souls doomed to never find love because in their first encounter centuries before he was cursed by her. I think she was killed, possibly for being accused a witch, but anyway, one of them died before she could forgive him for his betrayal of her. So they went through at least two more lives, coming across each other but with heartbreak until this woman finally figures out what's happened and she forgives him. It's not Green Darkness by Anya Seton. I have that one. And it's not Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine, although I've read that one since. Any other ideas of what it might be? This has been driving me nuts for years!


G558: Ghost Story Collection

In one story, two kids need to write a play.  They enter a house where there are other children.  The house and the other children (ghosts) eventually disappear.st


G559: Goat and Bird Share a Home
In the 1970's my mother enrolled me in the Random House "Best Book Club Ever" book club.  One of the books I received was a book about a goat and the bird he had that lived with him.  It was a canary or a parakeet, I believe.  The goat got angry and yelled at the bird, and it ran away.

Jody Silver, Rupert, Polly, and Daisy, 1984. Polly (the bird) is upset when Rupert (the goat) seems to be paying more attention to their new roommate Daisy (the goldfish). Then, when Rupert gives Polly's favorite toy bell to Daisy, Polly decides to fly away. Part of the Parents Magazine Press "Read Aloud and Easy" reading program.


G560: "The Goops"
My mother swears this is the title but I can't find anything even remotely close.  Published in the early 60's or earlier, this was a collection of nursery rhymes in hardcover (I believe blue) that contained a rhyme about "the goops".  It was a relatively large book.

Just wanted to comment that the title my family remembers is something like "The Encyclopedia of Nursery Rhymes".  I have found nothing even remotely close to this.

The Goops. My daughter had a Goops book when she was a child.  It contained rhymes about proper behaviour for children.  If you failed to exhibit proper behaviour, you were a "Goop".  There are plenty of references to the Goop books on the Internet.  Just Google "Goops".  
Gelett Burgess, Goops and How to be Them : A Manual of Manners for Polite Children Inculcating Many Juvenile Virtues Both by Precept and Example. Good manners are a habit, GOOPS AND HOW TO BE THEM filled with rhymes and illustrations delight children, making it easy to learn proper manners.
Burgess, Gelett, Goops and How to Be Them, 1900.The Goops they lick their fingers/ And the Goops they lick their knives/ They spill their broth on the tablecloth-- / Oh, they lead disgusting lives!There are two sequels: More Goops and How Not to Be Them (1903) and New Goops and How to Know Them (1951).
Gelett Burgess, Goops and How to Be Them, 1900, numerous reprints, copyright. Maybe this one? It's quite famous, and has been reprinted several times.  Or possibly a different book containing one or more of the poems from "Goops"?
Gelett Burgess, Goops and How to Be Them: A Manual of Manners for Polite Children, 1900, approximate.
Gelett Burgess, The Goops, 1900, approximate."The Goops" was a series of poems about manners and etiquette, written by Gelett Burgess in the early 1900s. "The Goops, they lick their fingers  And the Goops, they lick their knives  They spill their broth on the tablecloth  Oh! They lead disgusting lives." The poems have been included in many anthologies. One book that you might look into is "The Better Homes and Gardens Storybook" (1950) which included The Goops: Table Manners (quoted above), Peter Pan in Neverland, The Night Before Christmas, The Little Red Hen, Peter Rabbit, Little Black Sambo, Old Mother Hubbard, The Wonderful Tar Baby, The Owl and the Pussycat, and many other stories and poems. Another possibility is "Tiny Tots Picture Book" (1962) which includes Dinner With the Goops, Merry Mother Goose Rhymes, Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain, What is Red?, Thinking Games, and Starfish at the Seashore. Or, if you just want the poem about the Goops, you could always get Burgess'\''s book, "Goops and How to Be Them: A Manual of Manners for Polite Infants." The books starts off with the above quoted verse, "Table Manners," and also includes many other poems encompassing such topics as cleanliness, courtesy, generosity, honesty, bed time, bravery, patience, hospitality, etc.
I'm guessing this is the 1950s The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature, ed. Margaret Martignoni. (It IS blue under the dust jacket.) See here at Solved Mysteries - http://logan.com/harriett/solved-ij.html - you can also see the dust jacket when you click on the picture of the camera.


G561: Girl's Hair gets Turned into Flower Petals
Looking for a picture book from late 70s-mid80s about a girl who refuses to brush her hair so she's turned into a flower (I believe a daisy or sunflower - petals sprout from her head to replace her hair).

Dale & Marilyn Fitschen, Rotten Snags! Rotten Hair!, 1975, copyright. A little girl is tired of her snarled hair, but learns that there are worse things than tangled locks.


G562: Girls, candles, stream, flowers, night time, ethereal
SOLVED: Becky's Birthday


 G563: Girl at Panama Canal
A teen-age girl, very shy and unsure of herself, is entrusted (by her uncle) to deliver an important letter to someone in charge of building the Panama Canal.  She has many frightening and exciting adventures as she travels alone to the Panama canal area where she discovers the message/letter was un Somehow part of the book description didn't get included. Here is the full item, read by my mother in the 1940s. A teen-age girl, very shy and unsure of herself, is entrusted (by her uncle) to deliver an important letter to someone in charge of building the Panama Canal.  She has many frightening and exciting adventures as she travels alone to the Panama canal area where she discovers the message/letter was unimportant and the trip devised to help her discover her own strengths and worth and her abilities to cope with life.

G564: Gazing ball, girl, house
SOLVED: Patricia Clapp, Jane-Emily.

G565: Goat named Can-Can
Looking for a children's book about a goat who ate tin cans.  His name was Can-Can.  The book was a hard back with a picture of Can-Can standing on a dog house with a tin can in his mouth.

Fritz Willis, Cancan, 1945. The picture on the cover of the original edition is just of a goat on a gray background (no doghouse). I don't know if there is a later edition with the described goat on a doghouse, or if it might be a picture inside the book.


G566: Girl, eccentric father, mismatched socks, rain
Bev Cleary type of book about a girl (7-12) who lives in California (or somewhere else temperate where there occasionally is a rainy season) in a worn dilapidated house.  Eccentric father (teacher maybe) or parents.  Girl wears mismatched socks and feels bad about their situation. Circa 1960s.

Pippi Longstocking. The description reminds me a little of Pippi Longstocking, though I  doubt that's it.  Good luck.
Pretty sure that's Cleary's Mitch and Amy.

G567: Ghost Stories
I am trying to track down a hardback collection of ghost stories published between 1992 and 1996.  One of the stories was about the haunting of a man named Cliff.  Cliff and his wife moved into a house and he was then haunted by a previous occupant.  He later died.

 G568: group of children trapped in mysterious building learn to manipulate a machine to produce food pellets
Read in the 1970s. A group of (I think 4) children find themselves trapped in a building filled everywhere with staircases that lead nowhere, as far as the eye can see. No way out. They wander around and begin to get hungry. Eventually they find a mysterious machine in a landing. In frustration, one boy sticks out his tongue at the machine, its red light turns green, and it produces a food pellet. Sticking out a tongue continues to produce food pellets for some time, but then stops working until they figure out they need to add another gesture. This goes on for a while ... towards the end, they have evolved a complex dance involving all of the kids that must be performed to get a food pellet. At some point, a door is left open and they are released. They walk down the sidewalk of the street and as they approach a traffic light, the light turns red (or maybe it was green), and they begin to dance ...

William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1991. This is definitely House of Stairs
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1990, reprint."One by one, five sixteen-year-old orphans are brought to a strange building. It is not a prison, not a hospital  it has no walls, no ceiling, no floor. Nothing but endless flights of stairs leading nowhere —except back to a strange red machine. The five must learn to love the machine and let it rule their lives. But will they let it kill their souls? This chilling, suspenseful indictment of mind control is a classic of science fiction and will haunt readers long after the last page is turned."
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1974. Children are subjected to a strange behavior experiment in a dystopian future. They are kept in a strange space made up of staircases and are trained by a machine that delivers food to them when they take certain actions, such as dancing. Two of the kids rebel and are released before they starve.
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1974. Set in a dystopian America in an undefined future, the story records the connections of five sixteen-year-olds who are taken from state orphanages and placed in a strange building with endless flights of stairs leading nowhere, with no perceivable edge, unaware they are part of a government-run experiment.
William Sleator, House of Stairs. I'm sure there will be a lot of responses to this one...
William Sleator, House of Stairs. You will get a bazillion responses about this one. This is definitely House of Stairs.
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1974. The submitter has the details correct. I read this in Junior High and found it to be disturbing but unforgettable.
Williams Sleator, House of Stairs.
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1974. This is definitely "House of Stairs" by William Sleator.
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1974. From the net: "Five 16-year-olds are taken from state orphanages and placed in a strange building. The building has no walls, no ceiling, and no floor: nothing but endless flights of stairs leading nowhere, with no perceivable edge. On one landing is a basin of running water that serves as a toilet, sink and drinking fountain  on another, a machine with lights that occasionally produces food. Without prior preparation or introduction, the five must learn to deal with the others' disparate personalities, the lack of privacy, their clear helplessness, and a machine that only feeds them under gradually more exacting situations."
William Sleator, House of Stairs. This has to be House of Stairs...I don't think there's anything else like it out there!
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1974.
William Sleator, House of Stairs. This has been reprinted, so the cover may not match the person's memory.
William Sleator, House of Stairs, 1974. Pretty sure it's this one.



G569: Giant with a jar of fireflies
This is a favorite of a friend when he was a child and I would like to find out what its called and if a copy is available.

Roald Dahl, Big Friendly Giant. Not sure if the book even involved keeping fireflies in a jar, but any chance this is Roald Dahl's Big Friendly Giant?


 G570: Good Witch/Bad Witch
A girl, maybe 8 or 9, who found some sort of magic path. One side of the path lead to a bright garden owned by a good witch, the other into a dark forest owned by a bad witch. The girl could stay with the good witch as long as she didn't go into the dark forest. Okay...A girl, maybe 8 or 9, who found some sort of magic path. One side of the path lead to a bright garden owned by a good witch, the other into a dark forest owned by a bad witch. The girl could stay with the good witch as long as she didn't go into the dark forest. So the good witch (or sorceress or whatever) takes the girl in and everything is all light and wonder. I remember a description of a bathroom which was all glass and there were fish swimming in the walls (I wanted a bathroom like that SO bad). But the evil witch was constantly trying to lure the girl over to her side, where the good witch had no power. So one day the evil witch hung a swing on a tree branch on her side of the garden/forest. The little girl was swinging on the swing for a while before she realized that the tree was actually on the wrong side of the garden and (you guessed it) she was snatched away by the evil witch. I'm not sure what happens after that but I'm pretty sure it all ends well with the little girl defeating the witch and the evil curse being lifted on the dark side of the forest (or garden). I hope you can figure this one out!

Margaret Storey, Timothy and the Two Witches. A boy and a girl are the main characters, but i think this is your book.


 G571: girl, fiction, Norse gods, missing letters in signs
70s/80s fictional bk for preteens/teens about girl who sees fortune teller/some kind of advisor who tells her to look for the missing letters in signs to find a message, and involves Norse mythology (references to Loki, etc.) Darker in tone.

G572: girl, tennis championship, brother
70s/80s fictional bk about girl trying to become tennis champ. Brother plays tennis too. Both go to championship. Brother loses, gives racket to sister whose racket broke (hard for them to get to championship in 1st place due to $ issues). I think girl wins her match against older girl.

I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you, but I do remember reading this story. It seems like it may have been in a school reader, during the late 1970s or possibly very early 1980s. I think the brother was supposed to be the tennis player in the family, but then his sister took it up too and proved to be quite good at it - there may have been a little sibling rivalry going on. Either at the end of one of the elimination matches leading up to the championship match, or during the match, the strings on the girl's racket broke, and there was no time to restring it. Because money was short, she didn't have a spare racket, which is why she had to borrow one. Maybe this will help jog someone else's memory?
I didn't read it, but could it be Champions Don't Cry by Nan Gilbert,  1960?
Champions Don't Cry by Nan Gilbert--orig. published in 1960, but MMPB issued at end of 70s, early 80s. Goodreads says:
book data Champions Don't Cry 3.20 avg rating, 5 ratings, 0 reviews, details edit published1960 by Harper & Brothers details Hardcover description "I'm going to be a champion tennis player, " Sally tells her older brother. But Denny isn't so sure. Sally's got a terrible temper. And when she gets mad on the court, look out! Now there's a big tennis tournament coming up. If Sally can only raise enough money to play in it, she'll prove, even to Denny, that she really is a champion. But will she get to play? And if she does, will that temper of hers ruin everything?
NAN GILBERT, CHAMPIONS DON'T CRY, 1960.


G573: Girl breaks stained glass window
Searching for a book about a small girl who breaks the stained glass window in the church at Christmas time.  She used her blanket? to cover the hole in the window.  Returned to see the window whole and her blanket gone. Had this book in 1966-68.  Character's name possibly Katie.

Beth Vardon, The Wonderful Window. This seem to be a popular book that many people remember fondly, and it gets asked for often. Original copies are rather expensive. Fortunately, it has been reprinted, so new copies are available at a reasonable cost.
Beth Vardon & Charlot Byj (illus), The Wonderful Window. It's Christmas, it's Christmas, That wonderful season, When Children are good, For a very good reason. They've almost got wings, Sprouting out of their backs, And that's when their guardian angels relax." All the children are good at Christmastime, giving their guardian angels a break - except Katie. When Katie accidentally breaks the stained glass window in the church, her guardian angel prays for a Christmas miracle to fix it in time. A delightful classic pop-up book that has been reproduced for a new generation.


 G574: Grandmother babysits and uses disguise when kids act up
A grandmother is babysitting for 3 or 4 children, and they disobey her and make a huge mess. she goes upstairs, puts on a dress and a wig and comes back down as a mean version of herself. she yells at them and makes them clean, and they are happy to have their real grandmother when she comes back.

Harry Allard, Miss Nelson is Missing!, 1977. Well, if it's not a grandmother, but a teacher, this plot sounds a lot like Miss Nelson is Missing. The kids in room 207 are the worst behaved class in school. They are rude to their teacher, Miss Nelson, and don't follow the rules. One day, Miss Nelson is sick, and a substitute teacher arrives - the mean, strict, witchy Viola Swamp, who dress all in black. She whips the kids in to shape, piles on the homework, and takes all the fun out of school. Of course, the kids learn their lesson, and hope for Miss Nelson's return. When she finally comes back to school, the class stays on their best behavior, so that they will never get the mean substitute again. But what is that strange black dress doing hanging in Miss Nelson's closet?

 G575: Girl at Russian ballet school
I read this in the late 50's or early 60's.  I think the main character was a Russian girl named Katrina who went to ballet school, probably in pre-Revolutionary Russia.  It had a very dark blue cover and seemed like a thick book (when I was a child).  It is NOT Gladys Malvern's Anna Pavlova book.

Mara Kay, A Circling Star. The heroine is called Aniuta, not Katerina  but it is about a girl attending ballet school in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Nada Curcija-Prodanovic, Ballerina, 1961. This might be Ballerina by Nada Curcija-Prodanovic. The cover art of the original edition has a dark blue background, and it's 255 pages, so fairly thick. (Later editions had very different cover art, with light blue backgrounds). Main character is Lana Popovic, but another student is Katia.

 G576: Girl watches hats go by from her bedroom window
SOLVED: Jennie's Hat. 
 G577: Grumpy Alligator Paints House Multicolors
I'm looking for a children's picture book, which I likely read in the late '80s or early '90s, about a grumpy alligator/crocodile who wasn't very friendly with his neighbors. Somehow, someone convinces him to paint his house in vertical, multicolored stripes and the new paint job makes him happy.

Bernard Waber, The House on East 88th Street, 1965. This might be stretch, but could it be one of the "Lyle the Crocodile" books? I don't think Lyle ever paints a house, but he is artistic, and does get grumpy at various times.
Doug Cushman, Nasty Kyle the Crocodile, 1986. Someone asked this on one of the librarian email lists, and the answer she received was Nasty Kyle the Crocodile.
SOLVED: Doug Cushman, Nasty Kyle the Crocodile, 1983. The book was found by a very diligent youth services coordinator in the Washington D.C. Public Library system. I found a copy ... for only 55 cents! It was just as I remembered it, although Kyle the Crocodile remains nasty.

 G578: Girl goes to island and meets ghost
Read this book in 1990, pink paperback. Girl who takes a ferry to an island to stay with some relatives, but she didn't want to go. I remember as the ferry pulled up there were waves crashing on rocks. She meets a young ghost (boy?) while there. I think they play catch. Doesn't want to leave at end.

Kit Pearson, Awake and Dreaming
Unfortunately it is not Awake and Dreaming which was published in 1996, although that does sound interesting, the book had to have been in existence at least for a few years in 1990 when I received a used copy.

 G579: Girl in Storybook Forest inhabited by Dolls
A young girl follows a squirrel into the woods and finds Storybook Forest. Possible title: "Rebecca/girl's name in Storybook Forest."  Published 1960's early 70's. Color photography, dolls posing as classic fairy tale characters. Not a Lonely Doll book.

Hazel Thompson Craig, Molly in Story Book Forest, 1964.
I think one of your fans may have found my book. G579: "Molly in Story Book Forest" (1964) by Hazel Thompson Craig. I checked and it is listed in the Library of Congress. I've been searching the Internet and the one description that I've found so far is: "Wonderful black and white photos of Molly, dolls and toys throughout." Does anyone reading this have a plot description? I hope to find this long, lost book and buy it. Thanks in advance for your help!


 G580: Girl tells lies, neck grows
Short story: Every time little girl tells a lie her neck grows until she has to push her head/neck along in a wagon.  This was in a book of other short stories.  Era:  1950's.


 G581: Girl draws statues to life in NY city

SOLVED: Stoneflight


  G582: Girl sent to live with aunt, suspects uncle of crime
early - mid 90's about a girl who's mom died/dying. dad sends her to live with an aunt in the country who has a big house has an uncle who lives nearby & always drunk & plays golf, she suspects of a crime, meets a bad boy type, cover is of a brunette with thick long wavy hair sitting on a fence.

Irene Hunt, Up a Road Slowly, 1966. Most of your description fits: Girl's mother has died and Julie and her brother Chris are sent to live with their aunt who is a schoolteacher. The uncle lives in the guest house(?)and looks like he golfs all the time but is actually burying his alcohol bottles. Julie does got involved with a so-called bad boy but the "crime" is that she writes his papers for him and gets caught. I think the paperback had a picture of a girl with long hair sitting on a fence.
Hunt, Irene, Up a Road Slowly. Could this be Up a Road Slowly?  Julie is sent to live with her Aunt Cordelia, uncle is an alcoholic, she dates a boy named Brick for a while who gets her to write his papers for him.

G583: Girl finds room with old woman and big globe light over bed that can't go out
Reader's Digest Condensed Books is where I read it. 1960's is when I read it but it could have been a much older version of the book as my grandparents gave them to us.  "Girl finds room with old woman and big globe light over bed that can't go out."

MacDonald, George, Princess and the Goblin This would be Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.
MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin is much discussed on the solved page: http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-p.htm

MacDonald, George, Princess and the Goblin. This would be Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. [...]Review: As always with George MacDonald, everything here is more than meets the eye: this in fact is MacDonald's grace-filled vision of the world. Said to be one of J.R.R. Tolkien's childhood favorites, The Princess and the Goblin is the story of the young Princess Irene, her good friend Curdie--a minor's son--and Irene's mysterious and beautiful great great grandmother, who lives in a secret room at the top of the castle stairs. Filled with images of dungeons and goblins, mysterious fires, burning roses, and a thread so fine as to be invisible and yet--like prayer--strong enough to lead the Princess back home to her grandmother's arms, this is a story of Curdie's slow realization that sometimes, as the princess tells him, "you must believe without seeing." Simple enough for reading aloud to a child (as I've done myself more than once with my daughter), it's rich enough to repay endless delighted readings for the adult.
George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin. Must have been an abridged version of this 19th century classic.  You can download it from Project Gutenberg.
You can also purchase a copy of MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin from Loganberry Books!

2011


G584: Girl who likes laser printers
I seek a fond book from my childhood, likely published late 1980s to early 1990s. (By Scholastic?) Has a core group of friends but one affable girl in particular who's a short story writer and remarks how much she likes her laser printer (HP LaserJet?).


G585: Girls Boarding School at Turn of Century
There were two books in a series written for the tween reader. I read (and bought) it in the late 70s but it was set around the turn of the century. First book involved the heroine and her horse.  I think the horse died (might have been a parent?).  The second book the girl went to an all girls boarding school.  The girls were elementary maybe junior high age.  Might have been Boston or New York.  Thought the heroine was named Libby.  I am fairly certain they had a telephone and there were cars but very early ones...so maybe set in the 20'\''s.  This is NOT the Horseshoe Hill (Pamela Reynolds), Catherine Woolley series, Zilphon Keatly Snyder book nor "The Taste Of Spruce Gum" by Jacqueline Jackson.
Natalie Savage Carlson, The Half Sisters, Luvvy and the Girls. This was already solved on another board.
See this page (scroll to bottom) for Luvvy and the Girls: http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-l.html

G586: Goodbye Mouse
Looking for "Goodbye Mouse" an old childrens book.  Cover has a pix of an old house trailer and out of the back window is the mouse looking out.   He's leaving his friends - but finds the desert an intriguing place.  My grandson loved this book and now I can't find it - Please help.

Edna Miller, Mousekin Takes a Trip. I haven't read the book so I'm not positive, but the elements seem to match. Mousekin Takes A trip by Edna Miller. While looking for food in a trailer, the trailer starts moving and Mousekin is along for the ride. He gets to see the desert.

 G587: Girl, baby brother "Honey"
Chap book read in 1960's, may been pub. in 40s or 50s.  A few black line draw/illus..  May have had yellow cover & yellow house may b part of title.  Girl about 9 w/family.  Has baby bro named "Honey" whose b-day is Midsummer's day.  Book ends with his 1st b-day party, I believe.

Ruth Borchard, Children of the Old House, 1961.

G588: Girl named Ruth dealing with poverty and loneliness
80s novel, set in the 1950s, about a young poor girl named Ruth who was possibly an orphan. I believed she lived with relatives and had a lovely dollhouse. She was tormented by a rich girl named Mercy Berry, but ultimately their fortunes reversed when Mercy contracted polio from a swimming pool.

Phyllis Green, Wild Violets, 1977. A poor and friendless nine-year-old witnesses the changes in her life and herself during the early days of World War II.


G589: Girl, grandmother or aunt, eye medication, fairies
A girl's (grand)mother/aunt is given medication for her eyes/lids by little fairy/pixie/woodland creature. The girl is told not to use it on her own eyes. She uses it against their warnings, and she is then able to see them getting into mischief...

Fairy Ointment shows up in several anthologies; here's Joseph Jacobs' version:  http://www.authorama.com/english-fairy-tales-43.html
Lillie Patterson , Jenny, the Halloween spy,
1979. Jenny visits an elderly neighbor and puts some of her eye ointment in her eye. She can then see the fairy world, but they don't like being spied on.


G590: Guardian witch, children and powders
Book from the 1970s.  About a group of children that mix colorful powders to create different creatures and stories. One of the kid's guardians is a witch or something similar.  The book is not Little Witch, thought that was it, but it is not.  thank you.

Diana Wynne Jones, The Ogre Downstairs, 1974. Could this be a garbled recollection of The Ogre Downstairs?  There are five children in a stepfamily: Douglas and Malcolm, sons of the eponymous Ogre [not a real ogre], and Caspar, Johnny and Gwinny, children of his new wife.  The Ogre buys each set of siblings a chemistry set, and they discover by experimentation that some of the chemicals have interesting, magical effects.  For instance, Vol. Pulv. ("flying powder") lets them fly  and Animal Spirits lets them bring inanimate objects to life, so they end up with a variety of creatures that had started out as things like toffee bars and construction blocks.  Definitely a long shot, but it has powders, animals, magic, and a guardian who might at a stretch have been misremembered as a witch.
Nope!  My 4th grade teacher read this to our class, would have been 32 years ago that he read it, but I tend to think it may be from the late 50s early 60s.  There were two characters, children, that were in a room with lots of shelves and on the shelves were glass jars with lots and lots of different colored powders.  They mixed different combinations all through the book and were afraid the person that owned them would discover they had tampered with them.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953. This sounds like the correct book.

G591: Girl finds necklace on playground and puts it on
there is a little girl on the playground during recess and she finds a necklace. she puts it on and it attaches itself to her and won't come off. turns out the necklace belongs to an evil fairy queen of sorts. that's all i really remember... i hope you can find it for me! Thanks so much

Lynne Reid Banks, Fairy Rebel. Might be this book, which includes a necklace that the evil fairy queen gives to the little girl, which digs its thorns into her, if I recall correctly.
Lynne Reid Banks, The Fairy Rebel, 1985. "By the author of Indian In The Cupboard fame. Bindi's parents save a pair of fairies from the evil queen, and in return the fairies use magic to give them a child. The queen holds a grudge for a long time, and sends the girl a magic necklace she can't take off that makes her act greedy and steal. If you like this one, try The Farthest-Away Mountain by the same author!"

 G592: Girl and sister live with aunt, sister runs away
I read this in the late 80's early 90's a girl and her older sister live with aunt after parents die; aunt has fondness for chocolate older sister runs away; ends up in canada (prince edward island) younger sister goes on a trip to find her when she is seventeen

Elissa Haden Guest, Over the Moon
 

G593: Green clothing, wall, camouflage
I am looking for a children's book published before 1996 (not sure of the year).  The only thing I know about the book is the plot:  A man wearing green sits upon a wall for camouflage.

Elizabeth Shub, Seeing is Believing, 1979, 1994. Shot in the dark that it may be Seeing is Believing by Elizabeth Shub.


G594: Golden River, Other World
This is a young adults' book I read in the late 60s or early 70s. The protagonist is a man from our world, c. 1900, who accidentally goes through a thin place into another world. In that other world, he finds a town next to the sea. Here, the locals make their living by rowing laboriously up a rushing river, collecting gold dust and then trading it for basic necessities with other people who come by ship from somewhere else. The main character participates in a gold collecting expedition and is appalled to see how little the hard-working villagers are given in return for the gold. He incites a revolt, helps the villagers make a cannon out of gold (virtually the only metal the have), makes gunpowder and masterminds the rebellion. Along the way he also falls in love and marries a local girl. There's something for everyone in this book: fantasy, adventure, romance, culture clash and a rousing battle scene. Random details:  the sky is always cloudy in that world, never blue. For their honeymoon, the young lovers go all the way up the river to its source, a lake, and stay in a cottage on an island in the lake for a whole month.

G595: Girl with a messy room
Picture book 1970s about a girl who had a messy room. Cover page had a huge close up of the girl's face. She had black bob hair cut with bangs and she had a sucker/lollipop half in her mouth. Room illustration of the mess showed a piece of pie or apple core under her pillow.

I think it was called J is for Jennifer, but I can’t find the book anywhere.
The book about the messy girl is The Big Tidy-Up by Norah Smaridge, Golden Books.

G596: Great novel collection
SOLVED: E O Parrott,
How To Become Ridiculously Well Read In One Evening: A Collection Of Literary Encapsulations, 1985, approximate.

G597: Gothic Romance - girl must choose between two men in a castle
I think this book was published in the early to mid 80's, but could be from the 70's. I read it in my high school library sometime before 1987. I would say it's YA (not a bodice buster... but that can be a fine line to interpret!). The story was about a young woman who goes to live with her extended family (two cousins, perhaps they are brothers) in a castle-type mansion. I think she has been orphaned and is an heiress to her family's estate. She is drawn to her dark and rather menacing cousin, but is being wooed by her friendly and fair cousin. Then as the novel draws to an end (involving a chase through candle-lit stairways and possibly being locked away to die in an old wine cellar?), she discovers that the "good" cousin really wanted to marry her for her money but is crazy and wants to kill her. While her menacing cousin is actually a good person who saves her and they marry (or some version of happily ever after).

Michaels, Barbara, Sons of the Wolf
Michaels, Barbara, Sons of the Wolf, 1967. I believe this may be the one you're looking for. "Ada and Harriet don't know what to expect when they meet their new guardian, Mr. Wolfson. Here is a strangely magnetic, darkly amusing man confined to a wheelchair and flanked by a pair of fierce, dangerous dogs—an enigmatic benefactor, at once welcoming and intimidating. Even more unsettling to the girls are Wolfson's two sons, Julian and Francis. One of them is warm and good-natured, the other is pure malevolence. But young Harriet is about to discover a frightening truth: that evil runs rampant throughout their mysterious new home, Abbey Manor, and the surrounding moors—especially when the moon comes out . . ."
Michaels, Barbara, Sons of the Wolf, 1967.This is just a shot in the dark, since there are so many titles that could probably fit the description. Sons of the Wolf by Barbara Michaels (aka Elizabeth Peters, aka Barbara Mertz).
Mary Stewart, Touch not the Cat. This also sounds like it could be Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart.

G598: Greensleeves, girl meets boy, forest, fever, convent
Greensleeves is a theme....the girl hears the haunting tune.  She meets a boy from the past in a forest?  Is his name Robin? I think there is a romantic theme between them.  And the book ends with a fever and her ending up in a convent? Help! Updated: I spent hours reading your page and wonder if the book I am looking for is "To nowhere and back" but I just remember the book having a one word title. I would have probably read it in 1978-1980 and it would have been a school book order book like Scholastic. I thought for years it was called "Greensleeves" but it's not. I know the music/song "Greensleeves" does play a theme in it.  I know there was some level of romance between the girl and the boy....who I seem to think was named Robin?  And she meets him the woods or forest? And I remember the ending....she is being cared for in a convent by nuns....she had a fever?  and they give her a note and necklace or something from the boy from the past? I have been thinking about this book for 30+ years.  Any help would be appreciated.

Alison Uttley, A Traveler in Time, 1964. Not a one-word title, but other parts fit the description (and "Greensleeves" is a recurring element in the story, even though it's not mentioned in the plot summary): "When Penelope visits her relative's manor house in England, she receives the gift of being able to see backward in time and witnesses the events that occurred in the great house in the sixteenth century."
Alison Uttley, Traveller in time. Greensleeves comes in Alison Uttley Traveller in time, but the rest doesn't fit. I wonder if this is memories of more than one book? Eileen Dunlop's Robinsheugh (US title Elizabeth, Elizabeth) has a girl going into the past meeting a boy called Robin, but he's her older brother, no romance. Neither of these ends up with girl in a convent.
Frances Eagar, Time Tangle. This sounds to me like Time Tangle. "While staying at her convent school over Christmas, a young girl meets a mysterious young man she believes is a ghost from the sixteenth century. Was Beth Lorimer really able to go back into Elizabethan times, or were the boy Adam and the crucial message he gave her just figments of an overheated imagination?" It features Greensleeves, and Beth breaks a limb and ends up writing the story while she convalesces.If not that, it may be "Robinsheugh" by Eileen Dunlop. The American title was "Elizabeth, Elizabeth".

G599: Gardener finds monster's thumb
A woman is digging in her garden and she finds a box with a hairy thumb.  That night, she hears a scary voice saying "Who has got my hair thumb?" and then there's a loud "thump, thump, thump."  eventually the monster shows up, and they become friends.

Anne Rockwell, Thump, Thump, Thump!
1981. It's a toe, rather than a thumb.  An old women digs up a hairy toe in her garden, takes it home, and puts it in a box. Then the Thing comes for it.

G600: Girl, heart problem, Switzerland, dancing
I have been looking for a book that featured a girl with a heart problem, this would have been early eighties, possibly a seventies book. It had a beach sunset on the front of the book. The girl featured in the book, had parents that had taken her to all kinds of treatments around the world, specifically, Switzerland to try and help her, as they were well to do. The girl loved to dance, and at the end of the book, she was dancing, and "her mother told her if she was not careful, her vena cava would fall out". The book was about her parents letting her go, and about the girl accepting the problem of her heart. I am not sure about the title, but I think it had something, summer in it.....but not sure. Any information would be appreciated.

G601: Girl and pet turtle
Picture book of a black girl who gets a turtle for a pet and decorates a corner by the window of her apartment for her turtle, maybe from the 1970s.

John Gabriel Navarra, A Turtle in the House,
1968. A young girl and boy, Lisa & Jackie, find Red Eared turtle eggs, watch them hatch and bring one home.  Illustrations by Kamoda Kiyaoki.

G602: Girl with dreams of being an octoroon girl in New Orleans
Teen book; the late 70's.  A girl  living with a relative for the summer in a new city (SF?)  She  starts having dreams where she gets flashes of being an octoroon girl in New Orleans.   There is also something about a type of museum with a garden and statues.  Also a young boy and quotes about time.

Cameron, Eleanor, Court of the Stone Children,
1973. This sounds like Eleanor Cameron's National Book Award Winning title, The Court of the Stone Children. Out of print at the moment, but easily available used as it went through a number of editions and printings. The original hardcover has lovely cover art by the Caldecott award winning Trina Schart Hyman. I suspect that the edition you're thinking of is actually the 1990 Puffin paperback, which had a style/format very similar to the Apple paperbacks of the same era.

G603: Girl works for an evil shopkeeper
SOLVED: Carol B. York, Beware of this Shop, 1977.


G604: Girl does not cut hair
SOLVED: Luciana Roselli, Princesses' Tresses, 1963.

G605: Girl forced to go live with aunt who either eats or some how absorbs the life force of children to stay young
My stumper is for my wife. We have both read the book in the mid 90's. A girl goes to live with her aunt and the aunt is evil and magical. The aunt absorbs the lives/ souls of children in order to remain young. The story is set at a country manor and there is a caretaker/ uncle who I would swear was named Merlin.

Diana Wynne Jones, Aunt Maria (Black Maria in Orig British Edition),
1991. Could this be your book? Mig and her brother and mother go to live with the seemingly sweet Aunt Maria in the town of Cranbury-on-the-sea after the death of their father. However they find that their Aunt has terrible powers. You can find expanded summaries on the author's website.

G606: Giant Mole and secret vitamin factory
SOLVED: Robert Lawson, Mr. Twigg's Mistake. This is the book, thanks so much!

G607: Girl and family travel in wooden house on wheels
Young girl living with her family, traveling in a wooden house on wheels.  Father was a tinker or trader? I believe I read it sometime between 1957 and 1961.

Howard, Elizabeth, Peddlers Girl,
1951. When Lucy Taylor's mother dies, she is unsure what she and her brother Elijah should do. She persuades her Uncle Adam to take them both with him on his peddler's travels for the summer - to explore the world outside Detroit traveling in his peddlers wagon.
Elizabeth Coatsworth. I thought it was Away Goes Sally, by Elizabeth Coatsworth, but the summary I found online doesn't fit. Maybe it's another of this author's books.
Jane Flory, Peddler's Summer, 1960. Jane Flory wrote about a little girl who went with the peddler for the summer  her family was alive and well and she had a nice adventure. Jane Flory wrote another book about the same character called Mist on the Mountain. "This book is one of my all-time favorites! It revolves around Amanda Scoville, 10 years of age, her seven sisters, ranging from 16 to toddlers, and their mother, trying to make do in their home halfway up the mountain after their father dies. It continues the story began in "Peddler's Summer" and follows their struggles to make a life for themselves after the hardships that had befallen them. They manage to have fun and laughter along with the hard times. It's an uplifting story and it definitely is heartwarming!

G608a: Girl, secret door in piano, musical notes
I've been looking for this book for years. Any help is appreciated! It's a children's picture book and all I remember is a little girl visits all the musical notes (do, ray, me, etc) who are creatures. I think the last one was mean or a monster. And I think the way she visited them was through a secret door in a piano.

G608: Grandmother and Manachek
SOLVED: Frank Anders / Mary Anuszkiewicz, Grandmother and Machek, 1961.


G609: Greedy pirates find treasure and sink each other
SOLVED: Guillermo Mordillo,  The damp and daffy doings of a daring pirate ship, 1971.

G610: Girl and Boy time travel and/or runaway
A boy & a girl (early teens) who run away or discover a way to time travel. (or this book is set in the future). I just remember the cover - & VERY LITTLE plot (a stolen car?), but need to find this book! The cover had a pinkish sunset hue, there was a neon sign - or something to do with neon, star
I forgot to mention that I read this book in middle school around 1996, 97, 98. (although I do not know how old the book was at that time)


Andre Norton and Phyllis Miller, Seven Spells to Sunday, 1979. Summary from back cover: For unhappy Monnie Fitts and timid Bim Ross -- two foster children who live with the Johnsons -- finding an old, faded purple mailbox in a vacant lot was to be their secret.  The seven mysterious stars painted on the door made it even more important -- and strange.  Once they wrote their names on it, life would be different for them. The paperback cover shows a purplish red fade/sunset background with a boy and a girl falling out of a star with a space background.  They are falling into a junkyard with broken cars, trash, and the purple mailbox.

G611: Girl goes through mirror
Young adult book about a teenage girl who buys an old mirror at a flea market i think and ends up getting pulled into the mirror by another girl in olden times. she likes it at first until the girl won't let her leave

Pamela Sykes, Come Back, Lucy,
1973. Possibly a garbled recollection of  Come Back, Lucy by Pamela Sykes?  The ghost girl, Alice, does indeed try to keep Lucy in the past, and mirrors are the portal  but the link is the house both girls live in, and the ghost can use any reflective surface, rather than being limited to one particular mirror.
Pamela Sykes, Mirror of Danger. The mirror in Mirror of Danger isn't from a flea market, but it does enable the girl to travel back into the past.  At first, very unhappy in the present (she has been raised by a very old-fashioned relative but must now live with a very modern family) she is happy to visit the past, but eventually is afraid that she is going to be trapped.
Pamela Sykes, Mirror of Danger (also published as Come Back Lucy). Not sure this is right, but it sounds like it could be MIRROR OF DANGER (also published as COME BACK LUCY) by Pamela Sykes.
Pamela Sykes, Come back Lucy. Sounds very like Pamela Sykes Come back Lucy (aka Lucy beware), except  that she finds mirror in attic, doesn't buy it in a junkshop. Girl from the past is Alice.
Sarah Armstrong, Blood Red Roses, 1982. Here's a possibility from the right time period: one of Bantam's TWILIGHT: WHERE DARKNESS BEGINS paperback series. Girl buys mirror from dusty antique store and discovers that it's inhabited by a psycho teen witch.

G612:  Girl named deb, lost in woods, wants a horse
Probably scholastic, 60's - 70's.  Deb (age 12-14?) lives with her mom, a widow.  Deb wants a horse but her mom wants her to be more dependable.  Deb gets lost with a cow who has recently calved.  She gets everyone safely home; her dream of being a vet is now possible: "Depending!" says her mom.

Patsey Gray, The Horse Trap.
Gray wrote a 1950/1960s series about a girl named Deb and her horse, Star.   In this one, which is a prequel, Deb's left in charge at home for a short time and finds a mare and foal trapped in a canyon.

G613: Girl on another planet runs away
SOLVED: Marzollo, Jean, Red Sun Girl. 
G614: Girl too Small to Help
1970's-1980's. This book may have been a Golden Book, Wonder Book, or Elf Book.  It was about a little girl who may have been too small to do many things to help her mom.  Finally at the end of the book, the little girl is looking over the edge of the table in the kitchen and her mom lets her stir the pudding in the bowl because she is big enough to help.

Phyllis Krasilovsky, The Very Little Girl,
1953. A delightful book bought for me by my mother when I became a ''big'' sister. The pictures by Ninon are quite special.
Phyllis Krasilovsky, The Very Little Girl, 1953. This is in the solved stumpers section.  I also remember another possible edition of this book from the late 1960's or early 1970's which I think was published by Hallmark and available in their gift shops.  It has different illustrations, but the same premise.  I am not at home so I can't double-check, but I would start with the Very Little Girl.
The Very Little Girl: I don't think this is the book.  If I remember, the illustrations were very similar to Eloise Wilkin.  I can see the little girl peering over the table watching her mother, but can't recall much more.

G615: Girl's parents are divorced
1970's-1980's. This book would have been a Scholastic book club paperback from the late 70-'s to early 80's.  A young girl's parents are divorced, and her mother is remarrying and sending her daughter to stay with her father in San Francisco? while she is on her honeymoon.  While with her father, the girl learns about stamp collecting.

G616: Girl named Mary--brother drives her in his Jeep
This book was about a girl named Mary. She had an older brother she adored who drove her around in his Jeep. She met a girl from school who had 40 dolls, but didn't feel jealous. The girls in this story would often say, "Vengence is mine..."  to one another when they wanted to get back at someone.

G617: Girl teen with leukemia loses her vision
SOLVED: Isaacsen-Bright, 13 Is Too Young to Die, 1980.

G618: Gosh is a bad word
All I remember about this book is a girl being reprimanded by her father for using bad language: the word "gosh"! I read it in the mid-80s, but it was clearly rather old even then. I would guess 50s or early 60s. It was a chapter book. I know that's not a lot to go on! Any ideas?

Mary Calhoun,
This is a total shot in the dark, but take a look at the covers of the Katie John books by Mary Calhoun to see if they ring any bells.
I remember reading a book where two girls were friends, and one was a bit rough. She said "gee", and the other girl didn't think much of that because it was a sneaky way of saying "God". I don't think it was any of the Katie John books. It seems to me it was something by Jean Little, possibly "Spring Begins in March". Don't know how much help this is.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls, Little Town On the Prairie.This is a long shot, but in one of the Little House books,there's a line that runs (sort of): "Gosh!" She said the [rude?] word boldly.

G619: Girl gets old horse(poss. named Chief?) dies at end of book
I believe the girl lived with her father. He took her to buy a horse at what seems like a county fair type sale. All they can afford is an old broken down paint horse, I believe named Chief. she is disappointed, Updated.. .I remember the horse being a sort of old indian (poss. arabian) nag that the girl was not interested in, he perks up into a shadow of his former self as they leave and the seller gives her an old indian (again, poss.arabian) bridle that belongs to the horse. The story revolves around her growing to love the old guy and to see him for what he may have been once upon a time, the middle details of the story are hazy to me, but what stands out, as it made me cry as a girl, was that he eventually dies and the girl, her father and a neighbor boy bury him lovingly with his bridle in a very moving scene. I would love to find out what book this is so I may share it with my daughters. Intensely frustrating since I can remeber the names AND Authors of pretty much EVERY horse book I have ever read with the exception of this one.... Thanks in advance for your help.

Marylois Dunn and Ardath Mayhar, The Absolutely Perfect Horse, 1983. I believe this is "The Absolutely Perfect Horse." The narrator is the brother of teenager Annie, who is horse-crazy.  Annie buys a skinny, beat-up Appaloosa named Chief out of pity from a travelling carnival/Wild West show.  He's so old and ugly that she's very defensive about not being ashamed of him, but he proves himself in the end.  The other major plot is about the family adopting a Vietnamese orphan.



2012


G620: Girl lives with grandmother, witches

My wife has been looking for a book for ages and I just don’t know what else to do. It would probably be considered young adult. It is about a girl who went to live with her grandmother in a rustic/country/woods type area. Her grandmother and her friends would probably be most described as witches and the sense of smell plays a large roll. She remembers the girl going to the grandmother’s friend’s house and having it smell like roses. She was also required to do chores such as clean the pig pen. She became friends/loved with the pig and ended up having to slaughter it. Would have been before 1995 but could be pretty old. Any ideas?

Monica Furlong, Juniper, 1990. Juniper is a princess who is sent to live with her godmother to train as a witch/healer. The godmother lives in total poverty and makes Juniper kill the pig they need for their winter food supply. She also trains for a while with the godmother's friend. When her training is finished, Juniper must use what she has learned to keep her evil aunt from harming her baby brother in order to take over the kingdom. This book has a sequel called Wise Child.

G621: Greedy baby chickens
Book may have been about the size of a Little Golden Book.  All I remember is that some greedy baby chickens ate a whole lot of feed and their tummies blew up like fuzzy yellow balloons.  The illustration was of some very silly (slighly drunk looking) chicks lolling on what may be hay? Thanks!

G622: Girl possibly crippled - lives in closet and dreams of unicorns - maybe set in 1800s
About a lonely young girl who is possibly disabled in some way (clubfoot, blind, deaf, etc) and dreams of finding a unicorn. She meets a boy who is a pirate/sailor and I think he goes to jail. She helps him escape on his ship but she is left behind, unable to forget him. I read it in the mid-90s

G623: Goat and rabbits share clover
In print early 70s, suitable for age 4 or 5. Goat lives alone on a little hill, contentedly nibbling clover. A family of rambunctious rabbits moves in and begins eating it all up. Goat grows very sad and one day starts to leave the hill. The rabbits ask what's wrong and agree to share the clover.

G624: Gypsy caravan
Children's book with fantastic illustrations of a gypsy caravan.

Enid Blyton, Animal Lovers Book, 1952. Two children go to the country with their mother whilst she recovers from an illness. While there they meet a gypsy (zachary boswell) who lives in the woods in a traditional gypsy caravan. The illustrations show the caravan with beautifully carved animals running down the sides.

G625: Girl's bear injured on train to visit Asian grandmother, who repairs bear's arm
Little girl gets on the train with her beloved bear, to visit her grandmother in either China or Japan, unclear whether her parents know. Bear's arm gets caught in train door but when they find grandmother, she soaks bear and fixes the arm like new.  My daughter LOVED this book 10-12 years ago. THX!

Akiko Hayashi, Aki and the Fox.
It sounds a lot like this book...only the stuffed animal is not a bear, it's a fox.  Aki takes her stuffed fox Kon by train to her grandmother to have it's arm sewn on.

G626: Girl lives with relatives at beach, buys beer hat
Read in early '90s, but maybe from '70s or '80s. A girl goes to live with an aunt due to probs at home. Her girl cousin shocks her by wearing a tube top and sneaking out at night. They hang out on the beach with boys. Main character spends all her money on a hat you drink beer from, aunt gets angry.

No Place For Me.
I totally remember this book!  The girl's name is Copper and her mother is in rehab.  She goes to live with family member after family member and ends up getting kicked out of each one.

G627: Grocery store, 1950s
Searching for a book my mother had in the 1950s.  Man and wife own grocery store and decide to clean it up on New Year's to attract more customers so they will earn $$ all year long.  End up cleaning store all year long instead.  Recall "wife was still sweeping all year", stacking produce (cabbage?)

G628: Girl, snake, underground tunnels
Looking for the title of a book I read in the late 1970s/early 1980s when I was in middle/junior high about a girl who falls down a hole/ravine and befriends a snake while living underground in tunnels.  She is rescued but has difficulty adjusting to life above and later returns to the underground.

G629: Girl has doll and time-travels
A young girl has a doll, I think it's a porcelain doll. Something about the doll makes her go back in time. A scene I remember is her traveling with a covered wagon train and they have a very large prairie fire. She runs and runs and finally lies in some sort of ditch and is able to survive the fire.

Cora Taylor, The Doll (aka Yesterday's Doll)

G630: Girl 'becomes' Goddess Athene
Girl & father travel to Greek island. She & local boy find a lost shrine to Athene. She's scared of snakes but in shrine snakes twist themselves around her arms. Her name is short for Athene. I think she has an owl amulet & they find coins & save island. Read late 70's/early 80's. Pre-teen/teen book.

Shelagh Macdonald,
A Circle of Stones.
G631: Giraffe, mailman, LGB
SOLVED: Polly Ferrell, Jasper Giraffe.

G632: Girl draws stone griffin, griffin and other stone animals come to life at night
SOLVED: Georgess McHargue, Stoneflight.

G633: Green Thumb, Magpie, and Father Time
A beautiful, distinctively illustrated book about an old man with a green thumb (both literally and figuratively) who lived on a hill.  The antagonist was a magpie, and the story somehow involved Father Time and a grandfather clock.  I had the book in the 80s or early 90s.

G634: Girl befriends unpopular girl, then betrays her with cruel comments in a slam book
Maybe from Scholastic circa 1975-1979. Adolescent girl befriends quirky girl (illustrations show her with long, frizzy hair & wearing eyeglasses & sandals) and then writes mean comments about her new friend in a slam book that's created by the popular girls. Sad ending: unpopular girl moves away.

Eleanor Estes, The Hundred Dresses.
Perhaps "The Hundred Dresses" by Eleanor Estes?
Ann Martin, Slam Book, 1980, approximate. Could this be Slam Book, by Ann Martin? 
Judy Blume, Otherwise known as Sheila the Great, 1980 , approximate. I can't remember whether Sheila has red hair or not, but there is a slam book scene and her family moves back home to New York City at the end of the book--they had moved to Tarrytown for the summer.

G635: Goat character, people have departed
Hi - probably from 60s or 70s - similar to Dr Seuss and others. It took place after people had left in a swarm.  There was a stand of trees and tufty grass - all the pavement had covered everything else.  This goat character lived in a big gap in the ground until things grew back...

Bill Peet, Wump World,
1970. This sounds like Bill Peet's The Wump World. Charming illustrations!

G636: Girl raises family
SOLVED: Patricia A. Engebrecht, Under The Haystack.


G637: Girl searches for lost grandparents, scar on her foot or mother's foot helps solve mystery
SOLVED: Dorothy Maywood Bird, Mystery at Laughing Water.

G638: Girl travels back in time witnesses titanic sinking
A girl somehow travels back in time and either witnesses titanic sinking or relives it through dreams. One of the quotes is "whiskers round the moon," which the girl thinks of as she is sailing over the place where the ship sank. There is a connection to a poor girl, possibly a passenger.

Richard Peck, Ghosts I Have Been,
1977. One of my very favorites. "Plucky Blossom Culp, Bluff City social outcast, in 1914, starts out as a mystic manqué tricking gullible classmates, but then suddenly she starts having honest-to-goodness visions: first of a car accident, then strange flashforwards (even one of the moon landing), and finally a trip back twenty months in time to relive the watery demise of a British boy who sank on the Titanic." (from Kirkus Reviews)
Peck, Richard, Ghosts I Have Been. If your story involved a poor girl having visions, it might be this one. It's part of the Blossom Culp series. Blossom is a poor outcast in a small town not long after the sinking of the Titanic. She learns that she has the ability to travel across time and see ghosts when she has visions of a boy who died on the Titanic. She even gets transported into his room on the ship and is with him in his last moments. Later, she travels with friends to England and passes over the spot where the ship sank.
Peck, Richard, Ghosts I Have Been, 1977. Here's the summary:  "Blossom Gulp's second sight joins her to a small boy deserted by his aristocratic parents during the Titanic disaster."
Richard Peck. You may be conflating Peck's book with one of L.M. Montgomery's. There was a character in her ''Anne'' series nicknamed "Whiskers-on-the-moon".

G639: Girl befriends merman
A young girl comes into contact with merpeople possibly becoming one herself. At end of book merman is talking to her in a tree house and somehow flies back to river where he lives.

Audrey Brixner, Lucy and the Merman, 1977. This sounds like Lucy and the Merman to me. "Lucy is sitting alone in her tree house one summer day when a seagull drops something into her lap. As it turns out, it's a small merman named Triton."


G640: Girl sells apple pies from her wagon
Girl sells apple pies from her wagon. I think this was a Scholastic book published in the mid 1960s  (at least I purchased it then). I think the premise was that she couldn't have her own bakery because she didn't want to bake a variety of things each day, just one.

G641: Girl named Cinnamon
I read a book in 1975, 76, and 77, about a girl named Cinnamon whose bedroom was in a rounded part of her house and she solved a mystery.  The title had something about a hill in it.  That is all I can remember but I cannot find anything about it.  I really hope that somebody can help me!

McLaughlin, Lorrie, The Cinnamon Hill Mystery,
1967. Maybe?  "Juvenile novel by the award winning Canadian author involving a family of girls and their inventive boy cousin who spend a summer solving a mystery involving nasty neighbors, a family estate, a lost will, and a hummingbird tree."
Thanks for the suggestion.  That may be correct but I'm still not very sure.  I remember it as the girl being the main character and I cannot find a picture of the cover that I remember, which is mostly red.  I thought that it was an outdoor picture with the hill and a house.  The only pictures I find are of a red cover with kids on it and a yellow non-jacketed cover. Despite these doubts, the title sounds correct with "... hill mystery" in it.  I could have sworn that her name was Cinnamon and that the name of the hill was something different, but we're talking ages and hundreds of books ago! If you happen to have the book with a diferent cover than I have found, I would appreciate a picture.  Thanks so much for taking the time to help me, though.
Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away Lake, Return to Gone-Away. Just throwing this out there too--Portia in Return to Gone-Away Lake sleeps in a round tower room.  She first sees the room at the end of Gone-Away Lake.  "It was situated in the tower, a perfectly round little rooom, with a curved window and a curved window-seat beneath it.  The wallpaper was patterned with faded forget-me-nots, and there was a small fancy desk with a key to lock it."
Lorrie McLaughlin, The Cinnamon Hill Mystery, 1967. Here is a picture of an orange cover of the book.  http://kisstheprincess.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html The book was illustrated by Leonard Shortall who also illustrated the Encyclopedia Brown books.
Bunting, Eve, Ghost Behind Me. I happened upon your website while searching for another title and happened to see the entry about a girl named Cinnamon. It’s possible that the requester is actually searching for a book called, “Ghost Behind Me” by Eve Bunting. It’s a story about a girl named Cinnamon who blames herself for her mother and sister’s deaths. She moves to a new house in San Francisco (I think) with her father and brother. She chooses the attic room with a broken window and finds a packet of love letters describing a forbidden love between a girl named Emily who lived in the house years before and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks- the girl’s father keeps them apart. Cinnamon begins hearing the sound of a car starting and even sees an oil stain on the driveway. Eventually, she meets the ghost- a young man named Felix. He tells Cinnamon he’s the reason the glass in the window is continuously broken- he couldn’t stand her father keeping them apart.  He was killed in an accident with Emily but can’t find Emily on the other side, so he’s still hanging around. He begs Cinnamon to help him find Emily. It’s actually a pretty good book.

G642: Girl named Penelope
SOLVED: Gerald Durrell, The Talking Parcel.


G643: Girls write story
Children's book that i read in maybe 1973? about 2 or 3 girls who live next door to each other, or maybe they are sisters. They write their own story within the book itself. I remember that their novel was about tiny people. The font of their story was different from the main story, to set it apart.

Carol Ryrie Brink, Two Are Better Than One.
Best friends Cordy and Chrys take turns writing a story about their small dolls.

G644: Girls club
I am looking for the title of a book i enjoyed as a girl in the 1960's. It was about a club of girls . One activitiy was a progressive luncheon, each course at a different girl's house. I think one  girl's name was Marcy and another, Irma.  "Once Is Enough"  was a chapter featured in a reader.

Lovelace, Maud Hart, Betsy Was a Junior,
1947. Betsy and her gang of girlfriends, including Irma and Carney (Marcy?), definitely had a progressive dinner among all their houses.  I believe this was in BWAJ, and actually I think they repeated it the next year.  If you remember the setting as Minnesota at the turn of the 1900s, this may be your book.
Response to commenter: thanks so much, but it's not Betsy was A Junior or any of the Maud Hart Lovelace books. The girls in the book I'm searching for were not teens, they were younger girls.
You might check out the Lovelace books anyway.  The series follows the girls well into their teens. There's even one called "Betsy's Wedding."  (Which I am proud to own!!)
Catherine Woolley, Ginnie and the Cooking Contest, 1968, approximate. It sounds a little like Ginnie and the Cooking Contest, part of the Ginnie and Geneva series. In that particular volume, Ginnie is determined to win a contest, so she and a few other girls take turns cooking different dishes at each other's homes. I don't think it was actually a club, but it might be remembered that way.
It's not Ginnie and the Cooking Contest, but thank you so much for your input. Something else I remember was that one of the girls at the progressive luncheon served something that was extremely hot and spicy and everyone kept drinking water to offset it. Also, by the time it got to dessert- something with marshmallows and nuts, no one except for one girl had any appetite left.
G645: Gnomes, elves, forest animals children's series
There was a series of books I had in the 80's as a kid that had gnomes, forest animals such as badgers, and also elevs in the forests. It told stories of their lives together and I think the little elves would sometimes fight. It had beautiful illustrations. The books were thin and tall.

G646: Green mother goose book, hardcover
Sea-green, hardcover mother goose book, I believe it had the goose on the front w/old woman riding it.  Had all the more common nursery rhymes, I remember the dish and the spoon one, not full page illustrations.  From the late 80's/early 90's. Haven't been able to find a photo of it specifically.

Briggs, Raymond, Mother Goose Treasury.
Some of the older editions of Briggs Mother Goose Treasury have an old woman against a blue background.  There's an illustration of one cover  at http://www.librarything.com/work/1371625/descriptions/ '

G647: Girl lives next door to ghost girl
Girl regularly talks to neighbor girl through fence in backyard. The neighbor says her mother doesn't like her to smile because it'll cause wrinkles. She is pale, gets nose bleeds (?), and eventually doesn't show up and the girl finds out she died actually died decades+ ago of scarlet fever (?)

G648: Group of dolls, published pre-1960
Looking for a chapter book I read as a child (would have to have been published before 1960) involving a group of dolls (I was very fond of doll books). At one point they are traveling in a boat and one or some are separated and trying to find each other again. There might have been a toy soldier involved.

Rumer Godden, Home is the Sailor,
1964. Sian lives in Wales and has a doll house that is missing all of its male dolls except for Curley, a little boy doll.  One of the missing male dolls is Thomas, a sailor doll who was to marry Miss Charlotte before he sailed to France.  Curley decides he must find Thomas to alleviate Miss Charlotte's sadness.  His chance meeting with a lonely French boy named Bernard who's visiting Wales leads Curley on a daring adventure to bring Thomas back to the dollhouse.  This is one of Godden's best doll books and an often overlooked work.
I, too, read Home is the Sailor, thinking it might be the book I was looking for, but in the book I read several dolls traveled in a boat (not just the sailor), and I was in high school when it was published. I read the book much earlier than that.
Anne Parrish, Floating Island. It's been a while since I read this, but I do know that it involves a group of dolls that are shipwrecked and I believe at one point separated.

G649: Girl,  3-D glasses
I am remember a book from England I read about 1962 or 63, but was probably from the mid-50s because it was about 3-D glasses. A girl about 10, in London, has an older, unpleasant sister who goes to secretarial school. The 10 yr old girl is unhappy until she puts on the 3-D glasses.

G650: Girl saves to buy mother stove(?) from sears or wards catalog
Girl saves to buy mother stove(?) from sears or wards catalog

John and Patricia Beatty, The Nickel-Plated Beauty
, 1960s. I don't know if this is the one you're thinking of, but it involves a girl in early-day Washington state and her numerous siblings, who sell berries, do chores for neighbors and whatever else they can think of to save up enough money to buy the stove they saw in a catalog (not sure whose). There is an online description at the Solved Mysteries section.  One detail: the family name is Kimball and all the children have black hair, so the neighbors call them "the glowering Kimballs".
Patricia Beatty, The Nickle-Plated Beauty, 1965, approximate. It may be The Nickle-Plated Beauty. It's a whole family of kids saving for the stove, but it's told from the perspective of one daughter. They live on the northwest coast, at the turn of the century.  It's a great book!
Patricia Beatty, The Nickel-Plated Beauty. Kids order a cooking stove for their mother, but have yet to earn all the money to apy for it. If you check for covers, keep in mind that it was published in the 70s and republished later witha  different cover.
Margaret Sidney, Five little peppers and how they grew. The details don't quite match, but could it be this book?
More details: Hello! I am trying for the life of me to find a chapter book I remember from my tween years (late 70's, early 80's), and hope you can help me.  I checked the book out from the Juniors section of the Austin Public Library. The book is about a very independent girl/young teenager (?) in pioneer times, and I remember that a big part of the story was that she was trying to earn/save money to buy her mother something from a mail order catalog to be delivered to her town's general store (Sears or Montgomery Wards?). I think it is a (wood burning) stove that she wants to buy—there is definitely something about a stove being a prominent feature of the book. The narrative is about a series of things that she attempts to do that don't ever quite work out the way she plans.  I remember her (loving and kind) father being prominent in the story. Something in the story is about a rose (either her name is Rose, or she wants or has a dress with rose print fabric, or the picture on the cover has the girl in a dress with a patchwork rose?). I remember a very descriptive part of the book where she is baking a red velvet cake. It’s the first time I ever heard of a red velvet cake, and the description sounded so delicious and rich.  Thanks for any leads you may have!
Patricia Beatty, Oh, The Red Rose Tree.
I still think you're looking for The Nickle-Plated Beauty, but you may be combining a few parts of the sequel--Oh, The Red Rose Tree.  Four of the girls from the original story are working on creating a quilt of roses...and things keep going wrong.  I don't know if the two books were ever combined in one volume, but maybe they were!
Patricia Beatty, Nickel-Plated Beauty. Others (inc. myself) have sent in the answer of Nickel-Plated Beauty by Patricia Beatty and that's still the right answer. But since the searcher posted more details and remembered a rose detail, I wanted to add that there was another book by Patricia Beatty, O THE RED ROSE TREE (I think it was a sequel but not 100% sure) In the rose one, 4 girls are trying to help a woman get 7 shades of red cloth to make a special rose quilt. Hope this helps.

G651: Girl named Ari
c. 1985? A juvenile fiction book about a girl named Ari. She has siblings who tease her a bit. There's a part in the book about some confusion with her neighbors and the SPCA. Also, I seem to remember there being a part in the book about a bicycle (stolen?)

Francine Pascal,
The Hand-Me-Down Kid, 1982.
Francine Pascal, The Hand-Me-Down Kid,
1982. Ari Jacobs finds that being the youngest in a family that does not seem to care is no fun, so she learns to assert herself. When a thief steals the bicycle she has secretly borrowed from her sister, 11 year old Ari, in trying to recover the bike, learns a lot about dealing with people.

G652: Goat Ate Tin Can Hologram (3-D)
1940's or early 50's children's book.  Probably elf or little golden book.  A goat ate a ragged tin can and you could see it in his tummy which was a hologram or 3-D view.


G653: Girl in elementary school, candies
SOLVED: Beverly Cleary, Ellen Tebbits.


G654: Girl visits aunt(s)? who live above a town and may be witches
Here are my memories: the girl visits/goes to live with her aunts (I think) - the house is on a hill above a town and the town people think the aunts are witches. It is very cold when the girl arrives and the room she stays in is pretty spartan.

Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth. This is a long shot, but when Sally goes to stay with her great-aunt Sarah, she gets there on a dark, rainy night, the house is spooky-looking and hard to find, and she does think her aunt looks like a witch--plus there's a black cat.  See D347.
Magic Elizabeth was a good guess but it is not the right book.
Sylvia Cassedy, Behind the Attic Wall. Shot in the dark b/c I'd think you'd remember the dolls, but have you looked at BEHIND THE ATTIC WALL?


G655: Girl from wrong side of the tracks falls pregnant with rich boys baby
he dies teen story, white background, small red & blue logo, girl with long dark hair on front, possibly with a plane (drawing not photo)?  He leaves to be a fighter pilot and dies, called Powell? He lived in a house which was 3 stories high and described as looking like a cake. written pre 80's possibly?

I STAY NEAR YOU by M.E. Kerr, 1997  Girl is Mildred Cone, boy is Powell Storm, boy lives in a mansion called Cake.


G656: Good good good, Bill shouted, today is my birthday!
In the late 1970s, my sister had a book memorized whose first line went like this:  Good good good, Bill shouted, today is my birthday!  The book had a 1950s art style like a little golden book. .  He went throughout the house and yard on a search for his birthday present.  He finds a puppy!

Irene Blair, Hazel Hoeeker (illus), Bill's Birthday Surprise, 1954. A Whitman Tell-A-Tale book. Cute pictures of Bill (w/ reddish-brown hair, wearing a red-and-white striped shirt and blue suspender overalls) looking for his surprise. Mother and father suggest that perhaps the surprise is hiding and help him look.


G657: Gunslinger searches for killer

I read a book once with a "gunslinger" like main character who traveled during the day searching for a man who killed at night.  In the end of the book the main character ends up at his house and finds a secret room in the back and realizes he is the killer he has been searching for the whole time.

Stephen King, The Dark Tower Series. You might be thinking about this whole series and not just an individual book.


G658: A Ghost Story...
That was the title, I believe. Just "A ghost story" and I believe the book was from the late 1970's. If I can remember correctly, it was a story of a young girl (teen possibly), who was staying in a home along the coast, and it was haunted by a man I believe was a pirate, ship captain... but he was stuck and kept walking the shore, and he thought the girl was his lost love. I think she tried to explain that she wasn't, and somehow, toward the end of the story, it was found that his long lost love was a ghost as well, and they walk away together... I think, for the time, the book was fairly well written, and well, haunting. :) I remember the cover being white, I think, and the writing being in red, but I cannot remember the author. It was a paperback book I bought through the book orders our teachers passed out in class. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Unknown, The Concrete Captain, 1972, approximate. This is so similar to the plot of "The Concrete Captain" it was a TV episode of a 1970's ghost story series,  but perhaps it was based on a book or short story?  It was aired as an episode of the TV series "Ghost Story".  It was first aired in 1972, but was perhaps rerun again in the late 70's, because that's when I seem to remember seeing it.  You had mentioned just remembering the words "ghost story", and that's the name of the TV series. In the Concrete Captain episode, a young woman is staying with her husband at an inn (actually an old house), on the coast. She is haunted/obsessed by the ghost of a sea captain, who was buried 100 years earlier in the rocks on the coast, near the inn. The house/inn was the home of the dead captain and his wife 100 years before. The young wife staying there walks the shore repeatedly, he (ghost of captain), crawls onto the shore calling for her. The ghost of the captain is "stuck" or "trapped" and can't move on. There is also the actual ghost of the dead wife involved also, more toward the end---the ghost of the long lost love/dead captain's wife, finally is able to encourage him that they can finally be together again. If you go to YouTube and search for "concrete captain", someone has posted the entire episode in 3 parts. I know it's not your book but the plot is so similar, and the TV series was called "ghost story", so maybe the idea for the book came from the show, or perhaps the show was based on your book!
Elizabeth Walter, The Concrete Captain (short story  in her collection In The Mist (Arkham House, 1979), previous to 1972, approximate.
WorldCat record notes: Title: Ghost story. The concrete captain / Author(s): Cabot, Sebastian, 1918-1977, host. /


G659: Grandmother tells exciting story of girl in the old country, reveals she was that girl
1960s book? beautiful illustrations. grandma tells story of girl in "the old country" (Poland or Russia or Hungary by the dress?), story involves the brother, something about catching a giant fish which then slaps one of them on the face with its tail, then grandmother reveals she was girl in story.

Frank Anders, Grandmother and Machek
Frank Anders was a dear friend of mine, a wonderfully talented artist who lived in Rochester, NY.  He passed away a few years ago.   “Grandmother and Machek” was based on a story told to him by his paternal Polish grandmother (the family name was Anuszkiewicz, which he changed to Anders).  The book, published by Whitman, has been long out of print.  I believe Frank’s son is trying to get it republished.


G660: Girl, birthday wish, record

I was reading this between 1982 - 88. Could have been published anytime before.  About a girl who for her birthday wants & asks everyone for a certain record. When opening presents at party, she received the same gift over and over. Book may have included read along record. Soft cover.


G661: Girl, woods, boy ghost
Girl moves to new home, conflict in house with either sister or parents. Meets boy in woods who turns out to be ghost. He may have been a suicide, or she considers it to join him.  Ultimately she senses he means her harm. Read this in high school library in 1978. May be up to 10 years older.

G662: Girl grows weeds
A book about a girl who can't do anything right until she grows weeds. I recall the drawings as black & white, but who knows? 

G663: Girl pees in potty
I remember the book in the mid 80's. About a girl named Catherine (unsure of the spelling). There is a part that goes through all the places she shouldn't pee and a part that says something like "the dog pees outside, the cat pees in the box and Catherine goes pee pee in the potty. A board book.


G664: Girls finds secret passage in her room
1990s kids book, green cover w yellow text and antique doorknob. Part of a series, author had 2 first initials. girl moved away from her friends to a Victorian house with her mother and brother. Son - plaid curtains w red walls. Girl – yellow walls w flower curtains. Girl discovered a secret passage. 
G665: Girl befriends witch girl on her way to school
Children's book about a girl who encounters another girl claiming to be a "witch" in the forest on her way to school. The two girls become friends. Setting is somewhere in northern US during the fall. Recall that it had a won (or been nominated) for a children's book prize. Published before 1981.

Probably Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, by E.L. Konigsburg. Newbery Honor Book.  "I walked the back way because it passed through a little woods that I liked.  Jennifer was sitting in one of the trees in this woods."--page 3.
Konigsburg, E. L., Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth. G665 sounds like it must be Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E. L. Konigsburg, published in 1968.  "Elizabeth is new in town and having trouble making friends. When she meets Jennifer, things take a turn for the better. Jennifer claims to be a witch and she recruits Elizabeth as her apprentice. The girls communicate through notes and secret messages. As part of her apprenticeship, Elizabeth has to eat raw eggs, onions, spaghetti noodles and give up sweets for the holidays. There are also taboos for the girls to follow or face the consequences. During their weekly meetings and rituals they plan to invent a flying ointment. The two develop a special friendship as they spend time in the library researching the formula for this magical ointment." The book was a Newbery Honor Book.
Konigsburg, E. L., Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, 1967. G665 is probably Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E. L. Konigsburg.  It was published in 1967 and was a 1968 Newbery Honor Book, and Wikipedia has a (spoilerish) synopsis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer,_Hecate,_Macbeth,_William_McKinley,_and_Me,_Elizabeth
That's "Jennifer, Hecate, William McKinley and me, Elizabeth" :)

I think this must be Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, by E. L. Konigsburg, 1967. It matches the description perfectly and you can find a detailed summary on the book’s Wikipedia page, here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer,_Hecate,_Macbeth,_William_McKinley,_and_Me,_Elizabeth
G666:Garnets buried like treasure, brother and sister find painting of woman with mismatched eyes
Read in the 70's, children's mystery. There is an old painting of a woman with one blue eye and one green eye, poem on back reads, "One red rose more lovely than all the ruby fire buried in the mountain by the pool of lost desire" The rubies refer to garnets found eventually by the children. The woman in the painting is now old and resurfaces as a character identified by the children later only by her mis-matched eyes. The children are brother & sister (I think) recently moved into an old house. Near the beginning they meet another young girl named (I think) Olivia who has an interesting character and something physically wrong with her (a limp?). It turns out that the woman in the painting and the man who had it painted were in love but quarreled long ago over what should be done with garnets he had found on property now owned by the protagonists' family. She felt they should be used to set something right with Olivia's family. When she ran away he was heartbroken and never dug the garnets up even though he had intended to. The children are able to find the garnets and do something to right the old wrong. There is a forested pool on the house's property and a "mountain" by it where the garnets are found.
 
Mystery Back of the Mountain, by Mary Childs.
Jane, Mary C. I think the G666 solution is the correct one for the book Mystery Back of the Mountain but the author of that book is not Mary Childs.  It was one of mystery writer Mary C. Jane's books. 

G667: Girl crosses plateau to escape a wind that freezes people
A girl is trapped by a wind that acts as an assassin for an evil queen. The wind freezes people, but for some reason let's the girl escape. She flees up onto a plateau. Somewhere along the way, she joins up with a boy. At one point they encounter horses called night mares.

This could be "The Darkangel" by Meredith Ann Pierce. 

G668: Gazing ball with children trapped inside
1950's child lit chapter book (not picture book) about children trapped in a world inside a yard gazing globe/ball.  Plot is how they return to real world.

This sounds like one of the chapters in A Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton.
This could be The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton.  Although it's a very small part of the plot, I think the missing aunt and uncle (children through most of the book, but adults at the end) were released when a gazing ball on the lawn was broken. Another mystery where a gazing ball played a big role was Jane-Emily, by Patricia Clapp. But the plot is a little different--the ghost of a girl haunting the ball is banished when the ball is broken by the child she's haunting.  Still, just in case, I thought it was worth a mention.
I believe the searcher is looking for The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton.  A girl and her brother search for a lost aunt and uncle, who became trapped inside a gazing ball when they were only children.  It was published around 1960, but has since been reissued.


G669: Girl hides in brambles/thicket
Sent in here several years ago, was wrongly marked "solved" by someone who claimed to be, but was not really the OP.  That person found their book, but I never found this one. This book was written no later than the 50s/60s. I read it in the very early 70s. The book is about a young girl who is sent away/goes to live in a lonely place with a relative, I think.  She had a secret hiding place she would often escape to- a woodsy area, in a thicket, or brambles. A wolf, or some such animal, was her friend. There was something unusual about the color of the animal's eyes. The color of the animal's eyes is brought up a few times.  At the very end, (like on the last page) there was some hint that the animal was really this man she knew,(gardener, groundskeeper?) as she noticed he had the exact same color eyes.

Absolutely for sure NOT IT...
My Wolf, My Friend/Sasha, My Friend- Barbara Corcoran; Girl in the Golden Bower- Jane Yolen; String Of Time/Nightmare- Irma Chilton; Foxy Boy/The Wild Valley- David Severn; The Secret Garden- Frances Hodgson Burnett

 Sorry to learn that your original stumper was not indeed solved! 
G670: Girl mixed up in espionage
Girl who somehow gets mixed up in espionage. I read this book in the 6th grade, so the early 90's but I think this book was written in the 60's or 70's. The only line I can remember is when the male spy says he loves her and she says "those words went off like a firecracker in my head."

Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Could this have been a book by Amelia Elizabeth Walden?  The Spy Who Talked Too Much was my favorite, but she wrote a bunch of girl-mixed-up-with-spies books in the 70s.  I think she even had a state award named after her.

G671: Goat and barnyard friends
Small orange book RE: a goat ("Gabby"?) and her barnyard friends want to get a b-day gift for goose ("Mrs. Goose"?). Goat jumps up on barrel to get an old halter off a nail in barn. She nibbles the halter apart to get a red ring that is presented as a necklace to goose. publ 1960-1989? Thanks! 
G672: Girl Scouts on Camping Trip
Probably published in the 1960s. Story about girls (maybe Girl Scouts) on a camping trip. Two girls set out at night with flashlight in search of their missing friend. Beautiful pastel colored illustrations. Stump the Bookseller has helped me find 10 books to date!

Wow! Let's make it eleven.

G673: Ghost who leaves water rings
I am looking for a book about two kids who end up befriending two ghosts in an abandoned house. One of the ghosts is a girl who drowned after falling overboard a steamboat. When she appears she leaves a hoop skirt shaped water ring. There might be bad guys trying to get at hidden treasure.


The books about the ghost with dripping hoopskirts is WHO KNEW THERE'S BE GHOSTS?, by Bill Brittain. There's a sequel, THE GHOST FROM BENEATH THE SEA.
I think this might be The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck.

G674: Gypsy named Randi, silver mine, horse racing
 I am looking for a young adult book that I read circa 1976.  I know it has the word Gypsy in the title but it was not one of the Gypsy Love trilogy.  It featured a young girl, Randi who was a gypsy girl with red hair.  A silver mine, horse racing and a family secret are involved.  Hero's name: Troy.

Gypsy Secret
by Florence Crane.

G675: Girl befriends a girl who's accused of being a witch and has a bedroom in a barn
A book I had in the 1980's and might have been from a book club at school (Scholastic?). The book was about a girl who befriended another girl who I think was a new girl in her class at school. The new girl had very long straight black hair and was teased by the other kids at school who I think called her a witch. One day while at school the new girl was somehow injured and then the girl who had befriended her went to visit her at her home. She found the black-haired girl in bed with a her head bandaged and I think she might have been delirious as well. The black-haired girl had an unusual bedroom in that the family had turned their barn into a bedroom for her and it had a big skylight. I think the black-haired girl lived with her single mother and the single mother's parents. They may have been Native Americans. She had a large custom-made doll house that was very tall. The book was illustrated and I specifically recall and illustration of this girl's bedroom in the barn and the skylight open to the night sky with stars. I wish I could remember the title and author... Thanks for any help with locating this one :)


Some of the elements in your stumper remind me of Snowbound in Hidden Valley, by Holly Wilson. You may want to check it out to see if it's your book!
This could be The Seven Stone aka Maggie in the Middle by Mary Francis Shura.  See the solved page under "S" for more details.  It definitely has the main character visiting a weird girl from school who has a bedroom in a converted barn.

G676: Girl, relative, Victorian house
SOLVED: Katie John

G677: Girl, witch rituals
Girl who spends a lot of time alone goes through many (harmless) rituals to become magical or a witch. A couple I remember is that she spends a whole day not walking on any floors, and spends another day not speaking to anyone – but she can’t tell people why she’s doing it. I can’t remember if there was a club, etc. She learns about the idea of a “familiar” and I believe has a cat as her familiar. I read it in the mid-80’s, but am not sure when it was published.

E. L. Konigsburg, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, 1967.
Possibly?  I think there's a section in this where she is not allowed to step on the floors during the training.
Is one allowed a double guess?
The Headless Cupid,
Zilpah Snyder includes the "don't step on the floors" part. Amanda is the new stepsister of the four Stanley children; she dresses all in black, and claims magic powers; she has a crow as a familiar. Intrigued, the others go through rather elaborate and confusing rituals such as the floor one, avoiding metal and the like, to learn magical powers. They try to keep things from their parents, mainly out of the fact they like secrets, but things get out of hand. In the end it turns out that she wasn't sure about her new family and put up the magic facade as a way of keeping her distant; the other kids don't really mind, and all ends well, with a whiff of mystery at the end.
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, EL Konigsberg.
Elizabeth, the narrator, is new to the city but befriends a mysterious and clever black girl, Jennifer, who claims to be a witch. She offers to teach Elizabeth to be one, but this includes having to do things like not cut her hair, eat lots of onions, never touch pins, etc. and of course not tell anyone about what's going on. Elizabeth gets into rather amusing troubles with her parents and snooty friends, including when she filches rather yucky health food from The Greats, her great-aunt and -uncle. Jennifer has a toad for a familiar; this is part of a flying ointment the girls plan to create. The girls tend to argue, but all ends well.
Hope one of these helps.

Wallace Hildick, Active Enzyme Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch, 1974.
Zilpha Keatly Snyder, The Headless Cupid.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Headless Cupid, 1971. This sounds like Amanda in The Headless Cupid.  She's a new stepsister to the Stanleys (David, Janie, Esther & Blair) and is "studying" to be a medium.  She sets up various ordeals, like not touching anything metal or not stepping on the floor, that all the children have to pass if they want to participate in her occult doings. Her familiar is a crow called Rolor.
E.L. Konigsburg, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth. Longshot guess here, but is it possible it might be Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, by E.L. Konigsburg?  I do remember Elizabeth going through harmless rituals devised by her friend Jennifer to become a witch. I don't remember if those rituals included not walking on floors for a day or not talking to anyone for a day, but do recall some of the other rituals like eating a raw egg every day for a week, not cutting her hair, etc.  Also remember a discussion of familiars in the book - Jennifer's said that her pet toad was her familiar.  Like I said, a longshot guess, but might be what you are looking for.
I believe the querent is remembering both The Active-Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened, Junior High School Witch by Wallace Hildick and Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The Headless Cupid. I would ask if they remember a “squiggly code” and a garter made from a hair ribbon with a little bell attached. Hildick worked from an introductory book on witchcraft by Paul Huson which is still in print.

G678: Girl visits aunt
It is about a girl going to visit her aunt. She reads part of a letter from the aunt while she is on the way there and thinks the aunt doesn't want her to come stay. So she runs away and lives in a small shed in a field near a tree line. It may have taken place in England.

Charley by Joan G Robinson
This would be Charley by Joan Robinson c. 1969. Feeling unwanted by the aunt who has come to stay during her parents' absence, a young girl runs away and lives on her own.
This sounds very like Charley by Joan G Robinson.  She reads a page of her aunt’s letter which says ‘I don’t want Charley, you know that’ and runs away to live in a wooden caravan by a wood.  When she finally meets the aunt at the end, the aunt produces the preceding page of the letter which ended ‘It’s not that....I don’t want Charley, you know that’.  It was published in the UK in paperback by Lions so easy to get hold of a secondhand copy.
G678: is The Girl Who Ran Away by Joan G. Robinson (I seem to remember there was a note on the cover that the original title had been "Charley")
I think the book this person is describing is called "The Girl Who Ran Away", by Joan G. Robinson. Published in 1969 and yes, it takes place in England.
The Girl Who Ran Away (Original Title: Charley) by Joan G. Robinson, first published in 1969.

G679: Grandparent's camper
Description: This is a chapter book I remember reading in the late '60's. There were two children (I think they might've been orphans) whose grandparents take them camping in an old 1930's touring car that has been rebuild as a camper, with beds, a stove, etc. I think the author also wrote another book about a magic elevator, but I could be wrong about that (no, it's not Dahl).

I think you're looking for Ruth Cristoffer Carlsen's Henrietta Goes West.  (Henrietta is the car).  The two kids are newly orphaned, one of them won't speak, and Henrietta belongs to a great aunt and uncle.  She's an old touring car with some magical properties.  It's been years since I thought of the book, but it's great!
Could the author be Edmund Ormondroyd, who wrote Time at the Top ( the "magic elevator book")? Otherwise, the stumper sounds like the Disney movie The Gnome Mobile.

G680: Girl likes photography, sheet music
Girl who likes photography, has an Alice Blue gown? or likes the sheet music.  Young adult, book,  she was in high school.  Likes a boy.  Edwardian era or early 20's era.  Was in the Oroville, CA library in the early 80's, but the book could be much older.

G681: Girl with orange hair, hair stylist mom
I know this children's book was in the library in the 1980s but I don't know when it was published.
A mom who is a hair stylist (salon, beauty shop) has a daughter with red (orange?) hair. The little girl doesn't think her hair is pretty, though the mom tells her it is. For some reason in part of the story they visit the neighbors, who are Chinese (Asian? or in the vocabulary then, Oriental?) and run a restaurant. At the end of the book, however, the mom shows the little girl the Harvest Moon, and when the little girl asks what it is, the mom tells her it's orange. So the girl then knows the color of her hair is pretty. Unfortunately that's all I know....


G682: Girl, bear, hut, forest, Christmas tree
SOLVED: Deep in the Forest

G683: Girl sews patchwork
I have a vague memory of reading a story about a little girl who learned to sew by hand. The thing that sticks out in my mind is that she was sewing an apron or a skirt with pieces of yellow fabric with red patterns on it. Can't remember anything else at all about the story.

This might be Ellen Tebbits by Beverly Cleary since there's a chapter that features Ellen and her friend having matching yellow dresses with a red monkey design.  At a long shot it might also be the short story Polly Patchwork by Rachel Field, which is about a little girl wearing a dress made of a patchwork quilt, some of the patches were yellow and red.

G684: Girl in Rome searches for lost cat
Looking for a book that I read in the late 80s/early 90s. The story is about a young girl in Rome looking for a lost cat. She eventually finds the cat when it comes out of the mouth of truth statue. I remember the book being large having a hard blue cover.


G685: Ghost girl named Lilith, lighthouse at the seaside
All I can remember is that it was a hardback book with a blue cover and (possibly) a Lighthouse on that cover, or something like that (maybe a manor/mansion? Not sure, but I think it was a lighthouse). The story, if I remember correctly, involved a young girl (who may well have been sent to live at the seaside, again I've no ida) becoming friends with another girl called Lilith. If I remember correctly, Lilith is a ghost, and the living girl is unaware of this fact. I'm also vaguely remember that at some point Lilith gets angry/annoyed with something or some one. I know it's not a lot to go on, but I really hope somebody can help me find this book. Thanks in advance.


G686: Grey squirrel dies, lives on through children
The book  I am looking for is  a 1950-1960's book something like the Little Grey Squirrel. Childrens book about a mother Grey Squirrel and her children and how she lives on through them when she is killed by a car.


G687: Great Stories for Children, including Noah's Ark
I was born in 1968 and I remember reading this book when I was maybe 10.  I remember it as a large size book, tall and narrow, with a deep pink/purple cover.  I feel like it was called something like "Greatest Stories for Children".  My parents were not big readers so the books we had usually were from Reader's Digest (ie the condensed book series) - and I associate the one I remember with another book I had, called "Strange Stories and Amazing Facts". Anyway, the "Greatest Stories" book had a story in it that I think had vaguely religious overtones, and was about the themes of redemption and forgiveness. A young boy in it did something bad (I don't remember what) to a little girl (maybe hurt her in a careless accident and crippled her or something like that?)  In the end, he carvers her a beautiful Noah's Ark set that he gives to her as a gift.






H1: Halloween
Solved:  A Tiger Called Thomas

H3: Hat Parade
I’m so glad I found your website. I hope you can help me find a book I used to borrow from the library when I was still in third grade (1974). The school is in the Phillippines but the book I’m looking for is an American book. I no longer remember the title and the author. It’s a hardbound book. The cover is green (or red, I’m not sure). It has colored illustrations inside. It has lots of stories but the characters are the same throughout the book. The only character I remember is Peggy. Most of the stories are set in the school. There’s a chapter about a hat parade in school where a boy is wearing a hat made of 3 balloons. Another girl is wearing a hat made of autumn leaves. Another scene is the circus and there’s a picture of a female rider who jumps from the ground or teeterboard on to a aack of a running horse. That’s all I can remember. Thanks so much for your help.

Not much help here, but this sounds like a school reader, the kind with connected stories about continuing characters. The description of the illustrations also sounds like a reader.


H4: Hats of seven colors
Solved: Up and Away
H6: Hunger Walk

Solved: The Man Who Cooked For Himself
H8: Horses, rehabilitation and valedictorians

Solved: Dark Sunshine

H9: Holy grail hunt
Solved: Hidden Treasure of Glaston

H10: Hedgehog love
Solved: The Many Lives of Chio and Goro

H13: How a girl befriends an angel
Solved:  Snow Angel 

H14: Hoban book?
Solved: Harvey's Hideout

H15: Homely male doll story read by Capt. Kangaroo
Solved: Herkimer the Homely Doll


H16: Hide and Seek, y'all
Trying to recall the name of a book where the black children played hide and seek and called out, "Honey in the bee ball, bee ball, bee ball. I can't see ya'll, see ya'll, see ya'll."  I am sure it was a well known piece of literature. Thanks.

I guess this would just be too obvious : City Kids, City Games written and photographed by James Wagenvoord, designed by Anita Wagenvoord. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1974 128 pages, illustrated with numerous full-page photographs of African American children, photograph on cover of a running Afican American child. "James Wagenvoord spent six months roaming with his camera, catching city children at play in tenements and housing developments, on cement stoops and building roofs. The photographer, who was born in Lansing, Michigan and attended Duke University, is not African American."
I'm pretty sure the mystery book is not Wagenvoord's City Kids/City Games.  As you probably know it's not a children's book, rather a sort of sociological/urban studies photo essay. I believe it's rather obscure, but that could just be my perception.  Anyway, terrific idea and site. Wish I'd thought of it!
Well I don't know of a book where children sing it, but "Honey in the Bee Ball" is a jazz classic by Lewis Jordan, written in the 1930s, if that's any help.
Mary Dutton, Thorpe (1967) approximate)  I wonder if it might be this book, although the song is said to be a southern traditional game-song (like the skipping rope songs, etc.)so it most likely would be featured in other stories as well.  This book takes place during the Depression, in the South (Arkansas I think) about a little white girl, Thorpe, whose father is a principal or official of a school and gets into trouble with the board for giving the black school books that were being discarded anyway.  Thorpe is friends with some black children, I think their mother works for hers, and there are several scenes where a boy called Thee sings "Honey in the bee ball", at least once while playing in the woods.  Thee drowns in a waterhole while trying to get away from some local bullies.


H18: Hilda Kolakowski
Solved: Upright Hilda



H19: Hot Hot Peppers
The title may be hot hot peppers or a number of other combinations It is a story about seven bandits who steal peppers from farmers. The entire book goes through the farmer's attempts to get the peppers back.  In the end the bandits and the farmers eat the peppers together. This book was originally purchased from a school book fair around the year 1986.  It is a paperback, very thin book.  something you'd read to a kindergarten age child at bedtime.  The only phrase that may be distinguishable is that each time hot peppers are mentioned in the book, the H-O-T is spelled out just like that.  I have never even read the book.  This is all information I've gotten from my boyfriend's mom.  She sold the book in a garage sale a few years ago without thinking about it.  It was his favorite book as a child and I've been looking for it for months.  Please Please Please help me find it!

Audrey Wood, Twenty Four Robbers, 1980. Child's Play (International) Ltd. printed in Singapore I have a hardcover version of this book, found second-hand somewhere...  "Not last night, but the night before... "Twenty-four robbers came a-knocking at my door. "I asked them what they wanted, "And this is what they said... "H...O...T... hot peppers!!!"  The robbers return several times to a (single?) woman, taking more ingredients, only to return with a pot of hot pepper soup to share.



H20: Harold series
Solved: Herbert's Space Trip

H21: Horse story: kids help old nag
Solved: Horse Haven

H22: Hucklebones
Solved: Hucklebones

H25: Horse wants off the round-about.
Solved:  The Runaway Flying Horse

H26: Holocaust survivor story
Solved: Stolen Years


H29: House goes through transitions in series of books
A series of books that I read as a young girl in the 50s dealt with a house in England. The first book was about its construction, some time in the 1600s or so. The next book was about the next owners of the house - their stories and how they changed the house. The next book was about the next owners. And so on. I think there were about 10 books in the series, winding up with the house being made into apartments or lofts or something and then telling the stories of all the families that lived in these apartments. Does this ring a bell with anyone? This series was one of my favorites and I'd like to recommend it to my daughters.

#H29--House goes through transitions in series of books:  Sounds like L. M. Boston's Green Knowe series, which ARE wonderful books you SHOULD read, but there is NOTHING in them about the house being divided into apartments!  Also, they are not in sequence--the earliest, The Stones of Green Knowe, was published last in the series.
H29 - Sound like the books by Norah Lofts that include The House At Old Vine, The House at Sunset, etc.  But I don't think they go up to modern times, so these may not be the ones being searched for.
barbara willard, the mantlemass chronicles.  i also can't remember anything about apartments, but i may not have read every book in the series.  they take place in england and are novels that tell stories through the families that live in mantlemass- their manor- over hundreds of years, beginning in the 1400's.  they are not all about the same family necessarily, but the characters interlink in some way with those in other books.  titles include the sprig of broom, the lark and laurel, keys to mantlemass, harrow and harvest, a flight of swans, and others.



H31: Horse breaks leg
Here goes: I loved and read every horse book I could find when living in Virginia as a child and there is one I'd love to find. As best as I can remember, the young girl in the story goes to live with her riding teacher and works for her. She wants to enter shows and the teacher buys her riding clothes and so forth. Somewhere along the line she rides her teacher's favorite horse and when it jumps a jump, the horse breaks a leg. Any clues

Jean Slaughter Doty, The Monday Horses, late 1970's.
This book isn't the Monday Horses. I'm wondering if it's one of Barbara Morgenroth's, though?
Kathleen Herald, Sabre, the Horse From the Sea.  A good possiblility.
Gillian Baxter, Horses in the Glen, 1962.
Sharon Wagner, Gypsy From Nowhere.  I haven't read this but I have read the sequel, Gypsy and Nimblefoot.  In Gypsy From Nowhere, I think Wendy, the human heroine, goes to stay with her aunt and uncle.  She rides a horse and it breaks its leg.  She feels terrible about it but makes friends with Gypsy, another horse.
Jane McIlvane, Cammie's Choice, 1963.  Cammie moves from the city to Virginia and discovers riding.  Because she shows promise she gets free lessons from Missy who runs the Pony Club.  Missy gives her riding boots and clothes and teaches her to ride on her favourite old thoroughbred, Corinthian.  Through overconfidence Cammie lets Corinthian jump a wired fence and he has to be put down, spoiling the Pony Club's chances at the Pony Club Rally.  Cammie then shows that she can ride the difficult Sabrina and they prove themselves at the Opening Meet of the foxhunting season.  In tne sequel, Cammie's Challenge, Cammie rides Sabrina to victory in the National Rally.



H32: Hot Pink Pages
The book I'm looking for was given to me new sometime between 1965 and 1972. It was an oversized hard bound children's book, and had short stories, poems, and rhymes in it. I think the cover was mainly white with characters on it. The main thing I remember was the color of the outside of the pages. Looking at the book closed, the outside of the pages were hot pink colored.   My brother received a similar looking book but his contained all stories. The books may have been part of a set or series but they weren't encyclopedias. They weren't that big. They must have been cheaply priced even when new, as my mom only shopped in bargain stores and 5 and 10 cent stores.  I also seem to remember the quality of the paper used in the book wasn't too good. The paper seemed to me to be almost newspaperish type, like in a paperback book instead of a hardbound one.  Does my description ring any bells? I've asked for this book numerous times and nobody remembers any such book.

Going by name only- how about Noddy's Tall Pink Book by Enid Blyton?



H33: Hag Dowsabel
Solved: People in the Garden


H35: Humphrey the Horrible
Solved: Great Ghost Rescue


H36: House
I remember reading a story about an old house that was unsold and closed for many years. And then one day a family buys its. And the story is about the the transition the little house goes through as her owners renovate. The shutters change colour, the paint etc

Sounds like it could be THE BIG WORLD AND THE LITTLE HOUSE by Ruth Krauss, ill. by Marc Simont, 1949. A house is empty until a family moves in and fixes it up. ~from a librarian
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942.  It's possible that the book is The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. The book begins as the house is built out in the country on the top of a hill. Eventually cars arrive, other houses are built, and the house ends up in the middle of a big city, surrounded by apartment buildings and neglected.  Finally, a woman walks by, recognizes the house as the one built by her great great grandfather, and has it moved back to the top of a hill in the countrty.  They do fix the windows and shutters and repaint it, although I don't think they change the colors. Also, this happens right at the end of the book, so if renovation is a big part of the story, this isn't the book.
H36 house: more on one suggested title - The Big World and the Little House, by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Marc Simont, published Schuman 1949, 40 pages. "The thread of story tells about a family in which each member adds one cherished feature after another to an empty old house, standing alone in the world, to create the feeling of home. The modern and colorful pictures capture the mood of the story, as they show the dark round world where the house stands, while it gathers up the happy spirit and love of the people who live there." (HB Jan/50 p.35) Another possible is The House of Four Seasons, written and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, published Lothrop 1956, 32 pages. "Father, Mother, Billy and Suzy buy an old house in the country and can't decide what color to paint it. Shall it be red and green to look pretty in spring, yellow and purple for summer, brown and blue for fall, or green with orange shutters like a Christmas tree in the snow? Finally Billy suggests that they make the four sides different, one for each season, so off they go to the paint shop. The children are disappointed when the salesman tells them he has only blue, red and yellow paint, but Father shows them how they can 'play tricks' with those colors and get every shade they want or, better still, have a real 'house of four seasons' with all the sides alike." (HB Aug/56 p.257)
Another possibility is Shefelman's picture book, Victoria House:  two architects buy a  run-down Victorian house and move it to a neighborhood in the city, where they redesign the interior and restore the exterior.
On the older stumper #H36--House, this further information on one of  the suggested titles gives enough detail that the original poster should be  able to confirm or eliminate it: The Big World and the Little House, (1949) by Ruth ("The Carrot Seed") Krauss. It's a wonderful book by a well-known author with enchanting pictures by Marc Simont.  It begins "The world is a big place. The house was a little house. The house was a little part of the world. It sat alone on a hill that was rough and completely bare... At night it was part of the dark. No heart beat in it. Nobody lived there."  Then a family moves in, fixes it up. "The dog dug a hole and the kids poured water in it to catch the stars. And they invited chipmunks to come and live among the roots of the roses." "The father put down a little blue rug with a black sheep on it made by a lady in Canada." Incredibly poetic, somehow incredibly evocative of what it means to live in a family... and more... "They put in a telephone and if you got the right number you could talk with somebody in China. And they put in a radio. On the radio, you could hear people from another part of the world, but they couldn't hear you. If someone on the radio said, 'Children should be in bed right after supper,' you could yell 'Yah yah yah yah yah!' and they couldn't yell back because they couldn't hear you.... If you turned on the music loud enough, the floor of the little house would shake in time to it. Someone making music far away across the ocean could make your house shake."  One clear night the kids start to make up a song beginning "'We've got chipmunks in our roses and stars between our toeses...' They didn't get any further.  And like this song of the children, that had no ending, the house was no filled with the feeling of the people in it even in what was not there--like the curtains Grandma never put up in her room and kept saying she was waiting to get just the right kind. Only everyone knew it was one of those things Grandma never got around to, and never would." "The little house had become a home. 'Home' is a way people feel about a place. These people felt that way about the little house. Some people feel that way around a room, which is just part of a house.  Some people feel that way about a corner, which is just part of a room that is part of a house.  Some people feel that way about the whole world."



H37: House is book's cover, corner slanted like roof
The book I'm looking for is one of the few books I've seen, back then, that the cover was a house and the corner was slanted like a roof.  There were children on the cover, one either mowing grass or raking, one leaning out a window.  If you can either locate or give me the name of this book, I would appreciate it.  It is a fond memory of my childhood.  Thank you!

One of the Golden Shape Books? There's This is My House (A Golden Sturdy Shape Book) written and illustrated by John E. Johnson, published NY: Golden/Western 1981. Or The House Book (A Golden Shape Book) by Carol North, published NY: Golden, 1985.



H38: Hollow
Solved: The Truth About Stone Hollow 

H39: A horse named Horse
Solved: The Year of the Horse 

H40: Hungarian refugee helped by camping  Teens
Solved: Journey With a Secret

H41: Hazel, the maid?
I remember a (series I think) of books about a family with a large house.  The main character was a girl in the family, and I think they had a maid (possibly named Hazel, although I may be mixing that up with the tv show!) who was a central figure in the family's life.

This is just a wild guess, but I'm thinking of the Melendy family stories by Elizabeth Enright: The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, and Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze.  The maid was Cuffy and she did figure prominently in the stories.  The girls were Mona and Randy.
Janet Lambret, Star-Spangled Summer.  This could be any of the Peggy Parrish books by Janet Lambret.  The large, happy family has a mai nemaed Trudy (I think) who is like a member of the family.



H42: House with windows
Solved: Four Story Mistake

H43: Home, nothing, nobody
Solved: Nothing at All
H44: Henry and the Ant

Solved: Henry's Awful Mistake
H45: Henrietta the roller-skating hippo

I am looking for a book I read as a child that was about a roller skating hippo (I think her name was Henrietta). Her family did not want her to roller skate, so they would hide her skates and you had to try to find them in the pictures throughout the book. Finally at the end the whole hippo family was on roller skates. This book is important to me because as a child  I loved the colors in it and discovering where the hidden roller skates were. Do you know where I could find it? I do not remember the publisher or the author.

H45 is most definitely Henrietta Hippo - I remember it well.  Now we just need to see if I can actually find the book to figure out the author!  I'm almost positive it was a Scholastic book - I can see the cover in my head!
the closest title I've found so far is Henrietta the Clumsy Hippo, by John Greaves, illustrated by Edward Maclachlan, published Barrons 1988, which seems a bit recent. "Henrietta the clumsy Hippo wreaks havoc with her careless dancing, until one of the other animals makes a wise suggestion."
I have been looking for this book too. I think the Hippo's name was Petunia, though, not Henrietta. And a saying in the book use to be "oh no her family cried!" every time Petunia was found roller skating. Hope this helps you get closer to finding the book!
Roger Duvoisin, Petunia  *or*  Veronica, c.1977.  H45 Petunia was a goose and Veronica was the hippo in books by Roger Duvoisin, and they met up in Our Veronica Goes to Petunia's Farm  It's not easy having a book about a hippo with the same name as YOURS in your elementary classroom library!
How 'bout this one:  Greaves, John, Illustrated by McLachlan, Edward. Henrietta the Clumsy Hippo.  Barron's Educational Series, 1988. Henrietta the Clumsy Hippo wreaks havoc with her dancing until one of the other animals makes a wise suggestion. Lively, colorful illustrations (Henrietta is pink) accompany the simple text in this delightful book.
Alida McKay Tacher, Elephant on Wheels (1974)  I think you are thinking of the book "Elephant on Wheels" which featured Petunia the elephant, who was fond of rollerskating. Her family weren't enamoured of her pastime, and so hid her rollerskates.



H46: Horror anthology
Solved: Baleful Beasts & Eerie Creatures

H47:  Herbert's Treasures
Solved: Herbert's Treasure

H48:  Hair is the color of sunlight
Sovled:  The Witch Family
H49:  Huckabuck and more

Solved: Storytime Tales

H50: How-To Book for Young Kids
I recall this being a large format book of perhaps 30 or 40 pages.  It was a how-to book for children, covering such essential skills as how to shell a  hard-boiled egg, how to make a PB&J sandwich (you put the peanut butter on first and then the jelly), how to tie a shoe, and a number of other things.

H50  Is it possible that your book's intended audience was 'special education' kids? As a teacher, I see a lot of this type of texts and nonfiction trade books aimed at what we call transition-age students. Those preparing to leave special education programs for as independent a life as possible. Might take your search in a direction you hadn't considered. Good luck!


H51: Hawaiian girl comes to mainland to go to school
Solved: Best Friends at School



H52: Hello, World!
Solved: The Big Brown Bear
H53: horse allergic to flowers

Solved: Robert the Rose Horse

H54: Horse/Eohippus book
Solved: Molly's Miracle 

H55: Horses with rainbow? manes and tails
Solved: A Season of Ponies 
H56: House in tree, winged seed

Solved: The Wonderful Tree 
H57: Hedgehog

Solved:  Miss Jaster's Garden 

H58: Hole from Pennsylvannia to Tasmania
Solved:  Speedy Digs Downside Up
2003

H59:  Hot Crackaloram, High Topper Mountain
Solved: Master of all Masters


H60:  hidden room mystery
Solved: The Youngest Artist


H61: The House of Mrs. Mouse
Solved: Matilda, MacElroy and Mary


H62: HOMER (A PIG) WEEKLY READER BOOK(?)
Solved: Hamilton


H63: History of America contrasted with other things going on in the world
Solved:  Abraham Lincoln's World


H64: Horse Stories
Solved: Silver Snaffles
Primrose Cummig, Siver Snaffles', reprint. 'Although this stumper hs been solved, you miht be interest to know that Silver Snaffles is oing to be reprinted b Fidra Books of Edinburgh - it's due out in October 2007. See www.fidrabooks.com formore info. What a relief - have been trying to get a copy for my daughters for months but originals are well out of my budget!


H65: Highway Exit
Solved: The White Mountains 

H66: Hymns
Book lists a background/history of the composers  of the great Christian hymns. i.e. Silent Night by Franz Gruber... Then would have a one/two page history explaining the occasion of the writing of this hymn. Probably lists 30 hymn titles with composers and their histories.   Heard about you Sat. on NPR.  Good idea.

H66  Probably not exactly what the reader is looking for, but Greenleaf Press Catalog has a listing for Color the Christmas Classics. The real story behind Christmas Carols such as Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful and Silent Night. Coloring book, biographical sketches and a music cassette.
#H66--Hymns:  Great Hymns and Their Stories. Sheppard, W. J. Limmer.  The Religious Tract Society, London, 1923, went through various reprints, including London:  Lutterworth Press, 1950.  One illustration is a photograph of the Cleft Rock at Burrington Combe, which inspired the hymn Rock of Ages. 186pp, indexes of hymns and authors.  Details of approx. 170  hymns. Also: Treasury of Great Hymns And Their Stories.  Johnson, Guye.  Greenville, SC, U.S.A.:  Bob Jones University Press, 1986.



H67: Henry and his Velociped
Solved: Bertram and his Funny Animals


H68: Herb Farm
Solved: Something Short and Sweet


H69: High school teens marry because of pregnancy and live with her mother
SOLVED: Barstow, Stan, A Kind of Loving.



H70: Heliotrope Scented Woman - Mystery
Solved: Revelations in Black


H71: Horses - model
1950's.  This book was about a little boy who may have lived on a ranch, probably had no horse of his own, but had a wonderful collection of model horses  I think they were made of leather/real horsehair.  At the end, he may have had his own (live) horse.  I recall wonderful illustrations of these model horses.

C.W. Anderson, Blaze and the Gray Spotted Pony.  In this book, a little boy named Tommy collects model horses while yearning for a pony of his own, like Blaze. He eventually receives a gray pony.
That seems to fit.  Anderson is famous for his beautiful pencil sketches of horses.  He wrote Blaze in 1968, and original editions can be quite pricey.  Fortunately, there were paperback reprints, and those are readily available.
I recently sent you a "stumper" which you published under H71, Horses - model; you supposedly identified it as "Blaze and the Grey Spotted Pony."  This is NOT the book I'm after; first of all, I noted that I read it in the 1950's, and you said this was published in 1968.  I am very familiar with C.W. Anderson's books, and, in fact, collect them. This is not the right book.  I read the book I'm searching for when I was no older than 10, so it was published before 1956. 



H72: Heart belongs...knows it best
Solved:  "I Remembered"


H73: Homes with Originality
Solved: The Big Orange Splot


H74: Halloween Party
Solved: Tell Me, Mr. Owl


H75: House
Solved: The House of Four Seasons


H76: Hospital Recovery from Surgery
Novel about recovering from surgery in a hospital with inside info from a Dr/surgeon persepective.

Could this be Bypass, A Doctor's Recovery From Open Heart SurgeryJoseph D. Waxberg tells what it's like for a doctor to be the patient. (Appleton-Century-Crofts, c1981)



H77: Hendricka the Cow
Solved: The Cow Who Fell in the Canal


H78: henry father omaha business
Looking for an early 20th century children's book that involves a boy named Henry (maybe his name is Bertram.)  His father would always on business trips to Omaha, Nebraska.  The boy would get into mischief and his father would come back to solve the problem... any ideas?

H78 Long shot, but may be worth checking. Could it be one of the books about HENRY REED by Keith Robertson? He started writing them in the late 50s. ~from a librarian
Henry Reed's dad is in the diplomatic service overseas.  Henry Reed Inc., Henry Reed's Big Show, etc. take place during Henry's summer visits with his aunt and uncle in Grover's Corner, New Jersey.  So these wouldn't be the books you're looking for.
There's a series, including Henry Reed, Inc (1958), Henry Reed's baby-sitting service (1966), Henry Reed's big Show (1970), Henry Reedąs journey (1963).
You have listed H78 as solved as Henry Reed, Inc. This is almost certainly not this book.  Henry Reed's father was not in these books at all. They took place in the Trenton, New Jersey area and were set in the 60's, not the early 20th century. The main characters, Henry and Midge, were 11 and 12 and didn't need any help getting out of their own scrapes  they always took a twist that ended well!!
Gilbert, Paul T., Bertram and his Marvelous Adventures.  NY Rand McNally 1950.  Since the original poster suggested that the boy's name might be Bertram, and since the first in this series was published in the 1930s (and since I just suggested them for another "Henry" book!) let's try for this one as well. No solid information on Bertram's father, but he does seem to have an adventure per chapter - in one case going off to find his own rhinoceros because he isn't allowed to play rhino with Baby Sam.



H79: horse funded by bank
Solved: Hanover's Wishing Star


H80: herbs turn children's wading pool into lagoon
Solved: The Hidden Cave


H81: humorous family siturations
Solved: I Capture the Castle


H82: Horse named Baby in book
Solved: High Hurdles


H83: Horses - Three
Solved: Three Little Horses: Blackie, Brownie and Whitey


H84: Herky Hurky Helicopter
I am looking for a child's story book that was a childhood favorite of a man about 60 years old. It may be called Herky, Hurky, or something similar.  I believe it is about a helicopter.  I would really appreciate any thoughts or recollections about this book.  Thanks!  Peace.

Jack Alden, Cocky the Little Helicopter,  1943.  The date's right on this, and I could plausibly see the name getting misremembered, as it's rather similar.  "A very early picture book about an overconfident little helicopter."


H85: Heliotrope
My memories of this book are hazy, but here goes: There are animals that fly (possibly a griffin), an old lady, & a secret garden with heliotrope.

See also H70.
Goudge, Elizabeth, the Little White Horse,1950s.This is a long shot, but could your book be The Little White Horse (or possibly another book)by Elizabeth Goudge?  There is an old lady named Miss Heliotrope, a unicorn ( not sure about a griffin) and I remember the garden with heliotrope in another of her books.



H86: Henry...........(the explorer??)
Solved: Henry the Explorer


H87: How the Magpie Built his Nest
Solved: The Magpie's Nest


H88: Horse Eohippus, Dawn Horse, Cave, Time travel
Solved: Molly's Miracle


H89: Humorous catalog of fictitious magical products
Solved: The Witch's Catalog


H90: Hawaii
In the mid 60’s, I read and re-read a thick chapter book about Hawaii, target audience early teens. This was not a junky dime novel, probably not a mystery, but an in-depth well-connected plot covering a lot of places on the islands. I don’t even remember the central character, it seemed to be historical fiction describing a trip (a family?) to Hawaii. Probably the scenes depicted a Hawaii of the late 30’s. I guess that time frame because in 1964 the book seemed old to me. It was a blue cloth cover, 2 inches or so, thick and a few black and white drawings. Two descriptions of the breath-taking scenery stand out in my mind…… Moonlight sparkles off the waterfall and it is clear enough to see a night rainbow above the spray. Also native boys swimming out to welcome an incoming boat. I cannot believe my recall on the book is so limp. As much as I read it (borrowed from the neighbors) and loved it, it slips my mind. I have looked in vain on Ebay, then heard about this book search on NPR. Hope someone can help.

Larry Barretto, Hawaiian Holiday, 1938.  I have not read this, but the title and date seem plausible.
Knowlton, William, Beneath Hawaiian Seas, 1962.  "Summer vacation on the Hawaiian Islands, diving, sharks, adventure!"
Going only by title- Lois says Aloha by Dorothy Heiderstadt
James A. Michener, Hawaii, 1959.  Thick book, historical fiction... sounds very much like Michener's work.



H91: Hannah and plain Bonnet
Solved: Thee, Hannah


H92: Houseplant takes over
Solved: The Remarkable Plant in Apartment 4


H93: Hobo Fairies
Hobo Fairies.  this childrens book was read by my mother over 60 years ago.  please email me when you find one, or the title and author ,etc. thank you.

Jack London, Hobo and the Fairy
i went to your site last night and found that H93 was listed in the found category. I forwarded the info to my mother and asked her if this was thebook she had read .the following is what she wrote back;  Gosh, I wish it were, but Jack London is most likely a world away from whatever the text was in the book(s) I would love to find.  And thank you for remembering - I can see the pictures so clearly even now, but the problem in finding the book is that this was when I was maybe 3 years old, and I couldn't read yet.  So I have no recollection of any words.  The artist might be an Arthur Rackham, but I am not sure since the only pictures I have seen of his are postage stamp things on the Net.  It will take some more investigation to find the book, I am thinking...   is there a chance there is another childrens book with hobo fairies? do you have a copy of the Jack London book to see if there is art work in it? Or do you have access to someone who can tell you if and whose art is in it? my mother was 3 in 1942. maybe this can help your search timetable.



H94: High school boy helps old ladies
Solved: The Ghost of Garina Street


H95: Hawaiian mystery involving sisters, one is a singer
I read this book back in late elementary/early jr. high years, 1975 - 1978ish.  It's a murder mystery w/ a fairly sophisticated plot for a juvenile book (at least it seemed to me at the time).  I remember a Hawaiian setting, and involves 2 sisters, one of whom travels HI to help the other.  The sister who goes to Hawaii is a singer and has a broken leg.  Because of this she does her lounge act in a mermaid costume to hide the cast.  I seem to recall that the mystery involved a jewelry heist, and one of them is kidnapped and held in an unexplored cave, expecting to drown once the tide comes in.  Any ideas?   By the way, I absolutely love your site.  I've found several beloved, but impossible-to-recall titles that I read as a kid.  Thanks much!

H96: Hot rodder loses drivers licence then learns to fly
Solved: Conquer The Wind


H97: Hippo? is jealous of little brother
A simple picture book (maybe a Golden Book?) I read in the early 1970s.  I think it may have been a paperback.  An animal that lived in the water (probably a hippopatumus, but might have been a manatee or some other large aquatic mammal) was always upset because he felt his mother favored his little brother, giving him larger snacks, etc.  He may have used the phrase "no fair" or "not fair" several times.  In the end, of course, he discovered that his mother loved him just as much.

H98: HUGE Fairy Tale Book from 80's with fairy on cover
Solved: Fairy Tales (Hadaway)


H99: Hostile Takeover
Solved: Going Public


H100: How to Make Papier-Mache Dolls
Solved: American Costume Dolls: How to Make and Dress Them


H101: How to Make Dolls From Wire & Stockings
Solved: Homemade Dolls in Foreign Dress
Here's another "how to" book I'm searching for...this one was about making dolls using copper wire for the "skeleton" & stockings for the skin. The dolls were then dressed in international outfits--I think there was a Mexican boy & Peruvian girl. Each doll was illustrated w/a B&W line drawing. This book was in a branch library in the 1970s, but I think was written well before then. It had a red Brodart-like dust jacket w/black drawings of some of the dolls. Thanks for your help!

Nina R. Jordan, Homemade Dolls in Foreign Dress, 1939. This book was reprinted, probably several times my copy bears the date 1967.  It was published by Harcourt, Brace, & World.  Instructions show how to make a doll using a wire skeleton covered by strips of stockings and cotton.  There are instructions for, among others, "Mexican Pedro Goes to Market" and "Pancho of Peru."  Instructions for making scenes in which to pose the dolls are also included in each chapter.  Other dolls are Eskimo and Igloo, Indian Mother and Baby, Hendrik of Holland and the Windmill, Scotch Highlander, French Peasant, Swedish Greta, Angelo of Italy, and several others.



H102: Hat brags to coats
I have been looking for a large-sized illustrated children's book for some time now.  It is about a hat that is bragging to the coats on the rack next to him.  Zeus overhears this because he is tuned into the conversation from the clouds via a shortwave radio or grammaphone and he blows the hat away on a wind to the end of oblivion.  He falls for days or eons and eventually lands in a sea where a cricket lands on him and they float along, seeing amazing and strange sights (that I think are supposed to be allegorical). I say it's a childrens' book because it's illustrated but there is some existentialism in the story.  I think it was printed in the 50's maybe.  My copy was green and had the fabric type of binding.  Hope you can help.

H103: Homemade dress
Solved: Trish


H104:  hippos in dar es salaam
Children's book about hippos in Dar es Salaam - more than a picture book, but the text was basic. I think the plot was one hippo being taken by poachers and almost killed, but returned to the mud hole at the end. There was beautiful artwork - blues and purples, great drawings of hippos. I loved this book as a kid and have never found it!

Hugo the Hippo.  I am pretty sure it was set in Dar Es Salaam.  The mid-1970s is when I read it.  Great cartoon illustrations!  I found out recently that they also made a movie out of it, but I never knew about that as a kid.
H104 I found a fantasticly long list of juv bks on hippos, with a sentence describing each--but no Dar es Salaam: http://members.aol.com/HippoPage/hpbkfict.htm



H105: Hippo in Dar Es Salaam
Looking for an illustrated children's book that I originally purchased in mid-1970's, featuring a hippo in Tanzania.  I presume author was a Brit living in Dar es Salaam.  I have a hunch the hippo was named Harriet.

Wow, look at the stumper for H104 above!  There are of course several bibliophilic Harriet Hippos, including Miss Harriet Hippopotamus and the Most Wonderful by Nancy Moore, Vanguard Press, 1963.  But it could also be Hugo the Hippo by Thomas Baum, Scholatic, 1976, as suggested above.



H106: Hortense, Grater
Heroine: Hortense.  Passes thru opening (window?) where inanimate objects come alive. Friends:  highboy, lowboy.  Villan:  grater. Was in Chicago Public Library system  friend in Massachusetts also remembers it.  She thought west wind was in title but I can't verify that. Read to our elementary class in 1940's in Chicago.

Might have been the Enchanted (something) or similar title?? Late 40's? approximate.  "Ride, ride, ride, for the world is fair and wide, and Tom and Jerry are able very to ride, ride, ride" (Incantation to compell Tom and Jerry, the horses, to ride forth (fly?) for good or ill purpose.  In the house, something, something, something, "and Grater comes out at night" (producing fear and alarm among the characters (and the young readers, as well)).  Grater had a henchman of sorts among the furniture. When he had captured a character (Highboy, or, as it might have been, Lowboy), the furniture became inert drawers could not be opened, even by day.  I have been searching for this book for a long time (nostalgic revisiting of one of my earliest fantasy books.  Perhaps checked out from Sheridan, Wyoming Carnegie Library
The Cat in Grandfather's House, 1929.This sounds like the book my 3rd grade teacher read to us the year she retired, 1975.  (How many books have a highboy and a lowboy as characters?!)  As my teacher got to the end, she realized that the last few pages were missing and we never found out what happened.  I've been trying to find it ever since, but thought the title was The Cat in the Grandfather Clock (I think the clock was the portal to the secret world).  Searching this site using different keywords, I saw someone else post the actual title and date for someone else's query.
Carl Henry Grabo, The Cat in Grandfather's House.  The book is called The Cat in Grandfather's House and posted on line at the following website: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23737/23737.txt.  I have been looking for it for over 20 years and just found it today. Enjoy and please read it to your kids!



H107: Hop Little Kangaroo
Solved: Hop, little kangaroo


H107: Horse story, perhaps limited print run
Solved: A Horse Named Summer

2004


H108: The Hole Book or Book W. Hole
Solved: The Hole Book


H109: House in the Forest
Solved: The New House in the Forest


H110: How Come?
Solved: How Come?


H111: Horse named Woody Dip
Solved: Hard Luck Horse


H112: Horse story about "Blanco"
Solved: Horsepower


H113: Horse (spotted)
childs book, with brother and sister and a horse (spotted), actual pictures not illustrations.  Age 9-12.  I cannot remember their names but it was simple like Dick and Jane (but not that).


H114: Horse novel character Kevin
Young adult horse novel, circa 1950's. School book mobile. The main character was "Kevin". May have been about a race horse that was stolen and shipped overseas. Horse was eventually rescued by Kevin. I read this when I was 14 yrs old in 1956. My little brother was born and my parents let me name him "Kevin" after the character. I want the book for a gift to my special brother.

Faralla, Dana, Magnificent Barb: horse with the magical foot.  NY Grosset 1947.  Because of the date, this seems the most likely "Kevin, the grandson of an Irish horseman, dreams of the Godolphin Barb - so when he finds a horse with the one magical white foot, his dream becomes a reality and the horse exerts a magical influence on his close and loving family." "Sean Fitgerald brings his bride and blooded horses to Georgia just after the Civil War. He has little give his family but a love of horses, and particularly his grandson, Kevin. Nurtured on Gaelic folklore, Kevin dreams of the Godolphin Barb, and out of these dreams comes the belief he will find a horse with a white foot-which becomes reality with the horse The Barb. finally luck comes to the Fitgerald family."  However, there are two later books that may be possible: Keepers of the Bell, by Beulah Karney, published NY John Day 1961 "Tells of the O'Mellaine family of Donegal, in Ireland, and especially of Kevin and Conal, the oldest and the youngest of eight brothers. The family is noted as the hereditary guardians of the bell of Saint Patrick  and the parents, Myles and Maura, impress upon their youngsters that this proud responsibility imposes also an obligation to fight for justice among men. The story is of the great black stallion Ahaygar, - a reputed mankiller that the brothers purchase, of their taming and training it by secret methods their father has taught them, and of how the horse points a way to liberty for the O'Mellaines when their power-mad landlord seeks to ruin them. The time is the 1860s." and Cactus Kevin, by Heck Holland, published World 1965. "From the first, Kevin longed for a horse of his very own - a golden palomino. Kevin had to prove he was grown-up enough for such a big responsibliity."
The books you mention are not the book I am looking for. The book I read would have been published before 1957. Maybe this will help---The book reminded me of the Black Stallion series ( the way it was written). I really want to find this book. Thank you for your help.
Faralla, Dana, Black Renegade.  Lippincott 1954.  "Kevin exercises a trainer's racehorses while waiting for the Barb's son Balzan to grow up. But then an unmanageable stallion called Black Lightning catches his interest." Sequel to one of those previously suggested, but perhaps a closer date.
Thank you for the help on this. Magnificent Barb and Black Renegade sound close, but still doubt they are the books that I am seeking. I plan to read them to be sure. Thanks again!



H115: Home for unwed mothers
Solved: The House of Tomorrow


H116: Huncan Duncans
Solved: The Hunkendunkens


H117: Hippo hardcover children's storybook
I am searching for a large, hardcover children's storybook about a hippo. Possibly published in early 70s but probably earlier. The book had an illustrated, dark blue cover and full page or almost full page (possibly water colour) illustrations inside. One illustration that stands out is of the little hippo walking under the water in the river. Thanks!

Roger Duvoisin, Veronica series.  Series about a hippopotamus perhaps it's one of those books?
Thanks for the suggestion. I looked at some of the series on eBay, and I don't think that's it. A neuron is telling me something like "Little Hippo" but I honestly have no idea whether I am completely making that up. I seem to recall that underwater illustration I remember best, as being either watercolour paint or maybe tissue paper collage (like Eric Carle). I *think* there were lots of bubbles in the water too?
Maryann Macdonald, Little Hippo books
No, it's not one of the Maryann Macdonald books. Thanks for trying though! I read it in the mid to late 70s. It was about the size of a Rand McNally Giant book but I have no clue whether it was actually part of that series.
I'm the original poster. Can't say how reliable they are, but in wracking my brains trying to remember this book, I am having memory flashes of the hippo wearing an old-fashioned, one piece swimsuit (blue and white stripes).
Rainey Bennett, The Secret Hiding Place. (1960)  This is a long shot, but have you checked "The Secret Hiding Place"? It is a story about Little Hippo who craves a special place to be--away from all the big hippos who are constantly hovering around him. The illustrations are line drawings with water color washes. Cute story!
Morris Lurie, The 27th Annual African Hippopotamus Race, 1970's, approximate. This was the answer to my own personal stumper a few years back  I don't know what the art looks like, but it definitely has a young hippo and hippos underwater.


SOLVED: I've solved my own stumper! The book I was looking for turns out to be two books: Little Hippo and Little Hippo at the Circus by Christine Chagnoux, published by Methuen & Co in 1970 and 1972, respectively. "Little Hippo" has the storyline I was remembering, including the illustration of the hippo in an old-fashioned striped bathing suit; "Little Hippo at the Circus" has the blue cover I recalled.  Many thanks to everyone who tried to solve my stumper.



H118: horse old west
All I can remember is it is a book told from the horse's perspective. The young horse and his mom live on the plains of the Old West. In one scene, they are looking at a train running on the new railroad and I think the mother horse called it an "iron horse". In another scene, there is a lightning storm and all the horses huddle under a tree. There were some pencil sketches thoughout the text and I think the book was for 9-12 year olds. I would have read it in the 70's.

Perhaps one by Glen Rounds?
Miriam Mason, Broomtail.  The mention of the train makes me think that this is another person searching for Broomtail. 



H119: History of the World on Stage
Solved: Life Story


H120: Hippies in Europe
A young adult girl  goes on a European trip in some relationship to her mother dying of cancer.  She encounters artist-hippie type friends of her mothers who help her through this difficult time.  The movie Stealing Beauty jarred my memory, causing this book to come to mind.  Any ideas?? Anyone??? thanks for any help!!!

Rosamunde Pilcher, The Day of the Storm.Could this be a Rosamunde Pilcher novel?  "On the last day of her mother's life, Rebecca learns she has a family in Cornwall, and sets out to find the grandfather and cousin she has never known." The mother does die of cancer, and the grandfather is an artist/hippie type.  This post also reminds me of the Rosamunde Pilcher book, Sleeping Tiger, about a girl whose mother has died.  She goes in search of her father on some European island, Ibiza possibly, and falls in love.



H120: Hercules
Solved: Steve Forrester series


H121: House Paint
Solved: Oh, Were They Ever Happy!


H122: Haunted Mansion
Solved: The Mystery of Morgan Castle


H123: Historical romance - Dona Esperanza
Trying to trace this book - here's what I remember:  Historical romance possibly published in 70's.  Set in california ? - family with mexican (?) family background - one female charecter is Dona Esperanza.  Also character "Charley Kingdom". Two brothers fall out over girl who is a neighbour - older brother known as Bud.  Family house is prominent to the story, also mentions rise of the railroad, prospecting etc

Jacqueline Briskin, Paloverde
Dawson, Grace Strickler, The Butterfly Shawl.  I remember reading a book called "The Butterfly Shawl" when I was in elementary school, but I'm not positive this is the author.  I don't remember much about the book, other than it was about a young girl in early California.  I believe someone (her father?) brought her a present of a shawl with embroidered butterflies on it.  There might have been a plot line of an older sister who eloped.  I always keep my eye out for this book as I've always wanted to re-read it.



H124: 'How-to' Fashion Bible 1970s (New York?)
I'm pretty sure it was a book published in the US during the 70s.  It was a small-size hardback sparsely illustrated in black and white. It was mostly a 'how to dress with style' book and a little of a memoir of the author's sartorial life. At the time I found it extremely glamourous and exotic. I can remember charming details - little diagrams drawn in black line of the author's gucci loafers and of her russian 3-band wedding ring and other rings. She was very keen on 'signature' accessories and these were hers, though a friend of hers always wore a 'schoolboy watch' (maybe this was the era of Annie Hall).  She also began one chapter with a description of her first pair of jeans (tight - at first she didn't understand the appeal but she soon got into it). Perhaps this points to late-70s Studio 54-era disco-drainpipes, but some of those flares were pretty snug too... I'm now a fashion illustrator myself - please help me rediscover one of my early influences.

H124 - I wonder if this could have been one by Edith Head?  Would you be interested in a list of fashion-related books?
I'll try Edith Head. I've looked her up and it sounds like it might be dress for success (1967) although in the book I remember, some of the fashions described sounded as if they might be more 70s than 60s. Yes - I'd be interested in a list of fashion books. You never know, I might recognise it from amongst the titles. And of course I'm fascinated by fashion anyway...
Sadly this is not Dress for Success by Edith Head (great book, though). The one I'm looking for has a more distinctly modern flavour and is not quite so prescriptive. I'm sure the fashions (some illustrated - I remember another little line drawing of tasselled 'gucci' loafers) were more 1970s than 1960s. Any other suggestions?
any luck with my bookstumper? I've been searching for a year myself and have come up with nothing so far. I'm convinced this book exists as I can remember the illustrations in such detail! I've even contacted the library I borrowed it from but they don't have records going back that far.
Averil Demuth, The House in the Mountains,1940.
Beckerman, Ilene, Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Quirky, enjoyable memoir of Beckerman's life told in terms of her clothes.  She is in her 60s, so may be a little older than poster remembers. The physical description (size, line drawings) seems to match, although I can't remember it well enough to vouch for contents.
Beckerman, Ilene, Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Could this be the book you are looking for?  It was published in the 1990's, but it is a retrospective of the author's life and what she wore in different eras.  It is a small, simply illustrated book. Hope this helps!



H125: Hunting accident
Solved: Deathwatch


H126: Hole thief
Solved: "The Hole Idea"


H127: Horses or ponies dancing around a maypole
This is a book that I had as a child in the 1950s to 1960s.  It's about a horse or pony not thinking he or she is good enough to go to a party (that feeling could have been brought on by other horses or not). It's told from the viewpoint of the horse or pony.  At the end of the book, there are horses or ponies of many colors and sizes dancing around a maypole.

Marks, Mickey Klar, Hucklebones (Cozy Corner Book series).  Tuck 1951.  Could it be this one? Can't promise a maypole, but the plot sounds similar "A story of a small horse named Hucklebones who is invited to the Steeplechase Ball and he doesn't know how to dance."
Season of Ponies. (1964)  Could this be "Season of Ponies" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder?  Pamela is staying with her aunts for the summer (not her choice) and meets a boy with a whole herd of multicolored ponies.  At the end, they dance around the maypole, with Pamela riding her favorite and the boy playing a flute.
M.K. Marks, Pipo the Little Horse. (1949)  This sounds like a book we had as kids.  It's in French, but I imagine it might be a translation of a story that was originally in English.  The title in French is Pipo le Petit Cheval (Pipo the Little Horse), by M.K. Marks, illustrated by I. Wilde.  Pipo is invited to a ball, but he doesn't know how to dance the foxtrot. Then he runs into a bunch of rabbits on the path and he learns how to do the foxtrot by picking up his feet to avoid stepping on them.  So he puts ribbons in his tail and goes to the dance, and a picture shows a horses of different colors going in a circle with streamers and balloons overhead (not a maypole.)
The Little Wooden Horse.  You could try this title. Had this book as a child. The wooden horse goes on many adventures trying to be a real horse. It could be worth a try
Mickey Klar Marks, Hucklebones.  (MCMXLIX)  This sounds like the horse named Hucklebones, who received an invitation in the mail to the Steeplechase Ball.  He was worried because he didn't know how to dance, specifically dance the one-step.  He taught himself how to dance the one-step by trying to avoid stepping on a bunch of rabbits running along the road, and went to the Ball.  The illustrations are wonderful, and the last page shows several horses of different colors dancing under some bright ribbons and balloons.  I had to look hard for an original copy of this book, which I remembered vaguely from my own childhood, and I was delighted to find a copy and see the illustrations again.  It is a Story Hour Book, with large print, similar in size and style to a Little Golden Book.



H129: Historical romantic fiction
Solved: Williamsburg Series

H128: Headless dolls
Solved: Fix the Toys


H130: hidden treasure
Solved: The Haunted Treasure of Espectros / Mystery of the Haunted Mine


H131: honey bee
Children's books, probably read during the 1940s, about a young honey bee who searchs for a good shape to use for building a honeycomb.  After experimenting, he comes up with a hexagon as an  ideal shape and goest back to the hive to suggest that they use this shape - not knowing that is what they already use!  Sort of a "re-inventing the wheel," or "doomed to repeat the past" thing.  Thank you.


H132: Horse Story
A girl moves somewhere for the summer (I'm not sure if she is moving there permanently, or if she is just staying there for the summer). Anyway, she meets a neighbor girl and they rescue a horse from the animal shelter. They also find an old horse stable hidden in the woods that belongs to an old mansion near where they live. They keep the horse there and take care of it without their parents finding out. Here is where it gets fuzzy. Maybe they run into the caretaker or owner of the mansion and he/she finds out about the horse.  This is all I remember, but I remember loving the book, and I hope you can solve it for me!

Phyllis Whitney, The Mystery of the Crimson Ghost, 1969.  Janey has "horse fever," so it's love at first sight when she meets Star. Janey is spending the summer in New Jersey's Sussex County, and the beautiful thoroughbred is stabled right across the lake from Aunt Viv's.  Star belongs to eccentric Mrs. Burley, who lives with her two grandsons in the ruins of a burned-out hotel. Roger, the older grandson, is quite friendly, but Denis is sullen and suspicious. Mrs. Burley is not only crotchety-it's even whispered that she may be "crazy." And she has a ghost! On moonlit nights the community is awakened by a phantom hound, bathed in eerie red light and howling horribly at the moon. Exactly how do you make friends with a horse whose owner is so peculiar? How can a person sensible enough to love horses believe in ghosts? And if the apparition isn't a ghost, what is it? There's mounting suspense as Janey begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding Star.
Holland, Marion, The Secret Horse.  Little Brown 1959.  Here's another possible. Nickie Baxter is unable to go to camp (and ride horses) because the front porch is termite-ridden and must be repaired. Her summer looks bleak until she meets the grandchildren visiting next door, Gail and Corky. They visit the Animal Shelter and see an old stray horse. Nickie has a secret place, which is the stables of an unoccupied mansion, and the two girls hide the horse in the stables. They name the horse Highboy. There is also a kitten called Tigger. They feed the horse with hay and grass cut from Nickie's older  rother's lawnmowing jobs. Then the mansion's owner, Mr. Olds, decides to open it up again.
The Secret Horse by Marion Holland is correct. The details match! Cute story.



H133: Hidden paintings
Solved: Mystery of the Auction Trunk


H134: Harness Racing Handicapping Book.
I can't remember the name of the book or the author or publishing company. I purchased the book in the 70's. The book gave step by step instructions on how to arrive at adjusted final  past performance race times of each horse in tonight's race so that one could arrive at the projected winner. Here are a few examples from the book to arrive at
adjusted final times.  a) Post position change…subtract or add 1/5 of a second according to an up  or down move to final time.  b) For each parked out symbol subtract 2/5 of a second from the adjusted final time.  c) For each class move up or down…add or subtract 2/5 of a second from the adjusted final time.  d) Any horse with no effort in last race is considered a non-contender in tonight's race.  c) Any horse that broke stride in last race is considered a non-contender in tonight's race.  d) A driver's win percentage is taken into consideration when adjusting final times.
e) If a horse did not win the past performance race…each length back at the finish is multiplied by 1/5 of a second and added to the winners finish time.  f) Track variants are given 1/5 of a second for fast or slow track in the past performance records.  The book's size was approximate size was  8 ˝ x 11 with soft tan cover.

I found a LOT of possibilities.  I'll list some to see if any of them jumps out at you as the correct title.  If not, I'll list more later.  ---Theory and practice of handicapping. /TomAinslie/1970/ 126pg/ 29 cm. /New York, Trident Press
ISBN: 0671270486 ---Bettor's guide to harness racing : a complete book of standardbred handicapping / Steve Chaplin/ 1977 / 245 p. : forms  24 cm. /New York : Amerpub, ---The complete handicapper's manual / Randolph Reynolds/1974 /185 p. : ill.  21 cm. /New York, Pagurian Press, / 0919364837 ---Handicapping to win. /Scott Flohr/1970 /221 p. 24 cm. Los Angeles, Melrose Square Pub. Co.,  ISBN: 0870678019 ---Randolph Reynolds' new handicapper's manual : a scientific guide to making money at the races. /Randolph Reynolds/1974/ 185 p. : ill.
 21 cm. /Toronto : New York : Pagurian Press  distributed in the United States by Arco Pub. Co.,  ISBN: 0919364845 :
---Race horse handicapping / Harry Lee/1978 new, updated/ 160p.: ill. 21 cm. /New York: Cornerstone Library
0346123178 ---Everything you should know about making money at the races :  a scientific approach to handicapping in the field of thoroughbred racing / Randolph Reynolds/1971 /143 p.  21 cm. Toronto : Brattleoboro, Vt. : Pagurian Press  distributed in the U.S.A. by Stephen Greene Press,---Winning handicapping: secrets of a successful race handicapper / Chuck Badone/1977 /123 p.  22 cm. Scottsdale, Ariz. : Pay Day Press ---Lessons in handicapping / George Lawton/1978 /50 p. : ill. Cherry Hill, N.J. : Promosales  ---The handicappers' handicapper : triple-equation method / Robert Sheban/1977 /127 p.  28 cm. /Huntington Beach, Calif. : Libnan Pub. Co.,  ISBN: 0918636019
Among the possibilities there seems to be only one book on harness racing handicapping Bettor's guide to harness racing by Steve Chaplin. Much to my sorrow this is not the book. I have searched almost all of the internet book stores but you came up with several titles that i did not find. If you would list a few more titles maybe we will find it. Thank You very much.
Here are more possibilities:  ---The game plan for handicapping harness races / John Steward Sloan / 1975 1st ed. / 351 p. : ill.  27 cm. New York : Vantage Press,  ISBN: 0533017300  ---Advanced harness handicapping : reading between the lines / Steve Chaplin /1979 /267p 24 cm. New York, N.Y. : Amerpub Co. ---Exactime-speedtrax calculator for harness racing: instruction manual/ Clovis Rousseau /1971 /21 p.  22 cm.  North Bay, Ont.: C. Rousseau ---A "stamina-speed ratio" handicapping procedure for harness races / by Lenruth Associates. /1968 1st ed. /48 p.: ill.   22 cm. /Dallas, PA : Lenruth Associates



H135: House Beside the Mill
Book of Verse, circa 1940.  Illustrated poems - titles I remember include The House Beside the Mill, The Man from Muldare, and one with the lines "There's a robbin in your garden and he's eating all your angle worms."

H136: Horror Stories
Solved: A Nasty Piece of Work and other Ghost Stories


H137: Hoot Owl Hoots
My question is, my mom remembers reading a book when she was a child in the 1950's or 1960's. She doesn't remember the name or author, but she knows it was a book of children's poems. The poem from the book that she remembers is "The hoot owl hoots, and the bats fly free." Is there any way you could help with this? I am hoping to find this for a christmas present. Thanks for your help.

H138: Horse story about a wild horse
Solved: Broomtail

2005


H139: How to Draw Book
Solved: Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals


H140:Huge Animal book with Bible Stories?
Solved: Character Sketches


H141: Highway Takes Family To Beach
Solved: The Runaway Road


H142: House in the Mountains
Solved: The House in the Mountains


H143: House that Jill Built
Solved: The Children's Treasury

H144: Hermit with a mustache
Solved: The Haunted Churchbell


H145: Horse, winged
Solved: The Silver Pony


H146: Horse
Solved: Lucky, Lucky White Horse


H147: Herbert who ate Sherbet
Solved: Herbert, the lion
The other story I'm looking for is about a lion named "Herbert"  who ate Sherbet.  There were humans in this story was it was a fairytale format.  (People were probably trying to cash in on his sherbet obsession, or something--tee hee).  Anyway, I would love to find these treasures from my childhood, so any help would be verrry much appreciated.

HRL:  I think this is Clare Turlay Newberry's Herbert, the lion, 1931.



H148: Hedgehog
I am trying to remember this book I had as a child in the mid eighties. .. it is about a young girl hedgehog (I am almost positive it is a hedgehog) and and she goes to some kind of fair or market with her mother, and she gives up her dolly to the poor or an orphanage. She becomes sad and wants it back until she sees one of the poor or orphaned hedghoge hugging the dolly, and then she is happy again.

HRL:  Did you check everything by Russell and Lillian Hoban and Jan Brett?
H148  Google, Hedgehog society lists a book w/ a likely title: Little Hedgehog Helps Out, Amye Rosenberg ISBN: 0-307-12310-3 I searched a lot of Google and could nothing abt content. Might be she helped with cleaning house for anr animal
I've looked up all of these, none of them are it. . .
Jane Carruth, Tiggy Changes Her Mind.  This book fits the posters description exactly.  Tiggy is a little hedgehog.  Her town is having a special fair to help the children in the orphanage.  Everyone is giving away some of their favorite possessions but Tiggy is reluctant to give anything away.  Her mother finally convinces her to donate her doll 'Raggedy Dot'.  AFter Mr. Weasel comes to Tiggy's house to pick up the items to donate Tiggy changes her mind and runs after him but it's too late.  When they get to the fair, Tiggy sees that an orphan already has her doll and is holding it lovingly.  She thinks about asking for it back but decides that the little girl is so happy it would be mean to take the toy away.  At the end she feels glad she did the right thing and reads her new book she bought at the fair.  I found this story in a book called "My Favorite Happy Endings" by Jane Carruth, illustrated by Tony Hutchings.  It was published in 1986 by Modern Publishing and contains the stories: Tiggy Changes Her Mind, Adventure in the Dark (Tippu the Mouse overcomes his fear of the dark), and Making New Friends (Chippy the Squirrel makes new friends).
I'm almost positive this is Tiggy Changes Her Mind, one of the "Happy Endings" books by Jane Carruth, illustrated by Tony Hutchings. One of the main characters in the series was a hedgehog named Tiggy, who starred in several of the books. I remember this one specifically - her mother cleaned out a box of things to donate to the fair and asked Tiggy what she would like to donate, and she ended up donating her old stuffed dog and then wanted it back later on. She bought herself an orange drink at the fair and then later saw a younger hedgehog hugging her stuffed dog and was happy that someone else was happy with her old toy.
Jane Carruth, Tiggy Changes Her Mind. This book is Tiggy Changes Her Mind by Jane Carruth, one of many books about Tiggy the Hedgehog in the "Happy Endings" series by Carruth, illustrated by Tony Hutchings.



H149: Holidays and Seasons
Looking hopefully for a "little golden book type" I had as a child - too many years ago!  No idea of the title, but featured a cat who celebrated holidays and seasons with rhyme and cute pictures. I can recall several of the poems.  Here goes.............
1."The postman brought a letter, a pretty Valentine, / It's filled with lace and flowers, and says, "Will you be mine?" (kitten sitting with a Valentine)
2."Sitting on your doorstep on the first of May, / You'll find this little basket, filled with blossoms gay." (kitten with May basket)
3."Someone has been shopping, I'll just peek and see / How this nice new bonnet looks on me." (kitten wearing a bonnet)
4."Kitten on the keys, playing merrily, / Making pretty music, do, re, me".(kitten playing on the piano)
5."Down in the lily pond, looking very sad(?), / Mr. Frog is sunning upon a lily pad." (kitten visiting with a frog at the pond)
6."I like to watch the fire, and listen to it snap. / What a cozy spot, in which to take a nap." (kitten curled up in front of the fireplace)
7."At night when it is dark, the fireflies dance about, / The little stars twinkle and the jolly moon comes out."  (kitten outside?)
8."I'm getting very sleepy, it's time to say goodnight. / Lets hear a bedtime story before we dim the light." (kitten going to bed)
Thanks so much in advance!


H150: house that talks
Solved: Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House


H151: Hawaiian sisters
Solved: Best Friends series


H152: Hadrian's wall mystery
Solved: The Stolen Seasons


H153: Holiday in France
Solved: I Love a Lass


H154: hogan
Anerican author, early 50s-late 60s.  My favorite childhood story.  Story of a young Navahoe Indian girl named Nesbitt.  She lived on a reservation, in a hogan, she had some family, I remember particularly a grandmother.  She attended school on the reservation.  She had a pet lamb.  When she walked to school, a bulldozer driver (male) would wave to her.  In the story, she hurt her finger and went to clinic or school nurse.  It was a "big deal"-I remember picture of her holding up bandage/bandaid.  The book was purchased by a friend in the Peace Corps - maybe actually on a Navahoe reservation?

H155: Hester Ghost
I've been searching for hours on your site and Google, but can't seem to find this.  Thanks for bringing back memories of a ton of other books that I read, though!  A girl goes to stay at a friend or relative's house and/or goes to a neighbor's house, where she encounters the ghost of a young girl (who I think was named Hester) who had died in a fire, after which the room was closed off.  I don't remember much else other than that the book may have had a yellow cover and been called "The Ghost in the Attic," "The Girl in the Attic," "The Girl Behind the Wall" or something similar, though I can't find it under any of those titles.  I thought I'd tracked it down a few years ago, but can't remember the author or title!

Janet Lunn, Twin Spell or Double Spell.  Sounds like Twin Spell, also published as Double Spell.  Here's an online description that should help.
Sylvia Cassedy, Behind the Attic Wall It's been a while since I've read this, but I do remember a fire,plus a walled- off room, talking dolls, and weird relatives..
Janet Louise Swoboda Lunn (author), Emily McCully (illustrator), Twin Spell, 1969.  Twins Jane and Elizabeth buy an antique doll and begin having visions about a tragedy involving another set of twins long ago.  If I remember the story correctly, Hester is not one of the twins---she's the mean-spirited girl who is inadvertently responsible for the tragedy.  Please see the Solved Mysteries "T" page for more information.
I suggested Twin Spell yesterday, and now I wonder whether you've confused Twin Spell with Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy (1983).  That would certainly explain the title you've been searching for!  Both books involve girls, fires and dolls, but only Hester is in Twin Spell.
Sylvia Cassedy., Behind the Attic Wall
I remember a book about a girl who died in a fire called The Truth About Mary Rose.  Also, check out Stumper B401 Blue Carnations; I wonder if you too, are looking for The Ghost Next Door by Wylly Fox St. John.  Good luck.
Janet Patton Smith, The Twisted Room, 1983.  This might be The Twisted Room, by Janet Patton Smith (more famous for her only other book, The Ghost in the Swing)...here's a plot description:  "Lisa Emery, the new girl in town, wants to help Marie, the strange girl* at the window of the deserted mansion - but will her efforts destroy her, holding her captive in a prison of frozen time and hatred?."  *note: girl in question is actually a ghost who died in fire
Could this be Wait til Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn?  The girl who died in the fire is named Helen, not Hester.
I think the book this person is asking about is also one I read as a young adult.  The main character moves/stays with friends, etc., but it is specifically in Salem, MA (home of the witch trials of the 1600s), and the girl who died in the fire, haunts the room which is nearby where the main character is staying (I can't remember specifics on how the main character finds out about the ghost girl).  I remember that the main character descides to be sneaky and investigative, going around town trying to find clues about why the girl haunts the house/room.  Turns out the girl who died in the fire was suspected to be a witch and was accused of performing witchcraft, and either burned herself or was burned by someone.  This is why I remember the story taking place in Salem.



H156: Horse named Tamberlaine
Solved: Tam the Untamed


H157: History of Man
This book is at least 20 years old.  I probably read it in the early 1980's.  It involves a man who is in a place where he is able to experience all the evolutions that the human race has gone through.  I'm not sure if he is time traveling or if he is in a place where all these evolutions of man exist simultaneously.  At one point he sees creatures who are like dinosaurs that walk upright and speak.  As they walk they leave a trail of dead plants in their wake.  These creatures are very noxious.  The guide he is with states that at one time man chose this form.  The man also notes that in one time the moon is missing.  The guide he is with states that losing the moon was an accident and he (the guide) didn't think it was such a big deal.  The man who is seeing all these evolutions also enters a room at one point where he is sprayed with a substance that makes his body completely numb.  He is concerned that he will wander around losing bits of his body because he can't feel anything.

H158: Halloween traditions
Solved: Halloween


H159: historical fiction, boy, mariner, Y
Solved: Moonfleet


H160: Holocaust nativity
Solved: Twenty and Ten


H161: Horses, club, mysteries
Solved:  Lookout Mystery Series


H162: House on the Hill
Solved: The Little House


H163: Horse story, YA, injured girl and scared horse
Solved: Gypsy From Nowhere


H164: How to Make Animal Costumes Book
This was a thin, horizontal paperback book from (I assume) the late 70's/early 80's that showed how to make animal costumes out of household stuff - paper bags, newspaper, string, construction paper, etc. I made a dog costume in 1st grade out of this book - complete with shredded newspaper fur taped to a brown grocery bag body & head (w. a smaller lunch bag for the snout)!

Goldie Taub Chernoff, Easy Costumes You Don't Have to Sew, 1975.  I still have this book from when my 33 year old daughter was in first grade.  We made her the giant chicken costume in 1982.  It is an old SeeSaw book from Scholastic.



H165: horse living on an apartment building roof
Two girls enter a contest to win a horse/pony.  The cereal they have to eat is nasty but they eat it anyway.  I'm not sure if the actually win the contest but the do get their horse.  They lead it up the stairs of their city apartment building stairs to the roof top garden where the horse them lives.  Copy write 1940's or 50's?

Elizabeth Vincent Foster, Lyrico: The Only Horse of His Kind, 1970s.  I don't remember about the cereal, but Lyrico is definitely kept in a rooftop garden.
This sounds like the Horse on the Roof by Bob Wells, 1970.
It's not Horse on the Roof by Bob Wells, 1970.  It's a different story line.  I also remember that the girls do win the contest but it's not first prize.  They win a life time supply of the nasty cereal!  Somehow they do get a horse and lead it to the roof with a cereal trail.  The horse likes it!  Does this ring any bells out there?



H166: Hullabaloo the Kangaroo
Solved: Hullabaloo


H167: Hawaiian vist by young girl
1950s.  Young girl living with aunt/grandmother in streighted circumstances on the mainland goes to visit friend/relative in Hawaii.  Great contrast in the way people live.  Early in the vist there is a description of the Chinese cook cutting chicken breast for a recipe into slivers with a scissors.  Mention of an Hawaiian school that has an english language exam requirement.  The trick question was a sentence that showed the applicant knew the difference between "to tear" and "to cut."

James Michener, Hawaii.  The rest of the Stumper doesn't sound familiar, but in Michener's Hawaii, there is a similar scene about a school entrance exam.  A Japanese (?) boy applied to enter the good school and had to have an interview.  The headmaster, who didn't want any non-whites in his school, tore a piece of paper in front of the boy and asked what he had done to the paper.  The boy answered, "You broke it."  The headmaster smiled patronizingly and said, "No, I tore it.  You obviously don't know enough English to be a student here."  When the boy and his father left, the father hit him and chastised him for not knowing the difference.  The boy thought this was ironic, because his father certainly didn't know, either.

I read the response, and realized I'd mixed up two books.  The tear/break passage is from "Hawaii" by Michner, and doesn't belong in the other book at all.  Thanks for solving half the mystery.

This is the same book I am trying to find. I know that the girl and her aunt come from mainland to visit another aunt on a ranch in Hawaii. The aunts name is Kulani (of Heaven or Heavenly) and there are Hawaiian cowboys on the ranch called Paniolos. There is a cattle drive where the steers are swum out to a ship and liffted aboard in slings. There is a little information about the religious ancient taboos of the islands. In the end the Stateside Aunt leaves the girl in Hawaii to grow up.There were also several good recipes in the book. The cut up chicken slivers (using scissors) go into a broth made of tea and soy sauce.
2006


H168: Hal
I am searching for a book that I read as a child in the 60's. It is a book of about 5 stories of a boy named Hal. In the last story he dents a car with a hammer and hides it in the leaves. I beleive that story title is Hal and the hammer. In the 1st story he loses his hat as he goes into the woods and finds it hanging on a branch as he leaves.

H169: Horse (Prehistoric) and Girl
Solved: Yesterday's Horses


H170: Hepzibah, a mischeievious girl
funny book about a girl with a temper who ruled her own world, sprinkled tiny sheep and cornflakes about, had a Carribean ice-cream making king friend, a friend who made hats for his invalid wife, a friend who took her on a motorcylce ride.  About 1976 I think, with a yelow cover and delightful cartoonish illustrations.

Edna Mitchell Preston, Horrible Hepzibah, 1971.  Relates the adventures of a terrible little girl who grew up to be happily mean. Found this review online"A Caldecott Award winner, this book is a delightfully refreshing tale along the lines of Great Expectations, but with a sardonic twist. This is a story children would love - because it speaks to the mischief maker in each of them. Hepzibah is outspoken, intractible, and quite often right on target - and anything but politically correct. Could this be why the book is so hard to find? Written with simple yet compelling prose, accompanied by intricate line drawings by Ray Cruz, "Horrible Hepzibah" is worth a search - for the kid in us all, and our children as well."
Peter Dickinson, Hepzibah, 1980.  I kept searching and solved my own mystery.  Found several used on Amazon, though I had looked several times before.  Can't wait to surprise my daughter with her favorite childhood book!!
Edna Mitchell Preston, Horrible Hepzibah, 1971.  This might be a possiblity for H170. 



H171:  holiday house mystery
This was a fiction story about a group of (primarily) girls who meet up at an old mansion for Christmas.  The main girl gets drunk waiting for her friend to pick her up at the train station and ends up rescuing a singing crippled girl named Sylvia (she liked her name because it sounded like a party) whose Aunt turned up missing.  Over their holiday, the group ends up getting stuck inside a secret passageway (on the landing of the stairs) that goes into a long tunnel underground (originally used to help escaping slaves) and helping solve a mystery of why there is a locked up study/library on the top floor with a beautiful stained-glass window that has been boarded over and why the grandfather of one of the girls had a bad falling out with his best friend (who lived across the street, thus the window was boarded up).  At the end of the novel, Sylvia had tried a special therapy/operation to heal her legs, and it didn't work, but the shock of seeing an old relative (perhaps the missing grandfather of the other girl) caused her to stand and be able to walk.  It was such a great mystery novel and I lost it in 3rd grade.

H172: ham radio adventure books
Solved: SOS at Midnight


H173:hardcover book from the 60s or 70s
Solved: Just Before Bed Time


H174: Hudson River mystery
Solved: The Mystery of the Haunted Pool

H175: Haunted Doll
It was a children's book that I read in the mid-80s about a little girl who goes to a house that has been vacated. Another girl who had lived there before left her doll, which is now haunted like a ghost and is floating down the staircase in one of the illustrations. The little girl gets scared and runs out of the house, but I think eventually gives the doll a home. Thanks!

McMillan, Bruce, Ghost Doll.  Thought I had submitted this already, but later solutions of mine are appearing, so I'll try again.  I'm fairly sure this is the book being sought.  I looked through it at my daughter's school library a couple of weeks ago.
McMillan, Bruce, Ghost Doll. (1983) I think this may be the one.  I just looked through it at my daughter's school library today and it all matches except that the girl doesn't run out of the house, but she is frightened at one point.  Summary:  Only a very brave little girl could do what Chrissy does. Unafraid, she enters the house on the hill when she hears a faint call from within. It's the voice of a lonely, abandoned doll - a ghost doll. An eerie adventure awaits her in this haunted house. And though she thinks of running out more than once, she doesn't. Instead, courageous Chrissy reaches out to the lonely ghost doll. And at the end of the story she finds a happy surprise - as will every young reader.



H176: House burned
Solved: The Silver Crown


H177: Horse's life recounted
Solved: The Story of a Little Bay Horse


H178: Harry cat stays with babysitter Mrs. Brewster
Solved: Be Good, Harry

H179: Haunted house mystery
Solved: The Haunted Attic

H180: Homes around the world
Solved: Come Over to My House

H181: House becomes a garden
This book was about a young girl whose house slowly is invaded by nature.  Plants grow in the closet, animals come to live in the house (alligator or crocodile?).  The family comes to loves living like this, though the city wants to destroy/clear out the house.  I seem to remember some illustrations - published in the 70s I think.

If it's at all possible that you're mixing books, you might be thinking of the Lyle Lyle Crocodile books, plus maybe something like Old McDonald Had an Apartment House.
I don't remember the name of this book, but I do remember a couple of salient details. The story started with the house getting dirtier and dirtier, and then plants started growing, and the house turned into a sort of forest. I do remember animals moving in. At the end the family cleaned the house.


H182: High school girl drama
Solved: True to You



H183: Healer's daughter in Cypress
I do not have any idea of the author's name, the title of the book, or even the characters names, but I remember some of the details, it's been about 16 years, so please forgive me.   1) it was a really thick book! (But that was probably just in the mind of a 14 year old)   2) it was set around the mediteranean probably before the time that the romans were in power (not sure exactly of the time period) Possibly in Cypress or thereabouts.   3) the majority of the book is about the daughter, but first you meet the mother who is a healer and very respected. the daughter is born out of wedlock (of course. lol) (possibly the daughter was abandoned with the healer)   4) the daughter leaves the mother. i think it was because someone needed healing and she went to see to them because her mother had grown too old to travel, and her mother had taught her all she could.   5) this i remember vividly, she healed a queen who was very possesive and wanted to keep her in her kingdom. there is a ceremony in which the daughter thinks she is going to be beheaded, but they stop the blade at her neck and the queen placed a ruby necklace around her neck that symbolized the death of her old life and the beginning of her new life with the queen.   6) there was already a male healer in the land who did not like her replacing him. the servants in the queens chambers are all made mute so that they could not tell her secrets, and the current healer teaches her to perform the operation to make the servants mute. she thinks it is a terrible practice and so when she is supposed to perform the surgery she doesn't complete it. the man she was supposed to perform the surgery on is nordic and they do not speak the same language but he understands he must be silent so the bad healer will think she performed the surgery.   7) she and the nordic man become friends and they escape together. they have one night of passion (ooooh) and she has a daughter. I believe this daughter's name is Chloe?   8) i read it

Barbara Wood, Soul Flame, 1987.  I read this book when I was around 14, too.  I remember it quite vividly.  Barbara Wood's other novels are also very good.



H184: Hot peppers
Solved: Twenty Four Robbers


H185: House of Mrs. Mouse
1952 or earlier rhyming story about mice that begins: "This is the House of Mrs. Mouse and these are her children three."

Check under "Solved Mysteries" for Matilda, MacElroy and Mary.



H186: Horse - Blueberry
Solved: Blueberry


H187: H-boy
Name and auhor of a series of children's stories from the mid-20th century. They were about a boy with a name that begins with the letter H (I think), and in each story, they boy had some kind of improbable adventure.  I read the books (each book has seven or eight stories about the boy) when I was about 10 and all I can remember are bits from two stories -- one where he found a mouse that could sing (which later lost the ability to sing) and another where he accidentally colored his skin with some kind of spray gun hooked up to a garden hose.  It's NOT Homer Price or Harold (Purple Crayon) or Henry Huggins.

Merritt Parmalee Allen, Mudhen.  This sounds like the Mudhen series.



H188: Hurricane
I read this in the 80s, but I think it was my mom's, and she would have read it in the 60s. This book is about a brother and sister (or at least 2 children) who live on the east coast with their family. I remember they own a store, and a hurricane comes and they go to the store to wait out the storm. One of the kids and the father go outside during the eye of the storm. I seem to remember some mystery element, but I'm not sure what it is. Thank you!!
H189: Harriet and Smith the cat
children's book about Harriet and Smith her cat - 1960s, illustrations in mainly red and black, large format - don't know author. This is a book I enjoyed as a child in the 1960s, I am guessing it was given to me new then, and was a UK publication as that's where I grew up.  It was about a little girl called Harriet, and her cat Smith (or maybe Mr Smith).  It was a large format picture book, probably for 4-5 year olds, and as I recall the pictures were in black-and-white, but Harriet had a red coat and Smith had a red collar.  She had a friend called Mitzi with a poodle called Fritzi, and they had a blue coat and collar respectively; I don't think there were any other colours in the illustrations.

H190: Haunted house next door
Solved: The Treasure Trap


2007
H191: Hesperus

Solved: The Television Book of Hesperus


H192: horses
1940s???  Two sisters, who both ride show jumpers live with their father a military man.  The older sister's horse get hurt right before a big show in Madison  Square Gardens.  The younger sister loans her horse to her sister so she can compete.  I think the horses were named Jack Snipe and Charlemagne.

Janet Lambert , et al, The American Girl Book of Horse Stories, 1963, approximately.  This is actually a short story from the Ameican Girl Book of Horse Stories (selected by editors of American Girl Magazine). The story in question is by Janet Lambert, and called Tall as the Stars. Judy lends her horse Jack Snipe to her spoiled sister Cynthia for the competition, because Cynthia has bragged to her friends about what a great rider she is, while all along neglecting the schooling of her more expensive mount Charlemagne. Of course Cynthia rides Jack Snipe badly and Judy rides Chalemagne very well, with expected results!  Lambert wrote many full length books about military families, some with horses, some without. Her most "horsey" books are the Dria Merideth books...Star Dream, Summer for Seven and High Hurdles...well worth checking out...they're available used and in new paperback reprint.  A few of the other authors contributing stories to this book are Frances Priddy, Margaret Leighton and Vivian Breck. All the stories are great, which is what kept this book in my collection since childhood...unusual for me, because I don't even like short stories! There are multiple copywrite dates in my book, (a picture cover illustrated by Sam Savitt...blond girl in green jacket riding a palomino on the cover) ranging from 1946 to 1963..I suspect they represent the original copywrite dates of the individual stories, but there could have been an earlier printing of the book in another format (perhaps with a dustjacket?). 



H193: home on the range
Solved: Raising Demons


H194: Harlequin male dolls
Solved: Sweet Valley Twins Series


H195: Hillbilly brothers
Solved: The Spooky Thing


H196: Handicapped children
Solved: The Magic Meadow


H197: Houses of the World
Solved: Come Over to My House


H198: Heroes in History
Solved: Junior Classics


H199: hungry monster runs amok
Solved: The Hungry Thing


H200: humorous short stories, amish/mennenite community
Solved: Signs And Wonders


H201: humorous SF, character named "Martin E Ann"
Solved: The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree


H202: hand sticking out from under bed
I remember a book that was read to me in the mid 70's with a child who specifically said there was a hand sticking out from under his bed, and he had to be careful not to step on it.


H203: house cares for man
Solved: Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead


H204: house falling apart
An illustrated book published either in the early or mid-80s. It was about a house falling apart. Each page spread had a full blead double page picture of the cut away side of the house. As you turned the pages, more and more of the house was collapsing or burning down or something.

This may be the same as M565.


H205: houseboat shelter for kite-flying kids
Houseboat is shelter for kite-flying kids. This story involves two kids who go kite flying in a park (in London?) and when their outing gets rained out, they seek shelter and find friendship aboard a houseboat docked in a nearby canal. For some reason, the story and/or illustrations remind me of A.A. Milne. Could the illustrations have been by E.H. Shepard? Not sure. Anyway, I was a child in the mid-sixties when we read this. I know my three-year-old would love it if I could find the title!! Can you help?


H206: homework machine
1960s-early 70s. 'Boys spend a lot of time & effort to create a machine to do their homework.  Making the machine takes more time than to do the actual homework! Thanks!!

Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine by Jay Williams?



H207: haunted, Mansion, Girl, Ghost, Pictures, Paintings
My story is about a girl that visits a huge home.  There is a young man who lives there.  The girl develops interest in the young man.  She starts to feel a cold presence occasionally as she walks around the home.  Eventually she finds a couple of paintings in the home, one looks exactly like the young man she is interested in now - however the paiting was done over 100 years ago.  The "ghost" is the woman who was in the other painting.  I believe the title of the book was something like "The Haunted" or "Haunting" or something.

Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. In Shadow Castle, Lucy meets a young man in a castle and helps to bring the magic alive again.
Unfortunately that's not the one... thanks for submitting though!



H208: House, family builds after searching for perfect
It would have late 40s - early 50s, illustrated with pen and watercolor drawings, I think. It told the story of a family (Mother, father, brother, sister and dog, at least) who were looking for a home (each family member had something they particularly wanted). The ones they looked at were wrong for various reasons. Then they saw a sign, (land for sale?) and found that this piece of property had everything they wanted, including a creek. They built their own dream home there using the stones on the property. Any help in finding this book would be much appreciated.

Alice Rogers Hager, The  Canvas Castle, 1949. This chapter book isn't watercolored but has Mary Stevens's wonderful line illustrations.  Twelve-year old Maidie's father is an engineer whose work requires him to travel from job to job, constantly relocating his family.  Maidie hates moving.   She is thrilled when her father decides to build a house in their new California location, a place where she has made friends.  The house is to be partly made of canvas like a tent so the family can still feel like they're outdoors when inside.  Maidie, her two brothers, and mother will all get the rooms that they design.  There is a family dog too.
Thank you for this suggestion, but the book I'm trying to find was not a chapter book - it was a picture book. And I don't remember any canvas involved. Stones, yes.



H209: Horse statuette comes to life, medieval/ fantasy universe
My question is similar to the entries for Dapple Grey and Merry Legs; but those are not the right answer.  I have the same memory as the person in Dapple Grey -- the boy may have been Timothy, but his statuette of a winged horse with a unicorn horn comes to life and he is transported into a medeival/fantasy universe and with the horse they defeat the bad guy (black knight?) and recover 7 crowns.  The boy returns home and the winged horse/unicorn reverts back to statuette form.  A picture of the boy on the horse is on the cover and it was a little book, same size as the golden books.

Elisabeth Beresford, Dangerous Magic. 1972
. Hundreds of years ago, the Unicorn had been turned into a marble statue to protect it from enemies who were hunting it for its magical powers. When the Unicorn is brought back to life by a flash of lightning, its enemies are soon on its trail again. If it can only get back to its own kind it will be safe - but where are they? Can human children Sammy and Eleanor find them in time? The Unicorn hasn't practiced any spells for a long time, and the three of them soon find themselves mixed up in Dangerous Magic. Meanwhile, their Black Magic enemies creep closer and closer..." Front cover shows a Black Knight, a unicorn behind him, a flying crow or raven, and a young boy held in the knight's left arm, struggling to get free.  The boy is wearing a green-and-white striped sweater, and holding a bird cage containing two small birds. This book is part of a series of "Magic" books, including Awkward Magic, Traveling Magic, Vanishing Magic, Invisible Magic, Secret Magic, etc.. by the author of the popular "Wombles" series.'


H210: House with kids who cannot escape
This story was in a horror anthology I read in the late 1980's, but I would bet it was published in the 60's. The story was quite scary: a boy moves into a new neighborhood and keeps walking by a house that draws him in. He walks up the sidewalk and enters, only to find other children who seem to live in the walls and cannot leave. It turns out they are dead, and he manages to escape. The thing that stood out was when he left the house, it seemed to pull him back and he barely got out. I have never forgotten this story!

Clive Barker, The Thief of Always. Children are attracted to a 'holiday' house and find that they can't escape.
No, this book was older than that...although I do not know the publication date of Barker's book. I read this story in 1987-88.
I don't know the title for sure, but this reminds me of a paperback scary-tale anthology I had in the 80s.  It was probably Scholastic or Weekly Reader, and it featured a story where the new boy in town checked out the old "haunted house" only to find it full of children from previous eras, who had been trapped there by the monster. In the end, he manages to flee, but he doesn't shut the door behind him, so the monster is now able to LEAVE the house, and grabs him and drags him back in. There was also a tale about biking across a haunted bridge after dark (there was a body entombed in the concrete) and I think possibly one about a midget who was forced to work for a magician and operate a "robot".  Hope this helps.
That (above) sounds like the book! Now if only I knew the title...
Ruth Ainsworth, The Phantom Cyclist and Other Ghost Stories, 1971. A long shot, but maybe the story with the house was "The White Haired Children"?  Other stories in the book are The Phantom Cyclist, Cherry Ripe, The Whistling Boy, The Cat Who Liked Children, The Silent Visitor, and Mirror, Mirror On The Wall.  Check out Solved Mysteries for more details about this book.



H211: Hunter with one bullet
Solved: Great-Grandfather in the Honey Tree


H212: High school adventure series
A series of books set in the 40's or 50's with a young woman as the main character being raised by her father and a few older brothers.  Her mother has died.   Her on/off again boyfriend is named Joe and they marry toward the end of the series.  She has a high school chum who moves to town halfway through the series who is named Darcy and is considered "fast."  This is not the Joe from the Betsy books.  Joe and the woman get married and I think move into an apartment over her father's garage in the final book.  Most of the stories are about high school adventures.

Lenora Mattingly Weber, Beany Malone series, 1940-60s. Are you possibly thinking of the popular Malone family books set in Denver?  There is a widowed newspaper columnist father with three grown/teenage daughters and son.  All of the books in the series except for the first,"Meet the Malones", focus on Beany, the youngest girl.  One of her best high-school friends is a new girl named Dulcie who is considered "fast" and brash.  Beany ends up marrying her brother Johnny's best friend, Carlton, literally the boy next door.
Lenora Mattingly Weber, Beany Malone series. Please consider the Beany Malone series as the solution to this stumper though some of the details are skewed.  Beany's mother is deceased.  She has two older sisters and one brother.  Her "fast" friend is named Dulcie--not Darcy, but she does arrive midway through the series.  Her on-again off-again boyfriends are Norbett Rhodes and Andy Kern, but her friend Kay Maffley does indeed marry a guy named Joe and move into an apartment over the Malone garage.  Just a thought . . .
Lenora Mattingly Weber, Comeback Wherever You Are. There was a series of 14 books by Lenora Mattingly Weber. The first book was written in the 40's and the last one in the 70's.  The main character was Beany Malone but one of her best friends name was Kay who did marry Joe. "Dulcie" was another friend who was considered "fast". One of the books to feature Kay (although she is in other books) is Comeback Wherever You Are.



H213: Hidden Passageway, Underground Railroad
I am trying to remember the title and author of a children's chapter book that I read long ago (probably around 1966). It's about a (white) girl who explores an old house and discovers (possibly by pushing aside a dresser or bookcase) a hidden passageway. It turns out that the house had been a stop on the Underground Railroad. That's all I remember, besides that it was a gripping read to a 10-year-old.

Lois Ruby, Steal Away Home.
Florence Hightower, Ghost of Follonsbee's Folly, 1958.  ...it had a regular edition, but also came out (with same cover art/illustrations) as a Weekly Reader Hardcover.
I don't think the Lois Ruby book could be the one as that book was pubbed in the 1990s.  I'm looking for a book that I read as a child in the mid-1960s.
This sounds like it might be The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton, which was first published in 1968, except that the main character was a 13-year-old boy named Thomas.



H214: Hedgehog, sisters and brother, UK
Chapter book set in the UK about 2 sisters and a brother who have to solve a mystery.  The youngest sister writes a story for school about her stuffed hedgehog "Egog".  I read this in the late 1980s.


H215: Hologram forest cover, Indian man and modern woman love story
Solved: Charmed


H216: hidden passageway
I am trying to remember the title and author of a children's chapter book that I read long ago (probably around 1966).  It's about a (white) girl who explores an old house and discovers (possibly by pushing aside a dresser or bookcase) a hidden passageway.  It turns out that the house had been a stop on the Underground Railroad.  That's all I remember, besides that it was a gripping read to a 10-year-old.

Lois Gladys Leppard, Mandy and the Secret Tunnel, 1980's, approximate.  Possibly what you're looking for.  May be off on spelling of author, but it'll get you started!  Books (this on is the 1st of a series) have a Christian theme.
Anne Halliday, The Door Under The Eaves, 1936.  You may be looking for "The Door Under The Eaves" by Anne Halliday.  A little girl named Annie finds a door in a bedroom closet at her grandmother's house that leads to a secret stair that was part of the underground railroad.  There's a mystery involving lost treasure that's solved at the end, but much of the book is just about Annie's normal "little girl" adventures.  If you remember a chapter about a braided rag rug, this is probably it.



H217: hippo named Tom having birthday
Early 1990's. A hippo named Tom is having a birthday.  He brings cupcakes to school for his class to share.  He is short one cupcake.  His teacher cuts hers in half and shares with him.

Peters, Sharon, Happy Birthday, Troll, 1981. "Tom the hippopotamus has a happy birthday when teacher shares her cupcake."



H218: horse-loving sister falls from tree house and dies
Solved:  Beat the Turtle Drum


H219: Horses, real and mythical, illustrated book
SIMPLY GORGEOUS picture book of HORSES (real AND MYTHICAL), Published in the 40's or 50's, Full Page hand drawn color illustrations/paintings, Has stunning detail and quality of detail like that of Equine artist Karl-Ernst Struck, and astounding BACKGROUNDs and use of color like that of  Maxfield Parrish, approximately 25-30 pages.  Dimensions of the book: APPROXIMATELY 10"T x 14"L.  This book was part of the book collection in the Waite Park Elementary Scool Library (in Minneapolis, Minnesota) between 1962 & 1969.

Marguerite Henry had a book like this, I can't remember the title.
Marguerite Henry, Album of Horses, 1951, copyright.  Ok, so this is a long shot, because it doesn't contain mythical horses, but the pictures by Wesley Dennis are absolutely gorgeous, so it might be worth at least looking into.  (And the picture of the Lipizan kind of looks like he might be flying, which might put one in mind of mythical horses.)



H220: Hal, Watusi, Mt. Killamanjaro
Read sometime in the 1960's, adventures of a boy named Hal and his brother in Africa.... they join up with a Watusi tribe that raises cattle... kill an elephant and remove its heart.  After cutting an artery, they mix it with blood to drink.  Sounds gross, but my husband read the book as a child, and I'd so love to find it for him... Thanks so much!

Price, Willard, African Adventure, 1963, copyright.  Bound to be this book - part of Willard Price'sAdventure series.  My teacher read us this when I was seven.  They also have a cheetah as a pet.



H221: hunter, water buffalo
The story I want is one I read in this school reader book in the 1950s.  I was in elem school 1951-59, K-7 grades. I know I read such a story of a HUNTER being run up a tree by a WATER BUFFALO, which some say is more dangerous than a lion because he won’t give up. This guy was up the tree all night and next day, the buffalo was still there. He had dropped his rifle. I think he used some fishing line and a paperclip to hook the rifle that day and escape, or shoot the buffalo, or something. The story probably ran 5-6 pages with some pictures.  I don’t know where it was a GINN reader (same as my last name) or some other reader.  I actually found a copy 25 years ago at a school in South Georgia. I should have stolen it!  ANYWAY, if you ever find this ... I’LL BUY IT.

Theodore J. Waldeck, Treed by a Water Buffalo, 1940, copyright.  You are almost certainly thinking of "Treed by a Water Buffalo" by Theodore J. Waldeck.  According to a note in my copy, "Treed by a Water Buffalo" is actually part of a larger book called "On Safari" by Theodore J. Waldeck, illustrated by Kurt Wiese, copyright 1940, The Viking Press.  I LOVED this story when I was a kid!  For this story and many others, see "Adventure Bound," 1956, 1961, Houghton Mifflin Company, George A. Hughes, Marion Kellogg, Georgiana Smith.  Note the cool picture of the astronaut on the cover!
Sorry, everybody; I incorrectly identified the assistant editors of Adventure Bound, 1956, 1961, Houghton, Mifflin Company, as its editors.  The correct editors were Arno Jewett, Marion Edman and Paul McKee.  They were assisted by George A. Hughes, Marion Kellogg and Georgianna Smith.  According to one of my sources, there are a few used copies of this out-of-print gem out there somewhere for prices that do not seem too unreasonable.  Sorry for the mistake!


H222: haunted house, mystery, witch trials
I would have read this book in 7th or 8th grade (late 1970s). A child or children living in an old house see ghosts of people in the house from a previous time. The images come and go, but the children learn more and more... until they find out (somehow?!) that the people they've been seeing were tried as witches for claiming to see people from the future! Not sure if this book would be classified as SciFi, mystery, occult, or historical fiction... I just remember being absolutely enthralled by it.

Barbara Michaels, House of Many Shadows.  I hesitate to suggest this because the main characters aren't children, but otherwise it is very similar to your description.  Barbara Michaels is, of course, also the bestselling Elizabeth Peters.
Jane Louise Curry, Parsley Sage, Rosemary and Time. Your question reminded me of this book, which I searched for last spring.  A rather starchy young girl goes to stay with her free-spirited aunt in New England, in an old manor.  While there, she discovers that some magical thyme from the garden will allow her to travel back in time to Colonial days.  She meets another girl, and a very young little boy, and they all befriend an old lady with a cat who lives in a little cottage in the woods beyond the manor's garden. The old lady is accused of being a witch, because of her strange and mysterious modern visitors.  They are put in the gaol, and need to escape back to modern times.  There is a happy ending and some surprises about who the other girl and the little boy turn out to be in the present.



2008


H223: Hen is barnyard outcast, hatches eggs
Book in the 1970's with a scruffy hen who is picked on by others in the henhouse; she is chosen by the farmer to hatch a clutch of eggs and raise the chicks. I can't remember the author or title but I loved this book!

Eve Le Gallienne, Flossie and Bossie.  This book was written in the 1940's but I believe a paperback edition was available in the 1970's. It's long been out of print, so it will hard to determine if its the book you are thinking of. What might help is that this book was illustrated by Garth Williams. If you do an internet search for "Flossie Bossie Garth Williams" you will you will find a website that has 8 or 9 illustations from the book - maybe that will help.



H224: Hungry Penguin
My boyfriend remembers very little about this book from when he was a child.  He is about 34, so this would have been in the early 80's.  It starred a penguin who was very hungy, and his stomach kept saying "grumble, grumble, grr, grr" or some other hungry remarks.  That's all I have, honestly.  I hope there's help.

Jonny Belt, Rumble Grumble Gurgle Roar Ok, so this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but you might enjoy checking it out anyway. It's an animated online storybook, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, and can be found at nickjr.com. They've also played it on tv (Nick or Noggin) and my boys love it. It's a cute story about a hungry little penguin whose tummy keeps saying "rumble grumble gurgle roar." In her search for something to fill her rumbly, grumbly tummy, she tries something white and fluffy (a polar bear), something brown and plump (a walrus) and something orange and shiny (a big daddy penguin) before finally discovering that fish are what little penguins should eat. I have not been able to find any reference to a printed version, but I'm guessing that the online story may have been based on an older printed book? I hope this helps you in your search.
Jonny Belt, Rumble Grumble Gugle Roar.  A young penguin is confused about what to eat but keeps trying different things because of his rumbly tummy.  You can find an animated version of this story narrated by Whoopi Goldberg on line at Nick Jr.'s "Just for Me Stories".



H225: Hilarious parochial school story
Main character is a girl at a Catholic boarding school; her friend tells the nun her name is Fay Wray.  An old nun with a lisp helps the girl to finish a sewing project - a plaid skirt - late at night and says, "You haven't even finished your thlip!"  Also the girl and "Fay Wray" slip into the cloister one night to see how the nuns live.  This book is REALLY funny; I probably read it in the early 60s, and I think it was published in Reader's Digest.  Please help!

Jane Trahey, Life With Mother Superior or The Trouble With Angels, 1966.  Also made into a movie starring Hayley Mills.
Jane Trahey, The Trouble with Angels (originally Life with Mother Superior), 1963, copyright.
Trahey, Jane, Life with Mother Superior, 1962, approximate.  These scenes sound like the novel, sometimes retitled The Trouble with Angels, after it was filmed under that title in 1966 (with Rosalind Russell and Hayley Mills). Be aware that there is a play version also being sold under this title.
Jane Trahey, The Trouble With Angels,  1966, approximate.   An autobiographical account of Jane Trahey's high school years, first published as "Life with Mother Superior", and renamed when it was made into a movie with Rosalind Russell and Hayley Mills.
Jane Trahey, Trouble with Angels. It was originally called Life with Mother Superior, but was retitled (and made into a movie with Hayley Mills).
Jane Trahey, Culprit in the Convent, 1963.  The Reader's Digest condensed version, which appeared in August 1963, was called Culprit in the Convent.



H226: Hedgehog with flowers
Solved: Miss Jaster's Garden

H227: House That Jack Built book
Solved: The House That Jack Built by Seymour Chwast


H228: Hares with magic spoon, greedy elephants
Solved: Never-Empty


H229: Historical fiction/romance, San Francisco
Historical fiction/romance I read in the late 90's.  I really don't remember too much but it takes place in early 1930's or 40's San francisco main character is independent girl.  Large fire and earthquakes in part.  I think one of the main characters was a journalist.  At some point they are in the redwood forests.  The same author also wrote another historical romance about girl on plantation during and then post civil war.

Whitney, Phyllis A., The Fire and the Gold
Is the requestor sure the book didn't take place in 1906, if it has the earthquake and fire as plot points?  "The Fire and the Gold" is a young adult romance that begins with the earthquake (in April) and continues to New Year's Eve, and describes the life of Melora Cranby and her family as they try to recover from the disaster.  Phyllis Whitney is also the author of "Step to the Music," which takes place around the time of the Civil War.  Another book which might be a possiblity would be one of the "Beverly Gray" series by Clair Blank from the 30's or 40's.  I can't remember which book it was, but Beverly does visit San Francisco.  The series starts with Beverly in college, but she later becomes a reporter, and is always solving mysteries.


H230:  House, saltbox
This book would have been written probably between 1950-1970. It concerned a girl moving into a new neighborhood. She decides to explore and finds an old house -- I seem to remember it was described as being a saltbox house. She and the neighborhood kids explore the house. I think it's in danger of being torn down. They find documents and possibly treasure, or something that shows the house has historical value and saves it from being torn down.

Sterling, Dorothy, The Secret of the Old Post Box, 1968, copyright.  This is a story about a group of children who learn that one of the families had ties to George Washington and the American Revolution.  Scholastic republished the book with the title The Mystery of the Empty House.
Dorothy Sterling, Secret of the Old Post Box / Mystery of the Empty House.  The original title was Secret of the Old Post Box; Scholastic reprinted it as Mystery of the Empty House. . This is definitely the book.  The woman and three sons who own the house are in danger of losing it because they can't pay the taxes.  The papers in question relate to George Washington's spy system.
Dorothy Sterling, Secret of the Old Post Box, 1960, copyright.  Girl moves into new neighborhood and explores an empty pre-Revolutionary War house there with new friends.  Finds a historical treasure.  I think book was reissued much later with new title of Mystery of the Old House or something similar.
Mary Calhoun, Katie John.
Sterling, Dorothy, Secret of the old post box,
1960, copyright.  Variant title: Mystery of the Empty House.  Absolutely definitely this book.  I had a Scholastic version under the second title.  Pat is the girl - she leaves their New York home to go and live in Haven.  The house next door belongs to the family - can't remember their names but one of the boys is Nathanial (called Nate) and the mystery links back to his great great (?) grandfather and the Civil war.  I think his mother is a widow - anyway whatevery the find in the tin box, saves the family.  I remember too having to learn what a saltbox house is.  At one point someone falls off the slope at the back of the house.
Dorothy Sterling, Secret of the Old Post Box, 1960, copyright.  This sounds very like Secret of the Old Post Box by Dorothy Sterling....it was printed in hardcover, as part of the Weekly Reader series, and in paperback by Scholastic under the title Mystery of the Empty House.


H231:  Horse Paddock
Solved: Shadow Glen


H232: Horace has eaten Grandmama
 Author?,  1953,  childrens.  Very funny laugh-aloud for children ages pre-school.

Coatsworth, The Story of Horace.  Horace, a bear, eats an entire family, one member at a time.  Hilarious.


H233: Historical/romance novels set in ancient times
Looking for some older girl/teen books written before 1968, as I read them in between 1968 and 1972.  Most likely 1940s - 1950s, as I remember them being old and tatty.  They were historical/romance novels set in ancient times, at least some of them in biblical times, and one may have been a retelling of the Ruth/Naomi story.  I'm fairly certain the author's name ended in "Y" or at least some other letter very close to the end of the alphabet.  First name may have been Betty or Betsy. (Definitely NOT Betty Cavanah).  Last seen in a public library in Vancouver, Canada in 1976, but nothing matches from their catalog now.  Sorry not more information, but maybe someone who was a fan of the teen historical romance genre from the middle of last century will recognize.  Great site, by the way.  I identified one of the other books I was looking for as The Forgotten Daughter.

Gladys Malvern.  I'm not sure that Gladys Malvern is the right author but this is what came to mind reading your description. She wrote some fiction books based on biblical women. Possibly - Behold Your Queen?
Gladys Malvern, The ForeignerGladys Malvern wrote some books about historical figures, including some about biblical characters.  The one about Ruth and Naomi was called "The Foreigner".
I'd wondered if it was Gladys Malvern as well, as apart from the name, it did seem to fit.  I guess I'll have to find a copy of one of her books somewhere, and then I should know.  Not sure, though - at the same time I was reading these books I was also enjoying Mara: Daughter of the Nile, and I definitely remember the books as being later in the alphabet than McGraw.
Malvern might have been later in the alphabet than McGraw, if the library you borrowed books from went by an old cataloging rule, which said that Mc and Mac were both treated as if they were Mac and were alphabetized before any other Ma-authors.  Just FYI.
I would have guessed Gladys Malvern too, but, depending on just how old the books were, you might also check out Caroline Dale Snedeker (e.g., The Forgotten Daughter) and Edward Lucas White (e.g., The Unwilling Vestal).
I've now found reasonably affordable copies of The Foreigner, Tamar and Rhoda of Cyprus on line.  Once they come in, and I've had a look at them, especially The Foreigner, I'm hoping this one will be solved.  I definitely recognized the cover of Heart's Conquest as being a book I have read before, but haven't found an affordable copy yet.  Behold Your Queen is just totally out of my league.  Wish someone would reprint these books.  I will update once the books arrive.


H234: Hollow tree leads to other world
The book I'm looking for, was written before 1980.  I would have read it around 1975.  It was about a boy who moved to the country or an aunts farm, of course he wasn't happy about it, but he finds a tree that is hollow, and when he gets inside of it he climbs up to another "world"  or "realm", with mean animals and dangerous creatures.  He seems to keep climbing up and down this tree over short periods of time.  He befriends one of the animals, who helps him when he is in the new "world".

Ruth Chew, Magic in the Park, 1971, copyright.  While visiting Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Jennifer meets Michael, and together they discover a magic hollow tree and a secret underground world.


H235: Halloween, death, kids, lone ranger, witch, tonto
I'm looking to find a children's book I read sometime during elementary school, which would have been between 1984 and 1993.  The book was about a group of small children who go out to investigate a supposedly haunted house on Halloween.  There is an old lady who the kids think is a witch.  One of the kids is dressed up as the Lone Ranger, and one as Tonto.  They sneak around the house for a bit, but then the Lone Ranger falls off a balcony or something and ends up dying.  I think I remember an image of the kid Tonto and the old lady holding the kid Lone Ranger with a touch of blood at the corner of his mouth.  It is a very somber book with great artwork.  The book is probably a short one and should be paperback if I recall correctly.


H236: Handlettered Q & A children's book
I had this in the late 70s/early 80s.  For ages 7-12 I'd say.  9x12-ish, white cover (I think).  Paperback.  It was a Q&A book for kids covering lots of subjects.  Each section (subject) had colored pages.  e.g.  one section had all red pages, another had all blue pages, etc.  The text was handlettered with handdrawn illustrations.  One question I can remember is "what would happen if a irresistable force met an immovable object?"


H237: Hunting guide become the prey
Solved: Deathwatch


H238: handicapped girl, religious (saints?), single mom, dies
I am another one looking for a book from my childhood.  I think this was a true story and there may have been more than one book.  Written by the mother, it is about her life with a handicapped girl (for the life of me can't remember why she was handicapped).  Definitely religious in tone, but the story transcended it.  Clearest scene I can remember is they are driving in Colorado and have to put tire chains on the car because of the snow.  Think the mom was a single mom, can't remember a dad ever mentioned, but could be wrong about that.  Girl eventually dies.  Has driven me nuts for years trying to remember it! Have a feeling it was set in the '50's.  Thank you for a great service - how fun!

Marie Killilea, Karen,
1952, copyright.  This reminds me of Karen and its sequel, With Love from Karen, true stories written by Karen's mother, Marie Killilea.  Karen has cerebral palsy.  The book is set in the 1950's and often refers to the family's Catholicism.  The mom isn't single and Karen doesn't die, but there is a scene that involves driving in the snow in one of the books.
Marie Killilea, Karen.  Might be Karen.  She has cerebral palsy.  She doesn't die at the end of Karen, though.  There's also a father, Jim.  The book is written by her mom who is deeply religious.
The book you are looking for is definitely NOT Karen, by Marie Killilea.  In that book, there is most definitely a father, Jimmy, and nobody dies except one of Karen's grandmothers.  The story takes place in Rye, NY, a suburb of New York City, and as far as I know, the family never visits Colorado.  Sorry I don't know the book you're looking for, but it's not Karen.


H239: Hot enough to melt the fat off of Mrs. ____
I'm looking for a children's picture book read to me in the mid 1970's.  The story is about some children trying to find a way to cool off during a summer heat wave.  I think the pictures were black and white drawings, but there may have been some color, not sure.  Very detailed illustrations.  It was "hot enough to melt the fat off of Mrs. ____" (can't remember her name), and the picture of her sitting out on her stoop sure did make her look hot and unhappy.  I believe the setting was urban.  There was only one guy in the neighborhood with a fan in his apartment, and I think the kids attempt to borrow, or steal it.  I guess they eventually cool off, but I wish I could remember more!  Obviously written before air-conditioning was common.  I'd love to find this book.  Hope someone can help.  Thanks!

Arthur Getz, Tar Beach
, 1979, copyright.  A long shot, but might be worth a look. "Joey and his sister Teresa find that rooftops make wonderful beaches on hot summer days." Front cover shows children running through water spurting from an opened fire hydrant, in front of apartment buildings. Lots of people in background, at windows, doorways, and on front steps. I don't have a copy, to check for the specific line and illustration you remember, but you should be able find a picture of this on online and see if it looks familiar.
No, it is definitely not Tar Beach.  We used to check the book out of the library around 1976 or so.  I'm thinking it would have been published in the 1960's, or early '70's.


H240: High school boy's father is a spy
Read this book between 1993-1996. children's/young adult book. The main character was a boy in high school who was getting into trouble, possible drinking but definitely an incident with a car. The father was a spy or part of some secret organization. He got his son to deliver a package or envelope to a place to try to get him interested in something and as a way to connect with him. I think that then the father is kidnapped and the son has to act like a real spy to save his dad, but that last part could be wrong.

Winona Kent, Skywatcher,
1989, approximate.  It might be this book, though the main character, Robin, is in college. His father is a spy and they are both involved in a huge car accident. There are also two other brothers. If you remember a fictional TV show that sounds like a cross between The Avengers, Man From UNCLE and Mission:Impossible called Spy Squad which the spy dad starred in, this is the book.
Anthony Horowitz, Stormbreaker.  This one is a possibility. Teenaged Alex Rider's uncle dies in mysterious circumstances, and it turns out he was a spy. Alex is recruited to take his place.
Thank you both for your input but it's not Skywatcher or Stormbreaker. I really wish I could remember more than what I already wrote. I imagine it was between 150-200 pages if that helps. Thanks again. I'll keep thinking about it and add what ever might come up.
Robert Cormier, I Am the Cheese.
  There are enough matching details with I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier that it's worth considering. The boy sets off on a bicycle to deliver a package for his father. The story is told in segments with flashbacks about his life.
Johnson, Annabel & Edgar, Gamebuster, 1990, copyright.  Could this be it? "Overhearing what seems to be a bomb plot and discovering a dead body in the trunk of his car are only the beginnings of a dangerous adventure in which a high school senior rediscovers his father, an undercover agent, and becomes involved in a fight against dispossessing the Navajos of their lands forever.
Amerman, Lockhart, Guns in the Heather, 1963, approximate.  This book and its two sequels (Cape Cod Casket and The Sly One) date from the 1960s rather than the '90s, but had an extended life in library and book club editions.  The protagonist and narrator is teen-aged Jonathan Flower, whose father is indeed a US secret agent.  In the first book, Jonathan is kidnapped from his Scottish boarding school by enemies hoping to pry information from his father.  In the second, he's on Cape Cod for a summer job tutoring two precocious children when danger erupts. The third (which has a listing in Solved Mysteries) shifts the action to Philadelphia and New York, where a devious mastermind is orchestrating a gypsy conspiracy.  The tone is what makes these: fast action blended with literate humor and well-twisted plots.  They're the right length for this stumper, and there's definitely a father/son dynamic involved in the plots.
Thank you all so much for your comments on this. While these don't seem to be the book I remember they do sound interesting. Having scoured my memory I think the story was set on the west coast.  Thanks again for your continued efforts.


H241: "Hark!  Hark!  Retard the spark!"
Solved: Those Miller Girls!


H242: Historic figures
Solved: Childhood of Famous Americans series


H243: Haunted house, footprints in the snow
I read this book in the late seventies or early eighties.  A boy thinks a house is haunted, there is a wooded area in front of the house and there are ghostly shapes moving through the trees but leaving footprints in the snow.  Thats all I can remember!!

Calhoun, Mary, The Night the Monster Came,
1982, copyright.  "After finding giant footprints in the snow, Andy is sure that Bigfoot is stalking his house."
A long shot, but check 13 Ghostly Tales (1966), edited by Freya Littledale and illustrated by Wayne Blickenstaff.  Contents are: Wait till Martin comes / Maria Leach -- The trunk in the attic / Adele DeLeeuw -- The railroad ghost / Murray T. Pringle -- The dare / Maria Leach -- The wild ride in the tilt cart / Sorche NicLeodhas -- The ghost with one sock / Freya Littledale -- The most haunted house / Louis C. Jones -- The witch in the wintry wood / Aileen Fisher -- The ghost dog of South Mountain / Frances Carpenter -- The thing at the foot of the bed / Maria Leach -- Ghost in the orchard / Aileen Fisher -- The golden arm / Maria Leach -- The ghosts from the graveyard / Sorche NicLeodhas.  The story I'm thinking of is Ghost in the Orchard by
Aileen Fisher.
M. J. Engh, The House in the Snow, 1987, approximate.  From the description, this *could* be The House in the Snow...but it's not really a ghost story.  Instead, there are robbers with cloaks of invisibility.  The main character runs away from a cruel master and goes to hide at "the demon house", which is an old abandoned mansion where unexplained footprints appear in the snow around it. He discovers a band of robbers, keeping several other boys captive as their servants. After he joins them, the boys end up stealing the cloaks and turning the tables on robbers.
So far I am coming up empty, but I appreciate the efforts. Hopefully one day I will figure it out!!


H244: High school girl, mother makes pie
Girl in high school named "Ella" or Ellie" (?) whose mother makes a pie every night, has first boyfriend. I read this in the late 1950's or early 60's.


H245: human minaturization experiment
Solved: Cold War in a Country Garden

H246: Hispanic brother and sister in New York
Children's or youth book from 60s or 70s. Hispanic brother and sister in New York City with no parents have to survive on their own. They hide out in vacant buildings and take coins from pay telephones.

Charlene Joy Talbot, Tomas Takes Charge.
  I haven't read this one, but it comes up so frequently on book search boards that I recognize the plot!
Talbot, Charlene Joy, Tomas Takes Charge, 1966, copyright.  This is a book about two children named Tomas, 11, and Fernanda, 14, living on their own in New York. Their father has not come home in three weeks and they find an empty apartment to live in.  Fernanda doesn't leave the apartment and Tomas is in charge of finding food for both of them.
Children In Hiding.  This book was also published under the title "Children in Hiding" and is the same as described by the others.  Tomas and Fernanda must hide out in the city after their father goes missing.  The sister is very afraid of going out, and Tomas scavenges food and other needed items for her, then meets a woman artist who befriends him and helps them both.  Great book!

2009


H247: house of my own
1950's, childrens.  child struggles for privacy. Builds her own house with blankets over tables, with cushions in corners, other inventive places. Good illustrations. Favorite book as a child in the '50's. Found a title "House of my own" by Ebba Dane [London/Methuen: 1950], but the brief bibliographic description wasn't enough to identify.

Not a solution, but I can tell you that the book you are looking for is NOT "A House of My Own" by Ebba Dane. That one is an autobiographical account of making a new life in rural France in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Joan G. Robinson, Mary-Mary, 1950's-60's.  I don't have concrete proof (although this is not in "Mary-Mary stories", which I do own), but there is something about this description that reminds me of the play and antics of Joan G. Robinson's Mary-Mary. ("Mary-Mary", "Madam Mary-Mary", "More Mary-Mary" are the other titles). Maybe worth looking into. I wish I could remember details of the other books, which I read as a child. They're delightful stories with charming sketches by the author. Mary-Mary is a little girl with two older sisters (Miriam and Meg) and two older brothers (Martyn and Mervyn).  She is determined to do whatever they are doing in her own noticeable way and is a sturdy individualist, carving out "her own space" in the family.
Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, A Little House of Your Own.  I don't know that this is it, but worth looking at.  Child talking about her own personal 'house' under the dining room table, then talking about other possibilities: a large box, a big umbrella, behind a chair in a corner.  Much about how nice it is to be with people, but the need for a place all to oneself.
I don't know the answer to this yet but think I may be able to find it.  We had a book growing up that I recall as being tall and thin rather than the dimensions of an ordinary book.  The illustrations were pen-and-ink and were all about various little houses and their equivalents.  You were never supposed to disturb somebody in her/his little house unless invited in.  One example was a father (or maybe mother) sleeping on a sofa, which was a kind of a house.  Another was under the dining room table.  Another was a tree house.  In fact, I remember a rather elaborate kid's house in which two little girls were having tea, either the tree house or a separate house on the ground.  And I think I remember a little child resting on the ground with a paper bag over his/her head as a little house, and a mother approaching politely and respectfully to let the child know it was time for dinner.  If this sounds like what the requester is seeking, I can see if I can locate it in my mother's house (or ask my siblings in case they took it).  It's funny -- I was thinking about this book not long ago.
De Regniers, Beatrice Schenk, A Little House of Your Own, 1954, copyright.  I found it (but it was at my sister's house, not my mother's).  I'm pretty sure this is what the requester is seeking.  It has great pen-and-ink drawings by Irene Haas.  I'd forgotten one of the little houses was a tree house, and that there are wonderful pictures of the view of people down below doing various things.  I was wrong about the sofa, though: that was the mother's little house (the father's was the newspaper).


H248: Horse poems childrens book (1980-1990)?
poems/ryhmes about Horses, or with horses in them. the names of 2 of the poems: 1. Ride a cock horse to Banbury cross 2. Windy night. another may have had a highwayman in it. The book cover was greyish in colour and had a horse on it definately had illustrations of hobby horses on inner sleeves.

Susan Jeffers, Mother Goose: If Wishes Were Horses And Other Rhymes, 1979, copyright.  Reprinted as If Wishes Were Horses: Mother Goose Rhymes during the 1980s. A beautifully illustrated collection of rhymes about horses from Mother Goose. Front cover is white, showing a dapple-gray horse. Three children are seated on the horse's back. In front is an African-American girl in a blue dress with her hair in pigtails tied with brightly colored ribbons. She is smiling and is holding two gray and white kittens in her arms. Behind her, with her arms around the first girl's waist, is a red-haired girl in a green and white dress and a straw hat with long pink ribbons which hides most of her face. In back is a little boy in gray pants, white blouse, and gray hat. He has his arms around the girl's waist and is looking down somewhat nervously. All three children wear white stockins and black button shoes. A small brown and white dog is also running beside the horse.
I don't know the book being sought, but I don't think it can be Mother Goose, because I strongly suspect that the windy poem the requester remembers is Windy Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson, which doesn't have a highwayman but does have a mysterious man who gallops about on the highway.  Then again, the highwayman poem the requester recalls may well be the separate poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, another indication that it's probably not a Mother Goose book the requester is seeking.


H249: Horse, dog and girl in Australia
Solved: Tam, the Untamed
Pre-1965. Possibly written by Mary E. Patchett. Plot: girl lives on a ranch (?) with her family in Australia. She loves the land and her dog and horse. She is sent off to boarding school in the city. She is homesick. Her dog and horse escape the ranch and travel to the city to find her--and they do.

Mary Elwyn Patchett, Ajax, Golden Dog of the Australian Bush (reprinted as Golden Dog), 1953, copyright.  The true story of a girl who grew up on a station in Australia surrounded by dogs, horses, goannas and other creatures, with a native girl for a playmate and a fear of being sent away to school. Her golden half-dingo dog Ajax is a pup at the start and grows up with a fiercely protective love of his owner. They encounter floods, snakes and other dangers. The story is continued in the book 'Tam the Untamed' about the girl's wild white stallion which became the model for 'Brumby'.
Mary Elwyn Patchett, Ajax the Warrior, 1953, copyright.  This sounds like Ajax the Warrior by Mary Elwyn Patchett. First in a series, the complete list, in order, is as follows: Ajax the Warrior, Tam the Untamed, Treasure of the Reef, Return to the Reef, Outback Adventure, The Call of the Bush, The End of the Outlaws, The Golden Wolf, Ajax and the Drovers, Ajax and the Haunted Mountain.
I first want to say what a great service this is. I've been enjoying just reading about all the books I missed out on as a child.  I'm the person who posted H249 and I appreciate the responses, but they are very confusing to me. First of all, I was happy to see that others think that my book may have been one that was written by M E Patchett. However, I don't think that I am any closer to knowing exactly which one it is. I hadn't previously seen a reference to a book by Ms. Patchett titled "Ajax, Golden Dog of the Australian Bush." Is that just another title for "Ajax the Warrior"? And a horse definitely plays an important role in the book I remember. Does that mean it must be one of the later books in the Ajax series?  I do know that I read 2 or 3 books by the same author--all that was in my school library--so I suppose that I might have conflated the plots of two of them. But I'm really certain about the dog and horse traveling alone through the wilderness to find their mistress. That's the book I'd like to find.
Mary Elwyn Patchett, Ajax the Warrior aka Ajax: Golden Dog of the Australian Bush,
1953, copyright.  Ajax the Warrior is the original title of this book, Ajax: Golden Dog of the Australian Bush was the retitled American edition (published by Bobbs-Merrill in hardcover, by Scholastic in paperback). As you're not sure if you're conflating two titles from the Ajax series, and want to be sure which title is the one you want before you buy, I'd suggest getting this book, and any sequels you can, via the library. Even if your local library doesn't have any of the books, you may be able to request a book via inter-library loan...you'd be amazed at how many old titles are on the shelves somewhere in the country!
M E Patchett, Tam the Untamed, 1954, copyright.  Tam the Untamed is the M E Patchett book in which Mary gets sent off to school and is terribly homesick and Tam (her horse) and Ajax (the dog) follow her.  See also solved stumpers.
I have requested "Tam the Untamed" through the Interlibrary Loan Service. It will probably be awhile before I get it, but if it turns out to be the right book, I'll post it as solved. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.
Mary Elwyn Patchett, Tam, the Untamed, 1954, copyright.  This is definitely the book I remember the best. I also am fairly sure that I read another of the books in the series as well, although I don't remember which it was.


H250: Horror stories, 'The Ash Tree', ghost twins, lichen
Old book of HORROR STORIES which may have included the story "THE ASH TREE" and also a story about GHOST TWINS, a fireplace and a girl who goes to sleep on a sofa and wakes to find that LICHEN has covered her arms; twins help her.  I especially want to find the twins story.

1950s, approximate. I also remember a book of horror stories that included one about a woman who fell asleep on a grey sofa and woke up with grey lichen starting to grow on her face, but the way I remember it is that she got the lichen because she mocked the ghost twin children and they caused the lichen to grow on her. I think the house was haunted by dozens of ghosts but the twins were most feared because disaster happened to whoever saw them (death by fire, etc.) The curse was somehow lifted when some one eventually expressed sympathy for the ghosts instead of fear, realizing that they were "only children." I want to say I read this in an Alfred Hitchcock anthology from my school library in the 70s - the book appeared to be pretty old and so was probably from the early 60s/late 50s.
The only Hitchcock anthology to reprint James' "The Ash Tree" is STORIES FOR LATE AT NIGHT, and none of the other titles in that one (from a list I found) sound likely for the "lichen" story (the only plausible title is "The Cocoon," and I know the plot of that story and it's not it.  If it's not a Hitchcock, anthology, likelist among other anthologies that reprinted "The Ash Tree" include MEDLEY MACABRE ed. Bryan Netherwood, 65 GREAT SPINE CHILLERS ed Mary Danby, and LOST SOULS ed Jack Sullivan.
E.F. Benson, How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery.  This must certainly be your lichen story-here is a link: http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0206.pdf.


H251: Hunter falls in love with girl whose family turns into partridges
I long to find a novel that may have been printed any time between 1945-1980, a lyrical, magical lovestory. A hunter, deep in a remote wood, falls in love with a girl (French-Candian?) & learns that her mystical family turns into partridges. I can't remember the title, sadly. Thank you so much!

Corcoran, Barbara, The Winds of Time,
1974, copyright.  republished as "The Watching Eyes" In her desperate attempt to escape custody of her cruel uncle, thirteen-year-old Gail finds refuge with the Partridges, a strange family living isolated in a spooky house in the woods.
Elizabeth Coatsworth, The Enchanted: An Incredible Tale, 1951.  Solved on another board recently.


H252: hunting, one bullet, bear, deer, fish, partridge, turkey, honey
I read this book when I was in grade school , to the best of my recollection between 1965 and 1971.  This is a story about a man that goes hunting so to have meat for the winter months?  He takes his rifle and has only one bullet.  He also takes a net to catch ducks or geese....I can not remember which.  The whole story then evolves into this amazing hunting adventure/experience.  To the best of my recollection it goes something like this.   First the net gets filled with Geese or ducks, I can not remember for sure.  when he grabs the net to catch the geese, there are so many, they take off and pull him up into the air.  While in the air he finally falls/lets go?  and falls into a hollow tree.  The base of the tree is full of honey so he is standing, in a hollow tree, waist deep in honey.  While trying to figure out how to get out, a bear comes, attracted to the honey, and climbs the tree and starts backing down.  As soon as the bear is almost near the man, the man yells and scares the bear so bad the bear starts climbing out of the hollow log.  The man holds onto the bear and it pulls him to the top of the tree.  When he gets to the top he kicks the bear off the tree and the bear falls and is killed.  He then climbs down the tree and because he is covered with honey he jumps into a pond to wash off.  While he is in the pond a large fish gets caught down his shirt.  As he is trying to hold the fish and get out of the water, this causes a button on his shirt to pop off and strike a partridge sitting near the water and kill the partridge.  So now he has a bear, a partridge and a fish and has not fired a shot.  A short time after this he looks in some trees and sees that the net with all the geese has caught in a tree.  So he decides to cut the tree down.   when he does this the falling tree falls on a buck deer and kills it.  So now he has the bear, the fish, the partridge, all geese and a deer to take home.  When he is getting ready go go he notices a bunch of turkeys have landed in a tree above him.  So he decides to shoot one of them.....but when he shoots, the bullet misses and hits the branch the turkeys are perched on and causes it to split open. When the branch slams back shut, it catches all of the turkeys by the feet.  I can not remember how many but 6-10 turkeys.  So the man now has a bear, fish, partridge, geese, a deer, and turkeys.  He loads all this on his sled to pull back to the house and had all these animals with only firing one bullet.  The ropes on the sled break because the load is too heavy.  So he skins the deer to make rawhide roap to hook onto his horse and sled.  He heads for home.....but it is snowing or raining?  and the rawhide stretches.  When he gets to the house he notices the sled is not with him and the rawhide is stretched all the way back to the woods.  He is tired and goes to bed....but the next morning the sun comes out and the rawhide shrinks and pulls the sled to the house with all of his game still in the sled.
As I mentioned I read this story when I was in grade school more than 40 years ago and have searched and searched the internet to try and find this book.  I have no idea who the author is or what the title of the book is or when exactly it was published except it had to be prior to 1971 as I was in the 8th grade in 1972 and it seems I read this in the 3rd or 4th grade??  I know at least one comedian/story teller has used this for their shows.  A bluegrass band called Hickory Hill had a member called Roland Foster that used to tell this story as part of their act.  He called the story, the "One Bullet Hunt"....and they recorded it on a cassete tape called "Riminisn" in the 1990s.  When by simple chance I heard this tape.....I remembered the story....and in a effort to find the book I called the band.  They said Roland had died and they had no idea where he got the story.  They thought he had gotten it from another commedian somewhere in Louisiana and had no idea that it was from a children's book.  So, of course I was very disappointed and back to searching the internet again.  I ran accross your sight and hope you can help me find this book, name and author and a source I can buy it from.  Thank you so much.

This sounds a lot like Jack's Hunting Trip by Richard ChaseJack's Hunting Trip is actually part of The Jack Tales by Richard Chase (sorry; I don't have the publisher or copyright date).  I found Jack's Hunting Trip in Adventure Bound, 1956, 1961, Houghton, Mifflin Company.  See H221, except that there I incorrectly identified Adventure Bound as being edited by its assistant editors.  The actual editors were Arno Jewett, Marion Edman and Paul McKee.  They were assisted by George A. Hughes, Marion Kellogg and Georgianna Smith.  Sorry!  When I was a kid, I loved most of the stories in Adventure Bound.  See especially Lay it Down Ziggy by Larry Siegel -- it might be years before you stop laughing!
Sam & Zoa Swayne, Great-Grandfather in the Honey Tree, 1949, copyright.  A tall tale of how Great-Grandfather went out to net some geese but got stuck in a tree full of honey. He manages to get loose, and through a series of fortuitous coincidences, ends up with not only the honey but also a bear, a deer, a fish, a partridge, a net full of geese and/or ducks, and a bunch of turkeys (with their feet trapped in the split branch of a tree). He tries to pull the load home, using sinews from the deer to pull his sled, but the rain causes them to stretch, leaving the sled behind. In the morning, the sun dries and shrinks the sinews, delivering the load right to his door. Reprinted in the 1960's and again in the 1980's.


H253: Highschool "Rules" Frame Funny Teen Novel
Solved: The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations


H254: high school writing class
1970's-80's, childrens.  A group of teenagers come together in a special class (possibly for creative writing). They all have various issues/challenges they are dealing with  there is bonding among the students along with the teacher throughout the story as they deal with their problems. One student is a boy called Palmer or Parker, though his real name is Craig. He is an extremely shy boy who is overshadowed by a very wealthy background and possibly a much popular older brother. There is another student who has delinquent type tendencies, as well as assorted others, possibly a girl named Dana. The teacher is young and possibly newly married and she gets caught up in helping the students deal with their various challenges. I think one of the students who befriends Palmer/Parker ends up trying to burglarize his home.

Possibly Libby on Wednesday by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.
John Ney, Ox, the story of a kid at the top, 1970, approximate.  This sounds like one of the Ox novels...there were a couple more books: "Ox Goes North" and "Ox Under Pressure" and "Ox and the Prime Time kid". I can't remember which plot goes with which book.  Ox lives in Palm Beach, has lots of issues, and his real name something like Bruce. There is a kid named Porter Cartwright in at least one of the books, which is close enough to Parker/Palmer to at least make this worth checking out. And there's definitely a kid who tries to burglarize Ox's home in one of the books, an older brother, and a writing class somewhere in the series.


H255: Horse flying into the urban night sky
1958-1962, childrens.  I'm haunted by a picture that graced a short story in my parochial school reader. A horse flying at night over city rooftops. I can't remember if the animal was winged or had a rider. I do remember that the story and the picture left me with a deep sense of longing.

More Fun With Our Friends
, 1962 (there may be earlier editions with this), copyright.  This is one of the Dick and Jane books.  The story you're thinking of is "Dark Pony," the final chapter in this particular edition.  You're right, the pictures were very haunting.  I, too, remembered the story from my childhood, and looked it up on the Internet a few years ago.


H256: hollowed-out book lets loose spiders
Solved: The Curse of the Blue Figurine


H257: human babies start being born with tails
This book was about how human babies started being born with tails.  At first parents were embarrassed and had the tails removed.  After a while it became a status symbol to have a tail.  In a few years older people would get fake tails to make themselves appear younger.

H. Allen Smith, The Age of the Tail,
1955, copyright.  Almost certainly H. Allen Smith's THE AGE OF THE TAIL (Boston: Little Brown, 1955)  there was also a pb edition from Bantam in the late 1950s.

H258: hedgehogs on a night train
1970's-early80's, childrens.  There was a book I loved as a child that had young animals (i.e. hedgehogs, rabbits, etc) dressed in pajamas and I think it was bedtime and they were going on a train (possibly called the "moonlight express" or "midnight express"). I also remember them eating in a diner or something to that effect. My brother and I had another book by the same author and with the same characters so I could very well be mixing the two stories up in my head. I remember the hardcover books having softly colored pictures.  I would love to find either of these books for my daughter.

I do recall the same book- but I do not recall its name. There was also scenes where the all the animals 1)visit the main public library 2)are around a Christmas tree with candles 3)go stargazing 4)ice skating. I believe the cover had perhaps some type of tree with lanterns? The hedgehogs pajamas has those open buttoned back flaps.

H259: Horror, anthology, late 80s, man devouring limb in forest on cover
 One story contained a boy who raped a girl in school then descended to madness; lived in forest near school killing others after. Another story was about a space crew that finds a planet, eats the vegetation and turns to butterflies. For more description, go here, plz :
http://tinyurl.com/n3azm9
H260: Huge Fairy/Folk Tale Anthology: 18x12"+ and 130+ pgs full color!
Included the classics plus Blue Beard, Ali Baba, part of Tom Sawyer & Tar Baby.  Tales were 2-14 pages & delicately colored.  Original dark wording, such as the mermaid's steps like blades.  Unfortunately, by the 80's, I had  almost destroyed the book, no cover, first 40 pages missing! Mom tossed it

Bridget Hadaway, Fairy Tales, 1974, approximate. This really sounds like the book I searched for for years.  It has all the tales you mention and its beautifully illustrated. Some other tales are Cinderella, The wizard of Oz, Snow White, The Swan Maiden and the Goose Girl (which had the most beautiful pictures of the princess in her golden gown and lovely white horse, Falada.) Check out more information on the solved mystery page.
Bridget Hadaway, Fairy Tales, 1974, approximate. I think this is what you are looking for, it has quite a variety of stories, and the illustrations are beautiful. There is more information on the Solved Mystery pages.


H261: Horse Grows Wings
Horse grows wings from an itchy back to leap over creek.  I read the book in the 80's, and it was old then.  Horse can't jump over a creek to follow Mom, back itches, he sprouts wings and flies over the barn.

Wesley Dennis, Flip, 1966, approximate. Pretty certain this is Flip by Wesley Dennis, who frequently illustrated Margeurite Henry's horse stories as well.
Wesley Dennis, Flip, 1941. I loved this book as a kid!  It's definitely "Flip". There's at least one sequel "Flip and the Cows", and maybe another. My copy is falling apart, but I think there's a paperback still in print
Wesley Dennis, Flip, 1941, copyright.That's a beloved classic. You'll get tons of responses to this. For some reason it's out of print. Be sure to pick up an original or first edition, not the revised Scholastic edition. Flip returns in Flip and the Cows (1942) and Flip and the Morning (1951).


H262: Homemade Rocket
Solved: The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

H263: Helping Mother Bake a Cake
I am looking for a particular book from my childhood.  It would have been sold in the mid 1950's and has a red/blue cover with the subject of helping mother bake a cake.  The little BOY goes through each page sifting flour, measuring milk, eggs.... It was a small "cardboard" type book. Any suggestions?


Tamara Kitt, Billy Brown Makes Something Grand (a wonder easy reader)
. This was one of my favorites.  he manages to bake a cake containing a bird cage, an alarm clock and even more bizarre stuff.  lovely pictures too!


H264: Hiccuping king, teleporting castle, wizard's ice daughter

Children's or YA fantasy. Published pre-1982. Small kingdom with castle that teleports to safety when attacked. The king doesn't know the magic word to work it, but says it by chance when he sneezes or hiccups. The royal wizard keeps his daughter in an mountain after turning her to ice by mistake.


Nicholas Stuart Gray, Over the Hills to Fabylon,1954, copyright. Details are garbled, but I think you're looking for this one.  The city moves when the king does the spell.  The current king is very jumpy and the city has been out and back 6 times since Christmas" or wtte.  There's the daughter turned into ice and living in an ice mountain, too.  Prince Alaric falls in love with her.  But Alaric falls in love with just about every young-looking girl he sees, and promptly forgets each.  There's princess Rosalind who doesn't want to marry a prince, but a shepherd.  There's prince Conrad, the heir, who is practicing calmness so he won't be as jumpy as his dad when he becomes king.  The puffball-thing that delivers mail.  The cats.  The witches.  The bears.  Captain Corrie and his horse Cobwebs.  Any of this ring a bell?


H265: Humans Inhabiting a Green Planet

Written around 1975?; science fiction novel alien green planet with really enormous tropical trees shipwrecked  human survivors evolve longer toes to climb and live on enormous tree branches;giant caterpillar like creatures befriend humans for life; deadly giant gas filled jellyfish roam tree canopy


Alan Dean Foster, Midworld
.Sounds like "Midworld", especially the part about humans evolving long toes to live in giant trees.  Was the main character called Born?

Alan Dean Foster, Midworld. This sounds a lot like "Midworld".  The main character is named "Born" and his companion furcot (not earthworms) is named "Ruumahuum".'

Alan Dean Foster, Midworld. This might be Midworld, by Alan Dean Foster.  A high-tech scientific group encounters a group of "natives" that turn out to be the descendents of an earlier colony ship.  The natives live in massive tree-communities, avoiding both the "Upper Hells" with the floating and flying predators, as well as the "Lower Hells" toward the ground. A later book called Mid-Flinx is also set on the same planet.  

1984, copyright. This one might be The Intergral Trees by Larry Niven. The detail about the prehensile toes is correct. The descendants of a colony of astronauts live on the tufts of giant trees. There is a sequel called The Smoke Ring.''Niven, Larry, Integral Trees


H266: Helping Mother Bake a Cake

I am looking for a particular book from my childhood.  It would have been sold in the mid 1950's and has a red/blue cover with the subject of 'helping mother bake a cake'.  The little boy goes through each page sifting flour, measuring milk, etc. it was a small "cardboard" type book. Any suggestions on where to go to get the publisher, or name of the book. I would dearly love to find a copy.


H267: Hidalgo and other stories: a Difficult Anthology to Find
Solved: Much Majesty

H268: Hidden Treasure
Probably published in the UK. sometime between 1900 and 1950; illustrated hardback about a boy and a girl who go into the countryside seeking hidden treasure. It was an early precursor to the "Choose Your Own Adventure" genre ("If you think the children should talk to the farmer, turn to page 24")

H269: Hobo boy from 1940's
Book from 30's - 40's about a young boy (~10 yrs) who runs away for a summer with a hobo. Camping out, survival skills, etc.
Plot: Boy from small-town middle-class home joins passing hobo  for a summer of wandering adventure, ca. late '30's. Not sure if they rode trains or went on foot, but they camped out & I recall there was detailed lore (that I tried to re-enact) like making a hobo stove out of tin cans etc.  The older guy was a sort of wise mentor, who eventually tells the boy its time to go back home to his parents at the end of the summer. He returns home taller, stronger, & mature. I read/reread this around 1943. I don't think it was a "popular" book; as some copies were made available in a "summer reading" project for third/fourth grade.  I'd guess that the writing and plot would date from the '30's when many boys not much older did become wanderers.

Patrick and Terence Casey, The Gay-cat, The Story of a Road-Kid and His Dog, 1914. I found this in Google Books while trying to figure out your book-I know this is not your book, but I started reading it and am very much enjoying it-just thought you might enjoy it as well!


H270: Huge Pink Hippo On Rollerskates with Children Climbing All Over Her
The only thing I really remember about this book was the huge promotional poster for it. The poster was about 4'h x 6'w and featured a pink hippo on all fours, on rollerskates with kids climbing all over her with rope ladders and swings. The cover was pink, orange, yellow & white. 70's maybe?
Golden Books poster, 1971. I still have a copy of the poster in question, and it appears to be a generic advertisement for Golden Books.  The only text reads "Bring home happiness.  Bring home a Golden Book."  It's copyrighted 1971 by Golden Press.  (Additional details:  Hippo is wearing a flowered shirt and striped pants boy in lower right corner is drawing hippo clouds in upper right spell out "hippo".)
Philippe and Rejane Fix, The Pink Elephant with Golden Spots, 1970. So, this isn't exactly what you described, but the cover is too similar not to mention. It shows a pink elephant with big, yellow polka dots all over, sitting on broken boards. One child is lying on his stomach on the elephant's head, a second is climbing up the side of the elephant, using a bunch of ropes that are secured around the elephant's tusk and its raised front leg. A little girl is seated on a swing that is hanging down from the elephant's trunk. The story is about three children and a magic, wish-granting cupboard. One of them wishes for a pink elephant with gold spots.


2011

H271: Hippo-like creatures
Book about creatures that live in the woods, the animals/creatures are imaginary, some resemble small hippos. Book is from the 1970s, it is a yellow hard cover book, small type with some illustrations of the creatures in black ink. The book is about the adventures of the creatures. Thank you!

Tove Jansson, The Moomintroll Series. This is a marvelous series of books set in the Scandanavian forests populated by Moomintrolls and other fantastic creatures. Your description could match many of the books, but I do remember that Tales from Moominvalley had a yellow cover in the paperback edition, so maybe this is the one you're looking for.
Tove Jansson, Moomins, 1940-70. Any of the series of Moomin books by Tove Jansson.

H272: Hardback picture book; bear or wolf and juicy strawberries
Trying to find book that came out circa 1960's. A children's picture book w/vivid pics of juicy strawberries and a wolf or bear involved in the story.  Could have been a version of little red riding hood?  A 2nd book, written/illustrated by same author/artist had a birthday cake/party theme. Thanks!

Wood, Don,
The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear, 1984. This comes to mind, for both the critter and the vivid pictures of the strawberries--- but the date is later.

H273: Harpers Ferry mystery
I read this in the late 80s/early 90s. Contemporary (20th century) mystery unfolds at Harpers Ferry West Virginia. I believe the main characters are a boy and a girl. There are parallels to the events surrounding John Brown's raid. There may be time travel involved??

H274: House that keeps getting bigger and bigger
SOLVED: Helen and Alf Evers, The House the Pecks Built.

H275: Horse boarding school
Looking for a YA book about a girls' boarding school where they bring their horses for training and to ride in shows. The main character is allowed to attend because her father works for the school. Her horse is seriously injured in the end.

Joan Houston, Crofton Meadows,
1961. I think you're looking for Crofton Meadows by Joan Houston. Sheila is attending the school on a scholarship because her father is the stable manager of the school. There is intense rivalry with a snobby, rich student over a mare named Jubilee, who is seriously injured (but not killed!). Unfortunately hard to find and expensive though!
Back in the 70s I remember a book called "Heads Up!". Not the famous one by Patsy Grey, this was another one entirely. It was about a boarding school/riding school with boy and girl students from all over the world. The riding master was either German or Austrian, a good man but very strict. You had to be meticulous about your own and your horse's appearance. One of the students was called Ingrid, and she pointed out early on that the main character was not a very good rider compared to the others, so how had she qualified for the school? (She then realized her question was less than polite and said "I have been again stupid.") But the main character was not offended by the question and agreed that she "stunk". She had some kind of an "in" which might very well have been that her father had some connection to the school. She had managed to be accepted hoping to improve her riding. I can find no reference at all to this book online, but it might be the one you're looking for.
SOLVED:
Joan Houston, Crofton Meadows. Thanks for solving this one!! I really had my doubts that anyone knew this book. Now if only I could find a copy!

H276: High School Murder Mystery from 1982-1986
High school murder mystery/horror book published as a paperback in 1982-1986 (don't remember exact year). A killer stalks a group of high school teachers. The only scene I remember clearly is when the male gym teacher seduces a female (fellow teacher/student?) in the school's pool after hours/at night (it was dark). I think they were both drunk. They don't know the killer put piranha in the pool are are attacked and eaten. I seem to remember the writer was male and from Massachusetts. Maybe the cover was green? Any help is very much appreciated!

H277: Hidden Door
1970's-1980's. This book could have been one of the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/ or Dana Girls Mysteries, or possibly a Scholastic Book Club paperback.  I recall there were several people in a house & they were in a room covered with wainscot panelingand the people were feeling along the wall with their fingertips until someone located a spot where they had to push on a specific place to release a spring which opened the door.  There may have been a stairway behind the door and some sort of box inside a recess in the stone wall inside which may have been a manuscript.

Could this be Nancy Drew #2, The Hidden Staircase?
Carolyn Keene, Secret in the Old Attic. Nancy finds missing music manuscripts in hidden places behind paneling and such in Secret in the Old Attic  perhaps that's the book you want.  If you remember spiders - tarantulas in the original version, and black widows in the updated version, if I recall correctly - this would be your book.
Judd, Frances K., Mansion of Secrets. The Mansion of Secrets is filled with secret hiding places,hidden doors and secrets under the stairs, where Kay Tracey and her friends find clues to a valuable treasure.  First of the Kay Tracey series.
Kenny, Kathryn, The Gatehouse Mystery, 1951. I believe it's in The Gatehouse Mystery that Trixie Belden finds a hidden stairway and gets a little lightheaded because the air is so stale.
Kathryn Kenny, Secret of the Emeralds. No, the Trixie Belden where Trixie finds a hidden passage and gets lightheaded is Secret of the Emeralds, not Gatehouse Mystery.
Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew. This may be part of either The Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion, The Sign of the Twisted Candle, or The Password to Larkspur Lane.  All of them had old houses and secret panels. (of course, a majority of other Nancy Drew mysteries do too.) There are probably three versions of each of the earliest Nancy Drews though (the originals, written the in the 20s were rewritten in the 40s & 60s), so you may have to check several versions with the same title!
Meg and the Secret of the Witch's Stairway. Nancy Drew's clue in the crumbling wall has the box hidden in the wall like you describe.  Meg and the mystery of the witch's staircase has a hidden spring in an antique cabinet that reveals clues to silver hidden during the civil war.  Is it possible that you read all the Nancy Drews you could get your hands on and might be mixing 2 or 3 together? Meg books are written by Holly Beth? Walker.
It's possible that this may be from one of Augusta Seaman's books. See Nancy Drew for Smart Kids by Christine M.Volk for a discussion of the books and listing of titles [...]  I believe the titles were reissued as Scholastic paperbacks.
Enid Blyton, Five go to smuggler's top, 1970s. Your description about the wainscotting and then the panel in the stone made me flash to this book. Lots of secret passages in caves and there is one in a stone room where they find a secret door/panel.
Varied, Three Investigators Series. You might also want to check "The Three Investigators" series.  There was at least one book with a scene in an old house and a secret passage.  I'm pretty sure it was the Mystery of the Green Ghost (#4 in the series) that had a hidden door plot, and I seem to remember the characters looking all over the room for a way in until finally one of them thought to push UP in a bookshelf.  Unfortunately, a lot of kids' mysteries had hidden passages, so it's probably going to be hard to figure it out without going through a lot of the suggested books...good luck!

H278: Hereditary facial disfigurement for knight and his son
SOLVED: Gloria Skurzynski, Manwolf.
H279: "Heads Up!"
SOLVED:
Don Stanford, Horsemasters, Funk & Wagnalls 1957.


2012

H280: Hippie grandfather tries to burn flag, and is killed
Short story from a 8th grade English book.The story is from a grandsons POV (set in the future) as his grandfather reads a news story about some new police force. He mentions the US flag has 60 or so stars, and dresses up like a hippie tries to burn a flag, and is shot by laser guns by the new police.

Bruce Coville, Old Glory.
It was part of an anthology which may be called 2035, though I'm not sure about that, and the name of the story itself is Old Glory.

H281: High-school Freshman Algebra book, early 1960s
This high-school Freshman Algebra textbook featured an avatar wearing a mortarboard; its features consisted of plus, minus, division, and multiplication symbols. I used it in Summer 1966 in Manhattan. And I really. REALLY miss that book! (I don't think it's by Isidore Dressler, but am not sure.)

H282: Hawaii WWII adventure novel
Howdy -- In 1957-58, I read a boy's adventure novel set during WWII in Hawaii.  Either two or three boys were involved, one of them being native Hawaiian.  They discover a secret Japanese submarine base; and one of the more memorable scenes describes the non-Hawaiian boy trying to eat poi.  Anyone?

Howard Pease. This is a long shot, but could it be one of the Tod Moran series by Pease?  He was a merchant marine, and in the series managed to hit almost every busy sites in WWII.  I only read a couple, but maybe there are synopses of the titles online somewhere.
I'm fairly certain it wasn't part of the Tod Moran series by Howard Pease, since it took place mostly on land, and the boys seemed to be fairly young (13 or 14, tops).  During WWII, Tod Moran was already well into his 20s, so I know it wasn't him.


H283: Harlequin Presents, Russian prince and English lady
Harlequin Presents published in between 1980-1982.  Russian prince, his first name might be Paul, visits England.  He meets mid 20’s English lady who falls in love with him.  The prince is married, but estranged from his wife.  When English lady finds out she joins Florence Nightingale nurses in the Crimea during that war.  English doctor becomes close to her and loves her, but she still loves Russian prince.

H284: Hand clapping brings drawings to life
I am looking for a book that has collection of stories around 1976. One of the stories has a little girl who gets a pen everytime she draws something if she clapps her hands the picture comes to life.

H285: Home, house
Its a book about a run down house that a young couple turns into a home.  I particularly remember loving looking attheillustrations as they transformed the house - in one illustration of the house a child drew tic tac toe on the walls. It was basically a story about a house being a home for a family.

Ruth Krauss, The Big World and the Little House,
1949. I no longer have a copy to check the illustrations for a tic-tac-toe board, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was your book. The general plot fits, and the illustrations certainly have that "could stare at them for hours" quality! "A family moves into a deserted and bare little house, improves it, and makes it a home."

H286 Human baby that was adopted by fairies
Can you help me find this book.  I think it was from the sixties and was a children's picture book.  I believe it was called The Fat Little Fairy.  It was about a human baby that was adopted by fairies and felt left out because she couldn't fly because she was too fat.

There's a very similar book called Flight of the Fat Fairy by Caroline Ambrus and Graeme Hume, but the publication date is 1999.

H287: House with gables, birds/children on sills
SOLVED: Mary Chase, The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden (aka The Wicked Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House)

H288: Hollow tree, secret tunnel, wizard
There was a book I read when I was young, that I don't remember the name of, back in the 70'sish. It's about some kids that play inside a large hollowed out tree (with a room inside) that has a secret tunnel that leads to another world with a wizard and some evil that follows them back.. HELP!

Alan Garner, Weirdstone of Brisingamen. From one of the publisher's blurbs for the reissue: "When Colin and Susan are pursued by eerie creatures across Alderley Edge, they are saved by the Wizard. He takes them into the caves of Fundindelve, where he watches over the enchanted sleep of one hundred and forty knights. But the heart of the magic that binds them – Firefrost, also known as the Weirdstone of Brisingamen – has been lost. The Wizard has been searching for the stone for more than 100 years, but the forces of evil are closing in, determined to possess and destroy its special power. Colin and Susan realise at last that they are the key to the Weirdstone’s return. But how can two children defeat the Morrigan and her deadly brood?"

H289: High school boy photographer, rural Pennsylvania, mystery
This is a young adult book from the 1960's. It is set in rural Pennsylvania and the primary protagonist is a high school boy who's hobby is taking wildlife photos with his camera. There is a mystery, a hermit in the woods, girlfriend named Penny, a honey competition at the fair-goldenrod honey wins.

H290: Haunted Blood Mansion
Mid-late 80s book that was about a haunted mansion and was fully illustrated. I seem to remember something about blood manor and blood mansion the overall colour scheme of the book was red and grey it had pictures of booby traps and eyes behind hanging portraits? 

H291: High school girl plays piano; new girl is rival
HS girl plays piano really well. New music teacher at school likes a new girl better and gives the new girl the solo, but everyone is wowed by the first girl who plays for other friends who sing.  Book about rivalry and friendship. Probably a scholastic book fair book late 80's or early 90's.

H292: Houseboat, girl, cat
 I am looking for a book for an aunt who remembers it from the 30’s and 40’s.  It is the story of a little girl who lives on a houseboat, possibly on the Erie Canal.  She is sent to the store and buys olive oil.  On the way home, a cat follows her, and she gets it to follow her to the houseboat by dribbling the olive oil on the ground.   Thank you.

H293: Helping Mommy for Grandmother's Visit
It's a story of Grandmother coming to visit. The little boy and girl (they look a bit like Dick and Jane) help Mommy prepare for her arrival. They specifically got fresh towels out and fresh flowers for the table.

H294: Harold
Looking for a children's book for the 1980's that had a little boy named Harold in it (it is NOT Harold and the purple crayon or Harry Potter). That is all I can remember. Any chance of finding something????

I know of two books by Donald Carrick:  Harald and the Great Stag (1988), and Harald and the Giant Knight (1982).  Both are about a little boy in the middle ages, with really gorgeous full-color illustrations.  Perhaps the person who submitted the stumper was remembering Harald as Harold.
Maybe Harald and the Giant Knight or Harald and the Great Stag by Donald Carrick? (Note unusual spelling of "Harald.") Both are picture books set in the Middle Ages or thereabouts. In the first one, Harald and his family are being tormented by knights who bully their way on to the family's farmland to use it as a practice field. Harald's solution is to build a giant, fake knight out of woven reeds (similar to basket-making) and use it to frighten away the rogue knights. The Great Stag plot I am fuzzier on but I think it has to do with the decision whether to kill a deer for food or protect it as a remarkable example of the species.

H295: Hens at a dance
I'm looking for a children's book, not sure when it was written but I was a kid in the early 90s and the copy I had looked similar to the Mercer Mayer Little Critter books so I'm guessing it was fairly recent at that time. The story is about a couple of rival hens who get really dressed up for a dance, wearing high heels, big necklaces, feather boas, big hats, ect trying to outdo the other and then cause a whole bunch of chaos at this dance because their accessories keep injuring the innocent bystanders. I think one of the hens is wearing red high heels with a purple feather boa, and the other is wearing purple heels with a red boa or something like that.

I believe I have the solution to H295, as I owned and loved this book myself as a child. It is Fancy Dance in Feather Town, by Ann M. Martin of Babysitter's Club fame.  There was another book starring Fran and Emma, which was Moving Day in Feather Town.  They were both part of the Golden Books series, although they were paperbacks, and are now both unfortunately out of print.


H296: Halloween book about two girls - lost on way to party
Description: I am looking for a beloved Halloween book from my childhood - I owned this in the late 80s/early 90s, but it could have been published earlier than that, perhaps in the late 70s. I believe the plot was centered around trying to get to a Halloween party but getting lost on the way - there were two girls, and they might have been friends already, or they might have met in the woods on the way to the party (and maybe one tried to scare the other?) - either way, I remember two of them. I think one was named Spider, or was dressed in costume as a spider. For years I have thought the other girl's name might have been Hazel? But I have searched so many times for variations of this and found nothing, so maybe not! I think she may have been carrying a pie or other treat to the party. Other keywords that come to mind are thorns and briars - maybe these were an obstacle in the woods? It's also possible that it was more of a cave/passageway where they were lost. I loved this book and think of it every Halloween - looking forward to any clues!

This could be Grace Chetwin's "On All Hallow's Eve".  It's been a long time since I read it, so I'm not positive.  The one thing I do remember is that the two girls are sisters.  They're definitely going to a Halloween party though, and end up in the woods in danger.  There may be some time travel involved.




 
 
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3/14/13