Hi-this book was my mother’s when she was a child in the 30’s. It had about 5 different “fairy tales” in it. Two that I remember are Rumpelstiltskin and an Irish tale about a crooked boy who I believe caught a leprechaun and asked to be straightened. There was, of course, an Irish maid in it.
This book is also beautifully illustrated. The characters were long lean figures with elegant clothes for I believe it was Cinderella . The Irish made had black hair. The size of the book was about 10 X 14 inches and only about 3/4 inch thick.
Maid, not made.
Let’s Pretend
beautifully illustrated collection of fairytales; “Cinderella”, “Rumplestiltskin”, a story about leprechauns, and I believe I remember firelies and a magician with gems in the sky(I’m not sure). But one thig I remember distictly was Cinderella at the ball with ling flowing blond hair and wearing a white soft flowing dress trimmed in ermine. I want this book so bad, I can taste it. I’ve looked for years. You’re my last hope I’m afraid.
C225 I have not read it or seen it, but THE FULL COLOR FAIRYTALE BOOK (also listed as THE FULL COLOR FAIRY TALE BOOK) by R.C. Scriven, Gramercy Pub., 1974 includes, among other stories, “Cinderella” and “How to Catch a Leprechaun”. The summaries indicated that it had beautiful illustrations, and that the front cover showed a giant eating soup surrounded by other characters from the fairy tales. So I have no idea if this is the right one, but it might be worth checking into. ~from a librarian
Let’s Pretend. This sounds a lot like my mother’s wonderful Let’s Pretend book of fairy tales, published in the 1940s or so. The stories include Cinderella (and I think that her dress was white with ermine), Rumplestiltskin, a story about Childe Rolande and his sister Elaine, Little Moonbeam (a Chinese fairy tale), and an Irish tale about a man with a crooked back who catches a leprechaun and wishes to be straight and tall to attract a girl.
C225/I48: Same book perhaps?
The dress and hair remind me of the Cinderella found in a Walt Disney collection I had.
Just wanted to add to the info I sent in before, regarding my mother’s book: Let’s Pretend, by Nila Mack, illustrated by Catherine Barnes (Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing Company) 1948 Contains five stories “adapted from the famous radio program Let’s Pretend heard over the Columbia Broadcasting System”: Cinderella, The Leprechaun, Childe Roland, Princess Moonbeam, Rumpelstiltskin.
I have checked my Full Color Fairytale Book by Scriven to see if it is a match- unfortunately Cinderella does not match.
Nila Mack, Let’s Pretend, 1947-48. THere is absolutely NO Doubt that the book the Stumper seeker wanted was Nila Mack’s Let’s Pretend, published by Whitman Publishing c. 1947. I got my copy in 1952- and like others who posted — remembered the color, the size, etc. but not the title. My mother threw mine out ca. 1960-61 as I had totally worn it out–covers torn, off etc. She never knew how much I loved the book. I searched for it– not remember author, title– but only the chartreuse green cover, and the best lovely illustrations of fairy princesses, princes, roses, knights, etc. Found a copy in an quaint antique shop driving on I94 between St. Paul and Chicago this August — and I’ve been forever grateful. Mine was very inexpensive — but check E-bay once in a while. Today — Dec. 9- or yesterday, they had a copy that at last check was going for over $100.00 There is no doubt this is the book– Cinderella indeed has ermine on her dress. But note– much of the nostalgia in remembering this book is due to its fabulous illustrations — these were done by Catherine Barnes. I’ve been doing more research into her various illustrations in the 50s.
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When I was in first grade I got a book that had stories from different countries. It was yellow and about the size of today’s coloring books but hardcover. This was about 1952-53. One story had a girl that was supposed to go to the emperor; she had earthly parents but was actually the daughter of the lady in the moon. She cried tears and they became pearls and the Moon Mother took her from earth so she didn’t have to go to the emperor. Another story was in Ireland and was about a girl names Colleen and a boy named Michael that had a hump on his back and he was trying to catch a leprechaun to make his back straight so Colleen would love him. Turned out she loved him anyway. There was a story about and tower where a lady was imprisoned, the tower was covered in jewels and there was a man named Roland. Cinderella was one of the stories also. This was the only story that I have ever seen in any other book. I feel pretty sure that there were other stories but I don’t remember them at this time. This book had the most beautiful illustrations I have ever seen. I have been looking for this book for years as I gave it to a friend’s children when I was 16 and they tore it up.
Nila Mack, Let’s Pretend, 1948. This is definitely the wonderful book of stories from the Let’s Pretend radio show, with Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Childe Roland, the Leprechaun, and Princess Moonbeam. The illustrations are by Catherine Barnes. You can read more about it in the Solved Mysteries.
Mack, Nila, Let’s Pretend, 1948. Found this on the web–could it be the one? I know that the Princess Moonbeam story was on a Let’s Pretend record my children had in the seventies.
1948 Let’s Pretend, by Nila Mack, illustrated by Catherine Barnes (Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing Company). Contains five stories “adapted from the famous radio program Let’s Pretend heard over the Columbia Broadcasting System”: Cinderella, The Leprechaun, Childe Roland, Princess Moonbeam, Rumpelstiltskin
Just a few extra bits: the story of Roland was the “childe Roland to the dark tower came” one where he has to go widdershins around the tower and rescue someone (his sister?). And Cinderella had three dresses, an ermine-trimmed one (illustrated), a silver one (not illustrated) and a gold one (illustrated).
Nila Mack, Let’s Pretend. Thank you for reminding me of this book which I received as a child and still have. It has some of the most marvellous illustrations I’ve ever seen and I still like to look at them from time to time!
When I was in grade school I picked out a fairy tale book from a book sale. I took it to my grandmother’s house for a long weekend. She saw the lime green cover of the book and was sooo ecited. She had a copy when she was younger and it was lost. It quickly became “our” favorite book and stayed at her home. Grandma passed recently and between the funeral and grief, I forgot about the book. When I remembered, the house and her belongings were dispursed. I was sick. Today my uncle found the book and I can’t tell you how good it is to have this beautiful book back. I hope that you find a copy and treasure it forever. The book is Let’s Pretend by Nila Mack illustated by Catherine Barnes, 1948 by Whitman Publishing Co. Racine:Wisconsin
I found my own book!
I too loved this book given to me when I was a child. Did not know the title, author, what year I received it, but went to every old book store in every city I went through. Finally after 35 years, I found it. Looking for something else on Etsy decided to go through their Fairy Tale books, on the 16th page there it was, and guess what, computer froze up. Had to wait for it to reboot praying the book was not sold. I ordered it, can’t tell you how important this was to me. The illustrations are beautiful, I remembered those and some of the stories. So glad I found it, waiting impatiently for it to arrive. How odd what things we treasure most, besides the people in our lives.