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I believe these books are indeed published by Ladybird.  Small books, mostly common domain stories, with a ladybug on the cover of each.  I do get them from time to time, and will let you know when I have some in stock.
Ladybird published a great number of different series in the same format of small hardcover books. The fairytale series referred to was called Well-Loved Tales, and was graded by reading difficulty into grades 1, 2 and 3. Grade 1 included The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Boy, Chicken Licken, The Enormous Turnip, The Big Pancake, etc. Grade 2 included Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, etc. Grade 3 included Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White and Rose Red, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Princess and the Frog, etc. The two remembered are from the Grade 3 level.

About two months ago, I sent in a stumper about a family who sailed around the world in a Chinese junk - my friend couldn't remember much else about the books, just that they were a series. Well, I have since discovered that the books were written by Janet Lambert and are about the Campbell family. So, if anyone else ever asks you that question, here's the answer! Meanwhile, we have found some of the books, and I think my friend wants to just search out the rest on her own. Thanks!
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I am looking for a young adult's book (maybe geared to about 5th grade?), probably part of a series, that was set on the East Coast (New York?) on an army (or other) base in the 1930s or 1940s.  It described the lives of he girls in a military family who lived on base.  One girl's name was Carol and she ended up marrying David, either in that book or a follow-up (if it is a series).  I remember descriptions of bicycling in pedal pushers, making fudge, going for bridemaid dress fittings, etc.  (definitely a girl's book!).  I read this in the 1960s.

Janet Lambert, Introducing Parri, Star-Spangled Summer, Wedding Bells, The Stars Hang High, c.1962.
These books are about the Parrish family and were written by Janet Lambert  the details you mention are correct.  They took place in New York and had a lot to do with West Point.  I've read most of them and they were all wonderful.  Still have my copy of Introducing Parri, "...the 14-year-old daughter of famous actress Penny Parrish. Her trip into New York for a 'sensible' coat ended with a tryout for a Broadway play...and began a whole new life of fun and dating!" 

I have a copy of this story The Lambkin in a big red book, The Classic Volland Edition GREAT CHILDREN'S STORIES, illustrated by Frederick Richardson and published by Rand McNally. It is not a small book, instead it has 17 traditional tales.
L2: This story appears in a skinny British paperback collection of  stories called Rom Pom Pom that I have at home. Will send more details when I have access to the book.
Hi . . . I just wanted to write and say that I had a book as a child called Lambykins.  It was a Tell-a-Tale book, and the story was as the person that wrote the e-mail described. (The lamb fooled everyone and rolled away in a drum).  Hope this helps.
I am looking for a children's book (like a Golden Book , but not one of theirs) which is called The Lambkin or The Little Lambkin. It was one of my favorites, and now that I am expecting a baby I would like to include it in his "library." Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!! 

Noel Langley, The Land of Green Ginger, 1937 / 1966 / 1975, copyright. Definitely! There seem to have been three separate editions, each rather different from the one before, and I guess you read the 1966 one.  People are quite sniffy about the 1975 edition, but don't dismiss it untried - it's the only version I've read, and I thought it was wonderful.Summary: The Land of Green Ginger is the story of Prince Abu Ali, the son of the Emperor Aladdin of China. When Abu Ali is born, the Genie of the Lamp announces that his destiny has already been foretold  he was the one chosen to break the spell of the Land of Green Ginger and restore the Magician - turned into a Button-Nosed Tortoise by a spell that went wrong - to his normal shape. You'll find magical fantasy, adventure and excitement within the pages of this book - but most of all, you'll find ridiculous wit and humour to appeal to all age groups (whether child or adult).
Noel Langley, Land of Green Ginger.
Noel Langley, The Land of Green Ginger, 1966, copyright.Sounds like the adventures of Abu Ali (son of Aladdin), his friend Boomalakka Wee, and the Mouse.  The Land of Green Ginger was the name of the flying island/floating world.  My copy is a Puffin paperback published by Penguin Books Ltd.  
Noel Langley, The Land of Green Ginger. Yes! This is definitely it.  I can't wait to find it again (and I probably will go for the "66 since that is what I must have read.  Thank you so much.

Noel Langley, The Land of Green Ginger. This one is solved.

I'm still trying to figure out the very old children's book with a color illustration of a rather rotund man with rosy cheeks (wearing a morning coat?) standing next to a tree with a door.  After the boy walks away, he looks back to see only a bird--a robin, I think--in the tree.  The door and the man are not there.

Maybe it is Little Boy Lost by W.H. Hudson, but with the colour illustrations by Dorothy Lathrop, published by Knopf 1920. I've seen one picture from this edition, showing the little boy lying on a ledge speaking to the Ocean, personified as a huge old man with a wide mouth and trailing white weed-like hair and beard. There's an incident in Little Boy Lost very similar to the robin incident cited, where the boy speaks to a little man who won't answer sensibly, then walks away and turns to see a burrowing owl(?). I don't know whether Lathrop illustrated that incident, though.
S30 shapeshifting bird: Hard to be sure, but another possibility is Wood Magic (also published as Little Sir Bevis), by Richard Jeffries, published Longmans in the 1920s, reprinted several times. "Wind and brook, birds and animals are little Sir Bevis's friends. They vie with one another for his affection and for his sympathy with their very human-like jealousies and intrigues." I've only read excerpts, but I think little Bevis wanders by himself at times. Also, robins are more likely to show up in Bevis's English countryside than the South America of Little Boy Lost.
The suggestion that it might be Wood Magic by Richard Jeffries was a good one as Bevis does converse with many animals; however he does not converse with a rotund little man who then becomes a bird.  I am, therefore, still searching for this illusive, colorfully illustrated children's novel.
Dorothy Nell Whaley & Charles W. Knudsen, The Land of Happy Days, 1938.  Mystery Solved!!  I picked up a book entitled The Land of Happy Days in a vintage bookstore today and there on page 15 was the rotund man (Round Roger)wearing a tuxedo, welcoming a boy and girl to Good Sleep Inn which happens to be the trunk of a big tree.  On page 40, the Inn is simply a tree and Round Roger is nowhere to be found, but we do see a fat round robin who looks "fat and roly-poly just like Round Roger."  Thanks to everyone who tried to help.
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I don't remember much about the book, other than I loved it when I was young!   It was written by a young girl, who apparently disappeared (I'm sure it mentioned that in the preface?)  Anyway, it was about a tiny fairy, was very descriptive and beautiful.  I think the fairy's name started with a "T" and may have been the title, or part of the title, of the the book.  Thank you!

I know one that begins with a "P":  Poppy, or the Adventures of a Fairy by Anne Perez-Guerra.  1931.
Could this be Tatsinda by Elizabeth Enright?
I think that the tiny fairy may be Thumbelina.
This is definitely NOT Tatsinda by Elizabeth Enright
The clue that it was written by a young girl makes me think it's Opal Whitely's The Fairyland Around Us.  The fairy named "Twilight, the child of Day and Night, came and led Liloriole forth in search of the homes of Fairyland."  There's a website with the entire text at http://www.liloriole.net.
I checked out the website, and  The Fairyland Around Us is beautiful, but it's not the book I'm looking for *sigh*.  I remember that there was a description in the story of the fairy/girl waking up inside of a flower which had been covered with ice during the night...it seemed so beautiful to me, the way it was written. Maybe that will ring a bell with someone?  Thanks!
I'm wondering about The House Without Windows and Eepersip's Life There by Barbara Newhall Follett, published by Knopf, 1927 "The story of a little girl who was "rather lonely" and who left home one day to explore the meadows, fields, and woods near by. But she became so enamored of life in the woods that she decided to "live wild" and never go home anymore. She goes to the mountain and she goes to the sea, then back to the mountains, where on one beautiful summer day she becomes a dryad. A rarely lovely book, and the only instance we know where a child has been able to record that longing common to many children under ten to be one with nature. The book was written by the author at nine and rewritten at twelve, as the original manuscript had been burned." There's a book about the young author: McCurdy, Harold (edited by) BARBARA: the Unconscious Autobiography Of A Child Genius Published by University of North Carolina Press: 1966, 146 pages, with b?w photos. "She was educated at home in New England by literary parents, Wilson and Helen Follett, and at the age of four she began to type out her own imaginative stories. By thirteen she had already published a novel and, with the publication of her second novel a year later, she seemed launched on a literary career. Then the events of her inner life and her outer world seemed to conspire against her vivd energy - the separation of her parents, the Great Depression, her own frustrating and unhappy marriage. Finally she fulfilled a prophetic vein in her writings, which sought flight from the human world to an enchanted, unsoiled world of nature. In the winter of 1939, in a mystery that has never been solved, Barbara Newhall Follett disappeared."
Dorothy Nell Whaley & Charles W. Knudsen, The Land of Happy Days, 1938.  A tiny fairy named Twinkle appears in a mirror and leads two children, Betty and Jack, into the enchanted forest.

I wish I remember the title for sure, because I remember this book from my childhood as well (early 60s). However, I think it belonged to my mother so was from the 40s. I think it was called something like "Land of the Lost". The boy and girl find all kinds of things under the sea that are lost above, and sometimes never sought--lost socks but also buttons, watches, treasures, dolls...
Hewson, Isabel Manning, Land of the Lost, illustrated by Olive Bailey, NY McGraw-Hill 1945.  I would suggest this. The fish's name is Red Lantern. "Billy 13, and Isabel, 11, fishing from their rowboat, catch Red Lantern, the Guiding Light of the Land of the Lost. In return for letting them go, Red Lantern takes them to the wonderful kingdom under the sea where all lost things eventually arrive. Here they find the doll Henrietta that Isabel had lost overboard, and the toy soldier Sergeant Pine who is now a captain. Then there is the villainous Kid Squid and his band of cuttlefish, who nearly prevent Isabel and Billy's return to earth. Best of all are the Knives of the Square Table, with Billy's lost Jack Knife, the Great Horn Spoon, Sir Keen Carver and Lavinia Ladle. These fascinating stories have been developed from Isabel Manning Hewson's Blue Network radio program: The Land of the Lost, which as this book goes to press is carried on more than 80 radio stations throughout the United States. Mrs. Hewson also reports that there are more than 3500 Land of the Lost Clubs and the number is growing daily." (from the dust jacket) There were also at least 2 Land of the Lost cartoons made, one dealing with the Jack Knife story, the other with a pocket watch. The animation and art were similar to the Caspar the Friendly Ghost cartoons.
Isabel Manning Hewson, Land of the Lost. (1947)  God - just glad that there are people out there who have heard of this book.  I own a copy and wondered if any one else had heard of it.  The illustrations are a very strange updated version of '\''Alice in Wonderland'\'' but quite wonderful.  I would love to know more about the author though.'

Albert J. Harris & May Knight Clark, Lands of Pleasure, 1965.  This was my first grade reader, too, and I have a copy of it. The exact story of naming Zipper the cocker spaniel is in here. The twin boys are named Jim and Jack Jones.

Day, Veronique, Landslide!  1958.
Veronique Day, Landslide!1966.  You're pretty close---it's a landslide that traps the children!  Two sets of siblings are trapped in the remote hillside home of an elderly couple who happen to go to town that day.  No one is looking for the children: their parents believe they are on vacation, and their host believes they have gone home.  Escape is impossible, so the children must figure out how to survive until help arrives.  Eventually, the children send a Morse code signal that is seen by the sick boy, but because they have mixed up the letters of the Morse alphabet, the schoolmaster must help the sick boy decipher the message!  Meanwhile, the eldest child, an introverted and bookish boy who takes charge during this emergency, is becoming sicker and weaker from an infected wound on his arm.  Will he die before help arrives?  One of my favorite childhood books!
Arthur Catherall, Prisoners in the Snow
Veronique Day, Landslide, 1961.  Five children are trapped in a lonely cottage when a landslide hits during Christmas vacation. The owners'\'' pet bird dies of shock, and the only thing the children can hear is a cuckoo clock. They send signals in Morse code using a large mirror.
Landslide.  btw- the boy who sees the flashes is home with a sprain, not allergies.
Veronique Day, Landslide, 1963.  Five children (from two families) on vacation without their parents are hiking and get caught by a landslide in an elderly acquaintance's house. After a few days some snow falls away from a window and they use a mirror and morse code to signal for help, which is seen by a boy home sick from school. I believe the book was originally in French and translated.
Veronique Day, Landslide!  1963.  I am certain this is the book you are looking for.  Five kids - two sibling groups - are on vacation in the mountains.  They go to see the oldest boy's friend, an old man named M. Nortier.  He is not there.  They go in and go to sleep.  While they are sleeping there is a landslide and they are trapped.  No one knows they are there and no one is looking for them because the parents think they are somewhere else.  After being trapped for days, they are able to send a message by flashing a message into the snow in Morse code using a mirror when the sunlight hits just right at a certain time of day.  A boy in the village is home with a sprained ankle and sees it.  With the help of the village teacher they figure out the message and the children are rescued.
Landslide!  Yeah!  Thank you so much!  In addition to my own collection, I'm working on a Christmas present for my sister.  These were all books we both read as kids, and still talk about finding again.
Just wanted to say that Prisoners in the Snow is about 2 children that see a plane crash and watch the pilot parachute out.  The plane causes an avalanche.  The kids run in and warn their grandfather (the parents had taken advantage of the nice day to ski down to the village).  The house is buried.  While they are moving their cows to safety, they realized that the pilot is buried in snow on the roof of the cowshed.  The young boy has to try and rescue the pilot as great risk to himself.  The pilot badly needs a doctor, so the boy again has to make a dangerous attempt to reach the outside world.  Anyone who enjoyed Landslide! would probably like Prisoners in the Snow.

L3  I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Sally Watson, who wrote Lark in 1964 and wrote several other books in the 50s, 60s and 70s.  Some other titles include Jade and Linnet, Watson's books feature young girls in different adventures and are set in various times and countries.

Gertrude Crampton, The Large and Growly Bear, 1961.  Although the version pictured here is a book/record combination, that's the cover I remember--and it is pink!

Daniel Manus Pinkwater, The Last Guru.  I think the kid in this book invents 'Zenburgers'- the only other detail I can recall involves lamas or priests who 'all look a little like Anthony Quinn'.
Daniel Pinkwater, The Last Guru, 1978.  That was fast, it just took one day!  I went to Daniel Pinkwater's site and confirmed that The Last Guru was the book I was searching for.  Thank you very much, I look forward to reading it again and Pinkwater's other books as well.

Julie Edwards, Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.  Must be this book. The Whangdoodle has a daisy on his sweet tooth.
Julie Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.  Three children and a professor go to Whangdoodle land and try to help the Whangdoodle get his hearts desire. He does indeed have a "sweet tooth" with a flower on it.
This sounds like the Last of the really great Whangdoodles I think I've got that right by Julie Edwards (the married name of Julie Andrews). The last Whangdoodle is a strange creature with antlers and a sweet tooth marked with a flower. Three children come to his land with the assistance of a scientist friend. I haven't read it for 20 years but it was definitely psychedelic.
Well done you ! After all this time wondering, you solve the mystery overnight.Thanks everso.
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Juvenile Literature/Chapter book. Perhaps a few sketches throughout. Probably a map in the early pictures. Book about kid or kids that enter a fantastical land.  In this land there is an endangered creature called a Wing Ding Dilly or a Wang Dang Doodle.  The kids travel through the land (that's why I think I remember and the map).  I think they were trying to save the creature and it was very special. Don't know author, title other than the wings and wangs and dings and doodles. Book was very popular in my middle school in 1983-1986.

Julie Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards (actually Julie Andrews). Wonderful, fun book. Might go read it again right now.
Julie Edwards, Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. Could this be Julie Andrews The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles?  Two brothers and their sister travel through a magical land with their friend the professor, searching for the mysterious Whangdoodle. There is a picture book by Bill Peet called The Wingdingdilly, so maybe you'\''re somehow combining these two books?
Julie Andrews Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. 1974, copyright. Its definitely this book.  Three siblings (Ben, Tom, and Lindy) meet an eccentric professor who takes them to Whangdoodleland, a place where fanciful creatures and plants live.  The elusive and peaceful Whangdoodle is king, and the children go on a search for him.
Julie Andrew Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. 1974, approximate. Possibly this one? "What on earth is a Whangdoodle? A "fanciful creature of undefined nature," it was also once the wisest, kindest, most fun-loving living thing in the world--until people stopped believing in it.  But when an open-minded professor--the one adult who still believes in the Whangdoodle--joins forces with three children with active imaginations, they become an unstoppable team on a fantastic and sometimes terrifying journey to Whangdoodleland."
Bill Peet. This ones easy. One of my sons favorite authors. The Whingdingdilly by Bill Peet.
Sounds like THE LAST OF THE REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES by Julie Edwards (better known as Julie Andrews)~from a librarian
Julie Edwards (Andrews), The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, 1974, copyright. This is it!!!

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Edwards, Julie.  The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.  HarperCollins, 1989 paperback reprint.  New pb, $5.99  pending availability.

There's something called The Last Out by Jerry Taylor, but that's certainly not it!
Wilfred McCormick, The last put-out : a Bronc Burnett story, 1960.  Possibly?  I'm not familiar with this series, but this is a kid's fiction book about baseball.
How about The Last Put-Out: A Bronc Burnett Story, Wilfred McCormick, Grosset & Dunlap, 1960.  Sorry, no description other than the subjects Baseball and Juvenile fiction.

Donald J. Sobol, Angie's First Case, 1982.  I can't be sure, but this rang a bell of a book I used to frequently check out of my library. Angie helps her sister, a police officer, with a case involving a gang called the Wolf Pack or something similar. I believe both she and her boyfriend were kidnapped. It's by the author of the Encyclopedia Brown books. I couldn't find a picture of the cover online.
Janet A. Stegeman, Last Seen on Hopper's Lane, 1982. A teenage girl (I can't remember her name) is exploring an abandoned house when she comes across two men who are doing a drug deal. They kidnap her (they take her bike too). One kidnapper is kind while the other is very harsh. I think this may be your book.
I had a stumper that was posted as # G423 a couple of weeks ago, and to my surprise and abounding happiness, it was solved by the second poster (in purple)!  It is indeed Last Seen on Hopper’s Lane.  I was far off on the name (thinking it had the word kidnapped in the title kept me from moving on to other guesses, I think), but that is the book!  I have already found it on ebay and it arrived today, and I am in much bliss!  Thank you SO much!  I have been unable to remember for years and had almost resigned myself to never knowing!

a huge thanks for getting the book for me, i am so thrilled after all these years of searching for it. It seems so ironic that i'm getting a UK edition from the States, yet over here in the UK my search has proved fruitless! :)
Just wanted to let you know that the book arrived safely. My  word, how strange it felt opening that package, and viewing the cover of the book. It was exactly how i remembered it! And i felt very nostaglic. The child in me had to read it again, of course :)and i found it so hard to believe that it was 28 years ago that i first read it!! For years i have had a chant in my head, and i couldn't remember where it had come from. I had to laugh when i actually saw it in the book, and realised that it had come from there. I feel sure my neice and nephew will be thrilled with it, just as it thrilled me all those years ago. The book was in excellent condition. Many thanks.
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I took this book out of the library numerous times but cannot remember the name or author. It's about a witch who gets banished to a little girls' rhodedendron bush in her yard, starting the day after Halloween until the following Halloween.  The witch conjurs from a picture on a serving tray, a tiny flying Chinese Dragon.  This dragon and the little girl become fast friends, and the dragon grows bigger throughout the book.  He belonged to an ancient Chinese magician who taught him all good and powerful magic.  We go through the year with these three.  The witch is a fairly dangerous character being that she's decidedly two-faced.  The book culminates with the Halloween bachanalia the following year, where the witch and her cronies are defeated, and an escape back to ancient China with the dragon where we meet his master.  The dragon ends up returning the girl, and disappears back to his own time. HELP!

Fegan, Camilla, Late for Hallowe'en, Methuen 1966.  This turned up as the solution to a stumper on Booksleuth, and sounds like a good bet: "Judy made her way to the little cave-opening under the bushes and ducked through. 'Come in, won't you? And thank you for knocking!' a thin crackly voice remarked. Judy has found a witch living in the shrubbery--a witch called Murgatroyd and her cat, Hornsbydale. Murgatroyd makes a dragon from an old tray. But.." The dragon is called Chinquintafizz and his master is Fly-by-the-Moon.

Kenneth Mahood, The Laughing Dragon.  The dragon Hojo starts out as a pet to the Emperor of Japan, and every time he laughed he would burn things. Because he laughs uncontrollably, he is exiled. A turtle teaches him to control his laughter, so he returns to Japan just in time to save everyone from the cold. The turtle helps him keep the laughter under control, but tells Hojo his funniest jokes for the fireworks displays.
The Laughing Dragon.  I agree, 100%...The Laughing Dragon is the book you are looking for! It was one of my childhood favorites too :)
The Laughing Dragon. Yes, that is the one!  Thanks so much!

I solved my own stumper - H13's Humpty Dumpty story is actually called Laura by Binette Schroeder.  I happened to be in the Strand Bookstore in NYC and I was so shocked when I saw it!

Andre Norton, Lavender-Green Magic.  When the Wade children go to live with their grandparents in the country, they explore an old garden maze that leads them back through time to a witch's cottage.
Norton, Andre, Lavender Green Magic, 1974.
Andre Norton, Lavender-Green Magic
Andre Norton, Lavender-green magic, 1974.  This was a wonderful book!  The heroine is the oldest child, and she's angry for a variety of reasons, not least that she must live at the junkyard with her grandparents.  But what a junkyard!  I wish -I- could live there!
I read this book also, and the girls were sisters, I believe they were African American, and they lived with their grand parents who were caretakers of a garden, or an estate. The pillow itself had a maze like pattern sewn on it and a pleasant smell associated with lavender on one side and a smell of decay on the other. I also seem to remember that they found the pillow somewhere on the property. I don't recall the author or name of the book, but perhaps these clues can help you further your search.
I just came across your "Stump the Bookseller" web site and finally, after years of searching, found out the title and author of Lavendar-Green Magic! I read that book when I was in 4th or 5th grade in the 70s, and the story stuck with me but nothing else had. I have been trying to discover what that book was for years, but did not discover it until I stumbled across your web site.  Thank you so much! 

Owen Johnson, The Lawrenceville Stories, 1910. This is one of Owen Johnson's popular Lawrenceville School stories, starring boy heroes "Dink" Stover and The Tennessee Shad, among others.
P247 Chapter 2 of The Prodigious Hickey is called The great pancake record.

It's way too simple to think this might be Ray Bradbury's short story "The Veldt," right?
Could H11 by Lazy Tommy Pumkinhead by William Pene du Bois a picture book in which machines do everything for the boy including getting dressed.
Most likely "Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead" by Willem Pene du Bois. Very funny. This was supposed to have been part of a "Seven Deadly Sins" series, another being "Call Me Bandicoot" (about avarice) but the series was never completed.
Thank you very much.  Your stumper answer sounds right!  Now I want to get the book.  I looked for it online. holy cow, the lowest price was $180 used !!!  Unfortunately, my upper limit is around $30.  if you see the book cheaper (but in decent condition), please let me know. Thanks.
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story about a boy who lives in a mechanical house that pours him out of bed and into the shower machine, dressing machine, he's got mechanisms for making breakfast etc.

L28: Same as B79 - Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead by William Pene du Bois. Part of a Seven Deadly Sins series. This is the best, IMHO, of the four actually written - the second best is Call Me Bandicoot.
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Help! I am looking for a children's book that I read as a child (late 60's early 70"s) about a little boy who doesn't like to do things so he invents machines that will do the tasks for him (i.e. brush his teeth, etc). At first the machines work fine but then start to malfunction, i.e. brush his toes instead of his teeth. Have you heard of it? I would love to get it for my son. Thanks so much.

Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966) by William Pene du Bois, I believe. Very funny. Check it out in the Solved Mysteries page. The only other books in that series I heard of were Pretty Pretty Peggy Moffitt (1968),
Porko von Popbutton (1969), and Call Me Bandicoot (1970).
#L28--Lazy boy:  Several stories contain these elements.  The introduction to William Pene du Bois'sThe Twenty-One Balloons notes its similarities to F. Scott Fitzgerald's story "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz."  I started to read the Fitzgerald story, but it's not nearly as good as "The Twenty-One Balloons."  In "The Twenty-One Balloons," these magical devices are the work of industrious Americans rich on a huge diamond supply, while in "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" the diamond discoverers rely on slave labor.  When I got to the part about how the whole scheme wouldn't have worked except that the slaves placed absolute trust and complete belief in their masters, *poof,* that was it for my suspension of disbelief!  William Pene du Bois said some of the similarities were obvious but he couldn't account for how he and F. Scott Fitzgerald would choose to spend their money in identical ways!  The other story that has some of these elements is "The Veldt," the most famous of a number of stories Ray Bradbury wrote on the theme of what did not then exist but are now known as "smart houses."  In "The Veldt," Peter, the boy, complains to his father, "I didn't like it when you took out the picture painter."  "I want you to learn to paint your own pictures," father replies.  At last father disconnects one too many "lazy" devices and plans to take the children off to "rough it," which the children put to an end through rather violent means.  (If what you read was this--or any other Bradbury story--you'd probably never forget the ending.)  His other famous "smart house" story, "There Will Come Soft Rains," involves no people, but rather a "smart" house which goes on working even though all its occupants have been killed in a nuclear holocaust.
L28 Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead -more info. appears on your Solved Mysteries page ~from a librarian
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I loved this story! It was about a lazy boy who didn't want to do anything for himself (either that, or he was an inventor boy). He made this contraption that did everything for him (got him out of bed, got him dressed, made him toast & eggs, etc.). I believe that the contraption may backfire in the end of the story. I think it's a picturebook. Definitely from the mid-seventies. Thanks!
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Seeking a child's book about a lazy boy who is fed and dressed by machines - machines break during a storm

Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966) by William Pene du Bois.   See more on Solved Mysteries.
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I had a picture book in the mid to late '70s about a boy who lived by himself in a fully automated house.  Every morning, machines in the house would wake him up, get him dressed, feed him breakfast, etc.  One day, something goes wrong and he's put into his clothes upside down, the toothbrush is used on his feet (?), and I think he winds up with scrambled eggs in his hair.  That's all I can remember, but it's a vivid memory!

HRL: Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead by William Pene du Bois, 1966.  See Solved Mysteries!
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Hello Looking for a book about a boy who lives in an automated house it gets him ready in the morning and cooks his breakfast and then something happens possibly a power outage and he gets backwards so his clothes go on backward the bath is backward and his breakfast is served on his feet. Loved it as a child.

William Pene du Bois' wonderful and rare Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead, 1966.
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This was a book I used to beg my mom to read me daily in the 1980's.  It was about a boy/man who lived in a house that took care of him.  There was a machine that woke him up, another that put him in the shower, dressed him and made him breakfast.  One day all these inventions go crazy and the shower is cold, it tries to feed scrambled eggs to his feet and general mayhem ensues.  I have no ideas on what the title or author could possibly be.  Any help is appreciated.

William Pene DuBois, Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead, 1966. I bet this is Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead.  Tommy lives by himself in a fully automated house just as the seeker describes.  Things go awry one day with very funny results.
William Pene Du Bois, Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead, 1966. A spoiled/lazy boy is awoken, washed, dressed, and fed his breakfast each morning by an automated house.  One day the machines get mixed up and he goes through this process backwards -- his toes are shampooed, he winds up with his pants on his head, etc. It is on the Solved page L.
Willem Pene du Bois, Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead. This sounds the the popular Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead.  He has an automatic house that does everything for him and one day everything goes wrong and he get breakfast served to his feet, he gets bathed in ice-cold water, ect.
DuBois, William Pene, Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead, 1966. See more information under Solved Mysteries.  This definitely sounds like the book!
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The book I'm looking for was a favorite I used to check out of the library in the early or mid '70's, so it was probably printed in the late '50's or '60's.  A boy hated to get up in the morning, so either he or a parent invented a machine that got him up, dressed him and made him breakfast.  Any help would be appreciated!!

Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead (1966) by William Pene du Bois.   See more on Solved Mysteries.

This is William Wise, The Lazy Young Duke of Dundee (Rand McNally, '70), ill. Barbara Cooney.
I'm happy to offer a copy of The Lazy Duke of Dundee:
Wise, William.  The Lazy Young Duke of Dundee.  Illustrated by Barbara Cooney.  Rand McNally, 1970, 1st printing.  Some light soiling and edgewear, VG.  <SOLD>

There is a book called Ride with the Sun: Folk Tales and Stories from all Countries of the United Nations, compiled by the U.N. Women's Guild in1955.  I have a copy right here (F/F, $12) but I can't find the two stories you mentioned listed (unless they have different titles, of course).  Then again, there could be another volume....
Thanks so much for your reply.  Unfortunately I've seen this book in  libraries and it's not the one I remember.  Your website is wonderful, with  some of the most reasonable prices I've seen for old books;  I'm having so much fun sharing the memories and trying to help solve the stumpers.  I'm  sure I'll think of more I'd like to find.  Thanks again!
Perhaps Legends of the United Nations edited by Frances Mary Frost, published by McGraw 1943, 323 pages? 47 stories from Britain, Poland, China, Norway etc. Contents list includes "Blue rose" and "Ys and her
bells". Hm, think we have a match.
Oh my goodness, I think that's it!  "Frost" rings a bell.  Thank you! 

Jack Williamson, The Legion of Time.  This is definitely THE LEGION OF TIME, by Jack Williamson.  First published as a serial in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION in 1938.  First book publication around 1950, I think, and several subsequent paperback reprints.  Most recent reprint as part of a Willimson omnibus collection, SPIDER ISLAND, in 2002 (Haffner Press hc):  " One of Williamson's most famous novels, "The Legion of Time," appears here in the form it took when it ran as a three-part serial in Astounding Science Fiction. Dennis Lanning holds the fate of two different timestreams in his hands. Will he heed the innocent supplication of good girl Lethonee, or respond to the primal allure of bad girl Sorainya? Whatever his choice, one woman must remain forever unborn."
Amazing! You guys solved it! I'm so happy. Three plus decades wondering what the heck the title of my favorite childhood book was. The Legion of Time, by Williamson, is definitely it. Thanks again for your help.

E19: Most likely the Trick series by Scott Corbett! The first one, I think, is The Lemonade Trick, where he gets the chemistry set from Mrs. Graymalkin. He also wrote a couple of pleasantly scary books (1st or 2nd grade) about a boy, a dog and Merlin - Dr. Merlin's Magic Shop and The Great Custard Pie Panic. I WISH they were in print!
These are the "trick" books by Scott Corbett.  Mrs. Graymalkin gives Kerby and Fenton her son Felix's old chemistry set which seems to have a touch of magic and the boys have many adventures. There are at least ten
books in the series published from 1960 to 1977. The first one is The Lemonade Trick. The Mailbox Trick is my favorite.
More on the suggested series - Lemonade Trick, by Scott Corbett, illustrated by Paul Galdone, published Atlantic-Little 1960, 103 pages "Kerby delights to receive a magic chemistry set from Mrs. Graymalkin (who might be a witch?). Ordinarily he faces household chores and choir duties in the manner of any real boy we'd know; how he handles them after a few drops of her magic fluid, which makes him feel 'good', will also be believed because Mr. Corbett has built up so real a personality and situation for his very down-to-earth hero." (Horn Book Apr/60 p.128)

Carl Stephenson,Leningen vs. the Ants. Short story, not for the faint of heart. Online here:
Carl Stephenson, Leiningen and the Ants. This is it, a frequently anthologized short story
Carl Stephenson, Leiningen Versus the Ants, 1938. There's no science fiction element, but given description and the "Leningrad ?" note,requestor must be thinking of "Leiningen Versus the Ants."  Description at here:
carl stephenson, Leinigen versus the ants. Maybe Leinigen versus the ants?  This short story is in lots of collections.
Also a 1950s Charleton  Heston Movie called "Naked Jungle"
This story was made into a film entitled "The Naked Jungle" starring Charlton Heston.

Stephen Cosgrove, Leo The Lop Series, Serendipity Books, 1978.  This sounds a lot like the Leo the Lop series, which I read in the early 80s.  There are very colorful, late 70s style forest illustrations and the characters are all rabbits.  they learn things like "I'm normal and so are you," and at least one was called  Grampa Lop.  That one was reprinted as Leo the Lop: Tail Four in 2002 by Price Stern Sloan.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Cosgrove, Stephen. Grampa-Lop.  illus by Robin James. Price/Stern/Sloan, 1981.  1982 printing. the magic of olde folks' stories.  paperback original, very good.  Serendipity Books  $6 Cosgrove, Stephen. Leo the Lop.  illus by Robin James. Price/Stern/Sloan, 1978.  21st printing 1986.  self-image; courage; bravery.  paperback original, a bit of surface damage, otherwise very good. Serendipity Books   $5

Diana Shaw, Lessons In Fear, 1987. There is no question in my mind that this is the book -- I read it when I was young, and still have my copy from then.  I even did a book report on it at one point!

I'm the one who posted this stumper and have some information to add:  when I say it "seemed Japanese," I was referring to the photographs/an original edition--the actual book was an English (language) edition, most likely published in the United States.  Also, the title *could* have been something like "A Day in the Park" or "A Day at the Park."  I'm fairly certain that the dog and cat (dolls) were using a little swingset in one of the photos.
 Let's Go to the Park, Photographs by Gerry Swart, no date in book.This book is a Golden Book. No author noted and no book date.  Marked as Golden Press Western Publishing Co, Inc. Racine, WI. World Rights Reserved Printed in Japan Photographs by Gerry Swart.
I have this book.  It is exactly as you describe.  The pictures are actual photographs and the siamese kitten and puppy ride a motorcycle (on cover), slide on a slide, visit the zoo, ride an elephant, go swimming, have a picnic & look at an fish tank.  Not many words in the book.

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

The Letter People -- Reading Readiness Program. I'm almost certain you're looking for The Letter People reading program.  We used it in kindergarten in 1975-76.  The one we used had each consonant as a "Mister" and each vowel as a "Miss."  Mr. T with Tall Teeth, Mr. M with a Munchy Mouth, Miss A with "Achoo!" etc.  A word of warning, though, it apparently was completely redone in 1996, so if you go to buy it, look for an older version published by World Book or Childcraft.

John Bellairs, The Letter, the Witch, and The Ring, 1976.  This is absolutly what you are looking for. In this, the third book in the Louis Barnavelt series, Louis' tomboy friend Rose Rita goes on a roadtrip with her friend Mrs. Zimmerman, and they have to defeat an evil witch. You can see a picture of the cover online.
John Bellairs, The Letter, The Witch And The Ring.  This is it!  Thanks so much.  I will definitely use this site again.

Kathryn Jackson's The Santa Claus Book?  A Big Golden Book, 1952.  It's big, but also nicely illustrated.
Here I am again. Looking up books when I should be working. Could S19 possibly be the LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS by L. Frank Baum.of Wizard of OZ fame.
Tolkien wrote a book about how Saint Nicholas got to be Saint Nicholas, but I can't remember the title.
Oh, this is fun!  I'll bet your listing number S-19 (a book regarding Santa Claus) was a childhood favorite of mine. The title is The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Julie Lane, illustrated by someone named simply Hokie. It was originally published by The Santa Claus Publishing Company of Boston, Massachusetts in 1932, and was re-published by University Microfilms, A Xerox Company located in Ann Arbor Michigan in 1967. The total pages of this book, however, number 144.  The book describes how Nicholas, a fisherman's son, is orphaned by a terrible storm. He is temporarily adopted by the individual families of the fishing village. They each agree to take him for a year and then he will move onto the next family. Nicholas begins giving toys to the children of the families as a gift on the day that he leaves them -- Christmas Day and continues it throughout his young life. It goes on to describe how during his eighteenth year he goes to live with a bitter old woodcarver, but through his good nature changes the old man's life and becomes a skilled woodcarver himself over the years. After the old man goes to live with his sons, Nicholas maintains his affection for the children of the village and continues to carve toys for them. The book goes on to describe how he gets his red suit (sewn by a lady who created it thinking of the size of his heart, not his slender figure) and how he eats to fill it out so her feelings won't be hurt. It describes how Holly is named for a little girl who conquers her fears to bring him the bright beautiful berries from the dark woods because she had been ill and could not bring him flowers. It describes how he acquires his reindeer and shiny red sleigh and why he began using a chimney to deliver his gifts. It covers how children began to hang stockings for him to fill and how the first Christmas trees came to exist for the gypsy children who were spending their Christmas in a forest. It covers his entire life until our beloved Nicholas, now a very old man, dies sending the village into grief. However, as reward for the faith of a young boy named Stephen, Nicholas continues to bring joy to the children of the world even after death on Christmas morning. It even covers how one of the village children, too young to refer to his as Saint Nicholas as the older people do, manages to stammer out "Sant' Claus".
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Hello!  Once I was one your site looking at all the wonderful books people are looking for, when I found one that I had had about st Nicholas. The story was very loosely based on St Nicholas, it was mostly fiction. It started at boyhood. THe illustrations were done in green ink. He found a little girl named Holly who got lost in the woods. Anyways, it was a solved mystery and I thought I would remember it but now I cannot find it on your site. Can you help??? Thanks!

Lane, Julie, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.  There is a long description of this book on the Solved Mysteries pages.
S144: This IS in Solved Mysteries, it's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Julie Lane, NOT to be confused with the book by L. Frank Baum! It's not an accurate picture of St. Nicholas, which they admit, but there are links to his life in it.

Cherie Bennett, Life in the Fat Lane.  The description of the book says that a girl named Laura with a supposedly perfect family wins homecoming queen, then starts gaining weight.  She has to deal with the metabolism problem and with her family falling apart because her father is having an affair.  eventually she triumphs over her problems.
Sounds like LIFE IN THE FAT LANE by Cherie Bennett, 1998~from a librarian
Cherie Bennett, Life in the Fat Lane, 1998.  "Sixteen-year-old Lara, winner of beauty pageants and Homecoming Queen, is distressed and bewildered when she starts gaining weight and becomes a fat girl."
Bennett, Cherie, Life in the fat lane, 1998.  Beautiful Lara Ardeche has it all -- she is named homecoming queen her junior year, she has the ideal boyfriend, and a sweet personality to top it off.  Until she gains more than 100 pounds.  At first Lara blames her allergy medicine, but when she keeps gaining despite a strict diet and exercise routine, she seeks a new explanation.  When she is diagnosed with a metabolic disorder, she faces the awful truth that she may spend the rest of her life trapped in a fat suit!  Lara finds out who her true supporters are when she embarks on the most difficult battle she has ever faced.

George Dawson and Richard Glaubman, Life is So Good, 2000.  From your description, I'm almost sure the book you're looking for is called, "Life is So Good." It was written by George Dawson and co-authored by Richard Glaubman. The copyright date is 2000 and it was published by Random House.
George Dawson and Richard Glaubman, Life Is So Good  (ISBN 0-375-50396-X) 2000.Richard Glaubman and George Dawson's tutor were featured speakers at our agency's fundraiser.   Dawnson's story is very interesting and inspiring. He passed away at the age of 103 in July of 2001, I think.
George Dawson, Life is so good.2001, approximately.
George Dawson, Life is so Good, 2000 (Random House).
George Dawson, Life is so good, 2001.  I wouldn't really consider this a children's book, although it is a very
uplifting story and a quick read.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  For finding out the name of the book for me. (Life is so Good). I couldn't believe my eyes when I turned on my computer today and found that my stumper had been solved.  I will go to my library tomorrow and I will also ring up a couple of our BIG book stores to see if I can get it.  Thank you again.   It was $2.00 well spent.

Burton, Virginia Lee, Life Story, 1950s.  Begins w/ prehistoric times, continues to the present -- some of the final sequences show Burton's house in spring, with apple trees in bloom.  Burton's standing at the side of the stage with her easel.

Beverly Butler, Light a Single Candle, 1962.  This sounds a lot like Light a Single Candle - the boy and girl friends (Pete and Cathy), the school and the seeing eye dog.  I'm not positive about the auburn hair.
Two suggestions:  Beverly Butler, Light A Single Candle.   Mine for Keeps by Jean Little
Butler, Beverly, Light a Single Candle
Butler, Beverly, Light a Single Candle, 1962.  I'm pretty sure this is the one.  Cathy is slowly going blind, and her condition affects her life-long friendship with the boy next door.  She goes away to a boarding school for the blind, and then eventually comes home and goes to a regular high school with her guide dog Trudy.
Light a Single Candle (1962) by Beverly Butler, maybe? The sequel is Gift of Gold. Also, see E113. She's written at least five other books.
Re: B519....THAT'S IT!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I searched for it to see if I could get the blurb and once I saw the cover with the girl and her long,flowing red hair with her wonderful guide dog, I knew that was it! Oh, how I loved this book when I was a young teen! I'm so excited now I will be able to read it again!  I can't thank you enough! KUDOS!! I simply cannot believe how quickly it was solved! You ALL are wonderful! Hugs all around! I have recommended your site already to all my family and friends and NOW they are going to just freak when they hear how fast this was solved! YAY! Best $$ I have EVER spent! I can see I will visit again and again! LOL!
Beverly Butler, Light a Single Candle, 1962.  I think this clinches the deal:  from page 8 of Light a Single Candle, "She did not even dawdle over combing her short hair, as she usually did, sqinting into the mirror to see if it were showing any signs yet of darkening to the glowing auburn of her mother's.  Everyone, aunts, grandparents and friends, kept predicting that someday it most surely would..."
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A coming of age story about a girl (maybe her name is Elizabeth) who has brown hair. She goes blind and gets a German Shepard as a seeing eye dog. It may be a series of books about this one character. I remember she has a boyfriend who wants her to move somewhere with him but I think she decides against it. Through the story (stories) she is waiting for her brown hair to turn to a beautiful red color which happens to the women in her family. At the end, although she can't see it herself, it does turn red. The story may be from the early 80's. Thanks!

Same book as B519?
This sounds like B519. Is it Light a Single Candle?

P147: This is almost certainly The Light Princess by George MacDonald, 1864.  Here's a link.  It's described briefly in M154. The prince gets saved from drowning in the end and the princess cries non-stop when he opens his eyes - plus, the rain also pours non-stop till the lake is full again. Maurice Sendak did indeed illustrate one edition of it! Arthur Hughes was the first, but I prefer William Pene du Bois' edition - the illustrations are humorous in just the right fashion and it's also necessarily abridged. MacDonald was seldom this funny! Lots of puns and Freudian implications. Here's a link  for Princess & the Goblin with lots of gorgeous illustrations.
George MacDonald, The Light Princess,1864.  I strongly suspect this is the story, though some details are different I have no idea what edition, though, since it was written in the 19th century (though it looks like it was illustrated in one edition by Maurice Sendak -- those might be your haunting black and whites). "It is the tale of a princess who is cursed by a mean, jealous, witch so that she has no gravity, both weightlessness, and lack of gravity in her character.In the way of things, a Prince appears, falls in love with the Princess, and thwarts the curse by the selfless behavior, which results in the Princess recovering her gravity: not an unmixed blessing, but one which her new maturity allows her to realize is best in the long run." The Prince is the one who puts himself in the situation to be drowned in order to save the Princess. 

The book in L-3 is  Lightning Strikes Twice  by Marguerite Dickson.
Hi, I wrote looking for Lightning Never Strikes or a book title similar to that.  I bought it in a used bookstore the other day.  It was called Lightning Strikes Twice and was by Marguerite Dickson.   It was from 1946 and was close to what I remembered.  Thanks so much. 

Mavis Jukes, Like Jake and Me.  This is a picture book about a boy adjusting to having a stepfather.  His pregnant mother grows something in a jar- it could be a peach but I think it was a pear.  At the end the boy saves his stepdad from a spider and feels proud of being brave.  It's a caldecott book.
It's already been solved! Like Jake and Me is exactly the right book! Thanks for an excellent website.

If the title in question was a poetry collection, here's a solve:  Love is Like the Lion's Tooth:  an Anthology of Love Poems.  Frances Monson McCullough (Editor).  New York:  Harper and Row, 1984.  An anthology of love poems.
Contents: A Painful Love Song by Yehuda Amichai, To Carry On Living by Yehuda Amichai, Lullaby by Wystan Hugh, Auden Verses Of The Same Song 9 by Wendell Berry, Deep In Love by Bhavabhuti, 2. by Bible, Insomnia by Elizabeth Bishop
Marjorie Bradley Kellogg , Like the Lion's Tooth, 1973.
Marjorie Kellog, Like the Lion's Tooth, 1972.  The description that I came across mentions that the book deals with some abuse issues and that while it's a YA novel it's probably too disturbing for most teens.
Marjorie Kellogg, Like the Lion's Tooth, 1972.  "The world of Like The Lion's Tooth is a world of children, specifically children who find themselves the almost unknowing victims of their parents' savagery or obliviousness or simply misguided love."
Love is Like the (a?) Lion's Tooth.  I think that this book is by Marjorie Kellogg.  To the best of my recollection, it involves 2-3 children who have rough lives(abuse, etc.) living together and making a place for themselves in the world.  I'll double-check my copy and let you know if the specifics match.
Like the Lion's Tooth.  I re-read this last night and here are further plot details: it takes place in/around a children's reform school.  Two of the children, Madeline and Ben, have constructed a shack out of an abandoned piano crate on the banks of the Hudson River.  It is a really disturbing book---focuses on the abuse that many of the children suffered prior to coming to the school.
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This was a book I read in the late 70's, very early 80's.  It shocked me because it was the first graphic book I read concerning child abuse.  I believe the book was not long, written for kids or young adults, and was paperback.  There were two teens or older kids in it. (Boy and Girl)  I remember the boy's father was a sailor and he tied up the boy and raped him.  The mother and rest of family were in next room.  The boy and the girl may have wound up in some sort of protective facility but I am not sure.  I was a young teacher at the time and it taught me to watch for child abuse.  Very powerful book but no one remembers it!

Kellogg, Like the Lion's Tooth.  This may be Like the Lion's Tooth.  I don't recall the detail of the father being a sailor but know that it does fit the time period and is about abuse.  There is a brief description on the solved mysteries page.
C302 just a guess: Bradbury, Bianca. Those Traver kids.  il by Marvin Friedman.  Houghton, 1972.  stepfathers - juvenile fiction; child abuse - juvenile fiction.
Hi!  You found one of my books!  I am C302 and the book IS Like a Lion's Tooth by Marjorie Kellogg!  Now I hope
someone comes up with T216!  Thank you so much!! =)
Kellogg, Marjorie, Like the Lion's Tooth.I'm sure it's this book.  The main boy and girl meet in a protective facility, and both have been sexually abused.  The father of the boy was a sailor, and the family had tried hard to hide from him.

G178 Could it be this? Norris, Gunilla Lillan.    illus by Namcie Swanberg. Atheneum    1968  divorce; Sweden

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Norris, Gunilla.  Lillan.  illus by Namcie Swanberg. Atheneum,1968.  Ex-library; jacket in plastic, cloth and pages all very good.  Overall, G+.  [21379YQ]  $9

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Children's fiction book ordered from Scholastic in early to mid 1970s about a girl who lives in Stockholm  (post WWII I believe)and wants to buy a little pink porcelain elephant for her mom but can't afford it.

Norris, Lillan, 1968.  Maybe??  "A young girl's father divorces her mother in Stockholm in the early years after WWII. They have to rent out part of their appartment to make get by and Lillian wonders if she or mother will ever be happy again."  It was published by Scholastic.
Lillian.  I read this recently & it does have a porcelain elephant. Lillian actually steals it at one point-- but thinks better of her actions & returns it. Her mother's new boyfriend ends up buying it for Lillian's mother.
Now that you mention the title, Lillian, you are exactly right.  Thank you for solving the mystery.  I am not even really interested in finding a copy of the book, I just wanted to remember the name of it.  I have third grade twins now, and I spend a lot of time trying to remember books that I loved in my pre-teen years.  This was just one of those things that nagged at me and I could not remember!  I look at your site regularly now and hope someday I can solve a mystery for someone.

Lavell, Edith, Adventure series of Linda Carlton, 1940's. I am not entirely sure, but this is a series of a young rich girl who flies and solves mysteries. They were published in the early 40's and other than that, you could shoot for the stewardess series similar to the Nancy Drew books.  I think that character's name was Vicki...one of the books was called Silver Wings for Vicki.
Julie Tatham ( also author of Cherry Ames), Vicki Barr series, 1950s.  Could this be the old series Vicki Barr, Air Stewardess series by Julie Tatham? (1950s).She solves mysteries  there are many in the series. OR could it be the even older books by Harrison Bardwell?(1930s) Airplane Girl series or Girl Sky Pilot series? These seem to all be mysteries,too. Roberta Langwell seems to be the main character. She sounds like she has money! Hope this is a fit!
Edith Lavell, Linda Carlton, Air Pilot,1931.  This is definitely the book -- it fits the poster's description exactly. I'm looking at it right now and the first paragraph talks about Linda's eyes being bluer than the blue paint on her car. Linda has a father but her Aunt Emily has cared for her ever since Linda's mother died when Linda was a baby. The dust jacket flap
reads in part, "No sooner does Linda Carlton graduate from high school than she begins to study flying. ... Using her plane in her travels, she recovers a string of pearls stolen from a friend, proving the innocence of the instructor at the flying field ..."

Linnets and Valerians
I remember this book from reading it in the mid-1960's. Three children are sent to their uncle's house, arriving in the middle of the night in cart drawn by a pony or I think a rather large dog. the uncle has an owl, and eventually we find that he is a warlock who has some pretty magical powers. I thought the book was by the adult novelist Elizabeth Goudge, but that book was only about one little girl. This story takes place in Britain, possibly at the turn of the century. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Cooper, Susan, Over Sea, Under Stone.  One of the Dark is Rising Series. The three Drew, Jane, Barney and Simon, children are on vacation in Cornwall, at the old sea-house with their Uncle Merry (not an actual relation). At first all is well. But while searching for adventure, the children stumble into a crumbling old map - a map dating back to King Arthur's time. But this map is not just an antique curio - but the key to finding a mystical grail...
This could be Linnets and Valerians, by Elizabeth Goudge.  (The book by her about one girl is probably The Little White Horse.)  It's four children, rather than three, but they do arive at their uncle's house in a pony-cart, and the uncle is a magician.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians. This is indeed by Elizabeth Goudge, just not the one you're thinking of (it's _not_ Over Sea, Under Stone).  Probably the best book she ever wrote, IMHO, and one of the easiest to get hold of.
There's no way this is Over Sea, Under Stone---the children arrive by train and there's no beekeeping.  Their uncle is kind of a wizard and the only owl association in the story is that the enemies hoot like an owl to communicate danger to each other.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians.  Four children sent to live with their nasty grandmother run away and hitch a ride in a cart drawn by a pony to an old man's house.  This happens to be their great Uncle Ambrose.  He is a minister and former teacher who lives with a servant, Ezra, and has a pet owl.  He agrees to take the children in a raise them since their father is in the army.  The children get involved in a mystery concerning an old
lady, Lady Alicia, and her missing husband and son.  They also run into another old village woman, Emma, who is reputed to be a witch.  While Uncle Ambrose is not a wizard, there is reference to magic in the book because Ezra believes that the bees in the beehives in the backyard should be paid respect.  One of the children also finds notebooks containing magical spells and a voodoo doll.  Ezra makes his own good magic voodoo dolls to protect the children.
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I think I read this book in the mid-70s to late 70s.  I think it takes place in England.  Either one or two children come to live in small village.  In the village there is a woman who lives in a large house, her son went missing a long time ago.   I recall a scene with a ‘mandrake root’ or some sort of root with pins stuck in it, a spell was cast on her son to cause him to go missing.  I think there is also a young man who was a gardener or something and I think it turns out that he is her son?  In the end her son comes back to her.

Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians.  It's been a while since I read this but I think this is the one you're looking for.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians.  It's been a while since I've read this book, but there seem to be a lot of similarities:  children going to live with an uncle in a village, an old woman with a missing son, mandrake root, and a memorable gardener.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians, 1964.  This is one of my favorite books for children!  Linnets and Valerians is the story of the four Linnet children who are sent to live with their grandmother in England while their father travels in Egypt.  The children end up running away to live with their Uncle Ambrose in a small English town.  One of the women in town, Emma Colby, is a witch who uses a mandrake root to make Lady Alicia's son mute.  Other wonderful characters include Moses, Lady A's singing servant, Ezra, Uncle Ambrose's helper, and the bees!  Elizabeth Goudge also wrote the delightful story, The Little White Horse.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians.  Still one of my favorite books! See Solved Mysteries for more info.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians, 1964.  I think this may be the book you're thinking of.Not all the details matahc but it seems to have the same 'flavour' The four Linnet children (Robert, Nan Timothy and Betsy) are sent to stay with an eccentric great uncle in the country. There is a gardener (with a wooden leg) and a missing son who turns out to be a local hermit. There are definantly Mandrake roots, used to curse people. the book is set in about 1890, if that helps.
Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians.  It's four children instead of two, but I'm almost certain it's the right book.  A witch fashioned mandrake roots into dolls that she stuck with pins and cast spells on.  It caused a husband and son to lose their memory and wander off. The doll of the son had pins in his tongue, so he was also mute.  In the end the dolls were found, the spell erased, and the men returned to their family.  Most of the story of Linnets and Valerians deals with the four children, but the bit with the mandrakes and the lost son and husband is definitely in there.
I just had to write to you to THANK YOU so much for your Stump the Bookseller website.  I still can’t believe how quickly my bookstumper was solved. I have been trying to recall the name of one my favorite books for decades and in just a few short days of placing my stumper M334 on your website it was solved!!!  Many thanks to you and all those who helped solve my stumper.

Perhaps - The Lion's Bed, by Diane Redfield Massie, published Weekly Reader, 1974 "All the animals unite to outwit the lion who is coming to their neighborhood. They make him a soft bed, but coconuts fall on him, ants crawl over him, pecarries play tag over him. He decides that to get a good night's sleep he will go away."
This same query was posted on the Alibris board, and I contacted the seeker by email to ask about The Lion's Bed. She confirmed that it was the correct title and that her husband had posted the stumper here. 

I'd suggest Lisa and the Grompet, written and illustrated by Patricia Coombs, published New York, Lothrop 1970. "Tired of being told what to do, Lisa runs away from home. When she stops to rest and 'think about things' she encounters a grompet. This tiny, furry, winged thing longs for what Lisa abhors - someone to boss him around. Lisa appoints herself master and takes him home, where they presumably live happily ever after. Softly modeled illustrations in black and white with pink and brown overtones - Lisa changes from belligerent to sad to happy while remaining delightfully untidy; the grompet is a cute, cuddly creature." (SLJ Book Review 1969-70 p.4)
Thank you!  This is indeed the book I have been searching for for over 20 years!  Thank you!!!
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It is a tiny book about a grumpy little girl.  She doesn't like to tie her shoes, wash her hands, or brush her hair. She talks to a tiny hairy creature/man who does't like to do those things either.  Sometimes he sits on her shoulder or on the sink.  I think he helps her become more cooperative.

Patricia Coombs, Lisa and the Grompet.  I think this is the book you're looking for.  Lisa doesn't like being told what to do and she finds a "grompet" in the woods who feels the same.
Patricia Coombs, Lisa and the Grompet, 1970, copyright.  Stumper solved!  I found a picture of the book and it is definately it!  Thank you so much, I've been looking for this book for years!

Small, fuzzy/furry/feathered creature in 1970's young illustrated children's book. Ends with picture of this creature going to sleep in the window (or window shade pull) of the child's bedroom. He's a companion to the child & helps the child. Title of book is this ceatures name and is light brown...

Coombs, Patricia, Lisa and the Grompe. A longshot but possibly "Lisa and the Grompet".

F350: Fuzzy/Furry/Feathered IS SOLVED!! thank you, I have been looking for that book for AGES!! it's the ONE ...THANKS FOR A GREAT SERVICE!!

Doing a search of the web, I found this entry:
Holl, Adelaide Lothrop, Lisette, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin (NY: See & Shephard, 1962). 30pp. Lisette comes to the USA aiming for immediate movie stardom; instead, gets lost in New York City. Sounds very similar to what was described in L1 (though the publisher should probably be Lee & Shepard).
I believe my grandmother still has my story about the poodle who got lost.  I’ll check with her next time I’m out her way, and let you know.  I know it was from the ‘60s. 

I may have solved my own stumper I sent yesterday. After some more Web searching, I think the series I remember is the Little Animal series by Karen Gunthorp.  The book I recall most vividly is Spring Comes to the Forest, illustrated by Attilio Cassinelli.  Do you know if the whole series of Little Animal books was illustrated by Cassinelli?
Looks like most of them are illustrated by Cassinelli!

George Mitchell, Little Babs, 1919.  This is one of the beautifully illustrated books done by the Volland Company. I have my mother's copy of it.
Eureka!  Someone knew the book!  My stumper is already solved.  I am thrilled!  Can I buy a copy of this book as well, if you can get a copy?  Author: George Mitchell, Title: Little Babs, published: 1919?  While I am in
the process of collecting old well loved children's books, how many of author William Steig's books can you sell me?   Thank you for all your help.  I loved your site I know I'll be back again and again.

My parents have this book. We grew up with it. The title is Little Ballerina but I do not know the author as it is sitting in my parents'  house over 100 miles from where I am. It is an oversized picture type book. We do own another one in the series, Little Swimmers, for I  recognize the illustrator--Dorothy Grider. The publisher is Rand McNally and Company and it has "A Rand McNally Giant Book " on the front cover. The main character is named Carol and her legs are weak, perhaps from an illness so ballet lessons are recommended by the family doctor. My sisters and I all loved this book and I now read it to my 8 yo ballet loving daughter when I visit my parents. Sorry I do not know the author.
Right you are.  Here's the full book description:
Dorothy Grider. Little Ballerina. Rand McNally, 1959.  4to, unpaginated.

I'm looking for a book I loved in the early 1960's.  The main character is a little girl who is not strong.  Her doctor recommends to her mother to put her into ballet class.  The mother helps sew the costumes.  The children have a ballet recital in the book, with a little boy as Jack Frost.
I've been looking for a book for years, but can't remember the name. I'ts about ballarina's, I just remember seeing little girls in different colored tu tu's. I thought it was a little golden book, illustrated by Eloise Winken, but not sure. It's was from the late 50's or early 60's.
B24 could be Little Ballerina, a Rand McNally Elf book
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I am looking for a book that I read when I was about 7 or 8, so it would have been published late 50's or early 60's. It was a book about ballet and the illustrations were beautiful. There was one page with all of the little ballet dancers dressed up in dresses resembling flowers and they had matching hats...pink, yellow, green, purple and blue. There are other pages with the ballet dancers practicing. Would love to find it.

B82 ballet dancers as flowers: a picture much like this appears in Dorothy Grider's Little Ballerina, published Rand McNally 1959, unpaginated. There are also pictures of the little dancers practicing.
Grider, Dorothy, Little Ballerina. Rand McNally Elf, 1959.  The girls in the ballet class dress as flowers in pink, purple and yellow, with little green 'stem' caps. One boy is dressed in green with a 'stem' cap, and another is dressed in brown with a segmented front, perhaps a beetle?
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Golden Book, 1958-1963.  Large picture book about a girl who had an illness that weakened her legs.
Doctor recommends ballet lessons. Book shows her painful efforts to become good enough to dance in
the recital.

Dorothy Grider.  Little Ballerina. Rand McNally, 1959. See more on the Solved Mysteries page.
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1966, Little girl with dark braids, with legs weakened by some illness, begins to take ballet to strengthen her legs. This was the type of book you found in the grocery, possibly a Golden Book. In the end she dances a solo at her recital in a white tutu.

Dorothy Grider, Little Ballerina, 1958. Definitely this one!  Little girl is named "Carol" and the book opens with her watching other children play from the window, and wanting to play with them, but she can't because her legs are weak. When she dances her solo she plays a fairy queen, reviving the "flowers" wilted by Jack Frost.  A sweet book, beautifully illustrated by the author, published by Rand McNally. (My copy is a Tip-Top Elf Book, and is about the same size as a Little Golden Book, but I'm pretty sure I've also seen a smaller Junior Elf version, as well.)
Dorothy Grider, Little Ballerina, 1958. I am pretty sure this is the book.  It was published in both a small (Little Golden Book size)and large ("Rand McNally Giant Book") format.  Carol's doctor prescribes dance lessons to strengthen her legs. The book describes her class and introduces several ballet terms.  In the end she is the star of the recital.  This has been a favorite of mine for about 45 years!

Elsa(?) Minarik, Little Bear Visits Grandma.  Illustrated by Maurice Sendak, there were several titles in the Little Bear series.
Another possibility is - Teddy Bear of Bumpkin Hollow, over in the Solved list. Written by Sharon Boucher, illustrated by Dean Bryant, published Rand McNally Elf Books 1948. The little bear misses out on a visit to grandma because he is always late, then is consoled by having her visit him and make giant cookies for him.
Minarik, Else Holmelund, Little Bear's Visit, 1961.  Many in this series - currently in print (and animated
series, available on video)
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I am looking for a children's storybook about a little elf or goblin who is walking through the woods and gets scared (I think he hears a "bump in the woods"), and jumps out of his shoes and begins to run home.  As he is running home he hears footsteps running behind him, thinking that he is being chased. It becomes clear in the end that the footsteps running behind him are nothing more than his shoes that were running home after him -- moral of the story that he had nothing to be afraid of but his own shoes!  The story had a picture of the elf jumping out of his shoes, and also of the shoes running home behind him.  I think there may also be a picture of a large tree with a hollow in it (where the elf hears the "bump in the woods") or possibly a cave.  The illustrations in the Little Bear series of books remind me of the pictures that I remember from this book.  I thought perhaps the story was a story within a story from the Little Bear series(perhaps Little Bear's father telling him a story), but I can't seem to find any Little Bear stories like that.  This was one of my favorite story books when I was a child in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Thank you so much for any help!

Else Holmelund Minarik, Little Bear's Visit, 1961.  I knew I had read this as well, and seen it as a cartoon episode on Nickelodeon's Little Bear series, so I went and searched through my childrens' books and sure enough there it was. It's just as the poster described, told as a story to Little Bear by his Grandfather.
Else Holmelund Minarik, Little Bear's Visit, 1962.  This is definitely the book.  The contributor was right about it's being a Little Bear book, although I think it's Little Bears grandfather, rather than father, who tells him the story.  (The "visit" in the title is to Little Bear's grandparents' house.)
My stumper has been solved!  Thank you so much!!

This is a wonderful old Golden Book called, I believe, Little Benny Who Wanted a Pony.  The original printing had a mask with a big downward frown bound into it.
It is indeed. The correct title is Little Benny Wanted a Pony written by Olive O'Connor Barrett and illustrated by the great Richard Scarry in 1950. It was issued with a mask in the back of the book. 

Peggy Usher, Little Bitty Raindrop. 1948.  Illustrations by Marguerite Hanson.  I don't know for sure if this is the one, but the date is right, and the cover is blue.
Thanks for solving my stumper so quickly!! I would be very interested in obtaining a copy of this children's book.

Little Black Sambo.  This must be what you are looking for.
Bannerman, Helen, Story of Little  Black Sambo.  Wonder how many responses you'll get to this one.  Many reprints but it looks like Amazon.com has a reprint of the original.
Bannerman, Helen, Little Black Sambo.  Surely they must be thinking of Little Black Sambo - replace the lion with a tiger and the details would be correct
Helen Bannerman, Little Black Sambo.(1880)  Could this be Little Black Sambo? It involves a group of tigers that take Little Sambo's finery and then chase each other around and around a tree until they melt into butter, which his mother serves to him on pancakes. This charming story has been reissued with more appropriate Indian names as The Story of Little Babaji. The illustrations are darling!
Helen Bannerman, Little Black Sambo.  This sure sound like Little Black Sambo - just substitute tigers for the lion. A little boy walking through the jungle is threatened by a series of tigers.  To each one, he gives an article of his clothing (a coat, trousers, shoes, an umbrella, etc.) which the tiger believes makes him the grandest tiger in the jungle.  At the end, the tigers fight over which is the grandest.  They grab each others tails, trying to eat each other up, and run in a circle around a tree so fast that they all melt away into a pool of butter, which Sambo's mother uses to make pancakes for her family. The book has been printed many times, with different illustrators. Helen Bannerman's original illustrations are rather crude and potentially offensive, in an Aunt Jemima-ish way, but most others, including those by Gustaf Tenggren, Florence White Williams, and Fern Bisel Peat, are beautifully done.  (Also, despite the word "black" in the title, the text and most versions of the illustrations place the story in India rather than Africa.) While the story has fallen in-and-out of favor, as people try to be "politically correct," it remains popular, causing older versions of the book to be highly sought-after and expensive.  However, the original version with the Bannerman illustrations was reprinted in 1996 and again in 2003, and is available new.  There is also an edition illustrated by Christopher Bing that is new in print. There are also other versions of the story, including "The Story of Little Babaji" by Fred Marcellino and "Sam and the Tigers" by Julius Lester.
Helen Bannerman, The Story of Little Black Sambo. (1899) I would guess this is the book.  Little boy meets up with tigers and gives the tigers his clothes.  The tigers run around a tree until they turn into butter which Little Black Sambo then brings home and his mother makes pancakes out of.
Little Black Sambo.  I wonder if it could be Sambo, not Jambo, and tigers instead of the lion?
Little Black Sambo.  Hi, I don't know the name of the author, but the story sounds like Little Black Sambo, later renamed Little Brave Sambo to be more PC.  Sambo's mother made him new clothes, which he wore into the jungle, only to meet a series of tigers.  Sambo was able to trade articles of his clothes for the tigers not to eat him.  Sad about the loss of he fine clothes, Sambo happens upon the tigers arguing about which of them looks finest.  The tigers start chasing each other around the tree so fast, they melt into butter.  Sambo then collects his clothes and takes the butter home to have with pancakes his mother makes.
Bannerman, Helen, The Story Of Little Black Sambo.  At the end, the tigers race around a tree so fast they turn to a pool of melted butter. It was popular, then shunned as being racist, then popular again.
This book sounds like Little Black Sambo.  His mother made him new clothes, and he wore them to take a walk in the jungle, but he was chased by tigers.  He gave the tigers his clothes so they wouldn't eat him, and the tigers began to chase each other around a tree, faster and faster until they turned into buttermilk, which Sambo's mother made into pancakes.
Yes!  It is The story of Little Black Sambo!  We looked it up online and my dad rememebered the book!  I am so excited !  I am so thankful!

Stephen Bone and Mary Adshead, The Little Boy & His House,  1937.  This was first published in 1937 but reprinted in 1967, and is definitely the book you want.  Here is a description I found of it: "A little boy and his uncle visit houses all over the world. Each house suits the climate and materials at hand, but it isn't quite right for the boy. Brick is right for England! A little text on traditional home design with cheerful drawings"
Yes, this is it. Thank you so much, I am convinced reading this book as a child is the reason I became a structural engineer.

This has *got* to be Little Boy from Shickshinny by Frank Anders. It's out of print, but some copies turn up
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My stumper question is about a children's book we once had during the 70's (possibly 80's) that was about a little boy that was grumpy and kept the farm animals all upset. I thought his nickname was "cross mouth" but in the end he learns to be nice. It was written like it was told with a Norwegian accent. The library of Congress couldn't find it.

Frank Anders and Eileen Daly, The Little Boy From Shickshinny, 1965, copyright.  A Whitman Big Tell-A-Tale Book about a litle boy who became angry because he was too little to do what the big people could do. He became so disagreeable that all the farm animals called him Mr. Crossmouth. After a surprise meeting with a bear, he changed his ways and became more pleasant.
The Little Boy From Shickshinny by Frank Anders and Eileen Daly was the answer to my question and I thank whomever solved it for me.

Almost certainly The Little Broomstick, 1971 - it's Mary Stewart's first children's book! Mary Smith, age
ten, stuck miserably at her great-aunt's house in Shropshire (England) with no one to play with, gets swept off to Endor College on an enchanted broomstick with a mysterious cat named Tib. She enjoys playing along as a student for a while, but soon realizes that the place is evil. She gets home only to find that Tib has been taken prisoner for transformation experiments and she has to go back to rescue him in the dead of night. In doing so, she liberates all sorts of beautiful woods creatures from their ugly transformations, plus Tib's brother Gib! She's chased by Madame Mumblechook and Dr. Dee, discovers a new friend, and together they manage to escape. In doing so, Mary has to forsake magic forever. One might callthis the flip side of "Harry Potter" - or, more simply, that the story is about learning how to succeed and become happy through your own efforts, not through any sinister "magic". I remember thinking, as a kid, that Stewart's writing style was just the way I would write if I could!
W57 witch sets free the animals: yes, this is most likely The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart, illustrated by Shirley Hughes, published Brockhampton 1971. The story is about Mary, staying at Great-Aunt Charlotte's house, bored until she meets the black cat Tib and finds the purple flower fly-by-night that makes the little broomstick fly. In chapter 10 'gay go up and gay go down' Mary hides in Endor College, the witch school, after hours and finds Tib transformed into a frog (Madame Mumblechook had taken him from her as her entry fee). She recites the Master Spell to release him. "It was a simple, gay little rhyme, and it ended on a phrase that might have been (but wasn't) 'the dancing ring of days'. With a clicking and cracking like a million billion nuts popping under the feet of a hundred elephants, the locks of the cages - all the cages - flew open. And out of every cage the creatures jumped, flapped, crept, shuffled, clawed their way, till they swarmed all round Mary's feet on the ground. Under Mary's eyes a lame hedgehog stretched and grew and became a young deer, dappled and big-eyed and supple as willow; a shuffling pangolin swept into the air with the knife-wings and scarlet throat of a swallow; the glass frog, rolling to her feet, melted into the steely velvet of a beautiful smoke-grey cat; then all round her were wings and the joyous cries of birds, and the light-flecked coats and tossing antlers of deer. And from the little metal cage with its burst lock leaped Tib, eyes wide and brilliant, and landed on Mary's left shoulder, as the grey cat swarmed up her other arm to anchor every claw in the collar of her coat. ... Then she shouted: 'Run, everyone! This way!' And tore out through the strong-room door and across the lab."

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Stewart, Mary. The Little Broomstick.  William Morrow & Company, 1972.  Ex-library copy with usual markings.  G+/G+.  <SOLD>

Sand and gravel porridge just doesn't taste good.  Then one day Baby Brute found a little wandering lost good feeling in a field of daisies, and he caught it in his paw and put it in his tiny pocket.  And he felt so good that he laughed and said, "How lovely."  Thank goodness for daisies.  And reprinted classics.
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perhaps British or Canadian?, 1960s.  The Grump family was an unhappy lot. The ate sticks and stones for soup - their kites would not fly. The rest is vague - but in  the end something turns their lives around, and I think it has something to do with flowers.

Daisies cure everything!  Back in print.
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This was a young children's book about a family of grumbling, grumpy creatures who are very rude to one another. Something happens, and they learn to be nice to each other. It is a very short little picture book. I don't remember much about it, but my sister would like it for her young daughter.

This is Little Brute Family by Russell and Lillian Hoban.
Joanna Cole, Monster Manners, 1985, copyright.  In "Monster Manners," a mother and father insist their daughter, Rosie Monster, misbehave and they get Rosie's cousin to help (because being impolite is what monsters do).  Their house ends up flooding and Rosie is nice on the phone with a plumber. BUT if you remember the characters going throught the seasons (jumpin in the pond and sinking like rocks) then it is "Little Brute Family" by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban.
Lillian and Russell Hoban, The Little Brute Family, 1966, copyright.  Definitely The Little Brute Family by Lillian and Russell Hoban. There is also a sequel, called The Stone Doll of Sister Brute, published in 1968.
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it was about a little family of creatures in the woods and they were mean and snarly and they ate rocks and sticks.  and then one day the little kid creature found a warm fuzzy or something and came home and was nice to the mom and dad and then they were all very pleasant.  Circa 1980s.

This is definitely The Little Brute Family by Russell and Lillian Hoban.  A great, classic story!
Lillian and Russell Hoban, Little Brute Family, 1966, copyright.  Definitely The Little Brute Family by Lillian and Russell Hoban. There is also a sequel called The Stone Doll of Sister Brute (1968).

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Hoban, Russel.  The Little Brute Family.  Illustrated by Lillian Hoban.  Macmillan, 1966.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, a Sunburst Book, 2002.  New paperback, $5.95

Ada M. Skinner, A Little Child's Book of Stories, 1988.  When I first saw this stumper posted on Loganberry's main page the memories flooded back. When I was young we had what must have been the same edition, orange cover and pictorial plate. The only story that I remembered was, about the little girl and the potato. It has been a labor of love searching for this book and finally, I asked a seller on ebay if this book contained the story and they wrote back and said "yes, the name of the story is "potato, potato". This book has been in print off and on since the 1940's, the one on ebay was published in 1988. Ada Skinner had two other books, one called A Child's Book of Stories and the other A Very Little Child's Book of Stories. Make sure that you get A Little Child's Book of Stories, it is the only one that has the story in it. I hope you find and enjoy it, I know I will!

The Little China Pig, 1954.  I think I've solved my own stumper, but I'm not positve yet. Does anyone have a copy of a Rand McNally book with the above title? Does this title match the story line below? I am in the process of trying to find a copy of the book to buy, but have not done so yet.

I vaguely remember this book, too -- but mostly I remember making my own yarn balls with trinkets inside!  There is a Little Golden Book called Surprise for Sally by Ethel Crowninshield, illustrated by Corinne Malvern, 1950, but I can't find any plot summaries.  The cover shows a girl running, holding a puppy in her arms, which doesn't look familiar to me....
#Y2--Yarn and Grandma:  Definitely not Surprise for Sally, a book which has become rare and expensive!
Annie Fellowes Johnston, The Little Colonel's Hero,  1903.  In this book in the series, the ball of yarn is used as a plot device, and alludes to another (German) story, "Marguerite's Wonderball." The citation: "...It was a green and gold volume of short stories, one that she had read many times before, but she never grew tired of them. The one she liked best was "Marguerite's Wonderball'' and she turned to that first, because it was the story of a happy birthday. Marguerite was a little German girl, learning to knit, and to help her in her task her family wound for her a mammoth ball of yarn as full of surprise packages as a plum cake is of plums Day by day, as her patient knitting unwound the yarn, some gift dropped out into her lap. They were simple things, nearly all of them. A knife, a ribbon, a thimble, a pencil, and here and there a bonbon, but they were magnified by the charm of the surprise, and they turned the tedious task into a pleasant pastime. Not until her birthday was the knitting finished, and as she took the last stitches a little velvet-covered jewel-box fell out. In the jewel-box was a string of pears that had belonged to Marguerite's great-great-grandmother. It was a precious family heirloom, and although Marguerite could not wear the necklace until she was old enough to go to her first great court ball, it made her very proud and happy to think that, of all the grandchildren in the family, she had been chosen as the one to wear her great-great-grandmother's name that means pearl, and had inherited on that account the beautiful Von Behren necklace."
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Little Colonel series,  read in the 50's.  I remember a dusty little girl sitting on a porch in the Arizona desert where she'd moved.

Exactly that.  Johnston, Annie Fellows.  The Little Colonel in Arizona.  Little Colonel series.  Page, 1904.
A. F. Johnston, Little Colonel's Chum May Ware.  The dusty little girl is Mary Ware, who figures in a number of other books set in Arizona and elsewhere--even back in Locust
I just sent an inquiry about  this  and then solved it by reading a stumper in your archives and researching from there!
What a great service ~ thank you!  Your cats...excuse me...make that kittens... are precious!

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Johnston, Annie Fellows.  The Little Colonel in Arizona.  Little Colonel series.  The Page Company 1904.  30th printing, 1937, in pink cloth with gilt lettering.  Front hinge beginning to split, but still intact.  Corners dirty, otherwise VG.  $12

Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's Christmas, 1951.  I've read your stumper several times and I keep thinking of A Little Cowboy's Christmas.  It is a Wonder Book and a little boy asks Santa for a horse for Christmas.  His father gets worried and tells Santa that the only thing HE wants for Christmas is for Santa NOT to bring a horse for Christmas.  Later, when the father realizes that it is the only thing his son wants for Christmas he promises his son he will try and find Santa and tell him it is ok to bring it.  He drives through the snow and finds a store with the window you described where he sees a beautiful white horse in the window and the jolly white bearded man gave it as a gift to the man for his son.  This may not be it but I thought I would put it out there.
Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's Christmas
Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's Christmas, 1951.  A Wonder Book.  A little boy tells Santa he wants a white horse for Christmas but his father tells Santa not to bring one.  Little boy is so sad his father relents and goes out looking for one late Christmas Eve.  He comes upon a shop out in the country he's never seen before, all lit up in the falling snow.  The santa-like proprietor gives him a white rocking horse that he brings home to the little boy.  Everyone is happy.  "Yippee!  Hi-Ho!"
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Pretty certain it was a little golden book.  She says that it must be from around the '60's or '70's.  It is a story about a father who is trying to get home to give a gift to his daughter.  Cover has a picture of a car driving through the woods in the snow with the headlights illuminating the sky.

Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's Christmas.  If it could possibly be a boy instead of a girl it might be this one.  There's more information listed on the solved page but basically the father drives through a snowstorm to try to get a toy horse for his son in time for Christmas.
Marcia Martin, A Little Cowboy's Christmas, 1951, copyright.  This is it!! Thank you so much for solving my book! It was JUST IN TIME for Christmas!!!! My grandma is going to be so happy!! :)
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I'm searching for a Christmas book or story from the 50's or 40's I had as a child (I was born in 1955)  The story was about a father searching for a gift for his son on Christmas eve.  While driving on stormy night, found house or shop with old man (santa claus?) who had the gift he needed.

Marcia Martin, Little Cowboy's Christmas.  Look on the solved page for more details.  A little boy wants a horse for Christmas but his father most emphatically does not want him to have a horse.  The father tells Santa not to bring a horse but when he realizes how dreadfully disappointed his son is he drives out into a snowstorm to try to find one for him.  He finds a shop with an old man in it who sells him a white rocking horse and his son is thrilled.
My inquiry was under C601, about the Christmas book with the father searching for a gift for his son on Christmas Eve.  Someone directed me to solved mystery under "A Little Cowboy's Christmas."  I had no memory of the book having anything to do with a cowboy, so I had my doubts if this was the book, but found it on the internet for sale and ordered it.  I was so pleased to find it WAS the book!  How fun to see it again!  The memory is a strange thing as I remembered the cover in the same way the other person who was looking for the book did-  with a car and headlights in the dark.  This was the picture inside the cover!   Anyway, thanks so much for your great service and the joy it provides!

Jessica Potter Broderick, Little Donkey,1964. A charming Rand McNalley Junior Elf Book about a little donkey's adventures on his first trip to market. Illustrated by Jean Tamburine.
Jessica Potter Broderick, Little Donkey, 1964.

Erik Christian Haugaard, The Little Fishes. A possibility.
Maureen Daly, The Small War of Sergeant Donkey, 1969.  set in 1944 Italy. ill. Wesley Dennis "Twelve-year-old Chico Filippo, whose own donkeys were confiscated years before by the German army, can&#8217 t stay away from the newly set up American Remount Depot. Here, in the last months of World War II in Italy, thousands of supply mules and donkeys are processed and sent onto the fierce mountain fighting in the Apennines. One of the handlers introduces Chico to a small courageous animal the boy names Sergeant Donkey. Drawn into friendship and then into unexpected danger, Chico must demonstrate his own simple courage." I believe this courage includes an overnight mountain journey in which he may sleep in a cave.
John Patrick Carroll-Abbing, Journey to Somewhere, 1955.  "Here in story form is the dramatic account of the life of a boy in Italy in World War II."  I can't find many more details, so I don't know for sure if this is the one, but it is by the founder of the Boys Town in Rome, so it might have been considered a noteable book.
B238 I spent a lot of time trying to find out from Google, etc more abt plot. The boy's name is Guido.  The Little Fishes, 1967; Jane Addams Book Award: Children's Books that Build for Peace.  A tale of the tragedy of war: the story of a twelve-year-old orphaned beggar in occupied Italy, his daily search for food and for meaning in the life he witnesses, and the development of compassion and understanding that will help him survive.  SO THEN I WENT OUT AND DUG THE BOOK OUT AND I DO BELIEVE IT IS IT. I SEE ONE CHAPTER TOWARD THE END IS "THE CAVE"

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Haugaard, Erik Christian.  The Little Fishes.  Illustrated by Milton Johnson.  Houghton Mifflin, 1967.  Second printing.  Ex-library copy, missing front free endpaper.  Brown cloth.  VG-.  $10

Hi.  I have the answer to F-3.  It is a short story titled Little Foxes Sleep Warm by Waldo Carlton Wright.  It was copyrighted in 1971.  It can be found in "Alfred Hitchcock: Stories To Be Read With the Door Locked"--a title in his anthology series.
And I have it!  Your story Little Foxes Sleep Warm is in Alfred Hitchcock's Stories to be Read with the Door Locked, nice shape with dj.  <SOLD>
Is the story about a man and his wife.  They are so poor that he decides to freeze her and put her in the barn for the winter to save on food?  And during this time a fox has babies and they end up living on her to survive? 

The book you are looking for is titled The Little Foxes Story Book by Hilda H. Roth.  The publishing company is The Saalfield Publising Company, Akron, Ohio.  I have a copy that was given as a gift in 1944 - I bought it at a used book store.

Margaret Wise Brown, Little Fur Family, 1946.  This may be the book, as it features a little fur animal playing with a red ball in the woods.  (I don't think it was a bear -- it was an unidentified fur creature -- but similar in appearance to a bear.)  It's another of the many wonerful collaborations between Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams.  The illustrations are great, and I could easily imagine a young artist being inspired by them.
I seem to recall that in one of Elizabeth Upham's Little Brown Bear books, the bear plays with a red ball.
HRL:  I'm guessing it's the first of these, as the Margaret Wise Brown book has been (mostly) in print for decades, and the Upham would have been remembered as a vintage book even in the 70s.

Little Gipsy Dandelion.  If you spell "gipsy" with an "i", you should be able to track it down in old songbooks.  The words don't seem to be online, though.
Carfra, Pat, Songs for Sleepyheads & out-of-beds, 1984, LL Records, Dist. by A & M Records of Canada.  "Little Gypsy Dandelion" can be found on this tape.

I think I've solved the doll in the supermarket stumper. Today I got a book at the library (an anthology of doll stories called The Silent Playmate, ed. Naomi Lewis) that has a section at the back with references to other books about dolls. This is the very first one mentioned, under "Picture Books":  The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll (Longmans, 1966) by Aingelda Ardizzone and Edward Ardizzone:  "A perfect doll tale set in a modern supermarket. Doll, abandoned in deep freeze section, hopefully waits. Nice little girl perceives, plans rescue, 3 to 7 year olds."
I can not BELIEVE someone has solved my stumper!!!!!  I'm almost POSITIVE that this is the book I have been searching for.  Years and years of asking Children's Librarians have turned up NADA.  Everyone looked at me as if I were crazy  Harriett, your site is a little piece of heaven for people like me!!! :-)  If you can find a copy for me and it's not outrageously expensive, I would love to purchase the book.  Thanks so much!!!!!
Good morning- I have been trying to remember the name of a book I used to love when I was a child.  The story was about a tiny little girl who lived in the frozen food section at a grocery store.  Unfortunately, all I can recall about this book is a crudely drawn picture of the little girl in the freezer near frozen peas, and that at the end of the story she is taken home by a real little girl who finds her while food shopping with her mother!  The book must be fairly old, and was a favorite of mine when I was 5 years old.  If there is anything you can tell me about this one, I would be extremely grateful!
You are amazing! Thank you so much for your prompt reply and assistance!
In this children's book, a tiny little girl is in the grocery store, and she plays tennis with frozen baby peas.
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the story was a  book that i checked out of the charlotte nc library in the early 70's - it may have been older about a little girl who when she went to the grocery say a tiny girl living in the frozen food section in the actual freezer case. the peas i think. as i recall she made little clothes and furniture for her and in the end i think took her home.

The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll (Longmans, 1966) by Aingelda Ardizzone and Edward Ardizzone.

Phyllis Krasilowsky, The Very Little Girl.  Could possibly be this one, or The Very Tall Little Girl by the same author. Another possibility would be one of Charlotte Zolotow's  e.g. I Like to be Little.
THE LITTLE GIRL STORY. I remember a cute little book published by Hallmark that my Grandma gave me in the 70's. I don't remember the author. The little girl got too big for her hobby horse, but now she could learn to ride a real horse. She was too big to fit in her playhouse, but now she could invite friends for a tea party. She got too big to have all her dolls in her crib with her, so her parents got her a big-girl bed. Could this be it, and if so, does anyone know the author? One more thing: the end papers were pink with little pink handprints all over them. Cute!
Dean Walley, The Little Girl Story, 1965.  I'd just like to thank the second person who responded to this query.  They put me on what I think is the right track. Finding this book means so much to me because my father who is now deceased bought it for me and as such it carries great sentimental value for me.
Dean Walley, illustrated by Arlene Armacost and Gloria Nixon, The Little Girl Story: A Child's Experience of Growing and Helping,1970, Halmark Children's Editions.This book is definitely The Little Girl Story! Other incidents from the book include outgrowing her dollhouse, a button popping off the back of her old pink dress (she gets new clothes) and not needing a chair to help her mother wash dishes in the kitchen sink.  I read it as a little girl in the late 70s.
Your website is fantastic!! I've solved this bookstumper - I remembered it exactly from the description and had my mom confirm the details: The Little Girl Story A child's Experience of growing and helping,1970.This book is definitely The Little Girl Story! Other incidents from the book include outgrowing her tiny table, a button popping off the back of her old pink dress (she gets a new pink dress) and not needing a chair to help her mother wash dishes in the kitchen sink. I loved this book - it was one of my favorites! I read it as a little girl in the late 70s.

L31 LGB holidays: okay, now that I have the reg number, suggesting The Little Golden Holiday Book, by Marion Conger, artist is Eloise Wilkin, published 1951, Little Golden Library 109, "a beautiful story of a child's view of holidays, and precious drawings of childhood innocence, an extremely rare book with a wonderful story and beautiful drawings. The holidays covered are Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. The Halloween drawings are reminiscent of the Halloween segment of the movie Meet Me in St. Louis starring Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien." 

Hooker, Yvonne, The Little Green Caterpillar, illustrated by Giorgio Vanetti.  London, Methuen 1978.  "A hole board book with each page leading to the next. Caterpillar eats his way thru the book to become a beautiful butterfly."

This is The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, a real classic. I have a brand new hardback edition for $15 plus $3 postage (book rate).
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I'm afraid I have very little information, but I recall reading an adorable book in the mid-60s when I was around 6 or 7 about a little white house with a verandah that had huge skyscrapers built around it. It was right in the middle of a busy street downtown. I think that people wanted to tear it down but the owners didn't want to move.  Does anyone remember this cute book?

Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1948.  great, classic children's book from the author of mike mulligan and the steam shovel.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, c. 1943.  This book won the Caldecott in 1943.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942.  From the website:  "The little house first stood in the country, but gradually the city moved closer and closer. "The pictures are full of life and movement . . . Virginia Lee Burton tells the story of a little house which wins its way into the very center of our heart.” –Horn Book  "The Little House was based on our own little house which we moved from the street into "a field of daises with apple trees growing around." -Virginia Lee Burton  I used to read this to my kids - it's a wonderful story
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House.  From your description, this sounds like The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. This book is still in print and should be fairly easy to find. I checked on Amazon.com and the version they had for sale still had the same illustrations that I remember from reading this book in the early 1970s. Good luck!
Virginia Lee Burton , The Little House.  This delightful 1943 Caldecott Medal winner, is still in print in Houghton Mifflin's 1978 edition.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942.  The book you're looking for is The Little House, by Virginia Lee Burton. I knew it as soon as I saw the request, because her illustrations are so vivid. It must have been reprinted, because I owned a copy as a child in the late 1970s. Houghton-Mifflin mentions it on their Web site.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942. Won the Caldecott Medal in 1943, the Little House is a book where the city grows around the house (so years & years later, the descendants of the original family move the house back out to the country.)  This might be the book...at least, there is an illustration that matches the requestor's memory.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942.  I believe this is the book you're looking for.  I remember it fondly from my
childhood -- never knew it was so old. You can view the cover here.
Virginia Hamilton (I think), The Little House (I'm sure of this).  1950s-early 1960.
Clymer, Eleanor, Tiny Little House, 1964. A possibility --
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House.  You probably already thought of this one!  But I thought I would pass it on just in
case.
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House.  I read this book often to my kids when they were little.  It's a very sweet book
with appealing illustrations.  It's unusual because the house is the main character  people come into the house's story from time to time, but the story revolves around the house itself.  Burton also wrote the well-known book about Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel.
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You have made me a hero once before, let's see if we can do it again! My fiancee is looking for a book that she loved as a child. Synopsis: There is a happy house living on a hill, and the family moves out and a city sprouts up around it. The house is lonely and unhappy, until finally someone comes and buys the house (?) and moves it to another location, with a happy family. The book might be called "The House on the Hill", but my web searches have brought back nothing. Thanks!

Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House.  One of my children's favorites!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House.  This is the book.  The charming illustrations show a house being overtaken and choked by runaway industrialization and urbanization and finally removed to a new location.  Classic.
Virginia Lee Burton, author and illustrator, The Little House, 1942.  This is it!  Please see the Solved Mysteries L page for more information!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1976, reprint.  A childhood classic! (And a Caldecott Medal winner.)
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House, 1942.  This must be The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (the same author who did Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel).  I love this book! The artwork is great--the house appears to be smiling and then has a sad expression when the city grows up with skyscrapers, pollution, etc. The country setting mentions the apple trees and fields of daisies. The little house could never be sold for gold or silver but the great-great-granddaughter of the man who built the house recognizes it and moves it back to the country. From a children's librarian.
Virgina Lee Burton, The Little House, 60th anniversary.  My first memory of this story was hearing it read on Captain Kangaroo!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House.  Loganberry comes through again. Right after I posted this, I read through the other postings to see if someone else was looking and I found a suggestion for H36, and that suggestion was the solution to mine!
Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House.  I remember this book from my child as well.  I'm almost positive that this is the one you're looking for.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Burton, Virginia Lee.  The Little House.   Houghton Mifflin, 1942. New Hardback, $14.95  New paperback, $5.95

W9--This sounds similar to Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatly Snyder...or maybe Magic in the Alley by Mary Calhoun?
Just so nobody gets off on the wrong track;  W9 is definately not Black and Blue Magic by Snyder.
#W9--Wood Nymphs:  this description is not VAGUELY like Black and Blue Magic by Zilpha Keatley Snyder or Alley Magic by Mary Calhoun, fercryinoutloud! It is at least vaguely like Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley, but that kid was a chimney sweep, not a factory worker.
My first thought is someone like Frank Stockton or Robert W. Chambers, but none of theirs seem to quite fit. The best I've found through keyword search has been The Enchanted by Elizabeth Coatsworth, published by Pantheon in 1951, illustrated by Robert Winthrop White "Story of a young man's strange romance in the Enchanted, an actual and magical region in the Northern Maine Woods." A further search described the young man as a farmer, though, so not so likely.
barely possible: Garrott, Hal Snythergen New York, McBride 1923 "The magical adventures of the boy who went to the forest to live as a tree and learn about nature and the important things of life. Beautifully illustrated with 4 color plates and in black & white throughout by Dugald Walker."
At 157 pages not likely (too short), but because the author seems possible: Stockton, Frank R. The Lost Dryad Riverside, Hillacre Book House 1912  28 pp. "Published posthumously. This charming story about a tree spirit whose kiss could remove ten years from a person's life was dictated as a unique gift for the author's friend, Mrs. Florence Gotthold in 1901."
B143 boy ran away into forest sounds close to W9 wood nymphs. The possible publication date is similar, and both begin with a boy working in a factory who escapes into a forest setting where magical things happen.
I have been looking for this book too and was beginning to believe it was all in my imagination! It was a wonderful book and the author should be thanked, whoever she/he is. It got me through a very difficult childhood.  I lived in this book for years. To add more to the story: each night the fire in the fireplace turned into a beautiful lady and covered the orphan boy with a warm blanket. They fed him warm cream & berrys and roasted chestnuts. But the book ended sadly.  He woke one morning to discover it was all a dream.  He was back in the factory, looking out a window, daydreaming of living in the forest with his friends.
Ethel Cook Eliot, Little House in the Fairy Wood, 1918.  I think this is it!!! The author also wrote Wind Boy and many others. I found it on ebay!!
Ethel Eliot, The Little House in the Fairy Wood.  It is Not Black and Blue Magic!! This book is The Little House in the Fairy Wood by Ethel Eliot.  A great old book.
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Can you please help?  I would like to find an old favorite.  I read it in the 60`s as a little girl but do not remember the author or publication. It`s about a young, poor boy who worked hard in a factory all day.  One day he ran away into a nearby forest (I think the wind beckoned him to follow it) and found a safe place, a small cabin or house.  The animals of the forest took care of him and became his friends.  I think there were faries and maybe elves that lived in the forest and also took care of and played with him. They had chestnut parties. Each night the fire in the hearth would turn into a beautiful lady and covered him with a warm blanket.  At the end of the story he woke and it was all just a dream to escape from his unhappy life. He was back in the factory looking out of a window (at the forest) wishing he was back there. Thank you so much for your help in hopefully finding this old book for me to buy.

B143 boy ran away into forest sounds close to W9 wood nymphs. The possible publication date is similar, and both begin with a boy working in a factory who escapes into a forest setting where magical things happen.
YES!!!  I think it's the same book!  I'm so desperate to find this book that I'm willing to put up a reward (plus the cost of the book) to any one to who finds it. Would that be too tacky? This book means a lot to me, it got me through a very abusive childhood (a way to escape).  I didn't want to mention that but I want you to know why this book is so important.  Thank you.
Ethel Cook Eliot, Little House in the Fairy Wood.  1918.
The Little House in the Fairy Wood, by Mrs. Ethel Augusta Eliot, published New York,  Stokes, Toronto, Butterworth, c.1918, 121 pages, colored frontispiece, colored plates. 22 cm. "An unusual and beautiful fairy story in which a little Earth Child has wonderful adventures with Snow Witches, Star People, and in particular with little Ivra who is 'part fairy'." The author also wrote Wind Boy, (Doubleday 1923) "unusually lovely tale of fancy ... two little war refugees in America, whose only playmate was the Wind Boy." That was reprinted in 1996 by Raven Rocks Press - maybe they'd be interested in reprinting this one as well?
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Many years ago your "Stump the Bookseller" feature helped me identify this book. I only ever found one copy for sale and it was $450. But the New York Public Library has a reference copy. Since it's out of copyright, I scanned it and it is now publically available at Project Gutenberg. (I got the images courtesy of Rachel from rachelpages.com ). I wonder if the other people looking for it ever found copies? It's not the same as having the physical book, but if you'd care to pass the link along, it's: http://gutenberg.net/1/0/4/6/10463/  Thanks again!

Diana Maria Mulock Craik, The Little Lame Prince and the Adventures of a Brownie, 1948.  This sounds like the right book---see B351 (above) for a description!
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, Brownie and the Cook.  This is the story.  Its in The Junior Classics (1958) Vol. 2 Stories of Wonder and Magic.
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, The Little Lame Prince and the Adventures of a Brownie, 1948, reprint.  The story described is "Adventure the First:  Brownie and the Cook."  Also includes the Brownie and his adventures in a cherry tree, on a farm, on the ice, and washing clothes.  This is a collection of stories by Craik.  Besides The Little Lame Prince and the Brownie, there are 3 other stories:  "The Invisible Prince", "Prince Cherry", and "The Prince With the Nose."
B354  The vol 2 Jr Classics is possibility, see A221 for more on series.  Williams, Mabel; Dalphin, Marcia, eds    The junior classics Vol 2: Stories of wonder and magic.  Illus by John Batten et al.  Collier, 1949.
The Little Lame Prince and Adventures of a Brownie.  I sent away for this title based on the feedback I received on my stumper. The book arrived today and it is indeed the correct book which includes the story I remember. Thank you so much!

W39: Sounds like Little Leftover Witch (1960) by Florence Laughlin. Her name is Felina, but she chooses
to stay with the Doon family and changes her name to Mary Lucinda George Doon, I believe. Because of the
way the story develops, one might say this falls less into the category of witch stories than, say, adoption/adjustment stories.
I don't have a copy to doublecheck the witch's name, but I'm pretty sure the person is thinking of THE LITTLE LEFTOVER WITCH by Florence Laughlin.  The little witch crashes into a tree and breaks her broomstick, stranding herself until the next Halloween when the witches return. She stays with the Doon family. The witch is very naughty at first, but eventually, with their patience and love, she becomes kinder. She may even choose to stay with them when Halloween returns.
this sounds an awful lot like Little Leftover Witch by Florence Laughlin, only the witch is named Felina. Happy Anniversary!
This story is The Little Leftover Witch, and the author's name is Laughlin.
Thanks so much for everyone's help with solving my mystery.  After years of searching, I have found a copy of The Little Leftover Witch and am waiting on its arrival.  I cannot wait to share it with my niece and perhaps my one day, my own daughter.  This site is truly wonderful!!  Thank you again!!!
The other one I read about 1972 or 73.  It's about a child witch who was adopted by a non witch family and gave her a birthday of 10/31.  *later* After I sent this email I looked through your Solved Mysteries and one of my mysteries was solved.  The witch book I am looking for is Little Leftover Witch.
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When I was a little girl (early 1980s) I got this book out of the library and it was about a little girl witch who was sad or lonely.  I can't remember why she was.  For some reason I think there might have been a part where she gets an outfit that is "normal" i.e. not witch clothes.  I'm thinking that this might be Little Leftover Witch but I'm not sure; I'd like more information about that plot, if that's what you think it is. Please help me!  I loved that book and have wanted to find it for years.

The Littlest Witch.  The witch cries, spiders make a web around her, and her tears adorn it.
The Littlest Witch?  This reminds me very much of a book I used to love when I was in grade school, where a family finds a little witch in the tree in their yard, and convinces her to come into the house to live with them.  She insists at first on hanging onto her raggedy robe and hat, and eats unusual things, but ultimately the family convinces her to dress in normal clothes and eat normal food.  I think it might have been called The Littlest Witch.
This one does sound like The Little Leftover Witch.  The witch's name is Felina, and she comes to live with the Doon family after getting left behind on Halloween.
L108 Massey, Jeanne.  The littlest witch.  illus by Adrienne Adams.  Knopf, 1959.   the newest, littlest witch, becomes a
special witch - good, kind one.  --or-- Laughlin, Florence.  The little leftover witch.  illus by Sheila Greenwald.  Macmillan Reading Spectrum, 1960. unhappy little witch, Felina, marooned on earth when her broomstick broke, and adopted by a family, finally gives up her witchiness by donating her pointed hat to the snowman the neighborhood children have made.  will  snowman incident tell her if this is it?
Yes!  This is the book!  I bought it used and have read it already.  I love this book, especially the part where the witch is adopted by the family.  What a sweet story.  Thanks to everyone for your replies.
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1970s childrens book.  A little girl sees a witch (another little girl, I think, whose name is Belinda/Melinda) outside her window after a storm. The witch lives with the family. I can picture an illustration of the little girl witch with a pointy nose sitting bythe window.

Florence Laughlin, The Little Leftover Witch, 1971.  Illustrated by Shelia Greenwald. This is probably it. The witch is named Felina  she falls off her broomstick one stormy Halloween, and gets left behind in the human world, and can'\''t get back to the witch world until the following Halloween.  She is taken in by the Doon family, who have a daughter the same age, named Lucinda - Lucinda is the one who finds Felina on a branch outside her room.  Felina slowly loses her "witchiness" and becomes a member of the Doon family, and doesn't go back to the witch world the following Halloween.  The book is out of print, and used paperback copies start at over $40.  This book seems to have been a favorite of a lot of people.  (I didn't like it as much as a child - I always wanted Felina to stay a witch, because that seemed so much more interesting!)
Laughlin, Florence, Little Leftover Witch, 1960.  This sounds like the ever popular Little Leftover Witch.  On halloween night a little witch's broom get broken and she is stranded in a tree outside a family's house.  The little witch's name is Felina and the family name is Doon. The little girl's name is Lucinda Doon.  It was written in 1960 and my copy of this book is from 1966.
Florence Laughlin, Little Leftover Witch.  The girl is Lucinda, the witch is Felina, and the cover of one edition I've seen has the witch sitting in a tree outside the girl's window.  Felina crash lands on Halloween night and does live with the family for a year, till Halloween rolls around again and she can go home.
Florence Laughlin, The Little Leftover Witch.  Maybe this one? The little witch is called Felina, I think.
W216: Most likely The Little Leftover Witch(see Solved Mysteries). Simple, poignant and sweet. The illustrator is the same who did Leo Tolstoy's Fables & Fairy Tales.

Not the Chareles Tazewell classic, eh?
regarding L5-Littlest Angel; this is definitely Little Lost Angel by Janet Field Heath (her name isn't on the cover though), it was a "Rand McNally Tip-Top Elf Book" (1963).  Best of luck finding a copy, it's a wonderful book, the only childrens book I've constantly kept with me, but incredibly sad too,especially when the angel gives her wings to the lame shepherd so he can walk and then winds up permanently lame herself.  Best Regards from Australia (this is a great website - reading your Solved Section cleared up  a number of books I've been wondering about for years - Thank You!)
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Help! I have longed to find a book from my chilhood I'm 31, I was referred here and it is my first glimmer of hope. This was a red, material covered hardcover (missing the dust jacket when I had it) children's bedtime stories. I believe there were 4 stories 2 I remeber. One is about an angel, you do not know she is and angel at first I believe the story begins she is in a field of lambs sleeping she goes to a house with a light on, the strangers care for her feet which are cut & bruised from walking on the ground. You find out she has given her gifts away such as her wings to a lame boy, her harp to an older person I think?

Little Lost Angel
Janet Field Heath, Little Lost Angel, 1953.  I think this would be the angel book.  The little angel comes with the angels on christmas eve to announce the birth of Jesus.  But she gets tired and falls asleep in the field.  When she awakes the angels are gone.  As she looks for them she gives away her harp to a sad man, her crown to angry woman, her wings to a lame boy. She follows a light looking for heaven but finds a home instead with a couple who had been praying for a child.   The people to whom she gave her treasures went on to become good and kind people. This was/is one of my favorite stories.  It is a Rand McNally Tip Top Elf Book. number 8680.
Janet Field Heath, Little Lost Angel, 1953.  Don't know about the whole collection, but the angel story is Little Lost Angel, for sure. Nice color illustrations by Janet Laura Scott. Still makes me weepy when I read it at Christmas.
#B167--Bedtime Stories, angel, fire truck:  The angel story is Little Lost Angel by Janet Field Heath.  Since this appeared as a Rand McNally Elf  Book in 1953, you might want to get a guidebook of these and look for fire truck books done by Rand McNally around the same time.  Several of their stories could have appeared in a collection.
B167 The story about the angel sounds like Janet Field Heath's LITTLE LOST ANGEL. It sounds like it was included in a collection of stories, but I couldn't find it. Heath did write a book of 18 illustrated stories, THE HYGIENIC PIG AND OTHER STORIES, 1946, but I didn't find a list of the stories included, and it sounds too long. ~from a librarian

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Heath, Janet Field.  Little Lost Angel.  Illustrated by Janet Laura Scott.  Rand McNally, 1953.  Junior Elf Book.  VG.  <SOLD>

Cathleen Schurr, The Shy Little Kitten, 1946.  Could this be an oversized version of The Shy Little Kitten? When a mother cat leads her kittens into the barnyard sunshine, one kitten lingers behind and thus begins her adventures. She takes a walk with a mole through the countryside and the two happen upon a frog whose enormous mouth sends them into gales of laughter. A shaggy puppy then offers to lead the kitten home but not before he busies himself yapping at a squirrel who drops a nut on his nose! Home at last, the kitten joins a barnyard picnic but a bee-stung frog causes a stir and everyone dives into the brook for safety! It isn't long though before merriment is restored. 'This was the best day ever!' the little kitten exclaims. Tenggren's illustrations are lovely and most pleasing.
I'm fairly certain the person is looking for Lois Lovett's Little Lost Kitten -- it's oversize and fits the plot description.  (Kitten chases a butterfly and gets lost; asks various animals like Mrs. Pig how to get home.)  Here's a cover scan if the person seeking it wants to see if that cover looks familiar.
Yes, I think Little Lost Kitten is the one.

Alice T. Curtis' 1950's Little Maid series....  includes A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia, A Little Maid of Ticonderoga, A Little Maid of Massachuetts Bay Colony, A Little Maid of Provincetown, A Little Maid of Connecticutt, A Little Maid of New England, A Little Maid of Narragansett Bay, A Little Maid of Old New York, A Little Maid of Maryland, A Little Maid of Virginia, A Little Maid of Mohawk Valley, etc. 

It's actually a Rand McNally Elf Book: The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane by Ian Munn and illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe, 1952.
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L76: The Little Postman of Blueberry Lane.  This was a favourite childhood book of a friend of mine, who is a children's librarian. All I know is the title, as I remember her telling it to me. I would like to find a copy and surprise her with it.

You're close, and it's remembered by many!  It's a Rand McNally Elf Book: The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane by Ian Munn and illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe, 1952.

Roger Hargreaves, Mr Men and Litte Miss series, 1971.  This sounds like Roger Hargreaves' 1970s British series of "Mr Men" and "Little Miss" children’s books. The characters were colorful, anthropomorphized happy faces each named for his or her cardinal trait: Mr. Nosey, Mr. Messy, Little Miss Chatterbox, Little Miss Fickle, &c. Fate usually dispensed some sort of mild but ironic retribution for their behavior. In that way it was kind of like Struwwelpeter but with out the death and dismemberment.
If the person remembers the book being small, with kind of round abstract-looking characters, then it could be one of the "Little Miss" series by Roger Hargreaves. It could be LITTLE MISS BUSY. ~from a librarian
Edith Thacher Hurd, Hurry, Hurry, 1961.  One of the "I Can Read" series. 

Sharon Kane, Little Mommy, 1967.  This was a Golden Book called Little Mommy.  I just looked on
Bibliofind, which gives the author/illustrator as Sharon Kane and the date as 1967, and says it's "very hard to find."  I remember reading it at my grandmother's around 1970, and loved it because they miniaturized the household tasks.
Maybe the Little Golden Book Little Mommy by Sharon Kane, illustrated by Esther Wilkin? The cover shows a little girl sitting in a chair holding three dolls, which could be the three children named.
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No idea on author; illustrated by Eloise Wilken, c. 1965.  I cannot recall the title of this Golden Book but it started with "This is my house and I am the mommy.  These are my children Annabelle, Betsy, and Bonnie."  It most likely was published in the 1960's.

Sharon Kane, Little Mommy.  I taught my little sister to read with this book. It is hard to find and quite pricey!
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I am looking for a children's book that would have been read out by the late 60's or earlier.  It's about a girl who cares for a dolly that has "Mumbledy Bumps".  My wife swears such a book exists but I can't find any reference for it in Google or on your site.

Sharon Kane, Little Mommy, 1967.  Little Mommy is a beautifully illustrated book about a girl who cares for her dollies.
One of the dollies is "ill" and a boy dressed up as a doctor comes and diagnosis "She'll be well as quick as a wink, its just the mumbledy bumps I think"  It is a Little Golden Book marked C-569 in the upper left corner.

Mercer Mayer, Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-A-Zoo.  Not exactly what you're looking for, but maybe this Zipperump-A-Zoo story is the basis for the one you're looking for. The Professor collects creatures, and has a specimen of all animals from A-Y. He's missing the Z-A-Zoo. He travels all over the world in his quest, but is unsuccessful. Of course, at the end of the book he goes home in defeat and goes to bed, and a whole gang of Z-A-Zoos come out and play in his house. A great story.
This book is about one of Mercer's little monster who is having a bad day.  On every page there is a whimsical spider.  At the end of the book the mother monster is tucking in the little monster and she tells him not to let the "zipperumpazoos" bite.  I beleive this series of books came out before the Little Critter series, although the little critter series still has the little spider in some of the stories. I am desparately lookin for this book!
Mercer Mayer, Little Monster's Bedtime Book, 1978.  I enjoyed reading this one to my son- very funny, especially the little asides, like the character who keeps saying "my mama never told me 'bout this stuff..."
Are you waiting for the original poster to confirm an ID? I am 100% sure of this solution that I posted a while back:  Z2 is Mercer Mayer, Little Monster's Bedtime Book, 1978.
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This is a children's book, possibly by Mercer Mayer. The last lines of the book, as the mom monster is putting the little monster to bed, are "Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the zipperumpazoos bite" I believe that in the same book, they refer to yippyucks that bite toes and ride along on feet, holding on to the person's leg. <then again, that could be another one--I read hundreds during the kids' early years!>  Please help me find the zipperumpazoos!

Sure sounds like Mercer Mayer. There's  Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo, Golden Press, 1976.  But this one is surely Little Monster's Bedtime Book, 1978. See Solved Mysteries for more.
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A picture book I remember from the late 70's early 80's. The pictures were quite elaborate. Each page seemed to be about a different monster, fantastical creature. I remember very early in the book, there were these little black fluffy creatures, and one had a speech balloon saying "we're rock cooties...count us". They were throughout the book. The only other creature I remember was a giant blowfish with a lantern on the top of his head. I can't remember anything else, and it is beginning to drive me crazy!

Graeme Base, The Sign of the Seahorse.  Could this be it?  Very elaborately illustrated...
Mercer Meyer, Little Monster's Bedtime Book, 1978.  See solved mysteries.  There are little black cootie creatures hidden on each page, and a monster called the "Glowfish Blowfish"

Ha!  Hemingway for kids!!
Not much to go on, but maybe Grandfather Todd of Old Cape Cod, by Joseph E.Hanson, illustrated by Jean Porter, published New York, McKay 1959 "Seven stories as fresh as a Cape Cod breeze - about a most "magical" grandfather and his two young charges (Kate and Gregg) who spent an enchanted summer exploring Cape Cod. Ages 7-10" (Horn Book Apr/59 pub ad p.160) There's a line drawing showing a man with a long white beard and captain's hat, carrying a basket, walking with two children wearing striped shirts and shorts, one with a fishing rod, the other with a sack. No mention of cats.
Might this be Wanda Gag's Millions of Cats?  The very old man goes to find a cat to keep company with his very old woman.  He roams far and wide, and brings home every beautiful cat he finds, in short, "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats."  It's more about the cats of course, but the image of the old man with the long white beard made me think of it.  A classic, in print almost continuously since its publication in 1928.
Natalie Norton, A Little Old Man by the Sea, 1959.  [Thank you for helping me find the author to Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!]
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It was around 1972 in VA.  I read an illustrated book about an old man on a little island with a cat.  He lived in a little house, or boat up on stilts. He seemed to be preparing for a flood (a little like Noah's Ark).  Towards the end of the book it did flood and he and his cat/s were safe and snug in their boat.  It was probably published around the 60's?  Don't remember the title or author.  Help!  Thanks.

#B177--Boat:  This was solved.  I remember your comment was "Hemingway for kids?" but that phrase didn't turn up with a Google search, and, of course, I can't remember the title.
From the Solved Mysteries page: A Little Old Man by the Sea, by Natalie Norton.

P97 percis rides a turtle into forest: Is 1959 too recent, or could this be The Little One, by Dare Wright, published Doubleday 1959? "Persis was a dusty doll in an old house until Nice Bear and Cross Bear showed her the fun of the bright outdoors. Ages 2 to 6." (HB Dec/59 p.448 pub.ad) The cover pic shows the little doll talking to a turtle or tortoise, but don't know if she rides on him. 

O5-Orphan Annie:  This is hard to locate because of spelling.  The poem is Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley.  Dover Publications puts out an inexpensive book titled: Little Orphant Annie and Other Poems  by James Whitcomb Riley.  It is a Dover Thrift Edition - - unabridged.
In response to O 5, the poem Little Orphant Annie was written by James Whitcomb Riley and appears in many anthologies of his writings.
Little Orphant Annie is written by James Whitcomb Riley, and is probably in a number of classic poetry books, though I have it in a book called This Singing World, by Louis Untermeyer (a collection of poems for young adults).
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As a child in the 50's (book may also be early 60's) I read a children's book of poems and stories with one poem in it about Orphan Annie.  I remember the illustration which showed a large fireplace and hearth area with goblins dancing around in a circle in front of it. (Annie may have also been in the picture, seated in a chair by the hearth).  I think the last line of the poem was, "...the goblins will get you if you don't watch out".  The theme was about being good.  It seems that the entire book contained both poems AND stories, but it is possible that it was only poems.  I seem to recall that the book was somewhat oversized.

Little Orphant Annie  by James Whitcomb Riley.  See more on the Solved Mysteries page.

I happened to notice that in the Solved Mysteries, under "Little Orphant Annie," the second inquirer is looking for a specific book in which she found the poem.  The answer, based on her description of the unforgettable illustration for that poem, can only be The Golden Book of Poetry, which is also on your Solved Mysteries page [Jane Werner (ed.), The Golden Book of Poetry, c1947, 1949, reprint 1971. Subtitled "85 Childhood Favorites," this book contains all the poems mentioned, including "Little Orphant Annie." Charmingly illustrated by Gertrude Elliot. I had a copy as a child in the 50s.]  I still have my  childhood copy, the 1971 reprint.

A Little Oven by Eleanor Estes.

Dorothy Kunhardt, Little Peewee Or, Now Open the Box, 1948.  A Little Golden Book #52. "Peewee is a Dalmatian dog the size of a mouse who grows to the size of an elephant."
See more on Kunhardt on the Most Requested pages.
Dorothy Kunhardt, Little Peewee, the circus dog, 1948.  Also known as Little Peewee, or, Now open the box.  I found a picture of the cover.  It is a Little Golden Book.

Rumer Godden?
Godden, Rumer,  Little Plum.   Viking Press/1962, Scholastic/1963.  "The new girl who moves into the mansion next door is a mystery to her eight- and nine-year-old neighbors who plot to become her friends when they learn she too owns a Japanese doll."
Rumer Godden, Little Plum.
I think the person who suggested Rumer Godden is thinking of Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, which certainly fits some details.
Rumer Godden, Little Plum, 1987, reprint.  This book is either Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, or the sequel Little Plum.  The first is about an orphaned girl who learns to create a home for herself by caring for her Japanese dolls.  (Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are joined by Little Peach at the end of the book.)  The second is about a war that erupts between neighbors, when a new girl moves in and neglects her Japanese doll, Little Plum.
Rumer Godden, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  England is the last place Nona Fells wants to be. No one asked her if she wanted to leave sunny India to live in a chilly English village with her aunt's family -- and her cousin, Belinda, just hates her! But when two dainty Japanese dolls arrive at Nona's doorstep, everything begins to change. Like Nona, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are lonely and homesick, so Nona decides to build them their own traditional Japanese house. Over time, not only does Nona create a home for the dolls, but one for herself as well.  There is a sequel, Little Plum.  In the sequel, Belinda is trying to make friends with a new girl who has moved in next door.  The new girl also has a Japanese doll.  The good news is that Miss Happiness and Miss Flower has been reprinted.
Rumer Godden, Little Plum?  Sounds like it could maybe be Little Plum...a lot of the details fit well, but some don't.  Worth checking out though.

Possibles - The Pond, by Carol and Donald Carrick, published Macmillan 1970 "Children's story about animals living in or at the pond." - The Animals at Small Pond, by Phoebe Erickson, published Grosset 1960, "A lovely nature book for early readers, illustrated with line drawings." - The Beaver Pond by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, published by Lothrop 1970, 34 pages "The story of the life cycle of a pond and the creatures it creates and sustains."
Muriel Ward, Little Pond in the Woods, 1948.  I'm pretty sure this is the book.  It's a Little Golden Book (Simon and Schuster) and was illustrated by Tibor Gergely.  Several animals -- a duck, a bird, a bee, a bear, a butterfly, a deer, a rabbit, a squirrel, and a grumpy frog -- all live in and around a pond.  A drought dries up the pond and forces them to travel to a lake, led by the duck. Eventually the rains come, and they all travel back to
the pond.
Muriel Ward, Little Pond in the Woods, 1948.  Little Golden Books (Simon and Schuster), illustrated by Tibor Gergely.  I put in this solution a few days ago and neglected to include the clincher: the first line of the book is, indeed, as set forth in the request.  The book begins, "Deep in the woods was a little pond.  Its water was blue -- blue when the sky was blue.  The sun made yellow paths on it -- bright sparkling yellow paths that danced up and down when the breeze ran past." 

there was a Middle Button written by Kathryn Worth and illustrated by Dorothy Bayly: Doubleday 1941.
M32- I don't know how often books are given the same titles, but I have an old book called The Middle Button about a family in the South.  The Middle girl wants to become a doctor and in the process learns to manage her selfish temper and her troubles with being in the middle.  It is by a Kathryn Worth and takes place in 1880.
Sure!  I remember it being in the West, not the South, but I could very well be wrong.  The "become a doctor" bit sort of strikes a chord.  I can't afford more than $25-30 or so, but if you can find a readable copy within that range I'd love to have it.  Thanks!
I know this mystery is supposed to be solved already under the title Middle Button, but I distinctly recognize the description of the adventure where the middle sister gets a box of candy and hopes the old lady she is offering the box to doesn't take the piece she wants (but does) and how the second layer of candy is all that favorite piece.  The book I read with this adventure in it was called Little Rhody and it's a story of a girl named Rhoda as she grows up.  There is another adventure in the book where the family is going on a train ride and their mother makes boiled eggs for the children to eat on the train (there are a significant number of children in the family).  Little Rhody's brothers get 2 eggs, Little Rhody gets one.  She thinks that's unfair so she eats one before the train ride (it's awful, without salt) and then replaces the eaten egg in the lunch basket with a raw one.  On the train, she retrieves the raw egg but on her way to dispose of it the train lurches and she smashes the egg on the edge of another passenger's seat, splashing raw egg all over the passenger (an unforgiving lady) and her misdeed is revealed.  She goes through several such embarrassing/harrowing adventures as she grows up and at the end of the book, she has a birthday (I think) and the family starts calling her Rhoda (her given name) instead of "Little Rhody."  I recall it was a light lime green paperback with a drawing of a young teenaged girl in pigtails with a pale blue gingham dress.
Neta Lohnes Frazier, Little Rhody, 1953.   I feel pretty confident that my solution is correct and the name of the book is not Middle Button, based on the event the person seeking the book described.  Little Rhody's birthday was June 14, 1875, so the timeframe matches the one the person looking for this book identified.

Patsy Scarry, Little Richard. Ill. Cyndy Szekeres. (McGraw, '70) 

Could there have been a Disney movie based on this in the 1950s? I think I remember watching this on the Disney show.
The Little Riders.  I remembering reading a part of this story, up to the part where the girl is discovered trying to hide the horse.  The hiding place was a door into a crawl space in the back of someone's closet in the girl's house.  The story takes place in the Netherlands or a similiar country and Germans have invaded the country.  In fact, a German official is living in the house.  The horse or horses have some sort of special significance and the father of the girl feels they must be saved and hidden. The words "The Little Riders" keep coming to my mind.
Here's the description of Little Riders by Margaretha Shemin (Peter Spier illus.) Juvenile audience, 76 p., c.1963.  "An American girl living in Nazi-occupied Holland resents the presence of a German soldier quartered in her grandparents' home until the night she tries to hide part of the town's treasured clock mechanism."

published 1935   Little Sallie Mandy and Tommy Whiskers author Helen R. Van Derveer  I am not sure, but maybe it is the one - maybe she can identify through the title ?
I found another one I know about. Number T1, about Tommy Whiskers, definitely refers to the Little Sallie Mandystories, of which there were several. I can't recall the author's name.

Martin, Bill and Bernard, Little Squeegy Bug, 1945.  The Little Squeegy bug is sad because he wants to be a bumblebee with silver wings and a gun in his tail. His new friend Creepy Caterpillar takes him to Hauncy the Spider (who where a black tophat) who spins him silver wings, and then gives him a lantern to put in his tail, making him a firefly.'  I also should add that if you are looking for Little Squeegy Bug, there is a new version out that has *very* different illustrations.

THE LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER by Alice P. Miller. I went crazy trying to find this book myself. I found out there are two versions - one illustrated by John Lawrence, 1961 and the other illustrated by Lisl Weil, 1973.
That sounds like it..  I haven't been able to find any mention or copies of that book on the net, but I'll keep my eyes peeled.  ;)
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I was referred to you by some librarian friends. I am trying to find a book for a friend. Here is her description of it:  I have no clue about the author or title, but Captain Kangaroo used to read it on his show (in the 60s).  It's about a man who ran an ice cream shop, and for some reason his son (?) had to take over for him, but he didn't make the cones the same way - the father put in a little bit of ice cream first so there would be ice cream all the way to the bottom of the cone.  thank you for any help you can provide.

I13: Ice Cream Business:  Wow! I grew up on this book (the Lisl Weil illustrated version) and never knew it had any connection to Captain Kangeroo. Since this book was published twice with two different sets of illustrations, I'm curious which one Captain Kangeroo used. I sent in the answer when someone else asked for this book - it's now on your solved mysteries page under LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER (by Alice P. Miller). And I am 100% sure of this - I own both illustrated versions (no, not willing to sell them!)
This is fabulous! thank you so much, I passed it on to my friend and she was thrilled.  She has family in Cleveland and said she will definitely stop by your store.  I've left it up to her to find herself a copy.  Thanks again.  I think there should be a book which lists all the books that were read by Captain Kangaroo.  I just bought Caps for Sale today for my daughter.
I am a Librarian (Virginia Beach Public Library) and I've tried any number of sources and search tactics to find this book - for years.  I just used one of your "Solveds" to end a years long search by one of my customers (it was the Little Store on the Corner).  And on behalf of a staff of nearly 30 and one very happy customer, I must say: "Thank You.  Very much."
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I had this book as a child, so it was most likely published sometime in the early 70s or earlier (possibly as early as the 30s or 40s).  The story was about an ice cream/candy shop owner who had to leave his shop (for a vacation or some other reason).  He left the shop in the hands of his nephew (I think or some other young, male relative).  All the kids were so sad to see him leave (even for a short time) and they did not like the nephew (or whoever he was).  The nephew served up the SMALLEST scoops of ice cream and didn't give the kids candy and balloons (I may have made up the last part). Anyway, the kids eventually teach him how to scoop up the big huge scoops and be a great shop clerk.  By the time the ice cream man returns, his nephew is doing a great job and he is so happy about it.   I cannot for the life of me remember what the title was and would love your help!

THE LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER by Alice P. Miller. See Solved Mysteries. There are two editions with different illustrators.
This was a personal stumper of mine some years ago, and I hunted high and low and finally found the answer. It is definitely THE LITTLE STORE ON THE CORNER by Alice P. Miller. I found out that there were 2 different editions with different illustrations. John Lawrence illustrated one, and Scholastic published a paperback copy in 1973 illustrated by Lisl Weil.~from a librarian

G32 and G44 Goudge, Elizabeth, Little White Horse, 1946.  I'm pretty sure this is G44 - and may well be G32. The beautiful illustrations are by C. Walter Hodges. The story is about Maria Merryweather, a spirited orphan who travels from London (with her governess Miss Heliotrope and King Charles spaniel Wiggins) to the home of her uncle in the valley of Moonacre. There she is helped by a (once supposed imaginary) boy named Robin to right the wrongs of her ancestors and restore peace to the valley. The little white horse of the title is actually a unicorn, symbol for the "moon Merryweathers", who must learn how to companion the lion or "sun  erryweathers" (yup, England's heraldic beasts) so harmony reigns. The gnome or dwarf with geraniums is Marmaduke Scarlet, her uncle's cook, who has kept them in secret after the previous generation's moon and sun representatives (Maria's uncle and mystery fiancee) quarreled and parted. The geraniums play a key role in mending that quarrel. Yes, the story is a bit twee, but I read it when very young, so I'm still rather fond of it! :) My copy is the fifth impression, dated 1958, published by the University of London Press.
Elizabeth Gouge, The little white horse,1946.  University of London Press,-reprinted 1948 (released in Canada thru CLARKE, IRWIN & CO LTD,480-486, University Avenue, Toronto, no address for US. Bound in Mid-blue with gold impression of unicorn on bottom right corner. Inside in flyleaf there is a colour plate of "Maria's Own Room" in the tower, complete with star in centre of ceiling. Excellent book, I recently re-read it. A little sad for a 29yo. Just want a little bit of childhood back.
G44 geraniums in windowboxes: my friend who asked this stumper says "I finally found and re-read Goudge's Little White Horse, which was just what I would have fainted and died for at age 9 and was charming enough
even now.  I can see how I compounded various elements into the vivid mental picture I still have, but that picture/scene never actually happened in that book." So I think we can move that to Solved.
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I am looking for a book that I read in the time period of 1965-1969.  I do not think the book was written durnig that time.  I seem to recall an old looking hardback book.  The book main character was a girl, who either lived in a house near the woods or visited someone there.  The house had salmon pink geraniums on the steps and maybe in the windows.  There was also a unicorn in the woods/forest.  I would like to find this book for my daughter to read.

Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse.  The little white horse turns out to be a unicorn, and geraniums come into the story in several places.
Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse.  Would it be this one, by any chance?
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Book number two was about a gnome, he loved geraniums and grew them to proffusion.  Again, no author or title but the book was a material covered book like the one above and probably had a dust jacket originally.  This one however had the most beautiful colour plate pictures in it that were every childs love...least in my childhood they were.

Just possibly - Mr. Garden by Eleanor Farjeon, illustrated by Jane Paton, published Walck 1966, 39 pages. "The story tells of a family's return home after a long absence to find the garden a tangled jungle until a strange little man appears mysteriously and makes the garden more beautiful than it had ever been."
G32 and G44 Goudge, Elizabeth, Little White Horse, 1946.  I'm pretty sure this is G44 - and may well be G32. The beautiful illustrations are by C. Walter Hodges. The story is about Maria Merryweather, a spirited orphan who travels from London (with her governess Miss Heliotrope and King Charles spaniel Wiggins) to the home of her uncle in the valley of Moonacre. There she is helped by a (once supposed imaginary) boy named Robin to right the wrongs of her ancestors and restore peace to the valley. The little white horse of the title is actually a unicorn, symbol for the "moon Merryweathers", who must learn how to companion the lion or "sun  erryweathers" (yup, England's heraldic beasts) so harmony reigns. The gnome or dwarf with geraniums is Marmaduke Scarlet, her uncle's cook, who has kept them in secret after the previous generation's moon and sun representatives (Maria's uncle and mystery fiancee) quarreled and parted. The geraniums play a key role in mending that quarrel. Yes, the story is a bit twee, but I read it when very young, so I'm still rather fond of it! :) My copy is the fifth impression, dated 1958, published by the University of London Press.
This definitely is NOT Farjeon's Mr Garden- no geraniums - or not in profusion, anyway!
Hiya,  I have emailed you before to let you know that my bookstumper was solved and is indeed The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.   I have since bought myself (a reckless treat to celebrate!) a first London printed edition in hardback.  I cannot thankyou enough for yours, and your website visitors help in bringing back my memories...there is nothing more precious than returning to your childhood imaginations. I cannot recommend your site enough...a GOLD MEDAL TO YOU AND YOURS. 

Little Witch (Bennett)

To the person from July 1997 looking for a story of the little girl with a mean witch mother, and the girl does spells to make a fairy appear (using colored powders), then it turns out her REAL mother IS a fairy under the spell of the mean old witch: It's Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett original copyright 1953. The copy I have is a Scholastic version illustrated by Lisl Weil with a new copyright by Scholastic of 1961. I also lost my first childhood copy, then found this one at a garage sale a few years ago! Hope you can find a copy for your client; it is one of my all time favorite books!
Thanks for the tip, here's a copy I have for sale:
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth. Little Witch. Illus. by Helen Stone. NY: Lippincott, 1953. Twelfth printing, ex-library. Pictorial boards, clean and tight. VG-. <SOLD>

[more requests for the same book!]
I am trying to find a book I loved as a child. I read it around 1974. It is about a girl who is a witch's daughter. What I remember about the story is that she befriends a woman who is a beautiful fairy with a beautiful daughter and she wishes this fairy was her mother. The little witch's mother often goes out at night, dresses her in ratty clothes and treats her poorly. I also remember the little witch admiring the hair ribbons the fairy's daughter wears. At the end of the book, the fairy does turn out to be her mother. Somehow the girl was kidnapped when she was a baby. I have done numerous searches and I believe the book is out of print. I would appreciate any help I can in finding this beloved story. Thanks so much!
You are a miracle worker! Yes, I am going to buy the book! I am truly amazed you were able to find it since all the search vehicles I used online turned up nothing. I am recommending you to all my friends who are interested in finding their own little piece of nostalgia. Thanks again!
Your site is the greatest discovery I have made so far in this new millenium. I have often wondered how I would be able to find this book. I only new the name of the book and what it was about. I had bought the book for 10 cents, when I was in second grade, at an old resale shop called " The Attic ". I am now 29 and would like to once again read about Miniken (Minx). Thank You.
I have been trying to remember the name one one of my favorite children's book since it "disappered" from the school's library may moons ago. It was about a little girl who was being raised by a very mean witch. She meets some regular kids and together that start messing around with the witch's magic powders when she leaves every day. Wonderful and strande things happen as they stir up different potions from the magical powders. One day they conjur up a fairy who tells the little girl that SHE is really her mother and the witch has imorisioned her and stolen her (the little girl). I cannot remember the exact title, but I thought it had "witch's daughter" or something similiar in the title. Can you help me? I highly doubt that it is still in print anyway, but...
 cannot thank you enough! I so-o-o-o-o-o love the interent for its information exchange cabilities. I NEVER expected to find the name of that long lost favorite Little Witch. I have searced through the children's section of every library I've been in for over 25 years, hoping I'd recognize a cover or picture... I almost cried when I read the "Mysteries Solved" secton of your web site because yes, this IS the book I've been searching for! Thank you! Thank you!
My daughter is 7 and I am starting to rebuild my library of books I remember and never should have gotten rid of.  Can you believe I just found a copy of Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett.  She loved it!!
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This book involved a small girl that saw a beautiful princess in the mirror whenever she brushed her hair.  The girl was being held captive by an evil witch who at some point threw the brush at the mirror, shattering the mirror, and setting the princess free -- who turned out to be the mother of the small girl.

Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.1953.  The story about the little girl who sees her mother's reflection in the mirror could be Little Witch.
M150: Little Witch? Except no one throws a brush at the mirror and it's only the spell that gets broken, not the mirror itself.
M150 Sounds like LITTLE WITCH by Anna Elizabeth Bennet (appears on Solved Mysteries page) ~from a librarian
This sounds like Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. The witch had raised the little girl as her own daughter, but the fairy in the mirror was really her mother.
This was actually answered by W-84 which is the same story.  The girl with the colored powders is the daughter of the princess in the mirror.  What sets the princess free is the evil witch throwing a hairbrush at the mirror because that is where the little girl witch always sees the princess.
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Hi~ I am looking for a book about a witch-I cannot remember the name or author.  It is a book I loved as a child, I read it in the early to mid 1970's.  The main thing that I remember is that the neighbor is a witch who has many jars of colored powders for spells.  I wish I could remember more as I did love it so--any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953 and 1961.  This may not be the same book that the poster is thinking of at all, but the colored powders part sounds like a scene out of Little Witch.  Nine year old Minx is a witch's child, but not a witch herself. She is forced to do horrible things she doesn't want to do, such as making Black Spell Brew.  Her evil "mother" witch has "jars of magic powders and liquids on the shelves.  There were hundreds of them, all different colors".  This is just a tiny detail in the book, but it was a detail I always enjoyed, because I wanted to have hundreds of different colored magic powders, too.  Anyway, Minx later discovers that her real  Mother is a fairy who has been bewitched by the evil witch.
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch, 1953.  This is definately it.
This could be Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett - a very popular book. It wasn't a neighbor who had magic powders, but Minikin's (the daughter) own "mother" who actually isn't. She uses different colored powders to try to make a beautiful fairy appear, but it takes a few tries.
The colored powders mentioned in W84 might refer to Little Witch.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1963.  This one is on the Solved Mystery page.Sounds just like this  book--my favorite part was always when they experimented with the colored powders!!
Sounds like Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, 1953. It's in Solved Mysteries. Wonderful, clever and very original for its time (especially Frances' grandma, I think), but try to get the edition with the more sophisticated drawings.
This sounds like Little Witch.  There's a lot more to this story but the little witch, Minikin Snickasnee, uses the colored powders to cast a spell to help the enchanted lady she sees in the mirror.
Coombs, Patricia,  Dorrie and the Blue Witch, 1964.  Could be any one of the "Dorrie the Witch" stories. I loved them so as a child in the 60-70's.
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If I remember correctly, this was a fantastic book for children, a slim paperback that may have had short chapters with a few black and white ink drawings for illustrations.  It was about a little girl named Lavinia (I'm about 90% sure of that).  I believe that Lavinia's mother had been a good witch, but either died or disappeared into another dimension.  Lavinia either lives with or visits the old house, where her two evil aunts still live.  I think Lavinia has to find her mother's old spellbook, and at some point she or the aunts make a potion.  In the end I think it turns out that Lavinia herself possesses some power for good, and she may make the aunts disappear into another dimension.  But of one thing I am almost certain: her name was Lavinia!

#L59--Lavinia, little witch girl?:  In some ways sounds like Little Witch, by Anna Elizabeth Bennett.
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I have just a vague recollection of this book, but what I remember is still quite vivid in my mind.  It was a children's book that involved a witch whose "pantry" was filled with magic potions of all sorts of different colors, maybe pastels?  My memory is that the potions were like chalk and kept in bottles -- something like the tempera paints that we used to have in elementary school.  The children have some sort of an adventure where they possibly have to mix the potions together for some unremembered purpose.  I  am 51 years old, so my elementary school years would have been early 1960s.  I went to grade school both in Long Island, New York and Abilene Texas.

Anna Elizabeth Barrett, Little Witch,1953. Maybe this book, which appears in the "Solved Stumpers" section?
bennett, Little Witch.  The witch "daughter" and her friends mix together powders and conjure up several creatures trying to find a fairy.
This might be it: Little Witch Anna Elizabeth Bennett,1953. "Minx hates being a witch's daughter, and sneaks off to school to make friends. But her wicked mother threatens to spoil everything, until a beautiful face in a mirror reveals who Minx really is."  As I recall, there was quite a deal about her mixing powders of different colors to find some solution to her problems as well.
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1950's.  A series of books (I think it was a series) of a witch (a good one I think) who had flower pots on her window sill that she had turned into flowers from children.

Bennett,  Little Witch again.  Check Solved Mysteries.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.  See more about this book on the Solved Pages. The witch (Minx's adopted mother) in this has turned children from her village into flowers and she keeps them in flowerpots by her window, so this detail definitely matches.  But she's a bad witch, not a good one.  And I don't think this is part of a series.  So this may not be it.
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This book featured a wicked sorceress who turned children she did not like into flowerpots (I think).  Her name was something like Madame Snickernee.  I found this book in my elementary school library in 1960 or so and have been looking for it for years.  I would imagine that the protagonist was not the sorceress but rather (presumably) some child or children, but every detail of the book not mentioned above has gone out of my memory. I will be extremely grateful to anyone who can give me the title and/or author! Many thanks.

With a name like Snickasnee, it has to be Anna Elizabeth Bennett's Little Witch. Illus. by  Helen Stone. NY: Lippincott, 1953.  See more on Solved Mysteries.
Wow!  Thank you so much for that swift solution. Little Witch--and I thought I must have hallucinated that flowerpot angle!  I am going to submit a more difficult (I fear) stumper soon--another fragment that's been haunting me. What a wonderful resource you offer.
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I read this book in elementary school (1967-1974).  It was about a young mistreated girl who lived with 2 cruel witches.  She was treated like Cinderella having to do all the housework.  She talks to a woman in a mirror and it ends up being her mother who was imprisoned there by the witches (I think).  She is befriended by a child/children and they experiment with the witches brightly colored potion powders, etc.  That's all the details I can remember.

Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch. Again! See Solved Stumpers.
Anna E. Bennett, Little Witch. Definitely Little Witch, by Anna E. Bennett. I had forgotten the name too and found it again when someone else posted a stumper here some time ago!
This is "Little Witch" by Anna Elizabeth Bennett.
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch, 1953.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953. This has to be Little Witch, by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. Minikin (Minx) lives w/ Madam Snickasnee, a wicked witch, whom she believes to be her mother. Minx wants to be a normal child, and finally sneaks off to school, where she makes friends with the other children. She teaches her friends to ride her broom, and together they experiment w/ Madam Snickasnee's magic colored powders. The powders cause various creatures to appear, including a centaur, a water nixie, a fairy, and the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who helps them free a bunch of other children that Madam Snickasnee had turned into "flower pots" (potted plants) with her Black Spell Brew. The beautiful woman whom Minikin occasionally glimpses in the mirror is a nymph named Moonfire, and she is Minikin's real mother.  Madam Snickasnee had enchanted her and stolen Minikin, when she was a baby. At the end, Minikin breaks the spell, freeing her mother, and Madam Snickasnee is turned into an anteater.
Bennett,  Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch. Description matches exactly except there is just one witch.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953. See more on the Solved Mysteries "L" page!
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch, 1953.You probably read the Scholastic version from 1961. Madame Snickasnee turn boys and girls into potted plants.  Minx, her supposed daughter, spends her time trying to free the lady she sees in the mirror with Madame Snickasnee's colored powders. The lady turns out to be Moonfire, a fairy and Minx's mother.
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I think this may have been a Scholastic book, I read it in the early 1960's or even the 1950s (late). We ordered these books through our school. It was a soft cover book about a girl who saw a beautiful woman in a mirror in her room.  The mirror was full length, oval and set on a stand.  The girls supposed mother in the story was a witch, dressed in black, who made her work hard, doing housework and such.  By the end of the book the girl discovers the beautiful woman is her real mother and then somehow frees her from the mirror, a spell put on her by the witch. On the cover I think there was a drawing of the girl looking at the woman in the mirror, the woman in the mirror looked somewhat spritish.  Hoping you'll know what this one is. Thanks.

Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953.  This sure sounds like Little Witch.  The little girl's name is Minikin (Minx for short) and the wicked witch with whom she lives (and whom she believes to be her mother) is Madame Snickasnee.  Minx wants badly to go to school and have friends like a regular child, so she sneaks out of the house. She and her new friends experiment with Madame Snickasnee's magic powders, summoning assorted creatures, including a water nixie, a centaur, a fairy, and the pied piper, who rescues a group of children whom Madame Snickasnee had turned into "flower pots" (potted plants) with Black Spell Brew. When Madame Snickasnee finds out, she tries to turn Minx's friends into flowerpots. The beautiful lady that Minx sometimes sees in the mirror is a nymph named "Moonfire," whom the witch had enchanted when she stole the infant Minx. Minx breaks the spell and sets her real mother free by saying, "I love you" to the reflection. At the end of the story, Madame Snickasnee perjures herself in court, and is turned into an anteater. I'm sure this is the same book, but the cover of mine has a different picture - Minx riding on her broomstick, illustrated by Helen Stone. The only picture inside the book that shows Minx looking in the mirror shows a smallish mirror atop a bureau, not a full-length mirror, and it is Minx's own reflection in the mirror in that picture. There is another edition of Little Witch, illustrated by Lisl Weil, which shows on the cover Minx holding a broom, possibly sweeping, with Madame Snickasnee standing on one side of her, and Scorcher, the black cat, on the other. There may be other editions as well, that do show the mirror on the cover?
Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch.  I'm sure this is in solved mysteries.
M366: Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett. See Solved Mysteries. BTW, there were two illustrators for the book, and one - the prolific Lisl Weil - died at age 95 in February of 2006.  The other was Helen Stone  (you can google their artwork).  By the way, Bennett was born in 1914 and is possibly still alive in 2006 - in Southampton, NY! She only wrote one other book, I think. Don't know if it's a kid's book or not.
Anna E. Bennett , Little Witch, Scholastic (August 1976).  Madame Snickasee is a witch who's fond of turning local townfolk into flowerpots when they get in her way. Whe daughter Minx goes to school and makes some friends, her investigations into the magical potions in the house lead to surprises and a happy ending for Minx.
Little Witch.  I don't have any other info, but I also remember the mother in the mirror, smiling at the girl. I'm pretty sure this is the same book.
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This was a children's book I remember reading around 1976 or so.  There was a young girl (early teens?) being held by a witch (I think against her will?), and every night the witch went out, and told the girl not to leave or use any of her things.  And every night the girl used the witch's cauldron and some of her test ingredients - they were either powders or liquids, all different colors.  I remember one night the girl used red and yellow together, and they didn't mix, they stayed on opposite sides of the cauldron.  I believe that one made a clown? The girl might have been named Blanche or Blythe.

Bennett, Anna Elizabeth, Little Witch.  See Solved mysteries.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch. (1956 approx)  Sounds like Little Witch, see solved mysteries L. Minx is an unhappy little girl, mistreated by the evil witch, not allowed to have friends. When the witch mother goes out at night, Minx uses the witch's colored powders and cauldron to try and conjure a good fairy to help her. The witch turns the neighbor children into flowerpots when they bother her.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch. (1953)  This is definitely it. See the solved page for more details.
Girl tests witch's ingredients  - Sounds like Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, again!
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I remember loving the following book in first grade, which was 1969 - 1970. It was about a little girl ( a little witch, I think) who lived with a very mean witch whom she believed to be her mother.  She was very unhappy.  The mean witch used to go out and leave her at home by herself, and sometimes she would see a sad, lovely lady in a mirror, who turned out, in the happy ending, to be her mother.  At least, I think it goes something like that. There is pretty definitely a mirror involved, and a mystery about this mysterious lady. I would love to read this book again. Thank you so much if you can help.

Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch, 1953. Details match exactly.
The book is without a doubt Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett.
This sounds more like Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Lippincott, 1953.  Unless it was also published as Weeny Witch?
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch.
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch
Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Little Witch
Thank you, I did figure out that this was LITTLE WITCH   while searching the site before the book stumper was even posted, but I also discovered that I'd read and remembered WEENY WITCH, so now I will get both for my nine-year-old daughter.  Thanks to all who helped!

Lorna Balian, Sometimes it's Turkey, Sometimes it's Feathers. A little old lady, Mrs. Gumm, finds an egg in the forest. She and her cat watch it hatch, then eat everything in sight. The implication is that they're fattening it up for Thanksgiving, but then the turkey ends up eating at the table with them.  A long shot, but the drawings are line drawings, and the pages are a darkish brown color.
Sometimes it's Turkey, Sometimes it's Feathers isn't the correct book. Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe someone else has an idea?
I remember the witch walking through the forest/woods in one of the illustrations. I don't think she's a mean or scary witch. The story might have something to do with her broom? Or maybe a potion? And I didn't mean to be confusing about the look of the book. The cover might be brown, but the pages are white. There are simple pencil line illustrations, though. That's the one fact I'm sure of.
Ida DeLage, The Old Witch and the Crows, 1983. If there's a chance that the witch lived in a cave, maybe this is the one you're looking for?  The old witch disguises herself as a giant crow, to help the King of the Crows drive off a great horned owl who has been terrorizing the crows & preventing them from sleeping.
The Old Witch and the Crows isn't it, either :(
Chris Van Allsburg, The Widow's Broom, 1992, copyright.  This is a very, very long shot, especially as it was published in the early '90s, but here's hoping you got the date wrong! A witch's broom loses its flying power, and she crashes in an old lady's garden. The witch leaves, but the broom stays with the old lady and turns out to be alive. I becomes her friend. Good luck!
Otfried Preussler, The Little Witch, 1979, reprint.  I've solved my own stumper after almost one year! After countless searches, a friend on a message board solved my mystery. This book was written in German and translated to English. I think it was written in the late 1950s to early 1960s. I was right; there is a raven in the book. His name is Abraxas. The little witch is told to be good by her older sisters, who leave her behind for a while. So the little witch helps people and does good deeds. When her sisters return, they're angry at her for being so good. Being good to a witch acutally means you're supposed to be bad. It's a really cute story!

I'm pretty sure this is The Little Wooden Doll by Margery Williams Bianco. Plot summary: "A charming story about a wooden doll that had been left in the attic for many years, and although the mice were her friends, she wished to be loved by a child. How the animals help her to find someone who cares for her is very resourceful."
D74 doll in attic: I think The Little Wooden Doll, by Margery Williams Bianco, published first in 1925 and frequently reprinted, had an edition come out with a wooden doll to match the character. Perhaps the 1961 or
1965 edition.
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I loved this book when I was a child (pre-1950).  A carved wooden doll was unwanted because she was too sharp (I'm not 100% sure of the title).  Through her experiences over time, her features became softer and she finally found a good home with someone who loved her.

Could be The Little Wooden Doll, by Margery Bianco, illustrated by her daughter Pamela Bianco, published Macmillan 1925, reprinted several times. It's about a wooden doll who isn't very pretty, and is left in the attic
with spiders for her friends.
Another possible is Nobody's Doll, by Adele DeLeeuw, illustrated by Anne Vaughan, published Little Brown 1946 and 1955, 85 pages. "The curious adventures of a wooden-headed doll and Mr. McHugh, a Scottie." "An
old-fashioned doll encounters mishaps aplenty until Mr. McHugh, a dour Scotty dog, befriends her."
D67 doll too sharp: this actually looks like a better bet - Victoria Josephine, by Margaret Baker, pictures by Mary Baker, published Dodd, Mead 1936. Victoria Josephine is "an old wooden doll dressed in a strange
looking gown of white muslin" sent to Diana by her great grand-aunt Jessica. Diana is a rough little girl who doesn't want "an ugly old doll" so the puppy takes Victoria Josephine out to the woods to see the world
instead. She is almost eaten by a cow and a baby, is swept up by a crossing-sweeper and tossed into a rose arbor, found and remade into a sailor doll with a new nose. Then she is 'lost at sea', floats past cows
and fishing children and finally comes to shore where Diana is picnicking. Diana is very happy with a sailor doll and ready to "take him home and love him because he was nearly drowned." The illustrations are silhouettes,
which might help confirm or disqualify this possibility.
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This is a book about a doll who is abandoned by a little girl.  She throws it out a window where it lies in the grass.  Eventually it is pitied by Fairies maybe, or birds, etc. who dress it in spiders webs and foxgloves and beautiful flowers.  I think the book is pre-1950's.  In the 1970's it was reissued in a box with a doll included.  Anyone know this book?

Vaguely reminiscient of Dare Wright'sTake Me Home or The Little One, but I don't believe those abandoned dolls ever get dressed.
Margery Williams Bianco, Little Wooden Doll, 1925.   I submitted the query "Abandoned Doll".  Going through your submissions I found Little Wooden Doll which had a photo accompanying it..and Viola! it was my book.  I got a lot of the info wrong--memories aren't always that good.  Thank you for your web sit.
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my sister had a small book, blue cloth cover (i think) about a small wooden doll who had been forgotten in a cabin or something like that.  Mice found her and helped her get back in shape and was given to a little girl.  There were illustrations on every other page or so.  Would like to find the name to give as a gift to my sister.

Bianco, Margery Williams, The Little Wooden Doll, 1926.

Book Stumper S58 about Susie and ballet could be On Your Toes Susie by Lee Wyndham.  I can't really remember the story but the title sounds right on.
The cover blurb for On your toes, Susie! makes me think it isn't the right one.  Susie has waited three years and finally gets pink toe shoes, but now has to compete against the new girl, Mimi.  And then Susie sprains her ankle just before the big recital (oh, no!).  However, there is "A note to parents" by the author at the end of this book that indicates this is part of a series, which began with A Dance for Susie, in which she received pre-ballet training at age six.  Other books in the series are Susie and the dancing cat and Susie and the ballet family.
Other details that might help tell if this is the right series:  Susie's surname is Peters  the school is Miss Mara's School of Ballet.  Miss Mara has a French poodle named Coco.  the city is Ferndale.
this sounds like a good bet - The Littlest Star, by Sally Jackson, illustrated by Dick Martin, published Chicago, Reilly & Lee 1961, 32 pages. "An Easy-to-Read Picture Story. Each and every year thousands of little girls enter the enchanting, magical world of ballet dancing. Susie is one of those little girls who, clutching her leotard and slippers, knows how it feels to be on the sidelines while she watches the older children succeed. Readers of all ages will rejoice as stubborn Susie finds her first success. Here is a book which any first grader can really read alone. Ages 4-8, 8 1/2 x 11" (HB Feb/61 p.101 pub ad) The illustration shown is a line drawing of a little girl wearing a rabbit-eared cap and wide frothy tutu, her hair in two braids, curtseying. One of her slippers is undone.
S58 susie and ballet: more on one suggested - A Dance for Susie, by Lee Wyndham, illustrated by Jane Miller, published Dodd 1953, 56 pages. "Susie, younger than the other girls in her neighborhood, was left out of
everything and had begun to think there was nothing a six-year-old could do. Then one day she saw in a magazine a picture of ballerinas just her age. How she entered a dancing class, studied hard and surprised her friends at the school talent show makes a happy story." (HB Aug/53 p.275) However, I'd put more money on The Littlest Star, by Sally Jackson, after seeing pages shown on EBay. It's an early-reader level story, and Susie is in class with her older sister, when she is offered the part of a bunny in the performance (they need a small child). Susie is told she will only need to hop, and says she can hop and she can dance too.

Winifred Watson and Julius M. Nolte, A Living Grammar, 1938.  I don't know the poem (I learnt a different one at school), but I typed the first line into Google, and got two hits.  One was this site.   About half-way down is a review of "A Living Grammar".  It quotes the first few lines of the first chapter, which happen to include the first few lines of the poem.  I expect the book itself contains the whole poem.
Yes!  This has to be where the poem comes from.  Thank you so very much.  Another mystery solved.

?John Benton.  I wonder if the series you're thinking of has anything to do with the Walter Hoving Home (a Christian organization) in New York which takes in young women with drug/alcohol etc. problems. I know the organization used to publish small paperback books with the stories of the young women and the titles of the books were often the girls' first names. I think John Benton, the founder of the organization, wrote the books.
Here are the books in Benton's series: Augie (1984) / Candy (1983) / Carmen (1983) / Cindy (1978) / Connie (1982) / Crazy Mary (1977) / Debbie (1981) / Denise (1983) / Jackie (1981) / Julie (1981) / Kari (1984) / Kristi (1985) / Lefty (1981)  / Lisa (1986) / Lorene (1985) / Lori (1980) / Marji (1980) / Nikki (1981) / Patti (1978) / Renee (1986) / Rocky (1985) / Sheila (1982) / Sherri (1980) / Stephanie (1983) / Suzie (1979) / Vicki (1981)
John Benton, Living Hope Library Series, 1977-1986.  John Benton wrote a series of inspirational books (identified as either "true life stories" or "Christian fiction") about young women in trouble.  According to various on-line sources, titles include Marji, Marji and the Gangland Wars, Marji and the Kidnap Plot, Crazy Mary, Candi, Lori, Nikki, Carmen, Cindy, Sheila, Kari, Jackie, Renee, Lisa, Julie, Lorene, Valarie, Stephanie, Connie, Tasha, Patti, Sherri, Sandi, Denise, Debbie, Terri, and Suzie.  Many of these titles were reprinted in 1994 as part of the Living Hope Library Series.  I haven't read any of these and cannot comment on the contents.

Living in AMERICA Today and YESTERDAY by Prudence Cutright and John Jarolimek (editors) Macmillan Co.(1969) The town is Kingston and when the old fashioned ice cream freezer is delivered to the King's trailer the man also brings a large box of ICE!! Through the character of Old Timer a great deal of history, especially history of  Native Americans, is explained in detail. The book does a wonderful job showing how a community slowly evolves and with it the need for schools, fire department, police, TAXES etc. This is the book! 

S7 Liza Lou & the Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer, 1976  A little black girl has to go through the Yeller Belly Swamp to run errands for her mother, but there are dangerous creatures lurking there - including the swamp monster that the girl talks to while standing on a wooden bridge. 

Daniel Pinkwater, Lizard Music, c. 1976.  Definitely.
Daniel M. Pinkwater, Lizard Music.  If the names Walter Cronkite, Claudia, Chicken Man, and Reynold ring bells for you, it's gotta be one of my favorite books of all time - Lizard Music.
Daniel Pinkwater, Lizard Music, 1978.

The Lost Doll by Pegg Mann, Random House, 1972, 54pg., illus. Could this be the book?  "With the help of a number of city officials, Emily finds her very special lost rag doll."
Adelberg, Doris, Lizzie's Twins, 1964.  I think this is the one -- I still have my childhood copy at home (liberally scribbled-in, unfortunately), since it was my favorite preschool book. I haven'\''t looked at it in years, but I recall the main character lost her prized doll, and it had a line illustration of the lost doll similar to the one described. Lizzie ends up with two dolls -- her "twins" -- since her parents buy her another one in an attempt to console her.  She'd forgotten her doll because she'd started playing with a friend or something.  If I recall correctly, she finds the lost doll herself after a whole season or so has passed -- upside down in a tree stump. If this is the right book, e-mail me and I can actually dig the book out, verify my fuzzy memories, and give you any info you need.
This makes me think of the "Galldora" stories, which are British. The name is an anagram of "A Rag Doll." There may be more than one book - I read some of the stories in the British kids' magazine "Treasure" from the 1960's or early 1970's. The doll, who can think and talk, is always getting lost, which leads her into adventures (even though she can't actually move on her own, IIRC).
I think the second guess posted on the site is probably as close as I'm going to get ... the person who responded offered to look up the book if I thought it might be the one ... since I can't find "Lizzie's Twins" by Doris Adelberg or Doris Orgel, I'd like to ask the person is s/he would be able to post a photo from the book or something ... or even if s/he can confirm the title/author (since I'm finding NOTHING).
D86 doll lost: here's more info if that helps - Lizzie's Twins, by Doris Adelberg and N.M. Bodecker, published NY Dial 1964. "Unexpected events befall Lizzie's doll Beatrice, told in gay verse and captivating pictures." If the illustrations are by Bodecker, who did several of Edward Eager's books, they should be fairly distinctive line drawings. Does the seeker remember whether the story rhymed?

Russell Hoban, London men and English men,  1962.  Three children, playing at being London men, English men, and Madame Rose Mary Rose, travel across the sea to hunt whales, play golf, and have tea, before leaving on another journey--to school. 

Malcolm Saville, Lone Pine Series, 1950s.  Could this be one of Malcolm Saville's mystery series - Lone Pine or Witchend?
I reckon the books your correspondent is searching for is the series about The Cherrys by Will Scott (I think that was the author's name). They were excellent mysteries as I remember. There was a whole series, the first being The Cherrys of River House. Hope this helps
B101 Blyton-like series: The Malcolm Saville books seem more likely, being about young friends who solve mysteries, rather than a family as the Cherry books are. They're also a very easy read, similar in style to Blyton's
Famous Five and Adventure series.
Malcolm Saville.  I thought some more info might help decide if this query is in fact the lone pine series. The lone piners were:David, Richard (dickie), Mary, Petronella (peter), Tom, Jenny, Jonathon and Penny. They were accompanied by Macbeth - black scottie dog. Some of the books were mystery at witchend, seven white gates, gay dolphin adventure, lone pine five, secret of grey walls, lone pine london. There were lots more and he wrote several other series as well.
Maybe the Enid Blyton type story is A Young Warrender by Ivy L Wallace, characters - Di & Derry, Christopher & Caroline (both sets of twins) & Belinda (Binkie). 

Dare Wright, The Lonely Doll.  Lipstick on the mirror sounds like The Lonely Doll, but in that book it was Edith (the doll) and Little Bear who wrote "Mr. Bear is a big silly" with lipstick there are no children in the book.  It (and its sequels) is illustrated with b/w photographs.
Dare Wright, The Lonely Doll, 1957? The book had a pink and white checked cover and black and white photographs of Edith, the lonely doll, who writes on a mirror with lipstick.
Dare Wright, The Lonely Doll, 1957.  if it's not this one, it might be another of wright's books.
For more on Dare Wright, and available books for sale, visit the Most Requested Pages.

Wier, Ester, The Loner. McKay 1964.  Pretty sure this is it. "He has no home, no name, nothing. Once he remembers, there was a mother who was nice to him, but that was too long ago." "A touching story of a young boy with no name, no home, no parents, who makes his way in life." He is taken in by a woman sheep rancher called Boss, who names him David. Later published by Scholastic, and a Newbery Award winner.
Ester Wier, The Loner.  Although this book's publisher and date are Scholastic and 1991, I wonder if it's a reprint, because this is what I was looking for. I found it on a list of books &c for children about homelessness.
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I can only remember that the boy is either a runaway or orphan (he is locked in a shed of some kind before he escapes?) and during his adventure he meets a friend (on a farm?) who eventually dies in a farming accident (possibly a hay baler). Could have been written anytime from the seventies to the very early nineties. Seems like the target was for young adults. Wish I remembered more. I was in the 6th grade. Please help!

Esther Wier's 1962 Newbery Honor book, The Loner, includes such an incident right at the start. The boy wasn't locked in a shed but he did live alone on the fringes of migrant society.
Ester Weir, The Loner.  That's the book! Thank you so much, it's been driving me crazy.
Henry Alain- Fournier, Le Grand Meaulnes (the Wanderer),  30's - 40's?  Try this book. It may be the one

L8 -- This one I'm almost certain of: Hill, Weldon, Lonesome Traveler. 320 pages. McKay, 1970, LC 75-114740 "Clem Marlow, on his way from Eastern Oklahoma to visit his tubercular mother in New Mexico, isn't a very lonesome traveler. He has the constant, splendid company of Duke, his dog, and Pedro, his burro, besides the almost daily meeting of new people: Gaylord the black motorcyclist who turns up several times and shares Clem's most unpleasant experience of the trip; Ken Whittle, the truck driver who drops mail, doughnuts, and news from back home; Dixie, with whom he falls in love; and many others. Though a boy on his own trip is no new idea, Clem Marlow has an engaging personality, and his story is fun to read." (School Library Journal Book Review, 1969-70)
L8 lonesome traveller: the suggested title seems like a very close match by title and plot. The only differences are Oklahoma instead of Oregon and burro instead of pony. 

The Long Secret.  Sequel to Harriet the Spy.  You'd remember the girls being "newly teenaged" because part of the story concerns "puberty stuff."
Fitzhugh, The Long Secret, 1965, copyright.  Definitely The Long Secret, a sequel to Harriet the Spy. I loved this - even more than the first Harriet book.  While at the beach for the summer, Harriet tries to uncover the author of mysterious religious notes that appear all over town, and which make her ponder her own beliefs, and Beth Ellen meets the mother she last saw when she was four years old.
The Long Secret, sequel to Harriet the Spy?
THANK YOU!!!  best $2.00 i've ever spent! and even though I remembered several lines from the first page, almost verbatim, I couldn't find this book or any info on any of the search engines.  wow! I've been thinking of this book for years!  ....now what'll I wrack my brain about?

Long Way to Go, A
A paperback, mass market sized young-adult fiction, probably published in the 70's. It's entitled something like JOURNEY OF THREE or THREE JOURNEY HOME and is about three children who are on vacation with their parents. They're left in the hotel baby-sitting service while the parents go shopping and the parents never show up to get them. The hotel is planning to turn the kids over to social services the next day, and the kids sneak out during the night and try to make it homeon their own. The rest of the book is about their journey accross the country trying to evade authorities. En route they acquire some animal companions, a duck, a dog and a horse, I think, and these animals were in the original title of this book. The cover has a picture of the kids and the animals with the ducks wings spread open.

I think the title of this book is The Long Journey Home or The Long Way Home.  And I think the author is Borden Deal.  I have this book on my shelf at home and I'm certain it's the same one; they collect a dog, goose and mule along the way.  The kids' names are Ashley, Brett and Shane, and their journey starts out somewhere in the Florida Keys. **Later...
OK, I have the book in front of me now, and I was close.  It is indeed by Borden Deal, entitled A Long Way To Go.  My paperback copy was printed in 1967 by Avon Books, copyright is 1965 by the author and originally
published by Doubleday.
Also  J6 is not Journey For Three. Journey for Three is about a determined young girl whose parents were missionaries in foreign countries. Her parents died of a jungle disease. She has two younger 'brothers' that her parents picked up in thier travels, one a little boy from India who dresses like a Native American, carries a blanket, has read the Golden Bough  and prides himself on acting very grown-up, and a blonde toddler who went by the nickname 'Fat Buttery' who doesn't like to wear clothes. They were sent back to the United States and she is trying to keep them all together as a family. They show up at her adult cousin's house hoping for a place to stay. He doesn't want to take them in because he's a writer and bachelor who values his solitude and privacy.
J6 journeying kids: the Borden Deal book sounds like an awfully close match, has the original poster ever responded?
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I am trying to find the name of a book.. the synopsis is:  3 children are on vacation with parents on coast of fla. kids  are left with hotel babysitter.  parents are involved in accident and have nothing on them to indicate where they are staying.  hotel is about to turn kids over to social workers but kids hear and decide to walk home to ga. (about 500 miles).   story is about adventures along their journey home.  it's a great book on self reliance.

Borden Deal, A Long Way To Go, 1965?  This is on the solved pages under Long Way To Go, but I'm pretty sure the correct title is A Long Way To Go.  I loved this when I was little, and I can't find it now on the Internet for under $80 or so.  I seem to remember that the little girl named her duck Mr. Man or something like that, but I can't remember the ending.  I'd love to find a copy to read again that doesn't cost a fortune.

Dorothy Canfield, Understood Betsy, 1916.  The poster's description varies somewhat from this book, but the basic plot is similar.  Betsy lived with her great-aunt and adult cousin in the city since she was a baby.  When her aunt gets seriously ill, she ends up with her great-aunt and uncle and adult cousin from the other side of the family in the country.  While she dislikes it at first, this family doesn't coddle her her and she learns to be self-reliant and starts to love it there.  Her kitten is Eleanor and she ends up staying on the farm when the original cousin gets married.
Dorothy Canfield, Understood Betsy. No, sorry, that's not it.  There weren't any older relatives, just the young girl and the youngish (early 30's?) aunt.  Thanks for trying though.
I'd put a small amount of money on this: The Long White Month by Dean Marshall,    illustrations by Theresa Kalab / Published by E.P. Dutton 1942 "Little Priscilla Newell lives with her aunt Millicent in a well-staffed apartment in uptown New York. She is loved and well cared for and managed to the point where she is not sure of anything, except that for just once she would love to have an unplanned day, rely upon herself occasionally, and not worry about taking cold. Then, one day, Aunt Millicent is obliged to go to California for a rest and Cousin Susan takes over… Now Cousin Susan lives in a log cabin in the woods of Connecticut, and she and Uncle Roger, Priscilla's guardian, are good friends. Uncle Roger takes Priscilla out and buys her sweaters and snow suits and all the things she has always longed for. (Aunt Millicent preferred smocks from Liberty's.) Then, in the midst of a thorough-going blizzard Cousin Susan and Priscilla set out in Susan's car, for the little house up in the woods. Priscilla is to remain there for a month while further "plans" for her future are being made. What a month it is for the city child who has dreamed of just such an adventure, but has never experienced it! The bird lore alone in this delightful book is enough to recommend it to any young reader. Priscilla learns to build fires, to cook, to darn stockings, and sew on buttons. She makes friends with the many birds who flock about the little house in the snow, and when Uncle Roger brings her a book of bird pictures she learns to identify each. The pleasant Prescott family, up the road , are an added attraction, and the 'long white month' passes all too quickly. At last there are signs of Spring, and now again 'plans' must be made. Priscilla is desolated for she wants to stay with Cousin Susan. It develops that she may for Cousin Susan and Uncle Roger are to be married when spring comes and live in the big farmhouse across the road from the Prescotts'. The little house in the forest will always be there to use for week-ends, so the story has the happy ending all little girls demand." (from the dust jacket)
THAT'S IT!  I've been trying to remember the name of this book for about ten years!  How do you do it?!  Anyway, I'm thrilled just to know it actually exists because I was starting to think there was no such book, but just out of curiosity, you don't have a copy, do you?
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The Long White Winter, 1946?  Aunt Millicent, who was the guardian of Priscilla, became ill and Priscilla had to apend the winter with her cousin(?) in the Maine woods.  For the first time, the seamstress did not come in to make Priscilla smocked dresses for school, but her cousin took her to a department store and they got all sorts of warm clothes.  The winter describes the birds at the feeder, making snow ice cream and all that neat stuff to a kid from Hawaii. The last time I read the book was from the Eugene OR public library in 1972!  I have been unable to find it at abebooks or alibris under the name above.

I believe you have the title correct, but I couldn't find it either.  Written by Marshall?  Something like that?
Or Walter Dean Myers?  Not that I can find this anywhere...
Dean Marshall?, The Long White Month?  Is this any relation to The Long White Month in your Solved section?  I don't know either book, but they sound similar.
A-ha!  Yes!  That's what I was thinking of!  It is hard to find, but at least I know it exists.  Illustrated by Theresa Kalab, published by Dutton, 1942.
Dean Marshall, The Long White Month, 1942.
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When I was a little girl I used to read a book and cannot remember much about it. I read the book in the mid 70's. There was a girl who got suet from the butcher to feed the birds in her yard so they wouldn't starve. I remember it was very cold and snowy and at night she would warm bricks to put at the bottom of her bed to keep her feet warm. I also remember that she would leave the window cracked and wake up with icy breath. I can't remember anymore about the book but remember that I always enjoyed it and would love to find it again.

This has to be The Long White Month by Dean Marshall.  A little girl who has always lived in a big city goes to spend the winter with her aunt in a cabin deep in the woods.  Another relative sends her bird feed, suet, etc. and she makes a bird book of her own by studying the birds she feeds.  The aunt warms her bed with either hot bricks or an old-fashioned bed warmer.

Dean Marshall, The Long White Month. (1942)  I sent this earlier in the week--don't know if you received it.  G339 is The Long White Month by Dean Marshall, one of the best children's books--ever!
To the person who wrote in regarding my stumper:  Thank you - Thank you!  The Long White Month is the book I've looked for all these years - I've just read a summary of it on a Dean Marshall website!!!  I can't wait to buy a copy of my own!  I can't believe I remembered the little girl's name after 45 years.  I've wanted to live in the country ever since.

P107: Look Out For Pirates! by Iris Vinton, 1961. A Beginner Book that's quite entertaining.
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There is a childrens Pirate book that i read in 1971 that I've been going crazy over trying to locate for over 20 years.  The cover and the pages were the same stock as the Dr. Suess books.  i believe it was called "Pirates Gold;" maybe.  There is a deserted island and the pirates send a diver to the bottom for their treasure with an old time diving helmet and an airhose.  The cover of the book has yellows and blues in it and the pirates are on a tropical beach.  I heard about you guys on NPR here in Los Angeles and thought the service was TERRIFIC!!!  Thankyou

There is a 1961 Random House Beginner Book called Look Out for Pirates! by Iris Vinton.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Vinton, Iris. Look Out for Pirates!  Illustrated by H.B. Vestal.  Random House Beginners Books, 1961.  First edition, glossy pictorial boards, chid's writing on dedication page.  VG.  <SOLD>

m47 is The Looking Glass Factor by Judith Goldberger.
I'd just like to add that I saw a page from this book illustrated on EBay and yes, it shows a girl and some human-sized cats 'merging' into a wall or something similar. Looks interesting!
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Cats merging molecules with inanimate objects The main character is a girl who is friends with two cats. It's set in the future and the cats are human size, walk on their two back legs and talk. And they are conducting experiments merging themselves with inanimate objects (the cover of the copy I  ad showed the two cats and the girl, and one of the cats was partly merged into the wall). It opens (I think) with the girl rushing home from boarding school at the urging of the cats because they've had this big breakthrough in their study of how to merge (one of the cats is 'in' the wall). I was fascinated with the descriptions of how it felt to have the molecules of your body interact and co-mingle with those of a wall. Also, when I reread it as an adult I was shocked to read a passage that I think was describing her dad eating pot brownies (?) Please help!! I would love to have a copy of this (my friends think I'm making it up) Thanks.

Judith M. Goldberger, The Looking Glass Factor, 1979.  A young girl and two feline friends continue the research of a famous scientist who experimented with a mental process known as merging.
The Looking Glass Factor.  I think this is it! Do you have any copies of it for sale? I did find it online, but I'd like to give you the business if you've got a copy or can find a copy for me. Thanks!

Christine Noble Govan and Emmy West, Lookout Mystery Series, 50's-60's.  This is definately the series you are looking for.  It features a group of kids living in Lookout Mountain, Tennesee,  who call themselves the Lookouts.  The older kids had a group called the Cherokees but they're getting older and not as active in the club anymore.  I'm not sure of the specific title you are looking for in the series.  Here is the list I have:
Mystery at Shingle Rock (1955), Mystery at the Mountain Face (1956), Mystery at the Shuttered Hotel (1956), Mystery at Moccasin Bend (1957), Mystery at the Indian Hide-Out (1957), Mystery at the Deserted Mill, Mystery at Ghost Lodge, Mystery at the Echoing Cave, Mystery of the Dancing Skeleton, Mystery of the Vanishing Stamp (1962), Mystery at the Haunted House, Mystery at Plum Nelly, Mystery of the Fearsome Lake (1960), Mystery at Rock City, Mystery of the Snowed-In Cabin (1961), Mystery at the Shuttered Hotel, Mystery at the Weird Ruins.
Thank you for solving my stumper.  I am most interested in Mystery at Rock City, but would like to collect entire Lookout Club series.  Please let me know if you have any copies or when you get one.  Thanks!
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This is a series of books I read from the library. A group of kids living in some small country town- all who ride horses and who solve mysteries. I think some are siblings- the kids are split into an older and younger group, but I think they actually worked together. NOT Robin Kane. One mystery I remember ended with one of the club members riding into a fair or exhibition on a fire engine in order to get there in time to catch the bad guys and save his sister.

Trixie Belden series.  Maybe these? Here's a link.
Trixie Belden Series, 1940s?  This is just a guess, but could it have been a book from the Trixie Belden series?  The series featured a group of adolescents - Trixie Belden and her three brothers, her rich friend Honey and her adopted brother, and one or two others - who lived in a small semi-rural town in the Hudson Valley.  They rode horses and solved mysteries in every book.  They also had a club called the "Bob-whites" and had a special signal and wore matching jackets.  I don't remember the particular story you cite, but I didn't read all of them.
Julie Campbell and Kathryn Kenny, Trixie Belden Series.  This is just a guess but could you be thinking of the Trixie Belden series of mysteries? Trixie has two brothers and her best friend, Honey has one adopted brother. Trixie has another friend but she is an only child. The whole group rides horses in many of the mysteries - the setting is in upstate NY town called Sleepyside and Honey's parents are rich and own horses. I don't remember one with a fire engine but it has been a long time since I've read them.
Govan and West, Lookout Mystery Series.  -OOps- should have said that it wasn't Trixie Belden. But it's ok, I already found it on another page of this site. I was thinking of the Lookout Mystery Series. This is absolutely it- I could tell as soon as I started reading the entry. I have confirmed it by looking at covers and synopsis on a few websites. Thanks

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Govan, Christine Noble and Emmy West.  The Mystery at Shingle Rock. Illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman.  Sterling, 1955, 5th printing. Ex-library copy in library binding with usual markings.  G.  <SOLD>

Cecily Mary Barker, The Lord of the Rushie River.  If it was a very small book it might be this one.  The little girl, Susan, is abused by the people she is placed with when her father goes to sea, so she goes to live with the swans on the river.  At the end, when her father is homeward bound with a lovely embroidered dress for her, the king swan flies over his ship and snatches it, to take to Susan who has outgrown her old dress. Beautiful illustrations.
I posed the stumper and this does indeed seem to be the correct book. I also discovered it has a sequel! Thanks very much, a wonderful service.

David McKee, Lord Rex, the Lion Who Wished, 1973. Just a guess based on the description: "A lion, longing for the features of various animals, has all his wishes granted and becomes a ridiculous-looking animal."
Pène du Bois, William.  Lion.  Viking Seafarer, 1956. angelic artists design new animals for earth; the lion starts out being a mixture of other animals with different colors, but ends up as we know it; by award-winning author/illustrator.
I've got a copy of Lord Rex: The Lion Who Wished and I'm sure that's the right book.  Lord Rex met a butterfly and wished he had wings like hers.  And since she is "a magic butterfly I can grant you just one wish.  You have made your wish and now you have your wings."  And he flies around with his new wings until he gets bored.  When he meets an elephant he wishes for a trunk and since the elephant is "a magic elephant, I can grant you just one wish.  You have made your wish and now you have your trunk."  And so on.....he gets a beautiful tail from a magic bird, strong legs from a kangaroo, and a long neck from a giraffe.  But when he looks into a pool of water and sees a strange creature, he laughs "I certainly don't wish to look like you."  Until he realizes he's looking at his own reflection and gets upset.  Luckily he meets a magic lion and gets changed back into himself and is happy.

C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I wanted to suggest this book because of some similar elements in the description. The poster might check to see if this is it!!
Chase, Mary, Loretta Mason Potts, 1990, reprint.  I've never read the book myself, but I believe that Loretta does cross a bridge to get to her secret land (and that there's a problem when she tries to take a doll across).
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Author's last name around mid-alphabet, early 1960's.  The family visited a farm to buy fruit, but the older sister refused to go back home. Little brother and sister are at the farm to find her.  They explore the bedroom she has been using and find a secret tunnel in the closet.  They follow it and as they cross a bridge at the end they feel dizzy and strange.  Then the castle appears.  Sister is living it up with the fairies.  Brother breaks a teacup at the castle and hides it in his pocket.  Back at the farm he finds the cup but it is as small as the tip of his finger.  Brother and sister figure out that they shrink when they cross the bridge. They save older sister from the evil faries by wading across the river and staying full sized.

M224 This is LORETTA MASON POTTS by Mary Chase. It's on your Solved pages. ~from a librarian
I'm pretty sure that this book is Loretta Mason Potts by Mary Chase.
Chase, Mary Ellen, Loretta Mason Potts
Chase, Mary Ellen, Loretta Mason Potts. Once again... (what *is* it about that book that it stays in so many people's memories?)
I have been looking for this book for 30 years. I even went so far as to browse the Library of Congress. THe librarian there suggested I contact you. How wonderful!  I loved this book so much I think I checked it out of the library over and over again. Unfortunately, when we moved, I forgot about it and could no longer remember the title. So, thanks again. You have made me very happy!
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Some children discover a bridge behind the house they are staying at - when they cross the bridge they become small and interact w/faeries?  I wish I could remember more.

Chase, Mary, Loretta Mason Potts.  Also published under the title Colin's Naughty Sister.  Loretta is a "bad" girl. She's been raised with the milkman, and when brought home keeps running away to be with her friends in a mysterious castle. It turns out that when she (and later her brothers and sisters) cross the bridge, they are shrunk to a small size.
B340  LORETTA MASON POTTS by Mary Chase, 1958.~from a librarian
Check out all the other people who have searched for this book in "Solved Mysteries" under L for Loretta Mason Potts, or C for Colin's Naughty Sister.  I looked for it for 35 years until I found this wonderful web site.
I have been wondering about these two books for a long long time ... and now I have both the titles and authors and plan on trying to find them.  Your service is a wonderful thing and I am so pleased ... thank you so much.

Durell, Ann, Lost Bear, 1959.  I just googled this: "Lost Bear. by Ann Durell. illustrated with photographs by Desmond Russell. 1959 Doubleday & Company. The story of Little Brown Bear who lives with 13 other animals in The Very Back of Beyond & how he wishes to be loved by a person.... Illustrated with photographs of stuffed animals -- I believe the bear may be a Steiff bear." Here's a link to a picture of the cover.
Ann Durrell, Lost Bear, 1959.  Could this be the one? Photographs by Desmond Russell. Cover shows a light brown Steiff bear climbing a slender tree trunk, looking over his left shoulder, against a sky blue background.
Durell, Ann, Lost Bear, Doubleday, 1959.  Illustrated with photos by Desmond Russell, cast of characters provided by Magarete Steiff.  I saw a copy for sale - the cover shows a blue sky with a bear climbing a tree branch.
Durrell, Ann, Lost Bear, 1959.  photographs by Desmond Russell.  Cover features small Steiff bear on tree branch - photos appear to be color
Ann Durell, Lost bear, 1959.  Lost Bear by Ann Durell and illustrated with photographs by Desmond Russell and published by Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York I think this may be your much sought after book!!!  The bear is in the woods with many animals (i.e. lion, tiger, rhino, monkey that are all like stuffed animal looking in the photos) and some dwarfs.  The good dwarf has a white beard and a feather in his hat.  The bear is crying and no one knows what to do.  The dwarf is very wise and says that the bear needs a small person to love him.  The dwarf says "You must leave the Very Back of Beyond and find a house with a white fence around it.  In the house you will find a small person."  The bear is tan and carries a red and white knapsack.  I hope you will be as lucky as I was on this site and that this is your long missing book.
Five answers, all the same right book.  What a wonderful thing you have set up - it seems like magic.  I am so grateful to you and everyone who answered.  I'm especially moved by the person who sent in the long, loving description.  Many, many thanks to you and the answerers.

Chafetz, Henry, The Lost Dream, 1955.  This book has drawings by Ronni Salbert and is definitely a children's book.

I e-mailed you yesterday about a book that I was looking for. I am pretty sure that I have discovered the title. Lost In the Barrensby Farley Mowat. I haven't picked up a copy yet, but I am almost sure that is the book that I was trying to recollect. Sorry I e-mailed you a little too soon, but thank you for your service and I will stop by your website from time to time and see if I can help with anyone else.
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The book concerns two teenage boys, one white, one Native, who follow an expedition in northern Canada. They become separated from the main group and end up spending a winter in the Canadian Arctic.  It's a survival story.

Mowat, Farley, Lost in the Barrens, 1957.  I think that L67 and Y12 might be the same book.
Farley Mowat, Lost in the Barrens.
#L67--lost on Canadian tundra:  Lost in the Barrens, by Farley Mowat, paperback title Two Against the North.  This and possibly its sequel, The Curse of the Viking Grave, have been filmed.  Don't remember titles of the films but the actor who played one of the boys, I think the native, Akavak, had the last name of Shields.  A search at Internet Movie Database for
Shields or for Farley Mowat would probably find these movies.
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The book is about a boy on an adventure in Canada's wilderness.  I remember the city The Pas, in Manitoba, Canada was in the story.  The spelling Pas is correct.  I read the book in the late 1950s.

Mowat, Farley, Lost in the Barrens, 1957.  I think that Y12 and L67 might be the same book.

Miriam Cohen, Lost in the Museum
THANK YOU , THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I'll start searching immediatly!! If I find it, I'll be sure and let you know. At least I have somewhere to start now.  You are TOO kind! THANK YOU!!! 

Have you checked out Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George?  It's not as early as what you describe, the rest of the details match.
It doesn't sound familiar but I'll check it out.  Thanks for getting back to me!
#Y3--Yukon:  Sorry, but though similar in plot, Julie of the Wolves was published in 1972--WAY too late to be this book.  James Oliver Curwood was a writer of many titles about Alaska, after Jack London, before Walt Morey and Jean Craighead George, and WELL before Gary Paulsen!  He is worth a try as the author.
Perhaps - Lost Island by Nora Burglon, illustrated by James Reid, published Winston 1939, 261 pages. "A story of Alaska for older girls. Solvig Salstrom is left on her own after her father fails to return from the hunt for a lost Arctic flyer. Solvig manages a team of outlaw dogs, is shipwrecked on a lonely island, and finally succeeds in finding her father." (Children's Catalog 1956)
I'm the one who submitted the inquiry about the girl lost in the Yukon with her team of sled dogs (listed as Y3), and I want to thank whoever it was that suggested I try Lost Islandby Nora Burglon, illustrated by James Reid.  The description sounds just like what I'm looking for.  Haven't had a chance to track the book down, but I'm willing to bet this is it!!!  Thank you, thank you.  I can't tell you how many friends and librarians I've pestered with my questions on this one!

Madeleine L'Engle, Many Waters, 1986.  A long shot--I don't remember anything about pyramids, but this book deals with
time-traveling back to the days of Noah.
The format described sounds like an Ace Double. Perhaps the searcher could find a familiar cover or title on this site.
Roger Dixon , Noah II, 1970.  I suspect this is NOAH II by Roger Dixon.  A cover scan can be seen here.  This is a 1970 Ace pb original.  The drawback is that it is *not* one of the long-running "Ace Double" series from that publisher  this is a solo title and not a back to back one.  But since Ace was publishing mostly doubles at the same time, perhaps requestor is remembering it as a double even if it isn't?  Also of possible interest: a short story, "Deluge II" by Robert F. Young, whose depiction on the cover of the October 1961 issue of FANTASTIC STORIES OF THE IMAGINATION shows animals marching two by two through heavy rain into an arc-shaped space ship.  But while this story may have been subsequently reprinted, it was never expanded into a full-length novel.  This one is from memory  I can't find a cover image of the issue on the net.
I have recently tracked down 'Noah II' by Roger Dixon.  Looks like a good read but this is not the book I'm after. In the book I'm after there is no time-travelling. The first section is just a sort of prologue / introduction to the main story which is set in the 'pre-flood' times, as previously mentioned. The 'flood' occurs when an atmospheric capacitor is built in the polar region and overloads because it is too close or could even be over the Earth's magnetic pole. The more I've though about this story the more I recall (I only wish it was the title that I could remember).
I have found out the answer to my request listed under S262: Sci-Fi Take on the Ark and the Flood. The title is 'The Lost Millennium' by Walt and Leigh Richmond.  It is indeed an 'Ace Double' (H-29) as was previously mentioned. I didn't recognise it from the illustration when I first checked them out, and the book has since been re-issued under a new title, 'Siva'.

Patricia Coombs, The Lost Playground,1963.  The story of Jane and her stuffed animal named Mostly. Illustrated with sweet black and white drawings by the author. I still have this book as it was one of my childhood favorites.

Elizabeth Enright, Gone-Away Lake. 1957.  This was a Newbery Award winner. See more on the Solved Mysteries page.
Hate to disagree with you, but this description doesn't sound like Gone Away Lake at all.
Thanks so much for posting my books.  I just wanted to let you know that D151 is NOT Gone Away Lake. You know I actually thought to include in my description that "THIS IS NOT GONE AWAY LAKE." But I thought it would be obvious that they are not the same so I didn't. Since I wasn't clear in my first description I will try to clarify. - Gone Away Lake is about a young brother and sister who come upon the former lake while on vacation. - Mystery book is about a teenage girl and her family who live in a rural area near where this lake sometimes is. - Gone Away Lake is about an actual deserted lake resort. - Mystery book is about a lake that never stays around long enough for a resort to be built around it. Sometimes it's there. Most of the times it isn't. The location can't even be mapped. People just sometimes come upon it. And when they do it's a real lake, not a former one. When it goes it leave no trace of where it has been. Seeing it was almost like an omen that something good was about to happen to the one who saw it. - Gone Away Lake is not a romance. - Mystery book had elements of romance since the main character, the teenaged girl, is in love with a slightly older neighbor and as the book ends the reader is told he will wait for her to grow up.  I hope these clarifications will help someone identify it. The other thing I remember is that in the library from which I checked out both of these books Gone Away Lake was in the juvenile section and the mystery book was in young adults. I think it was in the same book shelf but several rows up from where the Lenora Mattingly Weber books were, which means the author's name may have been mid-alphabet.  Thanks again for your wonderful service!

Melcher, Marguerite Fellows, The Lost Pond, NY: Viking 1956.  This is one I suggested for another stumper (Jennifer Wish) long ago, but perhaps it's right this time! The Lost Pond, by Marguerite Fellows Melcher, published Viking 1956, 190  pages.  "A New Hampshire village in the 1890s is the setting for this story of Pauline Franklin's 15th summer in the beautiful old house to which the Winn sisters brought their families every year. There are exploring trips in the woods, a reception and dance for an older cousin, a County Fair, and various family activities  but the story centers around Pauline's growing up, ... She knows that Lost Pond, so deeply hidden in the mountains that it is almost impossible to find, has a special secret meaning for all who do come upon it, and at the end of this last summer of her childhood she herself finds it ..." (HB Dec/56 p.460)
I’d really have to see The Lost Pond to know for certain if it’s the one I’m trying to find. Regardless it sounds like a book I would like to read.  Although it has been many years since I read the book I am trying to find I had thought it was set in contemporary times, which then would have been the 1960s. But I will try to find a copy of the book just to make sure. Thanks again!
Please put D151 down as solved with a condition, if that’s possible.  I recently found a copy of Marguerite Fellows Melcher’s The Lost Pond and am certain I have read it. I’m now wondering if my memories have combined this book with another similar one, but still not Gone-away Lake. So while one mystery remains solved I hope your readers will suggest any other book(s) with which they are familiar that may have a similar theme. Thanks!

O3--The Lost Race of Mars. About a boy who lives in a colony on Mars.  I got this from a school book order in '68 or '69.
Harriett, Hello and THANKS A MILLION for your reply!  I would be SO happy if I could get this book for my brother!  Do you have any suggestions as to what I can do to purchase it?  Also, how can I thank the person who posted the info. on my "stumper"? Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond and for ALL your help!
Wondering about this, because the Silverberg book is a 'chapter book' and the book described sounds more like a picture book or early reader. My guess would be either the Wonder Book Tom Corbett a Trip to the Moon 1953, by Marcia Martin, which has dark-haired Tom, a redheaded boy and blonde girl in space suits, or Peter and the Two-hour Moon 1962, by Hazel Corson, where a boy visits a space station, or You Will go to the Moon 1959, by the Freemans, which has a brown-haired boy in a space-suit.

I have in my hands here Lots of Stories, by Rowena Bennett, illustrated by Sally de Frehn, published Racine, Whitman 1946, 382 pages, 74 stories and poems, including (in stumper order): A Golf Ball Goes to School p.366 - Mary and Jill find two golf balls on the way to school. Mary takes the battered one and unravels it in school while the schoolmaster MacFadden, called "Mister Mac" teaches all the classes in the one-room school. Suddenly there is an explosion, because Mary has jabbed the core of the ball with her pen-knife and the compressed air escaped. Mister Mac thinks one of the boys has brought a gun in and asks each of them, but not the girls. Mary confesses and Mister Mac "laughed so long and so hard that sometimes I hear his laughter in my dreams even now." Lucy and the Leprechaun p.259; The Little Red Goblin p.294; Big Ruth and Little Ruth p.211; Rob Roy (and Katherine Kalahan) p.227 (Rob Roy is also in The Rhyming Cat p.151); Peter and the Pumpkin p.287; There is no story about an Old Roadster, but The Roadster's Secret p.146 is about a new blue roadster with a rumble seat. Miss Hintamaster and Miss Toothpick are paper doll "old maids" cut from advertisements on How to Get Thin and How to Get Fat, and they appear in the story Mother's Game p.76; Down the Chipmunk Hole (Estelle the French doll rescued by chipmunks) p.97; Grandma's Story (redheaded Jane learns to like her hair and name when Bonnie Lynn admires them and stops others teasing) p.116.  The book measures roughly 7.5" x 10.5", board cover is grey, with the title in yellow letters. The head and shoulders of a boy are shown emerging from a black circle. He has a book lying open in front of him and a bowl of bubble-mix, floating above are big bubbles showing characters from the stories, including an elf, a dog with a ball, a bunny with eggs, a boy skiiing. More bubbles are shown on the back cover, containing a rainbow, a jester with a lute, a frost elf, and a kite with a clown face. The edges of the pages are a bright pinky-red, so that opened the book does look pink. (I'd almost suggest it for H32 hot pink pages, but that book was new in 1965-72 and had a white cover) also T73 tree unhappy with self: the poem described, called The Unhappy Fir Tree, appears on p.352 "A fairy walked in the forest/ She heard a fir tree whine/ The other trees don't have to wear/ sharp needles such as mine." "I wish that I had golden leaves/ That glittered in the light/ The fairy waved her wand and changed/ The fir tree overnight." The golden leaves are stolen, the glass leaves broken, and the green leaves eaten by a goat, so the tree asks for its needles back. "And thank you for your magic gifts/ You merry woodland elf/ You've taught me that it's best for me/ Always to be myself." This may be the same poem appearing in Children's Stories Selected by the Child Study Association, also published by Whitman, 1950.
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G103: This is one story in a book of stories.  The book was hard bound, about 8.5 x 11 overall, glossy gray cover, and 1-1.5 inches thick.  It did have illustrations, although they were not the focal point.  The goblin boy lived under/in a mountain and the little (blonde?) girl rescued him? turned him into a good real little boy?  c. 1954.

#G103--Goblin boy saved by girl:  No idea of the solution, but check out The Tam Lin Pages.  This sounds like a much more juvenile version of the story, but is obviously the same idea.  Not long ago there were several threads at rec.arts.books.childrens at Google Groups, which can be accessed at www.deja.com on The Red Shift by Alan Garner and other "Tam Lin" inspired stories.  This one might either appear on that list or should be added to it when solved.
G103 & 104: These both sound like The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, from the 1870s.
G103  Bennet, Rowena, Lots of Stories, illustrated by Sally de Frehn, Racine: Whitman, 1946. Sounds like the story "The
Little Red Goblin" on p.294. The mountains are inhabited by little red goblins who do wicked deeds all night.  One goblin befriends a little blonde girl named Mara and has such fun playing with her that he doesn't keep up his wickedness. He turns out to be Hobkin, Prince of Chimney Mountain, but decides to give it up and become human. When the other goblins turn Chimney Mountain into a volcano to destroy Mara's valley, he decides to put an end to the goblins (by giving their blind fish eyes so they can't be caught!). He is starving into invisibility when Mara gives him the flower from her hair, which turns into the white flower they've been seeking to turn him into a human, and he becomes a handsome young boy.
G103/04 For me, this was an example of being disappointed when I reread it.  Macdonald, George. The princess and
Curdie.  cover illus by EM Pilborough. Chariot  Books, 1882, 1979.
Marian Cockrell,  Shadow Castle, 1945.  Another possibility, though a longer shot.  On the "Solved Stumpers" page.
I submitted this Bookstumper and want to let you know the Rowena Bennet book Lots of Stories, Racine:  Whitman, 1946 is indeed the book I was seeking.  "Little Red Goblin" is the story. 

John Christopher, The Lotus Caves, 1969.  I believe this is the one you are looking for. I remember it being about two boys who live in Bubbles on the moon. They take a kind of buggy out exploring the surface of the moon and end up crashing into  some caves that have a sentient plant life. Great book by a great author.
Sounds a lot like The Lotus Caves by John Christopher.
I have two possiblities...  The First one is Journey Outside, by Mary Q. Steele, published in 1969.  "The Raft People live in darkness and travel a circular journey on a underground river. One boy finds his way outside and tries to learn as much as possible so he can ultimately lead his people there to the Better Place."  The second one The Lotus Caves, by John Christopher, also published in 1969.  "Rebelling against the monotonous life of the moon colony, two boys go beyond its boundaries and discover a series of caves ruled by a super-intelligent plant-like being."  Good luck!
Wow! You guys are awesome! I've been looking for this for twenty years and you solve it over a weekend! I love this site!!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you !!

Please disregard the solution I submitted for this stumper - I completely missed that the book was purchased in the 70's.  The 26 Fairmont Ave series wasn't started till much later than that. That said, Tomie dePaola may still be the author, though he was doing much more illustration than authoring in the 60's-70's.  The requester can try looking at the list of his work to see if any titles ring a bell. Sorry I couldn't help after all!
Tomie dePaola, 26 Fairmount Avenue. Not sure if this is what the requester is looking for - Tomie dePaola wrote a series of children's books called _26 Fairmount Avenue_ that fits the general description provided.  The dandelion bit rings a bell for me but I can't recall which book I had read - I'd recommend the requester take a look at one of the first four books in the series, as I read it some time ago and the books were published starting in 2000.
Joe Vergara, Love and Pasta, 1968, approximately.  Could this be Joe Vergara's "Love and Pasta"? An excerpt appeared in Reader's Digest, December 1968 as "I Give You Mr. Charley American". See if the names Joe, Al and Wheezer sound familiar - the narrator and his two brothers. Their father was a constant source of embarrassment - wouldn't use a cash register at his shop, and was indignant when they called dandelions "weeds" because they could be used in salad. At last the boys realize their dad's behavior is in the true spirit of American individuality.
I just bought a copy of Love and Pasta  and it is indeed the book I've been wanting.  Thank you so much.  This site provides such a great service.

The short story is called Love Is a Fallacy. It can be found in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis by Max Shulman.
I'm so excited!  I have looked for this for years, but with neither title nor author, I got no 'forrader.'  Thanks to your terrific service, I now have both title and author, and using that information was able to find the short story I particularly remembered online- within days of asking my book stumper.  You have an unbeatable concept with this page.  Thanks so much!

Anglund sounds right, but Library of Congress lists 101 titles,  and bookfinder has a great many, but none sounds quite right. My  copies of Love is a special way of feeling are not it. Closer is a  tiny one called Pour toi, a poem of Untermeyer's translated into  French. You might check with her publisher, Harcourt, or the  publisher of Pour toi: French & European Publications, email address:  frenchbookstore@aol.com {a very special store in Rockefeller Plaza]
Joan Walsh Anglund, Love One Another, 1982

Conford, Ellen, Anything for a Friend, 1979, copyright.  This is definitely the book about Wallis, who moves around a lot and always has to explain about her unusual name. I remember asking my dad about the whole Duchess of Windsor thing and why the potential king had to give up his crown to marry her. I loved this book growing up, and all of Ellen Conford's books which are laugh-out-loud funny. Only thing, I don't remember her winning anything but the requester may have mixed this up with another Ellen Conford book The Luck of Pokey Bloom who was always entering contests.
Ellen Conford, The Luck of Pokey Bloom, Anything for a Friend,  1975, 1979, copyright.  Thank you, you're brilliant!  No wonder I could never find it since the only two details I was certain of were actually from different books!

Definitely sounds like THE LUCKIEST GIRL by Beverly Cleary. ~from a librarian
Cleary, Beverly, The luckiest girl.  The girl came from Seattle and was teased for her "webbed feet."  Publisher    New York, Morrow [c1958] Summary    A young girl leaves her home and friends in Oregon to spend her exciting senior year in a California high school   I love your site - boy this one brought back immediate memories!
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl
I remember this book as well... I read it in 1969, I think. I believe the setting was the 1950s, and the raincoat the girl's mother got for her was a pink one with a velvet collar.  The girl made a list of things she would do when she became a mother herself in order to "improve" on her mother's "shortcomings."  I believe the list changed
at the end of the book as the girl achieves a higher level of insight and understanding.  I think I remember that she had a crush on a boy named Philip at the new school who had a sunburned nose (he turns out not to be such a nice boy after all).  Sorry this isn't the title and author, but I thought perhaps someone else out there whose memory might be jogged if they saw more details.
This is definitely Beverly Cleary's The Luckiest Girl.  I remember reading this when I was in high school and still have a copy buried in my dad's attic along with the rest of my children's books (3 cartons full)!!!
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl  I haven't read this book in a million years, but I'm pretty sure it's right. I think she wanted a pink rain slicker.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl,  2001, reprint.  One of my favorites, and will probably be in reprint forever.  I especially enjoyed how Shelly blossomed once she was out from under her mother's thumb.  I found this book long, long ago when I was a rebellious teen and I cheered!
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I read the book in the early 70's.  It was about a teenaged girl who goes to stay with a family whose live are more casual than she is accustomed to.  One night of the week dinner is always leftovers, with a platter of scrambled eggs to "fill in the cracks".  She tries pizza for the first time, calls it a "spicy, cheesey, tomatoey dish".  Falls for a popular boy but has nothing in common with him, then realizes she enjoys being with another boy, not popular, but nice.  The last evening of her stay she is sitting on a swing, knowing she is leaving the next day, but happy for her chance to experience her first love.

Beverly Cleary, The luckiest girl. (1958)  Shelley Latham spends her junior year of high school living with the Michie family in California.  You remember details well! On Thursday evenings this "casual family" eats leftovers with a platter of scrambled eggs to "fill in the cracks".  Philip is the popular boy Shelley initially falls for, and Hartley is the boy she has far more in common with.  The swing is a rope at the top of a eucalyptus tree and sure enough, that is the final scene in the book.  You'll find this under the "solved pages".
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl.  Could this be The Luckiest Girl? I don't remember the dinner details but certainly the family Shelly stays with is a lot more casual than her own family, and the part about the boys matches.
Cleary, Beverly, THe Luckiest Girl. (1950s) I'm pretty sure this is "The Luckiest Girl" by Beverly Clearly.  I read it over 20 year ago, and for some reason, the "scrambled eggs to fill in the cracks" was a detail that had stuck with me as well. I managed to dredge the title of the book out of my memory and looked it up on-line, and I'm pretty sure this is it. A girl named Shelly isn't getting along well with her mom, so her parents let her spend a year with her mom's old college roommate, Mavis, in Southern California.  Mavis' family is much more easy-going, and Southern California is very different from home. As the "exotic" outsider, Shelly also gets a lot of attention, especially from boys, and overall had a really good time, grows up, etc. (Did you also remember details about her wanting a yellow rain slicker like everyone else, instead of the pink raincoat with the black velvet collar her mother bought her, and introducing her new classmates to doughnut holes? Those were the other detail that had stuck with me from the same book.)
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl
Beverly Cleary.  This is a long shot, but could the stumper be thinking of Jimmy and Janet? There were originally four picture books, but it looks like they've been reillustrated and combined in a new issue. The four were The Real Hole, Two Dog Biscuits, The Growing-Up Feet, and Janet's Thingamajigs.
Beverly Cleary, The luckiest girl.(1959)  This is The Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary (1959)
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I read this in the early 1980's. A girl either moves to California or goes to stay with relatives there for the summer. She enjoys the olive tree they have in the yard and the family likes to hang their laundry out by the moon to dry. She wears a bright pink rain slicker with black trim... she might've been wearing it on the cover of the book. I so have a feeling that the book was set in the 50's or 60's.

Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. One of my favorites- about Shelley, who goes to visit the family of her mother's college roommate. She dislikes the pretty pink and black slicker her mother has bought for her.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. Pink rain slicker with black trim.   See Solved Stumpers for this one, I'm sure there will be lots of responses.  Some familiar plot points include the girl (Shelly) eating uncured olives, teaching her classmates what "donut holes" are, and the fact that she hates her pink raincoat and wants a yellow one like everyone else.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. This is in the solved pages and I'm sure you'll get lots of responses!  It's available reprinted.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. This has to be it - Google the book or check the solved stumpers.  (That minor plot detail of the raincoat sure stuck with a lot of readers, me included!)
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. This is a story that Cleary based on her own life, when she went to California as a teenager.  I've read it only once - I prefer her books for younger children - but one of my memories is when the California kids give the visitor an uncured olive to eat and it tastes vile.  I had one of those in Greece once, and ewwwww!  The original dust jacket had her in her pink coat with black trim; The later reprint has a different cover.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. The raincoat makes me think you're remembering Beverley Cleary's THe luckiest Girl, wherein Shelley's mother buys her a pink raincoat with black trim and Shelley has a fit because she wanted a yellow slicker like everyone else.  Shelley gets sent to California  for a year to grow up and cool off.  Did the gal in your book also stuff roses down the garbage disposal?  That's this book, if so.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. Shelley Latham is the girl.  First she dates popular Philip, then she falls for Hartley.  Living in California matures her.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl. Shelley lives in Oregon and is disatisfied with her life, so goes to live with family/friends in Southern California for the school year.  She doesn't like her pink raincoat in Oregon, but gets compliments on it in California.  Another part I remember is her surprise that California celebrated Admissions Day (we don't anymore, though I remember the day off from school when I was a kid!).

Beverly Cleary, Lucky Chuck. The boy in this book is Chuck, not Doug, but it sounds like the right one. This is one of Beverly Cleary's lesser-known books but it's a lot of fun while teaching a lot about motorcycles. There's a great review (with pictures) here.

H146 This sounds like LUCKY, LUCKY WHITE HORSE by Beryl Williams Epstein, 1965~from a librarian.
Epstein, Beryl, Lucky, lucky white horse, 1965.  New York, Harper & Row.  Illustrated by Mia Carpenter.  Set in Columbus, Ohio.  Ellen is a shy girl and when Ellen moves to a new town, her aunt tells her about the magic of counting white horses.  When you've counted up to one hundred and you walk around the block, you will find a surprise.  Ellen is sure that this will work and so she starts counting white horses right away.
Epstein, Beryl    Lucky, lucky white horse   Columbus, Ohio 1916; Ellen follows superstition of counting 100 white horses to become lucky

I remember this, but of course not the title.  I do remember that the book quoted a song or poem: "Flow gently sweet Afton." That might jog someone's memory...
Audrey Brixner, Lucy and the Merman.  Maybe this is the one?
S72 seagull drops: more on the suggested - Lucy and the Merman, by Audrey Brixner, illustrated by Joan Berg Victor, published Scholastic 1977, 112 pages. I have been trying to find a plot description, but no luck so far.
Audrey Brixner, Lucy and the Merman, 1977.  I saw your listing on Lucy and the Merman and thought I would write and pass on some information to you as the listing said you were looking for a plot but couldn't find it. I have this book, and it was one of my favorites from childhood. It's about a girl named Lucy who is lonely because her best friend is away on a trip and she has nothing to do without her. A merman named Triton lands in her treehouse one day, dropped by a seagull that captured him. Triton and his wife Thetis had been searching for their daughter Sabrina, a mermaid who disappeared along the California coast while pretending to be a siren. Lucy returns Triton to the nearby lake, and after finding a way back to the sea and his people he invites her to join them for a day to be a mermaid herself. The majority of the book is Lucy's journey with the merpeople, and at the end she returns home with the hope of seeing them again on the next full moon. The line you mentioned is from a long poem printed at the end of the book, called The Forsaken Merman by Matthew Arnold.  Thanks for the great trip down memory lane. I was thinking of this book and did a search for it on the internet and found your site. As someone who works in children's publishing and was a children's bookseller for a long time, it's so wonderful to see mention of these forgotten favorites again!

Here are a few more titles - no descriptions other than they're both juvenile chapter books.  House With the Secret Room by Eunice Young Smith ( bobbs-Merrill, 1956). Karen's Secret Room by Kathleen Mary Duncan (London: Methuen, 1969).
Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Velvet Room
Jean Little, Look Through My Window.  I think this might be it, although the details are a bit off - Emily's family moves to a new house, very big, with lots of rooms.  The room she chooses for her bedroom is way up in the garret, and she finds a box hidden there.  The box turns out to belong to two of the neighborhood girls who had been using the once abandoned house as a clubhouse for their story-writing club.  They are initially hostile towards Emily, but all become friends.
I'm the original requester and it's definitely not either the Jean Little book or the Snyder book (I met her once, she's a WONDERFUL lady!).  I'll try to find and look at the other two.  I'm wondering now if maybe the title word was "Hidden" rather than "Secret"?
Elizabeth Lansing, Lulu's Window, 1954.  I've found it!  The title is Lulu's Window and I've ordered it from Interlibrary Loan.  Thanks to all who researched this for me.

Carlson, Natalie Savage, Luvvy and the Girls, 1971.  This sounds like the same story.  It's a sequel to The Half Sisters.
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the Girls.  A possibility.
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the Girls, c. 1970.  Luvvy and the Girls is the sequel to The Half Sisters.  I read both books growing up.  I can only put my hands on The Half Sisters right now, though  so I can't be sure that this is what you're looking for.  However, I remember the Barbara Fritchie reference, too.  The school is in Fredricksburg - which was where Dame Fritchie became famous.   Hope this helps!
Thank you all so much!  I'm sure that's it!.
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Natalie Savage Carlson, The Half Sisters. (1955)  Sounds like it could be The Half Sisters or its sequel, Luvvy and the Girls.  Both took place in Baltimore.  I loved these books!
Luvvy and the Girls is the book! I am so thrilled - I never thought I would find it again.  I am not sure who solved my bookstumper but please tell whoever solved it for me THANK YOU! She/He certainly made my day - if not my year.
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In 1980 when I was in middle school, my favorite book was about a girl my age named Lovey.  The book was about her friends at either a boarding school or private school.  I think one of the characters had a little brother who was also in the story. The book had a pink cover and was hardcover.  Either another girl in the book was named Ivy or it was part of the title.  I never bothered to remember the title of the book because it was always in the same spot at my school's library.  Everytime I see the "Secret Garden" it makes me think of that book for some reason.  There were other books in the series - I think three, but I always liked the original one the best.

Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the Girls.  Sequel to The Half-Sisters.  sounds like the one:  more info here: http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/006454.html
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the Girls, 1971, copyright.
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the Girls, 1950-1960?, approximate.  I'm sure this is the book...one of my favorites too!  Luvvy wants to go to boarding school just like her older half-sisters.  Her little brother is born while she is there.  There isn't an Ivy, but her sisters are Hetty and Betsy, and her friends are Agatha and Amy.  Also, the original cover is pink.  :)  This is the 2nd book in the series, the first is "The Half-Sisters."
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the Girls, 1950, approximate.  This could be the one you are looking for.  I believe it is a sequel to The Half Sisters.  The books take place around Baltimore during the early 1900s.
Carlson, Natalie Savage, Luvvy and the Girls, 1971, copyright.  Luvvy is finally sent off to boarding school, a convent school, that her older sisters attend. This is the sequel to "The Half Sisters".
Natalie Savage Carlson, Luvvy and the Girls.  Maybe this one?  Luvvy has several older sisters and she yearns to go to boarding school with them in "The Half-sisters".  "Luvvy and the Girls" is the sequel to The Half-Sisters and tells of Luvvy going off to boarding school and her experiences there.
It is quite possible that your stumpers solved my book mystery G444.  Turns out that a library around here has a copy of it so I'm going to visit over the weekend to see if, in fact, it is the book that I was looking for (I have to see the cover to know for sure).  Based on the great information that everyone submitted, I can't imagine that it wouldn't be the same book - it sounds identical to the book I loved (and reminded me about a lot of it I had long forgotten).  I'll be forever grateful for the discovery!
G444 Solved - Luvvy and the Girls by Natalie Savage Carlson.  It's the book!  Thank you so much for answering my stumper.  I am so grateful to you all that you have knew this book.  I have a daughter now and so desperately wanted to share this with her.

I believe you are looking for the book Lyle Lyle The Crocodile. I do not know the author, but my first grade granddaughter tells me this is the story you wrote about. It is a book that may still be in some schools as she has read it recently. Hope this will help you in your search.

Well, I took this advice and found the following:
Waber, Bernard. Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. 1973. $12 plus $3 shipping.
I don't know if you add comments to the solved mystery section or not, but you answered the stumper about the crocodile as Lyle, Lyle the Crocodile by Bernard Waber.  That was not the first book about Lyle.  The original was The House on East 88th Street. There may have even been a third book but I don't recall its title.

Foster, Elizabeth Vincent, Lyrico: the only horse of his kind, 1970. A young girl’s greatest wish is fulfilled when a horse is delivered to her New York penthouse--especially since it is a horse with wings.

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