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New Stumpers

What is this?

Have you forgotten the title of your favorite children's book? This is a service to help solve your book mysteries.

Submit your memory here, and see if anyone else remembers your book memory, or better yet, knows the title and author! After all, it's easier to find the book when you know what it's called.

I'll post copies for sale when I have them, and am always glad to search for copies not currently in stock. Loganberry Books is a used bookshop after all, and this page is only a small sideline offered as a service to my customers.

Original requests are in bold,
comments and solutions
from internet friends are in color.
My comments (HRL/staff) are in black.

How does this work?

Book Stumpers should be submitted by clicking the "Book Stumper" link below. Stumpers cost $2 to submit, and will be posted alphabetically by Keycode until solved. New Stumpers will be on this page for at least four weeks, and are then moved to the archive pages. Once solved, the posting moves to the Solved Mysteries pages, alphabetical by title. New comments and stumpers are posted on Mondays and/or Tuesdays, and whenever else time permits.

The 2003 Tally
1192 Stumpers posted; 742 (62%) Solved
The 2004 Tally
527 Stumpers posted; 393 (75%) Solved
The 2005 Tally
902 Stumpers posted; 497 (55%) Solved
The 2006 Tally
858 Stumpers posted; 393 (46%) Solved
The 2007 Tally
974 Stumpers posted; 399 (41%) Solved

Updates

A few new solutions today.
And look: I finally archived old ones! :)
And the pretty colorful icons are causing trouble again...

posted 7/21/08 posted 7/21/08
posted 8/1/08 posted 8/1/08
posted 8/11/08 posted 8/11/08
posted 8/18/08 posted 8/18/08
posted 8/25/08 posted 8/25/08

The 2008 Tally
499 Stumpers posted
118 Moved to Solved

last updated
8/26/08

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A380: Albino girl, cave
Augmenting existing post (A293): Albino (or nearly so) Adolescent/teenage motherless girl and father move to rural old-style community (carriages and such?); meets old woman of same complexion (possibly town matriarch), always wears black, has mute servant. I believe I’m looking for the same book as the person who posted A293 on your site’s unsolved stumpers, but thought I’d try giving a bit more detail. (I was really happy to find a post about it and see that I hadn’t imagined the story!). This is from a paperback read in the early 1990’s. An albino (or extremely fair) adolescent/teenage motherless girl and her father move to a rural community. I think I remember the community having old-style ways, like an Amish community, and getting around in carriages. The girl eventually meets the town matriarch, a creepy old woman with the same extremely fair complexion as the girl. The old woman wears black, and a black veil, and is attended by a mute servant (whose tongue has been cut out, I think). I got the impression that the girl’s arrival was part of the old woman’s plan, that they’re related somehow, and the old woman has plans for her (in a creepy evil way). I remember little about the main body of the story, but I think the girl eventually discovers a cave on the edge of town, and hears calls of children(?) or sacrificed(?) souls? Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to finish the book, and it has hounded me ever since! I have absolutely no idea what the title could be..I would appreciate any help in finding this book!

This sounds really familiar--could it have been "Harvest Home" by Thomas Tyron? It came out in the early 70s, and there was a mini-series made based on it (called "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" filmed in the late 70s. I can't find a description of it anywhere, but even though I read it so long ago, that was the first thing that came to mind.
The querent may be combining memories of two different books. In Harvest Home, the family includes the mother, and the girl is not an albino -- she does have asthma. The old lady who runs things, and the men who have had their tongues cut out, are from that book however, as are the general ambience of old-fashioned, traditional (and I do mean traditional) rural lifestyles and the new family being "needed" for something. Look up "Harvest Home" on amazon.com or wikipedia to see if the details match. It was published in 1973, at the height of the witchcraft craze that began in the the late 1960s with the publication of books by Sybil Leek and Jessie Wicker Bell ("Lady Sheba"). But it is much more like "The Wicker Man", a film which came out the same year and which was based on a 1968 book called "Ritual" by David Pinner.

A381: Ant bite shrinks person
Solved: The City Under the Back Steps
In 1968 I read a children's book where the person was bitten by an ant and shrunk until he (she?) was small enough to live in the ants colony for a time. At the end, the person returned to full sized but remembered the experience. Does anyone know title/author?

Evelyn Sibley Lampman, The City Under the Back Steps, 1960, copyright. Two cousins are bitten by the queen of an ant colony and shrink to the size of ants.
E.S. Lampman, City Under the Back Steps. You're probably remembering this much-requested book.
Evelyn Sibley Lampman, The City Under the Back Steps, 1960, copyright. Honore Valintcourt, Illustrator. Two children (cousins?) are bitten/shrunken and join an ant colony, where they learn to respect the ants.
Evelyn Sibley Lampman, The City Under the Back Steps, 1960, copyright. I'm impressed at the prompt response and grateful for the information. With such an obvious concensus, I assume this is the right book. Thank you!

A382: Angel Alien
1975-1988, juvenile. A pair of spaceships travel to Uranus ? where an Alien presence is signaling. The cover art I think had the spaceships look like orange mushrooms. The story is about the hazards of deep space travel. When the meet the Alien he introduces himself as Gabriel and some of the technology he has includes a magnetic suspension bed to sleep in midair. After the meeting is done they realize that because of some supernatural time effect what seemed like days to them was weeks and they conclude that Gabriel must really be the Angel Gabriel.

A383: american running mexican hacienda
Author: margaret? nonfiction. american woman in her early 30's marries a mexican man and moves to mexico to run the hacienda. thought title had words in it like "blue skies" or "clear blue skies". american woman struggles with running hacienda as she is not easily absorbed into household nor given respect/authority easily by existing members of household. i read this in my later teens so perhaps the book was written in the 1970's.

B643: Book of bedtime stories and poems
Book of bedtime stories and poems I had in the early 1980s. ONLY thing I remember is the inside back cover: a drawing of a starry night sky (lots of deep blue) with kids looking out their windows (a city scene). May have been the characters from the stories. The Golden Book Of 365 Stories?

B644: British officer falls in love with boss's fiancée
Proper British officer is assigned to pick up his "boss"'s young Spanish fiancée in Spain and take her to India. They fall in love on the way to India but do not declare it and he takes her to her fiancé. He resumes work in the British army leading up to the Indian Mutiny. She rescues him and has his child.

M. M. Kaye, Shadow of the Moon. This is Shadow of the Moon. The author, M. M. Kaye, also wrote The Far Pavilions. The girl is named Winter, and she falls in love with her fiance when she is very young and he is visiting England. The officer who escorts her to him tries to warn her about what a horrid person her fiance has become since she saw him last.
MM Kaye, Shadow of the Moon. If the heroine's name was Winter, this is your book. Most of the plot details match.

B645: Bunnies search for magic egg
Hi, I am looking for a children's book that is about a pair or group of bunnies that go in search of a magic/treasured/porcelain/valuable egg. My second grade teacher read it to us around 1995. Thank you for your help!

Margaret Wise Brown, The Golden Bunny, and other poems and Stories. This might be a long shot, but I seem to remember a story like that in this book. This is NOT The Golden Egg Book which is quite different.
Here's one to consider: Heyward, DuBose. The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes. Illustrated by Marjorie Flack. 1939. The country bunny is a mother of 21, but still attains the rank of Easter Bunny. She delivers the most beautiful egg of all to an ill child on a far away mountain top. One reviewer called it an early feminist tale.

B646: baby lost in snowy woods
Forest animals attempt to help a baby left by a tree in the woods in a snow storm. The book ends when a child comes to get the baby (which turns out to be a doll). Small book, Eloise Wilkins type of illustrations, probably 1960s or 70s.

B647: Blodger the Rabbit, gardener, topiary
The book I am looking for is a young children's book (about 11"X14") Hardback. The main character is "Blodger" a rabbit who is a gardener. Blodger does topiary. He falls from a ladder and breaks his leg. His Dr. says: "There will be no more topiary for you for a while, Blodger."

B648: Boy with ability to "jump" into animal minds
Solved: Song of the Wild
I am looking for a YA book I loved in the early 80's about a boy who had the ability to put his consciousness into animals and thus could see and experience everything the animal saw. His body remained motionless wherever he happened to be when he jumped into the animal's mind. I believe he called his gift "sight" or "insight". His family refused to believe him when he tried to describe his abilities. They thought he was just daydreaming or zoning out all the time. At the end of the book he "jumps" into a horse and leaves his body sitting behind the animal--the horse startles and kicks the boy in the head and he dies. His consciousness is trapped inside the horse and he's terrified that he will be a horse forever. Then he sees a bird and jumps into the bird and realizes joyfully that he is now free to go at will into whatever animal he wants, for all eternity. This book was wonderful and haunting and it's driving me nuts that I can't remember the title or author!! I want to read this to my sons. Thanks in advance.

Allen W. Eckert, Song of the Wild, 1980, copyright. Go to http://allaneck.com/b_song-of-the-wild.html for a detailed description and ordering information. You'll find that it is exactly the book you want. I read it when it was first published-couldn't stop thinking about it!!
Allan Eckert, Song of the Wild, 1980, copyright. Solved!! Thanks SO much. I went to the link and when I saw the cover it gave me chills. I would have never remembered the title on my own! Thank you!!

B649: Boy finds dog, keeps in abandoned car
Boy finds a shaggy dog, but dad won't allow him to bring the dog home. He leaves the dog in an abandoned car and visits every day. Kid's name might be Mike, and dog's name might be Scruffy. Winter is approaching. I think the dad doesn't allow a Christmas tree to be put up at home – makes him sad.

Prudence Andrew, Dog, 1974, approximate. Maybe this one?
Prudence Andrew, Dog, 1974, copyright. Yes, the book cover on Amazon looks so familiar. I couldn't find a description there but came across it on E-bay with this (correct) description: "Why can't I have a dog?" Andrew pleads. For the twentieth time his father explains that dogs aren't allowed in the project where they live. Then, one wonderful day, Andrew finds Scruffy -- a hungry, shaggy, little dog that belongs to nobody. Andrew is determined to keep Scruffy -- and, somehow, he's going to do it!"

B650: boy gets silent treatment from family
Boy growing up in 19th century America. I think it's an autobiography and no it isn't Mark Twain. He tells stories about his life growing up and there's one point where a boy who won't speak and is violent shows up and is "taken care of" by the family.

John D Fitzgerald, The Great Brain Series. I'm sure you are remembering this excellent semi-autobiographical series of novels about a family with 3 brothers growing up in a frontier town in Utah. In one incident, the parents give the misbehaving brothers the silent treatment to punish them, which they feel is much harsher than the physical punishments most kids in the town get.

C579: Children’s Counting Book
This is a children’s counting book. It was a tall, skinny book with a hardcover, and paper pages. I believe the cover was black and each page had a black background and the items (ex. Butterflies) for kids to count were brightly colored. On the last page there were many many stars and the book asked either “how many stars” or “can you count the stars”. It must have been published either late 1960’s or early 1970’s. Thanks!

C580: Church mouse, cathedral, robbery
I looked through your other church mouse entries but none seemed right- this story was probably printed in the late 70's, in colour (very intricate designs) and featured in a cathedral w/ a cat and mouse, robbery of silver candlesticks and the mouse found a 'smorgasboard' of stuff underneath the pew.

Graham Oakley, The Church Mouse, 1972. More info on Graham Oakley's books: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Oakley.
Graham Oakley, The Church Mouse. I think you ought to check this one out, because it does contain the story about the candlestick robbery, and the pictures could definitely be called "intricate"--lots of visual humour. From the text: "Arthur tied the burglar's bootlaces together. He had to do it himself because Sampson could only tie granny knots. Then Sampson obliged with his party piece. It was supposed to be the Song of the nightingale but everyone else thought it sounded like a policeman's whistle. They counted on the burglar thinking so too....Everybody had the idea of rolling him up in the carpet. At any rate, everybody said it was his idea afterwards. They all put their shoulders to the carpet and pushed. The schoolmouse said to the mouse beside him that he felt like a Lilliputian, but the mouse replied huffily that he couldn't stand foregin food because he was just an average English working mouse and he felt like a cheese and chutney sandwiich, and the mouse next to him said he felt like a bread and butter pudinng, and Sampson said he felt like a mouse casserole and he'd have one, too, if they didn't shut up and push."
Graham Oakley, The Church Mice at Christmas, 1980. When Arthur and Humphrey decide to rally the church mice into having a Christmas party, the result is a series of disasters. Some wonderful scenes include the mice raffling-off Sampson (the Church Cat) to raise money for their party, their hopeless attempts at carol-singing for the same purpose, and the burglar dressed as Santa (he has a bag on which he has crossed out "Swag" and written "presents"). Also look out for the bizarre Christmas window displays in town. Here are all the Church Mice Chronicles: The Church Mouse, The Church Cat Abroad, The Church Mice and the Moon, The Church Mice Spread Their Wings, The Church Mice Adrift, The Church Mice at Bay, The Church Mice at Christmas, The Church Mice in Action, The Diary of a Church Mouse, The Church Mice and the Ring, Humphrey Hits the Jackpot, The Church Mice Take a Break.

C581: Chickens in henhouse & henyard scratching
Early 1970's ? childrens. I remember a story about chickens in the hen yard, and how they would be scratching about for feed. Also alot of description about them going up the ramp into their henhouse, and fluffing up on their nests. There might have been something about a dog. There was also a vivid description of how the henhouse was built, how wide the shelves were, and which hen had which nest.

Meindert de Jong, Along Came a Dog. De Jong has a gift for writing about animals. This book is about a little red hen that gets picked on by the chickens because she lost her toes when they froze off. She hops around and manages to survive with the help of the farmer and a stray dog who sees himself as her protector. Lots of detailed descriptions of the chickens, the henhouse, and the dog.

C582: Children flying space ship
In about 1984 I checked out a newly released book from a small town library. I remember to this day that I loved it. It was a children's science fiction space travel story about several children who were traveling from planet to planet. I believe they were searching for something (food and supplies maybe?) or running away from something. After each stop they would barely make it back to the ship and take off again safely because of the local dangers. I remember one stop they made was a lush green area that looked very safe but turned out to be very dangerous. Something about the food they had stands out to me as odd, like it was synthetic or something, but that's all I can remember. I have seven children and they love space travel stories, I'd love to find this one for them.

Jean E. Karl, But We Are Not of Earth, 1981, copyright. This might be what you are looking for. There are four children (pre-teens) I think, who are given an assignment in their space flight school and end up going to various planets. The symthetic food was some kind of candy bar that they stop eating while they travel. There was also a plot line about finding space travellers from the home planet who had 'escaped'.

C583: Cheerleaders solve mystery in a swamp
I read this in the 70's but the book was older, large hardcover. Two best friends, cheerleaders went to work at a summer resort taking care of younger children. There is a mysterious woman in the swamp and some kind of mystery - I think a child gets lost at one point. They solve it all!

Janet Singer, Cheer Leader, 1934, copyright. The girls in this story take care of children at a summer resort and later search for one of the children who has gotten lost/kidnapped in a nearby swamp.

C584: Collection of Childrens Stories and Poems
I’m trying to find a collection of bedtime stories that my mother read to me. I have a part of the book and would like to know the title so that I might be able to find and purchase the book for my Grandchildren. Some of the titles of the stories include: The Lost Merbaby by Margaret & Mary Baker; The Brownie in the Garden by Elsa Ruth Nast; The Pixie’s Scarf by Alison Uttley; The Cannery Bear by Ray St. Clair; The Room Beneath the Tree by James Stephens; Where Hidden Treasure Lies by Sheila O’Neill. Some of the Poems include: Song for a Summer Evening by Mildred Bowers Armstrong; Little People’s Market by Dorothy Brown Thompson; A Goblinade by Florence Page Jaques; The Second-Hand Shop by Rowena Bennett; Pipes and Drums by Lilian Holmes; The Fairies by William Allingham; The Little House by Elizabeth Godley; Ring-a-ring o'Fairies by Madelaine Nightingale.

Jane Werner (ed), Garth Williams (illus), The Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies, 1951, 1979, copyright. Definitely this one! Contains all the stories/poems mentioned, plus more. While original copies (and even the 1979 and 1999 reprints) are scarce and quite expensive, the book is due to be re-issued on September 9th of this year. If you can wait 'til then, you should be able to pick up a new copy, at a reasonable price.

D296: Dragon's wife is sick, needs monkey heart
The only story I recall from a collection late 1970s or earlier--the dragon's wife is sick and needs a monkey heart to eat, drama ensues. Detailed pen & ink illustration of dragon, monkey, & tree. Dragon looked so sad. Looking for title of collection or author. Hardbound, 8.5x11ish, maybe 150 pages.

Gyo Fujikawa, Fairy Tales and Fables, 1970, copyright. The story you are looking for is called "The Dragon and the Monkey." The dragon's wife has heard that monkey's hearts are delicious, and she wants to try one so badly that she claims she will die if she does not. The dragon locates a monkey, and tricks it into riding on his back across the sea, to get to a place allegedly filled with wonderful fruit. Halfway across, the dragon attempts to drown the monkey, but the quick-witted monkey, upon learning that it is his heart the dragon is after, claims to have left it back in his tree, as "monkeys never carry their hearts around with them." The dragon returns the monkey to his tree, where of course the monkey escapes. There are two illustrations for this story: a black & white line drawing of the dragon and his wife, both looking very sad, swimming in the sea, stretching across the top half of the first two pages, and a beautiful 2-page, full-color picture of the dragon (colored orange and gold, and wearing a little black hat with a pink button on top) with tears falling from his eyes, and the monkey perched back in the top of his tree. Other stories in this book include Little Red Riding Hood, The Hare and the Tortoise, The Real Princess, Little Eva, The Country Mouse and the City Mouse, Cinderella, The Teeny-Tiny Woman, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Milkmaid and her Pail, The Lion and the Mouse, The Moon Maiden, The Wonderful Porridge Pot, Puss in Boots, The Elves and the Shoemaker, Thumbelina, The Fox and the Grapes, Jorinda and Joringel, and many others.
Traditional, The Monkey and the Crocodile. Your description sounds a little like this ancient (it appears in the Panchatantra, which may be as old as the 4th century, with even more ancient roots) tradtional tale from India: a monkey who lives in a rose-apple or mango tree gains the friendship of a crocodile by throwing him mangos. However, the crocodile's wife gets jealous of the friendship and feigns sickness, saying only a monkey's heart will cure her. The crocodile lures the monkey onto his back, and after swimming halfway to his house, sadly tells him what his wife wants. The monkey doesn't panic, but just says he has left his heart at home - the crocodile takes the monkey back to the mango tree so he can get his heart, and the monkey escapes. The story appears in many collections of tales from India, and has also been published separately as a picture book many times: try the versions by Paul Galdone, Sheila Lane, Mrudul Tata, Ellen Babbitt, David Mackay, or Kumuda Reddy, Naseeruddin Shah.
Possibly Magic Tales edited by Adelaide Holl (1964), if you change the dragon to a crocodile? See Solved Mysteries. The real table of contents is at the bottom of the entry.
Rose Dobbs, Once-Upon-A-Time Story Book, 1958, copyright. Someone asked about a book whose plot involved a wife who wanted to eat monkey hearts. This is a very old fable. I found it in the above book, but I have seen it as a stand-alone. The title is The Foolish Dragon.

D297: Do you know what?
This rhyme was in a collection of rhymes and may have started with the words "You know what?" The rest of the rhyme is as follows:
Do you know what? There isn't a house on the empty lot.
Do you know what? The moon is cold and the sun is hot.
Do you know what? Kangaroos leap and horses trot.
Do you know what? A little child is called a tot.
Do you know what? I have red mittens and you have not.
Note: The order of the lines may be incorrect.

D298: Duck All Alone Bright World
A children's book about a duck that is all alone in a big bright world after getting separated from his duck family.

Brown, Margaret Wise, The Golden Egg Book. Well, he's not exactly separated from his family, but he just hatched from his egg where he was all alone in a small dark world and now he's alone in the big bright world - until the bunny wakes up and they become friends.
Marjorie Flack, A Story About Ping. Maybe this is the book you're looking for? "Originally published in 1933, this sweet picture book is still a classic. Ping, a young duck, lives with his enormous family on a boat that travels the Yangtze River. Sadly separated from his family while looking for delicious morsels, Ping has the adventure of his life trying to find his home. With gorgeous, nostalgic illustrations." "This is the classic story of a young duck who spends a harrowing night on the Yangtze river after he is separated from his family."
Jane Werner Watson, The Fuzzy Duckling, 1949, copyright. A duckling gets separated from his large family and meets many different types of other animals enroute to reuniting with his mother and siblings. It was an original Little Golden Book and the story also teaches its readers counting.

F315: Frogs at Christmas
The book I am looking for is about 2 frogs at Christmas time. One of them is very excited to open the gifts and so goes ice skating to fill the time. An adventure ensues. The story may have taken place on Christmas Eve and the book would have been available in the early to mid 1970's. Thank you!

Lobel, Arnold, Frog and Toad All Year, 1976, copyright. I'm pretty sure this is one of Lobel's Frog and Toad books. I'm just not sure which one. The others are Frog and Toad Are Friends, Days with Frog and Toad, Frog and Toad Together, Adventures of Frog and Toad.
Russell E. Erickson, Warton's Christmas Eve Adventure, 1977, copyright. There is a series of books about two frog brothers named Warton and Morton that were written in the 1970's. Warton is pretty active and skates around. I can't remember the story line, but this could be the book you are looking for. The books are: A Toad for Tuesday 1974, Warton and the King of the Skies, Warton and Morton 1976, The Snow of Ohreeganu, Warton's Christmas Eve Adventure 1977

F316: Firefly wearing derby, learn-to-read 1940's book
This was a common, unremarkable learn-to-read book of the 1940's which I committed to memory as a child. All I remember about it, aside from being my favorite book, is the cartoonish drawing of a firefly wearing a derby hat and holding a lantern. I have searched many years for a copy of that little book which was discarded by my parents decades ago when I started school in 1947. Thanks in advance.

Martin, Bill, Little Squeegy Bug, 1946. It's a stretch, but it might be Little Squeegy Bug. It's about a firefly that wants a gun in its tale like a bee, but, after talking to a spider, gets a lantern instead. I vaguely recall that they wore hats, but I could be misremembering. Be aware that there is a new version out that has completely, utterly different illustrations, and, sadly, that this new version seems to have taken over the Internet, so I couldn't find any pictures of the original.

F317: Fairy tales
Solved: Best in Children's Books
1957-1963, childrens. As a child in late 1950's to early 1960's, my mom subscribed to a series of fairy tale books for me. They came in different volumes, arriving in the mail. The one I remember had a hard cover with colorful illustrations on it. Some of the stories I remember were the Princess and the Pea, The Owl and the Pussycat, The Shoemaker and the elves, The Five Chinese Brothers. I'm not sure if they were in one volume or in different ones. I'm thinking it could have been the Childrens Treasury of....., but I'm not sure.

Various, Collier's Junior Classics: The Young Folks Shelf of Books, 1962, approximate. This is a set of 10 hardcover books, starting out with fairy tales and nursery rhymes, then progressing to more advanced literature for the older reader. Each volume has a differently colored cover. The set has been reprinted many times; the set that I have is from 1962, and the first volume, titled "A B C Go!" has a blue-green cover, and contains both the story of the Five Chinese Brothers, and The Owl and the Pussycat, plus many others, including Angus and the Cat, Kiki Dances, The Velveteen Rabbit, Poppyseed Cakes, Rosa Too-Little, Peter Churchmouse, Susanna's Auction, The Funny Thing, The Little Old Woman, 3 Bears, 3 Little Pigs, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, selected nursery rhymes from Mother Goose, and lots more. The book is illustrated throughout, by various artists, in many different styles. The second book in the series, "Once Upon a Time," contains the story of the Elves and the Shoemaker, and has a red-orange cover. Other books in the series are: Magic in the Air, Just Around the Corner, In Your Own Backyard, Harvest of Holidays, Legends of Long Ago, Roads to Greatness, Call of Adventure, and Gifts from the Past.
COLLIER , COLLIER JUNIOR CLASSICS/ THE YOUNG FOLKS SHELF OF BOOKS, 1962? THANKS FOR YOUR HELP. HOWEVER, I AM NOT SURE THIS IS THE ONE. I DO THINK I REMEMBER VOL. 2 ONCE UPON A TIME. BUT I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO SEE A PHOTO OF THE COVER. ***THE COVERS I HAVE SEEN SINCE SEARCHING FOR THIS TITLE, ARE VOLUMES WITH PLAIN, SOLID COLOR COVERS WITH THE TITLE: THE YOUNG FOLKS SHELF OF BOOKS ON THE BOTTOM RT CORNER OF COVER.***THE COVERS I REMEMBER FELT LIKE FAKE LEATHER WITH COLORFUL, EMBOSSED CHARACTERS ON THE FRONT.***WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Nelson Doubleday Publisher, Best in Children's Books, 1957-1965, approximate. I think I have found my books: Volume 3 has the Owl and the Pussycat and Volume 9 has the Princess and the Pea. Thank you for your help.

F318: fairy tale anthology
I'm looking for an anthology i received in the mid 70's but that was still sold as late as the 90's. various illustrators, profusely illustrated, green background to cover. one of first stories was rapunzel, also included: donkeyskin, ali baba and the forty thieves, the goose girl, the tinderbox, the little match girl and many others. thick hardback. thanks for help.

F319: First Grade Level Books
In 1977, I bought several small books by a woman author for my 1st grader, one of which was Billy Goats Gruff. All were basic beginning readers with very limited, repetitive vocabulary, similar to Dick & Jane books. I once found her on Amazon, but can't now. Help! Who is this author?

Harriet Ziefert, multiple books. Try Harriet Ziefert -- she did several like that.
Fran Hunia, Billy Goats Gruff. Perhaps the Read It Yourself series for Ladybird Books (publisher), now being reprinted by Dutton. Hunia's adaptations include Billy Goats Gruff, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Red Riding Hood,The Enormous Turnip, Goldilocks, William Tell, and more.
Margaret Hillert, 1960's, approximate. I'm not sure she wrote a Three Billy Goats Gruff but she did write a lot of easy readers in the 1960's.
Margaret Hillert, 1960s and newer, approximate. I think the series you are looking for is by Margaret Hillert. In addition to her "Dear Dragon" books, she has several based on folktales (like the Three Little Pigs. ISBN 0813650356 and 0813655358 or The Cookie House ISBN 0813650127 and 0813655129).
I think this author may be Margaret Hillert. She's the queen of the beginning reader genre. She has done several easy adaptations of fairy tales as well as a series about Dear Dragon. Her books were originally published in the 60s/70s but many titles have been revised and published again recently. The Three Goats was re-released in 2006.
Hillert, Margaret. How about Hillert's books? She did super simple versions of some fairy tales as well as many others, including the Dear Dragon series. The Little Cookie is the story of the Gingerbread Boy ("Look, look. See the funny cookie. It is little.") The Three Goats is the Billy Goats Gruff story ("See the goats. One, two, three goats.") The Cookie House is the Hansel & Gretel story ("Oh, see the little house. I like it. I like it. What fun for us.") All of her books have word lists in the back showing the many 2, 3, & 4 letter words used in the book. They were originally published by Modern Curriculim Press in the 1960's-1980's, and are currently being re-published by Norwood House Press.

G484: Girl, maple tree, cousins farm
Around 20 years ago while I was in elementary school I read a book that was given away years later. I loved that book. It was a hardback book. The cover was red. The picture on the front was (I think a pencil drawing) of a young girl in front of a tree tapping maple syrup. What I remember of the story is that she lives with her two aunts (who overprotect her from everything) until one of them gets sick and they have to move to a warmer state. The Aunts don't get along with their cousins but since they are the only option they ship the girl off to the cousins who live in the country. While there she learns to tap for maple syrup and every once in awhile she drops some in the snow while tapping so that it will harden and she can chew it. She also gets lost with a friend at the fair. She gets to eat until she is full and has several more adventures.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy. This is the book you described. Some additional details: Betsy doesn't know right from left when she first goes to live with the country relatives, and at the end of the book she escapes from a deep pit by using a fallen branch.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy. Definitely the one. Available online, just do a search for the title and it will come up under digital.library.upenn.edu/ .
Dorothy Canfield, Understood Betsy, 1916, copyright. This sounds a lot like Understood Betsy with only a few details not matching; definitely worth checking out. I did not read this book until I was in my late 40's, but I can tell you I consider it one of the best I have ever read. It holds up even today.
I agree, the book in question is Understood Betsy...however, "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorenson fits some of the maple syrup-type clues, and is also set in Vermont.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy. This is most definately the book I was looking for. Thank you!

Interpreting
Condition
Grades

Canfield (Fisher), Dorothy. Understood Betsy. Grosset and Dunlap, 1917. Hardcover with protected dust jacket. G/G. $15
Canfield (Fisher), Dorothy. Understood Betsy. Grosset and Dunlap, 1917. Hardcover w/o dust jacket. G+ $10

G485: Grumpy little girl
Solved: Lisa and the Grompet
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!

G486: Girl Presumed Drowned
Solved: The Color of Hope
I am looking for the title and/or the author of a book I read several years ago-before 2005 for sure. The story is about a busy city family of four that goes to a lake or beach house. It is the Dad's birthday I think and they go out for a sail to celebrate. A storm rolls in and they "lose" their teenage daughter. Presumed drowned, she has actually run away and is living with an artist in the local area. She is a “wanna be” artist and her family doesn’t approve. They close up the house and don’t return for quite some time. When they do return it is because their son is going to die and asks to go there. After they arrive they begin to find clues that she is still around - a certain flower is left on the porch, an unfinished bench she and her Dad were building is finished. The girl does meet up again with her family and she takes her brother out on a boat ride, where he does pass away. I don't remember what the cover looked like. I feel like the title MAY HAVE had either the word Flower or the specific flower she liked in it. I feel like the title MAY HAVE had the girls name in it too.

Susan Madison, The Color of Hope, 2000, copyright.
Susan Madison, The Color of Hope, 2000, copyright. Someone has solved the mystery. Thank you for the service!

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

G488: Girl catches leeches with legs to buy Dickens book
I have a vague memory of a character (probably teen) who wanted to buy books, specifically Dickens. The titles may have been David Copperfield / Martin Chuzzewit. To fund her reading, she used her legs as leech bait. She wanted to sell leeches.

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

Kid Sister? See Solved Mysteries.

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

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

G491: Girl, messy room
GIRL, messy room, very untidy and dirty. Something causes her to change her ways and clean up her room. It's a thin, colorfully illustrated book that I read in 1971-ish. The girl has black hair and I remember she is sitting in her window at the very end, in a nice dress.

Norah Smaridge, The Big Tidy-Up. Very bright early '70's-type pictures? Probably The Big Tidy-Up, which for awhile was just about impossible to find. It's just been reprinted and you can find it online.
Doris Orgel (Author), Maurice Sendak (Illustrator), Sarah's Room. I bet this is Sarah's Room, about a little girl who isn't allowed into her big sister's room, because the big sister is very tidy and the little girl is a slob. Finally the little girl learns to keep her own room tidy, and then is allowed into her sister's room. Thin book, colorfully illustrated, girl with long black hair, just as you say.
Mary Calhoun. Not sure, but your description might be one of the Katie John books of Mary Calhoun. Katie John is a somewhat tomboyish girl whose parents run a boarding house. She loves to get out and have adventures, but over the course of the series does grow up, take a bit more pride in her appearance.

G492: Girl growing up in tsarist Russia
Girl loves languages, cannot learn math; older brother ends up leaving Russia and going to England, breaking with family; she meets Catherine the Great when her sleigh breaks down; at the end marries an up-and-coming young noble who introduces potatoes to the region. Help please!

G493: Girl in bed, counting sheep, poodle
From the early 50s? A little girl, Susan? Susy?, is in bed, with I think a hot water bottle. I remember a milkman with a horse-drawn wagon, counting sheep, a sawing log, a french poodle, maybe some sad rain clouds. Illustrated, lots of pink. Younger readers.

H240: High school boy's father is a spy
Read this book between 1993-1996. children's/young adult book. The main character was a boy in high school who was getting into trouble, possible drinking but definitely an incident with a car. The father was a spy or part of some secret organization. He got his son to deliver a package or envelope to a place to try to get him interested in something and as a way to connect with him. I think that then the father is kidnapped and the son has to act like a real spy to save his dad, but that last part could be wrong.

Winona Kent, Skywatcher, 1989, approximate. It might be this book, though the main character, Robin, is in college. His father is a spy and they are both involved in a huge car accident. There are also two other brothers. If you remember a fictional TV show that sounds like a cross between The Avengers, Man From UNCLE and Mission:Impossible called Spy Squad which the spy dad starred in, this is the book.
Anthony Horowitz, Stormbreaker. This one is a possibility. Teenaged Alex Rider's uncle dies in mysterious circumstances, and it turns out he was a spy. Alex is recruited to take his place.
Thank you both for your input but it's not Skywatcher or Stormbreaker. I really wish I could remember more than what I already wrote. I imagine it was between 150-200 pages if that helps. Thanks again. I'll keep thinking about it and add what ever might come up.

H241: "Hark! Hark! Retard the spark!"
Solved: Those Miller Girls!
Girls' "novel" takes place early 1910s-1920s. Two sisters, one named Maddie/Madeline, & their widowed professor father move to small town with car, a novelty. They befriend pretty, young milliner who is also new. Eldest daughter has reciprocal crush on grocer's son (George?) Some b/w drawings. The only quote I remember is when the dad is teaching someone how to start his new-fangled car: "Hark! Hark! Retard the spark!"

Alberta Wilson Constant, Those Miller Girls! I'm pretty sure it's this book, the sisters names are Maddie and Lou Emma Miller. Everything fits--the father ends up marrying the milliner, and they have a baby boy. There are at least two other titles about the family--Does Anyone Care about Lou Emma Miller? and The Motoring Millers.
Alberta Wilson Constant, Those Miller Girls! 1965, approximate. This is it! I am so thrilled to reconnect with this book. Many thanks to the mystery solver :)

H242: Historic figures
I am looking for books that we had 50 some years ago in our classroom. They were orange books and the illustrations were sillhouttes. The books were about individual historic figures.

Childhood of Famous Americans series, 1930s-1950s, copyright. I remember these well from my elementary school library in the 1960s. Some have been reissued in paperback recently, I've seen them in bookstores.
Published by Bobbs-Merrill from 30's-50's with different illustrators doing the silhouette pictures, definitely Childhoods of Famous Americans series. I remember the books about Albert Einstein and the Bank of America founder, A.P. Giannini.

H243: Haunted house, footprints in the snow
I read this book in the late seventies or early eighties. A boy thinks a house is haunted, there is a wooded area in front of the house and there are ghostly shapes moving through the trees but leaving footprints in the snow. Thats all I can remember!!

I132: Intruder encounters grandma, she loses finger(s), he flees
Kids book club selection in late 1950s. Weekly Reader? (David & the Phoenix was also a selection.) In one scary chapter, one or more intruders enter house, grandmother confronts them, they flee, she loses some fingers in the scuffle. Child's viewpoint: she's very brave. Don't remember rest of story.

J86: Jerry, rocket, metal from space ship
60's childrens science fiction, boy finds a metal sheet in junkyard and uses it in building play rocket in garage. Metal turns out to be from real space ship, one of two pieces needed by space traveler to make real rocket work. "Jerry" may be in title.

Eleanor Cameron, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. This popular children's book is about two boys who meet an alien who is looking for someone to build him a spaceship. They find a piece of sheet metal to make part of the outer skin. The alien (Mr. Bass) later provides equipment to make the ship functional. You may have it conflated with another book because the metal isn't from another rocket, and neither boy is called Jerry.

J87: Junkyard, metal pieces lead to other dimension
Young adult book in 1984 (about). A brother and a sister that had lost their parents (?). They lived in a junkyard (dump) and discovered metal pieces (outlines -- e.g. stars) that they could toss onto the ground and it would open a portal to another dimension. Different pieces lead to different places.

K119: Kittens
1970, childrens. I have sketchy memories of a boy and girl that I assume are brother and sister. Both are drawn to look dirty and desheveled. I remember their faces look dirty. They have a box of kittens. I think they try to hide them in a bedroom closet. There are pages of the kittens playing with them. I am sorry I can not remember more.

K120: Kids living next to spooky witches' house
Solved: The Haunted Cove
Young adult/children's book read around 1982-83 about kid or kids living next to a spooky house on a promontory that may contain witches. I remember the word "coven", thought it was the title. Definitely remember the word "promontory". I remember the book having a dark blue picture on the cover.

This sounds like a book I've been searching for forever! I thought the title was The American Witch, but it was by an author whose last name was something like Mc or Mac-something. Whenever I look, I find The Good American Witch, by Peggy Bacon, but I don't think that's the book I'm looking for. It might be the one you are, though!
Anyway, I don't know how much help that will be, but it might be a good starting point.
Elizabeth Baldwin Hazelton, The Haunted Cove, 1971, copyright. I'm sure the book you're looking for is The Haunted Cove by Elizabeth Baldwin Hazelton. Brother and sister, along with mother, vacation in a cottage on the coast of Oregon. Next door is a spooky house on a promentory, the owner is said to be a witch! You'll probably remember the "witch" standing on rock out in the cove playing the flute, with the seals coming in to listen to her. Also the two ways the kids get close to the house...once under a chain link fence, where the girl almost falls, the other time along the coast at low tide....that time they're trapped by high tide and have to stay till tide goes down again. There were two printings of the book...one, the Xerox printing, has the blue cover you describe, the other, a Weekly Reader printing, has an entirely different cover....light green. Text is same for both, and both printings very available and inexpensive. There was another book with the same siblings called The Treasure of Kilvarra, where they vacation in Ireland.
Holly Beth Walker, Meg and the Secret of the Witch's Stairway, 1967, copyright. Could it be one of the Meg mysteries, published in the late 60s/early 70s by Whitman? The one that sounds the most likely is The Secret of the Witch's Stairway, but that wasn't the cover I remembered when I looked it up. Maybe The Mystery of the Black Magic Cave? I remember a cove being in one of the books. Good luck!
Jay Jackson MacNess, The American Witch, 1966, copyright. I can't help with the original question, but The American Witch is by Jay Jackson MacNes, illustrated by Don Bolognese, and published in 1966 by McGraw-Hill. I searched for it for a number of years, too!
Elizabeth Baldwin Hazelton, The Haunted Cove. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This is the book I've been looking for for ages! I loved it back then and can't wait to read it again.

K121: Kids trick or treating, end up at an old couple's house, old man shows them magic tricks
A story about Halloween and kids going trick or treating. They end up at an old couple's house where they are all invited in and the old man shows them magic tricks. The parents realize the kids are not around in the neighborhood anymore and become worried. They get their treats and all end up at the old couple’s house where they have a neighborhood party, so to speak. The old man said he performed one of his magic tricks for the crowned heads of Europe or something similar to this. The book was orange with black writing and was from my childhood, during the 1960s. Thank you!

L238: Live nativity scene found in snow
All I can remember from this delightful children's picture book is that a live nativity scene is found (I think in a barn, but perhaps a church) in the snow. Thank you for your help.

Collington, Peter, A Small Miracle, 1997. Possibly this book. A very poor woman sells her accordian, then has the money stolen by a thief who also robs a church's alms box and disrupts the manger scene. The woman sets the scene to rights, then collapses in the snow. The nativity figures come to life to help the old woman. The book is wordless.
Collington, Peter, Small Miracle, 1997, approximate. If it was a recent wordless picture book, it might be Small Miracle. After a poor woman is robbed and left unconscious, the nativity figures from a church bring her back to her caravan (through the snow).

L239: Lemonade Affair
in the end of 1970s i read a series of 3 or 4 books at school library. one with title like 'the bubble lemonade affair' or something like that, going on about a lemonade production getting out of hand ?? or something. second book was about some machine, looking like a dragon, ripping off the 'bad' posters on the walls of the town, making paint from it and splashing it all over town. very specific: on the inside-sleeves, the two main-characters 'arrive' in the book by one method, and leave the book in another way. once with hot-air-balloon, once with 3 'flying steps', in the next book through underground-tunnel chasing a butterfly. their house in one story was some artistic structure, with glass canopies.
as i have been browsing other stumpers on your page, i noticed that my description does miss, that it was a picture-book with a little storyline (and no reading-book).

L240: Little girl her name is Anne
I am looking for a children's poetry book my Mum had as a girl. She remembers her father reading a poem about "This little girl, her name is Anne..." and also a poem about two raindrops. She is 60 so this would have been in the early 1950s. Thanks.

M530: Migrant makes iodine polka-dot dress
Story / excerpt 1972-84 elementary school reader? Poor Mexican migrant girl starts school in the US (maybe Texas). Admires blond girl with wonderful dresses. Migrant transforms sack dress by painting it with little red polka-dot using bottle of red iodine.

Patricia Miles Martin, Trina's Boxcar, 1967, copyright. A favorite childhood book. Trina is Hispanic and poorer than other kids in town. Her family lives in a boxcar. She decorates a feedsack or floursack dress by painting a design on it with red iodine. The popular Scholastic paperback is titled "Trina".

M531: Mean boy has bad dream about dragon, wakes up happy
Christian children's book early 80s. Story of a mean little boy who is sent to his room and falls through a hole in his floor (under the bed?). He is dreaming. There is an evil dragon who is supposed to represent Satan. At the end he learns about God and wakes up with a tear in his eye & happy.

N111: nonfiction book about drugs, late 1960s
This is an adult (or college-level) nonfiction book, published in the late 1960s, about drugs, mostly LSD and cannabis. It is not "The Drug Scene", "The Pleasure Seekers", or "Mind Drugs" but with some general resemblence to those. It is also not "The Hippie Trip", "Tuned Out" or "The Peter Pan Bag." It might be "The College Drug Scene". Seemed to promote the attitude that the desire to even try drugs was itself a sign of mental illness. It contains a few narratives, possibly made up. I believe one was about a young man who feared he was gay (and later joined the Army? Can't remember). I most clearly remember is Celeste. A high school girl already somewhat "bizarre"-acting (she embroidered her slip in class, wore her skirts shorter than anyone else, and once came to school with all her eyebrows shaved off), her use of drugs and her subsequent death were portrayed as inevitable.

N112: Nellie Gray, Star Bright
1960s - maybe, childrens. I read this book when I was very young. It's about a boy who spends time on a farm/ranch while his father is away. The farm/ranch has horses, but the boy -- I seem to remember his name is Dave -- doesn't know how to ride, but says he does. His first encounter with a horse named Star Bright makes this readily apparent. He learns to ride while he's there, starting off on a gray mare named Nellie Gray. He meets a boy named Pete, and they have a friend who's a girl, but I can't remember her name. There's a snobby girl who boards 2 horses at the farm. I don't remember her name, but she has a chestnut horse named High Boy and a palomino named Golden Boy. She and "Dave" become friends by the end of the book. There are 2 particular incidents in the story that I remember: The first is where Star Bright somehow gets out and colics on green apples. Everybody is up most of the night trying to keep him up and walking so he doesn't lay down and roll. The other is where High Boy gets out during a snow storm and "Dave" is the one who finds him. At the end, "Dave's" father buys Star Bright for him.

Timber Trail Riders. I read this story a long time ago. I don't know the exact title but it was part of a series called Timber Trail Riders. I think there was a mean groom in the story called Bo who was jealous of Dave and the reason Star Bright bucked off Dave when Dave first rode him was because Bo had put a burr under the saddle blanket. Bo's evil ways were eventually discovered and he was let go. There were many other stories in this series.

N113: Nursery rhymes and stories, Little Red Riding Hood cover
My grandfather gave me a book he found about 1958 (I do not know what year the book was published). It was a red book (kind of a cloth cover) with a picture of Little Red Riding Hood on the front, a somewhat smaller picture of her in the center on the front of the book. The book was a volume of nursery rhymes and stories and it appeared to be part of a set. He always told the story of finding it at the local dump and picking it up and giving to me. Well, years passed and I let my son use the book, but ultimately I lost it in a divorce. I would give anything to find a copy of this volume. It contained one rhyme in particular “I Had a Little Doggie” who used to sit and beg, but doggie fell down the stairs and broke his little leg……etc. The pages were kind of glossy with bright illustrations. Can your readers provide any assistance? I greatly appreciate it.

O134: Old Lady in Upside-down House
Solved: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Around 20 yrs. ago my elementary library had a series that involved a nutty old lady who lived in an upside-down house. All the neighborhood kids came to her with their problems and she helped them find wacky solutions. Sorry I don't remember more. Your website is wonderful.

This has got to be Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald. There are several books in the series, including Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm, and Hello Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
Betty MacDonald, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. This is it! This site is awesome! I thought I would never know what this book was called. Thank you, so much.

Interpreting
Condition
Grades

MacDonald, Betty. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Illustrated by Hilary Knight. J.B. Lippincott Company, 1957. 1st edition hardback with dust jacket protector. VG/VG. $25.

P410: Puffin looked out to sea
Late 70's, childrens. This is a story about a Polar Bear and an Artic Fox that find a red wagon buried in the snow. Each phase of the story ends with "and the Puffin looked out to sea".

Crosby Newell Bonsall, What Spot? 1963.

P411: Palomino horse stolen, found painted
Solved: Linda Craig and the Palomino Mystery
I read this book in the 1980's, and it was older then. It was about a girl visiting her uncle who owned some horses, one of which was a palomino. The horse gets stolen, she finds it in a canyon, painted another color. The people who stole it were running a spring water business. Thoughts?

Clyde Robert Bulla