This is a kids book I read in the 1970’s – paperback. It is about two families and one family with two children move away. The second family’s children are very sad. Suddenly, mysterious clues start appearing around and the old family has to decipher the clues. It leads them somewhere, like through the woods, to where the new family had moved to.
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
This isn’t an exact match, but so many people remember Elizabeth Enright’s Spiderweb for Two that you might want to check that one. Randy and Oliver are the last Melendy children left at home when the others go off to boarding school etc., but then the clues start appearing and keep them busy until the big surprise in the spring.
Sounds a lot like Spiderweb for Two by Elizabeth Enright, part of the Melendy series. Loved these books so much!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiderweb_for_Two:_A_Melendy_Maze
You might be thinking of The Haunted House by Peggy Parish. It’s part of a series of treasure-hunt style mysteries focusing on the children of the Roberts family, Bill and Liza (and sometimes their cousin Jed). In this one, the Roberts family is moving to a different house across town because they want a bigger place to live. The kids are not very happy about moving because they will be farther away from their friends, especially Jimmy and Mary, who have been their best friends and next door neighbors. Liza is also worried because the house they will be living in is the old Blake house, which is rumored to be haunted. A couple of past caretakers have left because they claimed to hear ghostly noises. Not long after the family moves in, strange notes and coded messages appear for the children. Little presents are left for them in a hollow tree with promises of bigger surprises later.
Their new neighbor turns out to be Jimmy and Mary’s uncle. The kids sometimes come to visit him, and they decided, with their uncle’s help and the knowledge of the kids’ parents, to arrange some surprises for them. They leave some little carvings made by the old man who used to live there in the hollow tree. They also give the kids three little kittens. The uncle overheard the kids talking about making a treehouse in the woods between the two properties, so he builds one for them with Jimmy and Mary’s help. Jimmy and Mary also have a treehouse on their uncle’s property. When the kids discover who is behind the messages, they are happy. The uncle also admits that he is responsible for most of the haunting rumors because he once played a practical joke on one of the caretakers by pretending to be a ghost. The kids feel better about their new house and decide that they will throw a haunted house party there for their friends.
Oh, my that might be it, although i remembered it differently. I do remember Jed though, and I believe the book I read might have been the first one. I will check into this so my mystery may be solved! Thank you!
Last time, I said that Jed was the cousin of Bill and Liza in The Haunted House by Peggy Parish, but I was wrong. He’s actually their older brother. I think I was mixing up the relationship from a different book. But, everything else is how I described it. I reread it for a blog I’ve been doing about nostalgic children’s books. I have some pictures that might jog your memory, if you’re still looking for this book.
The cover picture is different from the original version, but the pictures inside are the ones I remember from when I was a kid. The Liza on the inside pictures has freckles and wears her hair in curly pigtails.
https://forgottenstoriesweb.wordpress.com/2017/01/26/the-haunted-house/
Yes, it was The Haunted House by Peggy Parish! Thank you so much!