I’m looking for a book that a friend of mine read between 1978 and 1982 but the book may be older than that. It is about a family that wants to sell their house and each prospective buyer wants them to change something about the house (paint the inside, fix something outside etc). Over time they make so many changes to the house that the family decides not to sell. They end up liking the changes they’ve made and stay put.
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
I don’t think this is the one you are looking for but a similar book is “Just Right” by Lilian Moore.
Doghouse for Sale by Donna Lugg Pape? The timeframe and story fit, but the main character is a dog named Freckles. A family of dogs is one of the potential buyers. Freckles definitely painted the house, added a window, and cleaned up the yard. I believe he did other things to it as well.
I am looking for this book, too. I know it’s older than 1978-1982 as I read it in the very early 70s. I seem to recall it was a hardbound Scholastic Book.
I think there’s an unsolved query about this book at O94. At least, this is the book I’m thinking of.
I am also looking for this book. What I remember is that the artwork was unique and the people were all very rotund in style. The family ends up loving the house and decides to stay.
Guys I figured this one out. It’s called The House that Nobody Wanted by Lillian Moore. But here’s the thjng, the BOOK is called Junk Day on Juniper Street (and other stories). This story is inside the Junk Day on Juniper Street book.
So I looked at the Lilian Moore books, and while the plot seems the same, it’s not the book I remember. The book I’m looking for is a couple with a messy house that decides to move. However, they decide they love their house when it is clean and fixed up. The strongest memory (because I thought it was so smart) includes them moving all the dirty dishes outside so the rain could clean them.
Dishes in the rain sounds like The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes by Phyllis Krasilovsky.