So when I was in 6th grade (1992), I had a wonderful teacher. She pushed us to read and loved books herself. We had a project at the end of the year. I can’t remember if this description I’m about to give you is of 2 books or one. My 11 year old son is an avid reader and I’d love to find this/these books for him.
There was a gazing ball (like a mirrored one) in a garden. It was not scary, maybe some mystery but definitely not scary. Maybe a young girl.
And my other memory is of a hot air balloon. I feel like there were a lot of people on the balloon. It could have been actual balloons and not the hot air version. And I want to say they were on a huge piece of wood not a basket. I’m thinking it may have been an award winning book but I’m not for sure on that either. I have no idea if it is one book or two and this has driven me crazy for years. I’ve looked it up every way I know how.
First one, try The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton.
Jane-Emily also has a gazing ball, but it’s scary, so probably not the one.
The balloon book might be The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois, which was a Newberry winner and a popular book in schools.
#2 is very likely William Pène du Bois’s ‘The Twenty-One Balloons’, which features at one point a huge wooden platform held aloft by 20 balloons. It won the Newbery Award in 1948 and is a total delight. (Funnily enough, I read it because my own sixth-grade teacher had a collection of books at the back of the classroom and I borrowed the classroom copy.)
Thank you so much and 21 Balloons has to be it. I don’t think the diamond in the window is correct though. I don’t remember anything scary or an attic. The gazing ball was for sure in a garden at some point. And there was a girl as the main character I’m pretty sure.
For the gazing ball book, there’s a story called “Zenda and the Gazing Ball,” but it may be too recent.
Another one with a gazing ball is The Ghost Next Door, by Judith Saint George, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Also a little scary in parts though, so maybe not.
I think I am trying to remember the same book, there was a gazing ball in the garden, and the main character’s name was Louisa I think, and in the end I think she pushes the ball off the pedestal to break it, as I guess it was causing trouble. Read in 1970s I think.
Shannon, the book with Louisa is Jane-Emily.
https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-a-reviews/a-reviews/review-jane-emily-by-patricia-clapp/
Thank you! I’ve been looking for this book for years
Thank you! I’ve been looking for this book for years!