I wish I had something more for hints, but this query comes for a book I believe was published in the 1930’s. Had it been in the 1940’s I would have been able to read it myself, and I don’t think I ever could.
It was hard backed but not more that a half-inch thick, all black and white. Illustrations included stick figures or possibly pear-shaped bodies (inverted?) with stick arms and legs. These figures or characters were called “Brigands” and were bad. I have no idea what the title may be.
There seem to have been two stories in the book. It’s possible one was “Ferdinand the Bull,” but that may be a merged memory.
That’s all I’ve got and I really don’t expect anything. You’d have to be older than I am with a marvelous memory.
Details are scant (and may not fully match your search), however there are references of ‘brigands’ in reviews and snippets which relate to a particular children’s book published in the 1930s.
The book is called ‘Noah and Rabbit’, also going by a longer title of “Noah and Rabbit, a Nursery Thriller’. The author is Herbert McKay, and it was published in1932.
From the magazine ‘Better Homes and Gardens’ 1933: “…the delectable small book Noah and Rabbit, by Herbet McKay (E. P. Dutton & Company, $1), which we have read literally to bits. It has that unique, unpredictable charm, as impossible to lay a finger on in a book as in a person. How Noah and Rabbit set out for the station, forget succes- sively suitcase, haddock and tickets; spend the night in combat with the brigands…”
From the book ‘Reading with Children’ 1949, Annie Eaton: “… Noah and Rabbit, a Nursery Thriller, by Herbert Mc- Kay, tells how Noah and Rabbit, leaving the Ark to join the other toys at the farm, forgot so many things that they missed their train and returned to discover in possession of the Ark six Brigands — called and colored respectively, Blue, Yellow, Green, Black, Red, and Purple. It is full of an imaginative fun and…”
From “The Sunday School Times” 1932: “Noah and Rabbit. A Nursery Mys- tery. By Herbert McKay. (E. P. Dut- ton and Co., New York, $1.) “We have just time to catch the train,” said Noah. “But we must hurry,” said Rab- bit. “I have forgotten my umbrella,” said Noah. And with that he hurried back to the Ark. Then Rabbit found he had forgotten his bag and he had to go back for that. They both started on, but they had forgotten the tickets. Back both went. Finally with bag, umbrella, and tickets they arrive just as the train pulls off down the track. Noah and Rab- bit are two comical jointed toys. The children will enjoy the quick, bright conversations of these two and their many friends as they come up to one puzzling circumstance after another. There is a picnic, and an encounter with brigands, and continual action from the first line to the last. And there is much sound sense and humor that will give a good laugh to readers older‘than the four-to- eight-year-olds for whom the book is intended. Numerous black and white il- lustrations further enliven the pages.”
Although one of the snippets refers to colour illustrations, the last states there were many black and white illustrations.
On second thoughts, this might actually be the book.
There’s another reference from 1947 – Christian Science Monitor – which describes the illustrations of ‘the brigands’ :
“…Noah and Rabbit leave the Ark to catch a train which, after a series of funny acci- dents, they miss. Returning to the Ark, they discover that it has been taken over by a band of brigands. These .are pictured as having one circle for a head, another for a body, straight-line.arms and legs and jack- o’-lantern teeth, as any six-year-old might draw them. The ensuing chase’ through hedges and briars, the escape of Noah and Rabbit and fheir return with reinforcements, the subsequent discomfiture and rout of the brigands are packed with action and fun. The children shouted with laughter…”