Category Archives: Solved

330C: Illustrated Children’s Anthology Of Animal And Fairy Tales (Solved!)

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I am searching for a children's anthology I had as a child. It's almost certainly pre-1970s and had a red hardback cover. It was smaller than a piece of regular printer paper, but approximately 3 inches thick. My copy had the spine loved off it, so I can't recall the title. It had beautiful color illustrations, one per story, and I think full page in each case. There were a *lot* of stories but ones I remember included: The Happy Prince, with the illustration being the prince's statue with the swallow at his feet; Prince Rabbit, with the illustration being the rabbit at court if I recall; The Elephant's Child, with the illustration being the crocodile pulling the elephant's trunk; The Devil's Hide, also called The Boy Who Wouldn't Lose His Temper, with the illustration being the devil's cat in the woodpile. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

329S: My Lady, My Love (Solved!)

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I’m looking for a book I read I as a teen in the 60s called My Lady, My Love. No idea who wrote it. It is about a king whose wife died. He was so distraught that he didn’t want another queen. The kingdom needed a queen so he married a baby. (Not in a creepy way). He figured by the time she grew up, he would be over his wife.

329I: Picture Book about a Cherub Genie in a Gumball Machine (Solved!)

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I believe this book is from the 60’s or 70’s. I read it around 1993 so it certainly is earlier than that. The illustrations have simple cheerful pen/line work. My recollection of the plot is a kid puts money in a gumball machine and is granted wishes genie style and/or it releases a cherub who just decides to make fun things happen. There may or may not be three gumballs. At one point kids are skipping with a very long piece of licorice or some other candy.

I recall the flying cherub is just a white body (as white as the page) with a black outline. He may or may not have curly hair. I also think that the page backgrounds are all white. The illustrations do have colors though, but there is not much visual texture – it is very flat with black line outlines on everything.

That is all have. I read this book only once and have been collecting picture books for years now and have never seen anything even close. Thank you so much! I’d be thrilled to find it.

329H: Short Stories for Girls (Solved!)

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I read an anthology of teen short stories probably from the 1960s. The two stories I remember are:
1) a shy, plump girl named Becky loved to bake, but she agreed to take a role in the school play because she had a crush on a boy in the play. The role was motherly (or grandmotherly) so Becky felt she could pull it off even though she wasn’t an actress. The boy crush would come over to “rehearse” but really he was there to spend time with Becky and eat the yummy things that Becky baked. He finally admitted that Becky wasn’t a very good actress, but he wanted to date her because he felt so comfortable with her in her cozy kitchen.
2) A slim, athletic girl who always wore pedal pushers had a special word “v’standen” that she and her dad invented to show that they understood each other, no other words necessary. When she got dressed up in a strapless gown to go out on her first date, her dad made a cold remark about how she looked. He wasn’t actually being mean, he was just shocked at how his little tomboy had grown up. When she came down the stairs to greet her date, her father tried to stammer an apology. She told him “v’standen” and everything was good.
Note: This is NOT “Stories to Live By” from American Girl Magazine. I bought the book, but neither story is in it.

329G: Silver Headed Ghost Children (Solved!)

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The second story I am trying to track down from my childhood is an anthology of weird and horror stories (not really gory given the era, and written for children). It was in our school library in the early 80s and worn, so it could easily date to the 1950s through the 1970s. The story is about two children (a brother and sister) who come across and old house in the woods and find that a family of children live there who are very strange. They have silver hair and no parents. Eventually the unusual children hold a party with a big cake that has a sleigh with two small dolls that look like the brother and sister. The brother and sister find out that when the sleigh rolls down the hill of the cake they will be trapped forever to stay with the silver headed children. They flee the house and when they return the next morning they find nothing but ancient ruins. Apparently the silver headed children are ghosts that only occasionally turn up and wanted the brother and sister to join them. I'm afraid I don't recall any of the other stories in the anthology. Thanks!

329B: Troublesome Cat Sent To His Room (Solved!)

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I'm looking for a book I had as a child in the 1970s, though the book may be from the 1960s.  It was a small paperback with a light blue cover.  It was about a cat, I think named Henry, and his mother. The drawings were very simple pen & ink drawings.  There may have been a little blue in the drawings too, but mostly I think they were back and white and were simple.  The cat was always getting in trouble, and had to be sent to his room. His mom was cooking in the kitchen.  They both walked upright - and the mom wore an apron.  I think it may have been a series and there were other stories about him.

328M: Adventures Of Royal Fairy Family (Solved!)

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I am trying to remember a book I read back in about the late 90s. Here is everything about the book I can recall.
The book was printed in green ink, to include the illustrations.
The story was about a fairy (I think) that was able to ride on clouds. I think the name was Mica or Micah. He went to a kingdom of humans and met a princess. The princess’ kingdom had lost a war with the other kingdom and was being taken to be married to the ugly princess of the other kingdom.
The fairy arranges the escape of the princess and takes her to his world. While there, they arrange to get married.  They have two children, a son and a daughter.
The book continues with the lives of the children. The son ends up saving a princess from a curse and marries her. The daughter makes friends with a knight and a dragon. An angry mob goes after the dragon. The knight helps defend the dragon. The knight and the daughter marry.
It was a bit of a strange book.
The writing level from what I remember was the same as the Harry Potter books.
I wish you luck.

327Y: Giant Cat Saves The Day (Solved!)

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It's a collection of children's stories. Possibly bedtime stories? The only one I can remember is about a baker's cat. The town find him annoying. One day he drinks yeasty water that the Baker left out then sleeps in the sun and grows huge. The town has a dike and it springs a leak but the giant cat lays down in front of it until they can fix it so he's a hero?? They bring him food and scratch under his chin with pitchforks to keep him in place.

327L: Sort of like the Boxcar Children but in ancient Rome (or was it Greece?) (Solved!)

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I read it in the 1970s, probably published then or perhaps in the late '60s. A young boy (maybe 10 or 11) and his older sister (young teenager?) from a noble family become embroiled in a mystery and they run around town (possibly Athens, but I think it was ancient Rome) hunting for clues.  They wear togas. 🙂