339O: Children’s Book of Short Stories Published in the 1960s or early 1970s

Hello. When I was around 5 or 6 years old (1972 to 1973) I loved a book of short stories. I think it contained around a dozen or so stories.

One of the stories was about a lost cat (or kitten). The cat is lonely, cold, and hungry. The cat wandered around and found a pond with a fish in it. The cat tries to grab the fish, but is pulled into the water. (I think there may have been a fishing pole, and the cat got tangled in it.) When the owner of the house heard the ruckus outside, he went out to retrieve the fish and cat. The cat then lives happily thereafter with the owner, and the owner cooks the fish for the cat.

Another story was about some people who went for a short boat ride on a lake in a rowboat. To make sure everyone person was accounted for, the organizer of the voyage had everyone wear a similar hat. Her plan was to count the number of hats before the journey, and then afterwards. If the number matched, then everyone was accounted for. I recall the voyage had some problems. I think the boat started to sink because someone forgot to install the drain plug. But it wasn’t dangerous because the lake was very shallow. At any rate, at the end of the voyage the organizer was worried & upset because the number of hats she counted afterwards was one less than the onset of the voyage. But someone pointed out that she forgot to count the hat on her head, and everyone laughed.

Thank you

2 thoughts on “339O: Children’s Book of Short Stories Published in the 1960s or early 1970s

  1. Leslie Tromans

    The book is Up and Away by Houghton and Mifflin Company in the Reading for Meaning series. It is an old school reader. The cat story is called What about Willie – its the first story in the book. The other one is The Boat Ride. There are 10 stories all together

    Reply
  2. Leslie Tromans

    The book is Up and Away by Houghton Mifflin company in their Reading for Meaning series. It’s an old school reader. What about Willie is the story about the kitten who got hung up in the fishing line and the Boat Ride is about the family with the caps,so the mother can count them.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.