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333H: Big sister anticipating little brother, wonders if she can trade it for a dog (Solved!)

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I received a children’s book in 1995/1996 in anticipation of my little brother. We lived in Gardner, Massachusetts at the time (central MA). The book had beautiful illustrations (something about Monique Felix’s illustrations for The Velveteen Rabbit reminds me of it), and was about a little girl finding out she was going to have a little brother and not being excited about it. She wondered if she could trade it for a dog. She also ate an egg out of an egg cup at some point in the story. I believe there was something about her getting a new coat as well, either peacoat or cape-style. The style of the book in my memory makes me think it was not necessarily American, nor necessarily published in that time period (egg cups?!).

333G: Three foster brothers in love with the same woman who became a town sheriff (Solved!)

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Three boys were taken in by the same woman and grew up together. One of them met this girl at what she considered her “secret place”, but she said she would share it with him. His two foster brothers followed him, curious where he was going. When one brother teased him for hanging out with a girl, she punched him. After that, they grew to respect and like her. All through high school they were the unholy foursome. Her parents had money, but they ignored her. She envied the brothers; their foster mother took her in too.
The three boys all fell in love with her, and one night when they were drinking, they all had sex with her. She woke up ashamed, and ran from them. She became a local sheriff. I think her dad is mayor or assemblymen, but he acts like he is president – he is much more important in his head than he actually is, always harping about their “image”.
The book starts with the three men in their office. They went into business together as contractors or builders and they are looking over blueprints, when there is a phone call. It is their foster mom, calling to tell them that their girl has been beat up/attacked at work, and is in hospital. She doesn’t want them to know, but the mother is worried, so she does call them.
The men discuss it – how she ran from them, and they have tried to give her time, but they want her back. All three of them want to be in a menage relationship with her. They built a house for her, and for them, and did it so it would be everything she ever wanted, to show her they love her.
The one brother says “Let’s go get our girl”, or something like that; so they drive up to the hospital, and she is uncomfortable. They tell her they are done letting her run and avoiding them. She can’t go home and take care of herself, so she agrees to go with them. When she is released they take her to their new house. Eventually, they tell her what they want. She doesn’t think it will work – one will get jealous of the others, and it will ruin their friendship, plus she worries about her reputation as a sheriff, and what her parents will say. But she decides to give it a try.
Along the way her apartment is blown up when she goes to get some clothes, and it is plain that someone is after her.
I hope you can help me with it. I read it probably 5-6 years ago? Not quite sure.

333F: Greenwich Village jazz father and son (Solved!)

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Growing up in a small town in Eastern Washington in the early 1970’s, I read a book I still remember. It’s a middle school targeted chapter book with a few line drawing illustrations. My copy was paperback. It features a father and son, the dad is a jazz musician / fan, I think they live in the Village - or at least someplace downtown NYC. Maybe there is some music that is played on the rooftop? Maybe parents are divorced? Published pre-1974.

333E: Young Muskrat Contends With a Forest Fire

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The story is a muskrat growing up, his adventures, from his point of view. Most memorable part is when there is a forest fire going on; he describes the fear, the fire, smoke, etc.

I read this book around 1961-63, so book was definitely published before 1963. Book was dark brown. Illustrations are like a moonlit night as the muskrat travels by a stream and sees smoke, etc.

 

333D: Redheaded Girl’s Scary Witch Encounter Just a Dream

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I am desperately trying to find out the title of a book I used to read to my daughter when she was little. It had to have been published before 1994. What we remember is that the main character is a little girl, maybe a redhead and/or curly haired. She may be walking through a forest and encounters a scary witch. At the end we discover that the whole thing was a dream.
The book, which we used to take out from the library, was a hard back.

G Mail Concerns

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Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well as we approach the holiday season.  It has come to my attention that G Mail often does not let our e-mails through.  For those using G Mail accounts, if you have submitted a Stumper and have not received an e-mail from us after a few days, please check your spam folder prior to contacting us.

Thanks and take care,

Julie

333B: Tiny Magic Cat

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I am.looking for a book I read between 1975-1980. It was a middle school aged book.  The.main character was a 10 to 12 year old girl. I can’t remember how, but she finds a cat who turns super small – like tiny enough to sit behind her ear. He talks to her and helps her through the trials of her life.
That’s all I can remember.  Thanks so much!

333A: Anthology – Tiger Fable, Dog Discipline, Bake a Cake

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I read this anthology of children’s literature when I was younger than 12 (I’m 29 now). These probably are not definite, and I don’t know if I would recognize the cover if I saw it, but here’s everything I can remember from it.

There was a Chinese (or some other Asian culture, possibly Indian but I think it was probably Chinese) fable about a group of village children who befriended a tiger. The village’s men chased off this tiger, and then the crops didn’t grow that year, or some similarly implied consequence ensued. I remember this story having an illustration of the children and the tiger under a tree. Or the tiger peering out from the branches of a tree.

There was also a story about a group of kids baking a cake for their babysitter, but they botched it up somehow, getting the ingredients wrong. I think that the babysitter found out about it, and was so grateful for their thoughtfulness that she bought or baked them a cake herself.

Then there was a poem about a kid explaining how he disciplines his dog with a rolled up newspaper. I also remember an illustration with a full-view of a backyard with some kids building a tree house, and there might have been a sign that said “No Girls.”

I don’t know when it was published, but the style was similar to the 40’s and 50’s style used in the “Dick and Jane” books. It might have a similar title to Good Times with Our Friends (a book by Dorothy Baruch) because I asked my Mom for it when I was a kid, and she confused the titles. I thought I’d found it when I ordered Through Golden Windows: Good Times Together, but although there were many similarities, the tiger story, dog poem and tree house picture weren’t in there.

332Z: Exceptional Animals, “Goodness Gracious!” (Solved!)

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Seeking a children’s rhyming picture book, published sometime in the last 10 – 30 years; describes major characteristics of several animals (i.e., big ears of a fenec, sharp teeth of something, big spots of leopard) using the phrase “Goodness gracious!”;  final page is “Goodness gracious, what a noise . . . from girls and boys!” and it shows children playing outside at recess.