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368H: LONELY WOMAN IN CASTLE GIVEN TEDDY BEAR BY GIRL

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If i remember correctly, the story was part of a collection of short stories all about teddy bears/ bears. The story I am looking for is about a small village where an old woman lived in a dark castle away from the village and no one ever saw her, the village people were all frightened of her because they thought she was a witch. Then one day I think some village kids wanted to see what she was like and so they made this young village girl go up to the castle and stay there, or perhaps she got lost and ended up there, i can’t be sure but for some reason she ended up at this castle and I think she was sleeping there overnight. She may have also brought a basket with her for the old woman, so it was possibly her idea. Maybe she was trying to help the woman? She brought her teddy bear with her which is really important in the story. She saw this old woman crying I think or something but when the old woman saw this little girl’s teddy she was happy because I think it turns out that possibly her son died or something and all she wanted was a friend, she was so lonely after he died which is why she locked herself up in the castle. So this little girl gives her the teddy bear as a comfort and suddenly the old woman is really happy again and her castle turns colourful and she becomes friends with the village people and all because she was given a teddy bear. I can’t remember if the bit about the son is real, or if it was just that she was lonely and being given a teddy bear cheered her up. that was the main essence of the story.

I am from England and I am 22, and I was about 6-10 when i read this, so anywhere from 2005-2011, but it could be an older book, i really don’t know. any help finding this is so appreciated thank you. 

368G: Searching for a Children’s Book with a Valentines Day Theme

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1950s or early 1960s children’s picture book. Little boy has some sort of issue on Valentines Day; maybe a fight with his brother? I think he loses a valentine card, maybe one that he made. I remember an illustration of him in his pajamas outside in the snow. I think he finds the missing valentine outside in the snow. 

368E: The Witch’s Apprentice (Solved!)

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I’m trying to recover an illustrated children’s book from before 2005 or so. It was hardback, with a green cover, I believe. The illustration style was quite unique and lovely, almost Celtic? Lots of green. The main crux of the book was an alchemist/witch and her apprentice who she sends into the woods to gather needed ingredients for a potion or spell. It took place primarily in the forest, and one of the ingredients I remember was a specific type of mushroom. Other tasks involved something in a marsh/swamp, and maybe something about flying creatures? But what I remember most was the alchemist/witch. She had long dark hair. 

368D: YA Book from the early 90s about a boy who spends a summer in California

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This was a pretty small paperback, sold at Scholastic book fairs in the early 90s. It was meant for late elementary school to early middle school readers. It’s fiction, and I believe it might have been in the format of a diary kept by the main character. Pretty sure the cover had a mountain lion on it.

It was about a boy from Michigan or some other Midwestern state who for some reason had to go to California for a summer (maybe he was in some trouble at school or his parents were getting divorced, don’t remember). I remember a scene with a rattlesnake, where someone ends up chopping its head off with a garden hoe.

The ending involved him getting lost in a canyon and stalked by a mountain lion. He was about to try fighting it with a rock when search and rescue showed up to help him.

368C: Service Boys dirt track car racing series (Solved!)

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– Fiction – Vintage series – 1970s or earlier – about dirt track racing written for kids. It was checked located in the children’s section of the library. Trying to find these books as a gift for a friend who remembers them very fondly, but doesn’t remember details, just that it was a series and of course, that it was about dirt track car racing.

368B: Birthday Party Disappearing Children Cutlery (Solved!)

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A little girl goes to stay with her eccentric aunt who spends most of her time gardening. The aunt is constantly digging up dishes, plates, and other items from her yard, and always holds on to those items. One day the little girl is in the library of her aunt’s house and discovers a book about a little girl who was at a birthday party that was cursed by a (fairy?) so that all of the children disappeared and the cutlery was buried in the yard. To undo the curse, the story girl would have to place all of the cutlery back just as it was when the curse was placed. The story girl would also be unable to communicate what happened to anyone else until the curse was listed. Thinking that her aunt might be the girl from the story, the little girl helps her aunt to dig up the last of the cutlery/dishware. Together they place the dishes/cutlery on the table as directed by the aunt. However, nothing happens after they do this, and the book ends.

368A: Fighting animals and villains on a ranch

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I’m looking for a YA or MG book about a teen boy who lives on a ranch (New Mexico? west Texas?), his cousin Horace comes to visit for summer which he thinks will ruin his summer but Horace turns out to be a good guy who can ride and shoot and they become good friends.  There is a mountain lion or cougar that kills his dad’s prize bull Red Toro so they go out to find the cougar, Horace shoots it with a great shot.  Along the way there are some villains who are trying to jump a gold claim, Horace sprains his ankle, has to be hauled out by the boy on an Indian trapezoid carry deal, they fool the bad guys into fording the river where there is quick sand and all ends well.  Can’t remember title.  Book had line drawings, and I think the cover was edged in burnt orange or brown. 

367Z: The Rainy Day

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I’m looking for a book that probably came out in the late 70s/early 80s. It was illustrated with primarily line art, orange and yellow colors. A little girl lived with her parents in an apartment (I think?) and had a rainy day. She went outside to play in the rain, came inside for a bath and soup. It is such a simple book but it always comforted me because the family stayed home and made their own fun together. Being a child of divorce, this was foreign to me. I’d dearly love to find it again.

367Y: The Slimey Monster’s Weak Spot (Solved!)

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I’m in the UK & I read this book as a child in 90’s, it was a collection of stories but not a huge collection. It was a picture book.

The main story I remember is a boy going into a slimey castle that had been taken over by a monster with tentacles. There was slime everywhere, he found the centre of the monster & it was a big eye & he stabbed it with a sword right into the eye. This killed the monster & covered the boy in slime. He crawled out of the castle & then washed himself off in a river. I think there was a friendly dragon there too.

Other stories in this were a ufo kidnapping a boy & a monkey having nightmares, construction robots shaped like dinosaurs & an artificial horse with a lever in its back. It was an odd collection of stories, not classic.