Category Archives: 1930s or earlier

213A: Generous Queen Marries Curmudgeon

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I am Looking for a children’s book, about the size of a Little Golden Book, although I am not sure that this was a Little Golden Book. I think it was called either The Magic Garden or The Secret Garden (not Frances Hodgen Burnett’s book). It was the story of a beautiful, generous queen married to a curmudgeon husband. She had access to a garden full of flowers, elves and fairies, beautifully illustrated. Of course, the husband is ultimately converted by her compassion and dealings with the poor. I recall it from the ’30’s and ’40’s so it was probably published about then.

203A: brother and sister take a train trip

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I am seeking a c. 1930’s-40’s reader, probably about 3rd or 4th grade level, in which a brother and sister take a train trip to visit another boy in the country. An illustration shows them having breakfast on the train. There are eggcups on the table, and the text refers to “freshly squeezed orange juice.” I believe that the cover may have had an illustration with orange detailing and black lettering. The book was a discard, given to me in 1953.

Thanks for any help in identifying this long-lost book.

195E: Uncle sends a penguin to his nephew.

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Nephew receives a box in the mail from his uncle. When the boy opens the box he is surprised there is a penguin inside.
My father who was born in 1930 tells me this is one of the first books he ever read which leads me to believe the book was published in the 1930s. My father doesn’t remember much else but he always laughs when he describes the boy opening the box and finding the penguin. I would love to be able to find this book for him to read again.

183D: Old Collection of Children’s Stories and Fairy Tales

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I am looking for a book my mother used to read to us in the late 70’s that was passed down from her German great, great grandmother. It was a collection of children’s stories and fairy tales with illustrations in English. One of the tales was Japanese (I think) about two sisters (or friends) that we remember being named O’Lotusan (sp?) and Miura (sp)? O’ Lotusan had a beautiful singing voice and a prince was in love with her. Miura became jealous and somehow turned O’ Lotusan into a very tiny fairy and tried to trick the prince into believing she was O’Lotusan. As a fairy O’Lotusan lived in a seashell or snail shell and collected dew drops that turned into diamonds. She would go and watch the prince who was very sad and sat at a fountain. One day, she had the courage to climb on his shoulder and sing in his ear and he knew it was her.

Two other stories in the same book that I remember are about a boy who was very sick and had to stay in bed (winter time) and fairies would paint pictures on his window pane with frost so he would see them when he woke up. The other involved a baby who lost its parents or had no parents and was found by the woodland fairies who built a bed out of a hollowed out tree limb and lined it with moss.

My sister and I have been searching for this beloved book for years. I am hoping it will ring a bell.

173H: Looking for my Grandma’s Book

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I am looking for a book with children’s stories. I don’t know the title. When my grandmother was a child, around 1910, one of her teachers gave her a book and my grandmother was given the task to recite one of the stories. The story was about 2 sisters on a dock and one of the sisters failed to save her sister when she fell into the swirling waters. I didn’t see the book, but grandmother provided the above information before she died. Thirty years later I saw the story in a museum in an open book that was locked under a glass counter. There wasn’t anyone manning the counter and I wasn’t able to inquire about it to get the name of the book. The book wasn’t large, perhaps 40-50 pages thick and perhaps it had a black cover. My sister thinks the name of one of the girls was Maggie. I would love to purchase this book if anyone knows of it.

165C: Three little kittens jumping in pie with juice squirting out

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The book I am searching for is a book my mother has looked for for years. She remembered it from her childhood so it would have been a book from the 30′s. It was a 3 little kittens book- possibly oversized and longer across the top than the length of the binding. The pictures she remembered were one of the cats in the snow with a lighted house in the background (maybe at night?) and picture of them playing with yarn balls, a picture of the kittens stepping in pie with juice squirting out, and picture that showed the kittens with just the legs of the adults showing. Since there are so many scores of books about the three little kittens, it may be hard to find, but I would like to surprise her with it if I could! She is 81 years old.

 

163C:Collection with Little Red Hen and a Fox (solved)

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I’m looking for a collection of children’s short stories that my mom read as a child (either read herself or had them read to her – her memory is fuzzy).  She was born in 1944.  She remembers illustrations in the book and the book having a story about a fox and a little red hen.  Any information or leads you can provide would be awesome!